Reducing the energy demand and dependency on fossil fuels is crucial for improving the sustainability of greenhouses, which are the most energy intensive systems in the agricultural sector. Renewable technologies represent a key option to meet the greenhouse energy demands. Agrivoltaics has recently emerged as a strategy to combine farming activity and power generation through photovoltaics (PV). However, PV systems retrofitting needs to consider the interactions with the existing greenhouse structure, as well as the energy requirements of the equipment for climate control. The influences of PV shading on agronomic parameters have also to be carefully considered. Firstly, this review examines the response of plants to the light and the fundamental aspects of greenhouse facilities. Then, the state-of-the-art of PV systems applied to greenhouses is thoroughly analysed. Simulation studies and experimental works are examined to highlight the effects of PV technologies and module arrangements on energy production and plant growth. Particular attention is devoted to new PV technologies, i.e. organic, dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells, because of their semi-transparency and flexibility, allowing the easy integration of PV modules into existing or newly conceived greenhouse structures. The review has highlighted that the new PV technologies have an enormous potential due to the possibility of tuning their spectral features according to the characteristics of plants and to the capability of optimizing the use of solar energy into high-tech greenhouses. Shading through these innovative systems has also demonstrated to create a suitable atmosphere for crop growth especially in hot and tropical regions.

The general objective of the research is to realize a new innovative plan of environmental biomonitoring based on terrestrial artopods and mainly the Bees for air and macro-invertebrates for the contamination of the fluvial environment. The specific objectives were: i) improve the procedures for zero-impact environmental biomonitoring; ii) inserting natural and non-artificial biondicators into the production cycle; iii) improve monitoring through innovative systems based on biotic agents; iv) improve the cross-company competitiveness of the Company in the reference sector. The project falls within a basic research (conception and conceptualization) and an experimental development (design and prototyping) partly carried out in 2018, and which will see a final part in 2019.

Sicily is a region located in the southern Italy. Its typical Mediterranean landscape is appreciated due to its high biodiversity. Specifically, hazelnut plantations have adapted in a definite area in Sicily (the Nebroidi park) due to specific morphological and climatic characteristics. However, many of these plantations are not used today due to adverse conditions, both to collect hazelnuts and to reach hazel groves. Though a geospatial analysis, the present paper aims to identify which hazelnut contexts can be actively used for agricultural, economic (e.g., introduction of a circular economy) and energetic purposes (to establish a potential agro-energetic district). The examination revealed the most suitable areas giving several criteria (e.g., slope, road system), ensuring an effective cultivation and consequent harvesting of hazelnuts and (ii) providing security for the operators since many of hazelnut plants are placed in very sloped contexts that are difficult to reach by traditional machines. In this sense, this paper also suggests optimal mechanization processes for harvesting hazelnuts in this part of Sicily.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, the interest in health and safety in the workplace has increased. Agriculture is one of the human work activities with the highest risk indexes. Studies on risk perception of agricultural workers are often referred to as specific risk factors (especially pesticides), but the risk perception plays an important role in preventing every kind of accident and occupational disease. METHODS:The aim of this research is to test a new method for understanding the relation between risk perception among farmers and the main risk factors to which they are exposed. A secondary aim is to investigate the influence of training in risk perception in agriculture. The data collection was realized using a questionnaire designed to investigate the risk perception; the questionnaire was given to a sample of 119 agricultural workers in central Italy. Through the use of the "principal components analysis" it was possible to highlight and verify the latent dimensions underlying the collected data in comparison with scales of attitudes. RESULTS:Results show that the highest percentage of strong negative attitude is among the people who have worked for more years, while farmers who have worked for fewer years have a marked positive attitude. CONCLUSION:The analysis of the questionnaires through the synthetic index method (Rizzi index) showed that agricultural workers involved, in particular the elderly workers, have a negative attitude towards safety; workers are hostile to safety measures if they have not attended special training courses.

