L\u2019inizio dell\u2019architettura monumentale a Cerveteri: la tomba 1 del tumulo del Colonnello

Il tumulo del Colonnello, uno dei maggiori per dimensioni e complessa organizzazione planimetrica ed architettonica, si trova nel cuore della necropoli della Banditaccia, all\u2019interno del c.d. Nuovo Recinto (Figg. 1-2), in un\u2019area in parte esplorata da Raniero Mengarelli - nel corso di quello straordinario scavo estensivo protrattosi per pi\uf9 di 25 anni dal 1910 che mise in luce migliaia di tombe a partire dalla tomba delle Cinque Sedie fino a giungere al fondo di Via del Manganello \u2013 ed in parte scavata negli anni Cinquanta da Mario Moretti, che prosegu\uec quelle ricerche, scoprendo peraltro nel 1947 un altro tumulo colossale, quello Mengarelli, quasi attiguo a quello del Colonnello. Il tumulo, ben noto per la complessit\ue0 della sua architettura e per le caratteristiche modanature esterne del tamburo (Figg. 3-4), spesso citato nella letteratura scientifica sia per la particolare architettura delle sue tombe, sia per alcuni straordinari vasi appartenenti ai suoi ricchissimi corredi, \ue8 rimasto di fatto inedito, per le difficolt\ue0 di identificare gli oggetti dei corredi elencati al momento dello scavo, ma non pi\uf9 reperibili a partire dal dopoguerra, quando i materiali degli scavi Mengarelli, riseppelliti all\u2019interno di alcuni ipogei ceretani per evitare depredazioni e danni durante i lunghi anni della guerra, furono poi riportati nei magazzini dove sono rimasti in attesa di essere risistemati dopo le inevitabili confusioni dei materiali che le vicende belliche avevano causato

Prunkvolle Bestattungen. Die Gr\ue4ber der etruskischen F\ufcrsten

Panoramica delle necropoli etrusch

- Leptis e il suo anfiteatro

L\u2019anfiteatro, che sorge a Nord della citt\ue0, a circa un chilometro e mezzo dal porto antico, accanto al circo con il quale risulta collegato, \ue8 oggi ben visibile con la sua eccezionale mole. Era stato identificato nel 1865 dallo studioso tedesco G. Rohlfs, e dopo le notizie date da H. M\ue9hier de Mathuisieulx nel 1902, che ne forniva anche un primo, ma provvisorio, posizionamento su una carta topografica, e il ricordo di Pietro Romanelli - \u201cun\u2019ampia affossatura ellittica ..completamente interrata\u201d - fu oggetto nel 1959 dei primi scavi da parte di Ernesto Vergara Caffarelli, che malato ed in procinto di tornare in Italia nel 1961, affid\uf2 ad Antonino Di Vita, gi\ue0 prescelto quale nuovo adviser alle antichit\ue0 della Tripolitania, il prosieguo delle operazioni. A partire dal 1962 dunque Antonino Di Vita, tra i tanti impegni che lo vedevano occupato sia a Sabratha, nello scavo dei mausolei A e B, che a Tripoli stessa, continu\uf2 lo scavo dell\u2019anfiteatro di Leptis, che si presentava ancora coperto da pi\uf9 di 60.000 mc di sabbia che lo seppellivano quasi interamente, lasciando visibile solo qualche tratto delle murature di coronamento pi\uf9 alte

Presentazione del volume Carthage:Maîtresse de la Méditerranée, Capitale de l’Afrique (IX siècle avant J.-C. – XIIe siècle), a cura di Samir Aounallah e Attilio Mastino (Histoires et Monuments 1), Tunis 2018.

Presentation of the volume Carthage: Maîtresse de la Méditerranée, Capitale de l'Afrique (IX siècle avant J.-C. - XIIe siècle), edited by Samir Aounallah and Attilio Mastino (Histoires et Monuments 1), Tunis 2018.Presentazione del volume Carthage:Maîtresse de la Méditerranée, Capitale de l’Afrique (IX siècle avant J.-C. – XIIe siècle), a cura di Samir Aounallah e Attilio Mastino (Histoires et Monuments 1), Tunis 201

- La necropoli del Laghetto tra vecchi e nuovi scavi

Le necropoli ceretane dell’età del Ferro, venute in luce sia durante gli scavi condotti da Raniero Mengarelli nelle aree del Sorbo e di Cava della Pozzolana, sia durante quelli portati avanti dalla Fondazione Lerici negli anni ’60 in località Laghetto, attendono ancora una pubblicazione definitiva, se si esclude quella del Sorbo, a suo tempo resa nota da Roberto Vighi nel volume dei Monumenti dei Lincei del 1955, poi riedita da Ingrid Pohl nel 1972. La tomba è databile, in base alla tipologia e alle associazioni dei materiali tra la fine del terzo e l’inizio dell’ultimo quarto dell’VIII sec. a.C

