A review of energy-based indicators for assessing sustainability and circular economy in the agri-food production

An agri-food production oriented towards sustainability and Circular Economy (CE) models is able to enable the resource efficiency and the reduction of environmental impacts. In this perspective, indicators for the sustainability assessment can play a relevant role. Although there is a growing literature investigating sustainability and CE indicators, there is a lack of studies that offer a detailed framework of key elements included in agri-food indicators. The aim of this study is to review the recent literature for identifying and analyzing energy-related indicators in the agri-food sector, providing a comprehensive overview of activities and specific inputs that are taken into account. The knowledge of such elements and their respective weight factor represent a relevant aspect for the transition towards a future sustainable agri-food production, having a direct effect on the environmental decision-making. The main results show that: 1) the energy-intensive activities mainly consist in the agricultural machinery movement and transport, 2) the fuel consumption is generally taken into account according to its origin (fossil or biological), 3) the rate of the used clean energy is always considered as a critical input. This outlined framework allowed the authors to draw relevant research results, such as the evidence that the lack of technology and alternative sources of energy, besides an inefficient subsidy system, may be the main obstacles towards sustainability, especially in some countries where the level of mechanization is still far from modern standards

Imaging Diagnostics Coupled with Non-Invasive and Micro-Invasive Analyses for the Restoration of Ethnographic Artifacts from French Polynesia

In this paper, two different objects from the ethnographic collection of the museum of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Rome), a Polynesian barkcloth (tapa) and a Polynesian headdress in feathers (pa’e ku’a), were investigated to characterize the materials, to evaluate their state of conservation and address the restoration activities. Imaging methods such as multispectral imaging, 3D ultraviolet induced fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy have been integrated with analytical techniques such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Imaging investigations allowed us to differentiate constitutive materials and study their distribution, such as the yellow dye in the tapa used to trace the geometrical pattern and the psittacofulvins responsible for the feathers’ colors in the headdress. The combination of molecular spectroscopy, supported by observation under a scanning electron microscope, allowed us to propose a characterization of the organic painting materials (Morinda citrifolia, Curcuma longa) used for the tapa, and of the type of feathers (from Vini kuhlii bird) and vegetal fibers (Cocos nucifera L.) used to realize the headdress, as well as enabling the identification of degradation products and microorganisms affecting the artifacts before restoration. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy detected the organic materials used as adhesives for the tapa and headdress: a polysaccharide, probably starch, for the tapa and a natural rubber from Cerbera manghas L. for the headdress. The results of the multi-analytic diagnostic campaign enabled the choice of proper restoration materials, compatible with the original ones, and helped us develop effective protocols for the artifacts’ conservation, such as laser cleaning of the feathers8n

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids as Prebiotics: Innovation or Confirmation?

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), in its last consensus statement about prebiotics, defined polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as "candidate prebiotics" due to a lack of complete scientific evidence. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of microbiota to metabolize PUFAs, although the role of the resulting metabolites in the host is less known. Recent partial evidence shows that these metabolites can have important health effects in the host, reinforcing the concept of the prebiotic action of PUFAs, despite the data being mostly related to omega-6 linoleic acid and to lactobacilli taxon. However, considering that the symbionts in our gut benefit from the nutritional molecules that we include in our diet, and that bacteria, like all living organisms, cannot benefit from a single nutritional molecule, the concept of the "correct prebiotic diet" should be the new frontier in the field of gut microbiota research

Researches at the Monte Abatone necropolis (Cerveteri)

The Authors illustrate the ‘Monte Abatone Project’, focusing on the important necropolis South of the ancient city of Caere. The area in its archaeological and topographical features was not further studied since the geophysical campaigns (1957-1961) by the Lerici Foundation. The main focus is the large area around the Campana Tumulus, previously left unexplored in the large plan by the Lerici Foundation. Excavations in 2018-2021 on the South side of this area led, conversely, to discover a possible ‘family’ cluster of tombs, dating to at least between the early Orientalizing and the early/middle Archaic period: these tombs were of fossa, semi-constructed, single-chamber and C2 types. Also, further unknown sectors of the necropolis were found not far from this cluster, with a concentration of tombs of the early semi-constructed type (first half of VII cent. BCE), provided with small tumuli, ordered in two approximatively parallel rows and all oriented North-West. This suggests the existence of a planning by some form of ‘urban’ authority, at a time – beginning with the Early Orientalizing period − that marked a considerable acceleration in the economic growth of the city and its civil-political structure. The area West and North of the Campana Tumulus was also investigated, including surveying the edges of the plateau that led to the identification of tombs (VI-III cent. BCE) excavated in the past and partially backfilled, and terraces for funerary rites which are oriented, like the Tumulus, toward the city plateau. Extensive use of laser scanning and photogrammetry allowed to produce a model of the Monte Abatone plateau, a 3D model of both the Campana Tumulus, never surveyed since the first half of the nineteenth century, and other excavated tombs.19s

Weed Community Evolution In Durum Wheat - Potato Rotation After 4-year Of Organic And Mineral Fertilization

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«Viaggiatore come sono e forse dei primi fra gli italiani...». La Descrizione della Nubia e dell’Egitto monumentale di Giuseppe Acerbi

Dopo un decennio alla direzione della Biblioteca Italiana, la rivista voluta dagli Asburgo all’indomani della Restaurazione per rivitalizzare i fasti dell’assolutismo illuminato lombardo, il 25 giugno 1825 Giuseppe Acerbi venne nominato console generale d’Austria presso Alessandria d’Egitto. L’entusiasmo iniziale nel vedere finalmente appagato il desiderio di un ruolo nella diplomazia cullato sin dal giovanile Grand Tour rovesciato che lo portò sino a Capo Nord, svanì ben presto dato che il mantovano si rese conto di come Alessandria e il ruolo di console non fossero come li aveva auspicati; colse quindi l’occasione per rivitalizzare la propria passione giovanile per i viaggi e la conoscenza di paesi lontani. Nel florilegio di testi di viaggio relativi all’esperienza decennale in Egitto, quasi tutti inediti, spiccano testi che relazionano dell’Egitto monumentale, dei viaggi in “compagnia” di Champollion e Rossellini, che raccontano la risalita del Nilo e che ci dicono di una visione del mondo comparatistica, non erudita ma ricercata, curiosa eppure “distaccata” che reitera quell’incontro/scontro culturale a tutto tondo secondo la direttrice Est/Ovest, così come Nord/Sud, che Acerbi aveva ricercato per tutta la vita.n

The Effects of LED Light Spectra and Intensities on Plant Growth

Light is an electromagnetic radiation that occurs in a narrow range of over an extremely wide range of wavelengths, from gamma rays with wavelengths to radio waves measured in meters [...].

State Estimation of Pest Populations subject to Intermittent Measurements

This paper introduces an observer-based scheme to estimate pest populations in agricultural fields. The proposed scheme describes the different stages of the life cycle of insects as a system of ODEs and it uses an Extended Kalman Filter with intermittent observations to provide a state estimation. This scheme aims at providing a general framework to formally combine physiologically-based models and field measurements, contrary to current best practices where both methodologies are used independently in parallel. The presented approach allows to apply this framework to a large number of species of agricultural interest and to take advantage from different counting systems. The improvement of the presented approach with respect to current best practices is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations based on the case of Drosophila suzukii.4s