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Rischio igienico sanitario associato al consumo dei molluschi eduli lamellibranchi (M.E.L)
Get PDFSeafood represents a very broad category of food and is a major source of protein in the human diet. The increase of its consumption and the epidemiological data confirm the role of seafood (especially shellfish) as a carrier of foodborne toxinfections and has brought the need for a higher monitoring level and an increase of the studies of their microbiological characteristics. Edible Lamellibranch Molluscs (M.E.L) are frequently involved in food poisoning outbreaks of outstanding severity, due to the fact that they are filter-feeding animals which tend to accumulate
any toxic substances or microorganisms already present in their environment. In the context of food security, the main target is to ensure food health by fulfilling specific
hygiene requirements and by means of monitoring activities on shellfish conducted on the production chain of mussels and within their own environment. Microbiological eligibility for human consumption (Reg CE 1441/2007) is based on only two fecal contamination bacteriological parameters (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp) and does not provide the identification of other microorganisms which are naturally present within the marine environment and potentially pathogenic such as those belonging to the genus Vibrio. In accordance with the data provided by the Centre of Disease Control (USA), food poisoning linked to the consumption of shellfish is mainly related to (20%) enteric viruses (Corraine et al., 2007), hepatitis A virus (HAV), norovirus (NV), and marine environment pathogens, such as Vibrio spp, whereas faecal bacteria (Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli) account just for 4% of the total (Serracca et al., 2007) (Lipp EK, Rose JB, 1997). In order to assess the hygienic quality and health of M.E.L (mussels, clams and oysters) bred in Sardinia, both parameters required by law (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp) and Vibrios of major public health interest have been investigated in this study. Within the 440 examined samples, 40% contained potentially harmful Vibrios species to human being, while only in 6.4% of the samples, the levels of Escherichia coli were above the Italian legal limit and only within one sample, Salmonella spp was isolated. An interconnection between the presence of micro-organisms of fecal origin and potentially harmful Vibrios to human health was not detected. Vibrio bacterial strains have been identified by means of biochemical techniques. Vibrio cholerae strains have been processed through the use of serological and molecular identification techniques and their toxigenic properties have been evaluated by PCR assay (search for the toxin CT and gene for the toxin NAG-ST). Overall, 14 strains of Vibrio cholerae were isolated which were found to be non-O1 and non-O139 Vibrio cholerae (NCVs) and therefore unable to give epidemic cholera. No strain was found to be producing CT and NAG-ST toxins
Isolation of human amniotic stem cells from term placenta and their in vitro differentation in airway epithelium to correct CF phenotype
Get PDFCystic fibrosis (CF) is a lethal autosomal recessive disorder due to mutations in the CF
transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, a cAMP-dependent chloride channel expressed on the apical side of epithelial cells. Although CF involves many
organs with secretory/absorptive properties, including the liver, the main cause of morbidity and mortality is a chronic inflammatory lung disease. Because of its monogenic nature, and since the lung is easily accessible, CF has been a target disease for gene-based therapeutic intervention; however, this approach has given unsatisfied
results in terms of efficiency of gene delivery to the lung and of efficacy outcomes. This partial success was due to the inefficiency of passing the mucus barrier overlying the
epithelial cells and to the immune response against the gene therapy vectors. Cell therapy could be a more effective treatment because allogenic normal cells and
autologous engineered cells express CFTR gene. Bone marrow-derived stem cells have been the first source evaluated for homing to the lung and curative potential, but the in
vivo efficiency of bone marrow stem cells to differentiate in airways epithelium is very low (0.01–0.025%), as also demonstrated by different studies in CF mice. Recently, new cell sources for CF treatment have been characterized; MSCs from cord blood and amniotic fluid stem cells can differentiate in vitro and in vivo in airway epithelium. Stemming from these results on MSCs, and based on the demonstrated high plasticity of amniotic derived stem cells, after an extensive characterization of the
