An assessment of the business value of traceability practices in the italian fishery processing industry

Traceability is often perceived by food industry executives as an additional cost of doing business, one to be avoided if possible. However, a traceability system can in fact comply the regulatory requirements, increase food safety and recall performance, improving marketing performances and, as well as, improving supply chain management. Thus, traceability affects business performances of firms in terms of costs and benefits determined by traceability practices. Costs and benefits affect factors such as, firms’ characteristics, level of traceability and ,lastly, costs and benefits perceived prior to traceability implementation. This thesis was undertaken to understand how these factors are linked to affect the outcome of costs and benefits. Analysis of the results of a plant level survey of the Italian ichthyic processing industry revealed that processors generally adopt various level of traceability while government support appears to increase the level of traceability and the expectations and actual costs and benefits. None of the firms’ characteristics, with the exception of government support, influences costs and level of traceability. Only size of firms and level of QMS certifications are linked with benefits while precision of traceability increases benefits without affecting costs. Finally, traceability practices appear due to the request from “external“ stakeholders such as government, authority and customers rather than “internal” factors (e.g. improving the firm management) while the traceability system does not provide any added value from the market in terms of price premium or market share increase.

Realizzazione di riporti funzionalizzanti su superfici ceramiche per la produzione di energia elettrica mediante effetto fotovoltaico

This research, carried out during the PhD in Materials Engineering, deals with the creation of layers, with different functionality, deposited on a ceramic substrate, to obtain photovoltaic cells for electricity production. The research activities are included in the project PRRIITT, Measure 4 (Development of Networks), Action A (Research and Technology Transfer Laboratories), Thematic reference 3 (Advanced materials applications development), co-financed by the Emilia Romagna Region, for the creation of CECERBENCH laboratory, which aims to develop "Tiles with a functionalised surface”. The innovation lies in the study of materials and in the development of technologies to achieve a "photovoltaic surface", directly in the tiles production process. The goal is to preserve the technical characteristics, and to make available new surfaces, exploiting renewable energy sources. The realization of Building Integrated PhotoVoltaic (BIPV) is nowadays a more and more spread tendency. The aims of the research are essentially linked to the need to diversify the actual ceramic tile production (which is strongly present in the Emilia Romagna Region ), and to provide a higher added value to the tiles. Solar energy production is the primary objective of the functionalization, and has a relevant ecological impact, taking into account the overwhelming global energy demand. The specific activities of the PhD were carried out according to the achievement of scientific and technological objectives of CECERBENCH laboratory, and involved the collaboration in design solutions, to obtain the cells directly on the tiles surface. The author has managed personally a part of the research project. Layers with different features were made: - Electrically conductive layers, directly on the ceramic tiles surface; - Layers to obtain the photovoltaic functionality; - Electrically insulating, protective layers (double function). For each layer, the most suitable materials have been selected. Among the technical application, the screen printing was used. This technique, widely used in ceramics, has many application areas, including the electronics and photovoltaic industries. It is an inexpensive technique, easy to use in industrial production lines. The screen printing technique was therefore studied in depth by theoretical considerations, and through the use of rheological measurements.

