Prove di coltivazione di camomilla comune (Chamomilla recutita Rausch.) nell'ambiente semiarido mediterraneo.

La Camomilla comune (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rausch) è una pianta erbacea annuale originaria del sud-est asiatico, che oggi, grazie alle sue riconosciute proprietà calmanti e sedative, è largamente diffusa e coltivata in tutto il mondo. In tempi recenti, un forte interesse verso la specie deriva anche dalla sua possibilità di utilizzazione in svariate branche dell’industria, dalla farmaceutica (che ne sfrutta le proprietà sedative e antinfiammatorie), alla cosmetica (che la utilizza per la preparazione di creme, detergenti, profumi e shampoo), all’alimentare (che ne fa uso per bevande, dolci, gelati, liquori e vermouth). La larga diffusione della specie fa sì che in larga parte la sua tecnica colturale sia nota in quasi tutto il mondo. Rimangono tuttavia ancora da verificare alcuni aspetti relativi all’adattamento dell’agrotecnica alle aree semiaride mediterranee, dove la camomilla sembra trovare condizioni idonee allo sviluppo. Il presente lavoro riporta i risultati di alcune prove preliminari condotte dal DAAT (Dipartimento di Agronomia Ambientale e Territoriale) dell’Università di Palermo dal 2001 al 2005 presso l’azienda sperimentale “Sparacia” (Cammarata – AG) allo scopo di valutare l’attitudine della specie alle condizioni di coltivazione in pieno campo. La camomilla ha dimostrato notevoli capacità di adattamento, esprimendo buoni livelli produttivi anche nelle non facili condizioni di coltivazione dell’ambiente di prova. Da segnalare la sua notevole attitudine all’autorisemina, che anche in assenza di significativi input colturali ha consentito anche per due anni consecutivi di ottenere produzioni paragonabili a quelle ottenute nell’anno di semina

Exploitation of native Labiatae in Sicily

The family Labiatae is extremely rich in genera and species, and many of them are native to Mediterranean environments. In Sicily, a great interest is devoted since ancient times to their cultivation and use, and they are traditionally used for a great deal of purposes, from cookery to phytotherapy. When their cultivation is addressed to their traditional purposes (as spices, savory herbs or herbal medicines), the major aspects of their cropping technique are well established. However, there are two many reason why their traditional cropping technique should be deeply reviewed. First, many of their productive steps (from sowing to harvest) require a great deal of manpower, and the enhancement of production costs due to this constraint does not allow the Sicilian product to have competitive prices on global market. Second, the newest tendencies of chemical industry suggest for many native Labiatae a great deal of new fields of use, that require the cultivation to be carried on with different objectives and therefore with different methods. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of research concerning the most interesting Labiatae native to the Sicilian environments, also underlying the constraints and challenges related to their full exploitations in such areas

BiodiverCity: a first investigation on bird communities in two urban green areas of Palermo, Sicily

Since the 1980s, there has been a growing worldwide interest on urban bird diversity. The avifauna of Mediterranean cities has been however poorly investigated with standardized methods. Accordingly, our investigation aimed to record breeding and migrating species in two XVIII-century green areas of Palermo town: Villa Trabia (8 ha) and the Botanical Garden (10 ha). Starting from spring 2019, we carried 15 census sessions by point-counts, during the morning hours (10 points at Villa Trabia and 11 at the Botanical Garden, set with a minimum distance of 50 m) by recording, in each point, all the birds seen or heard within 10 min. Our preliminary results show that the study sites are mainly visited by ubiquitous Mediterranean bird species. We also correlated species presence and abundance with GIS-mapped flora distribution recorded at the Botanical Garden, to assess potential preference or avoidance in bird behaviours. We finally discuss the potential scientific and management implications to extend this investigation both temporally, across seasons and years, and spatially, in different urban parks, with the aim to compare urban avifauna presence and trend with rural avian communities

The Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Time to Primary, Secondary Resection and Adjuvant Intravesical Therapy in Patients with High-Risk Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Retrospective Multi-Institutional Cohort Analysis

Simple Summary: The worldwide COVID-19 emergency has had an important impact on healthcare systems with the need to assist infected patients and also treat non-deferrable oncological conditions. In urology, the main concern has been for patients with bladder cancer, the tenth most common malignancy, where the quality and the alacrity of treatment has a clear well-demonstrated impact on the survivor. The aim of our Italian multi-institutional retrospective study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on diagnosis and treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. We observed a significant delay between diagnosis and surgical treatment, with a lower adherence to the standard therapeutic scheme such as BCG intravesical instillation and urological guidelines. We also recorded a different attitude in treatment depending on the patients' location in Italy. Further investigation could show the impact of the pandemic on the survival of these patients.Background: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the diagnosis and treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using an Italian multi-institutional database of TURBT patients with high-risk urothelial NMIBC between January 2019 and February 2021, followed by Re-TURBT and/or adjuvant intravesical BCG. Results: A total of 2591 patients from 27 institutions with primary TURBT were included. Of these, 1534 (59.2%) and 1056 (40.8%) underwent TURBT before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, respectively. Time between diagnosis and TURBT was significantly longer during the COVID-19 period (65 vs. 52 days, p = 0.002). One thousand and sixty-six patients (41.1%) received Re-TURBT, 604 (56.7%) during the pre-COVID-19. The median time to secondary resection was significantly longer during the COVID-19 period (55 vs. 48 days, p < 0.0001). A total of 977 patients underwent adjuvant intravesical therapy after primary or secondary resection, with a similar distribution across the two groups (n = 453, 86% vs. n = 388, 86.2%). However, the proportion of the patients who underwent maintenance significantly differed (79.5% vs. 60.4%, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic represented an unprecedented challenge to our health system. Our study did not show significant differences in TURBT quality. However, a delay in treatment schedule and disease management was observed. Investigation of the oncological impacts of those differences should be advocated