University of Reggio Calabria

Purpose To evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity on the microbial flora of the eyelids and conjunctiva of the new medicated wipes LENIVA bio, soaked with an antiseptic solution containing natural extracts from citrus fruits (Biosecur ® ), Aloe vera , and Ruscus aculeatus . Methods The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the LENIVA bio antiseptic solution against bacteria and fungi commonly found in the periocular area, including antibiotic-resistant strains, was measured by agar diffusion and microdilution assays. The in vivo activity was measured on swabs collected from the eyelid rim and conjunctiva of 20 patients (13 males, 7 females; mean age 70.5 years) before and after a 4-day treatment with the product. Contralateral untreated eyes were used as controls. Results The in vitro analysis of inhibition halos in agar diffusion assays demonstrated that LENIVA bio is active against all tested germs, even when diluted. In vivo , the reduction in the total microbial counts obtained from both eyelid rim and conjunctival swabs following treatment with LENIVA bio wipes was statistically significant (respectively, mean reduction = 4530 CFU/ml, p < 0.0001; mean reduction = 893 CFU/ml, p = 0.0384). Conclusion LENIVA bio wipes showed in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity against microorganisms that are potential pathogens of the eye and/or commonly found in the periocular area.

Research on fortified walls is marginally attended and not very systematised. More attention is generally paid to castles, less to city walls, architecturally relevant structures for the history of fortified architecture and urban history. Such research is stimulating in the territories of the Kingdom of Naples during the Viceroyalty (1503-1707), particularly in the South and in Calabria, the field of action of a strategy based on a network of defence to protect the Crown and ‘Christendom’, where the state-owned fortified complexes, often of older origin, were in some cases updated according to the new canons dictated by experience gained in the field and sanctioned by the treaty. The research of which a first piece is presented here, concerning state-owned Calabria, is part of a PRIN 2022 PNRR - Missione 4, Componente 2, Investimento 1.1 - entitled ‘Mapping fortified cities in early modern Southern Italy. Digital tools to investigate architectural heritage', which involves the Universities of Naples, lead partner, and those of Reggio Calabria and Bari, whose objective is to map, document and make available in an increasable open-access database the results of research on fortified cities in continental southern Italy (Campania, Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria) between 1503 and 1707.

The Castle-Farm of Saint Mauro is a relevant architectural ensemble and represents one of the most interesting models of Renaissance architecture in Calabria. The building dates back to the 16th century, probably on the remains of a medieval monastery. The set of buildings has unusual features, in relation to its location in open countryside, the morphology of structural components, the dual and atypical functionality of military defensive fortress and agro-food logistics center for a vast territory. The paper presents the results of a historical research, aimed at an anamnesis of the building, a series of architectural elements derived from a field survey, some results from laboratory analyses on materials samples. In the overall and in conclusion, technical suggestions are proposed for a targeted and effective action of recovery, restoration and enhancement of the monumental complex.

The Italian coastal towers, a heritage of great historical and architectural interest, are today artifacts capable of combining the form of architecture and landscape, emphasizing a backbone formed by conspicuous points, immaterial networks and material consistencies. In this context, the towers represented in the Romano Carratelli Code symbolize a heritage of certain interest as a documentary treasure that provides detailed descriptions of the toponymy of places and geometries that must have governed the arrangement of these coastal architectures along the Calabrian coast. The coastal views that the To_Know project wants to relaunch, a project financed with resources from the PNRR, are multilevel visions, linked to the narration of the materiality and immateriality of places. The narrative path, with a view to tourist use of the Calabrian coasts and aimed at different targets and different ways of travel, offers a global and systemic vision of the territory on which the architecture is located, connected to points of interest and new knowledge. Having reached the destination, that is, the tower that looks out over the horizon, it is possible to enjoy a new type of view, linked to the archival asset of the Romano Carratelli Code, capable of weaving the plots of new cultural paths.

