The Rotary Aero-Engine from 1908 to 1918

The rotary aero engine is a special type of air-cooled radial engine, where the cylinders are arranged like the spokes of a wheel and turn around the crankshaft. The propeller is connected to the cylinders, while the crankshaft is fixed to the frame. The rotary aero engine, developed in 1908, set new standards of power and light weight within the aircraft industry. It was adopted by many pioneer aviators and widely used to set records of endurance, speed and height. Many aero engine manufacturers produced different models and variants of this type of engine, which was extensively used until the end of the First World War. The latest evolution of the rotary engine was the counter-rotary arrangement, which was devised and designed by the Siemens-Halske company. The distinctive feature of this type of engine was that the engine body (with cylinders and propeller) rotated in one direction while the crankshaft rotated in the opposite one. This result was obtained by using a bevel gear mechanism. However, rotaries were quickly and definitively replaced in 1918 by new kinds of conventional engine, which were developed in the same period by other manufacturers. The main features of rotary and counter-rotary aero engine and the performance limits that caused their decline will be described in this paper. The rotary engine will be compared with the conventional one in terms of power output, specific consumption, weight and inertia loads transferred to the frame

The softstone vessels assemblage from the Long Collective Grave 1 (LCG-1) at Dibbā al-Bayah (Sultanate of Oman): A preliminary assessment

The present contribution aims to provide an overview of the large collection of soft stone vessels and lids coming from the collective tomb Long Collective Grave 1 in the Dibbā al-Bayah funerary complex, along with a brief description and evaluation of the tomb itself. The corpus of material here discussed has been recovered during the 2012 season, and it mainly encompasses the chronological span between the second and first millennium BC. The findings are classified and organised in tables according to their chronological phase, and successively on the basis of their morphology and decorative patterns to which a major focus is addressed. Given the outstanding manufacturing of the materials, the finely incised and even plastic decorations, and their state of preservation, an assessment of such remarkable corpus, although partial, contributes significantly to the study of the diffusion and production of stone vessels in South-East Arabia

The organization of funerary space and arrangement of burials within the corridor-shaped tomb LCG-2 at Dibbā al-Bayah, Musandam, Sultanate of Oman

The paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the primary burial patterns identified at the bottom of the collective tomb LCG-2 at Dibbā, showing homogeneous features and common customs. The burials are often accompanied by conspicuous grave goods dating to the final stages of the Early Iron Age*

Dog filariosis in the Lazio region (Central Italy): first report on the presence of Dirofilaria repens

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological investigations were carried out in the Lazio Region to assess the status of canine filariosis and to evaluate the actual risk for veterinary and medical public health. METHODS: Since August 2001 to June 2003, a total of 972 canine blood samples, collected in public kennels and from private owners animals of the 5 Provinces of the Region, were tested. The presence of filarial parasites was evaluated by microscopy and bio-molecular techniques; the species identification was performed by means of the same diagnostic tools. RESULTS: A total of 17/972 (1.75%; 95%CI 1.06%–2.85%) blood samples were parasitized by D. repens,13 out them drawn by dogs resident in the Province of Roma, and 4 in the other provinces. Multivariate analysis was performed in order to evaluate the association between filariosis and risk factors. The origin from coastal territories seems to be a significant risk factor to acquire the infection. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of canine filariosis in the Lazio Region, where D. repens was before reported only in foxes. The risk of human zoonotic infection is stressed, and the absence of other filarial species is discusse

Remains of Leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, at Mid-Late Holocene archaeological sites in coastal Oman: clues of past worlds

Small, irregular isolated bones identified as remains of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) were recovered from Mid to Late Holocene sites at Ra’s al-Hamra and Ra’s al-Hadd, coastal Oman. These provide the third instance of this animal being documented from any prehistoric site anywhere, and the records provide one of the oldest, if not the oldest, dates for this distinctive chelonian—even though they do not refer to fossils. Decades of research in this region has yielded vast amounts of archeological information, including abundant evidence of intense exploitation and utilization of marine turtles from about 6,500 to 4,000 BP. During part of this period, turtle remains in human burials have been extraordinary; the turtle involved, Chelonia mydas, has been abundant in the region during modern times. Yet despite intense and varied forms of prehistoric marine resource exploitation, and major, long-term archeological work, no other turtle species has been previously authenticated from these, or other coastal sites. The documentation of remains of the largest and most distinctive of living marine turtles, D. coriacea, at Ra’s al-Hamra and Ra’s al-Hadd, presented herein, provide detailed information that serves as the basis for future interpretations and discussions regarding incomplete, disarticulated remains from the Mid to Late Holocene, particularly in reference to taphonomic questions and diverse environmental conditions

