Search results for " mineral"

Effects of thalassemia major on bone mineral density in late adolescence

2003

Management of thalassemia major has shown substantial clinical and prognostic improvement, suggesting the need for major attention to quality of life. We studied bone health in 25 patients (13 males, 12 females; 15-23 years old) affected by β-thalassemia major. In all patients, bone mineral density (BMD), biochemical markers of bone and calcium metabolism (calcium, phosphate, magnesium, alkaline phosphatase, urinary calcium, 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25OH-D], 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2,D], parathyroid hormone [PTH]), hematological parameters and gonadal steroids status were assessed and related to each other and to auxological parameters (chronological, statural and bone ages, height, we…

PROFILO ENDOCRINO E DENSITA’ MINERALE OSSEA IN ADOLESCENTI CON COAGULOPATIE CONGENITE IN TERAPIA CON ESTROPROGESTINICI

2011

Caratterizzazione mineralogico-petrografica delle malte in opera nel Castello di Calatamauro a Contessa Entellina (Sicilia occidentale)

2008

Analisi di argille siciliane per una valutazione preliminare dell’attitudine all’impiego nel settore dell’architettura in “terra cruda”

2008

Le "argille ceramiche" della Sicilia occidentale e centrale

2011

L’argilla è senza dubbio uno dei primi materiali naturali o “geomateriali” che l’uomo abbia mai usato, ed anche oggi, in molteplici temi applicativi della geologia, la conoscenza approfondita delle formazioni argillose diventa spesso un aspetto di primaria importanza. Le peculiari proprietà di acquisire un’eccellente plasticità una volta mescolata con acqua in proporzioni opportune e quindi di essere facilmente modellata, di acquistare rigidità in seguito ad asciugamento, di diventare solida in modo permanente dopo cottura, unitamente alla pressoché ubiquitaria disponibilità, hanno fatto sì che l’argilla sia stata sempre ricercata e lavorata con ottimi risultati per foggiare vasellame di us…

Environmental evolution of the last 55 years of the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily, Italy). An integrated study of marine core sediments

2009

A Biocatalytic Nanomaterial for the Label-Free Detection of Virus-Like Particles

2017

International audience; The design of nanomaterials that are capable of specific and sensitive biomolecular recognition is an on-going challenge in the chemical and biochemical sciences. A number of sophisticated artificial systems have been designed to specifically recognize a variety of targets. However, methods based on natural biomolecular detection systems using antibodies are often superior. Besides greater affinity and selectivity, antibodies can be easily coupled to enzymatic systems that act as signal amplifiers, thus permitting impressively low detection limits. The possibility to translate this concept to artificial recognition systems remains limited due to design incompatibilit…

The genesis of actively growing siliceous stromatolites: Evidence from Lake Specchio di Venere, Pantelleria Island, Italy

2010

This study documents the attributes of siliceous stromatolites growing in the Lake Specchio di Venere, on the volcanic island of Pantelleria, Italy, in a setting characterized by very shallow cold waters and pools and by scattered hydrothermal activity, which exhales mainly CO2, at emission point temperatures of 34 to 58 °C. The saturation indexes indicate that the lake waters are saturated with respect to tridymite, cristobalite, chalcedony and quartz, and slightly undersaturated with respect to amorphous silica. Common roughly laminated and poorly lithified stromatolites show scanning electron microscope (SEM) evidence for silicified microbial mat structures, including biofilms, filamento…

Key Biochemical Attributes to Assess Soil Ecosystem Sustainability

2011

Soil is not a renewable resource, at least within the human timescale. In general, any anthropic exploitation of soils tends to disturb or divert them from a more “natural” development which, by definition, represents the best comparison term for measuring the relative shift from soil sustainability. The continuous degradation of soil health and quality due to abuse of land potentiality or intensive management occurs since decades. Soil microbiota, being ‘the biological engine of the Earth’, provides pivotal services in the soil ecosystem functioning. Hence, management practices protecting soil microbial diversity and resilience, should be pursued. Besides, any abnormal change in rate of in…

Soil Quality as Affected by Intensive Versus Conservative Agricultural Managements

2017

Soils, the earth’s skin, are at the intersection of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The persistence of life on our planet depends on the maintenance of soils as they constitute the biological engines of earth. Human population has increased exponentially in recent decades, along with the demand for food, materials, and energy, which have caused a shift from low-yield and subsistence agriculture to a more productive, high-cost, and intensive agriculture. However, soils are very fragile ecosystems and require centuries for their development, thus within the human timescale they are not renewable resources. Modern and intensive agriculture implies serious concern about…