Study comparing the vibrations recorded by professional and non-professional male athletes in winter sports, skiing vs. snowboarding

Winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding are becoming increasingly popular among all age groups, as practicing these sports has seen an upward trend, which has led to an increase in the number of injuries and pathologies related to them. Practicing skiing/snowboarding entails a series of vibrations occurring in the equipment, their propagation along the kinetic chain impacting both in a positive and negative way the health of the person in question. The study was a comparison, skiing vs. snowboarding, between the vibrations experienced by professional and non-professional athletes, with the main objective of determining which of them produces greater vibrations and identifying the negative and positive effects they have. The study was performed under field conditions using sensors designed to record vibrations on the ski/snowboard (tip/nose and tail), as well as vibration sensors located in the ankle, knee, hip and lumbosacral areas, designed to record the propagation of vibrations along the kinetic chain. The results show a higher level of vibrations recorded on the ski than on the snowboard, while their transmission along the kinetic chain is inversely proportional. The conclusion relates to the choice of skiing/snowboarding. Therefore, due to the Whole-Body Vibration phenomenon, young people are more likely to choose snowboarding due to the possibility of increasing bone quality and quantity, while older people are rather fond of skiing, given its effect along the kinetic chain, which protects the skeletal system. Studies have provided evidence to suggest alpine skiing is an appropriate activity for elderly as a health-enhancing sport. Thus, perhaps alpine skiing could provide the physical activity needed to counteract age-related degradation processes and loss of function

Mathematical models applied to the prediction of doping in male athletes

The compartmental model is a mathematical model (usually described by a set of differential equations) that describes how individuals from different compartments (or groups) that represent a population, interacts. The model is suitable especially for epidemic model, modeling spread of disease but also in simulation of interaction among social groups. The compartmental model has few assumptions to be feasible: “the infection/contamination rate” can be a function of many parameters (seasonality, epidemic waves, dependence of social distancing, policy of awareness, policy, and so one). The main assumption is that the population is homogeneous but, in reality, the heterogeneity of population (spatial localization, seasonal, demography) plays an important role in accuracy of models. Our approach was based on another method that has been used in the last years, the inclusion of a temporal function including heterogeneity in the influence that conduct to doping similar to rate of infection from epidemic models. In this paper, a new model is proposed for quantitative analysis of doping in a particular selected sport. Almost all the models in doping use the biological markers and effect of doping in declared by athletes involved in use of banned substances in a quantitative analysis over a group of high-performance athletes. The proposed compartmental model SEDRS (Susceptible-Exposed-Doped-Recovered-Susceptible) includes the heterogeneity shaped by awareness, due to social interaction that transmit the anti-doping policy. These measures are patterned by social interaction, especially during competitions and training, and this approach is included in system of integrodifferential equations. A heterogeneous (SEDRS) model is numerically solved and the solutions show how the social factor can contribute to decay of doping phenomenon of male athletes and the quantifiable influence in a healthier atmosphere in sport. The scope of the paper is the prediction of doping cases based on SEDRS model

Combined miRNA and SERS urine liquid biopsy for the point-of-care diagnosis and molecular stratification of bladder cancer

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) has the highest per-patient cost of all cancer types. Hence, we aim to develop a non-invasive, point-of-care tool for the diagnostic and molecular stratification of patients with BC based on combined microRNAs (miRNAs) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) profiling of urine. Methods: Next-generation sequencing of the whole miRNome and SERS profiling were performed on urine samples collected from 15 patients with BC and 16 control subjects (CTRLs). A retrospective cohort (BC = 66 and CTRL = 50) and RT-qPCR were used to confirm the selected differently expressed miRNAs. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed using machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, naive Bayes, and random forest), which were trained to discriminate between BC and CTRL, using as input either miRNAs, SERS, or both. The molecular stratification of BC based on miRNA and SERS profiling was performed to discriminate between high-grade and low-grade tumors and between luminal and basal types. Results: Combining SERS data with three differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-34a-5p, miR-205-3p, miR-210-3p) yielded an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.92 +/- 0.06 in discriminating between BC and CTRL, an accuracy which was superior either to miRNAs (AUC = 0.84 +/- 0.03) or SERS data (AUC = 0.84 +/- 0.05) individually. When evaluating the classification accuracy for luminal and basal BC, the combination of miRNAs and SERS profiling averaged an AUC of 0.95 +/- 0.03 across the three machine learning algorithms, again better than miRNA (AUC = 0.89 +/- 0.04) or SERS (AUC = 0.92 +/- 0.05) individually, although SERS alone performed better in terms of classification accuracy. Conclusion: miRNA profiling synergizes with SERS profiling for point-of-care diagnostic and molecular stratification of BC. By combining the two liquid biopsy methods, a clinically relevant tool that can aid BC patients is envisaged

The use of combined techniques: Scottish showers, hot bath and manual techniques in the treatment of migraine headache

