Topographical reconstruction of ancient Palermo: a note on its buildings for public spectacles and their relation with the Roman-period civic planning

Topographical studies in the last decades have greatly improved our knowledge of Roman Panormus (modern day Palermo) but many aspects of its urban planning still remain obscure. It is very hard work to clearly understand a city that has been continuously inhabited from at least the Iron Age to the present. This long standing existence implies countless transformations of its urban aspect. In particular the Arab domination, in the Middle Ages, erased even the memory of the ancient place names, so the toponomastic source that is often a fundamental tool for the ancient topographer is almost useless. Using the typical sources of ancient topography and landscape archaeology and its multidisciplinary approach can be exceedingly useful in understanding the ancient aspect of a living city. We found an important lack of information about ancient Palermo: the location of buildings designed for public spectacles. The epigraphic sources prove that in Palermo there was a theatre and an amphitheatre; from a Late-Antique source we can assume that there was also a circus. This paper’s aim is to suggest concrete hypotheses to identify the locations of all three of these buildings, discuss their position and their relation to the civic plan of Panormus. These results are important in understanding this city in a more complete way but also for the protection of its archaeological heritage: these three areas lie outside the ancient walls of Palermo and have hitherto been considered “low-risk areas” for archaeology. manifestations

Densidad de venas foliares y la tasa de fotosíntesis en Rosa: ¿Existe una correlación?

A thorough knowledge of the leaf vascular network and its evolution is essential for understanding the fluid dynamics of water movement in leaves. Recent studies have shown how these networks can be involved in the performance of photosynthesis, which is linked to the density of the vascular network per unit of leaf area. The aim of this study is to highlight the correlation between leaf vein density (VD) and physiological parameters. The hypothesis proposed was tested on the leaves ofthe “Isabel Renaissance” (IR) rose cultivar. The main result concerned the VD, which was significantly correlated with the maximum leaf net photosynthetic rate (PN). This finding supports the hypothesis that the vascular system of IR leaves can be correlated with leaf photosynthesis performance.Densidad de venas foliares y la tasa de fotosíntesis en Rosa: ¿Existe una correlación? Un conocimiento profundo de la red vascular de la hoja y su evolución es esencial para la comprensión de la dinámica de fluidos del movimiento del agua en las hojas. Estudios recientes han demostrado cómo estas redes pueden estar implicadas en el rendimiento de la fotosíntesis, que está vinculada con la densidad de la red vascular por unidad de área de la hoja. El objetivo de este estudio es poner de relieve la correlación entre la densidad de venas de la hoja (VD) y parámetros fisiológicos. La hipótesis propuesta fue probada en las hojas del cultivar de rosa “Isabel Renaissance” (IR). El resultado principal referido a VD, se correlacionó significativamente con la tasa de fotosíntesis  endimiento de la fotosíntesis de la hoja

Ipotesi di riconoscimento dei teatri di Pella e della Colonia Pellensis mediante immagini telerilevate

Riassunto. La città di Pella, antica capitale del Regno di Macedonia e patria di Filippo II e Alessandro Magno, è un centro piuttosto ben noto dal punto di vista urbanistico. Le fonti tuttavia affermano con chiarezza che nella città dovesse essere presente un teatro che non è mai stato individuato. Nel presente lavoro si sono valutate le potenzialità di software come Google Earth e Bing per l’analisi del territorio e la ricostruzione dell’urbanistica antica e ciò ha portato al riconoscimento di un’anomalia a E del palazzo reale particolarmente interessante e che potrebbe corrispondere al teatro menzionato. Si è poi affrontato con i medesimi mezzi lo studio della colonia romana che si impostò nei pressi dell’antica città macedone e, anche in questo caso, si è individuata una traccia compatibile con quella di un teatro o di un odeon di tipologia romana. Nulla di certo potrà essere affermato senza una verifica archeologica, ma certamente si potrà aprire un nuovo indirizzo di ricerca per l’antica Pella

I Municipia nell’attuale provincia di Reggio Emilia: questioni di topografia e storia

