The spread of no-till in conservation agriculture systems in Italy: indications for rural development policy-making

Abstract No-tillage is a farming system aiming at minimizing soil disturbance associated with the cultivation of arable crops. This technique, together with the practices of continuous soil cover and of crop rotation, also represents one of the elements of the so called Conservation agriculture, a paradigm of sustainable agriculture that is spreading in many areas of the globe. The aim of the work is to examine the spread of No-tillage in Italy analyzing the modalities of adoption and the factors that can influence it. Modalities of adoption can vary depending on whether No-tillage represents an incremental innovation within the ordinary management of the farm, or a complementary element of an alternative technological paradigm identifiable with Conservation agriculture. Factors influencing the adoption of No-tillage, widely studied in the literature, concern the characteristics of the natural environment, the structural features of the holdings (i.e. size) and also the presence of knowledge spillovers that are largely the result of spatial networks between farmers and other stakeholders. Elaborations have been first of all aimed at distinguishing the two types of modalities of adoption and subsequently at verifying the influence of the factors mentioned above, in particular through the Local Moran Index. In summary, the work describes how the diffusion of No-tillage practices can be partly ascribed to a cost saving-oriented incremental innovation process in the framework of a conventional paradigm of agriculture that mainly pertain to large size holdings. However, there is a significant number of farms where the adoption of No-tillage practices demonstrates the decision to try a more comprehensive reorganization of the way of doing agriculture, similar to the paradigm of Conservation agriculture, and in which the cognitive and relational aspects related to the aforementioned networks seem to be very important. Spatial analysis has allowed to depict two models of adaptation to the paradigm of Conservation agriculture: one is mainly concentrated in the rural areas of the central-northern Apennines, and another is located mainly in two regions of southern Italy (Puglia and Sicily)

Incisional hernia in the elderly: Risk factors and clinical considerations

AbstractObjective: Ventral incisional hernia is a common complication of abdominal surgery. The marked improvements in medical technology and healthcare, lead to an increasing number of elderly patients to take advantage of even complex surgical procedures. The objective of this literature review was to analyze the risk factors for ventral incisional hernia in elderly patients and to identify measures that might decrease the incidence of this complication. Materials and methods: An analysis of the surgical literature was performed using the search engines EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and PubMed with particular reference to elderly patients using the keywords: abdominal hernia, wound dehiscence, incisional hernia, incidence, trocar site hernia, and hernia prevention. Results: In our opinion the risk factors for incisional hernia should be separately considered. First those related to the patients and to the abdominal surgery and, in addition, those related to the surgery of the abdominal wall defects. Conclusions: Reparative surgery of the abdominal wall, to date uniquely characterized by the use of the mesh, should be considered an additional risk factor for the occurrence of incisional hernia. However, the low incarceration risk, the risk of recurrence, the relevant rate of postoperative pain and discomfort and complications associated with mesh repair, as small bowel obstruction, mesh infection, and entero-cutaneous fistula, suggest that the general indication for surgical treatment of incisional hernias, in a symptomatic or oligosymptomatic elderly patients, should be critically reconsidered in order to avoid unnecessary surgery

RST Analysis of Anomalous TIR Sequences in Relation with Earthquakes Occurred in Turkey in the Period 2004–2015

