Northwestern Tuscany Research Articles

Demography and reproductive performance ofCalystegia soldanellaon a sandy seashore in Tuscany, Italy

Calystegia soldanella (L.) R.Br. is a psammophyte growing in the coastal foredunes of temperate areas. We investigated its demography and reproductive performance, to improve the in situ and ex situ management of the species as an essential element in planning the stabilization of the shoreline. The studied population is located in northwestern Tuscany, Italy. Demographic data were recorded in 20 quadrats from May to October 2009. Self-pollination ability has been tested by wrapping flower buds in cotton lint. Seeds traits (length, width, depth, shape index, mass, and water content), flotation ability, and germination percentage have been determined on seeds collected from the study site. The presence of C. soldanella seeds in the soil seed bank has been investigated by sifting the sand of 30 soil core samples. Our results showed that ramet density decreases during summer, mainly owing to drought. Predation reduces ramet size especially in spring and autumn, but rarely fatally, having the greatest impact on flower removal and, therefore, in decreasing the population’s genetic variability. Self-pollination does not occur and the percentage of reproductive ramets increases with their size. Tested seeds were able to float on water and germinated to 100%. No C. soldanella seeds were observed in the soil core samples. While suggesting useful indications for the management of the investigated population, our results provide a guideline for a more comprehensive study about the management of C. soldanella.

Small sinkhole-like features in alluvial plains: the example of Paganico (Lucca Plain, Italy)

Abstract. Paganico is a little village located in the southeastern portion of the Lucca Plain (northwestern Tuscany, Italy). Since the seventies, a few square kilometers' area around Paganico has been involved in the opening of small cavities (sinkhole-like) on the land surface. At the beginning they were very small and sporadic. Later on the phenomena were characterized by a significant extension, increasing in frequency and size (up to 2 m in diameter and depth), causing inconvenience to local people, agricultural operations and occasionally a little damage (cracks to buildings, fencing walls and outside floorings). The cavities prevalently occur at the end of the dry season, during or immediately after the first intense rainy events, that is, between the end of summer and early autumn. Even so, the predisposition and triggering causes at present are not completely clarified. Therefore this study is aimed at individuating the triggering and evolution mechanism of the Paganico sinkhole-like features, particularly referring to the stratigraphic, hydrogeological and geotechnical features of the involved materials. Another important issue made clear with this research is represented by the overexploitation of the local aquifer, characterized by particular hydro-structural conditions. In fact, the Paganico underground shows three horizons with different lithologic, hydrogeological and geotechnical properties: a superficial silty-sandy horizon (2–3 m thick), which is particularly involved in collapses; an intermediate silty-clayey horizon (2–4 m thick); and a lower and thick gravel-pebbly horizon, characterized by important water resources and heavy pumping. Since the seventies, such water pumping rose considerably due to the local demographic (well field), industrial (paper manufacture) and agricultural development. From a hydrogeological point of view, this area is consequently characterized by two water tables: a temporary one, housed in the superficial silty-sandy horizon (perched aquifer), and a second one, confined, associated with the lower gravel-pebbly horizon (aquifer). The perched aquifer and confined aquifer are separated by an impermeable silty-clayey horizon. According to the observations resulting from this study, the latter probably tends to fracture by desiccation during the dry season, originating water exchange between the two water tables during the first important autumnal rainfall, depending on the pumping conditions, which lower the piezometric surface of the confined aquifer. Cracking would also characterize the superficial horizon. Thus, the water exchange would produce erosional phenomena in the superficial material, with removal of the fine fraction and collapse. This process could be at the origin of the cavities opening.

