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This paper incorporates climate variables, including rainfall conditions and patterns, into an impact assessment of the Value Chain Development Project in the Maputo and Limpopo Corridors (PROSUL) in Mozambique. It focuses on activities targeting improved pasture management, supplemental feed sources and livestock value chain development. Results show weather and climate conditions significantly impact households’ adoption of project activities and livestock productivity outcomes. Project beneficiaries in drought-prone areas are more likely to provide supplemental feed in the dry season, though livestock birth rates are still lower in those areas.

Evidence indicates that land rights are strongly associated with several indicators of well-being and development outcomes, including access to credit, resilience to shocks, productivity, and bargaining power. Accurately capturing gender differences in land rights is thus critical for development policy, prompting the need to shift from household-level land rights data collection to collecting more and better individual-level data on land rights. The importance of individual land rights has been recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda, with the inclusion of two key indicators on land rights—SDG indicators 1.4.2 and 5.a.1. Although clear guidance exists for computing and monitoring these, the choice of data collection methods may influence the resulting indicators and the understanding of the underlying land rights. Specifically, research has shown that the use of proxy respondents in the collection of data on assets, including land, results in a biased understanding of men’s and women’s holdings vis-à-vis self-reporting. This paper uses data from a methodological experiment in Armenia to assess the implications of survey design—Snamely, respondent strategy and the level of disaggregation of land data—Son the measurement of individual land rights and SDG indicator monitoring. The findings suggest that in the context of Armenia, the measurement of SDG 5.a.1 and 1.4.2 (a) is robust to respondent approach and data disaggregation level, driven largely by the high rates of documentation. Meanwhile, land rights that are less objective, such as the right to bequeath and perception of tenure security, are sensitive to these survey design choices.

This working paper analyses the financial cost and benefit of adopting two different bundles of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, which are tailored for the diverse conditions that prevail in southern Malawi. The results show the integration of CSA practices, including soil conservation, agroforestry, and livestock diversification, into conventional maize-legume and maize monocrop systems is profitable for farmers. Moreover, the profitability of these systems increases under extreme weather conditions that occur with increasing frequency in the region. However, the upfront costs and cost variability associated with the adoption of these CSA scenarios is high relative to conventional practices. In addition, while the Net Present Value is positive for the CSA scenarios, the monetary returns are small and are spread over a long investment period. These factors act as significant barriers to adopting CSA practices. Supporting farmers through climate financing or other mechanisms to make long-term private investment in CSA, based on the public benefits these investments generate for the environment, is critical for achieving widespread adoption., FAO Document Repository: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb5381en

The Progress towards Sustainable Agriculture initiative (PROSA) is a framework that seeks to complement ongoing efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and particularly indicator 2.4.1, to support country-level assessments using data already available at the national level. Making agriculture more sustainable ��� productive, environmentally friendly, resilient and profitable is fundamental, as agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for the majority of the world���s poor and hungry. The pathway towards sustainable agriculture must ensure increasing output, but also make more efficient use of increasingly scarce global resources, be resilient to and help mitigate climate change, and improve human well-being. This technical study examines the key factors driving changes in trends in the indicators of sustainable agriculture and provides decision-makers with insights into viable options for achieving this goal. The study identifies five key groups of drivers that most influence these indicators globally. The ways in which each driver affects the multiple dimensions of sustainability highlights the interconnections, synergies and trade-offs that must be managed in different global contexts to achieve agricultural sustainability. The analysis can help decision-makers operating in different country contexts to identify practical solutions to ensure that their interventions contribute positively to a more sustainable agriculture., FAO Document Repository: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7896en

Presentation 21113

FAO Document Repository: https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7072en

Preliminary evidence supports the notion that COVID-19 patients may have an increased susceptibility to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the magnitude of this association still needs to be defined. Furthermore, clinical predictors of thrombogenesis, and the relationship with the inflammatory status are currently unknown. On this basis, we conducted a retrospective, observational study on 259 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to an academic tertiary referral hospital in Northern Italy between March 19th and April 6th, 2020. Records of COVID-19 patients with a definite VTE event were reviewed for demographic information, co-morbidities, risk factors for VTE, laboratory tests, and anticoagulation treatment. Twenty-five cases among 259 COVID-19 patients developed VTE (9.6%), all of them having a Padua score > 4, although being under standard anticoagulation prophylaxis since hospital admission. In the VTE subcohort, we found a significant positive correlation between platelet count (PLT) and either C reactive protein (CRP) (p p = 0.0013), while a significant inverse correlation was observed between PLT and mean platelet volume (p p p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively). No significant difference was found in d-dimer levels between VTE and non VTE patients, while significantly higher levels of LDH (p = 0.04) and IL-6 (p = 0.04) were observed in VTE patients in comparison to non-VTE patients. In conclusion, our findings showed a quite high prevalence of VTE in COVID-19 patients. Raised inflammatory indexes and increased serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines should raise the clinical suspicion of VTE.

