Detection of exercise adaptations by different specimens analysis

This literature review is a compilation of the most used methods to monitoring athletes in training and competition. Blood is certainly the best known and proven methodology and a wide range of markers can be analyzed through it, but it can be difficult to obtain, especially among athletes or people who are afraid of needles. The use of saliva is an interesting alternative especially for the easy and less invasive method of collecting. The saliva infact contains a few of compounds diffused in the plasma, like water, electrolytes, proteins, metabolites and hormones. However, new methods yet poorly understood are slowly catching on; sweat for example, may carry far more information, may provide useful biomarkers that can give indications about the physical state of the body (electrolytes, lactate, creatinine, glucose, proteins, amino acids) and may be easier to stimulate, gather, and analyze than previously thought

Environmental Enrichment During Adolescence Mitigates Cognitive Deficits and Alcohol Vulnerability due to Continuous and Intermittent Perinatal Alcohol Exposure in Adult Rats

Perinatal alcohol exposure affects ontogenic neurodevelopment, causing physical and functional long-term abnormalities with limited treatment options. This study investigated long-term consequences of continuous and intermittent maternal alcohol drinking on behavioral readouts of cognitive function and alcohol vulnerability in the offspring. The effects of environmental enrichment (EE) during adolescence were also evaluated. Female rats underwent continuous alcohol drinking (CAD)—or intermittent alcohol drinking paradigm (IAD), along pregestation, gestation, and lactation periods—equivalent to the whole gestational period in humans. Male offspring were reared in standard conditions or EE until adulthood and were then assessed for declarative memory in the novel object recognition test; spatial learning, cognitive flexibility, and reference memory in the Morris water maze (MWM); alcohol consumption and relapse by a two-bottle choice paradigm. Our data show that perinatal CAD decreased locomotor activity, exploratory behavior, and declarative memory with respect to controls, whereas perinatal IAD displayed impaired declarative memory and spatial learning and memory. Moreover, both perinatal alcohol-exposed offspring showed higher vulnerability to alcohol consummatory behavior than controls, albeit perinatal IAD rats showed a greater alcohol consumption and relapse behavior with respect to perinatal-CAD progeny. EE ameliorated declarative memory in perinatal CAD, while it mitigated spatial learning and reference memory impairment in perinatal-IAD progeny. In addition, EE decreased vulnerability to alcohol in both control and perinatal alcohol-exposed rats. Maternal alcohol consumption produces drinking pattern-related long-term consequences on cognition and vulnerability to alcohol in the offspring. However, increased positive environmental stimuli during adolescence may curtail the detrimental effects of developmental alcohol exposure

Influence of the vehicle front shape inTeenage Cyclist-Vehicle Crash

In this work the data, obtained for the three vehicles (sedan, SUV and Pick Up), tested in previous works, are compared. Following the results found in the literature, particular emphasis is done on the speed of the teenager cyclist head at the instant of impact and the diagrams of the head speed and the chest obtained in the simulations are shown. The speed of the head is that absolute, and this is used for processing the data and the subsequent determination of the best values of the three geometric actual parameters identified in front of the vehicle. Absolute speed is preferred because using the relative speed respect to vehicle, some amounts that cannot be disregarded are omitted from the evaluation. The chosen speed is 30 km/h because higher values appear too dependent on the mass of the vehicle, while lower values may not result in serious injury and are therefore less attractive. The procedure, to obtain the optimal values of the height of the bumper, the height of the bonnet and of the inclination angle of the bonnet is illustrated in the case the side impact vehicle-teenager cyclist. The conclusion is made that analogous procedure can be applied to HIC values

A New Theoretical Approach on Teenage Cyclist-Vehicle Crash

Data obtained in teenage cyclist impact against three vehicles (sedan, SUV and Pick Up), tested in previous works, are analyzed to verify the theoretical results by the coupling of momentum conservation principle and energy conservation principle. The speed of vehicle and thorax are compared with theoretical ones, obtaining an excellent agreement. Following the results found in the literature, particular emphasis is done on teenager cyclist thorax and head speeds, indicating that the cyclist speed can be theoretically until 1,41 times the impact speed, while greater values, until 2, are obtained in the simulations. A small slowing of the vehicle is found theoretically and in the simulations, due to kinetic energy transfer. A small component of the vehicle speed exists in the orthogonal plane to the motion, due, for example, to the compression of the rider body on the bonnet. A parameter is determined using all the data in term of thorax speed, in all the impact speeds and in all the relative positions; its value does not appear depending on the vehicle mass. It allows the subsequent determination of the best values of three geometric actual parameters identified in front of the vehicle: bumper height, bonnet height and bonnet inclination angle, by interpolation with a second order curve, by making the conclusion that the frontal part of the vehicle may be designed in order to reduce the injury

Sars-cov-2 and the risk assessment document in italian work; specific or generic risk even if aggravated?