Italy presents a continuous and clear division between North and South, also in terms of smart cities. According to the recent Smart Cities Index, the real smart cities correspond to the northern Italian ones. These cities have a robust economy and society, showing a high employment rate and a consistent mobility through public transport. These elements therefore help to consider them as efficient cities. Through an analysis of the intrinsic characteristics of the 116 Italian cities covered by the reports, there is a positive correlation between smart cities and greater energy consumption, such as of gas and for street lighting. On the other hand, Central Southern cities are less smart, however attesting a strong relationship with the rural context. In fact, the predominance of employees in the primary sector and of arable land used is crucial, which is also further enhanced by the strong presence of renewable energy plants, such as solar and wind, that are concentrated in these contexts. This data reveals a reflection, outlining the opportunity to actually make smarter these territories, enhancing its agricultural vocation. The setting up of agro-energy districts results a potential opportunity for increasing employment, enable greater energy self-sufficiency, additional protection of traditional rural landscapes, the rise of a circular economy which aims to re-use agricultural waste. 1372 I. Zambon et al. Thus these cities could earn places in the ranking of smart cities through targeted policies and actions designated to the agricultural context.

The food label is the first means of communication with which the consumer comes in contact with the product. The same is not limited to hygiene and nutritional value of food, but also extends to environmental, social and ethical. Italian legislation guiding the labelling was founded in 1974 and aims to ensure on one hand the free circulation of goods in a spirit of fair competition, on the other hand the health protection and the right information for consumers. Even a well-structured label neglects some important information regarding the consumer's health, such as the presence of harmful elements, making it incomplete for the end user. The "SBW" project aims to develop a monitoring protocol for the detection of heavy elements (metals) and harmful substances, based on a "voluntary" labelling of food products. Companies that decide to adopt the control protocol may obtain, in the only case in which the requirements are met, a "certificate of quality", which will be summarized and made evident on the labels through the inclusion of a trademark (easily recognizable logo), connected to remote or in label information. The aim is twofold: to protect consumers from the point of view of food safety and increase the competitiveness of companies adopting such a system of voluntary labelling. At the same time companies will be stimulated to reduce chemical inputs during the production cycle. The project, although adaptable to all food products, is tested on a product with a low content of harmful elements: the wine. It has been chosen this product in view of the increasing demand for enhancement of "made in Italy" foodstuffs: in fact, the wine is one of the products that can be sold with a label that is easily reproducible by the market of counterfeit food. For this purpose a series of tests was carried out on organic wine in two cellars located in central Italy. Results show an average concentration of copper of 39.3 mu g/dm(3) (white wine) and 79.9 mu g/dm(3) (red wine) in the first winery, and, in the second winery, 5.4 mu g/dm(3) (white wine) and 12.3 mu g/dm(3) - 482 mu g/dm(3) (red wines). The copper concentrations were under the limit of 1000 mu g/dm(3): however sensible differences were detected among different wines and this information could be useful for the consumers.

In the agro-forestry sector, every worker is exposed to risk for security and health; these risk are due to job location and to the using of tools and machinery that are necessary in the normal agricultural activity. Without protection and prevention actions, workers can be subject to accidents and dangerous illness. The observation of I.N.A.I.L. (Italian database) statistics about the workers accidents and illness, underlines the contrast trend. The accidents are fewer, while the professional illness have increased; this difference is due to the effects at prolonged exposition to dangerous agents, with a temporal gap of 20-30 years from the exposition start. The research is focalized to noise risk. The hypoacusis is the professional illness generated from a long exposition to harmful sound event. The harmful effects of this pathology are known for time; the lawmaker tried already to limit this pathology in 1991 with Legislative Decree 227/91 (as transposition of 80/1107/CEE, 82/506/CEE, 83/605/CEE, 86/188/CEE). The hypoacusis caused by noise, is at the top of the professional illness classification from more than 20 years; nowadays these illness remains underestimate by workers, mainly because the symptoms aren't quantifiable in a short time. Laws and technical standards are available for workers. The lawmaker has determined timetables, measurement methodologies and has determined indications about the elimination, reduction, and the proper actualization of activities of prevention and protection. There is a great request to substitute the measurements in loco with values contained in the noise database; therefore we have made a study about a comparison of many agro-forestry evaluation, from 1996 to 2012, with the aim of: studying the sound emission trend, which is due to the agricultural machinery wear during the years; establishing the risk zone common to the some type of machinery and operating machinery; searching for an eventual justification to use the table values overwritten.

