Latest news with #SapienzaUniversity
Muscat Daily
3 days ago
- Muscat Daily
Ancient tombs unearthed along Oman-UAE railway route
Suhar – An Omani-Italian archaeological team found 28 ancient tombs during an excavation in Suhar along the route of the planned Oman-UAE railway line. The excavation carried out in Sohar Free Zone was jointly conducted by Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and Sapienza University of Rome as part of a salvage operation aimed at protecting heritage sites potentially affected by the railway connecting Suhar to Abu Dhabi. 'We identified around 28 graves in the route of the railway,' said Francesco Caputo, an archaeologist from Sapienza University. 'One of the tombs contained a substantial collection of human bones. We also recovered a variety of grave goods, including stone and shell beads, bronze rings and bangles, and fragments of ancient glass vessels.' The artefacts provide insight into burial practices and social structures of ancient communities that once inhabited the region, adding to growing evidence of continuous settlement in Oman since prehistoric times. Ismail Salim al Mutrafi, Head of Archaeological Survey Department at the ministry, noted the collaborative nature of the project. 'A large number of ministry staff are actively involved in this excavation, working alongside our Italian counterparts,' he said. 'This effort is not just about discovery – it's about skills transfer and building national capacity in the field of archaeology.' According to the ministry, it is currently working with archaeological teams at 68 sites across the sultanate. Findings contribute to efforts to protect Oman's cultural heritage and support its tourism sector. 'The ministry is committed to protecting archaeological sites and maximising the value of these resources as key elements of our tourism product,' said Mutrafi. 'Findings from excavations like this one help enrich the collections of National Museum and other regional museums under the ministry's umbrella.' He also emphasised the role of such artefacts in promoting international cultural exchange, citing their inclusion in exhibitions abroad. 'This is a reminder that beneath our modern infrastructure lies an ancient world waiting to be rediscovered,' Mutrafi added. 'Each find is a story, a memory and a connection to people who walked this land long before us.'
Euronews
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
How local groups of bishops could revolutionise the conclave
One of the late Pope Francis' central goals was to try and bring together the different strains of Catholicism. To do this, he used a particular device of ecclesiastical and institutional action: the synod, a council of bishops institutionalised in 1965 by the modernising Second Vatican Council to moderate and modernise the absolute power of the popes and the Roman curia in matters of faith. Synods are not popular assemblies, but councils of the bishops of a country or a fairly large geographical area. Their members already occupy prominent positions in the church hierarchy. "Pope Francis' objective was to enhance the synodal element, but not as a new power structure," says Francesco Clementi, professor of Comparative Public Law at Sapienza University, Rome. "The pope is always the pope. And as Pope Francis said, he remains a central figure in the vertical of ecclesiastical and spiritual power. The assemblies of bishops would simply have facilitated decisions (in Rome) by widening the audience in the hierarchies." The proposals made by synods during Pope Francis' pontificate have been crucial for the future of the church and the faithful, such as the celibacy dispensations for Catholic priests or the potential priestly role of women in the church. The late pontiff's unprecedented use of the synod thus represents a decisive innovation that could change the course of both the conclave and the future pontificate. Synods are consultative institutions whose decisions are not binding on the pontiff, but in the age of mass media, they oblige him to be more sensitive to the needs of external and remote realities, even without bringing the Vatican's centrality into question. The decisions synods produce, even if not formally adopted, may therefore influence the conclave, which this year is composed of newly appointed cardinals who in many cases come from the church's peripheries. Moreover, papal elections often throw up surprises, as Father Gianni Criveller, director of the digital periodical Asia News, a sinologist and longtime missionary in China, explains. "The unexpected happens in conclaves: they (the cardinals) start voting and then unexpected candidates emerge who do not necessarily correspond to the initial objectives," he tells Euronews. "However,* it will be difficult for someone to be elected who goes beyond what Pope Francis has already done. There would be two or three such candidates among the cardinals, but I don't see how they can gather consensus until the end of the conclave." The innovative use of synods both under Pope Francis and also in the short period after his death before the papacy is filled may prove to have changed the spiritual and political agenda of the cardinal electors by introducing elements and views that are relatively heterodox, if not directly opposed to previous convictions. However, synods do not necessarily advance progressive ideas. Their orientation depends on the geographical area and culture from which they are drawn. The blessing of people in same-sex relationships was one of Pope Francis' major decisions, and it still causes great divisions in the church. "The entire African Church, including the bishops and cardinals, were strongly opposed to this initiative," recalls Father Criveller. "They have clearly said that in Africa, they will never apply the letter on the blessing of homosexuals inspired and approved by Pope Francis." Pope Francis himself was a man capable of great leaps both forward and backward, such