Anemia and nutritional aspects in adolescent athletes: a cross-sectional study in a reference sport organization

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the association between anemia and nutritional aspects in adolescent athletes from a large sport club. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, involving 298 athletes aged between 10 and 17 years, submitted to measurement of skin folds, weight and height, and collection of capillary blood in duplicate to determine hemoglobin values. It was carried out in a random sample composed of athletes from eight sport modalities. Results: Regarding nutritional status, 10.1% of athletes were overweight based on body mass index and 70 (23.5%) athletes had a percentage of body fat classified as high or very high. The prevalence of anemia was 16.4%, being more prevalent in judo (37.1%), basketball (34%) and futsal (20.5%) athletes. Low hemoglobin levels were significantly associated with shorter stature (p=0.006). Conclusions: There was a significant association between anemia and short stature, suggesting that the athlete's height-weight development may be affected in suboptimal conditions of oxygen distribution.

Improving oxygen capacity at ITBP Referral Hospital during the second wave of COVID-19 infections in Greater Noida, India An operative targeted intervention

Due to factors that still remain under debate, both social and virological, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to flare up in India, particularly in northern and western areas. This has led to an incidence of approximately 350,000 cases per day and a daily death toll of around 4,000 in the weeks between the 1st and 14th May 2021. The current pandemic is testing the adaptability of the oxygen distribution and consumption. Following India’s request for support, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism coordinated the response agreed by EU Member States providing shipments of oxygen and equipment. In this scenario, our Emergency Medical Team (EMT)-2, based in Italy, organized a cargo and a twelve member team of technicians and medical professionals with the main objective of installing a novel source of oxygen. The installation of a PSA oxygen plant provided the ITBP hospital in Greater Noida, India, with a sustainable solution to combat oxygen shortage in less than 48 hours. The supply of oxygen could not be deemed a successful intervention without a proper plan to guarantee the rational use of the source so additional training was carried out. Our EMT were among the first responders in mitigating this public health crisis.

Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of the Dissolved Oxygen Concentration within a Thin-Layer Cascade Reactor for Microalgae Cultivation

High concentration of dissolved oxygen within microalgae cultures reduces the performance of corresponding microalgae cultivation system (MCS). The main aim of this study is to provide a reliable computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based methodology enabling to simulate two relevant phenomena governing the distribution of dissolved oxygen within MCS: (i) mass transfer through the liquid–air interface and (ii) oxygen evolution due to microalgae photosynthesis including the inhibition by the same dissolved oxygen. On an open thin-layer cascade (TLC) reactor, a benchmark numerical study to assess the oxygen distribution was conducted. While the mass transfer phenomenon is embedded within CFD code ANSYS Fluent, the oxygen evolution rate has to be implemented via user-defined function (UDF). To validate our methodology, experimental data for dissolved oxygen distribution within the 80 meter long open thin-layer cascade reactor are compared against numerical results. Moreover, the consistency of numerical results with theoretical expectations has been shown on the newly derived differential equation describing the balance of dissolved oxygen along the longitudinal direction of TLC. We argue that employing our methodology, the dissolved oxygen distribution within any MCS can be reliably determined in silico, and eventually optimized or/and controlled.

A Computational Model for Oxygen Depletion Hypothesis in FLASH Effect

Experiments have reported low normal tissue toxicities during FLASH irradiation, but the mechanism has not been elaborated. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanism. One hypothesis is oxygen depletion. We analyze the time-dependent change of oxygen concentration in the tissue to study the oxygen depletion hypothesis using a computational model. The effects of physical, chemical and physiological parameters on oxygen depletion were explored. The kinetic equation of the model is solved numerically using the finite difference method with rational boundary conditions. Results of oxygen distribution is supported by the experiments of oxygen-sensitivity electrodes and experiments on the expression and distribution of the hypoxia-inducible factors. The analysis of parameters shows that the steady-state oxygen distribution before irradiation is determined by the oxygen consumption rate of the tissue and the microvessel density. The change of oxygen concentration after irradiation has been found to follow a negative exponential function, and the time constant is mainly determined by the microvessel density. The change of oxygen during exposure increases with dose rate and tends to be saturated because of oxygen diffusion. When the dose rate is high enough, the same dose results in the same reduction of oxygen concentration regardless of dose rate. The analysis of the FLASH effect in the brain tissue based on this model does not support the explanation of the oxygen depletion hypothesis. The oxygen depletion hypothesis remains controversial because the oxygen in most normal tissues cannot be depleted to radiation resistance level by FLASH irradiation.

Climate-Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean: Data Collection and Legacy

From 2008 to 2019, a comprehensive research project, ‘SFB 754, Climate – Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean,’ was funded by the German Research Foundation to investigate the climate-biogeochemistry interactions in the tropical ocean with a particular emphasis on the processes determining the oxygen distribution. During three 4-year long funding phases, a consortium of more than 150 scientists conducted or participated in 34 major research cruises and collected a wealth of physical, biological, chemical, and meteorological data. A common data policy agreed upon at the initiation of the project provided the basis for the open publication of all data. Here we provide an inventory of this unique data set and briefly summarize the various data acquisition and processing methods used.

A physiologically based model to capture species-dependent differences in oxygen distribution in the posterior eye

Ocular barriers to drug transport make delivery of effective doses to posterior targets exceptionally difficult. Animal models have commonly been used to evaluate drug distribution and penetrability, but translational tools to determine human dosing are lacking. Here we present a framework for modeling interspecies variation by simulating oxygen distribution in the posterior eye, from outer vitreous to the sclera. Posterior eye models of mouse, rabbit, and human are presented with modifications based solely on species-dependent anatomical and physiological differences. The model includes tissue and vascular contributions to transport. In addition to oxygen, nitric oxide and its impact on oxygen metabolism is simulated. Depth-dependent retinal oxygen partial pressure profiles are in good agreement with experimental data for all three species. The model can be further extended to evaluate the variations of retinal oxygenation in response to various drugs, formulations, administration protocols, and treatment plans. Further, this framework of ocular physiologically based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models could support animal to human translation, a critical step in the drug development process.