"Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano": the history through case studies

Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano was a company specialized in railway constructions, metallic bridges and mechanical and electrical constructions. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the company became well known in Europe especially for metallic constructions, having built the majority of metal bridges in the north of Italy such as the famous Paderno bridge (1887-1889), one of the biggest arch bridge for the period. In the 1930s, the company built some interesting examples of steel frame buildings, applying the electrical welding technique, acquired in industrial constructions, to civil buildings. The steel frame was quite rare in Italian buildings, especially in the matter of civil constructions and Savigliano made an effort in modernizing the Italian construction system, through research and innovation. The paper will discuss some examples of Savigliano’s works dating back to 1930, and in particular, it will present a specific example never studied before: the hangar at the Elmas military airport, in Cagliari (Sardinia). The building is worth mentioning for the innovations experimented, as the new welding technique allowed a series of improvements in the construction process

Inorganic materials as supports for covalent enzyme immobilization: Methods and mechanisms

Several inorganic materials are potentially suitable for enzymatic covalent immobilization, by means of several different techniques. Such materials must meet stringent criteria to be suitable as solid matrices: complete insolubility in water, reasonable mechanical strength and chemical resistance under the operational conditions, the capability to form manageable particles with high surface area, reactivity towards derivatizing/functionalizing agents. Non-specific protein adsorption should be always considered when planning covalent immobilization on inorganic solids. A huge mass of experimental work has shown that silica, silicates, borosilicates and aluminosilicates, alumina, titania, and other oxides, are the materials of choice when attempting enzyme immobilizations on inorganic supports. More recently, some forms of elemental carbon, silicon, and certain metals have been also proposed for certain applications. With regard to the derivatization/functionalization techniques, the use of organosilanes through silanization is undoubtedly the most studied and the most applied, although inorganic bridge formation and acylation with selected acyl halides have been deeply studied. In the present article, the most common inorganic supports for covalent immobilization of the enzymes are reviewed, with particular focus on their advantages and disadvantages in terms of enzyme loadings, operational stability, undesired adsorption, and costs. Mechanisms and methods for covalent immobilization are also discussed, focusing on the most widespread activating approaches (such as glutaraldehyde, cyanogen bromide, divinylsulfone, carbodiimides, carbonyldiimidazole, sulfonyl chlorides, chlorocarbonates, N-hydroxysuccinimides)

The coastal military architecture of World War II in Sardinia

[EN] After the Unification of Italy and after the First World War, the Stato Maggiore of the Royal Italian Army had to change the defence strategies and give more attention to coastal defence, because of the changing political relations and the development of military technology. In this overall strategic framework, the island of Sardinia was considered an "outpost of Italy", because of its defensive and offensive importance in the Mediterranean Sea. During World War II coastal defence became the operational priority of the Italian Army. In Sardinia, this was crucial for its proximity to Corsica and Tunisia and as a target of the Allies (after 1943). Consequently, substantial defence forces were introduced: army corps, brigades, mobile divisions, assault guns and gun trucks. The Army started to erect permanent fortification, in particular reinforced concrete structures produced designed according to standardized modules but adapted to the context using the means, resources and techniques available. Along the Sardinian coast, hundreds of bunkers were built and most of them are still existing in a state of neglect, sometimes in contexts of particular of great landscape and environmental value. This paper presents the systematic study of these "modern ruins built in concrete", through the examination of documents found in historical military archives and through a direct investigation of some of the most significant works. Also it offers a cataloguing through the categories of different disciplines (history, architecture, engineering, "Art of War" and ballistics) to encourage their enhancement and conservation, as architectural expression of a particular period of the 20th century history.Mameli, M.; Sanjust, P. (2015). The coastal military architecture of World War II in Sardinia. En Defensive architecture of the mediterranean: XV to XVIII centuries. Vol. II. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 199-206. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2015.2015.1784OCS19920

Cytinus under the microscope: Disclosing the secrets of a parasitic plant

Well over 1% of all flowering plants are parasites, obtaining all or part of the nutrients they need from other plants. Among this extremely heterogeneous assemblage, the Cytinaceae form a small group of holoparasites, with Cytinus as the main representative genus. Despite the small number of known species and the fact that it doesn’t attack crops or plants of economic importance, Cytinus is paradigmatic among parasitic plants. Recent research has indeed disclosed many aspects of host–parasite interactions and reproductive biology, the latter displaying a vast array of adaptive traits to lure a range of animal pollinators. Furthermore, analysis of biological activities of extracts of the most common species of Cytinus has provided evidence that this plant could be a valuable source of compounds with high potential in key applicative areas, namely food production (nutraceuticals) and the development of antimicrobial therapeutics. This article offers a complete overview of our current knowledge of Cytinus

