A simple model for the evolution of a non-Abelian cosmic string network

In this paper we present the results of numerical simulations intended to study the behavior of non-Abelian cosmic strings networks. In particular we are interested in discussing the variations in the asymptotic behavior of the system as we variate the number of generators for the topological defects. A simple model which should generate cosmic strings is presented and its lattice discretization is discussed. The evolution of the generated cosmic string networks is then studied for different values for the number of generators for the topological defects. Scaling solution appears to be approached in most cases and we present an argument to justify the lack of scaling for the residual cases

Dermatological remedies in the traditional pharmacopoeia of Vulture-Alto Bradano, inland southern Italy

Dermatological remedies make up at least one-third of the traditional pharmacopoeia in southern Italy. The identification of folk remedies for the skin is important both for the preservation of traditional medical knowledge and in the search for novel antimicrobial agents in the treatment of skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI). Our goal is to document traditional remedies from botanical, animal, mineral and industrial sources for the topical treatment of skin ailments. In addition to SSTI remedies for humans, we also discuss certain ethnoveterinary applications. Field research was conducted in ten communities in the Vulture-Alto Bradano area of the Basilicata province, southern Italy. We randomly sampled 112 interviewees, stratified by age and gender. After obtaining prior informed consent, we collected data through semi-structured interviews, participant-observation, and small focus groups techniques. Voucher specimens of all cited botanic species were deposited at FTG and HLUC herbaria located in the US and Italy. We report the preparation and topical application of 116 remedies derived from 38 plant species. Remedies are used to treat laceration, burn wound, wart, inflammation, rash, dental abscess, furuncle, dermatitis, and other conditions. The pharmacopoeia also includes 49 animal remedies derived from sources such as pigs, slugs, and humans. Ethnoveterinary medicine, which incorporates both animal and plant derived remedies, is addressed. We also examine the recent decline in knowledge regarding the dermatological pharmacopoeia. The traditional dermatological pharmacopoeia of Vulture-Alto Bradano is based on a dynamic folk medical construct of natural and spiritual illness and healing. Remedies are used to treat more than 45 skin and soft tissue conditions of both humans and animals. Of the total 165 remedies reported, 110 have never before been published in the mainland southern Italian ethnomedical literature

