Wild food plants of popular use in Sicily

In the present work the authors report the result of their food ethnobotanical researches, which have been carried out in Sicily during the last thirty years. Data concerning 188 wild species used in the traditional Sicilian cuisine are reported. The authors underline those species that are partially or completely unknown for their culinary use and they illustrate other species that local inhabitants suggested in the prevention or treatment of symptomatologies caused by a refined diet, poor in vegetables. These data want to contribute to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on uses and recipes concerning wild food botanicals, and to encourage further studies for those species that have not yet been sufficiently researched in their food chemical and nutritional profile. These studies may also suggest new applications for a few botanicals in medico-nutritional fields. The work includes also a short review of the seaweeds and mushrooms traditionally gathered and consumed in Sicily

Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review

BACKGROUND: This paper is an ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants gathered for consumption from the end of the 18(th )century to the present day, within the present borders of Poland. METHODS: 42 ethnographic and botanical sources documenting the culinary use of wild plants were analyzed. RESULTS: The use of 112 species (3.7% of the flora) has been recorded. Only half of them have been used since the 1960s. Three species: Cirsium rivulare, Euphorbia peplus and Scirpus sylvaticus have never before been reported as edible by ethnobotanical literature. The list of wild edible plants which are still commonly gathered includes only two green vegetables (Rumex acetosa leaves for soups and Oxalis acetosella as children's snack), 15 folk species of fruits and seeds (Crataegus spp., Corylus avellana, Fagus sylvatica, Fragaria vesca, Malus domestica, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus spp., Rosa canina, Rubus idaeus, Rubus sect. Rubus, Sambucus nigra, Vaccinium myrtillus, V. oxycoccos, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea) and four taxa used for seasoning or as preservatives (Armoracia rusticana root and leaves, Carum carvi seeds, Juniperus communis pseudo-fruits and Quercus spp. leaves). The use of other species is either forgotten or very rare. In the past, several species were used for food in times of scarcity, most commonly Chenopodium album, Urtica dioica, U. urens, Elymus repens, Oxalis acetosella and Cirsium spp., but now the use of wild plants is mainly restricted to raw consumption or making juices, jams, wines and other preserves. The history of the gradual disappearance of the original barszcz, Heracleum sphondylium soup, from Polish cuisine has been researched in detail and two, previously unpublished, instances of its use in the 20(th )century have been found in the Carpathians. An increase in the culinary use of some wild plants due to media publications can be observed. CONCLUSION: Poland can be characterized as a country where the traditions of culinary use of wild plants became impoverished very early, compared to some parts of southern Europe. The present use of wild plants, even among the oldest generation, has been almost entirely restricted to fruits

Mitochondrial protein sorting as a therapeutic target for ATP synthase disorders

Mitochondrial diseases are systemic, prevalent and often fatal; yet treatments remain scarce. Identifying molecular intervention points that can be therapeutically targeted remains a major challenge, which we confronted via a screening assay we developed. Using yeast models of mitochondrial ATP synthase disorders, we screened a drug repurposing library, and applied genomic and biochemical techniques to identify pathways of interest. Here we demonstrate that modulating the sorting of nuclear-encoded proteins into mitochondria, mediated by the TIM23 complex, proves therapeutic in both yeast and patient-derived cells exhibiting ATP synthase deficiency. Targeting ​TIM23-dependent protein sorting improves an array of phenotypes associated with ATP synthase disorders, including biogenesis and activity of the oxidative phosphorylation machinery. Our study establishes mitochondrial protein sorting as an intervention point for ATP synthase disorders, and because of the central role of this pathway in mitochondrial biogenesis, it holds broad value for the treatment of mitochondrial diseases

Fysioterapeutens fremgangsmåte i møte med kvinner med bekkenleddsplager etter svangerskapet - De viktigste elementene

