MIGRATION AND HUMAN CAPITAL IN ITALIAN AGRICULTURAL LABOUR MARKET: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

During the last years Italy, a country characterized by a long history of emigration, has seen a quickly growth of the phenomenon of immigration. Our Nation seems to be a “docking point” for new and substantial flow of immigrants mainly from Eastern Europe looking for new work opportunities. The profile of these people is usually characterized by high level of education as well as flexibility and adaptability. For the national economy in general, and for the agricultural sector in particular, this new migration flows represent an effective answer to the aversion for the agricultural job expressed by many potential autochthon workers. Which are the characteristics of extra-community agricultural labour? Which are the characteristics of migration flows linked to the agricultural labour in three provinces of one of the main agricultural regions in Italy? Based on National Institute of Welfare information’s (INPS), the research underlines the diversification of this phenomenon among Italian regions as well as its dynamism. In Italy, during the last five years, the proportions of foreign agricultural workers increased up to 50%, and peaked in four Italian regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Campania, Piemonte and Emilia-Romagna. In Emilia-Romagna, in particular, immigrants represent almost a quarter of total agricultural workers and most of them aged less than forty years. The analysis of information about labour market in the agricultural sector in some Emilia-Romagna provinces shows that immigrants are concentrated in few farms. Farmer prefers to engage homogeneous ethnic groups to assure cultural affinity among the employees. In the local agricultural labour market the immigrants coming from Eastern Europe, in particular from Poland and Romania, are aged between 22 and 36 years, are unemployed in their country, they have a driving license and a good knowledge of Italian and English language.Agricultural Labour Markets, Immigrant Workers, Human Capital, Skills, Agribusiness, Labor and Human Capital, J43, J61, J24,

Value Sharing and Food System Dynamics for Milk, Tomato, and Cereals Food Chains

The aim of the paper is to analyse value sharing and food system dynamics of milk, tomato, and cereals food chains, so to explore the agro‐food enterprises capacity to be competitive and sustainable. The paper is based on the functionalist approach of Malassis and the notion of the system of the General Systems Theory. The methodology is aimed at creating a consolidated financial statement for each food chain so to re‐create the chain value and identify how this is shared among the different food chain stages. The analysis is carried out on primary and secondary data: around 2400 financial statements concerning 480 enterprises from 2003 to 2007 and stakeholders’ interviews. Results show that value is usually created in the processing and distribution stages, to the detriment of the primary sector, and that the retail managing practices tend to impose damaging structural changes on farms whose profitability is at times becoming sustainable only thanks to European subsidies. To conclude, there is evidence of inadequate definition of strategic and network alliance along the chain. Competitiveness is still a concept achieved by single food chain stages against others and food chain internal competition entails a declining sustainability of small farms and enterprises.food chain, value system, economic performance, potato, fruit, cheese., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Industrial Organization, Risk and Uncertainty,

Neutron monitors and muon detectors for solar modulation studies: 2. ϕ\phi time series

The level of solar modulation at different times (related to the solar activity) is a central question of solar and galactic cosmic-ray physics. In the first paper of this series, we have established a correspondence between the uncertainties on ground-based detectors count rates and the parameter $\phi$ (modulation level in the force-field approximation) reconstructed from these count rates. In this second paper, we detail a procedure to obtain a reference $\phi$ time series from neutron monitor data. We show that we can have an unbiased and accurate $\phi$ reconstruction ($\Delta\phi/\phi\simeq 10\%$). We also discuss the potential of Bonner spheres spectrometers and muon detectors to provide $\phi$ time series. Two by-products of this calculation are updated $\phi$ values for the cosmic-ray database and a web interface to retrieve and plot $\phi$ from the 50's to today (\url{http://lpsc.in2p3.fr/crdb}).Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. AdSR, in press. Web interface to get modulation parameter phi(t): new tab in http://lpsc.in2p3.fr/crd

