11 results on '"Romano, Maria Pia"'
Search Results
2. Solar Energy Resource and Power Generation in Morocco: Current Situation, Potential, and Future Perspective.
- Author
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Benbba, Rania, Barhdadi, Majd, Ficarella, Antonio, Manente, Giovanni, Romano, Maria Pia, El Hachemi, Nizar, Barhdadi, Abdelfettah, Al-Salaymeh, Ahmed, and Outzourhit, Abdelkader
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GREENHOUSE gas mitigation ,SOLAR thermal energy ,POWER resources ,RENEWABLE energy transition (Government policy) ,RENEWABLE energy sources - Abstract
The world's attention is currently focused on the energy transition to sustainable energy. The drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming, energy security, and the generalization of access to energy have contributed to the adoption of the Moroccan Energy Strategy, with a strong focus on renewable energy (RE). Morocco is notoriously poor in conventional primary fossil energy resources, with energy dependence on the order of 90%. In addition, the energy crisis that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts, compounded with steady increase in demand, has heavily affected the security and stability of the country's energy situation. The transition to RE by strongly engaging in the implementation of several solar, wind, and hydro energy projects has made the country the leader in RE in Africa. These projects benefit from the country's excellent solar and wind energy potential. As a consequence, by 2030, the share of RE in the installed capacity is expected to reach 52%. An overview of the current situation of RE (particularly solar energy) in Morocco is provided, including the potentials, obstacles, challenges, and future perspectives. Thanks to its high solar potential, it is predictable that Morocco's effort will be focused on this field: the Erasmus plus INNOMED project is a virtuous example of international cooperation, aiming at promoting solar energy through capacity building and the creation of solar energy networks, in synergy with EU Partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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3. An Overview of the Automated and On-Line Systems to Assess the Oxidative Potential of Particulate Matter
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Carlino, Alessandro, primary, Romano, Maria Pia, additional, Lionetto, Maria Giulia, additional, Contini, Daniele, additional, and Guascito, Maria Rachele, additional
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- 2023
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4. Size-Resolved Redox Activity and Cytotoxicity of Water-Soluble Urban Atmospheric Particulate Matter: Assessing Contributions from Chemical Components
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Besis, Athanasios, primary, Romano, Maria Pia, additional, Serafeim, Eleni, additional, Avgenikou, Anna, additional, Kouras, Athanasios, additional, Lionetto, Maria Giulia, additional, Guascito, Maria Rachele, additional, De Bartolomeo, Anna Rita, additional, Giordano, Maria Elena, additional, Mangone, Annarosa, additional, Contini, Daniele, additional, and Samara, Constantini, additional
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- 2023
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5. Correlation of PM10 oxidative potential with ecotoxicological and cytotoxicological potential measured at an urban background site in Italy
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Lionetto Maria Giulia, Guascito Maria Rachele, Caricato Roberto, Giordano Maria Elena, De Bartolomeo Anna Rita, Romano Maria Pia, Conte Marianna, Contini Daniele, Lionetto, Maria Giulia, Guascito, Maria Rachele, Caricato, Roberto, Giordano, Maria Elena, DE BARTOLOMEO, Anna Rita, Romano, MARIA PIA, Conte, Marianna, and Contini, Daniele
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Microtox test ,MTT ,oxidative potential ,cytotoxicity ,Particulate matter ,DDT - Abstract
Atmospheric particulate matter is a concern in most of the European towns because it has potential negative effects on human health (Davidson et al., 2005; Lelieveld et al., 2015). Although the toxic effects of PM have been correlated with some of its chemical and physical properties, the toxicity mechanisms are not yet fully known. Different in vitro toxicological tests are often necessary to characterise potential health effects and, often, it is found significant correlation only among a few of the possible tests. In addition, contrasting results could be obtained comparing in vitro tests with acellular assays like those used to determine oxidative potential (Steenhof et al., 2011; Van Den Heuvel et al., 2018). The aim of the work was to study the oxidative potential (OP) of PM10, determined with the acellular DTT assay, in relationship with its ecotoxicological and cytotoxicological potential. The study was carried out on aqueous extracts of 10 samples of airborne PM10 randomly selected among the samples collected between 16/09/2017 and 25/12/2017. Samples were collected using a low-volume (2.3 m3 /h) sampler (SWAM, Fai Instruments srl) on 47 mm quartz fibre filters (Whatman) pre-fired at 700 °C for 2 hours in order to reduce contamination. Samples were exposed for 24 hours (starting at midnight) at the Environmental-Climate Observatory of ISAC-CNR in Lecce (Southern Italy), regional station of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network, characterised as an urban background site (Cesari et al., 2018). The aqueous extraction was performed in an ultrasonic bath for 80 min using 10 ml Milli-Q water. The ecotoxicological potential of PM10 was assessed by the bioluminescence inhibition assay based on the Gram-negative non-pathogenic bacterium Vibrio fischeri (Microtox® test), which physiologically emits light as a results of its metabolic activity. The natural bioluminescence of V. fisheri is inhibited by the exposure to a number of chemical pollutants, including organic and inorganic compounds (Abbass et al., 2018). Different