From Stones to Gendered Bodies: Regional Differences in the Production of the Body and Gender on the Copper Age Statue-Menhirs of Northern Italy and the Swiss Valais

Much research has been carried out on identifying gendered iconography on statue-menhirs. This paper seeks to develop this perspective by considering the broader body concepts. Body concepts are of interest to archaeologists because they are closely connected to issues of sex, gender, and age. By investigating stone sculptures, however, we are looking at an ideological view of the body that was produced by reducing the stone from its natural form into a statue-menhir. The presence of bodily features on the statue-menhirs suggests that it was important to construct a body, and that certain aspects of the body were chosen to be represented, either through the size and shape of the stone or iconography, while others were neglected. We propose this is a significant means by which stones were made into bodies and gendered beings. To investigate body concepts, we pose two questions: how was a statue-menhir body made, and how was it gendered? By following the reduction sequence of the stone as the technique of production, we investigate which bodily features were important in constructing a body and in gendering it. We do this through analysing and comparing three regional examples of anthropomorphic statue-menhirs: (1) The Lunigiana groups A and B in northwestern Tuscany and eastern-most Liguria, (2) the Atesino group in Trentino-Alto Adige, and (3) the Sion Type A in the Swiss Valais and the Aosta Style I in northern Italy. Although there is a shared statue-menhir tradition in the three regions and beyond, the observations in this paper suggest that the bodily gender categories were negotiated regionally.

Provenance and compositional analysis of marbles from the medieval Abbey of San Caprasio, Aulla (Tuscany, Italy)

A compositional study of twenty-two marble artefacts from the medieval Benedictine Abbey of San Caprasio at Aulla (North-western Tuscany, Central Italy) has been carried out. The mineralogical and petrographic analyses, the estimation of the maximum grain size of the calcite crystals, and the determination of carbon and oxygen stable isotopes support a provenance of most marbles from the Apuan Alps quarries (Italy). Only some marbles indicate a probable provenance from the islands of Paros and Thasos in the eastern Mediterranean area.

Critical rainfall thresholds for triggering shallow landslides in the Serchio River Valley (Tuscany, Italy)

Abstract. The Serchio River Valley, in north-western Tuscany, is a well-known tourism area between the Apuan Alps and the Apennines. This area is frequently hit by heavy rainfall, which often triggers shallow landslides, debris flows and debris torrents, sometimes causing damage and death. The assessment of the rainfall thresholds for the initiation of shallow landslides is very important in order to improve forecasting and to arrange efficient alarm systems. With the aim of defining the critical rainfall thresholds for the Middle Serchio River Valley, a detailed analysis of the main rainstorm events was carried out. The hourly rainfall recorded by three rain gauges in the 1935–2010 interval was analysed and compared with the occurrence of shallow landslides. The rainfall thresholds were defined in terms of mean intensity I, rainfall duration D, and normalized using the mean annual precipitation. Some attempts were also carried out to analyze the role of rainfall prior to the damaging events. Finally, the rainfall threshold curves obtained for the study area were compared with the local, regional and global curves proposed by various authors. The results of this analysis suggest that in the study area landslide activity initiation requires a higher amount of rainfall and greater intensity than elsewhere.

Historical research as a tool in estimating hydrogeological hazard in a typical small alpine-like area: The example of the Versilia River basin (Apuan Alps, Italy)

Morphological and landscape features (broad, beautiful sandy beaches close to high and impressive mountains) make the Versilia area one of the most important tourist areas in Italy, located in north-western Tuscany and facing the Ligurian Sea. Nevertheless, this particular geographic configuration contributes to a high frequency of intense meteorological phenomena.This paper presents the most significant results of an investigation into historical events (floods and landslides) occurring in the last centuries in the Versilia River basin. The main purpose is to contribute to hydrogeological hazard assessment in the Apuan area as well as to collect useful data in order to make a catalog of disastrous events.The research confirms the vulnerability of the territory being studied (186 damaging events from 1328 to 2009), which was emphasized by the tragic hydrogeological catastrophe of June 19, 1996 (13 fatalities). High severity events can also be identified in 1636, 1774, 1846, 1885 and 1902, together with many less intense events, which nonetheless had significant consequences.The damaging events show both a tendency to recur in the same areas, as well as a significant rise in frequency during the last centuries. These, in turn, probably depend on concurring factors: increased number and reliability of information sources; increased attention to the damaging phenomena; expansion of the elements at risk; possible climate changes. In the Versilia River basin, the average frequency is 1 damaging event every 3.7years. An event similar to June 1996 should have a recurrence time of about 110years. Moreover, the data forms the basis for a preliminary, but significant, classification of these identified events. This classification is based on event severity, deduced or estimated from the information gathered.

