Assessment of the energetic potential by hazelnuts pruning in Viterbo’s area

In this work the amount of biomass available by the hazelnuts pruning in the province of Viterbo was investigated. At present, the pruning's residues are destroyed by farmers directly in the field, at the end of the pruning; in this way a large quantity of biomass, represented by hazelnut's prunings, is lost; the residues obtained from the hazelnut's pruning, are an important source of biomass that could be used for thermal energy production. The aim of this work is to realize a map with the estimated energy potential from hazelnut pruning biomass, in the province of Viterbo. In the first phase the amount of biomass obtained from a hectare of hazelnut's cultivationwas estimated:sampling were carried out in some municipalities of Viterbo while hazelnut pruning was taking place, from January to March.In the field, biomass was weighed and some pieces of wood were collected for laboratory analysis; in particular humidity of biomass, low calorific value, ashand the content of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and nitrogen (N) were determined. In the calculation of the biomass were considered the age of the plants and the number of plants per hectare. The results show that the amount of biomass obtained from pruning of hazelnuts varies with the age of plants, but even more so by the number of plants per hectare. The average value of biomass obtained from pruning of a hectare of land is just under 0,9 t. Knowing the net calorific value of the hazelnut wood and the number of hectares cultivated for each municipality, a map of thermal potential energy has been realized

The heat stress for workers employed in a dairy farm

The Italian dairy production is characterized by high heterogeneity. The typology quantitatively more important (80% of national production) is represented by cow’s milk cheeses (Grana Padano cheese, string cheese, Parmesan cheese, etc.), while the cheese from buffalo’s milk (especially string cheese such as mozzarella) and cheese from sheep and goats represents respectively 4% and 8% of the national dairy production, and are linked to specific regional contexts. Some phases of the cycle of milk processing occur at certain temperatures that are not comfortable for the workers also in relation to possible problems due to thermal shock. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of heat stress on workers operating in a dairy for processing of buffalo milk. The research was conducted at a dairy farm located in the province of Viterbo, Italy, during the spring-summer period. To carry out the research were detected major climatic parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, air velocity) and the main parameters of the individual operators (clothing thermal insulation and the energy expenditure required from the work done by employees). Subsequently, main indices of heat stress assessment provided by the main technical standards were calculated. In particular have been calculated predicted mean vote and predicted percentage of dissatisfied in moderate thermal environments (environments in which the objective, in the design and management phases, is to achieve the thermal comfort), provided by the UNI EN ISO 7730 and the wet bulb globe temperature in severe hot environments (environments in which you must protect the health of workers) required by UNI EN ISO 27243. The results show some phases of risk from heat stress especially during times of test in which the internal air temperature exceeds the threshold of 30°C and possible solutions to improve the safety of the operators

Electrophysiological and behavioral activity of (E)-2-hexenal in the granary weevil and its application in food packaging.

The purpose of this work was to develop a biodegradable carrier material to control insect pests in cereal products. To this aim, (E)-2-hexenal was used, being a natural compound with antimicrobial activity that is also commonly adopted as a flavoring agent. Three coating layers of polycaprolactone (PCL) were spread onto the internal side of a paperboard carton, the first being the active coating containing (E)-2-hexenal. The antennal sensitivity of Sitophilus granarius to a broad range of doses of (E)-2-hexenal was first demonstrated. Next, the ability of different concentrations of this compound to disrupt the orientation of adult S. granarius beetles to odors of intact wheat kernels was established in a two-choice pitfall bioassay. In addition, invasion tests were carried out over an 8-week period to highlight the effects of the biobased repellent packaging and their potential persistence. The results demonstrated that during the entire monitoring period, the percentage of S. granarius adults found in cartons coated with (E)-2-hexenal-loaded multilayer PCL was about 10 % of the total number of insects used in the bioassay, very low compared with the respective control samples, thus assessing both the effectiveness and persistence of the repellent system developed. Although the infestation level of treated packages was reduced relative to the infestation levels in the controls, any infestation of food packages is unacceptable to consumers, so further tests are required to determine whether infestation can be completely prevented using (E)-2-hexenal

Social networks and labour productivity in Europe: An empirical investigation

This paper uses firm-level data recorded in the AMADEUS database to investigate the distribution of labour productivity in different European countries. We find that the upper tail of the empirical productivity distributions follows a decaying power-law, whose exponent $\alpha$ is obtained by a semi-parametric estimation technique recently developed by Clementi et al. (2006). The emergence of "fat tails" in productivity distribution has already been detected in Di Matteo et al. (2005) and explained by means of a model of social network. Here we show that this model is tested on a broader sample of countries having different patterns of social network structure. These different social attitudes, measured using a social capital indicator, reflect in the power-law exponent estimates, verifying in this way the existence of linkages among firms' productivity performance and social network.Comment: LaTeX2e; 18 pages with 3 figures; Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, in pres