La costruzione razionale della casa. Scritti e progetti di Giuseppe Pagano

The rational construction of the house. The writings and projects of Giuseppe Pagano Description, themes and research objectives The research aims at analysing the architecture of Giuseppe Pagano, which focuses on the theme of dwelling, through the reading of 3 of his house projects. On the one hand, these projects represent “minor” works not thoroughly known by Pagano’s contemporary critics; on the other they emphasise a particular methodological approach, which serves the author to explore a theme closely linked to his theoretical thought. The house project is a key to Pagano’s research, given its ties to the socio-cultural and political conditions in which the architect was working, so that it becomes a mirror of one of his specific and theoretical path, always in a state of becoming. Pagano understands architecture as a “servant of the human being”, subject to a “utilitarian slavery” since it is a clear, essential and “modest” answer to specific human needs, free from aprioristic aesthetic and formal choices. It is a rational architecture in sensu stricto; it constitutes a perfect synthesis between cause and effect and between function and form. The house needs to accommodate these principles because it is closely intertwined with human needs and intimately linked to a specific place, climatic conditions and technical and economical possibilities. Besides, differently from his public and common masterpieces such as the Palazzo Gualino, the Istituto di Fisica and the Università Commerciale Bocconi, the house projects are representative of a precise project will, which is expressed in a more authentic way, partially freed from political influences and dogmatic preoccupations and, therefore, far from the attempt to research a specific expressive language. I believe that the house project better represents that “ingenuity”, freshness and “sincerity” that Pagano identifies with the minor architecture, thereby revealing a more authentic expression of his understanding of a project. Therefore, the thesis, by tracing the theoretical research of Pagano through the analysis of some of his designed and built works, attempts to identify a specific methodological approach to Pagano’s project, which, developed through time, achieves a certain clarity in the 1930s. In fact, this methodological approach becomes more evident in his last projects, mainly regarding the house and the urban space. These reflect the attempt to respond to the new social needs and, at the same time, they also are an expression of a freer idea of built architecture, closely linked with the place and with the human being who dwells it. The three chosen projects (Villa Colli, La Casa a struttura d’acciaio and Villa Caraccio) make Pagano facing different places, different customers and different economic and technical conditions, which, given the author’s biography, correspond to important historical and political conditions. This is the reason why the projects become apparently distant works, both linguistically and conceptually, to the point that one can define them as ”eclectic”. However, I argue that this eclecticism is actually an added value to the architectural work of Pagano, steaming from the use of a method which, having as a basis the postulate of a rational architecture as essence and logic of building, finds specific variations depending on the multiple variables to be addressed by the project. This is the methodological heritage that Pagano learns from the tradition, especially that of the rural residential architecture, defined by Pagano as a “dictionary of the building logic of man”, as an “a-stylistic background”. For Pagano this traditional architecture is a clear expression of the relationships between a theme and its development, an architectural “fact” that is resolved with purely technical and utilitarian aims and with a spontaneous development far from any aprioristic theoretical principle. Architecture, therefore, cannot be an invention for Pagano and the personal contribution of each architect has to consider his/her close relationship with the specific historical context, place and new building methods. These are basic principles in the methodological approach that drives a great deal of his research and that also permits his thought to be modern. I argue that both ongoing and new collaborations with younger protagonists of the culture and architecture of the period are significant for the development of his methodology. These encounters represent the will to spread his own understanding of the “new architecture” as well as a way of self-renewal by confronting the self with new themes and realities and by learning from his collaborators. Thesis’ outline The thesis is divided in two principal parts, each articulated in four chapters attempting to offer a new reading of the theory and work of Pagano by emphasising the central themes of the research. The first chapter is an introduction to the thesis and to the theme of the rational house, as understood and developed in its typological and technical aspects by Pagano and by other protagonists of the Italian rationalism of the 1930s. Here the attention is on two different aspects defining, according to Pagano, the house project: on the one hand, the typological renewal, aimed at defining a “standard form” as a clear and essential answer to certain needs and variables of the project leading to different formal expressions. On the other, it focuses on the building, understood as a technique to “produce” architecture, where new technologies and new materials are not merely tools but also essential elements of the architectural work. In this way the villa becomes different from the theme of the common house or from that of the minimalist house, by using rules in the choice of material and in the techniques that are every time different depending on the theme under exploration and on the contingency of place. It is also visible the rigorous rationalism that distinguishes the author's appropriation of certain themes of rural architecture. The pages of “Casabella” and the events of the contemporary Triennali form the preliminary material for the writing of this chapter given that they are primary sources to individuate projects and writings produced by Pagano and contemporary architects on this theme. These writings and projects, when compared, reconstruct the evolution of the idea of the rational house and, specifically, of the personal research of Pagano. The second part regards the reading of three of Pagano’s projects of houses as a built verification of his theories. This section constitutes the central part of the thesis since it is aimed at detecting a specific methodological approach showing a theoretical and ideological evolution expressed in the vast edited literature. The three projects that have been chosen explore the theme of the house, looking at various research themes that the author proposes and that find continuity in the affirmation of a specific rationalism, focussed on concepts such as essentiality, utility, functionality and building honesty. These concepts guide the thought and the activities of Pagano, also reflecting a social and cultural period. The projects span from the theme of the villa moderna, Villa Colli, which, inspired by the architecture of North Europe, anticipates a specific rationalism of Pagano based on rigour, simplicity and essentiality, to the theme of the common house, Casa a struttura d’acciaio, la casa del domani, which ponders on the definition of new living spaces and, moreover, on new concepts of standardisation, economical efficiency and new materials responding to the changing needs of the modern society. Finally, the third project returns to the theme of the, Villa Caraccio, revisiting it with new perspectives. These perspectives find in the solution of the open plant, in the openness to nature and landscape and in the revisiting of materials and local building systems that idea of the freed house, which express clearly a new theoretical thought. Methodology It needs to be noted that due to the lack of an official Archive of Pagano’s work, the analysis of his work has been difficult and this explains the necessity to read the articles and the drawings published in the pages of «Casabella» and «Domus». As for the projects of Villa Colli and Casa a struttura d’acciaio, parts of the original drawings have been consulted. These drawings are not published and are kept in private archives of the collaborators of Pagano. The consultation of these documents has permitted the analysis of the cited works, which have been subject to a more complete reading following the different proposed solutions, which have permitted to understand the project path. The projects are analysed thought the method of comparison and critical reading which, specifically, means graphical elaborations and analytical schemes, mostly reconstructed on the basis of original projects but, where possible, also on a photographic investigation. The focus is on the project theme which, beginning with a specific living (dwelling) typology, finds variations because of the historico-political context in which Pagano is embedded and which partially shapes his research and theoretical thought, then translated in the built work. The analysis of the work follows, beginning, where possible, from a reconstruction of the evolution of the project as elaborated on the basis of the original documents and ending on an analysis of the constructive principles and composition. This second phase employs a methodology proposed by Pagano in his article Piante di ville, which, as expected, focuses on the plant as essential tool to identify the “true practical and poetic qualities of the construction”(Pagano, «Costruzioni-Casabella», 1940, p. 2). The reading of the project is integrated with the constructive analyses related to the technical aspects of the house which, in the case of Casa a struttura d’acciaio, play an important role in the project, while in Villa Colli and in Villa Caraccio are principally linked to the choice of materials for the construction of the different architectural elements. These are nonetheless key factors in the composition of the work. Future work could extend this reading to other house projects to deepen the research that could be completed with the consultation of Archival materials, which are missing at present. Finally, in the appendix I present a critical selection of the Pagano’s writings, which recall the themes discussed and embodied by the three projects. The texts have been selected among the articles published in Casabella and in other journals, completing the reading of the project work which cannot be detached from his theoretical thought. Moving from theory to project, we follow a path that brings us to define and deepen the central theme of the thesis: rational building as the principal feature of the architectural research of Pagano, which is paraphrased in multiple ways in his designed and built works.