The proposed contribution, within the framework of a survey of the coastal defence system of northern Tyrrhenian Calabria – currently concentrated in the border territory between Calabria and Basilicata – proposes as a case study the digital survey of Torre Talao in Scalea (CS). The tower, built following the order of the viceroy Don Pedro Afán de Ribera in 1563, is located on a rock, previously surrounded by the sea, called insula parva, already inhabited in prehistoric times and now incorporated following the advancement of the coastline. The structure has a quadrangular plan and is developed on three levels above ground. The tower has a truncated pyramid shape, with a side of approximately 14.5 m at the base and 10 m at the top. The survey, carried out through digital photogrammetry, involved the integration of shots acquired by drone and images from terrestrial photogrammetry. On the basis of the survey, a digital model was produced.

Among the directions pursued by the Spanish Crown in the context of military policy during the period in which its territories and borders, especially coastal ones, were constantly subject to the Franco-Turkish threat (16th-17th century), the main one concerned the strengthening of defensive structures. From these assumptions, the PRIN-PNRR 2022 P20228ZXFH entitled “Mapping fortified cities in early modern Southern Italy. Digital tools to investigate architectural heritage” (University of Naples, Bari and Reggio Calabria) starts, which intends to investigate the theme of fortified cities during the centuries of the Spanish Viceroyalty. Among these, a little-investigated aspect concerns the works of feudal patronage, which this contribution looks at, taking Calabria as an emblematic case. Here, several modernization interventions were started on pre-existing structures or new constructions, promoted independently or with the support of royal planners by important families, also typologically alongside the construction sites of state-owned cities. Material evidence of some fortifications remains; others have disappeared, due to seismic or war events, or to the natural evolution of cities, which led to the abandonment, reuse or demolition of the cumbersome and now useless fortified structures, ideologically linked to a period of oppression – that of Spanish domination – inevitably destined to a damnatio memoriae.

Reading the coastal landscape from the towers aims to reconstruct a skillful visual narrative able of reconnecting the towers with each other and linking them to the historical and natural heritage in a relationship of mutual necessity. The research aims to explore a process for visual narration that intends to recover the image of coastal towers in relation to other elements of tangible and intangible heritage and attribute value in the process of cultural identity enhancement, in which, the monument although in ruins represents the link of man with the territory and the symbol of a temporal path.Today the coastal territory of Calabria and Sicily is densely urbanized. A curtain of concrete borders and obstructs the coastline. The oldest perched villages preserve their identity and capacity as cultural attractors, the rural and productive territory draws unprecedented visions. Towers remain isolated, inverting their main function: from sentinels of the gaze they become ruined elements to look at.

The castle Rufo Ruffo of Scaletta Zanclea is part of the Federician Castles, a network of defensive structures, built around the XII - XIII century by the will, precisely, of Frederick II of Swabia. These architectures found, generally, their primitive point of support in towers of defence of more ancient erection, dating in most cases to the Norman era.Under the rule of the Dukes of Bagnara, I Ruffo, the castle is incorporated into a complex system of fortifications to house pieces of artillery. The new fortifications, especially the coastal fortress built on a cliff below that of the castle, resist in 1678 to a siege by the French. If the castle stands on the medieval village, the New Tower (also called Scaletta Tower), which later took the name of "Battery San Placido", controls all the surrounding territory overlooking the coastal road and directly overlooking the sea.The choice to study this architecture in a systematic and thorough way is mainly due to the extraordinary uniqueness of this factory in the context in which it arises, but also to the opportunity for immediate comparison with similar buildings, both in the context of Federician defensive constructions, and exquisitely referred to the morpho-typological characteristics of the Norman Dungeon of Paternò, Adrano and Motta S. Anastasia, compared to which it seems more similar.The study, using the tools of survey and drawing, together with an analysis of the historical-geographical context, through topographical and historical-the environment is preparing to develop a communication strategy aimed at supporting the enjoyment of knowledge with graphic and multimedia tools. The data thus obtained are put to the service of the dissemination and exploitation of the asset through various proposals.

