An investigation of the concentration of the heavy isotope of oxygen, O18, in various samples of water was carried out. Natural variations as high as 2.9% were found - glacier water being 2.3% light and Dead Sea water 2.0% heavy, as compared to Lake Ontario water as standard. Other values - water from tank oxygen + 2.9%, atmospheric water vapor -0.9%, Atlantic Ocean water +0.4%, Pacific Ocean water - 0.8% , and atmospheric carbon dioxide - 0.5%. The water samples were equilibrated with tank carbon dioxide, which was then analyzed using the mass spectrometer. Some work was also done on photosynthesis. The free water, water of crystallization, and tissue oxygen (as water) , in a normal leaf which had bean photosynthesizing for 8 hours, were analyzed by equilibration with carbon dioxide as above. It was found that all of these were more enriched in oxygen 18 than the water with which they were fed . The free water averaged about 1.3% heavy, water of crystallization as high as 8.7% heavy, and tissue oxygen varied from 0.5% light to 5.5% heavy. This work only just touches the edges of this field - many more interesting experiments remain to be carried out later. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / IntroduÃÃo: MGI à o termo que descreve os efeitos da quimioterapia antineoplÃsica nas mucosas, podendo acometer o trato alimentar de maneira global ou localizada. 15 a 40% dos pacientes em quimioterapia apresentam algum grau de mucosite. Muito da fisiopatologia da MGI permanece desconhecido. A IL-18 à uma citocina pleiotrÃpica, com funÃÃo regulatÃria sobre o sistema imune e envolvimento nas fases iniciais da inflamaÃÃo. Objetivo: Avaliar o envolvimento de IL-18 na patogÃnese da MGI induzida por CPT-11. Materiais e MÃtodos: camundongos Balb/C IL-18Wt ou IL-18KO, machos, foram tratados durante quatro dias consecutivos com CPT-11 (60mg/Kg, i.p.) ou veÃculo (0,5 mL, i.p.). Um grupo de animais IL-18Wt recebeu, alÃm do CPT-11, a proteÃna ligante de IL-18 (IL-18Bp; 200 Âg, i.p.). Os seguintes parÃmetros foram avaliados: diarrÃia, leucograma, sobrevida, anÃlise histopatolÃgica, atividade de mieloperoxidade (MPO), dosagem de citocinas (TNF-α, IL-1β ) por ELISA e imunoistoquÃmica para TNF-α e IL-1β nas mucosas ileais. Resultados: CPT-11 induziu diarrÃia significante e promoveu alteraÃÃes intestinais exuberantes (encurtamento de vilos, achatamento e vacuolizaÃÃo de enterÃcitos, necrose em criptas e infiltrado inflamatÃrio de leucÃcitos polimorfonucleares e cÃlulas mononucleares) Observou-se aumento da atividade de MPO e dos nÃveis tissulares de TNF-α e IL-1β dosados por ELISA e intensa imunomarcaÃÃo com anticorpos anti-TNFα e anti-IL-1β nesses animais. AlÃm disso, tais animais apresentaram resposta contrÃtil intestinal exacerbada ao estÃmulo com colinÃrgicos (acetilcolina e betanecol). Os animais IL-18KO tratados com CPT-11 apresentaram diarrÃia estatisticamente menos severa e menor intensidade de alteraÃÃes morfomÃtricas e histolÃgicas. NÃo houve aumento de TNF-α, mas houve de IL-1β , a atividade de MPO nÃo diferiu da observada nos animais que receberam veÃculo e nÃo houve aumento de resposta contrÃtil ao estÃmulo colinÃrgico. Os animais que receberam CPT-11 e IL-18Bp apresentaram diarrÃia estatisticamente menos intensa que aqueles que receberam apenas CPT-11, resposta contrÃtil estatisticamente menos acentuada e menor atividade de MPO. Entretanto, as alteraÃÃes morfomÃtricas e histolÃgicas nÃo diferiram das encontradas nos animais tratados sà com CPT-11. ConclusÃo: IL-18 està envolvida na patogÃnese da MGI induzida por CPT-11. IL-18Bp atenua os eventos envolvidos na MGI induzida por CPT-11 e à um possÃvel candidato a modulador farmacolÃgico desse processo. As alteraÃÃes contrÃteis no intestino promovidas pelo CPT-11 parecem ter um componente inflamatÃrio / Introduction: The term GIM refers to the adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy on mucosal surfaces, affecting different portions of the alimentary tract. 15% to 40% of patients in chemotherapy present some degree of mucositis. By now, much of GIM pathophysiology remains unknown. IL-18 is a pleiotropic cytokine that exerts regulatory functions over the immune system and is also involved in inflammation. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to elucidate the involvement of IL-18 in the pathogenesis of CPT-11-induced mucositis. Materials and methods: Male IL-18 wild type (Wt) or IL-18 knockout (KO) Balb/C mice received CPT-11 (60mg/kg/day, i.p.) or vehicle (0.5ml, i.p.) in a four day schedule. A group of IL-18Wt also received IL-18 binding protein (IL-18Bp, 200 Âg, i.p., 1h before CPT-11). Animals were sacrificed on the fifth day. The following parameters were assessed: histologycal analysis, diarrhea, survival curve, leucogram, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity assay, ileum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β by ELISA, immunohistochemistry for TNF-α and IL-1β and contractility assay. Results: IL-18Wt animals receiving CPT-11 presented diarrhea and intense histological alterations in the ileum (shortening of villi, flattening and vacuolization of enterocytes, cript necrosis and the presence of inflammatory infiltrate). There was also increased MPO activity, increased levels of TNF-α and IL-1β and strong immunostaining for TNF-α and IL-1β in the ileum. In addition, the CPT-11 treated mice presented increased intestinal contractility when stimulated with cholinergic drugs (bethanecol, BCh and acetylcholine, ACh). In contrast, IL-18KO animals treated with the same dose of CPT-11 presented less diarrhea and less intestinal histological alterations. There was no increase in MPO activity nor in TNF levels, but in IL-1 levels. In addition, TNFα and IL-1β immunostaining was weaker IL-18KO animals. Also, the intestinal contractility in IL-18KO animals was not exarcerbated after a cholinergic challenge. IL-18Wt animals receiving CPT-11 and IL-18Bp did not present significant diarrhea and there was no significant alterations on intestinal contractility after Ach administration. Although MPO activity was not increased in IL-18Bp treated animals, the ileal mucosa presented moderate to severe histological alterations. Conclusion: IL-18 participates in the CPT-11-induced GIM. IL-18Bp attenuates some inflammatory (cell infiltrate) and functional (diarrhea and contractility) events of CPT-11-induced GIM. The contractility alterations in CPT-11 treated animals seem to have an inflammatory related component

This PhD Thesis includes five main parts on diverse topics. The first two parts deal with the trophic ecology of wolves in Italy consequently to a recent increase of wild ungulates abundance. Data on wolf diet across time highlighted how wild ungulates are important food resource for wolves in Italy. Increasing wolf population, increasing numbers of wild ungulates and decreasing livestock consume are mitigating wolf-man conflicts in Italy in the near future. In the third part, non-invasive genetic sampling techniques were used to obtain genotypes and genders of about 400 wolves. Thus, wolf packs were genetically reconstructed using diverse population genetic and parentage software. Combining the results on pack structure and genetic relatedness with sampling locations, home ranges of wolf packs and dispersal patterns were identified. These results, particularly important for the conservation management of wolves in Italy, illustrated detailed information that can be retrieved from genetic identification of individuals. In the fourth part, wolf locations were combined with environmental information obtained as GIS-layers. Modern species distribution models (niche models) were applied to infer potential wolf distribution and predation risk. From the resulting distribution maps, information pastures with the highest risk of depredation were derived. This is particularly relevant as it allows identifying those areas under danger of carnivore attack on livestock. Finally, in the fifth part, habitat suitability models were combined with landscape genetic analysis. On one side landscape genetic analyses on the Italian wolves provided new information on the dynamics and connectivity of the population and, on the other side, a profound analysis of the effects that habitat suitability methods had on the parameterization of landscape genetic analyses was carried out to contributed significantly to landscape genetic theory.