Microfluidic device and interfacial transport: application to biomolecules and nanostructures

The aim of my dissertation is to provide new knowledge and applications of microfluidics in a variety of problems, from materials science, devices, and biomedicine, where the control on the fluid dynamics and the local concentration of the solutions containing the relevant molecules (either materials, precursors, or biomolecules) is crucial. The control of interfacial phenomena occurring in solutions at dierent length scales is compelling in nanotechnology for devising new sensors, molecular electronics devices, memories. Microfluidic devices were fabricated and integrated with organic electronics devices. The transduction involves the species in the solution which infills the transistor channel and confined by the microfluidic device. This device measures what happens on the surface, at few nanometers from the semiconductor channel. Soft-lithography was adopted to fabricate platinum electrodes, starting from platinum carbonyl precursor. I proposed a simple method to assemble these nanostructures in periodic arrays of microstripes, and form conductive electrodes with characteristic dimension of 600 nm. The conductivity of these sub-microwires is compared with the values reported in literature and bulk platinum. The process is suitable for fabricating thin conductive patterns for electronic devices or electrochemical cells, where the periodicity of the conductive pattern is comparable with the diusion length of the molecules in solution. The ordering induced among artificial nanostructures is of particular interest in science. I show that large building blocks, like carbon nanotubes or core-shell nanoparticles, can be ordered and self-organised on a surface in patterns due to capillary forces. The eective probability of inducing order with microfluidic flow is modeled with finite element calculation on the real geometry of the microcapillaries, in soft-lithographic process. The oligomerization of A40 peptide in microconfined environment represents a new investigation of the extensively studied peptide aggregation. The added value of the approach I devised is the precise control on the local concentration of peptides together with the possibility to mimick cellular crowding. Four populations of oligomers where distinguished, with diameters ranging from 15 to 200 nm. These aggregates could not be addresses separately in fluorescence. The statistical analysis on the atomic force microscopy images together with a model of growth reveal new insights on the kinetics of amyloidogenesis as well as allows me to identify the minimum stable nucleus size. This is an important result owing to its implications in the understanding and early diagnosis and therapy of the Alzheimer’s disease

Studio della maturazione di formaggi pecorino stagionati in stabilimento e in grotta

