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Starch in its native structure, is the largest energy source in human and animal diet; moreover it is capturing growing attention as a renewable natural resource in material science. Indeed by chemical, physical or enzymatic modification, it can change its physio-chemical properties and becomes suitable in the food industry as densifier or in packaging as biodegradable plastic (1). This work aims at studying different strategies for the modification of starch in order to introduce a photoresponsive behavior by a cinnamyl group. The photoreversible functionality may allow the cross-linking of starch with other (Bio)(macro)molecules, including inorganic matrices for the design of hybrid materials (see Orsini abstract). Modification of starch was accomplished by different chemistries (i.e. etherification, esterification) in order to optimize the degree of substitution, which is fundamental in determining the subsequent photoreactive process. The experimental determination of the degree of substitution (DS), defined as the average number of functional groups introduced in the anhydro glucose unit (AGU), is a key parameter. In order to properly quantify the degree of substitution DS the 1H-NMR technique is preferred to titration, since titration suffers from lack of accuracy and reproducibility (2). In the 1H-NMR analysis the dissolution of the sample is a key issue for the quantitative estimation of DS. However, dissolution of starch and its derivatives is not trivial (3).

Polysaccharides natural polymers are very abundant in nature and available in most part of heart and seas. Among polysaccharides starch is capturing attention because of its large availability in nature. Starch is an example of renewable resource suitable as raw material for plastic consumer market. Compared to plastics derived by fossil resources it has the advantages of biodegradability, biocompatibility and possible conversion to energy source such as biogas. Nowadays modified starch has not yet mechanical robustness and chemical inertness to be competitive with plastics present on the market, however the research is intense and with interesting sparks. Some research activities concern the modification of starch with natural molecules. Cinnamic acid, in particular, is characterized by anti-inflammatory properties. The studies are devoted to the synthesis of an augmented polymer by merging the biocompatibility with the therapeutic properties of the functional group. Present work study different strategies for the modification of starch (Scheme 1) in order to introduce the cinnamyl group. Moreover this group allows the photoinduced cross-linking of starch improving mechanical properties. Modification of starch is accomplished by different chemistries in order to optimize the degree of substitution (DS), defined as the average number of functional groups introduced in the anhydro glucose unit (AGU). DS is the key parameter to quantify the modification of the polymer and 1H-NMR is the chosen for this determination, preferred to titration that suffers from lack of accuracy and reproducibility.1 In the 1H-NMR analysis the dissolution of the sample and the presence of hydroxyl groups make hard the accurate DS determination.

Child marriage and subsequent early first birth is a considerable social, economic and health concern, and a pervasive practice in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This study explores barriers and facilitators to family planning among women and girls, and their marital decision-makers subsequent to receipt of child marriage prevention programmes in Ethiopia and India. In-depth interviews with 128 women and girls who were married as minors or who cancelled or postponed marriage as minors and their marital decision-makers were analysed using content analysis. Respondents identified social norms, including child marriage and pressure to have children, and lack of information as barriers to family planning. Benefits included delayed first birth and increased birth spacing, improved maternal and child health and girls' educational attainment. Respondents associated family planning use with delayed pregnancy and increased educational attainment, particularly in Ethiopia. Child marriage prevention programmes were identified as important sources of family planning information. Ethiopia's school-based programme strengthened access to health workers and contraception more so than India's community-based programme. Findings highlight young wives' vulnerability with regard to reproductive control, and support the need for multi-sector approaches across communities, schools and community health workers to improve family planning among young wives.

Adolescence is a critical stage of life characterised by rapid biological, emotional, and social development. It is during this time that every person develops the capabilities required for a productive, healthy, and satisfying life. In order to make a healthy transition into adulthood, adolescents need to have access to health education, including education on sexuality1; quality health services, including sexual and reproductive; and a supportive environment both at home and in communities and countries.The global community increasingly recognises these vital needs of adolescents, and there is an emerging consensus that investing intensively in adolescents’ health and development is not only key to improving their survival and wellbeing but critical for the success of the post-2015 development agenda.2 The suggested inclusion of adolescent health in the United Nations secretary general’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health is an expression of this growing awareness and represents an unprecedented opportunity to place adolescents on the political map beyond 2015. Ensuring that every adolescent has the knowledge, skills, and opportunities for a healthy, productive life and enjoyment of all human rights3 is essential for achieving improved health, social justice, gender equality, and other development goals.We argue that the priority in the revised Every Women Every Child Global Strategy needs to be giving adolescents a voice, expanding their choices and control over their bodies, and enabling them to develop the capabilities required for a productive, healthy, and satisfying life. We call for a global, participatory movement to improve the health of the world’s adolescents as part of a broader agenda to improve their wellbeing and uphold their rights.

An increasing number of foreigners was observed in Italy even among chronic dialysis patients. We compared demographic, clinical, treatment characteristics and survival probability between groups of Italian and foreign patients with chronic dialysis in Lazio.We analysed data from the Lazio Dialysis and Transplantation Registry from 2004 to 2012 (4,076 prevalent chronic dialysis patients in 31-12-2012). Among 7,970 incident patients, we evaluated, by country of birth, survival probability by using Kaplan-Meier method and mortality risk, through multiple Cox regression.We observed an increase of foreigners among chronic dialysis patients in Lazio from 2004 (4.4%) up to 2012 (7.6%, test for trend: p0,001). Compared with Italians, foreign patients were younger (53.816.3 vs. 68.713.6) and more frequently: women (42.7% vs. 37.7%), HbsAg-positive (18.1% vs. 13.9%), not vaccinated if HBV susceptible (26.8% vs. 20.9%), late referral (21.6% vs. 12.9%) and suitable for kidney transplantation (21.7% vs. 9.9%). Foreigners compared with Italians had higher survival probability at 1 year (91.9% vs. 84.7%) and 5 years (74,6% vs. 51,5%) after chronic dialysis has been started. We observed a lower mortality risk (HR=0.71;IC95%:0.58-0.87) among foreign patients even after adjustment for many potential confounding factors. Our findings suggest that health status and treatment of end stage renal disease, including access to kidney transplantation, were similar between groups of Italian and foreign patients in Lazio. Observed differences in patients' characteristics were probably attributable to younger age of foreigners. However, further analyses are needed to fully explain higher survival probability in chronic dialysis among foreigners compared with Italians.

