This article is in two parts. The first part, in Italian, by Giuseppe Schinco, is a study of the typology and technical characteristics of a group of 225 lead slingshots found rather more than twenty years ago by a private metal detectorist on the hill of Botromagno near Gravina in Puglia. The second part, in English, by Alastair Small, is a review of the archaeological evidence for a possible siege of the site within the time frame suggested by the typological study of the slingshots. Since the site, which can be identified with the ancient Silvium, can be shown to have been abandoned around the end of the first quarter of the first century BC within that time frame, we conclude that the siege most probably took place during the slave war of 73–70 BC associated with Spartacus.

TwinsUK is the largest cohort of community-dwelling adult twins in the UK. The registry comprises over 14,000 volunteer twins (14,838 including mixed, single and triplets); it is predominantly female (82%) and middle-aged (mean age 59). In addition, over 1800 parents and siblings of twins are registered volunteers. During the last 27 years, TwinsUK has collected numerous questionnaire responses, physical/cognitive measures and biological measures on over 8500 subjects. Data were collected alongside four comprehensive phenotyping clinical visits to the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London. Such collection methods have resulted in very detailed longitudinal clinical, biochemical, behavioral, dietary and socioeconomic cohort characterization; it provides a multidisciplinary platform for the study of complex disease during the adult life course, including the process of healthy aging. The major strength of TwinsUK is the availability of several ‘omic’ technologies for a range of sample types from participants, which includes genomewide scans of single-nucleotide variants, next-generation sequencing, metabolomic profiles, microbiomics, exome sequencing, epigenetic markers, gene expression arrays, RNA sequencing and telomere length measures. TwinsUK facilitates and actively encourages sharing the ‘TwinsUK’ resource with the scientific community — interested researchers may request data via the TwinsUK website (http://twinsuk.ac.uk/resources-for-researchers/access-our-data/) for their own use or future collaboration with the study team. In addition, further cohort data collection is planned via the Wellcome Open Research gateway (https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/gateways). The current article presents an up-to-date report on the application of technological advances, new study procedures in the cohort and future direction of TwinsUK.

We compared the fluorescent gel removal rate using fewer high-touch surfaces (HTSs) and rooms and determined the optimum number of HTSs and rooms needed to ensure accuracy using 2,942 HTSs in 228 rooms on 13 units. Randomly selecting 3 HTS in 2 rooms predicted the optimal removal rate.

Direct ink writing of silicone elastomers enables printing with precise control of porosity and mechanical properties of ordered cellular solids, suitable for shock absorption and stress mitigation applications. With the ability to manipulate structure and feedstock stiffness, the design space becomes challenging to parse to obtain a solution producing a desired mechanical response. Here, we derive an analytical design approach for a specific architecture. Results from finite element simulations and quasi-static mechanical tests of two different parallel strand architectures were analyzed to understand the structure-property relationships under uniaxial compression. Combining effective stiffness-density scaling with least squares optimization of the stress responses yielded general response curves parameterized by resin modulus and strand spacing. An analytical expression of these curves serves as a reduced order model, which, when optimized, provides a rapid design capability for filament-based 3D printed structures. As a demonstration, the optimal design of a face-centered tetragonal architecture is computed that satisfies prescribed minimum and maximum load constraints.

Field investigation of six medial moraines on glaciers near Arolla, Valais, Switzerland, has revealed that all are nourished by englacial till. This is probably derived from supraglacial point-sources on the accumulation zones of the glaciers, and is released in increasing quantities on the ablation zones, where it emerges diffusely or by way of clearly defined transverse or longitudinal debris bands. Possible mechanisms of formation of these debris bands are reviewed, and it is proposed that the transverse bands originated as crevasse fillings on the accumulation zones. Morphologically all six moraines display waxing sections (of increasing height and breadth), related to development of a protective till cover and resultant differential ablation of the glacier surface. Two only display waning sections (of decreasing height), resulting from lateral sliding of till and “inverted” differential ablation resulting from extreme attenuation of till cover. Four “moraine-types” (related to nature of debris supply and detailed morphology) are identified in the Arolla area. It is believed that these may form the basis for a classification of medial moraines.

The two medial moraines of the Glacier de Tsidjiore Nouve are nourished by rock debris revealed at the surface by progressive ablation down-glacier. The sources of the moraine appear to be rock outcrops marginal to or above the Pigne d’Arolla ice fall, much of the detritus entering the glacier via crevasses either at the summit or the base of the ice fall. The role of differential ablation in the emergence of the moraines as relief features is illuminated by measurements made in the late summers of 1971 and 1972. The eventual decline of the moraines down-glacier is related to factors of reducing debris supply, lateral sliding and accelerated ablation due to attenuation of the detrital cover to a mean thickness of 1 cm or less. A model of moraine development, different in several respects from that proposed by Loomis (1970) for the Kaskawulsh Glacier, Alaska, is outlined.

In the last decade deposition on lateral moraine embankments of glacier de Tsidjiore Nouve has been re-activated on a large scale. An attempt has been made to reconstruct, from the dimensions of the embankments, average rates of debris accumulation on the moraines during the Neoglacial period. These are compared with rates of deposition over the period 1977–82, calculated from detailed changes in moraine profiles (surveyed by ground- and air-based photogrammetry) and measured rates of ice-margin ablation. At present total output of sediment, by marginal deposition and transport by melt-water streams, from glacier de Tsidjiore Nouve is in the order of 6400–9500m3/a; this suggests the possibility of a high average erosion rate within the glacier catchment of 1.55–2.29 mm/a.

Introduced plants threaten biodiversity and ecosystem processes, including carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles, but little is known about the threshold at which such effects occur. We examined the impact of the invasive shrub Amur honeysuckle on soil organic carbon (SOC) and N density at study sites that varied in invasion history. In plots with and without honeysuckle, we measured honeysuckle abundance and size (basal area) and extracted soil cores. SOC and N densities were highest at the site with the longest invasion history and highest invasion intensity (i.e., greatest abundance and basal area of honeysuckle). Basal area of honeysuckle positively affected SOC and N densities likely because of increased litter decomposition and altered microbial communities. Because honeysuckle increases forest net primary productivity (NPP) and SOC, it also may play a role in C sequestration. Our results demonstrate the need to consider the influence of invasion history and intensity when evaluating the potential impact of invasive species.