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Animal welfare protection is a challenge for which policy-makers are demanding scientific-based evidence. Considering horses, the challenge is even greater, as their role in society varies from production to companion animals. This review aimed to describe the evolution and geographical distribution of horse welfare literature over the years, to identify the most studied research topics and to highlight the still present gaps in knowledge. A search on Scopus® bibliometric database was performed using different welfare-related keywords. Predetermined filters were posed on time range, language and subject area. A total of 6584 records were downloaded and screened retaining only the ones dealing with horse welfare and behavioural sciences. Descriptive statistics, text mining (TM) and topic analysis (TA) were performed on the abstract of 801 eligible records. The results showed the number of studies on horse welfare is exponentially increasing, especially in the European continent. 'Transport' was the most frequent word, but also 'behaviour' and 'pain' emerged. Nine topics were identified and covered different subject areas: stress analysis, pain assessment, equitation science, human–horse interactions, breeding management, transport, working equids and health. The evaluation of stress and pain, horse social behaviour and the human–horse relationship resulted to be the most studied aspects related to animal welfare. On the contrary, the concept of positive welfare and the welfare assessment at slaughter of horses were underrepresented, confirming the limited literature on these subjects. This review confirmed the growing impact of research on horse welfare and highlighted how some important areas still do not provide sufficient scientific evidence. Analysis of the literature related to horse welfare was performed using text analysis techniques to identify trends in words and research topics. Results showed that the literature on horse welfare has exponentially grown in the last 43 years, especially in Europe. The most studied topics were stress and pain, while studies on the welfare at slaughter and positive welfare indicators were scant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domesticated crops have been disseminated by humans over vast geographic areas. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was introduced in Europe after 1492. Here, by combining whole-genome profiling, metabolic fingerprinting and phenotypic characterisation, we show that the first common bean cultigens successfully introduced into Europe were of Andean origin, after Francisco Pizarro's expedition to northern Peru in 1529. We reveal that hybridisation, selection and recombination have shaped the genomic diversity of the European common bean in parallel with political constraints. There is clear evidence of adaptive introgression into the Mesoamerican-derived European genotypes, with 44 Andean introgressed genomic segments shared by more than 90% of European accessions and distributed across all chromosomes except PvChr11. Genomic scans for signatures of selection highlight the role of genes relevant to flowering and environmental adaptation, suggesting that introgression has been crucial for the dissemination of this tropical crop to the temperate regions of Europe. Common bean has two distinct domestication centers in Mesoamerica and in the Andes. The authors show that the Andean is the first gene pool successfully introduced in Europe and identify signature of pervasive introgression among gene pools and of selection for flowering underlying adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial activities involving dogs and cats have become increasingly important and contribute significantly to the European economy. One of the most important activities is undoubtedly their translocation for commercial purposes. This is governed by the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No. 1255/97. Unfortunately, Regulation EC No. 1/2005 reports only a few specific mentions of companion animals. Since scientific studies on the effects of transport on the welfare of dogs and cats are scarce, much of the available information is in the form of recommendations based on practical experience, rather than evidence-based research. Up to date, the effects of food and water deprivation, the use of some drugs (e.g. sedatives and anxiolytics), or weather impacts on companion animal health and welfare during transport are still a matter of debate. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to summarise the European Regulation on dog and cat welfare during transport, suggesting possible implementation, and to document the negative effects of transportation, suggesting how to mitigate them based on scientific evidence. To date, habituation to containers and travelling, particularly using positive reinforcement training, seems to be the most effective strategy to reduce transport stress in these animals. However, still many gaps of knowledge are present and further studies are needed. This review may be useful for all people involved in the companion animal industry. Pet commercial transportation is a growing reality. Pets should be trained to become familiar with containers and journeys. More research on the effects of transportation of pets is needed. The Regulation EC 1/2005 should be revised using research-based evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the prevalence of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URMs) in Europe has increased and not much research has been carried out in the area of quantifying the psychological problems facing such minors. The aim of this study is to assess whether URMs have more emotional and behavioral difficulties than Italian children and if there were any significant differences in psychological problems comparing URMs who come from different countries. The URM group, composed of 98 males aged 11–17 years, was compared with 103 Italian adolescents aged 12–17 years. Psychological vulnerabilities were assessed using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. What we found with our research is that URMs would seem to be much more pro-social than Italian boys, although they would seem to have more problems with peers and in managing their emotions. This high pro-sociality could be useful for the purposes of support and prevention of possible future psychological problems. Furthermore, Italian children scored higher in behavioural problems subscale than URMs, suggesting a probable relationship between low prosociality and high behavioural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) continue to be a distressing problem still reported by cancer patients, with negative consequences on quality of life (QoL).Aims: To prospectively explore the association of psychosocial variables, including emotional distress, maladaptive coping styles and the doctor-patient relationship, with CINV and QoL among cancer outpatients.Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 302 consecutive cancer patients (response rate 80.9%) in Austria, Italy and Spain. The Distress Thermometer (DT), the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), and the Patient Satisfaction with Doctor Questionnaire (PSQ) were used to assess psychosocial variables before chemotherapy. In the 5 days after chemotherapy, CINV was examined by using a daily diary, and the Functional Living Index for Emesis (FLIE) was used to assess QoL.Results: More than half of the patients reported nausea (54%), and a small percentage reported vomiting (14%). CINV had a negative impact on QoL (FLIE caseness, p < 0.01). Maladaptive coping (i.e. hopelessness-helplessness and anxious preoccupation) and emotional distress were associated with CINV (p < 0.05) and poorer QoL (p < 0.05). In logistic regression analysis, nausea was predicted by Mini-MAC/H (OR = 1.1, p = 0.03) and younger age (OR = 0.97, p = 0.04); negative impact on QoL was predicted by grade of chemotherapy emetogenesis (OR = 1.7, p < 0.01) and Mini-MAC/H (OR = 1.2, p = 0.04).Conclusions: Screening and assessment of psychological variables, especially coping, could help in identifying cancer patients at risk for chemotherapy-induced nausea, in spite of the use of antiemetic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The study objective was to evaluate whether there are clinical or genetic differences between patients with cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) and patients with non-CIBP, and, in the CIBP group, in those with good versus poor opioid response. Materials and Methods. A total of 2,294 adult patients with cancerwhowerereceiving opioids formoderate or severe pain were included in the European Pharmacogenetic Opioid Study. Pain intensity and pain relief were measured using the Brief Pain Inventory. Linkage disequilibrium of 112 single nucleotide polymorphisms was evaluated in 25 candidate genes, and 43 haplotypeswereassessed. Correlationsamongdemographical factors, disease-related factors, genetic factors, CIBP, and pain relief were analyzed by logistic regression models corrected for multiple testing. Patients with bone metastases and bone/soft tissue pain were defined as having prevalent bone pain (CIBP population).This population was compared with patients who had other types of cancer pain (non-CIBP). Results. A total of 577 patients (26.2%) had CIBP, and 1,624 patients (73.8%) had non-CIBP. Patients with CIBP had more breakthrough cancer pain episodes (64.2%vs. 56.4%, p5.001), hadsignificantlyhigherpaininterferencein“walkingability inthe past 24 hours” (p,.0001), usedmore adjuvant drugs (84.1% vs. 78.3%, p5.003), and had a higher, albeit nonsignificant,median overall survival (3.8 vs. 2.9months, p5.716) than patients with non-CIBP. None of the examined haplotypes exceeded p values corrected for multiple testing for the investigated outcomes. Conclusion. Patients with CIBP who were taking opioids had a clinical profile slightly different from that of the non-CIBP group. However, no specific genetic pattern emerged for CIBP versus non-CIBP or for responsive versus nonresponsive patients with CIBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent increase in European temperatures led to a strong enhancement in the occurrence of extremely warm events, with relevant consequences for environment and everyday life. Here, we investigate the evolution of very intense warm and cold events in a south-western European zone during 1961-2007 at a seasonal level. Special attention is given to summertime when warming is the most pronounced. Using a previously developed theoretical model, we discuss how the average properties and long-term trends observed in probability density functions of daily temperatures can explain changes in the frequency of severe, isolated events. In this perspective, the recent intensification of extremely warm events, especially experienced by the Mediterranean zone, is proved to be well consistent with a pure shift of seasonal mean temperatures. On the other hand, any change in the second and higher distributional moments of daily temperatures is ruled out by the data, whereas the average values of these properties, that is, variability and asymmetry, do play a role by shaping the temporal behavior of very intense events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the role of time as a locus of power and resistance in the context of 19th-century European colonialism. It adopts the case-study of the British settler-colony of Victoria, Australia, to illustrate the manner in which colonization entailed, as well as territorial conquest, the subversion of conflicting attitudes to time. It is argued that whilst the colonization of ‘Aboriginal time’ aided the broader economic interests of settler-colonialism by helping to absorb the Indigenous presence within the temporal landscape of colonial society, time also functioned as a tool for Indigenous resistance and cultural negotiation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study focuses on the expansion of Phaseolus vulgaris in Europe. The pathways of distribution of beans into and across Europe were very complex, with several introductions from the New World that were combined with direct exchanges between European and other Mediterranean countries. We have analyzed here six chloroplast microsatellite (cpSSR) loci and two unlinked nuclear loci (for phaseolin types and Pv- shatterproof1). We have assessed the genetic structure and level of diversity of a large collection of European landraces of P. vulgaris (307) in comparison to 94 genotypes from the Americas that are representative of the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools. First, we show that most of the European common bean landraces (67%) are of Andean origin, and that there are no strong differences across European regions for the proportions of the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools. Moreover, cytoplasmic