Supplementation of Temperate Pastures

Generally in temperate regions, beef and milk were produced on extensive systems with forage from perennial pasture and natural grassland being the main component of animal diet. Supplementation on pasture was usually applied strategically to supply nutrients to grazing cattle only when forage availability was not enough to satisfy animal’s requirements. At present beef and dairy production systems have become more intensive and even when forage from pasture continue being the main component of the diet higher level of different type of supplement are fed to the animals. Intensive systems are characterized by a higher stocking rate capable of consuming the spring regrowth of pasture, and by an increment in the amount of supplement offered to the animal. Two factors affect nutrient intake when cattle on grazing are supplemented with concentrate: 1) substitution rate of pasture by concentrate, and 2) the depression on fiber digestion. On high quality pasture the effect of supplementation on substitution rate is more important than the effect on fiber digestion while in low quality pasture the opposite occur, it means the depression on fiber digestion is what more affect nutrient intake. In winter forage production is minimum and cattle is supplemented to maintain the stocking rate needed to graze efficiently pasture in spring. Corn silage is generally supplemented in winter and in this case animal performance will be affected by the energy contents of corn silage, which it will depend mainly on the grain content in the total plant and the digestibility of the rest of the plant. In autumn the grazing diet is usually unbalanced in term of energy and protein because an excess of degradable protein in temperate pasture normally occur causing high levels of ammonium nitrogen in rumen fluid. Starch contained in barley and wheat grain or in high moisture corn are more readily available at ruminal level that starch from dry corn or sorghum being therefore those grain a better energy supplement to cows on grazing in the fall. However in several trial trying to balance autumn pasture with readily available starch, even when some effect on ruminal level was observed, not always an effect on milk yield or body weight gain was obtained. Summer supplementation on beef production is generally done to increase body weight gain when quality of mature pasture decrease and to finish the animals with an optimum fat deposition before slaughtering. Due to the importance that meat quality and composition is getting in the international market, different type and amount of grain supplementation on grazing or finishing in feedlot will have to be considered in order to produce the type of meat that each specific market will demand. Beef from grazing steers had a lower content of cholesterol, a higher amount of n-3 linolenic acid and a lower n-6/n-3 linolenic ratio. Linolenic acid from pasture would be the source for this conjugated unsaturated fatty acid in beef. The importance of those fatty acids relay on their incidence in reducing the risk of arterial coronary diseases. Pasture-finished steers had lower predicted lean yields, smaller rib-eye areas, and darker colored meat than grain-finished steers. Although a yellowish fat was obtained in steers finished on pasture, grain feeding did not change fat texture, nor tenderness, juiciness, flavor and overall acceptability by consumers. Even when drylot steers had a higher performance and better carcass characteristics, compared to grazing steers, those parameters were improved when grazing was supplemented with grain. In dairy, considering the high losses of dietary nitrogen occurring in temperate pasture it could be suggested that the amount of amino acids reaching duodenum and available for absorption could be not enough to satisfy nutrient requirements of high yielding cows. However, responses to protein supplementation on milk production and composition are quite variable and generally disappointed. On milk quality, there is currently limited opportunity for dairy farmer with grazing systems to manipulate the composition of the N components in milk by supplementing different type of concentrate. As conclusion it could be said that there is not a unique approach to supplement animals on grazing. Each situation would require its own analysis to produce at the lowest cost the product that the specific marker requires

“We Became Rich and We Lost Everything”: Ethnobotany of Remote Mountain Villages of Abruzzo and Molise, Central Italy

Profound socioeconomic changes affected mountains of Central Italy during the last century and many traditional agro-pastoral activities were abandoned. A few ethnobotanical studies in this area have specifically documented local wild plants used decades ago, but without analyzing in-depth how and why Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has eroded or changed over time. In this study, we 1) document ethnobotanical uses of four high-altitude remote villages of Central Italy, 2) discuss how these uses have changed over time, comparing them with fieldwork that was conducted 40 years earlier; and 3) assess how plant uses have changed across space, particularly whether the remoteness of villages or the occurrence of Sacred Natural Sites (SNS) have affected TEK linked to wild plants. Sixty semi-structured interviews revealed the use of 83 taxa belonging to 35 families. We did not find any relationship between SNS and the richness of TEK, as these SNS were not inhabited by monastic communities that could have shared their scholarly knowledge. There was not a relationship between remoteness and richness of TEK. The common statement emerging from the field, “We became rich and lost everything”, revealed how socio-economic changes resulted in the rapid abandonment of traditional practices, while the ubiquity of pharmacies may have contributed to the erosion of ethnomedicinal knowledge

Scholarly vs. Traditional Knowledge: Effects of Sacred Natural Sites on Ethnobotanical Practices in Tuscany, Central Italy

Sacred Natural Sites (SNSs), found in all inhabited continents, are cultural landscapes of spiritual significance for local communities. As they are believed to influence Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), we documented the use of wild and semi-domesticated plants for food and medicine in four villages located at different distances from SNSs in Central Italy. Results may indicate that SNSs, which have been managed and inhabited for centuries by monastic communities, have had a restrictive impact on local TEK, as the communities located near SNSs reported fewer traditional uses for plants than those living further from the same SNSs. One possible explanation is that the Scholarly Knowledge (SK) held by the monastic communities of SNSs competed with the TEK of the surrounding villages and this resulted in a smaller body of plant-related folk knowledge, practices and beliefs retained by the people living in the vicinity of SNSs. Further studies should address the past and current mechanisms of competition and/or osmosis between TEK and SK in terms of both daily practices and beliefs/theoretical knowledge

