4,341 research outputs found
To what extent are consumers' perception and acceptance of alternative meat production systems affected by information? The case of cultured meat
Meat grown in labs, also known as cultured meat, is currently under development and will likely soon be available on supermarket shelves. Such new meat-based products may tackle some of the most controversial societal concerns related to the industry, in particular animal wellbeing and environmental impacts, with further potential improvements concerning food security. However, due to its high degree of novelty, it remains unclear how consumers view this type of food product, particularly in terms of beliefs regarding its intrinsic attributes such as safety, nutrients and flavor characterization, and its positive externalities concerning the environment, animal welfare, and food security. The present study aims at unveiling the perception, acceptance, and willingness to try, buy, and pay a premium price for cultured meat in the Italian context, deconvoluting the effect of providing positive information to consumers. Such investigation offers new insights for the development of targeted marketing strategies by deepening the understanding of consumers' perception of this lab-grown food product. Indeed, the study reveals that positive information affects the consumers' perception towards safety and nutritional characteristics of cultured meat and the willingness to pay a premium price for this new food product accordingly. The global meat production system is currently under pressure, particularly for its environmental and animal wellbeing impacts, as well as for the increasing protein demand worldwide. In this regard, cultured meat is currently a hot topic in the industrial, political, and societal arenas, revealing itself as the potential relief for the issues above. However, its high degree of novelty may hamper the extent of consumers' acceptance. This research assesses for which beliefs concerning intrinsic attributes and positive externalities, the provision of information is a sufficient tool for affecting the perception and acceptance of cultured meat on a panel of Italian consumers. Changes in perception and willingness to try, buy, and pay are assessed by measuring the variation before and after the provision of positive information related to the product. The results show that perception is affected by positive information concerning safety and nutritional characteristics, whereas the opposite occurs regarding the product flavor. Furthermore, findings reveal that, while the willingness to buy increases after providing positive information, the willingness to try does not. Finally, information on intrinsic attributes and positive externalities of the cultured meat would have to be combined with different approaches for further enhancement of consumers' perception and acceptance
SEA LEVEL CHANGE ALONG THE TYRRHENIAN COAST FROM EARLY HOLOCENE TO THE PRESENT
In any discussion of the evolution of a river basin, the history of sealevel
change is important since river gradients and delta developments are
strongly influenced by local sea level. Also, sea level provides a reference
for inferring past vertical tectonic stability from the geological record.
Hence it is appropriate that the discussion on the Tiber basin starts with sea
level change along the Tyrrhenian coast during the Holocene.
The past evidence for sea level comes from inferences of the position of
the sea surface with respect to the present. Hence it is a relative measure; a
function of both the changing position of the ocean surface and of the land
surface or an integrated measure of changes in ocean volume, land movement
and redistribution of water within the ocean basins. The observation
therefore contains information on all the processes that change these surfaces:
on geophysical, glaciological and oceanographic processes
Alternative agri‐food systems under a market agencements approach: The case of multifunctional farming activity in a peri‐urban area
(1) Background: A large body of literature is available on the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of alternative food systems, but not much of it is devoted to the dynamics underlying their design and implementation, more specifically the processes that make an alternative food system successful or not in terms of its sustainability aims. This gap seems to be particularly critical in studies concerning alternative food systems in urban and peri‐urban agriculture (UPA). This paper explores how the design and implementation of multifunctional farming activity in a peri‐urban area surrounding the city of Reggio Emilia in the Emilia‐Romagna region of Italy impact the achievement of its sustainability aims. (2) Methods: The environmental, social, and economic components of this project are explored in light of the sociology of market agencements. This method brings up the motivations of the human entities involved in the project, the role played by nonhuman entities, and the technical devices used for the fulfillment of the project’s aims. (3) Results: The alternative food system under study lacked a robust design phase and a shared definition of the project aims among all the stakeholders involved. This ended in a substantial mismatch between project aims and consumer expectations. (4) Conclusions: When a comprehensive design stage is neglected, the threefold aim concerning sustainability might not be achievable. In particular, the design of alternative food systems must take into account the social environment where it is intended to be put in place, especially in UPA, where consumers often live in suburban neighborhoods wherein the sense of community is not strong, thus preventing them from getting involved in a community‐based project. In such cases, hybridization can play a role in the sustainability of alternative food networks, provided that some trade‐offs occur among the different components of sustainability—some components of sustainability will be fully achieved, while others will not
Spatial extent of recent vertical tectonic motions misured in NE Sicily coastal area. Insights from marine geology and coastal geomorphology studies.
