Oral health knowledge in pre-school children: a survey among parents in central Italy

Background: The aim of this survey was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of parents about potential oral health risk factors and correct management of oral hygiene of their preschool children. Material and Methods: The participation to the survey was proposed to all parents of 3-5 year aged children attending a kindergarten in Campobasso. A self-administered questionnaire was completed to obtain information regarding demographic and education variables, knowledge about caries and its transmission, infant feeding practice, maternal oral health during pregnancy, parents and children’s oral hygiene habits and risk behaviors (e.g., sharing cutlery, tasting of baby food, nightly using of baby bottles or pacifier), oral health prevention and role of school. Results: Overall, the parents of 101 children consented to fill the questionnaire. Data analysis showed that only 24% of respondents was aware of the potential vertical transmissibility of cariogenic bacteria through contaminated saliva. It is still a common trend from61% of parents tasting food of their child. On 101 children, 30% used pacifier and 17% used baby bottle with milk during night and among these children 41% for more than 2 years. Parents reported no toothbrushing for 57% of the children in their first 3 years of life. Conclusions: From this survey, independently on parents education, it emerges as still nowadays parents are not fully trained and informed about the management of their child’s oral hygiene and as it’s necessary a parental oral health promoting program to control children oral health risk status, starting from school

Plasmonic Light Trapping in Titania–Silver Dots Thin Films

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) in a transparent dielectric matrix represent a very intriguing system due to the plasmonic absorption tunable in the range of visible wavelengths. Herein, the preparation and physical characterization of plasmonic titania–silver dots thin films are reported. The synthesis parameter that leads to making a TiO2 matrix in which the Ag NPs are actually incorporated is carefully analyzed and controlled. Morphological (scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution electron microscopy), structural (selected area diffraction, X-ray diffraction), and spectroscopic (Raman spectroscopy) characterization techniques attest that the Ag NPs are spherical and homogeneously distributed into the TiO2 dielectric matrix in the structural modification of anatase. The study of the optical properties of films concludes the work. Plasmonic resonance is analyzed according to the light scattering theory

Crustal and upper mantle structure beneath the apennines region as inferred from the study of Rayleigh waves

Rayleigh wave phase velocities were obtained in the period range 12.5–83.3 s using the almost linear array of long period seismic stations installed at Bari (BAI), Grosseto (GSO), Bologna (BOL), and Torino (TNO). The Hedgehog inversion gives a crustal thickness in the range 25–37 km. The presence of a low-velocity layer in the crust is allowed, while low velocity material within a few kilometers of the Moho is required. The shear-wave velocities below 60 km are rather higher than usual channel values. If crustal thicknesses of the order of 37 km are rejected as suggested by other geophysical data then the low-velocity layer in the crust is required in order to satisfy the observed dispersion relation.           ARK: https://n2t.net/ark:/88439/y089438 Permalink: https://geophysicsjournal.com/article/114 &nbsp

The cold-water coral province of the eastern Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean Sea): historical and novel evidences

Several bathyal cold-water coral provinces, characterized by a lush growth of habitat-forming scleractinians, have been recognized in the Mediterranean Sea. However, the search for this biogenic habitat only marginally targeted the Italian coast of the Ligurian Sea (NW Mediterranean basin) despite historical and a few recent local studies in the region reporting the presence of corals. This study used bathymetry maps, side-scan sonar profiles, historical charts, and trawling routes to identify sites that could potentially host coral habitats in the eastern sector of the Ligurian Sea. Remotely operated vehicle video footage from various projects (2015-2021, 20 dives) was then used to characterize four sub-areas (Genoa Plateau, Portofino, Deiva Marina, and Monterosso) where corals were detected between 450 m and 750 m depth. Radiocarbon dating was used to trace back the geological history of the coral structures. A small coral mound, impacted by trawling activities, was found on the Genoa Plateau, while four massive coral structures were found in the other sub-areas, mainly located in a morphologically complex and highly energetic canyon region. High levels of megafaunal biodiversity, including rarely reported alcyonaceans as Placogorgia coronata, were observed together with moderate fishing impact. Overall, the identified coral areas potentially account for 9 km(2) of both subfossil mounds (as old as 13300 years BP), dominated by Desmophyllum pertusum, and living reefs, dominated by Madrepora oculata, the latter representing up to 23% of the substrate coverage. The few living colonies of D. pertusum in the area represent the first documented records for the Ligurian Sea. These data support the presence of a distinct eastern Ligurian cold-water coral province

