Patrimonio ambientale e creazione del valore. Il turismo come fattore di cambiamento sociale ed economico-aziendale in Provincia di Siena.

Il percorso cognitivo seguito nell’indagine muove dalla definizione del quadro concettuale di riferimento in ambito turistico, per poi soffermarsi sugli aspetti definitori e normativi dell’attività agrituristica. Su tali impostazioni presenteremo i risultati di un’indagine empirica svolta nell’intento di apprezzare, in termini evolutivi, la dimensione qualitativa e quantitativa del fenomeno turistico considerato nell’ambito dell’economica nazionale. Da tale livello di studio discenderemo per individuare le caratteristiche che rendono peculiare l’esercizio dell’attività agrituristica nella Regione Toscana per poi giungere alla descrizione dello scenario della Provincia di Siena

Effect of in vitro mechanical compression on epylisin (matrix metalloproteinase-28) expression in hypertrophic scars

Epilysin, designated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-28, is the newest member of this family of proteases expressed by keratinocytes in response to an injury. MMP-28's physiological role and specific substrates are unknown, but its expression pattern suggests that it may serve a role in both tissue homeostasis and wound healing. The aim of this preliminary study was to observe the presence of MMP-28 protein in normotrophic and hypertrophic scars and to evaluate the effect of in vitro mechanical compression on its expression. Biopsies from normotrophic and hypertrophic scars resulting from burns were divided into two samples, one to be used as control (uncompressed) and the other to be compressed in an oxygenated organ chamber for 24 hours in the presence of a serum-free medium, using an electromechanical load transducer (stable pressure = 35 mmHg). Analysis of MMP-28 protein secretion, assessed by Western blot and beta-casein zymography in scar conditioned media, revealed that normotrophic scar did not release MMP-28 in any condition while hypertrophic scar released active MMP-28 both in control conditions and after compression. MMP-28 immunohistochemistry revealed a light protein presence in normotrophic scar keratinocytes and a strong MMP-28 positivity in hypertrophic scar keratinocytes in control conditions, while compression increased MMP-28 staining in normotrophic scar and induced a significant reduction of the protein presence in hypertrophic scar keratinocytes. As it has been suggested that MMP-28 may restructure the skin basal membrane (Saarialho-Kere et al., 2002), our data indicate that mechanical compression directly acts to modulate the remodeling phase of wound healing, altering release and activity of MMP-28 in hypertrophic scars

La definición de la actividad de turismo rural. Resolutión del problema metodológico de identificación de la población a través de las definiziones aportadas en la literatura y extraídas de los requisitos legales

Los limites que dibujan los sectores de actividad están cada vez más difusos y resulta difícil identificar la población de empresas que los configuran y que se enfrentan en el ejercicio de la competencia. Este problema de identificación se reduce considerablemente cuando se define un segmento específico dentro de una actividad más amplia. El turismo rural, como segmento del sector turístico presenta peculiaridades que nos permite considerarlo como una parte del sector más agregado. No obstante tenga un carácter más específico, hemos encontrado dificultades para identificar las empresas que lo configuran debido a que la definición de tal actividad difiere de unos estudios a otro, además esto se ve agravado por la profusión de distintos términos para referirse a una misma actividad que no son equivalentes. Esta situación nos llevó a plantear una revisión de la literatura y de la legislación aplicable para llegar a una definición unívoca de lo que se incluye dentro de turismo rural y que nos permitiera la selección de una muestra de la población de empresas de dicho segmento

The efficacy of moisture retentive ointment in the mangement of cutaneous wounds and ulcers: A multicenter clinical trial

Local management of chronic wounds and ulcers remains one of the most costly unsolved problems in health care today. With proper clinical management, most chronic wound healing problems can be resolved and healing expected, though recurrence may be common. The recent logarithmic growth in our knowledge about wound healing and the appreciation of the importance of a moist environment in optimal wound healing has led to the introduction of new and exciting therapeutic modalities. In view of the many practical disadvantages as well as the serious complications of currently available moisture retentive dressings when applied to chronic contaminated wounds, a prospective multicenter clinical trial was conducted from December 1999 to November 2000 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a newly introduced moisture retentive ointment (MEBO: Moist Exposed Burn Ointment) (Julphar - Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, UAE) in the local wound care of problematic non-healing wounds. The active component of the ointment is β-sitosterol in a base of beeswax, sesame oil and other components. Though it was not a comparative study, the ointment was found to induce rapid reduction in ulcer size even after a prolonged stagnant state with other therapeutic modalities without complications such as skin maceration, unmanageable excessive exudation, and wound infection. As expected with such chronic wounds, the healing potential of local ointment application is limited by the mere size of the original defect and the underlying pathologies and associated diseases. however, the safety and practicality of simple ointment application was found to be a valid alternative treatment for local management of chronic wounds