102,384 research outputs found
Divario Digitale e Sviluppo Territoriale. Il Ruolo del ‘Presidio di Comunità’ nella Mitigazione delle Disuguaglianze tra Aree Rurali e Urbane.
No full textIl presente articolo mira a esaminare la complessa relazione tra il divario digitale e lo sviluppo territoriale in Italia, concentrandosi sull'emergere di soluzioni guidate dalla comunità per colmare le disparità tra aree rurali e urbane. Attraverso l'analisi del modello dei ‘presidi di comunità’, in particolare nel contesto dell'iniziativa ‘South Working’, lo studio esplora come gli spazi collaborativi possano mitigare sia una parte delle criticità dovute all’assenza o alla scarsa densità di infrastruttura tecnologica sia l'isolamento sociale dovuto al telelavoro, soprattutto nelle aree marginalizzate. La ricerca dimostra che un'inclusione digitale efficace richiede un approccio globale che combini infrastrutture fisiche e virtuali, connettività digitale e sistemi di supporto sociale. Il caso studio dell'area delle Madonie e di Cefalù, in Sicilia, illustra come questi ‘presidi di comunità’ possano promuovere lo sviluppo economico e la coesione sociale sostenendo al contempo opportunità di lavoro a distanza dalle aree interne
Una riflessione sulle intersezioni tra l’IA e la società
No full textCome vengono sviluppate e implementate le tecnologie per i veicoli a guida autonoma? Quali sono le opportunità per i cittadini di partecipare al dibattito su questi temi? Qual è il ruolo delle istituzioni nel regolamentare l’evoluzione di queste tecnologie, e garantirne la sicurezza e la sostenibilità? Riflettere oggi sui veicoli self-driving significa confrontarsi con una serie di questioni normative, sociali, economiche e tecnologiche sempre più complesse. Allo stesso tempo, l’avanzamento di simili tecnologie è destinato a trasformare profondamente il nostro modo di concepire la mobilità e l’interazione tra uomo e macchina. Su questa base, gli autori del volume hanno deciso di offrire una panoramica accessibile su una serie di temi rilevanti per la regolamentazione e lo sviluppo dei veicoli a guida autonoma. Ciascun capitolo offre una sintesi dei temi principali come l’evoluzione delle tecnologie di assistenza alla guida, l’introduzione dell’intelligenza artificiale nel settore della mobilità e la risposta delle istituzioni, analizzando gli attori coinvolti e presentando, grazie a dati aggiornati, lo stato di avanzamento più recente degli sviluppi tecnologici
Potential Medicinal Fungi from Freshwater Environments as Resources of Bioactive Compounds
No full textOwing to their nutritional, culinary, and nutraceutical, mushrooms are worldwide consumed and appreciated. Moreover, many of these mushrooms are also known as medicinal mushrooms since they possess several pharmacological properties attributable to a huge number of bioactive compounds derived from their sporophores. Several studies are available in the literature about in vitro and in vivo mechanisms of actions of such bioactive compounds. Most of these surveys are focused on macrofungi belonging to the genera Pleurotus, Ganoderma, or specific taxa such as Agaricus bisporus, Agaricus blazei, Boletus eduliInonotus obliquus, Hericium erinaceus, Lentinula edodes, and Grifola frondose. On the other hand, there is a lack of information on the under investigated ecological group of freshwater fungi. These fungi play a very important role in freshwater environments and some of them, belonging to Basidiomycota, are also edible and largely consumed. In this review we collected information about the medicinal properties of freshwater macro and micromycetes. Among them, macrofungi, such as Amanita vaginata, Armillaria mellea, Armillaria tabescens, Astraeus hygrometricus, Auricularia auricula-judae, Bjerkandera adusta, Bovista nigrescens, Calocybe gambosa, Candolleomyces candolleanus, Collybia dryophila, Coprinus comatus, Cyclocybe cylindracea, Hypsizygus ulmarius, Inonotus hispidus, Lactarius controversus, Lentinus tigrinus, and Schizophyllum commune, observed in riparian habitat, and microfungi, such as Penicillium aculeatum, P. chrysogenum, and Fusarium incarnatum, isolated from aquatic plants, have been reported to have antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant, antidiabetic, immunomoludatory, hypoglycaemic, and other pharmaceutical activities. Such fungal species are noteworthy since they represent an important quote of biodiversity to preserve their fundamental ecological role and a possible solution for different health problems for humans and animal farms
