Potential Response of Soil-Borne Fungal Pathogens Affecting Crops to a Scenario of Climate Change in Europe

A study was carried out on the potential response of soil-borne pathogens causing crop yield losses under a climate change scenario in Europe. A controlled chamber set of experiments was carried out to quantify pathogen response to temperature using pure colonies of three soil-borne fungi, representative of low (Fusarium nivale), medium-high (Athelia rolfsii) and high (Macrophomina phaseolina) temperature requirements. A generic model to simulate fungal growth response to temperature based on these experiments was developed and linked to a soil temperature model component, and to components to simulate soil water content accounting for crop water uptake of potential hosts. Pathogens relative growth was simulated over Europe using the IPCC A1B emission scenario as realization of the Hadley-CM3 global climate model, available from the European Commission and processed for use with biophysical models. The simulations resulting from using the time span centred on 2030 were compared to the baseline, centred on the year 2000, using a sample of 30 years of daily weather. The general trend of soil-borne pathogens response to the scenario of climate change is a relative increase in growth in colder areas of Europe, as a function of their temperature requirements. Projections of F. nivale in the future indicate a relative increase of this winter pathogen of wheat in Northern European countries. A. rolfsii and M. phaseolina, two soil-borne pathogens typical of warmer agricultural areas, could find more favourable conditions in areas of the Central Europe, but they differentiated in Southern Europe where A. rolfsii resulted affected by summer soil temperatures above optimum

Rendimiento de dos líneas comerciales de pollos parrilleros

p.105-109Se comparó la tasa de crecimiento de los cortes de interés comercial en pollos parrilleros de las líneas Arbor Acres y Cobb 500, faenados entre los 35 y 56 días de edad. La tasa de crecimiento de la carcasa eviscerada se relacionó con el peso de faena, mientras que el crecimiento de la grasa abdominal, pechuga, muslos, patas, piernas y alas con el peso de la carcasa eviscerada. Todos los cortes se evaluaron con músculo, hueso y piel. En las hembras, el ritmo de crecimiento de las características estudiadas, no presentó diferencias significativas (Pmenor a 0,05) debidas a la línea comercial. En los machos, no se observaron diferencias significativas (P mayor a 0,05) en el crecimiento de la pechuga, alas y grasa abdominal, en cambio presentaron diferencias el ritmo de crecimiento de la carcasa (Pmenor a 0,01), de los muslos (P menor a 0,05), de las patas (P menor a 0,05) y de las piernas (P menor a 0,01), siendo superior en la línea Cobb 500 que en Arbor Acres

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism discovery and genotyping within the chicken Tapasin gene

Tapasin is one of the specific accessory molecules for the assembly of MHC class I molecules inside the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) (Antoniou et al., 2003). Mammalian tapasin is a 48 kDa transmembrane chaperone-protein (Sadasivan et al., 1996), and is member of the immunoglobulin superfamily (Ortmann et al., 1997)

Economic and environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain: A quantitative model

Paper aim: The paper presents a model to assess the economic and the environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain and tests it on a company. Originality: The gap intended to fill is the lack of models in this context having this purpose, and, in general, the necessity to develop models and metrics allowing to quantitatively assess the economic and environmental dimensions of supply chains. Research method: The fashion supply chain has been divided into five processes. Hence, an analytic model was developed by considering the total costs incurring in each process (economic evaluation), and the annual kilograms of CO2 emitted (environmental perspective). The model was then applied to a case study. Data was obtained from interviews with the management. Main findings: Results show that from the economic perspective supply impacts the most, while from the environmental one the most polluting activity is production. Implications for theory and practice: The model is easy to apply and to understand and allows to identify the activities in the supply chain where the majority of costs/emissions are generated. It is therefore expected to be useful for undertaking operational decisions aimed at decreasing the economic or environmental impact of a fashion supply chain

A model for assessing economic and environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain and a case study

Due to the recent attention gained by sustainability issues in the context of supply chains, the aim of this study is to present a model developed under Microsoft Excel™ for the assessment of the economic and environmental dimensions of a fashion supply chain, sector that deserves particular attention being one of the most polluting in the world. The assessment of the economic dimension is made through the evaluation of the total cost incurred in each process of the supply chain, while the environmental aspect is evaluated in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions generated. Specifically, in this paper the modelling of the warehouse function is detailed. To test the effectiveness of the model a case study is carried out on a fashion company based in the North of Italy; the key results are reported in the manuscript, showing where the majority of costs and emissions are generated. Information obtained from this tool can support the company's management in their operational decisions and show where to focus their attention to enhance the economic and environmental sustainability