Luca Schiavon, Thomas Desvignes, Fabrizia Ronco
et al.
ABSTRACT Understanding population connectivity in the marine realm is crucial for conserving biodiversity, managing fisheries, and predicting species responses to environmental change. This is particularly important in Antarctic waters, where unique evolutionary histories and extreme conditions shape marine biodiversity. The longfin icedevil Aethotaxis mitopteryx is an elusive notothenioid fish endemic to Antarctic waters. To explore population connectivity in A. mitopteryx, we used RAD‐seq to investigate the genetic differentiation of two populations, one from the Eastern Weddell Sea and the other from the Eastern Antarctic Peninsula, two regions of ecological relevance greatly impacted by climate change. Despite spatial separation, analyses revealed no significant genetic differentiation between the two populations, suggesting extensive gene flow. A pronounced genetic distinction was, however, observed between males and females. This differentiation was largely localized to a specific chromosome, implying a genetic sex determination system with males being the heterogametic sex. These findings contribute novel insights into the genetic structure of A. mitopteryx populations and expand our understanding of genetic mechanisms in Antarctic fish. This study provides a foundation for further investigations into the evolutionary and ecological implications of sex chromosome differentiation in extreme environments.
Flavio De Angelis, Anna Russo, Antonio Nappo
et al.
Background/Objectives: This study explores the evolution and morphology of the human mandible, focusing on recent changes and adaptations over the last 2000 years. It aims to examine how functional, genetic, and environmental factors influence mandibular size, shape, and sexual dimorphism by analyzing key anatomical landmarks—the horizontal ramus (HR), ascending ramus (AR), and mandibular angle (MA). Methods: A retrospective approach was employed using computed tomography (CT) scans of 39 mandibular samples from various historical periods, ranging from the Roman Imperial Age to the present day. Imaging was conducted using a 64-slice multislice computed tomography (MSCT) scanner, and the resulting data were processed to generate detailed 3D reconstructions for morphological assessment. Results: The analysis reveals that present-day samples exhibit significantly less variation in AR and MA compared to archaeological specimens, suggesting a trend of gracilization over time. Statistically significant differences were found in MA, likely influenced by environmental, dietary, and cultural factors. Correlation analysis showed moderate to weak relationships between AR, HR, and MA across sample groups, with significant sexual dimorphism in AR within the archaeological sample. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) further supported these findings, demonstrating a clear distinction between gracile modern mandibles and more robust ancient ones. Conclusions: These findings provide insights into the evolutionary trajectory of the human mandible, underscoring the influence of dietary and cultural shifts on mandibular structure over the past two millennia.
AbstractThis article reviews the evolution of the representation of Italy’s ‘Catholic partisan’. In essence, this involved adaptation of the model of the Catholic soldier, who was able to kill out of love and ‘without hatred’, to the context of a civil war. With particular reference to the case of the central Veneto, this examination looks back to earlier Italian experiences during wartime to help explain how Catholic activists and the partisan groups linked to the Catholic world addressed the key issues of the legitimation of Resistance violence and the control of its use. It emphasises the disparity between the rhetoric directed at containing the violence and the realities of guerrilla warfare. The article goes on to analyse the different models of the ‘Catholic partisan’ put forward in the immediate postwar period (1945–1950): the ‘Catholic soldier’, with his military bearing; the ‘pure martyr’, who never initiated violence; and the ‘devout partisan’, who managed to restrict his use of violence, assessing its costs and benefits, and was characterised by his inclination to forgive and, especially, to kill as little as possible. The conclusions consider how a particular rhetoric helped to shape the narrative of the active involvement of Catholics in the Italian Resistance.
