Greenhouse gas emissions from soil cultivated with vegetables in crop rotation under integrated, organic and organic conservation management in a Mediterranean environment

A combination of organic and conservation approaches have not been widely tested, neither considering agronomic implications nor the impacts on the environment. Focussing on the effect of agricultural practices on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil, the hypothesis of this research is that the organic conservation system (ORG+) may reduce emissions of N2O, CH4 and CO2 from soil, compared to an integrated farming system (INT) and an organic (ORG) system in a two-year irrigated vegetable crop rotation set up in 2014, in a Mediterranean environment. The crop rotation included: Savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. sabauda L. cv. Famosa), spring lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Justine), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill. cv. Montebianco) and summer lettuce (L. sativa cv. Ballerina). Fluxes from soil of N2O, CH4 and CO2 were measured from October 2014 to July 2016 with the flow-through non-steady state chamber technique using a mobile instrument equipped with high precision analysers. Both cumulative and daily N2O emissions were mainly lower in ORG+ than in INT and ORG. All the cropping systems acted as a sink of CH4, with no significant differences among treatments. The ORG and ORG+ systems accounted for higher cumulative and daily CO2 emissions than INT, maybe due to the stimulating effect on soil respiration of organic material (fertilizers/plant biomass) supplied in ORG and ORG+. Overall, the integration of conservation and organic agriculture showed a tendency for higher CO2 emissions and lower N2O emissions than the other treatments, without any clear results on its potential for mitigating GHG emissions from soil

Plasmatic and urinary glycosaminoglycans characterization in mucopolysaccharidosis II Patient treated with enzyme-replacement therapy with Idursulfase

We report the structural characterization of plasmatic and urinary GAGs in a Patient affected by MPS II (Hunter syndrome) before and during the first ten months of enzyme-replacement therapy (ERT). Plasmatic GAGs before ERT were rich in pathological DS consisting of iduronic acid (IdoA) and composed of ~90% \uf044Di4s and trace amounts of disulfated disaccharides. DS was also characterized as the main (~90%) urinary GAG mainly composed of ~90% \uf044Di4s with minor percentages of monosulfated and disulfated disaccharides, in particular \u394Di2,4dis. After 300 days of ERT, plasmatic DS strongly decreased but ~14% of IdoA-rich \uf044Di4s was still detected. Similarly, urinary galactosaminoglycans were mainly composed of 78% \uf044Di4s, ~11% \uf044Di6s and ~4% \uf044Di0s with the persistence of \u394Di2,4dis (~4%). About 40% of IdoA-formed \uf044Di4s were also calculated thus confirming that pathological DS is still present in excreted urinary GAGs during ERT. By considering the % of IdoA, we observed rather similar kinetics of excretion in fluids from the beginning of the treatment. Immediately after the first enzyme infusion, a large amount of abnormal DS is removed from tissues reaching the blood compartment and eliminated via the urine, and this process lasts for about two weeks. After this, the percentage of IdoA-rich material present in biological fluids remains fairly constant over the following nine months of treatment. To date, these are the first data regarding plasmatic and urinary kinetics directly measured on products released by the activity of the recombinant enzyme Idursulfase, iduronate-2-sulfatase, evaluated using specific and sensitive analytical procedures

Obesity, oxidative DNA damage and vitamin D as predictors of genomic instability in children and adolescents

Background/objectives Epidemiological evidence indicates obesity in childhood and adolescence to be an independent risk factor for cancer and premature mortality in adulthood. Pathological implications from excess adiposity may begin early in life. Obesity is concurrent with a state of chronic inflammation, a well-known aetiological factor for DNA damage. In addition, obesity has been associated with micro-nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin D has attracted attention for its anti-inflammatory properties and role in genomic integrity and stability. The aim of this study was to determine a novel approach for predicting genomic instability via the combined assessment of adiposity, DNA damage, systemic inflammation, and vitamin D status. Subjects/methods We carried out a cross-sectional study with 132 participants, aged 10–18, recruited from schools and paediatric obesity clinics in London. Anthropometric assessments included BMI Z-score, waist and hip circumference, and body fat percentage via bioelectrical impedance. Inflammation and vitamin D levels in saliva were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Oxidative DNA damage was determined via quantification of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine in urine. Exfoliated cells from the oral cavity were scored for genomic instability via the buccal cytome assay. Results As expected, comparisons between participants with obesity and normal range BMI showed significant differences in anthropometric measures (p < 0.001). Significant differences were also observed in some measures of genomic instability (p < 0.001). When examining relationships between variables for all participants, markers of adiposity positively correlated with acquired oxidative DNA damage (p < 0.01) and genomic instability (p < 0.001), and negatively correlated with vitamin D (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analyses identified obesity (p < 0.001), vitamin D (p < 0.001), and oxidative DNA damage (p < 0.05) as the three significant predictors of genomic instability. Conclusions Obesity, oxidative DNA damage, and vitamin D deficiency are significant predictors of genomic instability. Non-invasive biomonitoring and predictive modelling of genomic instability in young patients with obesity may contribute to the prioritisation and severity of clinical intervention measures

