INFLUENCE OF NUTRITION AND GENETICS ON PERFORMANCE: A PILOT STUDY IN A GROUP OF GYMNASTS

Purpose. Energy requirements in sports performance are affected by numerous factors: physical characteristics, age, genetic basis, sports discipline. The Food and Nutrition Board recommended nutrition based on age, height, and body weight gain in relation to physical activity. Some genetic factors, such as the PPAR-encoding gene, play a key role in metabolism. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of specific snacks on performance. Methods. Seventeen girls aged 10–14 years practising artistic gymnastics were enrolled. A carb or protein/carb snack was provided before the training, and a questionnaire was administered at the end. In addition, saliva samples were collected for genetic analyses. Results. Most girls represented the CC genotype (65%), while a small part had the GC (23%) and GG (12%). The average BMI equalled 20.05 ± 2.8 kg/m2 in the group with the CC genotype, 19.6 ± 2.8 kg/m2 with the GC genotype, and 20.2 ± 2.8 kg/m2 with the GG genotype. The questionnaire showed that 59% of girls experienced a performance improvement after eating a carb snack; slightly different results were observed after the intake of a protein/carb snack: 47% felt more energy and 12% more fatigue. Conclusions. This is a preliminary study that should be deepened by increasing the number of subjects, as well as diversifying the type of snacks administered and increasing the time of the study. It is important to be mindful of eating habits and lifestyle in order to prevent the onset of overweight

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND WELL-BEING

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects central nervous system (CNS) \u2013 coexists in brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. It can process in three different courses: remitting, progressive and progressive-relapsing. Although there is still no cure for MS, effective strategies are available to modify the disease course, reduce number of relapses, rate of progressions and development of new lesions. Nowadays, moderate physical performance is strongly recommended: besides having positive effects on the body, it can have a positive effect on the psychophysical wellbeing. Essentially there are 3 types of training protocols: aerobic (endurance training), strength training (resistance training) and combined training. The majority of the studies suggests that regular physical activity can improve fatigue, depression and quality of life in people with MS, however most of the researchers worked without any guidelines for physical activity adapted to the MS, which are still under review by the scientific communit

MAPPING LOCAL CLIMATE ZONES WITH MULTIPLE GEODATA AND THE OPEN DATA CUBE: INSIGHTS OF DOMAIN USER REQUIREMENTS AND OUTLOOKS OF THE LCZ-ODC PROJECT

Rapid urbanization and climate change are intensifying the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon across cities worldwide. There is a pressing need to implement evidence-based mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as to develop tools for effectively measuring the impact of such actions on UHI patterns. In this context, the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) concept is a well-established classification system commonly used for the assessment of UHI. With this in mind, we present here the LCZ-ODC project aiming to develop a methodology for LCZ mapping in the Metropolitan City of Milan (northern Italy) by leveraging multiple geospatial data and cutting-edge software tools, including the Open Data Cube (ODC). A key aim of the project is to develop user-oriented solutions facilitating the exploitation of the generated LCZ maps for different application tasks. In this paper, we first present a brief overview of the methodologies and data sources used in the literature for LCZ mapping. Then, we introduce the LCZ-ODC project, with a focus on the end-user requirements which were gathered through a questionnaire distributed to a sample of potential stakeholders. The primary objective of the survey was to collect insights and consolidate requirements related to the key features of LCZ maps that will be produced within the project. The outcomes of the survey play a pivotal role in guiding the project’s development phase, ensuring that the project outputs will effectively address the identified end-user needs

Trend of Drug Abuse in 2011– 2014 in Italy

Doping, although was born as a medication and not with the purpose of enhancing performance, is a widespread practice in all sports, between amateur and gym-goers. The Italian sports federations were in second place worldwide for positive doping-test, after Russia. This review focuses on the analysis of data collected by Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) in the 2012–2014 period, showing that the most commonly used substances were anabolic androgenic agents, glucocorticoids, diuretics and stimulants. Prevention in doping could be a key to limit the damage caused by this harmful practice both, for the physical health and the athlete’s moral integrity and anti-doping campaigns should be direct as much as possible to young people, since about two-thirds of adolescents appear to be dissatisfied with their body. Even coordination between the various professionals that surround athletes could help fight doping by planning specific training and adapted to the individual athlete, taking into account the actual physical limitations and physical features of each

Rapid Damage Mapping for the 2015 M_w 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Data from COSMO–SkyMed and ALOS-2 Satellites

The 25 April 2015 M_w 7.8 Gorkha earthquake caused more than 8000 fatalities and widespread building damage in central Nepal. The Italian Space Agency’s COSMO–SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite acquired data over Kathmandu area four days after the earthquake and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 SAR satellite for larger area nine days after the mainshock. We used these radar observations and rapidly produced damage proxy maps (DPMs) derived from temporal changes in Interferometric SAR coherence. Our DPMs were qualitatively validated through comparison with independent damage analyses by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research’s United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme, and based on our own visual inspection of DigitalGlobe’s WorldView optical pre- versus postevent imagery. Our maps were quickly released to responding agencies and the public, and used for damage assessment, determining inspection/imaging priorities, and reconnaissance fieldwork

Low-dose Aspirin prevents hypertension and cardiac fibrosis when thromboxane A2 is unrestrained.

