Considerazioni metodologiche e conclusioni

After the theoric seasons of the second middle of the Twenthieth century especially by the anglo-american Scholars and the beginning of the open area excavations enterprises in Italy thirty years ago, the concept of the therm “method” holds now a multiplicity of aspects one another connected; their theorical and practical applications make valuable the method universality but it depends on the characteristics of the archaeological site too. So Nora with its historical-archaeological stratification is an exemplary specimen from a lot of points of view like a precious source to draw stratigraphical sequences inside  large chronological oasis with very important monumental contexts. The universitary équipes were allowed to adopt a modern methodological practice, founded on technological resources, that leads to a perspective which contains the archaeology of architecture and the archaeology of the smallest clue compared together. The fast and careful editions of the field-works in the “Quaderni Norensi” Collection, enriched by an exhaustive documentary evidence, constitutes an indispensable contribution to the reconstruction of the ancient town and the best trial to test a research model “open-area” between équipes differently formed but in a scientific homogeneous climate.Dopo le stagioni della speculazione teorica della seconda metà del Novecento di marca soprattutto anglo-americana e l’avvio delle grandi imprese di scavo open area in Italia dagli anni Ottanta, il concetto di metodo oggi racchiude in sé una interconnessa molteplicità di aspetti che, pur nella loro universalità applicativa sul piano teorico-pratico, debbono obbedire inevitabilmente anche alle peculiarità dal sito indagato. Il caso di Nora e della sua pluristratificazione storico-archeologica appare esemplare per molti aspetti, quale fonte preziosa di sequenze stratigrafiche racchiuse entro ampie oasi cronologiche e di contesti monumentali di notevole importanza; le diverse équipes universitarie hanno così potuto adottare una moderna prassi metodologica, ben strutturata anche sul piano delle risorse tecnologiche e sussidiarie,  privilegiando in una visione unica sia l’archeologia dell’architettura sia quella delle tracce minute. La rapida e puntuale pubblicazione dei resoconti di scavo nella Collana “Quaderni Norensi”, arricchiti da una documentazione esauriente, rappresenta un contributo metodologico qualificante alla ricostruzione della città antica e la prova feconda di un modello di indagine gestito su un’area estesa da parte di équipes di diversa formazione scientifica in un clima scientifico unitario

Preliminary studies on environmental pollutants in chamois and wild boar from Eastern Piedmont, Italy.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic chlorinated compounds classified as POPs whereas only the penta e tetra-brominated polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are so defined by the Stockolm Convention (Stockholm Convention, 2005) in order to elimitate or restrict the use of POPs. Organophosphorus insecticides (OCPs) represent important environmental and food contamination sources, widely used in agriculture. Among polyciclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzo[a]pirene is classified by IARC in Group 1, as cancerogen  and Benzo[a]fluoranthene as a Group 2B, as possible cancerogen (IARC, 2012; IARC, 2010).  EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) has released a scientific opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of brominated flame retardants in food (EFSA, 2011) and in 2014 European commission has asked Member States to monitor the presence of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in food over the next two years (EC, 2014). Due to their heir n-octanol/water partition coefficient (log Kow), they accumulate in fat tissue, bioconcentrate and biomagnify in the animals at the higher trophic levels, possibly causing, through chronic exposure, endocrine disruption and cancer (Wania et al., 1995; Vallack et al., 1998). The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of OCPs, PCBs, PBDEs and PAHs in chamois and wild boar from Eastern Piedmont, Italy. A total of 20 chamois and 20 wild boar muscle samples were collected during the hunting season 2017, from Verbania Cusio Ossola (VCO) (Fig 1). The chemical analysis for the detection of OCPs, PCBs, PBDEs, and PAHs   was performed by GC-MS/MS on muscle samples purified and extracted using a QuEChERS technique, validated according to SANTE 2017 (SANTE/11183/2017). These preliminary results show the ubiquitary presence of the studied contaminants. PCBs have been found more in chamois (45%) than in wild boar (35%). No PBDEs were detected in wild boar but in chamois were found with a prevalence of 35%  and  concentration 0.25-1.52 ng g-1. About OCPs, phorate and demeton were found in wild boar (55%-15%) and chamois (32%- 35%) with range concentrations 0.21-20.1 ng g-1. No PAHs were detected, expect antharacene for one samples in wild boar (0.53 ng g-1). Further studies are in progress in order to correlate environmental contamination and game animals

How are professionals recruited by external agents in misconduct projects? The infiltration of organized crime in a university

Private firms, crime organizations or states may successfully recruit professionals in misconduct projects. How they do so remains however under investigated. Past studies mostly take professionals’ perspective, or limit the organizational initiative of external agents to perverse incentives and threats. Our study shows instead how external agents may penetrate governance bodies and professional events to recruit and control professionals, who are both aware of and reluctant toward misconduct. Our longitudinal case study used judicial and non-judicial sources to analyse how a mafia clan infiltrated Troy University, and controlled the trade of exams and admissions for decades. The clan selected Troy University because of the presence of professors predisposed toward misconduct. The clan infiltrated the predisposed professors inside governance bodies and students inside academic events to recruit the reluctant professors with peer pressures, situated threats and administrative controls. It then exploited a generalized code of silence to control professionals for years. Overall, the study highlights the combination of perverse and pervasive mechanisms to recruit professionals; the role of corrupt professionals as lynchpin between external agents and reluctant peers; and the perverse exploitation of normal professional practices of autonomy, trusteeship and multiple embeddedness

