Water management and land-use practices from the Iron-Age to the Roman period in Eastern Iberia

This study investigates water and land usage in the territory of La Carència, an Ibero-Roman city located near Turís (Valencia, Spain) in Eastern Iberia. The outstanding political importance of La Carència during the Iberian Iron-Age period is attested by its large size, the monumental character of its structures and on-site finds. Multidisciplinary and micro-regional landscape work at its territory documented significant differences between the Iberian and the Roman settlement patterns, which are attributed to the distinct agricultural production and water management systems of each period. While Iberian sites are more related to the agricultural exploitation of flat, dry land for which water sources, such as natural springs, were probably used, Roman sites seem to be associated with more productive soils that take advantage of flooding areas and the drainage of water accumulation zones. Such different agricultural preferences based on large-scale water management are documented for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula and they attest to the great potential of multidisciplinary landscape archaeology to address past land-use practices

Pitch production during the Roman period: an intensive mountain industry for a globalised economy?

The authors’ research project in the Pyrenees mountains has located and excavated Roman kilns for producing pitch from pine resin. Their investigations reveal a whole sustainable industry, integrated into the local environmental cycle, supplying pitch to the Roman network and charcoal as a spin-off to the local iron extractors. The paper makes a strong case for applying combined archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations in upland areas, showing mountain industries to have been not so much marginal and pastoral as key players in the economy of the Roman period and beyond it into the seventh century AD

Diverse Structures and Dimensionalities in Zn(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) Metal Complexes with Piperonylic Acid

Reaction of M(MeCO2)2 (M = Zn(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II)) with 1,3-benzodioxole-5-carboxylic acid (HPip) in methanol (MeOH) yields four piperonylate compounds, one of Zn(II) ([Zn(Pip)2(H2O)2] (1c)), two of Cd(II) ([Cd(μ-Pip)2(H2O)]n (2) and [Cd3(μ-Pip)6(MeOH)2]n (3)), and one of Hg(II) ([Hg(μ-Pip)2]n (4)). The obtention of compounds 1c and 4 was independent of the M/L ratio. These four compounds were characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. In addition, the thermal stability of 1c, 2, and 4 has been studied, and the structure of all the complexes has been determined by the single crystal X-ray diffraction method. The Zn(II) compound displayed a monomeric structure, while Cd(II) and Hg(II) complexes exhibited three polymeric arrays. The Zn(II) (1c) and Hg(II) (4) centers are four- and eight-coordinated in a tetrahedral or squareantiprism geometry, respectively. Furthermore, the Cd(II) ions are either six- (2) or six- and seven- (3) coordinated in a octahedral or both octahedral and pentagonal bipyramid geometries, respectively. In these compounds, the Pip ligand presents different coordination modes: μ1-η1 (1c); μ2-η1:η1 and μ2-η2:η1 (2); μ2-η1:η1, μ2-η2:η1 and μ3-η2:η1:η1 (3); μ1-η2 and μ2-η2:η1 (4). The extended structures were also analyzed. Their photoluminescence properties have been examined, and the quantum yields have been calculated

La Carència (Valencia, España) y su territorio Resultados de la aplicación de metodologías digitales

