Pottery production and trades in Tamil Nadu region : new insights from Alagankulam and Keeladi excavation sites

This research is part of a wider scientific Italian-Indo project finalised to shed lights on pottery fabrication and trade circulation in Tamil Nadu region during Early Historical Period. The recent archaeological excavations carried out in Alagankulam—a famous harbour trading with the eastern and western world—and in Keeladi—the most ancient civilization centre attested in Tamil Nadu region—provided numerous fragments of archaeological ceramics. The typological analysis enabled the identification of different pottery classes, suggesting the presence of local productions, possible imports and imitations. Studied shards included common Indian vessels, fine wares and luxury ware repertoire. The provenance identification of some of the studied typologies is still debated in the literature; for long time, the misattribution of several ceramic classes has led to wrong interpretations on the commercial connections between India and the Western and Eastern Mediterranean area. The minero-petrographic and spectroscopic investigation of several ceramic fragments from the two investigated archaeological sites enabled the systematic compositional characterization of specific ceramic classes both locally manufactured and imported. The obtained results contributed to draw short-range and long-range connections in Tamil Nadu area

Integrated systems research for sustainable smallholder agriculture in the Central Mekong: Achievements and challenges of implementing integrated systems research

Internal Revie

The role of microtransactions in Internet Gaming Disorder and Gambling Disorder: a preregistered systematic review

Recently there has been increased interest in understanding the relationship between microtransactions, gaming, and gambling. This review aimed to synthesise the evidence on the relationship between microtransactions, ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ (IGD), and Gambling Disorder in order to report on the: psychometric assessments used, sampling and demographic information, study design and sampling methods, relationships between microtransactions and both IGD and gambling disorder. Inclusion criteria included: refereed studies quantifying microtransactions and/or loot boxes examining their relationship with IGD and/or gambling disorder that were published between 2013 and 2021. Electronic databases were searched and the results were synthesised qualitatively. 14 studies were included. The quality of the evidence was ‘Good’ and clear positive relationships between microtransactions and both IGD and gambling disorder were identified. These relationships apply more to loot boxes than other microtransactions, and risky loot box use was identified as a possible mediator of these relationships. Additionally, microtransaction expenditure increased with the risk of gambling disorder. There is some evidence that adolescents who purchase loot boxes may be more at risk of developing gambling disorder. External validity is limited due to the cross-sectional nature of the evidence, the use of convenience sampling, and the predominantly Western samples resulting in non-representative samples. Prevalence rates of IGD and gambling disorder varied significantly across studies and were different to general prevalence rates. We conclude that there is a need to develop consistent methods for assessing IGD and microtransaction engagement in future research. Implications for policy-makers and future research are discussed

A model-based exploration of farm-household livelihood and nutrition indicators to guide nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions

AbstractAssessing progress towards healthier people, farms and landscapes through nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA) requires transdisciplinary methods with robust models and metrics. Farm-household models could facilitate disentangling the complex agriculture-nutrition nexus, by jointly assessing performance indicators on different farm system components such as farm productivity, farm environmental performance, household nutrition, and livelihoods. We, therefore, applied a farm-household model, FarmDESIGN, expanded to more comprehensively capture household nutrition and production diversity, diet diversity, and nutrient adequacy metrics. We estimated the potential contribution of an NSA intervention targeting the diversification of home gardens, aimed at reducing nutritional gaps and improving livelihoods in rural Vietnam. We addressed three central questions: (1) Do 'Selected Crops' (i.e. crops identified in a participatory process) in the intervention contribute to satisfying household dietary requirements?; (2) Does the adoption of Selected Crops contribute to improving household livelihoods (i.e. does it increase leisure time for non-earning activities as well as the dispensable budget)?; and (3) Do the proposed nutrition-related metrics estimate the contribution of home-garden diversification towards satisfying household dietary requirements? Results indicate trade-offs between nutrition and dispensable budget, with limited farm-household configurations leading to jointly improved nutrition and livelihoods. FarmDESIGN facilitated testing the robustness and limitations of commonly used metrics to monitor progress towards NSA. Results indicate that most of the production diversity metrics performed poorly at predicting desirable nutritional outcomes in this modelling study. This study demonstrates that farm-household models can facilitate anticipating the effect (positive or negative) of agricultural interventions on nutrition and the environment, identifying complementary interventions for significant and positive results and helping to foresee the trade-offs that farm-households could face. Furthermore, FarmDESIGN could contribute to identifying agreed-upon and robust metrics for measuring nutritional outcomes at the farm-household level, to allow comparability between contexts and NSA interventions

Efficiency assessment of hybrid coatings for natural building stones : advanced and multi-scale laboratory investigation

The efficiency of a hybrid patented consolidant (PAASi) and two commercially available hybrid coatings (a consolidant named AlSiX and a hydrophobic product named WS3) properly modified was assessed on a calcarenite substrate. Test routines based on standard recommendations were first applied to evaluate the performances of the consolidant and protective treatments, while the investigation of additional aspects such as penetration depth and interaction with the substrate was achieved by a multi-scale approach based on classic intrusion methods (mercury intrusion porosimetry) and Drilling Resistance Measurement System (DRMS), combined with non-invasive imaging techniques (X-ray computed micro-tomography and neutron radiography) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). A distinct interaction of the products with the pore network of the stone was quantified in the range 0.007–200 µm. Their effects on capillary water absorption were also visualized with neutron imaging. The suitability of the products on the selected substrate was discussed, highlighting also how the applied routine can support conservation material studies. The results indicated that the Al-Si-based product led to unwanted effects. Alternative application methods and/or curing procedures have to be explored to overtake these undesirable changes. On the contrary, the polyamidoamine-based product seemed to be more suitable for calcarenite substrates conservation. The performances of the hydrophobic coating, when used in combination with consolidants, were strictly influenced by the pre-consolidation of the substrate

Multi-scale laboratory routine in the efficacy assessment of conservative products for natural stones

The evaluation of conservative treatments’ efficacy on natural building stones are usually based on standard recommendation routines finalized to evaluate compatibility and harmfulness of products in turn of the substrate. However, the visualization and the quantification of products inside pore structure of natural stones is not immediate through standard tests, so that imaging and advanced techniques are recently proposed in material conservation field to improve knowledge on penetration depth, modification of pore-air interface at different scale and monitor dynamic absorption processes. Moreover, natural stones are usually characterized by complex structure, which changes due to conservative treatments have to be inspected at different scale (from micrometer to nanometer). In this prospective, the assessment of laboratory practices able to integrate multiscale methods and give back a complete overview on interaction between new conservative formulates and natural stones is of high interest. In this paper, we propose a methodological routine for efficacy assessment of conservative products, incorporating classical and innovative nondestructive techniques. Validation of the workflow has been verified on a high porous natural stone treated with new hybrid formulates appropriately customized for conservation issues. • The study intends to add new insights on problems related to consolidation of high porous carbonate stone, application methods in consolidating natural stones and methods to evaluate efficacy of new products.• A multi-scale laboratory investigation procedure is proposed by integrating standard and innovative nondestructive methods. Merits and limits of each applied method are discussed during validation.• The possibility to incorporate standard routines and/or substitute destructive testing with non-destructive ones seem to be a valid alternative to evaluate efficiency and monitor behavior of stones treated with consolidating products