Ferrara è tra le città con le quali Piero Bottoni (1903-1973) ha istaurato un rapporto proficuo e duraturo che gli permise di elaborare molti progetti e che fu costante lungo quasi tutta la parabola professionale dell’autore milanese. Giunto nella città estense nei primi anni Trenta, vi lavorò nei tre decenni successivi elaborando progetti che spaziavano dalla scala dell’arredamento d’interni fino a quella urbana; i diciannove progetti studiati, tutti situati all’interno del centro storico della città, hanno come tema comune la relazione tra nuova architettura e città esistente. Osservando un ampio spettro di interventi che abbracciava la progettazione sull'esistente come quella del nuovo, Bottoni propone una visione dell'architettura senza suddivisioni disciplinari intendendo il restauro e la costruzione del nuovo come parti di un processo progettuale unitario. Sullo sfondo di questa vicenda, la cultura ferrarese tra le due guerre e nel Dopoguerra si caratterizza per il continuo tentativo di rendere attuale la propria storia rinascimentale effettuando operazioni di riscoperta che con continuità, a discapito dei cambiamenti politici, contraddistinguono le esperienze culturali condotte nel corso del Novecento. Con la contemporanea presenza durante gli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta di Bottoni, Zevi, Pane, Michelucci, Piccinato, Samonà, Bassani e Ragghianti, tutti impegnati nella costruzione dell’immagine storiografica della Ferrara rinascimentale, i caratteri di questa stagione culturale si fondono con i temi centrali del dibattito architettonico italiano e con quello per la salvaguardia dei centri storici. L’analisi dell’opera ferrarese di Piero Bottoni è così l’occasione per mostrare da un lato un carattere peculiare della sua architettura e, dall’altro, di studiare un contesto cultuale provinciale al fine di mostrare i punti di contatto tra le personalità presenti a Ferrara in quegli anni, di osservarne le reciproche influenze e di distinguere gli scambi avvenuti tra i principali centri della cultura architettonica italiana e un ambito geografico solo apparentemente secondario. / Ferrara counts among the cities with which Piero Bottoni (1903-1973) has created a rich link, which allowed him to elaborate many projects and that has a constant presence all along the professional circuit of the author. Residing at the Este town in the first Thirties, he worked there during three successive decades developing projects that spread between the scale of internal forniture to urban projects; the nineteen projects examined, all placed in the city’s historic centre, have as a common subject the relationship among the new architecture and the existing city. Studying a large spectre of interventions that embraces projects based upon the existent buildings as well as new projects, Bottoni proposes a vision of architecture without disciplinary sub divisions, approaching restoration and new building as parts of a unitary projecting process. Upon this background, Ferrara’s culture between the two wars and after the war is characterized by the permanent attempt to give actuality to its own renaissance history, notwithstanding the political changes. With the contemporary presence during the Fifties and Sixties of Bottoni, Zevi, Pane, Michelucci, Piccinato e Samonà, Bassani a Ragghianti, all participating to the construction of the historiographic image of the Renaissance Ferrara, the characteristics of this cultural context melt into the central subjects of the Italian architectonical debate and the debate for the defence of historical centres. The analytical study of Bottoni’s Ferrarese works becomes thus the occasion to outline, on one side, the peculiar character of his architecture and, on the other side, to study a provincial cultural context with a view to show such points of contact among the personalities present at Ferrara in those years, to observe their reciprocal influence and to distinguish the exchanges occurred among the outstanding centres of Italian architectonic culture and a geographical environment only secondary in appearance.

Childhood neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumour of infancy and highly refractory to therapy. One of the most powerful prognostic indicators for this disease is the N-Myc gene amplification, which occurs in approximately 25% of all neuroblastomas. N-Myc is a member of transcription factors belonging to a subclass of the larger group of proteins sharing Basic-Region/Helix–Loop–Helix/Leucin-Zipper (BR/HLH/LZ) motif. N-Myc oncoproteins may determine activation or repression of several genes thanks to different protein-protein interactions that may modulate its transcriptional regulatory ability and therefore its potential for oncogenicity. Chromatin modifications, including histone methylation, have a crucial role in transcription de-regulation of many cancer-related genes. Here, it was investigated whether N-Myc can functionally and/or physically interact with two different factors involved in methyl histone modification: WDR5 (core member of the MLL/Set1 methyltransferase complex) and the de- methylase LSD1. Co-IP assays have demonstrated the presence of both N-Myc-WDR5 and N-Myc-LSD1 complexes in two neuroblastoma cell lines. Human N-Myc amplified cell lines were used as a model system to investigate on transcription activation and/or repression mechanisms carried out by N-Myc-LSD1 and N-Myc-WDR5 protein complexes. qRT-PCR and immunoblot assays underlined the ability of both complexes to positively (N-Myc-WDR5) and negatively (N-Myc-LSD1) influence transcriptional regulation of crititical neuroblastoma N-Myc-related genes, MDM2, p21 and Clusterin. Ch-IP experiments have revealed the binding of the N-Myc complexes above mentioned to the gene promoters analysed. Finally, pharmacological treatment pointed to abolish N-Myc and LSD1 activity were performed to test cellular alterations, such as cell viability and cell cycle progression. Overall, the results presented in this work suggest that N-Myc can interact with two distinct histone methyl modifiers to positively and negatively affect gene transcription in neuroblastoma.