Aims: Ripening evaluation of two different Pecorino cheese varieties ripened according either to a traditional method in plant and in cave. Different ripening features have been analyzed in order to evaluate the cave as possible ripening environment with the aim of obtaining a peculiar product which could also establish an added value to the cultural heritage of the local place in which it has been originally manufactured. Methods and Results: Chemical-physical features of Pecorino cheese have been initially analyzed into two different ripening environments and experimentations, among which: pH, weight reduction and subsequent water activity. Furthermore, the microbial composition has been characterized in relationship with the two different ripening environments, undertaking a variety of microbial groups, such as: lactic bacteria, staphylococci, yeasts, lactococci, enterobacteria, enterococci. Besides, an additional analysis for the in-cave adaptability evaluation has been the identification of biogenic amines inside the Pecorino cheese (2-phenilethylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, hystidine, tyramine, spermine and spermidine). Further analysis were undertaken in order to track the lipid profile evolution, reporting the concentration of the cheese free fatty acids in object, in relation with ripening time, environment and production. In order to analyse the flavour compounds present in Pecorino cheese, the SPME-GC-MS technique has been widely employed. As a result, it is confirmed the trend showed by the short-chain free fatty acids, that is to say the fatty acids which are mostly involved in conveying a stronger flavor to the cheese. With the purpose of assessing the protheolytic patterns of the above-mentioned Pecorino cheese in the two different ripening environments and testing methods, the technique SDS-PAGE has been employed into the cheese insoluble fraction, whereas the SDS-PAGE technique has been carried out into the cheese soluble portion. Furthermore, different isolated belonging to various microbial groups have been genotypically characterized though the ITS-PCR technique with the aim to identify the membership species. With reference to lactic bacillus the characterized species are: Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus curvatus and Lactobacillus paraplantarum. With reference to lactococci the predominant species is Lactococcus lactis, coming from the employed starter used in the cheese manufacturing. With reference to enterococcus, the predominant species are Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. Moreover, Streptococcus termophilus and Streptococcus macedonicus have been identified too. For staphylococci the identified species are Staphyilococcus equorum, Staphylococcus saprophyfiticus and Staphylococcus xylosus. Finally, a sensorial analysis has been undertaken through on one side a consumer test made by inexperienced consumers, and on the other side through a panel test achieved by expert consumers. From such test Pecorino cheese ripened in cave were found to be more pleasant in comparison with Pecorino cheese ripened in plant. Conclusions: The proposed approach and the undertaken analysis showed the cave as preferential ripening environment for Pecorino cheese and for the development of a more palatable product and safer for consumers’ health.

Creazione e sviluppo di corpora multimediali. Nuove metodologie di ricerca nella traduzione audiovisiva