at the oasis of Giarabùb, from which it took its name, located in the Cyrenaic desert on the border with Egypt, and about three hundred kilometers from the Mediterranean coast. Under Muhàmmad al-Màhdī, Giarabùb became the largest of the settlements built on Libyan territory, a veritable fortified village enclosed by high walls. Until 1895, the year of decadence, religious, educational, residential, and commercial functions coexisted in the village in a perfect synthesis. At the end of the 18th century, European explorers bore witness to the peculiar territory of the oasis of Jarabùb. Travelers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries returned to the impression made on them by seeing a walled city in the middle of the desert, with a large mosque and its houses. The intention here is to focus on the architecture of the fortified settlement of Giarabùb, a newly founded city comparable in Libyan history only to the villages of the Italian colonisation of 1930. The research was supported by archival and photographic sources and drawings viewed, such as the one made by Lieutenant Amedeo Virgilio in 1917. This drawing is the first graphic representation of the zāwiya’s schematisation of buildings and spaces. No less interesting is the history of Giarabùb after the Italian occupation in 1926, because due to its strategic location, it assumed the role of a defensive border fort until the final fall of the garrison in March 1941. The Giarabùb zāwiya was destroyed in 1984.

In this paper, a model of intraregional patient flow is proposed that dynamically describes patient reorientation following variations in the services offered. The model proposed consists of the development of a capacity-included location–allocation model that integrates a gravitational model for assigning patients to cardiac surgery facilities. As a result of this application, the patient flow does not move only according to the principle of facility proximity; rather, it follows a trajectory based on the coefficients of attraction of each single service. A sensitivity analysis, hypothesising four alternative scenarios in terms of health service capacity offers, was conducted to measure access levels both on the basis of territorial characteristics and on the basis of the total capacity of each unit. The results obtained show that the proposed model can provide more accurate information about the state of the system and about the relative access levels.

One of the most relevant, but at the same time most time-consuming and costly, aspects of the infrastructure system is the monitoring of road infrastructures, often subject to deterioration that compromises their use. Current monitoring systems consist of individual reports or the use of human resources that, through equipped vehicles, have the purpose of carrying out a reconnaissance process, which is often characterized by errors and uncertainties. In this context, the aim of this work was to experiment and implement an experimental and innovative Automated and Integrated Sensing System (AISS) for the monitoring of road infrastructures. This system, starting from Remote Sensing images from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), uses a Mask R-CNN neural network to identify road cracks. This information, together with other information, is included in a database, which is then used in a Geographical Information System (GIS) for relative visualization. This work therefore proposes a methodology for the implementation of a system that helps policy makers in determining the most urgent interventions. In fact, a categorization of the severity of degradation and a user-friendly visualization, allow us to make decisions based on data.

Parents are everyday exposed to intense sensory and emotional stimuli. Hence, it is reasonable that the individual trait of Environmental Sensitivity (ES), capturing individual differences in sensitivity and responsivity to stimuli, holds important implications for parenting. Available evidence suggests that a higher sensitivity to stimuli in parents is mainly a risk factor, but studies are limited for the majority to self-report measures of parenting. Across two independent observational studies involving Italian parents, we investigated the role of ES in parenting during the first year of a child life. In Study 1 (N = 41 mothers and infants tracked from 3 to 9 months), a higher ES initially linked to slightly higher parental intrusiveness at 3 months but shifted to less intrusive behaviors by 9 months. No other ES-parenting associations emerged. In Study 2 (N = 55 mothers of children aged 3 months old), findings showed that a higher ES was associated with less attuned parenting behaviors and more parental stress only in the copresence of parental adverse childhood experiences, with a vulnerability effect. In the same sample, a higher ES was associated with more adaptive parental responses to the child, particularly when respiratory sinus arrhythmia, capturing physiological self-regulation, was higher. To conclude, ES was not related to worse parental competences, but rather it made mothers more receptive to environmental (adverse childhood experiences) and inner physiological (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) factors, for better and for worse. We discuss implications for parenting programs and new direction of studies.

