Study of semi-synthetic plastic objects of historic interest using non-invasive total reflectance FT-IR

A significant proportion of modern and contemporary artifacts and objects of historical interest, are composed of materials in the form of synthetic, semi-synthetic, and natural polymers. Each class of polymer and corresponding composite plastics are subject to different degradation processes. This means that conservators and curators of 20th century collections are faced with varied, nontrivial preservation issues. An unresolved problem is the identification of early plastics based on semi-synthetic polymers such as cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, and casein formaldehyde, which were often used to imitate the more valuable natural materials such as ivory, tortoiseshell, ebony, and bone. This exemplifies the need for non-invasive methods specifically tailored for identification of plastic materials in collections, so as to provide conservators with a means of materials classification to support preventive conservation strategies and interventive treatments. The present work is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of non-invasive Total Reflectance (TR) FT-IR spectroscopy, coupled with a custom reference spectral TR FT-IR library, for the identification of materials comprising a series of unknown objects. A set of ten heritage objects made from early semi-synthetic materials was used as a training test set to validate the proposed methodological approach. The FT-IR data acquired on the test objects were pre-processed and finally classified using commercial software tools used for the automatic classification of spectra in FT-IR spectroscopy. The procedure was successfully applied to several cases, although residual uncertainties remained in a few examples. The results obtained are critically analyzed and discussed in the perspective of proposing a robust method for in-field prescreening of the chemical composition of plastic artistic and historical objects

The Effect of 17beta Estradiol on Glut1 Expression In The Right Ventricle Of Rats With Severe Pulmonary Hypertension

poster abstractPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a devastating disease that is characterized by a rise of blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lung. This puts significant strain on the right ventricle (RV) of the heart. If untreated, PH can lead to right heart failure and death. One of the hallmarks of right heart failure in PH is the development of cytoplasmic glycolysis in the cardiac muscle cells (myocytes) of the RV. This describes a compensatory process where glucose uptake into the mitochondria is inhibited, thereby leading to its conversion to lactate in the cytoplasm. Importantly, cytoplasmic glycolysis is associated with an increase in a protein called glucose transporter 1 (Glut 1). 17beta estradiol (E2) can ameliorate experimental PH, but its effects on RV glut 1 expression are not yet known. The aim of this project is to determine the RV expression of Glut 1 in a rat model of severe PH, and to investigate whether this is decreased by E2 treatment. We assessed Glut 1 via immunofluorescence staining in cryosections of RV tissue from control rats, untreated PH rats, and E2-treated PH rats. Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (Diamidinophenyl-indole), cell membranes were stained with WGA (wheat germ agglutinin), and Glut1 was stained with a Glut1 antibody conjugated to a red immunofluorescent dye. Nuclei are stained blue; cell membranes are stained green. Glut 1 quantification occurs via visual inspection and determination of red staining via specific software (Metamorph). We were able to successfully establish the protocol for Glut1 staining. In pilot experiments, there was little Glut1 staining present in normal RVs, but we detected up-regulation of Glut 1 in the RV of animals with PH. Whether this is affected by E2 is currently under investigation

The effect of plant density with different row spacing on quality of the fatty acid composition and grain yield of sunflower

This research was aimed to assess the influence of density with different row spacing on sunflower crop in two different locations in southern Italy. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replicates. It involved the comparison of sunflower grown in the field on 25 m2-2), obtained by keeping a constant number of plants within the row (3 plants m-1) and varying the spacing between rows (0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 m). In the crops grown at the density of 7.5 plants m-2 (0.4 m row spacing) achene and oil yields were significantly lower as compared to the other treatments. Therefore, the mean values of the two trials did not show any statistical difference between the two densities of 3.75 and 5 plants m-2 (0.8 and 0.6 m row spacing, respectively). However, the superiority in the quality of the fatty acid composition was observed in the crops grown at lower density. Therefore, the row spacing of 0.8 m seems to be a good compromise between achene production and good acid composition of oil.Key words: Helianthus annuus L, plant distribution, plant density, achene yield, oil fatty acid composition

Short-term soil amendment by sewage sludge anaerobic digestate in a tomato monoculture suppresses Fusarium vascular wilt disease by changing the taxonomic characteristics of soil microbiota

