ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODOLOGIES FOR REHABILITATION

Frequently athletes are affected by lesions to muscles, joints, bone and nervous systems. The medical treatment and the subsequent rehabilitation in most cases are able to lead to a complete recovery. TWO points should be considered: a) the designing of most appropriate training and rehabilitation procedures should take into account the specific characteristics of the athlete and of his specialization. b) The recovery, which could be considered acceptable for a "normal subject", not always is completely appropriate for an athlete who has to face superior motor performances. c) A detailed solution is needed in order to decide when and how to restart the normal activity of training and full performance. In this frame, the traditional analysis of correlation between the localisation of the lesion and the deficit of function appears insufficient to obtain the maximum potential recovery, given a certain damage. Only by taking into account a quantitative multifactorial analysis of the motor function in relation with the lesion and the expected recovery, optimal resulta could be reached from medical rehabilitation and training. This implies several steps: - a detailed functional evaluation of each athlete; - a continuous monitoring of the athlete's progress / and consequent adaptation of training itself. In this context, a detailed multifactor analysis assumes a central role. The traditional evaluation performed by visual inspection appears insufficient for these purposes. ' Kinematics, dynamics, neuromuscular events and correlations among these variables must be considered in a quantitative way. The use of advanced technology (transducers, microprocessors, etc.) can provide useful means; because it is possible to develop very complex instrumentations (complex in terms of variables measured and data processing), which require relatively easy tests, feasible also in clinical environment or gymnasium

Biomechanics of Sport Rehabilitation

It is well known that athletes are frequently injured due to the large stress present in most sport performances as well as accidents of different nature. In most cases such lesions involve muscles, ligaments, joint, bones and in several cases also peripheral nerves. In all these cases clinical treatments for restoring the athlete's capabilities are applied: casting, immobilisation, surgical intervention, traditional and specific rehabilitation procedures. A question of great relevance concerns how and when the complete motor recovery of the athlete has been reached, In fact the parameters which are normally used to assess the complete recovery of a normal subject are not sufficient to assess the recovery of a high level athlete, considering the complex mechanical demand which the musculo-skeletal apparatus must satisfy to reach the required performance. In other words, after an accident, the motor recovery accepted for a normal subject can be absolutely inadequate for an athlete. It is therefore necessary to identify new techniques to assess the efficiency of the rehabilitation procedures in the sport domain. Recent technological developments make it possible simultaneous measurements and processing of a set of biomechanical variables related to kinematics, kinetics. and EMG activity during high level performance, so that the deviation from normality can be assessed, where normality is considered the reference pattern of the athlete when expressing a good performance and in the best shape. Such a quantitative evaluation of motor efficiency in .athletes is also important considering that in many cases of accident is difficult to differentiate the role of pure physiological deficiencies from the psychological ones which are often consistent in limiting the possibility of reaching results previously obtained. In order to reach this goal, it IS important to define suitable protocols to monitor the motor apparatus behaviour when performing selected exercises. In this presentation, the methodological approach used to set up the aforementioned protocols will be discussed. Examples of application for the evaluation of basic motor actions (vertical jumping, running) and of specific sport actions (cycling, sprint start, tennis) be illustrated with particular reference to performance assessment and rehabilitative applications

Halpha surface photometry of galaxies in the Virgo cluster. IV: the current star formation in nearby clusters of galaxies

Halpha+[NII] imaging observations of 369 late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster and in the Coma/A1367 supercluster are analyzed. They constitute an optically selected sample (m_p<16.0) observed with 60% c.a. completeness.These observations provide us with the current (T<10^7 yrs) star formation properties of galaxies. The expected decrease of the star formation rate (SFR),as traced by the Halpha E.W., with decreasing clustercentric projected distance is found only when galaxies brighter than M_p=-19.5 are considered. We also include in our analysis Near Infrared data, providing us with informations on the old (T>10^9yrs) stars. Put together, the young and the old stellar indicators give the ratio of currently formed stars over the stars formed in the past, or "birthrate" parameter b. We also determine the "global gas content" combining HI with CO observations. We define the "gas deficiency" parameter as the logarithmic difference between the gas content of isolated galaxies of a given Hubble type and the measured gas content.For the isolated objects we find that b decreases with increasing NIR luminosity. The gas-deficient objects, primarily members to the Virgo cluster, have their birthrate significantly lower than the isolated objects with normal gas content and of similar NIR luminosity. This indicates that the current star formation is regulated by the gaseous content of spirals.Whatever mechanism (most plausibly ram-pressure stripping) is responsible for the pattern of gas deficiency observed in spiral galaxies members to rich clusters, it also produces the observed quenching of the current star formation.Comment: 22 pages,14 figures,3 figures available in jpeg format.To be published in A&

