Information exchange and future plans of Slovenian cattle farmers under EU policies

After accession to EU, farmers in the new-member states have to adjust to the EU agricultural policies and market. In Slovenia an analysis is made of the farm development plans and information exchange under quota and CAP. Three research questions were addressed: what information is received and how; how does the farmer prefer to receive information and what kind; how to make decisions to react to the new EU policies concerning farm management and future plans. These questions were linked to the base variables, being the farm and farmers’ characteristics. As tool a questionnaire was distributed to dairy farmers. 1114 questionnaires, 22% of the distributed ones have been returned anonymously, implying that 11% of the dairy farmers’ population is part of the analysis. It appeared that the research sample of farmers used represents the more future oriented farmers. As main factors describing the farm and farmers’ characteristics were found farm size, age and number of other activities than dairy. Results show that nearly all farmers did receive information about some specific aspects of the quota system. Communication channels dealing with this administrative info and also with farm management advice are divers, but frequency of direct contact with advisors may be less than predicted. Results also indicate a very significant demand for info about strategic planning, farm management aspects and EU premium programs, especially about CAP general policies and milk premiums, and a considerable activity in farm planning. About 40% of farmers choose for keeping the farm business the same and 50% intend to develop the farm further.CAP, Slovenian cattle farmers, information, decisions, future plans, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Q18,

SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 and CD45 Correlation with Disease Recurrence and Long-Term Disease-Free Survival in Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND: SPARC is a matricellular protein involved in tissue remodelling, cell migration and angiogenesis, while forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) protein functions as a transcription factor involved in immune cell regulation. Both SPARC and FOXP3 can play an anti-tumorigenic role in cancer progression. The aim was to determine if SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 and CD45RO expression levels are associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) stage, disease outcome and long-term cancer-specific survival (CSS) in stage II and III CRC. METHODS AND FINDINGS: SPARC expression was initially assessed in 120 paired normal and stage I-IV CRCs. Subsequently, approximately 1000 paired patient samples of stage II or III CRCs in tissue microarrays were stained for SPARC, FOXP3, CD8 or CD45RO. Proportional hazards modelling assessed correlations between these markers and clinicopathological data, including disease outcome and cancer specific survival (CSS). Both SPARC and FOXP3 expression were significantly greater in CRC than normal colon (p<0.0001). High SPARC expression correlated with good disease outcome (≥60 mths without disease recurrence, p = 0.0039) and better long-term CSS in stage II CRC (<0.0001). In stage III CRC, high SPARC expression correlated with better long-term CSS (p<0.0001) and less adjuvant chemotherapy use (p = 0.01). High FOXP3 correlated with a good disease outcome, better long-term CSS and less adjuvant chemotherapy use in stage II (p<0.0037, <0.0001 and p = 0.04 respectively), but not in stage III CRC. High CD8 and CD45RO expression correlated with better disease outcome in stage II CRC, and better CSS, but the differences were not as marked as for SPARC and FOXP3. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that high SPARC and FOXP3 are associated with better disease outcome in stage II CRC and may be prognostic indicators of CSS. Further assessment of whether these markers predict patients at high risk of recurrence with stage II CRC and functional studies of these effects are underway

Information exchange and future plans of Slovenian cattle farmers under EU policies

After accession to EU, farmers in the new-member states have to adjust to the EU agricultural policies and market. In Slovenia an analysis is made of the farm development plans and information exchange under quota and CAP. Three research questions were addressed: what information is received and how; how does the farmer prefer to receive information and what kind; how to make decisions to react to the new EU policies concerning farm management and future plans. These questions were linked to the base variables, being the farm and farmers’ characteristics. As tool a questionnaire was distributed to dairy farmers. 1114 questionnaires, 22% of the distributed ones have been returned anonymously, implying that 11% of the dairy farmers’ population is part of the analysis. It appeared that the research sample of farmers used represents the more future oriented farmers. As main factors describing the farm and farmers’ characteristics were found farm size, age and number of other activities than dairy. Results show that nearly all farmers did receive information about some specific aspects of the quota system. Communication channels dealing with this administrative info and also with farm management advice are divers, but frequency of direct contact with advisors may be less than predicted. Results also indicate a very significant demand for info about strategic planning, farm management aspects and EU premium programs, especially about CAP general policies and milk premiums, and a considerable activity in farm planning. About 40% of farmers choose for keeping the farm business the same and 50% intend to develop the farm further

Liver iron homeostasis is altered by colonic inflammation and dietary iron

Background Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) develop anaemia of inflammation (AI) due to disturbances in iron homeostasis that limits the availability of iron for erythropoiesis. Aims In this study, the effects of colonic inflammation and dietary iron levels on liver iron homeostasis were investigated in a mouse model of colitis. Methods Colonic inflammation was induced by the administration of dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) to mice fed either an iron-supplemented (1%) or control iron (0.01%) diet. Liver and plasma iron concentrations as well as plasma transferrin saturation were measured biochemically. Liver gene expression was determined by real-time PCR and plasma IL-6 levels were measured by ELISA. Results DSS-induced colonic inflammation increased plasma IL-6 levels. Dietary iron supplementation further enhanced colonic inflammation and plasma IL-6 levels (p < 0.0001). Liver iron and plasma transferrin saturation were elevated in dietary iron-supplemented mice. Post-DSS treatment, liver iron levels increased (p < 0.01) and transferrin saturation decreased (p < 0.01) in mice fed the iron-supplemented and control iron diets, consistent with the presence of AI. Liver expression of the iron regulatory genes, hepcidin (Hamp1) and inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (Id1), was upregulated by dietary iron (p < 0.01) but unexpectedly downregulated by DSS treatment (p < 0.05). Smad7 gene expression was decreased in DSStreated mice and Bmp6 expression was increased by dietary iron supplementation (p < 0.001). Dietary iron supplementation decreased the gene expression of the iron importer transferrin receptor 1 (Tfr1), congruent with the iron-dependent regulation of Tfr1 and expression and further diminished by DSS treatment (p < 0.05). Gene expression of the iron importer Zip14 was increased (p < 0.05) whilst that of the iron exporter ferroportin 1A was decreased (p < 0.0001) with DSS treatment, consistent with the retention of iron by the liver. Conclusion The perturbations in iron homeostasis resulting from increased colonic inflammation observed in this study are consistent with AI. The regulatory pathways for the changes seen, however, are unclear. The lack of induction of Hamp1 expression by plasma IL-6 levels suggests that other regulatory signals may impede hepcidin induction by inflammation. A possible candidate is the erythroid signal as increased erythropoietic activity is known to be a strong negative regulator of hepcidin