Stanislao Cannizzaro: vita e opere nel contesto palermitano

E' descritta l'attività politica, scientifica e didattica di Stanislao Cannizzaro a Palermo, nel decennio 1862-1871, in particolare nei riguardi delle fondazione e dello sviluppo dell'Istituto Tecnico. Tra gli altri risultati, l'aver incoraggiato e agevolato la crescita scientifica di due giovani talenti, il tedesco Guglielmo Koerner e il palermitano Emanuele Paternò, che diedero un contributo fondamentale allo sviluppo della chimica organica ottocentesca

Raffaele Piria e Stanislao Cannizzaro, dal 1848 al 1860 e oltre: due chimici meridionali nell'Italia Risorgimentale e post-unitaria

Come altri scienziati italiani a metà ottocento, Raffaele Piria e Stanislao Cannizzaro, con la loro attività scientifica e politica, hanno dato un notevole contributo, non solo al progresso della Chimica, ma anche alla costituzione del Regno d’Italia. La loro continua e lungimirante attività, sia sui campi di battaglia che nelle aule universitarie o parlamentari, ha contribuito alla rinascita culturale, sociale ed economica del Paese. Questo articolo, completato a conclusione dell’Anno Internazionale della Chimica, e delle celebrazioni per il 150° anniversario della fondazione dello stato italiano, vuole ricordare la loro attività politica e scientifica, sia in ambito locale, che nazionale, che internazionale

Agostino Oglialoro Todaro, allievo di Paternò e mentore di Marussia Bakunin

L'attività di ricercatore e di docente di Agostino Oglialoro Todaro è discussa e messa in relazione con il contesto storico nella Napoli di fine ottocento e inizio novecento

The use of functional tests and planned coronary angiography after percutaneous coronary revascularization in clinical practice. Results from the AFTER multicenter study

Background: The follow-up strategies after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have relevant clinical and economic implications. The purpose of this prospective observational multicenter study was to evaluate the effect of clinical, procedural and organizational variables on the execution of functional testing (FT) and planned coronary angiography (CA) after PCI, and to assess the impact of American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines on clinical practice. Methods: Four hundred twenty consecutive patients undergoing PCI were categorized as class I, IIB and III indications for follow-up FT according to ACC/AHA guidelines recommendations. Furthermore, all patients were grouped according to the presence or absence of FT and/or planned CA over 12 months after PCI. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the potential predictors of test execution. Results: During the 12-month follow-up at least one test was performed in 72% of patients with class I indication, 63% of patients with class IIB indication and 75% of patients with class III indication (p=ns). A total of 283 patients (67%) underwent testing. The use of tests was associated with younger age (R. R. 0.94, C. I. 0.91 +/- 0.97, p<0.001), a lower number of diseased vessels (R.R. 0.60, C.I. 0.43 +/- 0.84, p=0.003), follow-up by the center performing PCI (R. R. 2.64, C. I. 1.43 +/- 4.86, p=0.002), and the specific center at which PCI was performed. Most asymptomatic patients completed their testing prematurely with respect to the risk period for restenosis. Conclusions: The use of FT and planned CA after PCI is unrelated to patient's symptom status, and depends on patient's age and logistics. ACC/AHA guidelines have no influence in clinical practice, and test timing is not tailored to the risk period for restenosis. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Brazilian isolates of Trypanosoma cruzi from humans and triatomines classified into two lineages using mini-exon and ribosomal RNA sequences

Traditional molecular and biochemical methods, such as schizodeme analysis, karyotyping, DNA fingerprinting, and enzyme electrophoretic profiles, have shown a large variability among Trypanosoma cruzi isolates. In contrast to those results, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of sequences from the 24Sα ribosomal RNA gene and from the mini-exon gene nontranscribed spacer indicated a dimorphism among T. cruzi isolates, which enabled the definition of two major parasite lineages. In the present study, 86 T. cruzi field stocks (68 isolated from humans with defined presentations of Chagas' disease and 18 from triatomines) derived from four Brazilian geographic areas were typed by the PCR assay based on the DNA sequences of the mini-exon and 24Sα rRNA genes. These stocks were ordered into the two major T. cruzi lineages. Lineage I was associated mainly with human isolates and lineage 2 with the sylvatic cycle of the parasite

1937, Palermo: la scoperta del tecneto

The Italian and international scenario of Physics and Chemistry in the thirties will be described, in order to introduce and better understand the successive steps that followed to the discovery of element 43 (Technetium). Of course, more emphasis will be given to the academic life in Palermo, where the discover took place: main characters and bit actors will be treated to give a full picture of the milieu. Finally, a glance will be given to the political events preceding and following the discover, and their consequences on people involved, as the possibility to realize in Palermo a multi disciplinary research team of high level, working on innovative arguments, was deeply compromised by the so-called racial laws. Also described will be some instruments, specifically built in Palermo, to measure the radioactivity of the different samples, during the chemical manipulations that led to the insulation of trace of technetium

From Masurium to Trinacrium: The Troubled Story of Element 43

The first man-made chemical element was that with atomic number 43. It was produced at the University of California - Berkeley (by neutron bombardment of a molybdenum plate and was chemically identified at the University of Palermo (Italy) in 1937 by Segrè and Perrier. Previous attempts to identify it in natural ore had been unsuccessful, owing to the short life of its isotopes. Notwithstanding, several claims of its discovery had appeared in the chemical literature. The history of this discovery clearly shows the dramatic improvements of chemical analytical techniques and criteria in the first half of 20th century. In 1949 its discoverers proposed to call it technetium, which means produced by technology