Rilievo, documentazione e ricostruzione di un centro monumentale con fotogrammetria e modellazione tridimensionali: il caso della città romana di Sala

The paper analyses the practise of surveying and reconstruction of the buildings in a Roman North Africa monumental centre by means of photogrammetry and three-dimensional modeling. Photogrammetry, in particular, proves to be an efficient and economic method for field analysis, although it has limitations in terms of processing time and the need for very powerful computers. Photogrammetric models, characterized by a high volumetric and colorimetric quality, constitute an ideal basis for reconstruction by means of 3D modeling, particularly in the case of research, such as this one, related to the Archaeology of Construction

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Le aree pubbliche e monumentali africane in età romana. Il foro di Sala (Chellah/Rabat, Marocco)

La ricerca sul centro monumentale di Sala (Mauretania Tingitana) si pone l’obiettivo di contribuire alla conoscenza della città antica tramite l’analisi degli edifici che lo formano, per offrire un quadro della sua evoluzione costruttiva e urbanistica e metterla a confronto con quella di altri centri monumentali del territorio nordafricano in età romana. La città di Sala si trova a circa 3,5 km dall’estuario del fiume Bou Regreg, nei pressi della città di Rabat, in Marocco. La città è stata scavata negli anni ’30 e tra il 1959 e il 1987 da équipes di ricerca francesi, le cui attività hanno riportato alla luce tutto ciò che è oggi visibile. Gli scavi francesi non sono stati corredati da pubblicazioni esaustive su stratigrafie e ritrovamenti, e su di essi, oggi, abbiamo notizie incomplete, spesso riguardanti solo ben determinate tipologie di reperti. Data la mancanza di dati precisi su stratigrafie e materiali, si è deciso di tentare un’interpretazione tramite gli strumenti offerti dall’Archeologia dell’Architettura e l’Archeologia della Costruzione per tracciare un quadro dell’evoluzione costruttiva delle strutture e di quella urbanistica del quartiere. Gli edifici sono stati analizzati nei loro rapporti stratigrafici per delinearne l’evoluzione e le peculiarità costruttive, che costituiscono la base per la loro ricostruzione tridimensionale. La metodologia d’indagine è basata sulla combinazione dei dati desunti dalle pubblicazioni, dagli archivi e dall’analisi sul campo, comprendente il rilievo topografico e fotogrammetrico tridimensionale e l’analisi stratigrafica delle strutture. I dati raccolti sono stati immagazzinati ed interrogati grazie alla creazione di una base di dati collegata ad un Sistema Informativo Geografico. I nuovi dati derivanti dall’analisi sul campo sono stati combinati a quelli desumibili dalle pubblicazioni e, in alcuni casi, anche da documenti fotografici inediti realizzati dagli scavatori. Per ciascun edificio del centro monumentale si offre una descrizione delle evidenze e delle attività archeologiche precedenti, combinata ai nuovi dati desunti dall’analisi sul campo, che ne delineano la storia costruttiva. A partire dai dati raccolti sul campo si propone anche l’analisi del progetto costruttivo, che ha rivelato la commistione di due unità di misura, il pes monetalis romano e il cubitus structorius punico, utilizzati rispettivamente per la realizzazione del progetto architettonico e per la realizzazione dei blocchi in pietra. Per gli edifici meglio conservati si propongono anche una o più ipotesi ricostruttive bi e tridimensionali. I dati raccolti sono stati anche utilizzati per descrivere l’evoluzione urbanistica del quartiere nelle varie fasi della sua occupazione, con particolare attenzione alle trasformazioni avvenute in età romana, durante la quale il centro subisce profonde modifiche mirate alla sua monumentalizzazione. Si analizza, infine, la situazione urbanistica del centro monumentale nel II secolo d.C., confrontandola con altre realtà del territorio africano. Sulla base delle caratteristiche dell’area e della sua organizzazione urbanistica si propone per essa una nuova interpretazione, che la vede come un sistema integrato di spazi pubblici attorno ai quali si sviluppavano la vita civile e religiosa della città. The research on the monumental centre of Sala (Mauretania Tingitana) aims to contribute to the knowledge of such ancient city through the analysis of its buildings Therefore it offers a picture of its constructive and urban evolution, providing a comparison with the other monumental centres of the North African territory in Roman times. The city of Sala is located about 3.5 km from the estuary of the Bou Regreg River, near the city of Rabat, Morocco. This city was excavated in the 1930s, and between 1959 and 1987 by French excavation teams, whose activities brought to light everything that is visible today. This excavations did not provide exhaustive publications on stratigraphies, therefore only incomplete information focused mainly on restricted finding typologies are nowadays available. Due to this lack of information, stratigraphies were interpreted with the help of Archaeology of Architecture and the Archaeology of Construction, drawing a picture of the constructive evolution of the structures and the urban evolution of the area. The buildings have been analysed in their stratigraphic relationships to outline their evolution and construction peculiarities, constituting the basis for their 3D reconstruction. The investigation methodology is based on the combination of data from publications, archives, and field analysis, including topographic and 3D photogrammetric survey, and the stratigraphic analysis of structures. A database connected to a Geographic Information System was created to query the collected data. The new data from the field analysis were combined with those from the publications and, in some cases, also from unpublished photographs made by the excavators. For each building in the monumental centre, I provide a description of the previous archaeological evidences and activities together with new data from field analysis, which outlines its construction history. On the basis of the data collected in the field, I also propose the analysis of the construction project. This revealed the mixture of two units of measurement, the Roman pes monetalis and the Punic cubitus structorius, used respectively for the realization of the architectural project and of the stone blocks. Moreover I propose one or more 2D and 3D reconstructive hypotheses for the best preserved buildings. The collected data was also used to describe the urban evolution of the district during the various phases of its occupation, focusing on the transformations occurred in the Roman era, when the centre underwent profound changes aimed to its monumentalisation. Finally, I analyse the urban situation of the monumental centre in the 2nd century A.D., comparing it with the other realities in the African territory. On the basis of the characteristics of the area and its urban organization, I propose a new interpretation of it as an integrated system of public spaces around which the civil and religious life of the city developed

