Sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents about 25% of deaths in clinical cardiology. The identification of risk factors for SCD is the philosopher's stone of cardiology and the identification of non-invasive markers of risk of SCD remains one of the most important goals for the scientific community.The aim of this review is to analyze the state of the art around the heart rate variability (HRV) as a predictor factor for SCD.HRV is probably the most analyzed index in cardiovascular risk stratification technical literature, therefore an important number of models and methods have been developed.Nowadays, low HRV has been shown to be independently predictive of increased mortality in post- myocardial infarction patients, heart failure patients, in contrast with the data of the general population.Contrariwise, the relationship between HRV and SCD has received scarce attention in low-risk cohorts. Furthermore, in general population the attributable risk is modest and the cost/benefit ratio is not always convenient.The HRV evaluation could become an important tool for health status in risks population, even though the use of HRV alone for risk stratification of SCD is limited and further studies are needed.

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are some of the most common drugs used among athletes, frequently in combination with resistance training, to improve physical performance or for aesthetic purpose. A great number of scientific reports showed the detrimental effects of anabolic androgenic steroids on different organs and tissues. In this literature review, we analyzed the AAS-mediated carcinogenicity, focusing on Leydig cell tumor.AAS-induced carcinogenicity can affect DNA transcription through two pathways. It can act directly via the androgen receptor, by means of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) produced by the action of 5-a-reductase. It can also work through the estrogen receptor, by means of estradiol produced by CYP19 aromatase. In addition, nandrolone and stanazolol can activate the PI3K/AKT and PLC/PKC pathways via IGF-1. This would result in cell proliferation in Leydig cell cancer, or magnify cyclin D1 concentration inducing breast cell proliferation.AAS abuse is becoming a serious public health concern in view of the severe health consequences secondary to AAS abuse. The negative role of AAS in supraphysiological dosage impairs the expression of enzymes involved in testosterone biosynthesis. Abnormal synthesis of testosterone plays has a negative effect on the hormonal changes/regulation, and might be involved in certain carcinogenic mechanisms. At the light of this review, it could become very interesting to perform an information campaign more strengthened in gyms and schools in order to prevent male fertility impairment and other tissues damage.

The aim of the present study was to verify the analytical performances of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) for the separation and qualitative determination of a selected group of organic components of smokeless gunpowders. The HPLC method was based on a gradient reversed-phase elution with a mobile phase composed of 0.17 M H(3)PO(4)/methanol; detection was performed by UV absorption at the wavelengths of 220, 254, and 270 nm. The MEKC experiments were carried out by using uncoated fused-silica capillaries (50 microm inside diameter, 50 cm effective length) and a running buffer composed of 10 mM sodium tetraborate at pH 9.24 added with 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS); the applied voltage was 25 kV; detection was either at a fixed wavelength UV of 214 nm or with a diode-array detector operating in the wavelength range from 190 to 350 nm. Both reversed-phase HPLC and MEKC techniques succeeded in resolving the tested standard mixtures of organic components of smokeless powders. Although the sequence of elution of the different analytes was slightly different between HPLC and MEKC, a statistical analysis based on the Spearman's rank correlation test showed that the two separation patterns were highly correlated. HPLC and MEKC were comparable in terms of elution/migration time precision, whereas MEKC showed higher reproducibility of peak areas. The interfacing of capillary electrophoresis with diode array UV detection provided distinct UV spectra of the individual analytes, thus improving, on the detection side, the analytical selectivity and identification power of capillary electrophoresis.

Background: After long-term intensive training, considerable morphological and functional heart changes occur in professional athletes. Such changes arise progressively and regress upon interruption of the physical activity. Morphological and functional alterations on heart are known as “Athlete's heart” condition.Objective: This study aims to compare echocardiographic parameters in two different groups of professional athletes. Furthermore, a prospective study is performed analyzing the echocardiographic changes occurring in 12 professional players in 3 years of follow-up.Materials and Methods: 78 football players were examined from July 2011 to May 2016 (40 enrolled in Group A and 38 in Group B). Twelve players of GROUP A were followed for 3 consecutive seasons. The general clinical examination, the cardiopulmonary evaluation, the ECG, the ergometer stress test, the spirometric examination and the standard cardiac eco color doppler test were recorded.Results: Left ventricle dimensions, left atrium dimensions, and interventricular septum dimensions were higher in A players than in B players. Moreover, following up 12 players for 3 years, a statistically significant increase of such values was observed.Discussion: In A players, higher dimensions of the left chambers and the interventricular septum were observed, compared to B players. No statistically significant difference was found regarding the ejection fraction. The 3 years follow-up showed a statistically significant increase of both left chambers and interventricular septum dimensions, particularly in the second and third year.Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that A players have higher echocardiographic parameters respect to B players. The results of this study support the scientific theory that long-term intensive training influences heart function, inducing “athlete's heart” with morphological adaptations. No significant echocardiographic variation within the examined sample was observed for different roles (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, or attacker) or skills of individual players.

Extracts of Stereocaulon vesuvianum Pets, showed strong activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli and a distinct activity against Penicillium digitatum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By preparative hplc, methyl ß-orcinolcarboxylate (strongly antifungal) and atranol (strongly antibacterial) were isolated, and it was shown that both compounds are present as natural products and are not artifacts formed during workup. Methyl ß-orcinolcarboxylate was recently suggested to be present in S. vesuvianum by the revision (1) of an isomeric structure previously reported (2) in this species. Sizable amounts of the common cortical depside atranorin (inactive) were also isolated. EXPERIMENTALPlant material.-S. vesuvianum was collected on the middle slopes (ca. 1300 m) of Mt. Etna. It grows abundantly only on the ancient (2-3 centuries old) lava flows. A voucher specimen is deposited at the University of Catania.