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This paper intends to reconstruct the climate of Turin where he lived and worked Giuseppe Levi, the particular figures which animated the subalpine universities in the fascist period, the fruitful interaction between Jewish and anti-fascist world. Particular attention will be devoted to the different reactions of the Jewish community during the confidence to fascism in 1931 oath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Archive of the Ospedale Maggiore (Major Hospital) of Milan (Italy), active continuously for nearly 600 years, can provide outstanding documentation illustrating the link between animals and hospital. Even animals in the city can be in contact with the humans' hospital. We refer to the creation into the Milanese Hospital, in the last years of the nineteenth century, of the Istituto Antirabico (Antirabies Institute) for administering the Pasteur's antirabies therapy. This paper analyzes specifically this hospital institution, whose archive was recently reorganized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the so-called sanitary reform (1978), which introduced a Beveridge system, in Italy existed a peculiar kind of general practitioner, paid by municipalities, who ensured healthcare to those not covered by social insurance. In small towns those physicians also carried out the function of Health Officers, performing Public Health duties. We had the possibility to study the very large archive of one of them, doctor Sgandurra from Farindola, a village in the Abruzzi Region (central Italy): in the paper we briefly analyse six public health acts that he issued in the first half of the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law 194 was introduced in Italy in 1978, following a campaign by women's groups, but also following the rise in illegal abortions and related deaths; after quite 40 years, we are now assisting to the dangerous return to illegality, related with the obstacles to the application of the law. The main causes of this phenomena are: the conscientious objection, the noncompliance of the law and the providers' "burn-out''. The law permits to medical and non medical personnel to refuse to carry out abortions on conscientious grounds, but this right is greatly abused, with harmful consequences on women's health. Another huge obstacle is represented by the non-compliance of the law: the hospital's "objection", the scarce accessibility to medical abortion, the lack of scientific, practical and ethic formation of the providers. The provider's "burn-out" is the last obstacle, a hidden but not secondary factor. A new, really non religious thought, becomes thus a necessity for our life and for women's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demography evaluates the traits of human populations mainly by measuring their sizes and fluctuations. Due to their features, the archeological population structures refer to the distribution of people based both on sex and age at death. These parameters have a direct impact on the risk of death because they vary significantly with age and sex and this is reflected in a proportional sharing of deaths in several groups at risk. This chapter deals with the demographic structure of several imperial communities scattered through the roman Suburbium. A whole sample of almost 3500 skeletons pertaining to 12 necropolis has been analyzed in order to determine the gender and the age at death. Each necropolis is contextualized according to information about people lifestyle and health, trying to deepen our knowledge on the death risk exposure for every population. Our results suggest to consider the imperial Suburbium population as a very complex landscape, where several communities were featured by their different way toface the socio-economic and biologic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so called free practice intra-moenia or ALPI (to be performed inside the public premises) is very popular among Italian doctors (quite so among patients). Our work aims to shed light both on true motives of such a success and on the degree of accomplishment of stated targets at its institution. We believe that its success among doctors is due both to the increase in providers' autonomy and to its economic advantages. Freedom of choice for patients is also increased (though just a minority of patients says that they have made recourse to intra-moenia because they wanted to choose the doctor). The reduction of queues, one of the stated targets of ALPI, did not happen (as could be anticipated). Intra-moenia may cause, moreover, induction of demand and defensive medicine. A regression analysis shows that the main explanatory factor of the recourse to ALPI is urgent need for treatment. The work, finally, in noting that there is a lack of sufficient administrative controls on ALPI, concludes that intra-moenia is hopefully a viable institution provided that more checks are done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, paleopathologists have developed a growing interest in archaeological, anthropological, and medical disciplines. However, although there have been satisfactory results, which are reflected in numerous publications at the international level and in academic credits that, for example, have led to the establishment of an autonomous Division of Paleopathology (unique in an Italian University) at the Faculty of Medicine in Pisa, the future seems not so bright. Indeed, the lack of general interest that Italian institutions have shown toward research and the reduction of ministerial financial support, will result not only in a lack of a generational turnover among researchers, but also in the suspension or closure of the few paleopathology courses that are now running, and in the layoff of the small but excellent study groups currently working in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giovanni Jervis was one of the protagonists of the Italian psychiatric reform and was greatly involved in all the phases of its development. With his typical intellectual rigor, he was critical not toward the law 180 which abolished the shame of psychiatric asylums but rather toward the ways of leading and conducting the global reform process. The article presents some aspects of Jervis' critical evaluations.

The article discusses the professional relationship between Italian physician and medical historian Mario Santoro and his former instructor Italian professor of medicine Adalberto Pazzini, of the Univeristà di Roma in Rome, Italy. Emphasis is given to the former's founding of the Italian research institute on the history of medicine Studio Firmano Storia Della Medicina in Fermo, Italy.

The article discusses the conditions and health of workers in sulfur mines in Sicily, Italy, from the late 19th century until year 1964. Among other topics addressed are previous research on the topics, the history of sanitation, medical care and health of mine workers, and risks involved in working in the sulfur mines.

The article discusses the mortality rates related to cancer patients suffering from leukemia within the town of Salento, Italy, over a century. The effected population is analyzed among other ways in terms of gender and the results are compared. The source of the data is cited as state archives housed in Lecce, Italy.

The essay discusses poisons in literature and iconography during the Middle Ages. The author explains that fear of poisons transcends scientific knowledge from Antiquity to the Modern Era. The article provides sources and resources on the idea of poisons. Scientific literature cited in the article includes works by Italian philosopher Pietro d'Abano as well as Cecco d'Ascoli, Guido da Pisa, and Gregorio d'Arezzo. The author provides a quote concerning the consumption of poisonous snakes.

The article discusses the influence of the astrological and scientific writings of Italian philosopher Peter d'Abano on Italian painter Giotto di Bondone. The author focuses on Giotto's painting at the Chapel of Scrovegni. The author explains that the paintings at the chapel emphasize the physical representation of the sky and stars which characterized Peter's work. Subjects of the article also include the physiognomies of Peter's work, his astrological treatises, and Giotto's astrological cycle.

The article offers information on the Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Storia della Medicina, a medical conference to be held in Palermo, Italy from October 2-4, 2014.