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Background: alcohol is an important component of the Mediterranean diet and its moderate use is protective against cardiovascular risk. Binge drinking, i.e. the heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time, is the main consumption pattern of young people in Western countries and may lead to severe toxic effects in many organs. Mass media often address the issue by suggesting prevention measures; however, they may also have the unintended effect of encouraging alcohol misuse. This study aims to assess how the Italian press faces excessive alcohol consumption in young people, comparing the messages given by the press with scientific recommendations. Methods: articles published by the 6 best-selling Italian newspapers and the 4 best-selling Italian magazines were collected from October 15th to November 14th 2009. Medline database, governmental and non-governmental sources were searched for scientific recommendations regarding primary prevention of alcohol misuse. Press articles were described and analysed by filling out a predefined form. Results: fourteen newspaper articles regarding alcohol were found, 79% belonging to the news section. Six quotations of scientific recommendations were found: two about drink-driving, two about raising public awareness, one about Monitoring and Evaluation, and one about community and workplace action. Conclusions: scientific recommendations were often inadequately reported by the Italian press. The most covered recommendations, designed driver and public educational intervention, are also the least effective according to international literature. Therefore, a further effort is needed to tackle this issue in a more scientifically sound way.

Women, but not men, show an association between fructose consumption and an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. As rats are considered a model for human fructose metabolism, we sought to determine whether such a gender-related difference is present in Sprague-Dawley rats and to analyze the molecular mechanism behind. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats had free access to water or to a 10% w/v fructose solution for 14 days. Plasma analytes, liver triglycerides and enzyme activities and the expression of enzymes and transcription factors related to fatty acid metabolism, insulin signaling and glucose tolerance were determined. Fructose-fed rats had hypertriglyceridemia, steatosis and reduced fatty acid oxidation activity, although the metabolic pattern of fructose-fed female rats was different to that observed for male rats. Fructose-fed female, but not male rats, showed no change in plasma leptin; they had hyperinsulinemia, an altered glucose tolerance test and less liver insulin receptor substrate-2. Further, only fructose-fed female rats had increased adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase activity, resulting in a decreased expression of hepatic nuclear factor 4 and sterol response element binding protein 1. These differences were related to the fact that liver expression of the enzyme fructokinase, controlling fructose metabolism, was markedly induced by fructose ingestion in female, but not in male rats, resulting in a significant increase in the AMP/adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) ratio and, thus, AMP-activated protein kinase activation, in female rats only. The difference in fructokinase induction could explain the higher metabolic burden produced by fructose ingestion in the livers of female Sprague-Dawley rats.

The problem of induction motor state estimation and control without AC current measurements is considered. A state observer is designed by using a suitably reformulated output equation of the motor dynamic model. A field oriented control scheme and a decoupling controller with two independent current control loops is also presented. The proposed scheme is suitable for series hybrid electric vehicles, so as confirmed by simulations carried out with Matlab/Simulink.