"Mushrooms (and a cow) are A Means of Survival for Us": Dissimilar Ethnomycological Perspectives among Hutsuls and Romanians Living Across The Ukrainian-Romanian Border

Sustainable forest management highlights the multipurpose use of all forest resources, including the use of wild mushrooms, by a variety of forest users and especially for rural livelihoods. To achieve sustainable forest management, among others, decision-makers and forest managers need to identify the important elements for the livelihoods of local communities dependent on forests. Therefore, our aim is to analyse the importance of contemporary use of wild mushrooms for daily livelihoods in rural areas of the Carpathian Mountains by comparing two ethnic groups, Hutsuls and Romanians, living in a similar ecological environment and formerly belonging to the historical region of Bukovina, but currently split by the border between Ukraine and Romania which have different governments and economic situations. One hundred and twenty-one face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in the summers of 2018 and 2019. We compared the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Romanians and Hutsuls living, respectively, in lowlands and mountain areas on both sides of the border. Our results demonstrated the homogenous use of mushroom species for cultural purposes (e.g. ritual foods). Yet, we detected a remarkable difference in the role mushrooms play in providing income: Hutsuls in Ukraine use forest products as a main (rarely additional) source of income, while Romanian Hutsuls use them solely as additional income. Romanians on both sides considered mushrooms mainly as food and did not sell them (probably due in part to less abundance in the area). We also documented the fear of local residents that forest management and protected areas could suppress the right to collect wild mushrooms. The use of mushrooms is an important aspect of local TEK and needs to be considered as a part of sustainable forest management and as a means of poverty reduction in the region

Blended divergences: local food and medicinal plant uses among Arbëreshë, Occitans, and autochthonous Calabrians living in Calabria, Southern Italy

A study focusing on traditional uses of wild plants for gastronomic and medicinal purposes was carried out among three linguistic communities in Calabria, southern Italy. Ninety interviews with local elderly informants were conducted among Occitans and Arbëreshë, two linguistic minorities, and the dominant culture of autochthonous Calabrians. We recorded 85 taxa belonging to 39 botanical families and 66 different detailed use-reports including 35 culinary and 31 medicinal uses. Our overall data show the permanence of traditional ecological knowledge related to wild and semi-domesticated food and medicinal plants; however, high similarity indices among the three communities demonstrate that traditional ecological knowledge is following the pathway of homogenization and standardization toward the dominant culture, facilitated by a context of linguistic erosion, limited intergenerational transmission, and a centuries-old diffusion with Calabrian culture. Moreover, our study calls for further field surveys in isolated areas of Calabria to analyze how traditional ecological practices can be key tools in the development of local small-scale economies through the promotion of artisanal food entrepreneurship of wild food plant transformation

Cosmological Background Interpretation of Pulsar Timing Array Data

We discuss the interpretation of the detected signal by Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) observations as a gravitational wave background (GWB) of cosmological origin. We combine NANOGrav 15-years and EPTA-DR2new data sets and confront them against backgrounds from supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) and cosmological signals from inflation, cosmic (super)strings, first-order phase transitions, Gaussian and non-Gaussian large scalar fluctuations, and audible axions. We find that scalar-induced, and to a lesser extent audible axion and cosmic superstring signals, provide a better fit than SMBHBs. These results depend, however, on modeling assumptions, so further data and analysis are needed to reach robust conclusions. Independently of the signal origin, the data strongly constrain the parameter space of cosmological signals, for example, setting an upper bound on primordial non-Gaussianity at PTA scales as $|f_{nl}| \lesssim 2.34$ at 95\% CL.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, and Supplemental material. V2: Stronger constraint on $|f_{nl}|$ obtained after correcting a typo in our calculation of the scalar-induced GWB with primordial non-Gaussianity. The version submitted to PR