The health determinants in young children: Testing a new surveillance system in Italy

In recent years, the scientific community has stressed the need to invest in the first 1,000 days of life - the time spanning between conception and the 2nd birthday - because it is during this period that the foundations of health are laid and whose effects will be present throughout the life and may influence the next generation. Taking this into account, in 2013 the National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CCM) of the Italian Ministry of Health promoted and financed a project to test a surveillance system of the main determinants of health concerning the child between the conception period and the 2nd years of life which are included in the National Programme “GenitoriPiù”: folic acid before and during pregnancy, abstention from tobacco and alcohol during pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding, infant sleep position, vaccination attitude, and early reading. The Project, started in January 2014 and ended in August 2016, has piloted the design, testing, and evaluation of the surveillance system with the view to national extension and the repeatability over time. The surveillance system has been designed to collect data through a questionnaire compiled by mothers in vaccination centres, in order to produce indicators which will enable territorial and intertempo-ral comparisons to be made. The project has shown the feasibility of this system, identifying favourable conditions and possible difficulties, and its ability to collect important information on children's health

Ciliegie, la qualità passa da una raccolta tempestiva

Colore, peso, zuccheri, acidità e soprattutto durezza danno precise indicazioni agli agricoltori sulle tempistich

Local or global? Does internationalization drive innovation in clusters?

Innovation in clusters is initially rooted in proximity among specialized actors, but over time it results from an interplay between the local and global levels. The internationalization of production and the relocation of cluster manufacturing activities abroad open a debate on the impact of such dynamics upon innovation, between knowledge acquisition opportunities and the weakening of local innovation activities. This paper contributes to the debate by empirically testing whether internationalization has an impact on cluster firms\u2019 innovation outputs. Based on a survey conducted among 259 Italian cluster firms, the results show that upstream and downstream internationalization per se does not impact innovation, measuring product, process, organizational, and marketing innovation outputs. On the contrary, collaboration with external actors, such as designers, research centres or universities, has a positive effect on firms\u2019 innovation outputs. This is consistent with the cluster model and with previous studies focusing on innovation in the cluster context. Our analyses show that it is not internationalization that matters when it comes to innovation for cluster firms. Innovation performances are influenced by the relational capabilities of cluster firms to connect and manage collaboration even outside the cluster scale

Apiognomonia erythrostoma: an emerging disease of stone fruits in Italy

Apiognomonia erythrostoma is a fungal pathogen of stone fruits known as the causal agent of cherry leaf scorch. In the Emilia-Romagna region the disease has been reported since 2001 on apricot, and severe infections have been recorded on sweet cherry trees since 2013. In 2015, symptoms resembling those made by A. erythrostoma were observed on sweet cherry in a mountainous area in the Trentino region. Symptoms on the leaves start with pale green spots that turn yellow and red, while affected areas become necrotic and the leaves dry up, remaining attached to the tree. Irregular red areas appear on the fruit, causing deformity and cracks. In Emilia-Romagna, a preliminary epidemiological study on apricot was carried out in the field over three years, with the aim of determining infection events. Dead, overwintered leaves containing fruiting bodies of A. erythrostoma were collected from apricot trees and investigated for ascospore maturation. Maturation and release of ascospores was correlated with degree days and compared with infections in the field. This preliminary investigation provided information about the first, maximum peak and end of ascospore release. Monitoring of the presence of the disease in Emilia-Romagna and Trentino was carried out in the main apricot and cherry growing areas. Typical symptoms on leaves, fruit and the reproductive structures of A. erythrostoma were found both in orchards and on wild cherry trees in the surrounding areas, suggesting that infected uncultivated trees may act as an inoculum source for the pathogen. In 2016, preliminary epidemiological studies of perithecial maturation, ascospore release and symptom development on potted plants were also carried out in Trentino. Potted cherry plants were exposed to ascospore infection from infected cherry leaf litter. Ascospore release was monitored by means of a volumetric spore trap placed over the leaf litter. Potted cherry plants were exposed and replaced weekly with healthy ones. The first ascospores were detected by the spore trap during the first ten days of April, with a peak at the end of May, in conjunction with rain. Symptoms on leaves appeared four to six weeks after the infection event. Further studies will be necessary to fully understand the biology and the epidemiology of this fungus in northern Italy, in order to implement an effective control strateg

Seasonal reproductive biology of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in temperate climates

Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura; Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a key pest of sweet cherry and small fruits worldwide. The present studies were designed to describe the reproductive physiology in both sexes, through dissections of their reproductive organs. We extensively dissected female D. suzukii throughout the season from 2013 to 2016 and classified the reproductive status flies based on five recognizable ovarian maturation stages: 1) no ovaries; 2) unripe ovaries 3) ripening eggs in ovarioles; 4) mature eggs in ovarioles; and 5) mature eggs in the abdomen. Development was examined as a function of calendar days as well as degree-days (DD). Results obtained from winter collections revealed that females collected from November to March contained a lower percentage of mature eggs than females collected from April to September. These data suggest that environmental conditions during the dormant period induce reproductive diapause. Oogenesis likely increased with an increase in mean monthly temperatures and DD. The first overwintered females with mature eggs were dissected as early as 21 February 2014 in Trento (7 DD). Additionally, we found that a low proportion of males (less than 50%) had sperm in their testes between January and March, yet during the same period females already have sperm stored in their spermathecal. Ivy berries was an alternative but unfavorable non-crop host during the late dormant period, as evidenced by emergence of smaller adults when compared to individuals emerging from cherry fruits. This study showed that D. suzukii females have great potential for oviposition early in the season, posing a risk to early season maturing crop hosts

Occupational ergonomics: Work posture among Brazilian dental students

This study involved observational assessment of work posture in relation to recommended ergonomic posture the requirements necessary for ergonomic posture among students in the final year of a degree program at the School of Dentistry of Araraquara-UNESP/Brazil (n =73) and investigation of the association of work posture with sex, the type of procedure, four-handed dentistry, and the region of the mouth being treated. The work posture of the students during 250 clinical procedures was observed by means of pictures. Each procedure received a posture classification: Adequate, partially adequate, or inadequate. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted. The prevalence of final posture classification was calculated using 95% confidence intervals and point estimate. Associations of interest were studied using the chi-square test, with a 5% significance level. It was concluded that the prevalence of procedures performed with partially adequate posture was high, and that the final work posture classification was not associated with the variables of interest. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group