Antioxidant properties, total phenolic and flavonoid content of different extracts of the medicinal mushrooms Pleurotus eryngii, Leccinum scabrum, Leccinum versipelle and Pisolithus tinctorius
No full textMushrooms consumption is increasing thanks to the presence in their composition of numerous bioactive compounds. As functional foods, mushrooms, represent a valid alternative to other foodstuff, for a balanced healthy nutrition for both humans and animals [1]. Medicinal mushrooms, represent a rich source of antioxidant compounds such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, and polysaccharides. In this survey, four species of medicinal mushrooms, Pisolithus tinctorius, Pleurotus eryngii, Leccinum scabrum, and L. versipelle were compared for their antioxidant activity and for the content of total phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Three different extracts were prepared for each mushroom using hot water (HW), ethanol (EtOH), and ethyl acetate (EA) as solvents for extraction. Each extract was tested for free radical scavenging activity, with different concentrations (from 20 mg/mL to 0.1 mg/mL), using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The radical scavenging activity was calculated as percentage of inhibition (%) measuring the absorbance of the blank at 517 nm and the absorbance of the extract sample. Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) was used as a positive control. All mushrooms extracts exhibited antioxidant activity, but P. tinctorius showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity for all the tested extracts and at all the concentration, with values ranging from 89.6±1.5 to 55.6±0.7 %, from 91.4±1.1 to 61.4±1.2 % and from 90.9±1.5 to 10.9±1.0% for HW, EtOH and EA, respectively.
Total phenols of extracts were determined according to the Folin-ciocalteu’s assay [2]. The absorbance was measured spectrophotometrically at 760 nm. The content of total phenols was calculated based on the calibration curve of Gallic acid and results were expressed as milligrams of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per gram of mushroom extract. P. tinctorius exhibited the highest values of total phenolic content for HW and EtOH extract with value of 63.9±0.9, 71.6±0.4 GAE/g, respectively, while
L. scabrum and L. versipelle showed the highest values for AC extract (20.7±0.620.6±0.3 GAE/g, respectively). The quantification of total flavonoid content was conducted following the methodology of Kaewnarin et al., 2008, partially modified [3]. Absorbance was measured at 415 nm and the total flavonoid contents were calculated using a calibration curve of quercetin (QE) equivalents. Results were expressed as mg QE equivalents per gram of mushroom extract. P. eryngii EA extract showed the highest content of flavonoids (65.80±0.85 QE/g), while L. scabrum exhibited the highest values both for HW (17.70±1.13 QE/g) and EtOH (39.85±1.34
QE/g) extracts. Considering the high value of total phenolic compounds, but not of flavonoids, these results suggest that the highest antioxidant activity of P. tinctorius is probably due to other molecules which were not taken into consideration in this investigation, but which need further study in the future. In general, all four tested species exhibited good radical scavenging activity and therefore the possibility of being used as a functional food with high antioxidant properties
New records and geographic distribution of Glaziophyton mirabile (Poaceae: Bambusoideae)
No full textGlaziophyton Franch. is a monotypic bamboo genus (G. mirabile Franch.), narrowly endemic to the Campos de Altitude in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. Five occurrence sites are known, but one is considered locally extinct and, at two sites, the species has not been recollected for several years. Due to its restricted geographical range G. mirabile is classified as a threatened species. In this study we report two new populations. These new records might change the species conservation status and the category of its extinction risk
Seeds vitality and fungal contamination in Abies nebrodensis