In December 2019, several cases of atypical pneumonia were detected in Wuhan city, Hubei province, inland China. The initial outbreak was of considerable size first in China subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Immediately after the epidemic (which according to the World Health Organization had risen to pandemic status), the problem of whether or not to update the occupational risk assessment arose, also considering how the biological risk from SARS CoV-2 should be understood: specific or generic. To this end, we conducted a literature review to identify national health legislation and policies, examining how Italy has addressed the COVID-19 emergency in occupational health planning, in order to develop considerations on the need to update the Risk Assessment Document following the pandemic status. The data that emerged from the review of current legislation allowed us to conclude that the risk from SARS-CoV-2 is in most work activities to be understood as a generic or aggravated generic risk, requiring the employer to apply and control the preventive measures suggested by health authorities to contain the spread of the virus

How to prevent sars-cov-2 transmission in the agri-food industry during the first pandemic wave: Effects on seroprevalence

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many workplaces were forced to interrupt their activities or alternatively had to prefer a smart way of working, if this was compatible with their activities, to contain the spread of the virus. Some production activities, on the other hand, continued, such as those belonging to the agri-food sector. The aim of the study was to investigate seroprevalence in the workers of an Italian agri-food company following prevention interventions developed in concert with an occupational physician. An observational cohort study was conducted on a population of 328 (100%) workers of a company in the agri-food sector, located in the Sicilian region, which specialized in the production and distribution of citrus fruits. Only one worker was infected with SARS-CoV-2, which later also developed the immune response. No other worker contracted the infection. In conclusion, the measures implemented identified the positive subject for SARS-CoV-2 at an early stage. This made it possible to avoid contagion between the positive subject and the other workers. The occupational physician was also, in this case, essential in decoding and implementing the rules and guidelines useful for the protection of the health and safety of the worker

Serotonergic modulation of rat pineal gland activity: In vivo evidence for a 5-hydroxytryptamine(2c) receptor involvement

There are some suggestions that, in the pineal gland, serotonin acts not only as a precursor of melatonin but also plays a role in the modulation of the pineal biosynthetic activity. To corroborate this possible neuromodulatory role of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) (5-HT) on the pineal gland, the effects of two 5-HT2 receptor agonists meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP) and 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane were assessed in vivo on pineal N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity and melatonin content in rats. m-CPP potentiated the enhancement of NAT activity and pineal melatonin content induced by isoproterenol administration during daytime, whereas it did not affect the diurnal basal biosynthetic activity of the gland. At night, m-CPP and 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane enhanced significantly the physiological increases in both pineal NAT activity and melatonin content. This enhancement was prevented by pretreatment with N-(1-methyl-5-indolyl)-N'-(3-pyridyl) urea hydrochloride, an antagonist with higher affinity for 5-HT(2B/C) than for 5-HT(2A) receptor, as well as by pretreatment with 8-[5-(2,4-dimethoxy-5-(4-trifluoromethyl-phenylsulphonamido)-phenyl-5-oxopent hyl]-1,3,8-triazospiro[4,5]decane-2,4-dione, the most specific 5-HT(2C) receptor now available, but not by pretreatment with ketanserin, an antagonist with higher affinity for 5-HT(2A) than for 5-HT(2C) receptor. These results suggest that 5-HT(2C) receptors are likely involved in the mediation of the serotonergic modulation of pineal biosynthetic activity in rats

