Search results for "Cultural Heritage"

Premessa al Volume

2022

International Symposium "Botany at the intersection of Nature, Culture, Art and Sciences" Book of Abstracts

2018

Book of Abstracts including the 44 oral presentations and 15 poster presentation give during the International Symposium "Botany at the intersection of Nature, Culture, Art and Sciences"

Mediterranean Gardens from Sicily to Malta

2012

This publication is one of the expected results of the European porject GARDMED (PO Italy- Malta 2007-2013). It aims to bring people to discover the Mediterranean gardens, highlighting the great botanical diversity, the history, the artistic, cultural and natural heritage.

Biodeterioration

2022

The biodeterioration of organic and inorganic materials, as well as polymers, is a complex of alteration processes induced by the growing and metabolic activity of organisms. It can be recognized on monuments, wall paintings, stone, wood, paper, vegetal/animal fibers, and parchment artworks. As defined by Hueck, 1968, biodeterioration is “any undesirable change in the properties of a material caused by the vital activities of organisms”; this definition is accepted as the meaning of the phenomenon. Both macroorganisms (such as animals, plants, and mosses) and microorganisms (such as autotrophic or heterotrophic bacteria, microfungi, cyanobacteria, algae, and lichens) represent the triggers …

Plant products as biocides for conservation of cultural asset sustainable for human and environmental health

2022

In the last decades plants products are increasingly used also in defining innovative procedures for sustainable conservation of cultural heritage. Particularly, essential oils or hydro-alcoholic extracts have been fruitful applied to contrast microbial colonization on organic and inorganic artworks or insect infestation (Anobidae) having regard to the repellent action.
 In this paper, extracts from Asteraceae and Lamiaceae plant families are utilized to counteract widespread microbial colonization (bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi) due to their antimicrobial activity. In order to define the adequate concentration correlating it to microbial species detected, the antimicrobial activity o…

FRESHWATER CYANOBACTERIA, IDENTIFIED BY MICROSCOPIC AND MOLECULAR INVESTIGATIONS ON A COLONIZED FOUNTAIN SURFACE: A CASE STUDY IN PALERMO (SICILY, IT…

2021

Cyanobacteria or blue algae are ubiquitously present in both fresh and brackish water environments. They also grow in conditions of high humidity, colonizing stones or monuments and fountain surfaces, and creating thick biofilms able to induce biodeterioration in the constituent materials of artefacts. As well as several photoautotrophic organisms, cyanobacteria belong to the microorganisms identified as primary colonizers, playing an important role in stone artwork deterioration. In this study, an analysis was made of the biofilm collected from the stone fountain of the Two Dragons in Palermo (Italy), revealing the presence of cyanobacterial colonies by optical microscopy, due to their pec…

Cnidarian inflammatory reaction and bioactive molecules: from multifunctional role to cultural heritage applications

2015

The renewed interest in the study of genes of immunity in Cnidaria has led to additional information to the scenario of the first stages of immunity evolution revealing the cellular processes involved in symbiosis, in the regulation of homeostasis and in the fight against infections. We investigated the inflammatory response in Anemonia sulcata (Cnidaria: Anthozoa), following injection of various substances different in type and dimension, and observed clear, strong and specific reactions especially after injection of bacteria. The enzymes evaluation (protease, phosphatase and esterase), showing how the injection of different bacterial strains alters the expression of these enzymes suggesti…

Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by Halloysite Nanotubes: From General Aspects to Technological Applications

2022

Besides surfactants, which decrease the interfacial tension between two immiscible liquids, also interfacially active particles can successfully stabilize an emulsion system by attaching at the liquid–liquid interface. The preparation of the resulting Pickering emulsions has been so far investigated starting from the study of the interactions arising between the dispersed droplets and the stabilizers, till the application of these systems in a wide range of different fields. This work is intended to provide an overall overview about the development of Pickering emulsions by considering the most general aspects and scanning the diverse types of solid stabilizers. Among them, Halloysite nanot…

Diagnostic Multidisciplinary Investigations for Cultural Heritage at Etna Volcano: A Case Study from the 1669 Eruption in the Mother Church at the Ol…

2022

Misterbianco is located on the southern flank of Mt. Etna (Unesco site), in eastern Sicily (Italy). This site, also known as Monasterium Album, has a long and tormented history linked with volcanic activity of Mt. Etna and regional seismicity. This site received much attention in the 2000s when excavation works brought to light a 14th century church remains below the thick layer of the 1669 lava. This study documents the first diagnostic multidisciplinary survey performed at this site 350 years after the eruption: the investigations were performed by using techniques such as ground-penetrating radar, infrared thermography, a terrestrial laser scanner and a drone survey to analyze the site’s…

Effect of the different data survey scale on assessment of seismic exposure and vulnerability of the historic center of Caltabellotta

2019

The results of the prediction of exposure and seismic vulnerability for the buildings of the historic center of Caltabellotta, obtained with databases of different levels of accuracy, are compared. In particular, the results obtained on the basis of the estimation of the characteristics and of the distribution of the typologies derived from the filling in of the CARTIS sheets on a sector scale are compared with those obtained through a survey from the outside to a building scale. In this latter area, indicators contained in the CARTIS are suitably supplemented with those available in the literature, partly modified to adapt them to the local reality. The vulnerability is evaluated on the ba…