The long way to bilingualism: the peculiar case of multilingual South Tyrol

In the present contribution we discuss the challenges and the results of learning a second language in South Tyrol, the multilingual border region in northern Italy where the autochthonous German- and Ladinspeaking communities have cohabited with the Italian-speaking community since the end of the First World War. The picture resulting from the data collected in the Kolipsi project (Eurac/DiScoF), an extensive linguistic and psychosocial investigation about South Tyrolean secondary school pupils now in its second edition, gives precious inputs to all entities that intervene in the process of attitude formation and change, ranging from the family environment to politics.En el presente trabajo, debatimos los retos y los resultados del proceso de aprendizaje de segundas lenguas en el Tirol del Sur, la región fronteriza multilingüe del norte de Italia donde las comunidades autóctonas hablantes de alemán y ladino han convivido con la comunidad italohablante desde el fin de la Primera Guerra Mundial. La imagen resultante de los datos recogidos en el proyecto Kolipsi (Eurac/DiScoF), una investigación abarcadora tanto lingüística como psicosocial sobre alumnado de secundaria del Tirol del Sur, proporciona información muy valiosa a todas las entidades que intervienen en el proceso de la formación y el cambio de las actitudes, desde el entorno familiar hasta el ámbito de la política

What Is the Impact of Nutrition Literacy Interventions on Children’s Food Habits and Nutrition Security? A Scoping Review of the Literature

Introduction: Nutrition literacy is a relatively new concept that seems to have a relevant role on the quality of people’s diets; however, we do not know the role of nutrition literacy interventions on children’s food habits and nutrition security. Methods: We conducted a literature review on four databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane) and we considered studies describing the impact of interventions aimed at improving the quality of children’s diet. Results: A total of six articles were finally included. The total number of participants included in the studies was 4016, and the median study size was equal to 224 participants. Studies included in the review reflected a broad heterogeneity of interventions. Conclusions: The results were contrasting and revealed that the most effective type of nutrition literacy interventions included the following characteristics: technological components, involvement with multiple modalities, duration of more than 4 weeks, and face to face sessions

Multilingualism in South Tyrol: between old fears and new challenges

This contribution illustrates the specific sociolinguistic landscape of South Tyrol, an Italian province where the majority of the population is German-speaking. First, we explain to what extent the division of society into separate language groups has remained in force to this day and to which degree this hinders the achievement of German-Italian bilingual everyday life. Secondly, the discussion focusses on residents with foreign citizenship almost 10 % of the population) and how they deal with and live this local sociolinguistic situation. Against the backdrop of the changed transformed socio-demographic situation, we discuss possible strategies as to how the longstanding focus on bilingualism may be expanded to include multilingualism, which is already mostly in place

Insights into the Predictors of Attitude toward Entomophagy: The Potential Role of Health Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in a Sample of Students of the University of Florence

In Western countries, one of the main barriers to entomophagy is repulsion toward insects. Few studies have investigated the factors that influence attitudes toward entomophagy. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving a sample of 248 university students, focusing on disgust and other potential attributes that can influence insect consumption, including health literacy. We used a 17-item self-administered questionnaire. Consistent with the literature, two items were chosen as outcome variables to evaluate the predictors of the propensity to consume insects: “Have you ever eaten insects or insect-based products?” and “How disgusting do you find eating insects?” The data analysis shows that having already eaten insects is inversely associated with the level of disgust (OR: 0.1, p < 0.01); and it is positively associated with higher levels of health literacy (OR: 3.66, p > 0.01). Additionally, having some knowledge and information about entomophagy is inversely associated with a higher level of disgust (OR: 0.44, p = 0.03 and OR: 0.25, p = 0.03, respectively), while being female is positively associated with disgust (OR: 3.26, p < 0.01). Our results suggest the potential role of health literacy, in addition to other factors, in influencing the willingness to taste insects. However, further studies involving larger and non-convenience samples are needed to confirm our hypothesis

Modeling Human Muscular Dystrophies in Zebrafish: Mutant Lines, Transgenic Fluorescent Biosensors, and Phenotyping Assays