as on the women's issue. He was the first pope to appoint seven women to the top administrative posts in the Vatican, among them prefect, director of the Vatican museums and secretary general of the governorate, a position usually occupied by a bishop. However, he did not open up the priesthood to women, a move demanded by Catholic groups from Germany to the Amazon. On this front, the Catholic Church has fallen behind Protestant and Anglican churches that have welcomed women into the clergy. Among the cardinals taking a stance against women in the priesthood is Bishop of Stockholm Anders Arborelius, an ex-Lutheran convert to Catholicism who was appointed Cardinal of the Nordic countries by Pope Francis in 2017. He is opposed to the priesthood of women even though in Sweden's majority Protestant denomination, there are now more female priests than male ones. Despite the expanded role of the synods, some proposals of the bishops' assemblies from other parts of the world were rejected by Pope Francis, among them, the notion of allowing the appointment of married priests. "The Amazon synod had called for the admission to the priesthood of married men," says Father Criveller. "Not priests who can marry, but married men who want to become priests. Yet Pope Francis rejected the proposal." Pope Benedict XVI himself had gone further on this issue, opening the doors of Roman Catholicism to Anglican priests who were at odds with their original denomination. Moreover, dispensations have existed for centuries within the Catholic Church for married priests, among them Ukrainian Greek Catholics, Chaldeans, Maronites, Copts and other Eastern Catholics. For many sectors of the Catholic Church, therefore, synods are not a problem because of some inherent progressivism. Instead, their disruptive role could come from the diversity of their orientations and decisions. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen said that the electors of the future pope must be aware that he will have the responsibility to either allow the synod process to continue or decisively cut it short. "It is a matter of the life or death of the Church founded by Jesus," he said, concluding that if synods are disconnected from tradition and the heritage of faith, they might turn into an instrument of disunity instead of communion. Zen is known for his harsh criticism of the agreement reached by the Vatican in 2018 with the Chinese communist government for the appointment of bishops in mainland China. The architect of the agreement with Beijing was one of the current papal appointees, the outgoing secretary of state Pietro Parolin, who would also be disliked by the US for his role in the deal.
Medscape
05-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Single Antiplatelet After TAVR Lowers Risk
Patients who received a single antiplatelet drug therapy— usually aspirin — after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) had about half the risk of dying in the subsequent 6 months compared with patients who received dual antiplatelet drug therapy. The findings were similar in men and women and in patients with and without coronary artery disease. Francesco Pelliccia, MD, PhD 'This is one of the first demonstrations in real-world data that single antiplatelet therapy is not only associated with a lower risk of bleeding but also lower mortality,' said lead author Francesco Pelliccia, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. Mortality rates for those who received dual antiplatelet therapy increased steadily during the 6 months after the procedure, he reported at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2025 Scientific Sessions in Washington, DC. Ischemic and major bleeding events were dramatically reduced in those receiving a single drug, according to a real-world study of 5514 patients undergoing TAVR at 20 centers. The centers participate in the Transfusion Requirements in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TRITAVI) registry. In the 6 months after the procedure, 2.4% of the 3197 patients who received a single antiplatelet drug died of any cause, as did 5.4% of 2317 patients who received two antiplatelet drugs (hazard ratio [HR], 1.65). Dual therapy was associated with a higher risk for death in both men (HR, 2.08) and women (HR, 1.53). Risk for death was also higher in patients with coronary artery disease (HR, 1.83) and without coronary artery disease (HR, 1.52). All results were statistically significant. Balancing Risks and Benefits The popularity of TAVR, which was introduced in 2002, has grown to the point that, in 2019, it surpassed the use of surgical aortic valve replacement. But the procedure is associated with an increased risk for both thrombosis and bleeding. Antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel helps prevent thrombosis but can increase the risk of bleeding. This has led to a debate about the best balance for antiplatelet therapy after TAVR with either single therapy — usually with aspirin — or dual therapy with both aspirin and clopidogrel. A series of studies have addressed this problem. Dual therapy did not show any benefits over single therapy in terms of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events in a 2011 small randomized study. A 2014 small randomized study also showed no benefit for morbidity or mortality from dual therapy. A larger 2017 randomized trial showed that single therapy reduced the risk for major or life-threatening events but did not increase the risk for myocardial infarction or stroke. Bleeding and bleeding plus thromboembolic events were significantly lower with aspirin than with aspirin plus clopidogrel after a year's follow-up in the 2020 POPular TAVI trial. Findings from three of these trials were pooled in a 2018 meta-analysis, which showed that dual therapy increased the risk for major adverse events after TAVR and did not prevent ischemic events any more than single therapy. Based on this evidence, many centers changed their practice. And current European guidelines recommend a single antiplatelet drug for patients undergoing TAVR who do not have additional indications for oral anticoagulation therapy. By the Numbers Randomized trials are generally considered the best evidence for medical questions such as this one. 