Gianumberto Caravello

The Upper Mustang (Nepal) ecosystem: population, water quality and tourism.

Upper Mustang, a Nepalese valley of high environmental, social and historical interest, and part of the Mustang District, is located in the Trans Himalayan Region, bordering Tibet to the North, East and West, and from the South along the Kali-Gandaky Valley. The Upper Mustang area was opened to controlled tourism in 1992, such that no more than one thousand trekkers are allowed to visit this area annually. In order to give a clear view of the environmental quality in Upper Mustang, an evaluation has been made of socio-economic factors, water quality conditions, and tourism characteristics using a combination of biophysical parameters, demographic and human considerations, and the Tourist Positioning Index. With respect to ecosystem health, river water quality, spring water quality, state of human ecology and carrying capacity were considered. The observations from this study show that village water resources are vulnerable due to fecal pollution. Water used for drinking is exposed to human and animal fecal pollution because the area is almost totally devoid of sewage systems for the effective disposal of wastewater and human wastes. It is necessary to carry out drainage system in the villages and to protect the taps from animal and human fecal wastes with ‘respect areas.’

SURNAMES AS ALLELES: SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF SURNAMES IN A PROVINCE OF THE ITALIAN ALPS

The present paper seeks to analyse the spatial distribution of surnames in the province of Belluno in the Italian Alps, and describes the internal mobility of the population taking into consideration one of the most important and ancient roads in the area. The study is based on the analysis of the similarity of the frequencies of some autochthonous surnames depending on their geographical distance apart. The population considered turned out to be basically sedentary. When forced to migrate, the population preferred to go far from their homeland rather than inside the area: this happened probably because the opportunities that the province of Belluno could offer were quite scarce throughout the whole territory, and people hoped to improve their economic situation by going abroad.

Genetics of population exchange along the historical portuguese-spanish border

The present analysis compares the distribution of surnames by means of spatial autocorrelation analysis in the Spain-Portugal border region. The Spanish National Institute of Statistics provides a database of surnames of residents in the western Spanish provinces of Zamora, Salamanca, Cáceres, Badajoz and Huelva. The Spanish and Portuguese patterns of surname distribution were established according to various geographic axes. The results obtained show a low diversity of surnames in this region - especially in the centre - which can be explained by the absence of any major geographic barriers, with the exception of the mountain ranges between hydrographic basins, and by the presence of traditional roads that have existed since Roman times. The latter have resulted in a constant migratory flow over short-median distances, which, as can be deduced from the surnames, fits two north/south territorial axes running parallel to the border between Spain and Portugal. The distribution patterns of Portuguese and Spanish surnames differ with regard to their frequencies in the five provinces studied, which can be attributed to their respective historical, economic and social conditions. It is concluded that the border delimiting these two countries has affected the migratory flow, thereby conditioning the demographic and genetic structure of the western Spanish regions.

Distribution of surnames over the Alto Adige-Südtirol region according to local geographic, historical and linguistic features

This paper aims at analysing the distribution of surnames over the Alto Adige-Südtirol, which is an Italian alpine sub-region coinciding with the province of Bolzano-Bozen. Two thirds of the Alto Adige-Südtirol inhabitants are German mother-tongue, whereas the remaining one third is Italian mother-tongue. There is also a minority represented by Ladin-speaking people. Analyses were carried out using a similarity index between different populations, resulting from heads of family surnames distribution over the area. The specificity of the most frequent surnames was also studied. Mapping of surnames took place at municipality level. Municipality populations were grouped according to their valley of residence and territorial geologic and morphological features. The results were interpreted also in the light of historical events and the presence of specific languages or dialects. The geographic neighbourhood, the geo-morphological features of the territory and the easy individual mobility are the main elements for the relations among people living in the valleys of Alto Adige-Südtirol. The ancient ethno-historical substratum is detectable in the spread of the specific languages and dialects, nevertheless it does not play a discriminative role in the above mentioned relations. The socio-economic factors have contributed both to root the autochthonous people in certain places and to modify the structure of surnames in some valleys.

Similarities in the surnames of island and continental populations of the north-western Mediterranean area.

This paper compares the structures of the surnames of 75 municipal populations living in six north-western Mediterranean regions. Its purpose is to unravel the relations between the local populations in Corsica and Sardinia and the links between these populations and those living in the Italian and French continental territory. On the basis of the matrix of similarity of surnames, some topological representations have been drafted showing the above-mentioned relations between populations under the light of their geographical position, their recent history and studies of genetic analysis. Corsica has an eterogeneous surname structure and evident similarity of the north with Tuscany and some centres of continental France. When only the populations of Sardinia were taken into consideration, it emerged that they differ among each other in relation to their geographical position and their history; when, instead, they were considered in relation to other populations outside the island, it was possible to observe that they form a highly different cluster. This study also identified many differences in the analysed geographical areas of Sardinia. In the minor islands - Elba, Giglio, Capraia - the structure of the surnames has a Tuscan origin as well as some similarity with other geographically distant areas, as in the case of the island of Giglio, if compared with some communities of Liguria.

Child toy safety: an interdisciplinary approach to unravel the microbiological hazard posed by soap bubbles

In 2012 some children developed sepsis after playing together with a soap bubble toy. Microbiological testing revealed heavy contamination of the soap solution, which reasonably represented the vehicle of infection. We investigated the issue with a multidisciplinary approach: review of toy safety legislation; microbiological testing of additional samples; query of the RAPEX database for non-compliant soap bubbles; identification of major manufacturing districts. Microbiological contamination of industrial soap bubbles was widespread. Sixty-three notifications of batches contaminated by environmental microorganisms and opportunistic pathogens had been reported. The Chinese had a virtual monopoly of the soap bubble market. We identified two main manufacturing districts in Guangdong Province, both notable for degradation of their water resources. The use of untreated water for the industrial production of soap bubbles may explain the bacterial contamination. Existing legislation provides an unsatisfactory approach for managing microbiological hazards in sensitive toy categories and for identifying responsible parties in import and export of the products.