The Neglected Remains of the Royal Citadel of Messina, Sicily: A Proposal for a Suitable Conservation and Re-Use Project

Neglected and abandoned heritage sites are a complex research topic, which always requires a thorough understanding of the site’s past and current condition. This article examines how research on history, architecture, and participation can contribute to creating a suitable re-use project for such heritage sites, focusing on a single case study: the Royal Citadel of Messina, Italy. Within the field of history, the city and fortification’s past underscores the importance of the site’s architectural and historical value. An urban analysis and documentation campaign were carried out during the field architecture. The urban analysis focused on the site as a remarkable natural landscape with industrial surroundings. The digital documentation, concentrating on the so-called cistern, emphasized the site’s values. Within a revalorization process, community participation is vital and is, therefore, one of the suggestions to consider in further developments. The last applied method is a comparative case study, namely, the submarine base at Saint-Nazaire, France. Considering the complexity and fragilities of the site, a framework is designed that provides suggestions for the conservation, revalorization, and re-use of the site of the Royal Citadel

Productive and qualitative traits of amaranthus cruentus l.: An unconventional healthy ingredient in animal feed

Agronomic traits, oil content, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic content were studied on eight A. cruentus accessions cultivated in Southern Italy. A one-way ANOVA model was performed to compare accessions and the Principal Components Analysis was applied to identify patterns in our dataset and highlight similarities and differences. A. cruentus showed valuable seed yield (0.27 kg/m2, on average) comparable to the main tradition cereals used for animal feeding. Seed-oil composition showed significant differences among the accessions. Data showed a higher lipid content than most cereal grains (from 5.6 to 7.3%). Approximately 60% of fatty acids were unsaturated; linoleic fatty acid ranged from 19 to 34%, oleic acid from 29 to 36%, and alfa-linolenic fatty acid from 0.3 to 0.5%, respectively. The saturated/unsaturated fatty acid ratio ranged from 0.5 to 0.8, the hypocholesterolemic:hypercholesterolaemic ratio from 1.7 to 2.7, the Atherogenic Index from 0.38 to 0.66, the Thrombogenic Index from 0.85 to 1.48, the total phenolic content from 0.14 to 0.36 mg/g seeds, and the antioxidant activity (DPPH•) from 0.30 to 0.50. The studied seed-oil composition evidenced A. cruentus as a healthy ingredient for animal feed and consequently, as a possible substitute for traditional cereals. Accessions from Mexico and Arizona emerged for their high qualitative traits

Systemic antibiotic prescribing to paediatric outpatients in 5 European countries: A population-based cohort study

Background: To describe the utilisation of antibiotics in children and adolescents across 5 European countries based on the same drug utilisation measures and age groups. Special attention was given to age-group-specific distributions of antibiotic subgroups, since comparison in this regard between countries is lacking so far.Methods: Outpatient paediatric prescriptions of systemic antibiotics during the years 2005-2008 were analysed using health care databases from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Germany. Annual antibiotic prescription rates per 1,000 person years were estimated for each database and stratified by age (≤4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-18 years). Age-group-specific distributions of antibiotic subgroups were calculated for 2008.Results: With 957 prescriptions per 1000 person years, the highest annual prescription rate in the year 2008 was found in the Italian region Emilia Romagna followed by Germany (561), the UK (555), Denmark (481) and the Netherlands (294). Seasonal peaks during winter months were most pronounced in countries with high utilisation. Age-group-specific use varied substantially between countries with regard to total prescribing and distributions of antibiotic subgroups. However, prescription rates were highest among children in the age group ≤4 years in all countries, predominantly due to high use of broad s

Communities’ Involvement for the Reuse of Historical Buildings. Experiences in Italian Marginal Areas

Throughout the Covid-19 emergency phase in Italy, interesting practices of reuse of architectural heritage were fostered by the community impulse in small, depopulated towns in inner areas. This unprecedented situation led small communities of remote areas to find urgent solutions to entirely new problems. Some contexts activated initiatives for enhancing the health and social services, some others for strengthening the home care, others for readjusting existing spaces according to new needs. Through the case of the reuse of the Convento dei Padri Riformati into a hospital in Madonie and other similar initiatives promoted in other Italian inner areas, this contribution aims at highlighting the potentialities connected to the creation of services for the community by reusing the existing built heritage. In the experiences this contribution wants to illustrate, the role of “local community” was revealed to be essential during the pandemic since every practice of reuse is conceived, realized, or managed through the participation of the community and mainly destined to it. Concurrently, the objective is to introduce some reflections on the importance of the functions and uses introduced and their impacts on the territory: many times, the architectural heritage is intended for tourism-related facilities. However, in some cases, other functions connected to public services can profitably preserve and relaunch historical buildings, thanks to constant use and maintenance, assuring at the same time a broader involvement of the community at all levels

RENDERING EQUIRECTANGULAR PROJECTIONS ACQUIRED WITH LOW-COST 360° CAMERAS

A workflow for editing and rendering 360° images (also called spherical or equirectangular images) is illustrated and discussed. The aim was to develop a novel procedure able to overcome limitations induced by deformations in images acquired with low-cost 360° cameras. Editing and rendering are carried on equirectangular projections using a dynamic procedure that turns images into traditional central perspectives, enabling the user to change viewing directions, modify digital content, and store the changes in the original files. Integration of the rendered projections with traditional outputs of digital recording operations as well as other deliverables of the architectural restoration project is also discussed. Finally, the development of a web-GIS application that stores and shares multiple deliverables (including the newly proposed renders) is presented

The role of heritage communities in local development processes through the reuse of architectural heritage. Some examples in Italian rural areas.

Over the last three decades, various initiatives promoted by the European Union concerning the involvement and empowerment of communities in recognising and creating cultural values have flourished. They include, for instance, the Faro Convention, programs for ecomuseums and community mapping, and have contributed to giving voice to bottom-up initiatives for enhancing not only so-called monumental architecture but also "ordinary" architecture and built and vernacular cultural heritage. In general, this approach has also contributed to focusing attention on the importance of local communities in local development processes. In Italy, the so-called inner areas are often characterised by ordinary and vernacular heritage related to rural or manufacturing activities. In these small villages, some local communities, also thanks to the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas, recognised the reuse of part of the vernacular local built heritage as a strength for the community itself and the broader context. Some cases have demonstrated that valorisation of architectural heritage is possible without creating tourism-related facilities only (hotels, museums, etc.) but also creating services needed by "local" users that facilitate the everyday life of the place. In this perspective, attention should also be focused on heritage education and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, which should involve the entire community at different levels, starting from experiences already in place in similar contexts. In this sense, a community can be intended as a broad concept, a constantly evolving process that includes the resident citizens and a broader network related to a specific territory. Through analyses of case studies, this contribution aims to propose reflections on the role of heritage community experiences in empowering vernacular architectural heritage and its wider context

Urban extent of the epidemics: reflections on towns and plagues in Europe in the 19th century / La dimensione urbana delle epidemie: riflessioni su citt e malattie in Europa nel XIX secolo

The essay analyses the effects of diseases and epidemics when dealing with the perception of urban spaces in the contemporary age. The main purpose is to look at the relationship between towns and diseases from a historical perspective within the European geographical space and reflect on the changes that epidemics have been implied in the urban, social, and economic structure of the city over time. The essay analyses the strategies, methods, and practices carried out since the late 18th century to prevent and hinder epidemics through urban built environment configuration changes, uses, and planning. It also proposes a possible connection between the past, and sometimes conflicting experiences, and the processes and concepts raised during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic