Anna Simonetto | Università Degli Studi Di Verona (original) (raw)

Papers by Anna Simonetto

Honey bees are fundamental for the provision of goods (e.g. honey, beebread, royal jelly etc.) an... more Honey bees are fundamental for the provision of goods (e.g. honey, beebread, royal jelly etc.) and ecosystem services (e.g. pollination) considered important for the maintenance of biodiversity and food security. Furthermore, beekeeping activity generates employment and represents a major source of income in many rural areas. Honey bee health is highly influenced by environmental conditions, chemical and biological stressors, beekeepers’ management practices, socio-economic conditions and policies adopted for cropping and land use. The multiplicity of factors influencing honey bees and the beekeeping sector makes difficult to implement management strategies aimed at preserving honey bee health while guaranteeing productivity and economic return. There is the growing need to monitor honey bee health and to develop tools able to organize and make available data collected through National and European monitoring projects and initiatives. Furthermore, proper modelling tools are needed to analyze such complex data-sets and provide support for decision-making. We present a methodological framework based on Structural Equation Modelling for large data-sets analysis aimed at assessing honey bee health status and predicting honey bee services provision. Starting from a simulated dataset we developed (i) a Health Status Index (HSI) estimating the influence of abiotic, biotic drivers and beekeeping actions in relation to bee health and (ii) predictive models for the estimation of honey production and pollination services provision considering abiotic, biotic drivers and HSI. The results provided information on the relative importance of the main driving variables on honey bee colony health, honey production and provision of pollination services. The proposed methodology can be used for the holistic assessment of honey bee health and productivity and to support decisionmaking for relevant stakeholders (beekeepers, risk assessors, policy-makers etc.) at local, regional, national and European level

Agronomy, 2019

The rational control of harmful organisms for plants (pests) forms the basis of the integrated pe... more The rational control of harmful organisms for plants (pests) forms the basis of the integrated pest management (IPM), and is fundamental for ensuring agricultural productivity while maintaining economic and environmental sustainability. The high level of complexity of the decision processes linked to IPM requires careful evaluations, both economic and environmental, considering benefits and costs associated with a management action. Plant protection models and other decision tools (DTs) have assumed a key role in supporting decision-making process in pest management. The advantages of using DTs in IPM are linked to their capacity to process and analyze complex information and to provide outputs supporting the decision-making process. Nowadays, several DTs have been developed, tackling different issues, and have been applied in different climatic conditions and agricultural contexts. However, their use in crop management is restricted to only certain areas and/or to a limited group o...

The study aimed to the evaluation of the concept of multidimensional quality in food among studen... more The study aimed to the evaluation of the concept of multidimensional quality in food among students of the lower secondary school. A questionnaire composed by six dimensions and the Rasch Model were used to measure them. A Bayesian Network was derived in order to study the relationships between the six dimensions of the food quality

Applied Mathematics & Optimization

In this work we study from the mathematical and numerical point of view a problem arising in vect... more In this work we study from the mathematical and numerical point of view a problem arising in vector-borne plant diseases. The model is written as a nonlinear system composed of a parabolic partial differential equation for the vector abundance function and a first-order ordinary differential equation for the plant health function. An existence and uniqueness result is proved using backward finite differences, uniform estimates and passing to the limit. The regularity of the solution is also obtained. Then, using the finite element method and the implicit Euler scheme, fully discrete approximations are introduced. A discrete stability property and a main a priori error estimates result are proved using a discrete version of Gronwall’s lemma and some estimates on the different approaches. Finally, some numerical results, in one and two dimensions, are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the approximation and the behaviour of the solution.

