Migrazioni e inclusione. L'agire agapico di singoli, gruppi e istituzioni

Il fenomeno delle migrazioni si è sviluppato in modo considerevole negli ultimi dieci anni con conseguenze imprevedibili e spostamenti di persone mai verificatisi nella storia dell’umanità. Con questo articolo si offrono alcune prospettive di studio sui principali temi collegati ai fenomeni migratori, con particolare attenzione alle motivazioni dei soggetti mediante un approccio qualitativo. Tali prospettive sono state utilizzate per analizzare tre casi rilevanti in cui ai processi migratori si associano azioni orientate in senso agapico per lo sviluppo di nuove socialità

Cabbage and fermented vegetables : From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT(1)R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance as well as lung and endothelial damage, two severe outcomes of COVID-19. The nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is the most potent antioxidant in humans and can block in particular the AT(1)R axis. Cabbage contains precursors of sulforaphane, the most active natural activator of Nrf2. Fermented vegetables contain many lactobacilli, which are also potent Nrf2 activators. Three examples are: kimchi in Korea, westernized foods, and the slum paradox. It is proposed that fermented cabbage is a proof-of-concept of dietary manipulations that may enhance Nrf2-associated antioxidant effects, helpful in mitigating COVID-19 severity.Peer reviewe

Nrf2-interacting nutrients and COVID-19 : time for research to develop adaptation strategies

There are large between- and within-country variations in COVID-19 death rates. Some very low death rate settings such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and Africa have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods whose intake is associated with the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2) anti-oxidant transcription factor. There are many Nrf2-interacting nutrients (berberine, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, quercetin, resveratrol, sulforaphane) that all act similarly to reduce insulin resistance, endothelial damage, lung injury and cytokine storm. They also act on the same mechanisms (mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin, PPAR gamma:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, NF kappa B: Nuclear factor kappa B, ERK: Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and eIF2 alpha:Elongation initiation factor 2 alpha). They may as a result be important in mitigating the severity of COVID-19, acting through the endoplasmic reticulum stress or ACE-Angiotensin-II-AT(1)R axis (AT(1)R) pathway. Many Nrf2-interacting nutrients are also interacting with TRPA1 and/or TRPV1. Interestingly, geographical areas with very low COVID-19 mortality are those with the lowest prevalence of obesity (Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia). It is tempting to propose that Nrf2-interacting foods and nutrients can re-balance insulin resistance and have a significant effect on COVID-19 severity. It is therefore possible that the intake of these foods may restore an optimal natural balance for the Nrf2 pathway and may be of interest in the mitigation of COVID-19 severity

Rebuilding Hometowns: Religious Worship as an Identity and Tourist Strategies of Place-Making

In a globalized world in which the paths of life project the subjects even in places distant from the birth one and in which the feeling of identity is pluralized and becomes more and more complex, new and stronger mechanisms of resistance and preservation of ties and sense of belonging are generated. The roots tourism represents an answer realized by the emigrants of first, second or even successive generations, able to preserve the link with the territory of origin and, through this, their own identity. This specific form of tourism is therefore, more than any other, a journey into its own history, characterized by the desire to (re)find places connected to its own past or family history. It seems that the identity sought a spatial, physical roots and, in experiencing those places, a sort of confirmation of the fullness of identity. In some cases, however, the return, even when periodic, to the country of origin or to which people feels to belong, is not felt as sufficient to bridge a distance experienced as a lack of identity. This complex dynamic sometimes takes the form of the choice to reproduce in the territory of arrival and in which subjects have consolidated their presence, especially religious traditions that reproduce, in form and manner, those of the city of origin. The aim, more or less consciously pursued, is to build and strengthen an individual and, at the same time, shared imaginary and an identity continuity that prescinds from the material distance that separates the places to which subjects feel to belong. A significant example is represented by the celebration of Mary SS. of Buterrito, also venerated as Madonna del Campo and whose feast falls on August 15, the day of the Assumption of Mary. This is an important celebration for the identity of the inhabitants of Ceglie del Campo, not only an historical place of the city of Bari but its original nucleus, is represented in an identical way also by the community of Ceglie emigrants who now lives in the city of Chicago in Illinois. The contribution aims to analyze these practices in their identity value. This first object will be flanked by a second one that will show, once again but in different forms, how much the re-proposal and especially the reproduction of religious rites is functional to build and maintain an identity bond with the place of origin. The proposed analysis will be enriched by a photographic apparatus that will not only make clearer the overlap and the coincidence of the forms of the religious ritual, but will be an integral part of the analysis itself