Present and future association between obesity and hypogonadism in Italian male

Objective: Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide and it is nowadays considered a real public health problem. Obesity is associated with co-morbidities like cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), furthermore visceral obesity can be related to low testosterone (T) plasma levels. The link between obesity and hypogonadism (HG) is complex and not completely clarified. Current guidelines suggest that screening for HG should be done in subjects with obesity and T2DM. The aim of this evaluation is to assess the estimated actual and future prevalence of obesity and related co-morbidities, in particular HG, in the Italian general population. Materials and Methods: The Strategyst Consulting Inc. recently completed an epidemiology forecast model for several countries, looking at HG and CV/Metabolic Disease, based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data collected between 1999-2010. Data from NHANES survey were used to evaluate the Italian estimated prevalence of obesity and HG. Results: Results show that obesity estimated prevalence will increase in 2030 also in Italy. In addition, also the prevalence of obese CVD and T2DM subjects will increase too. Even Italian HG prevalence is estimated to increase in the next two decades, irrespective of T threshold considered (< 8, 10 and 12 nmol/L). In obese CVD subjects the relative risk (RR) of developing HG (T < 8 nmol/L) is four times greater than in not-CVD obese subjects (RR = 4.1, 3.1 and 1.9 accordingly to the aforementioned T thresholds for defining HG). Accordingly, the estimated percentage of hypogonadal obese CVD and T2DM subjects will rise in 2030. Conclusions: The Strategyst epidemiology forecast model has allowed to assess the current and future prevalence of obesity and its relative co-morbidities like HG in Italy. Data emerged from this evaluation suggest that obesity and HG prevalence will increase in Italian population and confirm the complex link between adipose tissue and male T levels

Biofertilization of topinambur with Azospirillum brasilense and native mycorrhical fungi, cultivated in the Central Valley of Catamarca, Argentina

To evaluate the effect of Azospirillum and mycorrhizal soil fungi on the nutrition of the Jerusalem artichoke crop (Helianthus tuberosus L.), determinations of agronomic parameters and the health status of the plants were carried out under field conditions. The tests were carried out, at the time of the implantation of the culture: the ?seeds? were inoculated with A. brasilense and with native mycorrhizal fungi, generating four treatments including the control and the co-inoculation of the consortium of the microorganisms under study (T0: control or uninoculated control; T1: inoculation with native A. brasilense; T2: inoculation with native mycorrhizal fungi and T3: joint inoculation with A. brasilense and native mycorrhizal fungi). The results indicate that co-inoculation with A. brasilense and native mycorrhizal fungi, significantly increased plant growth in height, leaf area, biomass, dry matter, and yields. It was determined that the application of the selected microorganisms has a promoting effect of plant growth, increasing the growth and productivity of the topinambur crop.Fil: Di Barbaro, Maria Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Andrada, Horacio Enrique. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Batallan Morales, Silvana Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Espeche Acosta, Eliana. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Rizo, Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Basso, Maria Valeria. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: del Valle, Eleodoro Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral. - Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Ciencias Agropecuarias del Litoral.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Brandan, Celia Ines. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán; Argentin

Quantitative determination by screening ELISA and HPLC-MS/MS of microcystins LR, LY, LA, YR, RR, LF, LW, and nodularin in the water of Occhito lake and crops

The occurrence of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in surface waters is often accompanied by the production of a variety of cyanotoxins, and these toxins are designed to target in humans specific organs on which they act. When introduced into the soil ecosystem by spray irrigation of crops, they may affect the same molecular pathways in plants having identical or similar target organs, tissues, cells, or biomolecules. There are also several indications that terrestrial plants, including crops, can bioaccumulate cyanotoxins and present, therefore, potential health hazards for humans. During this project, for monitoring purposes, water samples were collected from lake Occhito, in which there was an algal bloom (Planktothrix rubescens) in 2009, and from three tanks which acted as hydraulic junctions. In addition, crop samples irrigated with water from the three tanks mentioned above were also picked. Finally, the characterization of principal cyanobacteria was performed, to determine the presence of cyanotoxins such as microcystins and validate a method of screening ELISA for the determination of microcystins in vegetable samples and a confirmatory method by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS

Berlin statement on legacy and emerging contaminants in polar regions

Polar regions should be given greater consideration with respect to the monitoring, risk assessment, and management of potentially harmful chemicals, consistent with requirements of the precautionary principle. Protecting the vulnerable polar environments requires (i) raising political and public awareness and (ii) restricting and preventing global emissions of harmful chemicals at their sources. The Berlin Statement is the outcome of an international workshop with representatives of the European Commission, the Arctic Council, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), environmental specimen banks, and data centers, as well as scientists from various international research institutions. The statement addresses urgent chemical pollution issues in the polar regions and provides recommendations for improving screening, monitoring, risk assessment, research cooperation, and open data sharing to provide environmental policy makers and chemicals management decision-makers with relevant and reliable contaminant data to better protect the polar environments. The consensus reached at the workshop can be summarized in just two words: “Act now!” Specifically, “Act now!” to reduce the presence and impact of anthropogenic chemical pollution in polar regions by. •Establishing participatory co-development frameworks in a permanent multi-disciplinary platform for Arctic-Antarctic collaborations and establishing exchanges between the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) of the Arctic Council and the Antarctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AnMAP) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) to increase the visibility and exchange of contaminant data and to support the development of harmonized monitoring programs. •Integrating environmental specimen banking, innovative screening approaches and archiving systems, to provide opportunities for improved assessment of contaminants to protect polar regions

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

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Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Probing effective field theory operators in the associated production of top quarks with a Z boson in multilepton final states at root s=13 TeV

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