Fontana Ranuccio (excavations 2019-2022) and Colle Marino (excavations 2020-2021): Middle Pleistocene chronostratigraphic evidence of the earliest inhabitants in the Anagni basin

Recent fieldwork of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in the Anagni basin (Latin Valley, southern Latium, central Italy) has provided new insights into the dynamics of human settlement and adaptation in this area during the Middle Pleistocene. This paper summarizes the still partially unpublished data on the chronostratigraphy of two important prehistoric sites: Fontana Ranuccio, dating from about 400,000 years ago, and Colle Marino, whose lithic industry has so far been attributed to an early stage of the Middle Pleistocene. At Fontana Ranuccio, stratigraphic studies highlighted the depositional dynamics and the processes involved in the formation of the archeological unit, consisting of partly reworked volcanic material, which can be now divided into distinct sub-units. At Colle Marino, a 35-meter-deep core drilling and an excavation campaign allowed us to verify the nature and provenance of lithic artifacts found on the surface in past decades. Radiometric analyses dated these artifacts from about 700,000 years ago

Serum procalcitonin elevation in critically ill patients at the onset of bacteremia caused by either gram negative or gram positive bacteria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the ICU, bacteremia is a life-threatening infection whose prognosis is highly dependent on early recognition and treatment with appropriate antibiotics. Procalcitonin levels have been shown to distinguish between bacteremia and noninfectious inflammatory states accurately and quickly in critically ill patients. However, we still do not know to what extent the magnitude of PCT elevation at the onset of bacteremia varies according to the Gram stain result.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Review of the medical records of every patient treated between May, 2004 and December, 2006 who had bacteremia caused by either Gram positive (GP) or Gram negative (GN) bacteria, and whose PCT dosage at the onset of infection was available.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>97 episodes of either GN bacteremia (<it>n </it>= 52) or GP bacteremia (<it>n </it>= 45) were included. Procalcitonin levels were found to be markedly higher in patients with GN bacteremia than in those with GP bacteremia, whereas the SOFA score value in the two groups was similar. Moreover, in the study population, a high PCT value was found to be independently associated with GN bacteremia. A PCT level of 16.0 ng/mL yielded an 83.0% positive predictive value and a 74.0% negative predictive value for GN-related bacteremia in the study cohort (AUROCC = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71–0.88).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In a critically ill patient with clinical sepsis, GN bacteremia could be associated with higher PCT values than those found in GP bacteremia, regardless of the severity of the disease.</p

MIS 13 and MIS 11 aggradational successions of the Paleo-Tiber delta: Geochronological constraints to sea-level fluctuations and to the Acheulean sites of Castel di Guido and Malagrotta (Rome, Italy)

International audienceThis contribution presents an application of the conceptual model of ’aggradational succession’ (i.e., the sedi-mentary record deposited in response to sea-level rise during the glacial terminations) to a series of geologicalsections of the Paleo-Tiber delta cropping out along the Via Aurelia near Rome, Italy. The geochronologicalconstraints provided here through 40Ar/39Ar dating of volcanic layers intercalated within the sedimentary de-posits of the MIS 13 and MIS 11 aggradational successions resulted in some remarkable outcomes:1) we reconstruct an independent chronology of the Mediterranean sea-level oscillations 450 through 380 ka,in good agreement with the δ18O and the Red Sea relative sea level curve chronology;2) the Glacial Termination V is here bracketed in the interval 423.1 ± 4.4–438.7 ± 1.2 ka;3) we show that the aggradational successions of MIS 11 and MIS 13 display similar spatial/geometric featuresdespite the significantly different amplitude of their Oxygen isotope records, challenging the regression modelslinking absolute values of benthic foraminifera δ18O and ice-volume;4) we show the relevance of a climatic-stratigraphic approach in dating coastal-to-fluvial sedimentarycontexts;5) we provide indirect age constraints with the precision of a few ka for two important palaeoanthropologicaland archaeological sites in central Italy bearing Acheulean lithic industries and human remains

Oxime Ligation: A Chemoselective Click-Type Reaction for Accessing Multifunctional Biomolecular Constructs

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Emerging trends in enzyme inhibition by multivalent nanoconstructs

International audienceMultivalent nanoconstructs, extensively used for enhancing the recognition of biomolecular targets, have been recently exploited for enzyme inhibition showing interesting properties such as improvement of inhibitory potency and selectivity. We review herein the recent results highlighting the potential of multivalent nanoconstructs for the inhibition of different enzymes, and the emerging trends in the generation and identification of multivalent clusters as enzyme inhibitors

Tephrochronology of the central Mediterranean MIS 11c interglacial (∼425–395 ka): New constraints from the Vico volcano and Tiber delta, central Italy

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Design of triazole-tethered glycoclusters exhibiting three different spatial arrangements and comparative study of their affinities towards PA-IL and RCA 120 by using a DNA-based glycoarray.

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Tephrochronological constraints on the timing and nature of sea-level change prior to and during glacial termination V

International audienceGlacial-interglacial variations in ice volume and sea level are essential components of the Pleistocene global climate evolution. Deciphering the timing of change of these key climate parameters with respect to the insolation forcing is central to understanding the processes controlling glacial terminations. Here we exploit the sensitivity of the Paleo Tiber River (central Italy) to sea-level forced changes in the base level and the frequent occurrence of datable tephra layers in its sedimentary successions to reconstruct the timing of the relative sea-level (RSL) change between 450 and 403 ka, i.e., across the glacial termination (T-V) that marks the transition between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 and MIS 11. The analysis hinges on new stratigraphic data, tephra geochemical fingerprinting, and 40Ar/39Ar dating from a fluvial section that represents the inland counterpart of the near mouth, coastal aggradational successions of the San Paolo Formation (SPF). Tephra correlation indicates that the morpho-stratigraphic record of the inland section is as sensitive to the sea-level change as its coastal counterparts, which makes it ideal to complement previous RSL reconstructions from the Tiber River catchment basin, thereby providing a more detailed picture of the sea-level history across T-V. Combined sedimentological and morphological proxies of the composed inland-coastal SPF record document the occurrence of two phases of relatively rapid sea-level rise, here interpreted as meltwater pulse (MWP) events. The earlier MWP occurred between ∼450 and ∼445 ka and matches a relatively minor episode of the sea-level rise documented in an existing RSL record, while the younger MWP at ∼430 ka corresponds to the high amplitude sea-level rise that marks T-V. We find that both MWPs coincide with episodes of ice-rafted debris deposition in the North Atlantic (Heinrich-like events) and with attendant Southern Hemisphere warming, plausibly associated with the bipolar seesaw