Neutron monitors and muon detectors for solar modulation studies: Interstellar flux, yield function, and assessment of critical parameters in count rate calculations

Particles count rates at given Earth location and altitude result from the convolution of (i) the interstellar (IS) cosmic-ray fluxes outside the solar cavity, (ii) the time-dependent modulation of IS into Top-of-Atmosphere (TOA) fluxes, (iii) the rigidity cut-off (or geomagnetic transmission function) and grammage at the counter location, (iv) the atmosphere response to incoming TOA cosmic rays (shower development), and (v) the counter response to the various particles/energies in the shower. Count rates from neutron monitors or muon counters are therefore a proxy to solar activity. In this paper, we review all ingredients, discuss how their uncertainties impact count rate calculations, and how they translate into variation/uncertainties on the level of solar modulation $\varphi$ (in the simple Force-Field approximation). The main uncertainty for neutron monitors is related to the yield function. However, many other effects have a significant impact, at the 5-10\% level on $\varphi$ values. We find no clear ranking of the dominant effects, as some depend on the station position and/or the weather and/or the season. An abacus to translate any variation of count rates (for neutron and $\mu$ detectors) to a variation of the solar modulation $\varphi$ is provided.Comment: 28 pages, 16 figures, 9 tables, match accepted version in AdSR (minor corrections, Dorman (1974,2004,2009) reference textbooks added

EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMIC RESULTS AND THE STRUCTURE OF FARMS: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH THE BOOK-KEEPING DATA IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ITALY

The latest orientations of the CAP have had remarkable and wide-spread effects on the whole agri-food sector. It has deeply influenced the entrepreneurs' choices, with reference both to the production techniques and to the business organization. The changes have had inevitable reflexes on the economic results of the firms, thus determining adaptations regarding both the structure and the amount of inputs. In this paper, an analysis of the book-keeping results of agricultural enterprises of Northern and Central Italy is carried out. We try to underline and analyze the evolution of the economic results and the main structural and organizational elements in the firms. The accountancy data of a group of firms located in the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions, referred to the period 1994-2000, are taken into consideration. These firms seems to adequately represent the main type of farming: field crops, fruit-growing, wine-growing, husbandry. The study is aimed at underlining the influence of the EU payments on the profitability and the changes in the value distribution between the various input suppliers.

Food chains and value system: the case of potato, fruit, and cheese

The aim of the paper is to analyse patterns of value system sharing along food chains, so to explore the agro-food enterprises capacity to be competitive and sustainable. The research focused on three food chains: potato, fruit, and Grana cheese of Emilia Romagna region. The paper adopts the value system approach. The methodology is aimed at creating a consolidated financial statement for each food chain so to re-create the chain operating profit and identify how this is shared among the different food chain stages. The analysis is carried out on 189 enterprises for the potato chain, 187 for the fruit chain and 203 for the cheese chain. The number of enterprises was invariable over the 5 year 2003-2007, leading to some 2,900 financial statement analysis. The chains analysed show differences. In the potato and fruit chains 35% of value is created by distribution, whereas in cheese chain only 13.6%. Over the five years value decreases 5% in fruit and potato and 9% in cheese. The lack of adequate strategic food chain partnership allows an increasing retail market power over the whole chain at the expenses of the primary sector entailing a declining sustainability for all chain actors.food chain, value system, profitability, potato, fruit, cheese, Agricultural and Food Policy,

EVOLUTION OF THE ECONOMIC RESULTS AND THE STRUCTURE OF FARMS: AN ANALYSIS THROUGH THE BOOK-KEEPING DATA IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ITALY

