Agro-ecology, sustainable agro-food systems, new relationships between the countryside and the city

Today agroecology is recognized as a new scientific paradigm useful to respond to the new sustainability challenges of both the agriculture and the agro-food system domains. Aims and contents of this discipline have changed over time and are still evolving today: conceptual tools and methodologies offered by agroecology may be usefully adopted within interdisciplinary studies related to sustainable production, consumption, exchange, settlement systems. In this paper we briefly review the history of agroecology and stress the role it plays nowadays in managing food systems and in particular short-distance food networks, intended as a new way the relationships between the countryside and the city performs.All’agroecologia viene oggi riconosciuto il valore di nuovo paradigma scientifico con il quale poter affrontare le sfide della sostenibilità dell’agricoltura e dei sistemi agroalimentari. Obiettivi e contenuti dell’agroecologia sono cambiati e stanno ancora rapidamente mutando: gli strumenti concettuali e i metodi offerti da questa disciplina possono essere utilmente adottati negli studi interdisciplinari relativi alla sostenibilità dei sistemi di produzione, di consumo, di mercato e di insediamento. In questo lavoro, dopo una sintetica analisi dello sviluppo storico della disciplina, se ne indica il possibile ruolo che attualmente essa può assumere nella pianificazione e gestione dei sistemi agro-alimentari moderni, con particolare riferimento alle reti locali, intese come strumenti di nuova relazione fra insediamento urbano e campagna circostante

Editorial for Special Issue "Antiprotozoal Activity of Natural Products"

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of diverse infectious diseases, repre-sent the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the world's low-income pop-ulations. These diseases are often referred to as "neglected" due to their historical lack of attention from the global health agenda and research investment, with the excep-tion of some important support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1.5 billion people are affected by at least one NTD, causing around 500,000 deaths yearly, social discrimination, and phys-ical suffering. Although NTDs can be found worldwide, they are most prevalent in tropical areas, where factors such as limited access to clean water, favorable environ-mental conditions, and inadequate sanitation expedite their transmission. Among a core group of 20 NTDs and conditions, the infections caused by single-celled protozoan parasites, such as Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness or HAT), Chagas disease, Leishmaniasis, and Malaria, are regarded as therapeutically challenging be-cause of their elevated fatality rates and limited treatment options. Even though Malaria is not included in the NTDs’ list, it remains a significant public health issue in many NTD-endemic regions, and it is frequently considered within the framework of initiatives aimed at managing and eradicating NTDs

Study of the characteristic parameters of the normal voices of Argentinian speakers

The voice laboratory permits to study the human voices using a method that is objective and noninvasive. In this work, we have studied the parameters of the human voice such as pitch, formant, jitter, shimmer and harmonic-noise ratio of a group of young people. This statistical information of parameters is obtained from Argentinian speakers.publishedVersionFil: Bonzi, Edgardo Venusto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Bonzi, Edgardo Venusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina.Fil: Grad, G. B. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Maggi, A. M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Fonoaudiología; Argentina.Fil: Muñóz, M. R. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Escuela de Fonoaudiología; Argentina.Otras Ciencias Física

Validation of an enhanced recovery after surgery protocol in gynecologic surgery: an Italian randomized study

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Antidiabetic and anti-obesity properties of a polyphenol-rich flower extract from Tagetes Erecta L. and its effects on Caenorhabditis Elegans fat storages

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by a high blood sugar level that can cause severe complications to the organism or even death when not treated. However, certain dietary habits and foods may have beneficial effects on this condition. A polyphenolic-rich extract (containing hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercetin, ellagic acid, and vanillic acid) of Tageres erecta L. (T. erecta) was obtained from yellow and orange flowers using an ethanolic Soxhlet extraction. These extracts were screened for antidiabetic and anti-obesity properties using in vitro and in vivo procedures. The capacity to inhibit the enzymes lipase and α-glucosidase, as well as the inhibition of advance glycation end-products (AGEs) was tested in vitro. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was used as an obesity in vivo model to assess extracts effects on fat accumulation using the wild-type strain N2 and a mutant with no N3 fatty acid desaturase activity BX24. Extracts from both cultivars (yellow and orange) T. erecta presented in vitro inhibitory activity against the enzymes lipase and α-glucosidase, showing lower IC50 values than acarbose (control). They also showed important activity in preventing AGEs formation. The polyphenol-rich matrices reduced the fat content of obese worms in the wild-type strain (N2) down to levels of untreated C. elegans, with no significant differences found between negative control (100% reduction) and both tested samples (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the fat reduction was considerably lower in the BX24 mutants (fat-1(wa-9)), suggesting that N3 fatty acid desaturase activity could be partially involved in the T. erecta flower effect. Our findings suggested that polyphenols from T. erecta can be considered candidate bioactive compounds in the prevention and improvement of metabolic chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes

