Creating a Tourism Destination through Local Heritage: The Stakeholders’ Priorities in the Canavese Area (Northwest Italy)

A specific region, characterized by a significant natural and cultural heritage, is not necessarily a tourist destination. However, it can become so if there is active participation of local stakeholders oriented towards local development. In this context, this study focuses on a specific area, the Canavese (northwest Italy), which needs to find new regional development alternatives to the industrial sector. In particular, the research focused on the level of integration of local stakeholders and on their ability to identify common guidelines for tourist enhancement of the region. From an operational point of view, a survey of public and private stakeholders was carried out through a mixed-method approach divided into three stages: a questionnaire developed by a group of experts and individual interviews carried out by the Delphi method, presentation of the results, and identification of local priorities by the nominal group technique. Findings show the opportunity to act on specific elements to enhance local tourism offerings: outdoor nature and landscape, culture, and food and wine. Moreover, the stakeholders underlined the need for coordination among the parties involved to strengthen the local system. This activity should be supported by a single third party capable of managing the various phases of local development

Improving the Landscape and Tourism in Marginal Areas: The Case of Land Consolidation Associations in the North-West of Italy

Land fragmentation is a factor that limits the development of the agricultural and forestry sector, as well as the ability of operators to reach a profitable economic dimension. This phenomenon also influences the creation of activities and incomes in a negative way in marginal areas. In this context, land consolidation associations (LCA) can be a useful tool in reducing this limitation and promoting better management of the territory by improving the link between the landscape and tourism. This study aims to make a comparison between the different LCAs operating in the north-west of Italy, with a specific focus on differences and similarities amongst LCAs, highlighting each orientation towards the management of the landscape with the purpose of improving tourism development. The research used a survey method; a questionnaire was designed, and a semi-structured interview was conducted with each LCA president. Findings show that land management by LCAs allows the preservation and/or improvement of the landscape and supports the development of agricultural activities such as animal breeding. This kind of landscape-based land management increases the attractiveness of the territory in terms of tourism, stimulating the nature-oriented tourism tools. Therefore, on the one hand, the Piedmontese model supports the landscape and also allows economic and social goals to be reached by tourism solutions, and on the other hand it stimulates the improvement of the environment and the creation of chests of biodiversity

Quality of Life in Rural Areas: A Set of Indicators for Improving Wellbeing

Quality of life can be generally defined as people’s satisfaction with their lives and personal wellbeing. Contemporary literature agrees that dimensions such as health, education, employment, leisure, social relations, security, environment, landscape, and cultural heritage should be considered. Tourism serves as a stimulus for rural development, and assessing residents’ and tourists’ quality of life is relevant for local administrators of a tourist destination. Given the absence of quality-of-life models for individual municipalities, the research questions were aimed at the mapping of quality-of-life frameworks and the construction of a set of quality-of-life indicators for Alagna Valsesia. This research was conducted in 2023. The results of the research showed the possibility of constructing a modular model of indicator sets aimed particularly at decision making by territorial policymakers. The limitations of the research are related to the difficulty of finding different indicators in public platforms and, in the future, we would like to build a synthetic indicator replicable in other Piedmontese and Italian municipalities

Foodservice in a UNESCO Site: The restaurateurs' perception on communication and promotion tools

The foodservice sector plays an important economical role in the “Langa del Barolo”, in Northwest Italy. It is now on the UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage List and is in first place in Italy in the Vineyard Landscape field, along with the Roero and Monferrato territories. The tourists who visit this area are constantly increasing and its inscription in UNESCO World Heritage List seems to have increased its international appeal even more. This study aimed at obtaining feedback from the “Langa del Barolo” restaurateurs as to their perception of the communication and promotion tools implemented to enhance the territory. A semi-structured interview, that adopted a questionnaire based on the PAPI technique, was used to survey all the 78 restaurateurs in this area. This technique was chosen to stimulate the individual propensity of the restaurant owner to share information freely. It was observed that the UNESCO status provides new stimuli for the restaurateurs when carrying out their activities, increases tourist’s interest in the “Langa del Barolo” and disseminates the local brands at an international level. Other tools, such as TripAdvisor, word-of-mouth, Slow Food and gastronomic guides, were also presented and discussed with the participants. The feedback and results demonstrate that having a UNESCO status improves and enhances the territory, making it an extremely useful promotion tool

Relation Between Soluble Adhesion Molecules and Insulin Sensitivity in Type 2 Diabetic Individuals

