Pilotstudie D-screening: screening op ontwikkelingsachterstand bij het jonge kind, uitgevoerd door de jeugdarts

In een vergelijkende proefopzet met twee groepen (een interventie- en controlegroep) werd de opbrengst en uitvoerbaarheid onderzocht van een screening op ontwikkelingsachterstand bij het jonge kind: de D(evelopmental)- screening. De screening werd uitgevoerd door de jeugdarts bij kinderen die het consultatiebureau bezochten op de leeftijd van 9, 14, of 26 maanden. Bij de kinderen in de controlegroep werd op gebruikelijke wijze door de jeugdarts een ontwikkelingsonderzoek (het Van Wiechenonderzoek) afgenomen. Bij de kinderen in de interventiegroep werden de uitslagen van het Van Wiechenonderzoek ingevoerd in een webtool en werd de D-screening uitgevoerd: Met één druk op een knop werd een thermometer getoond die het risico aangaf op een ontwikkelingsachterstand op latere leeftijd, d.w.z. het aangewezen zijn op een vorm van speciaal onderwijs. Dit risico werd geschat op basis van de uitslagen van het Van Wiechenonderzoek en achtergrondkenmerken (o.a. opleiding ouder(s), erfelijke belasting, en Apgar score van het kind bij geboorte). De D-screening kan als een aanvulling worden beschouwd op het Van Wiechenonderzoe

Improving Ethiopian Smallholders’ Income and Food Security: An Assessment of Alternative Policy Options

Smallholder farmers dominate food production, but also represent the largest share of people in developing countries experiencing food insecurity. In Ethiopia, agricultural growth now forms the backbone of the country’s long-term plans for economic growth. This study aims to analyze long-term changes to the agricultural sector and its consequences for the evolution of smallholder farmers under various policy scenarios. A farming typology based on the agro-ecological zone, the dominant activities, and the degree of market integration is established for this purpose. The agro-ecological zone is divided into the rainfall-sufficient and drought prone highland areas and the pastoralist lowlands. Dominant activities are either pure livestock-keeping or a combination of crops and livestock. Market integration is based on the share of agricultural output sold to the market. The resulting typology is extrapolated to all regions of Ethiopia. The spatially differentiated typology is integrated in an Ethiopia-version of Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM), a globally-consistent partial equilibrium model representing spatial land-use patterns and accounting for biophysical resource constraints. 19 crops (the standard GLOBIOM crops, teff, coffee and sesame), 4 animal types (cattle, sheep, goats and poultry) and 2 livestock products (milk and meat) are represented in the model. Projections of population and GDP growth per region are used to set up the initial demand for each product and each time step. Policies aiming to improve food security and reduce poverty are subsequently implemented. These include infrastructure and irrigation extensions as well as the improvement of access to fertilizers. Results show that the distribution of the farming systems changes across space and time under different policy scenarios. Impacts on smallholders’ poverty and food security status differ depending on the policy, enabling a spatially explicit assessment of policy options at both the local and national level

The market impacts of shortening feed supply chains in Europe

Recently, consumers’ awareness regarding food production has increased, leading to a growing focus on shorter food supply chains and regional or local food systems. In the livestock sector, these developments are closely related to a regionalization of feed production. At the same time, a low self-sufficiency rate in protein feed is being reported for many European countries. In this paper, we analyze market impacts resulting from a complete switch to regionally produced feed in the European livestock sector. We simulate a shortening of feed supply chains in European livestock production using a large-scale agricultural sector model. Livestock production was restricted to feed that can be produced within the same EU member state. Our work represents a first step towards a simulation of regional or local food systems. The results reveal large increases in the prices of livestock products in Europe due to the shortening of feed supply chains. This is a result of a significant increase in livestock production costs. The ability to supply livestock products with regionally produced feed in the EU would be improved through a reduced consumption of livestock products

Preventing overweight and improving parenting skills from birth to age 3 years: preliminary results

