Isaac Newton and Alchemy

Isaac Newton dedicated a good part of his activity to alchemical experiments. This article tries to discuss the motivations that drove Newton to spend so much of his time in the laboratory: the search for a unitary vision of the forces acting in the macrocosm and in the microcosm, the belief on a hidden prisca sapientia in the occult philosophy to be rediscovered with a scientific approach and the dispute with materialistic philosophy. An educational version of this article is published in the popular magazine L'Indiscreto.  Our motto "No walls. Just bridges" implies that Substantia aims at being a top level interdisciplinary scientific journal, but wants to be also an actor in public engagement, in the framework of the University's Third Mission.  In other terms we want to promote "scientific leaks" (Sci-leaks).

Scienza e arte

During the creative act, the artist and the scientist both proceed through the decoding and recomposition of the realities they observe. Based on this method correspondence, art and science offer tools to study the inner or outer reality, looking at objects and situations and looking for correlations and interpretations, in an ideal relationship between the artist's study and the scientist's laboratory . Starting from this unitary vision of the cognitive processes, the interactions between chemistry and decorative arts, between chemistry and architecture and between chemistry and literature (poetry, theater, narrative) are examined, highlighting sometimes unexpected and surprising analogies and overlappings

A test of gravitational theories including torsion with the BepiColombo radio science experiment

The Mercury Orbiter radio Science Experiment (MORE) is one of the experiments on-board the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury, to be launched in October 2018. Thanks to full on-board and on-ground instrumentation performing very precise tracking from the Earth, MORE will have the chance to determine with very high accuracy the Mercury-centric orbit of the spacecraft and the heliocentric orbit of Mercury. This will allow to undertake an accurate test of relativistic theories of gravitation (relativity experiment), which consists in improving the knowledge of some post-Newtonian and related parameters, whose value is predicted by General Relativity. This paper focuses on two critical aspects of the BepiColombo relativity experiment. First of all, we address the delicate issue of determining the orbits of Mercury and the Earth-Moon barycenter at the level of accuracy required by the purposes of the experiment and we discuss a strategy to cure the rank deficiencies that appear in the problem. Secondly, we introduce and discuss the role of the solar Lense-Thirring effect in the Mercury orbit determination problem and in the relativistic parameters estimation

La nascita della meccanica quantistica

Quantum mechanics constituted a great scientific and cultural revolution that profoundly changed our approach to the study of the microscopic and subatomic world. The birth and evolution of the theories of quantum mechanics are revived through the personal and scientific history of the protagonists, their attempts and their working hypotheses, the discoveries, doubts and discussions. The substantially counterintuitive concepts of the new mechanics have redesigned the meaning of our knowledge of the world of atoms; particular attention is then paid to the impact that this new vision of the microscopic world has had on chemistry and our knowledge of the structure and reactivity of atoms and molecules

Colorectal cancer after bariatric surgery (Cric-Abs 2020): Sicob (Italian society of obesity surgery) endorsed national survey

Background The published colorectal cancer (CRC) outcomes after bariatric surgery (BS) are conflicting, with some anecdotal studies reporting increased risks. The present nationwide survey CRIC-ABS 2020 (Colo-Rectal Cancer Incidence-After Bariatric Surgery-2020), endorsed by the Italian Society of Obesity Surgery (SICOB), aims to report its incidence in Italy after BS, comparing the two commonest laparoscopic procedures-Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (GBP). Methods Two online questionnaires-first having 11 questions on SG/GBP frequency with a follow-up of 5-10 years, and the second containing 15 questions on CRC incidence and management, were administered to 53 referral bariatric, high volume centers. A standardized incidence ratio (SIR-a ratio of the observed number of cases to the expected number) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated along with CRC incidence risk computation for baseline characteristics. Results Data for 20,571 patients from 34 (63%) centers between 2010 and 2015 were collected, of which 14,431 had SG (70%) and 6140 GBP (30%). 22 patients (0.10%, mean age = 53 +/- 12 years, 13 males), SG: 12 and GBP: 10, developed CRC after 4.3 +/- 2.3 years. Overall incidence was higher among males for both groups (SG: 0.15% vs 0.05%; GBP: 0.35% vs 0.09%) and the GBP cohort having slightly older patients. The right colon was most affected (n = 13) and SIR categorized/sex had fewer values < 1, except for GBP males (SIR = 1.07). Conclusion Low CRC incidence after BS at 10 years (0.10%), and no difference between procedures was seen, suggesting that BS does not trigger the neoplasm development