Correction for ‘Continuous flow production of γ-valerolactone from methyl-levulinate promoted by MOF-derived Al2O3–ZrO2/C catalysts’ by Marina Ronda-Leal et al., RSC Sustainability, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00797b.

The occurrence of dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) in patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is exceptionally rare. While DAVF is a known complication of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), the role of CVT as one of the early events in the genesis of DAVFs is still debated. This is because only a small number of patients with CVT develop DAVFs, and not all DAVFs are associated with CVT. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the link between CVT and DAVFs, the relationship between DAVFs and SIH in the absence of CVT remains unclear. To delineate the association between DAVFs and SIH. We reviewed the medical records of 460 SIH patients who were observed and treated over the past several years, looking specifically for cases of SIH complicated by DAVFs. We also reviewed all published case reports reporting patients with SIH and DAVFs. Of the 460 SIH patients reviewed, two (0.4%) were also diagnosed with DAVFs. Both patients had orthostatic headache, diffuse pachymeningeal enhancement, and brain sagging on brain magnetic resonance imaging, which are typical neuroimaging findings of SIH. Patient n.1 reported DAVF caused by left transverse/sigmoid sinus thrombosis, while patient n.2 presented DAVF as a complication of SIH in the absence of CVT. We speculate that SIH, even without CVT, might represent the start of a cascade of events leading to DAVFs. The pathogenic mechanism involved in DAVF formation in SIH patients could be explained by the opening of preexisting microscopic vascular channels within the dura mater, secondary to extreme venodilation related to SIH.

Bergamot was traditionally grown for its essential oil, but recently, the juice’s health benefits have increased consumer demand. The need to understand how fruit characteristics change during growth and ripening is essential for optimizing the yield and market attractiveness in order to select the best harvest time, understanding when the fruits have reached the best quality and carpometric characteristics. Currently, the knowledge on this topic is very limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ripening changes in Fantastico and Femminello bergamot cultivars in the traditional bergamot growing area in the province of Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy). Physico-chemical changes in fruits were evaluated from 200 to 410 days after full flowering (DAFB) through field observations and laboratory evaluations. The fruit drop remained low up to 290 DAFB, while the fruit weight increased to 350 DAFB. By mid-December, the peel of both cultivars had turned completely yellow. The juice yield progressively increased up to 260 DAFB, maintained levels higher than 50% for another two months and then decreased. To maximize quantitative production, the harvest should not occur before 260 DAFB for the Femminello cultivar and 290 DAFB for the Fantastico cultivar. However, delaying the harvest beyond 350 DAFB is not recommended, as it results in significantly reduced yields. The period between 260 and 320 DAFB also appears to be the ideal time for enhancing the qualitative characteristics of bergamot fruits.

Food computing refers to the integration of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and data-driven approaches, to address various challenges in the food sector. It encompasses a wide range of technologies that improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of food systems, from production to consumption. It represents a transformative approach to addressing challenges in the food sector by integrating AI, the IoT, and data-driven methodologies. Unlike traditional food systems, which primarily focus on production and safety, food computing leverages AI for intelligent decision making and the IoT for real-time monitoring, enabling significant advancements in areas such as supply chain optimization, food safety, and personalized nutrition. This review highlights AI applications, including computer vision for food recognition and quality assessment, Natural Language Processing for recipe analysis, and predictive modeling for dietary recommendations. Simultaneously, the IoT enhances transparency and efficiency through real-time monitoring, data collection, and device connectivity. The convergence of these technologies relies on diverse data sources, such as images, nutritional databases, and user-generated logs, which are critical to enabling traceability and tailored solutions. Despite its potential, food computing faces challenges, including data heterogeneity, privacy concerns, scalability issues, and regulatory constraints. To address these, this paper explores solutions like federated learning for secure on-device data processing and blockchain for transparent traceability. Emerging trends, such as edge AI for real-time analytics and sustainable practices powered by AI–IoT integration, are also discussed. This review offers actionable insights to advance the food sector through innovative and ethical technological frameworks.

