Firm Demography and Regional Development: Evidence from Italy

This article contributes to the literature on firm demography and regional development in at least three different ways. First, consumption, rather than employment, which is the most common variable seen in literature, is used to measure the impact of firm demography on regional development. Second, while the literature is mainly focused on the relationship between new business formation and regional development, we investigate both entry and exit flows of firms. Third, we decompose each of these flows into spatial and sectoral components. The empirical investigation looks at the Italian regions with reference to the period 2004–2009. Results seem to be substantially divergent between the South and the rest of Italy.     

Genomic prediction for yields,processing and nutritional quality traits in cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Current potato breeding approaches are hampered by several factors including costly seed tubers, tetrasomic inheritance and inbreeding depression. Genomic selection (GS) demonstrated interesting results regardless of the ploidy level, and can be harnessed to circumvent these problems. In this work, three GS models were evaluated using 50,107 informative SilicoDArT markers and 11 traits in two values for cultivation and use (VCU) potato trials. Two key breeding problems modelled included predicting the performance of (i) new and unphenotyped clones (cross‐validation) and (ii) a VCU using another as training set (TS). GS models performed comparably. Cross‐validation accuracy was high for D35, D45, DMW and BVAL, in ascending order. Prediction accuracies of the VCUs were highly correlated, but the best prediction was obtained for the smaller VCU using the bigger as TS. Cross‐validation and VCU prediction accuracies were higher when bigger TSs were used. The findings herein indicate that GS can be attractively integrated in potato breeding, particularly in early clonal generations to predict and select for traits with low heritability which would otherwise require more testing years, environments and resources.     

Molecular markers for improving control of soil-borne pathogen <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fusarium oxysporum</Emphasis> in sugar beet

Fusarium spp. cause severe damage in many agricultural crops, including sugar beet, with Fusarium oxysporum historically being considered as the most damaging of all species. Sugar beet needs to be protected from this class of soil-borne pathogens in order to ensure an optimal sugar yield in the field. Genetic control of the disease is crucial in managing these pathogens. Identification of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers linked to resistance can be a powerful tool for the introgression of valuable genes needed to develop Fusarium-resistant varieties. A candidate gene approach was carried out to identify SNP markers linked to putative Fusarium resistance sources in sugar beet. Five resistant analogue genes (RGAs) were screened by means of high resolution melting (HRM) analysis in a set of sugar beet lines, considered as resistant and susceptible to Fusarium oxysporum. HRM polymorphisms were observed in 80% of amplicons. Two HRM polymorphisms were significantly associated with Fusarium resistance (P < 0.05). The amplicons that showed association were sequenced and two SNPs were identified. The association was further validated on 96 susceptible and 96 resistant plants using competitive allele-specific PCR (KASPar) technology. The selected SNPs could be used for marker-assisted breeding of Fusarium resistance in sugar beet.     

Genetics and molecular mapping of the naked grains in hexaploid oat

Avena sativa L. subsp. nudisativa has the ability to produce naked grains. Genetic studies on the naked trait of oat began over a century ago, but the genetic and molecular factors associated with the expression of this trait have not been fully clarified. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the naked trait in two oat populations of recombinant inbred lines (RILs), to determine the number of genes, to estimate the heritability, and to map genomic regions associated with the naked trait in hexaploid oat. Parental lines and RILs of each population were screened for the naked trait from plants grown in the field over a 2 year period. Based on the phenotypic data, the oat RILs were classed as naked, partially naked, partially hulled and hulled. In both populations and years, a great number of RILs showed variable expressivity for the naked trait. The genetic analysis indicated the action of a major gene (N1) with the action of modifying genes controlling the formation of naked grains. The results of the estimate of heritability show that environmental conditions do not have a great influence in determining the naked trait. The quantitative trait loci analysis detected a genomic region with a large effect on the naked trait that explained more than 50% of the phenotypic variation. Further studies are needed to validate the use of these molecular markers to assist breeding programs to select high quality and stable naked oat cultivars.     

Influence of the distillation step on the ratios of stable isotopes of ethanol in cherry brandies

Isotope ratio mass spectrometry and site-specific natural isotope fractionation-nuclear magnetic resonance were applied to determine the overall carbon isotope ratio (delta13C) and the hydrogen isotope ratios [(D/H)I and (D/H)II] of ethanol, respectively. Ethanol was obtained by distillation of fermented cherry mash from a pot still commonly used in fruit brandy production. Analyses of distillate fractions revealed that the distillation proceeds with a fractionation of ethanol isotopologues. The inverse vapor pressure isotope effect (VPIE) observed for the carbon isotopologues is in accordance with the data reported for distillation of ethanol in spinning band columns. In contrast, the inverse VPIE for hydrogen isotopologues of ethanol observed in spinning band columns could not be confirmed. To investigate whether the observed isotope fractionations might influence the applicability of stable isotope analysis for quality and authenticity assessment of fruit brandies, the collected distillate fractions were recombined to cuts, as is common practice in commercial fruit brandy production. Taking into consideration the limits of repeatability of the method, it could be demonstrated that the isotope fractionations observed do not impair the applicability of stable isotope analysis of the carbon and hydrogen isotopes of ethanol for the authenticity assessment of cherry brandies if the cuts are placed in accordance with common distillers' practice.     

