Environmental Sustainability of Pasta Production: an Evaluation through Life Cycle Assessment

The recent policy of Green Deal aims to a transition towards ‘healthy, equitable and sustainable communities’. One of the key sectors analysed within the Green Deal is the agri-food chain, with the strategy ‘From Farm to Fork’, aiming to design a sustainable food system from production to consumption, passing through industry processing, distribution and all related activities. At the agricultural level, the objectives are in line with those presented in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, from technologies and digitalization, to organic farming. As for the transformation and distribution phases, the Commission is promoting technological and technical innovation, the restructuring of companies and the improvement of the quality of work. The aim of this study is to perform a Life Cycle Assessment related to one of the main products of a company of the agri-food sector in central Italy. The product analysed is durum wheat pasta. A cradle to gate analysis is performed, starting from the cultivation of the wheat, arriving to the final pasta product. The different transformation steps are evaluated (e.g. cleaning, grinding, compression, extrusion), including the packaging process. The analysis is aimed at identifying the most critical phases along the chain, to plan improvements in terms of efficiency of the production process, with consequent enhancement of the environmental performance

Conservation of Landrace: The Key Role of the Value for Agrobiodiversity Conservation. An Application on Ancient Tomatoes Varieties

Abstract Agricultural biological diversity (agrobiodiversity), is a small component of biodiversity, and presents two levels: genetic resources for food and agriculture and ecological services. All the components contribute to sustain the key functions of agro-ecosystems. It is commonly acknowledged that biodiversity is jeopardized by erosion, whereas there is less awareness about agrobiodiversity loss, although this has very negative short and long-term consequences for producers and consumers. In particular, important for conserving agrobiodiversity is the protection of landraces (LRs). The disappearance of LRs, also called by the farmers local or primitive varieties, means both genetic and cultural erosion. For this reason, in-situ LRs conservation is essential, as well as the ex situ one. The main objective of the present work is the evaluation of agrobiodiversity and of its role for the local community, by means of the Contingent Valuation. The attention is focused on the tomatoes landrace "Pomodoro di Mercatello", a variety once widely cultivated in some areas within the province of Perugia and now kept alive by a farmer who still grows and sells it

Measuring circularity: an application of modified Material Circularity Indicator to agricultural systems

AbstractThe transition from a linear to a circular economy is a research trend topic, as well as the possibility to measure the degree of circularity of products and systems. In a linear economy, raw materials are taken from nature and transformed into final products, which are subsequently used and become waste. On the contrary, a circular economy is an economic model that is restorative by intent and design. To measure the degree of circularity is fundamental for understanding processes and improving them. Moreover, this kind of measure could be useful for driving policies on the topic and achieving a higher level of sustainability. Until now, only few studies have been focusing on how to effectively measure the circularity level of a product, a supply chain, or a service. Moreover, in the circular economy paradigm, there are two types of cycles: the technical and biological ones. Biological cycles are mainly connected to the agricultural sector, and for this kind of cycle, the lack of measurement is even bigger. However, some agricultural productions, such as intensive meat production processes, have basically a linear structure. Intensive broiler production, for instance, uses a quite high rate of inputs, which is not entirely converted into edible products but instead results in a percentage of wasteful outputs. The aim of this work is to propose a modification of one of the few available tools for measuring the circularity, the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI), for adapting it to biological cycles. The modified MCI was applied to the poultry sector, integrating the results with the Life Cycle Assessment methodology

Telomere length elongation after weight loss intervention in obese adults

INTRODUCTION: Telomeres may be considered markers of biological aging, shorter telomere length is associated with some age-related diseases; in several studies short telomere length has also been associated to obesity in adults and adolescents. However the relationship between telomere complex functions and obesity is still not clear. Aim of the study was to assess telomere length (TL) in adults' obese subjects before and after weight loss obtained by placement of bioenteric intragastric balloon (BIB) for 6months. METHODS: We enrolled 42 obese subjects before and after BIB placement as weight loss intervention. Blood samples were collected in order to obtain DNA from leukocyte to measure TL by quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Data were analyzed only in 37 subjects with complete data; all presented important body weight loss (124.06\ub126.7 vs 105.40\ub123.14, p<0.001) and more interesting they presented a significant increase in TL (3.58\ub10.83 vs 5.61\ub13.29, p<0.001). Moreover we observed a significant positive correlation between TL elongation and weight loss (r=0.44, p=0.007) as well as an inverse correlation between TL at baseline and TL elongation (r=-0.35, p=0.03).The predictors of TL elongation were once again weight loss and short TL at baseline (respectively p=0.007 and p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that weight loss is associated to telomere lengthening in a positive correlation: the greater weight loss the greater telomere lengthening; moreover telomere lengthening is more significant in those subjects with shortest telomeres at baseline.Introduction: Telomeres may be considered markers of biological aging, shorter telomere length is associated with some age-related diseases; in several studies short telomere length has also been associated to obesity in adults and adolescents. However the relationship between telomere complex functions and obesity is still not clear. Aim of the study was to assess telomere length (TL) in adults' obese subjects before and after weight loss obtained by placement of bioenteric intragastric balloon (BIB) for 6 months. Methods: We enrolled 42 obese subjects before and after BIB placement as weight loss intervention. Blood samples were collected in order to obtain DNA from leukocyte to measure TL by quantitative PCR. Results: Data were analyzed only in 37 subjects with complete data; all presented important body weight loss (124.06 \ub1 26.7 vs 105.40 \ub1 23.14, p < 0.001) and more interesting they presented a significant increase in TL (3.58 \ub1 0.83 vs 5.61 \ub1 3.29, p < 0.001). Moreover we observed a significant positive correlation between TL elongation and weight loss (r = 0.44, p = 0.007) as well as an inverse correlation between TL at baseline and TL elongation (r = - 0.35, p = 0.03).The predictors of TL elongation were once again weight loss and short TL at baseline (respectively p = 0.007 and p = 0.003). Conclusions: Our study shows that weight loss is associated to telomere lengthening in a positive correlation: the greater weight loss the greater telomere lengthening; moreover telomere lengthening is more significant in those subjects with shortest telomeres at baseline