Mealybug transmission of grapevine virus A

A closterovirus morphologially and serologically very close or identical to grapevine virus A (GVA) was experimentally transmitted by adults and instars of the Pseudococcidae mealybug Pseudococcus longispinus TARGIONI TOZZETTI from grapevine of cv. Inzolia affected by leafroll and stem pitting to Nicotiana clevelandii GRAY. GVA could not be recovered from infected vines by inoculation of sap but it was mechanically transmitted from N. clevelandii to N. benthamiana DOMIN. With immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM) tests, the presence of GVA was ascertained in: both the above herbaceous hosts;Inzolia vines used as donor plants for mealybug transmission tests;formerly virus-free Cabernet Franc and Procupac vines that had shown leafroll symptoms following natural mealybug infestation in a greenhouse where they were grown next to diseased grapes;squashed mealybugs which had fed on infected Inzolia vines.ISEM findings were confirmed by thin sectioning. In all cases filamentous virus particles were found in phloem tissues of infected herbaceous hosts and vines. In addition, donor (Inzolia) and recipient (Cabernet Franc, Procupac and LN-33) grapevines, but not herbaceous hosts, contained isometric virus-like particles and associated cytopathic structures (vesiculated bodies). The occurrence of a mixed infection in donor vines and the apparent transmission of both types of particles to grapevine does not allow to draw conclusions on the etiological significance of GVA in relation to leafroll disease. Further trials with source plants infected with GVA alone are now under way.Übertragung des Rebenvirus A durch SchildläuseEin Closterovirus, das morphologisch und serologisch dem Rebenvirus A (GVA) sehr nahesteht oder mit diesem identisch ist, wurde durch Adulte und Larven der Schildlaus Pseudococcus longispinus TARGIONI TOZZEITI (Pseudococcidae) von an Blattrollkrankheit und Holzrunzeligkeit erkrankten Reben der Sorte Inzolia auf Nicotiana clevelandii GRAY übertragen. Durch Saftübertragung aus infizierten Reben konnte GVA nicht nachgewiesen werden; es wurde jedoch von N. clevelandii auf N. bentamiana DOMIN. mechanisch übertragen. Mittels ISEM konnte GVA nachgewiesen werden: In den beiden oben genannten krautigen Wirtsarten;in Reben der Sorte Inzolia, die als Spenderpflanzen für die Schildlaus-Übertragungsversuche verwendet worden waren;in ursprünglich virusfreien Reben der Sorten Cabernet Franc und Procupac, die Blattrollsymptome gezeigt hatten, nachdem sie in einem Gewächshaus in unmittelbarer Nähe erkrankter Reben spontan von Schildläusen befallen worden waren;in zerquetschten Schildläusen, die an infizierten lnzolia-Reben gesogen hatten.Die ISEM-Befunde wurden an Dünnschnitten bestätigt. In allen Fällen wurden im Phloemgewebe der infizierten krautigen Wirtspflanzen und Reben filamentöse Viruspartikeln gefunden. Zusätzlich enthielten die Spender( Inzolia) und Empfängerreben (Cabernet Franc, Procupac und LN-33), nicht jedoch die krautigen Wirtspflanzen, isometrische virusartige Partikeln zusammen mit cytopathologischen Strukturen (vesiculäre Körper). Wegen des Vorliegens einer Mischinfektion in den Spenderreben und der offensichtlichen Übertragung beider Partikeltypen auf die Rebe ist es nicht möglich, Rückschlüsse auf die ätiologische Bedeutung von GVA im Verhältnis zur Blattrollkrankheit zu ziehen. Weitere Versuche unter Verwendung von Virusquellen, die nur mit GVA infiziert sind, wurden aufgenommen

Considerations on the Update of the Risk Assessment Document During the Pandemic State by COVID-19 in Italy

Immediately after the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (which had risen to the level of a pandemic according to the World Health Organization), the question arose whether or not to update the risk assessment, which, as required by Legislative Decree 81/2008, with the consequent updating of the prevention measures. In light of these forecasts, we asked ourselves whether the risk of coronavirus infection should be taken into account by the employer by updating the risk assessment or not. An in-depth analysis of current legislation has led to the conclusion that the biological risk from SARS-CoV-2 is to be considered specific only in health-related activities, in other activities it can be considered exclusively generic or generic aggravated. The Risk Assessment Document can therefore only be integrated

Diagnostic and prognostic value of three micrornas in environmental asbestiform fibers-associated malignant mesothelioma

Fluoro-edenite (FE) is an asbestiform fiber identified in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy). Environmental exposure to FE has been associated with a higher incidence of malignant mesothelioma (MM). The present study aimed to validate the predicted diagnostic significance of hsa-miR-323a-3p, hsa-miR-101-3p, and hsa-miR-20b-5p on a subset of MM patients exposed to FE and matched with healthy controls. For this purpose, MM tissues vs. nonmalignant pleura tissues were analyzed through droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to evaluate differences in the expression levels of the selected miRNAs and their MM diagnostic potential. In addition, further computational analysis has been performed to establish the correlation of these miRNAs with the available online asbestos exposure data and clinic-pathological parameters to verify the potential role of these miRNAs as prognostic tools. ddPCR results showed that the three analyzed miRNAs were significantly down-regulated in MM cases vs. controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed high specificity and sensitivity rates for both hsa-miR-323a-3p and hsa-miR-20b-5p, which thus acquire a diagnostic value for MM. In silico results showed a potential prognostic role of hsa-miR-101-3p due to a significant association of its higher expression and increased overall survival (OS) of MM patients