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This is the Congress inauguration statement of Professor Carmelo Dazzi (President of the European Society for Soil Conservation) to the international conference “Sustainable Management of Cultural Landscapes in the context of the European Green Deal”, held in Santo Stefano di Camastra (Sicily, Italy) jointly organized by the European Society for Soil Conservation and the European Ecocycles Society on November 9-14, 2021.

Changes in land use and soil management and the introduction of new technologies which exploiting environmental resources have in many cases led to an increase in soil degradation. A new definition of soil could be useful because it could lead to the genesis of a new discipline that we could call pedo-economics.

We all have to consider the soil as a good for a human society that is continuously changing and in which the boost toward a continuous economic growth and a rapid technological development, coupled with the progressive increase of the information, often causes considerable and unpredictable changes. The achievement of these goals is based on a sound and comprehensive knowledge of the soils of each country. I wish to welcome the book The Soils of Egypt and to congratulate with the authors.

Introduction. This paper provides the results of a comparative analysis of physicochemical and biological characteristics of soil cover at the fall places of the first stage of “Proton" Launch vehicle (LV) in the area of Yu-2 (Central Kazakhstan). In particular, we considered the ecological stability of brown solonetzic soils in combination with Solonetz soil, to chemical pollution and variability of soil microflora to mechanical stresses during the fall of the separated parts of space launch vehicles (SLV SP). Materials and Methods. We have chosen those Kazakhstan's territories that are used by the Baikonur Cosmodrome as an impact areas of separating parts of space launch vehicles (SLV SP IA), in June 2017, to conduct ecological studies in those places, where the first-stage vehicles of the Proton rocket have been fallen in the Yu-2 zone (Central Kazakhstan). Here the pollution of UDMH (unsymmetric dimethylhydrazine, rocket fuel, substance of the 1st class of toxic hazard) has been detected in soils in 2000-2007. Control point were also chosen in the adjacent territory. Morphological and physico-chemical properties of soil profiles have been studied. In 10 soil samples, indicators of the state of microflora and phytotoxicity were determined. Results and Conclusions. Based on the results of the analysis of the characteristics of solonetzic soils at the fall places of separated parts of space launch vehicles "Proton" in the Yu-2 zone (Central Kazakhstan), it was concluded that they have high resistance to chemical pollution of UDMH. The processes of physico-chemical transformation of UDMH and its processing by soil microorganisms are assumed in the illuvial B horizons, due to the high content of exchangeable sodium, against the background of sufficient soil moisture with an alkaline pH-medium (up to strongly alkaline). At the same time, low microbiological indices, the absence of spore-forming bacteria, and the presence of plant phytotoxicity were found in soils of the fall places. Microbiological restoration of fertile top soil in technogenic disturbed lands of the Yu-2 zone is extremely difficult in conditions of high soil alkalinity, in the presence of saline clay and increased content of carbonates

East Kazakhstan is a storehouse of ore raw materials. Here the main ore-mining industrial objects are concentrated. Most of these deposits and ore deposits are characterized by polymetallic and substantially lead-zinc ore composition. When developing ore deposits, the soil-vegetation cover of the territories is disturbed, and sometimes their complete destruction occurs. On the investigated object leached and podzolized chernozems are widespread. The study of the soil cover at the territories adjacent to the zinc plant showed a negative impact of the plant's emissions on the soil and vegetation cover. Thus, where there is a major outflow from the wind rose, there are manifestations of deep erosion processes. The main release is actively manifested in a radius of 2 km., but the effect takes place at a distance of 10-20 km. The soil cover adjacent to the zinc plant of the territory is devoid of vegetation and subjected to erosion processes. Raws, grooves, aryks were formed, continuous washing of the upper layers of the chernozem soil into the river goes on. Studies of physical, physicochemical, chemical and biological properties of soil have shown a negative impact of plant emissions on the main parameters of soil fertility. Thus, the granulometric composition changes due to the accumulation of fine silty-silt fractions and a more compact, washable illuvial horizon is formed. The volumetric mass of degraded contaminated soils is higher than in chernozem soils of undisturbed landscapes. Emissions of heavy metal plant destroys the composition of organic acids, which, accordingly, affects the aggregate state. Absorbed calcium is expelled, aggregates are destroyed and condensation occurs, especially in the upper horizon. The content of common humus in undisturbed landscapes in the upper horizon is 6.7%. The leached chernozem eroded with a partial rinse of the humus horizon loses up to 20% of humus and contains 4.9%. Heavy metals in the soil exceed the MPC in two to ten times. The main pollutants are zinc, lead, copper. Pollution affected the qualitative and quantitative composition of soil biota.

Estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stock after Agro Environment Measures adoption are strategically for national and regional scale. Uncertainty in estimates also represents a very important parameter in terms of evaluation of the exact costs and agro environment payments to farmers. In this study we modeled the variation of SOC stock after 10-year cover crop adoption in a vine growing area of South-Eastern Sicily. A paired-site approach was chosen to study the difference in SOC stocks. A total 100 paired sites (i.e. two adjacent plots) were chosen and three soil samples (Ap soil horizons, circa 0-30 cm depth) were collected in each plot to obtain a mean value of organic carbon concentration for each plot. The variation of soil organic carbon (SOCv) for each plot was calculated by differences between concentrations of the plot subjected to cover crops (SOC10) and the relative plot subjected to traditional agronomic practices (SOC0). The feasibility of using artificial neural networks as a method to predict soil organic carbon stock variation and the contribution of digital terrain analysis to improve the prediction were tested. We randomly subdivided the experimental values of SOC-stock difference in 80 learning samples and 20 test samples for model validation. SOCv was strongly correlated to the SOC0 concentration. Model validation using only SOCv as unique covariate showed a training and test perfection of 0.724 and 0.871 respectively. We hypothesized that terrain-driven hydrological flow patterns, mass-movement and local micro-climatic factors could be responsible processes contributing for SOC redistributions, thus affecting soil carbon stock in time. Terrain attributes were derived by digital terrain analysis from the 10 m DEM of the study area. A total of 37 terrain attributes were calculated and submitted to statistical feature selection. The Chi-square ranking indicated only 4 significant covariates among the terrain attributes (slope height, valley depth, protection index, surface area). Model validation using SOCv and the selected terrain attributes as predictors showed a training and test perfection of 0.889 and 0.921 respectively. Results confirmed that after 10 years of cover crop practices the SOC concentrations generally increased in the topsoil horizon and this increment is affected by the initial SOC concentration and terrain-driven factors.

Reclamation of technogenically disturbed lands requires several procedures and assignments. In the South of Kazakhstan during the field development of phosphate deposits, pastoral type lands were disturbed. Reclamation works were done in two stages - technical and biological. The technical stage included the dump planning, loamy ground delivery for bottom lining, layer-bylayer covering and stabilisation. The biological stage included planting of phyto-meliorants, biochar and carbamide insertion under crops. In the city of Ridder, around the mining processing industry, the black humus soil was exposed to aggressive emission of zinc plant. The soil is currently degraded and devoid of vegetation cover, and undergoing deep erosion processes. Biological reclamation was carried out on this site utilizing biochar and phyto-meliorants

The author proposes a new concept of soil erosion to shed new light on soil erosion an ecological environment conservation in order that politicians and administrators could pay great attention to preserve soil resources. A new concept of soil erosion is suggested by proposing ideas, explaining concepts, summarizing and case studies. The economic value should be assigned to the soil ecosystem services and the new concept of soil erosion that could be called “soil genetic erosion” is proposed. Soils are very diverse natural resources that positively affect and promote the economy of the social systems if they are maintained in good health.

This article describes the influence of zinc factory emissions on soil cover and vegetation cover of the lands of East Kazakhstan. It is shown how the physical properties of water affect soil moisture. The authors consider how heavy metals destroy the composition of organic acids and how it affects the aggregate state of the soil cover.

Since ancient times Man and Soil have experienced interwoven links. Nowadays soil scientists continue to stress such links highlighting the importance of soil to provide man’s growing demand for food, water and energy, and also the soil’s im- portance in providing ecosystem services that affect climate change, human health and biodiversity. In soil management for agricultural purposes, pedotechniques to tailor soils suita- ble for table grapes cultivation in large-scale farming are used to get substantial fi- nancial returns. However, farmers in tailoring soils for high income crops, fre- quently do not take into account the fundamental objective of the pedotechnique, i. e. to meet the needs of man, avoiding any undesirable environmental consequences that may occur during handling of earthy materials. Indeed, we should consider that any human intervention on the environment, could originate new soilscapes and new soils whose security should be verified. In this note, we report on an emblematic case study of pedotechniques application in Sicily (Italy). After stressing the threats to soil security derived by the presence of anthropogenically tailored soils for table grapes cultivation, we assess their eco- nomic sustainability, taking into consideration only the internal factors and exclud- ing the external economic contributions that are allocated to social sustainability. To evaluate the effectiveness of the financial investment, results have been com- pared with profitability data related to traditional crops without pedotechniques ap- plication. Results highlight that the transformation of the soilscape, from one hand, allows for considerable investment costs, on the other hand, the highest productivi- ty and the consequent higher profitability of the cultivation, compared to the con- ventional crops, allow to amortize the startup costs. We cannot ignore that this transformation could trigger potentially a considerable decrease in quality of the environment and in pedodiversity.

