1,720,958 research outputs found
The adoption of health and eco-innovations to improve quality, food safety and sustainability
Full text linkL'imballaggio svolge un ruolo fondamentale nel preservare la qualità, l'integrità e la sicurezza degli alimenti lungo l'intera filiera alimentare. La sua importanza è legata anche alla possibile riduzione delle perdite e degli sprechi alimentari finalizzata a promuovere modelli di produzione e consumo più sostenibili. In effetti, al termine dell'utilizzo del prodotto alimentare, una grande quantità di imballaggi viene sprecata e spesso sfugge ai sistemi di raccolta e riciclaggio formali e finisce per inquinare l'ambiente. Esiste quindi la necessità di innovazioni di packaging in grado di ridurre al minimo le perdite e gli sprechi alimentari ottimizzando l'utilizzo di materiali come il packaging attivo, intelligente e sostenibile (es., biodegradabile e compostabile).
In questo contesto, c'è un ampio spazio di innovazioni nel settore del packaging capaci di migliorare la sicurezza alimentare e mantenere la qualità dei prodotti. Inoltre, il packaging innovativo può avere maggiori possibilità di soddisfare i bisogni dei consumatori aumentando la sostenibilità nelle scelte individuali, raggiungendo gli Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile indicati dall'Agenda 2030 delle Nazioni Unite.
Alla luce di queste premesse, lo scopo di questa tesi è duplice. In primo luogo, l’obiettivo è quello di esplorare se i consumatori sono disposti ad acquistare prodotti alimentari confezionati con soluzioni innovative come imballaggi attivi, intelligenti e sostenibili, nonché di definire le determinanti delle loro intenzioni di acquisto. In secondo luogo, di indagare se i produttori di alimenti e bevande sono disposti ad investire per tali innovazioni di packaging.
Quindi, a seguito dell’introduzione generale di queste innovazioni di packaging e della loro applicazione nel settore alimentare e delle bevande, la prima parte del lavoro si concentra sull'investigazione dell'accettazione e della disponibilità a pagare dei consumatori per imballaggi attivi, intelligenti e sostenibili raccogliendo prove presenti in letteratura e pubblicate tra il 2005 e il 2018. Inoltre, per raggiungere i suddetti obiettivi, sono stati intervistati 260 consumatori italiani e 20 imprese italiane di micro e medio-piccola dimensione.
I risultati preliminari mostrano che l'accettazione da parte del consumatore e la disponibilità a pagare per gli imballaggi attivi ed intelligenti sono influenzate dalla conoscenza del consumatore di queste tecnologie. Inoltre, la maggior parte dei consumatori è interessata all'acquisto di prodotti alimentari confezionati con imballaggi intelligenti piuttosto che attivi per ridurre i propri rifiuti domestici, grazie alla capacità di questo pacchetto di fornire dati sulla freschezza degli alimenti in tempo reale. Gli intervistati sono anche disposti ad acquistare alimenti (es. latte) confezionati in imballaggi sostenibili (es. biodegradabili) per migliorare il benessere ambientale. Inoltre, le statistiche descrittive mostrano che gli intervistati preferiscono maggiormente acquistare prodotti confezionati utilizzando materiale biodegradabile di origine vegetale (es. mais, canna da zucchero ecc.) piuttosto che l'uso di materie prime organiche di scarto (es. siero del latte), così come la maggior parte dei consumatori si dice disposta a pagare dall'1% al 5% in più per il latte confezionato in imballaggi biodegradabili, indipendentemente dalla materia prima utilizzata. Infine, la maggior parte dei produttori intervistati è disposta a investire in almeno un'innovazione di packaging, preferendo principalmente tra il packaging attivo e quello sostenibile (es. packaging compostabile).Packaging plays a pivotal role in preserving food quality, integrity and safety along the whole
food supply chain. Its importance is also linked to the possible reduction of food loss and waste
aimed at promoting more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Actually, at the end of
food product use, a large amount of packaging is wasted and often it escapes formal collection and
recycling systems and eventually it end-ups polluting our environment. Hence, there is the need to
contribute to packaging innovations able to minimize food loss and waste by optimizing the use of
the materials such as, active, intelligent and sustainable packaging (e.g., biodegradable and
compostable one).
In this context, there is a large room for innovation in the packaging sector in the attempt to
enhance food safety and to maintain the quality of products. Also, innovative packaging may have
higher chances to satisfy the social needs in increasing the sustainability of individual choices,
reaching the Sustainable Development Goals indicated by the 2030 UN Agenda.
In the light of these premises, the aim of this thesis is twofold. First, it is to explore whether
consumers are willing to purchase food products packaged with innovative solutions such as active,
intelligent and sustainable packaging, as well as to define the determinants of their intentions.
Secondly, it is to investigate if the food and drink manufacturers are willing to invest in such
packaging innovations.
Then, after a general introduction of these packaging innovations and their application in the
food and drink sector, the first part of the work is focused to investigate the consumers acceptance
and willingness to pay (WTP) for active, intelligent and sustainable packaging by collecting evidence
available in the literature and published between 2005 to 2018. Moreover, in order to reach the
aforementioned objectives, 260 Italian consumers were surveyed and 20 Italian micro and smallmedium
entrepreneurs interviewed.
Preliminary results show that consumer’s acceptance and WTP for smart packaging are
influenced by the consumer's knowledge about these technologies. Furthermore, most of the
consumers are interested in buying food products packed with intelligent packaging rather than the
active one to reduce their wastes at home, thanks to the ability of this package to provide real-time
use-by or expiration data. Respondents are also willing to purchase foods (e.g., milk) packaged in
sustainable packaging (e.g., biodegradable packaging) to improve the environmental wellbeing.
Moreover, descriptive statistics show that respondents slightly prefer to purchase products
packaged using plant-based (e.g., corn, sugarcane etc.) biodegradable material, rather than the use
of organic waste feedstocks (e.g., whey), as well most of the respondents are willing to pay from 1%
to 5% more for milk packed in biodegradable packaging, regardless of the raw material used.
Finally, most of the interviewed manufacturers are willing to invest in at least one packaging
innovation, mainly preferring between the active packaging and the sustainable one (e.g.,
compostable packaging)
Health and Eco-Innovations in Food Packaging
No full textPackaging plays a pivotal role in preserving food quality, integrity and safety along the whole food supply chain. Its importance is also linked to the possible reduction of food loss and waste aimed at promoting more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Actually, at the end of food product use, a large amount of packaging is wasted and often it escapes formal collection and recycling systems and eventually it end-ups polluting our environment. Hence, there is the need to contribute to packaging innovations able to minimize food loss and waste by optimizing the use of the materials such as active, intelligent and sustainable packaging. In this context, there is a large room for innovation in the packaging sector in the attempt to enhance food safety and to maintain the quality of products. Also, innovative packaging may have higher chances to satisfy the social needs in increasing the sustainability of individual choices, reaching the Sustainable Development Goals indicated by the 2030 UN Agenda. In the light of these premises, the aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it is to explore whether consumers are willing to purchase food products packaged with innovative solutions as well as define the determinants of their intentions. Second, it is to investigate if the food and drink manufacturers are willing to invest in such packaging innovations. In order to reach the aforementioned objectives, 260 Italian consumers were surveyed and 20 Italian micro and small-medium entrepreneurs were interviewed. Preliminary results show that most of the consumers are interested in buying food products packed with innovative solutions, with a particular emphasis on sustainable packaging such as biodegradable and compostable ones. Finally, most of the interviewed manufacturers are willing to invest at least one packaging innovation, mainly preferring between the active packaging and the compostable one
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