In this work, we assess the role of a specific type of organized crime in influencing choices on where living within the city territory, and consequently, volatility in house prices. More specifically, we test how organized crime killing may influence house pricing behaviors. Firstly, we show evidences about how organized crime is associated with higher inequality of housing prices for Italian cities in 2011. Then, by collecting and geo referencing data on the city of Naples for the period 2002-2016, we test for the direct influence of homicides on the relevant territory, as on the neighboring districts. Results show a negative and significant impact of killing on the house prices either for sales or for rents and a positive effect in neighboring district, driving increases in within-city inequality.

Preliminary evidence supports the notion that COVID-19 patients may have an increased susceptibility to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the magnitude of this association still needs to be defined. Furthermore, clinical predictors of thrombogenesis, and the relationship with the inflammatory status are currently unknown. On this basis, we conducted a retrospective, observational study on 259 consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to an academic tertiary referral hospital in Northern Italy between March 19th and April 6th, 2020. Records of COVID-19 patients with a definite VTE event were reviewed for demographic information, co-morbidities, risk factors for VTE, laboratory tests, and anticoagulation treatment. Twenty-five cases among 259 COVID-19 patients developed VTE (9.6%), all of them having a Padua score 4, although being under standard anticoagulation prophylaxis since hospital admission. In the VTE subcohort, we found a significant positive correlation between platelet count (PLT) and either C reactive protein (CRP) (p 0.0001) or lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p = 0.0013), while a significant inverse correlation was observed between PLT and mean platelet volume (p 0.0001). Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio significantly correlated with CRP (p 0.0001). The majority of VTE patients was male and younger compared to non-VTE patients (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively). No significant difference was found in D-dimer levels between VTE and non VTE patients, while significantly higher levels of LDH (p = 0.04) and IL-6 (p = 0.04) were observed in VTE patients in comparison to non-VTE patients. In conclusion, our findings showed a quite high prevalence of VTE in COVID-19 patients. Raised inflammatory indexes and increased serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines should raise the clinical suspicion of VTE.

Does receiving information on potential adverse weather conditions induce adaptive responses by smallholders? Do market institutions ease constraints to adaptation of these practices? This report examines these questions using a unique panel dataset of Zambian smallholder households collected before and after 2015/16 El Niño Southern Oscillation event. The analysis finds that farmers receiving drought-related seasonal forecasts are more likely to integrate drought tolerant crops into their cropping systems and to acquire improved maize seed varieties. These farmers, on average, are found to apply double the quantity of improved maize seeds than farmers residing in the same zones but not receiving weather information. Larger and more competitive private output markets function as enablers of smallholder adaptive responses to seasonal forecast information, as farmers with improved market access are more likely to shift toward drought resilient technologies than farmers with low output market access. Three policy recommendations emerge from the findings. First, while seasonal forecast information can induce adaptive responses by farmers, there is the need of improving access to this information, particularly for households in remote areas or limited asset ownership. Second, targeting voucher-based farmer input support programs based on seasonal forecast information can enable the crowding in of private investments in these regions and increase the adaptive responses of farmers, particularly resource constrained farmers. Finally, this analysis suggests that policies that incentivize private investment in agricultural markets should be considered within the broader framework of smallholder climate adaptation and resilience in Zambia. This includes strategies to improve agricultural trade predictability.

Background The long pentraxin PTX3 is a key component of the humoral arm of innate immunity related to sepsis severity and mortality. We evaluated the clinical and prognostic significance of circulating PTX3 in the largest cohort ever reported of patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. Design Plasma PTX3 was measured on days 1, 2 and 7 after randomization of 958 patients to albumin or crystalloids for fluid resuscitation in the multicenter Albumin Italian Outcome Sepsis (ALBIOS) trial. We tested the association of PTX3 and its changes over time with clinical severity, prevalent and incident organ dysfunctions, 90-day mortality, and treatment. Results PTX3 was high at baseline (72 [33-186] ng/mL) and rose with the severity and number of organ dysfunctions (p

