Automatic identification of sites prone to topographic seismic amplification effects by the current seismic codes

Current seismic codes provide proxies to estimate seismic amplification effects expected in correspondence of some morphological features. To make possible any empirical validation of these proxies, these features must be univocally identified on the basis of an automatic procedure. To this purpose, based on geomorphological considerations, a GIS-based numerical approach has been developed. The results of a morphometric analysis allowed the correct identification and mapping of the landforms of concern, at a detail corresponding to the resolution of the available digital elevation model (DEM). Some case-studies are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed approach. © 2023 The Author

La sequenza archeologica di Barbiano – Caserma dei vigili del fuoco (Bolzano) : evidenze di sistemazioni dei versanti durante il neolitico

Il sito di Barbiano \ue8 stato occupato in varie fasi dalla Preistoria all\u2019Et\ue0 Romana Le prime evidenze insediative risalgono all\u2019inizio del Neolitico medio, circa 7000 anni BP. L\u2019occupazione venne preceduta dalla creazione di una ampia piattaforma, un terrazzo, realizzato asportando i depositi fluvioglaciali e la sovrastante copertura pedologica. La piattaforma venne completata con il riporto su tutta la superficie di alcuni decimetri di sabbia. Si tratta di una delle pi\uf9 antiche evidenze di significative modificazioni antropiche del paesaggio in area alpina. Questi importanti lavori suggeriscono inoltre che l\u2019ampia area insediativa fosse abitata per la maggior parte dell\u2019anno. L\u2019insediamento marca dunque la transizione dalle pi\uf9 antiche attivit\ue0 agricole basate sulla pratica dello "slash and burn" a quelle stanziali. I livelli neolitici vennero coperti da sedimenti alluvionali e colluviali deposti come conseguenza dell\u2019attivazione di processi di degradazione dei versanti innescati dalla deforestazione. Durante l\u2019Et\ue0 Romana il torrente locale era delimitato da argini artificiali ed una serie di strutture murarie vennero edificate per delimitare e proteggere aree insediative che per\uf2 si sviluppano al di fuori dell\u2019area scavata. I sedimenti grossolani all\u2019interno del canale suggeriscono che limitati processi erosivi ancora interessavano il versante. I livelli romani sono stati successivamente sepolti da una sottile coltre colluviale che suggeriscono come i versanti sovrastanti, oggigiorno largamente terrazzati, non sono pi\uf9 stati interessati da processi erosivi che sono invece noti in altre aree della regione.The archaeological succession of Barbiano-Firehouse (Bozen): evidence of slope terracing during the Neolithic Barbiano archaeological site was occupied at various stages from the Prehistory to the Roman era. The earliest occupation of the area, seems to have occurred at the beginning of the Middle Neolithic, around 7 ka bP. It was preceded by the excavation of a large almost flat platform, a terrace, realised with the stripping of fluvioglacial deposits and the overlying soil cover. The platform was later covered with a few decimetre-thick layer of sand. This is one of the earliest evidence of important anthropogenic topographic and landscape modification in the Alps. These important works suggest that the large occupation surface was probably settled for most of the year following the transition from the nomadic agriculture and the "slash and burn" practices usually associated with the Neolithic . The Neolithic settlement was lately buried under colluvial and alluvial sediments that indicate slope degradation processes most probably triggered by deforestation. In Roman Times the local stream was delimited by artificial levee and a series of walls were built to delimitate and protect larger structures that extended beyond the excavated area. The coarse sediments that fill the channel bear witness that limited erosional processes still affected on the slope. The Roman structures were buried under shallow colluvial deposits suggesting that the overlying slope, nowadays largely terraced, did not experienced anymore erosive processes that are known to have occurred in nearby areas

Stratigraphic reassessment of Grotta Romanelli sheds light on Middle-Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironments and human settling in the Mediterranean

During the last century, Grotta Romanelli (Southern Italy) has been a reference site for the European Late Pleistocene stratigraphy, due to its geomorphological setting and archaeological and palaeontological content. The beginning of the sedimentation inside the cave was attributed to the Last Interglacial (MISs 5e) and the oldest unearthed evidence of human occupation, including remains of hearths, was therefore referred to the Middle Palaeolithic. Recent surveys and excavations produced new U/Th dates, palaeoenvironmental interpretation and a litho-, morpho- and chrono-stratigraphical reassessment, placing the oldest human frequentation of the cave between MIS 9 and MIS 7, therefore embracing Glacial and Interglacial cycles. These new data provide evidence that the sea reached the cave during the Middle Pleistocene and human occupation occurred long before MISs 5e and persisted beyond the Pleistocene- Holocene boundary