expression of phenotypic and pluripotency markers by hAMSCs and their differentiative potential, we preliminarily evaluated their usefulness in CF by in vitro experiments
using cocultures of hAMSCs and CF-respiratory epithelial cells
I sistemi di controllo interno negli enti locali: i casi tedesco e italiano a confronto
Get PDFThe research analyses the development of internal control systems in German and Italian municipalities. The modernization process of public administrations promoted by the New Public Management movement has implied worldwide the adoption of private sector derived techniques
and tools in order to improve public management. According to the literature, the adoption of internal control systems, together with the improvement of accounting and auditing techniques, can help to increase the level of efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and transparency of public sector organizations. Moreover, internal control systems are a useful tool for the ethical execution
of operations and for corruption prevention, which are two keystone for public sector. The reform trajectories followed by the countries have been different. In particular, the reform process was slow in “Rechtsstaat” or legal state countries, like Germany and Italy. The reform
process in these two countries, which are the object of this study, started later as in the other OECD
countries and implied the adaptation of the proposed tool and techniques to the existing administrative system. Moreover, in the two countries the process of innovation started and has been more advanced at the local government level. The municipality level was therefore chosen as
the object of the study. A second reason for this choice lies in the fact that the municipality level allowed a homogeneous comparison between the two countries. Indeed, they have a different state structure, Italy is a unitary state and Germany is a federal republic; the lowest level of government is the one that allows a homogeneous comparison. The study is aimed at: a) describing the characteristics (objectives and components) of internal
control systems in German and Italian municipalities, compared to private sector standards concerning internal control systems; b) comparing the internal control systems of the two countries in order to identify their similarities and differences. Considering that the ethical execution of operations and the prevention of corruption are two keystones for public sector, one additional
purpose was to ascertain if these need produce effects on the internal control system adopted. The research is mainly based on the analysis of the laws and regulations issued on this topic and uses an internationally accepted standard – the CoSO model for internal control systems – as a
framework for the analysis and the comparison between the two countries. As in both countries the municipalities have a high level of autonomy, two case study, two towns, were selected to complete the general analysis and to deal with the third objective of the research. The selected towns, one
Italian and one German, have in fact undergone a process of restructuring and of improvement of their administration, which is aimed at dealing with the problem of ethics (Italian town) and corruption (German town). The analysis conducted shows that both countries are with different approaches and different solutions moving towards the international standards
La percezione del gusto amaro nell’uomo: la sensibilità gustativa al 6-n-propiltiouracile (PROP) come marker della variabilità individuale con implicazioni fisiologico-nutrizionali
Get PDFPROP sensitivity varies greatly among individuals and can strongly influence food choice and satiety. It is associated with the bitter receptor gene (TAS2R38)
and with differences in the salivary proteins involved in taste function. Among them, the enzyme Zn dependent gustin, a trophic factor of taste buds. We investigated the possible association of PROP taste phenotype with TAS2R38
haplotypes, gustin gene polymorphism rs2274333 (A/G), salivary Zn2+concentration and BMI. BMI were determined in 76 volunteers (29 males, 47 females, age 25 ± 3 y).
PROP phenotype was determined by scaling methods and threshold measurements. The salivary Zn2+ concentration was determined and molecular analysis of TAS2R38 and gustin gene polymorphisms were performed using PCR techniques.
