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Scuola di Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienza e Tecnologia delle Mesofasi e Materiali Molecolari, Ciclo XXVII,a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

The modern seismic design is based on the concept to meet different performance levels, for each of which the structure should not exceed the predetermined degrees of damage. The analysis of elastic-linear benefit from the simplicity of use and theoretical understanding, but are not able to predict the inelastic deformation capacity offered by a structure, for that reason they are unsuitable for a modern seismic design (based on the concept of performance), where the non-linear behavior and the conditions close to the collapse are investigated. To achieve an accurate and realistic prediction of the seismic response of a structure is necessary to have analytical tools that allow to figure out the nonlinear behavior and its evolution over time. The IDA, the Incremental Dynamic Analysis (designed by Prof. D. Vamvatsikos - foreign tutor's writer - and Professor C. A. Cornell), addresses the need to want to investigate the dynamic behavior of a structure at various levels of seismic intensity. Given an accelerogram, different dynamic analyzes on the same structure but with a seismic increasingly scaled input are performed, up to the collapse of the structure or until a predetermined level of deformation or displacement takes place. The incremental dynamic analyzes are clearly preferable like nonlinear analysis, because only with the previous is possible to grasp the dynamic behavior of the structure resulting in potential savings in terms of actions to be pursued. This is the concept on which is based the study carried out during this period: the evaluation of seismic vulnerability, especially of reinforced concrete structures, using the analysis above described Very significant and useful for the purpose of the research was the period spent abroad, during which a probabilistic and a statistical technique to assess losses caused by earthquakes of entire urban areas was developed. The used approach is "multi-level", for classes of buildings that represent the building types that are in the examined area. The starting point was the observation of an area inside the City Hall of Zografou, the district within which the NTUA (National Technic University of Athens) is located, by detecting some significant features of 305 surveyed buildings (such as number of floors, irregularities in height and in plant, year of construction). Each of these characteristics has been considered as discriminatory for the belonging of the particular building to a specific group. Homogeneous groups were then treated with techniques of statistical type, including the Clustering method, by which the number of the models (12 models) is resulted much lower than the number of the buildings analyzed, representative of the structures present in the whole area examined. Taking as a reference the legislation in force at time of the construction of each model to designing it (making choices about the statistical characteristics of the materials used), the results related to static analysis and IDA, have been considered for the assessment of seismic losses the whole area they represent. The approach based on "damage factor" compared to other models for which are known seismic losses, led to further evaluation in terms of statistical dispersion of results. The steps are repeatable, with the necessary precautions, in other areas, and they give the opportunity to describe the seismic fragility of the heritage of entire cities. The results are useful to provide valuable information to organizations such as the Civil Protection and / or insurance agencies Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica “Bernardino Telesio”, Ciclio XXVIII, a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

The Geomatics techniques for the detection and representation of the land and objects have seen an exceptional development in recent years. The applications are innumerable and range from land planning to geophysics, from mitigation of landslide risk to monitoring of artifacts, from cultural heritage to medicine. With particular regard to the structures and to the land, the technologies used can be divided into three categories: techniques based on the acquisition and processing of images, techniques based on the measurement of angles and distances, and combinations of the foregoing. After an overview of Geomatics techniques and their basic theoretical concepts, a number of aspects have been thoroughly investigated. There follows a series of applications of the techniques described. Finally two new applications for deflection measurement of bridges under dynamic load are presented. Scuola di Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica “Bernardino Telesio, Ciclo XXVIII,a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica “Bernardino Telesio”, Ciclio XXVIII SSD ICAR/08, a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

Scuola di Dottorato in Scienzae Tecnica Bernardino Telesio, Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

