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Fifty years after the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted by UNESCO in 1972, the objective of protecting and safeguarding the heritage inherited from the past persists unchanged. What has evolved is not only its concept, which progressively included increasingly diversified tangible and intangible assets, broadening its extension and enhancing its richness, but also the processes aimed at their safe-guarding. Within this scenario, a key role is played by Competence Centres for their strategic function capable of responding to the European Union approach with reference to the pact system enucleated by the 1972 UNESCO Convention for heritage protection. Focusing on the first phases of the 4CH Project (Grant Agreement 101004468), this paper aims to outline the ongoing experience in setting up a Competence Centre for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, strongly centred on the promotion and enhancement of innovative technologies for heritage safeguarding.

The agency of mapping has been an increasingly relevant area of enquiry in architecture, urbanism and landscape at the very least since James Corner published his seminal paper on the agency of mapping in 1999. A few projects aiming to map the commons in cities have since developed, providing critical or counter-cartographies in which information on local groups and communities, activities and other informal evidence is collated.This paper draws on the concept of urban commons as third places in the sense of being beyond market or state control and management, on the notion that commons cannot exist without commoning practices and on the idea of common spaces as distinct from public, private or communal ones. As such, urban commons should be mapped not as static or invariable but rather as dynamic entities that evolve over time. From that perspective, the agency of mapping should take into consideration both current commoning practices and places suitable for these agencies to happen. Spatial features and architectural configurations may also play a role in calling for, or hosting, those agencies.This paper proposes a methodology based on both primary and secondary data collection. The former is based on a variety of methods and tactics including psycho-geographical tours, non-interactive and interactive forms of observations and mapping. The process of mapping aims to showcase both what is already taking place and possibilities for future uses as a "hidden potential." The findings include the identification of specific places where several layers converge. These may become case studies that can be further investigated through methods such as research by design and community engagement.

Cultural heritage can represent a key factor in circular processes on an urban scale that trigger relationships between users and the surrounding environment, generating new urban capital and enhancing individual and collective capacities. This topic is addressed through a review of academic literature and policy documents and a comparative analysis of two regeneration processes carried out in the cities of Bologna and Bogotà: the H2020 ROCK – Regeneration and Optimisation of Cultural Heritage in creative and Knowledge cities (GA 730280) project – on the historical university area, and the experiments on the former Ravone railway station of the OBRAS – Opportunities for Boosting urban capabilities project – developed in parallel on the La Sabana Station in Bogotá, Colombia.

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are the most widely used plasticizers worldwide and are considered as ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Due to both their ubiquity and potential health and environmental risks, their determination is a matter of worldwide concern. In the present study, an efficient method based on ultrasonic-assisted solvent extraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is proposed for the simultaneous determination of PAEs and di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate in estuarine sediments and shells. Method optimization was successfully carried out according to Quality by Design principles. Shaking time, ultrasonic time, extractant volume, and solvent type were selected as Critical Method Parameters. Validation proved method reliability for the determination of the investigated analytes, achieving detection limits in the 0.1–0.7 ng g–1 and 0.1–0.5 ng g–1 range for sediments and shells, respectively. A good precision was obtained with RSD < 20% and trueness (recovery) in the 73(±7)–120(±10)% and 70(±10)–111(±3)% range, for sediments and shells, respectively. Finally, the method was applied to analyze sediment samples and mollusc shells, collected from the Curonian Lagoon (Southeast Baltic Sea). Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was present in all the analyzed samples, thus pointing out its ubiquity in estuarine environment. PAEs were also found in shell debris or living mussels, highlighting them as a hotspot of organic contaminants, especially in transitional environments, where accumulation of organic rich deposits is limited.