Since ancient times Man and Soil have experienced interwoven links. Nowadays soil scientists continue to stress such links highlighting the importance of soil to provide man’s growing demand for food, water and energy, and also the soil’s importance in providing ecosystem services that affect climate change, human health and biodiversity. In soil management for agricultural purposes, pedotechniques to tailor soils suitable for table grapes cultivation in large-scale farming are used to get substantial financial returns. However farmers, in tailoring soils for high income crops, frequently do not take into account the fundamental objective of the pedotechnique, i. e. to meet the needs of man, avoiding any undesirable environmental consequences that may occur during handling of earthy materials. In fact, we should consider that any human intervention on the environment, could originate new soilscapes and new soils whose security should be verified. In this note, we report on an emblematic case study of pedotechniques application in Sicily (Italy). After stressing the threats to soil security derived by the presence of anthropogenically tailored soils for table grapes cultivation, we assess their economic sustainability, taking into consideration only the internal factors and excluding the external economic contributions that are allocated to social sustainability. To evaluate the effectiveness of the financial investment, results have been compared with profitability data related to the same crop without pedotechniques application. Results highlight that the transformation of the soilscape, from one hand, allows for considerable investment costs, on the other hand, the highest productivity and the consequent higher profitability of the cultivation, compared to the conventional plants, allow to amortize the startup costs. We cannot ignore that this transformation could trigger potentially a considerable decrease in quality of the environment and in pedodiversity.

The role of temozolomide concurrent with and adjuvant to radiotherapy (RT/TMZ) in elderly patients with glioblastoma (GBM) remains unclear. We evaluated the outcome of patients >70 years in the context of the Project of Emilia-Romagna Region in Neuro-Oncology (PERNO), the first Italian prospective observational population-based study in neuro-oncology. For this analysis the criteria for selecting patients enrolled in the PERNO study were: age >70 years; PS 0–3; histologically confirmed GBM; postoperative radiotherapy (RT) after surgery with or without concomitant temozolomide (TMZ) or postsurgical TMZ alone. Between January 2009 and December 2010, 76 GBM elderly patients were identified in the prospective PERNO study. Twenty-three patients did not receive any treatment after surgery, and 53 patients received postsurgical treatments (25 patients received RT alone and 28 patients RT/TMZ). Median survival was 11.1 months (95 % CI 8.8–13.5), adding temozolomide concomitant and adjuvant to radiotherapy it was 11.6 months (95 % CI 8.6–14.6), and 9.3 months (95 % CI 8.1–10.6) in patients treated with RT alone (P = 0.164). However, patients with MGMT methylated treated with RT/TMZ obtained a better survival (17.2 months, 95 % CI 11.5–22.9) (P = 0.042). No difference in terms of survival were observed if patients with MGMT unmethylated tumor received RT alone, or RT/TMZ or, in MGMT methylated tumor, if patients received radiotherapy alone. In elderly patients RT/TMZ represent a widely used approach but it is effective with methylated MGMT tumors only.

Il suolo, complesso corpo naturale che risulta dalle interazioni fra biosfera, litosfera, atmosfera e idrosfera, ha sempre svolto un ruolo cruciale nel condizionare e determinare lo sviluppo economico, sociale e culturale dell'Uomo. La comprensione dei fattori e dei processi che sono alla base della sua genesi e della sua evoluzione così come delle loro sinergie, è essenziale per definirne le caratteristiche e le qualità e per apprezzarne le funzioni di produttore di beni e di servizi. La scienza che studia i suoli, la Pedologia, ne definisce e quantifica la morfologia, la genesi, le proprietà, la classificazione e la distribuzione come corpi naturali del paesaggio e costituisce anche l'insieme delle conoscenze di base che permette di valutarne le funzioni ecosistemiche. Conoscere i suoli per gestirli e curarli con idonea competenza e oculatezza è di fondamentale importanza poiché sempre di più, negli anni futuri, il mantenimento del benessere e lo sviluppo dell'uomo dipenderanno dalla sua capacità di assicurare l’uso sostenibile dei suoli, un compito reso difficile dal fatto che essi sono sostanzialmente criptorisorse!

Background: Clinical and molecular factors are essential to define the prognosis in patients with glioblastoma (GBM). O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation status, age, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and extent of surgical resection are the most relevant prognostic factors. Our investigation of the role of gender in predicting prognosis shows a slight survival advantage for female patients. Methods: We performed a prospective evaluation of the Project of Emilia Romagna on Neuro-Oncology (PERNO) registry to identify prognostic factors in patients with GBM who received standard treatment. Results: A total of 169 patients (99 males [58.6%] and 70 females [41.4%]) were evaluated prospectively. MGMT methylation was evaluable in 140 patients. Among the male patients, 36 were MGMT methylated (25.7%) and 47 were unmethylated (33.6%); among the female patients, 32 were methylated (22.9%) and 25 were unmethylated (17.9%). Survival was longer in the methylated females compared with the methylated males (P = 0.028) but was not significantly different between the unmethylated females and the unmethylated males (P = 0.395). In multivariate analysis, gender and MGMT methylation status considered together (methylated females vs. methylated males; hazard ratio [HR], 0.459; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.242-0.827; P = 0.017), age (HR, 1.025; 95% CI, 1.002-1.049; P = 0.032), and KPS (HR, 0.965; 95% CI, 0.948-0.982; P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with survival. Conclusions: Survival was consistently longer among MGMT methylated females compared with males. Gender can be considered as a further prognostic factor.