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La parola «nutraceutica» è la crasi, non solo semantica, tra i termini nutrienti e farmaceutica, e la disciplina corrispondente richiede la conoscenza di aspetti chimici e biologici, oltre a mostrare che tipo di declinazione ha impresso alla chimica degli alimenti. A partire dal 1990 infatti, anno in cui si è tenuto in Italia il primo Congresso nazionale di Chimica degli alimenti, l’attenzione in questo campo ha cominciato a orientarsi verso la presenza di contaminanti organici e inorganici nei cibi, di metaboliti secondari e di microcostituenti di interesse nutraceutico e salutistico. Da allora sono stati fatti molti passi avanti e questo settore si è rivelato strategico dal punto di vista economico, della salute della popolazione e dell’ampliamento delle conoscenze riguardanti il nostro metabolismo. Oggi abbiamo a disposizione la possibilità di svolgere indagini approfondite sugli aspetti compositivi degli alimenti e sulla loro tracciabilità, grazie a sistemi innovativi quali le tecniche multidimensionali, per esempio quelle heart-cutting e comprehensive, o le nuove tecniche di spettrometria di massa, per citarne alcune. Gli alimenti sono così descrivibili per la loro composizione, o per le loro proprietà tecnologiche, reologiche o per le caratteristiche commerciali e sensoriali, ma anche per il contributo che possono dare alla salute e al benessere, cosa che intende fare questo libro. La chimica e gli alimenti - Nutrienti e aspetti nutraceutici è un testo che unisce la descrizione della composizione chimica degli alimenti in termini di micro e macronutrienti e di metaboliti secondari, e dei loro effetti salutistici, all’aspetto legislativo, passando in rassegna le tappe più significative che ha attraversato la legislazione in materia negli ultimi anni; dà anche conto degli aspetti analitici più avanzati, oltre a non trascurare il tema della sicurezza e l’importanza della componente sensoriale degli alimenti.

The paleomagnetic investigation of the western Sicily Maghrebian belt has revealed since the 1970s that large clockwise (CW) rotations up to 140° with respect to the Hyblean-African foreland occurred synchronous with Tertiary shortening of the chain. The observation that rotations decrease stepwise from internal to external tectono-stratigraphic units led in the 1990s to a widely accepted model postulating that rotational thrust-sheet emplaced during forward orogenic propagation. More recently, other authors suggested that CW rotations from Sicily are conversely the result of late orogenic dextral strike-slip tectonics. Here we report on a paleomagnetic investigation of 30 Jurassic-Eocene sedimentary sites sampled mainly across the WNW-ESE Mt. Kumeta and Rocca Busambra ridges (Trapanese Unit), both bounded to the north by high-angle reverse faults with dextral strike-slip components. We find rotations of 110°-120° at faults of northern ridge margins, that decrease to 80°-90° at ~200 m to the south and rise again moving further south. Thus an excess rotation of 20°-40° due to dextral-strike slip shear is annulled to the regional rotational background of the Trapanese Unit at only 200 m from fault traces, translating to paleomagnetically-calculated strike-slip offsets not exceeding 600 m. Further north, seven sites sampled in the Imerese Unit, tectonically stacked above the Trapanese Unit, yield a ~130° rotation. Thus our data confirm that CW rotations in Sicily are predominantly related to thrust-sheet emplacement. Strike-slip tectonics has very limited relevance, and gives local rotations that fade out at only 200 m from fault planes. No differential rotation occurred between the Panormide and Imerese units, both characterized by 130° rotation values and likely representing contiguous paleogeographic domains separated by secondary thrust faults. Considering data from Mt. Kumeta, we constrain at 80° the rotation of the Trapanese Unit. The upper Cretaceous-Eocene Scaglia cover of both Mt. Kumeta and Rocca Busambra records an additional 20°-30° rotation with respect to the Jurassic ridge backbones, implying that it was décolled from the substratum. Assuming rigid nappe rotations and a rotation pole along the west Sicily coast, we derive (at a 13.5°E longitude) a total 230 km rotational shortening of the chain, and individual nappe displacements in the 20-120 km range, although further non-rotational shortening might have occurred. Thus paleomagnetism definitely represents a proof for the high allochthony of the Maghrebian chain of Sicily, consistently with recent seismic reflection data interpretations. By further assuming that rotations occurred during late Miocene thrusting events in the 12-5 Ma age window (except the Saccense Unit, later stacked onto the foreland), we derive an average 17°/Myr rotation rate, and a paleomagnetically-calculated average shortening rate of 3 cm/yr, that is again consistent with recent geological estimates.