PROP threshold determination can discriminate tasters from nontasters, while scaling methods distinguish also medium tasters from supertasters. Salivary Zn2+ and BMI were greater in nontasters than in supertasters. Molecular analysis of gustin DNA showed that allele A were more frequent in supertasters, while allele G were more frequent in nontasters. The lowest responsiveness in nontasters is strongly associated to AVI nontasting variant of TAS2R38, while the highest responsiveness in supertasters is strongly associated to allele A of gustin gene. The two genes account for up to 60% of phenotypic variance in
PROP bitterness and to 40% in threshold values. These data demonstrated that sensitivity to PROP is inversely related to BMI and salivary Zn2+ and directly associated with the dimorphism rs2274333 in gustin gene that is hypothesized to affect its function. In addition, showed how the combination of TAS2R38 and gustin gene genotypes modulate PROP phenotype providing an additional tool for the evaluation of human eating behaviour and nutritional status
First Principle Description of Correlated Transition-Metal Oxides
Get PDFThe general theme of this work is the investigation of strongly correlated materials via a first-principles approach. Tackling such complex systems in this fashion is relatively unusual, and notoriously difficult. We em-
ploy the pseudo self-interaction correction local density functional method, PSIC, which removes the spurious self-interaction repulsion present in local or semilocal density functionals (LDA, GGA). PSIC appears to pull off a considerably better performance than local DFT methods in describing correlated materials at the realistic level typical of ab initio methods. It enables us to take on an array of fairly sophisticated problems in a variety of difficult materials unapproachable by semilocal functionals. Those treated in this work include quantum oscillation in underdoped cuprates, the magnetic structure and stability of rocksalt like cupric oxide, the electronic, structural, and magnetic properties of the
correlated perovskites YTiO3 and LaTiO3 , the magnetic properties of MnO and NiO under hydrostatic pressure, charge disproportionation in complex oxides, and phase transitions to a low-temperature exotic phase of layered
nickel oxide. The work provides important insights on these problems, but more generally it further validates PSIC as a new useful viewpoint on many puzzles in the area of complex correlated materials
Synthesis, physical properties and processing of multifunctional molecular materials
Get PDFNew multifunctional materials (MMMs) where conductivity and magnetism coexist or, in some cases, interact, have been prepared and fully characterized as quality crystals or thin films. [(BDH-TTP)6] [Fe(croc)3] ·CH2Cl2 (1), where
paramagnetism is due to isolated Fe(III) metal ions with S = 5/2 ground state of the anionic [Fe(croc)3]3- complexes and conductivity originates from BDH-TTP organic donor in k-type packing, has been obtained. When applying a pressure
higher than 7 kbar, (1) behaves as a metal down to low temperature (2 K). The isostructural [(BDH-TTP)6] [Ga(croc)3] ·CH2Cl2 (2) behaves as a metal down to ~ 100 K. [Mn(5-MeOsaltmen)(acetone)]2[Ni(dmit)2]6 (3), where single molecule magnet (SMM) behavior of the Mn(III) dimers coexists with the semiconducting behavior due to the d8 square planar complexes of [Ni(dmit)2]n- (n = 0 or 1), has
been obtained. Deviations of the magnetic properties from that of isolated [Mn2]2+ SMMs based, have been found, may be due to interactions such as [Ni(dmit)2]n-
⋯ [Ni(dmit)2]n-, [Mn2]2+ ⋯
[Mn2]2+, [Ni(dmit)2]n- ⋯
[Mn2]2+,
demonstrating the tunability of the SMM behavior by changing the combination of both SMMs and conducting building blocks. Processing of these materials has been performed by embedding different magnetic conducting carriers into polymer. the By poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene) potentiostatic and (PEDOT), potentiodynamic electropolymerization, PEDOT films doped with magnetic polyoxometalate (POM) [Co4(H2O)2(PW9O34)2]10- have been obtained; the film obtained by using the potentiodynamic method is more stable than the analogous material obtained by applying a constant potential, when subjected to potential cycles in acetonitrile solutions of LiClO4 and TBAClO4. In situ chemically oxidized PEDOT thin films, doped with [FeIICrIII(ox)3]- anions, have been obtained. These materials show ferromagnetic coupling due to Fe(II)-Cr(III) ions and the presence of some disorder and a superparamagnetic behavior, while the conductivity depends of the EDOT : anion ratio. The PEDOT:PSS (PSS =
