Organic Farming: Policy and Prospects

Food retailers in Europe, including supermarkets, have responded to rapidly rising demand for organic produce. The organic sector has moved from a marginal production fad to a serious subject of policy concern for politicians and public servants involved in European agricultural policy. Drawing on a huge body of scientific research, this book - reviews the organic farming sector today and the policies developed towards it - assesses its contributions to the environment, food quality, farmers' incomes, and rural development - explains the key factors impinging on the organic farming sector in future - makes a detailed range of recommendations for future organic farming policy Contents 1 Organic farming: A grassroots movement taken over by policy? 2 Organic farming in Europe at the dawn of the new millennium 3 Organic farming's contribution to policy objectives 4 A Changing Policy Environment 5 Recommendations for future organic farming policy from: Dabbert, S. und Häring, A. M. und Zanoli, R. (2003): Organic Farming: Policy and Prospects. Zed Book

application of advanced process control techniques to a pusher type reheating furnace

In this paper an Advanced Process Control system aimed at controlling and optimizing a pusher type reheating furnace located in an Italian steel plant is proposed. The designed controller replaced the previous control system, based on PID controllers manually conducted by process operators. A two-layer Model Predictive Control architecture has been adopted that, exploiting a chemical, physical and economic modelling of the process, overcomes the limitations of plant operators' mental model and knowledge. In addition, an ad hoc decoupling strategy has been implemented, allowing the selection of the manipulated variables to be used for the control of each single process variable. Finally, in order to improve the system flexibility and resilience, the controller has been equipped with a supervision module. A profitable trade-off between conflicting specifications, e.g. safety, quality and production constraints, energy saving and pollution impact, has been guaranteed. Simulation tests and real plant results demonstrated the soundness and the reliability of the proposed system

Sex differences in clinical presentation, severity and outcome of stroke: Results from a hospital-based registry

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Cognitive-behavioural treatment for subacute and chronic neck pain

BACKGROUND: Although research on non-surgical treatments for neck pain (NP) is progressing, there remains uncertainty about the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for this population. Addressing cognitive and behavioural factors might reduce the clinical burden and the costs of NP in society.OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of CBT among individuals with subacute and chronic NP. Specifically, the following comparisons were investigated: (1) cognitive-behavioural therapy versus placebo, no treatment, or waiting list controls; (2) cognitive-behavioural therapy versus other types of interventions; (3) cognitive-behavioural therapy in addition to another intervention (e.g. physiotherapy) versus the other intervention alone.SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PubMed, as well as ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform up to November 2014. Reference lists and citations of identified trials and relevant systematic reviews were screened.SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials that assessed the use of CBT in adults with subacute and chronic NP.DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently assessed the risk of bias in each study and extracted the data. If sufficient homogeneity existed among studies in the pre-defined comparisons, a meta-analysis was performed. We determined the quality of the evidence for each comparison with the GRADE approach.MAIN RESULTS: We included 10 randomised trials (836 participants) in this review. Four trials (40%) had low risk of bias, the remaining 60% of trials had a high risk of bias.The quality of the evidence for the effects of CBT on patients with chronic NP was from very low to moderate. There was low quality evidence that CBT was better than no treatment for improving pain (standard mean difference (SMD) -0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.01 to -0.16), disability (SMD -0.61, 95% CI -1.21 to -0.01), and quality of life (SMD -0.93, 95% CI -1.54 to -0.31) at short-term follow-up, while there was from very low to low quality evidence of no effect on various psychological indicators at short-term follow-up. Both at short- and intermediate-term follow-up, CBT did not affect pain (SMD -0.06, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.21, low quality, at short-term follow-up; MD -0.89, 95% CI -2.73 to 0.94, low quality, at intermediate-term follow-up) or disability (SMD -0.10, 95% CI -0.40 to 0.20, moderate quality, at short-term follow-up; SMD -0.24, 95% CI-0.54 to 0.07, moderate quality, at intermediate-term follow-up) compared to other types of interventions. There was moderate quality evidence that CBT was better than other interventions for improving kinesiophobia at intermediate-term follow-up (SMD -0.39, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.08, I(2) = 0%). Finally, there was very low quality evidence that CBT in addition to another intervention did not differ from the other intervention alone in terms of effect on pain (SMD -0.36, 95% CI -0.73 to 0.02) and disability (SMD -0.10, 95% CI -0.56 to 0.36) at short-term follow-up.For patients with subacute NP, there was low quality evidence that CBT was better than other interventions at reducing pain at short-term follow-up (SMD -0.24, 95% CI -0.48 to 0.00), while no difference was found in terms of effect on disability (SMD -0.12, 95% CI -0.36 to 0.12) and kinesiophobia.None of the included studies reported on adverse effects.AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: With regard to chronic neck pain, CBT was found to be statistically significantly more effective for short-term pain reduction only when compared to no treatment, but these effects could not be considered clinically meaningful. When comparing both CBT to other types of interventions and CBT in addition to another intervention to the other intervention alone, no differences were found. For patients with subacute NP, CBT was significantly better than other types of interventions at reducing pain at short-term follow-up, while no difference was found for disability and kinesiophobia. Further research is recommended to investigate the long-term benefits and risks of CBT including for the different subgroups of subjects with N

Levers and Obstacles of Effective Research and Innovation for Organic Food and Farming in Italy