Metals in mussels from Italian mollusc culture plants

The beneficial effects on human health of seafood are well known. However, seafood is a major source of exposition for consumers of most of the contaminants due to human activities such as breeding, industries, mining and agriculture: the overall level in biota, therefore seafood and particularly molluscs, dramatically increased over this last two centuries. This study evaluates the presence of Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Arsenic, Nickel and Chromium in mussels from the Italian mussel culture plants, and estimate the risk that Italian consumer undergoes eating these molluscs. Mussels where collected at the wholesale fish market of Milan, the most important wholesale Italian fish market. The molluscs belonged to the   37 FAO marine area (corresponding to Mediterranean Sea), particularly from FAO 37.2.1 Ligury, 37.2.2. North Adriatic, middle Adriatic, Puglia, 37.2.3 Lazio and Sardinia, and were collected from July 2016 to February 2017. (FIG1). Analyses were carried out through inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 3050B method. The sample concentrations were below the Maximum Levels (ML) given by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 for Cadmium, Lead and Mercury, except one sample from south Adriatic sea, that showed Mercury concentration of 0.528 mg kg-1. Arsenic, Nickel and Chromium ML are not stated by EU. Arsenic concentration ranged from 2.05 to 13.35 mg kg-1, with the highest values found in Italian molluscs, Nickel concentration ranged from 0.00 to 3.98 mg kg-1. Chromium was found only in 5 of 30 sample analysed with a maximum concentration of 0.590 g kg-1. The tolerable intakes recommended by EFSA and on EU maximum levels, indicate that Italian mussels do not pose a risk consumers

Sixteenth-Century Italian Literature and Author Philology: Three Examples (Marino, Stigliani, Tesauro)

Para el siglo XVII la filología de autor registra, con escasas excepciones, una penuria tanto de ediciones modernas y críticas como de estudios filológicos. Los tres casos que se estudian aquí, aunque muy diferentes entre sí, muestran cómo la investigación en este campo permite reunir valiosa información sobre la forma de trabajar de los autores del Barroco. Por lo que atañe a Marino, se revisa la situación de las Rime, la Galeria y el Adoney se brinda una primera valoración de las circunstancias y de los problemas de la tradición textual, a partir de los varios tipos de documentos supérstites (originales y ediciones al cuidado del autor). En cuanto a Stigliani, se ofrece una visión general de la gran variedad de materiales hoy disponibles: impresos, manuscritos y apostillas, que atestiguan un incansable proceso de reelaboración, en el cual influyeron de forma acusada las vicisitudes personales del propio escritor. El caso de Tesauro, final-mente, se presenta a través de su obra más conocida, Il Cannocchiale aristotelico, para la cual el cotejo de las ediciones significativas ha puesto de relieve las variaciones tanto en la estructura general del libro como en porciones aisladas del texto.In the field of the authorial philology, with very few exceptions, for the 17th century there is a dramatic lack of both modern and critical editions and, consequently, of philological studies. The three cases presented here, although very different from each other, show how research in this field allows us to gather valuable information on the way seventeenth-century authors worked. For Marino, by reviewing the cases of Rime, Galeria and Adone, an initial assessment of the aspects and problems of the tradition of Marino’s texts has been attempted, starting with the typology of the surviving elaborative materials. In the case of Stigliani, a general overview is offered of the great mass of material available, consisting of prints, manuscripts and marginalia, witnesses to a tireless process of re-elaboration that was largely influenced by the author’s personal vicissitudes. The case of Tesauro is instead presented through his best-known work, Il Cannocchiale Aristotelico, for which a comparison of the most significant editions has highlighted the variations in both the general structure of the book and the individual textual portions

Charge transfer modulation in charge transfer co-crystals driven by crystal structure morphology

The electronic properties of a charge-transfer (donor-acceptor) semiconducting organic co-crystal, Perylene:F4-TCNQ (PE:F4) (the donor, D, is PE and the acceptor, A, is 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8 tetracyanoquinodimethane (F4)) in its 3 : 2 stoichiometry, are experimentally and theoretically studied. This is performed by means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and solid state electrochemical techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements on single crystals. In particular, solid state electrochemistry proves to be an effective tool to probe, on a macroscopic scale, the electronic characteristics of the co-crystal. However, EPR highlights the presence of spin 1/2 radicals localized on F4 molecules, possibly linked to defects. The experimental findings are discussed on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) based calculations, carried out using both the projector augmented wave (PAW), with "periodic boundary conditions" (pbc), method and the localized orbitals, molecular cluster, approach. In particular, a satisfying agreement is found between the experimental, 0.336 eV (electrochemical), and theoretical, 0.303 eV (PAW), band gaps. Differences with the reported optical bandgap are discussed considering excitonic effects