The construction and use of multimedia corpora has been advocated for a while in the literature as one of the expected future application fields of Corpus Linguistics. This research project represents a pioneering experience aimed at applying a data-driven methodology to the study of the field of AVT, similarly to what has been done in the last few decades in the macro-field of Translation Studies. This research was based on the experience of Forlixt 1, the Forlì Corpus of Screen Translation, developed at the University of Bologna’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Translation, Languages and Culture. As a matter of fact, in order to quantify strategies of linguistic transfer of an AV product, we need to take into consideration not only the linguistic aspect of such a product but all the meaning-making resources deployed in the filmic text. Provided that one major benefit of Forlixt 1 is the combination of audiovisual and textual data, this corpus allows the user to access primary data for scientific investigation, and thus no longer rely on pre-processed material such as traditional annotated transcriptions. Based on this rationale, the first chapter of the thesis sets out to illustrate the state of the art of research in the disciplinary fields involved. The primary objective was to underline the main repercussions on multimedia texts resulting from the interaction of a double support, audio and video, and, accordingly, on procedures, means, and methods adopted in their translation. By drawing on previous research in semiotics and film studies, the relevant codes at work in visual and acoustic channels were outlined. Subsequently, we concentrated on the analysis of the verbal component and on the peculiar characteristics of filmic orality as opposed to spontaneous dialogic production. In the second part, an overview of the main AVT modalities was presented (dubbing, voice-over, interlinguistic and intra-linguistic subtitling, audio-description, etc.) in order to define the different technologies, processes and professional qualifications that this umbrella term presently includes. The second chapter focuses diachronically on various theories’ contribution to the application of Corpus Linguistics’ methods and tools to the field of Translation Studies (i.e. Descriptive Translation Studies, Polysystem Theory). In particular, we discussed how the use of corpora can favourably help reduce the gap existing between qualitative and quantitative approaches. Subsequently, we reviewed the tools traditionally employed by Corpus Linguistics in regard to the construction of traditional “written language” corpora, to assess whether and how they can be adapted to meet the needs of multimedia corpora. In particular, we reviewed existing speech and spoken corpora, as well as multimedia corpora specifically designed to investigate Translation. The third chapter reviews Forlixt 1's main developing steps, from a technical (IT design principles, data query functions) and methodological point of view, by laying down extensive scientific foundations for the annotation methods adopted, which presently encompass categories of pragmatic, sociolinguistic, linguacultural and semiotic nature. Finally, we described the main query tools (free search, guided search, advanced search and combined search) and the main intended uses of the database in a pedagogical perspective. The fourth chapter lists specific compilation criteria retained, as well as statistics of the two sub-corpora, by presenting data broken down by language pair (French-Italian and German-Italian) and genre (cinema’s comedies, television’s soapoperas and crime series). Next, we concentrated on the discussion of the results obtained from the analysis of summary tables reporting the frequency of categories applied to the French-Italian sub-corpus. The detailed observation of the distribution of categories identified in the original and dubbed corpus allowed us to empirically confirm some of the theories put forward in the literature and notably concerning the nature of the filmic text, the dubbing process and Italian dubbed language’s features. This was possible by looking into some of the most problematic aspects, like the rendering of socio-linguistic variation. The corpus equally allowed us to consider so far neglected aspects, such as pragmatic, prosodic, kinetic, facial, and semiotic elements, and their combination. At the end of this first exploration, some specific observations concerning possible macrotranslation trends were made for each type of sub-genre considered (cinematic and TV genre). On the grounds of this first quantitative investigation, the fifth chapter intended to further examine data, by applying ad hoc models of analysis. Given the virtually infinite number of combinations of categories adopted, and of the latter with searchable textual units, three possible qualitative and quantitative methods were designed, each of which was to concentrate on a particular translation dimension of the filmic text. The first one was the cultural dimension, which specifically focused on the rendering of selected cultural references and on the investigation of recurrent translation choices and strategies justified on the basis of the occurrence of specific clusters of categories. The second analysis was conducted on the linguistic dimension by exploring the occurrence of phrasal verbs in the Italian dubbed corpus and by ascertaining the influence on the adoption of related translation strategies of possible semiotic traits, such as gestures and facial expressions. Finally, the main aim of the third study was to verify whether, under which circumstances, and through which modality, graphic and iconic elements were translated into Italian from an original corpus of both German and French films. After having reviewed the main translation techniques at work, an exhaustive account of possible causes for their non-translation was equally provided. By way of conclusion, the discussion of results obtained from the distribution of annotation categories on the French-Italian corpus, as well as the application of specific models of analysis allowed us to underline possible advantages and drawbacks related to the adoption of a corpus-based approach to AVT studies. Even though possible updating and improvement were proposed in order to help solve some of the problems identified, it is argued that the added value of Forlixt 1 lies ultimately in having created a valuable instrument, allowing to carry out empirically-sound contrastive studies that may be usefully replicated on different language pairs and several types of multimedia texts. Furthermore, multimedia corpora can also play a crucial role in L2 and translation teaching, two disciplines in which their use still lacks systematic investigation.

Pratiche del possibile: i Participatory Guarantee Systems e le scelte d'acquisto del consumatore brasiliano

Negli ultimi anni, parallelamente all’espansione del settore biologico, si è assistito a un crescente interesse per i modelli alternativi di garanzia dell’integrità e della genuinità dei prodotti biologici. Gruppi di piccoli agricoltori di tutto il mondo hanno iniziato a sviluppare approcci alternativi per affrontare i problemi connessi alla certificazione di terza parte. Queste pratiche sono note come Sistemi di Garanzia Partecipativa (PGS). Tali modelli: (i) si basano sugli standard di certificazione biologica dell’IFOAM, (ii) riguardano il complesso dei produttori di una comunità rurale, (iii) comportano l’inclusione di una grande varietà di attori e (iv) hanno lo scopo di ridurre al minimo burocrazia e costi semplificando le procedure di verifica e incorporando un elemento di educazione ambientale e sociale sia per i produttori sia per i consumatori. Gli obiettivi di questo lavoro di ricerca: • descrivere il funzionamento dei sistemi di garanzia partecipativa; • indicare i vantaggi della loro adozione nei Paesi in via di sviluppo e non; • illustrare il caso della Rede Ecovida de Agroecologia (Brasile); • offrire uno spunto di riflessione che riguarda il consumatore e la relativa fiducia nel modello PGS. L’impianto teorico fa riferimento alla Teoria delle Convenzioni. Sulla base del quadro teorico è stato costruito un questionario per i consumatori con lo scopo di testare l’appropriatezza delle ipotesi teoriche. I risultati finali riguardano la stima del livello di conoscenza attuale, la fiducia e la volontà d’acquisto dei prodotti PGS da parte dei consumatori nelle aree considerate. Sulla base di questa ricerca sarà possibile adattare ed esportare il modello empirico in altri paesi che presentano economie diverse per cercare di comprendere il potenziale campo di applicazione dei sistemi di garanzia partecipativa.

