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Background Pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease represents a challenge for healthcare structures. The molecular confirmation of samples from infected individuals is crucial and therefore guides public health decision making. Clusters and possibly increased diffuse transmission could occur in the context of the next influenza season. For this reason, a diagnostic test able to discriminate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from influenza viruses is urgently needed. Methods A multiplex real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was assessed using 1 laboratory protocol with different real-time PCR instruments. Overall, 1000 clinical samples (600 from samples SARS-CoV-2–infected patients, 200 samples from influenza-infected patients, and 200 negative samples) were analyzed. Results The assay developed was able to detect and discriminate each virus target and to intercept coinfections. The limit of quantification of each assay ranged between 5 and 10 genomic copy numbers, with a cutoff value of 37.7 and 37.8 for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, respectively. Only 2 influenza coinfections were detected in COVID-19 samples. Conclusions This study suggests that multiplex assay is a rapid, valid, and accurate method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses in clinical samples. The test may be an important diagnostic tool for both diagnostic and surveillance purposes during the seasonal influenza activity period.

Pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease represents a challenge for healthcare structures. The molecular confirmation of samples from infected individuals is crucial and therefore guides public health decision making. Clusters and possibly increased diffuse transmission could occur in the context of the next influenza season. For this reason, a diagnostic test able to discriminate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from influenza viruses is urgently needed.A multiplex real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was assessed using 1 laboratory protocol with different real-time PCR instruments. Overall, 1000 clinical samples (600 from samples SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, 200 samples from influenza-infected patients, and 200 negative samples) were analyzed.The assay developed was able to detect and discriminate each virus target and to intercept coinfections. The limit of quantification of each assay ranged between 5 and 10 genomic copy numbers, with a cutoff value of 37.7 and 37.8 for influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, respectively. Only 2 influenza coinfections were detected in COVID-19 samples.This study suggests that multiplex assay is a rapid, valid, and accurate method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses in clinical samples. The test may be an important diagnostic tool for both diagnostic and surveillance purposes during the seasonal influenza activity period.

International audience

Byzantine culture is one of the milestones of European cultural heritage. “BYZART - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana” project (https://byzart.eu/) addresses the general scope of organizing, digitizing, cataloguing and making available rich archival collections related to the Byzantine cultural heritage on Europeana. The project partners who collaborated to this catalogue (the Department of History and Cultures – University of Bologna, the Institute of Historical Research – Section of Byzantine Research at the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the Open University of Cyprus, the Ionian University – Department of Audio and Visual Arts, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Institute of Art Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Istituzione Biblioteca Classense – Museo della Città di Ravenna – International Centre for Documentation of Mosaics), have shared their cultural contents with the European community raising awareness about this impressive heritage. The book presents the proceedings of the final meeting of “Byzart - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana” project and the catalogue of the digital exhibition “The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology”.

Le sigle di lavorazione su marmo rappresentano una categoria epigrafica particolare, che fatica ancora a trovare una precisa collocazione tipologica. Si tratta di iscrizioni a carattere funzionale, realizzate da maestranze e funzionari sulla superficie di manufatti lapidei di varia tipologia, al fine di trasmettere informazioni tecniche ed amministrative in relazione alle diverse fasi del cantiere edilizio. Uno studio diacronico e comparativo di tali evidenze ha permesso di mettere a punto una classificazione tipologica, basata sulla valutazione del luogo e del momento di realizzazione dei documenti epigrafici. Si riconoscono sigle di cava – tra cui si annoverano sigle di controllo, assemblaggio/posizionamento, destinazione/committenza –, sigle di stoccaggio e sigle di officina marmoraria. Attraverso alcuni casi-studio vengono analizzate la morfologia e le caratteristiche, nonché il significato e il funzionamento di tali marchi epigrafici nell’ambito del processo produttivo e costruttivo. Documenti di questo tipo possono rivelarsi indicatori privilegiati per la comprensione di numerosi aspetti tecnici, sociali e culturali del cantiere edilizio nell’antichità.

Il contributo del vescovo milanese Ambrogio alla formazione della prima chiesa bolognese

The salvage and reuse of building materials is one of the most widespread practices in the Late Antique Mediterranean. Unlike what generally assumed, the process of salvage and recycle of building materials does not appear as a haphazard procedure. Its diffusion is definitely related to remarkable economic benefits, in terms of material supply and professional figures involved. Moreover, specific archaeological indicators show that each of its phases implies appropriate technological devices and solutions. In these terms, the Late Antique reuse of building materials can be defined as a rationally planned procedure. Both archaeological and epigraphical sources allow identifying specific approaches towards disused monuments. They involve every stage of the process, concerning the moment of dismantling, storage and secondary provision of stone products. This paper aims to highlight the rationality of this process, in terms of functions, procedures and manpower involved, as well as the legal framework within which it can be placed.

During Late Antiquity, members of the secular clergy provided a noteworthy contribution in the Christianization of urban and rural landscape and performed an increasingly important social role precisely for their role of builders. In this paper, literary sources, as well as epigraphic documents, are analyzed in order to highlight the role played by religious men in the patronage of architectural enterprises. They reveal managerial skills in order to oversee the construction process. In many cases, members of the lower clergy and laical collaborators support the episcopal authority in auxiliary tasks and the population plays a remarkable role in the effective realization of the building enterprises, too. In such a way, the ecclesiastical architectural yard can be considered as a multi-layered resource for the ancient society, both as a mean of Christianization and as redistribution of economic resources.

Il contributo analizza la figura dell'architetto-ingegnere (μηχανοποιός) nella società protobizantina, verificando in che termini le relazioni familiari influissero sulla formazione e il cursus honorum di questa particolare categoria professionale. Il caso studio preso in esame è quello della famiglia degli Isidori, autori di alcune tra le più importanti intraprese architettoniche del periodo in esame.

Contestualizzazione storica e archeologica della cattedrale bolognese, dalle origini al primo medioevo, in connessione con le vicende del suo battistero.