Comprehensive and Integrated Impact Assessment Framework for Development Policies Evaluation: Definition and Application to Kenyan Coffee Sector

The coexistence of the need to improve economic conditions and the conscious use of environmental resources plays a central role in today’s sustainable development challenge. In this study, a novel integrated framework to evaluate the impact of new technological interventions is presented and an application to smallholder coffee farms and their supply chains in Kenya is proposed. This methodology is able to combine multiple information through the joint use of three approaches: supply chain analysis, input-output analysis, and energy system modeling. Application to the context of the Kenyan coffee sector enables framework validation: shading management measures, the introduction of eco-pulpers, and the exploitation of coffee waste biomass for power generation were compared within a holistic high-level perspective. The implementation of shading practices, carried out with fruit trees, shows the most relevant effects from the economic point of view, providing farmers with an additional source of income and generating $903 of work for every million of local currency (about$9k) invested in this solution. The same investment would save up to 1.46 M m3 of water per year with the eco-pulpers technology. Investing the same amount in coffee-biomass power plants would displace a small portion of production from heavy-duty oil and avoid importing a portion of fertilizer, saving up to 11 tons of CO2 and around $4k per year. The results suggest the optimal allocation of a$100m budget, which can be affected by adding additional constraints on minimum environmental or social targets in line with sustainable development goals

Evaluation of family history in individuals with heterozygous BRCA pathogenic variants diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer in a single center in Italy

Abstract Background BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are responsible for 5% of breast cancer (BC) and 10–15% of ovarian cancer (EOC). The presence of a germline mutation and therefore the identification of subjects at high risk of developing cancer should ideally precede the onset of the disease, so that appropriate surveillance and risk‐reducing treatments can be proposed. In this study, we revisited the family history (FH) of women who tested positive for BRCA mutations after being diagnosed with BC or EOC. Methods The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), and the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) guidelines were applied to the FH of 157 women who were referred to San Gerardo Hospital for genetic counseling. Results Almost 85% of women had an FH of BRCA‐related cancer. 63.7% and 52.2% of women could have undergone genetic testing according to NCCN and AIOM testing criteria (p < .05) before tumor diagnosis. An FH of EOC was the most frequent NCCN criterion, followed by BC diagnosed <45 years old. Sixty‐five percent of deceased women could have undergone genetic testing before developing cancer. Conclusions FH is a powerful tool to identify high‐risk individuals eligible for genetic counseling and testing. Testing of healthy individuals should be considered when an appropriately affected family member is unavailable for testing

A method of surface texturization of silicon by a maskless plasma process

Deep surface texturization boosts novel applications of Silicon and improves its performances in selected fields. Micrometric or sub-micrometric texturized Silicon, increases optical absorption, what may contribute to improve optical detection and solar cell efficiency [1,2]. The definition of pillars and grooves also functionalizes the surface as a scaffold for biomedical applications, by inducing selective antibacterial characteristics [3].In this work we introduce a reactive mask-less method to achieve deep texturing of Silicon by using CF4/H2-based processing in a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) system [4]. The RF (13.56 MHz) powered electrode of the PECVD apparatus works as a support for the substrates. Operating parameters in the range of 0.05- 0.1 mbar (gas pressure), 200-280 W (RF power) and 20-30 min(processing time) issue random pillars as high as 300 nm, with diameters in the range of 100-150 nm. The plasma has been investigated in the different operating conditions by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). OES spectra show the presence of F, C, H neutral atomic lines and CF2 ro-vibronic narrow bands (Ã1B1 – X ̃1A1) in the 245-325 nm range; also CO and CO+ ro-vibronic bands due to the oxygen desorbed by the chamber walls are identified. As confirmed from OES, the plasma process takes place in high fragmentation regime and so many radicals are produced, in particular, the main precursors for the deposition (CFx) and etching (F*) are evident. In order to understand which reactions are at the basis of the mask-less etching process and to assess the nature of the passivation layer on the surface and in the bulk of the Si samples, OES analysis has been combined with results from XPS, SIMS and Scanning Auger Micro-spectroscopy. Reflectance of the treated silicon surface has been characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere. An overall average reflectance lower than 10% in the visible and near-IR spectrum has been demonstrated. Mask-less Fluorine plasma-etched black silicon is therefore appealing to increase optical absorption in the solar spectrum. Biomedical applications are under test [1] Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 062105 (2015); doi: 10.1063/1.4907988 [2] Nature Nanotech., 7, 743 (2012) [3] Nature Commun. 4, Article number: 2838 doi:10.1038/ncomms3838 [4] Lieberman M A and Lichtenberg A J 1994 Principles of Plasma Discharges and Materials Processing (New York: Wiley