Alpine ethnobotany in Italy: traditional knowledge of gastronomic and medicinal plants among the Occitans of the upper Varaita valley, Piedmont

A gastronomic and medical ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Occitan communities living in Blins/Bellino and Chianale, in the upper Val Varaita, in the Piedmontese Alps, North-Western Italy, and the traditional uses of 88 botanical taxa were recorded. Comparisons with and analysis of other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas, show that approximately one fourth of the botanical taxa quoted in this survey are also known in other surrounding Occitan valleys. It is also evident that traditional knowledge in the Varaita valley has been heavily eroded. This study also examined the local legal framework for the gathering of botanical taxa, and the potential utilization of the most quoted medicinal and food wild herbs in the local market, and suggests that the continuing widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for preparing liqueurs (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species, even though their collection is culturally salient in the entire study area

Le chiavi della città : politiche per gli immigrati a Torino e Lione

Collana Piemonte ; 2

Rumore : atteggiamenti verso gli immigrati stranieri

Collana Piemonte ; 1

Growth hormone values after an oral glucose load do not add clinically useful information in patients with acromegaly on long-term somatostatin receptor ligand treatment

The optimal method of assessing GH status in acromegalic patients receiving medical therapy with somatostatin analogs (SSA) has been matter of debate. The aim of the study has been to investigate whether OGTT may add information in patients with discordant randomGH(GHr) and IGF values. Moreover, we evaluated the association of GH nadir with the prevalence of co-morbidities observed in acromegalic patients on SSA therapy. We evaluated 130 patients with proven diagnosis of acromegaly on SSA. The patients were subdivided in three groups: patients with controlled disease (both safe randomGHand normal IGF-I, group A, 20.0 %), patients with uncontrolled disease (both high random GH and IGF-I, group B, 34.6 %), and patients with discordant randomGHand IGF-I values (group C, 35.4 %).A high concordance rate for GH nadir with random GH and IGF-I was observed in group B, while a significant reduced concordance rate has been observed in group A (100 % sensitivity, 64.5 % specificity). By contrast, in group C, we observed concordant results betweenGHnadir and IGF-I only in 14/59 patients. In group A, the prevalence of diabetes was lower than in group B or C. Safe random GH was the only single criteria associated with a lower prevalence of diabetes. Discrepant IGF-I and either GH nadir or random GH values are frequently observed in acromegalic patients treated with SSA. Concordant IGF-I and random GH may influence the prevalence of metabolic complications. GH nadir measurementmay help to interpret discrepancies between randomGH and IGF-I data only in few case

Towards the elsewhere : Discourses on migration and mobility practices between Morocco and Italy.

peer reviewedThe objective of this article is to analyze the preparation process of young Moroccan migrants directed towards Italy. My focus is on the personal and collective formulation of their desire to leave and on concomitant action taken to realize these aspirations; highlighting the complexity of the imagination, which migration – and expected return – entails. A second point of attention is the agency exerted by such youth during preparation for departure; even when they have not physically left the country yet. In addition, my observation is focussed on networks emerging as a result of having to deal with state-imposed, migration restrictions, as well as with the politics of humanitarian agencies and NGOs. My discourse argues that these aspiring migrants project themselves into the future and act in accordance with what they long to become. They shape themselves as mobile subjects through a process of self-making to overcome the above-mentioned constraints