Since occupational accidents often occur in farm tractor drivers, it is extremely important to focus the attention on specific devices in order to avoid risks from tractor overturning. This phenomenon is actually considered as the leading cause of deaths or injuries related to agricultural work. The system adopted to reduce the above-mentioned risk consists of passive protection devices aimed at preventing the hazardous event which may affect workers’ health. More precisely, the tractor chassis (i.e. ROPS) and the proper seat belt define a “safety volume” around the worker. The aim of the present research is to carry out tests on narrow-track wheeled tractors with fixed roll over protective structures in those areas – such as hazel and olive groves and vineyards - where problems related to under–tree activities occur. This is to implement planting layout and/or cultivation techniques which can be considered suitable for tractors with roll over protective structures. According to that, their project parameters – i.e. safety volume, seat position and typology, test methods - can be successfully modified and improved. The results show that nowadays only a few agricultural vehicles are provided with specific fixed devices able to work under tree without damaging orchards.

Biomass used in the production of energy is an important territorial resource, easy to access and capable of supplying new forms of income and promotion for rural economy. The aim of this work is to give and indicative estimation of agroforestry biomasses (as volumetric mass and energy content), relative to the forest and agricultural sectors (tree and grass cultures) for the Municipality of Bracciano, in central Italy, that can be used as a basis for support for the new territorial politics. 6578 Lavinia M. P. Delfanti et al. This work shows that the total energetic content could cover the thermal consumption of the 'economy' sector of the Bracciano territory, that includes the agricultural, industrial and tertiary sectors.

In the agro-industrial sector there are many activities whose urgent rhythms can cause a considerable exposure to bio-mechanical risk factors. In the hazelnut sorting, the workers are subject to several biomechanical risks, with repetitive movements, and operations that require a remarkable degree of strength. A thorough study of the workers’ exposure to repetitive manual movements has been carried out, with the aim of setting up the necessary measures to reduce the risk factors. The aim of the research is to assess the risk of work-related musculo-skeletal disorders (WMSDs) due to repetitive work, for workers employed to hazelnut shells sorting. The research was carried out in an agricultural cooperative in the Viterbo’s area. For risk assessment authors used a method (Occupational Repetitive Actions “OCRA” index according to ISO 11228- 3:2009, Ergonomics - Manual handling - Part 3: Handling of low loads at high frequency) which keeps into consideration several risk factors (such as repetitiveness, prehension force, posture). The risk was assessed for 16 female workers (in eight workplaces and in two different shifts) through this classification: workers with experience less than 1 year, from 1 to 10 years and more than 10 years. This classification is very important for knowing if the professional experience could be considered a “prevention measure” for the risk reduction. The results show a high risk level for the right and left limb. The factors which more have contributed to reach such risk level are the great number of movements and the lack of recovering time.

Home networks have become heterogeneous environment hosting a variety of wireless and wired telecommunication technologies. Currently there no exist any intelligent energy saving mechanism to control the home networks. In this paper we propose an energy-aware strategy that integrate Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) with a convergent digital home network. We aim to demonstrate that a WSN can act as a dependable control plane to manage the high speed home network. While the home network nodes can be deactivated, the WSN is always on and, due to the low data rate required to properly work, it consumes a very limited quantity of energy. This mutual interaction leads to a substantial reduction of the energy consumptions. Simulation results show that this strategy is effective in different scenarios and provides a tangible economic benefit.

Crops in greenhouses in Italy are made using prefabricated structures, leaving out the preliminary study of optical and thermal exchanges between the external environment and the greenhouse, speaking with heating and cooling for the effects of air conditioning needed for plant growth. This involves operating costs rather significant that directed the interest of designers, builders farmers and to seek constructive solutions to optimize the system such emissions. Were analyzed aspects of the structural components and their thermal and optical properties to achieve a representation of reality, as well as the microclimatic parameters. In order to estimate the risk for workers, the air temperature, radiative temperature, and air speed were measured using instruments in conformity with ISO 7726. A model was constructed considering an example of a prefabricated greenhouse located in central Italy and devoted to the nursery: the model provides to simulate electricity production, internal lightness and microclimatic parameters. The data show how the risk of a hot microclimate for the workers (defined with the PHS index) must not be underestimated.

Eighteen specimens of Portunus hastatus with chromatic characters previously undescribed in the literature, have been caught in the same fishing-area in the course of one year. The characteristics of the crabs and their behaviour were studied in laboratory aquariums. From our data, it appears that the number of crabs with the particular colouration on the dactylus of pereiopod V, as described in our paper, is increasing.