Introduzione [a A. Arrighetti, R. Pansini (a cura di), Sistemi e tecniche di documentazione, gestione e valorizzazione dell’architettura storica: alcune recenti esperienze, «Archeologia e Calcolatori»]

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The civic district of Sala (Chellah – Rabat, Morocco): shaping and perceiving monuments under the Roman empire

This article investigates the development of urbanism and architecture at the site of Sala (Chellah), from the end of the first century BC to the latter half of the second century AD. By looking at the transformations in the town’s civic centre from the Mauretanian to Roman imperial period, the aim is to assess how the layout and function of public spaces and buildings were reshaped to respond to new ideas of monumentality. A range of research methodologies are applied to address this question, including architectural, archival, and archaeological analyses, as well as the use of 3D digital modelling. The case study of Sala is of particular importance, as it shows how certain pre-Roman monuments were kept in use within new public contexts, and how imperial-style, urban and architectural features were introduced in the town as part of trends that can be recognized across North Africa and the Roman Empire more broadl

Magnetic clustering of weakly interacting Ni-ions in Ni-exchanged zeolites

Divalent Nickel cations were incorporated in two commercial zeolites (Na-A zeolite and Na-X zeolite) by a process of ionic exchange marginally affecting structure, morphology and porosity of the host materials, as verified by XRD, HRTEM and physisorption measurements. Comparable amounts of magnetic ions were introduced (4.80 wt.% in Na-A zeolite and 6.20 wt.% in Na-X zeolite), as checked by AAS and TGA. Magnetic measurements were done between 2 and 300 K using a SQUID magnetometer up to 70 kOe. The initial susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law with Curie temperatures θ of 10.3 and 11.5 K. The effective magnetic moments on Ni2+ ions suggest almost complete quenching of the angular momentum. No long-range magnetic order is found below θ; however, FC/ZFC magnetization curves indicate the formation of superparamagnetic clusters of magnetic ions with blocking temperature of about 6.5 K in both zeolites. Cluster size, average number of clustered ions, effective anisotropy of clusters are evaluated. A comprehensive picture of all magnetic effects taking place over the whole temperature range is drawn by combining magnetic, structural and morphological dat