Ohhhhhh Balotelli!!!

2012 Italian National Team

For the past month, a group of us have been keeping up with the Euro Cup and cheering for Italy every step of the way.  The Italian national team has advanced to the finals after some impressive moves and maybe a little bit of luck in every previous game they have played. Regardless of whether they win the Euro Cup, some of the players’ names have become household (or dormhold) for us. Goalie Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Mario Balotelli, and Antonio Cassano have proven to be some of the best players on the team, and by far the most popular for us (except for Anahita, who will always love “El Niño” from Spain the most).

This blog is dedicated to the Italian national soccer team, which has been the incentive for us to finish our homework early so we can go cheer alongside the Italians as we watch the quickness, cunning, and finesse that the players bring to the field.

With high-intensity sports like soccer, it is important to maintain a good diet and to stay hydrated (I’m sure you’ve heard that from your PE instructor as well as your mother). This reduces the effect of fatigue during and after a match.

The definition of fatigue is “failure to maintain the required or expected power output.” If you play sports, be it soccer, swimming, cross country, or even karate, you’ve probably experienced fatigue at some point during training.

Let’s look at the facts for soccer players. They run between 9 to 12 kilometers (~5.5 to 7.5 miles) per game, but it’s not steady or continuous. Soccer players change their activity every 4 to 6 seconds. In a single game, players perform about 220 high-speed runs and have over 1300 changes in activity.  They are also at 75% of their maximal oxygen uptake throughout the game. It’s no wonder that fatigue can impede their performance throughout the 90 minutes of the game. Here are a few of the reasons why:

• There is a correlation of increased potassium in muscle and fatigue, which is hypothesized to be related to a player’s anaerobic metabolism. Potassium is increased when muscle pH is lowered, and results in depolarization of muscle membrane potential and decreased force development, making it harder to perform at higher levels during a game.

• Studies have shown that the first 5 minutes of the second half of a soccer game are marked by less high-intensity running than at the start of a game. This is why you always need to warm up again during halftime: lower muscle temperature results in a decrease of high-intensity performance. A decrease of only 2 degrees Celsius can cause major inhibition of performance during the beginning of the second half, but re-warming up 7 to 8 minutes before the start of the second half can prevent this.

• It has also been shown that players, regardless of their skill level, have a decrease in high-intensity activity during the last 15 minutes of the game. This could be due to glycogen depletion in muscles. Muscle glycogen is a reserve source of glucose for muscle. As the body requires energy, these stores are used up. A correlation was observed between lower glycogen levels and fatigue during intermittent exercise. Glycogen is depleted the longer players are exercising, leading to fatigue by the end of a 90-minute period.

• Dehydration is also a major factor. Players lose an average of 3 liters of fluid during a match, and a 1 to 2% decrease of body mass can increase core temperature and cause cardiovascular strain, which in turn induces fatigue.

You might have heard about lactic acid build up in muscles. For years both scientists and nutritionists alike have thought that a buildup of muscle lactate is connected with fatigue. While performing high intensity exercises, glucose breaks down and oxidizes to form pyruvate, which produces lactate. This is a process called gluconeogenesis. Our tissues can’t remove the lactate as fast as it is formed, so the concentration of lactate in our blood and our muscles rises. However, more recent studies have revealed that increase of muscle lactate does not contribute significantly to fatigue during a soccer game.

So, throughout a soccer game, fatigue can happen during different periods of the match for different reasons. Players must prepare well in advance with their diets, and they must stay hydrated. If fatigue sets in during a game due to unpreparedness, it could mean a slip up, an injury, or even the loss of the game.

But we all know that won’t happen to Italia. 

 

Thumbs up, Buffon.

Sources:

http://www.antoniocgomes.com/cms/pdf/08062010152203.pdf

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/lactic-acid.html

http://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CGMQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmostafataheri.com%2Fresources%2FFatigue%2Bin%2Bsoccer.pdf&ei=LCPvT5XcNebO4QTg3ozfDQ&usg=AFQjCNHB6vofs0mSK7adZEowFpwrW634Qg&sig2=SIObNunPi3MjOJDjQgvY2A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycogen

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10662708

Kenny Wants To Know About the Sunglasses He Almost Bought in Padua

I think it’s safe to say that sunglasses made by Ray Ban (my personal favorite makers of fine and stylish eyewear) are popular in America. To say the same about their status in Italy, however, would be a huge understatement. It seems like here, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has a pair of aviators or wayfarers, all brandished with the signature Ray Ban logo. After checking out the Ray Ban site and looking at their history section, I learned that Ray  Ban invented anti-glare technology and  polarization in order to help pilots see more easily while flying. Curious, I looked into how these and other sunglass technologies work, and I found that they involve a lot of Chem 260 topics we recently covered!

So light waves can be refracted into many directional planes after emerging from its source, and, once it is refracted like that, it is said to be polarized. We can see an example of natural polarization of light every time we look at a body of water; light hits the water, and it is refracted off, usually in a horizontal orientation. Polarized sunglasses have a special filter sprayed on to them composed of molecules that line up with each other in such a way that uniform “slits” are created in a particular orientation. Light can only pass through this filter if it is aligned in the same direction of the slits. Since naturally polarized light usually is horizontally refracted, most polarized lenses usually feature vertical slits, which block out all of the horizontally refracted light, allowing us to see without the glare of a lake’s surface, for example.

The color of the lens, of course, is also involved in selective light blocking. White light, the kind of light the sun emits, is a combination of all colors of light, so blocking out some colors using different colored tints will yield a clearer view for us. As we learned in Chem 260, the colors of objects we see is the color of light not absorbed by the object, and this is a pretty solid application of that knowledge. Grey lenses reduce overall brightness and glare. Yellow and gold lenses absorb blue light but let other colors through. Blue light tends to bounce off of a lot of different surfaces, so blocking it and only it out yields a clearer overall view without too much darkening. Amber and brown lenses are like the more intense versions of yellow and gold lenses; they also block out blue light, but they also absorb harmful UV rays. Green lenses filter out some blue light and reduce glare, but they also increase contrast, allowing green lens wearers to see more clearly. Purple and rose lenses increase contrast of objects against blue or green backgrounds, making them popular choices for hunters.

While writing this, I might have gotten distracted multiple times by the Ray Ban website...even though I already have a pair, I think I just might have to get another when I get back home! Good thing my birthday is coming up soon...

Sources: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/u12l1e.cfm

    http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/sunglass8.htm

http://www.ray-ban.com/usa

“Scientists Invent Particles That Let You Live Without Breathing” (from Gizmodo)

This is one of the coolest things I have read about in the past few months. I stumbled upon an article on Gizmodo titled “Scientists Invent Particles That Let You Live Without Breathing,” and I was immediately intrigued.

from Gizmodo

Scientists have been searching for a way to inject oxygen particles into blood for years now. This would allow physicians to keep a patient alive for an extended period of time after respiratory failure, a feat we have not been able to accomplish until now. Respiratory failure quickly leads to cardiac arrest and brain injury. Early attempts of injecting oxygen led to air bubbles and the current treatments rely on the machinery of the lungs, which is often not reliable.

Researchers at the Boston Children’s Hospital developed a method to inject oxygen particles into the blood stream allowing for 15 to 30 additional minutes without physical breathing. These particles have been tested on oxygen-deprived rabbits, and successfully restored oxygen levels to near-normal levels. Rabbits with their windpipes completely blocked were able to survive for 15 minutes with the help of these particles. As soon as the mixture is injected, the oxygen particles quickly bind to hemoglobin and the lipids dissolve and disintegrate into the blood. However, the particles can only be used to add 15 to 30 minutes because the fluid could overload the blood if used for longer periods of time.

The particles are made up of oxygen and lipid molecules. A single layer of lipids surrounds a few oxygen particles and this is then delivered in a liquid solution intravenously. The structure is similar to that of a phospholipid bilayer containing the contents of a cell. The liquid solution can easily be carried by paramedics and used in code carts.

A sonicator mixes the oxygen and lipid particles together with the help of high-intensity sound waves. The particles themselves are about two to four micrometers in size, and not visible with the human eye. The solution actually contains three to four times the amount of oxygen in our blood. In fact, 70% of the solution is made up of oxygen particles.

This was all possible because of a diverse team of experts in chemical engineering, particle chemistry, and medical doctors. This treatment is currently being further tested and optimized for human use. It has the potential to save millions of lives every year. Keep an eye out for it!

