Search results for "Microscopy"

Microscopy and Molecular biology techniques for the study biocenosis diversity in semi-confined environments

2010

This study is part of a wider conservation project of artistic and anthropological finds located in the Grotto of the Saints (Licodia Eubea, Alia, Sicily), and represents an opportunity for investigating the micro-and macro biological systems colonizing this particular environment. It is well-known that the bio-receptivity of surfaces is strongly related to its constituent materials and environmental parameters, whose effects promote the establishment of specific biotic communities. This is particularly true for caves, hypogea and semi-confined environments and, in particular for the Grotto of the Saints, where besides the presence of different nutrient sources, there are also high humidity…

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…

Natural autofluorescence in archeological bone

2017

The human bone present a natural autofluorescence which is tipically induced by natural antibiotiscs absorbed by collagen and in part is due to phenomena not weel know and referred to an enigmatic endogenous fluophore. Is iintristing for us to see the autofluorescence in the various age of the observed samples.

Evaluation of a Cell-Free Collagen Type I-Based Scaffold for Articular Cartilage Regeneration in an Orthotopic Rat Model.

2020

The management of chondral defects represents a big challenge because of the limited self-healing capacity of cartilage. Many approaches in this field obtained partial satisfactory results. Cartilage tissue engineering, combining innovative scaffolds and stem cells from different sources, emerges as a promising strategy for cartilage regeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of a cell-free collagen I-based scaffold to promote cartilaginous repair after orthotopic implantation in vivo. Articular cartilage lesions (ACL) were created at the femoropatellar groove in rat knees and cell free collagen I-based scaffolds (S) were then implanted into right knee defect for the…

Biocompatibility and staining properties of CdSe\CdS\SiO2 nanoparticles for in-vitro biomaterials characterization

2015

Semiconductor nanocrystals, known as quantum dots (QDs) display well-tuned emission spectra from ultraviolet to the infrared region. Their photostability is greatly enhanced compared to fluorophores making them suitable for optical bio-imaging. In this work we have studied the cytocompatibility of CdSe\CdS\SiO2 QDs towards bovine articular chondrocytes in order to establish if these nanoparticles could be used as staining system forcells in tissue engineering purposes. Studies of QDs uptake and cell viability were conducted through morphology evaluation and MTS test. The adhesion behavior of chondrocytes deposited onto scaffolds of a derivative of hyaluronic acid functionalized with octadec…

Marble and stone revetment and pavements: Context and provenance

2022

Earlier excavations and survey at Vagnari furnished hardly any evidence for the use of marble at the site, and so the vicus was considered to be a low status settlement, with only a few rooms having been elegant enough to decorate them with marble floors or revetment. The fragments recovered were not analysed scientifically to determine the location of the quarries from which the marbles came. Of particular interest, however, were two small fragments of inscriptions on white marble retrieved from the rubble fill dumped in the 4th century AD in the reservoir. These originally may have been attached, when intact, to votive or funerary monuments, suggesting that the occasional commemorative mo…

Degradation od Mater-Bi/wood flour biocomposites in active sewage sludge

2009

Mortars and Plasters under the Mosaics and the Wall Paintings of the Roman Villa at Piazza Armerina, Sicily

2010

The Roman Villa at Piazza Armerina in Sicily, built in many successive steps over the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., is renowned all over the world for both the wealth and the refinement of its mosaic floors. In February 2007 the Regional Government of Sicily started a restoration project of the whole archaeological site. The systematic survey and study of all decorative elements highlighted the value of wall paintings, which until then were almost unknown except for casual approaches to specific problems of conservation, carried on without any relation to the far and away famous mosaics. This paper shows the results of a physical chemical investigation of the mortars used for both floors and …

Reflectance mode confocal microscopy and digital image analysis in naevus of Hori and pathogenetic evaluation

2012

Cloaking In-Plane Elastic Waves with Swiss Rolls

2020

We propose a design of cylindrical cloak for coupled in-plane shear waves consisting of concentric layers of sub-wavelength resonant stress-free inclusions shaped as Swiss rolls. The scaling factor between inclusions&rsquo