Agro-biodiversity in Subsistence Farming Systems of South Somalia – Collection and Agronomic Assessment of Somali Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Germplasm

The article gathers important information about sorghum to promote the conservation and future improvement of local sorghum landraces, thus aiding in the stabilisation of a secure and sustainable food resource for farmers of southern Somalia.Maqaalku wuxuu ka koobanyahay warar muhim ah oo ku saabsan masaggada xagga horumarinta kaydinteeda iyo tayadeeda, arrintaasoo wax weyn u tarayso beeralayda koofur Soomaaliya.L'articolo raccoglie importanti informazioni sul sorgo per promuovere la conservazione e il miglioramento delle varietà locali di sorgo, contribuendo così alla stabilizzazione di una risorsa alimentare sostenibile per gli agricoltori del sud della Somalia

Introduction bottleneck and the contribute of Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools to common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) diversity in Europe.

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., 2n = 2x = 22) is the most important edible food legume for direct human consumption in Europe and in the world as it represents a valuable source of proteins, vitamins, fibres, and minerals. Genetic and archaeological studies have shown that domestication of P. vulgaris was originated and domesticated in the New World and has two major gene pools, the Andean and the Mesoamerican, based on their centers of origin in South and Central America, respectively. After the first voyages of Columbus (1492) common bean was brought to Europe but historical and linguistic sources provide little evidence of the introduction and expansion of common bean in Europe. In common bean a large number of nuclear microsatellite markers (nuSSRs) have been already developed and mapped that show relatively high levels of polymorphism, thus providing an attractive choice for describing population structure. However, to the best of our knowledge, population studies of the European common bean, using nuSSRs, so far have been performed with only a small number of landraces or a small number of samples from a few geographic regions. In the present study, we used thirteen highly polymorphic nuSSRs to assess the genetic structure and level of diversity of a large collection of European landraces (256 individuals), in comparison with a representative American sample (89 individuals). Moreover, to obtain a detailed picture and to elucidate the effects of bottleneck of introduction and selection for adaptation during the expansion of common bean over the whole Europe, we also complemented the nuSSRs analysis by information provided by a Bayesian analysis implemented in STRUCTURE. Here, we present and discuss the role that inter-gene pool hybridization have had in shaping the genetic structure of the European bean landraces. The implication for evolution and the advantages for common bean breeding are also discussed

Agronomic, nutritional and nutraceutical aspects of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) cultivars under low input agricultural management

Among cereals, durum wheat has a central role in the Italian diet and economy, where there is a historical tradition of pasta making. In the present study, we evaluated the nutrient and nutraceutical properties of 2 old and 6 modern durum wheat varieties grown under low input agricultural management. Considering the lack of available data on the adaptability of existing durum wheat varieties to the low input and organic sectors, the research aimed at providing a complete description of the investigated genotypes, considering the agronomic performance as well as the nutrient and phytochemical composition. The experimental trials were carried out at the same location (Bologna, Northern Italy) for two consecutive growing seasons (2006/2007, 2007/2008). No clear distinction between old and modern varieties was observed in terms of grain yield (mean values ranging from 2.5 to 4.0 t/ha), highlighting that the divergence in productivity, normally found between dwarf and non-dwarf genotypes, is strongly reduced when they are cropped under low input management. All durum wheat varieties presented high protein levels and, in addition, provided remarkable amounts of phytochemicals such as dietary fibre, polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids. Some of the investigated genotypes, such as Senatore Cappelli, Solex, Svevo and Orobel, emerged with intriguing nutritional and phytochemical profiles, with the highest levels of dietary fibre and antioxidant compounds. The study provided the basis for further investigations into the adaptability of the durum wheat genotypes to low input management, for the selection of genotypes characterised by higher yield and valuable nutrient and nutraceutical quality

Company ‘Emigration’ and EC Freedom of Establishment: Daily Mail Revisited

Following the ECJ’s recent case law on EC freedom of establishment (the Centros, Überseering and Inspire Art cases), regulatory competition for corporate law within the European Union takes place at an early stage of the incorporation of new companies. In contrast, as regards the ‘moving out’ of companies from the country of incorporation, the ECJ once considered a tax law restriction against the transfer abroad of a company’s administrative seat as compatible with EC freedom of establishment (the Daily Mail case). For years, this decision has been regarded as applicable to all restrictions imposed by countries of incorporation, even the forced liquidation of the ‘emigrating’ company. This paper addresses the question whether EC freedom of establishment really allows Member States to place any limit on the ‘emigration’ of nationally registered companies. It argues that EC freedom of establishment covers the transfer of the administrative seat as well as the transfer of the registered office and, therefore, that the country of incorporation cannot liquidate ‘emigrating’ companies. In addition, it addresses the question whether a new Directive is needed to allow the transfer of a com- pany’s registered office and the identity-preserving company law changes. It argues that such a Directive is necessary to avoid legal uncertainty and to protect the interests of employees, creditors and minority shareholders, among others, who could be detrimentally affected by the ‘emigration’ of national companies

Miglioramento degli standard qualitativi delle produzioni dei seminativi

Nell'ambito delle produzioni agricole possono essere considerati diversi aspetti per definire il concetto di qualit\ue0, che pu\uf2 comprendere aspetti tecnologici, sanitari e funzionali. La complessit\ue0 nel definire la qualit\ue0 e gli aspetti da considerare per ottenere una valutazione globale dell'alimento, rendono la valutazione molto complicata. Per anni il miglioramento genetico, e le tecniche agronomiche, sono stati orientati nel definire parametri legati alle caratteristiche produttive e tecnologiche, ignorando quasi del tutto gli aspetti legati alla nutrizione. Oggi con le nuove tecnologie di analisi \ue8 possibile valutare molto pi\uf9 integralmente un prodotto ottenuto dall'attivit\ue0 agricola, considerando tutti quei metaboliti secondari che sono spesso responsabili del sapore, dell'odore e delle qualit\ue0 funzionali di un alimento. Quindi \ue8 possibile orientare il miglioramento genetico e le tecniche agronomiche, per ottenere il giusto compromesso tra gli aspetti produttivi, tecnologici, sanitari e di qualit\ue0 alimentare e funzionale, per ottenere prodotti nel rispetto dell'ambiente e dell'organismo che se ne nutre

Design and simulation of a fuzzy supervisory control system integrated in a small public building

Public administrations are encouraged to adopt actions for energy requalification of public buildings, which are responsible for considerable amounts of energy consumption. Low-cost technology improvements for energy renovation with high return on investment is a good opportunity when resource shortage hampers the adoption of expensive refurbishment. To this purpose, the integration of advanced control policies may optimize energy use of buildings with minimum hardware enhancement. In this contribution, we evaluated the performances of a control system based on fuzzy logic, supervising local Proportional-IntegrativeDerivative (PID) controllers, through numerical simulation. First, the design process will be described, with particular concern to the proper selection of the rules in the knowledge base and the design of the inference engine. Then, its performances will be compared with the ones provided by the use of just ordinary PID control units. The fuzzy based control system was simulated as an addiction to the heating system of an existing small public building, that is the “San Elpidio a Mare” community clinic located in Italy. The performances were assessed by means of simulations of an energy dynamic model developed in the DymolaTM environment, that had been previously validated with real consumption measurements. In this paper we will show not only what energy saving can be obtained by means of the fuzzy supervisor, but also its satisfactory performances in terms of stability of the control outputs