The first Italian campaign of Bonaparte is one of the most studied topics in military history, but not always from the point of view of intelligence, which has played an important role. In particular Jean Landrieux (1756-1830), leaving historiographical traces especially in Italy, attracted interest for a long time more for the singular and controversial personality than in relation to the operational performance; In fact, Landrieux was not head of the services, but this branch began to be conducted with a modern approach (making use of informants such as Rusca, Pico or Toli), function of the general staff activity and unconventional warfare. However, the Armée d’Italie was not the only one to use an intelligence network, but the Piedmontese or the Venetians and above all the English did too, although their warfare was ‘peninsular’ and naval. However, the events demonstrated the temporary French superiority, thanks to the centralization of the command and the organization of the general staff.
History (General) and history of Europe, Military Science
Urban historical heritage areas serve as vital repositories of urban culture and history, playing a crucial role in cultural inheritance and the promotion of urban development. The protection and development of these heritage areas are essential for preserving the cultural characteristics and architectural styles of cities. Despite the growing body of research, a comprehensive review of the dynamic evolution, research frontiers, and future trajectories in this field remains absent. To bridge this gap, this study draws on the Web of Science Core Collection database, selecting 828 papers published between 2000 and 2024 that focus on urban historical heritage conservation and development. By employing Python programming and network analysis tools, this study conducted a systematic analysis of research structures and trends over the past 25 years. The results indicate that countries such as China and Italy, along with their respective research institutions, are at the forefront of global research in this area. Furthermore, this study identified research hotspots, including historic districts, sustainable urban development, urban regeneration, risk assessment, 3D modeling, digital documentation, and cultural tourism. This research not only discusses the challenges faced in the field but also explores future development trends, providing new theoretical perspectives and practical guidance for subsequent studies.
Ilaria Vaccarelli, Ilaria Vaccarelli, Francesco Cerasoli
et al.
The unsaturated karst represents a transitional zone connecting the land surface to the water table of the underlying saturated zone through percolating water and small perched aquifers. It constitutes a significant groundwater reservoir and hosts a high biodiversity of specialized and endemic species. Whereas investigating this ecotone can shed light on the invertebrate diversity of the whole karst system, ecological studies in the unsaturated karst have been hampered by access, mapping, and sampling challenges. We studied the unsaturated zone of 52 caves in the Lessinian Massif (NE-Italy), which is dominated by carbonate rocks interspersed with spot areas composed mainly of igneous rocks. Our aim was to understand which ecological and historical factors may have shaped the distribution of the groundwater crustacean copepods at a regional spatial scale in the Lessinian unsaturated karst. We collected 33 species belonging to the orders Harpacticoida and Cyclopoida. Species richness estimators and related species accumulation curves suggest an exhaustive sampling effort. A hydrologic analysis performed in a Geographic Information System environment divided the study area in three distinct drainage basins: Eastern Lessini, Lessinian Core, and Western Lessini. Regression analyses indicated that richness of non-stygobitic copepods (i.e., surface-water species which exploit groundwater for different purposes) was mainly driven by inter-basin differences. Richness of stygobitic copepods (i.e., obligate groundwater dwellers) was instead strongly related to lithological features and responded negatively to surface thermal variability. Next, we used a kernel density estimation to spatially explore diversity patterns in the area. The highest density of stygobitic harpacticoids was identified in the Eastern Lessinian basin, which is lithologically more heterogeneous and surrounded by practically non-aquiferous igneous rocks that may limit dispersal. Conversely, the Western Lessinian basin hosted a high density of stygobitic cyclopoid species. This spatial pattern suggests different colonization pathways for the two taxa, with a strong effect of igneous rocks in hampering dispersal of most harpacticoids. Lithological barriers seemingly did not affect non-stygobitic copepods, which were found across the whole area. Altogether, these results emphasize the key role played by the interaction of hydrological features, climate, and lithology in determining different copepod biodiversity patterns in the unsaturated karst.
Le raccolte della famiglia Giusti sono per antichità e prestigio da considerare fra le più importanti formatesi a Verona dal Rinascimento in poi, in ambito archeologico e storico-artistico. Negli ultimi anni, le vicende storiche della collezione e quanto è rimasto di essa nel palazzo caratterizzato dal famoso giardino hanno suscitato nuovo interesse da parte degli studiosi, con il coinvolgimento delle Università di Verona e di Venezia. Un ulteriore filone di ricerca è dato dalle opere della famiglia Giusti confluite nel corso del tempo in altra proprietà; qui si trattano quelle di ambito archeologico entrate nel patrimonio culturale del Comune di Verona.
