Mitigation of GHGs Emission From Soils by a Catalyzed In-Situ Photo-Oxidative Polymerization of Soil Organic Matter

Agricultural lands under food and bio-energy crops, managed grass and permanent crops including agro-forestry, occupy about 40-50% of the Earth's land surface^1^. In 2005, agriculture accounted for an estimated emission of 5.1 to 6.1 GtCO2-eq/yr (10-12% of total global anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs))^1^. However, measures to mitigate GHGs emission from agricultural soils are limited to improved cropland practices such as crop rotation, nutrient management, tillage/residue management, agroforestry, and return to natural vegetation^2^. These practices are not only far from substantially reducing GHGs emissions from soils or permanentlystabilizing soil organic matter^1-4^, but are also predicted to hardly match more than amaximum of 25% of the GHGs reductions required by the Kyoto Protocol within 2050^5^.Despite the knowledge that GHGs release from soil largely derives from biochemicaltransformations of plant litter and soil organic matter (SOM)^6-8^, no new and much wished biotechnological measures are adopted so far to augment mitigation^1^. Here we propose an innovative approach to mitigate GHGs emissions from soils based on the insitu photo-polymerization of SOM under biomimetic catalysis. Three Mediterranean soils of different physical and chemical properties were added with a synthetic watersolubleiron-porphyrin, irradiated by solar light, and subjected to 15, and 30 wetting and drying cycles. We found that the in situ catalysed photo-polymerization of SOM increased soil physical aggregation, shifted OC into larger soil aggregates, and reduced CO~2~ released by microbial respiration. Our findings suggest that "green" catalytic technologies can become viable soil management practices to enhance mitigation of GHGs emission from arable soils and contribute to match the expectations of the post-Kyoto Protocol in the agricultural sector

Communicating Vertical Hierarchies: the Adverse Selection Case

I study the rationale for information sharing in a model where two principals, which exert production externalities one on another, endogenously decide whether to exchange information about their exclusive agents. I show that one novel effect shapes communication decisions when agents are privately informed about production costs. This effect is absent under complete information and it turns out to be of first-order magnitude relative to those emerging in such benchmark. Roughly, what matters is how sharing information impacts contracting relationships within opponent organizations, and therefore its effect on equilibrium outputs. Information exchange induces strategies to be correlated via the distortions channel. Because of those distortions, the equilibrium value of communication depends on the interplay between the nature of upstream externalities and the sign of cost correlation. When upstream externalities and cost correlation have the same sign, there exists a unique symmetric equilibrium with no communication. By contrast, when upstream externalities and cost correlation have opposite signs there exists a unique symmetric equilibrium where both principals share information. I also show that, unlike in previous models, under asymmetric information principals might run into a prisoner dilemma when there is no communication at equilibrium. Information sharing is also shown to have an unambiguous negative effect on rents. Moreover, there exists a system of transfers such that the equilibrium outcome obtained when both principals share information is collusion-proof.Adverse selection, communication, information sharing, vertical hierarchies

Colluding through Suppliers

In a dynamic game between N retailers and a large number of suppliers, I show that inefficient contracting emerges as a mechanism to implement collusion among retailers, building on the natural ‘complementarity’ between retail and wholesale prices. When efficient collusion is not sustainable, this complementarity allows retailers to rely on inefficient input supply, entailing double marginalization and negative franchise fees, to squeeze the wedge between collusive and deviation profits. I also study the role of communication on the equilibrium outcomes of games where retailers have the initiative. It turns out that communication is indeed fundamental to strengthen cartels' sustainability, although generating efficiency losses.Bertrand competition, double marginalization, collusion, competing hierarchies.

From Planning to Management of Cult Ural Heritage Sites: Controversies and Conflicts Between Unesco Whl Management Plans and Local Spatial Planning in South-Eastern Sicily

The paper investigates the relationship between the preservation of cultural heritage and planning in UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) sites, with special reference to the relation between Management Plans and other (local and regional) planning instruments and policies able to influence the promotion of sustainable and responsible development. This will be explored through a case study related to South-Eastern Sicilian UNESCO sites (in particular Syracuse). The analysis of this case study will point out the challenge of integrating different management and planning regimes - which mainly refer to a performative model - in a (still) very conformative planning system. The paper will show how supranational protection tools and models often lose their efficacy in relation to local planning systems

Culture-based artefacts to inform ICT design: foundations and practice

Cultural aspects frame our perception of the world and direct the many different ways people interact with things in it. For this reason, these aspects should be considered when designing technology with the purpose to positively impact people in a community. In this paper, we revisit the foundations of culture aiming to bring this concept in dialogue with design. To inform design with cultural aspects, we model reality in three levels of formality: informal, formal, and technical, and subscribe to a systemic vision that considers the technical solution as part of a more complex social system in which people live and interact. In this paper, we instantiate this theoretical and methodological view by presenting two case studies of technology design in which culture-based artefacts were employed to inform the design process. We claim that as important as including issues related to culture in the ICT design agenda—from the conception to the development, evaluation, and adoption of a technology—is the need to support the design process with adequate artefacts that help identifying cultural aspects within communities and translating them into sociotechnical requirements. We argue that a culturally informed perspective on design can go beyond an informative analysis, and can be integrated with the theoretical and methodological framework used to support design, throughout the entire design process