EFSA Supporting Publications, 2022

BIO Web of Conferences, 2022

Vineyard is a multifunctional ecosystem associated to a multitude of environmental benefits and e... more Vineyard is a multifunctional ecosystem associated to a multitude of environmental benefits and ecosystem services. Despite the increased research efforts on the analysis of biodiversity patterns and ecosystem services in vineyard, the lack of approaches to multifunctionality suggests to develop integrated approaches allowing to manage the complexity of vineyard landscape. The present study introduces an innovative methodology aimed at developing a unitary framework able to describe vineyard ecosystems biodiversity considering both local (morphological characteristics, internal ecological infrastructure, and management) and landscape (land-use) components. The case of Franciacorta wine-growing area is described considering a total of 112 ha located in three wine companies. Four informative layers related to different components of Franciacorta territory were defined: i) morphology; ii) internal ecological infrastructure; iii) landscape composition; iv) management. This study provide...

We present the rst experience, carried out in 2013, devoted to the ex-traction of geo-referenced ... more We present the rst experience, carried out in 2013, devoted to the ex-traction of geo-referenced statistical information from mobile phone signalsto monitor big social events in Brescia, a mid-sized city located near Milan(Lombardy, Italy). The statistical analysis is based on the Telecom ItaliaCityLive database, used to dene raster structures and space-time proleswith the R open source language. The obtained results for the two big eventsheld in Brescia in 2013 (the car race \Mille Miglia" and the bicycle race \Girod'Italia") have proved very useful to this municipal administration to planfuture events, and more generally to develop policies for the \smart city".

Insects, 2021

Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) are the vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) i... more Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) are the vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) in Europe. Xf may cause severe epidemics in cultivated plants, including grapevines. To assess the threat represented by the bacterium to grapevines, detailed information on the vectors’ phenology, density, and ecology in vineyards is needed. The aim of the present work was to describe spittlebug diversity, phenology, and host-plant association in the vineyard agroecosystem. Two separate field surveys of nymphal and adult spittlebug populations, i.e., a two-year survey of a single site and a one-year survey of three sites, were performed in vineyards of northwestern Italy in three consecutive years. Philaenus spumarius was the most common species, reaching average nymph densities on herbaceous cover up to 60–130 nymphs/m2. Adults were sampled on grapevines from May to September, with a peak in June (up to 0.43 insects/sweep). Herbaceous cover was colonized after egg hatching and in late s...

Sustainability, 2021

The importance of soil biodiversity and soil-based ecosystem services in the context of viticultu... more The importance of soil biodiversity and soil-based ecosystem services in the context of viticulture has recently been emphasized. Over 85% of soil fauna species richness is represented by edaphic arthropod communities. Edaphic arthropod responses to soil characteristics and management practices can be considered as good bioindicators of soil quality. Here, 168 soil samples that were collected from 2014 to 2019 in several vineyards of different Italian wine-growing areas were analyzed to explore how arthropod communities respond to several factors that are characteristic of vineyard ecosystems. The analysis of the combined effects of the primary abiotic variables (the chemical and physical characteristics of soil) and management practices (organic vs. conventional, soil inter-row management) on soil biological quality (assessed by QBS-ar index) identified soil temperature and soil texture as the abiotic factors exerting the most significant effect on the QBS-ar values. Organic vineya...

OENO One, 2020

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of leaf removal and bunch shading on the an... more Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of leaf removal and bunch shading on the analytical composition of Pinot noir and Chardonnay (Vitis vinifera L.) grapes suitable for making premium sparkling wine.Method and results: Total bunch defoliation (TD) and different treatments using shading nets (TD1L, TD2L and ND1L) were evaluated in comparison with a test with no defoliation and shading (ND) over three seasons in the southern part of Franciacorta, one of the most famous Italian sparkling wine regions. Micrometeorological variables, yield components, musts and grapes chemical composition were evaluated. Shading practices lead to a delay in ripening and they improve the acidic content of must, thus resulting in a potential improvement in the quality of juice suitable for producing sparkling wines. Furthermore, this particular type of vine canopy management leads to changes in the phenolic content of grapes.Conclusions: From the results obtained it was possible to underl...

