Articles

Agricultural landscapes cultivated in hilly and mountainous areas, often with terracing practice, could represent for some regions historical heritages and cultural ecosystem services. For this reason, they deserve to be protected. The complex morphology that characterises them, however, makes these areas intrinsically susceptible to hydrogeological instability, such as soil loss due to surface erosion or more severe mass movements. We can identify three major critical factors for such landscapes.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and a leading cause of dementia in the elderly. AD initially presents as mild cognitive impairment (MCI); later, as AD progresses, memory and cognition are destroyed, preventing the ability to carry out activities of daily living. The primary care provider may be the first to suspect MCI, and screening tests can help with diagnosis. Development of drugs for cognitive decline in AD has been slow; however new therapies are in the pipeline and discovery of biomarkers make early diagnosis and future treatment of AD hopeful.

In the last decade, the consumption trend of organic food has increased dramatically worldwide. Since only a few pesticides are authorized in organic crops, concentrations are expected to range at zero or ultra-trace levels. In this context, the aim of the present study was to investigate the need for an improvement in the residue controls at very low concentrations (