first_pagesettings Open AccessArticle RST Analysis of Anomalous TIR Sequences in Relation with Earthquakes Occurred in Turkey in the Period 2004–2015 by Carolina Filizzola 1ORCID,Angelo Corrado 2,Nicola Genzano 2ORCID,Mariano Lisi 1ORCID,Nicola Pergola 1ORCID,Roberto Colonna 2 andValerio Tramutoli 2,*ORCID 1 Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, National Research Council, 85050 Potenza, Italy 2 School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Academic Editor: Stephan Havemann Remote Sens. 2022, 14(2), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14020381 Received: 12 November 2021 / Revised: 8 January 2022 / Accepted: 11 January 2022 / Published: 14 January 2022 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Remote Sensing Systems for Disaster Management and Risk Mitigation) Download PDF Browse Figures Citation Export Abstract The paper provides, for the first time, a long-term (>10 years) analysis of anomalous transients in Earth’s emitted radiation over Turkey and neighbouring regions. The RST (Robust Satellite Techniques) approach is used to identify Significant Sequences of Thermal Anomalies (SSTAs) over about 12 years (May 2004 to October 2015) of night-time MSG-SEVIRI satellite images. The correlation analysis is performed with earthquakes with M ≥ 4, which occurred in the investigated period/region within a pre-defined space-time volume around SSTA occurrences. It confirms, also for Turkey, the possibility to qualify SSTAs among the candidate parameters of a multi-parametric system for time-Dependent Assessment of Seismic Hazard (t-DASH). After analysing about 4000 images (about 400 million of single satellite records), just 155 SSTAs (about 4 every 100 images) were isolated; 115 (74% out of the total) resulted in earthquake-related (false-positive rate 26%). Results of the error diagram confirms a non-casual correlation between RST-based SSTAs and earthquake occurrences, with probability gain values up to 2.2 in comparison with the random guess. The analysis, separately performed on Turkish areas characterized by different faults and earthquakes densities, demonstrates the SSTA correlation with a dynamic seismicity more than with static tectonic settings

Estimate of the prevalence of subjects with gambling-related problems requiring treatment: a study in Northern Italy

The aims of this study, which analyzes the data related to subjects who for the first time turned to a hospital or to a Public Service Dedicated to Drug Addicts or to a Community Mental Health Center for problems related to pathological gambling in the metropolitan area of Bologna (Northern Italy) in the period  2000/2015, were: to describe characteristics and problems of pathological gamblers (PGs); to estimate the prevalence of PGs using the capture-recapture method. 495 residents were identified, with an estimate of 1570 PGs and a prevalence of 1.78 per 1000. We highlight a high number of new cases in the period after 2010. Most patients are males, aged from 40 to 50 years, 12% was born abroad, one in three suffers from other mental disorders, 9% has alcohol dependence, 8% drug dependence. We should point out the low level of education and the high presence of unemployed subjects. 

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in the management of ovarian cancer

Among the pharmaceutical options available for treatment of ovarian cancer, much attention has been progressively focused on pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD), whose unique formulation, which entraps conventional doxorubicin in a bilayer lipidic sphere surrounded by a polyethylene glycol layer, prolongs the persistence of the drug in the circulation and potentiates intratumor drug accumulation. These properties enable this drug to sustain its very favorable toxicity profile and to be used safely in combination with other drugs. PLD has been already approved for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer patients failing first-line platinum-based treatment. Moreover, phase III trials have been already completed, and results are eagerly awaited, which hopefully will expand the range of PLD clinical application in this neoplasia both in front-line treatment, and in the salvage setting in combination with other drugs. Moreover, attempts are continuing to enable this drug to be combined with novel cytotoxic drugs and target-based agents. This review aims at summarizing the available evidence and the new perspectives for the clinical role of PLD in the management of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

A Glycine-to-Arginine Substitution in the Triple-Helical Domain of Type VII Collagen in a Family with Dominant Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa

We recently demonstrated strong genetic linkage between the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1) and both the dominant and recessive forms of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. In this study, we searched for mutations in dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa using polymerase chain reaction amplification of segments of COL7A1, followed by heteroduplex analysis. Examination of the polymerase chain reaction corresponding to exon 73 revealed a heteroduplex resulting from a G-to-A transition at nucleotide 6127 in the triple-helical domain of COL7A1, which converted a glycine residue to an arginine (G2043R). The dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa phenotype in this family probably arose because of a dominant negative effect of this mutation in COL7A1, resulting in the formation of structurally abnormal anchoring fibrils

Spatiotemporal genetic variation of atlantic bluefin tunas from sardinian and mediterranean tuna traps

Tuna traps of the Sardinian and Mediterranean have provided from long to short term series of data and samples of bluefin tuna (BFT) populations inhabiting the Mediterranean. By analyzing genetic variation in BFT trap samples, we have shown that more than one BFT population have been entered and spread in the Mediterranean across the last century and that over short period, the interannual composition of BFT trap catches are genetically constant