Il testimone sassone della Cortona convertita

Il codice SLUB Dresden, Mscr.Dresd.F.107 preserva una copia mutila della Cortona convertita del padre Francesco Moneti (1635–1712). Il contributo ripercorre le tappe che hanno portato all’individuazione delle carte mancanti, date per disperse e invero rilegate insieme a materiale di varia natura nel ms. SLUB Dresden, Mscr.Dresd.P.102. Data una descrizione puntuale dei due manufatti, si è tracciato un percorso storico-catalografico del testimone sassone della Cortona convertita

Biocompatible and Light-Penetrating Hydrogels for Water Decontamination

Solar light-activated photocatalyst nanoparticles (NPs) are promising environment-friendly low cost tools for water decontamination, but their dispersion in the environment must be minimized. Here, we propose the incorporation of TiO2-NPs (also in combination with graphene platelets) into highly biocompatible hydrogels as a promising approach for the production of photoactive materials for water treatment. We also propose a convenient fluorescence-based method to investigate the hydrogel photocatalytic activity in real time with a conventional fluorimeter. Kinetics analysis of the degradation profile of a target fluorescent model pollutant demonstrates that fast degradation occurs in the matrix bulk. Fluorescence anisotropy proved that small pollutant molecules diffuse freely in the hydrogel. Rheological and scanning electron microscopy characterization showed that the TiO2-NP incorporation does not significantly alter the hydrogel mechanical and morphological properties

Graphene Materials Strengthen Aqueous Polyurethane Adhesives

Carboxyl-functionalized graphene platelets (GP) and graphene oxide (GO) sheets were added to a commercial aqueous adhesive dispersion of thermoplastic polyurethane (TP) (Idrotex 200 from FacGB s.r.l.). For both additives, the weight percentage was of industrial interest, 0.01 and 10.1 wt %. The addition of GP/GO was carried out in a simple and scalable-up process that can be applied to other materials and additives. Mechanical, peel tests were applied on polyurethane strips (75 mm long, IS mm wide, and 1.5 mm thick) prepared cutting extruded sheets obtained using Estane 58091, a 70D aromatic polyester-based TP. The tests with 0.01 wt % of GP showed statistically significant higher forces at first failure and maximum forces with respect to the pristine adhesive. Sample characterization was carried out with scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermal analysis. A mechanism is suggested for the improved performance of the low-dose GP adhesive

Effects of sports experience on children's gross motor coordination level

Background: Gross motor coordination (GMC) development could be influenced by age, gender, weight status, geographical area, living setting, home environment, socio-economic status, sports practice. Purpose: To verify whether practicing sports and practicing different sports could influence children's GMC level. Methods: A total of 295 children aged 8-11 years were involved in the study and divided into 5 groups in relation to the sport they practiced: gymnastics group (n = 67; 51F, 16M), cycling group (n = 64; 15F, 49M), athletics group (n = 47; 22F, 25M), swimming group (n = 35; 20F, 15M), control group (n = 82; 42F, 40M). The four subtests of the Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder (KTK) assessed children's GMC level. The scores from each of the four subtests were summed into the KTK total raw score (RS) and then converted into a gender- and age-specific motor quotient (MQ). Results: Children practicing sports showed significantly higher RS and MQ score than children of control group (203.14 ± 38.55 vs. 163.63 ± 43.50 and 98.56 ± 15.79 vs. 83.01 ± 16.71, respectively; p < 0.001). Children practicing gymnastics had a significantly higher RS and MQ than children of cycling, swimming, and control groups (p < 0.05), children of control group had a significantly lower RS and MQ than children of all other groups (p < 0.05). Children practicing gymnastics performed better walking backwards subtest than all other children's groups (p < 0.001). Children of control group performed worse jumping sideways subtest than children of gymnastics, athletics and swimming groups (p < 0.01). Children practicing gymnastics performed better moving sideways subtest than children of athletics, cycling and control groups (p < 0.01); children of control group performed worse than children of all other groups (p < 0.01). Children of control group performed worse hopping for height subtest than children of gymnastics, athletics and cycling groups (p < 0.05); children practicing gymnastics performed better than children of swimming and control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The performance model and therefore the specialized training that each sport discipline required, could justified the differences in children's GMC level among sports groups. Thus, coaches should plan individualized interventions and choose activity contents to support children's GMC development

Körperkoordinations test für Kinder: A short form is not fully satisfactory

Assessment of motor competence (MC) is crucial to finding deficiencies in children's motor development. Because of the need to ensure validity, reliability, and feasibility, the selection of contemporary testing batteries is a difficult task. Many papers report the validity of the KTK test in describing MC in school aged children. KTK consists of 4 four separate items: walking back, jumping sideways, moving sideways, and hopping for height. Some authors suggested the use of a short version of KTK that includes 3 items excluding one subtest: hopping for height. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of short versions of Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK). A sample of 2,231 participants (boys: n=1,188; girls: n = 1,043; age range: 6–12 years) were recruited from Italian schools between January 2019 and February 2020 and they performed the complete version of KTK. Stepwise linear regression was performed on the dataset to evaluate the ideal number of variables to describe the KTK short form version. Data for both the sexes and all ages indicated that considering the item combinations of each short version, the highest R squares were obtained in those that included exactly the deleted subtest (ranging from 0.881–0.979). The adoption of a short form does not seem to provide a fully satisfactory condition for measuring MC in children 6–12 years

