Eco-efficiency assessment and food security potential of home gardening: a case study in Padua, Italy

In the expanding urban agriculture phenomenon in Europe, home gardens are a traditional form that have kept agriculture within cities, even becoming crucial in certain historical periods (e.g., war periods). However, horticultural practices in home gardens can also have negative consequences. The goal of this paper is to assess the eco-efficiency of home gardens as a type of urban agriculture. To do so, a case study in Padua (Italy) was evaluated following life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. A home garden of 30.6 m(2) and 21 crop cycles were evaluated. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh vegetable at the consumption point, and the ReCiPe method was employed for impact assessment. Environmental assessment indicated that organic fertilization, use of tap water, mineral fertilization and pesticides were the most contributing elements of the entire life cycle. Furthermore, the relevance of garden design and crop selection was a determinant in the eco-efficiency results. The assessed home garden could satisfy the food requirements of between 1 and 2 members of the household. Crop management and design recommendations are provided to improve eco-efficiency and food security potential of home gardens

Processing Eucalyptus cloeziana seed lots to improve purity, germination and vigor.

Eucalyptus cloeziana is one of the highest-density wood species offering significant added value, frequently used in the construction and furniture industries. Despite its suitability, it may be overlooked on account of its propagation difficulties due either to its low rooting cutting capacity or to its seeds having a low germination rate perhaps attributable to the high proportion of indistinguishable impurities within the seed lots. This study aimed to develop an efficient technique for Eucalyptus cloeziana seed processing to increase the physical purity and, consequently, the physiological quality of the seed lot. Three seed lots, separated by size in sieves with 1.18, 1.00, and 0.84 mm square openings, were used. X-ray analyses were carried out, the number of normal seedlings and germination rate identified and the percentage and speed of seedling emergence under greenhouse conditions ascertained. The greenhouse evaluation showed that the seed retained in the 1.18 mm sieve presented viability and vigor twice that of the control. Therefore, the processing technique by size classification is efficient in terms of improving the physical and physiological performance of Eucalyptus cloeziana seed lots

Storage potential of African mahogany seeds under different environmental and packaging conditions.

ABSTRACT African mahogany (Khaya grandifoliola) is a forest species with excellent wood quality. Due to the increasing demand for viable seeds in forest production programs, the storage capacity of this species must be evaluated. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the appropriate environmental and packaging conditions for the storage of African mahogany seeds. Initially, the water content of the seeds, germination rate, and seedling length were determined in two environments (cold chamber and laboratory), two packages (polyethylene and glass), and three storage periods (72, 144, and 216 d) as well as in additional treatment without storage. The variables analyzed during storage were water content, germination capacity, germination speed index, and seedling length. The experiment was conducted in a completely random design with four repetitions in a split-plot scheme and an additional treatment of 2 × 3 × 2 + 1. African mahogany seeds stored in a cold chamber (6 °C and 72% relative humidity) in a polyethylene packaging maintained their physiological quality for 216 d. RESUMO O mogno africano (Khaya grandifoliola) é uma espécie florestal que apresenta excelente qualidade madeireira. Com a crescente demanda por sementes viáveis para atender programas de produção florestal, tem-se observado a necessidade de estudos sobre a capacidade de armazenamento dessa espécie. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar as condições adequadas de ambiente e embalagem para o armazenamento de sementes de mogno africano. Inicialmente, o grau de umidade das sementes; a germinação e o comprimento de plântulas foram determinados. Foram testados dois ambientes - câmara fria e laboratório; duas embalagens (polietileno e vidro); e três períodos de armazenamento (72, 144 e 216 dias). As variáveis analisadas no armazenamento foram: grau de umidade, porcentagem de germinação, índice de velocidade de germinação (IVG) e comprimento de plântulas. O experimento foi realizado em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições em parcelas subdivididas e tratamento adicional 2 × 3 × 2 + 1. As sementes de mogno africano armazenadas em ambiente de câmara fria (6 °C e 72% UR) em embalagem de polietileno mantiveram a qualidade fisiológica por 216 dias

Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group.