: Muscular dystrophies (MDs) are a heterogeneous group of myopathies characterized by progressive muscle weakness leading to death from heart or respiratory failure. MDs are caused by mutations in genes involved in both the development and organization of muscle fibers. Several animal models harboring mutations in MD-associated genes have been developed so far. Together with rodents, the zebrafish is one of the most popular animal models used to reproduce MDs because of the high level of sequence homology with the human genome and its genetic manipulability. This review describes the most important zebrafish mutant models of MD and the most advanced tools used to generate and characterize all these valuable transgenic lines. Zebrafish models of MDs have been generated by introducing mutations to muscle-specific genes with different genetic techniques, such as (i) N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) treatment, (ii) the injection of specific morpholino, (iii) tol2-based transgenesis, (iv) TALEN, (v) and CRISPR/Cas9 technology. All these models are extensively used either to study muscle development and function or understand the pathogenetic mechanisms of MDs. Several tools have also been developed to characterize these zebrafish models by checking (i) motor behavior, (ii) muscle fiber structure, (iii) oxidative stress, and (iv) mitochondrial function and dynamics. Further, living biosensor models, based on the expression of fluorescent reporter proteins under the control of muscle-specific promoters or responsive elements, have been revealed to be powerful tools to follow molecular dynamics at the level of a single muscle fiber. Thus, zebrafish models of MDs can also be a powerful tool to search for new drugs or gene therapies able to block or slow down disease progression

Health literacy and public health: a conceptual paper

The concept of Health literacy is rapidly evolving from an individual to a public perspective, since it is nowadays clearer than in the past years that it is a fundamental dimension of appropriate use of healthcare services and, consequently, of the general healthcare status of the citizens' community. Public health literacy is becoming more and more important in terms of developing life skills, and can contribute to promote a real change in lifestyles and life conditions; when referring to "life conditions" and "community health", it would be meant how relevant health literacy can assume for the impact it can have in increasing the participation of the community, in making decisions that have a strong effect on the health of the population (critical health literacy), so giving way to the trespassing of this discipline in the field of community prevention and health promotion

The San Carlo Colossus: An Insight into the Mild Galvanic Coupling between Wrought Iron and Copper

: The San Carlo Colossus, known as San Carlone, is a monument constituted by an internal stone pillar support to which a wrought iron structure is attached. Embossed copper sheets are fixed to the iron structure to give the final shape to the monument. After more than 300 years of outdoor exposure, this statue represents an opportunity for an in-depth investigation of long-term galvanic coupling between wrought iron and copper. Most iron elements of the San Carlone appeared in good conservation conditions with scarce evidence of galvanic corrosion. In some cases, the same iron bars presented some portions in good conservation conditions and other nearby portions with active corrosion. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible factors correlated with such mild galvanic corrosion of wrought iron elements despite the widespread direct contact with copper for more than 300 years. Optical and electronic microscopy and compositional analyses were carried out on representative samples. Furthermore, polarisation resistance measurements were performed both on-site and in a laboratory. The results revealed that the iron bulk composition showed a ferritic microstructure with coarse grains. On the other hand, the surface corrosion products were mainly composed of goethite and lepidocrocite. Electrochemical analyses showed good corrosion resistance of both the bulk and surface of the wrought iron, and galvanic corrosion is not occurring probably due to the iron's relatively noble corrosion potential. The few areas where iron corrosion was observed are apparently related to environmental factors, such as the presence of thick deposits and to the presence of hygroscopic deposits that create localized microclimatic conditions on the surface of the monument

Mutant MYO1F alters the mitochondrial network and induces tumor proliferation in thyroid cancer

Familial aggregation is a significant risk factor for the development of thyroid cancer and Familial Non-Medullary Thyroid Cancer (FNMTC) accounts for 5-7% of all NMTC. Whole Exome Sequencing analysis in the family affected by FNMTC with oncocytic features where our group previously identified a predisposing locus on chromosome 19p13.2, revealed a novel heterozygous mutation (c.400G>A, NM_012335; p.Gly134Ser) in exon 5 of MYO1F, mapping to the linkage locus. In the thyroid FRTL-5 cell model stably expressing the mutant MYO1F p.Gly134Ser protein we observed an altered mitochondrial network, with increased mitochondrial mass and a significant increase of both intracellular and extracellular Reactive Oxygen Species, compared to cells expressing the wild-type protein or carrying the empty vector. The mutation conferred a significant advantage in colony formation, invasion and anchorage independent growth. These data were corroborated by in vivo studies in zebrafish, since we demonstrated that the mutant MYO1F p.Gly134Ser, when overexpressed, can induce proliferation in whole vertebrate embryos, compared to the wild-type one. MYO1F screening in additional 192 FNMTC families identified another variant in exon 7, which leads to exon skipping, and is predicted to alter the ATP-binding domain in MYO1F. Our study identified for the first time a role for MYO1F in NMTC. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved