28 results match your criteria: "University Bologna[Affiliation]"

This work provides a comprehensive illustration of a crystalline melt memory effect recorded for three solvates of the 2,7-bis(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)benzo[]benzo[4,5] thieno[2,3-]thiophene (OEG-BTBT) molecule with dichloromethane (DCM) molecules. Combined optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements at different temperatures are used to get an overview of the structural and morphological properties like melting points, isotropic transition temperatures, induction times, and crystallization kinetics of the three forms. An outstanding observation is made upon annealing the three polymorphs at temperatures well above their respective melting points as well as above the optical clearance temperature.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The discovery of new polymorphs enhances the potential applications of molecular materials, as their physical properties are largely determined by the type of crystal structure.
  • - A novel surface crystallization technique led to the identification of four new phases of a specific molecule that traditional polymorph screening could not detect, with three phases characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD).
  • - These new phases are identified as solvates, exhibiting low thermal stability, but are stable under ambient conditions for at least two years, demonstrating how controlled crystallization can yield varied solvates.
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Stability Analysis of Shear Deformable Inhomogeneous Nanocomposite Cylindrical Shells under Hydrostatic Pressure in Thermal Environment.

Materials (Basel)

July 2023

Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering, University Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy.

In this study, the stability of inhomogeneous nanocomposite cylindrical shells (INCCSs) under hydrostatic pressure in a thermal environment is presented. The effective material properties of the inhomogeneous nanocomposite cylindrical shell are modeled on the basis of the extended mixture rule. Based on the effective material properties, the fundamental relations and stability equations are derived for thermal environments.

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The buckling behavior of sandwich shells with functionally graded (FG) coatings operating under different external pressures was generally investigated under simply supported boundary conditions. Since it is very difficult to determine the approximation functions satisfying clamped boundary conditions and to solve the basic equations analytically within the framework of first order shear deformation theory (FOST), the number of publications on this subject is very limited. An analytical solution to the buckling problem of FG-coated cylindrical shells under clamped boundary conditions subjected to uniform hydrostatic pressure within the FOST framework is presented for the first time.

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This study presents the solution for the thermal buckling problem of moderately thick laminated conical shells consisting of carbon nanotube (CNT) originating layers. It is assumed that the laminated truncated-conical shell is subjected to uniform temperature rise. The Donnell-type shell theory is used to derive the governing equations, and the Galerkin method is used to find the expression for the buckling temperature in the framework of shear deformation theories (STs).

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Attenuation of neuroinflammation in microglia cells by extracts with high content of rosmarinic acid from in vitro cultured Melissa officinalis L. cells.

J Pharm Biomed Anal

October 2022

Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health (NEUROFARBA), Section of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Florence, l̥Viale G. Pieraccini 6, Florence 50139, Italy. Electronic address:

Plant cell culture is a biotechnology cultivation method that permit to cultivate plants in a short period of time and to obtain extracts with a high degree of standardization and high safety profile. The aim of our study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activity of a standardized Melissa officinalis L. phytocomplex extract (MD) obtained with an in vitro plant cell culture.

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Composite materials are frequently used in the construction of rail, tunnels, and pipelines as well as in the construction of aircraft, ships, and chemical pipelines. When such structural elements are formed from new-generation composites, such as CNT-reinforced composites, and their interaction with the ground, there is a need to renew the dynamic response calculations under moving pressures and to create new mathematical solution methods during their design. The aim of this study was to analyze the influences of elastic foundations (EFs) and material gradient on the dynamic response of infinitely long carbon nanotube (CNT)-based polymer pipes under combined static and moving pressures.

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Thrombocytopoiesis is a complex process beginning at the level of hematopoietic stem cells, which ultimately generate megakaryocytes, large marrow cells with a distinctive morphology, and then, through a process of terminal maturation, megakaryocytes shed thousands of platelets into the circulation. This process is controlled by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Emerging data indicate that an important intrinsic control on the late stages of thrombopoiesis is exerted by integrins, a family of transmembrane receptors composed of one α and one β subunit.

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Introduction: In Italy, the real-world evidence on the extent of adherence to guidelines and the benefits of recommended therapeutic medications and their impact on the quality of life (QoL) of H-antihistamines (H-AH) refractory chronic urticaria (CU) patients is limited.

Methods: AWARE (A World-wide Antihistamine-Refractory chronic urticaria patient Evaluation) was a global prospective, non-interventional study of CU in real-world setting which included patients aged ≥18 years with a medically confirmed diagnosed of CU present for more than 2 months. In this study, the disease characteristics, pharmacological treatments and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are reported.

