Assemblages' structure and activity of bacterioplankton in northern Adriatic Sea surface waters: a 3-year case study.

The bacterial community, both in terms of community structure (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting) and activity (exoenzymatic hydrolysis of proteins, polysaccharides and phosphorylated molecules and leucine uptake), was investigated seasonally for 3 years (2004-2006) in a large-scale grid in the northern Adriatic Sea. A high variability characterized the spatial structure of bacterial assemblages and a scarce seasonality was found in all the nine studied stations. Bacterial communities were substantially diverse in the same season of the 3 years, in contrast to what was reported previously for oceanic sites.

B-type natriuretic peptide after open-water and hyperbaric chamber exposure to 10 msw.

Introduction: Hyperbaric environment exposure in humans has cardiovascular effects mainly characterized by an increase in afterload and a decrease in cardiac output. In a previous study we did not find B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) changes in healthy volunteers exposed to hyperbaric oxygen while other authors documented a significant increase in N-terminal pro-BNP after scuba diving. On the basis of these data we hypothesized that dry hyperbaric exposure and scuba diving could have different effects on BNP secretion.

Hormonal responses to a long duration exploration in a cave of 700 m depth.

We studied the hypothalamus-pituitary adrenocortical, hypothalamus-pituitary and hypothalamus-pituitary thyroid system responses to a long duration activity (about 20 h) practiced in a demanding environment, characterized by darkness, low temperature and high humidity, namely alpine potholing. We performed four blood drawings in five elite potholers: (1) the morning before the performance, (2) at the bottom of the cave (-700 m), (3) at the end of the ascent, and (4) after 24 h of recovery. Two blood drawings as controls were performed on the same potholers, at the same resting time and with the same experimental procedures as the previous ones.