Is Orthodontic Treatment with Microperforations Worth It? A Scoping Review

Malformations of teeth and dental arches can produce functional modifications intermingled with esthetic alterations. Children’s rehabilitation may be long, requiring multiple interventions. One of the main challenges of contemporary orthodontics is to reduce treatment time by accelerating orthodontic tooth movements. Among the currently used methods, micro-osteoperforations (MOPs) are flapless, minimally invasive perforations that induce a local trauma to the bone, increase healing capacity, and accelerate dental movements. The use of MOPs in orthodontics is spreading but there are no definite and recognized protocols for their application. This scoping review collected the available evidence in the effect of MOPs during orthodontic therapy as compared to current treatments, to summarize the evidence. The guidelines proposed by PRISMA-ScR were followed: original clinical studies carried out from 2010 to 2021 were retrieved by medical databases combining the terms “micro-osteoperforations” and “accelerated orthodontic tooth movement”. From a total of 965 articles, nine were finally selected. The studies' aims, designs, methods, measurements, outcomes, and main findings were very heterogenous, with a duration ranging from 4 weeks to 7 months. This included only Class I malocclusion to any malocclusion. It assessed the effects of MOPs coupled with a variety of orthodontic mechanics on either the retraction of maxillary canines, the distalization of maxillary molars, or the modifications on premolar roots. Mostly, variations in the number, location, and timing of MOPs impeded a global assessment. Overall, most of the studies (six out of nine) reported moderately useful effects of MOPs, one was negative, and only two found significant advantages of MOPs over conventional treatment. The review synthesized the available evidence about MOP applications in orthodontics and identified some important gaps in knowledge that could be starting points for a systematic review of the literature. In conclusion, even if MOPs can accelerate tooth movements, the variety of aims and methods of the published research prevents suggestion of their widespread use

The genetics of nicotine addiction liability: Ethical and social policy implications

Aim To assess the promise and risks of technological applications of genetic research on liability to develop nicotine dependence. Methods We reviewed (i) the evidence on the genetics of nicotine dependence; (ii) the technical feasibility of using genetic information to reduce smoking uptake and increase cessation; and (iii) policy and ethical issues raised by the uses of genetic information on addiction liability. Results (i) Despite evidence from twin studies that genes contribute to addiction susceptibility, research to date has not identified commonly occurring alleles that are strongly predictive of developing nicotine addiction. Nicotine addiction is likely to involve multiple alleles of small effect that interact with each other and with the environment. (ii) Population screening for susceptibility alleles is unlikely to be effective or cost-effective. Tailoring of smoking cessation treatments with genetic information is more plausible but results to date have been disappointing. Population health strategies such as increased taxation and reduced opportunities to smoke are more efficient in reducing cigarette smoking. Tobacco harm reduction policies applied to populations may also play a role in reducing tobacco-related harm. (iii) Future uses of genomic information on addiction risk will need to assess the risks of medicalising addiction (e.g. pessimism about capacity to quit) and community concerns about genetic privacy. Conclusions Nicotine genomics is a very new and underdeveloped field. On the evidence to date, its advocates would be wise to avoid extravagant claims about its preventive applications

Cartagine: la città e le necropoli. Rapporto preliminare sulla prima campagna di scavi (2021) dell’Institut National du Patrimoine e dell’Università di Roma «La Sapienza»

Dans le cadre de la coopération scientifique entre l’Institut National du Patrimoine et l’Université de Rome « La Sapienza », une première campagne de fouille a eu lieu dans un secteur de la nécropole punique de Dermech à Carthage, dans l’enceinte du parc des thermes d’Antonin et aux abords de la colline de Borj-Jedid, du 17 octobre au 10 novembre 2021. Sous les vestiges romains et byzantins, neuf tombes – à fosse et à chambre unique avec puits d’accès vertical – creusées dans le roc, ont été dégagées dans un secteur datable du VIIème et Vème siècles av. J.-C

Performances and potentialities of a LaCl3:Ce scintillator

The performances and the potentialities of applications of a LaCl3:Ce scintillator have been investigated deep underground in the Gran Sasso Laboratory of the I.N.F.N. In particular, the light response, the α/β ratio, the α/β discrimination capability and the radioactive contaminations have been studied. The results of an experimental search for spontaneous cluster decay in La isotopes are also presented

Multi-Rater Agreement Using the Adapted Fracture Healing Scale (AFHS) for the Assessment of Tubular Bones on Conventional Radiographs : Preliminary Study

Better understanding of the timing of fracture healing may help in cases of interpersonal violence but also of personal identification. The intra- and inter-rater agreement for the adapted fracture healing scale (AFHS) assessing the post-traumatic time interval on radiographs were tested. This is a preliminary study, providing essential information on method reliability for upcoming studies using the AFHS. Five raters (two radiologists, a forensic pathologist, an orthopedist, and an anthropologist) were presented with a test in three parts consisting of 85 radiographs (from 30 adults) of fractures of tubular bones in different stages of healing purposefully selected from more than 1500 radiographs. The raters were firstly asked to assess 15 features describing fracture healing as present, absent, or not assessable. Thereafter, the raters were asked to choose from the AFHS a single-stage best representing the observed healing pattern. The intra- and inter-rater agreement were assessed using single-rating, absolute agreement, two-way mixed-effects intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficients. The intra-rater ICC of radiologist 1 ranged from 0.80 to 0.94. The radiologists' inter-rater ICC ranged from 0.68 to 0.74, while it ranged from -0.01 to 0.90 for the other raters. The good to excellent ICC among the radiologists and forensic anthropologist provides good foundation for the use of the AFHS in forensic cases of trauma dating. The poor to good results for the other physicians indicate that using the AFHS requires training in skeletal anatomy and radiology