Management of acute diverticulitis with pericolic free gas (ADIFAS). an international multicenter observational study

Background: There are no specific recommendations regarding the optimal management of this group of patients. The World Society of Emergency Surgery suggested a nonoperative strategy with antibiotic therapy, but this was a weak recommendation. This study aims to identify the optimal management of patients with acute diverticulitis (AD) presenting with pericolic free air with or without pericolic fluid. Methods: A multicenter, prospective, international study of patients diagnosed with AD and pericolic-free air with or without pericolic free fluid at a computed tomography (CT) scan between May 2020 and June 2021 was included. Patients were excluded if they had intra-abdominal distant free air, an abscess, generalized peritonitis, or less than a 1-year follow-up. The primary outcome was the rate of failure of nonoperative management within the index admission. Secondary outcomes included the rate of failure of nonoperative management within the first year and risk factors for failure. Results: A total of 810 patients were recruited across 69 European and South American centers; 744 patients (92%) were treated nonoperatively, and 66 (8%) underwent immediate surgery. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. Hinchey II-IV on diagnostic imaging was the only independent risk factor for surgical intervention during index admission (odds ratios: 12.5, 95% CI: 2.4-64, P =0.003). Among patients treated nonoperatively, at index admission, 697 (94%) patients were discharged without any complications, 35 (4.7%) required emergency surgery, and 12 (1.6%) percutaneous drainage. Free pericolic fluid on CT scan was associated with a higher risk of failure of nonoperative management (odds ratios: 4.9, 95% CI: 1.2-19.9, P =0.023), with 88% of success compared to 96% without free fluid ( P <0.001). The rate of treatment failure with nonoperative management during the first year of follow-up was 16.5%. Conclusion: Patients with AD presenting with pericolic free gas can be successfully managed nonoperatively in the vast majority of cases. Patients with both free pericolic gas and free pericolic fluid on a CT scan are at a higher risk of failing nonoperative management and require closer observation

Scienza e arte : chimica, arti figurative e letteratura

During the creative act, the artist and the scientist both proceed through the decoding and recomposition of the realities they observe. Based on this method correspondence, art and science offer tools to study the inner or outer reality, looking at objects and situations and looking for correlations and interpretations, in an ideal relationship between the artist\u27s study and the scientist\u27s laboratory . Starting from this unitary vision of the cognitive processes, the interactions between chemistry and decorative arts, between chemistry and architecture and between chemistry and literature (poetry, theater, narrative) are examined, highlighting sometimes unexpected and surprising analogies and overlappings.Nell\u27atto creativo l\u27artista e lo scienziato procedono entrambi attraverso la decodificazione e ricomposizione delle realt\ue0 che osservano. Sulla base di questa corrispondenza di metodo, l\u27arte e la scienza offrono strumenti per studiare la realt\ue0 interiore o esteriore, guardando a oggetti e situazioni e cercando correlazioni e interpretazioni, in un ideale parallelismo tra lo studio dell\u27artista e il laboratorio dello scienziato. Partendo da questa visione unitaria dei processi conoscitivi vengono esaminate le interazioni tra chimica e arti decorative, tra chimica e architettura e tra chimica e letteratura (poesia, teatro, narrativa) mettendo in luce analogie e sovrapposizioni talora inaspettate e sorprendenti