A Pilot Study: Does Exercise With Or Without Palm Cooling Alter Post Exercise Napping Behavior?

Introduction: The present study aimed to explore the effects of exercise just prior to afternoon napping on sleep quality. A secondary aim of the project was to explore if a palm cooling intervention can mitigate exercise induced elevations in core body temperature (CBT) to facilitate sleep. Methods: Eight endurance trained athletes were recruited to undergo one non-exercise baseline visit (BASE), a graded exercise test and two exercise visits. The exercise visits consisted of a non-cooling (NOCO) and palm cooling (COOL) condition during moderate intensity exercise for 30 minutes. The BASE, NOCO and COOL visits ended with a one hour napping opportunity. Polysomnography (PSG), post-napping questionnaire and CBT data were collected. Results: The PSG outcome measures indicated no changes to sleep quality between conditions. Napping questionnaire results did not differ between conditions. Palm cooling was successful during exercise, however CBT returned to pre-exercise levels by the start of the napping opportunity for both the COOL and NOCO visits. The current data indicate trending improvements in PSG total sleep time and sleep efficiency during exercise visits (NOCO &amp; COOL) compared to the BASE visit. Conclusion: Exercise just prior to afternoon napping does not negatively change PSG or perceptual sleep quality compared to a non-exercise BASE visit. Trending improvements in total sleep time and sleep efficiency after exercise are promising, and further data collection is underway to better understand the relationship between exercise and napping behavior. Together, these results indicate that a sleep extension intervention via day time napping is feasible for training athletes.</p

Prolonged higher dose methylprednisolone vs. conventional dexamethasone in COVID-19 pneumonia: a randomised controlled trial (MEDEAS)

Dysregulated systemic inflammation is the primary driver of mortality in severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Current guidelines favor a 7-10-day course of any glucocorticoid equivalent to dexamethasone 6 mg·day-1. A comparative RCT with a higher dose and a longer duration of intervention was lacking

Evaluation of an Odour Emission Factor (OEF) to estimate odour emissions from landfill surfaces

Emission factors are fundamental tools for air quality management. Odour Emission Factors (OEFs) can be developed in analogy with the emission factors defined for other chemical compounds, which relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the atmosphere to a given associated activity. Landfills typically represent a common source of odour complaint; for this reason, the development of specific OEFs allowing the estimation of odour emissions from this kind of source would be of great interest both for the landfill design and management. This study proposes an up-to-date methodology for the development of an OEF for the estimation of odour emissions from landfills, thereby focusing on the odour emissions related to the emissions of landfill gas (LFG) from the exhausted landfill surface. The proposed approach is an “indirect” approach based on the quantification of the LFG emissions from methane concentration measurements carried out on an Italian landfill. The Odour Emission Rate (OER) is then obtained by multiplying the emitted gas flow rate by the LFG odour concentration. The odour concentration of the LFG emitted through the landfill surface was estimated by means of an ad hoc correlation investigated between methane concentration and odour concentration. The OEF for the estimation of odour emissions from landfill surfaces was computed, considering the landfill surface as the activity index, as the product between the mean specific LFG flux emitted through the surface resulting from the experimental campaigns, equal to 0.39 l/m2/h, and its odour concentration, which was estimated to be equal to 105′000 eq. ouE/m3, thus giving an OEF of 0.011 ouE/m2/s. This value, which is considerably lower than those published in previous works, should be considered as an improved estimation based on the most recent developments of the research in the field of odour sampling on surface sources