polystyrenesulfonic acid) aqueous dispersion, has been used for coating negatively charged, Cs0.46Ni[Fe(CN)6]0.94, nanoparticles (NPs) and a high conducting thin film showing superparamagnetic properties due to the NPs has been obtained. Magnetoresistance measurements at low temperature reveal the existence of an interplay between the magnetic and conducting lattices
L'evoluzione dialettica spazio-tempo nella cultura del progetto urbano contemporaneo
Get PDFL’intérêt pour le sujet de la recherche nait de la prise de conscience de l’importance croissante attribuée par les différentes disciplines à la notion du temps et à sa relation avec l’évolution de la ville. En effet, la ville, en tant que manifestation physique des modes de vie de la société, a de nombreux rapports avec le temps : le « temps long », c’est-à-dire le temps de l’histoire dans son intégralité et de l’image dans le temps, et le « temps court », à savoir le temps des transformations partielles et quotidiennes. La complexité du titre de la recherche : « L’évolution dialectique spatio-temporelle dans la culture du projet urbain contemporain » conduit nécessairement à une décomposition de la structure de la phrase et à une série de réflexions sur certaines questions. La première réflexion concerne la relation entre l’espace et le temps et son évolution dialectique. L’intérêt porté à la « dimension spatio-temporelle » a été traditionnellement au centre de disciplines comme la philosophie et la physique, mais d’autres disciplines s’y sont également intéressées, comme la sociologie et les sciences sociales, la géographie, la littérature et l’art, d’une façon tout autre qu’épisodique. Pour la science, c’est seulement avec Albert Einstein que l’aristotélisme, pensée selon laquelle les concepts d’espace et de temps sont conçus comme des entités distinctes, est définitivement révolu. Une des conséquences directes de la théorie de la relativité est l’introduction du concept de « chronotope », avancé par le mathématicien Eugène Minkowski, dont les théories ne se basent plus sur la conception d’un espace tridimensionnel (les coordonnées cartésiennes) mais s’appuient sur un espace à quatre dimensions, dont la quatrième dimension est constituée par le temps. Cela conduit nécessairement à considérer les deux dimensions inextricablement liées l’une à l’autre. Cependant il est important de souligner un double aspect : tandis qu’il est pratiquement impossible d’imaginer le temps en dehors des acteurs, car les structures temporelles ne nous apparaissent que grâce aux sujets qui « vivent » le temps (le temps mesuré n’a de sens que si il est accompagné par le temps subjectif), l’espace semble quant à lui être doté de sa propre objectivité, indépendante de ces derniers. L’introduction du temps dans la spatialité est un point de départ fondamental, car elle supprime définitivement toute tentation de réduire l’espace à une simple photographie de la réalité sociale, non seulement en insérant par « force » un élément dynamique, mais surtout en introduisant, à travers les différents rythmes du temps social, la complexité des pratiques. Observer les phénomènes spatiaux du point de vue temporel semble donc être en mesure de contribuer au dépassement d’une conception statique de l’espace en faveur d’une spatialité dynamique et axée sur le sujet.La seconde réflexion, nécessaire pour comprendre le concept de culture du projet urbain contemporain, se rapporte à l’objet du projet urbain, c’est-à-dire la ville, au centre du débat pluridisciplinaire. Dans la ville contemporaine, la notion d’espace a évolué au cours de l’histoire et profondément changé, et les principes d’universalité et de rationalité ont été remplacé par des représentations mentales qui font appel au contraste et au conflit, à la multiplicité et à la complexité. Aux définitions claires de la description de la ville traditionnelle, liées à ce qui est stable, concret et mesurable, se sont ajoutés des termes hétéroclites de la ville contemporaine, dans laquelle se reconnaissent des lieux traversés par différentes écoles, avec des temporalités et des protagonistes différents, sans aucune règle définie. La morphologie de la ville ne se présente plus comme une structure hiérarchisée qui se parcourt dans tous les sens et est perçue comme un ensemble, mais elle devient le lieu de la discontinuité, de l’hétérogénéité, de la fragmentation et de la transformation interrompue, expression d’une nouvelle « forme du temps ». L’interprétation de la ville contemporaine, dans laquelle les flux temporels s’entrecroisent avec des configurations spatiales hétérogènes et discontinues, devient donc tellement complexe qu’il est alors nécessaire d’imposer la recherche de méthodes et de pratiques qui assument, d’une part, la complexité comme une opportunité et, d’autre part, rendent au temps un rôle fondamental dans l’orientation des rythmes de la réalité sociale et de la forme urbaine.