diversity is evenly distributed across European regions. Secondly, the cytoplasmic bottleneck that was due to the introduction of P. vulgaris into the Old World was very weak or nearly absent. This is in contrast to evidence from nuclear analyses that have suggested a bottleneck of greater intensity. Finally, we estimate that a relatively high proportion of the European bean germplasm (about 44%) was derived from hybridization between the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools. Moreover, although hybrids are present everywhere in Europe, they show an uneven distribution, with high frequencies in central Europe, and low frequencies in Spain and Italy. On the basis of these data, we suggest that the entire European continent and not only some of the countries therein can be regarded as a secondary diversification center for P. vulgaris. Finally, we outline the relevance of these inter-gene pool hybrids for plant breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates temperature variability in the Alps and their surroundings based on 97 instrumental series of monthly mean temperatures. A discussion of the initial homogenizing procedure illustrates its advantages and risks. A comparison of the homogenized series with the original series clearly shows the necessity to homogenize. Each of the original series had breaks (an average of five per series) and the mean of all series was systematically biased by non-climatic noise. This noise has subdued the long-term amplitude of the temperature evolution in the region by 0.5 K. The relatively high spatial resolution of the data enabled a regionalization within the study area of 680 000 km2 into six sub-regions based on principal component analysis of the monthly series. Long-term temperature evolution proved to be highly similar across the region—thus making a mean series (averaged over all 97 single series) representative of the study area. Trend analysis (based on progressive forward and backward Mann–Kendall statistics and on progressive analysis of linear regression coefficients) was performed on seasonal and annual series. The results diverge from those of global datasets. This is mainly due to the extension of the 240-year Alpine dataset by 100 years prior to the mid-19th century, and also due to the advantages of a dense and homogenized regional dataset. The long-term features include an initial decrease of the annual and seasonal series to a minimum followed by a positive trend until 1998. The minima are 1890 for the entire year and winter, 1840 for spring and 1920 for summer and autumn, respectively. The initial decreasing trend is more evident in spring and summer, less in autumn and smallest in winter. The mean annual temperature increase since 1890 in the Alps is 1.1 K, which is twice as much as the 0.55 K in the respective grid boxes of the most frequently used global dataset of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU), University of East Anglia. To enable an easier and more systematic handling of the dataset, these data have been interpolated to a 1°×1° longitude–latitude grid. The 105 low-elevation and 16 high-elevation grid point series are widely available without restrictions for scientific research and can be obtained from the authors. Copyright © 2001 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food legumes are at the crossroads of many societal challenges that involve agriculture, such as climate change and food sustainability and security. In this context, pulses have a crucial role in the development of plant-based diets, as they represent a very good source of nutritional components and improve soil fertility, such as by nitrogen fixation through symbiosis with rhizobia. The main contribution to promotion of food legumes in agroecosystems will come from plant breeding, which is guaranteed by the availability of well-characterized genetic resources. Here, we analyze seeds of 25 American and European common bean purified accessions (i.e., lines of single seed descent) for different morphological and compositional quality traits. Significant differences among the accessions and superior genotypes for important nutritional traits are identified, with some lines showing extreme values for more than one trait. Heritability estimates indicate the importance of considering the effects of environmental growth conditions on seed compositional traits. They suggest the need for more phenotypic characterization in different environments over different years to better characterize combined effects of environment and genotype on nutritional trait variations. Finally, adaptation following the introduction and spread of common bean in Europe seems to have affected its nutritional profile. This finding further suggests the relevance of evolutionary studies to guide breeders in the choice of plant genetic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the development of a European project aimed at analysing and comparing, through a qualitative survey, the situation of highly skilled workers in different European Member States. The project is called INTIߞsuccess through migration. The project has been developed with collaboration of partners based in Lisbon, Berlin, Warsaw and Rome.

Historical series of monthly mean temperatures from 27 Italian stations, updated to 1993, are analysed. Building on previous analysis thefollowing new results were obtained: there is an upward trend in seasonal and annual temperatures during the last 20 years; a positive trend, stronger at southern stations compared to northern stations, is apparent from 1920 to 1950, after when temperature shows no significant trend until 1985 when it starts to increase again. Data from Northern Italy show similar characteristics to a subset of data from a global climatic database, for the period 1881-1988. This comparison, however, suggests that good station coverage is important for the construction of a more detailed picture of seasonal climate variability." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of an integrated assessment of traffic impact on a tourist-popular high altitude region which includes mountain passes and road tunnels. A modeling system for air quality assessment and management has been established and revised. The system has been used to evaluate the impact of traffic due to the re-opening of the Mont Blanc tunnel: the increase in NO(x) concentrations ranges from 50% at the bottom of the upper valley to 150% near to tunnel entrance.