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Giovanni da Mel (1480-1549) was an Italian Renaissance artist. He worked in the Veneto region and devoted himself to the fresco technique, in his family workshop. During the last part of his life, in the church of Trichiana (Belluno), he painted an altarpiece, which seems to be his only work on canvas. Thanks to the collaboration between restorers and scientists, it was possible to explore in depth this peculiar painting. The imaging techniques helped in the identification of the artistic methodology, for example highlighting the use of engraving the preparation to draw (typical of the fresco technique). Then, the application of spot analysis allowed the identification of the artist’s palette, revealing some peculiarities as the addition of a copper based pigment to the bone black, in order to dry the oil. The diagnostic techniques have fully characterized the altarpiece from a methodological and material point of view.

In this framework AuNPs and AuNRs were synthetized with the aim to obtain strongly hydrophilic materials, suitable for drug delivery.[4-6] AuNPs were used as drug delivery systems for two different copper(I)-based anti-tumor complexes namely [Cu(PTA)4]+[BF4]- (A; PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphadamantane) and [HB(pz)3Cu(PCN)] (B; HB(pz)3 = tris(pyrazolyl)borate, PCN = tris(cyanoethyl)phosphane).

Recently we have focused the research work on 11th group metal-NHCs complexes obtained from water soluble 1,3-symmetrically and 1,3-unsymmetrically substituted NHCs precursors based on imidazole and benzoimidazole scaffolds4-6...

Potentially bi-, tri- and tetra-dentate polyamines (1,3-diaminopropane (pn); diethylenetriamine (tren), tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tetraen)) react with divalent zinc and copper nitrate salts in the presence of the 1,1-dicyano-2,2-ethylenedithiolate dipotassium salt (K2-mnt) to afford a variety of compounds in which the dithiolate acts as counter dianion or participates directly in metal coordination...

In this framework we report a study about drug delivery systems based on functi onalized AuNPs or AuNRs.

In this context, some investigations were performed to establish unequivocally the presence of caffeine/catechin complexes in green tea extracts (GTEs)......

Here we present the investigation on the [Cu(DAPTA)4][BF4]complex, where DAPTA = 3,7-diacetyl-1,3,7-triaza-5-phosphabicyclo[3.3.1] nonanefrom millimolar concentration down to 66 ?M, thus reaching concentration levels that can be correlated with those relevant for biological applications. Acquisition of XAS data on such a dilution level is very challenging and unusual. ...

In the present work the in vitroeffect of two metal complexes based on silver (Ag1 and Ag2) against the promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensisand L. guyanensiswere studied in 24, 48 and 72 hours.

In this framework we report studiesabout drug delivery systemsbased on gold nanoparticles stabilized by sodium 3-mercapto-1-propane sulfonate (Au-3MPS NPs) used as carrier for different drugs: the dexamethasone, DXMand copper complexes, Cu(I)R, based drugs....

Rationale [Cu(P)4][BF4]-type complexes (P = tertiary phosphine) have shown significant antitumor activity. This biological property appears to be activated via formation of coordinative unsaturated [Cu(P)n]+ species (n < 4), that may interact with various molecules starting from the solvent(s) in which they are dissolved. Aim of our study was to investigate the interaction of these species with different solvent mixtures. Methods The interaction has been investigated in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and the interaction products have been characterized by multiple collisional experiments, using an ion trap mass instrument. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations studies, using a meta-hybrid exchange correlation (xc) functional and an implicit solvent model, were employed to investigate the equilibrium distribution of species in solution. Results Depending on the nature of the solvent mixture and coordinated phosphine, three [Cu(P)4][BF4]-type complexes undergo dissociation with formation of [Cu(P)2]+, [Cu(P)(solv)]+ and [Cu(solv)2]+ species (solv = solvent). Preferred collisionally induced fragmentations pathways provide qualitative information on the selectivity of [Cu(P)n]+ for specific solvents and donor atoms. Formation free energies and equilibrium constants pertaining [CuI(PTA)n]+, [CuI/II(solv)n]m+ (n

In this field novel1,3-symmetrically and 1,3-unsymmetrically substitutedNHCsprecursorshave been synthesized (Figure 1) and used in the synthesis of multicharged metal-NHC complexes...

In the context of the MAIS 1 project, we designed a reflective architecture to be used for Multichannel Adaptive Information Systems. Architectural reflection is an emerging research topic that enables information systems to observe and control their own structure and behaviour. One of the main issues raised by architectural reflection is related to the understanding of the reflective knowledge and to its proper design, implementation, and usage. In our approach the reflective knowledge is quality of service (QoS) oriented in that it captures the QoS features exhibited by the system components. In this paper, we describe the different layers of our architecture focusing on how to model and to exploit QoS to achieve dynamic adaptability in a reflective architecture.

Reflective architectures aim at enabling information systems to adapt themselves dynamically and automatically in the attempt to accomplish the anytime, anywhere, anyone paradigm. The difficulties raised by using reflection at the architectural level are mostly related to the knowledge it should capture and of its proper design and implementation. Within this paper, attention is concentrated on Location and how it can be represented and exploited in various types of systems using architectural reflection to achieve adaptivity. We present three main types of systems: (1) wide area systems for which Location is expressed in geographical coordinates; (2) local area systems (e.g., complex of buildings) for which Location is not only horizontal, but also vertical, and (3) local area systems for which Location is completely known at configuration time. To calculate the distance between two Locations, the first case uses road maps, while the last two consider maps of buildings.

RATIONALE To try to find a correlation between the antiproliferative activity of a series of [MI(P)4]+ complexes (M = Cu, Ag and Au; P = tertiary phosphine) and their stability at micromolar concentration under mass spectrometric conditions. METHODS [M I(P)4]+ complexes were investigated by positive ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry with multiple collisional experiments using an ion trap mass spectrometer. RESULTS The displacement of P from native [MI(P)4]+, previously described for the copper derivative, is common for the triad complexes leading to the formation of [M(P)3]+ and [M(P)2]+ adducts. Further dissociation of [M(P)2]+ depends on the nature of the metal (Cu ~ Ag > Au). More labile [Cu(P)2] + and [Ag(P)2]+ are more cytotoxic against HCT-15 human colon carcinoma cells compared to less labile [Au(P) 2]+ species. CONCLUSIONS The dissociation of P ligand(s) from the [MI(P)4]+ complexes is the driving force for the triggering of the antiproliferative activity. The more favored is the displacement of P from the [M(P)2]+ active form, the more favored is in turn the possibility for the metal to interact with biological substrates related to cancer proliferation.