The application of 3D reconstruction techniques in the analysis of ancient Tarraco's urban topography

The widespread implementation of GIS-based 3D topographical models has been a great aid in the development and testing of archaeological hypotheses. In this paper, a topographical reconstruction of the ancient city of Tarraco, the Roman capital of the Tarraconensis province, is presented. This model is based on topographical data obtained through archaeological excavations, old photographic documentation, georeferenced archive maps depicting the pre-modern city topography, modern detailed topographical maps and differential GPS measurements. The addition of the Roman urban architectural features to the model offers the possibility to test hypotheses concerning the ideological background manifested in the city shape. This is accomplished mainly through the use of 3D views from the main city accesses. These techniques ultimately demonstrate the ‘theatre-shaped’ layout of the city (to quote Vitrubius) as well as its southwest oriented architecture, whose monumental character was conceived to present a striking aspect to visitors, particularly those arriving from the sea

Simulating communication routes in Mediterranean alluvial plains

Societies exchange knowledge, ideas and merchandise throughout their territories. Topography plays a fundamental role in the trajectory of such movements whilst helping to explain the distribution of human constructions. Standard GIS functions have been employed widely to simulate communication routes between settlements, but the straight application of published least cost route models proved inadequate for Mediterranean alluvial plain areas in which seasonal floods become an important factor to acknowledge. The objective of this study is the production of a new model, using topographic and hydrologic factors as variables from which it would be possible to simulate a route, and test it against known Roman itineraries. The selected Roman stretches are Girona – Coll de Pannisars and Tarragona – Montblanc. The new model shows the need to consider each case individually but also stresses the hydrologic factor, expressed in seasonal floods, as being of prime importance in the creation and development of Roman roads in Mediterranean alluvial plains

Infection dynamics of porcine circovirus type 3 in longitudinally sampled pigs from four Spanish farms

Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV-3) is a recently discovered virus in domestic pigs and wild boar. The virus has been described in pigs with different clinical/pathological presentations and healthy animals, but the dynamics of infection is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to longitudinally monitor PCV-3 infection in 152 pigs from four different healthy farms (A, B, C and D) by means of PCR in serum. The selected animals were sampled five (farm A) or six (farms B–D) times from weaning until the end of the fattening period. PCV-3 genome was found in pigs from all tested ages and farms; few animals had an apparent long-term infection (4–23 weeks). PCV-3 frequency of detection remained fairly uniform along tested ages within farms A and C, but was more variable among sampling times in farms B and D. Eight partial genome sequences were obtained from six different animals. Phylogenetic tree and pairwise distance analysis showed high similarity among sequences and with available genomes from different countries. This is the first study on PCV-3 infection dynamics in longitudinally sampled pigs. Most pigs got infection during their life, although PCV-3 did not appear to be linked with any specific age.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

IN CONSPECTU PROPE TOTIUS URBIS: LA APLICACIÓN DE DIFERENTES MÉTODOS DE ANÁLISIS DE VISIBILIDAD AL PAISAJE DEL AGER TARRACONENSIS

We present in this paper the results of the application of several visual methods on a group of locations, dated between VI and I centuries BC, of the ager tarraconensis (Tarragona,Spain) a hinterland of the roman colony of Tarraco. The difficulty in interpreting the diverse results in a combined way has been resolved by means of the use of statistical methods as Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and K-means clustering analysis. These methods have allowed us to carry out site classifications in function of the landscape visual structure that contains them and of the visual relationships that could be given among them. Also we have created and analized some visual networks in order to study the visual cohesion among the settlements.Presentamos en este artículo el resultado de la utilización de diversos métodos de análisis aplicados sobre un grupo de yacimientos datados entre los siglos VI y I a.C. Todos ellos pertenecen al llamado ager tarraconensis (Tarragona, España) es decir el hinterland de la colonia romana de Tarraco. La dificultad en interpretar los variados resultados obtenidos por diferentes aproximaciones ha sido resuelta mediante la aplicación de métodos estadísticos, como Análisis de Componentes Principales (ACP) y Análisis Clutens K-means. Estos métodos nos han permitido realizar clasificaciones de yacimientos en función de la estructura visual del paisaje que los contiene y de las interrelaciones que puedan producirse entre ellos. También se han creado redes visuales para analizar las posibles formas de cohesión visual en el territorio

Memorias del paisaje nilótico: prospección, simulación y recreación de la inundación estacional en la zona del dique de Mimbal (Minia, Egipto)

Se verifican y documentan sobre el terreno los datos sobre los sistemas de control hidráulico de inundaciones registrados en la zona del rio Nilo. Este trabajo de campo ira acompañado de un estudio sedimentológico de la zona de estudio, la cual comprende las localidades de Marzouk, Mimbal, y Matay (Minia, Egipto). A partir de estos datos arqueológicos y sedimentológicos se crea un sistema de simulación y computación gráfica de alta resolución que refleje la gestión mediante cubetas y canales de irrigación, así como la irrigación perenne del Valle Medio del Nilo. Por otro lado, se pretende recoger y registrar la memoria oral sobre la inundación en el Valle Medio del Nilo en general y en la zona de estudio en particular y el impacto socio-cultural de su desaparición. A partir de los datos de la prospección sobre el terreno, los estudios sedimentológicos, el registro sobre el terreno de la memoria oral, la simulación y la visualización gráfica se quieren analizar los cambios paisajísticos inducidos por las transformaciones del siglo XIX y XX y los diversos procesos de sedimentación, así como sus efectos sobre el propio proceso de inundación y el entorno habitado de las riberas del río

Evaluation of cytokines as robust diagnostic biomarkers for COVID-19 detection

Producción CientíficaAntigen tests or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification are currently COVID-19 diagnostic tools. However, developing complementary diagnosis tools is mandatory. Thus, we performed a plasma cytokine array in COVID-19 patients to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers. A discovery–validation study in two independent prospective cohorts was performed. The discovery cohort included 136 COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients recruited consecutively from 24 March to 11 April 2020. Forty-five cytokines’ quantification by the MAGPIX system (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX, USA) was performed in plasma samples. The validation cohort included 117 patients recruited consecutively from 15 to 25 April 2020 for validating results by ELISA. COVID-19 patients showed different levels of multiple cytokines compared to non-COVID-19 patients. A single chemokine, IP-10, accurately identified COVID-19 patients who required hospital admission (AUC: 0.962; 95%CI (0.933–0.992); p < 0.001)). The results were validated in an independent cohort by multivariable analysis (OR: 25.573; 95%CI (8.127–80.469); p < 0.001) and AUROC (AUC: 0.900; 95%CI (0.846–0.954); p < 0.001). Moreover, showing IP-10 plasma levels over 173.35 pg/mL identified COVID-19 with higher sensitivity (86.20%) than the first SARS-CoV-2 PCR. Our discover–validation study identified IP-10 as a robust biomarker in clinical practice for COVID-19 diagnosis at hospital. Therefore, IP-10 could be used as a complementary tool in clinical practice, especially in emergency departments.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones científicas (grant CSIC-COV19-016/202020E155)Junta de Castilla y León (project COVID 07.04.467B04.74011.0)IBGM excellence programme (grant CLU-2029-02