La ripartizione amministrativa moderna, e un poco superata da recenti riforme, cui si fa riferimento nel titolo del presente lavoro, ha, in realtà, una precisa corrispondenza in età romana con il territorio che si poneva fra gli agri amministrati dalle colonie gemelle di Parma e Mutina, fondate nel 183 a.C. e risulta individuata, dal punto di vista della geografia fisica, nei suoi limiti orientale e occidentale, rispettivamente, dai fiumi Secchia (Secula) ed Enza (Incia), a nord dal Po (Padus) e a sud dallo spartiacque appenninico (Appenninus). Nell’area non si attuò, in principio, alcuna fondazione coloniale, ma si procedette ad una assegnazione viritana: tale territorio fu diviso in lotti che furono affidati, per sorteggio, a singoli coloni, con ogni probabilità, nel 173 a.C. Per fornire ai nuovi abitanti i basilari agi della vita cittadina furono, in tale occasione, istituiti semplici centri di servizi. Tali agglomerati crebbero in dimensioni e ricchezza, nella regione che diverrà il Flos Italiae, firmamentum Imperii Romani, come scrive Cicerone, fino a divenire, nel corso del I sec. a.C., vere e proprie città: Regium Lepidi al centro del territorio, Brixellum, Tannetum e Luceria lungo l’asta dell’Enza. Centri tanto simili ebbero però differenti destini, cosa che ha implicato la necessità di affrontare il loro studio attraverso metodologie diversificate che però hanno portato a nuove interessanti acquisizioni per tutti i centri menzionati

On uniform k-partition problems

AbstractWe study various uniform k-partition problems which consist in partitioning m sets, each of cardinality k, into k sets of cardinality m such that each of these sets contains exactly one element from every original set. The problems differ according to the particular measure of “set uniformity” to be optimized. Most problems are polynomial and corresponding solution algorithms are provided. A few of them are proved to be NP-hard. Examples of applications to scheduling and routing problems are also discussed

Sustainable Viticulture: Effects of Soil Management in Vitis vinifera

Soil management in vineyards is of fundamental importance not only for the productivity and quality of grapes, both in biological and conventional management, but also for greater sustainability of the production. Conservative soil management techniques play an important role, compared to conventional tillage, in order to preserve biodiversity, to save soil fertility, and to keep vegetative-productive balance. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate long-term adaptation strategies to create a balance between the vine and the surrounding environment. This work sought to assess the effects of following different management practices on Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon during 2017 and 2018 seasons: soil tillage (T), temporary cover cropping over all inter-rows (C), and mulching with plant residues every other row (M). The main physiological parameters of vines (leaf gas exchange, stem water potential, chlorophyll fluorescence, and indirect chlorophyll content) as well as qualitative and quantitative grape parameters (technological and phenolic analyses) were measured. Significant differences in gas exchanges related to the different season and inter-row management were observed. C showed more negative values of water potential, due to the grass–vine competition, especially when water availability was lower. The competition exerted by C led to differences in fruit setting with impact on yield; therefrom, significant differences also in sugar and anthocyanic content were observed

Eco-Physiological Traits and Phenylpropanoid Profiling on Potted Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinot Noir Subjected to Ascophyllum nodosum Treatments under Post-Veraison Low Water Availability

supplementary figure and tables for the article Eco-physiological traits and phenylpropanoid profiling on potted Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinot noir subjected to Ascophyllum nodosum treatments under post-véraison low water availability submitted to Applied Science

Effetto dei suoli degradati sul comportamento vegeto-produttivo della vite

In Italian vineyards it is common to find more or less extended areas with chemico-physical or biological soil deficiencies and problems in plant vigor and grape production. A reduced agronomic functionality is caused by wrong soil managements and improper land preparation before vine plantations. A strong land transformation alters, in fact, the existing natural balance, causing loss of organic matter and nutrients, erosions, reduction of available water and metal accumulation. This phenomenon affects the growth of vines and the grape yields. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of degraded soils on the vineyards of two Tuscan vine-growing regions (Chianti Classico and Maremma Toscana). In two farms, we have identified respectively three degraded and three non-degraded areas in order to assess the fitness of the vines and the quality of the grapes. We found marked differences between degraded and non-degraded areas: as expected, the soil conditions have influenced the vigor of the plants, the production and the grapes had an unbalanced maturation