This contribution aims to investigate how place attachment styles, conceptualised starting from interpersonal attachment styles, contribute to the activation of Positive (i.e., support seeking) or Negative and Avoidant (e.g., behavioural disengagement, substance abuse, making fun of the situation) behavioural coping through cognitive (i.e., Depletion of Self-Control) and emotional (i.e., Distress, Solastalgia) coping variables. For each Place Attachment Style (i.e., Secure, Preoccupied and Fearful-Avoidant) a mediation model was hypothesised. To test the assumptions, a study was conducted in Romanian high-risk areas (N = 237). Results show how both Secure and Preoccupied Place Attachment Styles were associated with higher Positive Coping through Solastalgia, while this mediating role of Solastalgia lowered Negative Coping only for Preoccupied Place Attachment Style. On the contrary, Fearful-Avoidant Place Attachment Style negatively predicted Positive Coping through a higher Depletion of Self-Control. Avoidant Coping was not associated with any of the variables in the study. Findings highlight the importance of designing policies, risk communication strategies and pre-and post-disaster interventions considering individual differences in place attachment styles. People with a Fearful-Avoidant Place Attachment Style are more vulnerable and should be prioritised in the support received before and after a disaster.

The demand for faster and more efficient optical communication systems has driven significant advancements in integrated photonic technologies, with optical switches playing a pivotal role in high-speed, low-latency data transmission. In this work, we introduce a novel design for an adiabatic optical switch based on the thermo-optic effect using silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The approach relies on slow optical signal evolution, minimizing power dissipation and addressing challenges of traditional optical switches. Machine learning (ML) techniques were employed to optimize waveguide designs, ensuring polarization-independent (PI) and single-mode (SM) conditions. The proposed design achieves low-loss and high-performance operation across a broad wavelength range (1500–1600 nm). We demonstrate the effectiveness of a Y-junction adiabatic switch, with a tapered waveguide structure, and further enhance its performance by employing thermo-optic effects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Our simulations reveal high extinction ratios (ERs) exceeding 30 dB for TE mode and 15 dB for TM mode, alongside significant improvements in coupling efficiency and reduced insertion loss. This design offers a promising solution for integrating efficient, low-energy optical switches into large-scale photonic circuits, making it suitable for next-generation communication and high-performance computing systems.

This paper presents the development and analysis of a bridge bearing database consistent with the 2020 Italian Guidelines (LG2020), currently enforced by the Italian law for risk classification and management of existing bridges. The database was developed by putting together the contribution of 24 research teams from 18 Italian universities in the framework of a research project foreseen by the agreement between the High Council of Public Works (CSLP, part of the Italian Ministry of Transportation) and the research consortium ReLUIS (Network of Italian Earthquake and Structural Engineering University Laboratories). This research project aimed to apply LG2020 to a set of about 600 bridges distributed across the Italian country, in order to find possible issues and propose modifications and integrations. The database includes almost 12,000 bearing defect forms related to a portfolio of 255 existing bridges located across the entire country. This paper reports a preliminary analysis of the dataset to provide an overview of the bearings installed in a significant bridge portfolio, referring to major highways and state roads. After a brief state of the art about the main bearing types installed on the bridges, along with inspection procedures, the paper describes the database structure, showing preliminary analyses related to bearing types and defects. The results show the prevalence of elastomeric pads, representing more than 55% of the inspected bearings. The remaining bearings are pot, low-friction with steel–Teflon surfaces and older-type steel devices. Lastly, the study provides information about typical defects for each type of bearing, while also underscoring some issues related to the current version of the LG2020 bearing inspection form.