DIFFERENCES IN LANDING STRATEGIES DURING A VERTICAL DROP JUMP TEST AS A FUNCTION OF GENDER AND AGE IN YOUTH ÉLITE SOCCER PLAYERS

We analyzed the kinematics and kinetics of vertical drop jump landing in a group of 85 (20 females) elite youth soccer players (U10-U11 and U17). Peak knee flexion and knee varus increased in male players as a function of age; normalized peak vertical ground reaction forces decreased with age and in female players. Preliminary data can be used to build reference tables for this specific population and can help to correct dangerous landing strategies, and to keep each player’s development monitored. We also suggest that education of safe landing technique would prevent dangerous knee postures

Target Therapy in Platinum-Refractory/Resistant Ovarian Cancer: From Preclinical Findings to Current Clinical Practice

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the sixth most common malignancy in women. Ovarian tumors consist of several clinical and pathological entities that share an anatomic site. The gold standard treatment, both in front-line and in adjuvant setting, is represented by carboplatin/paclitaxel combination. Conversely, the second-line treatment is not well defined. The response to platinum is the major prognostic factor for survival. In this review we discuss the current views on platinum-refractory/resistant patient treatment only, which includes patients progressing or relapsing within 6 months from the last platinum-based course. Concerning this subgroup, the activity of several conventional drugs was confirmed in different trials without a significant impact in terms of overall survival. In the last years particular emphasis was given to targeted anti-angiogenetic therapy which produced a survival improvement with an acceptable toxicity profile. New “ad hoc” approaches, with a major attention to outcome-predictive factors, are eagerly awaited

Phthalates and Bisphenol A: presence in blood serum and follicular fluid of italian women undergoing assisted reproduction techniques

Background: folliculogenesis is a strictly regulated process that may be affected by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) through sometimes not so clear molecular mechanisms. Methods: we conducted a multicentric observational study involving six fertility centers across Italy, prospectively recruiting 122 women attending a fertility treatment. Recruited women had age ≤42 years, and normal ovarian reserve. Blood and follicular fluid samples were taken for EDCs measurement using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and each woman completed an epidemiological questionnaire. Results: The main EDCs found were monobutyl phthalate (MBP) (median blood: 8.96 ng/mL, follicular fluid 6.43 ng/mL), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) (median blood: 9.16 ng/mL, follicular fluid 7.68 ng/mL) and bisphenol A (BPA) (median blood: 1.89 ng/mL, follicular fluid 1.86 ng/mL). We found that serum MBP concentration was significantly associated with the considered area (p < 0.001, adj. mean: 7.61 ng/mL, 14.40 ng/mL, 13.56 ng/mL; Area 1: Milan–Turin, Area 2: Rome–Naples; Area 3: Catania–Bari, respectively) but negatively with home plastic food packaging (p = 0.004). Follicular MBP was associated with irregular cycles (p = 0.019). No association was detected between EDCs and eating habits and other clinical and epidemiological features. Conclusions: This study represents the first Italian biomonitoring of plastic EDCs in follicular fluid, laying the basis for future prospective evaluation on oocyte quality before assisted reproduction techniques (ART

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

Archaeometric comparison between the Neolithic pottery of different cultures at the archaeological site of Alba Iulia (Transylvania, Romania)

A large quantity of pottery has been discovered at the Lumea Nouă Neolithic and Eneolithic settlement in Alba Iulia City (Romania). It belongs to different cultures, and in this paper a comparison among three of them is made: Vinča, Lumea Nouă and Foeni. An analogous number of samples has been selected for each of the three cultures, together with some clay samples collected in the Alba Iulia settlement area. The samples have been analysed by means of XRF, XRPD, and in thin section. Significant differences among the three cultures are only related to the alkalis contents. The Lumea Nouă pottery has higher potassium contents and contains microfossils, while the Foeni pottery differs to each other for the higher sodium contents. A clear correspondence between pottery and clays has not been found, so that we hypothesize that not all the pottery is local or, more probable, that a geological gradual variation in local clay deposits existed

Spectroscopic study of the product of thermal transformation of chrysotile-asbestos containing materials (ACM)

In Italy, reclamation of asbestos-containing materials (ACM) such as friable asbestos and cement-asbestos is accomplished by their removal, packaging and dumping in controlled landfills. An alternative way to landfill disposal is the thermal transformation of ACM and recycling of the transformation product as secondary raw material. The aim of this work is to integrate preliminary X-ray diffraction and microscopic investigations on the secondary raw material described earlier with a detailed study on the product of transformation at 1200 degrees C of friable chrysotile-asbestos and cement-asbestos, using (micro) Raman, (micro) FTIR, (57)Fe Mossbauer and XANES at the Fe K-edge. Micro-Raman spectra reveal that the absorption bands generated by chrysotile are no longer present in the high-temperature products, and this is further confirmed by micro-FTIR results. In the core of the former fibres of loose chrysotile asbestos, the newly formed phases are olivine and enstatite, whereas the product of transformation of cement-asbestos is composed of olivine together with several other phases such as hematite and (Ca, Mg, Al)-silicates. The Mossbauer absorption spectra of raw chrysotile reveal that iron is contained in a paramagnetic phase (40 %) as well as in accessory magnetite (60 %). The paramagnetic contribution, attributed to chrysotile, is represented by Fe(2+) (10 % of Fe(tot)) and Fe(3+) (30 % of Fe(tot)), both octahedrally coordinated. The spectrum of thermally treated chrysotile clearly shows that the magnetic phases are now oxidized magnetite/maghemite and hematite, and the paramagnetic contribution is quite unaltered, though likely due to the newly formed olivine. The spectrum of untreated cement-asbestos has no evidence of accessory magnetic phases and is made of Fe(2+) (15% of Fe(tot)) and Fe(3+) (85% of Fe(tot)), both octahedrally coordinated. In the thermally treated sample all iron is oxidized, but a phase transition occurred, because Fe(3+) is tetrahedrally coordinated. Also XANES spectra show that in all samples the dominant iron oxidation state is 3+. XANES data on standard chrysotile are compatible with the possible presence of magnetite. In the high-temperature product of cement-asbestos, the high intensity of the pre-edge peak is comparable with that of the reference compound Fe-silicalite, with ferric iron hosted in the framework. This result indicates that in this product ferric iron is likely hosted in a crystalline phase in four-fold coordination, in agreement with Mossbauer spectroscopy results. Such crystalline phase could be Fe-bearing akermanite-gehlenite

Obesity and body composition in man and woman: associated diseases and the new role of gut microbiota

Obesity is now recognized as a worldwide health issue and has reached epidemic proportions, affecting both developed and developing countries. The World Obesity Federation stated that "Obesity is a chronic relapsing disease process": as a result, obesity has been recognized internationally as a chronic disease. The primary cause of the metabolic syndrome and increase of the cardiovascular risk have been identified in "sick fat", a condition then defined as adiposopathy. Heart attacks, strokes and renal failures are pathologies that have mid-risk factors such as dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes, which in turn are caused by obesity, whose primary risk factor is represented by the diet. The aim of the present review is to consider the importance of body composition, together with chronic inflammation and a new gut microbiota data that may turn out to be crucial elements of some target treatment of human obesity