1,536 research outputs found
Il contributo dei cortonesi alla coltura italiana;
No full text"Il presente opuscolo complete l'opera Cortona nel medio evo di G. Mancini. Firenze, Tip. Carnesecchi, 1897.Cover title: I cortonesi illustratisi nella dottrina a nelle belle arti.Bibliographical footnotes.Mode of access: Internet
Chapter Amori proibiti in palazzo Mondragone Carnesecchi. Un’inedita cupola di Antonio Puglieschi e una memoria medicea
No full textThe recent discovery of a dome painted by Antonio Puglieschi in the Mondragone Carnesecchi palace, representing Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, offers the occasion to reflect on the symbols used by Francesco I de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello. According to an ancient rumor, the clandestine love encounters between Francesco and Bianca had taken place in that very same palace and the depiction of the mythological infidelity may alluded to that relationship. The paper analyses different sources which show that Francesco was often portrayed as Mars and Bianca as Venus: specific attention is given to the detailed description of their wedding celebrations which revolved around the theme of the meeting and love of Venus and Mars. It’s possible that the Del Vernaccia family, who owned the palace and commissioned the painting to Antonio Puglieschi, wanted to remember and somehow celebrate events that took place in those rooms more than a century before
Amori proibiti in palazzo Mondragone Carnesecchi. Un’inedita cupola di Antonio Puglieschi e una memoria medicea
No full textThe recent discovery of a dome painted by Antonio Puglieschi in the Mondragone Carnesecchi palace, representing Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan, offers the occasion to reflect on the symbols used by Francesco I de’ Medici and Bianca Cappello. According to an ancient rumor, the clandestine love encounters between Francesco and Bianca had taken place in that very same palace and the depiction of the mythological infidelity may alluded to that relationship. The paper analyses different sources which show that Francesco was often portrayed as Mars and Bianca as Venus: specific attention is given to the detailed description of their wedding celebrations which revolved around the theme of the meeting and love of Venus and Mars. It’s possible that the Del Vernaccia family, who owned the palace and commissioned the painting to Antonio Puglieschi, wanted to remember and somehow celebrate events that took place in those rooms more than a century before
Towards the Development of Innovative Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship Models for Human and Ecological Risk Assessment of Chemicals and their Mixtures
No full textHumans, animals and the environment are exposed to thousands of chemicals of anthropogenic and natural origin, which may cause adverse health effects. The risks posed by man-made chemicals such as biocides, pharmaceuticals, veterinary products and plant protection products (PPPs) are assessed via Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA), Animal Health Risk Assessment (AHRA), and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA). Traditionally, scientific advisory bodies such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) evaluate the results of toxicity tests on laboratory animals (i.e. in vivo) to derive safe levels of exposure to chemicals. These toxicity tests are considered black-box approaches to RA, as the molecular mechanisms by which chemicals cause adverse health effects and the extent to which effects and dose levels are relevant to other species and individuals remains often, to date, poorly characterised or unknown. Concerns on the relevance and ethics of in vivo tests were raised such as the number of animals, cost and time required for testing: only in 2017, 2.18 million animals were used in EU laboratories to meet legislative requirements in order to ensure chemical safety for human health and/or the environment. Since 2007, the so-called Tox21 strategy in the United States has provided a basis to shift toxicological assessments away from traditional animal tests to in vitro and in silico studies providing a mechanistic basis for chemical toxicity often considered as new approach methodologies (NAMs). In the EU, the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability 2020 aimed to boost innovation for the safe and sustainable use of chemicals. It specifically calls for multidisciplinary research to move away from animal testing. In this thesis, the concept of NAMs, particularly quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models, has been widely illustrated and discussed through the analysis of five different case studies applied to single chemicals RA (chapters 2 and 4) and mixture risk assessment (MRA) (chapter 3, 5 and 6), respectively, in line with the recent EFSA Guidance Document “MIXTOX” on harmonised methodologies for risk assessment of combined exposure to multiple chemicals. This thesis demonstrated how NAMs such as QSARs can provide scientific advisory bodies and industry with robust animal-free methods to perform future ERA, AHRA and HHRA of regulated chemicals, emerging contaminants and their mixtures. In line with the Tox21 strategy, this work presents practical examples of QSAR model applications in order to i) shift RA to give us a more mechanistic understanding of toxicity and ii) innovate current chemicals safety testing by improving the quality, efficiency and speed of ERA, AHRA and HHRA of single and multiple chemicals. In particular, this thesis provides risk assessors and scientists with sound methodologies and smart strategies such as in silico tools, and responds to the recent call of the EU Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (EC, 2020) aimed to replace animal testing through multidisciplinary research, methods and models, and data analysis capacities
Come nasce il progetto WiRoni?
No full textLa fruizione di servizi e di contenuti Internet può essere abilitata da nuovi «oggetti» in grado di realizzare modalità di interazione adeguate a supportare le attività sociali umane che avvengono in un determinato luogo e in specifici momenti.