ESPERIENZE DAL NORD E DAL SUD DEL MONDO VERSO LA CREAZIONE DI POLITICHE ALIMENTARI URBANE IN GRADO DI RENDERE PIU' SOSTENIBILI I SISTEMI ALIMENTARI DELLE CITTA'

Urban food policies are powerful institutional actions, to build more sustainable food systems of contemporary cities. These new policies are designed with a systemic and cross-sectoral approach, they able to act at the intersection of different issues and fields such as water, waste, planning, health, transport, education, environment, trade. We will describe the experiences developed in the Northern and Southern cities of the world (with a focus on West, Africa and Latin America), through the recent Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, which could start a new kind of city-to-city cooperation initiatives

Activation of G protein-coupled receptors by ketone bodies: Clinical implication of the ketogenic diet in metabolic disorders

Ketogenesis takes place in hepatocyte mitochondria where acetyl-CoA derived from fatty acid catabolism is converted to ketone bodies (KB), namely β-hydroxybutyrate (β-OHB), acetoacetate and acetone. KB represent important alternative energy sources under metabolic stress conditions. Ketogenic diets (KDs) are low-carbohydrate, fat-rich eating strategies which have been widely proposed as valid nutritional interventions in several metabolic disorders due to its substantial efficacy in weight loss achievement. Carbohydrate restriction during KD forces the use of FFA, which are subsequently transformed into KB in hepatocytes to provide energy, leading to a significant increase in ketone levels known as "nutritional ketosis". The recent discovery of KB as ligands of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) - cellular transducers implicated in a wide range of body functions - has aroused a great interest in understanding whether some of the clinical effects associated to KD consumption might be mediated by the ketone/GPCR axis. Specifically, anti-inflammatory effects associated to KD regimen are presumably due to GPR109A-mediated inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome by β-OHB, whilst lipid profile amelioration by KDs could be ascribed to the actions of acetoacetate via GPR43 and of β-OHB via GPR109A on lipolysis. Thus, this review will focus on the effects of KD-induced nutritional ketosis potentially mediated by specific GPCRs in metabolic and endocrinological disorders. To discriminate the effects of ketone bodies per se, independently of weight loss, only studies comparing ketogenic vs isocaloric non-ketogenic diets will be considered as well as short-term tolerability and safety of KDs

Investigating the phytotoxic potential of Carlina acaulis essential oil against the weed Bidens pilosa through a physiological and metabolomic approach

Essential oils (EOs) are widely studied as possible candidates for new eco-friendly herbicides for weed management due to their phytotoxicity. In this study we tested the phytotoxic potential of the EO obtained from the roots of Carlina acaulis L. (Apiaceae) against the weed Bidens pilosa L. This EO, containing 98% of the polyacetylene carlina oxide, showed strong phytotoxic effects on the plant metabolism, such as leaf necrosis, reduction of relative water content and total leaf area, and an increase in the dry weight/fresh weight ratio, suggesting a water status alteration. The EO also damaged the photosynthetic machinery, as evidenced by the significant reduction of the effective quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦII) and the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm). In addition, the non-photochemical quenching (ΦNPQ) significantly increased after spraying with C. acaulis EO. Damage to photosystem II was further demonstrated through the reduction of manganese and calcium concentrations, possibly due to an alteration in the correct functionality of the Mn4Ca cluster of the PSII. Metabolomics analysis revealed an accumulation of branched-chain amino acids, such as isoleucine and valine, which is commonly related to osmotic alterations under drought stress situations and a general reduction in sugar content (fructose, glucose, mannose, among others), suggesting reduction of the photosynthetic efficiency too. Overall, these findings suggest C. acaulis EO as a promising natural product with phytotoxic potential against weeds that deserves further investigation