La dimensione esterna della politica migratoria dell'UE

Conformemente ai trattati, l'UE sviluppa una politica comune in materia di asilo, immigrazione e controllo delle frontiere esterne, fondata sulla solidarietà e sul rispetto dei diritti fondamentali e, a tal fine, avvia relazioni strategiche con i Paesi terzi e le Organizzazioni internazionali. Un fenomeno “senza frontiere”, quale quello migratorio, esige del resto un'azione coerente e coordinata sia sul piano interno sia su quello esterno. La messa in atto di quest'ultima, tuttavia, si scontra con difficoltà di rilievo. Innanzitutto, l'UE e i suoi Stati membri devono creare i presupposti per l'avvio della collaborazione internazionale, vale a dire stimolare la fiducia reciproca con i Paesi terzi, rafforzando la propria credibilità internazionale. A tal fine, le istituzioni, gli organi e gli organismi dell'UE e gli Stati membri devono impegnarsi a fornire un modello coerente di promozione dei valori fondanti, quali la solidarietà e il rispetto dei diritti fondamentali, nonché a coordinare le proprie iniziative, per individuare, insieme ai Paesi terzi e alle Organizzazioni internazionali, una strategia d'azione comune. In secondo luogo, l'UE e gli Stati membri devono adottare soluzioni volte a promuovere l'efficacia della collaborazione internazionale e, più precisamente, assicurare che la competenza esterna sia esercitata dal livello di governo in grado di apportare il valore aggiunto e utilizzare la forma collaborativa di volta in volta più adeguata alla realizzazione degli obiettivi previsti. In definitiva, l'azione esterna dell'UE in materia di politica migratoria necessita di una strategia coerente e flessibile. Se oggi la coerenza è garantita dalla giustiziabilità dei principi di solidarietà, di rispetto dei diritti fondamentali e, giustappunto, di coerenza, la flessibilità si traduce nel criterio del valore aggiunto che, letto in combinato disposto con il principio di leale cooperazione, si pone al centro del nuovo modello partenariale proposto dall'approccio globale, potenzialmente idoneo a garantire la gestione efficace del fenomeno migratorio.

Produzione di bioetanolo da effluenti del settore lattiero-caseario con Kluyveromyces marxianus

Il siero di latte e la scotta sono effluenti provenienti rispettivamente dal processo di trasformazione del latte in formaggio e ricotta. Il siero di latte contiene minerali, lipidi, lattosio e proteine; la scotta contiene principalmente lattosio. Il siero può essere riutilizzato in diversi modi, come l'estrazione di proteine o per l’alimentazione animale, mentre la scotta è considerata solamente un rifiuto. Inoltre, a causa degli ingenti volumi di siero prodotti nel mondo, vengono a crearsi seri problemi ambientali e di smaltimento. Destinazioni alternative di questi effluenti, come le trasformazioni biotecnologiche, possono essere un modo per raggiungere il duplice obiettivo di migliorare il valore aggiunto dei processi agroindustriali e di ridurre il loro impatto ambientale. In questo lavoro sono state studiate le condizioni migliori per produrre bioetanolo dal lattosio del siero e della scotta. Kluyveromyces marxianus è stato scelto come lievito lattosio-fermentante. Sono state effettuate fermentazioni su scala di laboratorio aerobiche e anaerobiche in batch, fermentazioni semicontinue in fase dispersa e con cellule immobilizzate in alginato di calcio,. Diverse temperature sono state testate per migliorare la produzione di etanolo. Le migliori prestazioni, per entrambe le matrici, sono state raggiunte a basse temperature (28°C). Anche le alte temperature sono compatibili con buone rese di etanolo nelle fermentazioni con siero. Ottimi risultati si sono ottenuti anche con la scotta a 37°C e a 28°C. Le fermentazioni semicontinue in fase dispersa danno le migliori produzioni di etanolo, in particolare con la scotta. Invece, l'uso di cellule di lievito intrappolate in alginato di calcio non ha migliorato i risultati di processo. In conclusione, entrambi gli effluenti possono essere considerati adatti per la produzione di etanolo. Le buone rese ottenute dalla scotta permettono di trasformare questo rifiuto in una risorsa.

