<b>Background</b>. Poor outcomes have been reported in patients with type 2 diabetes and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), thus it is mandatory to explore novel therapeutic approaches for this population. <h2>Methods. In a multicenter case-control retrospective observational study, sitagliptin, an oral and highly selective DPP-4 inhibitor, was added to standard-of-care (e.g.; insulin administration) at the time of hospitalization in patients with type 2 diabetes who were hospitalized with COVID-19. Every center also recruited at 1:1 ratio untreated controls matched for age and gender. All patients had pneumonia and exhibited oxygen saturation lower than 95% when breathing ambient air, or were receiving oxygen support. The primary endpoints were discharge from the hospital/death and improvement of clinical outcomes, defined as an increase in at least two points on a seven-category modified ordinal scale. Data were collected retrospectively from patients receiving sitagliptin from March 1 through April 30, 2020. </h2> <h2>Results. Of the 338 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 admitted in Northern Italy hospitals included in this study, 169 were on sitagliptin, while 169 were on standard-of-care. Treatment with sitagliptin at the time of hospitalization was associated with reduced mortality (18% vs. 37% of deceased patients; HR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.29-0.66, p=0.0001), with an improvement in clinical outcomes (60% vs. 38% of improved patients, p=0.0001) and with a greater number of hospital discharges (120 vs. 89 of discharged patients, p=0.0008), compared to patients receiving standard-of-care respectively. </h2> <h2>Conclusions. In this multicenter case-control retrospective observational study of patients with type 2 diabetes admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, sitagliptin treatment at the time of hospitalization was associated with reduced mortality and improved clinical outcomes as compared to standard-of-care treatment. The effects of sitagliptin in patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 should be confirmed in an ongoing randomized, placebo-controlled trial. </h2>

Sena Gallica (Senigallia), in the northern Marche region, was the first Roman colony on the Adriatic coast founded at the beginning of the third century BC. This research adopted an integrated approach to different information sources that combines old and new data, archaeological excavations, topographic and geophysical surveys, and geological and geomorphological analyses. The data are managed within a GIS and supported by 3D modelling. One of the results of this work is a map which represents the geomorphological setting of the Roman colony, close to the mouth of the Misa river. The settlement exploited the top-surface of the uppermost Pleistocene-early Holocene coastal fan of the Misa river, now only preserved at the apex sector truncated seaward by wave erosion. The top-surface of the fan apex, in turn, was partly re-incised by stream erosion producing a series of slight topographic mounds, which were selected for the earliest human settlement (V-IV c. BC). Some of the mounds resulted in a protected, slightly elevated, area enclosed by the meandering course of the Misa River and the Sant'Angelo/Penna streams, where the Romans decided to found their colony (284 BC). The tight interaction between human activities and the natural environment has always influenced the development of the town, from the earliest phases to the modern age. This map focuses on the time when the Roman colony was founded, but the combined study in progress allows understanding of the main transformations that occurred during the following centuries. ARTICLE HISTORY

The reuse of ancient ceramic fragments in Romanesque masonries was a common practice\ud in the Medieval era. A cultural impoverishment of the masonry building art characterized\ud this period. Pre-existing structures were often exploited to build new masonries, both for\ud civil and religious purpose. Starting from these general considerations, a specific construction\ud technique of some Romanesque masonries of the Church of S. Maria in Portuno (Italy)\ud and made by tile and brick fragments, was studied by a multidisciplinary approach. Analyses\ud of the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of the original materials (tile and brick\ud fragments, mortars) were carried out by laboratory tests. Furthermore, some wall specimens\ud were reproduced through the same ceramic materials and construction technique of\ud the original masonries. Compression tests were carried out on these wall specimens so as\ud to understand the influence of this construction technique on their compressive strength,\ud Young’s modulus, and failure mode. The results allowed increased current knowledge on\ud historical materials and on the mechanical behavior of these specific historical masonries.\ud Useful data obtained by experimental characterization of the materials and walls will also\ud allow to guide future restoration works on these masonries

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Les études les plus récentes remettent en question l’interprétation traditionnelle du phénomène colonial fondé sur une bipartition schématique entre colonies de droit romain et colonies de droit latin. L’exemple de Sena Gallica , la première colonie de droit romain, fondée au début du iii e  siècle avant J.-C. sur la côte adriatique – dans l’ ager Gallicus  – livre de nouvelles données pour une analyse globale des choix urbanistiques et politiques que Rome adoptait d’une fois à l’autre pendant son expansion vers les plaines fertiles du nord de la péninsule italienne ( Gallia Cisalpina ). Le tableau qui émerge correspond mieux à la forme et à la fonction des colonies de droit latin contemporaines : en effet, Sena Gallica semble avoir eu d’emblée une importante extension urbaine (estimée à environ 18 ha) et un ager très étendu (estimé à environ 290 ha, répartis sur trois vallées fluviales contiguës). Il est alors évident qu’à la fonction militaire, fondamentale dans les premiers moments de la vie de la cité, fut aussitôt associé un rôle de peuplement et d’exploitation agricole d’un territoire où l’élément indigène (picène ou gaulois) n’était pas en mesure de s’opposer de manière efficace.