“Soccer is a matter of real men?” Sexist and homophobic attitudes in three Italian soccer teams differentiated by sexual orientation and gender identity

During the 1980s and early 1990s, homophobia and sexism were pervasive in sport contexts due to their sex-segregation, male-domination, and heteronormative culture. In the last two decades, a change in attitudes toward gender and sexuality, in particular within typically masculine sports, has been observed. Notwithstanding that, no research assessing if this change also occurred in Italy was conducted. Using semi-structured focus groups and adopting the framework of Inclusive Masculinity Theory, the current study explored sexist and homophobic attitudes in three Italian soccer teams differentiated by gender and sexual orientation. Team 1 comprised openly gay male athletes, Team 2 comprised both lesbian and heterosexual women, and Team 3 comprised heterosexual men. Narratives were analysed through constant comparison analysis. Specific macro-categories were identified in each team, as follows: Team 1: need for affiliation, in/visibility, perceived homophobia, and perceived institutionalised homophobia; Team 2: need for affiliation, masculine dominance, equal opportunities, and crossing gender boundaries; and Team 3: presumption of heterosexuality, female inferiority, and tendency toward a homosocial law. The results suggest that soccer, in Italy, still represents a context organised around men’s dominance over women and the stigmatisation of gay men. Notwithstanding, they suggest also that we are witnessing an interlocutory phase where some heterosexual soccer players are starting to challenge homophobia but, at the same time, women and openly gay players still perceive a homohysteric culture. The discussion is contextualised in the social context where discourses arose

Peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells implantation in patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease: a pilot study for clinical and biochemical outcome of neoangiogenesis.

BACKGROUND: Substantial progresses in the management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have been made in the past two decades. Progress in the understanding of the endothelial-platelet interaction during health and disease state has resulted in better antiplatelet drugs that can prevent platelet aggregation, activation and thrombosis during angioplasty and stenting. A role in physiological and pathological angiogenesis in adults has been recently shown in bone marrow–derived circulating endothelial progenitors (BM-DCEPs) identified in the peripheral blood. These findings have paved the way for the development of therapeutic neovascularization techniques using endothelial progenitors. METHODS: This pilot study includes five patients, aged 60 to 75, with a history of claudication and recruited from September 2010 to February 2011 at the A.O.U. Federico II of Naples. PBMNCs have been implanted three times in the limb with the worst ABI value in all the patients included in the study. The clinical follow up was performed during the subsequent 12 months from the beginning of the treatment. RESULTS: In four patients there was a regression of ulcerative lesions. One patient’s condition improved after the first implantation but later did not respond to the further treatments. All patients achieved a pain relief as judged by the numeric pain scale. Pain relief remained satisfactory in three patients for one year. Pain gradually returned to the pre-treatment level in two patients. All patients referred an ameliorating in their quality of life expressed even by an improvement in claudication free walking distance. These improvements are reflected also by intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (IADSA) that shows an improvement of arterial vascularization. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this study suggest an efficacy of BM-DCEPs implantation in terms of improvement of the vascularization and quality of life in patients affected by Peripheral Arterial Disease. Nevertheless a double-blind placebo-controlled study is needed to confirm our findings

Zinc inhibits calcium-mediated and nitric oxide-mediated ion secretion in human enterocytes

Zn2+ is effective in the treatment of acute diarrhea, but its mechanisms are not completely understood. We previously demonstrated that Zn2+ inhibits the secretory effect of cyclic adenosine monophosphate but not of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in human enterocytes. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether Zn2+ inhibits intestinal ion secretion mediated by the Ca2+ or nitric oxide pathways. To investigate ion transport we evaluated the effect of Zn2+ (35 μM) on electrical parameters of human intestinal epithelial cell monolayers (Caco2 cells) mounted in Ussing chambers and exposed to ligands that selectively increased intracellular Ca2+ (carbachol 10− 6 M) or nitric oxide (interferon-γ 300 UI/ml) concentrations. We also measured intracellular Ca2+ and nitric oxide concentrations. Zn2+ significantly reduced ion secretion elicited by carbachol (− 87%) or by interferon-γ (− 100%), and inhibited the increase of intracellular Ca2+ and nitric oxide concentrations. These data indicate that Zn2+ inhibits ion secretion elicited by Ca2+ and nitric oxide by directly interacting with the enterocyte. They also suggest that Zn2+ interferes with three of the four main intracellular pathways of intestinal ion secretion that are involved in acute diarrhe

Insights into hypertensive disorders of type2 diabetic pregnant women

4th International Symposium on Diabetic and Pregnancy, Instambul, March 29-3