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Professor Mario Del Treppo was born in 1929 in Pola (Istria) and moved in 1946 to Naples with his family. In this town he has lived and worked, becoming one of the most important medievalist historians of the country. In this conversation he remembers his first steps in the historical research, his teachers and collegues and his historiographical and philosophical models.

The genus Clinopodium L. (Lamiaceae) is known for its medical uses in folk medicine and as a spice in Italian food. Recently, several taxa previously assigned to Satureja L. and Calamintha Mill. have been transferred to this genus (1). Pharmacological studies reveal, for instance, that Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi [Clinopodium nepeta Kuntze subsp. nepeta], commonly known as “nepetella”, exhibits cholagogue, expectorant, sedative and antibiotic properties (2); furthermore, the essential oil of its aerial parts showed an antifungal activity (3). The apical flowering parts and leaves of Clinopodium vulgare L. are used in popular medicine for their carminative and emmenagogue properties (1); recently, the essential oil of its aerial parts was found to possess remarkable radical-scavenging and antioxidant activities (4). In Madeira Island, the local population uses the leaves of Clinopodium ascendens Samp. as a mouth freshener and to alleviate headache and toothache; furthermore, the essential oil of its aerial parts exhibited remarkable antibacterial and antifungal activities (5). Here, the chemical composition of the essential oils of four taxa of Clinopodium growing wild in Sicily is reported. In particular, were investigated Clinopodium nepeta Kuntze subsp glandulosum (Req.) Govaerts from Cava Grande (Avola, Siracusa), Clinopodium nepeta Kuntze subsp. nepeta from Cave di Cusa (Campobello di Mazzara, Trapani), Clinopodium raimondoi Spadaro, Faqi & Mazzola from Palermo (Fondo Patti, San Gabriele) and Clinopodium nepeta Kuntze subsp. ascendens B. Bock. from Castelbuono (Madonie, Palermo). The essential oils, extracted by hydrodistillation according to the European Pharmacopoeia, were analysed by GC and CG/MS. In the four oils, 48 compounds in all were identified: 27 for Clinopodium nepeta subsp. glandulosum (98,4% of the total oil), 19 for Clinopodium nepeta subsp. nepeta (98,6% of the oil), 26 for Clinopodium raimondoi (96,5% of the oil) and 38 for Clinopodium nepeta subsp. ascendens (93,5% of the oil). In C. nepeta subsp. glandulosum, the most abundant compounds were trans-dihydrocarvone (36.5%), carvone (19.2%) and cis-dihydrocarvone (13.0%). On the whole, the oil was constituted mainly of monoterpenes (81.5%) and sesquiterpenes (13.4%). In the first fraction, oxygen-containing monoterpenes (73.4%) prevailed over monoterpene hydrocarbons (8.16%). In C. nepeta subsp. nepeta, the main components were cis-piperitone oxide (39.0%), piperitenone (36.0%) and limonene (7.7%). Monoterpenes constituted the most abundant fraction of the oil (91.0%), with a prevalence of oxygen-containing monoterpenes (81.5%). Piperitenone oxide (59%) cis-piperitone oxide (22.2%) and limonene (6.0%) were the main compounds of C. raimondoi. As in the other oils studied, monoterpenes constituted the main fraction and accounted for 90.2% of the total oil with a prevalence of oxygen-containing monoterpenes (82.4%) over monoterpene hydrocarbons (7.8%). In C. nepeta subsp. ascendens, the main compounds were carvone (14.4%), trans-isopulegone (11.5%) and mint furanone (8.9%). On the whole, the main fraction was constituted of monoterpenes (81.1%). Among these, monoterpene hydrocarbons (73.4%) were the most abundant components of the oil. In conclusion, all four oils share a high percentage of monoterpenes and a scarce amount of sesquiterpenes. Previous papers on the analysis of the essential oils of Clinopodium sp.pl. showed that the monoterpenes group is usually dominant, although the main component may vary. The results of the present study concur with these findings.

