Foodborne diseases represent a significant global health challenge, contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality each year. Conventional surveillance systems, while essential, are limited by delayed reporting and the under-detection of outbreaks. This thesis explores an innovative approach to food safety surveillance, leveraging social media mining and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the early detection and management of foodborne illnesses, thanks to advanced syndromic surveil...
The thesis describes reserch activities related to the numerical modelling assisting the design of devices applied to the field of nuclear fusion, with particular concern to the computational efficiency of presented methodologies. The largest part of the work is focused on the analysis of gas-insulated high-voltage direct-current (HVDC-GIS) systems, fundamental for the correct operation of nuclear fusion machines (NFMs), underlying the specific issues related to their numerical analysis in th...
Feynman integrals, are the building blocks of scattering amplitudes in Quantum Field Theories, and are essential for bridging theoretical predictions with experimental results. They appear across scales in modern physics —— from particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, to black hole mergers at gravitational wave detectors at LIGO and VIRGO. Understanding the properties of Feynman integrals is thus crucial for the evaluation of scattering amplitudes, with far reaching experimentally r...
Aortic valve pathologies, including both stenosis and regurgitation, are among the most common valvular heart diseases. According to current guidelines, surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) remains the gold standard treatment for young, low-risk patients with these conditions. SAVR is a well-established procedure with continuous advancements in valve prosthesis design. In particular, biological prostheses offer a range of options, such as stented, stentless, sutureless, and rapid-deployme...
he neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is crucial for motor control, enabling communication between motor neurons and muscle fibers to initiate contraction. Axonal sprouting, a form of neural plasticity, enables new connections after injury or blocked neurotransmission, such as with Botulinum Neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A). Although BoNT/A causes muscle atrophy, motor neurons remain intact and remodel NMJ innervation through sprouting. To unveil molecular determinants of BoNT/A-induced sprouting, we con...
Polymer-functionalised nanopore membranes have emerged as "smart" materials in nanoscience due to their ability to respond to external stimuli, enabling precise control. A potential application of this technology is in wastewater treatment for the recovery of potable water. With water scarcity already affecting many regions globally—and projected to aggravate due to population growth, overuse, and climate change—developing new technologies for sustainable water use is essential.
To this end,...
Schools have long been central to education, guiding individuals from early development through adulthood. In today’s digital age, where children and adolescents use digital devices daily, schools must adapt to meet the evolving needs of their students. As pivotal agents of the digital transition, schools play a crucial role in fostering the digital skills and competencies essential for navigating modern society. However, this transition is complex and not without challenges, requiring both i...
The heart is a highly adaptable organ that grows through hyperplasia in the embryonic and fetal stages but mainly undergoes hypertrophy in response to increased workload in postnatal and adult life. Hypertrophic remodeling in cardiomyocytes (CMs) is associated with increased protein synthesis (thus requiring tight control over protein quality). In parallel, when CMs enlarge due to hypertrophy, energy expenditure increases to uphold higher protein synthesis while ensuring contractile activity....
This thesis investigates the health status and dietary habits of the Picenian population of Matelica (9th-6th centuries BC), in the Marche region, through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates palaeopathological and stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopic analyses. The main objective is to understand how and whether this population has changed its dietary patterns in response to times of crisis, and to assess the impact of diet on maintaining or improving health status. This...
Several diseases and conditions can severely affect the urinary system, such as bladder cancer, congenital malformations, and ureteral stenosis, often necessitating surgical intervention, including tissue or organ replacement. Current clinical approaches rely predominantly on autologous intestinal grafts, which are associated with significant complications and fail to replicate the functionality of native urinary tissues. In this context, tissue engineering offers a promising solution by enab...