Il sito della tarda età del Bronzo di Campestrin di Grignano Polesine (Veneto, Italia). Prime indagini sulle caratteristiche ambientali, morfologiche e strutturali dell’insediamento

Il sito della tarda età del Bronzo di Campestrin di Grignano Polesine (Rovigo – Veneto), già noto per alcuni interventi di scavo e per le eccezionali testimonianze relative alla lavorazione dell’ambra baltica, è stato oggetto di nuove indagini (ricerche di superficie, carotaggi, analisi sedimentologiche), da parte dell’Università di Ferrara e del Centro Polesano di Studi Storici Archeologici ed etnografici di Rovigo (CPSSAE) allo scopo di definirne i limiti perimetrali e di individuare zone di particolare interesse per lo studio delle attività artigianali. L’insediamento, databile al XII sec. a.C. ca. (BR2/BF1) era ubicato presso la sponda sinistra del Po di Adria 1, lo stesso su cui sorse, 9 km a SO, il centro di Frattesina di Fratta Polesine. Con Frattesina condivide anche: la forma allungata e parallela al corso del fiume e la mancanza di tracce evidenti di un argine perimetrale e corrispettivo fossato (tipo terramara). L’unica sezione continua nel senso dell’asse minore (scolina 24/25) indica una larghezza di ca. 40 m in senso e-O mentre la lunghezza può attualmente essere stimata in m 500 in senso N-S. Sono stati rilevati possibili indicatori di lavorazione del metallo (frammento di panella) e del palco di cervo (semilavorati) e probabilmente della ceramica (scarti di cottura?), mentre non sono stati individuati indizi relativi alla lavorazione dell’ambra, per ora rinvenuti solo presso il limite settentrionale dell’abitato, ossia l’area degli scavi Salzani

Frattesina: un centro internazionale di produzione e di scambio nell’Età del bronzo del Veneto

The site of Frattesina (Rovigo), in southern Veneto participated in a territorial system extending from Villamarzana (S-E), to Campestrin di Grignano Polesine (E), from the Recent Bronze Age to the initial Iron Age (c. XIII- IX century BC). The territorial extension of the system and its chrono-typological sequence have been defined by Paolo Bellintani (2000) who identified three phases: 1 - Recent Bronze Age and Final Bronze Age early; 2 - Central phase of the Final Bronze Age; 3 - Final Bronze Age late and initial Early Iron Age. Throughout the time-span considered, the territorial system was specifically characterized by a unique concentration of manufacturing activities on an industrial scale. The raw materials processed were both local – especially antler and mixed alkali glass – and exotic: amber, metals (bronze, copper, lead, gold), elephant ivory, ostrich egg

Long-term methotrexate use in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients: real-world data from the MARTE study

OBJECTIVE: The MARTE study investigated the demographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients ongoing methotrexate (MTX) treatment for longer than 8 years.METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study considered 587 RA patients from 67 Rheumatology Units across Italy. Data collected included demographic, clinical, and therapeutic characteristics, focusing on MTX prescription patterns (route of administration, dosing regimens, treatment duration, and discontinuation).RESULTS: 90.6% of patients received one conventional synthetic Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drug (csDMARD) as initial therapy, with treatment started within the first 3 months from diagnosis in half of the patients. MTX was the first csDMARD in 46.2% of patients. The prevalent route of administration at diagnosis was the intramuscular (60.5%), while at study entry (baseline) 57.6% were receiving subcutaneous MTX. Patients who required a higher MTX dose at study entry were those who received a significantly lower starting MTX dose (p<0.001). Significantly higher MTX doses were currently required in men (p<0.001), current smokers (p=0.013), and overweight patients (p=0.028), whereas patients on oral therapy received significantly lower doses of MTX (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: The MARTE study confirms once again the potential of the proper use of MTX in the treatment of RA. Data from our study suggest that a higher dose of MTX should be used since the first stages in overweight patients, men, and smokers

Liver-directed lentiviral gene therapy in a dog model of hemophilia B

We investigated the efficacy of liver-directed gene therapy using lentiviral vectors in a large animal model of hemophilia B and evaluated the risk of insertional mutagenesis in tumor-prone mouse models. We showed that gene therapy using lentiviral vectors targeting the expression of a canine factor IX transgene in hepatocytes was well tolerated and provided a stable long-term production of coagulation factor IX in dogs with hemophilia B. By exploiting three different mouse models designed to amplify the consequences of insertional mutagenesis, we showed that no genotoxicity was detected with these lentiviral vectors. Our findings suggest that lentiviral vectors may be an attractive candidate for gene therapy targeted to the liver and may be potentially useful for the treatment of hemophilia.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Sistemi insediativi - Italia settentrionale

Trattazione sintetica dei diversi aspetti dell'insediamento protostorico dell'Italia settentrionale, nel corso del Bronzo recente. Dinamiche evolutive dei sistemi insediativi

Tocilizumab for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The single-arm TOCIVID-19 prospective trial

BackgroundTocilizumab blocks pro-inflammatory activity of interleukin-6 (IL-6), involved in pathogenesis of pneumonia the most frequent cause of death in COVID-19 patients.MethodsA multicenter, single-arm, hypothesis-driven trial was planned, according to a phase 2 design, to study the effect of tocilizumab on lethality rates at 14 and 30 days (co-primary endpoints, a priori expected rates being 20 and 35%, respectively). A further prospective cohort of patients, consecutively enrolled after the first cohort was accomplished, was used as a secondary validation dataset. The two cohorts were evaluated jointly in an exploratory multivariable logistic regression model to assess prognostic variables on survival.ResultsIn the primary intention-to-treat (ITT) phase 2 population, 180/301 (59.8%) subjects received tocilizumab, and 67 deaths were observed overall. Lethality rates were equal to 18.4% (97.5% CI: 13.6-24.0, P=0.52) and 22.4% (97.5% CI: 17.2-28.3, P<0.001) at 14 and 30 days, respectively. Lethality rates were lower in the validation dataset, that included 920 patients. No signal of specific drug toxicity was reported. In the exploratory multivariable logistic regression analysis, older age and lower PaO2/FiO2 ratio negatively affected survival, while the concurrent use of steroids was associated with greater survival. A statistically significant interaction was found between tocilizumab and respiratory support, suggesting that tocilizumab might be more effective in patients not requiring mechanical respiratory support at baseline.ConclusionsTocilizumab reduced lethality rate at 30 days compared with null hypothesis, without significant toxicity. Possibly, this effect could be limited to patients not requiring mechanical respiratory support at baseline.Registration EudraCT (2020-001110-38); clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04317092)