Search results for "Science and technology"

Exploring relationships between grid cell size and accuracy for debris-flow susceptibility models: a test in the Giampilieri catchment (Sicily, Italy)

2016

Debris flows are among the most hazardous phenomena in nature, requiring the preparation of suscep- tibility models in order to cope with this severe threat. The aim of this research was to verify whether a grid cell-based susceptibility model was capable of predicting the debris- flow initiation sites in the Giampilieri catchment (10 km2), which was hit by a storm on the 1st October 2009, resulting in more than one thousand landslides. This kind of event is to be considered as recurrent in the area as attested by historical data. Therefore, predictive models have been prepared by using forward stepwise binary logistic regression (BLR), a landslide inventory and a set of geo- environmental …

A scenario-based assessment of the tsunami hazard in Palermo, northern Sicily, and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea

2020

Successful aerobic bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with higher chlorinated phenols by indigenous degrader bacteria

2018

The xenobiotic priority pollutant pentachlorophenol has been used as a timber preservative in a polychlorophenol bulk synthesis product containing also tetrachlorophenol and trichlorophenol. Highly soluble chlorophenol salts have leaked into groundwater, causing severe contamination of large aquifers. Natural attenuation of higher-chlorinated phenols (HCPs: pentachlorophenol + tetrachlorophenol) at historically polluted sites has been inefficient, but a 4-year full scale in situ biostimulation of a chlorophenol-contaminated aquifer by circulation and re-infiltration of aerated groundwater was remarkably successful: pentachlorophenol decreased from 400 μg L−1 to <1 μg L−1 and tetrachlorophen…

From waste to health: sustainable exploitation of grape pomace seed extract to manufacture antioxidant, regenerative and prebiotic nanovesicles withi…

2020

AbstractPomace seed extract loaded vesicles were prepared as promising technological and green solution to exploit agri-food wastes and by-products, and develop high value-added products for human health. An antioxidant extract rich in bioactive compounds (epicatechins, catechin, gallic acid, quercetin and procynidins) was obtained from the seeds isolated from the pomace of Cannonau red grape cultivar. The extract was incorporated into phospholipid vesicles ad hoc formulated for intestinal delivery, by combining them, for the first time, whit a maltodextrin (Glucidex). Glucidex-transfersomes, glucidex-hyalurosomes and glucidex-hyalutransferomes were prepared, characterized and tested. Gluci…

Prediction of ferroelectricity-driven Berry curvature enabling charge- and spin-controllable photocurrent in tin telluride monolayers

2019

In symmetry-broken crystalline solids, pole structures of Berry curvature (BC) can emerge, and they have been utilized as a versatile tool for controlling transport properties. For example, the monopole component of the BC is induced by the time-reversal symmetry breaking, and the BC dipole arises from a lack of inversion symmetry, leading to the anomalous Hall and nonlinear Hall effects, respectively. Based on first-principles calculations, we show that the ferroelectricity in a tin telluride monolayer produces a unique BC distribution, which offers charge- and spin-controllable photocurrents. Even with the sizable band gap, the ferroelectrically driven BC dipole is comparable to those of …

Evidence-Based Clinical Use of Nanoscale Extracellular Vesicles in Nanomedicine

2016

collaboration au projet H2020 European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program European Network on Microvesicles and Exosomes in Health and Disease (ME-HAD); International audience; Recent research has demonstrated that all body fluids assessed contain substantial amounts of vesicles that range in size from 30 to 1000 nm and that are surrounded by phospholipid membranes containing different membrane microdomains such as lipid rafts and caveolae. The most prominent representatives of these so-called extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanosized exosomes (70-150 nm), which are derivatives of the endosomal system, and microvesicles (100-1000 nm), which are produced by outward budding…

Effects of Apirolio Addition and Alfalfa and Compost Treatments on the Natural Microbial Community of a Historically PCB-Contaminated Soil

2018

Abstract Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous and persistent organic pollutants generated exclusively from human sources and found in the environment as several congeners (e.g. Apirolio, produced in Italy and used for electrical transformers). To evaluate the ability of the natural microbial community of historically PCB-contaminated soil to transform or degrade PCBs after fresh contamination through the addition of Apirolio, a microcosm experiment was conducted in a greenhouse for approximately 8 months. Compost and Medicago sativa (alfalfa) were additionally used in the microcosms to stimulate microbial PCB degradation. Chemical analyses were performed to evaluate PCB concentra…

Fragments of peer review: A quantitative analysis of the literature (1969-2015)

2018

This paper examines research on peer review between 1969 and 2015 by looking at records indexed from the Scopus database. Although it is often argued that peer review has been poorly investigated, we found that the number of publications in this field doubled from 2005. A half of this work was indexed as research articles, a third as editorial notes and literature reviews and the rest were book chapters or letters. We identified the most prolific and influential scholars, the most cited publications and the most important journals in the field. Co-authorship network analysis showed that research on peer review is fragmented, with the largest group of co-authors including only 2.1% of the wh…

The essentials of marine biotechnology

2021

Coastal countries have traditionally relied on the existing marine resources (e.g., fishing, food, transport, recreation, and tourism) as well as tried to support new economic endeavors (ocean energy, desalination for water supply, and seabed mining). Modern societies and lifestyle resulted in an increased demand for dietary diversity, better health and well-being, new biomedicines, natural cosmeceuticals, environmental conservation, and sustainable energy sources. These societal needs stimulated the interest of researchers on the diverse and underexplored marine environments as promising and sustainable sources of biomolecules and biomass, and they are addressed by the emerging field of ma…

Enrichment of Bacterioplankton Able to Utilize One-Carbon and Methylated Compounds in the Coastal Pacific Ocean

2018

International audience; Understanding the temporal variations and succession of bacterial communities involved in the turnover of one-carbon and methylated compounds is necessary to better predict bacterial impacts on the marine carbon cycle and air-sea carbon fluxes. The ability of the local bacterioplankton community to exploit one-carbon and methylated compounds as main source of bioavailable carbon during a productive and less productive period was assessed through enrichment experiments. Surface seawater was amended with methanol and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), and bacterial abundance, production, oxygen consumption, as well as methanol turnover and growth rates of putative methylot…