Il duo d\u2019artefatti, pascalina Zero+1 ed e-pascalina, nella costruzione di significati matematici nella scuola primaria

Si intende presentare la sperimentazione condotta in due classi seconda di scuola primaria con il duo di artefatti costituito dalla pascalina Zero+1 e dalla sua versione digitale e-pascalina. Il percorso didattico proposto alle classe fa eco a sperimentazioni francesi ed \ue8 stato sviluppato con l\u2019obiettivo di studiare l'interazione tra artefatto materiale e artefatto digitale, sia dal punto di vista della gestione didattica sia dal punto di vista dell'apprendimento degli allievi

Advanced Oxidation Processes Based on Photocatalysis for the Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water

Many organic pollutants are daily released into the environment or pass through the wastewater treatment plants contaminating surface and drinkable water. Part of these pollutants belongs to the category of the emerging organic contaminants since they are still unregulated or in process of regularization. They give cause of concern since they are dangerous for human health and for the survivor of a large number of living organisms. The implementation of wastewater treatment plants against the emerging contaminants is one of the challenges for the enhancement of the water quality, and advanced oxidation processes represent new technologies very promising as tertiary treatments. The research activity carried out during my PhD course focused on degradation test on aqueous solutions contaminated with different class of pollutants such as surfactants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, both as single compound solutions and mixture of contaminants. The photocatalytic process was studied developing a new pre-industrial pilot plant and testing new TiO2-based photocatalysts in a view of a technological transfer of the photocatalytic methodology. The reuse of a photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 supported on a solid substrates was also investigated with the aim to avoid some problems related to the use of a dispersed catalyst. Photocatalytic process coupled with ultrasounds was also examined in order to speed up the decomposition of the pollutants. The disappearance of every pollutant was followed by HPLC analysis and the mineralization was assessed by the determination of total organic carbon. In the end, the energy consumption related to the processes tested on the mixture of contaminants was calculated in order to establish the best methodology to obtain good degradation rate with reasonable costs

Structural Lesions of Proteins Connected to Lipid Membrane Damages Caused by Radical Stress: Assessment by Biomimetic Systems and Raman Spectroscopy

Model systems constituted by proteins and unsaturated lipid vesicles were used to gain more insight into the effects of the propagation of an initial radical damage on protein to the lipid compartment. The latter is based on liposome technology and allows measuring the trans unsaturated fatty acid content as a result of free radical stress on proteins. Two kinds of sulfu rcontaining proteins were chosen to connect their chemical reactivity with membrane lipid transformation, serum albumins and metallothioneins. Biomimetic systems based on radiation chemistry were used to mimic the protein exposure to different kinds of free radical stress and Raman spectroscopy to shed light on protein structural changes caused by the free radical attack. Among the amino acid residues, Cys is one of the most sensitive residues towards the attack of free radicals, thus suggesting that metal-Cys clusters are good interceptors of reactive species in metallothioneins, together with disulfides moieties in serum albumins. Met is another important site of the attack, in particular under reductive conditions. Tyr and Phe are sensitive to radical stress too, leading to electron transfer reactions or radical-induced modifications of their structures. Finally, modifications in protein folding take place depending on reactive species attacking the protein

Structural lesions of proteins connected to lipid membrane damages caused by radical stress : assessment by biomimetic systems and raman spectroscopy

Altres ajuts: This research wa sfunded by the project [email protected] of the EIT RawMaterials, GrantNumber 17146Model systems constituted by proteins and unsaturated lipid vesicles were used to gain more insight into the effects of the propagation of an initial radical damage on protein to the lipid compartment. The latter is based on liposome technology and allows measuring the trans unsaturated fatty acid content as a result of free radical stress on proteins. Two kinds of sulfur-containing proteins were chosen to connect their chemical reactivity with membrane lipid transformation, serum albumins and metallothioneins. Biomimetic systems based on radiation chemistry were used to mimic the protein exposure to different kinds of free radical stress and Raman spectroscopy to shed light on protein structural changes caused by the free radical attack. Among the amino acid residues, Cys is one of the most sensitive residues towards the attack of free radicals, thus suggesting that metal-Cys clusters are good interceptors of reactive species in metallothioneins, together with disulfides moieties in serum albumins. Met is another important site of the attack, in particular under reductive conditions. Tyr and Phe are sensitive to radical stress too, leading to electron transfer reactions or radical-induced modifications of their structures. Finally, modifications in protein folding take place depending on reactive species attacking the protein

Structural lesions of proteins connected to lipid membrane damages caused by radical stress : assessment by biomimetic systems and raman spectroscopy

Altres ajuts: This research wa sfunded by the project [email protected] of the EIT RawMaterials, GrantNumber 17146Model systems constituted by proteins and unsaturated lipid vesicles were used to gain more insight into the effects of the propagation of an initial radical damage on protein to the lipid compartment. The latter is based on liposome technology and allows measuring the trans unsaturated fatty acid content as a result of free radical stress on proteins. Two kinds of sulfur-containing proteins were chosen to connect their chemical reactivity with membrane lipid transformation, serum albumins and metallothioneins. Biomimetic systems based on radiation chemistry were used to mimic the protein exposure to different kinds of free radical stress and Raman spectroscopy to shed light on protein structural changes caused by the free radical attack. Among the amino acid residues, Cys is one of the most sensitive residues towards the attack of free radicals, thus suggesting that metal-Cys clusters are good interceptors of reactive species in metallothioneins, together with disulfides moieties in serum albumins. Met is another important site of the attack, in particular under reductive conditions. Tyr and Phe are sensitive to radical stress too, leading to electron transfer reactions or radical-induced modifications of their structures. Finally, modifications in protein folding take place depending on reactive species attacking the protein

