Maternity Departments’ supervisors

This course will enable the supervisor midwife to participate in the research process in midwifery. Contents will focus on problem identification, research design, sampling, data collection and analysis and interpretation of findings. Special attention will be given to develop the ability to criticize research studies in women's and maternal issues and to the selection of a researchable problem and the development of a plan

Study on an air-launched constellation of tactical micro-satellites for defence Use

The great attention on air-launched microsatellites is due on one hand to the possibilities given by the miniaturization push, making the same performances of traditional satellites achievable with smaller systems, and on the other hand to the disruptive advantages allowed by air-launch techniques, providing Italy not only with an autonomous launch capability, but also with the flexibility to choose the orbit inclination and the launch time, enabling a responsive approach at lower costs respect to ground based launches. In this study, several issues related to this subject are analyzed. A constellation of four microsatellites for electro-optical Earth Observation (EO) is conceived, namely ITAFμSAT (i.e. ITalian Tactical Formation of μ-SATellites). ITAFμSAT is designed to achieve a sub-metric spatial resolution and to offer a high revisit frequency on a specified target area to satisfy military needs. ITAFμSAT is designed to be responsive and the system is conceived to guarantee a fast access to space since the mission is called, through a Plug-and-Play (PnP) approach; to provide Italy with a proprietary system, built, launched and operated on-purpose for its contingent needs; and to complete the information supplied by other EO systems with high quality images captured in a very short time

Organic farming for Syria: option or necessity?

The document stresses the need for an holistic approach to introduce and expand organic agriculture into Syria

Biodetection and biointerface based on Nanostructured Aluminum Oxide (NAO): From fluorescence enhancement to MS effect on single neural cells

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) has been investigated and utilized in numerous products for almost a century. But the rapidly increasing interest in nanoscale materials and their outstanding properties has propelled nanoporous AAO to be used as a substrate for sensors and biosensors. Fluorescence-based biosensors are one type of optical biosensors which are very popular for detecting a variety of targets (DNA, RNA, glucose, enzyme, bacteria, etc.). The recent discovery of AAO fluorescence enhancement effect makes AAO more attractive since it has the great potential to be used in biosensing field to improve the sensor sensitivity. However, the mechanism of the AAO fluorescence enhancement effect has not be understood thoroughly. Based on the experimental and modeling results, it has been found that the main contributing factor to the fluorescence enhancement is probably the plasmonic Al nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in the film, while the nanopore dimensions have a limited contribution. Based on its fluorescence enhancement effect, a new class of molecular beacon biosensors is developed to detect specific hairpin DNA sequence. The sensor demonstrates excellent specificity and selectivity, indicating the great promise of this type of sensor for diagnostic applications. Furthermore, another optical biosensor has been developed based on AAO. TGF-β1 which is one type of growth factor secreted by pancreatic stellate cell (ITAF) has successfully detected by this sensor. It has been found that 10 ng/ml of purified transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) can be readily detected in buffer with high specificity. TGF-β1 in a conditioned cell medium has also been detected successfully. By comparing with the reference data of purified TGF-β1, concentration of TGF-β1 secreted in the conditioned cell medium has been reasonable estimated. Finally, Transcranial magnetic stimulation (MS) effects on single neuron cell (N27) have been studied on both glass and AAO substrate. It has been found that MS not only has a negligible cytotoxic effect on N27 cells but also can speed up the N27 cell proliferation and regeneration

Laboratory and on-site tests for rapid runway repair

The attention to rapid pavement repair has grown fast in recent decades: this topic is strategic for the airport management process for civil purposes and peacekeeping missions. This work presents the results of laboratory and on-site tests for rapid runway repair, in order to analyse and compare technical and mechanical performances of 12 different materials currently used in airport. The study focuses on site repairs, a technique adopted most frequently than repairs with modular elements. After describing mechanical and physical properties of the examined materials (2 bituminous emulsions, 5 cement mortars, 4 cold bituminous mixtures and 1 expanding resin), the study presents the results of carried out mechanical tests. The results demonstrate that the best performing material is a one-component fast setting and hardening cement mortar with graded aggregates. This material allows the runway reopening 6 h after the work. A cold bituminous mixture (bicomponent premixed cold asphalt with water as catalyst) and the ordinary cement concrete allow the reopening to traffic after 18 h, but both ensure a lower service life (1000 coverages) than the cement mortar (10,000 coverages). The obtained results include important information both laboratory level and field, and they could be used by airport management bodies and road agencies when scheduling and evaluating pavement repairs