An Analysis of Partially-Guaranteed-Price Contracts between Farmers and Agri-Food Companies

Global agri-food companies such as Barilla and SABMiller are purchasing agricultural products directly from farmers using different types of contracts to ensure stable supply. We examine one such contract with partially-guaranteed prices (PGP). Under a PGP contract, around sowing time, the buying firm agrees to purchase the crop when harvested by the farmer, offering a guaranteed unit price for any fraction of the produce and offering the commodity market price prevailing at the time of delivery for the remainder. The farmer then chooses the fraction. By analyzing a Stackelberg game, we show (1) how the PGP contract creates mutual benefits when the firm’s purchase quantity is taken as being exogenous. We also analyze how the PGP contract is robust in creating value for both the firm and the farmer (2) when the firm’s purchase quantity is endogenously determined; (3) when the firm provides advisory services to the farmer; and (4) when the firm offers a price premium as an incentive for farmers to exert efforts to comply with ‘sustainable’ agricultural practices

A Framework to Collect and Reuse Engineering Knowledge in the Context of Design for Additive Manufacturing

Design for AM (DfAM) requires the definition of Design Actions (DAs) to optimize AM manufacturing processes. However, AM understanding is still very blurred. Often designers are challenged by selecting the right design parameters. A method to list and collect DfAM DAs is currently missing. The paper aims at providing a framework to collect DfAM DAs according to a developed ontology to create databases (DBs). DBs were tested with two real case studies and geometric features to improve identified. Future developments aim at widening the database to provide all-around support for AM processes

Mitochondria-mediated energy adaption in cancer: The H+-ATP synthase-geared switch of metabolism in human tumors

Significance: Since the signing of the National Cancer Act in 1971, cancer still remains a major cause of death despite significant progresses made in understanding the biology and treatment of the disease. After many years of ostracism, the peculiar energy metabolism of tumors has been recognized as an additional phenotypic trait of the cancer cell. Recent Advances: While the enhanced aerobic glycolysis of carcinomas has already been translated to bedside for precise tumor imaging and staging of cancer patients, accepting that an impaired bioenergetic function of mitochondria is pivotal to understand energy metabolism of tumors and in its progression is debated. However, mitochondrial bioenergetics and cell death are tightly connected. Critical Issues: Recent clinical findings indicate that H+-ATP synthase, a core component of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, is repressed at both the protein and activity levels in human carcinomas. This review summarizes the relevance that mitochondrial function has to understand energy metabolism of tumors and explores the connection between the bioenergetic function of the organelle and the activity of mitochondria as tumor suppressors. Future Directions: The reversible nature of energy metabolism in tumors highlights the relevance that the microenvironment has for tumor progression. Moreover, the stimulation of mitochondrial activity or the inhibition of glycolysis suppresses tumor growth. Future research should elucidate the mechanisms promoting the silencing of oxidative phosphorylation in carcinomas. The aim is the development of new therapeutic strategies tackling energy metabolism to eradicate tumors or at least, to maintain tumor dormancy and transform cancer into a chronic disease. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 19, 285-298Supported by JCI2009-03918 Juan de la Cierva Grant, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain. Work in the authors’ laboratory was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (BFU2010-18903), by the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII and by Comunidad de Madrid (S2011/BMD-2402), Spain. The CBMSO receives an institutional grant from Fundación Ramón Arece

Multi-sensor analysis of extreme events in North-Eastern Italy

International audienceThe North-eastern part of Italy is known to be one of the most rainy regions in Europe. In this paper three extreme events are analysed, using a multi-sensor observing system including a weather radar and a dense telemetric network of surface stations, recording precipitation, wind, temperature and relative humidity. The cases examined comprise two long lasting rainfall events impacting two distinct areas, and a vigorous hail-producing thunderstorm event over the plains. In all cases, inter-comparison between remotely sensed and surface observations, including estimates and measures of precipitation and wind, helps to better understand the behaviour of the atmosphere, thus supporting operational fore- and now-casting. In the case of widespread precipitation, a relation is suggested between the wind speed and direction at medium/low levels with the location of the maximum precipitation relative to the mountains. This reflects the dynamical interaction between the mountain barrier and the atmospheric flux impinging upon it. This flux can be estimated by the automatic weather station of Mt. Cesen, a focal point for a now-casting of the rain in the Veneto Region. Analysis of strong thunderstorm activity makes extensive use of radar data. In the examined case the interaction of a sea breeze-like circulation with a mesoscale trough gave rise to a distinct convergence line that triggered a severe and long-lived hail-producing multi-cell thunderstorm. The hail was successfully detected by the radar's hail detection algorithm

Challenging the engineering design process for the development of facial masks in the constraint of the COVID-19 pandemic

