Consumer attitudes toward GM food with hypothetical functional characteristics

Since their introduction in the early 1990s, genetically modified organisms in agriculture tended to emphasize improved yield. Europeans, perceiving unacceptable risk and too little benefit, resoundingly disapproved of GMO use in agro-food processes. More recently, research has turned to developing products that use GMO components that better match consumer interest, including nutritionally enhanced foods, environmentally friendly crops, and other areas. The question that arises is whether Europeans perceive that the new, prospective benefits outweigh the olds risks, opening the market to such products. This paper investigates consumer preferences for a number of hypothetical genetic modifications in a widely consumed food product: yoghurt. We explore the issue using discrete-choice, multi-attribute, stated-preference data. Our analysis of the data shows that consumers attribute low importance to prospected benefits in judging gene technology applications. Moreover, data demonstrates that consumers dont feel that labels and certification alone offer sufficient safeguards from perceived danger. Conversely, better information through scientific research does seem to have an impact.GMOs, functional properties, willingness to pay, choice modelling, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Natural disturbances and natural hazards in mountain forests: a framework for the economic valuation

This paper focuses on the economic aspects of the protective role of forests against natural hazards, developing an estimation methodology applicable on a local scale. We identified the main variables that influence on a local level those forest attributes involved directly or indirectly in protection with the aim of zoning forests in homogeneous areas in terms of the level of protection they offer. Applying the replacement cost method a monetary value of the protective function can be estimated for homogeneous zones. The zoning permits the cost of replacement works to be calculated precisely according to the characteristics of the territory in each zone. The methodology was tested in the province of Trento (North East Italy) in an area where forests serve multiple functions and where the social objectives are intimately linked to those of indirect protection of the mountain slopes and direct protection of human activities. The estimation of the protective function of mountain forests enables environmental concerns to be included in economic decision-making by integrating economic and ecological approaches. It could be useful as a criterion for ranking different forest management options, i.e. forest management approaches based on the principle of close-to-nature forestry with management forms that focus on the productive function of forests. Accordingly it could enable forest managers to build consensus around management forms that take into account natural hazards and natural disturbances.

Mapping plant diversity in cocoa-based agroforestry systems to improve overall productivity

In cocoa-based agroforestry systems (CAFS), the cocoa trees are associated with other cultivated plant species at variable densities. There, the spatial distribution of the cultivated plants can be regular, random or aggregated, and their age may vary even in the same species. Variables of (i) density, (ii) spatial distribution and (iii) age can thus influence the overall productivity of CAFS and its distribution in space. We studied the relationships between these 3 variables and CAFS productivity based on data collected in 34 experimental yield tracking plots placed in agroforestry fields of producers in the Dominican Republic. A mapping of the cultivated plants was carried out on each plot at their installation and harvests of the ripe products of each individual plant were carried out every two weeks over a period of one year. The first results of this study indicate that optimal CAFS productivity can be maintained along a decreasing density gradient of crops, associated with cocoa tree ageing. In addition, regular and random spatial distribution of all plant species may increase overall productivity. The analysis of the variability of cocoa, fruit, tuber and timber yields allows us to provide recommendations on the most suitable species and the optimal distance between plants to improve overall productivity and therefore the producer's income

On the determination of Jupiter's satellite-dependent Love numbers from Juno gravity data

The Juno gravity experiment, among the nine instruments onboard the spacecraft, is aimed at studying the interior structure of Jupiter to gain insight into its formation. Doppler data collected during the first two gravity-dedicated orbits completed by Juno around the gas giant have already provided a measurement of Jupiter's gravity field with outstanding accuracy, answering crucial questions about its interior composition. The large dataset that will be collected throughout the remaining phases of the mission until the end in July 2021 might allow to determine Jupiter's response to the satellite-dependent tidal perturbation raised by its moons, and even to separate the static and dynamic effects. We report on numerical simulations performed over the full science mission to assess the sensitivity of Juno gravity measurements to satellite-dependent tides on Jupiter. We assumed a realistic simulation scenario that is coherent with the result of data analysis from the first gravity passes. Furthermore, we implemented a satellite-dependent tidal model within the dynamical model used to fit the simulated Doppler data. The formal uncertainties resulting from the covariance analysis show that Juno is indeed sensitive to satellite-dependent tides on Jupiter raised by the inner Galilean satellites (the static Love numbers of degree and order 2 of Io, Europa and Ganymede can be determined respectively to 0.28%, 4.6% and 5.3% at 1 sigma). This unprecedented determination, that will be carried out towards the end of the mission, could further constrain the interior structure of the planet, allowing to discern among interior models and improving existing theories of planetary tidal response

