The qualification of trade marks of agro-industrial products is consumer oriented with a growing demand of objective methods to assess production, preservation and market distribution methods. Monitoring volatile organic compounds (VOC) in traces it's an approach that requires instrumentation adequate in sensitivity, selectivity and reliability. Solid state sensors give only a very limited answer to this demand. Our approach is based on the development of instrumentation based on mass ...

In the vascular endothelium, nitric oxide (NO) is constitutively produced from L-arginine by the enzyme endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS). NO plays a key role in the relaxation of vascular smooth muscle, inhibits platelets and leukocytes adhesion to the endothelium, reduces vascular smooth muscle cells migration and proliferation and limits the oxidation of atherogenic low-density lipoproteins. Because of these multiple actions, NO plays a central role in maintaining normal ...

Optical diagnosis of breast tumour has been of growing interest in the last few years due to its non invasive character and to the chance of obtaining information complementary to x-ray mammograms. In fact, the principal tissue components, as oxy- and deoxy-haemoglobin, lipid and water, exhibit different light absorption properties in the spectral range from 600 nm to 1000 nm. Thus in principle, it is possible to distinguish different breast structures on the basis of their light ...

Greek philosophers and Christians, western and eastern civilizations, Latin and German peoples faced each other in Late Antiquity. The cultural and historical identity of Europe arose from such a confrontation. It can be aptly conceived of as a "clash of civilizations". The Istituto per il Lessico Intellettuale Europeo e Storia delle Idee, Sezione Pensiero Antico, conducts several researches on later ancient philosophy and its legacy in Latin, Byzantine and Arab traditions. The Sezione Pensiero ...

Neologismi quotidiani. Un dizionario a cavallo del millennio (1998-2003), the first volume to emerge from the Osservatorio neologico della lingua italiana, has been published in the series "Lessico Intellettuale Europeo", by Leo S. Olschki (Florence). The Osservatorio neologico della lingua italiana (Onli) is a research project by Giovanni Adamo e Valeria Della Valle begun in 1998, with the support of the Istituto per il lessico intellettuale europeo e la storia delle idee of the CNR (under the ...

The experimental and theoretical research activity of the Istituto di Fisica del Plasma "Piero Caldirola" is mainly focused on the physics of the interaction of electromagnetic waves with laboratory plasmas. Research in this field is essential in providing the means for plasma heating in magnetized plasmas in fusion devices and in developing diagnostic methods appropriate both to laboratory and space. The technological research is mainly dedicated to the use of plasma-materials interaction ...

In 1987, the first observation of neutrinos from the gravitational collapse of a bleu giant in the Magellanic Clouds made the neutrino astrophysics an experimental science. Since then a number of different, more sensitive neutrino telescopes have been constructed and are observing the Galaxy, even in this moment, to search for the most catastrophic phenomena that occur in the universe. At the same time these phenomena as: supernovae, masses captured by black holes and merging binary stars, ...

The Population Genetics Institute carries on since 1995 a multidisciplinary project for the identification of genes predisposing to multifactorial diseases and to complex traits. This project is conducted in the villages of the Ogliastra geographic isolate of central-eastern Sardinia. These villages are examined under the epidemiological, genealogical, genetic, molecular and statistical profile. The identification of genes associated to pathological phenotypes in such populations is ...

Identification of the genes that are mutated in cancer is a central aim of cancer research. It forms the foundation for understanding the biological abnormalities within neoplastic cells, provides information on the function of gene products, and sheds light on more complex questions such as the relationships between genes and biochemical pathways. Current strategies for the development of new therapeutic and preventive agents in cancer are increasingly dependent upon modulation of these ...

GENERATION OF DOPAMINERGIC (DA) NEURONS IN VITRO: AN OPTIMAL SOURCE OF FUNCTIONAL NEURONS FOR GRAFTS TO RESTORE NIGROSTRIATAL PATHWAY IN EXPERIMENTAL MODELS OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE (PD). In mammals most DA neurons are located in the midbrain (MES), where they form the nigrostriatal and mesocorticolimbic pathways. They are involved in motor control, cognition and emotion, and are implicated in psychiatric and neurological disorders, including schizophrenia and PD. DA progenitors are ...