'But randomized trials often do not reflect real-world reality. We have to look at what really happens,' Pelliccia said. Retrospective data from registries can also provide large numbers of patients; in this case, TRITAVI provided data on thousands of patients rather than the hundreds examined in combined randomized trials. 'The results, for the first time, provide clinicians more information on how to treat their patients who are at high risk for bleeding and provide evidence that single antiplatelet therapy should be considered the standard of care in all patients undergoing TAVR,' Pelliccia said.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Once Lush Sahara Was Home to a Surprisingly Unique Group of Humans
Currently a harsh, arid sandscape, it's hard to believe the Sahara was once studded with sparkling water bodies that nourished lush green savannas. But the remains of human pastoralists and their livestock have been found in the region's rock shelters. A new genetic analysis suggests the humans who called this 7,000-year-old version of the Sahara home largely kept to themselves, genetically speaking. Max Planck Institute evolutionary anthropologist Nada Salem and colleagues sequenced the ancient DNA of two female individuals buried at the Takarkori rock shelter in what's now southwestern Libya. The 7,000-year-old Takarkori women shared the most genes with 15,000-year-old foragers from Morocco, suggesting a long-standing, stable human population existed in North Africa before and during the Saharan humid period. "Evidence from ancient lake deposits, pollen samples, and archaeological artifacts confirm human presence, hunting, herding, and resource gathering in the currently arid desert region," Salem and team explain in their paper. This shared Saharan human lineage took a different path from those in sub-Saharan Africa around the same time that modern humans first left the continent more than 50,000 years ago. The lineage then remained relatively isolated for many thousands of years, with only small traces of genes entering from the Levantine region to the northeast – including some from Neanderthals. "Our findings suggest that while early North African populations were largely isolated, they received traces of Neanderthal DNA due to gene flow from outside Africa," says anthropologist Johannes Krause, from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The Takarkori individuals had less Neanderthal DNA than the Moroccan foragers, but significantly more than those from further south of Africa. That suggests that something stemmed the gene flow from Europe from spreading beyond the Sahara region. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Takarkori people were early herders of livestock, unlike the older Moroccan lineages who were foragers. That they picked up this practice without much gene exchange is also telling. "This discovery reveals how pastoralism spread across the Green Sahara, likely through cultural exchange rather than large-scale migration," Salem explains. The diverse mix of ecosystems, including wetlands and mountains, may have provided a southern barrier for migration, the researchers suspect. "By shedding light on the Sahara's deep past, we aim to increase our knowledge of human migrations, adaptations, and cultural evolution in this key region," concludes Sapienza University archeologist Savino di Lernia. This research was published in Nature. 3,600-Year-Old Tomb of Mystery Warrior King Found Beneath Egypt's Sands Playing Video Games Has an Unexpected Effect on Kids' IQ, Study Finds A Huge Discovery in Morocco Could Rewrite The History of Africa
Sharjah 24
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
"Maktabat" explores world's most iconic libraries on Sharjah TV
A fresh new season Hosted and produced by media personality Alyaa Al Mansoori and directed by Mohammed Al Yassi, Maktabat returns with a fresh new look. The programme airs live daily right after the Maghrib call to prayer, taking viewers on an exceptional tour of libraries—from the grand institutions of major cities like Paris and Milan to the hidden gems of smaller towns such as Mafra in Portugal and Perugia in Italy. Over 20-minute episodes, the show unveils rare literary treasures, including centuries-old books and manuscripts. Through engaging conversations with librarians and custodians, Al Mansoori reveals the secrets and unique characteristics of these libraries while showcasing their essential role in preserving cultural and intellectual heritage. Exploring renowned libraries and hidden gems In this new season, Maktabat continues to document the cultural diversity of libraries worldwide. It spotlights prestigious institutions such as the Sorbonne University Library in Paris and the Library of Oriental Studies at Sapienza University in Rome. The programme also features lesser-known yet significant institutions, including the José Saramago Foundation in Lisbon, named after the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author. Beyond the libraries, the show offers mesmerising visuals of the cities it visits, blending cinematic storytelling with an evocative soundtrack to create an immersive cultural experience. More than just bookshelves Maktabat is not merely a showcase of books and archives; it is a vivid testament to the profound impact of knowledge on shaping civilisations and communities. Each library featured tells the story of its city, reflecting the cultural spirit that makes it more than just a repository of books. These institutions stand as shining beacons in humanity's pursuit of learning, where history meets the present, and books serve as bridges connecting cultures and generations.
