1,721,089 research outputs found
Italian Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Eucalyptus Firewood
No full textEucalyptus trees cover about 20 million hectares globally and are used to produce pulp,
paper and firewood for domestic uses. From an environmental perspective, these trees have fewer
impacts than other crops. In Italy, plantations of eucalyptus can provide a large amount of biomass to
satisfy part of the country’s internal demand. However, eucalyptus cultivation is less profitable than
cultivation of traditional crops due to the low market prices of wood. This study aims both to analyze
the willingness of a sample of Italian consumers to pay for eucalyptus firewood and to investigate
the main factors that may a ect this willingness. Data are collected from a sample of 231 consumers
using a web-based survey. The double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation model
is then applied. The findings show that information, the energetic density of firewood, consumers’
interest in environment issues, and the age of respondents are aspects that are positively associated
with respondents’ willingness to pay for eucalyptus firewood. Conversely, interest in both firewood
species and packaging are factors that reduce consumer willingness to pay for eucalyptus firewood.
Even though these results cannot be generalized to the whole Italian population, the findings may
indicate new opportunities for eucalyptus, while growing demand for eucalyptus could o er an
interesting opportunity for firms to enter the sector and develop marketing strategies targeted towards
specific market niches
A new system to preserve quality of grapes harvested by machine
No full textMany negative effects of mechanical harvesting of grapes are attributed to damage and subsequent leakage of juice, often accentuated by high time between harvest and processing as well as high temperature.
The presence of must in the product harvested by machine, which can reach very high levels (25-30% of the total mass), can cause several negative effects such as phenols oxidation, abnormal fermentation, skins maceration, etc. For that reason, an innovative system of handling and grapes transporting was developed in order to separate, once harvested, the liquid part (must) from the solid one (bunch of grapes and single grape), and then to apply different working process on each of them. Thanks to this system, it was possible to isolate the must in a closed tank and thus, immediately, preserve it by dry ice or liquid carbon dioxide, with the addition of enological chemicals (sulphur dioxide, ascorbic acid and tannin) to avoid chemical and microbiological modifications.
The evaluation of wines throughout tests and sensorial analysis highlighted the better quality of the wines, obtained by the proposed technique compared with the traditional one, cause of higher presence of primary fragrances, better color, and a better balanced structure of the wine preserved by oxidation action
Comparison between two grapes harvesting machines with horizontal and vertical shaking
No full textThe objective of the present work was to compare two types of grape harvesting machines, one using horizontal shaking (SO) and another using vertical shaking (SV).
The trials were carried out on Trebbiano Romagnolo cultivar trained by Casarsa and GDC system. During the trials were evaluated the extent of the vibrations transferred from the shaker on the effects on the products, on the plants and the final features of the wine.
The results have shown differences between the two grape harvesting machines and to a lesser extent between the adjustments used with each machine. The extent and the duration of the vibrations transmitted have affected the mistreatment on the vegetation, the harvest characteristics and the results of the enological transformation. Vertical shaking system has allowed an overall better performance thanks due to a closer interaction between the plant and the machine
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
Profiling Italian Consumers’ Perceptions of a New Functional Pasta
No full textThe study aims to determine the main factors that could influence Italian consumer choices regarding functional pasta with Opuntia and to characterize distinct hypothetical consumer segments. Seven clusters were identified. The findings showed as the role of perception among respondents depends on their education level and as the health benefits and nutritional and environmental aspects of functional pasta should encourage the acceptance and consumption of this new functional food. More-over, the respondent preferences reflect a value of experience towards pasta, i.e., the belief of cooking the typical Italian pasta. This means that Opuntia use for functional pasta production should maintain the organoleptic and physical properties of durum wheat-based pasta
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
Opuntia ficus-indica as an Ingredient in New Functional Pasta: Consumer Preferences in Italy
No full textOpuntia ficus-indica is a source of minerals and vitamins and has recently been used as
ingredient to make a new functional variety of pasta. Italy was the first country in the world to
produce pasta and is also the second largest producer of Opuntia in the world. According to an
Italian sample, this study considers the main factors that could influence consumers when choosing
functional pasta (featuring Opuntia) and characterizes distinct hypothetical consumer segments in
terms of their food habits, pasta choices, and perceptions toward functional pasta featuring Opuntia.
Data were collected using a web-based survey and with 328 respondents. Factor analysis (FA)
with orthogonal rotation (varimax) was used to simplify the observed variables and hierarchical
cluster analysis was performed with the FA results. Seven clusters were identified and the main
results show that the level of education plays an important role in the perception of functional pasta.
In fact, the perceptions of well-educated people differed from poorly-educated people. Moreover,
the results showed significant respondent interest regarding health benefits and the nutritional
and environmental aspects of functional pasta, which should encourage people’s acceptance and
consumption of this new functional food. In addition, the respondent preferences reflect a value of
experience towards the pasta, i.e., the belief of cooking typical Italian pasta. This means that Opuntia
used for the production of functional pasta should maintain the organoleptic and physical properties
of durum wheat-based pasta. In addition, respondent preferences for pasta featuring Opuntia could
also be driven by its price
Environmental and Economic Assessment of Castor Oil Supply Chain: A Case Study
No full textAmong the species currently cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could
be a good candidate for future investments due to the good resistance to pests, tolerance to drought,
and suitability for marginal lands cultivation. In addition, the production of castor oil from Ricinus
generates a large quantity of press cake, husks, and crop residues that, in a framework of bioeconomy,
could be used as by-products for different purposes. Using a case study approach, the work presents
results of the environmental impact assessment and economic feasibility of the production of castor
oil from two different castor hybrids comparing four by-products management scenarios and two
harvesting systems (manual vs. mechanical). Castor hybrid C-856 harvested manually and that
involved only the soil incorporation of press cake obtained by the oil extraction resulted as the most
sustainable. The hybrid C-1030 resulted as more profitable than C-856 when harvested with the
combine harvester. The ratio between gross margin and GWP emissions was applied to calculate
the economic performance (gross margin) per unit of environmental burden. Findings showed that
Sc1B scenario in case of C-856 cultivar hybrid had a better ratio between economic performance and
greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere (€3.75 per kg CO2eq)
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