Background. Parenting has been associated with child weight status. This study aims to evaluate the effects on parenting skills and BMI-SDS of the BBOFT+ overweight prevention program, compared to care-as-usual (CAU). Method. In a cluster-randomized trial, 2500 parents participated. Parent-reported weight and length were used. Parenting was measured with subscales control and reinforcement of the parenting strategies for eating and activity scale (PEAS) and the warmth subscale from the Child Rearing Questionnaire. Results. The first univariate analyses show that at age 15 months, no statistically significant differences in BMI- SDS, parental control, reinforcement or warmth were found between the BBOFT+ and the CAU group. Further cluster analyses need to be conducted. Results from age 36 months will be presented during the conference, which will include all subscales of the PEAS and an assessment of parenting styles. Conclusion. The intervention does not seem to have an effect on BMI-SDS or parenting

In-house consultation to support professionals’ responses to child abuse and neglect:Determinants of professionals’ use and the association with guideline adherence

This study examined the presence and strengths of determinants associated with consultation of an in-house expert on child abuse and neglect (CAN) by preventive child health care professionals who suspect CAN. This study also assessed the relationship between in-house CAN expert consultation and professionals’ performance of six recommended activities described in a national guideline on preventing CAN for preventive child health care professionals. A total of 154 professionals met the study’s inclusion criteria. They filled in a questionnaire that measured in-house consultation practices and twelve determinants associated with the professional, the in-house expert, and the organizational context. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed. Almost half of the participants (46.8%) reported to consult the in-house expert in (almost) all of their suspected CAN cases. Professionals who reported better recollection of consulting the in-house expert (i.e. not forgetting to consult the expert) (p = .001), who were more familiar with consultation (p = .002), who had more positive attitudes and beliefs about consultation (p = .011) and who reported being more susceptible to the behavior (p = .001) and expectations/opinions (p = .025) of colleagues regarding in-house expert consultation were more likely to consult the in-house expert. Furthermore, in-house expert consultation was positively associated with two of six key guideline activities: consulting the regional child protection service and monitoring whether support was provided to families. The implications of these results for improving professionals’ responses to CAN are discussed

Food systems transformation in Indonesia: Results on baseline and stylized scenarios from GLOBIOM

