Vertical-Flow Paper Sensor for On-Site and Prompt Evaluation of Chloride Contamination in Concrete Structures.

Corrosion occurring in reinforced concrete has turned into a primary concern of the current century, concrete being the most ubiquitous and predominant material used in the construction industry. Among the many interrelated processes that trigger corrosion of metallic reinforcements, the penetration of chloride ions into the concrete matrix is the most insidious threat. Herein, we developed the first electrochemical device entirely made of paper that allows for the direct, prompt, and noninvasive evaluation of free chloride ion contamination in concrete-based constructions.

Evaluation of Molecular Markers and Analytical Methods Documenting the Occurrence of Mustard Gas and Arsenical Warfare Agents in Soil.

The chemicals warfare agents (CWAs) are an extremely toxic class of molecules widely produced in many industrialized countries for decades, these compounds frequently contained arsenic. The plants where the CWAs have been produced or the plants where they have been demilitarized after the Second World War with unacceptable techniques can represent a serious environmental problem. CWAs standards are difficult to find on market so in present work an environmental assessment method based on markers has been proposed.

Viral bioterrorism: Learning the lesson of Ebola virus in West Africa 2013-2015.

Among the potential biological agents suitable as a weapon, Ebola virus represents a major concern. Classified by the CDC as a category A biological agent, Ebola virus causes severe hemorrhagic fever, characterized by high case-fatality rate; to date, no vaccine or approved therapy is available. The EVD epidemic, which broke out in West Africa since the late 2013, has got the issue of the possible use of Ebola virus as biological warfare agent (BWA) to come to the fore once again.

Ebola virus disease 2013-2014 outbreak in west Africa: an analysis of the epidemic spread and response.

The Ebola virus epidemic burst in West Africa in late 2013, started in Guinea, reached in a few months an alarming diffusion, actually involving several countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and Mali). Guinea and Liberia, the first nations affected by the outbreak, have put in place measures to contain the spread, supported by international organizations; then they were followed by the other nations affected. In the present EVD outbreak, the geographical spread of the virus has followed a new route: the achievement of large urban areas at an early stage of the epidemic has led to an unprecedented diffusion, featuring the largest outbreak of EVD of all time.

Tracing the biological origin of animal glues used in paintings through mitochondrial DNA analysis.

We report the development of a suitable protocol for the identification of the biological origin of binding media on tiny samples from ancient paintings, by exploitation of the high specificity and high sensitivity offered by the state-of-the art DNA analysis. In particular, our aim was to molecularly characterize mitochondrial regions of the animal species traditionally employed for obtaining glues. The model has been developed using aged painting models and then tested to analyze the organic components in samples from the polychrome terracotta Madonna of Citerna by Donatello (1415-1420), where, by GC-MS and FTIR spectroscopy, animal glues and siccative oils were identified.