La tesi ha come oggetto il rinnovamento urbano che fu realizzato a Faenza per opera del suo signore Carlo II Manfredi tra il 1468 e il 1477, d’accordo con il fratello, il vescovo Federico. La prima opera realizzata da Carlo fu il portico a due livelli che dotò di una nuova facciata il suo palazzo di residenza, di origini medievali. Questa architettura sarebbe stata il preludio di un riordino generale della piazza principale della città, probabilmente allo scopo di ricreare un foro all’antica, come prescritto dai trattati di Vitruvio e di Alberti. L’aspetto originale del loggiato rinascimentale, desumibile da documentazione archivistica e iconografica, permette di attribuirlo con una certa probabilità a Giuliano da Maiano. Oltre alla piazza, Carlo riformò profondamente il tessuto urbano, demolendo molti portici lignei di origine medievale, rettificando le principali strade, completando la cerchia muraria. Federico Manfredi nel 1474 diede inizio alla fabbrica della Cattedrale, ricostruita dalle fondamenta su progetto dello stesso Giuliano da Maiano. L’architettura della chiesa ha uno stile largamente debitore all’architettura sacra di Brunelleschi, ma con significative differenze (come la navata definita da un’alternanza tra pilastri e colonne, o la copertura composta da volte a vela). L’abside della cattedrale, estranea al progetto maianesco, fu realizzata nel 1491-92 e mostra alcuni dettagli riconducibili alla coeva architettura di Bramante. A Faenza si realizza in un periodo di tempo brevissimo una profonda trasformazione del volto della città: loggiato, riforma della piazza, riordino delle strade, una nuova cattedrale, tutto contribuisce a dare lustro ai Manfredi e a fare di Faenza una città moderna e in cui si mettono in pratica, forse per la prima volta nell’Italia settentrionale, i dettami di Vitruvio e di Alberti. / The present thesis aims the study of the urban renewal that was carried out in Faenza thanks to the work of the Lord of the city, Carlo II Manfredi (1468-1477), together with his brother, Bishop Federico. The first work accomplished by Carlo was the two-level portico that gave a new façade to the palace of medieval origin where he lived. This architecture was to herald a general reorganization of the main piazza in the city, probably in order to recreate an antique forum, as prescribed by the treatises of Vitruvius and Alberti. The original appearance of the Renaissance loggia, which can be inferred from archival and iconographic documents, makes it possible to attribute it almost certainly to Giuliano da Maiano. In addition to the square, Carlo drastically reformed the urban fabric, demolishing many wooden porticos of medieval origin, straightening out the main streets and completing the city walls. In 1474 Federico Manfredi ordered the construction of the Cathedral, rebuilt from its foundations on a project also by Giuliano da Maiano. The architectural style of the church owes much to Brunelleschi’s church architecture, but with significant differences (such as the nave defined by an alternation between pillars and columns, or the sail vault ceiling). The apse of the cathedral, not part of Maiano’s project, was built in 1491-92 and shows some details traceable to the architecture of Bramante, his contemporary. Over a very short period of time in Faenza, a strong transformation of the face of the city occurred: loggia, rearrangement of the piazza, reorganization of roads, a new cathedral, all contributed to bring prestige to the Manfredi family and to make Faenza a modern city where, perhaps for the first time in northern Italy, the dictates of Vitruvius and Alberti were put into practice.