Molecular epidemiology of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates in hospitals in North-Western Tuscany

The emergence and spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae represents a major clinical and public health challenge, especially concerning those organisms that produce Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)–type b-lactamase. In this study, we examined the molecular epidemiology of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains, isolated during sporadic or epidemic cases in different hospitals of North-Western Tuscany (NWT).

Between Plenty and Poverty Foraging in the Salento with Patience Gray

Patience Gray was one of the first food writers to celebrate the culinary and cultural significance of edible weeds and plants. In 1970 she and her husband, the Belgian sculptor Norman Mommens, settled in the far south of Italy. It was the endpoint of their Mediterranean odyssey, which had taken them to the Greek island of Naxos, Carrara, in northwestern Tuscany, Catalonia, the Veneto, and finally Puglia. Gray’s Honey from a Weed, the product of those travels, remains one of the best texts on wild foods and on edible weeds in particular. Drawing on Gray’s unpublished letters and manuscripts this essay explores the life of one of the twentieth century’s most unusual and often overlooked food writers. The contemporary uses and significance of edible weeds and plants are also discussed through foraging trips and interviews with Gray’s friends and neighbors. Though Gray warned that traditional ways of life were dying out, it is clear that foraging is still an important part of the Salentine diet.

Corrensite and chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed layers in sandstones from the ‘Macigno’ Formation (northwestern Tuscany, Italy)

AbstractCorrensite and chlorite-rich chlorite-smectite (Chl-S) mixed-layers occurring in the Macigno Formation of northwestern Tuscany were investigated by XRPD/SEM techniques. The samples from the Macigno outcrops were affected by metamorphism corresponding to the high-diagenesis/low-anchizone transition boundary. The basal spacing of corrensite measured from 00lreflections on EG–Mg2+-saturated samples ranges from 30.97 to 31.18 Å with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.46–0.77%, consistent with the rational pattern of a 1:1 Chl-S periodic stacking sequence. X-ray patterns of heated K+-saturated specimens reveal the presence of two types of corrensite, probably with different interlayer charges on their respective smectite-like layers. The chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed layers coexisting with corrensite consist of R2 chlorite (0.70–0.75)/S and chlorite (0.90)/S with long-range orderingR⩾ 1. SEM observations show that corrensite and chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed-layers are closely mixed on a sub-micron scale. Some grains of corrensite and chlorite-rich Chl-S mixed-layers include zones (2–10 μm) of chlorite composition, as shown by microprobe analyses.

Relationships between mineralogical composition, water absorption and hydric dilatation in the "Macigno" sandstones from Lunigiana (Massa, Tuscany)

Despite its good technical properties, the “Macigno” sandstone undergoes a typical process of decay when used outdoor, consisting prevalently in a flaking of the stone surface with detachment of rock fragments. In order to understand the causes of this decay, the relationships between mineralogy and physical rock properties were investigated. Twenty-six rock samples were collected from quarries situated near the villages of Fivizzano and Pontremoli (the Lunigiana area of northwestern Tuscany, Italy) and examined for their chemical (XRF), mineralogical (XRPD) and petrographic (optical microscopy) characteristics, as well as physical properties such as real and bulk densities, water absorption capacity and linear dilatation coefficient of water-saturated samples. The phyllosilicate minerals of the sandstone were studied on oriented aggregates of the <4 μm fractions by X-ray powder diffraction, and their chemical composition determined by EDS microprobe analyses. The cationic exchange capacity (C.E.C.) was measured on fifteen selected samples. The studied sandstones are fine- to coarse-grained, arkoses and lithic arkoses whose colour ranges from grey to yellowish. The normative carbonate fraction consists essentially of calcite; its amount is generally low (<1–10%), with the exception of three samples collected in the Turlago-Labiano quarry, which contained calcite concentrations of up to 14, 15 and 38%, respectively. The normative non-carbonate fraction is made up of quartz (19–34%), K-feldspars (7–13%), plagioclase (14–33%), mica-like minerals (4–10%) and chlorite s.l. (5–26%). Mica-like minerals include muscovite (illite), minor amounts of biotite and sporadic illite/smectite mixed-layers (I/S). Chlorite s.l. includes chlorite s.s. and chlorite/smectite mixed-layer phases (Chl/S). The content of the sandstone smectitic component, predominantly associated to Chl/S, ranges from 1 to 7 (wt.%). C.E.C. varies from 2.4 to 11.1 meq/100g. Water absorption capacity (wt.% of dry samples) as well as hydric dilatation of the stone upon water saturation increase with increasing smectite content, indicating that this swelling component may play an important role in the “Macigno” sandstones decay.