Climate variability and extreme events continue to impose significant challenges to households, particularly to those that are less resilient. By exploring the resilience capacity of rural Ethiopian households after the drought shock occurred in 2011, using panel data, this paper shows important socio-economic and policy determinants of households' resilience capacity. Three policy indications emerge from the analysis. First, government support programmes, such as the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), appear to sustain households' resilience by helping them to reach the level of pre-shock total consumption, but have no impact on the food-consumption resilience. Secondly, the 'selling out assets strategy' affects positively households' resilience, but only in terms of food consumption ' not total consumption. Finally, the presence of informal institutions, such as social networks providing financial support, sharply increases households' resilience by helping them to reach preshock levels of both food consumption and total consumption., FAO Document Repository: http://www.fao.org/3/CA2653EN/ca2653en.pdf

Crop diversification is an important policy objective to promote climate change adaptation, yet the drivers and impacts of crop diversification vary considerably depending on the specific combinations of crops a farmer grows. This paper examines adoption determinants of seven different cropping systems in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, and the impact of their adoption on maize productivity and income volatility ' using a multinomial endogenous treatment effect model. These cropping systems consist in different combinations of four categories of crops: dominate staple (maize), alternative staples, legumes, and cash-crops. The study finds that relative to maize mono-cropping systems, the vast majority of systems have either neutral or positive effects on maize productivity, and either reduce or have neutral effects on crop income volatility. In particular, cropping systems that include legumes produce better outcome in most cases than those that feature cash crops..., FAO Document Repository: http://www.fao.org/3/ca1562en/CA1562EN.pdf

Learning objectives Background Findings and procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: Isolated cecal necrosis is a rare entity with high mortality. There are not many cases described in radiology literature; we want to explain the main CT findings to recognize this...

Learning objectives Background Findings and procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: We expose the principal imaging findings of aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM), an unusual pelvic mass, in order to reach, whenever possible, the appropriate...

Learning objectives Background Findings and procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: We expose the principal imaging characteristics of splenic granulomatosis, in order to interpret the findings correctly, reaching whenever possible the appropriate...

Learning objectives Background Findings and procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: To perform a retrospective evaluation of patients with primary presbyphagia, not related to other comorbidities, who undergone videofluoroscopy swallow study (VFSS) over a period of 10 years (2004-2013). To assess presbyesophagus...

Learning objectives Background Findings and procedure details Conclusion Personal information References, Learning objectives: Bleeding into the biliary tree or hemobilia is a rare cause for upper gastro-intestinal bleeding that was first described by Francis Glison in 1654 [1]. Most commonly hemobilia is the result of trauma or investigatory interventions but...

This article investigates the relationship between school openings and Covid-19 diffusion when school-age vaccination becomes available. The analysis relies on a unique geo-referenced high frequency database on age of vaccination, Covid-19 cases and hospitalization indicators from the Italian region of Sicily. The study focuses on the change of Covid-19 diffusion after school opening in a homogeneous geographical territory (i.e., with the same control measures and surveillance systems, centrally coordinated by the Regional Government). The identification of causal effects derives from a comparison of the change in cases before and after school opening in the school year 2020/21, when vaccination was not available, and in 2021/22, when the vaccination campaign targeted individuals of age 12-19 and above 19. Results indicate that, while school opening determined an increase in the growth rate of Covid-19 cases in 2020/2021, this effect has been substantially reduced by school-age vaccination in 2021/2022. In particular, we find that an increase of approximately 10% in the vaccination rate of school-age population reduces the growth rate of Covid-19 cases after school opening by approximately 1%.

Crop diversification is a common agricultural policy objective. However, the determinants and impacts of crop diversification are heterogeneous and depend on a range of crop-specific characteristics. Index-based measurements of crop diversification, common in the agriculture economics literature, are unable to account for this heterogeneity. Using two national panel surveys from Malawi and Zambia, we develop a multinomial treatment effects model to examine the determinants of adopting seven discreet cropping systems and their impacts on maize productivity and crop income stability. The results of this approach are compared to those obtained when using a Gini–Simpsons index. Differences between the two empirical approaches highlight the importance of accounting for cropping system heterogeneity when conducting analyses of crop diversification to inform policy. For example, in Zambia, we show that levels of output market competition have no significant effect on diversification when diversification is measured as an index. However, at a cropping system level increased private trader activity is associated with a reduced probability of adopting subsistence-oriented cropping systems and an increased probability of adopting more productive and commercialised systems.

Purpose Methods and materials Results Conclusion Personal information and conflict of interest References, Purpose: In the field ofadvancedfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rest- fMRI) represents a novel imaging technique. The task-driven methods (task-fMRI) require a complete patient...

