Effects of physical exercise on adiponectin, leptin, and inflammatory markers in childhood obesity: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: New findings on adipose tissue physiology and obesity-Associated inflammation status suggest that modification of the adipokine level can be relevant for the long-Term prevention of obesity-Associated chronic disease. Objectives: The scope of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of physical exercise in reducing the systemic inflammation related to obesity in children. Methods: We conducted a systematic review with meta-Analysis of controlled randomized trials, identified through electronic database search, which investigated the effect of physical exercise, without concomitant dietary intervention, on adiponectin, leptin, and/or other inflammatory markers in children up to age 18 years with a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile for age and sex. Results: Seven trials were included in the meta-Analysis, with a total of 250 participants. Compared with the control group without any lifestyle modification, the physical exercise resulted in a reduction in leptin [standardized mean difference (SMD)-1.13; 95% confidence interval (95%CI):-1.89 to-0.37; I2 = 79.9%] and interleukin-6 (SMD-0.84; 95%CI:-1.45 to-0.23, I2 = 0.9%) and an increase in adiponectin plasma concentration (SMD 0.69; 95%CI: 0.02-1.35; I2 = 74.3%). Conclusions: These results indicate that physical exercise improved the inflammatory state in children with obesity. It is unclear whether this effect can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood. Clinical trials with a uniform intervention protocol and outcome measurements are required to put our knowledge on adipose tissue biology into a clinical perspective

Antropic origin of diffusion of phitopatogen agents. Some best practices to counter the fallout in economic-productive, social and cultural scope

Man has always tried to control nature and to take possession of its resources; at first he did it in a prudent way, taking care only of his maintenance, but then he did it in a wrong way because of the insistent requests of global market. The upheaval of the old and respectful relationship between man and land has caused serious and irreparable consequences. This article wants to analyze and to understand some causes of this break, and the effects of the diffusion of phitopathogen agents in agriculture: the Xylella fastidiosa bacteria in the vineyards of California before, and then in the olive groves in Puglia (Italy) the insect Dryocosmus Kuriphilus which has damaged the chestnut trees in Italy, the cedar apple rust, which attacked the apple trees in Virginia, the Moniliophthore roreri which attacked the cocoa production in Latin America. The most important matter is that these threats and their effects are unforeseeable and they can’t be solved through isolated actions, but only with the integration of different strategies, using the instruments of the scientific research and the Knowledge, with a traditional planning

Antropic origin of diffusion of phitopatogen agents. Some best practices to counter the fallout in economic-productive, social and cultural scope

Man has always tried to control nature and to take possession of its resources; at first he did it in a prudent way, taking care only of his maintenance, but then he did it in a wrong way because of the insistent requests of global market.The upheaval of the old and respectful relationship between man and land has caused serious and irreparable consequences.This article wants to analyze and to understand some causes of this break, and the effects of the diffusion of phitopathogen agents in agriculture: the Xylella fastidiosa bacteria in the vineyards of California before, and then in the olive groves in Puglia (Italy) the insect Dryocosmus Kuriphilus which has damaged the chestnut trees in Italy, the cedar apple rust, which attacked the apple trees in Virginia, the Moniliophthore roreri which attacked the cocoa production in Latin America.The most important matter is that these threats and their effects are unforeseeable and they can’t be solved through isolated actions, but only with the integration of different strategies, using the instruments of the scientific research and the Knowledge, with a traditional planning

Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) Reliability and Proposal of Its Use in Sports

Introduction: The Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) is a functional movement assessment method to observe movement restrictions in individuals with known musculoskeletal disorders, although it has also been used to evaluate healthy athletes of different sports. Aim: The present paper aimed to evaluate the applicability of SFMA in a clinical setting and to verify whether a student can correctly perform it. Methods: An introductory and explanatory email was sent to the subjects, containing the instructions needed to produce a video with SFMA evaluation movements. SFMA methodology was then used to analyze the received videos. The results between interobserver and intraobserver agreement were compared to the literature, considered the gold standard methods. Results: Twenty-eight subjects (17.71 ± 1.96 years aged) were rated. The functional non-painful scenario (FN) has been assigned more frequently by all raters. The student's intra-rater reliability proved to be moderate (Kappa coefficient 0.49). Results for inter-rater reliability showed that the reliability degree between the senior physiotherapist and student before and after their educational path is good (Kappa coefficient 0.60 and 0.62, respectively). Conclusions: The results of this study showed SFMA intra-rater reliability to be moderate, while inter-rater reliability can be considered good. These characteristics make it a valuable tool for sport's needs, even when used by students

