A volatile Pb(II) β-Diketonate diglyme complex as a promising precursor for MOCVD of lead oxide films

A polyether adduct of the lead(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy. The single crystal X-ray diffraction study provides evidence of a dimeric structure of the type [Pb(hfa)₂ · diglyme]₂ (Hhfa=1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedione, diglyme=CH₃O(CH₂CH₂O)₂CH₃). The thermal analyses have revealed high volatility and good thermal stability with a low residue despite the dimeric nature of the adduct. This novel compound has been successfully applied as a precursor for the depositions of PbO films. It represents the first example of lead precursors that can be used in the liquid phase without decomposition, thus providing constant evaporation rates even for very long deposition times.     

Assessment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in roots of Solidago gigantea growing in a polluted soil in Northern Italy

The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) status of Solidago gigantea was investigated in a contaminated site of Northern Italy, where the chemical industry ACNA (Associated National Chemical Companies) was active till 1999. To counteract the devastating effects of chemicals and to allow re-vegetation, soil from an uncontaminated area was used to cover the highly polluted hills of the industrial site about 25 years ago. On the basis of the current floristic features, the hill was divided into four areas. Heavy metal content in soil and in plant shoots and roots was determined by chemical analysis. The AM fungal community colonizing S. gigantea was investigated from a morphological and a molecular point of view. All plants were modestly colonized, but the fungal structures within the roots were normal. By PCR-RFLP and sequencing of 18S rDNA, 14 AM fungal types were identified: three of them were present in all the considered areas and nine appeared to be specific to certain areas. Glomus was the predominant AM genus. Our analysis demonstrates the presence and the relatively high level of AM species variety and shows how a remediation programme based on cover-soil has been efficient to restore a community of AM fungi, tolerant enough to proliferate in a still contaminated soil.     

Pathophysiology of ageing, longevity and age related diseases

On April 18, 2007 an international meeting on Pathophysiology of Ageing, Longevity and Age-Related Diseases was held in Palermo, Italy. Several interesting topics on Cancer, Immunosenescence, Age-related inflammatory diseases and longevity were discussed. In this report we summarize the most important issues. However, ageing must be considered an unavoidable end point of the life history of each individual, nevertheless the increasing knowledge on ageing mechanisms, allows envisaging many different strategies to cope with, and delay it. So, a better understanding of pathophysiology of ageing and age-related disease is essential for giving everybody a reasonable chance for living a long and enjoyable final part of the life.     

Monitoring of activated sludge settling ability through image analysis: validation on full-scale wastewater treatment plants

In recent years, a great deal of attention has been focused on the research of activated sludge processes, where the solid–liquid separation phase is frequently considered of critical importance, due to the different problems that severely affect the compaction and the settling of the sludge. Bearing that in mind, in this work, image analysis routines were developed in Matlab environment, allowing the identification and characterization of microbial aggregates and protruding filaments in eight different wastewater treatment plants, for a combined period of 2 years. The monitoring of the activated sludge contents allowed for the detection of bulking events proving that the developed image analysis methodology is adequate for a continuous examination of the morphological changes in microbial aggregates and subsequent estimation of the sludge volume index. In fact, the obtained results proved that the developed image analysis methodology is a feasible method for the continuous monitoring of activated sludge systems and identification of disturbances.     

The nitration of tau protein in neurone-like PC12 cells

Tyrosine nitration of proteins is emerging as a post-translational modification playing a role in physiological conditions. Looking for the molecular events triggered by nitric oxide in nerve growth factor-induced neuronal differentiation, we now find that nitration occurs on the microtubule-associated protein tau. In differentiated PC12 cells, we have identified as tau a nitrated protein that co-immunoprecipitates with alpha-tubulin and indicated that the modified protein is associated with the cytoskeleton but it is confined to a restricted cell region. This paper supplies the first evidence that nitration of tau occurs in a physiological process and suggests that it could play a role in neuronal differentiation.