Glass production in the Middle Ages from Italy to Central Europe: the contribution of archaeometry to the history of technology

The present paper reports and discusses data obtained by a combined archaeological and archaeometric study carried out on an assemblage of selected Medieval glass finds from the Monastery of St. Severus in Classe (Ravenna, Italy) and ascribable to the 13–16th CE. Glassware belonging to three main typological groups was selected for this study: ampoules, nuppenbecher and kropfflasche. Such a choice mainly stems from the intent to evaluate typological and compositional affinities of these peculiar vessel typologies with the same forms unearthed in different regions of Central Europe, as a starting point for a possible reconstruction of trade contacts between Italy and Central Europe. Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) and ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry) analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). The results, elaborated according to the archaeometric glass classification and provenancing of raw materials, shed new light on glass production in late Medieval times and can be broaden framed as a starting point for interpreting relations and exchanges between geographical areas and related cultures

Chapter 5: Genetics of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Nowadays, a huge claim for personalized medicine is progressively growing, and, along this way, genetic studies represent one of the most representative steps. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) can be the consequence of clearly defined external etiologic factors, such as viral infections, toxins, drugs, metabolic disorders, etc., but at least 30\u201340% of cases (and maybe more) have a prevalent genetic origin, and in the remaining part, genetics may still play an important role. With the expansion of clinical genetic testing, using high-quality next-generation sequencing (NGS) extended panels, these genetic causes of DCM have been increasingly identified. More than 50 genes, mapping to multiple biological pathways, are currently considered disease related, and causative variants can be identified in up to 35% of cases. This growing amount of genetic informations, however, is still not followed by a parallel advance toward tailored clinical management. The reasons behind this gap are currently under investigation in the scientific community: the aim of this chapter is to provide a guide through the complexity of the genotype-phenotype interaction, analyzing (1) the most frequently encountered genes in DCM, (2) technical issues in NGS, (3) controversies beyond sequencing data interpretation, (4) the contribution of environmental modifiers, and (5) evidence-based genotype-phenotype correlations in DCM