Report on Italian Research in Organic Food and Farming (2000–2005)

In Italy since the eighties, the scientific community opened a discussion on how to face many agricultural critical points, reconsidering old but renewed approaches to make agriculture more environment and consumer-friendly. In 1988 the first coordinated project on OF&F (Biological and integrated control of crop and forest pest and disease) was financed by MIPAF, involving 46 researchunits (research centres and universities). But it was only in the last decade that interest in organic farming really took off, when production methods continued to develop, along with consumers’ keen concern to be supplied with more wholesome, environment-friendly products. There was a major increase in the number of producers, and new initiatives got on the way for processing and marketing organic products. Italy has become the European country with the largest cultivated surface (954,361 ha, including 246,318 ha under conversion from conventional to organic farming, in 2004). The total surface is mainly cultivated with forage crops and pastures (48 %); the rest is devoted to cereals (20 %), fruit tree, including vineyards and olive-tree (18 %), vegetables and industrial crops (4 %). These data refer to land cultivated under provision of EC Regulation 2092/91 and its modifications. The gradual recognition of the organic farming potential to create a high added value food market and socio-economic benefits to farmers, producing positive effects on environment, public health, social and rural development and animal welfare as well, has driven the European Union and Italy to adopt specific legislation and promote research actions. The following different European acts issued after the Council Regulation 2091/92, have all recognized organic farming as a strategic tool to realize a sustainable development of European society: the Council Regulation EC 1257/1999 supporting rural development; the EU Commission Strategy for Sustainable Development in 2001, the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme in 2002 and, finally, the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2003. The European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming (OF&F Plan) has been issued in June 2004, strongly supported by Italy during its EU chairing semester (June-December 2003). This document aims “to assess the situation and to lay down the basis for policy development in the coming years, thereby providing an overall strategic vision for organic farming’s contribution to the common agricultural policy (CAP)”. The Commission recognizes the dual key role of OF&F in food market and land management and the importance of research on organic farming and processing methods to exploit this potential (Action 7). Therefore, an important part of the country’s policies aimed at developing the organic sector has been addressed to strengthen research and training at different levels, adopting specific research programmes and farmers training to ensure the innovation transfer into agricultural practice with close cooperation among researchers, advisory services, farmers and the food production chain. As other Member States and Regions, Italy has adopted a national Action Plan on OF&F research in 2002. The Action Plan was devoted mainly to the development of organic farming, focusing on agro-environmental programmes, market development, research and production capacity building. In December 2005, a new National Strategic Plan on OF&F has been approved which does not include specific research priorities, but is a reference framework of actions to strengthen the whole OF&F production chain

Prevalence of dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia awareness: results from the Lookup 7+ online project

Background: Cardiovascular disease still represents the leading cause of death worldwide. Management of risk factors remains crucial; despite this, hypercholesterolemia, which is one of the most important modifiable cardiovascular risk factor, is still high prevalent in general population. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia awareness in a very large population. Methods: More than 65 000 users completed the online, self-administered survey. It was structured like a 'journey' where each stage corresponded to a cardiovascular risk factor: blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol, diet, physical exercise, smoke and blood sugar. At the end, the user received a final evaluation of his health status. Results: The mean age was 52.5 years (SD 13.9, range 18-98), with 35 402 (53.7%) men. About 56% of all participants believed to have normal cholesterol values, when only 40% of them really showed values <200 mg/dl. Only about 30% of all participants self-predicted to have abnormal cholesterol values whereas we found high cholesterol levels in about 60% of people. Conclusions: Dyslipidemia is very prevalent and half of the people with high cholesterol is not aware of having high values

Organic food and farming research in Italy: A review by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Policies (MIPAF)

In Italy, as in other countries, Organic Food and Farming (OFF) research suffers from a very high fragmentation as it is carried out by many public research institutes, universities and private centres. In recent years, due to the increasing relevance of OFF within national rural development programmes, strong efforts have been addressed towards an improvement of the efficiency of the distribution of funds, the research system and the reorganization of its activities, and a reduction of overlapping initiatives. This paper presents projects and institutions currently working on OFF research in Italy, focusing on the available public financial instruments and the main projects funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry MIPAF. Most of the Italian research projects investigate plant production subjects, some actions involve animal production, animal health and welfare and environmental aspects. In order to facilitate the dissemination of research, the “National Information System on organic farming” (www.sinab.it) was established. It is financed by MIPAF. Furthermore, recognizing the need to coordinate research efforts also at transnational level, MIPAF is one of the 11 partners of the CORE-Organic ERA-net project, which started in October 2004, co-financed by the European Commission. This network could represent a very powerful tool to strengthen future national and international research actions and cooperation

Steam exploded wheat straw fibers as reiforcing for polypropylene based composites. Characterization and properties.

International audienceAus Weizenstrohfasern und Polypropylen (iPP) bzw. mit maleinsäureanhydrid modifiziertem Polypropylen (iPPMA) wurden Composite hergestellt. Die Weizenstrohfasern wurden vor dem Einmischen in die Polypropylenmatrix einem Dampfexplosionsprozeß unterworfen, der bei Lignocellulosematerialien morphologische und strukturelle Veränderungen bewirkt, die zu einer Verbesserung der Wechselwirkungen mit der thermoplastischen Matrix führen können. Die modifizierte iPPMA-Matrix weist im Vergleich zur iPP-Matrix bessere mechanische Eigenschaften (Zug- und Schlagverhalten) und eine bemerkenswerte Verringerung der Wasseraufnahme, einer der Hauptnachteile von Compositen mit Naturfasern, auf. Die gute Grenzflächenhaftung in den iPPMA-Compositen kann mit den beim Mischen der Fasern mit der Polymerschmelze gebildeten kovalenten Esterbindungen zwischen den Maleinsäureanhydrid-Segmenten und den dampfbehandelten Fasern erklärt werdenComposites of wheat straw fibers with polypropylene (iPP) and maleic anhydride modified polypropylene (iPPMA) were prepared.Before being mixed with polypropylene matrices, the wheat straw fibers were subjected to a steam explosion process that induces morphological and structural changes in lignocellulosic materials. Such changes are able to enhance the interactions with the thermoplastic matrix.Compared with iPP, the modified matrix (iPPMA) has shown higher mechanical performances (tensile and impact behavior) and a remarkable decrease of water absorption, that is one of the main drawbacks of natural fiber composites.Finally, the presence of covalent bonds between maleic anhydride and steam-exploded (STEX) fibers, by means of an esterification reaction, produced during the melt-mixing process, can explain the resulting good interfacial adhesion found in iPPMA-based composites