Jump and balance test in judo athletes with or without visual impairments

The study was conducted for four months with 8 judo athletes: 4 sighted people (4 M) and 4 visual impairment people (3 M and 1 F), aged between 18 and 52 (30.75 ± 12.74). According to the IBSA Visual Classification, all visual impairment subjects participating in our study were covered in the B1 category of visual deficit. This is a group represented by patients with no light perception in either eye up to light perception, and with an inability to recognize the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction. From our cohort it was excluded subjects who have had low extremities musculoskeletal, neurological, or orthopaedic disorders in the previous six months. The aim of the study was to evaluate their balance with both closed and opened eyes and to set their lower limbs’ strength: these are indispensable characteristics to carry out technical actions of judo. Anthropometric measures were compared between groups and data about jump protocol and balance protocol were analysed. Results of current research showed that postural stability is different in function of assessment with closed and open eyes. The result of the jump tests differs because the data do not show significant differences between long jump and high jump. The comparison between blinded and sighted judo athletes highlighted greater difficulties with eyes closed for sighted athletes than blinded ones

Differences of myocardial systolic deformation and correlates of diastolic function in competitive rowers and young hypertensives: a speckle-tracking echocardiography study

The aim of this study was to compare speckle-tracking echocardiography–derived left ventricular (LV) systolic mechanics and their relationships with LV diastolic properties in young patients with hypertension and in young competitive athletes in relation to their respective alterations of LV structure. Nineteen sedentary controls, 22 top-level rowers, and 18 young newly diagnosed, never-treated patients with hypertension, all male, underwent Doppler echocardiography including pulsed tissue Doppler of the mitral annulus and speckle-tracking echocardiography. Peak longitudinal strain was calculated in apical long-axis, four-chamber, and two-chamber views, and values of the three views were averaged (global longitudinal strain [GLS]). Regional circumferential and radial strain were calculated at the LV basal, middle, and apical levels, and values were averaged. LV torsion was determined as the net difference in the mean rotation between the apical and basal levels. The three groups were comparable for age, whereas body mass index and blood pressure were higher in patients with hypertension, and heart rate was lower in rowers. LV mass index was higher in rowers and in patients with hypertension than in controls, without differences in relative wall thickness, ejection fraction, and midwall shortening. Left atrial volume index was greater in rowers than in controls and patients with hypertension. Annular systolic velocity (s0) (P < .001) and early diastolic velocity (e0) (P < .0001) were lower and the E/e0 ratio was higher (P < .0001) in patients with hypertension. GLS was lower in patients with hypertension than in rowers and in controls (P < .0001). Global circumferential strain, global radial strain, and torsion were similar among the three groups. In the pooled population, GLS was an independent contributor to E/e0 ratio (P < .0001) after adjusting for age, heart rate, meridional end-systolic stress, LV mass index and left atrial volume index. By receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, both GLS and E/e0 ratio appeared to be accurate in discriminating patients with hypertension from healthy controls, with the E/e0 ratio being more sensitive (77.8%) and GLS more specific (89.5%). The hearts of young patients with hypertension are characterized by reduced GLS, whereas global circumferential strain, global radial strain, and torsion are similar to those of athletes’ hearts. The extent of GLS is strongly associated with LV diastolic function, independently of afterload changes and the degree of LV hypertrophy

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

SOCCER FIELDS IN SYNTHETIC AND NATURAL GRASS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON MUSCULAR INJURIES OF THE LOWER LIMB

Research has shown that the surface of artificial turf soccer fields has caused more injuries than the natural turf surface in amateur footballers. The objective of the research was the detection of muscular injuries of the lower limb on a sample of one hundred senior athletes aged between 40 and 50 with an average age of 44.7 (sd +/- 4.26) for an average weight of 77.4 (range 68-89 kg.) and an average height of 178.3 cm (range 168- 187 cm). Study was conducted for eight months, from September 2018 to April 2019, on athletes divided into four teams, each composed of twenty-five members, who carried out four months of training and competitions on each surface and the results showed a greater percentage of accidents on artificial turf pitches compared to natural turf pitches. Yellow and red teams, which carried out training for the first four (September – December) on fields in synthetic turf, have shown, in the following four months (January - April), an improvement in performances in terms of continuous attendance during the official races. The monitoring was carried out by detecting the number and type of muscular injuries, classified according to the time of absence from sports activity, of the lower limb considering the conditions that induced a player to leave the field, therefore to interrupt the activity, which had an impact on participation in training and matches. The data collection relating to the number of muscular injuries of the lower limb, showed that, in total, the athletes sample suffered 67 muscular injuries (of which 5 relapses). These events mostly occurred during training (about 73%) compared to competitions (about 27%). There were 22 minor injuries (contractures - around 33%), 33 moderate injuries (stretches - around 50%) and 12 serious injuries (tears - around 17%)