OLD OR NEW WAVES IN CAPO GRAZIANO DECORATIVE STYLES?

Six main decorative styles have been tentatively distinguished in the Early-Middle Bronze age Capo Graziano incised pottery of the Aeolian Islands. This experimental study focuses on the analysis of 68 bowls from the islands of Lipari, Filicudi, Salina and Stromboli and from Milazzo in Sicily. The clas-sification is based on motifs and styles, and integrates typology, technology, composition and decoration in their identification. The styles are linked to production centres showing different spatial and temporal va-riations and appear to reflect different dynamics: the expert “individual” craftsman, the design in fashion, the symbolic code or the fulfilment of specific functions. The evaluation of skill in application and varia-bility in the concept are measured in order to assess the social implications in the production of the pottery. This interim investigation will continue to refine the chronology and to establish the decorative styles in other Aeolian Islands. It is possible that schematic elements in the decorative styles, such as undulating lines and metopes, reflect the maritime and insular environment of the Aeolian Islands

Comparative Study of SPA Mud from "Bacino Idrominerario Omogeneo dei Colli Euganei (B.I.O.C.E.)-Italy" and Industrially Optimized Mud for Skin Applications

The term "Salus per aquam (SPA) therapies" refers to therapeutic pathways that includes mud therapy. The therapeutic efficacy of a peloid depends on its chemical and mineralogical composition, as well as its technological properties. Considering the increasing use of clay-based products, it becomes essential to characterize peloids from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. Therefore, this research project aimed to develop a protocol that allows characterization of the chemical-physical composition of sludges collected from different areas of the Homogeneous Euganean Hills Hydromineral Basin (B.I.O.C.E.). The study established a comparative study both between different matrices and between the same matrices at different maturation times, including also a comparison with an industrialized product, that can be used at home, which maintains the characteristics of a natural mud. This research was developed studying the pH, grain size distribution, and chemical and mineralogical composition. Peloids are characterized by a neutral/basic pH and are divided into two categories from a granulometric point of view: The chemical composition allowed observation of numerous correlations between oxides present in the samples and to quantify the presence of heavy metals. Mineralogical analysis made it possible to identify and compare the composition of each sample, also according to the maturation time. Thanks to the methods adopted, important correlations were achieved

A Safe-by-Design Approach to "Reef Safe" Sunscreens Based on ZnO and Organic UV Filters

In recent years, the issue of coral bleaching has led to restrictions in some tropical locations (i.e., Palau, Hawaii, etc.) on the use of some organic UV sunscreen filters, such as oxybenzone and ethyl hexyl methoxycinnamate. In contrast, ZnO is considered safe for marine environments and thus is often used without considering its photocatalytic and oxidative activities related to the generation of O-2(center dot-) and HO center dot. Moreover, ZnO needs to be used in combination with other filters to reach higher protection factors. Thus, the study of its interaction with formulations and with organic filters is important in sunscreen technology for the development of safer by-design products. In this work, the photocatalytic activity of zinc oxides with different surface areas (30, 25 and 9 m(2)/g) and their interaction with selected organic sunscreen filters were investigated. In particular, the ZnO photocatalytic kinetics were studied following the photodegradation of Acid Blue 9 (AB9) observing a first-order reaction with a chemical regime. Our evaluations of the selective inhibitions by h(vb)(+) and HO center dot demonstrated a substantial predominance of the hydroxide radicals in the expression of the photocatalysis, a trend that was also confirmed by the irradiation of ZnO in an ethanolic solution. Indeed, the formulations containing both ZnO and organic filters defined as "safe" for coral reefs (i.e., Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, DHHB, and Ethylhexyl Triazone, EHT) showed a non-negligible photocatalytic oxidation and thus the combination was underlined as safe to use

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

metodo non invasivo per la valutazione della capacita' antiossidante della pelle e della efficacia antiossidante in vivo di prodotti ad uso dermocosmetico

Il presente brevetto è relativo allo sviluppo di protocolli in vivo/vitro per la valutazione della capacità antiossidante della pelle utile a valutare l’efficacia di molecole o prodotti ad uso dermatologico, farmaceutico o dermo-cosmetico ad attività antiossidante. Un metodo non invasivo per misurare la capacità antiossidante della pelle e la sua variazione in seguito alla applicazione di preparazioni derrmatologiche ad attività antiossidante viene descritto. In una delle applicazioni il metodo include la raccolta di antiossidanti dalla pelle mediante un metodo non invasivo e l’analisi della relativa capacità antiossidante mediante metodologia opportuna

Determinazione della capacità antiossidanti integrale (IAC) di formulazioni cosmetiche mediante fotochemiluminescenza (PCL)

Determinazione della capacità antiossidanti integrale (IAC) di formulazioni cosmetiche mediante fotochemiluminescenza (PCL

Synergistic combination of multifunctional agents for cosmetic preservation

The preservation of cosmetic products has always been of special interest to the industry; microbial spoilage can lead to product degradation, and in the case of present pathogens, could contribute to a threat to the health of the consumer. In recent years the safety of many traditional preservatives has been questioned by the media and various organisations. Therefore, the cosmetics industry is looking for effective, safe, eco-friendly and sustainable, globally accepted and non-controversial solutions. Due to the current market demand, increasing efforts have been directed towards the research of ‘greener’ and milder ingredients, with favourable toxicological profiles also in the aim to reduce the irritation potential and the risk of sensitisation. To date the research is focused to the investigation of multifunctional antimicrobial agents, enabling the reduction of the number of ingredients and thus toxicological and environmental impact. In the present work, a synergistic mixture of caprylyl glycol and phenethyl alcohol, also endowed with skin emollient and fragrance properties has been investigated. This alternative preservative was found to have excellent antimicrobial activity in different cosmetic formulations whose efficacy is further increased by the addition of chelating agents

Regional exchange and exclusive elite rituals in Iron Age central Anatolia: dating, function and circulation of Alişar-IV ware

Alişar-IV ware is one of the most characteristic ceramic productions of early first-millennium BC central Anatolia and the only one characterised by painted figurative motifs besides geometric decorations. The ongoing excavations at NiğdeKınık Höyük have uncovered a collection of fragments belonging to 42 Alişar-IV vessels, and this systematic material study of these sherds contributes much to understanding aspects of their production, use and consumption. Petrographic and chemical evidence presented in this study indicates that two-thirds of them were produced locally. Conversely, the study of Alişar-IV fragments from other regions of the Anatolian plateau has shown that they are non-local productions. We thus suggest that Alişar-IV ware is a product of a few centres within south-central Anatolia and that, from there, it circulated among and beyond these centres. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the main period of production of this ware covers the tenth and ninth centuries BC, in agreement with the evidence from Polatlı Yassı Höyük, KamanKalehöyük and Böğazköy-Büyükkaya. The small number of Alişar-IV vessels found at each site is indicative of a limited, exclusive production. A combined study of their shapes and iconography might support the hypothesis that the AlişarIV ware was primarily associated with wine circulation and consumption

Antiossidanti, pro-ossidanti e valutazione della capacità antiossidante

Revisione della letteratura e stato dell'arte riguardo agli antiossidanti, i pro-ossidanti e la valutazione della capacità antiossidant

Valutazione della capacità preservante di una batteriocina in ambito cosmetico: la nisina

Valutazione della capacità preservante di una batteriocina in ambito cosmetico: la nisina