Comparison of lung diffusing capacity in young elite athletes and their counterparts

Background: The influence of exercise on the pulmonary function is controverse, some studies have reported no sports influence, while the others have found positive correlation. Aim: To evaluate and compare the sports influence on pulmonary function: spirometry (VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC), lung diffusing capacity (DLCO) and coefficient of the CO gas transfer (KCO) in two elite athletes groups and healthy sedentary controls. Method: Equally divided into aerobic and anaerobic group, 60 elite athletes were recruited, as well as 43 age-matched, healthy sedentary controls. All of the participants performed basic anthropometric measurements, spirometry, DLCO and KCO at rest. Kruskal–Wallis one way ANOVA test was used to determine differences between groups; Mann–Whitney U test was used for inter-groups differences and Pearson coefficient for pulmonary variables and anthropometric parameters correlation. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS computer statistic program, version 20. Results: No differences were found in pulmonary characteristics (spirometric function values, DLCO and KCO) in athletes and non-athletes at rest, as well as between aerobics and anaerobics. There were no correlations between the anthropometric parameters and the investigated respiratory function tests. DLCO (%) correlated positively with height in athletes playing anaerobic type of sport (karate and taekwondo) (p = 0.036; r = 0.544), and negatively in sedentary control group (p = 0.030; r = −0.560). Regarding KCO, no differences were found. Conclusion: Spirometry indices and DLCO are not influenced either by aerobic or anaerobic training type, so benefits of sports on pulmonary indices or DLCO was not confirmed. Keywords: Athletes, Diffusing capacity, Transfer coefficien

Environmental assessment of 9 European public bus transportation systems

The transportation sector is one of the largest sources of EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2011, transportation represented approximately 25 percent of total EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. Urban mobility accounts for 40% of all CO2 emissions of road transport and up to 70% of other pollutants from transport. As, transportation and mobility play a crucial part both in urban economics and the quality of life, it is of great significance to ensure a low carbon transportation sector, so as to deal with the threat that climate change poses to urban areas. This study examines the factors that affect the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) as well as of air pollutants, in 9 major European cities, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the actual knowledge on the atmospheric pollution from public transportation systems. CO2 emissions as well as air pollutants, such as CO, HC, PM, NOx are calculated for the diesel and CNG bus fleets of the European cities under study. Finally the environmental benefits, in terms of CO2 and CO, HC, PM, NOx emissions reductions, from the penetration of different biodiesel blends (from B10 to B100) to the bus fleets are estimated.Peer Reviewe

Burden and attitude to resistant and refractory migraine: a survey from the European Headache Federation with the endorsement of the European Migraine & Headache Alliance

Background: New treatments are currently offering new opportunities and challenges in clinical management and research in the migraine field. There is the need of homogenous criteria to identify candidates for treatment escalation as well as of reliable criteria to identify refractoriness to treatment. To overcome those issues, the European Headache Federation (EHF) issued a Consensus document to propose criteria to approach difficult-to-treat migraine patients in a standardized way. The Consensus proposed well-defined criteria for resistant migraine (i.e., patients who do not respond to some treatment but who have residual therapeutic opportunities) and refractory migraine (i.e., patients who still have debilitating migraine despite maximal treatment efforts). The aim of this study was to better understand the perceived impact of resistant and refractory migraine and the attitude of physicians involved in migraine care toward those conditions. Methods: We conducted a web-questionnaire-based cross-sectional international study involving physicians with interest in headache care. Results: There were 277 questionnaires available for analysis. A relevant proportion of participants reported that patients with resistant and refractory migraine were frequently seen in their clinical practice (49.5% for resistant and 28.9% for refractory migraine); percentages were higher when considering only those working in specialized headache centers (75% and 46% respectively). However, many physicians reported low or moderate confidence in managing resistant (8.1% and 43.3%, respectively) and refractory (20.7% and 48.4%, respectively) migraine patients; confidence in treating resistant and refractory migraine patients was different according to the level of care and to the number of patients visited per week. Patients with resistant and refractory migraine were infrequently referred to more specialized centers (12% and 19%, respectively); also in this case, figures were different according to the level of care. Conclusions: This report highlights the clinical relevance of difficult-to-treat migraine and the presence of unmet needs in this field. There is the need of more evidence regarding the management of those patients and clear guidance referring to the organization of care and available opportunities