Assessing the impact of future CAP reforms on the demand of production factors

The CAP reform process has been a central issue for agricultural economics research in recent years, and is gaining further attention in view of the post-2013 perspectives. The objective of this paper is to assess ex-ante the effect of different post-2013 CAP and market scenarios on the demand of productions factors. The paper is based on the use of farm household dynamic programming models maximising the net present value with a time horizon until 2030. A representative model has been implemented for 18 different farming systems in 8 EU countries. Changes in marginal values of selected resource constraints (land, labour and capital) are used to assess the potential effect of different scenarios on farm-household demand of production factors. Results highlight that both policy and market conditions change strongly the demand of productive factors.CAP reform, Investment behaviour, Farm Household model, Factor markets, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q12,

Assessing the impact of future CAP reforms on the demand of production factors

The CAP reform process has been a central issue for agricultural economics research in recent years, and is gaining further attention in view of the post-2013 perspectives. The objective of this paper is to assess ex-ante the effect of different post-2013 CAP and market scenarios on the demand of productions factors. The paper is based on the use of farm household dynamic programming models maximising the net present value with a time horizon until 2030. A representative model has been implemented for 18 different farming systems in 8 EU countries. Changes in marginal values of selected resource constraints (land, labour and capital) are used to assess the potential effect of different scenarios on farm-household demand of production factors. Results highlight that both policy and market conditions change strongly the demand of productive factors.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

The dry grasslands of Abruzzo National Park, the oldest protected area in the Apennines (Central Italy): overview of vegetation composition, syntaxonomy, ecology and diversity

The Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park was established in 1923 and is considered a flagship conservation area in Italy. It includes large extensions of semi-natural grasslands, maintained by traditional transhumant grazing for centuries. The patterns and drivers of grassland composition within the Park are still poorly investigated, and the scattered phytosociological data available were often based on relevés with varied and not precisely defined sizes. In order to provide for the first time a general overview of the Park’s dry grasslands, we analysed a dataset of 87 relevés with a fixed size of 2 × 2 m, precisely delimited in the field and GPS-located. Specific research aims were: (1) to classify the vegetation plots into floristic-ecological types, supported by an analysis of mean (Italy-specific) Ellenberg Indicator Values (EIVs); (2) to assign the types to up-to-date phytosociological syntaxa; (3) to identify the main environmental drivers for both composition and richness patterns; (4) to test the degree of correlation between (Italy-specific) EIVs and the measured environmental variables. Environmental predictors included high-resolution climatologies and remote-sensed standing biomass. Main vegetation types were identified using Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA). Distancebased RDA was performed as a constrained ordination method to reveal correlations between floristic composition and environmental variables. Drivers of species richness were explored through partial correlation and Regression Trees. HCA and NMDS revealed four floristically and ecologically well-interpretable groups, in turn well corresponding to the level of phytosociological class (namely Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, Nardetea strictae, Festuco hystricis-Ononidetea striatae and Festuco-Brometea). Constrained ordination showed that most of the floristic variation was explained by biomass, annual precipitation (Pann) and mean annual temperature (Tm). Strong and significant positive correlations were found between biomass and EIV for Nitrogen (EIV-N), and between Tm and EIV for Temperature (EIV-T). Strong and significant negative correlations were found between Pann and EIV-T, EIV for Continentality (EIV-C) and EIV for soil Reaction (EIV-R). Species richness was positively correlated with slope inclination and negatively with elevation; richness was higher in sites with a high rock cover, and on limestone or clayey substrata than on siliceous ones. We conclude that in the study area: a) dry semi-natural grasslands are arranged at least into four distinguishable, high rank floristic-ecological groups; b) a mixture of climatic (especially precipitation) and edaphic (especially bedrock and soil reaction) gradients are the main drivers of such composition patterns; c) species richness is higher in sites more stressed by summer drought and/or nutrient scarcity; d) community-means of Italy’s specific EIVs are well correlated with environmental variables in grasslands, including a good correspondence between EIV-T and mean annual temperature