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The production of five different green table olive cultivars was studied by a combined strategy consisting of chemical, microbiological and sensory analyses. Cultivable microflora of samples collected during processing was monitored by plate counts on seven synthetic culture media. In all samples Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonaceae, staphylococci, lactic acid bacteria and spore-forming bacteria were undetectable. Yeasts and moulds were countable from the day 42 (2 log CFU/ml) till the end of fermentation (6 log CFU/ml). The use of three different approaches for microorganism detection, including a culture-independent methodology, revealed the presence of barely three yeast species during the entire fermentation period: Candida parapsilosis, Pichia guilliermondii and Pichia kluyveri. Biochemical features of technological interest were evaluated for 94 strains in order to investigate their potential role in fermentation of green Sicilian table olives. Olive drupes sampled at picking and periodically during fermentation were also carpologically analyzed, revealing that all the cultivars were suitable for table olive fermentation process. After 120 days of fermentation all products met acceptable commercial standards, although GC–MS analysis evidenced several differences among varieties in terms of aroma components. Results from sensory evaluation led to the conclusion that a revision of technological procedures may improve the final quality of product.

The effects of 24 weeks losartan and ramipril treatment,both alone and in combination, on left ventricular mass (LVM), circulating transforming growth factor b1(TGFb1), procollagen type I (PIP) and III (PIIIP), havebeen evaluated in hypertensive (HT) patients. A total of 57 HT with stage 1 and 2 essential hypertension were included. After 4 weeks run in, a randomized double blind, three arms, double dummy, independent trial was used. All HT patients were randomly allocated to three treatment arms consisting of losartan (50 mg/daily),ramipril (5 mg/ daily) and combined (losartan 50 mg/daily plus ramipril 5 mg/daily) for 24 weeks. TGFb1, PIP and PIIIP, LVM, LVM/h 2.7 and other echocardiographic measurements, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine and clearance and potassium were determined after run in and after 24 weeks. All groups were comparable for gender, age, body mass index, blood pressure and LVM. The prevalence of baseline left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was not significantly different among three groups. At the end of treatment, a significant (P

In third generation communication systems currently in standardization process, a number of multi-antenna schemes, derived from the well-known Bell Labs layered space-time (BLAST) approach, are being considered in order to improve performance in both communication reliability and system throughput. Among these schemes there is growing interest on schemes with feedback to aid the transmitter side (usually the Base Station) in adapting the transmission parameters, as modulation and coding rate and/or antenna/code power allocation, to the channel conditions. One of the proposed schemes is the Transmission Power Ratio Control (TPRC) for Multi-code Vertical-BLAST (with code domain serial interference cancellation, CD-SIC). The present work is motivated by observation that this scheme relies on negligibility of channel delay spread with respect to CDMA symbol length and ideal channel estimate both for data detection and feedback parameters estimation. Object of this paper is the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the effects of inter-symbol interference (ISI) and imperfect Channel State Information (CSI) on a receiving structure based on TPRC for CD-SIC. During the development of the present work, a generalized system model taking into account various channel impairments has been derived and reported.

It is known that resistance to activated protein C (APCR), often associated with a single point mutation (Arg506--Gln) in the coagulation factor V gene (factor V Leiden), is the most frequent inherited abnormality of blood coagulation. It plays a key role as pathogenetic factor of venous thromboembolism, but its association with an increased risk of arterial thrombosis is uncertain. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of APCR in men, who suffered myocardial infarction more than 6 months earlier and without cardiovascular risk factors (hypercholesterolemia, smoking, diabetes, obesity and hypertension).The study was carried on 20 men aged65 years who have suffered myocardial infarction. Twenty healthy subjetcs matched for sex and age were recruited as controls. We determined: PTT, PTT-PCA (Activated Protein C), PTT-PCA/PTT, AntiThrombin III, Protein C, Protein S, Fibrinogen, Glucose, Triglycerides, Cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, APO A1, APO B100, Lp(a), oxizided LDL antibody and some components of the complement system (C3c, C4).In the group of patients there were six subjects (30%) with APCR, while there were no subjects in the control group (0%) with APCR. Patients were subdivided into two groups: with and without APCR. Patients with APCR displayed significantly higher levels of fibrinogen (367.5+/-48.4 vs 268.3+/-37.7), LDL-C (147.0 +/-20.7 vs 125.8+/-25,6), APO B100 (133.8+/-29.8 vs 121.8+/-31.5), oxizide LDL antibody (596.8+/-357 vs 315.3+/-179.6) and C4 (45.6+/-10 vs 37.85+/-11,3). Significant positive correlations (p0.05) were observed between PTT-PCA/PTT ratio and fibrinogen (r=0.68) and between PTT-PCA/PTT ratio and oxidized LDL antibody (r=0.61).In conclusion, the high prevalence of APCR (30%) in our patients seems to be important in order to carry out a primary prevention of arterial thrombosis and a secondary prevention of new thromboembolic complications.