No full textSeeds of Abies nebrodensis were subjected to laboratory tests aimed to detect fungal contaminants and to obtain xenobiotic-free seedlings, by the use of different surface sterilising agents. Moreover, hot water at 60°C was used to suppress any fungal microorganisms colonizing the inner tissues. Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus and Stemphylium vesicarium were the most frequent fungal contaminants. Non-contaminated seeds showed germination values ranging from 0 to 36.4% depending on the applied sterilization protocol. Further analyses will be carried out to establish the influence of these fungi on the seed germination process and their relationship with seedlings of A. nebrodensis
Inocybe obscurobadia and Neournula pouchetii, infrequent macromycetes in Italy
No full textTwo infrequent species from Italy, i.e. Inocybe obscurobadia (Basidiomycets) and Neournula pouchetii (Ascomycetes) are reported for the first time from Sicily (southern Italy). The two species were collected in the Monti Sicani Park within a non-native forest in the Site of
Community Interest (SCI ITA040005) - Monte Cammarata, Contrada Salac
Conservation Strategies of the Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom Pleurotus nebrodensis (Basidiomycota, Fungi)
No full textPleurotus nebrodensis (Inzenga) Quél. is an edible mushroom appreciated by consumers for its organoleptic characters. It was first described by the mycologist Giuseppe Inzenga as “the most delicious mushroom growing in Sicily”. This taxon, originally described as Agaricus nebrodensis Inzenga, has undergone several changes in the synomy and is recognized as a variety or subspecies within the Pleurotus eryngii (DC.) Quél. species complex. Recent studies demonstrated that P. nebrodensis is distinct from other taxa related to the P. eryngii complex. The distribution of P. nebrodensis in Europe is limited. The mushroom grows only in Madonie Park (Sicily, Italy) and in Greece, associated with plants of Prangos ferulacea (Lindl.). Several studies demonstrated that the presence of P. nebrodensis in native territories has progressively decreased over the years. Research conducted in Sicily (southern Italy) during the fructification period (April–June 2009) confirmed this negative trend. The decision to include P. nebrodensis as an endangered (EN) species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was taken to safeguard the existence of this important taxon. Legal action is needed to stop the overexploitation and collection of unripe basidiomata of P. nebrodensis in the wild. Ex situ cultivation to increase wild production was experimented and preservation of mycelium in the Mycotheca of the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Forest Science (SAAF) of the University of Palermo was carried out. The in situ conservation strategy can be implemented only if the wild collection is properly managed (picking of ripe mushrooms forbidden in zone A of Madonie Park and collection of unripe mushrooms forbidden in other areas)
Cellulolytic activity in Aspergillus spp. contaminating livestock feeds and raw materials
No full textThe contamination by Aspergillus spp. have become a global concern in food and feedstuffs and can lead to a reduction in yield and quality of agricultural products with significant economic losses. Most species of Aspergillus produce cellulose-degrading enzymes and some of them also have mycotoxigenic activity. This study aimed i) to evaluate the Aspergillus contamination in feeds (16) and row materials (32) collected in Sicily; ii) to isolate and identify fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus and iii) to analyze their ability to produce cellulolytic enzymes. Aspergillus spp. contamination was evaluated on PDA using serial ten-fold dilution and spread plate technique (Mirabile et al., 2019) and ranged from 50 to 9x106 CFU/g and from 45 to 3,3x107 in feeds and raw materials, respectively. The most recurrent colonies were identified by morphological features, ITS and β-tubulin sequence analysis as A. niger, A. tubingensis, A. brasiliensis, A. fumigatus and A. flavus.
Qualitative production of cellulolytic enzymes performed according to Mandels et al. (1976) and time course of endo and exo-β-1,4 glucanase activity (UI/ml) determined in solid submerged fermentation (Ghose, 1987), revealed a variability between Aspergillus species and was strain-dependent. A. tubingensis SAAF14, A. flavus MUCL18903 and A. brasiliensis MUCL20039 exhibited the highest CMCase and FPase activity of 2.16, 2.37 and 0.99 UI/ml and 0.65, 0.92, and 0.42 UI/ml, respectively. The presence of these Aspergillus isolates with high cellulolytic activity could represent a potential risk for the quality of the contaminated food
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