Analisi e ottimizzazione del servizio di raccolta e trasporto dei rifiuti anche in relazione alle tematiche ambientali: un'applicazione alla rete urbana di Bologna

Questo studio, che è stato realizzato in collaborazione con Hera, è un'analisi della gestione dei rifiuti a Bologna. La ricerca è stata effettuata su diversi livelli: un livello strategico il cui scopo è quello di identificare nuovi metodi per la raccolta dei rifiuti in funzione delle caratteristiche del territorio della città, un livello analitico che riguarda il miglioramento delle applicazioni informatiche di supporto, e livello ambientale che riguarda il calcolo delle emissioni in atmosfera di veicoli adibiti alla raccolta e al trasporto dei rifiuti. innanzitutto è stato necessario studiare Bologna e lo stato attuale dei servizi di raccolta dei rifiuti. È incrociando questi componenti che in questi ultimi tre anni sono state effettuate modifiche nel settore della gestione dei rifiuti. I capitoli seguenti sono inerenti le applicazioni informatiche a sostegno di tali attività: Siget e Optit. Siget è il programma di gestione del servizio, che attualmente viene utilizzato per tutte le attività connesse alla raccolta di rifiuti. È un programma costituito da moduli diversi, ma di sola la gestione dati. la sperimentazione con Optit ha aggiunto alla gestione dei dati la possibilità di avere tali dati in cartografia e di associare un algoritmo di routing. I dati archiviati in Siget hanno rappresentato il punto di partenza, l'input, e il raggiungimento di tutti punti raccolta l'obiettivo finale. L'ultimo capitolo è relativo allo studio dell'impatto ambientale di questi percorsi di raccolta dei rifiuti. Tale analisi, basata sulla valutazione empirica e sull'implementazione in Excel delle formule del Corinair mostra la fotografia del servizio nel 2010. Su questo aspetto Optit ha fornito il suo valore aggiunto, implementando nell'algoritmo anche le formule per il calcolo delle emissioni.

Tutela e valorizzazione delle produzioni agroalimentari di qualità attraverso strategie di brand management.Il modello Coop.

Questa tesi di dottorato verte sull'individuazione di politiche industriali atte ad implementare il mercato dei prodotti a denominazione di origine. Inevitabilmente, l’analisi economica dei prodotti agroalimentari tipici di qualità implica anche l’approfondimento e l’individuazione, delle problematiche connesse con la creazione di un valore addizionale per il consumatore, rispetto a quello dei prodotti standardizzati. Questo approccio richiama l’attenzione, da una parte, sulle caratteristiche della domanda e sulla disponibilità del consumatore a riconoscere e apprezzare questo plus-valore, dall’altra sulle strategie che l’offerta può attivare per conseguire un premium price rispetto al prodotto standardizzato. Le certificazioni comunitarie Dop, Igp e Stg oltre che il marchio di prodotto biologico racchiudono, solitamente, tali dinamiche valoriali ma sono tutt’oggi poco conosciute dai consumatori. Diversi studi internazionali dimostrano, infatti, che la maggioranza dei cittadini comunitari ignorano il significato delle certificazioni di qualità. L’ipotesi di fondo di questo studio si basa sulla possibilità di fidelizzare questi marchi con i brand della grande distribuzione già affermati, come quello di Coop. Analizzare gli effetti dell’introduzione di prodotti private label a denominazione di origine nel mercato della grande distribuzione organizzata italiana ci permetterebbe di comprendere se questo segmento di mercato può aiutare il settore delle Dop/Igp. Questo studio ha cercato di verificare se il prodotto private label a denominazione di origine, riesca a sfruttare il doppio binario di fiducia rappresentato dal marchio comunitario unito a quello dell’impresa di distribuzione. Per comprendere la propensione del consumatore a spendere di più per questi prodotti, abbiamo utilizzato l’analisi dell’elasticità della domanda sul prezzo dei dati scanner fornitici da Coop Adriatica. Siamo riusciti a dimostrare tale positivo connubio confermato anche da una indagine demoscopica effettuata ad hoc sui consumatori.