Cancer immunotherapy has transformed the treatment of cancer. However, increasing use of immune-based therapies, including the widely used class of agents known as immune checkpoint inhibitors, has exposed a discrete group of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Many of these are driven by the same immunologic mechanisms responsible for the drugs\u27 therapeutic effects, namely blockade of inhibitory mechanisms that suppress the immune system and protect body tissues from an unconstrained acute or chronic immune response. Skin, gut, endocrine, lung and musculoskeletal irAEs are relatively common, whereas cardiovascular, hematologic, renal, neurologic and ophthalmologic irAEs occur much less frequently. The majority of irAEs are mild to moderate in severity; however, serious and occasionally life-threatening irAEs are reported in the literature, and treatment-related deaths occur in up to 2% of patients, varying by ICI. Immunotherapy-related irAEs typically have a delayed onset and prolonged duration compared to adverse events from chemotherapy, and effective management depends on early recognition and prompt intervention with immune suppression and/or immunomodulatory strategies. There is an urgent need for multidisciplinary guidance reflecting broad-based perspectives on how to recognize, report and manage organ-specific toxicities until evidence-based data are available to inform clinical decision-making. The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) established a multidisciplinary Toxicity Management Working Group, which met for a full-day workshop to develop recommendations to standardize management of irAEs. Here we present their consensus recommendations on managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy

Avelumab Plus Axitinib as First-Line Therapy for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: Long-Term Results from the JAVELIN Renal 100 Phase Ib Trial.

BACKGROUND: Progression-free survival was significantly longer in patients who received avelumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib as first-line treatment for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) in a randomized phase III trial. We report long-term safety and efficacy of avelumab plus axitinib as first-line treatment for patients with aRCC from the JAVELIN Renal 100 phase Ib trial (NCT02493751). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this open-label, multicenter, phase Ib study, patients with untreated aRCC received avelumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks plus axitinib 5 mg twice daily or with axitinib for 7 days followed by avelumab plus axitinib. Safety and efficacy were assessed in all patients receiving at least one dose of avelumab or axitinib. RESULTS: Overall, 55 patients were enrolled and treated. Median follow-up was 55.7 months (95% CI, 54.5-58.7). Treatment-related adverse events of any grade or grade ≥3 occurred in 54 (98.2%) and 34 (61.8%) patients, respectively. The confirmed objective response rate was 60.0% (95% CI, 45.9-73.0), including complete response in 10.9% of patients. Median duration of response was 35.9 months (95% CI, 12.7-52.9); the probability of response was 65.8% (95% CI, 46.7-79.4) at 2 years. Median progression-free survival was 8.3 months (95% CI, 5.3-32.0). Median overall survival was not reached (95% CI, 40.8-not estimable); the 5-year overall survival rate was 57.3% (95% CI, 41.2-70.5). CONCLUSION: Five-year follow-up for combination treatment with avelumab plus axitinib in previously untreated patients with aRCC showed long-term clinical activity with no new safety signals, supporting use of this regimen within its approved indication in clinical practice (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02493751)

Optimizing biomethane production from anaerobic degradation of Scenedesmus spp. biomass harvested from algae-based swine digestate treatment.

The objective of this work was to quantify biomethane from anaerobic degradation of microalgae biomass harvested from a field-scale tank reactor simulating phycoremediation of swine wastewater. The effects of nutrients starvation on microalgae chemical cellular composition changes and its influence on biomethane generation potential were also addressed. Microalgae polyculture was dominated by uncultured Scenedesmus clone BF 063 which showed a carbohydrate, protein and lipid content of 27.6 ± 3.3, 57.6 ± 0.1 and 3.9 ± 0.6%, respectively. After 25 days exposed to N- and P-free medium, microalgae biomass composition showed 54.6 ± 2.6, 24.1 ± 2.4 and 16.9 ± 0.8% of carbohydrate, protein and lipid, respectively. Volatile solids concentration in the biomass harvested from N- and P-rich medium was lower [67 ± 1.7 g VS (kg biomass)?1] than biomass harvested from nutrient depleted medium [204.1 ± 3.1 g VS (kg biomass)?1]. Consequently, much higher biomethane production was obtained i.e., 103.5 LN CH4 (kg biomass)?1 vs 44 LN CH4 (kg biomass)?1. The results suggest that biomethane production in digesters could be improved by integrating microalgae biomass harvested from algae-based swine wastewater digestate treatment