Spatial multicriteria analysis for sustainability assessment : a new model for decision making

Policy makers have to consider the sustainability perspective in strategic planning decisions. Identifyand measure the level of sustainability, through its three dimensions, is a priority. Therefore, the aim of this work is to present a new model, called GeoUmbriaSUIT, integrating Multicriteria Analysis and Geographic Information Systems, specifically developed for helping Decision Makers to take policy decisions about sustainability in planning. The model provides outputs which are easy to be understood by not experts; the evaluation path is traceable and transparent, thanks to back analysis. To better explain the potentiality of GeoUmbriaSUIT and its functioning, a case study about Malta is described. Our results showed that in four regions of Malta the best dimension was the environmental one, while only for two regions (Northern Harbour and Southern Harbour) respectively the economic and social dimensions obtained the best scores. The integration of MCDA-GIS resulted to be a useful tool for sustainability assessment.peer-reviewe

Multiple Criteria Assessment of Insulating Materials with a Group Decision Framework Incorporating Outranking Preference Model and Characteristic Class Profiles

We present a group decision making framework for evaluating sustainability of the insulating materials. We tested thirteen materials on a model that was applied to retrofit a traditional rural building through roof's insulation. To evaluate the materials from the socio-economic and environmental viewpoints, we combined life cycle costing and assessment with an adaptive comfort evaluation. In this way, the performances of each coating material were measured in terms of an incurred reduction of costs and consumption of resources, maintenance of the cultural and historic significance of buildings, and a guaranteed indoor thermal comfort. The comprehensive assessment of the materials involved their assignment to one of the three preference-ordered sustainability classes. For this purpose, we used a multiple criteria decision analysis approach that accounted for preferences of a few tens of rural buildings' owners. The proposed methodological framework incorporated an outranking-based preference model to compare the insulating materials with the characteristic class profiles while using the weights derived from the revised Simos procedure. The initial sorting recommendation for each material was validated against the outcomes of robustness analysis that combined the preferences of individual stakeholders either at the output or at the input level. The analysis revealed that the most favorable materials in terms of their overall sustainability were glass wool, hemp fibres, kenaf fibres, polystyrene foam, polyurethane, and rock wool

Evolutionary History of Chromosome 20

The evolutionary history of human chromosome 20 in primates was investigated using a panel of human BAC/PAC probes spaced along the chromosome. Oligonucleotide primers derived from the sequence of each human clone were used to screen horse, cat, pig, and black lemur BAC libraries to assemble, for each species, a panel of probes mapping to chromosomal loci orthologous to the loci encompassed by the human BACs. This approach facilitated marker-order comparison aimed at defining marker arrangement in primate ancestor. To this goal, we also took advantage of the mouse and rat draft sequences. The almost perfect colinearity of chromosome 20 sequence in humans and mouse could be interpreted as evidence that their form was ancestral to primates. Contrary to this view, we found that horse, macaque, and two New World monkeys share the same marker-order arrangement from which the human and mouse forms can be derived, assuming similar but distinct inversions that fully account for the small difference in marker arrangement between humans and mouse. The evolutionary history of this chromosome unveiled also two centromere repositioning events in New World monkey species

The Italian National Strategy for Sustainable Development and the Covid-19 impact: a regional analysis

The Italian National Strategy for Sustainable Development plays an important role in the national implementation of the 17 Goals for sustainable development set globally through the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations. The achievement of such goals in Italy is linked to the strategic choices and objectives established at the national level. The purpose of this work is to monitor the performance of the 20 Italian regions in 4 of the 5 areas of the Agenda (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace) over a period of time ranging from the implementation of the National Strategy to the post-pandemic. To do this, a set of representative indicators was created and a geographical sustainability assessment tool (SSAM) was used, which operates through a multicriteria analysis model perfectly integrated into a GIS environment. The results showed a strong regional variability and a radicalized North-South gap. Moreover, the monitoring between the different years (2017-2019-2021) showed the initially positive impact of the strategy, mainly due to the Planet dimension, but also the negative one that COVID-19 caused to all the regions, with different intensity depending on the dimensions considered

Assessing climate change vulnerability of coastal roads

Climate change is a global phenomenon, which affects in several ways different regions all around the world, beyond the rise in global temperature. Among the different climate change issues, the management of transport infrastructures is crucial. Particularly, their vulnerability against changes in climatic conditions should be assessed. Vulnerability indicators are based on the IPCC concept of vulnerability and can be defined as a function of Climate Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity. These dimensions need to be addressed during the assessment making and can be modelled as a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) problem. This study proposes an integrated approach of several MCDA methods as a possible tool for ranking the climate change vulnerability of coastal roads in Malta. The application covers six coastal roads in the islands of Malta, classified by three different MCDA methods. The results indicate that the proposed approach can produce a consistent ranking of the climate change vulnerability of coastal roads. The study provides policy and decision-makers with a definition of a coastal road, an inventory of such roads, a list of climate change impacts, and a mathematical model incorporating climate change vulnerability indicators. The model can be used to prioritize investment and plan climate change adaptation strategies for infrastructural works on coastal roads.peer-reviewe