The paleo-community of the Sciacca red coral

The sub-fossil red coral deposits of Sciacca (Sicily Channel) have attracted scientific attention for nearly 150 years. Their origin and formation have been long questioned and investigated, given the fact that they represent one of the most intriguing geobiological events ever to occur in the Mediterranean basin. Less attention was given to the paleo-community associated with the sub-fossil coral. Radiocarbon age determinations, in particular, were provided only for red coral, neglecting the possibility of understanding which species were simultaneously present in the coralline paleo-community and which was their role. The study of cemented coral rubble pieces revealed that Corallium rubrum covered the largest time interval (more than 3000 years) and was contemporary to many secondary epibionts over two millennia and to Madrepora oculata for about 500 years; this last finding suggested that an uncommon co-dominance between the two structuring species occurred in the nearby living communities. The lack of Fe-Mg deposits on the cemented coral rubbles coupled with the low bioerosion rate of the red coral skeletons by the demosponge Siphonodictyon coralliirubri (assessed through the analysis of the erosive paleo-scars) suggested that the deposits met with a rapid sediment cover-up. Moreover, for the first time, the analysis of a piece of cemented coral rubble of sub-fossil red coral coming from Sardinian waters confirmed that, albeit to a lesser extent, the conditions favouring the preservation of dead corals can occur also in different localities far from Sciacca

Wiggle-Match dating of wooden samples from iron age sites in Northern Italy

Archaeological excavations carried out at the sites of Laion/Lajen (Bolzano/Bozen) and Stufles-Oberegger (Bressanone/Brixen) in northern Italy uncovered well-preserved wooden samples in cultural layers archaeologically dated to the Iron Age. From the 2 sites, different wooden samples were recovered that were well preserved enough to allow clear identification of the tree species and of the ring structure. Among the different wooden samples, 2 were selected for radiocarbon analyses: from Laion/Lajen, a beam with an unbroken sequence of 158 rings; from Stufles-Oberegger, a combusted trunk with a sequence of 217 rings. Both samples were identified as Larix decidua species. From each sequence, single rings were selected and submitted for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating analysis at CEDAD. Conventional 14C ages were then calibrated to calendar ages using the IntCal04 atmospheric data set, while the statistical constraints resulting from the defined ring sequence were used to develop a wiggle-matching approach by making use of the Bayesian analysis functions available in OxCal. The obtained results are an important contribution in refining the chronology of the studied sites

Entropy and Efficiency of the ETF Market

We investigate the relative information efficiency of financial markets by measuring the entropy of the time series of high frequency data. Our tool to measure efficiency is the Shannon entropy, applied to 2-symbol and 3-symbol discretisations of the data. Analysing 1-min and 5-min price time series of 55 Exchange Traded Funds traded at the New York Stock Exchange, we develop a methodology to isolate residual inefficiencies from other sources of regularities, such as the intraday pattern, the volatility clustering and the microstructure effects. The first two are modelled as multiplicative factors, while the microstructure is modelled as an ARMA noise process. Following an analytical and empirical combined approach, we find a strong relationship between low entropy and high relative tick size and that volatility is responsible for the largest amount of regularity, averaging 62% of the total regularity against 18% of the intraday pattern regularity and 20% of the microstructure

Diagnostic investigation to support the restoration of the polychrome terracotta relief "Madonna and Child" in Piove di Sacco (Padova, Italy)

Restoration procedures of the polychrome terracotta relief “Madonna and Child” with papier-mâché inserts from a shrine in Piove di Sacco (Padova, orthern Italy) were assisted by analytical investigations, contributing to identify the chemical composition of the pigments, fractures and internal damages, additions and retouchings, which strongly modified the original manufact. In particular, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy were employed to determine the chemical composition of pigments on the original layer and on the overpaintings and to understand the artistic techniques. Moreover, X-ray planar radiography and computed tomography were used to understand the structure and its conservative state. Finally, the relief, stylistically dated to the 17th century, turned out to be a Renaissance terracotta artefact. The polychrome blue traces of lapis lazuli highlighted a valuable artwork and the resemblance with the style of Donatello and his apprentices have recently led to further studies, as an initial part of a larger research on polychrome terracotta in Veneto

The sub-fossil red coral of Sciacca (Sicily Channel, Mediterranean Sea): colony size and age estimates

The Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum (L.), has been a valuable economic resource for more than 2000 years. The Sicily Channel and surrounding areas are one of the most famous red coral fishing grounds of the whole region, hosting the deepest ever found living colonies and large sub-fossil red coral deposits; the so-called Sciacca banks are a unique location in the whole Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, a morphometric description of this sub-fossil population is presented for the first time from studies of colonies in the collection of several coral factories from Torre del Greco (Naples), with radiocarbon age estimations and growth rate evaluations. From the results of this study, after several thousand years Sciacca red coral colonies maintained the organic matrix structure with evident annual discontinuities, allowing estimations of the annual growth rate (about 0.3 mm/year) and the average population age (about 33.5 years). These resulting data are similar to the values determined for deep-dwelling living red coral populations. The radiocarbon dating evidenced a range of ages, from 8300 to 40 years before 1950 CE, mostly falling between 2700 and 3900 YBP, suggesting that colonies accumulated over a wide span of time. In view of the tectonically active nature of the area, several catastrophic events affected these ancient populations, maintaining them in a persistent state of early-stage, structurally similar to the those in current over-exploited areas