Using Information from Mid Term Evaluations of RDP for the Multicriteria Analysis of Agri-environmental Schemes

This paper discusses how environmental indicators and multicriteria methodologies can support the ex post evaluation of Agri-Environmental Schemes. The paper is based on information from the Mid term evaluation of the Rural Development Programmes and develops around an example that compares Ireland and Emilia-Romagna. The results show that the application of Agri-Environmental Schemes only partially achieves to local objectives, and the way in which the Agri-Environmental Schemes are implemented can be reasonably improved. However, the tentative analysis emphasizes the scarcity of quantitative data that can be related to effectiveness, the lack of predetermined quantitatively defined target levels of objectives and the difficulty to assess the relative importance of different evaluation criteria. Clearly, the ability to properly evaluate the results depends not only on the amount of information gathered, but also on the formalisation of a clear evaluation framework at the design stage of schemes.agri-environmental schemes, mid term evaluation, multifunctional agriculture, indicators, multicriteria analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q1, Q18, Q2,

Active E-Learning by Doing with ALDO

It has been proved how teaching and learning educational processes can largely benefit from the application of ICT-based services within e-learning platforms, such as collaborative editing and advanced data visualizations. However, among state-of-the-art solutions, no one is able to tackle the problem in a comprehensive way. In this extended abstract, we discuss ALDO (Active e-Learning by DOing), a novel, advanced digital framework supporting integrated facilities for effective, active e-learning. ALDO includes an active repository for collecting, sharing, retrieving, and analyzing relevant materials, collaborative editing services, an e-learning platform, and advanced visualization tools to inspect the spatial and temporal dimension of specific data contexts. All such services and tools are made available to teachers/students through a dedicated Web portal. Although the present research was carried out within the H2020 Project DETECt (Detecting Transcultural Identity in European Popular Crime Narratives), by focusing on the specific data context of European crime narrative, the generality of the framework makes it suitable for any type of educational task. The design and creation of above tools and services, together with their uses, are presented and discussed through a series of real examples taken from DETECt

Evaluation of Common Bean Varieties for Yield and Yield Component in Segen Area Peoples Zone SNNPRS, Ethiopia

Studies on the evaluation of variety performance provide opportunities to increase productivity of common bean. Therefore, the current study evaluates the performance of varieties on yield and yield components of common bean during the main cropping season of 2015 and 2016 at four locations in Segen Zone,Konso woreda (Southwestern Ethiopia) with the objectives of  selecting high yielding common bean varieties those are adapted to the study area. Fifteen released common bean varieties and one local cultivar were planted in randomized complete block design with three replications. The analysis revealed that significant variation for all traits except maturity date. Highest yield obtained from Nasir(2136 kgha-1) and Hawassa dume (1948 kgha-1) followed by Sari (1751 kgha-1) were as at Addis Gebere, high grain yield was obtained from Sari (2227 kgha-1), Hawassa dume (2111 kgha-1) and Dimtu (2073 kgha-1). For average mean yield from overall location, high yield obtained from Hawassa dume (2129 kgha-1) and Nasir (2002 kgha-1) followed by Sari (1989 kgha-1). Results revealed that Hawassa dume, Nasir and Sari were best performed and better adapted varieties than the others respectively. Therefore, the above mentioned varieties are promising varieties for the production area and recommendable for area with similar agro-ecologies. Keywords: Phaseolus Vulagris L, Evaluation, Grain yield,Varieties

Current Management of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: From Demolitive Surgery to Observation

Incidental diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) greatly increased in the last years. In particular, more frequent diagnosis of small PanNETs leads to many challenging clinical decisions. These tumors are mostly indolent, although a percentage (up to 39%) may reveal an aggressive behaviour despite the small size. Therefore, there is still no unanimity about the best management of tumor smaller than 2 cm. The risks of under/overtreatment should be carefully evaluated with the patient and balanced with the potential morbidities related to surgery. The importance of the Ki-67 index as a prognostic factor is still debated as well. Whenever technically feasible, parenchyma-sparing surgeries lead to the best chance of organ preservation. Lymphadenectomy seems to be another important prognostic issue and, according to recent findings, should be performed in noninsulinoma patients. In the case of enucleation of the lesion, a lymph nodal sampling should always be considered. The relatively recent introduction of minimally invasive techniques (robotic) is a valuable option to deal with these tumors. The current management of PanNETs is analysed throughout the many available published guidelines and evidences with the aim of helping clinicians in the difficult decision-making process

Effect of high-pass filtering on ECG signal on the analysis of patients prone to atrial fibrillation

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of filtering techniques on the time-domain analysis of the ECG. Multi-lead ECG recordings obtained from chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) patients after successful external cardioversion have been acquired. Several high-pass filtering techniques and three cut-off frequency values were used: Bessel and Butterworth four-pole and two-pole bidirectional and unidirectional filters, at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.5 Hz low cut-off frequency. As a reference, a beat-by-beat linear piecewise interpolation was used to remove baseline wander, on each P-wave. Results show that ECG filtering affects the estimation of P-wave duration in a manner that depends upon the type of filter used: particularly, the bidirectional filters caused negligible variation of P-wave duration, while unidirectional ones provoked an increase higher than 8%