Effect of tree presence and soil characteristics on soybean yield and quality in an innovative alley-cropping system

Agroforestry is indicated as a farming practice suited to enhance ecosystem services generated by cropping systems. However, farmers are often reluctant to implement agroforestry systems due to the potential yield loss of crops. In a field trial, soybean was intercropped with poplar short-rotation-coppice rows in an alley-cropping system with 13.5 m wide alleys, in order to assess the effect of tree presence on soybean yield and quality. The light availability (LA) was significantly affected by the tree presence, with an increasing effect along the season due to tree growth, being at its lowest in the tree–crop interface positions (West and East). Significant effects of the tree-distance and LA were registered on soybean yield, with the highest reduction of soybean yield in the West (−78%) and East (−35%) positions. Crude fat content in soybean grain did not vary among positions in the alley, while crude protein content was the lowest in the most shaded position (West −8% than the highest value). The assessment of spatial variability among plots of measured soil characteristics highlighted no significant effect of pedological conditions upon soybean yield. Thus, in our study, the LA effect was more important than soil characteristics in determining a detrimental effect of competition for resources between soybean and poplar. Conversely, soybean quality was affected by soil characteristics, since crude fat significantly correlated with soil nutrients, pH, soil organic matter and soil texture

Biomonitoring and predictive modelling of genomic instability in childhood obesity

Epidemiological evidence indicates obesity in childhood and adolescence to be an independent risk factor for cancer and premature mortality in adulthood. Pathological implications from excess adiposity may begin early in life. Obesity in childhood and adolescence is concurrent with a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation, a well-known aetiological factor for DNA damage. In addition, obesity in childhood and adolescence has been associated with micro-nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin D has attracted attention for its anti-inflammatory properties and role in genomic integrity and stability. We have conducted research aimed at devising a novel approach for predicting genomic instability in childhood obesity via the combined, non-invasive assessment of adiposity, DNA damage, systemic inflammation, and vitamin D status. We carried out a cross-sectional study with participants, aged 10–18, recruited from schools and paediatric obesity clinics in London. Our results support the hypothesis that childhood obesity is associated with increased genomic instability. Importantly, we have found that obesity, vitamin D and oxidative DNA damage can together predict genomic instability. Non-invasive biomonitoring and predictive modelling of genomic instability in young patients with obesity may contribute to the prioritisation and severity of clinical intervention measures

A PMT-Block test bench

The front-end electronics of the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter (Tile Cal) is housed in a unit, called {\it PMT-Block}. The PMT-Block is a compact instrument comprising a light mixer, a PMT together with its divider and a {\it 3-in-1} card, which provides shaping, amplification and integration for the signals. This instrument needs to be qualified before being assembled on the detector. A PMT-Block test bench has been developed for this purpose. This test bench is a system which allows fast, albeit accurate enough, measurements of the main properties of a complete PMT-Block. The system, both hardware and software, and the protocol used for the PMT-Blocks characterisation are described in detail in this report. The results obtained in the test of about 10000 PMT-Blocks needed for the instrumentation of the ATLAS (LHC-CERN) hadronic Tile Calorimeter are also reported.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

The Impact of Psychological Flexibility on Psychological Well-Being in Adults With Obesity

Obesity is a global health problem that affects both physical and psychological health and well-being. Psychological flexibility is one of the key components related to psychological health. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being in a sample of 220 individuals with obesity. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in explaining psychological well-being, controlling for confounding factors (sex, age, and Body Mass Index). According to the results, psychological flexibility significantly explained psychological well-being. Our study provides additional evidence of the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being. It also provides further support for the importance of integrating psychological flexibility in the psychological interventions for obesity

Carbon budget of an agroforestry system after being converted from a poplar short rotation coppice

Poplar (Populus L. spp.) Short Rotation Coppice systems (SRCs) for bioenergy production are being converted back to arable land. Transitioning to Alley Cropping Systems (ACSs) could be a suitable strategy for integrating former tree rows and arable crops. A field trial (Pisa, Central Italy) was set up with the aim of assessing the C storage of an ACS system based on hybrid poplar and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) and comparing it with that of an SRC cultivation system. The carbon budget at the agroecosystem scale was assessed in the first year of the transition using the net biome production (NBP) approach with a simplified method. The overall NBP for the SRC was positive (96 ± 40 g C m−2 year−1), highlighting that the system was a net carbon sink (i.e., NBP &gt; 0). However, the ACS registered a net C loss (i.e., NBP &lt; 0), since the NBP was −93 ± 56 g C m−2 year−1. In the first year of the transition, converting the SRC into an ACS counteracted the potential beneficial effect of C storage in tree belowground biomass due to the high heterotrophic respiration rate recorded in the ACS, which was fostered by the incorporation of residues and tillage disturbance in the alley. Additional years of heterotrophic respiration measurements could allow for an estimate of the speed and extent of C losses