The latest orientations of the CAP have had remarkable and wide-spread effects on the whole agri-food sector. It has deeply influenced the entrepreneurs' choices, with reference both to the production techniques and to the business organization. The changes have had inevitable reflexes on the economic results of the firms, thus determining adaptations regarding both the structure and the amount of inputs. In this paper, an analysis of the book-keeping results of agricultural enterprises of Northern and Central Italy is carried out. We try to underline and analyze the evolution of the economic results and the main structural and organizational elements in the firms. The accountancy data of a group of firms located in the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions, referred to the period 1994-2000, are taken into consideration. These firms seems to adequately represent the main type of farming: field crops, fruit-growing, wine-growing, husbandry. The study is aimed at underlining the influence of the EU payments on the profitability and the changes in the value distribution between the various input suppliers.Farm Management,

Distribuzione spaziale dei popolamenti a <i>Lithophyllum byssoides</i>, a <i>Patella ferruginea</i> e della frangia a <i>Cystoseira</i> sp. nell'Arcipelago di La Maddalena (Sardegna-Italia) = Spatial distribution of <i>Lithophyllum byssoides</i>, <i>Patella ferruginea</i> assemblage and <i>Cystoseira</i> sp. fringe in The Maddalena Archipelago (Sardinia-Italy)

A study on the distribution of Lithophyllum byssoides, Patella ferruginea and Cystoseira sp. fringe populations, has been carried out in the national Park of the La Maddalena archipelago. Those species has been protected from international conventions as rare species in danger of extinction. The results of the study shows a good conservation state of the examined islands

Comparative global immune-related gene profiling of somatic cells, human pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives: implication for human lymphocyte proliferation.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced PSCs (iPSCs), represent potentially unlimited cell sources for clinical applications. Previous studies have suggested that hPSCs may benefit from immune privilege and limited immunogenicity, as reflected by the reduced expression of major histocompatibility complex class-related molecules. Here we investigated the global immune-related gene expression profiles of human ESCs, hiPSCs and somatic cells and identified candidate immune-related genes that may alter their immunogenicity. The expression levels of global immune-related genes were determined by comparing undifferentiated and differentiated stem cells and three types of human somatic cells: dermal papilla cells, ovarian granulosa cells and foreskin fibroblast cells. We identified the differentially expressed genes CD24, GATA3, PROM1, THBS2, LY96, IFIT3, CXCR4, IL1R1, FGFR3, IDO1 and KDR, which overlapped with selected immune-related gene lists. In further analyses, mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTOR) signaling was investigated in the differentiated stem cells following treatment with rapamycin and lentiviral transduction with specific short-hairpin RNAs. We found that the inhibition of mTOR signal pathways significantly downregulated the immunogenicity of differentiated stem cells. We also tested the immune responses induced in differentiated stem cells by mixed lymphocyte reactions. We found that CD24- and GATA3-deficient differentiated stem cells including neural lineage cells had limited abilities to activate human lymphocytes. By analyzing the transcriptome signature of immune-related genes, we observed a tendency of the hPSCs to differentiate toward an immune cell phenotype. Taken together, these data identify candidate immune-related genes that might constitute valuable targets for clinical applications

Simultaneous beam steering of multiple signals based on optical wavelength-selective switch

A novel, photonics-based scheme for the independent and simultaneous beam steering of multiple radio frequency signals at a wideband phased-array antenna is presented. As a proof of concept, a wavelength-selective switch (WSS) is employed both as a wavelength router to feed multiple antenna elements and as a tunable phase shifter to independently control the phase of each signal at any antenna element. In the experiment, two signals at 12.5 and 37.5 GHz are simultaneously fed to the four output ports of the WSS with independent and tunable phase shifts, emulating the independent steering of two signals in a four-element phased-array antenna. The results confirm the precision and flexibility of the proposed scheme, which can be realized both with bulk components or resorting to photonic integrated circuits, especially for wide-band applications. The architecture for a possible integrated implementation of the proposed solution is presented, employing a structure based on micro-ring resonator. Starting from these results, the feasibility of an integrated version of the presented architecture is also considered. The proposed photonic integrated circuit realizing the beam-forming network might be based on tunable true-time delay, as well as on phase shift through micro-ring resonators, and could be conveniently implemented with CMOS-compatible silicon technology.</jats:p