As part of an effort to inform food system transformation in Indonesia and build on analytical and modelling work by BAPPENAS, FAO and others, this report contains the model description, business as usual trajectory and stylized scenarios coming from the GLOBIOM model. The report takes a food system approach where stylized scenarios follow three main policy levers, namely the healthy diets, socio-economic sustainability of agri-food supply and environmental sustainability: 1. Healthy diets – In line with the RPJMN goal of improving the quality of Indonesian diets, this axis reflects a transition towards healthier diets in Indonesia through reducing food insecurity and increasing the consumption of products that are key to a healthy diet. 2. Socioeconomic sustainability of agri-food supply – In line with the RPJMN goal of increasing food availability, this axis reflects a transition towards increased and more sustainable agricultural production that meets the needs of a growing population by increasing local agricultural production and increasing the share of domestic production in national consumption. 3. Environmental sustainability – In line with the RPJMN goals of strengthening the environment, improving climate resilience, and promoting low carbon development, this axis reflects a transition towards environmental sustainability, achieved through policies that constrain land use and reduce food loss and waste, thereby reducing GHG emissions, reducing deforestation and preserving biodiversity. One or two policy interventions are designed along each of the axes and compared in terms of the main flagship indicators: percentage undernourished, share of food calories produced domestically (%), total value added from agriculture, forest cover and GHG emissions. The scenarios modeled are: (1) ‘POU’: A target to increase food consumption towards reducing undernourishment to 2.5% by 2030 combined with a transition towards healthier diets; (2) ‘INT’: An intensification scenario leading to increased productivity on cropland through better cultivars and an increased use of water and fertilizers; (3) ‘GHG050’: A carbon tax of 50 USD/ton on agriculture and land use emissions; (4) ‘CONS’: an extension of the moratorium policy on primary forests and peatland conversion. In addition, different combinations of the individual policy interventions are made: a target on undernourishment combined with a moratorium on primary forests (CONS_POU), a moratorium on primary forests combined with agricultural intensification (CONS_INT), a target on undernourishment combined with agricultural intensification (INT_POU), and a combined moratorium on primary forests, target on undernourishment and agricultural intensification scenario (CONS_INT_POU). Model We use the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM, Havlík et al. 2014), developed at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), to understand the effects of policy interventions on the three axes. GLOBIOM provides a national and sub-national level picture of food system performance within the agriculture and forestry sector in Indonesia, identifying and analysing synergies and trade-offs associated with policy interventions over the medium to long term, in this case 2030-2045. The model has been updated and refined using best available data and tailored to the context of Indonesia. A consistent land use-land cover map has been built using the best land cover map available, agricultural statistics and other available spatially explicit information on land use. The list of crops has been extended compared to the standard version of GLOBIOM to better represent the land use dynamics and demands for the main commodities in international markets. A comparison of the most important agricultural and land use items and indicators shows that GLOBIOM follows both the trend and absolute changes of the land use, land use dynamics, GHG emissions, production, consumption, and trade over the historical reference period of 2000-2020 well. Business as usual results GLOBIOM’s business as usual trajectory show that, due to the foreseen growth in GDP, production and value added, the percentage of undernourished decreases steadily over the time horizon, from 9% in 2020 to 5.7% in 2030 and 1.4% in 2045 under a no intervention scenario. Agricultural yields and value added measured in real terms continue to increase over the time horizon, by 13.8% in 2030 and 42% in 2045 compared to the 2020 value added. This is a lot smaller than the relative increase in real value added of 118% that GLOBIOM-Indonesia simulated over the 2000-2020 period. Regarding the flagship indicators for the environment, emissions show a decrease compared to 2020, by 17% in 2030 and by 10% in 2045. This decrease in emissions is largely due to the sharp decrease in emissions from land cover change, mostly resulting from reduced deforestation and from the reduced draining of peatlands for agricultural conversion. Primary forests decrease by 2.4% in 2030 and 3.6% in 2045 compared to the 2020. Natural land decreases by 5.8% in 2030 and 17.4% in 2045. The land from these land covers shifts to agriculture, livestock and