Evaluation of sustainability: results from long term experimental arable systems in Tuscany

The research is aimed at implementing a methodology in order to estimate the sustainability of an agricultural system, through the use of Agro-ecological and Sustainability Indicators. The methodology is applied to three stockless, experimental agricultural systems, part of a long-term experiment (MOLTE) managed with diverse typologies (old organic, new organic vs conventional). The results derived from the three different management systems are estimated by considering crop rotation and efficiency in terms of energetic, macro-element (N, P, K) and organic matter flow. These are related to the landscape and biodiversity system, as well as the soil and the environmental system. The research shows that the agro-ecosystems managed with the organic agriculture method has succeeded to attain optimal levels of sustainability. Independently of time duration from conversion, the organic systems are better than the conventional system for all indicators, with the exception of the soil indicators that showed remarkable resilience

Bright spots in the darkness of cancer: A review of starfishes-derived compounds and their anti-tumor action

The fight against cancer represents a great challenge for researchers and, for this reason, the search for new promising drugs to improve cancer treatments has become inevitable. Oceans, due to their wide diversity of marine species and environmental conditions have proven to be precious sources of potential natural drugs with active properties. As an example, in this context several studies performed on sponges, tunicates, mollusks, and soft corals have brought evidence of the interesting biological activities of the molecules derived from these species. Also, echinoderms constitute an important phylum, whose members produce a huge number of compounds with diverse biological activities. In particular, this review is the first attempt to summarize the knowledge about starfishes and their secondary metabolites that exhibited a significant anticancer effect against different human tumor cell lines. For each species of starfish, the extracted molecules, their effects, and mechanisms of action are described

Sustainability of Organic, Integrated and Conventional Farming Systems in Tuscany

Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability. The principal purpose of this paper is to evaluate the financial and environmental aspects of sustainability of Organic, Integrated and Conventional Farming Systems (OFS, IFS, and CFS, respectively) at farm and more detailed spatial scales. This is achieved applying an integrated economic-environmental accounting framework to three case study farms in Tuscany including different farming systems and different spatial scales. The environmental performances of the FS were measured through the application of an Environmental Accounting Information Systems (EAIS) at field, site and farm level. The EAIS indicators were then integrated with (1) a set of financial indicators to evaluate the economic and environmental trade-offs between different FS and (2) with information on the regional and site-specific soil and climate conditions to study the impact of different pedo-climates on the environmental performances of the FS. The gross margins of steady-state OFS were found to be higher than the corresponding CFS gross margins. OFS perform better than I/CFS with respect to nitrogen losses, pesticide impact, herbaceous plant biodiversity and most of the other environmental indicators. However, on hilly soils, erosion revealed to be higher in OFS than in CFS. The pesticide and the nitrogen indicators showed, for this example, that the environmental impact due to integrated and conventional farming practices is similar. Regional pedoclimatic factors resulted to have a considerable impact on nutrient losses, soil erosion, pesticide impact and herbaceous plant biodiversity, site-specific factors on nutrient losses and soil erosion. Conclusions are drawn on the possible practical applications of the method for environmental measures in the agricultural sector.sustainable farming systems, organic agriculture, environmental accounting, indicators, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

The disuse of hearing aids in elderly people diagnosed with a presbycusis at an old age home, in Johannesburg, South Africa: a pilot study

Background: Hearing loss is the most common form of human sensory deficit with its prevalence highest within the geriatric population. Approximately a third of adults aged from 61 years exhibit the characteristics of presbycusis, a number one contributor to communication disorders among the elderly, thereby affecting the social, functional andpsychological wellbeing of the elderly. Subsiquently, this leads to loneliness, isolation, dependence and frustration.Objective: To explore reasons why elderly people diagnosed with presbycusis and fitted with hearing aids stop using hearing aids post fitting.Method: A qualitative research design was adopted. Through purposive sampling, ten participants consisting of three males and seven females, aged between 74 and 85 participated in face-to-face and semi-structured interviews. Results: The following themes emerged: discomfort, lack of information about hearing aids, difficulty with function and maintenance and the lack of patient involvement in the hearing aid selection process.Conclusion: There are different reasons for disuse of hearing aids in elderly patients. Audiologists should ensure that hearing aids selection is patient specific and inclusive. Expectations of the elderly regarding hearing aids benefits and limitations should also be addressed by audiologists before fitting hearing aids.Keywords: Elderly, hearing aids, hearing loss, audiologists

The Role of Spatial Exploration and Territoriality in Establishing Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Hierarchies, and Their Effects upon Underlying Stress Physiology

