[Monitoring of heavy metals and trace elements in the air, fruits and vegetables and soil in the province of Catania (Italy)].

Contamination of fruits and vegetables with heavy metals can result from anthropogenic events (car or factory emissions, poor management of sewage and industrial waste) or from natural events (volcanic activity and geological soil matrix). The chemical and toxicological characteristics of heavy metals can have an impact on human health through several mechanisms. Other metals, on the other hand, are essential for maintenance of physiological and biochemical human processes, are protective against many diseases and must be present in the diet because they cannot be synthesized by the human body.

Cortical silent period prolongation in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2).

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder mapped on chromosome 12. Different results have been reported in spinocerebellar ataxias following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS-induced cortical silent period (CSP) was prolonged in different cerebellar disorders.