Selon cette perspective, les disciplines de l’urbanisme et de l’architecture, qui traditionnellement se sont occupées de la ville comme d’un objet d’intérêt propre, se trouvent aujourd’hui en difficulté dans la définition de leur propre utilisation du temps, devant se confronter avec des éléments qui évoluent à des rythmes différents : d’un coté, le temps de plus en plus rapide des individus et de la société, de l’autre coté le tempo plus lent de l’espace physique. Cela entraine nécessairement à dépasser la « culture de l’être » basée sur une configuration statique de la ville, pour bénéficier d’une « culture du devenir », basée sur une configuration dynamique de la ville qui se fonde sur le concept du mouvement et de la vitesse
Alle origini del mito letterario di Maria Stuarda in Italia
Get PDFThis thesis analyses the pre-literary origins and the artistic development in Italy of the
character of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, during the XVIth century and shows how her story soon
developed into a myth.
I have examined in particular the late Sixteenth-century Italian ambassadorial dispatches,
early chronicles and historical materials of various kind that had never been considered together in
any critical study. These early written testimonies of Mary Stuart’s story constitute the fertile
ground from which the subsequent literary image of the Scottish Queen rose and prospered.
Those texts, generally neglected by the critics, and in some cases existing only in
manuscripted versions or rare prints, have been systematically analaysed and compared, with the
aim to identify the most relevant and recurring themes and motifs, and discover the various phases
of the artistic process which led to the creation of the literary myth.
The research reveals how and to which extent Italy was involved in the political and religious
debate in which Mary Stuart acted as a protagonist and how her image was received, understood
and shaped in the Italian culture of the Sixteenth century
New Challenges in HCI: Ambient Intelligence for Human Performance Improvement
Get PDFAmbient Intelligence is new multidisciplinary paradigm that is going to change the relation between humans, technology and the environment they live in. This paradigm has its roots in the ideas Ubiquitous and Pervasive computing. In this vision, that nowadays is almost reality, technology becomes pervasive in everyday lives but, despite its increasing importance, it (should) becomes “invisible”, so deeply intertwined in our day-to-day activities to disappear into the fabric of our lives. The new environment should become “intelligent” and “smart”, able to actively and adaptively react to the presence, actions and needs of humans (not only users but complex human being), in order to support daily activities and improve the quality of life.
Ambient Intelligence represents a trend able to profoundly affect every aspect of our life. It is not a problem regarding only technology but is about a new way to be “human”, to inhabit our environment, and to dialogue with technology. But what makes an environment smart and
intelligent is the way it understands and reacts to changing conditions. As a well-designed tool can help us carry out our activities more quickly and easily, a poorly designed one could be an obstacle. Ambient Intelligence paradigm tends to change some human’s activities by
automating certain task. However is not always simple to decide what automate and when and how much the user needs to have control. In this thesis we analyse the different levels composing the Ambient Intelligence paradigm, from
its theoretical roots, through technology until the issues related the Human Factors and the Human Computer Interaction, to better understand how this paradigm is able to change the performance and the behaviour of the user. After a general analysis, we decided to focus on the
problem of smart surveillance analysing how is possible to automate certain tasks through a context capture system, based on the fusion of different sources and inspired to the paradigm of Ambient Intelligence. Particularly we decide to investigate, from a Human Factors point of view,
how different levels of automation (LOAs) may result in a change of user’s behaviour and performances. Moreover this investigation was aimed to find the criteria that may help to design a smart surveillance system. After the design of a general framework for fusion of different sensor in a real time locating system, an hybrid people tracking system, based on the combined use of RFID UWB and
computer vision techniques was developed and tested to explore the possibilities of a smart context capture system.