Territoriality, spatial exploration and social hierarchy are strictly related behaviors in gregarious fishes, and are often under-appreciated in farms where the individuals are confined within crowded spaces. In this study, we investigated the role of spatial exploration, elucidating the importance of time upon forming the social organization, and the role of the territoriality in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), using two experimental approaches. In the first approach, three fish were placed sequentially in the aquarium with an interval of two days (sequential model), while in the second (simultaneous model), two fish were simultaneously placed in an aquarium divided by a barrier which was removed after a certain period of time. To study the effect of social stress and spatial perception in the two models, we monitored behavior (aggressive acts and feeding priority), integrated with the evaluation of physiological and cellular stress parameters, such as phagocytosis, cortisol, glucose, and blood osmolarity levels. After the establishment of the social hierarchy in the "sequential model", we observed that the levels of cortisol and an immunological cell-mediated marker were higher in subordinate individuals than in the dominant ones. We observed a different modulation of phagocytic activity in peritoneal cavity cells between dominant and subordinates, demonstrating that social stress acts upon immune response. Differently from the first model, no behavioral, physiological, or phagocytic differences were found between the two fish involved in the simultaneous model, where both fish acted as co-dominants, defending their territory. The study achieved a deeper understanding of the role of spatial exploration, territorial dominance and intraspecific interaction in gilthead seabream, and elucidated the link between them and physiological stress indicators. The results highlight aspects of interest to the aquaculture industry, showing the importance of a greater focus on rearing conditions, finding solutions to mitigate crowding effects and promoting the quality of aquacultural products

AESIS: a support tool for the evaluation of sustainability of agroecosystems. Example of applications to organic and integrated farming systems in Tuscany, Italy

Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability on the farm level. Policy makers need accounting and evaluation tools to be able to assess the potential of sustainable production practices and to provide appropriate agro-environmental policy measures. Farmers are in search of sustainable management tools to cope with regulations and enhance efficiency. This paper presents the outcomes of applications to organic and integrated farming of an indicator-based framework to evaluate sustainability of farming systems (Agro-Environmental Sustainability Information System, AESIS). The AESIS was described together with a review of applications dating from 1991 in a previous paper. The objective of the present paper is to present the AESIS application to organic and integrated farming systems in Val d’Elsa (Tuscany) and discuss how it is adapted for application to ordinary farms. The AESIS is organised into a number of environmental and production systems. For each system, environmental critical points are identified with corresponding agro-environmental indicators and processing methods. Possible solutions to sustainability issues, and critical points of relevance to the agricultural sector of the local economic and agro-ecological zone, are formulated by including an experimental layout, identifying indicator thresholds and by defining management systems with corresponding policy measures. Alternative solutions are evaluated by calculating and measuring the relevant indicators. The outcomes of the AESIS applications are discussed with specific relevance to the operational adoptability of AESIS to ordinary, agri-touristic farms managed with the organic and the integrated production method, respectively. The AESIS framework proved to be sufficiently flexible to meet the requirements for ordinary farm applications while keeping a holistic perspective and considering pedo-climatic and production factors on different spatial scales

Hemocyte types and some plasmatic properties of two edible crabs Cancer borealis and Cancer pagurus

Cancer pagurus and Cancer borealis and are edible crabs produced by economically relevant aquaculture. In this study the hemocytes and some plasmatic parameters of Cancer borealis and Cancer pagurus were examined. The cell features of the hemocytes were observed using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Granulocytes, semigranulocytes and hyalinocytes were mainly identified on the basis of size, presence/absence and quantity of the cytoplasmic granules and the nucleus-to-citoplasma (N/C) ratio. SEM observations were useful for disclosing the surface features of these cells, and the same characteristics were found in both crab species. A smooth surface distinguishes elongated hyalinocytes and a rough texture the irregular surface of spherical/ovoid granular cells. Total (THC) and differential hemocyte counts (DHC) were performed, and the differences between the two crab species were disclosed. Also we were valuated pH and osmolarity values, agglutinating activity and different protein contents of the hemolymp

Seabream (Sparus aurata) long-term dominant-subordinate interplay affects phagocytosis by peritoneal cavity cells

Fish are sensitive to stressful conditions that affect their innate immune systems and increase their susceptibility to diseases. We examined the social stress of paired gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). Social hierarchies (dominant/subordinate) were characterised by behavioural changes, such as \u201caggressiveness\u201d and \u201cfeeding order\u201d; hierarchical positions were established within an hour of exposure to social stress and remained unchanged for approximately 1 year. To characterise physiological stress, we measured blood plasma levels of cortisol, glucose, and lactate as well as osmolarity and observed that the levels of these stress markers were higher in subordinate individuals than in dominant ones. The discriminant analysis revealed a separation of the subordinate fish groups, and at 15 days, a significant separation among groups was observed. Moreover, diminished phagocytic and respiratory burst activities revealed that social stress appeared to affect the cellular innate immune response of the subordinate specimens. Finally, to examine the effect of cortisol on phagocytosis, peritoneal cavity cells were treated in vitro, and an inhibitory effect was observed