The essential oil of Thymbra capitata and its application as a biocide on stone and derived surfaces

Many chemicals used nowadays for the preservation of cultural heritage pose a risk to both human health and the environment. Thus, it is desirable to find new and eco-friendly biocides that can replace the synthetic ones. In this regard, plant essential oils represent effective alternatives to synthetic substances for the preservation of historical monuments. Thymbra capitata (syn. Thymus capitatus) is a medicinal and aromatic plant growing in the Mediterranean area and endowed with important pharmacological properties related to its essential oil. Among them, the antimicrobial ones make the T. capitata essential oil an ideal candidate for industrial applications; for instance, as biocide for the inhibition and elimination of biological patinas of cyanobacteria and green algae on historical monuments. In the present work, we studied the chemical composition of the essential oil from T. capitata growing in Malta by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The major volatile component is the phenolic monoterpene carvacrol (73.2%), which is capable of damaging the cytoplasmic membrane and to interfere both in the growth curve and in the invasive capacity, though the contribution of minor components γ-terpinene and p-cymene cannot be disregarded. For the oil application on the stone surface, Pickering emulsions systems were prepared with an essential oil/water 1:3 mass ratio stabilized with kaolinite at 4 mass% in the presence of Laponite®; this allowed to limit the fast volatility of the oil and guaranteed a better application and an easier removal from the artefacts attacked by biodeteriogens both indoor and outdoor. This formulation caused the elimination of biodeteriogens from treated surfaces without residuals or films on artworks surface, and the effect was retained up to four months

Agriculture and Sustainability: a GIS Based Model to Appraise Incentive Policy

Agriculture is the major form of protection of local identities and sustainability and one of the most fragile Italian economic sectors, exposed to fluctuations of the financial/economic crisis. As a consequence, boosting agricultural policies should integrate conflicting objectives connected to preservation and innovation, effectiveness/efficiency, and landscape features and job opportunities. Referring to a large land area located in the central part of Sicily (Italy) the paper proposes an assessment/planning pattern aimed at providing some axiological items and a specific algorithm able to appraise each specific land parcel, generating different strategies and selecting the best format of funding allocation. The pattern combines some WebGIS tools helpful for spatial analysis and management of the big data amount coming from the Landscape Regional Plan and the cadastral vector database. The general approach integrates monetary and qualitative features, as well as land estate and landscape values within a multidimensional pattern providing the quantitative conditions for supporting qualitative and sustainable development

A survey on planning, expectations and factors influencing the stabilization process of migrating people in Palermo, Western Sicily

Background. Europe constitutes a major pole of attraction for the migratory fluxes. The migrating population is made up of many different individuals, carrying different projects of life and expectations. The consistence of the phenomena, in few decades, will be responsible for deep changes in the demographic structure of the European population. The purpose of this investigation was to attempt to draw an identikit of migrating people and to evaluate those factors which may be considered important to positively influence the process of stabilization. Moreover, the research tried to evaluate the differences among those migrating people who have recently arrived, still considering this country as a landing shore, and those who have definitely settled in Sicily. Methods. The research was carried out through a 42 items multiple choice answer questionnaire administered to two groups of individuals who were born in a non European Union (EU) country. Individuals, who were still trying to settle (group A), were chosen at random in the streets of the city, while individu- als with a solid and integrated family were chosen at random from the municipality of Palermo, Sicily. To compare the two different groups of individuals Student?s t and Chi square tests were used together with standard descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. Results. Results seem to indicate that positive factors for integra- tion are years of residence in the same place, support from the family since the very beginning of the migratory project, stable interethnic social structure. What did not seem to constitute determining factors in the territory analysed are: age, gender, country of origin, religion. Higher education levels apparently play a negative role. Child bearing indexes are higher than European levels. Birth rate was use in the attempt of modelling a projection of population growth. Discussion. The collected data brings forth the snapshot of the typical immigrant as a young strong healthy individual, longing to start a family on safe values, who accepts transitory precari- ous living conditions in order to improve them. The major nega- tive factors in the migratory project are those of social nature. Governments have generally adopted a politics of control on entry and of managing the emergency. There is a need for a politics of empowerment and exploitation of the capacity of the migrants. Deep changes occurring in the demographic structure of the European population might influence the social contest. Decrease European birth rate and increasing immigration may create a melting pot, where Europeans may take a role of an endangered species

