Alessio Fornasin

Height, socioeconomic status and marriage in Italy around 1900.

This study examines the role of height in the process of mate selection in two Italian populations at the turn of the twentieth century, Alghero, in the province of Sassari, and Treppo Carnico, in the province of Udine. Based on a linkage between military registers and marriage certificates, this study reveals a negative selection of short men on marriage and a differential effect of tallness by population in the process of mate choice. These findings emerge once SES is taken into account in the risk models of marriage.

MUTYH c.933+3A > C, associated with a severely impaired gene expression, is the first Italian founder mutation in MUTYH-Associated Polyposis

MUTYH variants are differently distributed in geographical areas of the world. In MUTYH‐associated polyposis (MAP) patients from North‐Eastern Italy, c.933+3A>C (IVS10+3A>C), a transversion causing an aberrant splicing process, accounts for nearly 1/5 of all mutations. The aim of this study was to verify whether its high frequency in North‐Eastern Italy is due to a founder effect and to clarify its impact on MUTYH transcripts and protein. Haplotype analysis and age estimate performed on members of eleven Italian MAP families and cancer‐free controls provided evidence that c.933+3A>C is a founder mutation originated about 83 generations ago. In addition, the Italian haplotype associated with the c.933+3A>C was also found in German families segregating the same mutation, indicating it had a common origin in Western Europe. Altogether c.933+3A>C and the two common Caucasian mutations p.Tyr179Cys and p.Gly396Asp represent about 60% of MUTYH alterations in MAP patients from North‐Eastern Italy, suggesting the opportunity to perform targeted molecular screening for these variants in the diagnostic setting. Expression analyses performed on lymphoblastoid cell lines supported the notion that MUTYH c.933+3A>C alters splicing causing the synthesis of a non functional protein. However, some primary transcripts escape aberrant splicing, producing traces of full‐length transcript and wild‐type protein in a homozygote; this is in agreement with clinical findings that suggest a relatively mild phenotypic effect for this mutation. Overall, these data, that demonstrate a founder effect and further elucidate the splicing alterations caused by the MUTYH c.933+3A>C mutation, have important implications for genetic counseling and molecular diagnosis of MAP.

Remarriage in a pre-transitional Italian community

The article explores the roles of household compositional factors and socio-economic status on widowhood and remarriage. By using micro-level data from a nineteenth-century Italian community for the period 1819–1859, we found evidence of the very predominant role of household structure in the decision to remarry for both widows and widowers. In particular, the interplay between the presence of a supportive family network and the presence of coresiding children from previous marriages stood out as the key factors. The presence of children aged 12 and under promoted the search for a new bride for widowers, whilst the presence of children of any age, especially young ones, decreased the chances of remarriage for widows.

Between Constraints and Coercion: Marriage and Social Reproduction in Northern and Central Italy, 18th-19th Centuries

In this paper we review the main theories of household and marriage systems, highlighting their inability to account for the astonishing variety of family and marriage patterns that characterized modern Italy. We propose a new interpretative framework, where social reproduction is given pride of place as the main factor shaping marital behavior and household formation in the past. We test our theory analyzing five populations in northern and central Italy, characterized by different ecological, economic, and social conditions. We use an event history analysis approach to model the timing of marriage in the populations under study. The results confirm that coercion mattered much more than Malthusian economic constraints. We conclude suggesting a more general application of our approach to the study of marital behavior, family formation, and residential patterns in the past.

La Mortalità per genere nei primi cinque anni di vita, Italia 1864-1959

Il lavoro offre una panoramica sull’evoluzione della struttura della mortalita e sull’influenza di alcuni fattori sociali ed economici nel processo di selezione per morte durante la prima infanzia, negli anni compresi fra gli ultimi decenni dell’Ottocento e la prima meta del secolo successivo.