Abstract Enhanced platelet activation has been reported in patients with essential hypertension and heart failure. The possible contribution of platelet-derived thromboxane (TX)A2 in their pathophysiology remains unclear. We investigated the systemic TXA2 biosynthesis in vivo and gene expression of its receptor TP in 22 essential hypertension patients and a mouse model of salt-sensitive hypertension. The contribution of platelet TXA2 biosynthesis on enhanced blood pressure (BP) and overload-induced cardiac fibrosis was explored in mice by treating with low-dose Aspirin, resulting in selective inhibition of platelet cyclooxygenase (COX)-1-dependent TXA2 generation. In essential hypertensive patients, systemic biosynthesis of TXA2 [assessed by measuring its urinary metabolites (TXM) reflecting predominant platelet source] was enhanced together with higher gene expression of circulating leukocyte TP and TGF-β, vs. normotensive controls. Similarly, in hypertensive mice with prostacyclin (PGI2) receptor (IP) deletion (IPKO) fed with a high-salt diet, enhanced urinary TXM, and left ventricular TP overexpression were detected vs. normotensive wildtype (WT) mice. Increased cardiac collagen deposition and profibrotic gene expression (including TGF-β) was found. Low-dose Aspirin administration caused a selective inhibition of platelet TXA2 biosynthesis and mitigated enhanced blood pressure, cardiac fibrosis, and left ventricular profibrotic gene expression in IPKO but not WT mice. Moreover, the number of myofibroblasts and extravasated platelets in the heart was reduced. In cocultures of human platelets and myofibroblasts, platelet TXA2 induced profibrotic gene expression, including TGF-β1. In conclusion, our results support tailoring low-dose Aspirin treatment in hypertensive patients with unconstrained TXA2/TP pathway to reduce blood pressure and prevent early cardiac fibrosis

Relative effectiveness of a 2nd booster dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine up to four months post administration in individuals aged 80 years or more in Italy. A retrospective matched cohort study

Several countries started a 2nd booster COVID-19 vaccination campaign targeting the elderly population, but evidence around its effectiveness is still scarce. This study aims to estimate the relative effectiveness of a 2nd booster dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in the population aged >= 80 years in Italy, during predominant circulation of the Omicron BA.2 and BA.5 subvariants. We linked routine data from the national vaccination registry and the COVID-19 surveillance system. On each day between 11 April and 6 August 2022, we matched 1:1, according to several demographic and clinical characteristics, individuals who received the 2nd booster vaccine dose with individuals who received the 1st booster vaccine dose at least 120 days earlier. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to compare the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 (hospitalisation or death) between the two groups, calculating the relative vaccine effectiveness (RVE) as (1 - risk ratio)X100. Based on the analysis of 831,555 matched pairs, we found that a 2nd booster dose of mRNA vaccine, 14-118 days post administration, was moderately effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to a 1st booster dose administered at least 120 days earlier [14.3 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 2.2-20.2]. RVE decreased from 28.5 % (95 % CI: 24.7-32.1) in the time-interval 14-28 days to 7.6 % (95 % CI: -14.1 to 18.3) in the time-interval 56-118 days. However, RVE against severe COVID19 was higher (34.0 %, 95 % CI: 23.4-42.7), decreasing from 43.2 % (95 % CI: 30.6-54.9) to 27.2 % (95 % CI: 8.3-42.9) over the same time span. Although RVE against SARS-CoV-2 infection was much reduced 2-4 months after a 2nd booster dose, RVE against severe COVID-19 was about 30 %, even during prevalent circulation of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant. The cost-benefit of a 3rd booster dose for the elderly people who received the 2nd booster dose at least four months earlier should be carefully evaluated

GEN-O-MA project: an Italian network studying clinical course and pathogenic pathways of moyamoya disease—study protocol and preliminary results

Background: GENetics of mOyaMoyA (GEN-O-MA) project is a multicenter observational study implemented in Italy aimed at creating a network of centers involved in moyamoya angiopathy (MA) care and research and at collecting a large series and bio-repository of MA patients, finally aimed at describing the disease phenotype and clinical course as well as at identifying biological or cellular markers for disease progression. The present paper resumes the most important study methodological issues and preliminary results. Methods: Nineteen centers are participating to the study. Patients with both bilateral and unilateral radiologically defined MA are included in the study. For each patient, detailed demographic and clinical as well as neuroimaging data are being collected. When available, biological samples (blood, DNA, CSF, middle cerebral artery samples) are being also collected for biological and cellular studies. Results: Ninety-eight patients (age of onset mean ± SD 35.5 ± 19.6 years; 68.4% females) have been collected so far. 65.3% of patients presented ischemic (50%) and haemorrhagic (15.3%) stroke. A higher female predominance concomitantly with a similar age of onset and clinical features to what was reported in previous studies on Western patients has been confirmed. Conclusion: An accurate and detailed clinical and neuroimaging classification represents the best strategy to provide the characterization of the disease phenotype and clinical course. The collection of a large number of biological samples will permit the identification of biological markers and genetic factors associated with the disease susceptibility in Italy