In Vitro Grown Sheep Preantral Follicles Yield Oocytes with Normal Nuclear-Epigenetic Maturation

BACKGROUND: Assisted reproductive technologies allow to utilize a limited number of fully grown oocytes despite the presence in the ovary of a large pool of meiotically incompetent gametes potentially able to produce live births. In vitro folliculogenesis could be useful to recruit these oocytes by promoting their growth and differentiation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In vitro folliculogenesis was performed starting from sheep preantral (PA) follicles to evaluate oocyte nuclear/epigenetic maturation. Chromatin configuration, quantification of global DNA methylation, and epigenetic remodelling enzymes were evaluated with immunocytochemistry, telomere elongation was assessed with the Q-FISH technique, while the DNA methylation status at the DMRs of maternally IGF2R and BEGAIN, and paternally H19 methylated imprinted genes was determined by bisulfite sequencing and COBRA. Specifically, 70% of PA underwent early antrum (EA) differentiation and supported in culture oocyte global DNA methylation, telomere elongation, TERT and Dnmt3a redistribution thus mimicking the physiological events that involve the oocyte during the transition from secondary to tertiary follicle. Dnmt1 anticipated cytoplasmic translocation in in vitro grown oocytes did not impair global and single gene DNA methylation. Indeed, the in vitro grown oocytes acquired a methylation profile of IGF2R and BEGAIN compatible with the follicle/oocyte stage reached, and maintained an unmethylated status of H19. In addition, the percentage of oocytes displaying a condensed chromatin configuration resulted lower in in vitro grown oocytes, however, their ability to undergo meiosis and early embryo development after IVF and parthenogenetic activation was similar to that recorded in EA follicle in vivo grown oocytes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In conclusion, the in vitro folliculogenesis was able to support the intracellular/nuclear mechanisms leading the oocytes to acquire a meiotic and developmental competence. Thus, the in vitro culture may increase the availability of fertilizable oocytes in sheep, and become an in vitro translational model to investigate the mechanisms governing nuclear/epigenetic oocyte maturation

Scaffold-Mediated Immunoengineering as Innovative Strategy for Tendon Regeneration

Tendon injuries are at the frontier of innovative approaches to public health concerns and sectoral policy objectives. Indeed, these injuries remain difficult to manage due to tendon’s poor healing ability ascribable to a hypo-cellularity and low vascularity, leading to the formation of a fibrotic tissue affecting its functionality. Tissue engineering represents a promising solution for the regeneration of damaged tendons with the aim to stimulate tissue regeneration or to produce functional implantable biomaterials. However, any technological advancement must take into consideration the role of the immune system in tissue regeneration and the potential of biomaterial scaffolds to control the immune signaling, creating a pro-regenerative environment. In this context, immunoengineering has emerged as a new discipline, developing innovative strategies for tendon injuries. It aims at designing scaffolds, in combination with engineered bioactive molecules and/or stem cells, able to modulate the interaction between the transplanted biomaterial-scaffold and the host tissue allowing a pro-regenerative immune response, therefore hindering fibrosis occurrence at the injury site and guiding tendon regeneration. Thus, this review is aimed at giving an overview on the role exerted from different tissue engineering actors in leading immunoregeneration by crosstalking with stem and immune cells to generate new paradigms in designing regenerative medicine approaches for tendon injuries

Tendon Immune Regeneration: Insights on the Synergetic Role of Stem and Immune Cells during Tendon Regeneration

Tendon disorders represent a very common pathology in today’s population, and tendinopathies that account 30% of tendon-related injuries, affect yearly millions of people which in turn cause huge socioeconomic and health repercussions worldwide. Inflammation plays a prominent role in the development of tendon pathologies, and advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms during the inflammatory state have provided additional insights into its potential role in tendon dis-orders. Different cell compartments, in combination with secreted immune modulators, have shown to control and modulate the inflammatory response during tendinopathies. Stromal compartment represented by tenocytes has shown to display an important role in orchestrating the inflammatory response during tendon injuries due to the interplay they exhibit with the immune-sensing and infiltrating compartments, which belong to resident and recruited immune cells. The use of stem cells or their derived secretomes within the regenerative medicine field might represent synergic new therapeutical approaches that can be used to tune the reaction of immune cells within the damaged tissues. To this end, promising opportunities are headed to the stimulation of macrophages polarization towards anti-inflammatory phenotype together with the recruitment of stem cells, that possess immunomodulatory properties, able to infiltrate within the damaged tissues and improve tendinopathies resolution. Indeed, the comprehension of the interactions between tenocytes or stem cells with the immune cells might considerably modulate the immune reaction solving hence the inflammatory response and preventing fibrotic tissue formation. The purpose of this review is to compare the roles of distinct cell compartments during tendon homeostasis and injury. Furthermore, the role of immune cells in this field, as well as their interactions with stem cells and tenocytes during tendon regeneration, will be discussed to gain insights into new ways for dealing with tendinopathies