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This essay analyzes some aspects of the multi-faceted European reception of the notion of religio naturalis, developed by Marsilio Ficino in the De Christiana religione, in the Theologia Platonica, in his letters and in his commentaries on Plato. In addition it aims to clarify the ways in which Francesco Zorzi, Celio Secondo Curione, Francesco Pucci, Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, and Sebastian Franck re-adapted this notion to the context of the sixteenth-century religious debate. The analysis of the (mis)fortunes of religio naturalis also sheds light on Ficino's own texts, discovering previously unsuspected potentialities. The final part of the essay shows the influence of a chapter of Cornelius Agrippas De occulta philosophia, partly dependant on Ficino's texts, on Camillo Renato's doctrine of the deferred beatific vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) represents one of the most fundamental techniques capable of satisfying the strict technological requirements imposed by the rapidly evolving electronic components industry. The actual scaling trend is rapidly leading to the fabrication of nanoscaled devices able to overcome limits of the present microelectronic technology, of which the memristor is one of the principal candidates. Since their development in 2008, TiO2 thin film memristors have been identified as the future technology for resistive random access memories because of their numerous advantages in producing dense, low power-consuming, three-dimensional memory stacks. The typical features of ALD, such as self-limiting and conformal deposition without lineof- sight requirements, are strong assets for fabricating these nanosized devices. This work focuses on the realization of memristors based on low-temperature ALD TiO2 thin films. In this process, the oxide layer was directly grown on a polymeric photoresist, thus simplifying the fabrication procedure with a direct liftoff patterning instead of a complex dry etching process. The TiO2 thin films deposited in a temperature range of 120-230°C were characterized via Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrical current-voltage measurements taken in voltage sweep mode were employed to confirm the existence of resistive switching behaviors typical of memristors. These measurements showed that these low-temperature devices exhibit an ON/OFF ratio comparable to that of a high-temperature memristor, thus exhibiting similar performances with respect to memory applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Iloprost is recommend worldwide for the treatment of RP and the healing of DUs. The aim of this study is to report the regimens of Iloprost administered in different rheumatological centers within the same regional Health System Methods: A questionnaire exploring different items related to the use of Iloprost was developed and reviewed by three expert rheumatologists. The questionnaire was distributed as an online survey to all local SSc referral centers in Emilia-Romagna (Italy). Data are reported as percentage or median with interquartile range (IQR), as appropriate. An updated review of world literature on this topic was also carried out., Results: All the invited centers completed the survey. There were both local (8) and university hospitals (4). The majority (58%) had a rheumatologist as head physician. All centers used Iloprost: a single monthly administration was the most common treatment (75%). The cycle lasted 1 [IQR 1-2] days with a 0.5-2.0 ng/Kg/min dose according to the drug tolerance of the patients. There were overall 68 spots (beds, reclining armchair, or simple armchair); 2.0 [1.5-4.0] patients were able to receive Iloprost at the same time. University Hospitals had more physicians at their disposal than local hospitals but less paramedic personnel (respectively: 1.8 vs 1.2 physicians, 1.5 vs 2.1 nurses)., Conclusions: These observations were in line with the majority of previous studies reporting different regimens, comparing similar (but not identical) dose and schedule administration, however, despite differences being at times substantial, no standard infusion method is yet available.

This work investigates titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TiO 2 -NTA) grown by anodic oxidation as an active material for memristive applications. In particular, metal-insulator-metal structures made of vertically oriented amorphous TiO 2 -NTA grown on titanium foil were exploited in Ti/TiO 2 -NTA/Pt devices. The deposition of a polymeric thin film between NTA and top electrodes significantly improved the stability of the devices and increased by more than double the off/on resistance ratio. The resistive switching of TiO 2 -NTA samples crystallised by thermal annealing was also studied. Such devices displayed nonlinear I-V curves characterised by a smooth rectifying behaviour, without any evident resistive switching (RS). Also in this case, the interposition of the polymeric layer enhanced the RS behaviour of TiO 2 -NTA samples, remarkably increasing the devices' off/on ratio and endurance. The rise of high resistance states can be simply related to the addition of the polymer as resistance in series, while the variation of the low resistance states is here attributed to the occurrence of surface chemical reactions between polymer functional groups and the metal oxide, which increase the charge carriers available for conduction.

Background: The determination of cellular beta-galactocerebrosidase activity is an established procedure to diagnose Krabbe disease and monitor the efficacy of gene/stem cell-based therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring defective enzymatic activity in patients or disease models. Current biochemical assays for beta-galactocerebrosidase show high specificity but generally require large protein amounts from scanty sources such as hematopoietic or neural stem cells. We developed a novel assay based on the hypothesis that specific measurements of beta-galactocerebrosidase activity can be performed following complete inhibition of beta-galactosidase activity., Methods: We performed the assay using 2-7.5 microg of sample proteins with the artificial fluorogenic substrate 4-methylumbelliferone-beta-galactopyranoside (1.5 mmol/L) resuspended in 0.1/0.2 mol/L citrate/phosphate buffer, pH 4.0, and AgNO(3). Reactions were incubated for 30 min at 37 degrees C. Fluorescence of liberated 4-methylumbelliferone was measured on a spectrofluorometer (lambda(ex) 360 nm, lambda(em) 446 nm)., Results: AgNO(3) was a competitive inhibitor of beta-galactosidase [inhibition constant (K(i)) = 0.12 micromol/L] and completely inhibited beta-galactosidase activity when used at a concentration of 11 micromol/L. Under this condition, the beta-galactocerebrosidase activity was preserved and could be specifically and accurately measured. The assay can detect beta-galactocerebrosidase activity in as little as 2 microg cell protein extract or 7.5 microg tissue. Assay validation was performed using (a) brain tissues from wild-type and twitcher mice and (b) murine GALC(-/-) hematopoietic stem cells and neural precursor cells transduced by GALC-lentiviral vectors., Conclusions: The procedure is straightforward, rapid, and reproducible. Within a clinical context, our method unequivocally discriminated cells from healthy subjects and Krabbe patients and is therefore suitable for diagnostic applications.