Glass trade through the Adriatic Sea: preliminary report of an ongoing project

A repertoire of 1357 glass samples from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia was used to investigate glass trade in the Adriatic Sea. The achieved overview begins in the 1st century and, after a peak of occurrences between the 4th and the 7th century, continues until the 16th with a decreasing number of pieces of evidence. Between the 1st and the 3rd century, Levantine (Roman Mn) and Egyptian (Roman Sb) products coexist in percentages that can be considered comparable at the current state of studies. The end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century mark a substantial decrease in Levantine imports. Indeed, Jalame-type glass first and Apollonia-type glass later appear to supply a small slice of the market. Egyptian products, on the contrary, continue to arrive in abundance. The HIMTa and the Foy Série 2.1 glass represent the most widespread products in the Adriatic area for about three centuries. Conversely, the Foy Série 3.2 experiences flowering in northern Italy, Slovenia and Serbia, while it shows limited diffusion in southern Italy, as well as in Tyrrhenian Italy, Sicily or other areas of the Mediterranean basin such as Spain. Based on this observation, it thus seems reliable to exclude Foy Série 3.2 glass from the basket of products typically marketed in the Adriatic Sea (i.e. Levantine products and Egyptian products of types HIMTa-b and Foy 2.1). In this case, a Balkan route may appear possible because it covers the territories where the most significant diffusion of this glass has been observed and is well connected to northern Italy through the Danube and Sava rivers. In southern Italy, the need for more data on the oldest productions prevents a reliable evaluation of Roman Mn and Roman Sb glass imports and highlights a line of research to be pursued in the immediate future

From the kilns to the fair: producing building materials at Faragola and Canusium (northern Apulia, Italy)

Faragola and Canusium potters used Ca-rich clays—widely available nearby—for the production of build- ing materials. The clayey materials were used as received, before being fired in the local kilns at temperatures between 600 and ~1000 ° C. No technological distinctions were made in relation to the type of object to be produced (tile, brick, etc). The investigated productions are compositionally distinguish- able from both coarse wares for cooking and fine table ware produced in the same archaeological sites. A fine clayey ma- terial, very similar to that used for table ware, was supplied for the production of these building materials, which are chemi- cally, mineralogically and petrographically very similar among themselves. Hence, the Faragola and Canusium bricks and tiles cannot be easily discriminated but the presence/ absence of volcanites and volcanic glass represents an effec- tive discriminating factor, able to indicate areas of different supplies within two main deposits: the Pleistocene marine and alluvial terraced deposits, typical of northern Apulia

I doni di Poseidon. Taranto e le risorse dei suoi mari

Un'ampia sintesi sui vari aspetti delle risorse marine (porpora, sale, pesce, bisso) e del rapporto tra Taranto e il mare nel corso del temp

125. Engineered Nucleases-Mediated In Situ Correction of a Genetic Defect By Homologous Recombination Into the Native Locus

Engineered nucleases specific for genomic targets are extensively used to generate DSBs that increase the rate and efficiency of homologous recombination (HR). We seek to determine the efficacy of nucleases in a clinical relevant genetic defect.The genetic defect we are addressing as model to test the nucleases-mediated genome editing technology is the junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), a family of severe skin adhesion disorders due to autosomal recessive mutations in the LAMB3 gene coding for the laminin-332 heterotrimer, a key component of the dermal-epidermaljunction. Recently, we provided proof of principle that ZFN-mediated, AAVS1-targeted GFP addition can be achieved in human keratinocytes and in long-term repopulating epithelial stem cells in a validated preclinical model of xenotransplantation of human skin equivalents on immunodeficient mice.This project aims at the demonstration of a successful in situ correction of the LAMB3 gene in primary keratinocytes from Herlitz JEB patients. Recently TALEN-based gene correction for dystrophic EB has been reported. Similarly, we have developed a genome editing approach for JEB. In particular we have designed TALENs specific for the second intron of LAMB3 gene and a HR cassette including a splicible LAMB3 cDNA (from exon 3 to the end of the gene). In particular immortalized JEB keratinocytes were transfected with TALEN mRNAs and infected with an IDLV vector carrying the HR cassette. The in situ gene correction has been evaluated by site-specific PCR and knock-in expression of the corrected LAMB3 gene on bulk population. We then assessed targeting efficiency and specificity by extensive molecular analyses of single-cell clones isolated by limiting dilution from the TALENs/IDLV-treated immortalized JEB population. We isolated 256 clones and expanded 69 of them. Sixteen out of 69 clones showed an in vitro adhesion advantage, hosted the HR cassette correctly integrated into the predetermined locus, expressed the corrected LAMB3 gene and produced the laminin-332 protein. In parallel, CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease has been designed on the same locus to compare the transduction efficiency and cleavage activity and to translate the knock-in targeting platform to primary JEB keratinocytes

