An aqueous olive leaf extract (OLE) ameliorates parameters of oxidative stress associated with lipid accumulation and induces lipophagy in human hepatic cells

Fatty liver is a disease characterized by a buildup of lipids in the liver, often resulting from excessive consumption of high-fat-containing foods. Fatty liver can degenerate, over time, into more severe forms of liver diseases, especially when oxidative stress occurs. Olive leaf extract (OLE) is a reliable source of polyphenols with antioxidant and hypolipidemic properties that have been successfully used in medicine, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Using "green" solvents with minimal impact on the environment and human health, which simultaneously preserves the extract's beneficial properties, represents one of the major challenges of biomedical research. In the present study, we assayed the potential antioxidant and lipid-lowering effect of a "green" OLE obtained by a water ultrasound-assisted extraction procedure, on the human hepatic HuH7 cell line, treated with a high concentration of free fatty acids (FFA). We found that high FFA concentration induced lipid accumulation and oxidative stress, as measured by increased hydrogen peroxide levels. Moreover, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase, was reduced upon FFA treatment. Coincubation of high FFA with OLE reduced lipid and H2O2 accumulation and increased the activity of peroxide-detoxifying enzymes. OLE ameliorated mitochondrial membrane potential, and hepatic parameters by restoring the expression of enzymes involved in insulin signaling and lipid metabolism. Electron microscopy revealed an increased autophagosome formation in both FFA- and FFA + OLE-treated cells. The study of the autophagic pathway indicated OLE's probable role in activating lipophagy

The experience of drawing courses in higher education large classes during the covid-19 pandemic scenario

Representation techniques -in particular freehand drawing- in the Product Designer’s activity play a fundamental role in describing the different phases of the project development: the “ideational” phase, the “intermediate” phase, and the “technical - documental” one. Because of this role, at Politecnico di Milano Design School we are trying to improve the effectiveness of representation courses by innovation in teaching activities used with relatively large classes. The process started during the academic year 2017/2018 with the revision of two foundational courses of the first year of BSc in Product Design: “Drawing Studio” and “Methods and Instruments for Design”. In March 2020, the covid-19 pandemic forced us to change the methodologies and tools quickly. Some methods and tools used in the emergency have performed above expectations. This work aims to describe methods and tools used in a fully online teaching environment having to teach a “hands-on” subject such as freehand drawing in large classes

Computer Graphics in Industrial Design: a teaching experience

One of instrumental subject taught at the Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design at the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano is the Computer Graphics Studio. During this Studio students learn to shape their ideas and their projects and also to represent them by means of a tool that is very hard to use, especially at the beginning. Indeed, the main problem that occurs, when using a new modelling software, is that the student simplifies his ideas because he is not able to produce more complex shapes: as a result the majority of project is featureless not for luck of creativity, but for luck of technical skills. Industrial Design cares of how a product looks, feels and how it works. The peculiarity of this subject leads up the School of Design to have an “empirical centred” didactic approach, though not forgetting theoretical aspects. Nowadays the Industrial Design project workflow is mainly based on the development of 3D digital models, because they are able to cover all the process, from the original concept design to the final manufacture step. For this reason, Computer Graphics issues are a fundamental element to complete young designers' education that could help them to represent ideas all along the design process, from the first draft to the detailed final product. This paper reports the experience of a teaching team that has been working for long time on the definition of the Computer Graphics Studio course program. All the program contents are accurately chosen and planned, from the 3D modelling software choice to the topics discussed, according to stated principles. This teaching method proved to be effective to improve not only students' technical skills, but also professional and cultural qualities of young designers

Implementing Additive Manufacturing Education and Culture in Design Schools

In this contribution is presented a didactic proposal for the inclusion of an elective course on Additive Manufacturing (AM) within the study plan of the School of Design at the Politecnico di Milano. After a state-of-the-art research on the presence of AM in design teaching, we want to formulate a hands-on didactic proposal, developed through the experience gained in Polifactory - the makerspace of Politecnico di Milano - in the field of research and education. The result is expressed in the structure of a course specifically dedicated to the theme of AM, in which software, technologies and materials are presented exclusively in a functional way to the topic

Colour proposals consistency in the CMF for car design education

The aim of this work is to investigate the learning processes of the CMF project, through the analysis of the methods of colour representation in thesis of students of courses in Transportation Design. In car design, the eventual richness in students’ representational abilities is crucial for them to best express their ideas. In the CMF design field, in which the choice and combination of chromatic variables play a fundamental role, the representation richness is even more important because of the need to express ethereal concepts such as emotions. A first result described in this work identifies a recurring difficulty by students in the graphic restitution of the chromatic concepts, stated in the moodboard of their own projects, with style and quality consistent with the other parts of the project. At last, the areas on which the teachers will have to take action to reduce these difficulties are highlighted