Electro-magnetic field promotes osteogenic differentiation of BM-hMSCs through a selective action on Ca(2+)-related mechanisms

Exposure to Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) has been shown to affect proliferation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow stroma (BM-hMSC). These cells offer considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine, but their clinical application is hampered by major limitations such as poor availability and the time required to differentiate up to a stage suitable for implantation. For this reason, several research efforts are focusing on identifying strategies to speed up the differentiation process. In this work we investigated the in vitro effect of PEMF on Ca2+-related mechanisms promoting the osteogenic differentiation of BM-hMSC. Cells were daily exposed to PEMF while subjected to osteogenic differentiation and various Ca2+-related mechanisms were monitored using multiple approaches for identifying functional and structural modifications related to this process. The results indicate that PEMF exposure promotes chemically induced osteogenesis by mechanisms that mainly interfere with some of the calcium-related osteogenic pathways, such as permeation and regulation of cytosolic concentration, leaving others, such as extracellular deposition, unaffected. The PEMF effect is primarily associated to early enhancement of intracellular calcium concentration, which is proposed here as a reliable hallmark of the osteogenic developmental stage

All in the Game. The Wire: un campo di ricerca sociologica

Analyzing with an ethnographic approach The Wire, one of the most important TV series on American ghettos, to understand and question the sociological perspective that emerges from the series, positioning it into the broader scientific debate. This is, in a nutshell, the work presented in the book It's all in the Game, the outcome of a laboratorial research activity carried out in 2020 by students and teachers of the Sociology of Communities and Urban Neighborhoods class, at the University of Bologna. The text is structured into four chapters, resulting from the four topics used to analysis the TV series: forms of social capital, the relationship between structural forces- culture of poverty and individual agency, neighborhood effects mechanism and the relationship between statistics and political action. Four subjects that are the core of many neighborhood- studies related researches and on which the TV series makes a clear stand. We analyzed those topics through a critical perspective, not considering them as a truth about ghettos, but as a very precise way of thinking about life in the American suburbs

Crystallization Behavior of Poly(ε-Caprolactone)-Hollow Glass Microspheres Composites for Rotational Molding Technology

Composites suitable for rotational molding technology based on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and filled with hollow glass microspheres (HGM) or functionalized hollow glass microspheres (HGMf) were prepared via melt-compounding. The functionalization of glass microspheres was carried out by a silanization treatment in order to improve the compatibility between the inorganic particles and the polymer matrix and achieve a good dispersion of glass microspheres in the matrix and an enhanced filler–polymer adhesion. The crystallization behavior of materials was studied by DSC under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions and the nucleating effect of the glass microspheres was proven. In particular, the presence of silanized glass microspheres promoted faster crystallization rates and higher nucleation activity, which are enhanced by 75% and 50%, respectively, comparing neat PCL and the composite filled with 20 wt% HGMf. The crystalline and supermolecular structure of PCL and composites crystallized from the melt was evaluated by WAXD and SAXS, highlighting differences in terms of crystallinity index and structural parameters as a function of the adopted crystallization conditions

Deepening the knowledge of military architecture in an urban context through digital representations integrated with geophysical surveys. The city walls of Cagliari (Italy)

This paper shows some results of a multidisciplinary study including digital surveys integrated with geophysical investigations. The procedure is applied in the city of Cagliari, Italy, in the area of the ancient walls between the bastion of Santa Croce and the fourteenth-century Elephant Tower. This sector consists of the curtain of Santa Chiara, designed in 1575 and completed in the years 1576-1578 by the military engineer Giorgio Paleari. The archival documents offer precise indications on the collapses and the reconstructions/expansions that took place in that period, so facilitating a recognition of the events. Compared to the medieval walls, the work of Paleari brought forward the line of defense by means of a robust embankment and incorporated two of the fifteenth-century towers described in the drawings of the military engineers of the time. In the eighteenth century, the front was completed with the construction of a lowered embankment leaning against the southern side of the bastion of Santa Croce and the curtain of Santa Chiara. More recently, both the bastion and the sixteenth century curtain have been reinforced by means of several restoration and consolidation works. The latter changed the profile of the parapet –in the origin it was inclined- and the static balance of the constructive system by means of reinforced concrete piles. The survey methods and techniques used in this study provide interesting information about the current structure of the bastion system, such as the presence of vaulted passages functional to the military work. A further study campaign mainly based on seismic tomography techniques is proposed

Indagini per la conoscenza e la tutela dell'architettura militare storica. Il fronte occidentale delle fortificazioni di Cagliari (Sardegna, Italia)

Il contributo mostra alcuni risultati dell’applicazione di un protocollo d'indagine pluridisciplinare che prevede l'integrazione di metodologie di rilevamento dell'architettura e metodi geofisici. La procedura operativa, già testata nel bastione di Santa Croce a Cagliari, trova applicazione nel capoluogo isolano nel tratto di mura compreso tra l'opera cinquecentesca già oggetto di studio e la trecentesca torre dell'Elefante. Il segmento oggetto della presente comunicazione, interessato a partire dal Cinquecento da crolli, ricostruzioni e ampliamenti descritti nei documenti d'archivio, è costituito da una cortina ripiegata progettata nel 1575 dall’ingegnere ticinese Giorgio Paleari Fratino e dalla cortina del De Cardona, opera “alla moderna” voluta dallo stesso vicerè negli anni 30 del secolo. L’opera cinquecentesca portata a compimento dal Fratino negli anni 1576-1578 avanza con un robusto terrapieno la linea di difesa rispetto all’esistente margine di matrice medievale e ingloba due torrioni quattrocenteschi, ben descritti nei disegni dei tecnici militari. Il fronte bastionato nel Settecento è completato dalla realizzazione di un bassofianco a ridosso del tratto costituito dal fianco sud del bastione di Santa Croce e dalla stessa cortina ripiegata e affronta nel recente periodo numerosi interventi di restauro e consolidamento che modificano il profilo del parapetto –in origine inclinato (come prescritto dal trattato del Maggi & Castriotto e in uso nelle opere dei fratelli Paleari) e gli equilibri del sistema costruttivo attraverso il ricorso a pali in cls armato. L'applicazione della metodologia d’indagine impiegata consegna interessanti informazioni in merito alle vicende costruttive del settore in oggetto ed alla presenza di passaggi voltati funzionali all’opera militare e conservati all’interno dell’attuale assetto urbano

Biocomposite Foams with Multimodal Cellular Structures Based on Cork Granulates and Microwave Processed Egg White Proteins

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emission, reduce the consumption of natural resources, and increase the sustainability of biocomposite foams, the present study focuses on the recycling of cork processing waste for the production of lightweight, non-structural, fireproof thermal and acoustic insulating panels. Egg white proteins (EWP) were used as a matrix model to introduce an open cell structure via a simple and energy-efficient microwave foaming process. Samples with different compositions (ratio of EWP and cork) and additives (eggshells and inorganic intumescent fillers) were prepared with the aim of correlating composition, cellular structures, flame resistance, and mechanical properties