Technologies

Mergers e Acquisitions represent important forms of business deals because of the volumes involved in the transactions and the role of the innovation activity of companies. By considering the patent activity of about one thousand companies, we develop a method to predict future acquisitions by assuming that companies deal more frequently with technologically related ones.

Chemical solution deposition of metal-organic precursors have favoured the research and development of thin films of simple and complex oxides such as Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, and Al2O3, up to their industrial application in pyroelectric and capacitor devices. Deposition methods used are spin-on and dip-coating. The advantages of the techniques are:

(i) low cost of equipment and chemicals

(ii) large area deposition

(iii) low crystallisation temperatures

The object of the technology is the development of a transferable methodology from the laboratory scale to the pilot scale to be validated in the industrial setting for the treatment of basic waste of natural polymers of agro-food or manufacturing industry.

We have identified compounds that show a neuroprotective action in vivo, in models of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. SMA, Parkinson, Alzheimer, Huntington) in the model organism C. elegans. These compounds consist of: mixtures of 22 natural extracts, 15 natural molecules and 11 synthetic molecules.

Design and testing of neoproteins with optimized nutritional value, according to needs, avoiding their degradation - thus maintaining a high production yield - and aggregation (which could make them indigestible). Neoproteins are produced and characterized in plant systems as bioreactors. We have already created zeolin, formed by the fusion of a bean seed protein with a portion of a maize seed protein.

The systems simulate, with high reproducibility, the conditions that occur in the different compartments of the gastrointestinal tracts and are promising to accurately mimic the digestive process, with the possibility to evaluate bioaccessibility and bioavailability. Moreover, the systems permit to study the synergic and reciprocal effects between the bioactive compounds characteristic of food and intestinal microbiota.

Plants can compete favorably with traditional expression systems (mammalian cells, yeasts or bacteria) to produce recombinant proteins/peptides of pharmaceutical/industrial/agrifood interest. This technology names “Plant Molecular Farming”. The CNR-IBBA research team offers the study of new strategies for the expression and optimization of recombinant proteins/peptides in plant-based systems (plant tissues, transgenic plants, plant cell culture). Our pipeline is based on the following modules:

The proposed technology deals with the development of active SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering) substrates ad hoc designed for diagnostics of cultural heritage. The substrates are prepared starting from common commercial 'polishing film' sheets (lapping optical fibers) showing an intrinsic roughness (48- 1000 nm) that favors the SERS effect. A pattern of silver or gold nanoparticles are deposited on these films through Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD).

The instrument which is under development is a non-conventional portable Raman spectrometer. Raman spectrometers provide the molecular composition of the material surfaces, essential for their identification. The instrument peculiarity relies in the simultaneous acquisition of Raman spectra at imaged position and at different micrometric distances (offset) from the laser illumination area.

Recently, it has been demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy can play a fundamental role in assisting the work of the anatomopathologist by allowing classification of oncological samples with practically 100% accuracy in oncological diagnosis.

The development of an innovative screening platform of natural marine extracts guided by biological assays represents one of the main products developed within the Antitumor Drugs and Vaccines from the SEA (ADViSE) project which aims to provide a new vision in Drug Discovery processes.

TNBC affects around 170,000 patients worldwide each year and accounts for 15-20% of breast cancer; compared to other types of breast cancer, TNBC is more aggressive and precocious. Its diagnosis, made difficult by the existence of subtypes with different characteristics, is fundamental to establish prognosis and personalized therapy. Nucleic acid aptamers are highly selective low-molecular-weight molecules, synthesizable at low cost and easily modifiable, capable of binding and detecting tissue markers ("aptahistochemistry”). Our team has iden

Wine is one of the economically most important beverages and may be subject to fraud and mislabelling, although that there are specific and strict rules protecting its authenticity in Europe. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), recently identified and characterized thanks to advances in genomics, are considered the newest type of molecular marker for grapevine identification.

Environmental contamination is a prominent topic. Where the exposure to contaminants such as heavy metals (HMs) or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is greater, the incidence of chronic degenerative diseases, such as oncologic, is increased. Scientific evidence reports that some phytochemicals are able to interact with HMs and PAHs by interfering with their cellular metabolism, inhibiting their cytotoxic mechanisms or helping to reduce tissue concentrations.

Spark anemometry based on the analysis of an electrical discharge can be implemented in the automotive sector through measurements of the secondary circuit voltage. Actual applicability of this method is quite limited, given that it requires additional hardware that is not compatible with space requirements specific for production engines (e.g. fueled with gasoline, LPG or methane); furthermore, applying high voltage measurements is complex and entails increased cost.