Purpose: Patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) show low fitness levels before GH treatment is started. Muscular strength, flexibility and postural stability are related to health and quality of life. Since it is widely recognized that physical activity increases GH secretion and GH could ameliorate fitness, if a high adherence to treatment is documented (1), the purpose of this study is to investigate any difference on posturographic parameters and muscular features in physically active children with GHD, treated with GH with a high adherence to the treatment, and compared with sedentary pediatric patients. Methods: 13 children (7 males, 6 females) with GHD were enrolled at the University Paediatric Unit of Palermo and assigned to either the the physical activity group (PAG) or the sedentary group (SG), comprising 7 (age mean: 13,14±1,35 years; height: 142,14±11,39 cm; weight: 36,57±8,12 kg) and 6 (age mean: 12,67±2,5 years; height: 138,17±12,62 cm; weight: 34,67±15,77 kg) subjects, respectively. All participants were requested to perform a stabilometric test on a platform (freeMed® baropodometric platform, Sensor Medica®) and a fitness test battery including: a) hand grip test through a mechanical dynamometer (Kern Map model 80K1 - Kern®); b) counter movement jump; c) sit-up test; d) backsaver sit and reach test. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica Software 12 (StatSoft®). The Student’s t-test was adopted in order to determine any differences between groups with the p-value set at p0,05) were found on hand grip test, counter movement jump and backsaver sit and reach test between groups. Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that in GHD children, treated with GH, physical activity ameliorates muscular strength levels and improves postural stability. References 1. Maggio MC, Vergara B, Porcelli P, Corsello G. Improvement of treatment adherence with growth hormone by easypod™ device: experience of an Italian centre. Ital J Pediatr. 2018 Sep 27;44(1):113. 2. Amer NM, Modesto MJ, Dos Santos CD, Erichsen O, Mascarenhas LPG, Nesi-França S, Marques-Pereira R, De Lacerda L. (2018). Resistance exercise alone improves muscle strength in growth hormone deficient males in the transition phase. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 28;31(8):887-894.

Introduction: The advent of biologic agents has revolutionized therapeutic approaches in systemic juvenile idiopatic arthritis (sJIA) as their introduction has been shown to modify disease course and improve overall outcomes, particularly when initiated early. Few studies have reported the drug retention rate (DRR) of biologic drugs in JIA, and none of them has specifically investigated the DRR of interleukin (IL)-1 inhibitors on sJIA. Objectives: The primary aim of the study was to examine the overall DRR of IL-1 blockers in sJIA patients. Secondary aims of our study were to: (i) explore the influence of biologic line of treatment, adverse events (AEs), type of anti-IL-1 agent and the concomitant use of conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) on DRR; (ii) find eventual predictive factors associated with events leading to drug discontinuation. The corticosteroid sparing effect and the impact of disease duration and treatment delay on survival constituted ancillary aims. Methods: sJIA patients – diagnosed according to the revised International League of Association for Rheumatology (ILAR) criteria – treated with anakinra (ANA) and canakinumab (CAN) were enrolled in 15 Italian tertiary referral centers. Demographic, clinical and therapeutic data collected from medical records were retrospectively collected and statistically analyzed. Results: Seventy seven patients were enrolled for a total of 86 treatment courses. The cumulative retention rate of the IL-1 inhibitors at 12-, 24-, 48-, and 60-months of follow-up was 79.9, 59.5, 53.5, and 53.5%, respectively, without any statistically significant differences between ANA and CAN (p = 0.056), and between patients treated in monotherapy compared to the subgroup co-administered with conventional immunosuppressors (p = 0.058). On the contrary, significant differences were found between biologic-naive patients and those previously treated with biologic drugs (p = 0.038) and when distinguishing according to AEs occurrence (p = 0.04). In regression analysis, patients pre-treated with other biologics (HR = 3.357 [CI: 1.341–8.406], p = 0.01) and those experiencing AEs (HR = 2.970 [CI: 1.186–7.435], p = 0.020) were associated with a higher hazard ratio of IL-1 inhibitors withdrawal. The mean treatment delay was significantly higher among patients discontinuing IL-1 inhibitors (p = 0.0002). Conclusion: Our findings suggest an excellent overall DRR for both ANA and CAN that might be further augmented by paying attention to AEs and employing these agents as first-line biologics in an early disease phase.

