Many research institutions are paying attention on the problem of disposal of olive mill sludges, trying to give solutions technologically and economically sustainable and environmentally safe. Land controlled application of fresh olive mill sludges presents organizational and logistic difficulties, especially for two-phases olive mill pomace. Preliminary studies carried out by Section of Oliviculture of C.N.R-I.S.A.F.O.M., with financial support of National Park of Cilento and Vallo di Diano, ...

The species Cynara cardunculus L. includes the two botanic varieties, the altilis DC (domestic cardoon) and the sylvestris (wild cardoon) and the sub species scolymus Hegi (globe artichoke). The particular interest for the productive potential of this species is related to the traditional use of the thickened receptacle for human food, to the possible alternative utilisation of the biomass and also the possibility to obtain, in Mediterranean environment, good yields even under low water ...

Nonostante la limitatezza dei dati disponibili sul genoma bovino, rispetto a quelli relativi a uomo e topo, sono state identificate le proteine più abbondanti in ciascun tessuto. In particolare, è stato ottenuto esito positivo per diverse centinaia di specie proteiche che sono state così associate ai rispettivi geni. I dati ottenuti potranno in futuro risultare basilari per la corretta comprensione dei complessi processi fisiologici e/o metabolici che regolano l'adattamento di quest'animale ...

To provide a complete molecular description of the fundamental mechanisms necessary for cell life, a series of studies on different organisms are now undergoing to characterize the whole pattern of proteins expression. Different Proteome projects have been activated in the world and their interest grows together with the increased availability of new genetic data. The scientific community realized that, once the entire genome of an organism have been sequenced, to understand the molecular ...

Over recent years there has been a tremendous drive towards computer miniaturization. At present the smallest components of a commercial microelectronic device are about 130 billionths of a metre (nanometre). Smaller dimensions would provide more powerful computers and reduce energy consumption, a fundamental issue in the explosive market of wireless communication, including mobile phones, portable video and audio players, laptops, etc. Further, significant miniaturization will require ...

On April 2002, just after one year since its recovery into a dockyard in Genoa, due to the breaking of the mooring, the meteo-oceanographic buoy "ODAS Italia 1", managed by the branch in Genoa of Istituto di Studi sui Sistemi Intelligenti per l'Automazione, regained the sea. It was positioned at the centre of the Ligurian Sea on about 1400 m deep sea bottom, approximately at 73 Km southward from Genoa along the line with Cape Corse. The research project developed around the system "ODAS Italia ...

Following light absorption in the near-UV and VIS spectral region, molecular properties are profoundly affected. Such changes, attributable to the formation of electronic excited states, are transient. Within a few fractions of a second, molecules tend to return to their initial equilibrium state by emitting the excess of energy as heat or light. The latter process is termed photoluminescence and can be extremely useful for a variety of purposes. For instance it is possible to design ...

Anthropogenic emissions, clouds and climate Clouds are the most important factor controlling the albedo (reflectivity) and hence the temperature of our planet. In fact, the surface of the Earth is covered by clouds 60% of the time on average, and clouds reflect the incoming solar radiation and cause cooling at the surface. Man-made aerosols have a strong influence on cloud optical properties, thus strongly affecting the albedo of the Earth. This climatic effect, called the "indirect aerosol ...

For more than a century, two general forms of memory have been classified by their duration: short-term memory (STM), which is rapidly formed and can outlast training for minutes or hours, and long-term memory (LTM), which lasts from hours to days, weeks or even years. STM involves post-translational modifications of preexisting molecules that alters the efficiency of synaptic transmission. In contrast, LTM can be blocked by inhibitors of transcription or translation indicating that it is ...

The issues that confront scientists studying continental margins are complex and range from drainage basin dynamics to sediment transport theory, sea level history and climate change. Many of the scientific concepts employed to understand societal problems like coastal pollution, hydrocarbon and ground water reservoirs, landslide hazards, and coastal erosion are deeply rooted in understanding sediment transport and stratigraphic sequence evolution. Two overarching questions behind these complex ...

Marine biofouling, whose global annual costs have been calculated to be about 6,5 billion of dollars, causes ship velocity reduction and dry docks stopping for hull scraping and antifouling protective coating repainting by new antifouling paints containing toxic biocides that gradually released; from their hulls should avoid fouling settlement but contemporarily contributing to environmental pollution, severely in some cases, especially in coastal areas. The IMO (International Maritime ...

ISTM is one of the seven European partners involved in a joint effort aimed at developing nano-engineered high performance thermoelectric materials and devices (Fig. 1). The European Community within the Vth Framework Program funds this team project, named NanoThermel. Thermoelectric (TE) materials have a dual purpose: electrical generation on one side and cooling/heating on the other side. Power generation is achieved by applying a temperature difference between two ends of the TE material, ...

Innovative properties of CeO2 - ZrO2 nanostructures in energy production processes. In recent years, a great effort has been put into the development of materials for energy production (SOFCs) and the conversion of automotive emissions into non toxic compounds. In this context, CeO2-based materials are widely employed thanks to their Oxygen Storage Capacity (OSC) and valuable redox properties, ascribed to the facile Ce(III) « Ce(IV) switching and to the capability of the fluorite-type ceria ...

On how a turbulent system replicates itself at smaller scales. Marta Antonelli 1, Andrea Mazzino 2, Umberto Rizza 2(1) Univ. di Genova, D.to di Fis., (2) CNR-ISAC, Sez. di Lecce One of the most intriguing features characterizing a turbulent system is the emergence of huge fluctuations covering a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Although the equations ruling the dynamics of such fluctuations are fully deterministic, the probabilistic description turns out to be the most appropriate ...

by O. Salvetti The research The study and development of deformable models enabling simulation of the behaviour of three-dimensional (3-D) structures embedded into real scenes and subjected to deforming forces, represent a challenge to computational neurosciences. In the construction of such models, artificial neural networks are in the forefront of research, results obtained so far by the "Signals and Images" Laboratory of ISTI-CNR have evidenced the potential and the effectiveness of ...