In 2022, the International Council for Harmonisation released draft guidelines Q2(R2) and Q14, intending to specify the development and validation activities that should be carried out during the lifespan of an analytical technique addressed to assess the quality of medicinal products. In the present study, these recommendations were implemented in Capillary Electrophoresis method development for the quality control of a drug product containing trimecaine, by applying Analytical Quality by Design. According to the Analytical Target Profile, the procedure should be able to simultaneously quantify trimecaine and its four impurities, with specified analytical performances. The selected operative mode was Micellar ElectroKinetic Chromatography employing sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles supplemented with dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin, in a phosphate-borate buffer. The Knowledge Space was investigated through a screening matrix encompassing the composition of the background electrolyte and the instrumental settings. The Critical Method Attributes were identified as analysis time, efficiency, and critical resolution values. Response Surface Methodology and Monte Carlo Simulations allowed the definition of the Method Operable Design Region: 21–26 mM phosphate-borate buffer pH 9.50–9.77; 65.0 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate; 0.25–1.29% v/v n-butanol; 21–26 mM dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin; temperature, 22 °C; voltage, 23–29 kV. The method was validated and applied to ampoules drug products.

Millet is the sixth-highest yielding grain in the world and a staple crop for millions of people. Fermentation was applied in this study to improve the nutritional properties of pearl millet. Three microorganism combinations were tested: Saccharomyces boulardii (FPM1), Saccharomyces cerevisiae plus Campanilactobacillus paralimentarius (FPM2) and Hanseniaspora uvarum plus Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis (FPM3). All the fermentation processes led to an increase in minerals. An increase was observed for calcium: 254 ppm in FPM1, 282 ppm in FPM2 and 156 ppm in the unfermented sample. Iron increased in FPM2 and FPM3 (approx. 100 ppm) with respect the unfermented sample (71 ppm). FPM2 and FPM3 resulted in richer total phenols (up to 2.74 mg/g) compared to the unfermented sample (2.24 mg/g). Depending on the microorganisms, it was possible to obtain different oligopeptides with a mass cut off ≤10 kDalton that was not detected in the unfermented sample. FPM2 showed the highest resistant starch content (9.83 g/100 g) and a prebiotic activity on Bifidobacterium breve B632, showing a significant growth at 48 h and 72 h compared to glucose (p < 0.05). Millet fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae plus Campanilactobacillus paralimentarius can be proposed as a new food with improved nutritional properties to increase the quality of the diet of people who already use millet as a staple food.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a potent method for analyzing chiral substances and is commonly used in the enantioseparation and chiral purity control of pharmaceuticals from different matrices. The adoption of Quality by Design (QbD) concepts in analytical method development, optimization and validation is a widespread trend observed in various analytical approaches including chiral CE. The application of Analytical QbD (AQbD) leads to the development of analytical methods based on sound science combined with risk management, and to a well understood process clarifying the influence of method parameters on the analytical output. The Design of Experiments (DoE) method employing chemometric tools is an essential part of QbD-based method development, allowing for the simultaneous evaluation of experimental parameters as well as their interaction. In 2022 the International Council for Harmonization (ICH) released two draft guidelines (ICH Q14 and ICH Q2(R2)) that are intended to encourage more robust analytical procedures. The ICH Q14 guideline intends to harmonize the scientific approaches for analytical procedures’ development, while the Q2(R2) document covers the validation principles for the use of analytical procedures including the recent applications that require multivariate statistical analyses. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the new prospects for chiral CE method development applied for the enantiomeric purity control of pharmaceuticals using AQbD principles. The review also provides an overview of recent research (2012–2022) on the applicability of CE methods in chiral drug impurity profiling.

Chirality is one of the major issues in pharmaceutical research and industry. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an interesting alternative to the more frequently used chromatographic techniques in the enantioseparation of pharmaceuticals, and is used for the determination of enantiomeric ratio, enantiomeric purity, and in pharmacokinetic studies. Traditionally, optimization of CE methods is performed using a univariate one factor at a time (OFAT) approach; however, this strategy does not allow for the evaluation of interactions between experimental factors, which may result in ineffective method development and optimization. In the last two decades, Design of Experiments (DoE) has been frequently employed to better understand the multidimensional effects and interactions of the input factors on the output responses of analytical CE methods. DoE can be divided into two types: screening and optimization designs. Furthermore, using Quality by Design (QbD) methodology to develop CE-based enantioselective techniques is becoming increasingly popular. The review presents the current use of DoE methodologies in CE-based enantioresolution method development and provides an overview of DoE applications in the optimization and validation of CE enantioselective procedures in the last 25 years. Moreover, a critical perspective on how different DoE strategies can aid in the optimization of enantioseparation procedures is presented.