Thin-plate spline analysis of mandibular morphological changes induced by early class III treatment: a long-term evaluation

To evaluate the long-term mandibular morphological changes induced by early treatment of class III malocclusion with rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and facial mask (FM)

Organochlorine compounds (Polychlorinated biphenyls and Pesticides) and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in populations of Hexaplex trunculus affected by imposex in the lagoon of Venice, Italy

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in gastropods from the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. The visceral coil and the rest of the soft body of organisms (Hexaplex trunculus) sampled at two stations inside the lagoon and three stations on the seaward side were analyzed to evaluate their contamination levels. Preferential accumulation of PCBs and pesticides in the visceral coil (>80%) compared with the rest of the soft body was observed, whereas on average, PAHs showed no preferential partitioning. Differences between levels of organochlorine contaminants in the gastropods highlighted a gradient of pollution from the stations inside the lagoon (PCBs, 45-363 ng/g; pesticides, 4-51 ng/g) to the sea (PCBs, 13-131 ng/g; pesticides, 2-29 ng/g). The possible role of the three classes of contaminants, in addition to that of organotin compounds (OTCs), previously analyzed in the same samples, in causing one of the anatomic modifications because of imposex in this gastropod also was studied. A modeling approach by partial least squares (PLS) in latent variables was applied to explain the penis length of imposex-affected females with concentrations of organic pollutants. The synergistic role of PCBs, pesticides, and OTCs was evidenced, whereas the contribution of PAHs appeared to be very low

Treatment and posttreatment effects of a facial mask combined with a bite-block appliance in Class III malocclusion.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: In this cephalometric investigation, we analyzed the treatment and posttreatment effects of an orthopedic protocol for Class III malocclusion consisting of a facial mask combined with a removable bite-block appliance. METHODS: The treated sample consisted of 22 Class III patients treated with the facial mask and bite-block protocol before the pubertal growth spurt (mean age, 8.9 +/- 1.5 years). Treated subjects were evaluated after facial mask and bite-block therapy and at a posttreatment observation in absence of retention. The treated group was compared with a matched control group of 12 untreated Class III subjects. All treated and control subjects were postpubertal at the final observation. Significant differences between the treated and control groups were assessed with the Mann-Whitney U test (P <0.05). RESULTS: Both angular and linear sagittal measurements of the maxilla showed significant improvements during active treatment. Significant improvements of SNA angle, ANB angle, overjet, and molar relationship remained stable during the posttreatment period. No significant effect was found in the mandibular skeletal measures. No significant protraction of the maxillary incisors or retraction of the mandibular incisors was observed. CONCLUSIONS: A bite-block appliance in the mandibular arch with a facial mask enabled effective control of mandibular rotation with progressive closure of the gonial angle. This added to the favorable maxillary outcomes of the treatment protocol. 2010 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved

Long-term trends of PM10-bound arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and lead across the Veneto region (NE Italy)

Since the mid-90s, the European Community has adopted increasingly stringent air quality standards. Consequently, air quality has generally improved across Europe. However, current EU standards are still breached in some European hotspots. The Veneto region (NE Italy) lies in the eastern part of the Po Valley, a major European hotspot for air pollution, where EU standards for particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone are still breached at some sites. This study aims to analyse the PM10-bound arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and lead concentrations over a 10 years-long period (2010-2020) in the Veneto Region by using data collected by the local environmental protection agency (ARPAV) in 20 sampling stations mostly distributed across the plain areas of the region and categorized as rural (RUR), urban (URB), and suburban (SUB) background, industrial (IND) and traffic (TRA) hotspots (Figure 1). The comprehensive dataset discussed in this study was statistically investigated to detect the seasonal trends, their relationship with other air pollutants and meteorological parameters and their spatial variations at a regional scale. This study completes previous air quality studies over the Veneto region for gaseous pollutants and bulk PM10 (Masiol et al. 2017). Samplings were carried out according to CEN EN 12341:1998 standard on quartz fibre filters and were continuous for 24 h, starting at midnight. The gravimetric determination of PM10 mass was measured following the CEN EN 12341:2014 standard. The elemental analysis was performed using an ICP-MS (Agilent 7700) after acid digestion (EN 14902:2005). The trends were analysed using different approaches on the monthly-averaged data. The shape of trends and their seasonal variations were assessed through the seasonal-trend decomposition time series procedure based on “Loess” (STL). The linear trends were computed by the Mann-Kendall trend test (p &lt; 0.05) and the Theil-Sen nonparametric estimator of slope (MK-TS). Since this latter analysis assumes monotonic linear trends and does not consider the shape of trends, the presence of possible breakpoints was investigated using the piecewise regression. Generally, monthly patterns of all analysed elements show higher concentrations during winter, following PM10 concentrations. Some exceptions were detected and discussed. Results of trend analysis indicate statistically significant negative (decreasing) or null linear trends in almost all stations. A few positive (increasing) but not statistically significant trends were also detected. Some sites showed rapid decreases occurred in short periods and linked to peculiar events or local causes. Among others, several sites across the Venice area showed significant drops of arsenic concentrations after the REACH (Registration Evaluation Authorisation of Chemicals) implementation (Formenton et al., 2021). Data used in this study are provided by ARPAV (Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto, https://www.arpa.veneto.it/)