[ES] El proyecto 'La Carència. Evolución cronológica y urbanística. Valoración dentro del territorio' ha destacado durante los 10 últimos años por su aplicación de metodologías digitales al estudio de la forma urbana de este oppidum ibero-romano y de su territorio. Esta aplicación ha tenido una doble orientación: la investigación arqueológica ha utilizado análisis SIG, reconstrucciones fotogramétricas del paisaje antiguo y análisis de imágenes multiespectrales. La difusión científica se ha beneficiado asimismo de la fotogrametría aérea y de técnicas de modelado virtual 3D para la reconstrucción hipotética del recinto amurallado. En conjunto, la aplicación de metodologías digitales ha resultado de utilidad para el análisis arqueológico al tiempo que ha ayudado al reconocimiento patrimonial del yacimiento y su entorno.[EN] 'La Carència. Chronological and urban change. Evaluation in its territorial context' is an archaeological project whose application of digital methodologies to the study of la Carència Ibero-Roman oppidum and its territory has been prominent during the last ten years. This application has been twofold: archaeological research has employed GIS analyses, photogrammetrical modelling of past landscapes and multispectral imagery analysis. Scientific dissemination has been enhanced by the use of aerial photogrammetry but 3D virtual modelling was also employed to develop a hypothetical reconstruction of the city walled area. In general the application of digital methodologies benefited archaeological analysis and, at the same time, helped developing the heritage value of both site and territory.Albiach, R.; Orengo, HA.; Blasco, J.; Ejarque, A. (2012). La Carència (Valencia, España) y su territorio Resultados de la aplicación de metodologías digitales. Virtual Archaeology Review. 3(5):73-76. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2012.4527OJS737635ALBIACH, R., LEDO, A., MATA, C., REQUENA, M. (2007): "Prehistòria i Història Antiga" en J. Hermosilla (dir.) Turis, Geografia, Història, Art. Valencia, Conveni Universitat de Valencia i ajuntament de Turís, pp. 92-132.GRAU, I. (2003): "Settlement Dynamics and Social Organization in Eastern Iberia During the Iron Age (Eight - Second Centuries BC)" en Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 22 (3), pp. 261-279.ORENGO, H.A., EJARQUE, A., ALBIACH, R. (2010): "Remote Sensing and GIS applied to the study of an Iberian Iron Age oppidum's hinterland: La Carència project (Valencia, Spain)" en B. Frischer (ed.) Making History Interactive. Proceedings of the 37th annual international conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Williamsburg, Virginia (United States).ORENGO, H.A., EJARQUE, A., ALBIACH, R. (en prensa): "Water management practices from Iberian to Roman times in la Carència hinterland (Valencia, Spain)" en Aménagement et exploitation des zones humides depuis l'Antiquité Approches comparées en Europe méditerranéenne et continentale. Colloque ZAL, Clermont-Ferrand.RIPOLLÉS, P.P. (2001): "Historia Monetaria de la Ciudad Ibérica de Kelin", en A.J. Lorrio (ed.) Los Íberos en la Comarca de Requena- Utiel, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, pp. 105-115

Magnetite Nanoparticles Functionalized with RNases against Intracellular Infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Altres ajuts: Fundació La Marató de TV3/20180310Current treatments against bacterial infections have severe limitations, mainly due to the emergence of resistance to conventional antibiotics. In the specific case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, they have shown a number of resistance mechanisms to counter most antibiotics. Human secretory RNases from the RNase A superfamily are proteins involved in a wide variety of biological functions, including antimicrobial activity. The objective of this work was to explore the intracellular antimicrobial action of an RNase 3/1 hybrid protein that combines RNase 1 high catalytic and RNase 3 bactericidal activities. To achieve this, we immobilized the RNase 3/1 hybrid on Polyetheramine (PEA)-modified magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs). The obtained nanobioconjugates were tested in macrophage-derived THP-1 cells infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. The obtained results show high antimicrobial activity of the functionalized hybrid protein (MNP-RNase 3/1) against the intracellular growth of P. aeruginosa of the functionalized hybrid protein. Moreover, the immobilization of RNase 3/1 enhances its antimicrobial and cell-penetrating activities without generating any significant cell damage. Considering the observed antibacterial activity, the immobilization of the RNase A superfamily and derived proteins represents an innovative approach for the development of new strategies using nanoparticles to deliver antimicrobials that counteract P. aeruginosa intracellular infection

Towards an Energy-Aware Framework for Application Development and Execution in Heterogeneous Parallel Architectures