History (General) and history of Europe, History of Italy
Traci N. Billings, Traci N. Billings, Barbara Cerasetti
et al.
Southern Central Asia witnessed widespread expansion in urbanism and exchange, between roughly 2200 and 1500 B.C., fostering a new cultural florescence, sometimes referred to as the Greater Khorasan Civilization. Decades of detailed archeological investigation have focused on the development of urban settlements, political systems, and inter-regional exchange within and across the broader region, but little is known about the agricultural systems that supported these cultural changes. In this paper, we present the archaeobotanical results of material recovered from Togolok 1, a proto-urban settlement along the Murghab River alluvial fan located in southeastern Turkmenistan. This macrobotanical assemblage dates to the late 3rd - early 2nd millennia B.C., a time associated with important cultural transformations in southern Central Asia. We demonstrate that people at the site were cultivating and consuming a diverse range of crops including, barley, wheat, legumes, grapes, and possibly plums and apples or pears. This, together with the associated material culture and zooarchaeological evidence, suggest a regionally adapted mixed agropastoral economy. The findings at Togolok 1 contribute to the ongoing discussion of dietary choices, human/landscape interactions, and the adaptation of crops to diverse ecosystems in prehistoric Central Asia.
Yael Teff-Seker, Yael Teff-Seker, Peter C. Mackelworth
et al.
By definition, marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) address spatial aspects of the ecological processes and marine features. Such a requirement is especially challenging in areas where there is no clearly defined jurisdiction. However, in these areas, assigning sovereignty and rights can be achieved through bilateral or multilateral agreements, or with the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tools such as mediation and arbitration. In some cases, states may engage in transboundary marine conservation initiatives to provide an entry point to enable wider collaboration. These processes can also evolve into a form of ‘environmental peacebuilding’ while ideally maintaining ecosystem functioning and resilience as a core goal. Conversely, MPAs and OECMs can also be used to assert maritime sovereignty rights over disputed waters, under the pretext of conserving marine habitats. This paper identifies emerging issues of conflict resolution and their interaction with transboundary marine conservation. While ADR focuses on negotiations and facilitated processes between state representatives (“track one diplomacy”), we also discuss other forms and levels of marine environmental peacebuilding and dispute resolution, particularly those between civil society organizations (“track two diplomacy”). The six case studies presented highlight areas of recent maritime conflict or border disputes in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the West Indian Ocean, the Korean West Sea and the South China Sea. In all cases, high ecological value, vulnerable ecosystems, and the need to conserve ecosystem services provide a shared interest for cooperation despite on-going diplomatic difficulties. The strategies used in these cases are analyzed to determine what lessons might be learned from cross-border collaborative marine initiatives in situations of territorial dispute. The use of ADR tools and their ability to support joint marine initiatives are examined, as well as how such initiatives contribute to formal border negotiations. Other forms of inter-state dialogue and cooperation between local or civil organizations, circumventing formal treaties and negotiations between state leaders (‘track two’) are also investigated. Finally, other influencing factors, including third-party involvement, stakeholder interests, power dynamics, economic context, and socio-cultural aspects, are considered.