Transforming activities of Chlamydia pneumoniae in human mesothelial cells

Knowledge in viral oncology has made considerable progress in the field of cancer fight. However, the role of bacteria as mediators of oncogenesis has not yet been elucidated. As cancer still is the leading cause of death in developed countries, understanding the long-term effects of bacteria has become of great importance as a possible means of cancer prevention. This study reports that Chlamydia pneumoniae infection induce transformation of human mesothelial cells. Mes1 cells infected with C. pneumoniae at a multiplicity of infection of 4 inclusion-forming units/cell showed many intracellular inclusion bodies. After a 7-day infection an increased proliferative activity was also observed. Real-time PCR analysis revealed a strong induction of calretinin, Wilms’ tumour gene 1, osteopontin, matrix metalloproteinases-2, and  membrane-type 1 metalloproteinases gene expression in Mes1 cell, infected for a longer period (14 days). The results were confirmed by western blot analysis. Zymography analysis showed that C. pneumoniae modulated the in-vitro secretion of MMP-2 in Mes1 cells both at 7 and 14 days. Cell invasion, as measured by matrigel-coated filter, increased after 7 and 14 days infection with C. pneumoniae, compared with uninfected Mes1 cells. The results of this study suggest that C. pneumoniae infection might support cellular transformation, thus increasing lung cancer risk. [Int Microbiol 2014; 17(4):185-193]Keywords: Chlamydia pneumoniae · cytotoxicity · human mesothelial cells · cellular transformation · tumoral marker

Presentazione del volume L’Anfiteatro di Leptis Magna, a cura di Maria Ricciardi, L’Erma di Bretschneider, Roma 2018, pp. 1-338, ill. 1-441.

Presentation of a book on Leptis Magna's Amphitheater, edited by Maria Ricciardi,  Rome, March 15, 2019. École Française de Rome, Piazza Navona 62Presentazione del volume L’Anfiteatro di Leptis Magna, a cura di Maria Ricciardi, L’Erma di Bretschneider, Roma 2018, pp. 1-338, ill. 1-441Roma, 15 marzo 2019. École Française de Rome, Piazza Navona 6

Vitamin D Receptor Activators and Clinical Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease

Vitamin D deficiency appears to be an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease. Evidence from both basic science and clinical studies supports the possible protective role of vitamin D beyond its effect on mineral metabolism. Toxicity of pharmacologic doses of active vitamin D metabolites, in particular calcitriol, is mainly due to the possibility of positive calcium and phosphorus balance. Therefore, vitamin D analogs have been developed, which suppress PTH secretion and synthesis with reduced calcemic and phosphatemic effects. Observational studies suggest that in hemodialysis patients the use of a vitamin D receptor (VDR) activator, such as calcitriol, doxercalciferol, paricalcitol, or alfacalcidol, is associated with a reduced mortality when compared with nonusers of any VDR activator. In this article the existing literature on the topic is reviewed, although a more robust answer to the question of whether or not VDR activators have beneficial effects in hemodialysis patients will hopefully come from a randomized controlled trial

Neurovascular coupling in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Functional and metabolic neural changes in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can be associated with poor cognitive performances. Here we analyzed the functional-metabolic neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the brain of T2DM patients. Thirty-three patients (70 +/- 6 years, 15 males) with recent T2DM diagnosis and 18 healthy control (HC) subjects (65 +/- 9 years, 9 males) were enrolled in a brain MRI study to identify the potential effects of T2DM on NVC. T2DM patients were either drug-naive (n = 19) or under treatment with metformin (n = 14) since less than 6 months. Arterial spin labeling and blood oxygen level dependent resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) images were combined to derive NVC measures in brain regions and large-scale networks in a standard brain parcelation. Altered NVC values in T2DM patients were correlated with cognitive performances spanning several neurological domains using Spearman correlation coefficients. Compared to HC, T2DM patients had reduced NVC in the default mode network (DMN) and increased NVC in three regions of the dorsal (DAN) and salience-ventral (SVAN) attention networks. NVC abnormalities in DAN and SVAN were associated with reduced visuo-spatial cognitive performances. A spatial pattern of NVC reduction in the DMN, accompanied by isolated regional NVC increases in DAN and SVAN, could reflect the emergence of (defective) compensatory processes in T2DM patients in response to altered neurovascular conditions. Overall, this pattern is reminiscent of neural abnormalities previously observed in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that similar neurobiological mechanisms, secondary to insulin resistance and manifesting as NVC alterations, might be developing in T2DM pathology

The Eye-tracking technology in the healthcare settings: an observational, cross sectional, multicenter study

Successful communication is considered an essential component of the quality of care and safety of the patient with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Recent technology has provided alternative communication systems, including the Eye-tracking technology, which enables interaction with others in the more advanced stages of the disease. The aim of the study is to investigate patients' difficulties in using the eye tracker, their problem in obtaining the device and the clinical complications resulting from it. A "snowball sampling" method study was conducted from April to September 2020 until sample saturation. The results of the study demonstrate the countless difficulties in obtaining the eye- tracker, with long waiting times, which are not followed by adequate training in its correct use. Among the consequences linked to the use of this device, the most frequent were nystagmus (8.8%), onset of eyelid ptosis (16.2%) and the appearance of increased fatigue. 56.1% of the sample used the eye tracker to surf the Internet whereas 9.1% used it to write e-mails. Overall, the use of the eye tracker led to an improvement in overall quality of life (24%). In Conclusions, the Eye-tracking technology is a valuable device for Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) in ALS patients and can be used with good performance, therefore the need for information, training and improvement on this topic is essentia