Corrado Costa

Bio: Corrado Costa is an academic researcher from Canadian Real Estate Association. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Precision agriculture. The author has an hindex of 39, co-authored 196 publications receiving 4415 citations. Previous affiliations of Corrado Costa include Spanish National Research Council & Tuscia University.

Shape Analysis of Agricultural Products: A Review of Recent Research Advances and Potential Application to Computer Vision

Abstract: The appearance of agricultural products deeply conditions their marketing. Appearance is normally evaluated by considering size, shape, form, colour, freshness condition and finally the absence of visual defects. Among these features, the shape plays a crucial role. Description of agricultural product shape is often necessary in research fields for a range of different purposes, including the investigation of shape traits heritability for cultivar descriptions, plant variety or cultivar patents and evaluation of consumer decision performance. This review reports the main applications of shape analysis on agricultural products such as relationships between shape and: (1) genetic; (2) conformity and condition ratios; (3) products characterization; (4) product sorting and finally, (5) clone selection. Shape can be a protagonist of evaluation criteria only if an appreciable level of image shape processing and automation and data are treated with solid multivariate statistic. In this context, image-processing algorithms have been increasingly developed in the last decade in order to objectively measure the external features of agricultural products. Grading and sorting of agricultural products using machine vision in conjunction with pattern recognition techniques offers many advantages over the conventional optical or mechanical sorting devices. With this aims, we propose a new automated shape processing system which could be useful for both scientific and industrial purposes, forming the bases of a common language for the scientific community. We applied such a processing scheme to morphologically discriminate nuts fruit of different species. Operative Matlab codes for shape analysis are reported.

A Review on Agri-food Supply Chain Traceability by Means of RFID Technology

Abstract: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology which provides appealing opportunities to improve the management of information flow within the supply chain and security in the agri-food sector. Nowadays, food safety is considered a major requirement in several countries, in particular, the traceability of food products which is mandatory by law. Thus, technological implementation leading to traceability strengthening in the agri-food sector is crucial. The first aim of this review is to analyze the current developments in RFID technology in the agri-food sector, through an operative framework which organizes the literature and facilitate a quick content analysis identifying future research direction. RFID technology seems to be able to bring great opportunities to this sector; nevertheless, several constraints are slowing its adoption. This survey may provide readers with an exhaustive overview of opportunities and constraints for the wide adoption of RFID. The second aim of this review is to provide an updated analysis on the current developments of RFID technology for different product typologies within the agri-food industry, discussing at the same time its potential in technological and logistical development regarding different sectors of the production/distribution chain. As referenced here, RFID implementations in the agri-food sector are increasing at a fast rate, and technological advancement follows the applicability opportunities. However, real applications of RFID technologies are still limited because of various technical and economical obstacles which are also discussed.

A review on blockchain applications in the agri-food sector.

Abstract: Background Food security can benefit from the technology's transparency, relatively low transaction costs and instantaneous applications. A blockchain is a distributed database of records in the form of encrypted blocks, or a public ledger of all transactions or digital events that have been executed and shared among participating parties and can be verified at any time in the future. Generally, the robust and decentralized functionality of the blockchain is used for global financial systems, but it can easily be expanded to contracts and operations such as tracking of the global supply chain. In the precision agriculture context, Information and Communications Technology can be further implemented with a blockchain infrastructure to enable new farm systems and e-agriculture schemes. Results The purpose of this review is to show a panorama of the scientific studies (enriched by a terms mapping analysis) on the use of blockchain in the agri-food sector, from both an entirely computational and an applicative point of view. As evidenced by the network analysis, the reviewed studies mainly focused on software aspects (e.g. the architecture and smart contracts). However, some aspects regarding the different blockchain knots (computers always connected to the blockchain network) having the role to store and distribute an updated copy of each block in a food supply-chain, result of crucial importance. Conclusion These technologies appear very promising and rich of great potential showing a good flexibility for applications in several sectors but still immature and hard to apply due to their complexity. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

A Blockchain Implementation Prototype for the Electronic Open Source Traceability of Wood along the Whole Supply Chain