Short-term changes in nitrogen availability, gas fluxes (CO2, NO, N2O) and microbial biomass after tillage during pasture re-establishment in Rondônia, Brazil

Anthropogenic conversion of primary forest to pasture for cattle production is still frequent in the Amazon Basin. Practices adopted by ranchers to restore productivity to degraded pasture have the potential to alter soil N availability and N gas losses from soils. We examined short-term (35 days) effects of tillage prior to pasture re-establishment on soil N availability, CO₂, NO and N₂O fluxes and microbial biomass C and N under degraded pasture at Nova Vida ranch, Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon. We collected soil samples and measured gas fluxes in tilled and control (non tilled pasture) 12 times at equally spaced intervals during October 2001 to quantify the effect of tillage. Maximum soil NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ pools were 13.2 and 6.3 kg N ha⁻¹ respectively after tillage compared to 0.24 and 6.3 kg N ha⁻¹ in the control. Carbon dioxide flux ranged from 118 to 181 mg C–CO₂ m² h⁻¹ in the control (non-tilled) and from 110 to 235 mg C–CO₂ m² h⁻¹ when tilled. Microbial biomass C varied from 365 to 461 μg g⁻¹ in the control and from 248 to 535 μg g⁻¹ when tilled. The values for N₂O fluxes ranged from 1.22 to 96.9 μg N m⁻² h⁻¹ in the tilled plots with a maximum 3 days after the second tilling. Variability in NO flux in the control and when tilled was consistent with previous measures of NO emissions from pasture at Nova Vida. When tilled, the NO/N₂O ratio remained <1 after the first tilling suggesting that denitrification dominated N cycling. The effects of tilling on microbial parameters were less clear, except for a decrease in qCO₂ and an increase in microbial biomass C/N immediately after tilling. Our results suggest that restoration of degraded pastures with tillage will lead to less C matter, at least initially. Further long-term research is needed.     

Water absorption of freeze-dried meat at different water activities: a multianalytical approach using sorption isotherm, differential scanning calorimetry, and nuclear magnetic resonance

Hydration of freeze-dried chicken breast meat was followed in the water activity range of aw=0.12-0.99 by a multianalytical approach comprising of sorption isotherm, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The amount of frozen water and the shape of the T2-relaxogram were evaluated at each water content by DSC and NMR, respectively. Data revealed an agreement between sorption isotherm and DSC experiments about the onset of bulk water (aw=0.83-0.86), and NMR detected mobile water starting at aw=0.75. The origin of the short-transverse relaxation time part of the meat NMR signal was also reinvestigated through deuteration experiments and proposed to arise from protons belonging to plasticized matrix structures. It is proved both by D2O experiments and by gravimetry that the extra protons not contributing to the water content in the NMR experiments are about 6.4% of the total proton NMR CPMG signal of meat.     

Comparison between vegetation indices for detecting spatial and temporal variabilities in soybean crop using canopy sensors

Precision Agriculture - Crop monitoring through remote sensing techniques enable greater knowledge of average variability in crop growth. Canopy sensors help provide information on the variability...     

Marine Anticancer Agents: An Overview with a Particular Focus on Their Chemical Classes

The marine environment is a rich source of biologically active molecules for the treatment of human diseases, especially cancer. The adaptation to unique environmental conditions led marine organisms to evolve different pathways than their terrestrial counterparts, thus producing unique chemicals with a broad diversity and complexity. So far, more than 36,000 compounds have been isolated from marine micro- and macro-organisms including but not limited to fungi, bacteria, microalgae, macroalgae, sponges, corals, mollusks and tunicates, with hundreds of new marine natural products (MNPs) being discovered every year. Marine-based pharmaceuticals have started to impact modern pharmacology and different anti-cancer drugs derived from marine compounds have been approved for clinical use, such as: cytarabine, vidarabine, nelarabine (prodrug of ara-G), fludarabine phosphate (pro-drug of ara-A), trabectedin, eribulin mesylate, brentuximab vedotin, polatuzumab vedotin, enfortumab vedotin, belantamab mafodotin, plitidepsin, and lurbinectedin. This review focuses on the bioactive molecules derived from the marine environment with anticancer activity, discussing their families, origin, structural features and therapeutic use.