Vertical position of sea-level, pointed out by related deposits and morphologies, provide useful markers to estimate tectonic uplift rates. For the Holocene very high uplift rates are misured in the northeast Sicily coast (Antonioli et al., 2009). This study compare vertical tectonic movements and marine geology data in the coastal sector between Capo d\u2019Orlando and Brolo (NE Sicily); tectonic lineaments show different trends both onland (Nigro & Sulli, 1995) and offshore (Nicolich et al.,1982) and also the morphological response follow closely this difference. The geomorphologic survey provided data on Holocene uplift rates. We studied an archaeological ancient quarry of grinding wheels for oil that has been found in the Capo d\u2019Orlando inshore (Scicchitano et al., 2011). They present semi submerged circular holes in Stilo-Capo d\u2019Orlando deposits (Carbone et al., 1998). The tectonic uplift was evaluated as the difference between the observed local paleo-sea level position and the predicted sea-level curve for the same locality (Lambeck et al., 2011). The resulting uplift rates is 0.36 mm/yr (Scicchitano et al., 2011). In this area we studied also the Brolo stack. It is a metamorphic rocks emerging at 450 m from the coastline. The study led to discovery a fossils-bearing conglomerate in protected trays at 3.5 m a.s.l.. Radiocarbon analysis on a gastropod, gave us an age of 4965 years +-70 cal BP. If we compare this data with the predicted local sea level curves (Lambeck et al., 2011), we obtain an uplift rate about 1.5 mm/yr (Lo Presti et al., 2010), which is higher than that calculated in the study of archaeological rest. A detailed study of Brolo sector show us different morphological coastline position of Brolo plain. A picture of the year 1847 shows the coastline about 200 m landward. In Brolo coastal plain we have also found a Spondylus at -6 m b.s.l. We wait for the radiocarbon dating which allows us to have a new uplift rate data.
The analysis of marine geology data (Multibeam) evidenced structures connected to different faults systems, such as the submarine canyons that are the continuation of river beds. Multibeam data evidenced also tilted NE-ward submerged surfaces, indicating existing structural movements, interesting only restricted areas. So, very different uplift rates in the Holocene in very close areas distant only about 10 kilometers: both 0.36 mm/yr (Scicchitano et al. 2011) and 1.5 mm/yr (Lo Presti et al. 2010), and morphobathymetric data (tilted surfaces), evidence the important role of active tectonic lineaments. Seismic reflection profiles support this assumption, showing the metamorphic basement strongly dissected by high-angle faults, which at place determines the occurrence of emergent rock bodies (e.g. the Brolo stack). All this suggesting the occurrence of \u201crestricted regions\u201d in the coastal-marine sector with different geological behavior as response to prominent tectonic releasing bands, determining their horizontal and vertical movements
New insights on the relative sea level change during Holocene along the coasts of Tunisia and western Libya from archaeological and geomorphological markers
New data of sea level changes for the Mediterranean region along the coasts of northern Africa are
presented. Data are inferred from archaeological sites of Punic-Roman age located along the coast of
Tunisia, between Tunis and Jerba island and along the western coast of Libya, between Sabratha and
Leptis Magna. Data are based on precise measures of presently submerged archaeological markers that
are good indicators of past sea-level elevation. Nineteen selected archaeological sites were studied in
Tunisia and four in Libya, all aged between w2.0 and w1.5 ka BP. The functional elevations of significant
archaeological markers were measured with respect to the sea level at the time of measurements,
applying corrections for tide and atmospheric pressure values. The functional elevations of specific
architectural parts of the sites were interpreted, related to sea level at the time of their construction
providing data on the relative changes between land and sea. Observations were compared against sea
level change predictions derived from the glacio-hydro-isostatic model associated with the Last Glacial
cycle. The results indicate that local relative sea level change along the coast of Tunisia and Libya, has
increased 0.2 O 0.5 m since the last w2 ka. Besides minor vertical tectonic movements of the land, the
observed changes are produced by eustatic and glacio-hydro-isostatic variations acting in the Mediterranean
basin since the end of the last glacial maximum
Comparing marine geology and coastal geomorphology vertical tectonic data, a case study between Acquedolci and Patti (Messina).
The study of new data on vertical movements show a complex geologic response in a restricted sector of coastal area
between Acquedolci and Patti (north-eastern Sicily). Different surveys allowed to the recognition of morphological,
biological and archaeological markers of paleo-sea level. The analysis of these markers and the absolute datings
performed, allowed to reconstruct the history of vertical deformation of this sector but only the comparison among
coastal geomorphological data and marine geological data of platform-scarp continental system associates, allowed to
find the necessary keys words to explain the geologic complexity of this sector
Sea level change and vertical land movements since the last two millennia along the coasts of southwestern Turkey and Israel
This paper provides new relative sea-level data inferred from coastal archaeological sites located
along the Turkish coasts of the Gulf of Fethye (8 sites), and Israel, between Akziv and Caesarea (5
sites). The structures selected are those that, for effective functioning, can be accurately related to
sea level at the time of their construction. Thus their positions with respect to present sea level
provide a measure of the relative sea level change since their time of construction. Useful
information was obtained from the investigated sites spanning an age range of ~2.3 to ~1.6 ka BP.