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between insulin resistance and plasma levels of soluble adhesion molecules and to examine the effects of acute hyperinsulinemia on these molecules in type 2 diabetic individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, and E- and P-selectin plasma concentrations were measured in 36 nonobese type 2 diabetic patients without cardiovascular disease and in 7 healthy subjects. Insulin sensitivity was assessed by a 4-h euglycemic (∼5 mmol/l)-hyperinsulinemic (∼300 pmol/l) clamp performed in combination with [3H]3-d-glucose infusion. RESULTS—Diabetic subjects were insulin resistant but did not show plasma concentrations of adhesion molecules that were significantly higher than control subjects. In diabetic subjects, plasma ICAM-1 and E-selectin were negatively correlated with total glucose disposal during the insulin clamp (r = −0.432, P < 0.01; and r = −0.375, P < 0.05, respectively), whereas plasma VCAM-1 and P-selectin were not. Plasma ICAM-1 as well as E- and P-selectin were positively correlated with BMI, total body fat (TBF), and waist girth (P < 0.05–0.001). In multiple regression analyses, the relation of plasma ICAM-1 and E-selectin with insulin sensitivity was lost after adjustment for potential confounders, including HbA1c, blood pressure, and/or LDL cholesterol. In these analyses, BMI was the only independent predictor of plasma ICAM-1 (R2 = 0.244, P < 0.002), whereas TBF was the only independent predictor of plasma E-selectin (R2 = 0.202, P = 0.01). The 4-h insulin infusion during the glucose clamp did not significantly change plasma levels of adhesion molecules. CONCLUSIONS—Overall adiposity, rather than insulin resistance, may be a determinant of plasma levels of ICAM-1 and E-selectin in type 2 diabetic individuals. In these patients, acute hyperinsulinemia does not exert any significant effect on plasma adhesion molecules. These findings support the possibility that adipose tissue releases one or more factors that may adversely affect endothelial function on one hand and insulin sensitivity on the other

Combining Visible- and Infrared-Wavelength Observations With Numerical Modeling to Describe Vulcanian Eruption Plumes at Sabancaya, Peru

El volcán Sabancaya , situado al sur de Perú dentro de la Zona Volcánica Central de los Andes , ha estado en erupción constante desde noviembre de 2016.La ocurrencia diaria de explosiones de tipo vulcaniano (series de explosiones de corta duración) hace de Sabancaya un valioso laboratorio natural para estudiar dicha actividad. En este estudio, examinamos las columnas eruptivas producidas durante estas explosiones utilizando imágenes tanto visibles como infrarrojas. Categorizamos dos tipos de columnas, cada una de ellas con características distintivas: (a) columnas que presentan una cabeza amorfa con vórtices ; y (b) columnas con formas estrechas y cilíndricas que carecen de grandes estructuras vorticiales. Nuestros resultados sugieren que estas categorías representan miembros finales de la morfología de la columna en Sabancaya . Empleamos un modelo numérico para analizar las condiciones de la fuente eruptiva, incluida la temperatura inicial y la fracción de masa de gas .Las columnas muestran un comportamiento similar en cuanto a velocidades de ascenso (aunque son posibles velocidades más altas para la primera categoría de columnas) y eficiencias de arrastre de aire atmosférico para esas columnas. Estos resultados proporcionan información sobre la dinámica de las erupciones volcánicas transitorias (emisiones cortas pero de duración finita), lo que pone de relieve la necesidad de contar con modelos específicos que describan estos eventos

Glycaemic Control in People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Switching from Basal Insulin to Insulin Glargine 300 U/ml (Gla-300): Results from the REALI Pooled Database

INTRODUCTION: Using pooled data from the REALI European database, we evaluated the impact of previous basal insulin (BI) type on real-life effectiveness and safety of switching to insulin glargine 300 U/ml (Gla-300) in people with suboptimally controlled type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Patient-level data were pooled from 11 prospective, open-label, 24-week studies. Participants were classified according to the type of prior BI. Of the 4463 participants, 1282 (28.7%) were pre-treated with neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin and 2899 (65.0%) with BI analogues (BIAs), and 282 (6.3%) had undetermined prior BI. RESULTS: There were no meaningful differences in baseline characteristics between subgroups, except for a higher prevalence of diabetic neuropathy in the NPH subgroup (21.6% versus 7.8% with BIAs). Mean ± standard deviation haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) decreased from 8.73 ± 1.15% and 8.35 ± 0.95% at baseline to 7.71 ± 1.09% and 7.82 ± 1.06% at week 24 in the NPH and BIA subgroups, respectively. Least squares (LS) mean change in HbA1c was - 0.85% (95% confidence interval - 0.94 to - 0.77) in NPH subgroup and - 0.70% (- 0.77 to - 0.64) in BIA subgroup, with a LS mean absolute difference between subgroups of 0.16 (0.06-0.26; p = 0.002). Gla-300 mean daily dose was slightly increased at week 24 by 0.07 U/kg/day (approximately 6 U/day) in both subgroups. Incidences of symptomatic and severe hypoglycaemia were low, without body weight change. CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of previous BI therapy (NPH insulin or BIAs), switching to Gla-300 improved glycaemic control without weight gain and with low symptomatic and severe hypoglycaemia incidences. However, a slightly greater glucose-lowering effectiveness was observed in people pre-treated with NPH insulin