Triennial 1951: Post-War Reconstruction and “Divine Proportion”

This research centres on the conference dedicated to the theme “Divina Proporzione” organised on the occasion of the 1951 Milano Triennale. Participating in the meeting were some of the most important art historians, architects, engineers, mathematicians and artists of the day: from a very young James Ackerman to Pier Luigi Nervi, from Le Corbusier to Carlo Mollino, from Lucio Fontana to Ernesto Rogers. That historic moment, even given the plurality of voices and approaches, represented the synthesis of a reflection that was as urgent as it was rich in implications, since it brought the concept of “proportion” into the very heart of post-war reconstruction.     

Diet supplementation with donkey milk upregulates liver mitochondrial uncoupling,reduces energy efficiency and improves antioxidant and antiinflammatory defences in rats

Dietary PUFA, mainly those of the n‐3 family, are known to play essential roles in the maintenance of energy balance and in the reduction of body fat deposition through the upregulation of mitochondrial uncoupling that is the main source of reactive oxygen species. We hypothesized that rat supplementation with raw donkey's milk (DM), characterized by low‐fat content and higher n3:n6 ratio, may affect energy balance, lipid metabolism, and prooxidant status as compared to animals treated with cow's milk. In the present study, the effects of drinking raw DM (for 4 weeks) on energy balance, lipid metabolism, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant/detoxifying defences was compared to that produced by rat intake of an iso‐energetic amount of raw cow's milk. The hypolipidemic effect produced by DM paralleled with the enhanced mitochondrial activity/proton leakage and with the increased activity or expression of mitochondrial markers namely, carnitine palmitoyl transferase and uncoupling protein 2. The association of decreased energy efficiency with reduced proinflammatory signs (TNF‐α and LPS levels) with the significant increase antioxidant (total thiols) and detoxifying enzyme activities (glutathione‐S‐transferase NADH quinone oxidoreductase) in DM‐treated animals, indicated that beneficial effects were attributable, at least in part, to the activation of nuclear factor 2 erythroid‐related factor 2 pathway.     

Fast headspace-enantioselective GC-mass spectrometric-multivariate statistical method for routine authentication of flavoured fruit foods

This study describes a rapid total analysis system (TAS) to detect the authenticity of fruit-flavoured foods and beverages by on-line combining headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with enantioselective GC-MS (Es-GC-MS) and statistical multivariate methods (PCA, HCA). Peach, coconut, apricot, raspberry, as fruits mainly characterised by γ- and δ-lactones as chiral markers, strawberry (α-ionone, linalool, nerolidol, ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, 2-methylbutyric acid and γ-lactones) and melon (ethyl 2-methylbutyrate and 2-methylbutanol) were investigated. The system was developed by (a) optimising non-equilibrium HS-SPME sample preparation, (b) speeding-up ES-GC using cyclodextrin derivatives as chiral selectors with conventional and narrow-bore columns and (c) elaborating data by multivariate methods. The resulting TAS affords a reduction of the time needed for the whole analytical process from about 150 min to 20-50 min (67-87% of the current routine method) depending on matrix, sampling and analysis conditions and Es-GC columns.     

Indoor levels of volatile organic compounds at Florentine museum environments in Italy

Indoor Air Quality monitoring in cultural institutions is of particular concern to protect these places and the cultural heritage content. An indoor monitoring campaign was performed in three museums in Florence (Italy) to determine the occurrence and levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs of interest included BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes), terpenes, aldehydes, organic acids, and cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS). The most abundant VOCs in all samples analyzed were BTEX, which were strictly related to the traffic source, followed by siloxanes and terpenes. Among BTEX, toluene was always the most abundant followed by xylenes, ethylbenzene, and benzene. cVMS in exhibition rooms with the presence of visitors showed higher values compared to samples collected when the museums were closed. Terpenes showed not only the influence of vegetation-biogenic sources surrounding a museum but could also be related to the wood used for the construction of showcases and furniture and the use of cleaning products. Data obtained also showed the presence of organic acids and aldehydes whose source can be traced back to exhibits themselves and wood-based furniture. Assessing the levels of organic acids in museums is important because, over time, it can cause deterioration of the artifacts.     

Is open innovation always the best for SMEs? An exploratory analysis at the project level

Open innovation (OI) projects are increasingly adopted by small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Yet, undertaking OI is not only a source of opportunities for SMEs as it can, at the same time, present risks. How SMEs manage the balance between the potential benefits and the emerging challenges of OI is still an overlooked topic in the literature. Using evidence gathered through multiple case studies and drawing upon the relational view of the firm, we explore how and why value creation opportunities and different managerial challenges emerge for SMEs pursuing OI projects. We analyze different stages of OI projects in several different contexts of their implementation. Our analysis sheds light on the different nature and dynamics of knowledge involved within OI projects as important boundary conditions affecting successful search paths, learning processes, and the development of appropriability mechanisms. By offering a contextualized view of OI in SMEs, this study also provides insights to business managers on the situational opportunities and constraints of OI, including managerial suggestions on actions to manage tensions within differing OI projects.     

Mechanical squeezing of an elastomeric nanochannel device: numerical simulations and ionic current characterization

Peculiar transport phenomena appear at nanoscale, since surface effects strongly affect the behaviour of fluids. Electrostatic and steric interactions, capillary forces and entropic effects play a key role in the behaviour of fluids and biomolecules. Since these effects strongly depend on the size of the nanofluidic system, a careful characterization of the fluidic environment is necessary. Moreover, the possibility to dynamically modulate the size of nanochannels is very appealing in the field of biomolecule manipulation. Recently, we have developed a lab-on-chip made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). This polymeric device is based on a tuneable nanochannel able to dynamically change its dimension in order to fit the application of interest. In fact, a mechanical compression applied on the top of the elastomeric device squeezes the nanochannel, reducing the channel cross section and allowing a dynamical optimization of the nanostructures. In this paper, this squeezing process is fully characterized both numerically and experimentally. This analysis provides information on the reduction of the nanochannel dimensions induced by compression as a function of the work of adhesion and of the stiffness of the materials composing the device. Moreover, calculations demonstrate the possibility to predict the change of the nanochannel size and shape induced by the compression. The possibility to dynamically tune the channel size opens up new opportunities in biomolecular sensing or sieving and in the study of new hydrodynamics effects.     

Absence of allergenic residues in experimental and commercial wines fined with caseinates

The possible presence of allergenic residues in wines treated with one of the potassium caseinates used as fining agents has been investigated.