The painted fragments collected during the archaeological excavation campaign in the San Giovanni Battista church in Cevio represent a unique patrimony of Romanesque wall painting in Tessin, Switzerland, having a strong stylistic linkage with the Lombardic art of the same period. The archaeological and stylistic research allowed the fragments to be dated between the 11th and 13th centuries AD and to group them in three chronological phases. The scientific research (p-XRF, OM, SEM-EDS, FTIR and XRD) was aimed at characterizing the pigments and the pictorial techniques used. Important changes occurred in terms of some pigments used during the 11th and 12th centuries: in particular, azurite was used to decorate the earlier wall paintings while lapis lazuli was used for the 12th-century ones. During the second period, lead-based pigments (lead white and minium) were introduced into the palette. The use of natural yellow and red ochres and green earth was common for the three periods. The fresco technique was generally used, except for the application of azurite and lead-based pigments, where the a secco technique was adopted. The integrated research is a contribution to the knowledge of Romanesque art in the Insubric Region.

In humans, the glycosylation pattern of serum and of membrane glycoproteins is associated with invasiveness of tumors: specifically, a2,6-sialylation and a2,3-sialylation are associated with metastasizing and nonmetastasizing tumors, respectively. In turn, the type of sialylation depends on the activity of a2,6 or a2,3 sialyltransferase (ST) enzymes. Because of the high prevalence of metastasizing tumors with biological behavior similar to the human counterpart, female dogs with metastasizing neoplasms could provide a good animal model for investigating the potential roles of sialic acid (Sia) and ST enzymes in the pathogenesis of metastatic tumors. The aims of this study were (1) to validate a solid-phase method based on lectin staining of serum and tissue homogenates to investigate sialylation and ST activity and (2) to compare the results obtained with this method and with lectin staining and to collect preliminary information on sialylation and ST activity in dogs with (n ¼ 8) and without (n ¼ 8) mammary tumors. The data recorded in healthy dogs revealed that serum and tissue glycoproteins are prevalently characterized by a a2,6 sialylation, but ST-a2,3 seems to be the most active enzyme in both samples. Sia-a2,3 and ST-a2,3 activity decreases in serum and tissues of dogs with tumors, especially in a dog with metastasis, suggesting that the equilibrium between ST-a2,6 and ST-a2,3 activity shifts toward the former, as reported in humans.

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