Maria Persico Multifactorial diseases like cardiovascular diseases, tumors, neurodegenerative disorders and diabetes are the more frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in the undustrialized countries. One approach useful to identify loci and genes responsible for complex diseases takes advantage of populations of small villages that have been geographically isolated for centuries. In Italy many small villages have been isolated for centuries. We have initiated a project in twelve ...

Autofluorescence as an intrinsic parameter of cell and tissue suitable for non-invasive, real-time diagnostic techniques. Most of the substances involved both in the organization and the functional-metabolic aspects of biological material can act as fluorophores, giving rise to a fluorescence emission under excitation at suitable wavelengths. The properties of this fluorescence signal are strictly related to the chemical nature and the concentration of the endogenous fluorophores, to their ...

The survival of organisms depends on the accurate transmission of the genetic information from one cell to its daughters through a metabolic pathway called DNA replication. DNA replication occurs in vivo in an ordered and highly organized way to satisfy three main tasks: 1) DNA replication must occur in a specific moment of the cell cycle called S phase or synthesis phase 2) each DNA sequence must be duplicated once per cell cycle 3) the genetic information (determined by the nucleotide ...

The whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae), small insects that feed in the phloem of a wide range of plants, are rapidly expanding from their original tropical and subtropical zones, colonizing temperate agricultural areas, including large parts of Italy. The intensifying losses caused by whiteflies are certainly due to population increase, particularly of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Fig.1) and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), but whitefly-transmitted diseases are making these losses quite ...

The preservation of plant biodiversity combats the risk of "genetic erosion", i.e., the risk that species, forms and plant varieties may become extinct, producing a definitive loss of the genetic variability which they contain. It is estimated that today over 9000 species can be considered endangered in the world. As concerns woody plants, the cultivation of which is characterized by the use of a more and more restricted number of selected cultivars in fruit and timber plant orchards, the ...

In Europe per annum more than 80 million cubic meters of sawn timber are dried in industrial kilns. This drying process consumes huge amounts of energy but is an unavoidable production step in the woodworking industry and a pre-condition for high-value application. Science related to wood drying and thermal treatment has a long history in Europe. Fundamental work during the last century and the technical developments in electronics and process control during the last 40 years have contributed to ...

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is a highly polymorphic gene complex which has an essential role in immune response activation and in self and non-self discrimination. HLA molecules influence the immune response to pathogens, are involved in disease susceptibility, in autoimmunity and in transplant engraftment (histocompatibility). Analysis of HLA gene polymorphism HLA can be used in to characterize individuals and populations and is useful for anthropological studies to shed light on ...

At the ITOI-CNR, unit of Bologna, we developed a research area aimed at the study of neuromuscular disorders, with particular emphasis on muscular dystrophies and diseases associated with defects of nuclear lamina proteins. In the recent years, six genetic disorders have been linked to mutations of LMNA gene coding for alternatively spliced lamins A and C, main components of the nuclear lamina. The X-linked form of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy has been linked to mutations of emerin, an ...

Difficulties in math learning are frequently reported. Often the ability of understanding or not understanding math is a key factor in school success. At ITD innovative ICT- based learning environments are being studied. They aim at improving learning quality both from the standpoint of acquired abilities and of motivational levels, in various subject areas and with a special attention to math. This applied research activity requires contributions from different disciplines: math, education, ...

Playing with robots might not be that new. The innovative aspect is the possibility for kids to build and program their robots. What is the educational value of robot programming? Let's consider a group of kids and adults engaged in building cybernetic constructions by assembling wheels, sensors, engines, etc, and using a special programmable component. The group discusses behaviours of robots such as movements, reaction to obstacles, light and temperature variations, etc..). By doing so it ...

