The student academic performance in Anatomy is related to Circadian Typology?

In human species, circadian rhythmic expression differs among individuals and may be classified with the concept of Circadian Typology (CT), which consists of three chronotypes: i) Morning-type (M-types), subjects that go to bed early and wake up early and achieve their peak of mental and physical performance in the early part of the day; ii) Evening-type (E-types), subjects that go to bed and wake up late, and perform at their best toward the end of the day, during evening hours; iii) Neither-type (N-types), subjects that show intermediate characteristics between the previous samples. Circadian preferences may change during the life span and can influence academic and sport performance and job activities [1]. We collected data considering 427 students, 294 males and 133 females (age 18-25 years), attending the School of Sport Science, University of Milan. All participants compiled the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) for the assessment of chronotype; subsequently they have been evaluated taking into consideration their anatomy test marks. The chronotype distribution of the students was: 44 M-types, 280 N-types and 103 E-types. For M-types, the result in Anatomy exam was significantly higher compared to Evening-types (p< .01). Even the comparison between M-types and N-types showed a significant difference (p< .01). Instead, the performance for E- and N-types was similar. The present results provide a clear indication of a better academic performance for M-types students compared to E-types referring to Anatomy exam. In this way, the italian academic organization seems to be less favorable for E-types

Morningness-Eveningness preferences and academic results: correlation between practical and theoretic discipline

Human beings organize most of their biological and behavioural activities according to a 24h period. The biological rhythms show differences between individuals and this variability is known as Circadian Typology (CT). Morning-types (M-types), are active early in the morning and soon reach their peak in mental and physical performance but tire early in the evening. Evening-types (E-types) find difficult to get up in the morning and require more time to reach their optimal status. Neither-types (N-types) show intermediate characteristics. Many studies indicate that age and sex may influence: morningness preference increases with age in adults, and women show a stronger trend toward morningness than men [1]. Student chronotype can represent one of the factors that may affect academic achievement. This study investigates whether the CT of the students is related to the final exam grades of two different disciplines, theoretic (Anatomy) and practical (Athletics). Anatomy and Athletics grades are good indicators of the overall academic performance of the undergraduates. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the performance in Anatomy is correlated with Athletics for the three chronotypes. Participants were recruited among students of the School of Sport Science, University of Milan. They were 427 (294 males; 133 females). They completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ): 44 students were classified as M-types, 280 as N-types and 103 as E-types. Individual performance in the final exams of Anatomy and Athletic were collected among them. M-type students achieved better results on final exams in Anatomy and Athletic than either E-type or N-type students. Moreover for M-types (R2= 0.187), it was observed a higher correlation concerning the results of the two disciplines than E-types (R2=0.0727) and N-types (R2=0.0236)

Human Physiology During Exposure to the Cave Environment: A Systematic Review With Implications for Aerospace Medicine

Background: Successful long-duration missions outside low-Earth orbit will depend on technical and physiological challenges under abnormal environmental conditions. Caves, characterized by absence of light, confinement, three-dimensional human movement and long-duration isolation, are identifiably one of the earliest examples of scientific enquiry into space analogs. However, little is known about the holistic human physiological response during cave exploration or prolonged habitation.Objectives: The aim of our review was to conduct a systematic bibliographic research review of the effects of short and prolonged exposure to a cave environment on human physiology, with a view to extend the results to implications for human planetary exploration missions.Methods: A systematic search was conducted following the structured PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for electronic databases.Results: The search retrieved 1,519 studies. There were 50 articles selected for further consideration, of which 31 met our inclusion criteria. Short-term cave exposure studies have investigated visual dysfunction, cardiovascular, endocrine-metabolic, immunologic-hematological and muscular responses in humans. Augmentations of heart rate, muscular damage, initial anticipatory stress reaction and inflammatory responses were reported during caving activity. Prolonged exposure studies mainly investigated whether biological rhythms persist or desist in the absence of standard environmental conditions. Changes were evident in estimated vs. actual rest-activity cycle periods and external desynchronization, body temperature, performance reaction time and heart rate cycles. All studies have shown a marked methodological heterogeneity and lack reproduction under controlled conditions.Conclusions: This review facilitates a further comparison of the proposed physiological impact of a subterranean space analog environment, with existing knowledge in related disciplines pertaining to human operative preparation under challenging environmental conditions. This comprehensive overview should stimulate more reproducible research on this topic and offer the opportunity to advance study design and focus future human research in the cave environment on noteworthy, reproducible projects

