Nabonidus, King of Babylon

It may seem anomalous to devote this column, which should contain the portrait of someone who contributed to the issue's main topic, to the last Neo-Babylonian king, having at disposal a considerable number of renowned scholars, explorers, philologists, and archaeologists who could well have deserved this attention: Pietro Della Valle, Carsten Niebuhr, Georg Friedrich Grotefend, Paul-Émile Botta, Austen Henry Layard, Robert Koldewey, and Ernest Renan are just some of the many possible illustrious candidates.There is basically one reason for the choice of Nabonidus: he is one of the very few characters involved with cultural heritage as both agent and object. As agent, he has been considered the first archaeologist ever, and—even if his description as "archaeologist" may be extreme—his use of the past for ideological purposes is undeniable; as object, he—or rather his acts, attitudes, and dispositions—were reinterpreted and transmitted to modern times through different literary testimonies

Dealing with the Past in the Present: How and Why?

non

Minerals content in Basilicata region (southern Italy) honeys from areas with different anthropic impact

SummaryThe aim of this study was to examine the minerals content (toxic elements, macro‐elements and trace elements) of Basilicata region (southern Italy) honeys and compare the mineral profile of honeys classified as rural, industrial and urban according to anthropic characteristics of geographical origin. Overall, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Al, Zn and Mn were the most abundant elements detected in honeys, with average contents exceeding 1 ppm, whereas heavy metals content was lower than the maximum limit established for honey. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (P < 0.05) among honeys as function of anthropic characteristics of geographical origin, with the exception for Se, Co and Ag content. Industrial honeys were characterised by the highest Zn, Cr, Sn, Cd and Pb content, urban honeys showed the highest As, Fe, Ni, Mn, Na, Mg and Ca content, whereas rural honeys showed the highest Cu, Al and Ba content (P < 0.05). The findings of this study highlighted that honeys mineral profile is closely related to different content of elements in environment, which is affected by anthropogenic activities

Fortresses and Earthquake. How the architectural technologies influence the mechanisms of damage.

L’obiettivo dello studio condotto è rappresentato dall’individuazione dei rapporti intercorrenti tra le caratteristiche morfologico-costruttive, lo sciame sismico ed i cinematismi di danno innescati dal terremoto in Emilia del 2012, in alcune strutture fortificate. Come primo step si è provveduto a inquadrare da un punto di vista geografico e sismologico l’area di interesse. Successivamente sono state analizzate la forma e l’evoluzione storica dei manufatti fortificati, sono stati realizzati sopralluoghi e rilievi fotografici, al fine di constatarne i caratteri morfologico-costruttivi principali e poter suddividere le fabbriche storiche in macro gruppi aventi caratteristiche simili. Questa macro-catalogazione ha permesso di individuare tra tredici fortificazioni precedentemente selezionate, le cinque rocche che costituiscono i casi di approfondimento. I sopralluoghi effettuati presso i tredici edifici hanno permesso di individuare i cinematismi di danno innescatisi. I meccanismi di danno rilevati sono stati successivamente catalogati in un apposito abaco. Relativamente a soli cinque casi di studio, sono stati studiati dettagliatamente i cinematismi di danno, suddividendoli secondo i vari elementi architettonici interessati. Dallo studio è emerso che ogni cinematismo non è stato provocato da una sola causa, ma da varie motivazioni, combinate fra loro in modi diversi. Fra di esse le più importanti sono: le trasformazioni diacroniche dei manufatti, la posizione reciproca degli elementi architettonici all’interno del medesimo complesso fortificato, i vizi costruttivi intrinseci, come ad esempio negli elementi murari pieni, la mancanza di connessioni tra i vari livelli, la scarsa qualità dei materiali utilizzati, l’incompatibilità di alcuni interventi di restauro realizzati nel XX sec. e i rapporti tra i manufatti presi in considerazione e le peculiarità dell’ambiente limitrofo, come l’alto tasso di umidità per risalita capillare favorito dalla presenza di falde acquifere non troppo profonde. Inoltre le caratteristiche dello sciame sismico hanno influenzato notevolmente le tipologie di danno rilevate.The main target of the study is to understand the relationships between the morphological and structural characteristics, the earthquake swarm and the mechanisms of damage, triggered by the Emilian earthquake of 2012, in some Emilian fortresses. The first step of the research has been to set the considered area from a geographical and seismological point of view. Then the evolution, the materials and the architectural technologies of the Emilian fortresses have been studied. Surveys and photographic evaluations have been done in order to understand the main morphological and structural characteristics of thirteen selected fortresses and to divide them into groups with similar features. By this large-scale subdivision, between the thirteen fortresses, the five case of study have been selected. During the surveys performed in the thirteen cases of study, seismic damages have been observed. The damage mechanisms checked have been classified in a chart. Only for the five cases the damages of the chart have been studied in detail and they have been divided into architectural elements. The outcome of the study is that each mechanism of damage was not caused just by one reason but by several ones, variously combined. The most important reasons are: the diachronic changes of the buildings during the time, the mutual position of architectural elements in a fortress, the building defects, for example when there aren’t elements of connection between different levels in the walls, the poor quality of building materials used, the incompatibility of the restoration interventions made during the XX century and the relationships between the cases of study and the peculiarity of the environment, as for example the high level of humidity and the aquifer not very deep. Furthermore the characteristics of the earthquake swarm have influenced the characteristics of the observed damages