forestry production: plantation oil palm (+6.7% in 2030 and +18% in 2045), forest plantations (+9.5% in 2030 and +25.5% in 2045), cropland (+2.4% in 2030 and +10.9% in 2045) and a small increase in grassland for livestock production (+1.1% in 2030 and +7.6% in 2045). Scenario results Based on the stylized scenarios and their comparison regarding the main flagship indicators and the three axes, the following conclusions and policy recommendations can be drawn: In the short term, to reach the goal of lower undernourishment and promoting healthier diets, it is particularly important to target and implement policy measures that directly impact consumers. Targeting consumers directly can lead to a reduction in the percentage of undernourished from 5.7% under the business as usual trajectory to 2.8% by 2030. Focusing on agricultural producers through the enhancement of yields will only lead to a reduction in the percentage undernourished to 5.3% by 2030. Intensification measures may not be effective in reducing undernourishment and promoting healthier food choices, as the increased production is partly directed towards cash crops and exports . Under the intensification scenario, production increases are concentrated in coffee and soy. Under the reduction in undernourishment scenario, production increases are observed primarily for rice, soy and sweet potatoes, crops that directly benefit consumption. Therefore, well-targeted policies towards not only reducing undernourishment but also improving diets will lead to more calorie and nutrient rich consumption patterns compared to an intensification scenario where the focus is purely on increasing agricultural production. Scenarios focused solely on the environment result in slight increases in the percentage of undernourished individuals, especially in the longer term. This is because environmental policies that limit land cover conversion or put a price on emissions from agriculture and land use activities reduce the amount of productive land available for conversion to cropland and increase production costs. Regarding the socio-economic sustainability of the agri-food system, we find that different crops will benefit from either agricultural intensification or support to consumers. Cash crops like coffee and crops used to feed livestock such as soybeans will gain in terms of value added, by respectively 59.4% and 57.4% by 2030 under an intensification scenario. On the other hand, root crops like cassava and sweet potatoes, which are healthy staple foods, will gain in value added, by respectively 25.5% and 18.4% by 2030 under a scenario with higher demand for these types of crops (POU). Under a combined scenario with both POU and intensification, both cash crops and root crops will gain in value added. At the same time, food prices go down in the INT_POU scenario, leading to cost savings for the government in case of food subsidies to meet the targeted reduction in undernourishment. Regarding environmental sustainability, a scenario focusing only on a decrease in undernourishment leads to an increase in the cropland extent and in emissions. Cropland expansion is driven by the additional demand for certain crops (+0.5mln ha compared to the base in 2030 and +0.49mln ha compared to the base by 2045). If primary forests are subject to a moratorium, other potentially biodiverse-rich land covers, like natural lands are likely to be converted more. Combining scenarios can mitigate negative emissions effects compared to a business-as-usual scenario, but may not achieve individual goals (e.g. no reduced deforestation under CONS-INT-POU). In both the short and long term, a conservation scenario is the most effective in "saving" primary forests (+1.9% or nearly 1 million hectares (0.97) by 2030 and +1.8% or 1.2 million ha by 2045) compared to a carbon tax (+0.3% or 147,000 hectares by 2030 or +1.4% or 665 thousand ha by 2045). However, a conservation scenario also leads to a reduction in natural land (-0.6% or 146,000 hectares), which is not covered by the moratorium. A conservation and intensification scenario leads to the largest gains in primary forests (+2.3% or 1.2 million hectares by 2030 and up to 2 million ha by 2045) and natural land (+1.1% or 276,000 hectares by 2030 or 786 thousand ha by 2045). When also combining these two objectives with a target on reducing undernourishment, it becomes possible to reduce emissions, particularly those caused by changes in land cover, without increasing the percentage of undernourished people. The analysis of policy interventions and its outcomes primarily focuses on the national level. However, implementing these interventions across Indonesia, being an archipelago, could lead to increased transaction costs, such as higher food distribution expenses. Currently, most of the food production occurs in Java. Initial findings from GLOBIOM suggest that targeting these food producing hotspots can yield quick wins in terms of e.g. food production and food availability. Nonetheless, regions outside of Java have the highest rates of undernourishment, indicating the need for further research to explore regional variations in meeting policy objectives