Scientists Invent Particles That Will Let You Live Without Breathing:

http://gizmodo.com/5921868/scientists-invent-particles-that-will-let-you-live-without-breathing

An Incredible New Way to Breathe During an Emergency:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/06/study-of-the-day-an-incredible-new-way-to-breathe-during-an-emergency/259046/

Injecting Life-Saving Oxygen Into a Vein:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627142512.htm

Oxygen Gas-Filled Microparticles Provide Intravenous Oxygen Delivery:

http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/4/140/140ra88

Fuel or Rabbit Food?

            During our recent trip to Val d’Orcia, we visited a storage facility for the grains produced in the area. But one of the giant warehouses we peeked into held something other than grain- it housed a huge pile of grass pellets. To many, these probably looked like something you would feed to an animal, but they reminded me of home and of the wood pellet stove that we use to heat our living room. So what is a pellet stove, and what is the big deal with these weird-looking bits of wood?

Pellets: food or fuel?

           Generally, pellet stoves are fueled by wood pellets, which are made of sawdust and other wastes from logging and milling of trees. But they can also be made of rice-husks, grasses, and other biological plant waste, like the ones in Val d’Orcia. To make the pellets, wood material is dried, milled, compressed, and formed into pellet shapes, with the lignin in the wood acting as a natural “glue” that holds the pellets together. The most important step here is the drying process, which gives pellets better storage and combustion properties than traditional wood. The final pellets contain between 6-10% moisture. Wood pellets are easy to transport, burn more efficiently, are easy to use, and represent a renewable source of energy. Pellets are used for small heating stoves as well as larger central furnace systems and for other heating appliances, although they are used as a primary heating source mainly in certain European countries.

Example of a wood pellet stove

Wood pellets are viewed as an environmentally-friendly fuel source in comparison with fossil fuels, since they emit little to no greenhouse gases. Specifically, a study done in Sweden, the most prominent user of wood pellets for heating, looked into emissions arising from the use of wood pellet stoves. After performing tests both in a laboratory and in residential settings, the study concluded that pellet stove emissions are generally low, but identified a few major components of those emissions.

The main compounds that are found in wood pellet emissions are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, aromatic hydrocarbons, small volatile hydrocarbons, and antioxidant methoxyphenols. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a known greenhouse gas that was found to compose 6-23% of smoke emissions from pellet burners. But the study argued that the release of CO₂ is balanced by the fact that pellets are made of plants, and the CO₂ released when burned is equal to what was once consumed by the plants during their life. This theory, however, has come under fire in recent years, and a June 2010 report for the Massachusetts Department of Energy stated that burning wood pellets does indeed release a large amount of CO₂ into the atmosphere, which should not be ignored in consideration of pellet use. In addition to CO₂, carbon monoxide (CO) is often released during pellet burning, usually due to incomplete and inefficient combustion, which occurs when machines are used on “half effect,” meaning not at full energy capacity.

Aromatic hydrocarbons, which consist of one or more benzene rings, are also hazardous compounds that are released during the burning of pellet fuel. Benzene, the simplest of these aromatic hydrocarbons, is a known carcinogen, along with naphthalene. It was found that the relative abundance of these hydrocarbons increases with increasing combustion temperature in pellet burning appliances. However, the concentrations of these compounds were very low (much lower than sitting in a room with secondhand smoke) and it was argued that since they are emitted from chimneys at higher elevation, they do not pose a threat to humans.

The volatile organic compounds found in the emissions consist of small organic molecules such as methane, ethane, and ethyne. Methane is another known greenhouse gas, having a global warming potential over 20 times that of CO₂. Like many of the other harmful compounds in pellet stove emissions, methane is released in relatively low amounts (0.5-30 ppm), which corresponds to less than 5% of the global warming potential of burning fossil fuels. Of the other volatile organic compounds released, alkenes are also dangerous because of their photo-oxidant potential, and some can be genotoxic. This means that in the presence of UV radiation, these compounds can attack cells of the body, including DNA, by causing radical chain reactions.

Luckily, to combat this photo-oxidation effect, the final group of compounds in pellet fuel emissions is antioxidant methoxyphenols. These compounds are derived from lignin, which makes up 30% of the composition of wood. When wood is burned at around 400°C, lignin decomposes into methoxyphenols with either a guaiacyl or syringyl structure, depending on whether it is hard or soft wood. At higher temperatures, lignin is broken down further into simple phenols, and at 800°C and above, aromatic hydrocarbons are formed. The methoxyphenols formed from incomplete (low temperature) combustion are antioxidants that protect the body’s cells from radical attack.

