The current linear system of production and consumption is unsustainable. In the food sector, despite the fact that valuable natural resources are intensively used to produce and distribute food products, little is done to upcycle residues generated along the supply chain. Circular economy strategies are crucial for restructuring the take-make-dispose model through the active participation of all actors of supply chains. However, little is known about consumers’ willingness to participate in circular economy. A structured questionnaire was submitted to a representative sample of Italian households to assess the willingness of consumers to be actively involved in closed loops aiming at reducing food waste. Consumers are involved by returning their organic food waste to retailers in exchange for discounts on the purchase of animal products. The organic food waste returned enters in the production process of animal products. A choice experiment was designed to analyse alternative programs. Two scenarios were presented: one with a traditional technology (composting), and a second one with a radically innovative technology (insects as feed). Preferences and trade-offs, in monetary terms, among attributes were computed. Results depict a comprehensive portrait of the potential participation of consumers to closed loops inspired by the principles of circular economy.

The adoption of circular bioeconomy (CBE) strategies in forest-wood supply chains is a possible avenue for the future of this sector. However, the uptake of CBE models may face several barriers in the coming years, particularly in disadvantaged forest areas lacking appropriate resources and a suitable business environment to start radical innovation pathways. Based on interviews with 29 representatives (business actors and other key informants) of the forest-food sector of the Salerno province (Italy), the current study investigated the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) involved in the transition of disadvantaged forest areas into a circular bioeconomy. Respondents also contributed to identifying the most suitable strategies in order to foster the CBE transition in the territory at hand. The paper offers an outlook for the potentialities of CBE in disadvantaged forest areas for policy actors, willing to bridge the gap between CBE agendas and territorial development challenges. The role of policy actors is particularly crucial, in order to patronize investments, stimulate improved know-how and cooperation, and fix policy inconsistencies related to biomass valorization.

Testosterone (T) and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) were measured in seminal plasma levels of forty-four varicocele patients and in seventeen normal men. T values were not significantly different from controls, while DHT values were significantly lower in varicocele patients. When we grouped the patients according to the sperm count, we observed a decrease of DHT similar to that reported by other authors in oligozoospermic patients. However in the patients with normal sperm count, where the motility was the only parameter significantly lower, DHT in the ejaculate showed again a marked decrease. In contrast to that observed in the normal subjects, in the latter group, with normal sperm count, we observed a negative correlation between the age of the patients and DHT in the ejaculate. This suggests that the duration of varicocele per se could affect DHT seminal plasma levels.