Pesticide use is increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including Costa Rica. This increase poses health risks to farm owners, farm workers, and communities living near agricultural farms. We aimed to examine the health effects associated with occupational pesticide exposure in farm owners and workers from conventional and organic smallholder farms in Costa Rica. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 300 owners and workers from organic and conventional horticultural smallholder farms in Zarcero County, Costa Rica. During the baseline study visit, we administered a structured, tablet-based questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, pesticide exposure, and health conditions (eg, respiratory and allergic outcomes and acute pesticide intoxication symptoms) and administered a neurobehavioral test battery (eg, Finger Tapping Test and Purdue Pegboard); we measured blood pressure, anthropometry (height, weight, and waist circumference), and erythrocytic acetylcholinesterase activity and also collected urine samples. In addition, a functional neuroimaging assessment using near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted with a subset of 50 study participants. During the follow-up study visit (~2-4 weeks after the baseline), we administered participants a short questionnaire on recent pesticide exposure and farming practices and collected hair, toenail, and urine samples. Urine samples will be analyzed for various pesticide metabolites, whereas toenails and hair will be analyzed for manganese (Mn), a biomarker of exposure to Mn-containing fungicides. Self-reported pesticide exposure data will be used to develop exposure intensity scores using an exposure algorithm. Furthermore, exposure-outcome associations will be examined using linear and logistic mixed-effects regression models. Fieldwork for our study was conducted between May 2016 and August 2016. In total, 113 farm owners and 187 workers from 9 organic and 83 conventional horticultural smallholder farms were enrolled. Data analyses are ongoing and expected to be published between 2019 and 2020. This study is one of the first to examine differences in health effects due to pesticide exposure between farm owners and workers from organic and conventional smallholder farms in an LMIC. We expect that this study will provide critical data on farming practices, exposure pathways, and how occupational exposure to pesticides may affect farm owners and workers' health. Finally, we hope that this study will allow us to identify strategies to reduce pesticide exposure in farm owners and workers and will potentially lay the groundwork for a future longitudinal study of health outcomes in farm owners and workers exposed to pesticides. DERR1-10.2196/10914.

The inertial measurement units (IMU) are instruments used to quantify the external load of athletes; they are increasingly common in assessing team and individual sports. This type of instruments has several sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers; this allows access to a large amount of information and analysis possibilities. Due to the complexity of synthesising this data, it is necessary to create a flow for collecting, analysing and presenting the collected data in a simple way and present it as quickly as possible to the technical staff. This report aims to present new methods of reduction of the data and propose a new approach method for the analysis of the IMU’s outcomes.

Muscle and kidney injury in endurance athletes is worrying for health, and its relationship with physical external workload (eWL) needs to be explored. This study aimed to analyze which eWL indexes have more influence on muscle and kidney injury biomarkers. 20 well-trained trail runners (age = 38.95 ± 9.99 years) ran ~35.27 km (thermal-index = 23.2 ± 1.8 °C, cumulative-ascend = 1815 m) wearing inertial measurement units (IMU) in six different spots (malleolus peroneus [MP_left/MP_right], vastus lateralis [VL_left/VL_right], lumbar [L₁–L₃], thoracic [T₂–T₄]) for eWL measuring using a special suit. Muscle and kidney injury serum biomarkers (creatin-kinase [sCK], creatinine (sCr), ureic-nitrogen (sBUN), albumin [sALB]) were assessed pre-, -post_0h and post_24h. A principal component (PC) analysis was performed in each IMU spot to extract the main variables that could explain eWL variance. After extraction, PC factors were inputted in multiple regression analysis to explain biomarkers delta change percentage (Δ%). sCK, sCr, sBUN, sALB presented large differences (p < 0.05) between measurements (pre < post_24h < post_0h). PC’s explained 77.5–86.5% of total eWL variance. sCK Δ% was predicted in 40 to 47% by L₁–L₃ and MP_left; sCr Δ% in 27% to 45% by L₁–L₃ and MP_left; and sBUN Δ% in 38%-40% by MP_right and MP_left. These findings could lead to a better comprehension of how eWL (impacts, player load and approximated entropy) could predict acute kidney and muscle injury. These findings support the new hypothesis of mechanical kidney injury during trail running based on L₁–L₃ external workload data.

Cold water immersion (CWI) has become a highly used recovery method in sports sciences, which seeks to minimize fatigue and accelerate recovery processes; however, few studies have used tensiomyography (TMG) is a new method to analyze the muscle mechanical response as a recovery indicator after CWI protocols, this relative new tool of muscle function assessment, can lead to new information of understand fatigue recovery trough CWI. The objective of the study was to compare the effect of two CWI protocols, on neuromuscular function recovery. Thirty-nine healthy males (21.8 ± 2.876 yrs., 73.215 ± 8.215kg, 176.6 ± 5.3 cm and body fat 13.5 ± 3.4%.%) were included in the study. Participants were grouped into a continuous immersion (12 min at 12 ± 0.4 °C) group, intermittent immersion (2 min immersion at 12 ± 0.4 °C + 1 min out of water 23 ± 0.5 °C) group, and a control group (CG) (12 min sitting in a room at 23 ± 0.5 °C). Afterwards, the participants performed eight sets of 30 sec counter movement jumps (CMJ) repetitions, with a 90 s standing recovery between sets. Muscle contraction time (Tc), delay time (Td), muscle radial displacement (Dm), muscle contraction velocity at 10% of DM (V10), and muscle contraction velocity at 90% of DM (V90) in rectus, biceps femoris, and CMJ were measured. Neither CWI protocol was effective in showing improved recovery at 24 and 48 hours after training compared with the CG (p > .05), in any TMG indicator of recovery in either muscle biceps or rectus femoris, nor was the CMJ performance (F(6,111) = 0.43, p = .85, ωp2 = 0). Neither CWI protocol contributed to recovery of the neuromuscular function indicator.

Background: Congested-fixture championships are common during the selection of the athletes and teams participating in the Olympic Games. Throughout these tournaments, it is fundamental to perform optimally, rest well, and recover between competitions. This study aimed to (a) explore the effectiveness of the use of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) and cold water immersion (CWI) to recover muscle mechanical function (MuscleMechFx), hydration status (HydS), pain perception (PainPercep), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), sleep hours, and sleep quality (SleepQual) during a regional multi-sports international championship and (b) compare these results by sex. Methods: A total of 52 basketball and handball players were exposed to a recovery protocol after the competition as follows: IPC, sequential 20 min at 200 mmHg, and CWI, continuous 12 min at 12 °C. Results: MuscleMechFx presented differences by match and sex (p = 0.058) in time of contraction of biceps femoris; SleepQual and sleep hours were different between matches (<0.01). Conclusions: IPC + CWI seems to be effective to maintain some MuscleMechFx, HydS, and recovery and pain perception during a congested multi-sport tournament.