The Tomb of the Diver and the frescoed tombs in Paestum (southern Italy): New insights from a comparative archaeometric study

The Tomb of the Diver has been subject for many decades of fierce debate among archaeologists and classicists. Since its discovery in 1968, some scholars have considered it a unique example of the lost tradition of Greek painting, others have emphasized Etruscan or Italic parallels. More recently, a possible local production has been suggested. With the aim of trying to solve the archaeological question, an archaeometric comparison among this well-known artwork and several frescoed tombs coming from Hellenistic and Lucan necropolis was carried out. The multi-analytical study was focused on the identification of peculiar features of executive techniques and raw materials since the first period of the archaeological site. The analytical investigation has been preliminary based on a non-destructive approach, performed in-situ by portable equipment including imaging diagnostics and compositional spectroscopic techniques for identifying pigments and the conservation state of original painted surface; subsequently, a further deepening by using destructive techniques was performed in-lab for the mortar-based supports characterization. Archaeometric study suggested that technological choices slightly changed in a time span of about two centuries, highlighting important markers that allow clustering the contemporary artistic productions. Moreover, a comparison with mortars from temples decorations was provided to better understand the whole artistic context. The archaeometric data showed that the Tomb of the Diver could be traced back to a local artisanal tradition and therefore is neither Etruscan nor Greek, but the first and foremost an expression of the local elite culture of Paestum.

Factor VII-activating protease deficiency promotes neointima formation by enhancing leukocyte accumulation

Essentials Factor VII-activating protease (FSAP) is a plasma protease involved in vascular processes. Neointima formation was investigated after vascular injury in FSAP-/- mice. The neointimal lesion size and the accumulation of macrophages were increased in FSAP-/- mice. This was due to an increased activity of the chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2).

SUMMARY

Background Factor VII-activating protease (FSAP) is a multifunctional circulating plasma serine protease involved in thrombosis and vascular remodeling processes. The Marburg I single-nucleotide polymorphism (MI-SNP) in the FSAP-coding gene is characterized by low proteolytic activity, and is associated with increased rates of stroke and carotid stenosis in humans. Objectives To determine whether neointima formation after vascular injury is increased in FSAP-/- mice. Methods and Results The neointimal lesion size and the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were significantly enhanced in FSAP-/- mice as compared with C57BL/6 control mice after wire-induced injury of the femoral artery. Accumulation of leukocytes and macrophages was increased within the lesions of FSAP-/- mice at day 3 and day 14. Quantitative zymography demonstrated enhanced activity of gelatinases/matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 within the neointimal lesions of FSAP-/- mice, and immunohistochemistry showed particular costaining of MMP-9 with accumulating leukocytes. Using intravital microscopy, we observed that FSAP deficiency promoted the intravascular adherence and the subsequent transmigration of leukocytes in vivo in response to chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2). CCL2 expression was increased in FSAP-/- monocytes but not in the vessel wall. There was no difference in the expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB). Conclusions FSAP deficiency causes an increase in CCL2 expression and CCL2-mediated infiltration of leukocytes into the injured vessel, thereby promoting SMC proliferation and migration by the activation of leukocyte-derived gelatinases. These results provide a possible explanation for the observed association of the loss-of-function MI-SNP with vascular proliferative diseases.