On the effect of nano-injectors on conduction in silicon p-i-n diodes

P–i–n diodes are widely used in power electronics [1-2], solar cells [3], light detection [4] and also light generation [5]. Contrary to the case of light detection or conversion, light generation is usually achieved by biasing the device in forward mode, in a condition of carrier injection. Depending on its level, the device can operate in regimes controlled by respectively generation/recombination current, diffusion current or the so called series resistance [6]. The injection level also controls the balance between the recombination mechanisms, and it is commonly controlled via the applied bias, which could be fixed by the specific application rather then being a free parameter. A possible approach to better control the injection level is to modify the features of the carrier injectors, for instance by thinning down the junction area [7] or reducing the injectors itself to a nanometer scale [8]. A practical way to realize nano-injectors is to embed the intrinsic region in oxide and create the connection between the intrinsic region and the two extension regions via antifuses, as realized in [9]. The size and properties of the antifuses can be controlled electrically, making it suitable to analyze the effects of progressive scaling of the dimensions of carrier injectors. In this work, we compare electrical behaviors of a standard p-i-n diode with antifuse p-i-n diodes programmed at different conditions. Electrical I-V measurements are performed at temperatures between -20 and 200 °C (I-V-T characteristics) in order to investigate the dominant mechanisms in the conduction

Water quality for supplementary irrigation in the Quequén Salado river basin (Argentina)

This paper focuses on the study of the water quality in the courses which compose the Quequén Salado river basin, Argentina, in order to determine their suitability for supplementary irrigation. Water samples were analysed to assess their salinity and sodium hazard. The creeks from the hill sector have Very Good Quality Waters and the water of the middle basin courses can be used to irrigate the main crops in the area. The salinity values obtained in the main river are tolerated only by barley hay and some pastures.El presente trabajo está centrado en el estudio de la calidad de agua de los cursos que integran la cuenca hidrográfica del río Quequén Salado, Argentina, con el objeto de evaluar su empleo para riego suplementario. Se realizaron determinaciones de salinidad y sodicidad en muestras de agua tomadas en distintos tramos de los ríos y arroyos de la cuenca, así como en las lagunas más importantes, durante la primavera y el verano de los años 1998, 1999 y 2000. El estudio se cumplimentó con la caracterización química de los principales cursos. En base a los valores de conductividad eléctrica y RAS obtenidos, se cartografiaron aquellos sectores de la cuenca con calidades de riego similares. De acuerdo a estos resultados se establecieron los tipos de cultivo que podrían regarse teniendo en cuenta el grado de tolerancia de cada uno.Fil: Marini, Mario Fabián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Piccolo, Maria Cintia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentin

Optimal Accomplice-Witnesses Regulation under Asymmetric Information

We study the problem of a Legislator designing immunity for privately informed cooperating accomplices. Our objective is to highlight the positive (vertical) externality between expected returns from crime and the information rent that must be granted by the Legislator to whistleblowers in order to break their code of silence (omertà) and elicit truthful information revelation. We identify the accomplices' incentives to release distorted information and characterize the second-best policy limiting this behavior. The central finding is that this externality leads to a second-best policy that purposefully allows whistleblowers not to disclose part of their private information. We also show that accomplices must fulfill minimal information requirements to be admitted into the program (rationing), that a bonus must be awarded to accomplices providing more reliable information and that, under some conditions, rewarding a self-reporting `boss' can increase efficiency. These results are consistent with a number of widespread legislative provisions.Accomplice-witnesses, Adverse Selection, Leniency, Organized Crime

Two is Company, N is a Crowd? Merchant Guilds and Social Capital

We develop a theory of the emergence of merchant guilds as an efficient mechanism to implement collusion among merchants and rulers, building on the natural complementarity between merchants’ market trading and mutual monitoring. Unlike the seminal paper in the existing literature, we focus primarily on the far more numerous local merchant guilds, rather than alien guilds, accounting for the main observed features of their behavior, their internal organization, and their relationship with rulers. Our model delivers novel predictions about guild size, membership restrictions, and their welfare implications. It also identifies the main channels through which the guilds’ social capital influenced their ability to collude effectively with rulers. As we show, the available historical evidence offers ample support for our theory, shedding new light on the role of the guilds’ social capital. We then analyze the key trade-offs faced by rulers in choosing whether to grant recognition to one or multiple guilds. This helps us to understand the observed distribution of guilds, and provides a rationale for the establishment of both local and alien merchant guilds.merchant guild, social capital, collusion, political economy, trade, taxation