Development of an Equilibrium-based Model of Gasification of Biomass by Aspen Plus

Abstract Agricultural and forestry residues are usually processed as wastes; otherwise, they can be recovered to produce electrical and thermal energy through processes of thermochemical conversion, such us torrefaction, pyrolysis and gasification. Currently, the gasification of residual biomass for producing neutral CO 2 fuel for energy production is in development stage. In this context, this study proposes anequilibrium-based model, developed by the commercial software Aspen Plus, of a co-current gasifier fueled with agriculture residual, which allows estimating the chemical composition and theheating value of the syngas produced. The prediction of such model includes the main gaseous species, the yields of char and tar and describes the gasification process through the mass and energy balances, the water-gas shift (WGS) and the methanation reaction. The model validation was carried out through the comparison with experimental data, concerning two biomass with different moisture content and different gasification conditions, for sixteen cases compared. Overall, the comparison between the results of the simulations and the experimental data have shown a good agreement

Underwater archaeological mosaicing

Archaeological mosaicing is one of the challenges of the computer vision community and it can be faced in a 2D or 3D approach. This contribution regards a methodology to do a mosaic of an underwater bi-dimensional scene. A number of problems arise from the acquisition of images by a remote operated vehicle. Radial distortion, poor luminosity, cloud water, presence of artefacts are part of the issues that can occur; for instance, the radial distortion has been corrected to improve the quality of the input images. Keypoints detection (through SIFT transform), Singular Value Decomposition, Random Samples Consensus are some of the techniques applied in our method. This contribution regards the mosaicing of seabed landscapes, in order to represent higher resolution photos of whole sites with wrecks in a fast and safe fashion. A stereo vision system has been arranged by adding two cameras to the payload aboard a Remotely Operated Vehicle. A number of problems arise due to poor luminosity, cloudy water, water distortion and presence of artifacts. A robust algorithm has been de¯ned to reduce the radial distortion of the camera lenses and to enhance the results

Study on the application of cool paintings for the passive cooling of existing buildings in Mediterranean climates

Building roofs play a very important role in the energy balance of buildings, especially in summer, when they are hit by a rather high solar irradiance. Depending on the type of finishing layer, roofs can absorb a great amount of heat and reach quite high temperatures on their outermost surface, which determines significant room overheating. However, the use of highly reflective cool materials can help to maintain low outer surface temperatures; this practice may improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce the cooling energy need during the hot season.This technology is currently well known and widely used in the USA, while receiving increasing attention in Europe. In order to investigate the effectiveness of cool roofs as a passive strategy for passive cooling in moderately hot climates, this paper presents the numerical results of a case study based on the dynamic thermal analysis of an existing office building in Catania (southern Italy, Mediterranean area). The results show how the application of a cool paint on the roof can enhance the thermal comfort of the occupants by reducing the operative temperatures of the rooms and to reduce the overall energy needs of the building for space heating and cooling

CFD simulation of radially stirred baffled and unbaffled tanks

Stirred tanks typically employed in process industries are provided with baffles. Although the presence of baffles is known to guarantee good mixing rates, unbaffled vessels may be compulsory in some applications as crystallization, bioremediation, biotechnology and ore industry. A better understanding of unbaffled stirred vessels flow dynamics may allow (i) a proper design to be performed and (i) conditions/processes where baffle presence can be avoided to be recognized. In the present study, the k-\u3c9 SST was used to simulate an unbaffled tank from early to fully turbulent regime (Re 48600-33,000). The unbaffled tank simulated has a diameter T=0.19m and is stirred by a standard six-bladed Rushton turbine with diameter D=T/2 and clearance C=T/3. A corresponding baffled tank was also simulated in order to compare the the two systems. A time dependent Sliding Grid approach was employed for the baffled tank to account for the impeller-to-baffle relative rotation. Conversely, for the case of the unbaffled vessel, a reference frame rotating with the impeller was adopted. Experimental literature data concerning the power and pumping numbers were employed for the simulation validation. RANS results were in good agreement with the experimental data for the baffled case at the largest Re, whereas predictions for the unbaffled vessel exhibited a less satisfactory agreement with experimental data. The latter finding may be due to the poor capability of the two-equations model to manage the anisotropic turbulence typical of high swirling flows