Oggetto della ricerca è il museo Wilhelm Lehmbruck di Duisburg, un'opera dell'architetto Manfred Lehmbruck, progettata e realizzata tra il 1957 e il 1964. Questa architettura, che ospita la produzione artistica del noto scultore Wilhelm Lehmbruck, padre di Manfred, è tra i primi musei edificati ex novo nella Repubblica Federale Tedesca dopo la seconda guerra mondiale. Il mito di Wilhelm Lehmbruck, costruito negli anni per donare una identità culturale alla città industriale di Duisburg, si rinvigorì nel secondo dopoguerra in seno ad una più generale tendenza sorta nella Repubblica di Bonn verso la rivalutazione dell'arte moderna, dichiarata “degenerata” dal nazionalsocialismo. Ricollegarsi all'arte e all'architettura moderna degli anni venti era in quel momento funzionale al ridisegno di un volto nuovo e democratico del giovane stato tedesco, che cercava legittimazione proclamandosi erede della mitica e gloriosa Repubblica di Weimar. Dopo anni di dibattiti sulla ricostruzione, l'architettura del neues Bauen sembrava l'unico modo in cui la Repubblica Federale potesse presentarsi al mondo, anche se la realtà del paese era assai più complessa e svelava il “doppio volto” che connotò questo stato a partire dal 1945. Le numerose dicotomie che popolarono presto la tabula rasa nata dalle ceneri del conflitto (memoria/oblio, tradizione/modernità, continuità/discontinuità con il recente e infausto passato) trovano espressione nella storia e nella particolare architettura del museo di Duisburg, che può essere quindi interpretato come un'opera paradigmatica per comprendere la nuova identità della Repubblica Federale, un'identità che la rese capace di risorgere dopo l' “anno zero”, ricercando nel miracolo economico uno strumento di redenzione da un passato vergognoso, che doveva essere taciuto, dimenticato, lasciato alle spalle. / The subject of the research is the Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-Museum, a work of the architect Manfred Lehmbruck, designed and built between 1957 and 1964. This building, which hosts the artistic production of the renowned sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Manfred's father, is among the first museums built ex novo in the German Federal Republic after WWII. The myth of Wilhelm Lehmbruck, constructed in the course of several years to provide the industrial town of Duisburg with a cultural identity, was boosted in the second post-war period within a more general tendency in the Bonn Republic towards the reevaluation of modern art, which had been labeled as “degenerate” by national-socialism. Finding a new link with the modern art and architecture of the twenties was, at the time, particularly functional for the re-creation of the new and democratic image of the new German state, which sought for legitimation by proclaiming itself as the heir of the glorious Weimar Republic. After years of debate on reconstruction, the architecture of the neues Bauen seemed to be the only possible way in which Germany could present itself to the world, even if the reality of the country was much more complex and betrayed the “double face” of this state after 1945. The numerous dichotomies, that soon peopled the “tabula rasa” which had originated from the ruins of WWII (memory/oblivion, tradition/modernity, continuity/discontinuity with the recent and unlucky past) are reflected in the history and in the particular architecture of the Duisburg Museum, that could be interpreted as a paradigmatic work for the understanding of the new identity of the Federal Republic, an identity that made this state able to rise up after the “year zero”, seeking in the Economic Miracle an instrument of redemption from a shameful past, which had to be silenced, forgotten, left behind.

In Drosophila the steroid hormone ecdysone regulates a wide range of developmental and physiological responses, including reproduction, embryogenesis, postembryonic development and metamorphosis. Drosophila provides an excellent system to address some fundamental questions linked to hormone actions. In fact, the apparent relative simplicity of its hormone signaling pathways taken together with well-established genetic and genomic tools developed to this purpose, defines this insect as an ideal model system for studying the molecular mechanisms through which steroid hormones act. During my PhD research program I’ve analyzed the role of ecdysone signaling to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms through which the hormone fulfills its pleiotropic functions in two different developmental stages: the oogenesis and the imaginal wing disc morphogenesis. To this purpose, I performed a reverse genetic analysis to silence the function of two different genes involved in ecdysone signaling pathway, EcR and ecd.