Genomic Analysis of Sleeping Beauty Transposon Integration in Human Somatic Cells

The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon is a non-viral integrating vector system with proven efficacy for gene transfer and functional genomics. However, integration efficiency is negatively affected by the length of the transposon. To optimize the SB transposon machinery, the inverted repeats and the transposase gene underwent several modifications, resulting in the generation of the hyperactive SB100X transposase and of the high-capacity \u2018\u2018sandwich\u2019\u2019 (SA) transposon. In this study, we report a side-by-side comparison of the SA and the widely used T2 arrangement of transposon vectors carrying increasing DNA cargoes, up to 18 kb. Clonal analysis of SA integrants in human epithelial cells and in immortalized keratinocytes demonstrates stability and integrity of the transposon independently from the cargo size and copy number-dependent expression of the cargo cassette. A genome-wide analysis of unambiguously mapped SA integrations in keratinocytes showed an almost random distribution, with an overrepresentation in repetitive elements (satellite, LINE and small RNAs) compared to a library representing insertions of the first-generation transposon vector and to gammaretroviral and lentiviral libraries. The SA transposon/SB100X integrating system therefore shows important features as a system for delivering large gene constructs for gene therapy application

Shipwrecks stories in a “trap bay”: Research and valorization in Torre S. Sabina (Brindisi, Italy)

The 2020 underwater archaeological research in the inlet of Torre Santa Sabina - Baia dei Camerini (Municipality of Carovigno, Brindisi, Italy ) represented the first phase of the pilot intervention of the Interreg Italia-Croatia UnderwaterMuse project, which aims to enhance and make accessible the huge underwater heritage of the areas involved through the creation of submerged archaeological parks and the narrative and communicative use of the virtual reality. The Puglia Region - Department of Tourism, Economics of Culture and Valorization of the Territory, partner of the UnderwaterMuse project, launching these researches aimed at valorisation, has involved the three regional Universities thanks to an agreement. The fruitful synergy between the various actors involved and the support of the territory and the community have allowed the achievement of the objectives of this campaign, preliminary to the broader and more articulated intervention foreseen for the next year. Thanks to the collaboration with the Polytechnic of Turin, the entire stretch of coast was mapped with drone flights, in order to reconstruct the coastal landscape in the various phases, starting from the Bronze Age. Targeted interventions were carried out on the Roman wreck of the imperial age, beached and abandoned at the ancient shore and now submerged due to the relative rise in sea level, and on the remains of on-board equipment of a ship of the Serenissima, the Galea Magna (1598). Another important focus was represented by the stratigraphy of cargos resulting from the various shipwreck episodes, accumulated at the foot of the western cliff

Faragola e l'eredità delle ville in Italia meridionale tra Tardoantico e Altomedioevo

ITALIANO: Le ricerche condotte in Italia meridionale hanno consentito di acquisire dati di grande interesse sulla ‘fine delle ville’ e sulle nuove forme del popolamento rurale altomedievale. L’abbandono delle residenze tardoantiche spesso si accompagnò alla spoliazione radicale di alcuni ambienti, con una sistematica pratica di recupero e riciclo di rivestimenti, materiali da copertura, arredi e tubature. Fornaci, vasche per la decantazione dell’argilla, forni per la rifusione dei metalli e calcare furono impiantate. Tali episodi non devono essere ricondotti a forme di occupazioni marginali o degradate. In alcuni casi si svilupparono nuovi nuclei abitativi caratterizzati da un discreto livello di cultura materiale e da una vocazione artigianale, agricola e pastorale. Si evidenzia il ruolo dei nuovi poteri laici ed ecclesiastici e delle autorità pubbliche. / ENGLISH: The archaeological researches carried out in Southern Italy enabled to gather a great and remarkable amount of data over the ‘end of villas’ and the features of the rural settlement during the early middle age. Often, the abandonment of rural dwellings caused the spoliation of spaces through systematic and organized operations of stripping and re-use of flooring, walls’ coverings, ceilings, furniture and pipes. Ceramic kilns, sedimentation basins for clay, blast furnaces for metals and limestone were installed These operations had been traditionally interpreted as connected to marginal forms of re-occupation. In many cases, these forms of settlement grew in the same areas, yet developed a good level of material culture and crafting activities, beside agriculture and farming. Representatives of the new religious and laic élites and public authorities were recognized, as the sponsors of these activities

Villa romana di Faragola

ESPAÑOL: En la noche del 6 de septiembre de 2017, un incendio intencionado en la Villa romana de Faragola, en Ascoli Satriani (Italia), destruyó por completo la protección arquitectónica, dañando de manera irreparable los importantes restos arqueológicos, en un atentado, probablemente de corte mafioso, contra la cultura y el legado histórico. Esta publicación pretende ser un homenaje a la villa y a la obra arquitectónica, y un alegato intelectual a favor del patrimonio y contra la barbarie. N. del E