Anthropometric and performance differences among playing positions between Italian and American high school football players

Height, body weight and body composition are different among American football players and this is due to the different movement demands for each playing position (1). The results of the National Football League (NFL) Combines are different for playing position and they are used by coaches and scouts to assess players’ physical abilities as a determinant of their success in the professional level (2). The purpose of this study was to examine anthropometric and performance differences among young football players of a top Italian team (Rhinos Milan) and to compare these values with the American high school football players. Participants (N=62) were categorized by position in 3 groups based on playing position: Skill players (SP) included wide receivers, cornerbacks, safeties, and running backs; Big skill players (BSP) consisted of fullbacks, linebackers, tight ends, and defensive ends; Lineman (LM) included centers, offensive guards, offensive and defensive tackles. Body weight and percentage of body fat were determined using the TANITA Body Composition Monitor BC-418 and we obtained performance results of the following Nike SPARQ Combine drills: 40-yard dash, vertical jump, 20-yard shuttle and the kneeling power ball toss (KPBT). The one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test showed significant differences for all the variables among the 3 playing categories: LM had higher anthropometric and body composition values than SP (

Non-neural phenotype of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy: Results from a large cohort of Italian patients

Objective: To carry out a deep characterisation of the main androgen-responsive tissues involved in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). Methods: 73 consecutive Italian patients underwent a full clinical protocol including biochemical and hormonal analyses, genitourinary examination, bone metabolism and densitometry, cardiological evaluation and muscle pathology. Results: Creatine kinase levels were slightly to markedly elevated in almost all cases (68 of the 73; 94%). 30 (41%) patients had fasting glucose above the reference limit, and many patients had total cholesterol (40; 54.7%), low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (29; 39.7%) and triglyceride (35; 48%) levels above the recommended values. Although testosterone, luteinising hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone values were generally normal, in one-third of cases we calculated an increased Androgen Sensitivity Index reflecting the presence of androgen resistance in these patients. According to the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), 7/70 (10%) patients reported severe lower urinal tract symptoms (IPSS score >19), and 21/73 (30%) patients were moderately symptomatic (IPSS score from 8 to 19). In addition, 3 patients were carriers of an indwelling bladder catheter. Videourodynamic evaluation indicated that 4 of the 7 patients reporting severe urinary symptoms had an overt prostate-unrelated bladder outlet obstruction. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan data were consistent with low bone mass in 25/61 (41%) patients. Low bone mass was more frequent at the femoral than at the lumbar level. Skeletal muscle biopsy was carried out in 20 patients and myogenic changes in addition to the neurogenic atrophy were mostly observed. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence of a wide non-neural clinical phenotype in SBMA, suggesting the need for comprehensive multidisciplinary protocols for these patients. \ua9 2016 Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited

Sleep behavior and daily activity levels in people with metabolic syndrome: effect of 1 year of metformin treatment

Impaired sleep and low daily activity levels increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MS). Metformin (MET), an insulin sensitizer drug, is effective in regressing MS and has been recently studied as an adjuvant agent for managing sleep disorders. The present study aimed to assess whether 1,700 mg/day of MET treatment modifies sleep and daily activity levels in people with MS evaluated by Rest-Activity circadian Rhythm (RAR), which is the expression of 24 h of spontaneous activity parameters. A total of 133 subjects with MS, randomized into the MET (n = 65) or placebo (PLA, n = 68) group, underwent a clinical/anthropometric examination and carried out a continuous 7-day actigraphic monitoring to investigate sleep and RAR parameters at baseline and after 1 year of intervention. After 1 year of intervention, 105 subjects were analyzed. The MET group showed greater anthropometric and metabolic improvements compared with placebo, with a significant reduction in weight (p = 0.01), body mass index (p = 0.01), waist circumference (p = 0.03), and glucose (p &lt; 0.001). With regard to sleep parameters, the MET group showed a significant increase in actual sleep time (p = 0.01) and sleep efficiency (p = 0.04) compared with placebo. There were no significant changes reported in the RAR parameters. Our study suggests that MET might be used as an adjuvant treatment for sleep disorders in people with MS