exposure times (5, 15, and 30 mins) were used and inhibition results, obtained with five repetitions, are reported as a net effect corrected using field blanks. The cytotoxicological potential of PM10 was assessed on the same extracts by the MTT assay on the cell line A549. The MTT assay is based on a colorimetric reaction dependent on mitochondrial respiration of the cells and indirectly allows assessing the cellular energy capacity of a cell (Stockert et al., 2012). The MTT assay was applied to the A549 cell line, representative of the alveolar type II pneumocytes of the human lung (Foster et al., 1998). Cell mortality after 24h exposition is evaluated, in relative terms, considering the net effect of PM10 using field blanks for correction. Six repetitions were done. The water-soluble fraction of PM10 was also used for the analysis of the OP, performed with the dithiothreitol assay (DTT), a surrogate for cellular antioxidants, which analyses the rate of DTT depletion catalysed by chemical species present in the PM (Chirizzi et al., 2017). An aliquot of the extracts was diluted with deionised water (1:4 factor). Diluted samples were incubated at 37 °C with DTT (0.1 mM) in 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 for times varying from 5 to 90 min. At designated times (specifically at 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min) an aliquot of incubation mixture was picked up and 10% trichloroacetic acid was added to stop the reaction. Then, this reaction mixture was mixed with a solution containing 10 mM DTNB. The concentration of the formed 5-mercapto-2-nitrobenzoic acid was measured by its optical density absorption at 412 nm using a Eon BioTek Microplate Spectrophotometer. The consumption of DTT over time was determined through the linear fitting of the absorbance with the time in which it was made the withdrawal. The DTT depletion rate was used to determine OP values as DTT-activity 21 normalized in terms of sampled air volume (OPV) or in terms of mass of collected aerosols (OPM). The OPV and OPM values were comparable with previous measurements in this area or in other Italian towns (Chirizzi et al., 2017). In all the 10 samples analysed a significant inhibition of the Vibrio fisheri bioluminescence was observed as a results of the exposure of bacteria to the undiluted extracts for 5, 15 and 30 min, suggesting the presence in the PM10 of components able to induce an ecotoxic effect. Four samples (samples n. 2,3,4, and 7) showed a % of inhibition ranging from 30% to 50%, ascribable to a slight toxic effect, while six samples (samples 1,5,6, 8,9, and 10) showed a % of inhibition above 50% after 30 min exposure, suggesting the presence of a toxic effect. The correlation analysis between the sampled mass and the Vibrio fisheri bioluminescence inhibition showed a significant positive correlation (p
- Published
- 2019
6. Specific targeting of hepatitis C virus NS3 RNA helicase. Discovery of the potent and selective competitive nucleotide-mimicking inhibitor QU663
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Maga, Giovanni, Gemma, Sandra, Fattorusso, Caterina, Nacci, Vito, Spadari, Silvio, Campiani, Giuseppe, Locatelli, Giada A., Savini, Luisa, Novellino, Ettore, Butini, Stefania, Persico, Marco, Kukreja, Gagan, Romano, Maria Pia, and Chiasserini, Luisa
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Molecular dynamics -- Research ,Hepatitis C virus -- Research ,Proteins -- Structure ,Proteins -- Research ,Biological sciences ,Chemistry - Abstract
A thorough molecular modeling study was carried out to explain the molecular basis of nonstructural protein 3 RNA helicase (NS3h) inhibition by QU663 which is one of a new generation of small-molecule nucleotide-mimicking inhibitors which are also potential anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) agents. The resulting three-dimensional interaction model is discussed.
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- 2005
7. Correlation of Oxidative Potential with Ecotoxicological and Cytotoxicological Potential of PM10 at an Urban Background Site in Italy
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Lionetto, Maria Giulia, primary, Guascito, Maria Rachele, additional, Caricato, Roberto, additional, Giordano, Maria Elena, additional, De Bartolomeo, Anna Rita, additional, Romano, Maria Pia, additional, Conte, Marianna, additional, Dinoi, Adelaide, additional, and Contini, Daniele, additional
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- 2019
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8. Discovery of potent nucleotide-mimicking competitive inhibitors of hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase
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Gemma, Sandra, Butini, Stefania, Campiani, Giuseppe, Brindisi, Margherita, Zanoli, Samantha, Romano, Maria Pia, Tripaldi, Pierangela, Savini, Luisa, Fiorini, Isabella, Borrelli, Giuseppe, Novellino, Ettore, and Maga, Giovanni
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- 2011
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9. Design, Synthesis, and Structure–Activity Relationship Studies of 4-Quinolinyl- and 9-Acrydinylhydrazones as Potent Antimalarial Agents
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Fattorusso, Caterina, primary, Campiani, Giuseppe, additional, Kukreja, Gagan, additional, Persico, Marco, additional, Butini, Stefania, additional, Romano, Maria Pia, additional, Altarelli, Maria, additional, Ros, Sindu, additional, Brindisi, Margherita, additional, Savini, Luisa, additional, Novellino, Ettore, additional, Nacci, Vito, additional, Fattorusso, Ernesto, additional, Parapini, Silvia, additional, Basilico, Nicoletta, additional, Taramelli, Donatella, additional, Yardley, Vanessa, additional, Croft, Simon, additional, Borriello, Marianna, additional, and Gemma, Sandra, additional
- Published
- 2008
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10. Oxidative Potential, Cytotoxicity, and Intracellular Oxidative Stress Generating Capacity of PM 10 : A Case Study in South of Italy.