Skin morphology in double apoA-I/apoE knock-out mice: a structural and ultrastructural study

Apolipoprotein(apo)A-I, the main protein component of high density lipoproteins (HDLs), plays a major role in cholesterol removal from peripheral tissues and increasing evidence supports its function as an important regulator of the immune response (Annema et al., 2013). The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of apoA-I deficiency in dyslipidemic mice, when fed a low-fat/low-cholesterol diet. Three lines of male mice were considered: wild-type mice as controls, apoE-KO mice as dyslipidemic model (Zhang et al.,1992) and apoA-I/apoE double KO mice (DKO mice). Whereas in wild-type mice cholesterol circulates almost exclusively in HDLs, apoE-KO mice are hypercholesterolemic and cholesterol mostly circulates in low-density lipoproteins. In DKO mice, cholesterol levels are comparable to wild-type mice, but HDLs are almost absent and cholesterol entirely accumulates in low-density lipoproteins. In the present study, all animals were maintained on a low-fat/low-cholesterol diet up to 30 weeks of age. At sacrifice, skin biopsies from two different anatomical areas (thoracic and abdominal regions) were harvested from each animal and processed for both light (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Whereas the skin of apoE-KO mice was comparable to that of control mice, LM analysis in DKO mice revealed an increase in dermal thickness and a massive presence of foam cells and lymphocytes. TEM analysis showed the presence of cholesterol clefts in the papillary dermis and inside foam cells in the reticular dermis. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that in DKO mice fed a low-fat/low-cholesterol diet, the lack of apoA-I is responsible for an aberrant skin morphology, with an exacerbated inflammatory response, possibly caused by a local cholesterol accumulation

Melanocortin-1 Receptor Positively Regulates Human Artery Endothelial Cell Migration.

Background/aims Melanocortin receptors (MCRs) belong to a hormonal signalling pathway with multiple homeostatic and protective actions. Microvascular and umbilical vein endothelial cells (ECs) express components of the melanocortin system, including the type 1 receptor (MC1R), playing a role in modulating inflammation and vascular tone. Since ECs exhibit a remarkable heterogeneity, we investigated whether human artery ECs express any functional MCR and whether its activation affects cell migration. Methods We used reverse transcription real-time PCR to examine the expression of melanocortin system components in primary human artery ECs. We assessed MC1R protein expression and activity by western blot, immunohistochemistry, cAMP production, and intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization assays. We performed gap closure and scratch tests to examine cell migration after stimulation with alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH), the receptor highest-affinity natural ligand. We assessed differential time-dependent transcriptional changes in migrating cells by microarray analysis. Results We showed that human aortic ECs (HAoECs) express a functionally active MC1R. Unlike microvascular ECs, arterial cells did not express the α-MSH precursor proopiomelanocortin, nor produced the hormone. MC1R engagement with a single pulse of α-MSH accelerated HAoEC migration both in the directional migration assay and in the scratch wound healing test. This was associated with an enhancement in Ca²⁺ signalling and inhibition of cAMP elevation. Time-course genome-wide expression analysis in HAoECs undergoing directional migration allowed identifying dynamic co-regulation of genes involved in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, vesicle-mediated trafficking, and metal sensing - which have all well-established influences on EC motility -, without affecting the balance between pro- and anticoagulant genes. Conclusion Our work broadens the knowledge on peripherally expressed MC1R. These results indicate that the receptor is constitutively expressed by arterial ECs and provide evidence of a novel homeostatic function for MC1R, whose activation may participate in preventing/healing endothelial dysfunction or denudation in macrovascular arteries

Arcobacter spp. in raw milk from vending machines in Piedmont and occurrence of virulence genes in isolates

Arcobacter spp. has been recognized as an emerging foodborne pathogen and a hazard to human health. In the dairy chain, it has been isolated from different sources, nevertheless data on Arcobacter occurrence in raw milk provided by vending machines are few. This study aimed to identify potentially pathogenic Arcobacter spp. in raw milk intended for human consumption sold through vending machines located in Piedmont. In an 8-month period, 37 raw milk samples were collected from 24 dairy farms: 12 (32,4%) were collected directly in farm from bulk tank milk and 25 (67,6%) from vending machines. Eight (21,6%) out of the 37 milk samples and 7 (29,2%) out of the 24 dairy farms were positive for Arcobacter spp. by culture examination. Four (16%) out of the 25 samples from vending machines and 4 (33,3%) out of the 12 samples from bulk tank milk were positive. All 8 isolates were identified as A. butzleri both by MALDI-TOF MS and multiplex end-point PCR. According to the detection of virulence genes, a total of four Patho-types were highlighted: 5 isolates in P-type 1 and only one isolate for each of the P-types 2-3-4. A. butzleri isolates carrying encoding virulence factors genes were isolated from raw milk intended for human consumption: these findings strengthen the compulsory consumption after boiling as required by current legislation and suggest the need of enlarging the analytical investigations to other microorganisms not yet included in the food safety criteria