Introduction: Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis affecting mainly children; the most serious complications are coronary artery lesions (CAL). Nonetheless, the spectrum of complications involves all the vascular districts, such as the eyes, skin, kidneys, gallbladder, liver, central nervous system. Sensorineural hearing loss is a low diagnosed complication of KD, however, it may be permanent. Objectives: Auditory evoked potentials (ABR) and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are useful in evaluating children without auditory and/or visual symptoms but with diseases that could sub clinically involve these functions. Methods: We enrolled 52 children (31 M, 21 F; age: 3 months-10 years) with KD and evaluated ABR and VEPs in the acute phase of the disease and during the follow up. We correlated the neurophysiological study with clinical, biochemical parameters, the type of KD (typical, atypical, incomplete) with cardiac involvement and time of IVIG and/or other non-conventional treatment in the acute phase of KD. Results: VEPs were pathological in 6 children (4 M; 2 F) (1 patient with CAL had monoliteral alterations; 2 patients had ABR pathological as well). ABR were pathological in 36/52 patients (69%) (2 patients without CAL had monoliteral alterations). Furthermore, in those patients (31M; 21 F) there were no significant differences in age, time of the diagnosis, time of the first dose of IVIG, biochemical parameters (leukocytes, neutrophils percentage, AST, ALT, gamma-GT, albumin, Na, fibrinogen, D-Dimer) vs KD patients without alterations of ABR and VEPs.One patient showed a persistent sensorineural auditory loss. During the follow up, ABR and/or VEPs alterations persisted in the 80% of the patients. Most of the patients showed alterations of the wave V and the I-V, expression of mesencephalic involvement. Conclusion: We suggest evaluating ABR and VEPs in patients with KD, both in patients with precocious diagnosis and treatment either in children treated later than 10 days with IVIG. We suggest studying also patients without CAL, in whom neurophysiological study may contribute to the complete follow up of these patients.

I chinazolinoni sono composti eterociclici azotati che, insieme alle chinazoline, rappresentano degli importanti farmacofori in possesso di un ampio spettro di proprietà biologiche tra cui quella antitumorale. Recentemente sono stati riportati in letteratura dei derivati 4-chinazolinonici in grado di inibire in vitro l’enzima diidrofolato reduttasi (DHFR) con IC50 comprese tra 0.4 e 1.0 µM [1]. Allo scopo di progettare la sintesi di nuovi potenziali inibitori della DHFR, è stato condotto uno studio di modellistica molecolare considerando tale enzima come biotarget. Tale studio ha portato alla selezione di 42 nuovi derivati 4-chinazolinonici (Figura 1). Attualmente, sono stati sintetizzati 20 dei 42 nuovi derivati 4-chinazolinonici, che sono stati saggiati preliminarmente sulla linea cellulare K562. Il derivato più attivo ha mostrato una IC50 di 18 µM. Sono in corso saggi enzimatici per valutare in vitro l’inibizione dell’enzima DHFR. Bibliografia 1 Al-Omary F.A.M.; et al, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2010, 18, 2849.

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 calls for global action to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. Meeting this challenge requires global partnerships to support more productive, nutritious and equitable food systems, while helping to conserve environmental resources and reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for global climate change. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) offers a global vision for a more sustainable agriculture that encompasses economic, social and environmental dimensions of food and agriculture systems. This technical study examines the key factors driving changes in trends in the globally agreed upon indicators for sustainable agriculture and provides decision makers with insights into viable options for achieving this goal. To monitor the progress towards sustainable agriculture, the global community has recently established SDG target 2.4 and the associated indicator 2.4.1. Indicator 2.4.1 measures the share of the land under sustainable agriculture. It is comprised of a set of sub-indicators associated with the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability, and includes land productivity, farm profitability, socio-economic resilience, soil health, water use, fertilizer and pesticide risks, biodiversity, decent employment, land tenure and food security.

La Sortasi A è un enzima di membrana responsabile dell’ancoraggio delle proteine di superficie sulla parete cellulare dei batteri Gram-positivi. Essa è considerata un interessante obiettivo per lo sviluppo di nuovi farmaci anti-infettivi che mirino ad interferire con importanti meccanismi di virulenza Gram-positivi. In un precedente lavoro abbiamo indagato sull’attività antistafilococcica e antibiofilm di alcune Pirrolomicine naturali e sintetiche, composti pirrolici polialogenati attivi su patogeni Gram-positivi, alle concentrazioni di 1.5 e 0.045 µg/mL. I risultati biologici hanno mostrato percentuali di inibizione di biofilm comprese tra 50-80% [1]. Allo scopo di indagare sul loro meccanismo d’azione sono stati condotti studi di modellistica molecolare e saggi di inibizione in vitro sull’enzima Sortasi A (Figura 1). I risultati ottenuti indicano che la Sortasi A potrebbe essere il bersaglio sul quale le Pirrolomicine agiscono, con IC50 comprese tra 130-250 µM, nell’inibizione della formazione di biofilm. Bibliografia 1 Schillaci, D.; et al, Biofouling, 2010, 26, 433.