Dry eye in systemic sclerosis patients: Novel methods to monitor disease activity

Background: In systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, dry eye syndrome (DES) is the most frequent ocular feature. The aim of this study was to investigate ocular DES-related SSc patients and to establish any correlation with the severity of the disease. Methods: Retrospectively, data from 60 patients with SSc underwent ophthalmic examination, where non-invasive film tear break-up time (NIF-TBUT), tear film lipid layer thickness (LLT), anesthetic-free Schirmer test I, tear osmolarity measurement (TearLab System), and modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) data were collected. The visual analog scale (VAS) and Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) methods were utilized. The results were correlated with mRSS and the duration of SSc. Results: Severe DES occurred in 84% of cases, and was more severe in women. The eyelids were involved in 86.6%, secondary to meibomian gland disease (MGD). A direct correlation was found between the tear osmolarity (mean 328.51 ± 23.8 SD) and skin score (mRSS) (r = 0.79; p < 0.01). Significantly reduced NIF-TBUT, LLT, and Schirmer test I values were observed in the case of severe skin involvement. Conclusions: SSc patients show lipid tear dysfunction related to the severity and duration of the disease due to inflammation and the subsequent atrophy of the meibomian glands

Rebamipide Does Not Protect Against Naproxen-induced Gastric Damage: A Randomized Double-blind Controlled Trial

Rebamipide is a gastroprotective agent with promising results against gastric damage induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The present study evaluated if rebamipide protects against naproxen-induced gastric damage in healthy volunteers. Changes in gastric PGE2 tissue concentration were also evaluated. Methods: After a preliminary endoscopy to rule out previous gastric macroscopic damage, twenty-four healthy volunteers of both sexes were divided into 2 groups. One group received sodium naproxen 550 mg b.i.d. plus placebo for 7 days, while the other group received sodium naproxen 550 mg b.i.d. plus rebamipide 100 mg b.i.d. At the end of treatment, a new endoscopy was performed. Gastric macroscopic damage was evaluated by the Cryer score and by the modified Lanza score. The primary outcome measure of the trial was the macroscopic damage observed in each treatment group at the end of treatment. Biopsies were collected at both endoscopies for PGE2 quantification and histopathological analysis (secondary outcomes). Tissue PGE2 was quantified by ELISA. The randomization sequence was generated using 3 blocks of 8 subjects each. Volunteers and endoscopists were blind to whether they were receiving rebamipide or placebo. Results: All recruited volunteers completed the trial. Sodium naproxen induced gastric damage in both groups. At the end of the study, median Cryer score was 4 in both groups (Difference = 0; 95% CI = -1 to 0; p = 0.728). In the placebo group, the mean tissue PGE2 concentration was 1005 +/- 129 pg/mL before treatment and 241 +/- 41 pg/mL after treatment (p < 0.001). In the rebamipide group, the mean tissue PGE2 concentration was 999 +/- 109 pg/mL before treatment, and 168 +/- 13 pg/mL after treatment (p < 0.001). There was no difference in mean tissue PGE2 between the two groups (difference = 5; 95% CI from -334.870 to 345.650; p = 0.975). No significant change was observed at the histopathological evaluation, despite the evident macroscopic damage induced by naproxen. Conclusion: Rebamipide does not protect against naproxen-induced gastric damage in healthy volunteers.16Biolab Industria Farmaceutica Ltd

Primary Intravascular Synovial Sarcoma of the Femoral Vein in a Male Patient, Case Report

AbstractSynovial Sarcoma (SS) is an aggressive neoplasm commonly affecting deep soft tissues of the extremities. In rare instances SS can arise in large veins of the lower extremities or trunk. We report the first case of intravascular synovial sarcoma (IVSS) occurring in a male patient. A biphasic tumor was diagnosed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Molecular analysis at RNA level confirmed the diagnosis demonstrating the chromosomal translocation t(X;18) (p11.2;q11.2) in the tumor. Although extremely rare, IVSS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of primary intravascular neoplasms and as a potential cause of deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolism