Perceptual maps analysis for organic food consumers in China: a study on Shanghai consumers

Although in Europe and in the USA many studies focus on organic, little is known on the topic in China. This research provides an insight on Shanghai consumers’ perception of organic, aiming at understanding and representing in graphic form the network of mental associations that stems from the organic concept. To acquire, process and aggregate the individual networks it was used the “Brand concept mapping” methodology (Roedder et al., 2006), while the data analysis was carried out also using analytic procedures. The results achieved suggest that organic food is perceived as healthy, safe and costly. Although these attributes are pretty much consistent with the European perception, some relevant differences emerged. First, organic is not necessarily synonymous with natural product in China, also due to a poor translation of the term in the Chinese language that conveys the idea of a manufactured product. Secondly, the organic label has to deal with the competition with the green food label in terms of image and positioning on the market, since they are easily associated and often confused. “Environmental protection” also emerged as relevant association, while the ethical and social values were not mentioned. In conclusion, health care and security concerns are the factors that influence most the food consumption in China (many people are so concerned about food safety that they found it difficult to shop), and the associations “Safe”, “Pure and natural”, “without chemicals” and “healthy” have been identified as the best candidates for leveraging a sound image of organic food .

La città di Bologna e la sua storia: diffusione e condivisione delle conoscenze attraverso Webgis open source e Web Mapping

To understand a city and its urban structure it is necessary to study its history. This is feasible through GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and its by-products on the web. Starting from a cartographic view they allow an initial understanding of, and a comparison between, present and past data together with an easy and intuitive access to database information. The research done led to the creation of a GIS for the city of Bologna. It is based on varied data such as historical map, vector and alphanumeric historical data, etc.. After providing information about GIS we thought of spreading and sharing the collected data on the Web after studying two solutions available on the market: Web Mapping and WebGIS. In this study we discuss the stages, beginning with the development of Historical GIS of Bologna, which led to the making of a WebGIS Open Source (MapServer and Chameleon) and the Web Mapping services (Google Earth, Google Maps and OpenLayers).

The future in action: neurophysiological and behavioral evidence of anticipatory motor simulation.

The motor system can no longer be considered as a mere passive executive system of motor commands generated elsewhere in the brain. On the contrary, it is deeply involved in perceptual and cognitive functions and acts as an “anticipation device”. The present thesis investigates the anticipatory motor mechanisms occurring in two particular instances: i) when processing sensory events occurring within the peripersonal space (PPS); and ii) when perceiving and predicting others’actions. The first study provides evidence that PPS representation in humans modulates neural activity within the motor system, while the second demonstrates that the motor mapping of sensory events occurring within the PPS critically relies on the activity of the premotor cortex. The third study provides direct evidence that the anticipatory motor simulation of others’ actions critically relies on the activity of the anterior node of the action observation network (AON), namely the inferior frontal cortex (IFC). The fourth study, sheds light on the pivotal role of the left IFC in predicting the future end state of observed right-hand actions. Finally, the fifth study examines how the ability to predict others’ actions could be influenced by a reduction of sensorimotor experience due to the traumatic or congenital loss of a limb. Overall, the present work provides new insights on: i) the anticipatory mechanisms of the basic reactivity of the motor system when processing sensory events occurring within the PPS, and the same anticipatory motor mechanisms when perceiving others’ implied actions; ii) the functional connectivity and plasticity of premotor-motor circuits both during the motor mapping of sensory events occurring within the PPS and when perceiving others’ actions; and iii) the anticipatory mechanisms related to others’ actions prediction.

Association mapping of stem rust resistance in durum wheat at the seedling and adult plant stages

In wheat, stem rust is known to rapidly evolve new virulence to resistance genes. While more than 50 stem rust resistance (Sr) loci have been identified in wheat, only a few remain effective, particularly against the highly virulent race Ug99 (TTKSK race) and a mixture of durum-specific races. An association mapping (AM) study based on 183 durum wheat accessions was utilized to identify resistance loci for stem rust response in Ethiopia over four seasons and artificial inoculation with Ug99 (TTKSK race) and a mixture of durum-specific races under field conditions as well as in greenhouse test at seedling stage under controlled conditions for resistance to four highly virulent stem rust races: TRTTF, TTTTF, (TTKSK (Ug99) and JRCQC. The panel was profiled with 1,253 SSR and DArT markers. Twelve QTL-tagging markers were significant (P < 0.05) across three to four seasons. The role of Sr13, Sr9, Sr14, Sr17, and Sr28 was confirmed. Thirteen significant markers were in regions with no Sr genes/QTLs. The results under controlled conditions showed that 15, 20, 19 and 19 chromosome regions harbored markers that showed significant effects for races TRTTF, TTTTF, TTKSK and JRCQC, respectively. These genomic regions showed marker R2 values ranging from 1.13 to 8.34, 1.92 to 17.64, 1.75 to 23.12 and 1.51 to 15.33% for races TRTTF, TTTTF, TTKSK and JRCQC, respectively. The study demonstrates that stem rust resistance in durum wheat is governed in part by shared loci and in part by race-specific ones. The QTLs identified in this study through AM will be useful in the marker-assisted development of durum wheat cultivars with durable stem rust resistance.

Stream sediments analysis for geochemical mapping of Romagna Apennines (Northern Italy): monitoring and management tool of environmental resources at various scales

Geochemical mapping is a valuable tool for the control of territory that can be used not only in the identification of mineral resources and geological, agricultural and forestry studies but also in the monitoring of natural resources by giving solutions to environmental and economic problems. Stream sediments are widely used in the sampling campaigns carried out by the world's governments and research groups for their characteristics of broad representativeness of rocks and soils, for ease of sampling and for the possibility to conduct very detailed sampling In this context, the environmental role of stream sediments provides a good basis for the implementation of environmental management measures, in fact the composition of river sediments is an important factor in understanding the complex dynamics that develop within catchment basins therefore they represent a critical environmental compartment: they can persistently incorporate pollutants after a process of contamination and release into the biosphere if the environmental conditions change. It is essential to determine whether the concentrations of certain elements, in particular heavy metals, can be the result of natural erosion of rocks containing high concentrations of specific elements or are generated as residues of human activities related to a certain study area. This PhD thesis aims to extract from an extensive database on stream sediments of the Romagna rivers the widest spectrum of informations. The study involved low and high order stream in the mountain and hilly area, but also the sediments of the floodplain area, where intensive agriculture is active. The geochemical signals recorded by the stream sediments will be interpreted in order to reconstruct the natural variability related to bedrock and soil contribution, the effects of the river dynamics, the anomalous sites, and with the calculation of background values be able to evaluate their level of degradation and predict the environmental risk.

A multiparental cross population for mapping QTL for relevant agronomic traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

Multiparental cross designs for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) in crops are efficient alternatives to conventional biparental experimental populations because they exploit a broader genetic basis and higher mapping resolution. We describe the development and deployment of a multiparental recombinant inbred line (RIL) population in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) obtained by crossing four elite cultivars characterized by different traits of agronomic value. A linkage map spanning 2,663 cM and including 7,594 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was produced by genotyping 338 RILs with a wheat-dedicated 90k SNP chip. A cluster file was developed for correct allele calling in the framework of the tetraploid durum wheat genome. Based on phenotypic data collected over four field experiments, a multi-trait quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis was carried out for 18 traits of agronomic relevance (including yield, yield-components, morpho-physiological and seed quality traits). Across environments, a total of 63 QTL were identified and characterized in terms of the four founder haplotypes. We mapped two QTL for grain yield across environments and 23 QTL for grain yield components. A novel major QTL for number of grain per spikelet/ear was mapped on chr 2A and shown to control up to 39% of phenotypic variance in this cross. Functionally different QTL alleles, in terms of direction and size of genetic effect, were distributed among the four parents. Based on the occurrence of QTL-clusters, we characterized the breeding values (in terms of effects on yield) of most of QTL for heading and maturity as well as yield component and quality QTL. This multiparental RIL population provides the wheat community with a highly informative QTL mapping resource enabling the dissection of the genetic architecture of multiple agronomic relevant traits in durum wheat.

Fine Mapping of qroot-yield-1.06, a QTL for Root, Plant Vigor and Yield in Maize

Root-yield-1.06 is a major QTL affecting root system architecture (RSA) and other agronomic traits in maize. The effect of this QTL has been evaluated with the development of near isogenic lines (NILs) differing at the QTL position. The objective of this study was to fine map qroot-yield-1.06 by marker-assisted searching for chromosome recombinants in the QTL interval and concurrent root phenotyping in both controlled and field conditions, through successive generations. Complementary approaches such as QTL meta-analysis and RNA-seq were deployed in order to help prioritizing candidate genes within the QTL target region. Using a selected group of genotypes, field based root analysis by ‘shovelomics’ enabled to accurately collect RSA information of adult maize plants. Shovelomics combined with software-assisted root imaging analysis proved to be an informative and relatively highly automated phenotyping protocol. A QTL interval mapping was conducted using a segregating population at the seedling stage grown in controlled environment. Results enabled to narrow down the QTL interval and to identify new polymorphic markers for MAS in field experiments. A collection of homozygous recombinant NILs was developed by screening segregating populations with markers flanking qroot-yield-1.06. A first set of lines from this collection was phenotyped based on the adapted shovelomics protocol. QTL analysis based on these data highlighted an interval of 1.3 Mb as completely linked with the target QTL but, a larger safer interval of 4.1 Mb was selected for further investigations. QTL meta-analysis allows to synthetize information on root QTLs and two mQTLs were identified in the qroot-yield-1.06 interval. Trascriptomics analysis based on RNA-seq data of the two contrasting QTL-NILs, confirmed alternative haplotypes at chromosome bin 1.06. qroot-yield-1.06 has now been delimited to a 4.1-Mb interval, and thanks to the availability of additional untested homozygous recombinant NILs, the potentially achievable mapping resolution at qroot-yield-1.06 is c. 50 kb.