L'islamofobia di genere in Italia. Le donne musulmane tra auto ed etero-rappresentazioni

Drawing on postcolonial, decolonial, and feminist epistemologies, this thesis investigated the Othering representations made about Italian Muslim women in public, media, and political discourse; at the same time, it accorded centrality to the voices of Italian Muslim women and their counter-narratives through the analysis of various media sources produced by them and through biographical interviews. Among other things, this thesis has highlighted the permanences of Orientalist and colonial imaginaries in the relationship with the Muslim Other; moreover, it has shown the process of racialization on a religious basis

The rational search for selective anticancer derivatives of the peptide Trichogin GA IV: a multi-technique biophysical approach

Peptaibols are peculiar peptides produced by fungi as weapons against other microorganisms. Previous studies showed that peptaibols are promising peptide-based drugs because they act against cell membranes rather than a specific target, thus lowering the possibility of the onset of multi-drug resistance, and they possess non-coded alpha-amino acid residues that confer proteolytic resistance. Trichogin GA IV (TG) is a short peptaibol displaying antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity. In the present work, we studied thirteen TG analogues, adopting a multidisciplinary approach. We showed that the cytotoxicity is tuneable by single amino-acids substitutions. Many analogues maintain the same level of non-selective cytotoxicity of TG and three analogues are completely non-toxic. Two promising lead compounds, characterized by the introduction of a positively charged unnatural amino-acid in the hydrophobic face of the helix, selectively kill T67 cancer cells without affecting healthy cells. To explain the determinants of the cytotoxicity, we investigated the structural parameters of the peptides, their cell-binding properties, cell localization, and dynamics in the membrane, as well as the cell membrane composition. We show that, while cytotoxicity is governed by the fine balance between the amphipathicity and hydrophobicity, the selectivity depends also on the expression of negatively charged phospholipids on the cell surface

NFFA-Europe Pilot - D16.2 - Report on the first data services

This document describes the initial set of data services available in NFFA Europe Pilot

NFFA-Europe Pilot - D16.3 - Identification of good practices for data provenance

Here we elaborate and implement FAIR-oriented procedures and recommendations to enforce data provenance in the NFFA scientific experiment’s workflow, from data creation to data usage. The set of procedures is developed by taking into account needs coming from various communities within NEP. Close attention is paid to identify and tailor existing electronic lab notebook (ELN) and laboratory information management system solutions for describing sample processing workflows and (semi-) automated metadata recording during the experiments as initial steps for implementing FAIR by design datasets

D16.1 - Design of the service platform

This deliverable presents the initial design of the infrastructure for the NFFA-Europe Pilot (NEP). The infrastructure is planned to consist of diverse elements for the Data and the Metadata Management, as well as different services (in the frontend, in the backend, and for Virtual Access) which will be gradually developed and integrated in a seamless way. We distinguish between the basic elements, which are essential parts of the infrastructure planned in the NEP proposal, and additional elements which were not initially planned but might improve the interconnections and facilitate the Research Users, in case they will be developed as output of the scouting activities of the Task 16.4 of the Joint Activity 6 (Work Package 16). The elements of the infrastructure will be connected to each other and will be accessed by users or by other services thanks to interfaces

NFFA-Europe Pilot - D2.5 - First assessment of the data management procedures

This document contains the first report on the status of the data management in NFFA Europe Pilot. After a summary of the general philosophy used for the data management, we will briefly recall the solutions implemented, and we will present the initial statistics and/or feedback from partner and users

Characterization of some Italian V. vinifera L. grape varieties on the basis of their flavonol profile

"Suspect screening metabolomics" is a mid-way approach between "targeted" and "untargeted" analysis. For this aim, a new database of putative grape and wine metabolites (GrapeMetabolomics ) was expressly constructed. Currently, this database contains around 1,100 compounds. By performing UHPLC/QTOF mass spectrometry analysis in both positive and negative ionization mode, in a grape extract averaging 320–450 putative compounds are identified. Most of these compounds are important grape metabolites, including flavonols, anthocyanins, and stilbene derivatives. In the present study, this approach was focalized on the characterization of flavonols of 18 important Italian red and white grape varieties and the method provided the identification of 15 flavonols. By performing statistical analysis (Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis), the effect of the variety on the flavonol composition of the grapes was studied. Both the red and white samples fell into three different groups, respectively, on the basis of their flavonol profiles. Because the samples were cultivated in the same vineyard, their profile potentially was not affected by cultural or environmental factors. Anyway, these preliminary results will have to be confirmed by the study of grape samples collected in different years and from different vineyards

Exceptionally Stable Cobalt Nanoclusters on Functionalized Graphene

To improve reactivity and achieve a higher material efficiency, catalysts are often used in the form of clusters with nanometer dimensions, down to single atoms. Since the corresponding properties are highly structure-dependent, a suitable support is thus required to ensure cluster stability during operating conditions. Herein, an efficient method to stabilize cobalt nanoclusters on graphene grown on nickel substrates, exploiting the anchoring effect of nickel atoms incorporated in the carbon network is presented. The anchored nanoclusters are studied by in situ variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy at different temperatures and upon gas exposure. Cluster stability upon annealing up to 200 °C and upon CO exposure at least up to 1 × 10−6 mbar CO partial pressure is demonstrated. Moreover, the dimensions of the cobalt nanoclusters remain surprisingly small (<3 nm diameter) with a narrow size distribution. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the interplay between the low diffusion barrier on graphene on nickel and the strong anchoring effect of the nickel atoms leads to the increased stability and size selectivity of these clusters. This anchoring technique is expected to be applicable also to other cases, with clear advantages for transition metals that are usually difficult to stabilize

1D selective confinement and diffusion of metal atoms on graphene

The role of moiré graphene superstructures in favoring confined adsorption of different metal atoms is an intriguing problem not yet completely solved. Graphene (G) grown on Ni(100) forms a striped moiré pattern of valleys, where G approaches the nickel substrate and interacts with it rather strongly, and ridges, where G stays far away from the substrate and acts almost free-standing. Combining density functional theory (DFT) calculations and scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements, we show that this peculiar moiré constitutes a regular nanostructured template on a 2D support, confining in 1D trails single metal atoms and few atoms clusters. DFT calculations show that the confinement is selective and highly dependent on the atomic species, with some species preferring to adsorb on ridges and the other showing preference for valleys. Co and Au adsorbates, for instance, have opposite behavior, as predicted by DFT and observed by STM. The origin of such disparate behavior is traced back to the electrostatic interaction between the charged adsorbate and the nickel surface. Moreover, the selectivity is not restricted to the adsorption process only, but persists as adsorbate starts its diffusion, resulting in unidirectional mass transport on a continuous 2D support. These findings hold great promise for exploiting tailored nanostructured templates in a wide range of potential applications involving mass transport along element-specific routes