The inferred changes in relative sea level for the two areas are distinctly different, from a rise of
2.41 to 4.50 m in Turkey and from 0 to 0.18 m in Israel. Sea level change is the combination of
several processes, including vertical tectonics, glacio–hydro-isostatic signals associated with the last
glacial cycle, and changes in ocean volume. For the Israel section, the present elevations of the MIS
5.5 Tyrrhenian terraces occur at a few meters above present sea level and vertical tectonic
displacements are small. Data from GPS and tide gauge measurements also indicate that any recent
vertical movements are small. The MIS-5.5 shorelines are absent from the investigated section of
the Turkish coast, consistent with crustal subsidence associated with the Hellenic Arc. The isostatic
signals for the Israel section of the coast are also small (ranging from -0.11 mm/year to 0.14
mm/year, depending on site and earth model) and the observed (eustatic) average sea level change,
corrected for this contribution, is a rise of 13.5±2.6 cm during the past ~2 ka. This is attributed to
the time-integrated contribution to sea level from a combination of thermal expansion and other
increases in ocean volume. The observed sea levels from the Turkish sites, in contrast, indicate a
much greater rise of up to 2.2 mm/yr since 2.3 ka BP occurring in a wide area between Knidos and
Kekova. The isostatic signal here is also one of a rising sea level (of up to ~ 1mm/year and site and
earth-model dependent) and the corrected tectonic rate of land subsidence is ~1.48 mm/year. This
is the primary cause of dramatic relative sea level rise for this part of the coast
I movimenti verticali nell’area di Briatico: evidenze da indicatori archeologici marittimi nell’area del terremoto del 1905
Le variazioni del livello del mare lungo le
coste italiane e più in generale del mare
Mediterraneo, dipendono dalla somma di
movimenti eustatici, glacio-idro-isostatici e
tettonici. I primi sono dovuti all’alternanza di fasi climatiche fredde (glaciazioni) con fasi più calde (periodi interglaciali) che provocano rispettivamente l’accrescimento e la riduzione delle calotte polari con conseguenti variazioni del livello degli oceani.
La presenza di indicatori archeologici tra la foce del fiume Trainiti e
Briatico, area attualmente in sollevamento,
permette di stimare le variazioni relative tra terra e mare avvenute negli ultimi 2000 anni lungo questo tratto di costa della Calabria tirrenica. Le informazioni desunte dai dati archeologici sono state anche confrontate con osservazioni geomorfologiche. La quota dei marker archeologici è stata misurata e corretta per il livello del mare al momento delle misure.
La interpretazione degli impianti ha fornito dati originali sui movimenti relativi tra terra e mare per tettonica e glacio-idro-isostasia
Evidence of relative sea level change and vertical motion of the land along the coast of Calabria inferred from maritime archaeological indicators
Calabria is one of the most complex regions of the Mediterranean basin, which experienced large earthquakes and
uplift and is still undergoing to active tectonics. Along its coasts, are located several archaeological sites of roman and pre-roman age, that can be used as powerful indicators of the relative vertical movements between land and sea since their
construction. In this paper we show and discuss data on the relative sea-level change as estimated from maritime
archaeological indicators of the last ~2.3 ka BP existing along the Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts of Calabria
Resposta de tangerinas e híbridos ao virus da leprose dos citros.
A leprose dos citros é uma das mais importantes viroses da citricultura brasileira. A doença, causada pelo Citrus leprosis virus C (CiLV-C) transmitido por Brevipalpus phoenicis, caracteriza-se pela indução de lesões locais no hospedeiro vegetal. Por ser uma virose não sistêmica, ao contrário da maioria das que ocorrem em plantas, o conhecimento dos mecanismos envolvidos nas interações vírus x planta x vetor se tornam ainda mais importantes, principalmente em relação ao manejo da doença no campo.A leprose tem a sua maior importância econômica no Brasil, embora relatos de sua ocorrência em países das Américas vêm aumentando significativamente nos últimos anos (Bastianel et al., 2010). Por ser um sério problema fitossanitário em pomares de laranjas doces, graças ao plantio em grande escala de variedades altamente suscetíveis, poucos estudos sobre a importância da leprose em outros grupos de citros, como as tangerinas e tangores têm sido relatados. Neste trabalho, estudos foram conduzidos com o objetivo de se ampliar o conhecimento da resposta da doença em variedades de tangerinas e híbridos de importância econômica.pdf 145
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