Sammendrag Hensikt Denne oppgaven har til hensikt å vie oppmerksomhet til kvinner med bekkenleddsplager etter svangerskapet, og få dypere innsikt i viktige elementer fysioterapeuten har med i tilnærmingen til pasientgruppen. Problemstilling «Hva er de viktigste elementene som bør inngå i fysioterapeutens møte med kvinner med bekkenleddsplager etter svangerskapet?» Metode En kvalitativ metode basert på fire semistrukturerte kvalitative intervju ble brukt til å skrive denne oppgaven. Informantene er norske fysioterapeuter med spesialkompetanse på bekkenleddsplager. Intervjuene ble gjennomført både fysisk og digitalt, og det ble tatt notater underveis. Dataene ble analysert med bakgrunn i Malterud (2011) sin analysemetode: systematisk tekstkondensering. Resultat Resultatene viser at kvinner med bekkenleddsplager etter svangerskapet er en pasientgruppe som ofte kan kjennetegnes med sammensatte psykososiale faktorer. Disse faktorene vil kunne forverre eller opprettholde smertene. Derfor vektlegger informantene aspekter som trygging, økt helsekompetanse, hverdagsmestring og større kroppsbevissthet i tilnærmingen av pasientgruppen. Videre uttrykket informantene at en grundig kartlegging er avgjørende for optimal tilnærming. Avslutningsvis kom det frem at kunnskapen om bekkenleddsplager generelt er lav både blant helsepersonell og i befolkningen. Konklusjon Vi fant tre viktige elementer for tilnærmingen til denne pasientgruppen, derav: skape en tillitsfull relasjon mellom terapeut og pasient, heve helsekompetansen hos pasienten og økt kroppsbevissthet. Det kom likevel frem at det finnes flere typer pasienter som vil kunne kreve forskjellige vektlegging av disse tre elementene. Hvor mye fokus de skal ha på hvert element kan bestemmes av hvilket aspekt i den biopsykososiale modellen som har størst betydning for plagene.Abstract Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to highlight women with pelvic girdle pain after pregnancy, and to gain a deeper insight into important elements that the physiotherapist includes in the approach with this patient group. Research question «What are the most important elements that should be included in the physiotherapist's meeting with women with pelvic girdle pain after pregnancy?" Method A qualitative approach based on four semi-structured qualitative interviews was used to write this thesis. The informants are Norwegian physiotherapists with special expertise in pelvic girdle pain. The interviews were conducted both physically and digitally, and notes were taken along the way. The data was analyzed based on Malterud's (2017) analysis method: systematic text condensation. Results The results show that women with pelvic girdle pain after pregnancy are a patient group that often can be characterized by complex psychosocial factors. Complex psychosocial factors may cause the pain to be unchanged or worsen. Therefore, the informants emphasize aspects such as , safety, increased health knownledge, coping with everyday life and greater body awareness in the approach of the patient group. Furthermore, the informants expressed that a thourough mapping is crucial for an optimal approach. Finally it appeared that the knowledge of pelvic girdle pain is generally low both among healthcare personnel and in the general population. Conclusion We found three important elements for the approach to this patient group, hence: creating a trusting relationship between therapist and patient, raising the patient's health skills and increased body awareness. It nevertheless emerged that there are several types of patients who may require different emphasis on these three elements. How much focus they should have on each element can be determined by which aspect of the biopsychosocial model has the greatest significance for the pain

On the generation and propagation of multiple pure tones inside turbofans at transonic regime

Whereas the sound radiated from the inlet of turbofans is mainly due to rotor-stator interactions in approach flight, the shock waves (or N-waves) emitted by the rotor at transonic rotation speeds can be a dominant noise source during takeoff and climb. The study of N-waves needs to take account of two main processes: (i) The generation of N-waves for a perfect rotor (where all blades are identical) and for a real rotor (considering small geometrical blade dispersion); (ii) The N-wave propagation through the inlet duct producing the blade passing harmonics for a perfect rotor, and the multiple pure tones (harmonics of the rotation frequency) for a real rotor. Several approaches have been investigated for the past forty years. This paper intends to cross-check the main methods by applying them to two modern turbofan demonstrators. Moreover, a prospective way of N-wave generation based on geometrical considerations is investigated thanks to test data related to pressure signal and blade stagger angle measurements during the engine rotation. This prediction overcomes some drawbacks of other methods. Moreover, it appears to be very efficient to build rotor blade orderings that reduce the sound pressure level of the multiple pure tones