Soluble CD40 Ligand Is Predictive of Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality at Two-Year Follow-Up in Patients on Haemodialysis From North-Western Tuscany

Soluble CD40 Ligand Is Predictive of Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality at Two-Year Follow-Up in Patients on Haemodialysis From North-Western Tuscany

‘&lt;i&gt;Cui multum datum est&lt;/i&gt;...’ La confraternita dei Bianchi di Fosdinovo (Toscana, Italia) tra XV e XVII secolo

This article is a brief history and overview of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Annunciation (Compagnia della Santissima Annunziata) in Fosdinovo, a small town in the Lunigiana region in north-western Tuscany. From the fourteenth to the eighteenth century the town’s history was closely connected with the Malaspina family. The principal source of information for the confraternity is its oldest book, an unpublished paper register datable to 1614. The confraternity itself was founded in 1468, just a few months before the Marquis Gabriele Malaspina assumed possession of the territory in the wake of an agreement that finally ended the conflicts between the heirs of Antonio Alberico Malaspina. From the moment of its foundation the confraternity had an oratory. In 1653 the oratory was rebuilt by Pasquale Malaspina as a rather sizeable building (25 m x 13 m). The church holds a valuable fifteenth-century wooden statue of the Madonna Annunciate, to whom, from the seventeenth century on, many miracles have been attributed. The confraternity’s first book is a rich fount of information for the physical aspects of the oratory that allows us to track the work carried out on it and to analyze the confraternity’s organizational structures. In light of this information, the confraternity seems to have been primarily interested in the organization of its members’ devotional life and in religious rituals. It did have, however, a small mutual assistance program that came into operation especially at the time of a member’s death and saw to the funeral services of the deceased and related rituals. The confraternity’s membership list indicates that in the seventeenth century, a time of great importance in the history of the confraternity, there was relatively little evolution in a dynastic sense and the highest positions in the organization went to members from a restricted number of families.

Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, Riflessioni, Brani, and: Folk Theatre in Emilia/Teatro Popolare in Emilia: Il Maggio drammatico (review)