The most effective ways to mitigate the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic are social distancing and the use of face masks as barrier to avoid droplets and to filtrate exhalations coming from infected subjects. Currently used face masks are products developed to be used by workers, both in health care and other contexts, where their use is limited in time and the disposal scenario is properly managed. Their use in a pandemic situation can be thus considered a remedial action due to the emergency. New masks or mask families are needed based on the desirable requirements retrieved by the analysis of the current worldwide situation and covering the gap observed in the market. The present paper aims to describe the complete product development process of a new facial mask (or mask family) for a daily use on a pandemic situation. It challenges the time constraint of the COVID-19 pandemic by adopting a four-step approach and concurrent development of the first phases (definition of requirements and functional derivation). The engineering design process allows to derive two different solutions able to fulfil all the requirements (demands and wishes) of final users, by assuring high ergonomic performance, as well as environmental, economic, and social sustainability

Digital Machines, Space, And Time: Towards A Behavioral Perspective Of Flexible Manufacturing

Recently, the diffusion of digital machines has further enhanced firms’ manufacturing flexibility, but also opened questions on potential challenges and implications in the production process. To respond to these timely issues, we adopt a behavioral perspective and comparatively explore how four different types of digital machines—characterized by increasing degrees of manufacturing flexibility—affect the perception and use of space and time for routines within the production plant. We qualitatively observe and compare 45 digital manufacturing machines, sampled across 14 firms in the British and Italian motorsport industry. A model emerges where four key mechanisms reshape the ‘space-machine’ and ‘time-machine’ routines. Such mechanisms mediate the relationship between manufacturing flexibility and firm performance. Further, we show how increasing digitalization in the manufacturing process enhances the establishment of new routines as flexible machines get introduced in the production. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications related to fostering a behavioral perspective in innovation and operations management studies

Eco-design actions to improve life cycle environmental performance of face masks in the pandemic era

Face masks are currently considered essential devices that people must wear today and in the near future, until the COVID-19 pandemic will be completely defeated through specific medicines and vaccines. Such devices are generally made of thermoplastic polymers, as polypropylene and polyethylene and are single use products. Even if in this period the sanitary emergency must have the maximum priority, the world society should not completely forget the environmental problem that are causing more and more obvious climate changes with correlated damages to ecosystems and human health. Despite the well-known correlation among anti-COVID protective equipment (or more generally medical devices) and environmental issues, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and eco-design-based studies in this field is very scarce. The present study aims to derive the most important environmental criticalities of such products, by using LCA and product circularity indicators of five different common masks. The final aim is to provide eco-design guidelines, useful to design new face masks by preventing negative impact on the environment

Does Green Public Procurement lead to Life Cycle Costing (LCC) adoption?

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is rarely used in public procurement and public institutions have yet to fully understand its potential value for sustainable procurement. The new European Directive on Public Procurement is, however, designed to position LCC as central to sustainable sourcing. Although previous studies have identified positive correlations between Green Public Procurement Policies (GPP) and LCC, it is still unclear how public institutions can further adopt LCC practices by leveraging their experience of green sourcing. In this study an organizational learning theoretical perspective is taken to investigate the circumstances under which public administrations’ experience of GPP – considered as a way of integrating the dimension of environmental sustainability into the sourcing process – stimulates their LCC learning and capabilities – considered as a way to include the sustainability economic dimension. The goal is to understand if the adoption of GPP can stimulate the internalisation of LCC in public tenders. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted using a sample of 120 public administrations located in different countries. The results show that experience of GPP stimulates the internalisation of LCC at a public level, but only under specific conditions. The study contributes to the Sustainable Supply Management literature, being one of the first studies in the field adopting an organizational learning theoretical lens to review the role of experience as significant opportunity to develop capabilities. It also contributes to the organizational learning theory, by confirming that experience can aid learning but only in specific environmental contexts

Environmental implication of personal protection equipment in the pandemic era: LCA comparison of face masks typologies

In the present global health emergency, face masks play a key role in limiting the diffusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, by acting as physical barriers to avoid droplets and filtrate exhalations coming from infected subjects. Since the most widespread devices are disposable products made of plastic materials, this means that relevant quantities of fossil resources will be consumed, and huge amounts of wastes will be generated. The present paper aims to compare the environmental performances of five different typologies of face masks (i.e. 3D printed reusable mask with filter, surgical mask, filtering face-piece masks-FFPs with and without valve, washable masks), considering an average Italian use scenario and the whole mask lifecycle: materials, manufacturing processes, use, sanitization, and disposal. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been used to assess the environmental impacts in terms of both ReCiPe midpoints and endpoints. Reusable masks and masks with interchangeable filters could potentially contribute to improve the environmental performances in all the considered impact and damage categories. Eco-design actions can be developed starting from the study results