Broom Fibers as Reinforcing Materials for Polypropylene-Based Composites

International audienceBroom fibers have been used as reinforcement for the conventional polypropylene (iPP) and a maleate modified one (iPPMA). A conventional alkaline treatment and a steam explosion extraction process were applied to obtain the cellulosic material from broom branches. Composites were prepared by melt mixing materials with different weight percentages of broom fibers. Also ternary blends (iPPMA/iPP/broom fibers 5/45/50 wt) were obtained to examine the possibility of utilizing the maleate polypropylene as a compatibilizing agent. The fibers and the composites were thermally, morphologically , and mechanically characterized. Water absorption tests, to examine the behavior of these materials in wet conditions, were also performed. Particular attention was addressed to the study of the fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. The results showed that the iPPMA-based composites, reinforced with alkaline extracted broom fibers, present specific mechanical properties competitive with those of the homologous polypropylene based materials reinforced with short glass fibers. The ternary blends gave similar properties to those of the corresponding whole iPPMA-based composites. It is considered that the esteric linkage between the cellulose {OH, and the maleic anhy-dride groups grafted on the polypropylene backbone is greatly responsible for the similarity in the properties. In spite of better adhesion observed in the samples reinforced by the steam-exploded fibers, less improvement of the mechanical properties was observed, owing to significant damage of the structure of the fibers during the steam explosion process. A general decrease of mechanical properties is observed in normal polypropylene based composites. The results are also supported by the water absorption tests: whereby the iPPMA-based composites showed good capability to return their dry properties when kept in an oven after wetting for many days

Residual respiratory impairment after COVID-19 pneumonia

Abstract Introduction: The novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 can infect the respiratory tract causing a spectrum of disease varying from mild to fatal pneumonia, and known as COVID-19. Ongoing clinical research is assessing the potential for long-term respiratory sequelae in these patients. We assessed the respiratory function in a cohort of patients after recovering from SARS-Cov-2 infection, stratified according to PaO2/FiO2 (p/F) values. Method: Approximately one month after hospital discharge, 86 COVID-19 patients underwent physical examination, arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and six-minute walk test (6MWT). Patients were also asked to quantify the severity of dyspnoea and cough before, during, and after hospitalization using a visual analogic scale (VAS). Seventy-six subjects with ABG during hospitalization were stratified in three groups according to their worst p/F values: above 300 (n = 38), between 200 and 300 (n = 30) and below 200 (n = 20). Results: On PFTs, lung volumes were overall preserved yet, mean percent predicted residual volume was slightly reduced (74.8 ± 18.1%). Percent predicted diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) was also mildly reduced (77.2 ± 16.5%). Patients reported residual breathlessness at the time of the visit (VAS 19.8, p < 0.001). Patients with p/F below 200 during hospitalization had lower percent predicted forced vital capacity (p = 0.005), lower percent predicted total lung capacity (p = 0.012), lower DLCO (p < 0.001) and shorter 6MWT distance (p = 0.004) than patients with higher p/F. Conclusion: Approximately one month after hospital discharge, patients with COVID-19 can have residual respiratory impairment, including lower exercise tolerance. The extent of this impairment seems to correlate with the severity of respiratory failure during hospitalization

Psychological Distress After Covid-19 Recovery: Reciprocal Effects With Temperament and Emotional Dysregulation. An Exploratory Study of Patients Over 60 Years of Age Assessed in a Post-acute Care Service

To study the long-term psychological effects of Covid-19 disease, we recruited 61 patients older than 60 years of age and administered the Kessler questionnaire K10 to assess psychological distress and classify them according to mental health risk groups. Patients' affective temperaments were assessed with the 39-item form of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego (TEMPS-A-39) and emotional dysregulation with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Patients were divided in two samples according to their scores on the K10, i.e., a high likelihood of psychological distress group (N = 18) and a low likelihood of psychological distress group (N = 43). The two groups differed on their gender composition, in that more women (N = 11) were in the former and more men in the latter (N = 29) (χ2 = 4.28; p = 0.039). The high likelihood of psychological distress group scored higher on the Cyclothymic (3.39 ± 3.45 vs. 0.93 ± 1.08, p < 0.001) and the Depressive (2.28 ± 2.82 vs. 0.65 ± 1.09, p = 0.01) affective temperaments of the TEMPS and on the lack of Impulse control (12.67 ± 4.04 vs. 9.63 ± 3.14, p = 0.003) and lack of Clarity (15.00 ± 5.56 vs. 9.85 ± 4.67, p = 0.004) scales of the DERS. Our results show that having had Covid-19 may be related with high likelihood for psychological distress in advanced-age people and this may in turn be associated with impaired emotional regulation and higher scores on depressive and cyclothymic temperaments

Asthma in patients admitted to emergency department for COVID-19: prevalence and risk of hospitalization

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