Cure indicators and prevalence by stage at diagnosis for breast and colorectal cancer patients: A population‐based study in Italy

People alive many years after breast (BC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses are increasing. This paper aimed to estimate the indicators of cancer cure and complete prevalence for Italian patients with BC and CRC by stage and age. A total of 31 Italian Cancer Registries (47% of the population) data until 2017 were included. Mixture cure models allowed estimation of net survival (NS); cure fraction (CF); time to cure (TTC, 5-year conditional NS &gt;95%); cure prevalence (who will not die of cancer); and already cured (prevalent patients living longer than TTC). 2.6% of all Italian women (806,410) were alive in 2018 after BC and 88% will not die of BC. For those diagnosed in 2010, CF was 73%, 99% when diagnosed at stage I, 81% at stage II, and 36% at stages III-IV. For all stages combined, TTC was &gt;10 years under 45 and over 65 years and for women with advanced stages, but &lt;= 1 year for all BC patients at stage I. The proportion of already cured prevalent BC women was 75% (94% at stage I). Prevalent CRC cases were 422,407 (0.7% of the Italian population), 90% will not die of CRC. For CRC patients, CF was 56%, 92% at stage I, 71% at stage II, and 35% at stages III-IV. TTC was &lt;= 10 years for all age groups and stages. Already cured were 59% of all prevalent CRC patients (93% at stage I). Cancer cure indicators by stage may contribute to appropriate follow-up in the years after diagnosis, thus avoiding patients' discrimination

A genome-wide association study for survival from a multi-centre European study identified variants associated with COVID-19 risk of death

: The clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection vary widely among patients, from asymptomatic to life-threatening. Host genetics is one of the factors that contributes to this variability as previously reported by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (HGI), which identified sixteen loci associated with COVID-19 severity. Herein, we investigated the genetic determinants of COVID-19 mortality, by performing a case-only genome-wide survival analysis, 60 days after infection, of 3904 COVID-19 patients from the GEN-COVID and other European series (EGAS00001005304 study of the COVID-19 HGI). Using imputed genotype data, we carried out a survival analysis using the Cox model adjusted for age, age2, sex, series, time of infection, and the first ten principal components. We observed a genome-wide significant (P-value < 5.0 × 10-8) association of the rs117011822 variant, on chromosome 11, of rs7208524 on chromosome 17, approaching the genome-wide threshold (P-value = 5.19 × 10-8). A total of 113 variants were associated with survival at P-value < 1.0 × 10-5 and most of them regulated the expression of genes involved in immune response (e.g., CD300 and KLR genes), or in lung repair and function (e.g., FGF19 and CDH13). Overall, our results suggest that germline variants may modulate COVID-19 risk of death, possibly through the regulation of gene expression in immune response and lung function pathways

Carriers of ADAMTS13 Rare Variants Are at High Risk of Life-Threatening COVID-19

Thrombosis of small and large vessels is reported as a key player in COVID-19 severity. However, host genetic determinants of this susceptibility are still unclear. Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura is a severe autosomal recessive disorder characterized by uncleaved ultra-large vWF and thrombotic microangiopathy, frequently triggered by infections. Carriers are reported to be asymptomatic. Exome analysis of about 3000 SARS-CoV-2 infected subjects of different severities, belonging to the GEN-COVID cohort, revealed the specific role of vWF cleaving enzyme ADAMTS13 (A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 13). We report here that ultra-rare variants in a heterozygous state lead to a rare form of COVID-19 characterized by hyper-inflammation signs, which segregates in families as an autosomal dominant disorder conditioned by SARS-CoV-2 infection, sex, and age. This has clinical relevance due to the availability of drugs such as Caplacizumab, which inhibits vWF-platelet interaction, and Crizanlizumab, which, by inhibiting P-selectin binding to its ligands, prevents leukocyte recruitment and platelet aggregation at the site of vascular damage