1,720,982 research outputs found
Identification of tools for improving and supporting sustainability and innovation processes in the dairy supply chain
No full textThe sustainable development of livestock sector is one of the greatest challenges for next years.
Within the development of a sustainable food system, animal production plays a debated role, thus
its sustainable transition is particularly difficult and controversial. This transition is recognised as a
key element for the future development of the planet by the European Green Deal and the Italian
Recovery Plan. Strong efforts are currently being made to convert livestock farms to more sustainable
and technological management, but there is still a long way to go.
In the context of sustainability evaluation, several methods based on Life Cycle Thinking are being
developed with the aim of framing the three dimensions of sustainability (Environmental, Economical
and Social); interest in the application of this methods in agriculture has been increasing in recent
years due to the implications of this sector on climate change.
In the procedures tools nowadays used to assess the sustainability of farms, animal health and welfare
are usually neglected or not organically integrated.
In this context, the primary aim of the PhD project presented here was to assess the environmental
impact of dairy farms, incorporating an approach that considers animal health and welfare. This was
achieved using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method with a “cradle to factory gate” analysis.
Following an extensive literature review, an innovative and comprehensive LCA inventory was
developed to collect primary data from four dairy farms within the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO supply
chain involved in the research. This inventory included aspects such as animal health and welfare,
feeding, production, and management. The farms were monitored, and farmers were engaged through
questionnaires.
Upon completion of a more extensive farm sampling and data analysis, customized management
strategies for climate change mitigation will be identified and implemented for each farm involved in
the research
Innovazione tecnologica e circolarità come strumenti per la sostenibilità: la realtà di un’azienda zootecnica all’avanguardia
No full textA causa del cambiamento climatico in atto, il tema della sostenibilità è divenuto centrale in ogni aspetto della vita quotidiana. In ambito di sostenibilità ambientale si fa riferimento al monitoraggio delle emissioni di gas serra, ed in particolar modo a quelle correlate al settore agricolo e nello specifico al comparto zootecnico. La migliore soluzione ad oggi disponibile per mitigare le emissioni è forse rappresentata dall’intensivizzazione sostenibile, volta a ridurre l’impatto ambientale delle aziende zootecniche e garantire la sicurezza alimentare. Per far si che ciò sia possibile è necessario adottare sistemi di gestione aziendale all’avanguardia e strumenti di Precision Farming.
Il presente lavoro di ricerca si incentra su un caso studio quale esempio di miglioramento della sostenibilità economica ed ambientale grazie all’impiego dell’agricoltura di precisione. Lo studio ha preso a riferimento un’azienda sita nel comprensorio del Parmigiano Reggiano di dimensioni medio-grandi. Nel corso degli ultimi anni l’azienda ha integrato diverse soluzioni tecnologiche. Questi strumenti hanno consentito l’individuazione tempestiva delle mastiti, la riduzione significativa dello stato di chetosi grave a favore di quella leggera, la diminuzione nell’impiego di farmaci ed il miglioramento di parametri riproduttivi, come la riduzione dell’età al primo parto da 26 a 24 mesi, con un miglioramento evidente dello stato di benessere degli animali e un incremento di sostenibilità aziendale.
Inoltre, l’introduzione dell’impianto di biogas ha consentito una maggiore circolarità aziendale consentendo di migliorare l’efficienza energetica grazie all’autoproduzione di energia elettrica e termica e reso l’azienda indipendente dall’acquisto di concimi chimici, grazie all’impiego del digestato come fertilizzante.
In conclusione, tale studio dimostra come l’implementazione tecnologica e l’impiego di strategie di economia circolare rappresentano una strategia vincente per conciliare sostenibilità ambientale, produttività e benessere animale, trasformando i costi iniziali in investimenti remunerativi per gli imprenditori agricoli
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
A methodological approach in the evaluation of the efficacy of treatments for the dimensional stabilisation of waterlogged archaeological wood
No full textDispelling 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
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