To summarize, pellet-burning appliances release various compounds in their emissions that are both harmful and helpful. In general, the concentrations of these compounds are low and wood pellets are generally seen as a good alternative source of energy. However, there are concerns about CO₂ emissions, as well as the availability and sustainability of wood pellets as a fuel source. It will be interesting to see if the popularity of pellet stoves grows in the coming years, but for now I will be perfectly happy sitting in front of my nice warm pellet stove during the coming New England winter!

References:

http://publications.lib.chalmers.se/records/fulltext/5787.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_pellet

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrp/fpl_rp656.pdf

Because you're worth it

Girls usually have one favorite shampoo brand that they swear by, and I’m no exception, but on this trip I have used several different types of shampoos, from the Fuge’s “2-in-1 shampoo and body wash” – which I thought was really questionable – to a shampoo for “frizzy, curly, thick hair” from an Italian pharmacy. I wondered if all shampoos function essentially the same way. How does shampoo work?

I can't do without my Garnier

We all know how soap works from, like, day one of general chemistry.  Well, shampoo works practically the same way (no surprise there) but there’s more chemistry beyond that.  Shampoos contain several key ingredients that are necessary to clean hair without damaging it. Hair glands at your scalp release an oily substance made of fats and wax called sebum, which prevents the scalp from drying out. This oil accumulates dirt pretty quickly though, which is why you need to shampoo your hair, since water alone cannot remove dirt from oil.

Shampoos use cleaning agent called surfactants that produce the foam/lather that occurs during shampooing. While there are many different molecules that can be used as surfactants, they all have a similar composition: a hydrophilic end and a lipophilic end. Remember from soap – the lipophilic end is attracted to the nonpolar oils, while the hydrophilic head of the molecule is attracted to the polar water molecules. Surfactants encase oil molecules and separate them from each other, then the polar heads on the outside attract water to wash away the dirt and oil.

Surfactants can differ based on the length of their nonpolar hydrocarbon chain, which can range anywhere from 8 to 18 carbons. Shorter chains have stronger oil-removing capabilities, while longer chains are more mild but less lathering. Shampoos use what are called anionic surfactants, which have a negative charge when ionized. The most common of these are sodium laureth sulfate and sodium lauryl sulfate – these are used in popular shampoos such as, say, Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, of which Bhavesh claims to be a fan for its Hawaiian coconut scent.

sodium lauryl sulfate

The only problem with this highly effective cleaning method is that shampoos remove all the oil that protects hair, so this oil has to be replaced. This is where conditioners come in! Conditioners contain essential fatty acids which are the next best thing to replace the natural sebum. Hair is composed of 97% keratin, which is a protein with a surface made of negatively-charged amino acids. Therefore, conditioners contain what are called cationic surfactants, which are positively charged when ionized. They will cling to the negatively charged strands of hair, so they aren’t easily washed off with water.

I looked at the ingredients in the conditioner that Carolyn bought from the olive oil shop, and sure enough, the third ingredient listed was cetrimonium chloride, which is the most common cationic surfactant. This molecule has a single positive charge at its head, which binds to hair strands and creates the smooth texture and prevents those pesky fly-aways.

 cetrimonium chloride

Conditioners also contain some kind of silicone-based ingredient that coats the hair to prevent it from drying out after shampooing. The most common is dimethicone, which forms a slick coat around each strand of hair in order to separate the strands, detangling hair and making it easier to comb. Cetrimonium chloride is also an emulsifying agent, so it helps disperse the water-insoluble silicone oils into the conditioner.

dimethicone

So now you know why it's important to use conditioner after shampoo. Especially for those of us unfortunate enough to have curly hair, which without fail will turn into some kind of Albert Einstein look when we don't use conditioner. Not a sight anyone wants to see.

Oh and one more thing of dire importance.... FORZA AZZURRI!!!! VIVA ITALIA!!! 

 <----- that's the face of a champion if I've ever seen one

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/euro-2012/euro-2012-final-preview-mario-balotelli-italy-stand-spain-run-record-article-1.1105563?localLinksEnabled=false

Sources:

http://suite101.com/article/how-shampoo-works-a130330

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/issues/2005/january/taketwobottles.asp

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-what-is-cetrimonium-chloride