The genus Calendula L. (Calenduleae Cass., Asteraceae) includes several species having medicinal properties. Pharmacological studies reveal, for instance, that C. officinalis L. exhibits antibacterial, antiviral, antinflammatory, antitumor and antioxidant properties; C. arvensis L. has antibacterial, antinflammatory, antimutagenic and haemolytic activities; C. suffruticosa Vahl has antimicrobial activity, especially against pathogenic microorganisms as Pseudomonas syringae Van Hall, Pseudomonas fluorescens (Flügge) Migula, Xanthomonas campestris (Pammel) Dowson and Agrobacterium tumefaciens Smith & Townsend. Nevertheless, despite a long tradition of use of the above species, and others, the genus has not been explored properly (1). In this contribution, the chemical composition of the essential oils in flowers, leaves and seeds of Calendula suffruticosa, from Castelmola on the Peloritani Mountains (E Sicily), is described. C. suffruticosa is a perennial and highly variable species growing in the Mediterranean basin: in it, a lot of subspecies and some varieties are distinguished (2). In the Mediterranean area, according to Greuter (3) nine subspecies occur on the whole, two of which also occur in the Italian Peninsula and in Sicily. Namely, these are C. suffruticosa subsp. suffruticosa and C. suffruticosa subsp. fulgida (Raf.) Guadagno. In its intraspecific variability, the species has a distribution ranging from the south-western Mediterranean basin – North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco), southern coasts of Portugal and Spain, Italy (s.l.) and Malta – to the south east - Greece and western Turkey. In Italy besides in Tuscany and Marche, it is common in Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, from the coast up to 500 m altitude. In Sicily, both the subsp. suffruticosa and fulgida occur. The results here reported on a chemical study of a population is referred to subsp. fulgida, but only temporarily, since there are some distinctive characters that suggest a taxonomic position independent on both the two subspecific taxa so far recognized for the Sicilian flora (4). The essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation and were analysed by GC and GC–MS. On the whole, the essential oils are characterized by the presence of oxygenated sesquiterpenes, particularly β-eudesmol, and fatty acids, with hexadecanoic acid as the compound representative of this fraction and present in a very high concentration in the seeds. Along with this, essential oils from flowers and leaves also contain the diterpene neophytadiene while the flowers are the only parts of the plant in which sesquiterpene hydrocarbons are found. Owing to the chemical composition of other subspecies of C. suffruticosa is not still detected, the data obtained for the Castelmola population are a basic comparison term and a support to delimit the whole intraspecific taxa of the concerned species and besides to a more deeply taxonomic evaluation of the analyzed Sicilian population.

I will report on the presence of large amounts of million-degree gas in the Milky Way's interstellar and circum-galactic medium, and will show that this gas: (1) permeates both the Galactic plane and the halo, (2) extends to distances larger than 60-200 kpc from the center, and (3) its mass is sufficient to close the Galaxy's baryon census.I will also show that a vast, ~6 kpc radius, spherically-symmetric central region of the Milky Way above and below the 0.16 kpc thick plane, has either been emptied of hot gas or the density of this gas within the cavity has a peculiar profile, increasing from the center up to a radius of ~6 kpc, and then decreasing with a typical halo density profile. This, and several other converging pieces of evidence, suggest that the current surface of the cavity, at 6 kpc from the Galaxy's center, traces the distant echo of a period of strong nuclear activity of our super-massive black-hole, occurred about 6 Myrs ago.

Volatile components from florets, leaves and stems and branches of Centaurea aeolica Guss. harvested in Lipari, Sicily, Italy, were analysed by gas phase chomatography (GC) and gas chomatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents were β-eudesmol, caryophyllene oxide, ( E )-12-norcaryophyll-5-en-2-one and hexahydrofarnesylacetone in flowers, hexahydrofarnesylacetone, 2-methyloctadecane and tricosane in the leaves and hexadecanoic acid , caryophyllene oxide and β-eudesmol in the stems and branches . The analysis of the essential oil of the aerial parts of Centaurea diluta Aiton gave mainly fatty acids and derivatives, the main ones being hexadecanoic acid and (Z,Z)-9,12-octadecadienoic acid methyl ester.

The chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of L. nepetaefolia (L.) R. Br. collected in Nicaragua was evaluated by GC and GC-MS. The main components were (Z)-phytol (22.8%), caryophyllene oxide (18.9%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (9.0%). The antibacterial activity against several Gram + and Gram-bacteria, including Bacillus cereus and B. subtilis, both infesting historical cellulosic material, was also determined. B. cereus, B. subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermis were the most affected by the action of the oil.