Interrelationship between age, gender, and weight status on motor coordination in Italian children and early adolescents aged 6-13 years old

Although numerous evidences reported a negative correlation between motor coordination (MC) and overweight/obesity in children and adolescents, the interrelationship between age, gender, and weight status is still debatable. Hence, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association between MC and weight status according to age and gender across childhood and early adolescence in a large sample of Italian elementary and middle school students. A number of 1961 Italian school students (1,026 boys, 935 girls) was stratified in three consecutive age groups (6-7, 8-10, and 11-13 years) and four weight status categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese) according to Cole's body mass index (BMI) cut-off points for children. MC performance was assessed measuring motor quotient (MQ) with the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK). Results showed significantly lower MQ levels in children in overweight (OW) and with obesity (OB) in both sexes for all age groups than peers in normal weight (NW), except in 6-7-year-old boys. Girls in OW and with OB had similar MQ levels across all age groups, while younger boys in OW and with OB showed higher MQ levels than older ones (p < 0.05). The 6-7-year-old boys showed better MQ levels than girls peers in NW, OW, and with OB, while 8-10-year-old boys in underweight (UW), NW, and OW; and 11-13-year-old boys only in NW (p < 0.05). No interaction effect was found between age, gender, and weight status on MQ levels. These outcomes showed the negative impact of higher weight status on MC performance according to age and gender, pointing out the importance of planning targeted motor programs that consider these variables to improve MC performance

Effect of the embedment of carbon doped nanocomposites in a real matrix on the enhanced photocatalytic activity

Solar light can be used by semiconductor nanocrystals as a free and largely available source of energy to transform air pollutants into non-volatile less harmful chemicals. The efficiency of this process can be enhanced by doping the semiconductor with carbon-based materials, such as graphene. Nevertheless, such an increased activity has been reported (i) for nanocomposite photocatalysts produced on the research laboratory scale, (ii) analyzing their performance as self-standing photocatalysts and not after incorporation into “real” matrixes (e.g. building materials) and (iii) typically using model target pollutants instead of “real” hazardous ones. Here we describe the large-scale preparation of two series of carbon based photocatalysts starting from commercial materials and we demonstrate their superior photocatalytic activity in degrading important air pollutants as nitrogen oxides, compared to undoped photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by NOx abatement adopting the continuous flow procedure and the apparatus reported in the Italian standard UNI 11,247. Best performing materials were incorporated into two different inorganic matrixes (cement and lime). In both cases, the superior photocatalytic performances were maintained. An improvement up to 42±7% of the photocatalytic activity was measured in the case of a cement sample for a carbon-doped photocatalyst with respect to bare TiO2 . The materials were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, high resolution powder X-ray diffraction (HR-PXRD), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and micro-Raman

Relativistic plasma and ICM/radio source interaction

The first detection of a diffuse radio source in a cluster of galaxies, dates back to the 1959 (Coma Cluster, Large et al. 1959). Since then, synchrotron radiating radio sources have been found in several clusters, and represent an important cluster component which is linked to the thermal gas. Such sources indicate the existence of large scale magnetic fields and of a population of relativistic electrons in the cluster volume. The observational results provide evidence that these phenomena are related to turbulence and shock-structures in the intergalactic medium, thus playing a major role in the evolution of the large scale structure in the Universe. The interaction between radio sources and cluster gas is well established in particular at the center of cooling core clusters, where feedback from AGN is a necessary ingredient to adequately describe the formation and evolution of galaxies and host clusters.Comment: 8 pages, Review talk at the 274 IAU Symposium "Advances in Plasma Astrophysics", 6-10 Sept 2010, Giardini Naxos, Italy, A. Bonanno, E. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Kosovichev, ed

Tiny events: tales of urban domesticity from Lingotto, a former working-class neighborhood in Turin

Article published by 12 authors, coordinated by Filippo De Pieri and Gaia Caramellino, as "The Housing History Collective

Photocatalytic activity of exfoliated graphite-TiO2_2 nanocomposites

We investigate the photocatalytic performance of composites prepared in a one-step process by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) at atmospheric pressure and in water, without heating or adding any surfactant, and starting from low-cost commercial reagents. These show enhanced photocatalytic activity, degrading up to 40% more pollutants with respect to the starting TiO2-NPs, in the case of a model dye target, and up to 70% more pollutants in the case of nitrogen oxides. In order to understand the photo-physical mechanisms underlying this enhancement, we investigate the photo-generation of reactive species (trapped holes and electrons) by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. We observe an electron transfer process from TiO2 to the graphite flakes within the first picoseconds of the relaxation dynamics, which causes the decrease of the charge recombination rate, and increases the efficiency of the reactive species photo-production.We acknowledge funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 785219 (GrapheneCore2), EU Neurofibres, ERC Minegrace and Hetero2D, EPSRC Grants EP/509K01711X/1, EP/K017144/1, EP/N010345/1, EP/M507799/5101, and EP/L016087/1