THREE ESSAYS IN MACROECONOMICS: UNRAVELING THE ASYMMETRIC REGIONAL EFFECTS OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES

POTENTIAL OF SULLA FORAGE (Sulla coronaria (L.) Medik) AS A TANNIFEROUS FEEDING RESOURCE FOR DAIRY EWES

Sulla is a legume species primarily used as forage, exploited mainly by grazing small ruminants during early spring, and then left ungrazed to constitute hay stocks. Fresh sulla forage is known to enhance the physiological status and the productive responses of dairy ewes and goats, due to its high protein content and moderate level of phenolic compounds, mainly consisting of condensed tannins (CT). Preliminary investigations showed analogous positive effects using pelleted and dehydrated sul...

Theoretical and experimental studies on quantum correlations and memory effects in composite quantum systems

This doctoral dissertation presents groundbreaking research on the theoretical and experimental exploration of quantumcorrelations and memory effects in composite quantum systems. The work is divided into two main parts: Part I investi-gates the utilization of quantum correlations in identical quantum systems within a quantum information framework, whilePart II introduces a novel witness of non-Markovianity and evaluates its validity and efficiency across various systems.Part I highlights the...

ELECTRO-MEMBRANE PROCESSES FOR GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR CYBERSECURITY IN DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

The rise of distributed systems, encompassing cloud computing, mobile devices, and Internet of Things, has revolutionized modern digital infrastructure but also exposed it to numerous cybersecurity threats. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning, has emerged as a powerful tool to enhance security in these distributed environments by detecting and responding to attacks.However, traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer sufficient to address modern threats that const...

Eco-friendly nanomaterials for biomedical applications

Justiciability of the collective right to a healthy environment: between the protection of the environment and international human rights law

This research examines the justiciability of a collective right to a healthy environment, focusing on its legal foundations and implications. Using doctrinal legal research, it explores both anthropocentric and ecocentric approaches. While international human rights law follows an anthropocentric perspective, ecocentric elements provide complementary insights. Intergenerational equity serves as the core philosophy, reinforcing the collective nature of environmental rights and offering new per...

Human heart valves: advanced physiology and structure-function characterization for tissue engineering applications

The four human heart valves (HVs) exhibit substantial physiology, reflected in their structural and mechanical properties. HV diseases remain among the most challenging clinical issues in cardiovascular medicine. The mechanical and structural properties of native human HVs, such as tensile and flexural stiffness, anisotropy, or even simpler factors such as leaflet thickness are largely neglected in the design of commercially available prosthetic devices. Furthermore, these properties are freq...

EVALUATION OF SEQUENCE-SPECIFIC RNA EDITING TOOLS FOR CORRECTING CFTR NONSENSE MUTATIONS IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS THERAPY

Background. Premature-termination codons (PTCs) in the CFTR mRNA cause theproduction of truncated, non-functional CFTR proteins accounting for approximately 8% ofcystic fibrosis (CF) cases worldwide. Despite the intensive research in the field, these patientscannot benefit from specific and approved therapies yet. To address this issue, we haveexplored RNA-editing approaches to correct PTCs in the CFTR mRNA of CFF-16HBEgehuman bronchial epithelial cells. Methods. These systems exploit ADAR (a...