Science, General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution
Sergio Minelli,1 Pierluca Minelli,2 Maria Rosa Montinari3 1Department of Cardiology, Local Health Unit Lecce, Lecce, Italy; 2Faculty of Medicine and Surgery “A. Gemelli”, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy; 3Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Lecce, ItalyCorrespondence: Maria Rosa MontinariDepartment of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Complex Ecotekne, Way Monteroni, Lecce 73100, ItalyTel +39 083 229 8855Email mariarosa.montinari@unisalento.itAbstract: The clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis are nowadays the main cause of death in industrialized countries, but atherosclerotic disease was found in humans who lived thousands of years ago, before the spread of current risk factors. Atherosclerotic lesions were identified on a 5300-year-old mummy, as well as in Egyptian mummies and other ancient civilizations. For many decades of the twentieth century, atherosclerosis was considered a degenerative disease, mainly determined by a passive lipid storage, while the most recent theory of atherogenesis is based on endothelial dysfunction. The importance of inflammation and immunity in atherosclerosis’s pathophysiology was realized around the turn of the millennium, when in 1999 the famous pathologist Russell Ross published in the New England Journal of Medicine an article entitled “Atherosclerosis – an inflammatory disease”. In the following decades, inflammation has been a topic of intense basic research in atherosclerosis, albeit its importance has ancient scientific roots. In fact, in 1856 Rudolph Virchow was the first proponent of this hypothesis, but evidence of the key role of inflammation in atherogenesis occurred only in 2017. It seemed interesting to retrace the key steps of atherosclerosis in a historical context: from the teachings of the physicians of the Roman Empire to the response-to-injury hypothesis, up to the key role of inflammation and immunity at various stages of disease. Finally, we briefly discussed current knowledge and future trajectories of atherosclerosis research and its therapeutic implications.Keywords: atherosclerosis, history of medicine, cardiovascular disease, inflammation
The previously unpublished in Russian document written by Metropolitan of Philadelphia Meletius Typald, stands on the watershed in the history of the Greek fraternity of Venice and of Orthodoxy in Italy in the Early Modern period. It came to be the last known text that Meletius wrote as an Orthodox hierarch, therefore his pathos and circle of problems are noteworthy in the context of the subsequent steps of its author. The message not only touches upon the issues related to inter-Christian relations at the turn of the 17th — 18th centuries, but also introduces the reader to the topic of state-confessional relations, which is important not only for the Orthodox, but for the Catholic Church in the Venetian Republic. The state of the Orthodox Church in the Ionian Islands is evaluated critically in the letter, through the prism of applying canonical and administrative law in the moral life of the clergy and believers. At the same time, the author does not forget his political goal in revealing the shortcomings listed by him, insisting on the desirability of transferring to him control over these dioceses. For Russian history, this document is of interest, since it was written during the stay in Venice of Moscow stolniks (palace servants) sent by Tsar Peter to teach maritime aff airs. They met with Typald and left memories about the communication with him. And if Meletius was very sincere with Russian Catholics P. Rogovsky and P. Artemyev, he presented himself to B. P. Sheremetev and the navigators as a paladin of the Orthodox faith.
History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics, History and principles of religions
When ‘scandal’ becomes provocation
The postsecular and Romeo Castellucci’s theatre of iconoclasm
Romeo Castellucci’s performance On the Concept of the Face Regarding the Son of God has led to a series of violent protests coordinated by Catholic groups in France (Paris 2011, Le Mans 2018) and Italy (Milan 2012) and has been judged as being blasphemous and ‘Christianophobic'. Castellucci in the media has defended his piece using biblical terms and advocating his artistic right to create ‘scandal’. This contribution intends to investigate the limits between provocation and ‘scandal’ with the help of a work of art that adoperates consciously an ‘iconoclash’ (Latour 2002) montage between avant-garde transgression and the symbolic code of Catholicism. While the freedom of artistic expression enjoys the protection of the state, this ‘natural’ right is put into question by the postsecular ‘return of religion’ in the public sphere (Habermas 2006). The analysis of the Catholic protests against Castellucci’s piece and the director’s aesthetic and ethical goals, both show how the configuration of postsecular art becomes part of the ‘denaturalization’ of secular and religious normativity in postsecular society (Parmaksız 2018).