Abstract: This is the first work to introduce the use of blockchain technology for the electronic traceability of wood from standing tree to final user. Infotracing integrates the information related to the product quality with those related to the traceability [physical and digital documents (Radio Frequency IDentification-RFID-architecture)] within an online information system whose steps (transactions) can be made safe to evidence of alteration through the blockchain. This is a decentralized and distributed ledger that keeps records of digital transactions in such a way that makes them accessible and visible to multiple participants in a network while keeping them secure without the need of a centralized certification organism. This work implements a blockchain architecture within the wood chain electronic traceability. The infotracing system is based on RFID sensors and open source technology. The entire forest wood supply chain was simulated from standing trees to the final product passing through tree cutting and sawmill process. Different kinds of Internet of Things (IoT) open source devices and tags were used, and a specific app aiming the forest operations was engineered to collect and store in a centralized database information (e.g., species, date, position, dendrometric and commercial information).

Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management

Abstract: Globalisation of supply chains makes their management and control more difficult. Blockchain technology, as a distributed digital ledger technology which ensures transparency, traceability, and sec...

国际刊物《Scientometrics》文献计量研究

Abstract: 本文对国际科学计量学杂志《Ｓｃｉｅｎｔｏｍｅｔｒｉｃｓ》１９７９－１９９１年的研究论文内容、栏目、作者及国别和编委及国别作了计量分析，揭示出科学计量学研究的重点、活动的中心及发展趋势，说明了学科带头人在发展科学计量学这门新兴学科中的作用。

Soil enzymes: Kuprevich, V. F. & Shcherbakova, T. A.: Translated from the Russian edition (1966), published by the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, New Delhi 1971. 392 pp., offset printing from type script, paper cover. Obtainable from U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va. 22151

Abstract: B6nassy, C., 1955. R6marques sur deux Aphelinid6s: Aphelinus mytilaspidis Le Baron et Aphytis proclia Walker. Annls l~piphyt. 6: 11-17. Lord, F. T. & MacPhee, A. W., 1953. The influence of spray programs on the fauna of apple orchards in Nova Scotia II. Oyster shell scale. Can. Ent. 79: 196-209. Pickett, A. D., 1946. A progress report on long term spray programs. Rep. Nova Scotia Fruit Grow. Ass. 83 : 27-31. Pickett, A. D., 1967. The influence of spray programs on the fauna of apple orchards in Nova Scotia XIV. Can. Ent. 97: 816-821. Tothill, J. D., 1918. The predacious mite Hemisarcoptes malus Shimer and its relation to the natural control of the oyster shell scale Lepidosaphes ulmi L. Agric. Gaz. Can. 5 : 234-239.

Colour Measurement and Analysis in Fresh and Processed Foods: A Review

Abstract: Colour is an important quality attribute in the food and bioprocess industries, and it influences consumer’s choice and preferences. Food colour is governed by the chemical, biochemical, microbial and physical changes which occur during growth, maturation, postharvest handling and processing. Colour measurement of food products has been used as an indirect measure of other quality attributes such as flavour and contents of pigments because it is simpler, faster and correlates well with other physicochemical properties. This review discusses the techniques and procedures for the measurement and analysis of colour in food and other biomaterial materials. It focuses on the instrumental (objective) and visual (subjective) measurements for quantifying colour attributes and highlights the range of primary and derived objective colour indices used to characterise the maturity and quality of a wide range of food products and beverages. Different approaches applied to model food colour are described, including reaction mechanisms, response surface methodology and others based on probabilistic and non-isothermal kinetics. Colour is one of the most widely measured product quality attributes in postharvest handling and in the food processing research and industry. Apart from differences in instrumentation, colour measurements are often reported based on different colour indices even for the same product, making it difficult to compare results in the literature. There is a need for standardisation to improve the traceability and transferability of measurements. The correlation between colour and other sensory quality attributes is well established, but future prospects exist in the application of objective non-destructive colour measurement in predictive modelling of the nutritional quality of fresh and processed food products.