Cladanthus Cass. [Syn. Ormenis (Cass.) Cass.] is a genus of the family Asteraceae, endemic to the Mediterranean region and related to the tribe Anthemideae (1). It comprises 15 species including C. scariosus (Ball) Oberpr. & Vogt [Bas. Santolina scariosa; Syn. Ormenis scariosa Litard. & Maire] from Morocco where is concentrates 1/3 of the species of the genus (2). Some of these are perennial, suffruticose and strongly aromatic plants. C. mixta (L.) Chev. is used in Morocco as chamomile and this is commonly called Moroccan chamomile. In the same country, C scariosus is fairly common in open places, on sandstone substrates (3) and is characterized by a strong aromatic character, this has motivated the authors – some of which were previously occupied by other species of the same genus (4) – to undertake such study phytochemical. In this study, the authors present the results of chemical composition of the essential oil of Cladanthus scariosus wild grown in many regions of Morocco (5). Hydrodistillation of C. scariosus aerial parts, collected on the thermo-mediterranean belt of the central High Atlas – Oukeimeden, from Marrakech to Quarzazate – during the flowering phase gave a pale yellow oil. Overall, sixty-four compounds were identified, representing 92.7% of the total components. The main class of the oil was represented by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (39.8%) with germacrene D (20.7%) as the most abundant component of the class and of the oil. Monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and oxygenated sesquiterpenes were present in similar amount (14.8%-15.1%). In these classes the main products were α-pinene (4.8%) and sabinene (6.9%) among the monoterpene hydrocarbons, (E)-chrysanthenyl acetate (8.3%) among the oxygenated monoterpenes and τ –muurolol (4.2%) and (E,E)-farnesyl acetate (3.9%) among the oxygenated sesquiterpenes. It is also noteworthy the good presence of chamazulene (7.1%).

We know that our Galaxy is permeated by tenuous, hot, metal-rich gas. However much remains unknown about its origin, the portion of the Galaxy that it permeates, its total mass, as any role it may play in regulating activity in the Galaxy. In a Letter currently in the press with the ApJ, we show that this hot gas permeates both the disk of the Galaxy and a large spherical volume, centered on the Galactic nucleus, and extending out to distances of at least 60-200 kpc from the center. This gas displays a peculiar density distribution that peaks about 6 kpc from the Galaxy's center, likely witnessing a period of strong activity of the central super-massive black hole of the Milky Way that occurred 6 Myrs ago. With our study we are also able to update the total baryonic mass of the Galaxy to Mb = (0.8-4)x1e11 Solar Masses, sufficient to close the Galaxy's baryon census., Comment: 9 Pages, 1 Figure, to appear in the proceedings of the Vulcano 2016 Workshop - Frontier Objects in Astrophysics and Particle Physics -, Frascati Physics Series, Vol. 64 (2016)

Essential oil extracted from dried aerial parts of Teucrium flavum ssp. flavum harvested in Zakynthos, Greece, was analysed by gas phase chomatography (GC) and gas chomatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents were caryophyllene (13.5%), caryophyllene oxide (8.5%), 4-vinyl guaiacol (6.0%) and α- humulene (5.0%).

In the present study the chemical composition of the essential oils from aerial parts and roots of Anthemis mixta L. and A. tomentosa L. was evaluated by GC and GC-MS, and their antibacterial activity tested against ten bacterial species. Hexadecanoic acid (15.2%) was recognized as the main constituent of A. mixta, together with τ-cadinol (6.7%), while in both aerial parts and roots of A. tomentosa nonacosane (21.9% and 20.7%), heptacosane (8.1% and 6.0%), hexadecanoic acid (8.1% and 27.1%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (6.8% and 5.5%) prevailed. The oils from aerial parts of both species showed a good activity against Gram-positive bacteria. These results suggest that the plants could be potentially used in food manufacture and cosmetology as preservative agents or in medicine as new antibiotics

The volatile constituents of the aerial parts of Centaurea formanekii Halacsy and the aerial parts, capitula and roots of C. orphanidea Heldr. & Sart. ex Boiss. ssp. thessala (Hausskn.) Dostál from Greece were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed. The main components in C. formanekii were hexadecanoic acid (13.6%), δ-elemene (9.1%), and spathulenol (6.9%). The main components in C. orphanidea ssp. thessala were γ-elemene (26.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (13.2%) in the aerial parts, hexadecanoic acid (33.5%) and heptacosane (6.3%) in the capitula, and hexadecanoic acid methyl ester (22.0%) and α-chamigrene (14.0%) in the roots. The chemotaxonomic significance with respect to other previously studied species of the same sections (Phalolepis and Achrolopus, respectively) is discussed

Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl is one of the biggest and most economically important plant families. The taxonomy and phylogeny of Asteraceae is rather complex and according to the latest and most reliable taxonomic classification of Panero & Funk, based on the analysis of nine chloroplast regions, the family is divided into 12 subfamilies and 35 tribes. One of the largest tribes of Asteraceae is Cardueae Cass. with four subtribes (Carlininae, Echinopinae, Carduinae and Centaureinae) and more than 2500 species. Susanna & Garcia-Jacas have organized the genera of Centaureinae (about 800 species) into seven informal groups, which recent molecular studies have confirmed: 1. Basal genera; 2. Volutaria group; 3. Rhaponticum group; 4. Serratula group; 5. Carthamus group; 6. Crocodylium group; 7. Centaurea group. This review summarizes reports on sesquiterpenoids from the Centaureinae subtribe of the Asteraceae family, as well as the 13C NMR spectral data described in the literature

This paper reports on the volatile components of oils from the aerial parts (CBA) and roots (CBR) of Centaurea bracteata Scop. and aerial parts of C. pannonica (Heuffel) Simonkai subsp. pannonica (CPA), two Asteraceae growing wild in Croatia. The volatile components, obtained by hydrodistillation, were determined by GC-MS analysis. The yields (w/w) of the dried oils were 0.10% (CBA), 0.22% (CBR) and 0.09% (CPA), respectively. A total of 91 compounds were identified accounting for 91.1%, 93.3% and 87.9% of the total oil for CBA, CBR and CPA, respectively. All the samples were characterized mainly by hydrocarbons (7.1-34.1%), fatty acids (9.7-45.9%), and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (15.2-16.6%). The major components of the samples were hexadecanoic acid (8.1-31.1%), nonacosane (0.6-13.4%) and caryophyllene oxide (4.5-11.9%). Monoterpenes, both hydrocarbons and oxygenated, were either absent or present in low amounts in all the oils. The similarity in the oil contents is consistent with the two species being placed in the same section, Jacea.

Sideritis italica (Miller) Greuter et Burdet (Lamiaceae), widely used in ethnopharmacological medicine, occurs in Southern Italy and Sicily. The phytochemical composition of the essential oils of S. italica flowers and leaves, harvested in Piano Battaglia (Sicily), was analysed by GC and GC-MS. Of the 51 compounds, 43 in the oil from flowers and 29 in the oil from leaves were identified. Kaur-15-ene (20.0%) was recognised as the main constituent of the oil from flowers, together with -cubebene (12.1%), -pinene (8.5%), (Z)-nuciferol (6.5%), tricyclene (4.5%) and -bisabolol (4.0%). In the oil from leaves, p-methoxyacetophenone (26.0%) prevailed, as did hexadecanoic acid (21.3%), followed by nonanal (4.8%), -bisabolol (4.5%) and -cubebene (4.7%)

The volatile constituents of the flowerheads of Centaurea nicaeensis All., C. parlatoris Helder and C. solstitialis L. ssp. schouwii (DC.) Dostal were extracted by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC-MS. Altogether 113 components were identified. Fatty acids and hydrocarbons were the most abundant components in the oils. Caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide were the main compounds of the sesquiterpene fraction. The study on the biological activity of the oils shows no significant activity.

The essential oils of Centaurea sicana (S) and C. giardinae (G) were studied by GC and GC-MS. Thirty constituents for S, representing 81.5% of the total oil, and 24 compounds for G (94.2% of the total) were identified. The oils were rich in sesquiterpenoids (47.9% for S and 54.7% for G) and hydrocarbons (25.9% for S and 31.7% for G). Germacrene D (13.3%), (E)-β-farnesene (8.3%), nonacosane (7.3%), heptacosane (6.5%) and phytol (6%) were recognized as the main constituents for S, while caryophyllene oxide (17.7%), nonacosane (14.5%), germacrene D (11.5%), caryophyllene (11.2%) and heptacosane (10.3%) were the main compounds for G.