Digestate incorporation into topsoil determines soil fertility improvement by changing composition and structure of soil microbiota. However, how microbiota responds to short-term soil amendment by sewage sludge anaerobic digestate (SSD) for suppressing Fusarium vascular wilt disease is unknown. This study compares the effects of three SSD-based treatments to suppress Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol) in a long-term cherry tomato monoculture under field condition in a 3-year trial. Three sampling sites with two application times (two bulk soils at 3–12 weeks after amendment and one tomato rhizosphere soil at 12 weeks post-amendment) were chosen. Three digestate typologies (liquid, centrifuged, and dried) having physicochemical features and heavy metals content below the legal limits were tested at 50 l, 3.5 kg and 2.5 kg m−2y−1 dose, respectively. Fusarium wilt disease was measured for three consecutive years by severity index and Fol abundance in tomato vascular tissue was assessed by ITS rDNA gene sequencing. Fol abundance and taxonomic structure of Fusarium community in the rhizosphere were determined at specie level at the end of the trial by ITS rDNA and EF1α rDNA genes sequencing, respectively. The taxonomic structure (α-, β-diversity) of soil bacterial community (SBC) was characterized from phylum up to genus level at the end of the trial in all the sites by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed that dry SSD reduced disease severity in field up to 18 % and Fol abundance in tomato up to 0.9 ITS copies g−1 tissue. Fol abundance was decreased in the rhizosphere up to 0.0027 ng μl−1 DNA, while the Fusarium community shifted between treated-soils and un-amended. The SBC composition (α-diversity) changed in the rhizosphere by applying dry digestate, while the SBC structure (β-diversity) shifted either among treatments or sites. Bacterial members related to Fol suppression (Bacillus, Chitinophaga, Flavihumibacter, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas and Terrimonas) increased in the rhizosphere (P < 0.01, P < 0.001) more than in the bulk soils by applying both dewatered-SSDs. Thus, digestate soil amendment carried out for three consecutive years has affected tomato Fusarium wilt severity by changing the taxonomic characteristics of fusaria and bacteria communities of the amended soil

Effects of organic fertilization from wet olive pomace on emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum Shrank) grain yield and composition

In a circular economy framework, the evaluation of waste by-product use as fertilizer is essential to promote sustainable agriculture. Olive oil wet pomace can be a valuable alternative as organic fertilizer on cereal crops. Aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of organic (with olive oil waste pomace) fertilization, on grain yield, protein and polyphenol content of emmer wheat grown in Southern Italy. Different amounts, time and amount of application of organic fertilizer were compared to a traditional mineral fertilizer treatment. The chemical analysis, mainly grain protein content and phenolic acids contents, were carried out on the hulled seeds. Agronomic traits showed that the application of olive wet pomace at 140 Mg ha−1 in the first year and 70 Mg ha−1 in the second year, gave the best grain yield than an annual amount application of 70 Mg ha−1. No difference between organic and mineral fertilization was observed when the latter was carried 1 or 2 years before, and the organic fertilization increased grain protein content respect to mineral one. Polyphenol content was not significantly affected by fertilization treatments, while ferulic acid in the emmer grain recently fertilized with wet pomace showed a higher content than emmer fertilized 2–3 years before

Control of oxidative stress in cancer chemoresistance: spotlight on Nrf2 role

Chemoresistance represents the main obstacle to cancer treatment with both conventional and targeted therapy. Beyond specific molecular alterations, which can lead to targeted therapy, metabolic remodeling, including the control of redox status, plays an important role in cancer cell survival following therapy. Although cancer cells generally have a high basal reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, which makes them more susceptible than normal cells to a further increase of ROS, chemoresistant cancer cells become highly adapted to intrinsic or drug-induced oxidative stress by upregulating their antioxidant systems. The antioxidant response is principally mediated by the transcription factor Nrf2, which has been considered the master regulator of antioxidant and cytoprotective genes. Nrf2 expression is often increased in several types of chemoresistant cancer cells, and its expression is mediated by diverse mechanisms. In addition to Nrf2, other transcription factors and transcriptional coactivators can participate to maintain the high antioxidant levels in chemo and radio-resistant cancer cells. The control of expression and function of these molecules has been recently deepened to identify which of these could be used as a new therapeutic target in the treatment of tumors resistant to conventional therapy. In this review, we report the more recent advances in the study of Nrf2 regulation in chemoresistant cancers and the role played by other transcription factors and transcriptional coactivators in the control of antioxidant responses in chemoresistant cancer cells