The Transparent heterogeneous hardware Architecture deployment for eNergy Gain in Operation (TANGO) project’s goal is to characterise factors which affect power consumption in software development and operation for Heterogeneous Parallel Hardware (HPA) environments. Its main contribution is the combination of requirements engineering and design modelling for self-adaptive software systems, with power consumption awareness in relation to these environments. The energy efficiency and application quality factors are integrated into the application lifecycle (design, implementation and operation). To support this, the key novelty of the project is a reference architecture and its implementation. Moreover, a programming model with built-in support for various hardware architectures including heterogeneous clusters, heterogeneous chips and programmable logic devices is provided. This leads to a new cross-layer programming approach for heterogeneous parallel hardware architectures featuring software and hardware modelling. Application power consumption and performance, data location and time-criticality optimization, as well as security and dependability requirements on the target hardware architecture are supported by the architecture

Wnt9a deficiency discloses a repressive role of Tcf7l2 on endocrine differentiation in the embryonic pancreas

Transcriptional and signaling networks establish complex cross-regulatory interactions that drive cellular differentiation during development. Using microarrays we identified the gene encoding the ligand Wnt9a as a candidate target of Neurogenin3, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that functions as a master regulator of pancreatic endocrine differentiation. Here we show that Wnt9a is expressed in the embryonic pancreas and that its deficiency enhances activation of the endocrine transcriptional program and increases the number of endocrine cells at birth. We identify the gene encoding the endocrine transcription factor Nkx2-2 as one of the most upregulated genes in Wnt9a-ablated pancreases and associate its activation to reduced expression of the Wnt effector Tcf7l2. Accordingly, in vitro studies confirm that Tcf7l2 represses activation of Nkx2-2 by Neurogenin3 and inhibits Nkx2-2 expression in differentiated β-cells. Further, we report that Tcf7l2 protein levels decline upon initiation of endocrine differentiation in vivo, disclosing the downregulation of this factor in the developing endocrine compartment. These findings highlight the notion that modulation of signalling cues by lineage-promoting factors is pivotal for controlling differentiation programs

Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic

The Black Death (1347-1352 CE) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe's population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic's causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, 'big data palaeoecology', which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death's mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death's mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics.The authors acknowledge the following funding sources: Max Planck Independent Research Group, Palaeo-Science and History Group (A.I., A.M. and C.V.); Estonian Research Council #PRG323, PUT1173 (A.Pos., T.R., N.S. and S.V.); European Research Council #FP7 263735 (A.Bro. and A.Plu.), #MSC 655659 (A.E.); Georgetown Environmental Initiative (T.N.); Latvian Council of Science #LZP-2020/2-0060 (N.S. and N.J.); LLNL-JRNL-820941 (I.T.); NSF award #GSS-1228126 (S.M.); Polish-Swiss Research Programme #013/2010 CLIMPEAT (M.Lam.), #086/2010 CLIMPOL (A.W.); Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education #N N306 275635 (M.K.); Polish National Science Centre #2019/03/X/ST10/00849 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/01656 (M.Lam.), #2015/17/B/ST10/03430 (M.Sło.), #2018/31/B/ST10/02498 (M.Sło.), #N N304 319636 (A.W.); SCIEX #12.286 (K.Mar.); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness #REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (J.A.L.S.); Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports #FPU16/00676 (R.L.L.); Swedish Research Council #421-2010-1570 (P.L.), #2018-01272 (F.C.L. and A.S.); Volkswagen Foundation Freigeist Fellowship Dantean Anomaly (M.B.), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation #RTI2018-101714-B-I00 (F.A.S. and D.A.S.), OP RDE, MEYS project #CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000728 (P.P.

Evidencias preliminares de un bosque destruido por un evento volcaniclástico en el Triásico de Formación El Alcázar, Cuenca Cuyana, San Juan, Argentina

Fil: Drovandi, Juan Martín. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Colombi, Carina Ester. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Bodnar, Josefina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleobotánica; ArgentinaFil: Ejarque, Yanina. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: García, Gonzalo. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Santi Malnis, Paula. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Morel, Eduardo Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleobotánica; ArgentinaFil: Alcober, Oscar A.. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales; Argentin