Meta-analysis of cancer incidence in children born after assisted reproductive technologies

A meta-analysis was performed on 11 cohort studies of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) and subsequent childhood cancer, published up to February 2005, which reported comparable, nonoverlapping data, and then restricted to eight studies which presented a similar research design. The overall Standardised Incidence Ratio was 1.33 (95% CI 0.62–2.85), and 0.77 (95% CI 0.41–1.42) when the analysis was restricted to eight studies. No evidence of publication bias was observed for the overall analysis. The data are consistent with a lack of increase in risk of childhood cancer, though the amount of data on ART and cancer is still limited; larger multicentric studies as well as a pooled analysis on the available data are warranted

Peptide-based immunotherapy of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis without anaphylaxis

Administration of peptide antigens in tolerogenic form holds promise as a specific treatment for autoimmune and allergic disorders. However, experiments in rodent autoimmune models have highlighted the risk of anaphylaxis in response to systemic peptide application once the aberrant immune response is underway. Thus, mice with clinical signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) or diabetes have been reported to suffer fatal anaphylaxis upon administration of native autoantigenic peptides. Clearly, this might represent a significant barrier to the use of synthetic peptides in the treatment of ongoing human autoimmune conditions. Here we describe the development of an altered peptide ligand (APL) engineered to prevent anaphylaxis (no antibody binding) whilst retaining the ability to silence pathogenic myelin-reactive T lymphocytes. Administration of the APL to mice with an ongoing anti-myelin immune response did not cause anaphylaxis, but led to complete protection from the subsequent induction of EAE and, when given during ongoing EAE, led to a rapid remission of clinical signs. The approach of removing antibody recognition whilst maintaining the desired functional effect (in this case T cell tolerance) may be of value in other situations in which there is a risk of triggering anaphylaxis with peptide-based drugs

APPLICATION IN SPORTS OF THE "ELITE": A SYSTEM FOR REAL TIME PROCESSING OF TV SIGNALS

Competitive sport requires a deep engagement of the athletes that have to improve continuously physical and technical qualities with heavy programs of training. The help of the coaches is an important tool both to plan the training and to perform it correctly. The coach evaluates the work of the athlete with quantitative and qualitative inspections. Quantitatively he measures the actual performance or useful parameters (time, length, height) obtaining information on the total efficiency of the athlete. Qualitatively he analyzes the technical aspects of the sport. The analysis is done by a direct visual inspection or by video tape records. The final result is a synthesis of sensations that, through experience and knowledge, becomes practical suggestions. When the same analysis is quantitative, the intervention may he more complete as the coach is supported by powerful information: knowledge of quantities not easy or possible to be detected by visual inspection (velocities, accelerations, forces), accurate description of each phase of the movement, data storage allowing objective comparison in time

Immunogenicity and tolerability of an MF59-adjuvanted, egg-derived, A/H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine in children 6-35 months of age

Background: Vaccines against pandemic A/H1N1 influenza should provide protective immunity in children, because they are at greater risk of disease than adults. This study was conducted to identify the optimal dose of an MF59 (R)-adjuvanted, egg-derived, A/H1N1 influenza vaccine for young children. Methods: Children 6-11 months (N = 144) and 12-35 months (N = 186) of age received vaccine formulations containing either 3.75 mu g antigen with half the standard dose of MF59 or 7.5 mu g antigen with a standard dose of MF59, or a nonadjuvanted formulation containing 15 mu g antigen (children 12-35 months only). Participants were given 2 primary vaccine doses 3 weeks apart, followed by 1 booster dose of MF59-adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccine 1 year later. Immunogenicity was assessed by hemagglutination inhibition and microneutralization assays. Results: All vaccine formulations were highly immunogenic and met all 3 European licensure criteria after 2 doses. MF59-adjuvanted vaccines met all licensure criteria after 1 dose in both age cohorts, while nonadjuvanted vaccine did not meet all criteria after 1 dose in children 12-35 months. A single booster dose was highly immunogenic, and stable antibody persistence was observed in response to all vaccines. All vaccines were well tolerated. Conclusions: In this study, a single dose of 3.75 mu g antigen with half the standard dose of MF59 was shown to be optimal, providing adequate levels of immediate and long-term antibodies in pediatric subjects 6-35 months of age. These data demonstrated that MF59 adjuvant allowed for reduced antigen content and promoted significant long-term antibody persistence in children, with a satisfactory safety profile

AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC METABOLISM DURING LOCOMOTION WITH TWO DIFFERENT WHEELCHAIR TYPES

Wheelchair design is extremely important in order to improve efficiency of locomotion and reduce physical stress in subjects whose muscular and cardiopulmonary fitness are impaired. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different wheelchair design on the aerobic and anaerobic metabolism during locomotion at different speeds in paraplegic subjects. The experiments were carried out on a group of 5 male paraplegic subjects (25 ±3 years; body weight 65±7kg) during locomotion on a roller ergometer (Sopur, Ergotronic mod.) at 3-4 different speeds from 2 to 9 km/h. At each speed oxygen consumption and heart rate were determined after at least 6 min of exercise. Lactic acid (LA) venous blood concentration was evaluated before and at the 5th min of recovery and lactate production was calculated. The oxygen equivalent of LA was assumed to be 3.15ml O2 per kg body weight for an increase of blood LA of 1 mmol/L. For each subject the test was repeated using two different types of daily use active wheelchairs: type A., foldable, 13.95kg; type B, demountable, 13.35kg. The main difference in size was in the horizontal location of the wheel axle, in seat height and in handrim diameter. Results indicate that: a) oxygen consumption increased linearly with speed being 2050±350ml/min and 1780±270ml/min at 9km/h for wheelchair type A and B, respectively; b)lactic acid concentrations were significantly higher, at a given speed, while using wheelchair type A than B (at 9km/h; 7.4±1.5 mmol/l and 6.0±1.6 mmol/l, respectively),c) the total energy required , aerobic and anaerobic, increased linearly with speed and was 15-20% higher with wheelchair type A than B at all speeds; d) the energy cost of locomotion at a given speed was in the 15-25% range higher for wheelchair A than B; e) at corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and pulmonary ventilation were not different with the two wheelchair types. The main results of this study concern the large difference existing in the energy cost of locomotion and in the lactate production in the same subject when two different wheelchairs, even if apparently similar are used. In particular the much higher lactate production suggests that wheelchair design affects the limb and trunk movements in such a way that the metabolism of some muscle group requires a greater participation of anaerobic mechanism of energy supply, this leading to early onset of muscular fatigue. Further studies, in particular the combined biomechanical analysis of user and wheelchair during locomotion are required to increase the optimum fitting of wheelchair –user interface

Optical spectroscopy of galaxies in the direction of the Virgo cluster

Optical spectroscopy of 76 galaxies, 48 of which are projected in the direction of the Virgo cluster and 28 onto the Coma-A1367 supercluster, is reported. Adding these new measurements to those found in the literature, the redshift completeness in the Virgo region becomes 92% at B_T<=16.0 and 68% at B_T<=18.0. The one of CGCG galaxies in the direction of the Coma-A1367 supercluster becomes 98%. The Virgo cluster membership estimates obtained on morphological grounds by Binggeli et al. (1985) are confirmed in all cases. However, several "possible members" classified as BCD (if in the cluster) are found instead to be giant emission-line galaxies in the background of the Virgo clusterComment: LaTeX, 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for pubblication in A&

Glyphosate resistance by engineering the flavoenzyme glycine oxidase.

Glycine oxidase from Bacillus subtilis is a homotetrameric flavoprotein of great potential biotechnological use because it catalyzes the oxidative deamination of various amines and D-isomer of amino acids to yield the corresponding \u3b1-keto acids, ammonia/amine, and hydrogen peroxide. Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine), a broad spectrum herbicide, is an interesting synthetic amino acid: this compound inhibits 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase in the shikimate pathway, which is essential for the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids in plants and certain bacteria. In recent years, transgenic crops resistant to glyphosate were mainly generated by overproducing the plant enzyme or by introducing a 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase insensitive to this herbicide. In this work, we propose that the enzymatic oxidation of glyphosate could be an effective alternative to this important biotechnological process. To reach this goal, we used a rational design approach (together with site saturation mutagenesis) to generate a glycine oxidase variant more active on glyphosate than on the physiological substrate glycine. The glycine oxidase containing three point mutations (G51S/A54R/H244A) reaches an up to a 210-fold increase in catalytic efficiency and a 15,000-fold increase in the specificity constant (the kcat/Km ratio between glyphosate and glycine) as compared with wild-type glycine oxidase. The inspection of its three-dimensional structure shows that the \u3b12-\u3b13 loop (comprising residues 50-60 and containing two of the mutated residues) assumes a novel conformation and that the newly introduced residue Arg54 could be the key residue in stabilizing glyphosate binding and destabilizing glycine positioning in the binding site, thus increasing efficiency on the herbicide