Space missions present many challenges for today's information technology, by providing intrinsically difficult problems. These problems enclose the many critical requirements of space missions, namely efficiency, flexibility and robustness. Various techniques used in Artificial Intelligence have found an application in the context of space missions, among which Planning and Scheduling. These disciplines are studied by a research group which has now been active for many years at the Institute ...

The increasing relevance of genetic diseases in the context of the Health National Service and their being associated with lack of cure and severe handicap suggested a pilot project on motor and cognitive rehabilitation in Huntington's disease taken as a model of chronic degenerative genetic disease. Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, neurodegenerative disorder, charcterized by three different groups of symptoms: movement disorders, psichiatric manifestations and cognitive ...

Food quality is not only a function of nutritional values but also of the presence of bioactive compounds, which exert a positive effect on human health. In the case of milk, the known bioactive proteins and peptides are mainly derived from the casein fraction, and only a very few from the soluble protein (whey) fraction. The proteins associated with the milk fat globule membrane (MFGMP), representing 2-8% of the total protein milk content, derive from the apical membrane of secreting epithelial ...

Among the fungi that are moulding agents of agri-food products, there are species belonging to the genera of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium and Claviceps that arise justified apprehension for food safety because are capable to produce mycotoxins, which are responsible to elicit strong intoxication in livestock and humans. It is well known that not all species of these genera are mycotoxin producers, and that within a toxigenic species there is a wide variability of toxin synthesis. The ...

At the Pisa station, a new efficient route to the preparation of very active and specific nanostructured catalysts has been developed and optimized. The method consists in using metal vapour as reagent and allows one to obtain catalysts that are remarkably more active and selective than analogous commercial counterparts. These new catalysts can be already obtained on a kilogram scale, which forecasts an industrial application (Figure 1). It has been also developed the preparation of ...

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze all the chemical reactions that allow Life on Earth. Additionally, they possess interesting properties that can be exploited for the synthesis of chemical compounds of interest for the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and food industries. Till the early eighties it was generally accepted that enzymes could work just in water - a solvent in which most of the organic compounds are not soluble - and that the organic solvents were poisons for their catalytic ...

Bacteria and biological systems respond to external perturbations through several different mechanisms. The origins of external stress are diverse: chemical, biological and physical. The sensing mechanisms of external forces by cells have recently been identified. Membrane proteins forming pores across the membrane are the basis of these response mechanisms: they can open and close in correspondence to external stimuli such as touch, sound, gravity, osmolarity variations etc. ...

Recent epidemiological data suggest that the allergic manifestations in industrialised countries have increased enormously in the last years, with a percentage between 20 and 30% of the population. Among the allergenic causes, pollens are one of the main responsible factors. The most allergenic species belong to important families such as: fagacee, urticacee, oliacee, composite and graminacee. The Parietaria belongs to the Urticaceae family and is considered to be the most common group of ...

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by repeated episodes of partial or complete pharyngeal obstruction during sleep. Its main treatment is ventilation by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), that is applied during sleep. Although the required pressure changes within each night, a constant pressure is traditionally applied. By contrast, "autoCPAP" machines deliver continuously variable pressure levels in relationship to needs automatically identified by their ...

In recent years, biomedical research has encountered several difficult problems related to an increasing number of diseases, as consequence of life expectancy growth in the developed countries. Two main recovering actions have been adopted: 1) precocious diagnosis of biochemical anomalies; 2) development of new pharmacological techniques aiming to minimize undesirable effects of the therapy. Many efforts have been directed to the development of "intelligent" molecules, capable of selective ...

1) The safeguard of Cultural and Environmental Heritage has been recognised as a national and European priority producing, hence, an increasing demand of research on new polymeric materials with performances suitable to be used in the field of the conservation and restoration,linked to the development and the application of eco-sustainable technologies.Within the specific domain "Textiles", which deteriorate naturally by oxidation,heat,mechanical stress, radiation and microbiological and ...

New and cost effective solar light photocatalysis of MOCVD nanostructured titania films for ecological applications Titania (TiO2) nanostructured thin films have been synthesized in our institute by the MOCVD technique. This technique has offered the relevant peculiarity of depositing titania in the anatase phase with a calibrated oxygen deficiency; the films were so characterized by intermediate states in the band gap allowing the interaction with the visible light. Our recent results ...

RADIOCHEMICAL APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF AQUATIC SYSTEMS Introduction Sustainable development and responsible care are imperatives in countries where, it is possible to conjugate properly development and environmental protection; this implies: -introducing advanced technologies to minimise and control emissions in the environmental compartments -recovering of the already compromised natural environments. Environmental Protection - Aquatic systems The aquatic systems ...

An important goal has been reached regarding shape representation with reduced dimensionality for three-dimensional objects (refer to "Curve skeletonization of surface-like objects in 3D images guided by voxel classification", S. Svensson, I. Nyström, G. Sanniti di Baja, Pattern Recognition Letters, 23/12 1419-1426, 2002). It is well-known that skeletonization is a process to extract from a two-dimensional object a set of arcs and curves, called skeleton, that is a sketched and faithful ...

There is a prevailing hypothesis that multiple sclerosis (MS) is a polygenic immune-mediated disease. So far only one genetic factor has been identified located in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II, specifically DR15, DQ6. However, there is no convincing evidence of a common susceptibility locus. We have identified a pedigree of Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, in which MS segregates with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. We have collected blood samples from 18 family members, seven ...