Alberto Strini and Emanuela Mapelli Titanium dioxide is a well-known catalyst able to degrade by oxidation several organic compounds. Recent studies have proposed to exploit this property to prepare additives for construction materials based on this compound. A particular interest arises from the possibility of obtaining coating materials that, being activated by sun light, are able to destroy the organic compounds which deposit on them. This property might potentially lead to the development ...

The need to improve the acoustic performance of the indoor premises and the will to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional techniques forced ITC-CNR to apply active noise control to building elements such as windows and vertical partitions. Active noise control (ANC), in which additional secondary sources are used to cancel noise from the original primary source, is based on the principle of destructive interference. ITC-CNR designed two prototypes of an active window and of an active ...

Although lacking immunoglobulins, circulating cells and phagocytic processes, plants possess a rather complex and efficient immune system. During their estimated 450 million years of evolution, they have developed various defence strategies against pathogenic microrganisms. Thus plants as well as animals are equipped with molecules, cells, tissues and organs capable of recognizing and distinguishing between self and non-self and so can mediate the relationship between the individual and the ...

CNR-INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIESPADOVA UNIT " METALLOPROTEINS" Paolo Zatta (Manager of the Unit) Fernanda Ricchelli (Senior Researcher); Staff members: Ennio Carbone, Daniele Cervellin, Silvano Gobbo, Paolo Rocco, Giuseppe Tognon, Antonio Cervellin. The aim of the Unit is the study on the role of metal ions on different pathologies. This unit is comprehensive of two laboratories involved in the following issues. A) Role of metal ions in human and experimental neurophysiopathology. ...

In Ancient times, the Mediterranean geological fracture was not yet an economic fracture. Economic differences among Mediterranean regions were not yet so strong. Things were not so different several centuries later, after the sunset of the Ancient Civilization, around 1000, when Islamic and Byzantine civilizations were the main Mediterranean and European powers. The divergence, and economic fracture, took place later; from the epoch of Medieval demographic and economic growth. Western economy ...

ILEANA ZUCCHI E RENATO DULBECCO This focus covers an interesting project carried out at the Department of Human Genome and Multifactorial Diseases by Ileana Zucchi and her group under the supervision of Renato Dulbecco. Its aim is the identification of genes involved in the pathogenesis of breast cancer, using the approach of Functional Genomics. In order to address the genetic basis of mammary gland differentiation, we have exploited an experimental model based on two clonal derivatives, ...

The Scrovegni Chapel, painted by Giotto in the period 1303-1305, is one of the most important masterpiece of the European art. Because of serious problems of preservation, the paintings have been restored in the last two years but the accessibility of the monument is now restricted to a little number of visitors (20 people any time) and to a short time (15 minutes). In order to solve these problems of fruition the municipality of Padua planned the creation of an hypermedia room (10 x 20 m) ...

The so-called Misurata hoard, at present kept at the Archaeological Museum of Leptis Magna in Libya, is the largest of antiquity and consists of about 108.000 coins of the "follis" type, minted between 294 and 333 b.C. Due the number and the good conservation of the coins, the find, which is being studied under the responsibility of Dr. S. Garraffo director of CNR-ITABC, offers a unique opportunity to study the coin production in the Late Roman Empire. In this context a research project was ...

The growing interest for appropriate formulations of final products in various industrial areas, from pharmaceutical to cosmetics, agro-foods, biotechnology, fuels, etc., attracted attention to the possibility of producing stable monodispersed emulsions using microporous membranes, realising the so-called membrane emulsifier. Advantages of this methodology are: lower energy cost; no mechanical stress for the treated solutions; mild operating conditions, better control of droplets size, etc. This ...

Atomistic and non atomistic simulations have become in the last years more reliable; for this reason, computational chemistry can give to investigations an important and above all effective contribution. Atomistic and non atomistic simulations can give a large number of information in relatively short times, particularly : a) Evaluation of different materials and process properties b) Interpretation of ambiguous experimental results c) Materials design and process. On these considerations, ...