Between valleys, plateaus, and mountains: unveiling livestock altitudinal mobility in the Iron Age Iberian Peninsula (3rd c. BC) through a multi-isotope approach

Seasonal altitudinal mobility has been a key practice among pastoral societies in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula to cope with the unpredictable Mediterranean climate. The existence of a massive and regulated mobile herding system in this area dates back to the 12th century. Nevertheless, early herd connections between the lowlands and the Pyrenees during the Roman period have been documented. The available information regarding the potential adoption of sheep's mobile pastoralism by Iberian societies prior to the Romans' arrival is limited. This study aims to provide fundamental new insights into livestock altitudinal mobility during this period through a biogeochemical approach. Sequential analysis of carbon and oxygen isotope values is combined with strontium isotope ratios from sheep second and third lower molars from four Catalan sites (Mas Castellar de Pontós, Tossal de Baltarga, Sant Esteve d'Olius, Turó de la Rovira). The results reveal evidence of migrations across different altitudinal and geological areas, unveiling the great adaptability of mobile livestock strategies by Iberian populations. The first evidence of descending herds' mobility from the Pyrenees to the lowlands prior to the Roman conquest is also attested. Finally, the effectiveness of multi-isotope analysis (δ18O, δ13C, 87Sr/86Sr) in detecting seasonal livestock movements is demonstrated. Thus, this study provides a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the complexity of sheep livestock management of the north-eastern Iberian societies during the Middle/Late Iron Age. Moreover, the research points to a more integrated and connected Ibero-Pyrenean world with contemporary lowland communities than so far suggested. However, animal mobility was not widely practised and was possibly determined by the environmental conditions, economic needs, and political decisions of each settlement

Salivary Proteomic Analysis and Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Abstract Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is the major life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), developing in 35%-70% of all allo-HSCT recipients despite immunosuppressive prophylaxis. The recent application of proteomic tools that allow screening for differentially expressed or excreted proteins in body fluids could possibly identify specific biomarkers for GVHD. Whole saliva is highly attractive for noninvasive specimen collection. In the present study, we collected saliva specimens from 40 consecutives patients who underwent allo-HSCT between December 2008 and March 2011 at our institution. The specimens were analyzed by HPLC coupled to electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry. Variable expression of S100 protein family members (S100A8, S100A9, and S100A7) was detected. Fourteen of 23 patients with GVHD demonstrated the presence of S100A8, compared with only 2 patients without GVHD and 0 patients in the control group ( P = .001). S100A7 was detectable in 11 of the 23 patients with GVHD but was absent in the other 2 groups ( P = .0001). S100A9-short was detected in 20 patients with GVHD, in 9 patients without GVHD, and in 8 healthy volunteers ( P = .01) Further studies are needed to clarify the role of these proteins as a marker of GVHD or as an index of mucosal inflammation

Livestock management at the Late Iron Age site of Baltarga (eastern Pyrenees): an integrated bio-geoarchaeological approach

Despite the important role of livestock farming amongst Iron Age communities living in mountain regions, there is little information about livestock management, and particularly stabling practises, breeding systems, and grazing/foddering patterns. The study of the ground floor of Building G in Tossal de Baltarga has provided valuable insights into these important issues and has given us a better understanding of the social and economic patterns involved in all these livestock activities. It revealed the existence of a stable from the Late Iron Age, thanks to unique in situ finds of the stabled animals, including four sheep, a goat, and a horse, in addition to a range of organic remains preserved by fire and penning deposits. It is the first documented to date in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Through an integrated bio-geoarchaeological approach, combining a range of analytic procedures, including osteology, dental microwear, stable isotopes, phytoliths, dung spherulite analyses, and thin-section micromorphology, for the first time, this study has provided new, high-resolution evidence of livestock management strategies. Specifically, the research shed light on animal penning and feeding practises, revealing variable herbivorous regimes between species, the practise of seasonal movements, and the possible use of fodder as the main dietary regime of the animals stabled there. At the same time, the Baltarga case-study illustrates an indoor production unit that could reveal possible private control of some domestic animals in the Pyrenean Late Iron Age.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. LC is currently supported by a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC2019-026732-I-AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033). CM has the financial support of the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya and European Social Fund (ESF) “Investing in your future” (2022 FI_B2 00070). The funding for this research has been partially provided within the framework of the projects “Control, gestión y explotación del territorio en la Hispania romana”, PID2021-122879OB-I00, MICIN, and “PATCA-3”, Generalitat de Catalunya, 9071-55/2022

