Renato Scrimaglio

The interaction between body position and vibration frequency on acute response to whole body vibration

PURPOSE The present study was designed to investigate the electromyographic (EMG) response in leg muscles to whole-body vibration while using different body positions and vibration frequencies. METHODS Twenty male sport sciences students voluntarily participated in this single-group, repeated-measures study in which EMG data from the vastus lateralis (VL) and the lateral gastrocnemius (LG) were collected over a total of 36 trials for each subject (4 static positions × 9 frequencies). RESULTS We found that vibration frequency, body position and the muscle stimulated had a significant effect (P-values ranged from 0.001 to 0.031) on the EMG response. Similarly, the muscle × frequency and position × muscle interactions were significant (P < 0.001). Interestingly, the frequency × positions interactions were not significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that lower frequencies of vibration (25-35 Hz) result in maximal activation of LG, whereas higher frequencies (45-55 Hz) elicit the highest responses in the VL. In addition, the position P2 (half squat position with the heels raised) is beneficial both for VL and LG, independently of the vibration frequency.

Involvement of mitochondrial activity in mediating ELF-EMF stimulatory effect on human sperm motility

It has recently been reported that the exposure of human spermatozoa to an extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic field (EMF) with a square waveform of 5 mT amplitude and frequency of 50 Hz improves sperm motility. The functional relationship between the energy metabolism and the enhancement of human sperm motility induced by ELF-EMF was investigated. Sperm exposure to ELF-EMF resulted in a progressive and significant increase of mitochondrial membrane potential and levels of ATP, ADP and NAD(+) that was associated with a progressive and significant increase in the sperm kinematic parameters. No significant effects were detected on other parameters such as ATP/ADP ratio and energy charge. When carbamoyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CICCP) was applied to inhibit the oxidative phosphorylation in the mitochondria, the values of energy parameters and motility in the sperm incubated in the presence of glucose and exposed to ELF-EMF did not change, thus indicating that the glycolysis was not involved in mediating ELF-EMF stimulatory effect on motility. By contrast, when pyruvate and lactate were provided instead of glucose, the energy status and motility increased significantly in ELF-EMF-treated sperm. Under these culture conditions, the inhibition of glycolitic metabolism by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (DOG) again resulted in increased values of energy and kinematic parameters, indicating that gluconeogenesis was not involved in producing glucose for use in glycolysis. We concluded that the key role in mediating the stimulatory effects exerted by ELF-EMF on human sperm motility is played by mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation rather than glycolysis.

The ESPERIA Project: a Mission to Investigate the near-Earth Space

ESPERIA is an equatorial space mission mainly conceded with detecting any tectonic and preseismic related signals. More in general, it has been proposed for defining the near-Earth electromagnetic, plasma, and particle environment, and for studying perturbations and instabilities in the ionosphere-magnetosphere transition region. The same multi-instrument payload also allows anthropogenic electromagnetic emissions to be investigated. To study earthquake preparation processes and anthropogenic impacts in the Earths surface, a phase A study has been realized for the Italian Space Agency. Within this framework also the ARINA particle experiment is in progress.