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities, History of Italy
The paper proposes critical summary of the current data on fireplaces, ovens and furnaces identified in protohistoric Sardinia archaeological contexts between the Middle Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The aim of the research is to offer a reflection both on the quantity and quality of data in order to the use of fire in archaeological contexts, and on the difficulties about to their recognition and to the related functional interpretation. The analysis was carried out on the basis of an updated repertory, including all the published evidence, with the aim of proposing the typological classification of combustion structures and of determining their features also in relation to the different areas of reference. It was necessary to identify a criterion for pyrotechnic structures classification that would take into account the type of context, morphology and, when possible, function. Traces of fire use have been identified in the archaeological stratifications, in more or less structured spaces and coinciding with different monumental evidences such as nuraghi, village areas, cultural complexes. In correspondence with these areas, within domestic, cultural or uncertain destination spaces, there are fireplaces and points of fire with widely varied structuring methods. Both combustion zones of different shapes and sizes without delimitation elements and structured hearths, defined by lithic elements, characterized by different levels of finishing and complexity, can be recognized. Ovens and furnaces are not well documented in quantitative terms but are better defined for their typological characteristics. The functional aspects have been examined through the recognition of indicators such as associated artifacts or other elements derived from the specific context and the spatial location of structures related to pyrotechnic activities.
This paper presents rhetorical aspects of a sixteenth century Lithuanian polemical treatise “Rozmowa polaka z litwinem” (“Pasikalbėjimas lenko su lietuviu”). This anonymous work is often labeled as “humanist”. Even though many scholars analyse its contents and emphasize references to the Classical Antiquity, formal aspects and their pragmatic implications remain unevaluated. Scholars have mainly focused on the issue of it authorship and quoted it illustrating cultural and political sixteenth century changes in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The main aim of this article is to reveal rhetorical tropes and figures employed by the author of the treatise and discuss the possible motivation of their selection.
“Rozmowa” responds to, “Quincunx”, written in 1564 by a Polish polemist Stanisław Orzechowski (1513–1566). It is a part of a prolonged polemic between the later and Lithuanian Chancellor, Palatine of Vilnius Mikalojus Radvila “The Black”. The details and the course of their dispute is reconstructed by Orzechowski himself in the letter to Piotr Miscovius, which also is titled “Apologia pro Quincunce”. He refers to the “Rozmowa” without mentioning its title or particular author. Historiography attributes it to the Vilnius mayor (wójt) Augustyn Rotundus (c. 1520–1582). Both Orzechowski and Rotundus studied abroad and had spent some time in Italy. Not only curricula of their studies of artes liberales were influenced by Classical Antiquity, they also undoubtedly got familiar with humanist culture of the contemporary Europe.
“Rozmowa” consists of two main parts, which are separated by a verse. The treatise is written in a form of a dialogue, and allows to portray a vivid discussion and multiple points of view. The first part of “Rozmowa” focuses on the questions of the political theory, whereas the second one is dedicated to the history of Lithuania, its dynasty and the issue of the Polish-Lithuanian Union. While the first part is polemical, the second one has epideictic character. The author employs personification, paradiastole and antithesis. The latter two allow changing the normative contents of political concepts, and irony highlights the absurdities in the Polish political practices. The Lithuanian, one of the characters, uses deprecation and interpellation, addresses the absent participants of a dialogue (e. g. Orzechowski himself). The author quotes Ancient authors, Scripture, Church Fathers and contemporary thinkers (e. g. Machiavelli and Erasmus), whose ideas provide him with literary topoi. Merged with the rhetorical techniques, they constitute the political arguments of the treatise and allows the author to express one’s political ideas.
Literature (General), Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
My intervention was born as a reflection on the Census of churches of Turin diocese, organized by the CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference). Through my studies, I’ve observed the case of Turin ecclesiastical heritage built in the second half of the 20th century. A great number of places of worship have changed their historical validity due to arbitrariness of choices and interventions.
I’ve always supported the thesis that this religious buildings are an important patrimony for the urban history and expression of the pastoral liturgy of the diocese in Italy and that the community is fundamental to the birth and the management of a parish centre. Now I think that it is necessary to consolidate project strategies and fix best-practices to preserve the ecclesiastic heritage from everyone’s action.
Generally speaking, what contemporary buildings can be part of the Church heritage? How far can priests and communities decide, independently, to intervene?