Ellos también son lo que comen: la integración de los análisis de isótopos estables en zooarqueología

Los análisis de isótopos estables permiten obtener información sobre aspectos muy concretos vinculados a las condiciones de vida de las poblaciones animales estudiadas, inalcanzables a partir de aproximaciones metodológicas tradicionales. La capacidad de estos análisis para estudiar aspectos clave como la gestión de la reproducción, la alimentación y la movilidad de los animales por parte de las comunidades humanas, los ha convertido en una metodología esencial para el estudio de problemáticas históricas relacionadas con los procesos de domesticación animal o las estrategias de gestión ganadera.Stable isotope analysis allows obtaining high-resolution data bound to the living conditions of the studied animal populations, in most cases unattainable through traditional methodological approaches. The ability of these analyses to investigate key aspects of animal management, such as control of reproduction, feeding habits and mobility practices, has turned this methodology essential for the study of animal domestication processes or past husbandry practices

Faunal exploitation in an Early Neolithic site: the assemblage from Casa Gazza (Travo, Piacenza, Northern Italy)

The faunal assemblage of Casa Gazza, providing new data to lighten the economic model of the Early Neolithic communities in northern Italy, represents a significative evidence in the Po Plain. The settlement, a half-buried pit, is located on a large terrace on the left bank of the Trebbia River (150 m a.s.l.), in the area of Travo (Piacenza, northern Italy). The results of zooarchaeological, taphonomic and paleoecological analyses are here discussed. The faunal assemblage consists of 7,354 remains of which 1,417 were identified (NISp). Faunal composition shows a prevalence of domestic animals on the wild ones. Butchery marks are well documented and several modifications are related to hard animal material manufacturing. Comparisons with Neolithic sites of the Po Plain, show that the economy at Casa Gazza was characterized by a fully-developed sedentary breeding.La contribution fournie par Casa Gazza à la connaissance et à la reconstruction du modèle économique des premières communautés du Néolithique du nord de l’Italie représente un important témoignage dans la plaine du Pô. Le site, qui se caractérise par une fosse à demi enterrée, est situé sur une grande terrasse sur la rive gauche de la rivière Trebbia (150 m a.s.l.), dans la région de Travo (Piacenza, Italie du Nord). Les résultats des analyses archéozoologiques, taphonomiques et paléoécologiques sont présentés ici. L’assemblage faunique est composé de 7.354 restes, dont 1.417 ont été identifiés au niveau spécifique. La composition de la faune montre une prévalence d’animaux domestiques par rapport aux animaux sauvages. Les stries de découpe de boucherie sont bien documentées et plusieurs modifications sont liées à la fabrication d’artefacts en matière dure animale. Les comparaisons avec les sites néolithiques de la plaine du Pô montrent comment l’économie de Casa Gazza était caractérisée par un élevage sédentaire pleinement développé

alpha-Defensin levels in whole saliva of totally edentulous subjects.

Salivary levels of α-defensins 1–4 and histatins 1, 3 and 5 were determined in 11 totally edentulous patients, 11 younger healthy adults with normal gingival mucosa (Control group I) and 8 subjects, age-matched with edentulous patients, having a minimum of 25 teeth (Control group II). Whole saliva was treated with trifluoroacetic acid and the acidic soluble fraction analyzed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The area of the extracted ion current peaks was used for peptide quantification. Levels of α-defensinsl-4, but not of histatins, were significantly lower in totally edentulous patients with respect to both Control group I and Control group II. The two control groups did not show significant differences. The reduced level of oral α-defensins, which are mainly of crevicular origin, is most likely due to the absence of the gingival sulcus in the edentulous subjects. The near absence of α-defensins might be in part responsible for the higher vulnerability of the oral cavity to oral pathogen infections observed in totally edentulous patients