A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean

Humans settled the Caribbean about 6,000 years ago, and ceramic use and intensified agriculture mark a shift from the Archaic to the Ceramic Age at around 2,500 years ago1,2,3. Here we report genome-wide data from 174 ancient individuals from The Bahamas, Haiti and the Dominican Republic (collectively, Hispaniola), Puerto Rico, Curaçao and Venezuela, which we co-analysed with 89 previously published ancient individuals. Stone-tool-using Caribbean people, who first entered the Caribbean during the Archaic Age, derive from a deeply divergent population that is closest to Central and northern South American individuals; contrary to previous work4, we find no support for ancestry contributed by a population related to North American individuals. Archaic-related lineages were >98% replaced by a genetically homogeneous ceramic-using population related to speakers of languages in the Arawak family from northeast South America; these people moved through the Lesser Antilles and into the Greater Antilles at least 1,700 years ago, introducing ancestry that is still present. Ancient Caribbean people avoided close kin unions despite limited mate pools that reflect small effective population sizes, which we estimate to be a minimum of 500–1,500 and a maximum of 1,530–8,150 individuals on the combined islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola in the dozens of generations before the individuals who we analysed lived. Census sizes are unlikely to be more than tenfold larger than effective population sizes, so previous pan-Caribbean estimates of hundreds of thousands of people are too large5,6. Confirming a small and interconnected Ceramic Age population7, we detect 19 pairs of cross-island cousins, close relatives buried around 75 km apart in Hispaniola and low genetic differentiation across islands. Genetic continuity across transitions in pottery styles reveals that cultural changes during the Ceramic Age were not driven by migration of genetically differentiated groups from the mainland, but instead reflected interactions within an interconnected Caribbean world1,8.This work was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society to M. Pateman to facilitate analysis of skeletal material from The Bahamas and by a grant from the Italian ‘Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’ (Italian archaeological, anthropological and ethnological missions abroad, DGPSP Ufficio VI). D.R. was funded by NSF HOMINID grant BCS-1032255, NIH (NIGMS) grant GM100233, the Paul Allen Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation grant 61220 and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.Peer reviewe

How to obtain an integrated picture of the molecular networks involved in adaptation to microgravity in different biological systems?

Periodically, the European Space Agency (ESA) updates scientific roadmaps in consultation with the scientific community. The ESA SciSpacE Science Community White Paper (SSCWP) 9, “Biology in Space and Analogue Environments”, focusses in 5 main topic areas, aiming to address key community-identified knowledge gaps in Space Biology. Here we present one of the identified topic areas, which is also an unanswered question of life science research in Space: “How to Obtain an Integrated Picture of the Molecular Networks Involved in Adaptation to Microgravity in Different Biological Systems?” The manuscript reports the main gaps of knowledge which have been identified by the community in the above topic area as well as the approach the community indicates to address the gaps not yet bridged. Moreover, the relevance that these research activities might have for the space exploration programs and also for application in industrial and technological fields on Earth is briefly discussed

How are cell and tissue structure and function influenced by gravity and what are the gravity perception mechanisms?

Progress in mechanobiology allowed us to better understand the important role of mechanical forces in the regulation of biological processes. Space research in the field of life sciences clearly showed that gravity plays a crucial role in biological processes. The space environment offers the unique opportunity to carry out experiments without gravity, helping us not only to understand the effects of gravitational alterations on biological systems but also the mechanisms underlying mechanoperception and cell/tissue response to mechanical and gravitational stresses. Despite the progress made so far, for future space exploration programs it is necessary to increase our knowledge on the mechanotransduction processes as well as on the molecular mechanisms underlying microgravity-induced cell and tissue alterations. This white paper reports the suggestions and recommendations of the SciSpacE Science Community for the elaboration of the section of the European Space Agency roadmap “Biology in Space and Analogue Environments” focusing on “How are cells and tissues influenced by gravity and what are the gravity perception mechanisms?” The knowledge gaps that prevent the Science Community from fully answering this question and the activities proposed to fill them are discussed

How do gravity alterations affect animal and human systems at a cellular/tissue level?

The present white paper concerns the indications and recommendations of the SciSpacE Science Community to make progress in filling the gaps of knowledge that prevent us from answering the question: "How Do Gravity Alterations Affect Animal and Human Systems at a Cellular/Tissue Level?" This is one of the five major scientific issues of the ESA roadmap "Biology in Space and Analogue Environments". Despite the many studies conducted so far on spaceflight adaptation mechanisms and related pathophysiological alterations observed in astronauts, we are not yet able to elaborate a synthetic integrated model of the many changes occurring at different system and functional levels. Consequently, it is difficult to develop credible models for predicting long-term consequences of human adaptation to the space environment, as well as to implement medical support plans for long-term missions and a strategy for preventing the possible health risks due to prolonged exposure to spaceflight beyond the low Earth orbit (LEO). The research activities suggested by the scientific community have the aim to overcome these problems by striving to connect biological and physiological aspects in a more holistic view of space adaptation effects

How do gravity alterations affect animal and human systems at a cellular/tissue level?

The present white paper concerns the indications and recommendations of the SciSpacE Science Community to make progress in filling the gaps of knowledge that prevent us from answering the question: “How Do Gravity Alterations Affect Animal and Human Systems at a Cellular/Tissue Level?” This is one of the five major scientific issues of the ESA roadmap “Biology in Space and Analogue Environments”. Despite the many studies conducted so far on spaceflight adaptation mechanisms and related pathophysiological alterations observed in astronauts, we are not yet able to elaborate a synthetic integrated model of the many changes occurring at different system and functional levels. Consequently, it is difficult to develop credible models for predicting long-term consequences of human adaptation to the space environment, as well as to implement medical support plans for long-term missions and a strategy for preventing the possible health risks due to prolonged exposure to spaceflight beyond the low Earth orbit (LEO). The research activities suggested by the scientific community have the aim to overcome these problems by striving to connect biological and physiological aspects in a more holistic view of space adaptation effects