Enhancing Workers’ Well-Being. Scientific and social relevance of managing stress in the workplace

Purpose. Despite work-related stress is one of the most studied topic in organizational psychology, many aspects as for example the use of different measures (e.g. subjective and objective, qualitative and quantitative) are still under debate. According to this, in order to enhance knowledge concerning which factors and processes contribute to create healthy workplaces, this thesis is composed by four different studies aiming to understand: a) the role of relevant antecedents (e.g. leadership, job demands, work-family conflict, social support etc.) and outcomes (e.g. workplace phobia, absenteeism etc.) of work-related stress; and b) how to manage psychosocial risk factors in the workplace. The studies. The first study focused on how disagreement between supervisors and their employees on leadership style (transformational and transactional) could affect workers well-being and work team variables. The second and third study used both subjective and objective data in order to increase the quality of the reliability of the results gained. Particularly, the second study focused on job demand and its relationship with objective sickness leave. Findings showed that despite there is no direct relationship between these two variables, job demand affects work-family conflict, which in turn affect exhaustion, which leads to absenteeism. The third study analysed the role of a new concept never studied before in organizational settings (workplace phobia), as a health outcome in the JD-R model, demonstrating also its relationship with absenteeism. The last study highlighted the added value of using the mixed methods research approach in order to detect and analyse context-specific job demands which could affects workers’ health. Conclusion. The findings of this thesis answered both to open questions in the scientific literature and to the social request of managing psychosocial risk factors in the workplace in order to enhance workers well-being.

Servizi offerti su spazi demaniali in concessione e diritto dell'Unione Europea

La tesi analizza, sotto vari aspetti del diritto dell’Unione Europea, i servizi che sono offerti su spazi demaniali. Si articola in quattro capitoli: Il primo capitolo ricostruisce, valutandone l’impatto sui servizi che sono oggetto della presente indagine, lo sviluppo giurisprudenziale della Libertà di Stabilimento e della Libera Prestazione di Servizi, analizzando, altresì, i principi generali e l’art.16 della Carta dei Diritti Fondamentali dell’Unione. Il secondo capitolo è, invece, dedicato al diritto secondario, ossia alla Direttiva 2006/123/CE, alle Direttive “Appalti” e alla Direttiva “Concessioni”. La prima, che nulla aggiunge al quadro normativo trattato nel primo capitolo, svolge, pertanto una vera e propria funzione appaltante e concessoria. Le seconde, invece, seppur non applicabili alle fattispecie ivi esaminate, restano utili per comprendere quale declinazione possano avere i principi di eguaglianza, di non discriminazione, di trasparenza, di pubblicità e di concorrenza nella regolazione dei servizi offerti su spazi demaniali. La terza, invece, in quanto a rilevanza, presenta alcuni punti critici che fanno propendere per una sua non applicabilità. Resta comunque utile sempre in materia di principi, i quali, come evidenziato nell’ultima parte del secondo capitolo, sono stati utilizzati dalla Corte di Giustizia, pur nella totale assenza, fino alla recente direttiva, di strumenti di diritto secondario applicabili alle concessioni. Il terzo capitolo, invece, affronta le problematiche emerse all’interno dell’ordinamento italiano e attua una comparazione tra il sistema italiano e quello portoghese, croato, francese, spagnolo. Il quarto capitolo, da ultimo, prende in considerazione il delicato equilibrio, sempre più attuale, tra principi in materia di appalti pubblici e aiuti di Stato, valutando come, sia il permanere dello status quo, sia un riordino non conforme alla Direttiva 2006/123/CE e ai principi da essa richiamati possa costituire un aiuto di Stato incompatibile con il mercato interno.

Development of an innovative pyrolysis plant for the production of secondary raw materials

This project was born with the aim of developing an environmentally and financially sustainable process to dispose of end-life tires. In this perspective was devised an innovative static bed batch pilot reactor where pyrolysis can be carried out on the whole tires in order to recover energy and materials and simultaneously save the energy costs of their shredding. The innovative plant is also able to guarantee a high safety of the process thanks to the presence of a hydraulic guard. The pilot plant was used to pyrolyze new and end-life tires at temperatures from 400 to 600°C with step of 50°C in presence of steam. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of the maximum process temperature on yields and chemical-physics properties of pyrolysis products. In addition, in view of a scale-up of the plant in continuous mode, the influence of the nature of several different tires as well as the effects of the aging on the final products were studied. The same pilot plant was also used to carry out pyrolysis on polymeric matrix composites in order to obtain chemical feedstocks from the resin degradation together with the recovery of the reinforcement in the form of fibers. Carbon fibers reinforced composites ad fiberglass was treated in the 450-600°C range and the products was fully characterized. A second oxidative step was performed on the pyrolysis solid residue in order to obtain the fibers in a suitable condition for a subsequent re-impregnation in order to close the composite Life Cycle in a cradle-to-cradle approach. These investigations have demonstrated that steel wires, char, carbon and glass fibers recovered in the prototypal plant as solid residues can be a viable alternative to pristine materials, making use of them to obtain new products with a commercial added value.