The mapping competences of the nurse Case/Care Manager in the context of Intensive Care

Since the recent introduction of the Case/Care Manager's professional figure, it is quite difficult to identify properly his/her own particular features, which could be mainly be found revising mainly in American studies. Therefore, the present study intended to identify the Case/Care Manager's skills and professional profile in an Intensive Care Unit experience, taking into consideration the staff's activities, perception and expectations towards the Case/Care Manager. In particular, it has been compared the experience of an Intensive Care Units where the Case/Care Manager's profile is operational to a different Unit where a Case/Care Manager is not yet in force

Animal husbandry in Sicilian prehistory: The zooarchaeological perspective from Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo)

Starting in the mid-6th millennium cal BCE, Neolithic groups occupied the midlands of Sicily. The economy of these groups was based primarily on livestock farming. Archaeological and archaeobotanical data indicate an intensification of livestock practices during the Early Bronze Age, leading to a change in the landscape in the form of more open forests. The Vallone Inferno rockshelter in the Madonie massif is one of the few sites that has been systematically excavated in these midlands, and has yielded evidence of Middle Neolithic and Early Bronze Age occupations. This work focuses on the study of prehistoric husbandry in the Sicilian midlands and highlands through the analysis of the Vallone Inferno faunal remains. Although the Middle Neolithic and Early Bronze Age faunal assemblages of Vallone Inferno are mixed, the paucity of information from other sites in this area makes their study worthwhile. The faunal remains were analysed by means of a zooarchaeological and taphonomic study. Prehistoric Sicilian shepherds adapted to the conditions and resources of the Madonie massif midlands and highlands through husbandry and hunting practices. Husbandry was based on raising sheep and goats for meat and milk and exploiting their derivatives. Cattle, pigs and hunted animals were also exploited for their meat. The hunting of deer, leporids and, most probably, wild boar for meat and skins complemented livestock farming. Although mortality profiles should be interpreted with caution, the rockshelter was probably occupied seasonally as a sheepfold during the breeding months and most likely served as an intermediate settlement between herd movements across the Madonie massif. These occupations coincide with a period in which the forests were opened up in the Madonie mountains, which is related to the practice of livestock farming

Education, dissemination and new technological approaches for a museum opened behind closed doors: the University Museum of Paleontology and Prehistory ‘P. Leonardi’

The Museum of Paleontology and Prehistory ‘P. Leonardi’ was founded in the mid-60s by Professor Piero Leonardi, who aimed to create an exhibition dedicated to university teaching. Over the years, the continuous and growing demand led to a reconfiguration of the Museum for an open enjoyment to a wider and more diversified public. Unfortunately, in 2012 the Museum was damaged by the earthquake that struck the Emilia Romagna region; since then, the Museum cannot be visited while awaiting for the renovation work. Accessibility, involvement and identification are the elements necessary for the museum experience to be fully lived. Traditionally, access problems have been mainly associated with architectural barriers, while only recently the general attention was more carefully focused on immaterial types of barriers, such as sensorial and cognitive or cultural and technological ones. Thus, communication in the museum context is of primary attention, as far as it places the visitor at the core of the communicative process instead of the Museum exhibition, facilitating the visitor during a process of personal experiential growth. But what happens when the Museum is no longer available? Is it possible to get out of the physical limits of the Museum itself and to make the heritage available again? In order to respond to different fruition needs an integrated enhancement project has been developed, involving the digitization of the collections by new technologies; this attempt to create a virtual and dynamic environment has the dual purpose of allowing consultation to researchers and students and to set up virtual paths for non-academic users. Furthermore, the demand for educational workshops for schools of all levels was granted thanks to a Student Association comprised of several students enrolled in the Master’s Degree, and which aim is to disseminate and communicate the contents of the Museum in the light of the latest scientific discoveries. Finally, the staging of temporary exhibitions allowed the heritage to be brought out of the Museum and to be available to the general public with the possibility of creating new thematic routes, which in future will implement the original path of the Museum itself