Environmental Entomology, 2020

The introduction of the Xylella fastidiosa Wells bacterium into Apulia (South Italy) has caused t... more The introduction of the Xylella fastidiosa Wells bacterium into Apulia (South Italy) has caused the massive dieback of olive trees, and is threatening olive production throughout the Mediterranean Region. The key vector of X. fastidiosa in Europe is the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius L. The dispersal capabilities of P. spumarius are poorly known, despite being a key parameter for the prediction of the spread of the bacterium. In this study, we have examined the dispersal of P. spumarius adults in two different agroecosystems in Italy: an olive grove in Apulia (Southern Italy) and a meadow in Piedmont (Northern Italy). Insects were marked with albumin and released during seven independent trials over 2 yr. The recapture data were pooled separately for each agroecosystem and used to estimate the dispersal kernels of P. spumarius in the olive grove and in the meadow. The diffusion coefficient estimate for P. spumarius was higher in the meadow than in the olive grove. The median distanc...

Nutrients, 2020

Background. To review currently available evidence on the effect of cow-milk proteins supplementa... more Background. To review currently available evidence on the effect of cow-milk proteins supplementation (CPS) on health in the elderly. Methods. Five electronic databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched for studies about CPS among older people. All types of publications were included, with the exception of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, opinion letters, editorials, case reports, conference abstracts and comments. An additional search in Google Scholar and a manual review of the reference lists were performed. Results. Overall, 103 studies were included. Several studies explored the role of CPS in the preservation or improvement of muscle mass among healthy subjects (40 studies) and pre-frail, frail or sarcopenic patients (14), with evidence of beneficial effects. Other studies assessed the effect of CPS on bones (12), cardiovascular disease (8), inflamm-aging (7), chronic pulmonary disease (4), neurocognitive function (4), and v...

Agronomy, 2020

Soil represents an important pool of biodiversity, hosting about a quarter of the living species ... more Soil represents an important pool of biodiversity, hosting about a quarter of the living species on our planet. This soil richness has led to increasing interest in the structural and functional characteristics of its biodiversity. Studies of arthropod responses, in terms of abundance and taxon richness, have increased in relation to their ecological value as bioindicators of environmental change. This research was carried out over the 2014–2018 period with the aim to better understand arthropod taxa responses in vineyard soils in Franciacorta (Lombardy, Italy). To determine the biological composition in terms of arthropod taxa presence, one hundred soil samples were analysed. Environmental characteristics, such as chemical composition, soil moisture and temperature, and soil management were characterized for each soil sample. A total of 19 taxa were identified; the NMDS model analysis and the cluster analysis divided them into five groups according to their co-occurrence patterns. ...

Nutrition Research, 2020

Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) are valuable research tools in nutritional epidemiology. Thi... more Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) are valuable research tools in nutritional epidemiology. This study aimed to develop and validate a new semi-quantitative FFQ, specifically designed for the Italian population and best fitted for self-administration. During the development process, we adapted to Italian needs the validated FFQ proposed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, revising food items, food frequency scale, portion sizes, and time frame. To assess the validity of the proposed FFQ, we compared the estimated daily intake using FFQ with the mean of 3-day food diaries and one 24-hour recall (considered as reference method). The validation process was conducted among a cohort of 51 healthy subjects enrolled in a clinical trial. Four statistical tests were applied on 23 estimated nutrient intakes. Spearman's coefficients ranged from 0.223 (sodium) to 0.748 (alcohol) and were good (≥0.50) and acceptable (0.20-0.49) for 7 and 16 nutrients, respectively. Cross classification showed a good agreement (≥50% in the same tertile or ≤10% in the opposite tertile) for 7 nutrients. The weighted Cohen's kappa values indicated an acceptable outcome (0.20-0.60) for 13 nutrients. Bland Altman plots did not show heteroscedasticity in the error terms, despite the presence of a bias. Our study provided a new Italian semi-quantitative FFQ for self-administration with an acceptable validation level. Its definitive release requires additional refinements and efforts.