Wednesday,
September 06, 2006
Scientific Advances Pour Forth from Italy-
Fresco Sensor & Stem Cell Advances
The Annotico Report
I seldom Report on Scientific Advances poring forth from
But I was reminded today, that in one day in two disparate areas, Italian Scientists made significant breakthroughs, and that because these type reports do not get much attention in the US Media, and/or even if they did, and despite the Italian Peninsula being the foundation of Western Civilization, that the first association people respond to with when the word Italian comes up, is Mafia. Try it sometime. It goes to show you the Power of the Media and the Ignorance of the typical American!!!!!!
The more I learn about Italian/European Culture, the more I realize what a "beer and bowling" mentality Americans have.
Rich obviously doesn
Today’s Italian Scientific discoveries involve a Micro-wave scanner that detects humidity and mineral content , AND Stem Cells aiding Regeneration in Human Vital Organs. This is an alternative to the use of embryonic stem cells, which would permit science to advance, yet would quell the acrimonious debate that rages.
Italians develop fresco sensor
ANSA
September 6, 2006Micro-wave scanner detects humidity and mineral content
Italian scientists have developed a
sensor that bounces rays through frescos to see whether they risk getting discoloured, fading or falling off walls
.
The camera-sized sensor is important because it is
non-invasive, measuring humidity and mineral content without having to take
samples of works .
The new sensor is run across fresco surfaces, sending
micro-waves that can penetrate as far as two centimetres.
"Frescoes are threatened by two things: too much humidity and an over-rich
mineral content," said Roberto Olmi of the
National Research Council
"Humidity can make pigments runny and minerals can crystallise so that the frescos fade or begin to
crumble," Olmi told the journal Measurement
Science Technology .
The sensor goes under the acronym SUSI, for Sensore di Umidita
It was subsequently used on frescos by Giotto and other
painters in
SUSI is more versatile than first thought
.
"For instance, we
Now the challenge facing Olmi
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-09-06_1068441.html
Italians in stem-cell advances
Adult kidney, liver cells can repair organs, studies say
ANSA
September 6, 2006
Two teams of Italian scientists have
made important advances in stem-cell research that could pave the way for new treatments
for kidney and liver disease .
What is more, the researchers say the cells appear able
to turn into an array of other body cells .
Importantly, amid controversy over the use of embryos
for stem-cell research, both discoveries were made in adults
.
A
The discovery is of particular importance because kidney
disease is growing to critical mass in modern society, striking the overweight
and obese whose problems are now viewed as an epidemic .
"Chronic renal diseases and terminal renal
insufficiency are viewed as the medical emergency of the new century," Romagnani told a press conference after the publication of
his team
In mice affected by kidney degeneration, Romagnani explained, the stem cells proved effective in
repairing the damaged organs .
"This is particularly important because the drugs
we currently have are only able to slow down kidney damage"
.
Furthermore, he went on, the cells can be cultivated in
the lab so as to "multi-differentiate" into other types of cells:
bone cells, adipose (fatty tissue) cells and even nerve cells
.
This, Romagnani said, held out
hope of reversing degenerative diseases that hit those organs too .
A day after Romagnani
Their study, published in the latest edition of the
journal Stem Cells, showed that the cells can not only be used to repair livers
but are also capable of becoming "pluri-potent",
lead researcher Benedetta Bussolati
said .!
Until now, such cells had only been identified in
specially treated lab animals .
"The progenitor cells identified by our team are
able to differentiate into liver cells, bone cells, blood cells and even
pancreatic cells that produce insulin," she said .
"The diffentiating
capacity of these cells holds promise that they can be used in regenerative
medicine such as cell therapy, an alternative to the use of embryonic stem
cells" .
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/
english/news/2006-09-06_1065056.html
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