Contemporary societies are greatly challenged by paradoxes in all facets of life. Digital communication encodes and produces meaning by making use of these contradictory relations. In this contribution, three digital paradoxes will be presented. The first paradox is grounded in the process of remediation in digital settings which mirrors a contradictory double logic. Digital culture, in fact, wants both to multiply its media and to eliminate all traces of mediation. The second antinomy has its origins in the new concept of linguistic entropy: a structured information disorder that is regulated by usability and multimodality. In accordance with the second paradox, the third one stems from further processes that are framing, a multimodal resource, and linking, a hypertextual resource., LEA - Lingue e Letterature d'Oriente e d'Occidente, Vol 3 (2014)

AIMS All convective hemodiafiltration techniques require a replacement fluid, which must have an adequate electrolytic composition and must be sterile and pyrogen-free. Using an integrated adsorption cartridge, the ultrafiltrate can be "regenerated" and used as a replacement fluid (hemo-filtrate reinfusion; HFR). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the HFR technique as suggested in its original configuration could be improved by inverting the purification sequence (post-dilution HFR; PDHFR) in order to increase the purification efficiency of the whole system. METHODS We performed standard HFR in 6 uremic patients during 6 months and, subsequently, during further 6 months, PDHFR. The dialytic efficacy of the two techniques and the filter blood loss were evaluated. Moreover, we studied how both techniques affected cytokine levels. RESULTS We observed a significant increase of urea extraction and of Kt/V values in PDHFR. An equally significant improvement was observed in regard to the extraction of beta2-m and the blood loss. Furthermore, IL6 and TNFalpha decreased significantly after PDHFR treatment. CONCLUSIONS HFR has proven to be an easy-to-perform hemodiafiltration technique, capable of resolving the typical problem of the other hemodiafiltration technique, the availability and production of a sterile and ultrapure reinfusion solution. The inversion of its configuration has allowed us to improve three aspects that have characterized, in our experience, the treatments performed in the original geometry: the removal of both urea and beta2-m, and the filter. Finally, it's notable that the decrease in cytokines levels achieved with PDHFR might attenuate the uremic micro-inflammatory state.

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A novel CF4 based method for the dry plasma removal of post-metal etch polymer residues has been developed on a dual plasma source, dry cleaning system. This process eliminates the via damage problems observed when the traditional wet solvent clean process is used on specific embedded flash devices. In order to effectively clean these products, it was found that the CF4/O-2/N-2/H-2 MW and RF dry plasma process needs to be followed by an intermediate H2O rinse (either deionized water or in-situ H2O vapor within the plasma reactor), then by a second CF4/N2H2 RF dry plasma step, and by a final H2O rinse. The intermediate H2O step appears to be crucial in making the fluorinated polymer residues more soluble, before their exposure to the second F-based dry plasma step and their final elimination through H2O rinse. The above process provides a reliable and cost-effective alternative method to solvent-based processing, with greater cleaning efficiency, less damage to device structures and less environmental impacts.

In this work the micro-fabrication of flexible MicroElectroMechanical transducers based on the piezoelectric effect is reported. We developed the technological protocol to realize a piezoelectric transducer composed by a Molybdenum (Mo) top electrode, the Aluminum Nitride active layer and a Mo bottom electrode on a polymeric tape. The process starts from the DC sputtering deposition of the Molybdenum layer at room temperature on Kapton HN. The Molybdenum is chosen not only for its electrical properties but also because it enhances the crystal orientation of AlN. The next step is the deposition of AlN that occurs at high temperature, around 250 degrees C. Temperature and physical sputtering enhanced by applying a DC bias on the substrates are two important parameters to improve the crystal orientation of the film. These extreme growth conditions guarantee a very good crystal structure without damaging the Kapton substrate. Then a final Mo layer is sputtered at room temperature. SU8-25 thick photo resist is used to define the top electrode and the AlN layer, and in a second mask step the Mo bottom electrode. The developer, the PG remover and SU8 negative resist itself have shown a chemical compatibility with Kapton HN. We measured the piezoelectric response on a capacitor test structure: through the Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer we applied controlled forces, and at the same time, by an LCR meter we performed measurements of the capacitance. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We discuss in detail the pulsation properties of variable stars in globular clusters (GCs) and in Local Group (LG) dwarf galaxies. Data available in the literature strongly support the evidence that we still lack a complete census of variable stars in these stellar systems. This selection bias is even more severe for small-amplitude variables such as Oscillating Blue Stragglers (OBSs) and new exotic groups of variable stars located in crowded cluster regions. The same outcome applies to large-amplitude, long-period variables as well as to RR Lyrae and Anomalous Cepheids in dwarf galaxies., 9 pages, 2 figures, (Invited Talk), in "Interplay between Periodic, Cyclic and Stoschastic Variability in Seelected Areas of the HR Diagram", ed. C. Sterken (San Francisco: ASP), in press