Reviewed by: Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, Riflessioni,Brani, and: Folk Theatre in Emilia/Teatro Popolare inEmilia: Il Maggio drammatico Luisa Del Giudice Il Maggio Emiliano: Ricordi, Riflessioni, Brani. 2003. By JoAnn Cavallo. 93 min. DVD, PAL format. Folk Theatre in Emilia/Teatro Popolare in Emilia: Il Maggio drammatico. 2002. By Tullia Magrini. CD-ROM format. Si.Lab Edizioni Multimediali, Florence. The Maggio is a form of epic Italian folk theatre that involves ritual, music, dance, and dramatization. 1 It is traditional to the Emilian-Tuscan Appenine area, and in mapping the areas in which it is performed, ethnomusicologist Tullia Magrini identifies three main regions of Maggio performance: (1) Emilia, around the cities of Modena and Reggio; (2) northwestern Tuscany and the cities of Pisa and Lucca; and (3) the northerly Garfagnana-Lunigiana areas. In her recent CD-ROM on the Maggio, Magrini calls the genre "the most important living tradition of musical theater in Italy." Folklorist Paolo Toschi viewed this tradition as a form of spring ritual dramatizing the agon between the forces of good and evil, between life and death, between summer and winter. In the Maggio, this struggle traditionally is manifested in the battles between Christian heroes and pagan foes, largely through plots and characters derived from the Charlemagne epic cycle. 2 In this regard, it follows the Italian literary tradition derived specifically from I reali di Francia by Andrea da Barberino, which is based on the classics by Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso. Maggio history, indeed, demonstrates how deeply the Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto and the Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso penetrated into mountain culture by means of popular editions sold at markets and fairs. Many features of this theatre tradition continue to mark it as essentially medieval. 3 Further, this tradition offers an excellent opportunity for studying the interaction between literary and oral traditions. The other, and better known, epic-derived Italian folk dramatic tradition is represented by the Sicilian puppet theatre (l'Opera dei Pupi). 4 Ideally, these two traditions of Italian folk drama ought to be studied together. The two media productions reviewed here are a CD-ROM in Italian and English by ethnomusicologist Tullia Magrini 5 and an Italian-language DVD 6 by Italian Renaissance literature scholar JoAnn Cavallo. Magrini's contribution to Maggio scholarship is long-standing; for example, she served as editor of Il Maggio drammatico: una tradizione di teatro in musica (1992). As a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Cavallo has written mainly on the literary epic (1993, 2004). Thus, while Magrini's indexed and annotated CD presents the long-pondered fruits of research on a traditional art form, Cavallo's DVD appears to be the enthusiastic inquiry of someone viewing this tradition with fresh eyes. Magrini's CD is a richly orchestrated scholarly reference work in typical, meticulous Magrini style, 7 and, thanks to the English translation, this piece of Italian scholarship is now accessible to a wide academic audience. Immediacy is the strength of Cavallo's DVD, the fruits of direct and unglossed visual fieldwork. The current style of documentary video editing tends to favor direct, unfiltered discourse with no voice-overs or narration and people speaking for themselves before the camera. In this case, this direct style is quite compelling. Cavallo encountered the Maggio recently—all performances on the DVD were staged after 2000—and she was clearly smitten by the fact that the Paladins of literary fame lived on in folk tradition. She was mentored into the Maggio network by Natascia Zambonini, who is the director of the Maggio museum at Villa Minozzo and who is interviewed on the DVD. Cavallo presents her work as a hand-crafted [End Page 370] (artigianale), single-handed labor of love, having done all the interviewing, filming, editing, and production for this DVD herself. The final product is an engaging and well-edited portrait of a community and its cherished art form. Although these two works are quite different—especially regarding conditions of production and intended audiences—they are remarkably complementary. I suggest watching the DVD first to see more extensive and uninterrupted Maggio footage and, more important, to understand how one could love the tradition and be gripped by...

Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy Type 1A in Northwestern Tuscany: A Molecular Genetics-based Epidemiological and Genotype–Phenotype Study

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 1A (FSHD1A) is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by early involvement of facial and scapular muscles with eventual spreading to pelvic and lower limb muscles. A high degree of clinical variability with respect to age at onset, severity, and pattern of muscle involvement, both between and within families, is present. For this reason, diagnosis of FSHD1A can be sometimes difficult and molecular diagnosis is then necessary. A clinical and molecular genetic-based epidemiological investigation has been carried out in the territory of northwestern Tuscany in central Italy to calculate the prevalence rate of FSHD1A as of March, 2004. The molecular diagnosis has been based on the detection of large deletions of variable size of kpnI repeat units on chromosome 4q35. Results have been compared to those of a previous study conducted in the same area in 1981 (in the premolecular diagnosis era). The minimum prevalence rate was 4.60 x 10(-5) inhabitants, a value four times higher compared to our previous study. No significant correlation between fragment size and clinical severity has been observed. This study confirms in an Italian population a prevalence rate of FSHD1A similar to that observed in other populations. Furthermore, it underlines the usefulness of routine adoption of the genetic testing in confirming clinical suspicion of FSHD1A as well as in correctly diagnosing atypical and otherwise misclassified cases.

The influence of the geological and geomorphological settings on shallow landslides. An example in a temperate climate environment: the June 19, 1996 event in northwestern Tuscany (Italy)

On June 19, 1996, an extremely heavy rainstorm hit a restricted area in the Apuan Alps (northwestern Tuscany, Italy). Its max intensity concentrated over an area of about 150 km 2 astride the Apuan chain, where 474 mm was recorded in about 12 h (21% of the mean annual precipitation, with an intensity up to 158 mm/h). The storm caused floods and hundreds of landslides and debris flows, which produced huge damage (hundreds of millions of Euros), partially destroyed villages and killed 14 people. This paper reports the results obtained from a detailed field survey and aerial view interpretation. In the most severely involved area, 647 main landslides were investigated, mapped and related to the geologic, geomorphic and vegetational factors of the source areas. This was in order to define the influence of these factors and contribute to an evaluation of the landslide hazard in the study area. An assessment was also made of the total area and volume of material mobilised by landsliding. The study area, about 46 km 2 wide, includes three typically mountainous basins, characterised by narrow, deep cut valleys and steep slopes, where many rock types outcrop. Most of the landslides were shallow and linear, referable to complex, earth and debris translational slide, which quickly developed into flow (soil slip–debris flow). Usually, they involved colluvium and started in hollows underlain by metamorphic rock (metasandstone and phyllite), often dipping downslope. Therefore, bedrock lithology and impermeability appeared to be important factors in the localisation of the landslide phenomena. The investigation of the geomorphic and land use features in the source areas also frequently highlighted a rectilinear profile of the slope, a high slope gradient (31–45°) and dense chestnut wood cover. In the area, about 985,000 m 2 (2.1% of 46 km 2) was affected by landsliding and about 700,000 m 2 of this area was covered by chestnut forest. The landslides removed about 7000 trees. The volume of mobilised material was about 1,360,000 m 3; about 220,000 m 3 remained on the slopes, while the rest poured into the streams. In addition, about 945,000 m 3 was mobilised by the torrential erosion in the riverbeds.

Architecture and seismotectonics of a regional low‐angle normal fault zone in central Italy

Information from surface geology, subsurface geology (boreholes, seismic reflection, and refraction profiles), and seismicity are used to depict the geometry and the possible seismogenic role of the Altotiberina Fault (AF), a low‐angle normal fault in central Italy. The AF extends along the inner Umbria region, for a length of ∼70 km, with an average dip of ∼30° and an horizontal displacement up to 5 km. It emerges west of the inner border of the Tiber basin and deepens beneath the Umbria‐Marche carbonate fold‐and‐thrust belt to a depth of 12–14 km. Close to the AF surface trace, low‐angle synthetic east dipping normal faults extensively outcrop, whereas high‐angle antithetic west dipping normal faults prevail farther east. Integrating geological and seismologic information, it can be stated that the AF behaves as an active extensional fault zone and represents the basal detachment of the west dipping seismogenic normal faults of the Umbria‐Marche region. The AF belongs to a regional NE dipping low‐angle normal fault system (Etrurian Fault System (EFS)), which extends for ∼350 km from northwestern Tuscany to southern Umbria. Early preliminary considerations suggest that the EFS may play an important role in controlling active extension and related seismicity in northern central Italy.

Social Integration and Loneliness: A Comparative Study among Older Adults in the Netherlands and Tuscany, Italy

On the average, older adults in Italy are lonelier than those in the Netherlands. The results of a study by Jylha &amp; Jokela (1990) showed that loneliness was more prevalent in regions of Europe where living alone was rarest and where community bonds were strongest. This inverse macro-level association, an increasing proportion of lonely older people and a decreasing proportion of older people who live alone from northern to southern Europe, could not be explained by differences in individual social integration. The aim of the present study was to reinvestigate this association. The data were from surveys conducted in the Netherlands (N = 3750) and northwestern Tuscany, Italy (N = 1543). Fewer older adults lived alone in Tuscany than in the Netherlands, which indicates that the Dutch were less integrated. As regards their participation in social organizations and personal networks, the Tuscan older adults were less integrated. To a large extent, loneliness among the Dutch and Tuscans based on differences in social integration could be similarly explained, and regional loneliness differences could be attributed to individual situations and characteristics:

