The arrival of the Longobards in Northern Italy in 568 CE marked a period of renewed political stability in the peninsula after the collapse of the Western Roman empire. the trajectory of the spread of Longobards in Italy across the Alps and into the South is known from many literary sources. However, their mobility and residence patterns at a population level remain to be fully understood. Here we present a multi-isotopic analysis (87 Sr/ 86 Sr and 18 o/ 16 O) of 39 humans and 14 animals buried at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese (VR, Italy; 6th-8th century CE), to address mode and tempo of the spread of this population in the peninsula. the geographical location of povegliano Veronese plays a key role: the site lies along the Via Postumia, which was one of the main ancient Roman roads of Northern Italy, representing an important route in post-classical Italy. The integration of isotopic data with the archaeological evidence allowed us to determine the presence of individuals from at least three different regions of origin, building a diachronic map of the dynamics of mobility of this group in northern italy. The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE was (at least in part) a consequence of the political and military instability that Rome had suffered for decades. The difficult balance between the eastern and western halves of the Empire had generated a void that was easily filled by the Germanic peoples that were familiar with the Roman system if only by virtue of their role as mercenary army (i.e. during the Gothic War (535-554) Huns, Gepids, Eruli, Longobards and Persians were hired by the Byzantines to re-conquest Italy) 1. After the collapse, the Empire became hunting ground for hordes of German tribes: Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths and Longobards to name a few. The Longobards, unlike most Germanic peoples that raided the Peninsula after the fall, settled in Italy for several decades 2 , interacting with the locals. Between the sixth and eighth centuries CE they gave life to an independent kingdom, subdivided into numerous small dukedoms. After their arrival in 568 CE under King Alboin's leadership, they left many traces of their settlement in Northern Italy and their subsequent diffusion towards the south. With historical sources and archaeological data providing a background to our understanding of the Barbarian invasions across Europe, we are confronted with a multitude of information on general cultural phenomena but little evidence on single aspects at a population level. Here we attempt to integrate archaeological, skeletal, and biomolecular data at the Longobard necropolis of Povegliano Veronese to understand how and to what extent did the Longobard ingression in Italy changed the socio-cultural scenario of the Peninsula.

Azo molecules, characterized by the presence of a -N=N- double bond, are widely used in various fields due to their sensitivity to external stimuli, ch as light. The emergence of bacterial resistance has pushed research towards designing new antimicrobial molecules that are more efficient than those currently in use. Many authors have attempted to exploit the antimicrobial activity of azobenzene and to utilize their photoisomerization for selective control of the bioactivities of antimicrobial molecules, which is necessary for antibacterial therapy. This review will provide a systematic and consequential approach to coupling azobenzene moiety with active antimicrobial molecules and drugs, including small and large organic molecules, such as peptides. A selection of significant cutting-edge articles collected in recent years has been discussed, based on the structural pattern and antimicrobial performance, focusing especially on the photoactivity of azobenzene and the design of smart materials as the most targeted and desirable application.

The late Middle Pleistocene, starting at around 300 ka, witnessed large-scale biological and cultural dynamics in hominin evolution across Africa including the onset of the Middle Stone Age that is closely associated with the evolution of our species—Homo sapiens. However, archaeological and geochronological data of its earliest appearance are scarce. Here we report on the late Middle Pleistocene sequence of Wadi Lazalim, in the Sahara of Southern Tunisia, which has yielded evidence for human occupations bracketed between ca. 300–130 ka. Wadi Lazalim contributes valuable information on the spread of early MSA technocomplexes across North Africa, that likely were an expression of large-scale diffusion processes.

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