Recurrent EZH1 mutations are a second hit in autonomous thyroid adenomas

Autonomous thyroid adenomas (ATAs) are a frequent cause of hyperthyroidism. Mutations in the genes encoding the TSH receptor (TSHR) or the Gs protein alpha subunit (GNAS) are found in approximately 70% of ATAs. The involvement of other genes and the pathogenesis of the remaining cases are presently unknown. Here, we performed whole-exome sequencing in 19 ATAs that were paired with normal DNA samples and identified a recurrent hot-spot mutation (c.1712A>G; p.Gln571Arg) in the enhancer of zeste homolog 1 (EZH1) gene, which codes for a catalytic subunit of the polycomb complex. Targeted screening in an independent cohort confirmed that this mutation occurs with high frequency (27%) in ATAs. EZH1 mutations were strongly associated with known (TSHR, GNAS) or presumed (adenylate cyclase 9 [ADCY9]) alterations in cAMP pathway genes. Furthermore, functional studies revealed that the p.Gln571Arg EZH1 mutation caused increased histone H3 trimethylation and increased proliferation of thyroid cells. In summary, this study revealed that a hot-spot mutation in EZH1 is the second most frequent genetic alteration in ATAs. The association between EZH1 and TSHR mutations suggests a 2-hit model for the pathogenesis of these tumors, whereby constitutive activation of the cAMP pathway and EZH1 mutations cooperate to induce the hyperproliferation of thyroid cells.IZKF Wurzburg [B-281]; ERA-NET E-Rare [01GM1407B]; Deutsche KrebshilfeDeutsche Krebshilfe [109994]; Wilhelm Sander Stiftung [2013.010.1]We wish to thank Eileen Bosenberg, Bianca Klupfel, and Ines Elsner for technical support and Ulrike Zabel for DNA cloning. This study was partially supported by grants from the IZKF Wurzburg (B-281, to DC and MF); the ERA-NET E-Rare (01GM1407B, to MF and DC); the Deutsche Krebshilfe (109994, to ME); and the Wilhelm Sander Stiftung (project 2013.010.1, to RP)

Association between adverse childhood experiences and suicidal behavior in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Assessing and managing suicide behaviors is highly relevant to individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Our study aims to assess the association between adverse childhood experiences and suicidal behaviors in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. We included observational studies comparing the probability of suicide behaviors in adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders exposed and unexposed to adverse childhood experiences. Odds ratio estimates were obtained by pooling data using a random-effects pairwise meta-analysis. Standardized criteria were used to assess the strength of the association of the pooled estimate. We found 21 eligible studies reporting outcomes for 6257 individuals from 11 countries. The primary outcome revealed an association between any suicidal behavior and adverse childhood experiences, which resulted "highly suggestive" according to validated Umbrella Criteria. Similarly, a positive association was confirmed for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt and for any subtype of adverse childhood experience. This meta-analysis showed that exposure to adverse childhood experiences strongly increases the probability of suicide behaviors in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Kidney Transplant Modifies the Architecture and Microenvironment of Basal Cell Carcinomas

Background/Aims: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a frequent type of nonmelanoma skin cancer, which shows a greater prevalence in kidney-transplanted (KT) patients than in the general population. The study of this tumor in KT patients may allow us to understand the influence of the tumor inflammatory microenvironment on cancer behavior, and to design new image analysis methods to determine prognosis and apply personalized medicine. The major hypothesis of the present work is that antirejection drugs, by modifying the B-cell/T-cell balance, induce measurable differences in tumoral cell microarchitecture and in the inflammatory microenvironment in KT patients compared to nontransplanted controls. Methods: In this retrospective study in an Italian cohort including 15 KT patients and 15 control subjects from the general population who developed BCC, we analyzed tissue microarchitecture and inflammatory infiltrates of BCC using state-of-the-art nonlinear image analysis techniques such as fractal dimension and sample entropy of internuclear distances. Results: KT patients showed a nonsignificant trend to a greater number of nuclei in the basal cell layer compared to non-KT controls and subtle changes in the intact skin compared to controls. Similarly, the number of mitoses per unit length was almost doubled in the patients with KT compared to controls. However, when the number of mitotic cells was normalized by the total number of cells in the basal layer (mitotic index), these differences were not significant, although a clear trend was still present. Finally, KT patients showed a nonsignificant trend to an increased ­density of inflammatory cells close to the tumoral cell layer. When considering the intact skin, this difference was significant, with a 70% increase in the density of inflammatory cells. Conclusion: Data comparing the microarchitecture of BCC in normal subjects and KT patients are scanty, and the present study is the first to use nonlinear image analysis techniques to this aim. The observed differences underscore the relevance of T-cell suppression in cancer behavior. These data suggest that BCC develops in treated patients with specific biological characteristics which should be further analyzed in terms of therapeutic response