Ricerc@Sapienza

While accumulating literature is demonstrating the role of the dopamine transporter (DAT) in predicting emotional–behavioural difficulties in adults of at risk populations, only few studies have focused on the possible association between the methylation status of the DAT promoter and the psychopathological risk of mothers, fathers and children in normative samples.

Background: The investigation of human bones unearthed from necropolises is a useful tool to enhance our knowledge about ancient cultures. In the present study, the possibility of using the activation energy (EA) values of thermogravimetric degradation processes coupled with exploratory analysis methods in order to investigate human remains, has been tested.

Heroin is one of the most frequently seized drugs in Southeastern Europe. Due to the position in the Balkan route, the Republic of Serbia keeps important role in suppression of the trafficking of heroin for domestic and foreign illegal market. This research is aimed to provide a good scientific approach in the field of seized heroin analysis. Two different forms of heroin are present in the illegal market, mostly in mixtures with typical "cutting" agents: caffeine, paracetamol, and sugars.

This paper analyses the lithic complex from GOT 1-S site, Gotera area, Southern Ethiopia. The aim is to test the hypothesis of two distinct reduction sequences according to different raw material choices and availability using both technological and statistical approach. The principal raw materials are quartz and basalt. The technological analysis shows a more opportunistic reduction strategy on basalt artefact, exploiting the natural convexities on cobbles to produce flakes and tools.

An empirical model for prediction of microalgal growth in outdoor photobioreactors cultivation, using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression method, is implemented. Experimental data of biomass production were collected over 1 year of operation of a bubble column prototype, monitoring light and temperature and changing cultivation's conditions. PCA isolates 2 Principal Components that explain 80% of the variance and are associated with Environmental Conditions and Cultivation Conditions.

The recent financial crisis had serious worldwide impacts. Initial resilience and good past performances led to the illusion that the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region was able to decouple from developments in advanced economies. This initial illusion was however immediately denied since the crisis spread to that region just with a lag. The CEE region was, in fact, suddenly placed at the epicenter of the emerging market crisis. Further, the consequences of the crisis were not uniform among countries of the CEE region.

Milk is a complex emulsion of fat and water with proteins (such as caseins and whey), vitamins, minerals and lactose dissolved within. The purpose of this study is to automatically distinguish different dairy residues on substrates commonly used in the food industry using hyperspectral imaging. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman hyperspectral imaging were compared as candidate techniques to achieve this goal. Aluminium and stainless-steel, types 304-2B and 316-2B, were chosen as surfaces due to their widespread use in food production.

One of the first actions to make in the analysis of hyperspectral and multispectral images is the unsupervised exploration of the spatio-spectral domains. Unsupervised exploration techniques are methods that obtain information about the spatial distribution of compounds on the images, some of their spectral signatures, their main sources of variation, and also help to detect defectuous pixels or spectra, by only using the spatial and spectral information of the images acquired in an unsupervised manner.

The quality of honey is influenced by botanical origins and acidity. 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) is a well-monitored indicator for freshness and quality, whereas no restriction is reported for 2-furfural. The aim of the study is the determination of these compounds in 21 Italian honey samples through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In order to validate the HPLC method, the detection and quantification limits (LOD and LOQ, respectively), recovery, precision (repeatability), and linearity were determined.

Very-low volume, low-cost and automatic devices for PM sampling on membrane filters have been employed in Terni, an urban and industrial hot-spot of Central Italy, to evaluate the spatial distribution of PM10 and its main chemical components. The samplers, worked in parallel for 15 months at 23 monitoring sites and PM10 samples were analyzed for PM mass, ions, levoglucosan and water-soluble and insoluble elements.