INDAGINI STRUMENTALI ELETTROMIOGRAFICHE IN PAZIENTI CON DISORDINI TEMPOROMANDIBOLARI

Surface electromyography (EMG) can make an objective recording of the masticatory muscle function and dysfunction. Normalized EMG data will inform on the influence of occlusion (teeth contact) on the neuromuscular activity, avoiding individual variability (anatomical variations, physiological and psychological status, etc.) and technical variations (muscle cross-talk, electrode position, etc.). In the first study, the normalized electromyographic characteristics of masticatory muscles in patients with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) with long lasting pain (more than 6 months) were analyzed. Overall, patients with long lasting TMD have an increased and more asymmetric standardized activity of their temporalis anterior muscle, and reduced mean power frequencies, relative to healthy controls. In the second study, a group of TMD patients were categorized according to both RDC/TMD and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with disk displacement, osteoarthrosis and/or disk displacement. The quantitative sEMG characteristics of their masticatory muscles were examined. A significant correlatio between diagnostic data obtained by MRI and sEMG was found, permitting to propose sEMG as a first diagnostic tool, reserving MRI to more complex situations. In the third study, the surface electromyographic spectral characteristics of masticatory and neck muscles during the performance of maximum voluntary clench (MVC) tasks, were considered. A set of data to characterize the sEMG spectral characteristics of jaw and neck muscles in young adult subjects performing MVC tasks currently in use within the dental field was obtained. The outcomes suggest that the proposed method could be a useful tool to evaluate functionally altered stomatognathic conditions. Diagnosis of alterations of the stomatognatic apparatus and assessment of the effects of therapy would both profit from this quantitative approach, thus reducing the discordance among several clinical examinations

Morphometry of the Orbital Region Soft Tissues in Down Syndrome

The orbital region of subjects with Down syndrome (DS) has been scanty described so far. We wanted to detail the morphologic characteristics of the soft tissue orbital region in Italian and North Sudanese subjects with DS.The three-dimensional coordinates of 10 landmarks on the orbital soft tissues were obtained using computerized anthropometry in 53 Italian and 64 North Sudanese subjects with DS aged 4 to 52 years, and in 461 (Italian) and 682 (North Sudanese) sex- and age-matched controls. From the landmarks, linear distances, ratios, areas, and angles were calculated, z scores computed, and compared by t-tests and analyses of covariance.In North Sudanese DS subjects, intercanthal width and height-to-length ratio were increased; biorbital width, eye height, length, and area were reduced. Eye fissure and orbital inclinations relative to Frankfort plane were reduced, whereas orbital inclinations versus the true horizontal were increased. In Italian DS men, orbital height and height-to-length ratio were increased, eye length was decreased; orbital inclination versus the true horizontal was increased. For almost all measurements, a significant effect of age was found. No effects of sex were found. Ethnic group influenced orbital height, area, and orbital inclination versus Frankfort plane. All paired measurements had similar discrepancies on both sides.The orbital soft tissues of North Sudanese DS subjects differed from those of their reference subjects, but this was only partially true for Italian subjects. The 2 ethnic groups had different alterations in their soft tissue orbital regions that were influenced by age, but not by sex

Challenging Mafia territorial power. Operate among market and culture to sanction Cosa nostra, a case study on Addiopizzo

Addiopizzo is an anti-mafia movement established in Palermo (2004) to struggle extortion racket. It aims to sustain, spread and consolidate a culture based on legality, as well as an economic development free from mafia constraints. Addiopizzo association have fostered the creation of a community composed by entrepreneurs who refuse Mafia protection system. We argue that refuse to pay pizzo and above all the willing to denunciate any extortion attempt , question the legitimacy of mafia\u2019s territorial power. Consequently these attitudes can be conceptualized as a sanction against Cosa nostra. For a shopkeeper, joining Addiopizzo network assumes the meaning of sharing the aforementioned attitudes and entails to signal it out. This implies an increasing perception of a possible change, namely a market field where is possible to avoid relationship with the mafia realm and to remain consistent with an ethical orientation founded on anti-mafia values and a culture of legality. Our paper intends to inquire the dynamics that make Addiopizzo\u2019s experience so effective and lasting. In particular, how a community can organize a sanction system, jointly at economical and culturall level, to challenge territorial power of crime organizations. One crucial point concern the role played by values and culture in this process. The aim is to contribute understanding the possibilities of change in a context marked by a rooted presence of organised crime through the use of a post-heroic approach, that is an incremental transformation driven by a collective action of actors otherwise weak and powerless