Environment, Housing, and Infant Mortality: Udine, 1807–1815

Much research on differentials of mortality focuses on the links to social class and socio-economic status. However, these links can be influenced by the location and spatial distribution of a population in a given area. This effect is particularly evident when considering areas that differ greatly in terms of climate and resources, but less so if the analysis is narrowed to a more limited context, such as individual towns. In many urban settings, the distribution of inhabitants follows a logical pattern because different functions are associated with certain areas. This process creates distinctive districts or sub-areas where the population appears relatively socially and economically homogenous. This means we have to look for associations between mortality and environmental and socio-economic factors. However, the geographical distribution of the population in some urban contexts is less clearly differentiated by the socio-economic status of the family. This analysis of Udine, a small town in north-east Italy, makes use of an integrated database derived from information taken from four sources: (a) Napoleonic civil birth registers; (b) Napoleonic civil death registers; (c) a Napoleonic census with information on housing; and (d) a detailed map of Udine. All four sources report the number of people registered for each house, making it possible to geo-reference demographic events while at the same time, controlling for the quality of the housing. This study has three aims: (1) to examine the possible socio-economic factors that affected infant and child mortality levels in the early nineteenth century; (2) to investigate whether these were affected by the housing quality; and (3) to determine if the spatial distribution of this mortality can be interpreted in the light of social and environmental differentials.

The Other Side of the Medal : Childless Women in Mid-Nineteenth Century Tuscany

This paper aims at describing the process of childlessness in the mid-nineteenth century population of Casalguidi, Tuscany. The focus is on differentials by wealth, measured through family tax, and the possible influence that socioeconomic status (SES) has on sterility, the sole cause of childlessness within marriage for a pre-transitional community.

I secondi matrimoni nell’Italia pre-transizionale. Due casi di studio

I secondi matrimoni nell’Italia pre-transizionale. Due casi di studio Nel lavoro sono confrontati i modelli delle seconde nozze in due popolazioni differenti per localizzazione geografica, regime demografico e sistema di formazione della famiglia. La possibilita di ricostruire le storie di vita degli abitanti di due intere comunita ha consentito di studiare il fenomeno delle seconde nozze in misura piu approfondita di quanto di solito si riesca a fare ricorrendo a dati di tipo aggregato. I risultati fanno luce su alcuni dei meccanismi demografici, sociali ed economici che portavano alcune persone rimaste senza il coniuge a trovare un nuovo compagno ed altre a non risposarsi. Questi modelli evidenziano somiglianze e differenze profonde: una forte asimmetria di genere sia a Casalguidi che a Treppo Carnico unita a una intensita dei secondi matrimoni piu alta nella comunita toscana che in quella carnica. La popolazione di Treppo rivela un alto tasso di celibato permanente, ed aveva anche una tendenza piu bassa al secondo matrimonio, situazione ulteriormente rinforzata dalla presenza di un modello di entrata in unione ritardato. Remarriage in Pre-Transitional Italy. Two case studies In the present work, remarriage patterns of two Italian populations are compared. The communities, Casalguidi (Tuscany) and Treppo Carnico (Friuli) differ in geographical localization, demographic regime and family formation system. The opportunity to reconstruct the life-histories of their inhabitants allowed us to provide important insight in the understanding of the phenomenon. The results shed some light on some of the demographic, social and economic mechanisms that led some widowed people to find a new partner and others to remain unmarried. Our analyses highlight both differences and similarities between the two communities: a strong gender asymmetry in both the populations couples with an intensity of remarriage higher in Casalguidi than in Treppo Carnico. This result is explained mainly by the higher rate of permanent celibacy and later access to marriage existing in the mountain population of Treppo Carnico.

La circonferenza toracica come indicatore dello stato nutrizionale e di salute (Friuli 1867-1910)

Il saggio analizza l’evoluzione dello stato nutrizionale e, piu in generale, delle condizioni di salute della popolazione friulana, concentrando pero l’attenzione sulla circonferenza toracica, uno dei parametri antropometrici regolarmente rilevato nei registri di leva. In questo caso la popolazione in esame e costituita da un vastissimo campione di giovani (oltre 90.000) appartenenti alle classi di leva 1846-1890, in diversi mandamenti friulani. La circonferenza toracica ben si presta a descrivere lo standard di vita ed il livello di salute della popolazione in esame. Tale parametro sembra, inoltre, piu idoneo ad evidenziare eventuali variazioni congiunturali nelle disponibilita alimentari. I risultati dell’analisi effettuata, includendo la serie dei prezzi del mais come proxy delle disponibilita alimentari, mostra come queste ultime influissero significativamente sulla variazioni delle misure relative alla circonferenza toracica.