Phenotypic and functional characterization of corneal endothelial cells during in vitro expansion.

The advent of cell culture-based methods for the establishment and expansion of human corneal endothelial cells (CEnC) has provided a source of transplantable corneal endothelium, with a significant potential to challenge the one donor-one recipient paradigm. However, concerns over cell identity remain, and a comprehensive characterization of the cultured CEnC across serial passages has not been performed. To this end, we compared two established CEnC culture methods by assessing the transcriptomic changes that occur during in vitro expansion. In confluent monolayers, low mitogenic culture conditions preserved corneal endothelial cell state identity better than culture in high mitogenic conditions. Expansion by continuous passaging induced replicative cell senescence. Transcriptomic analysis of the senescent phenotype identified a cell senescence signature distinct for CEnC. We identified activation of both classic and new cell signaling pathways that may be targeted to prevent senescence, a significant barrier to realizing the potential clinical utility of in vitro expansion

Biometfical genetic analysis of serum Cholesterol response and basal serum HDL cholesterol level in the rabbit

The inheritance of the susceptibility for dietary cholesterol (serum cholesterol response) and of basal serum HDL cholesterol level in the rabbit have been studied by measuring serum total cholesterol levels and HDL cholesterol levels in animalsfrom crosses between hyperresponding and hyporesponding inbred strains. The serum cholesterol response and basal serum HDL cholesterol levels of the resulting six populations (the two parental strains, Fl-hybrid, two baekerosses and F7)were subjected to a biomedical genetic analysis to determine the number of loci involved and the (narrow sense) heritability 0f the two traits. The study revealed that 30% of the individual variation of the serum cholesterol response is under geneticcontrol and that 10 to 16 loci may be involved. The heritability for basal serum HDL cholesterol levels was 50 to 80%, whereas two to five loci may be involved in regulating the basal serum HDL cholesterol level in rabbits

Addressing climate change adaptation with a stochastic integrated assessment model: Analysis of common agricultural policy measures

Stochastic agro-economic model GLOBIOM is used to demonstrate how best to design and evaluate the CAP’s financial and structural measures, both individually and jointly, in the face of inherent uncertainty and risk. The model accounts for plausible shocks simultaneously and derives measures that are robust against all shock scenarios; it can thus help avoid the irreversibility and sunk costs that occur in unexpected scenarios.To allow adequate agricultural production, we show that the distribution of CAP funds needs to account for exposure to risks, security targets, and the synergies between policy measures, including production, trade, storage, and irrigation technologies

Unveiling the Toxicity of Fine and Nano-Sized Airborne Particles Generated from Industrial Thermal Spraying Processes in Human Alveolar Epithelial Cells

High-energy industrial processes have been associated with particle release into workplace air that can adversely affect workers' health. The present study assessed the toxicity of incidental fine (PGFP) and nanoparticles (PGNP) emitted from atmospheric plasma (APS) and high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, 2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-5-tetrazolio]-1,3-benzene disulfonate (WST-1) metabolisation, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, cell cycle changes, histone H2AX phosphorylation (γ-H2AX) and DNA damage were evaluated in human alveolar epithelial cells at 24 h after exposure. Overall, HVOF particles were the most cytotoxic to human alveolar cells, with cell viability half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 20.18 μg/cm2 and 1.79 μg/cm2 for PGFP and PGNP, respectively. Only the highest tested concentration of APS-PGFP caused a slight decrease in cell viability. Particle uptake, cell cycle arrest at S + G2/M and γ-H2AX augmentation were observed after exposure to all tested particles. However, higher levels of γ-H2AX were found in cells exposed to APS-derived particles (~16%), while cells exposed to HVOF particles exhibited increased levels of oxidative damage (~17% tail intensity) and ROS (~184%). Accordingly, APS and HVOF particles seem to exert their genotoxic effects by different mechanisms, highlighting that the health risks of these process-generated particles at industrial settings should not be underestimated. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding text 1: transitória (Ref. DL-57/INSA-06/2018). Thanks are also due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to EPIUnit and ITR (UIDB/04750/2020 and LA/P/0064/2020). Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable. Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.; Funding text 2: Funding: This research was funded by the project CERASAFE with the support of ERA-NET SIINN (project id:16) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; SIINN/0004/2014). This work was also supported by the project NanoBioBarriers (PTDC/MED-TOX/31162/2017), cofinanced by the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) through European Regional Development Funds (FEDER/FNR) and FCT and the Spanish Ministry of Sci- ence and Innovation (projects PCIN-2015-173-C02-01 and CEX2018-000794-S-Severo Ochoa). M.J. Bessa (SFRH/BD/120646/2016) and F. Brandão (SFRH/BD/101060/2014) are recipients of FCT PhD scholarships under the framework of the Human Capital Operating Program (POCH) and European Union funding. The Doctoral Program in Biomedical Sciences of the ICBAS—University of Porto Int.J.Mol. Sci. 2022,of23fer, x FOR PEER REVIEWed additional funds. S. Fraga thanks FCT for funding through program DL 57/2016—Norm