WiRoni è un arredo urbano che va nella direzione di fornire l’accesso a Internet, tenendo sempre come punto di riferimento fondamentale il contesto fisico e sociale in cui si inserisce, valorizzando il ruolo del territorio e consentendo la creazione e la fruizione di contenuti da parte di bambini. La metafora che sottostà all’idea di WiRoni è la «creazione di fontane»: Internet è come l’acqua che va portata nei luoghi dove deve svilupparsi la vita. Così come l'acqua può essere erogata da semplici rubinetti o attraverso realizzazioni della creatività e dell'ingegno umani, che creano un luogo d'arte, un luogo di commercio, un nuovo tipo di paesaggio, così Internet può essere veicolato attraverso strutture hardware e software, che entrano in rapporto con il luogo di fruizione e con le attività emergenti che lì si sviluppano
4.6 Valutazione del rischio alimentare applicata alla contaminazione del polline da residui di prodotti fitosanitari
No full textIl polline è il gametofito maschile delle piante fanerogame che le api aggregano in masserelle con secrezioni salivari, nettare o miele, con lo scopo di trasportarlo in alveare per ricavarne un importante apporto nutrizionale, essenziale per la quota proteica. Le qualità nutraceutiche evidenziate da vari Autori inquadrano il polline come un alimento di pregio, sul quale poggiano grandi prospettive di potenziale sviluppo per l'apicoltura nazionale. In anni recenti, il progressivo miglioramento delle conoscenze tecniche di raccolta, lavorazione e conservazione del polline stanno consentendo una crescente diffusione sui mercati nazionali e internazionali di questo prodotto. Parallelamente, acquisiscono sempre maggiore rilevanza la conoscenza dei pericoli e dei fattori di rischio correlati a questa filiera produttiva. Il sistema di tutela della salute del consumatore sancito dal Regolamento 178/2002 individua nella valutazione del rischio lo strumento per identificare i pericoli delle diverse fasi operative e valutarne i rischi correlati, con il fine di definire le misure di prevenzione efficaci.
Il presente studio applica la metodologia di valutazione del rischio alimentare alla contaminazione del polline da parte di residui di prodotti fitosanitari; questo è stato possibile elaborando i dati ottenuti grazie ai 2 più vasti progetti di monitoraggio realizzati su polline italiano (Greenpeace e BeeNet), tenendo in considerazione i parametri di tossicità intrinseca delle singole sostanze attive, i tenori di contaminazione ed il consumo giornaliero di polline.
I risultati ottenuti hanno consentito di caratterizzare le contaminazioni chimiche accertate sulla base del rischio alimentare reale. Il modello di valutazione applicato ha offerto un contributo essenziale nel definire gli obbiettivi di sicurezza alimentare, le priorità nella gestione della prevenzione da indicare agli operatori di questo settore alimentare, nonché gli obbiettivi e le modalità con cui realizzare specifici programmi di controllo ufficiale.
I valori di rischio evidenziati indicano come, tenuto conto della tossicità intrinseca delle sostanze coinvolte, del tenore dei residui rilevati, delle quantità di polline consumate giornalmente, a fronte di un’ampia esposizione alla contaminazione, il rischio alimentare connesso al consumo del polline d’api risulti relativamente ridotto. Fra le due categorie di potenziali consumatori, i bambini hanno dimostrato di presentare margini di sicurezza più ridotti.
Lo studio dimostra anche come il polline, grazie all’elevata sensibilità evidenziata ed all’identificabilità delle specie vegetali da cui proviene, si proponga come indicatore di contaminazione ambientale da prodotti fitosanitari in strategie di controllo ufficiale finalizzate alla verifica dei requisiti d’impiego di questi importanti ausili delle produzioni agricole
COLORECTAL CANCER IN THE ELDERLY IS THERE A ROLE FOR SAFE AND CURATIVE SURGERY?
No full textRecent reports place colorectal cancer (CRC) as the third most common cancer for both sexes. Elderly patients are often viewed as high-risk surgical candidates with high rates of emergency presentations and perioperative mortality. The aim of our study was to examine the characteristics and perioperative morbidity and mortality rates of elderly patients presented to CRC surgery. Methods: We retrospectively studied 248 patients who underwent surgery for CRC at our institution between July 2003 and December 2005. Risk factors included sex, age, cancer localization, Dukes' and TNM classification, blood transfusion, preoperative Physiologic and Operative Severity Score for the enUmeration of Mortality and Morbidity score and mode of presentation. Primary outcome was perioperative death. Results: The study consisted of 143 men and 105 women. One hundred and thirty-four (54%) patients were more than 75 years of age. In the two older groups, cancer was more common in the proximal colon than in the youngest age group (P = 0.001). Of the 25 resections carried out as emergency, 20 were in those who were more than 75 years of age (P < 0.001). In elective procedure, perioperative mortality scores were 3.1% in those who were more than 75 years of age versus 0% in those less than 75 years, meanwhile in emergency, rates of 24 versus 0% (P = not significant) were registered. In Cox multivariate regression analysis, age and mode of presentation reached statistical significance. Conclusion: Old age itself is not an independent negative prognostic factor for CRC surgery. Although emergency operations were associated with poor outcome, most patients survived and left the hospital. This study suggests that, whenever possible, curative intent should be applied in patients with CRC, irrespective of the ag
Beekeeping and honey bees: a conceptual framework for the classification of beekeeping management practices implemented in Europe
No full texteekeeping is an important sector of the European agriculture generating employment and increasing incomes in rural areas. The role of the beekeeper is considered fundamental for maintaining the health status of a managed honey bee colony and, if intended, ensure its productivity. Several monitoring projects highlighted the direct and/or indirect role of the beekeeper for ensuring healthy honey bee colonies. However, a clear overview on the main actions carried out by beekeepers and their role for the successful management of honey bee colonies is missing. In this study, we aim at providing a generalized framework of classification for the Beekeeping Management Practices (BMPs) carried out by the European beekeepers and their influence on honey bees. Six BMPs were selected for their relevance at European level and their influence on a honey bee colony. Based on an extensive literature review each BMP was characterized in relation to i) the elements guiding their application, ii) the potential impacts on a honey bee colony and iii) the scenario-based variables that might influence their application and/or effectiveness. Knowledge gaps were filled through an Expert Knowledge Elicitation procedure. This work represents the first attempt to condense and further elaborate the knowledge available on the actions carried out by European beekeepers and quantify their influence on a honey bee colony. This work might support the development of realistic scenarios of beekeeping in Europe and the implementation of knowledge-based risk management actions
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