Maxillary arch development with Invisalign system: Analysis of expansion dental movements on digital dental casts

Objectives: To evaluate tooth movements during maxillary arch expansion with clear aligner treatment.Materials and Methods: The study group included 28 subjects (16 females, 12 males, mean age 31.9 +/- 5.4 years) collected prospectively from January 2018 to May 2019. Inclusion criteria were European ancestry, posterior transverse discrepancy of 3-6 mm, permanent dentition stage, presence of second permanent molars, mild or moderate crowding, and good compliance with aligners. Treatment protocol included nonextraction strategies, application of Invisalign clear aligner system, and no auxiliaries other than Invisalign attachments. Linear and angular measurements were performed before treatment (T1), at the end of treatment (T2), and on final virtual models (T2 ClinCheck). A paired t-test was used to compare T2-T1 and T2-T2 ClinCheck changes. The level of significance was set at 5%.Results: Statistically significant differences were found for all measurements, except for ones at the upper second molars. The greatest increase in maxillary width was detected at the upper first and second premolars: 13.5 mm for the first premolar and 13.8 mm for the second premolar at T2. Comparison of T2-T1 angular outcomes showed statistically significant changes in the inclinations of all teeth except for the second permanent molars. T2-T2 ClinCheck showed significant differences for both linear and angular measurements for maxillary canines, resulting in poor predictability.Conclusions: Maxillary arch development revealed a progressive reduction of the expansion rate and buccal tipping in the anterior, lateral, and posterior regions, with the greatest net increase at the first and second premolars. Clinical attention should be paid to maxillary canine movements, and overcorrection should be planned for them during dentoalveolar expansion

Gnathological features in growing subjects

Aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in a sample of consecutive subjects

Feasibility and effectiveness assessment of sars-cov-2 antigenic tests in mass screening of a pediatric population and correlation with the kinetics of viral loads

The gold standard for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). However, rapid antigen detection kits (Ag-RDTs), may offer advantages over NAAT in mass screening, generating results in minutes, both as laboratory-based test or point-of-care (POC) use for clinicians, at a lower cost. We assessed two different POC Ag-RDTs in mass screening versus NAAT for SARS-CoV-2 in a cohort of pediatric patients admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Unit of IRCCS—Polyclinic of Sant’Orsola, Bologna (from November 2020 to April 2021). All patients were screened with nasopharyngeal swabs for the detection of SARS-CoV-2-RNA and for antigen tests. Results were obtained from 1146 patients. The COVID-19 Ag FIA kit showed a baseline sensitivity of 53.8% (CI 35.4–71.4%), baseline specificity 99.7% (CI 98.4–100%) and overall accuracy of 80% (95% CI 0.68–0.91); the AFIAS COVID-19 Ag kit, baseline sensitivity of 86.4% (CI 75.0–93.9%), baseline specificity 98.3% (CI 97.1–99.1%) and overall accuracy of 95.3% (95% CI 0.92– 0.99). In both tests, some samples showed very low viral load and negative Ag-RDT. This disagreement may reflect the positive inability of Ag-RDTs of detecting antigen in late phase of infection. Among all cases with positive molecular test and negative antigen test, none showed viral loads &gt; 106 copies/mL. Finally, we found one false Ag-RDTs negative result (low cycle thresholds; 9 × 105 copies/mL). Our results suggest that both Ag-RDTs showed good performances in detection of high viral load samples, making it a feasible and effective tool for mass screening in actively infected children

Carbonaceous PM2.5 and secondary organic aerosol across the Veneto region (NE Italy)

Organic and elemental carbon (OC-EC) were measured in 360 PM2.5 samples collected from April 2012 to February 2013 at six provinces in the Veneto region, to determine the factors affecting the carbonaceous aerosol variations. The 60 daily samples have been collected simultaneously in all sites during 10 consecutive days for 6months (April, June, August, October, December and February). OC ranged from 0.98 to 22.34μg/m3, while the mean value was 5.5μg/m3, contributing 79% of total carbon. EC concentrations fluctuated from 0.19 to 11.90μg/m3 with an annual mean value of 1.31μg/m3 (19% of the total carbon). The monthly OC concentration gradually increased from April to December. The EC did not vary in accordance with OC. However the highest values for both parameters were recorded in the cold period. The mean OC/EC ratio is 4.54, which is higher than the values observed in most of the other European cities. The secondary organic carbon (SOC) contributed for 69% of the total OC and this was confirmed by both the approaches OC/EC minimum ratio and regression. The results show that OC, EC and SOC exhibited higher concentration during winter months in all measurement sites, suggesting that the stable atmosphere and lower mixing play important role for the accumulation of air pollutant and hasten the condensation or adsorption of volatile organic compounds over the Veneto region. Significant meteorological factors controlling OC and EC were investigated by fitting linear models and using a robust procedure based on weighted likelihood, suggesting that low wind speed and temperature favour accumulation of emissions from local sources. Conditional probability function and conditional bivariate probability function plots indicate that both biomass burning and vehicular traffic are probably the main local sources for carbonaceous particulate matter emissions in two selected cities