The objectives of this paper are to present the dynamic of organic food and farming (OFF) research and innovation, to outline challenges in deploying programs and accessing funding, and to define key actions to foster the development of tailored quality research on organic farming in Italy. The baseline starts from the main outcomes that emerged during the World Caf\ue9 held in the frame of the Salone Internazionale del biologico e del naturale (SANA Expo) in 2018, where the Italian OFF research community met to build a convergence on scope and modus operandi in the research endeavor. These outcomes were examined in the light of the key features of the research and innovation projects funded in Italy in the last 10 years, respectively by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and the regional administrations through the innovation support instruments in the Rural Development Plan programming periods. In the period 2009\u20132018, 70 research projects for a total funding of 21.081 million \ubf (<0.1% of the value of the sector) were launched, addressing nine dierent topic areas. Over a similar period (2007\u20132019), 53 regional innovation projects addressing organic farming were activated for a total budget of 14.299 million \ubf (<10% of the entire available funding). The implementation of interventions in the research and the innovation areas were often scattered in terms of the topics, disciplines, and types of supply chain/network addressed. The relatively high share of multi/interdisciplinary research and innovation projects aswell as the acknowledgement of the multi-actor approach as a fundamental step toward co-research and co-innovation were upshots that emerged from our analysis. The outcomes of this study can be used by competent national and the regional authorities to design their future research and innovation policies and interventions

INFLAMMATION AND VENTRICULAR-VASCULAR COUPLING IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME

Abstract Background and aims Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is currently considered to raise the risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events. It has been suggested that part of this risk excess may be due to a cluster of additional factors associated with MetS. We aimed to investigate the role of inflammation on the ventricular-vascular coupling in patients with MetS. Methods and results We enrolled a total of 227 hypertensive patients (106 with MetS and 121 without MetS) matched for age and gender. Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), intima-media thickness (IMT) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) increased according to the number of MetS components. Patients with MetS showed increased aPWV (11.5 ± 3.7 vs. 10.3 ± 2.5 m/s, P = 0.03) compared with controls. In a model adjusted for age, sex, heart rate and mean blood pressure, aPWV resulted increased in patients with CKD (beta 1.29 m/s, 95%CI 0.61–1.96 m/s, P P = 0.005). After additional adjustment for CRP and IMT, the slope of aPWV was respectively reduced by 16% and 62%, suggesting that inflammation and intima-media thickening could contribute to aortic stiffening in patients with MetS. In these patients, aPWV was also associated with left-ventricular mass index (beta 0.79 g/m 2.7 , 95%CI 0.05–1.52 g/m 2.7 , P = 0.05). Conclusion MetS is characterized by an inflammation-dependent acceleration in cardiovascular ageing. This pattern of pathophysiological abnormalities may contribute to amplify the burden of cardiovascular risk in patients with MetS

Prediction of function in daily life following multidisciplinary rehabilitation for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain; a prospective study

Background: The prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain is high, with widespread negative economic, psychological, and social consequences for the individual. It is therefore important to find ways to predict the outcome of rehabilitation programmes in terms of function in daily life. The aims of this study were to investigate the improvements over time from multidisciplinary rehabilitation in terms of pain and function, and analyse the relative impact of individual and psychosocial factors as predictors of function in daily life in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Methods: A prospective study was conducted among one hundred and forty three (N = 143) musculoskeletal pain patients. Measures of pain, function, and functional health status were obtained at baseline, after 5 weeks of intensive training, at the end of the 57-week rehabilitation programme, and at a 1 year follow-up, using validated self-administrated measures. Linear regression analysis was applied to investigate the relative impact of musculoskeletal pain, individual- , and psychosocial factors in function. Results: The participants studied showed a significant increase in function during the 57 weeks rehabilitation period. There was also a significant increase in function from the end of the rehabilitation period (57th week) to the one year follow-up measures. Pain intensity associated significantly with pain experience over all measurement periods. High levels of pain intensity (β = .42**) and pain experience (β = .37*), and poor psychological capacity (β = -.68*) at baseline, as well as poor physiological capacity (β = -.44**) and high levels of anxiety (β = .48**) and depression (β = .58***) at the end of the rehabilitation program were the most important prognostic factors of variance in functioning over the 4 measurement periods. Conclusion: The data suggest that physical capacity, emotional distress and coping skills should be priority areas in rehabilitation programmes to improve functioning in daily life

Utilising Drone Technology in Primatology for 3D Mapping

Emergent Unmanned Aerial System (or drone) technology allows the 3-dimensional mapping of forest landscapes, allowing a new perspective of arboreal primate habitat use. Utilising UASs in primatological studies enables the assessment of habitat quality for different arboreal primate species, the identification of discreet forms of anthropogenic disturbance (such as historical selective logging), and detailed investigation of canopy use by arboreal primate species. Combining 3D canopy structure with microclimate measurements, we can see how canopy structure buffers solar radiation and how arboreal species may be affected by future climate change. We present data on a study of the arboreal primate community in a lowland section of the Gunung Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, focusing on how 3D canopy structure effects ranging (siamang, Symphalangus syndactylus), different primate species’ population densities (lar gibbon, Hylobates lar, siamang and Thomas langur, Presbytis thomasi) and habitat selection (orang-utan, Pongo abelii and siamang) and how UAS technology can be utilised in other future studies; the potential opportunities, challenges and pitfalls