Taking this system as an example we developed 3 simulators of a smart surveillance system implementing 3 different LOAs: manual, low system assistance, high system assistance.
We performed tests (using quali-quantitative measures) to see changes in performances, Situation Awareness and workload in relation to different LOAs. Based on the results obtained, is proposed a new interaction paradigm for control rooms based on the HCI concepts related to Ambient Intelligence paradigm and especially related to Ambient Display’s concept, highlighting its usability advantages in a control room scenario. The assessments made through test showed that if from a technological perspective is possible to achieve very high levels of automation, from a Human Factors point of view this doesn’t
necessarily reflect in an improvement of human performances. The latter is rather related to a particular balance that is not fixed but changes according to specific context. Thus every Ambient Intelligence system may be designed in a human centric perspective considering that,
sometimes less can be more and vice-versa
Isolamento e caratterizzazione biologico-molecolare di cellule tumorali simil-staminali da una linea cellulare derivata da un carcinoma papillare tiroideo
Get PDFRecent reports have shown that tumor growth is supported by a specific subpopulation of stem cells, known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells. This cells have stem-like features, such as self renewal,multipotency, high migration capacity, drug resistance and aberrant differentiation. CSCs have been detected in several kind of tumors and in cancer cell lines grown as non-adherent spheres in serum–free medium under intense stimulation whit growth factors. Presence of cancer stem-like cells in thyroid differentiated carcinoma has not yet fully investigated and the literature on such issue is still limited. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize CSCs from a cancer cell line from papillary thyroid carcinoma (B-CPAP) and a cell line, derived from human thyroid follicular cells (N-THY-ORI 3-1), as control.
Thyrospheres from B-CPAP cells could be propagated up to ten generations, whereas those from N-THY-ORI 3-1 lasted only for four generations. The “stemness” profile was evaluated by functional assays and RT-PCR. B-CPAP sphere forming efficiency (SFE) and self renewal increased exponentially at every generation with maximum value at the 8th. By contrast, N-THY-ORI 3-1 SFE and self renewal progressively decreased along generations. RT-PCR showed mRNA expression of stem cell markers (Oct 4, Nanog, ABCG2) and early and thyroid late differentiation markers (PAX8, TTF1, Tg) in B-CPAP thyrosphere. In particular, ABCG2 expression significantly increased in thyrospheres at 9th generation. On the contrary, PAX8, TTF1 and Tg showed a decrease in thyrosphere along the generation of spheres, while p63 maintained the same expression in all samples. Thyrospheres from non tumorigenic cell line were positive for mRNA expression of stem cell markers (Oct4, Nanog, ABCG2,) and PAX8. In this cell line, Nanog and ABCG2 mRNA expression increased along the generations. To isolate stem-like cells in tumor and normal thyrospheres, we used the fluorescent dye PKH26. The single cells suspensions from thyrospheres were then FACS sorted. According to fluorescent intensity we selected two populations: the brightest fluorescent cells (PKH26 high), which constitute the putative stem cell population and the dimmest fluorescent cells (PKH26 low), which represent proliferating and differentiated cells. Both populations were able to form sphere, but only PKH26 high formed secondary spheres. The molecular analysis showed a higher stem cell marker mRNA expression in PKH26 high compare to PKH26 low cells. On the contrary TTF-1, PAX8 and Tg mRNA were more expressed in PKH26 low cells. Take together, our data show, for the first time, that B-CPAP and N-THY-ORI 3-cell lines contain cells with features and properties of stem cell