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Honey is a natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of flowers, plant secretions or plant-sucking insect excretions. Sugars and water constitute the major components, other minor components characterize the organoleptic and nutritional properties. To date, Salento (Apulia region, Italy) honey production is considerably threatened due to the suggested use of neonicotinoids in order to control the insect-vectored bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (subsp. pauca). Metabolomics based on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to describe, for the first time, the composition of honey samples from different Salento producers. Exploratory Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed, among the observed clustering, a separation between light and dark honeys and a discrimination according to producers, both further analyzed by supervised multivariate analysis. According to the obtained data, although limited to small-scale emerging production, Salento honey shows at the molecular level, a range of specific characteristic features analogous to those exhibited by similar products originating elsewhere and appreciated by consumers. The impact on this production should therefore be carefully considered when suggesting extensive use of pesticides in the area.

An original methodology for the Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) of a Product for the wine-making industry sector is presented, with a particular focus on the evaluation procedure of the grey water. Results obtained with the proposed methodology are also presented for an Italian case study. The product was analyzed using a life-cycle approach, with the aim of studying the water volumes of each phase according to the newly-released ISO 14046 international standard. The functional unit chosen in this study is the common 0.75 liter wine bottle. An in-house software (V.I.V.A.) was implemented with the goal of accounting for all the contributions in a cradle-to-grave approach. At this stage, however, minor water volumes associated with some foreground and background processes are not assessed. The evaluation procedure was applied to a case study and green, blue, and grey water volumes were computed. Primary data were collected for a red wine produced by an Umbrian wine-making company. Results are in accordance with global average water footprint values from literature, showing a total WF of 632.2 L/bottle, with the major contribution (98.3%) given by green water, and minor contributions (1.2% and 0.5%) given by grey and blue water, respectively. A particular effort was dedicated to the definition of an improved methodology for the assessment of the virtual water volume required to dilute the load of pollutants on the environment below some reference level (Grey WF). The improved methodology was elaborated to assure the completeness of the water footprint assessment and to overcome some limitations of the reference approach. As a result, the overall WF can increase up to 3% in the most conservative hypotheses.

Local administrators and private investors rely on various urban redevelopment strategies, the choice of which depends on the economic expectations of property owners and investors. Some of these options foresee replacing obsolete buildings with new constructions; others prefer the reuse of existing assets. This study examines the conditions that make these different strategies feasible, bringing to light the aspects that favor demolition and reconstruction processes over interventions based on the redevelopment of existing assets. The analysis focuses on the variables that determine the choice between these two options. The model that has been developed highlights, on one hand, the role of urban planning tools and urban densification and, on the other, the relationship between the land market and the value of existing assets. The model has been tested on five cities in northern Italy, which fall into three territorial categories—large metropolitan cities, medium-sized cities, and cities of limited rank—to test how different social and economic contexts affect the feasibility of the strategies we evaluated. The results of the study underscore the extent to which the demolition and reconstruction of existing assets is only viable in certain limited areas and under particular market and settlement conditions. While large metropolitan areas seem to have the option of radically replacing existing real estate assets, medium-sized cities and especially small cities are constrained in redeveloping existing urban assets and must forego demolition and reconstruction projects, which do not prove to be economically feasible.

The development of nanocomposite materials with multifunctional protective features is an urgent need in many fields. However, few works have studied the durability of these materials. Even though TiO2 nanoparticles have been extensively applied for self-cleaning effect, it displays a weak activity under visible light. Hence, in this study, pure and Gd-doped TiO2 nanoparticles (molar ratios of doping ions/Ti are 0.1 and 1) were synthesised, characterised, and then mixed with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), used as a binder, in order to produce a homogenised thin film on a very porous stone substrate. To our knowledge, Gd-doped TiO2/PDMS protective coatings are studied for the first time for application on historic structures. The protective coatings developed in this work are intended to reduce the surface wettability of the stone and protect the historic stones from dye pollution and microorganism colonisation. Moreover, in this study, the durability of the developed nanocomposite was deeply studied to evaluate the stability of the coatings. Results confirmed that samples treated with the lowest concentrations of Gd ions (0.1 mol%) showed acceptable chromatic variations, a good repellent feature, acceptable water vapour permeability, good durability, the highest self-cleaning activity, and good inhibitory behaviour against microbial colonisation.

Vegetation indicators and spatial distribution characteristics are the core and basis to study the complex human-natural coupled system. In this paper, with Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 remote sensing data, we quantitatively estimated vegetation coverage in Henan Province, China. According to the urbanization rate, altitude, slope degree, and slope exposure, we analyzed spatial and temporal variation laws of vegetation coverage under the action of different factors to provide a reference for the improvement of the ecological environment and the quality assessment of Chinese granary. From 2000 to 2013, the vegetation coverage in Henan Province declined by 30.49% and the ecological environment deteriorated. The spatial change of vegetation coverage was evenly distributed in Henan Province. The vegetation coverage was increased in the west, south, and southwest parts of Henan Province and slightly decreased in the central, east, and the eastern part of Taihang Mountain. Vegetation coverage in a city was related to its population urbanization rate. The population urbanization rate was often negatively correlated with the vegetation coverage. According to the results of terrain factors based analysis, the low-altitude areas were in a good vegetation cover condition with the high vegetation coverage grade; the areas with a smaller slope degree had the large vegetation coverage and the coverage decreased with the increase in the slope degree; the coverage showed no significant difference between sunny and shady slopes and was less limited by light, temperature, and humidity.

Industry 4.0 concepts and technologies ensure the ongoing development of micro- and macro-economic entities by focusing on the principles of interconnectivity, digitalization, and automation. In this context, artificial intelligence is seen as one of the major enablers for Smart Logistics and Smart Production initiatives. This paper systematically analyzes the scientific literature on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning in the context of Smart Logistics management in industrial enterprises. Furthermore, based on the results of the systematic literature review, the authors present a conceptual framework, which provides fruitful implications based on recent research findings and insights to be used for directing and starting future research initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) in Smart Logistics.

Background: Temperate agroforestry is regarded as a sustainable alternative to monoculture agriculture due to enhanced provisioning of ecosystem services. Plant health and food safety are crucial requirements for sustainable agriculture; however, studies of fungal diseases and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown under temperate agroforestry are lacking. This study therefore aimed to compare fungal colonization and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown in temperate agroforestry against conventional monoculture. Methods: The biomass of plant pathogenic fungi in oilseed rape plants and barley and wheat grain harvested in 2016 to 2018 at four paired agroforestry and monoculture sites was quantified using species-specific real-time PCR. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain was determined by HPLC-MS/MS. Results: The colonization of oilseed rape plants with the vascular pathogen Verticillium longisporum and wheat grain with the head blight pathogen Fusarium tricinctum was lower in agroforestry than in conventional monoculture. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain did not differ between agroforestry and monoculture systems and did not exceed the legal limits of the EU. Remarkably, fumonisin B1 was detected in wheat grains at two sites in two years, yet the low levels found do not raise food safety concerns. No differences were found between the two production systems with regard to infection of wheat and barley grain with five Fusarium species (F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae, and F. proliferatum) and oilseed rape with fungal pathogens Leptosphaeria biglobosa, Leptosphaeria maculans, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Conclusions: Temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect the infection of wheat, barley and oilseed rape with major fungal pathogens though it may suppress the infection of oilseed rape with V. longisporum and wheat grain with F. tricinctum. Furthermore, temperate agroforestry does not increase mycotoxin contamination of barley and wheat. Therefore, temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect food safety.