- Author
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Lionetto, Maria Giulia, Guascito, Maria Rachele, Giordano, Maria Elena, Caricato, Roberto, De Bartolomeo, Anna Rita, Romano, Maria Pia, Conte, Marianna, Dinoi, Adelaide, and Contini, Daniele
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OXIDATIVE stress ,GENETIC toxicology ,BIOLOGICAL assay ,PARTICULATE matter - Abstract
Long and short-term exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has detrimental effects on human health. The effective mechanisms leading to PM toxicity are still not fully understood, even if it is known that physical-chemical properties, strongly influenced by sources and atmospheric processes, are known to play an important role. In this work, PM
10 samples were collected, at an urban background site in southern Italy, to determine cytotoxicity (using MTT test on A549 cells), genotoxicity (using the comet assay), and intracellular oxidative stress on A549 cells exposed for 24 h to aqueous extracts of PM10 samples. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) content of PM10 and acellular determination of oxidative potential with DTT assay were performed to compare results of acellular and cellular biological assays. Cellular (OSGCV and MTTV ) and acellular (OPDTT V ) outcomes, normalized in volume, are well correlated (statistically significant results) with carbon content suggesting that combustion sources play an important role in determining cellular oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of PM10 . Even if the number of data is limited, genotoxicity results are well correlated (Pearson r > 0.95) with OSGCV and MTTV, and a weaker, but statistically significant correlation was observed with OPDTT V . OSGCV is well correlated with the cell mortality observed with the MTTV test and a lower, but still statistically significant correlation is observed between MTTV and OPDDT V . A statistically significant correlation was found between OPDTT V and OSGCV results. When the outcomes of the cellular and acellular assay are compared normalized in mass (i.e., intrinsic values), the correlations become significantly weaker suggesting that the different sources acting on the site produces particulate matter with different toxicological potential influencing differently the biological tests studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2021
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11. Oxidative Potential, Cytotoxicity, and Intracellular Oxidative Stress Generating Capacity of PM10: A Case Study in South of Italy
- Author
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Marianna Conte, Adelaide Dinoi, Daniele Contini, Maria Pia Romano, Maria Elena Giordano, Maria Rachele Guascito, Anna Rita De Bartolomeo, Roberto Caricato, Maria Giulia Lionetto, Lionetto, Maria Giulia, Guascito, Maria Rachele, Giordano, Maria Elena, Caricato, Roberto, DE BARTOLOMEO, Anna Rita, Romano, MARIA PIA, Conte, Marianna, Dinoi, Adelaide, and Contini, Daniele
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Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Oxidative phosphorylation ,lcsh:QC851-999 ,010501 environmental sciences ,Environmental Science (miscellaneous) ,intracellular oxidative stress generating capacity ,medicine.disease_cause ,complex mixtures ,01 natural sciences ,PM10 ,medicine ,Bioassay ,Food science ,Cytotoxicity ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,A549 cell ,oxidative potential ,Chemistry ,genotoxicity ,respiratory tract diseases ,Comet assay ,Toxicity ,cytotoxicity ,lcsh:Meteorology. Climatology ,Genotoxicity ,Oxidative stress - Abstract
Long and short-term exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has detrimental effects on human health. The effective mechanisms leading to PM toxicity are still not fully understood, even if it is known that physical-chemical properties, strongly influenced by sources and atmospheric processes, are known to play an important role. In this work, PM10 samples were collected, at an urban background site in southern Italy, to determine cytotoxicity (using MTT test on A549 cells), genotoxicity (using the comet assay), and intracellular oxidative stress on A549 cells exposed for 24 h to aqueous extracts of PM10 samples. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) content of PM10 and acellular determination of oxidative potential with DTT assay were performed to compare results of acellular and cellular biological assays. Cellular (OSGCV and MTTV) and acellular (OPDTTV) outcomes, normalized in volume, are well correlated (statistically significant results) with carbon content suggesting that combustion sources play an important role in determining cellular oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of PM10. Even if the number of data is limited, genotoxicity results are well correlated (Pearson r >, 0.95) with OSGCV and MTTV, and a weaker, but statistically significant correlation was observed with OPDTTV. OSGCV is well correlated with the cell mortality observed with the MTTV test and a lower, but still statistically significant correlation is observed between MTTV and OPDDTV. A statistically significant correlation was found between OPDTTV and OSGCV results. When the outcomes of the cellular and acellular assay are compared normalized in mass (i.e., intrinsic values), the correlations become significantly weaker suggesting that the different sources acting on the site produces particulate matter with different toxicological potential influencing differently the biological tests studied.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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