Sit-to-Walk predicts Freezing of Gait status over than cognitive load: an experimental study with Linear Discriminant Analysis.

Freezing of Gait (FoG) is one of the most debilitating symptom of patients with Parkinson Disease (PwP) as it could leads to fall and loss of independence. We evaluated the motor behavior in simple and complex gait movements with three groups of participants: PwP with and without FoG in ON state condition, and participants without neurologic and gait disorders. All participants were required to walk, to begin to walk (Step Initiation), and raise from a chair for walking (Sit-to-Walk). Analysis of variance helped to identify task-specific kinematic and kinetic variables which differentiate among the three groups. Classification accuracy of such variables was obtained by training a Linear Discriminant Analysis \u2013 LDA algorithm on reduced sub-samples, and by testing it on the left out subjects

Survey of the Ridracoli Dam: UAV – Based Photogrammetry and Traditional Topographic Techniques in the Inspection of Vertical Structures*

The inspection of strategic works such as dams is of vital importance both for their maintenance and for the safety of downstream populations. The reduced accessibility, both for uptake needs and for their strategic nature, and the large time needed for an inspection by traditional method do not facilitate the investigation of this type of structures. The new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, equipped with high-performance cameras, allows for rapid photographic coverage of the whole dam system. Apart from the placement on the structure of a high number of markers, the correct geo-referencing and validation of the model also requires an important terrestrial topographic campaign by total station, Global Positioning System and laser scanner. Punctual, linear and surface analysis shows the high accuracy of the drone acquiring technique. The product is suitable for a detailed survey of the conservation status of the materials and the complete metric reconstruction of the dam system and the adjacent land. The present work explains firstly a UAV acquisition and then the first dense point cloud validation procedure of a concrete arch gravity dam. The Ridracoli dam is the object of the survey, located in the village of Santa Sofia in central Italy

Schizophrenia and quality of life: how important are symptoms and functioning?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>the relationship between Quality of life (QoL) and global functioning and symptoms in outpatients with Schizophrenia</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study was carried out on the outpatients with schizophrenia attending a Community Mental Health Centre in 2008. Each patient completed the WHO QoL Instrument - Brief and was administered the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-24 to assess psychiatric symptoms and the VADO Personal and social Functioning Scale to assess the level of functioning.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>subjects showed an intermediate satisfaction on the overall QoL and health; these data can be juxtaposed to the national standard sample rates. QoL resulted positively associated to personal and social functioning, while it was negatively related to psychiatric symptoms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>patients showed a fairly good satisfaction in regard to their QoL. The severity of psychiatric symptoms is one of the elements influencing QoL, together with personal and social functioning that plays a relevant role.</p