Parâmetros espaço-temporais do andar emcrianças obesas e com peso normalde acordo com o sexo

Características corporais interferem no desempenho motor. Para analisar os parâmetros espaço-temporais do andar em crianças obesas e de peso normal, por sexo, 23 crianças entre 7 e 10 anos de idade, foram intencionalmente selecionadas e distribuídas em dois grupos: obeso (OB, n=9) e normal (N, n=14). Marcadores reflexivos foram afixados em pontos anatómicos (quinto metatarso, maléolo lateral e calcando). Os participantes andaram sobre uma passarela de 8m de comprimento na velocidade preferida e foram filmados no plano sagital. As variaveis descritivas analisadas foram: comprimento da passada (CP), comprimento da passada normalizado pela estatura (CPN) duração da passada (DP), velocidade da passada (VP), duração da fase de balanço (DFB) e duração da fase de suporte (DFS). Os resultados revelaram que: grupo isoladamente interfere em CPN e DP; sexo isoladamente afeta CP, CPN, VP; grupo e sexo afetam CPN, DFB, DP. Assim, o aumento da massa corporal ocasiona mudanças nos parâmetros espaço- temporais do andar quando sexo é considerado.Considering that body features interfere in motor performance, the aim of this study was to analyze the changes in spatial and temporal parameters of gait in obese, and non-obese children according to the gender.23 children intentionally selected participated in this study and they were distributed between two experimental groups according to their body mass index:obese (OB, n=9) and normal (N, n=14). Ali the participants had written consent forms signed by their parents. Reflexive markers were attached on the following body landmarks of the rightfoot: fifth metatarsal, malleolus lateral and calcaneus. The participants were asked to walk on an 8m rubber pathway at a preferred pace while their locomotor behavior were recorded using a video camera Panasonic (model NV - M9OOOPN S-VHS) in a sagittal plane. Using a MatLab routine, the following variables were collected: stride length (SL), stride length normalized byheight (SLN), stride duration (SD), stride velocity (SV), swing phase duration (SPD), and support phase duration (SUD). Data was statically analyzed using ANOVA with groups and gender asfactors. Results revealed that: group alone interfere on SLN and SD; gender alone affects SL, SLN and SV; group and gender affects SLN, SPD and SD. These results allowed us to concludethat the increase in body weight can make changes in spatial and temporal parameters of children gait when gender is considered

Ancient Ethiopian genome reveals extensive Eurasian admixture throughout the African continent.

Characterizing genetic diversity in Africa is a crucial step for most analyses reconstructing the evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans. However, historic migrations from Eurasia into Africa have affected many contemporary populations, confounding inferences. Here, we present a 12.5× coverage ancient genome of an Ethiopian male ("Mota") who lived approximately 4500 years ago. We use this genome to demonstrate that the Eurasian backflow into Africa came from a population closely related to Early Neolithic farmers, who had colonized Europe 4000 years earlier. The extent of this backflow was much greater than previously reported, reaching all the way to Central, West, and Southern Africa, affecting even populations such as Yoruba and Mbuti, previously thought to be relatively unadmixed, who harbor 6 to 7% Eurasian ancestry.A.M. was supported by European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 647787 “LocalAdaptation”; R.P by ERC Starting Grant 263441, “ADNABIOARC”; M.H. by ERC Consolidator Grant 310763 “GeneFlow”; J.B. by the 2014 Research Fund (1.140113.01, 1.140064.01) of UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) and Geromics internal research funding; J.T.S. by ERC Consolidator Grant 617627 “ADaPt”; K.W.A. by NSF award 1027607; D.G.B. by ERC Investigator Grant 295729-CodeX; V.S. by a scholarship from the Gates Cambridge Trust; and M.G.L. by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) DTP studentship. Permission for the archaeology was given by the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and offices of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region. Raw reads from Mota are available for download through the National Center for Biotechnology Information, BioProject ID PRJNA295861, and the corresponding BAM and VCF files are available at africangenome.orgThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AAAS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aad287