New perspectives in glioblastoma: Nanoparticles-based approaches

Glioblastoma multiforme represents one of the most aggressive tumor of central nervous system. Current therapy includes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. These treatments are rarely curative and glioma are associated with a poor prognosis. Nanomedicine represents the most innovative branch of medicine since many studies demonstrated great advantage in the diagnosis and therapy of several diseases. In this review we will summarize the results obtained by the use of nanoparticles and extracellular vesicles in glioblastoma. A great interest is raising from these studies that underlined the efficacy and specificity of this treatment for glioma, reducing side-effects associated with conventional therapies

Local Food Resources to Fight Children Malnutrition and Infectious Diseases in Mozambique

Objective: To develop sustainable recipes, using local food resources, as a possible solution to manage children malnutrition and nutritional lack in Mozambique, thus preventing infectious diseases. Methods: Our work was based on the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) reports for children aged 4-8 years old. After having listed more than 60 commonly consumed local foods in Mozambique, we developed some recipes, indicating composition, energy and nutrients values. Information on nutrients concentrations was taken from the National Nutrient Database for Standard References, the Food Composition Tables for Mozambique and the Research Center for Aliments and Nutrition. In the recipes, the traditional way of listing ingredients was reported, which were then turned into international, standardized values. Results: We elaborated some different local food recipes, easy to prepare, at low cost and useful in a systematic approach in order to fight malnutrition in Sofala Province, Mozambique. Each recipe included functions and daily Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of: water, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, fibers, sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins. We suggested recipes richer in vitamins and micro/macro nutrients for breakfast, while those providing high caloric intake were more indicated for the main meal. The resulting recipes have been made understandable, for both local and international population, thanks to the coexistence of traditional and international description of ingredients. Conclusion: Local recipes approach is a possible promising tool among the most cost-effective/high impact interventions against child malnutrition and mortality from infectious diseases in Mozambique

Detection of piperaquine resistant marker plasmepsin-2 gene amplification using PET PCR real time assay

The current first-line antimalarials, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), are threatened by increasing drug failure of both the artemisinin and its partner drugs especially in Southeast Asia. Recently, an increase in the plasmepsin 2-3 (PfPM2) gene copy number was shown to be associated with decreased susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum to piperaquine, a partner drug used in ACT. We have demonstrated before photo induced electron transfer real-time PCR (PET-PCR) is a field friendly method for endemic countries than conventional real-time PCR for malaria diagnosis. Here, we designed a PET-PCR based assay to quantitate the copy number of PfPM2 in this multiplex assay, the P. falciparum β –tubulin gene was used as a reference gene. The forward primers for PfPM2 and β –tubulin were modified with the PET-tag at the 5' end and labeled with FAM (PfPM2) and HEX (β –tubulin) fluorophores. Amplification efficiencies of the PfPM2 and the β-tubulin genes were 97% and 100%, respectively. The PET-PCR was optimized using samples with known numbers of PfPM2 gene. Using this assay five specimens from anonymized Cambodian and Ethiopian samples obtained from 2 patients who failed treatment with dihydroaretmisinin-piperaquine were analyzed. The 3 sequential samples (day 1, day 6 and day 23 post treatment) from the Cambodian patient were all found to have 3 copies of PfPM2 while the Ethiopian samples (day of treatment and day 13 post treatment) had a single copy gene. These results support the potential use of the PET-PCR method for the detection of piperaquine drug resistance

An intricate case of multidrug resistant Plasmodium falciparum isolate imported from Cambodia

Background: Imported cases of multidrug resistant Plasmodium falciparum and treatment failure with artemisinin-based regimens, although rare, have been described also in Western countries and their management is often challenging. This is also due to an inadequate knowledge and implementation of health prevention measures. Case report: A complex case of imported malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax/P. falciparum isolates in a patient who was not taking chemoprophylaxis while he was travelling in Cambodia is reported in this article. After failures of artemisinin-based and both oral and intravenous quinine-based regimens, a multidrug resistant P. falciparum was detected. The patient was successfully treated with atovaquone-proguanil. Conclusions: This experience highlights the importance of a careful management that should be based not only on the most up-to-date guidelines, but also on the awareness of a rapidly evolving scenario

Fostering product innovation for water saving, treatment and reuse in household appliances: towards green washing solutions

Household appliances such as clothes washing and dishwashing machines use 10 to 30% of total domestic water consumption. Currently available washing machines do not provide systems to store and reuse wash and rinse water, or to filter dirt and residual detergents from drain water, or to monitor water quality to detect residual substances. This paper provides results of a three-year research project to develop advanced technologies to recycle waste water and reduce water and energy used by clothes washing machines. The project goal is to reduce energy and water consumption by 25% to 30%. To reach this goal three complementary technologies were investigated and demonstrated: (1) mechanical water filtration; (2) Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) for purification/sanitation, and (3) water quality monitoring devices to detect whether substances or residuals are present. A “modular” approach was applied so each solution can be implemented separately or incrementally. Water filtration tests showed positive results with polymeric filters. AOP-based methodologies were effective in chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and in degradation of anionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants. Ozone and UV can also be used as anti-microbial agents. Water quality monitoring of COD and its correlation to water conductivity enables different water reuse algorithms (cycles). All technologies were tested separately demonstrating the possibility of a modular approach for the final implementation. Results for clothes washers can be applied to other appliances such as dishwashers. These results provide important data for designing a dedicated “green washing” system