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Numerous studies have documented ultrastructural abnormalities in malignant megakaryocytes from bone marrow (BM) of myelofibrosis patients but the morphology of these cells in spleen, an important extramedullary site in this disease, was not investigated as yet. By transmission-electron microscopy, we compared the ultrastructural features of megakaryocytes from BM and spleen of myelofibrosis patients and healthy controls. The number of megakaryocytes was markedly increased in both BM and spleen.

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Framing COVID-19: How we conceptualize and discuss the pandemic on Twitter.

PLoS One

October 2020

Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

Doctors and nurses in these weeks and months are busy in the trenches, fighting against a new invisible enemy: Covid-19. Cities are locked down and civilians are besieged in their own homes, to prevent the spreading of the virus. War-related terminology is commonly used to frame the discourse around epidemics and diseases.

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Histology refers to the study of the morphology of cells within their natural tissue environment. As a bio-medical discipline, it dates back to the development of first microscopes which allowed to override the physical visual limitation of the human eye. Since the first observations, it was understood that cell shape predicts function and, therefore, shape alterations can identify and explain dysfunction and diseases.

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Objective: The aims of the present study were to identify independent risk factors for conduit occlusion, compare outcomes of different AC placement sites, and investigate whether postoperative platelet antiaggregation is protective.

Background: Arterial conduits (AC) in liver transplantation (LT) offer an effective rescue option when regular arterial graft revascularization is not feasible. However, the role of the conduit placement site and postoperative antiaggregation is insufficiently answered in the literature.

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An understanding of natural killer (NK) cell physiology in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has led to the use of NK cell transfer in patients, demonstrating promising clinical results. However, AML is still characterized by a high relapse rate and poor overall survival. In addition to conventional NKs that can be considered the innate counterparts of CD8 T cells, another family of innate lymphocytes has been recently described with phenotypes and functions mirroring those of helper CD4 T cells.

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Aims: Intensification of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) treatment with GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) promotes weight loss. We aimed to determine the synergistic effect of behavioural programmes on body weight on top of GLP-1RA treatment.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analysed the time course of 328 individuals with T2DM starting GLP-1RA treatment because of insufficient metabolic control.

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Cognitive deficits in old-age depression vary as a function of multiple factors; one rarely examined factor is long-term psychiatric history. We investigated effects of psychiatric history on cognitive performance in old-age depression and in remitted persons. In the population-based Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen study, older persons (≥60 years) without dementia were tested with a cognitive battery and matched to the Swedish National Inpatient Register (starting 1969).

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Despite numerous circumstantial evidences, the pathogenic role of TGF-β in primary myelofibrosis (PMF), the most severe of the Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms, is still unclear because of the modest (2-fold) increases in its plasma levels observed in PMF patients and in the Gata1(low) mouse model. Whether myelofibrosis is associated with increased bioavailability of TGF-β bound to fibrotic fibres is unknown. Transmission electron-microscopy (TEM) observations identified that spleen from PMF patients and Gata1(low) mice contained megakaryocytes with abnormally high levels of TGF-β and collagen fibres embedded in their cytoplasm.

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Objectives: Providing effective treatment for complicated type B aortic dissection (AD) with concomitant pathologies of the aortic arch or ascending aorta is challenging, especially if the aortic anatomy is contraindicated for thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). We present the early results of a multicentre study using the frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique for type B AD.

Methods: From January 2005 to March 2013, data from 465 patients who had undergone treatment with the FET technique were collected in the database of the International E-vita Open Registry.

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Background: The use of biomarkers for rejection monitoring represents a major goal in intestinal transplantation. We analyzed the blood expression of Granzyme B (GB) and Perforin (PF) in the following pathological conditions after intestinal transplantation: acute rejection (AR), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). The diagnostic accuracy and the clinical utility of these tests are finally discussed.

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Polyvinylalcohol, partially substituted with lipophilic acyl chains, generates polymeric micelles in aqueous phase, containing a hydrophobic core able to encapsulate lipophilic drugs. Two types of polymers were obtained by conjugation of polyvinylalcohol with oleoyl or linoleoyl chains as pendant groups. The polymers, at a substitution degree of approximately 1%, are soluble in water and form polymeric micelles whose size increases with polymer concentration.

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Some rigid analogues of flavone-8-acetic acid are described. Direct in vitro toxicity of the synthesised compounds was evaluated towards four tumoral cell lines and the ability of these compounds to stimulate mouse peritoneal macrophages in culture to become tumoricidal (indirect toxicity) was also studied. All compounds were able to induce direct cytotoxicity only at very high concentrations but showed a remarkable indirect activity.

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