Arborea. Le trasformazioni del paesaggio rurale

Il volume affronta da varie prospettive i tentativi e le esperienze di immigrazione che nel corso del tempo sono state progettate o attuate in Sardegna. Le vicende analizzate riguardano soprattutto le colonizzazioni avvenute nel corso del Novecento, anche se il saggio di apertura si sofferma sulle strategie di ripopolamento dell’Isola tentate dai governi piemontesi nel corso del Settecento e sul dibattito che, su questo tema, tornò ad essere vivace verso la metà del secolo XIX

Development of a Technological Platform for Implementing VTBC Programs

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La condizione di insularità nell’Unione Europea: accessibilità e incidenza del trasporto marittimo

Questo paper esamina gli aspetti relativi all’accessibilità delle isole, così come definite dall’U.E., in ambito Europeo. L’accessibilità, nell’Unione Europea (in accordo con lo studio ESPON "Atlas" del 2006) è stata legata al concetto di “cuore” del territorio Europeo e di “periferia”; in questo modo l’ubicazione geografica e la distanza fisica sono divenuti i parametri significativi in relazione all’accessibilità in termini di infrastrutture e di sistema di trasporti. L’obiettivo del seguente studio è quello di indagare in che modo l’insularità possa essere analizzata, caratterizzata e misurata in relazione alle peculiarità endogene ed ai requisiti strutturali e funzionali del sistema dei collegamenti ed in che modo questa misura possa garantire un confronto quantitativo, semplice da interpretare, dell’accessibilità con realtà e regioni della terraferma, anche periferiche. In particolare, vengono proposti una serie di indicatori che descrivono l’accessibilità delle isole in riferimento al sistema dei trasporti marittimi, attraverso la specificazione di una serie di attributi dell’accessibilità che fanno riferimento ai parametri di lontananza (distanza reale), isolamento e discontinuità geografica (frequenza e tempi di attesa), parametri che caratterizzano le realtà insulari

Fungal laccases as tools for biodegradation of industrial dyes

Laccases are blue copper oxidases, found in some plants and secreted by a wide range of ligninolytic fungi. These enzymes are well known for their ability in oxidizing several organic compounds, mainly phenolics and aromatic amines, at the expenses of molecular oxygen. Therefore, they could find application in the field of enzymatic bioremediation of many industrial wastewaters, and in particular to bleach and/or detoxify dye-containing effluents. Not all industrial dyes behave as laccase substrates, but this limitation is often overcome by the judicious use of redox mediators. These could substantially widen the application range of laccases as bioremediation tools. The present study encompasses the main properties of the most used industrial dyes as related to their chemical classification, fungal laccases and their molecular and catalytic features, the use of redox mediators, limitations and perspectives of the use of fungal laccases for industrial dye bleaching

Conservation status of milkcaps (Basidiomycota, russulales, russulaceae), with notes on poorly known species

Mycological conservation has finally come of age. The increasingly recognized crucial role played by fungi in ecosystem functioning has spurred a wave of attention toward the status of fungal populations across the world. Milkcaps (Lactarius and Lactifluus) are a large and widespread group of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes; besides their ecological relevance, many species of milkcaps are of socio-economic significance because of their edibility. We analysed the presence of milkcaps in fungal Red Lists worldwide, ending up with an impressive list of 265 species assessed in various threat categories. Lactarius species are disproportionally red-listed with respect to Lactifluus (241 versus 24 species). Two species of Lactarius (L. maruiaensis and L. ogasawarashimensis) are currently considered extinct, and four more are regionally extinct; furthermore, 37 species are critically endangered at least in part of their distribution range. Several problems with the red-listing of milkcaps have been identified in this study, which overall originate from a poor understanding of the assessed species. Wrong or outdated nomenclature has been applied in many instances, and European names have been largely used to indicate taxa occurring in North America and Asia, sometimes without any supporting evidence. Moreover, several rarely recorded and poorly known species, for which virtually no data exist, have been included in Red Lists in some instances. We stress the importance of a detailed study of the species of milkcaps earmarked for insertion in Red Lists, either at national or international level, in order to avoid diminishing the value of this important conservation tool