Animal neocentromeres are defined as ectopic centromeres that have formed in non-centromeric locations and avoid some of the features, like the DNA satellite sequence, that normally characterize canonical centromeres. Despite this, they are stable functional centromeres inherited through generations. The only existence of neocentromeres provide convincing evidence that centromere specification is determined by epigenetic rather than sequence-specific mechanisms. For all this reasons, we used them as simplified models to investigate the molecular mechanisms that underlay the formation and the maintenance of functional centromeres. We collected human cell lines carrying neocentromeres in different positions. To investigate the region involved in the process at the DNA sequence level we applied a recent technology that integrates Chromatin Immuno-Precipitation and DNA microarrays (ChIP-on-chip) using rabbit polyclonal antibodies directed against CENP-A or CENP-C human centromeric proteins. These DNA binding-proteins are required for kinetochore function and are exclusively targeted to functional centromeres. Thus, the immunoprecipitation of DNA bound by these proteins allows the isolation of centromeric sequences, including those of the neocentromeres. Neocentromeres arise even in protein-coding genes region. We further analyzed if the increased scaffold attachment sites and the corresponding tighter chromatin of the region involved in the neocentromerization process still were permissive or not to transcription of within encoded genes. Centromere repositioning is a phenomenon in which a neocentromere arisen without altering the gene order, followed by the inactivation of the canonical centromere, becomes fixed in population. It is a process of chromosome rearrangement fundamental in evolution, at the bases of speciation. The repeat-free region where the neocentromere initially forms, progressively acquires extended arrays of satellite tandem repeats that may contribute to its functional stability. In this view our attention focalized to the repositioned horse ECA11 centromere. ChIP-on-chip analysis was used to define the region involved and SNPs studies, mapping within the region involved into neocentromerization, were carried on. We have been able to describe the structural polymorphism of the chromosome 11 centromeric domain of Caballus population. That polymorphism was seen even between homologues chromosome of the same cells. That discovery was the first described ever. Genomic plasticity had a fundamental role in evolution. Centromeres are not static packaged region of genomes. The key question that fascinates biologists is to understand how that centromere plasticity could be combined to the stability and maintenance of centromeric function. Starting from the epigenetic point of view that underlies centromere formation, we decided to analyze the RNA content of centromeric chromatin. RNA, as well as secondary chemically modifications that involve both histones and DNA, represents a good candidate to guide somehow the centromere formation and maintenance. Many observations suggest that transcription of centromeric DNA or of other non-coding RNAs could affect centromere formation. To date has been no thorough investigation addressing the identity of the chromatin-associated RNAs (CARs) on a global scale. This prompted us to develop techniques to identify CARs in a genome-wide approach using high-throughput genomic platforms. The future goal of this study will be to focalize the attention on what strictly happens specifically inside centromere chromatin.

La Scuola di Architettura come oggetto di una ricerca di dottorato, pur nella sua parzialità temporale e spaziale, si offre come nodo di interesse nel tentativo di illuminare uno dei molteplici aspetti che caratterizzano l’ambito più generale dell’architettura in Italia oggi. Porre sotto i riflettori l’insegnamento come tema cardine per la formazione di generazioni di professionisti, ma anche per il destino della ricerca in architettura, è utile alla ricomposizione degli strumenti formativi, al loro corretto utilizzo, conservando ciò che la storia ha lasciato nei suoi risultati positivi, aggiornando ciò che oggi non si confà più alla condizione socio-culturale e alle nuove dinamiche produttive, avendo infine il coraggio di liberarsi di ciò che non ha portato buoni frutti. Aldo Rossi e Giorgio Grassi diventano in questo senso protagonisti di una ricerca che si concentra sul loro specifico ruolo di docenti universitari, di maestri, di portatori di una teoria, forse tra gli ultimi nella storia dell’architettura italiana. Due protagonisti che hanno saputo sistematizzare un messaggio didattico, una teoria, e hanno potuto/voluto/saputo/provato a trasmetterlo a più generazioni attraverso – anche – l’insegnamento accademico. In particolare la ricerca approfondisce il periodo iniziale delle carriere accademiche dei due protagonisti trattati, cercando di comprendere anzitutto il clima culturale di appartenenza, le esperienze di formazione e la condizione che li ha portati a impostare l’insegnamento in un determinato modo, per poi soffermarsi sulle esperienze di didattica vera e propria dal 1965 alla fine degli anni Settanta. / The School of Architecture as subject of a doctoral research - even in its temporal and spatial incompleteness – can be observed as a node of interest, as we try to shed light on one of the many aspects that characterize the more general field of architecture in Italy today. Putting the spotlight on teaching as a cardinal theme for the training of generations of professionals - but also for the fate of research in the field of architecture -, can be helpful in reconsidering the educational tools in their proper use, preserving what useful results history has produced, updating what today does not suit the socio-cultural conditions and the new production dynamics anymore, and eventually having the courage to get rid of what didn’t bring good results. Aldo Rossi and Giorgio Grassi become protagonists of this research, which focuses on their specific role of academics, teachers, of bearers of a theory, perhaps among the last in the history of Italian architecture. Two key players who were able to systematize an educational message - a theory - and who could / wanted / tried to transmit it to several generations (also) through academic teaching. In particular, this research explores the initial period of their academic careers, trying first of all to understand the cultural climate around them, their training experiences and the condition that led them to set up their teaching in a certain way, then going on to dwell on their actual teaching from 1965 to the late seventies.