Editoria - ottobre 2019

Condividi su      
     04-11-2019     Leggi in PDF

La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Vol. 42 N. 10 (2019)
La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Astrometry in the 21st century. From Hipparchus to Einstein
M. Crosta
The Gaia ESA mission inaugurated the era of Gravitational Astrometry. Besides discussing the relevant contributions in the literature, this review shows the importance of General Relativity in the inverse ray tracing problem from the observer to a star that, in principle, involves any astronomical observable from within the local gravitational fields of the Solar System. Null geodesics materialize our physical links to the stars in a varying space-time, therefore affecting space-time navigation as well. The potential of the relativistic observable in testing gravity at the local and the Galaxy scales is addressed, as well as our latest findings: i) a remarkable result for Local Cosmology, i.e., the successful fit of a relativistic rotation curve to Gaia-DR2-only data, suggesting a gravitational dragging dark-matter-like effect with no need of extra matter, and ii) promising scenarios for the astrometric detection and characterization of gravitational waves using solely stars.

La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Vol. 42 N. 9 (2019)
La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento Bio-soft cyclodextrin nanomaterials
R. Zagami, A. Romeo, A. Mazzaglia
Amongst colloids, carbohydrate nano-macrocyclics like cyclodextrins (CDs) are getting increasing interest in the scientific community, thanks to the various novel molecules that can be synthesized exploiting the different reactive sites on the native CD scaffold. This peculiarity can generate amphiphilic systems that self-assemble in water, showing, dependently on hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance, various structures capable to encapsulate bioactive molecules and drugs. If properly modified with receptor targeting groups, CD nanomaterials can actively target tumor or other diseased tissues, thus sustaining in these sites the release of their payload. Here we provide an overview of the therapeutic and diagnostic opportunities experienced by using CD aggregates as drug carriers. Interestingly, a fine tuning of molecular components leads to self-assemblies that consequently can generate, also in the presence of polymers and/or metal nanoparticles, multifunctional nano- or micro-entities with distinctive biological features.

Il Nuovo Cimento Vol. 42 N. 2-3 (2019)
Il Nuovo Cimento Papers presented at the European Nuclear Physics Conference, EuNPC 2018, Bologna, 2-7 September 2018, edited by D. Calvo, S. Bufalino, A. Fantoni, A. Filippi, F. Gramegna, E. Scapparone
This volume includes the contributions presented at the fourth edition of the European Nuclear Physics Conference, EuNPC 2018, held on September 2-7, 2018 at "Centro San Domenico" in Bologna (Italy). EuNPC2018 aims to review and discuss the status and prospects in the field of nuclear physics and its applications. The conference is a showcase for forefront theoretical and experimental developments, where the interplay between outstanding research and innovative concepts in the field is promoted. More than 230 nuclear physicists, from 27 different countries, joined the EuNPC conference, attracted by a broad and comprehensive scientific program.

Giornale di Fisica Vol. 60 N. 3 (2019)
Giornale di Fisica È online il terzo numero del Vol. 60 del 2019
Accanto ai lavori "L'effetto serra in laboratorio" (Antonella Ravizza), "La relatività da Galilei a Einstein: una riflessione" (Antonio Stabile), "Una nuova idea di laboratorio per capire la relatività ristretta" (Pietro Velonà), "Comprendere il moto browniano attraverso una Esperienza Analoga" (Ido Borsini), "Le parole della fisica: Temperatura" (Bruno Carazza), "250 anni del condensatore separato di Watt" (Clara Frontali), da segnalare l'articolo di Roberto De Luca, Orazio Faella e Giulia Monetti
Il carosello trigonometrico
Il pendolo semplice è un tradizionale argomento dei programmi di formazione della scuola secondaria. Lo studio del pendolo conico viene affrontato, in generale, nei corsi di fisica del primo anno di università. Di contro, il pendolo tronco conico (denominato carosello trigonometrico) non trova spazio nei libri di testo di fisica classica più diffusi. Esiste una differenza sostanziale tra il pendolo conico e il carosello trigonometrico. In quest'ultimo sistema, infatti, non occorre una rotazione con frequenza superiore alla frequenza naturale del pendolo semplice affinché il braccio si sollevi. Le leggi del moto del carosello trigonometrico, inoltre, portano a considerare un'equazione algebrica di quarto grado, per mezzo della quale si possono ripercorrere metodologie di risoluzione storiche utilizzate nel '500 da Ferrari.

EPJ E – Highlights
Pixantrone anticancer drug as a DNA ligand: Depicting the mechanism of action at single molecule level
C.H.M. Lima, J.M. Caquito jr, R.M. de Oliveira, M.S. Rocha
Because of the harmful side-effects of chemotherapy, and the increasing resistance to drugs found in many cancer cells, it is critical for researchers to continually search for new ways to update current cancer treatments. Recently, a drug named Pixantrone (PIX) was developed, which is far less damaging to the heart than previous, less advanced compounds. PIX is now used to treat cancers including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukaemia, but a detailed knowledge of the molecular processes it uses to destroy cancer cells has been lacking so far. In a new study published in EPJ E, Marcio Rocha and colleagues at the Federal University of Viçosa in Brazil uncovered the molecular mechanisms involved in PIX's interactions with cancer DNA in precise detail. They found that the drug first forces itself between the strands of the DNA molecule's double helix, prising them apart; then compacts the structures by partially neutralising their phosphate backbones. The team's discovery could soon lead to even more advanced cancer drugs, through comparisons with the mechanisms used by PIX to those of its predecessor, Mitoxantrone. By identifying which of these processes destroy cancer DNA most effectively, researchers could develop further drugs that are even better at eliminating the disease, while minimising side-effects.