The impact of the reform of the milk quota regime on the Italian dairy sector

This paper analyses the impact of the milk quota regime reform, actually under discussion, on the European countries with a detailed focus on the Italian milk and dairy sector. The dismantling of the milk quota regime is already on the EU agenda, but how and when to do it is still matter of debate. A possibility is to enlarge gradually the size of the national quotas, up to the full dismantling in 2015 (“soft landing”). Meanwhile, the discussion on Health Check of the CAP is under way. In this work we analyse the possible impacts of the reform of the milk quota regime on the basis of a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approach, using two models in sequence: the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to evaluate the impacts of different scenarios of milk quota reform on the EU market and to compute the price changes outside Italy; these, in turn, are used as inputs for the MEG-D model, that focuses on the Italian milk and dairy market. The two models were run together with two specific objectives: the first was to avoid, in evaluating the impacts of reform of the milk sector regime in Italy, running the model with rough price estimates taken for secondary sources; the second, to have more specific results on the outcome at the national level. Particularly, the model takes in account the particular relevance of quality products (GDO) in Italian diary sector. In order to evaluate the impact of the “soft landing” reform scenario, we run a “comparison” scenario where the milk quotas are fully abolished in the 2009.Milk and dairy sector, Quota production, EU Agri-Food Market, PAC, Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Response of littoral chironomid community and organic matter to late glacial lake level and environmental changes at Lago dell'Accesa (Tuscany, Italy).

International audienceThis study focuses on the response of lacustrine littoral chironomid communities to late glacial changes in limnological, environmental and climate conditions in the Mediterranean context. Late glacial chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) assemblages, organic petrography and geochemistry were analysed in a sediment core from the littoral zone of Lago dell'Accesa (Tuscany, Italy), where the lake-level fluctuations and the vegetation history have been previously reconstructed. Comparison of the chironomid stratigraphy to other proxies (pollen assemblages, organic petrography and geochemistry, lake-level) and regional climate reconstruction suggested the predominant influence of lake-level changes on the littoral chironomid fauna. The main lowering events that occurred during the Oldest and the Younger Dryas were followed by higher proportions of taxa typical of littoral habitats. A complementary study of organic matter suggested the indirect impact of lake-level on the chironomids through changes in humic status and habitat characteristics, such as the type of substrate and aquatic macrophyte development. Several chironomid taxa, such as Glyptotendipes, Microtendipes and Cricotopus type patens, were identified as possible indicators of low lake-level in the late glacial records. Nevertheless, this study suggested that parallel analyses of organic matter and chironomid assemblages may be needed to circumvent misinterpretation of littoral chironomid assemblage stratigraphy. There was a weak response of the chironomid assemblages to small lake-level lowerings that corresponded to the Older Dryas and Preboreal oscillations. A higher level of determination, e.g. to the species group level, may be necessary to increase the sensibility of the indicators to lake-level changes

The impact of the reform of the milk quota regime on the Italian dairy sector

This paper analyses the impact of the milk quota regime reform, actually under discussion, on the European countries with a detailed focus on the Italian milk and dairy sector. The dismantling of the milk quota regime is already on the EU agenda, but how and when to do it is still matter of debate. A possibility is to enlarge gradually the size of the national quotas, up to the full dismantling in 2015 (“soft landing”). Meanwhile, the discussion on Health Check of the CAP is under way. In this work we analyse the possible impacts of the reform of the milk quota regime on the basis of a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) approach, using two models in sequence: the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to evaluate the impacts of different scenarios of milk quota reform on the EU market and to compute the price changes outside Italy; these, in turn, are used as inputs for the MEG-D model, that focuses on the Italian milk and dairy market. The two models were run together with two specific objectives: the first was to avoid, in evaluating the impacts of reform of the milk sector regime in Italy, running the model with rough price estimates taken for secondary sources; the second, to have more specific results on the outcome at the national level. Particularly, the model takes in account the particular relevance of quality products (GDO) in Italian diary sector. In order to evaluate the impact of the “soft landing” reform scenario, we run a “comparison” scenario where the milk quotas are fully abolished in the 2009

Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of Aloe vera and Punica granatum: onconutraceutical potential in intestinal epithelial cells

Intestinal epithelial cells play a pivotal role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Different noxious agents can damage the intestinal epithelial integrity. This damage is also associated with anticancer therapies resulting in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and pro-inflammatory factors overproduction, also at gastrointestinal level. Gastrointestinal mucositis is a frequent and severe side effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in cancer patients, affecting approximately 50 to 80% of patients [1,2]. Currently, no effective treatment exists for chemotherapy-induced mucositis, prompting the need to develop an anti-mucositis agents for use in clinics. Our study focused on the effect of Aloe barbadensis and Punica granatum combination in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) during oxidative stress and inflammatory conditions. Oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators such as ROS release, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H Quinone Dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1) expression, were evaluated by cytofluorimetric tecniques. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were evaluated by ELISA assay. Aloe barbadensis inhibited ROS production both during oxidative stress and in inflammatory conditions as well as COX-2 and iNOS expression, at all tested concentrations, during inflammation in IEC-6. In the same experimental conditions, Aloe barbadensis also increased the cytoprotective enzymes HO-1 and NQO1 expression and reduced TNF-α release. The treatment of IEC-6 with Aloe barbadensis plus Punica granatum (9:1 ratio) significantly increases the activity of Aloe barbadensis alone. Our results indicate that Aloe barbadensis and Punica granatum combination could be useful to reduce the oxidative stress and inflammatory-mediated complications, also associated to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, at intestinal level. References [1] Peterson DE, Bensadoun RJ, Roila F, Group EGW. Management of oral and gastrointestinal mucositis: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines. Ann Oncol 2011; 22 (Suppl 6): vi78–84 [2] Rosenthal DI, Trotti A. Strategies for managing radiation-induced mucositis in head and neck cancer. Semin Radiat Oncol 2009; 19: 29–3

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of dehydrated potato-derived bioactive compounds in intestinal cells

Inflammation and oxidative stress are always more recognized as responsible for chronic disease at the intestinal level. Currently, a growing interest is addressed to the discovery of diet-derived products which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This work aims to characterize the pharmacological potential of dehydrated potatoes. For this purpose, a simulated gastrointestinal digestion was carried out. The bioaccessible peptides were fractionated on the basis of their molecular weight and tested on intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) under oxidative and inflammatory conditions. Our results demonstrate that the tested peptide fractions were able to significantly inhibit tumor necrosis factor-α release and cycloxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. The tested peptides also showed significant antioxidant activity, being able to both reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) release, also from mitochondria, and nitrotyrosine formation, and increase the antioxidant response by heme oxygenase-1 and superoxide dismutase expression. Moreover, the peptide fractions were able to significantly increase the wound repair in IEC-6. The obtained results indicate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of dehydrated potatoes at the intestinal level

13th Young Medicinal Chemist's Symposium (13NPCF).

Breast and cervical cancer represents the first and the second cause of death for women worldwide1,2. Therefore, new advanced chemotherapies applications are very urgently needed this cancer. High attention has been paid to natural compounds in fruits and vegetables with potential nutraceutical properties. In this regard, dietary polyphenols have been widely demonstrated to be able to not only reduce oxidative and inflammatory stress, but also decrease proliferation of cancer cells. However, the biological activity of various food plants has not yet been studied. This work aims to characterize the nutraceutical potential of four fruits such as, Malpighia emarginata (MEE), Arbutus unedo (AUE), Goji berries (LBE), Annona cherimola (ACE). For this reason, our study focused on the evaluation of antioxidant potential and antiproliferative activity of polyphenol extracts on cervical cancer (HeLa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line

13th Young Medicinal Chemist's Symposium (13NPCF).

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is one of the most common tumors. CML iscaused by a geneticalteration of the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome, which forms the hybrid protein BCR/Abl1.Inhibiting BCR-ABL expression has long been the gold-standard approach in CML treatment. Trifolium repens (TR) , commonly known as white clover is used as a fodder crop for cattle, but to date,its potential anticancer activity has not been explored2. In this study, we investigated the antitumor action of TR in several cancer cell lines, focusing specifically on its effect in CML cells