Migraines are caused by internal factors (out of which the most important are genetically and physiologically determined) and the external ones, namely, the environment. The most common factor which triggers the migraines is the physiological one. According to some specialized studies, in most cases, it is assumed that migraines are caused by a neuro-vascular disorder. This statement works as a compromise solution for the two theories supported by specialists, which explain the occurrence of migraines: neural mechanisms theory and the theory of vascular origin. Starting from these two theories, we’ve used Scottish showers, hot baths (37oC) followed by manual drainage of the venous sinuses. The Scottish showers determine the toning of the muscle capillaries. Immersion in warm water for 15 minutes determines vasodilation, along with muscle and mental relaxation. Drainage techniques of venous sinuses operate on the reciprocal tension membranes (RTM), restoring their mobility and improving neuro-vascular disorders. In this research, there were involved 3 subjects, who have taken part in the treatment sessions; they have been monitored and the resulting data has been recorded

Hydrokinetotherapy combined with facilitation techniques in the recovery of osteoarthritis

Motor recovery realized by using facilitation techniques has to practical indications, such as locomotor, rheumatologic, neurological and orthopedic trauma disorders. These use of these techniques has increased more and more, especially in the neurological illnesses, but unfortunately, they are neglected in the other diseases (rheumatologic and orthopedic trauma). In this paper, I aimed at merging two methods, namely: hydrokinetotherapy and facilitation techniques in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis. Due to the fact that in the recovery of this disorder is not usually indicated the use of exercises involving the load or the joint, we considered that the combination of these two methods, hydrokinetotherapy along with facilitation techniques might speed up the recovery process

The Future Packaging of the Food Industry: The Development and Characterization of Innovative Biobased Materials with Essential Oils Added

The need to replace conventional, usually single-use, packaging materials, so important for the future of resources and of the environment, has propelled research towards the development of packaging-based on biopolymers, fully biodegradable and even edible. The current study furthers the research on development of such films and tests the modification of the properties of the previously developed biopolymeric material, by adding 10, respectively 20% w/v essential oils of lemon, grapefruit, orange, cinnamon, clove, mint, ginger, eucalypt, and chamomile. Films with a thickness between 53 and 102 µm were obtained, with a roughness ranging between 147 and 366 nm. Most films had a water activity index significantly below what is required for microorganism growth, as low as 0.27, while all essential oils induced microbial growth reduction or 100% inhibition. Tested for the evaluation of physical, optical, microbiological or solubility properties, all the films with the addition of essential oil in the composition showed improved properties compared to the control sample

Alginate: From Food Industry to Biomedical Applications and Management of Metabolic Disorders

Initially used extensively as an additive and ingredient in the food industry, alginate has become an important compound for a wide range of industries and applications, such as the medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors. In the food industry, alginate has been used to coat fruits and vegetables, as a microbial and viral protection product, and as a gelling, thickening, stabilizing or emulsifying agent. Its biocompatibility, biodegradability, nontoxicity and the possibility of it being used in quantum satis doses prompted scientists to explore new properties for alginate usage. Thus, the use of alginate has been expanded so as to be directed towards the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries, where studies have shown that it can be used successfully as biomaterial for wound, hydrogel, and aerogel dressings, among others. Furthermore, the ability to encapsulate natural substances has led to the possibility of using alginate as a drug coating and drug delivery agent, including the encapsulation of probiotics. This is important considering the fact that, until recently, encapsulation and coating agents used in the pharmaceutical industry were limited to the use of lactose, a potentially allergenic agent or gelatin. Obtained at a relatively low cost from marine brown algae, this hydrocolloid can also be used as a potential tool in the management of diabetes, not only as an insulin delivery agent but also due to its ability to improve insulin resistance, attenuate chronic inflammation and decrease oxidative stress. In addition, alginate has been recognized as a potential weight loss treatment, as alginate supplementation has been used as an adjunct treatment to energy restriction, to enhance satiety and improve weight loss in obese individuals. Thus, alginate holds the promise of an effective product used in the food industry as well as in the management of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity. This review highlights recent research advances on the characteristics of alginate and brings to the forefront the beneficial aspects of using alginate, from the food industry to the biomedical field

NITROGEN FIXING EFFICIENCY OF SOME INDIGENOUS RHIZOBIUM LEGUMINOSARUM ISOLATES FROM RED CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM PRATENSE L.) AND WHITE CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM REPENS L.) NODULES

The increasing demand for food leads to intensive agricultural practices which require a high input of synthetic fertilizer. The excess fertilizer ends up in aquatic ecosystems, leading to eutrophication and hypoxia. An alternative would be the use of microorganisms capable of incorporating atmospheric nitrogen into organic compounds. Nitrogen fixing bacteria, collectively known as rhizobia, establish symbiosis with leguminous plants in exchange for a carbon source, this relationship being beneficial for both parties. Commercial rhizobial strains have been used as crop inoculants to improve biomass production but the commercial strains are not as adapted to pedo-climatic conditions as the local, indigenous strains. We tested the nitrogen fixing efficiency of some native Rhizobium leguminosarum isolates from Romania, on biomass production of two clover species. Plants inoculated with the A2, R37 and R73 rhizobial isolates showed the highest amount of biomass accumulation