Does forest damage have an economic impact? A case study from the Italian Alps

The aim of this paper is to take stock of the situation regarding the main types of damage to forests and their respective economic consequences, with reference to a case study in the Italian Alps (Trentino province). Each kind of damage (wind and snow, defoliation, fire and tillage) has been analysed in terms of its impact on four forest functions (production, protection, tourism-recreation and carbon sequestration) and evaluated in monetary terms. Market value was used to estimate the production and carbon sequestration functions, replacement cost method for protection, and contingent valuation for tourism-recreation. Applying desk research on damage caused by the main biotic and abiotic factors to this particular case study led to estimate a annual damage of about € 1,633,595 equal to € 4.73 per hectar. This can be considered a lower bound estimate of possibly greater damage. Another interesting result emerged from the evaluation exercise is that the wealth of information produced through monitoring and scientific research in the last twenty years does not readily lend itself to economic analysis.forest damage, forest functions, interaction between damage and functions, economic valuation, Alpine forests

Do Monetary Incentives and Chained Questions Affect the Validity of Risk Estimates Elicited via the Exchangeability Method? An Experimental Investigation

Using a laboratory experiment, we investigate the validity of stated risks elicited via the Exchangeability Method (EM) by defining a valuation method based on de Finetti’s notion of coherence. The reliability of risk estimates elicited through the EM has been theoretically questioned because the chained structure of the game, in which each question depends on the respondent’s answer to the previous one, is thought to potentially undermine the incentive compatibility of the elicitation mechanism even when real monetary incentives are provided. Our results suggest that superiority of real monetary incentives is not evident when people are presented with chained experimental designlab experiment, risk elicitation, exchangeability, validity, pesticide residue

Understanding the innovative viral glycosylation machinery using a combination of chemical and structural methodologies

The aim of this thesis is the study of the innovative glycosylation machinery of the Mimiviridae family, using Mimivirus, Moumouvirus australensis and Megavirus chilensis as prototypes of lineages A, B and C, respectively. In 2003 the discovery of Mimivirus, the first giant DNA virus infecting amoeba, challenged the traditional view of viruses. Mimiviruses are giant viruses due to the size of their virions, easily visible by light microscopy, with a diameter of 700 nm against 200 nm for “traditional virus”. Their genomes encode 1000 proteins and count up to 1.2 Mbp, so they are as complex as the smallest free-living bacteria. Mimiviruses exhibit heavily glycosylated fibrils surrounding their capsid that differ in length depending on the lineages. Surprisingly, it was evidenced that they encode the proteins involved in their fibrils glycosylation. The glycosylation of the fibrils was confirmed by the analysis of their sugar content, revealing that the major saccharide components were rhamnose, N-acetylglucosamine, and viosamine for Mimivirus and N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylrhamnosamine for Megavirus chilensis. Until now, we lack information on the sugar composition of fibrils from members of the B lineage. In this thesis, the innovative glycosylation machinery of these giant DNA viruses was investigated combining three different strategies: carbohydrate chemistry, bioinformatic and biochemical methodologies. The carbohydrate chemistry methodologies allowed to elucidate the structures/composition of the glycans associated to the giant DNA viruses fibrils. Mimivirus fibrils are decorated with two distinct polysaccharides, called poly_1 and poly_2. Poly_1 is characterized by a linear disaccharide repeating unit made of 3)--L-Rha-(1→3)--D-GlcNAc-(1→, with a pyruvic acid branched at position 4,6 of GlcNAc. Poly_2 has a branched repeating unit with the sequence 2)--L-Rha-(1→3)--D-GlcNAc-(1→ in the linear backbone and rhamnose further branched at position 3 by viosamine methylated at position 2 and acetylated at position 4. Regarding the novelty of the identified structures, they have no equivalent in eukaryotes, while some components were reported in bacteria. Megavirus chilensis has a different sugar composition of its shorter fibrils, with N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylrhamnosamine and N-acetylquinovosamine as major components. Purification results suggested that Megavirus fibrils were decorated by more than one polysaccharides/oligosaccharide species, one having this trisaccharide: -L-4OMe-RhaNAc-(1→3)--L-RhaNAc-(1→3)--L-RhaNAc-(1→. A preliminary analysis revealed that Moumouvirus australensis fibrils were decorated with glucosamine and quinovosamine in addition to the rare sugar, bacillosamine. Starting from this experimental data, it was possible to identify new genes involved in glycosylation. As a result, the published nine-gene cluster of Mimivirus was extended to thirteen genes. A different cluster of fourteen genes was identified in Moumouvirus australensis, representing the first glycosylation gene cluster identified for the B lineage. A comparison of the glycosylation genes in the Mimiviridae family reinforced our finding that fibrils glycosylation was lineage specific. However, Moumouvirus australensis is an exception as it exhibits a cluster of glycosylation genes that is missing in other member of the B lineage. Among the genes with the glycosylation cluster, the function of L142 was investigated in vitro, demonstrating that it is a N-acetyltransferase that acetylates the 4 amino group of viosamine. N-L142 represents the first virally encoded N-acetyltransferase. To conclude, the fibrils of Mimiviridae are heavily glycosylated and the type of sugars and their organization depends on their lineage. The majority of the genes responsible for sugar production, sugar modification and glycosyltransferases were identified, strongly suggesting that Mimiviridae are autonomous for their fibrils glycosylation

Real Monetary Incentives and Chained Questions: An Experimental Study Investigating the Validity of Risk Estimates Elicited via Exchangeability Method

Risk and Uncertainty,