In questo lavoro vengono affrontati alcuni problemi ancora non risolti che riguardano la fisica dell’eliosfera. Nell’introduzione vengono esposti i risultati finora raggiunti nella ricerca in questo campo e presentate le tematiche, ancora oggetto di dibattito scientifico, che vengono affrontate nel lavoro. Il primo capitolo riguarda la messa a punto di un codice numerico per la risoluzione delle equazioni della magnetoidrodinamica (MHD) in configurazione 2.5 dimensionale; in particolare, sono state implementate delle condizioni al contorno che simulano l’ingresso di onde mediante moti trasversali, oppure bordi aperti, in entrambi i casi utilizzando un metodo basato sulle caratteristiche proiettate. Tale codice `e stato usato per modellizzare l’interazione tra onde e strutture di equilibrio disomogenee alla base dei “buchi coronali”, ossia quelle regioni dell’atmosfera solare da cui si origina il vento solare. Il modello ha mostrato la formazione precoce di uno spettro, con formazione di piccole scale localizzate lungo le separatrici magnetiche oppure in vicinanza dei punti neutri ad X, ove ha luogo un fenomeno di riconnessione magnetica alternata. Il secondo capitolo `e dedicato allo studio della generazione di Kinetic Alfv´en Waves a seguito della propagazione di onde di Alfv´en in mezzi disomogenei. Tale lavoro `e stato svolto sia tramite l’impiego di simulazioni Hall-MHD, sia di simulazioni cinetiche di tipo Vlasov-ibrido; queste ultime hanno permesso di evidenziare la formazione di strutture non-termiche nella funzione di distribuzione degli ioni, come anisotropie di temperatura e fasci di particelle accelerate. Nel terzo capitolo viene affrontato il problema della accelerazione di particelle in turbolenza. Attraverso simulazioni di tipo “test particle” viene studiato il processo di accelerazione di particelle in una turbolenza 3D ottenuta in approssimazione di MHD ridotta. I risultati prelimanari mostrano una prevalenza di accelerazione nella direzione del campo magnetico medio e una dipendenza dell’accelerazione dal numero di Reynolds del sistema fisico considerato. Il quarto capitolo rigurda il problema del trasporto di particelle in turbolenza MHD. Utilizzando un modello di turbolenza sintetica, `e stato condotto uno studio parametrico che ha evidenziato come i coefficienti di difdiffusione parallelo e perpendicolare al campo magnetico medio dipendono da parametri quali la lunghezza dello spettro, l’ampiezza delle fluttuazioni e il livello di intermittenza. I risultati ottenuti trovano applicazione a numerosi problemi riguardanti la diffusione di particelle energetiche nell’eliosfera. Infine, nelle conclusioni vengono riassunti brevemente i risultati ottenuti e presentati i possibili sviluppi delle ricerche effettuate. Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Fisica dei Sistemi Complessi, XXVIII, a.a. 2012-2015 Università della Calabria

Doctoral school ""Bernardino Telesio" Science and Technology of Mesophases and Molecular Materials, Ciclo XXVIII, a.a. 2012-2015 University of Calabria

Doctor of Philosophy in Science and technology of mesophases and molecular materials, Ciclo XXVIII, a.a. 2015-2016 University of Calabria

The study of ‘Intrinsic and Metal nano particles doped polymer thin films for soft matter applications and nanostructured Hyperbolic metamaterials’ is an challenging and dynamic field of research with significant implications in the development of novel technologies, like gas sensors, bio-medical application and engineering of spontaneous emission of florescent molecules. In the present investigation, we presented research work in two directions. We prepared Polymer thin films by homemade Cold Plasma Polymerization technique and studied their Microstructural, Optical and dielectric responses as a function of thin film growth parameters, in view of gas sensor applications. In other direction, we fabricated lamellar structured Hyperbolic Metamaterials by employing physical and chemical vapour thin film deposition techniques and employed them as effective substrates to engineer the life time of florescent dye molecules. The first part of this thesis is devoted to preparing Polypyrrole (PPy) thin films of nano sized thickness, by Cold plasma polymerization technique and analyzing the influence of Plasma power on Microstructural, Optical, wetting and dielectric properties of grown PPy films. Fabricating layered structures of “PVA/AgNPs/PVA” thin films to investigate the influence of rate of distribution of AgNPs on dielectric responses of PVA matrix to employ them as a gas sensor applications, whose study is still open and is getting substantial interest in industrial and academic environments. Enhancement of spontaneous emission is a dynamic and challenging fundamental quantum phenomenon in optics and in nutshell it opens new avenues for spectrum of futuristic applications. Metamaterials are artificially designed nanocomposite materials, in which bulk electromagnetic properties arise due to underlying structural resonances and near field coupling between the designed sub-wavelength building blocks. Metamaterials promise to alleviate the classical limitations of optics and led to exotic applications such as negative refraction, sub-wavelength resolution imaging, invisibility devices and perfect absorbers. In the second part of this thesis, we fabricated Hyperbolic metamaterials and proposed new grating coupled hyperbolic metamaterial (GCHMM) configuration for the enhancement of spontaneous emission rate of dye molecules by exploiting the unique property of a hypergrating to outcouple and extract the non-radiative plasmonic modes. Doctorof Philosophy in Science and Technology of Mesophases and Molecular Materials, "Bernardino Telesio" Ciclo XXVIII SSD, a.a. 2015-2016 Università degli Studi della Calabria

Additional file 1. Dynamic Light Scattering experiments

Una delle principali sfide nel mondo scientifico è superare la linea di confine tra la natura e il mondo inanimato. La Chimica Biomimetica e la Biologia Sintetica collaborano al raggiungimento di questo obiettivo. Lo sviluppo della Chimica Biomimetica è stato ispirato dall’elevata efficacia catalitica degli enzimi naturali, che giocano un ruolo chiave nella maggior parte delle reazioni chimiche che avvengono nell’organismo. Essa può essere definita come una branca della chimica che cerca di imitare le reazioni naturali e i processi enzimatici allo scopo di accrescere il potere della chimica stessa. La Biologia Sintetica, invece, è una nuova area di ricerca che rappresenta la convergenza di nuovi sviluppi in chimica, in biologia e in scienza computazionale al fine di progettare e creare nuovi sistemi biologici, partendo da materiale biologico già esistente e modificato mediante l’applicazione di processi chimici, da utilizzare in ambito industriale, energetico, medico e ambientale. La presente tesi pone l’attenzione sul meccanismo di azione seguito da alcuni catalizzatori biomimetici, per i quali sono state investigate sia la regioselettività, sia l’attività riscontrata sperimentalmente, e sullo studio delle proprietà energetiche e strutturali relative a nuovi sistemi bio-ispirati. I catalizzatori biomimetici e i nuovi sistemi biologici il cui comportamento è stato studiato e razionalizzato come scopo di questo lavoro di tesi possono essere suddivisi in tre categorie: i- Alcuni composti del naftalene caratterizzati dalla presenza di atomi di selenio, zolfo o tellurio, come mimici degli enzimi iodotironine deiodinase (ID), coinvolti nell’attivazione e inattivazione degli ormoni tiroidei. ii- Una serie di complessi di monooxomolibdeno(IV) come biomimetici dell’enzima trimetilammina-N-ossidoreduttase (TMAOR). iii- Alcuni modelli di DNA duplex, contenenti coppie di nucleobasi non complementari mediate da metalli di transizione. Lo studio teorico dei sistemi sopra elencati è stato effettuato utilizzando l’approccio quantomeccanici (QM) basato sulla teoria del funzionale della densità (DFT). Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Metodologie Inorganiche, Ciclo XXVIII, a.a. 2015-2016 Università della Calabria

Scuola di Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Dottorato di Ricerca in "Organic Materials of Pharmaceutical interest" Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Scuola di Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio" Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Doctorate School of Science and Technique “Bernardino Telesio”, Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Dottorato "Bernardino Telesio", Metodologie Chimico-Inorganiche, Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Dottorato di Scienza e Tecnica B.Telesio, Materiali organici di interesse Farmaceutico iclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università degli Studi della Calabria

Molecular complexes of transport proteins with small compounds have been studied by using docking techniques and molecular dynamics simulations. The macromolecules considered are β- lactoglobulin and albumin, i.e. the most abundant proteins in bovine milk and human blood serum, respectively. The ligands are long-chain fatty acids of different length and ibuprofen, a molecule of pharmaceutical interest. Simulations of β-lactoglobulin with fatty acids, ranging from caprylic to stearic acid, revealed the key protein residues that contribute to the binding process. In particular, a rationale was found for the high binding affinity of both stearic and palmitic acid compared to shorter lipids. Moreover, the location of two low-affinity external binding sites was predicted for palmitic acid, by comparing docking results with those obtained for vitamin D3, for which an external site has already been identified in crystallography. For human serum albumin, docking results suggest different candidate binding locations for both charged and neutral ibuprofen. An alchemical free energy approach has been used to estimate the binding affinity for each pose. The results show that charged ibuprofen has a greater affinity for albumin compared to the ligand in the neutral form, suggesting that the former corresponds to the physiological binding state. The simulation findings were compared to experimental results and show an overall good agreement, predicting details of the protein-ligand interaction that include binding geometries and contacts with specific amino acid residues. The overall findings reveal significant features of the binding of well-known ligands to two extensively investigated transport proteins, and show how computational tools can be used to support experimental techniques in a variety of cases. School of Science and Technique "Bernardino Telesio", Doctor in Physics of Complex Systems, Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Scuola di Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Ciclo XVII, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Doctorate School of Science and Technique “Bernardino Telesio”, Ciclo XXVI, a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Nowdays the numerical simulation of mechanical and structural problems in engineering is the method of analysis and design more widespread. Compared to the use of analytical solutions, the numerical simulation is characterized by a great exibility, due to the possibility to analyze complex geometries and models. The possibility of nding exact solutions are limited to one-dimensional problems or problems with multiple variables with special symmetries. In the context of the problems of linear elasticity, the situation of isotropic material simpli es the analysis in closed form for the presence of only two elastic coef- cients in the constitutive equations. Recently, the interest for the analysis of problems with non-isotropic constitutive equations has been renewed by the availability of new materials suitable for the production of structural elements. In particular, the technical interest in the case of materials with orthotropic constitutive equations. This work is about the analytical solution of the plane problem for orthotropic materials using a model based on the discretization of the boundary. In order to de ne the context of the model developed, there is a brief introduction about the method of boundary elements and some considerations on the use of orthotropic materials in structural elements. Scuola Scienza e Tecnica "B.Telesio" Dottorato di Ricerca in Meccanica Computazionale, Ciclo XXVII, a.a. 2014 Università degli Studi della Calabria

Garantire un elevato livello di sicurezza per gli edi ci e un compito importante che coinvolge tutta la vita dell'edi cio, dalla progettazione al servizio quotidiano. I sistemi di sicurezza dell'edi cio possono rispondere a due diversi tipi di necessit a: \prevenzione" e \cura". La prevenzione e legata a tutti gli studi e le attivit a volte a migliorare la sicurezza degli edi ci in costruzione; potremmo citare l'ingegneria strutturale, che si concentra sullo sviluppo di modelli matematici per la caratterizzazione di comportamento strutturale. Dall'altra parte, la cura comprende tutte le attivit a svolte sulla struttura in regolare servizio, ad esempio, progettazione di smorzatori dinamici e tutto ci o che viene utilizzato come supporto alla struttura principale. L'informatica e l'ingegneria elettronica possono essere utili in entrambi i casi. I computer e altri sistemi di sensori possono essere utilizzati come supporti utili per acquisire e analizzare dati per diagnosi preliminari e indagini in-situ. Inoltre, l'elevato livello raggiunto dalla tecnologia al giorno d'oggi consente di sviluppare anche sistemi a basso costo, pur mantenendo una buona precisione, permettendo cos all'utente una grande variet a di strumenti da scegliere, a seconda delle esigenze. Il presente lavoro si propone di sviluppare sistemi a basso costo e metodologie per migliorare la sicurezza degli edi ci. L'attenzione sar a focalizzata sia sulla prevenzione sia sulla cura. Verranno proposti alcuni sistemi da utilizzare per analisi preliminari, in particolare per il monitoraggio degli spostamenti durante le prove su tavola vibrante, un'importante classe di esperimenti eseguiti per studiare il comportamento di una struttura sotto l'azione di una forza sismica. Altre applicazioni si concentreranno di pi u sul monitoraggio in situ; in particolare, saranno utilizzati robot mobili per sviluppare soluzioni ad un problema comune nel contesto della sicurezza degli edi ci, che e l'esplorazione dell'ambiente soprattutto in situazioni ostili. In robotica, tale problema viene indicato con SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) e consiste nella localizzazione di un robot mobile in contemporanea con la ricostruzione di una mappa dell'ambiente circostante, in cui il robot si muove. Scuola di Dottorato Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio" Ciclo XXVII a.a. 2014 Università della Calabria

Climate changes, population growth and urbanization are some of the causes of water shortage in many countries of the world. Water is essential to the life of all living organisms and its preservation and responsible use are some of the challenges that humanity will face in the near future. In particular, the possibility of treating and re-using municipal and industrial wastewaters can represent an important solution to water scarcity. Technological breakthroughs have led to the development of a number of technologies that can be efficiently applied in wastewater treatment. Among them, membrane applications are receiving an increasing attention thanks to their versatility, low environmental impact, easy scale-up and high product quality. Aim of this thesis was to produce polymeric membranes obtained through the polymerisation of a polymerisable bicontinuous microemulsion (PBM). Bicontinuous microemulsions consist of an interconnected network of oil and water channels stabilised by a surfactant. Oil channels can be polymerised, forming the membrane matrix, while water channels remain unaffected, forming the pores. In the present work, for the first time PBM membranes were applied, by polymerisation, as coating material for commercial polyether sulfone (PES) membranes. In the first part of the work, the polymerisable surfactant acryloyloxy undecyltriethylammonium bromide (AUTEAB) was synthesised and used for microemulsion formulation. The possibility of using a non-polymerisable surfactant such as dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was also evaluated. In the second part of the work, novel membranes prepared by microemulsion polymerisation were characterised in order to select the proper membrane with suitable characteristics and properties. Characterization tests carried out on PBM membranes showed the great potential that these membranes could have on wastewater treatment in membrane bioreactor (MBR) applications. In particular, the very smooth surface, the relatively high hydrophilicity and the channel-like structure (typical of the bicontinuous microemulsion) make PBM membranes less prone and highly resistant to fouling. This aspect is the key point if we consider that fouling is one the major drawbacks affecting almost all membrane processes. Fouling is mainly due to the deposition of organic and/or inorganic matter on the surface of the membrane, causing therefore a decline in membrane performance, an increase in energy consumption and (in severe cases) damage of the membrane structure. Furthermore, PBM membranes, due to the presence of a cationic surfactant, present an interesting antimicrobial activity. The possibility of having membranes with antimicrobial properties prevents the phenomenon of biofouling caused by the adhesion and the accumulation of microorganisms at membrane surface. PBM coated membranes were, then, successfully applied to the MBR process for the treatment of wastewater from textile dying. PBM coated membranes, when compared with commercial PES membranes, showed superior results for a long time (6 months) in terms of permeability and dye rejection. Moreover, less cleaning efforts were required leading to lower costs. Novel PBM coated membranes developed can be, thus, also applied to other membrane processes for wastewater treatment. Scuola di Dottorato in Scienza e Tecnica Bernardino Telesio, Organic Materials of Pharmaceutical interest XXVI Ciclo CHIM, a.a. 2012-2013 Università della Calabria

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) belong to the largest family of cellsurface molecules representing the targets of approximately 40% of current medicinal drugs (Overington, J.P et al 2006). GPCRs are ubiquitous in mammalian (Bockaert, J. et al. 1999), regulate several physiological processes and play an important role in multiple diseases ranging from cardiovascular dysfunction, depression, pain, obesity to cancer (Rosenbaum D.M. et al. 2011). One member of this superfamily, named GPR30/GPER, mediates estrogen signaling in different cell contexts, leading to gene expression changes and relevant biological responses (Filardo E.J et al. 2000, Bologa C.G.et al. 2006, Maggiolini M. and Picard D. 2010). GPER acts by transactivating the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), which thereafter induces the increase of intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP), calcium mobilization and the activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) (Maggiolini M. and Picard D. 2010). Moreover, the GPER-mediated transduction pathways activated by estrogens trigger the expression of a typical gene signature, including the expression of cfos and the gene encoding the connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which are involved in the proliferation and migration of diverse cell types (Lappano R. et al 2012a, Madeo A. and Maggiolini M. 2010). On the basis of these findings, the first objective of the present study was the characterization of GPER from different points of view: GPERmediated signaling pathways and biological functions, selective ligands and molecular characterization of the receptors. In particular, the research project focused on:1. the transduction pathways by which the environmental contaminant Bisphenol A (BPA) influences cell proliferation and migration of human breast cancer cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs); 2. the characterization of novel carbazole derivatives as GPER agonists in ER-negative breast cancer cells; 3. the isolation and characterization of GPER in estrogen-sensitive cancer cells by Mass Spectrometry. Additionally, the second section of this doctoral thesis was focused on the evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of novel synthesized compounds, given the interest and the need to discover new molecules against cancer. In particular, novel titanocene-complexes were studied evaluating their ability to elicit repressive effects on the growth of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer cells. Scuola di Dottorato di Scienza e Tecnica "Bernardino Telesio", Organic Materials of Pharmaceutical interest XXVI Ciclo, a.a. 2012-2013 Università della Calabria