Runoff initiation, soil detachment and connectivity are enhanced as a consequence of vineyards plantations.

Rainfall-induced soil erosion is a major threat, especially in agricultural soils. In the Mediterranean belt, vineyards are affected by high soil loss rates, leading to land degradation. Plantation of new vines is carried out after deep ploughing, use of heavy machinery, wheel traffic, and trampling. Those works result in soil physical properties changes and contribute to enhanced runoff rates and increased soil erosion rates. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the plantation of vineyards on soil hydrological and erosional response under low frequency - high magnitude rainfall events, the ones that under the Mediterranean climatic conditions trigger extreme soil erosion rates. We determined time to ponding, Tp; time to runoff, Tr; time to runoff outlet, Tro; runoff rate, and soil loss under simulated rainfall (55 mm h-1, 1 h) at plot scale (0.25 m2) to characterize the runoff initiation and sediment detachment. In recent vine plantations (<1 year since plantation; R) compared to old ones (>50 years; O). Slope gradient, rock fragment cover, soil surface roughness, bulk density, soil organic matter content, soil water content and plant cover were determined. Plantation of new vineyards largely impacted runoff rates and soil erosion risk at plot scale in the short term. Tp, Tr and Tro were much shorter in R plots. Tr-Tp and Tro-Tr periods were used as connectivity indexes of water flow, and decreased to 77.5 and 33.2% in R plots compared to O plots. Runoff coefficients increased significantly from O (42.94%) to R plots (71.92%) and soil losses were approximately one order of magnitude lower (1.8 and 12.6 Mg ha-1 h-1 for O and R plots respectively). Soil surface roughness and bulk density are two key factors that determine the increase in connectivity of flows and sediments in recently planted vineyards. Our results confirm that plantation of new vineyards strongly contributes to runoff initiation and sediment detachment, and those findings confirms that soil erosion control strategies should be applied immediately after or during the plantation of vines.

Survival of children with cancer in Torino, Italy.

During 1967-78, cancer was diagnosed in 870 children living in the Province of Torino. Survival until the end of 1978 is reported separately for cases diagnosed in 1967-70, in 1971-74, and in 1975-78. Comparisons between the three series indicate a statistically significant (p less than 0.05) increase in survival rates for children with leukemia and cancer of the central nervous system as well as a nonstatistically significant increase for children with lymphoma (both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's). No consistent changes in time were noticed for neuroblastomas, nephroblastomas, soft tissue sarcomas, and retinoblastomas. Survival rates for both types of lymphomas and for leukemias (at least for cases diagnosed after 1975) were very similar to corresponding population-derived data from the U.S. and other Western countries. Rates for other cancers were relatively poor in the Province of Torino. It is suggested that relatively high care standards are easier to achieve in the case of childhood cancers requiring chemotherapy than in cancers commonly treated through radiotherapy and/or surgery.