Countrymen and the Law in Late-Medieval Tuscany

The Curia dei Foretani, or the Court of the Countrymen, of the commune of Lucca was a sort of rural small-claims court. Designed by an urban government to hear minor civil cases which originated in the countryside, it was occupied with the variety of issues that punctuated country life, most especially cases brought by landlords, merchants, and speculators whose living was tied to the rural economy of northwestern Tuscany. The records of the Curia dei Foretani offer an unusual opportunity to investigate landlordtenant, lender-borrower, and speculator-producer relations during the critical period of the fourteenth century when urban interest in the countryside was intense. As will become clear, the streamlined procedure used by the court was designed to allow rapid petition, hearing, and judgment, which, it has been argued, were designed to favor the wealthy, usually urban, elites. Yet as analysis of the actual functioning of the court will show, villagers in this part of Tuscany were able to avoid, or at least moderate, the most complete forms of landlord domination. The reasons why are complex, but one aspect was the court procedure itself, which could be manipulated by knowledgeable members of strong, semi-autonomous rural communities who had access to legal advice or who had broadly based communal support for their actions. Urban landlords in the Lucchesia never achieved the sort of

Role of autoimmune and familial factors in goiter prevalence. Studies performed in a moderately endemic area.

The goitrogenic role of autoimmune phenomena in endemic goiter is still uncertain. Scanty and discrepant results have been reported in different areas of the world. This prompted us to evaluate the prevalence of circulating thyroid antibodies in an area of North-Western Tuscany during a survey for endemic goiter. The survey was carried out according to the P.A.H.O. criteria in a stable community. In all schoolchildren (n = 142, age range 7-15 yr) and in most of their parents (n = 159), thyroid size was evaluated and urine was collected for iodine determination. Blood was drawn for determination of circulating thyroid microsomal (MAb) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb), TT3, TT4 and TSH. Prevalence of goiter in schoolchildren was 77.9% and 94.8% in their parents. Mean (+/- SD) urinary iodine excretion was 55.0 +/- 2.1 micrograms/24 h. The overall frequency of TgAb and MAb in the adult population was 14.4%, statistically higher than that of control subjects matched for sex and age. The frequency in schoolchildren was 4.3%. The presence of goiter in children was unrelated to the presence of thyroid antibodies in parents, whether goitrous or nongoitrous. A higher prevalence of goiter was found in children with goitrous parents as compared to children with nongoitrous parents (p less than 0.005). In conclusion, the frequency of thyroid autoantibodies in the adult population of the endemic area studied was increased, but showed no relation with the presence of goiter. The prevalence of goiter in children was associated with the presence of goiter but not of thyroid autoantibodies in parents. These data suggest that autoimmune phenomena are of limited importance in the development of endemic goiter.

RECIPROCAL CHANGES OF SERUM THYROGLOBULIN AND TSH IN RESIDENTS OF A MODERATE ENDEMIC GOITRE AREA

Subjects living in iodine deficient areas were reported to have elevated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) concentrations. This finding was interpreted as related to thyroid stimulation. Discrepant results, however, were found when serum Tg concentrations were correlated either with serum TSH or with goitre size. In this study we investigated the relationships between goitre size, serum Tg and serum TSH in 488 unselected adult subjects living in an endemic area of North-Western Tuscany (Garfagnana district). The control group comprised 352 subjects residing in a non-endemic area. In the endemic area a high prevalence of goitre was found (80.1%), thyroid enlargement being slight to moderate in the majority of cases and very large only in six subjects. Serum Tg concentrations increased and serum TSH levels decreased with the size of goitre. Statistical analysis by the chi-square cross correlation test showed that the converse changes of serum Tg and serum TSH in relation to goitre size were highly significant. These findings indicate that the increase of serum Tg occurring in endemic goitrous subjects may be related to factors other than TSH stimulation. Functional autonomy of the thyroid may account for the finding of low serum TSH and elevated serum Tg values in patients with large goitres. The present data do not exclude the possibility that the release of Tg is influenced by TSH stimulation, but indicate that other factors may be responsible for the increased levels of Tg found in endemic goitre.