Food related risks during pregnancy: how much do women know about it?

Aim Infection with Toxoplasma gondii and Listeria monocytogenes during pregnancy can lead to severe illness in the foetus but it can be prevented by simple hygienic measures. This study evaluated the knowledge that women have about food related risk and the information sources used. Methods We surveyed pregnant women and new mothers in[Removed for blind peer review], using a questionnaire approved by health direction, processed by an optical reader and analyzed using χ² test and Odds Ratio. Results 149 women responded to the survey, 78.5% of them received information from the gynaecologist, 45% from internet and then books/pamphlets. 67.8% felt well informed about food-related risks connected. 94% of them knows Toxoplasma; 39.5% ignore Listeria instead. From our results it’s evident  that graduated women tend to identify all foods as less secure and had better attitudes on cleaning refrigerator, on respecting temperatures, on avoiding consumption of undercooked foods, on protecting food before consumption. Conclusions Pregnant women have good awareness of food-related risks. However there’s a high confusion, due to the use of internet and other not reliable sources. This study demonstrates that it’s necessary to improve the organization of nutritional education by adequately trained health personnel

Food related risks during pregnancy: how much do women know about it?

Aim Infection with Toxoplasma gondii and Listeria monocytogenes during pregnancy can lead to severe illness in the foetus but it can be prevented by simple hygienic measures. This study evaluated the knowledge that women have about food related risk and the information sources used. Methods We surveyed pregnant women and new mothers in[Removed for blind peer review], using a questionnaire approved by health direction, processed by an optical reader and analyzed using χ² test and Odds Ratio. Results 149 women responded to the survey, 78.5% of them received information from the gynaecologist, 45% from internet and then books/pamphlets. 67.8% felt well informed about food-related risks connected. 94% of them knows Toxoplasma; 39.5% ignore Listeria instead. From our results it’s evident  that graduated women tend to identify all foods as less secure and had better attitudes on cleaning refrigerator, on respecting temperatures, on avoiding consumption of undercooked foods, on protecting food before consumption. Conclusions Pregnant women have good awareness of food-related risks. However there’s a high confusion, due to the use of internet and other not reliable sources. This study demonstrates that it’s necessary to improve the organization of nutritional education by adequately trained health personnel

La produzione di ceramica a Philosophiana (Sicilia centrale) nella media età bizantina: Metodi di indagine ed implicazioni economiche

Since 2009, through an international collaboration with Cambridge, Cornell and Messina Universities, the Philosophiana Project has investigated the Roman to medieval topographical, architectural, functional, economic and environmental transformations at the site of Sofiana in central Sicily, only 6 km as the crow flies from the Roman "Villa del Casale" of Piazza Armerina. By means of a global approach integrating field survey, open-area excavation, photogrammetry, archaeometry and bioarchaeology, the project shed light on settlement and economic patterns in a crucial area of the Mediterranean world: central Sicily, that served as the bread-basket of Rome in Late Antiquity, and of the Roman Church in the early Middle Ages. In 2010, some 40 m from the eastern side of the site of Sofiana, a field survey identified an 83th to 9th-century A.D. large craft-working district specialising in ceramic production. The site was covered by an extensive geomagnetic survey in 2011 and was subsequently tested by excavation in 2013. Despite the limited area investigated through excavation, this process enabled us to collect significant datasets that help us understand the precise chronology of the workshop, the technology of ceramic production and the wide range of ceramic repertoires manufactured at the first mid-Byzantine ceramic atelier ever excavated on the island. Combining the archaeological data with ancient pollen, faunal remains, ceramic thin-sections and organic residue analysis applied to a sample of jugs and small locally produced amphorae identified at domestic contexts excavated at the site of Sofiana, we are presenting here a preliminary reconstruction of the economic complexity of our site and the early medieval production strategies (both agricultural and artisanal) that determined the various forms of use of the local cultural landscape. The new picture which has emerged from this research suggests that some concepts, such as economic regression and simplification of the material culture, are inappropriate to describe mid-Byzantine Sicily