Trace metals and the hemostatic system.

In this narrative review we report the main relationships between trace metals and the hemostatic system since this aspect has seldom attracted the attention of the scientific community. A basic aspect to be considered is the importance of maintaining the fine control of all trace metals' levels since they have an important impact on the pathophysiology of the hemostatic system. It is worth noting that poor diet habits are responsible for most trace metal deficiencies, while pollution is responsible for dangerous exposure to them with a consequent negative impact on the general population. This appears of paramount importance in planning the implementation of food and nutrient support to ameliorate the hidden hunger and the quality of life of people especially in developing countries and limiting poisons both in the air and food. As it often happens, when damage to certain mechanisms takes a very long time to appear, no attention is paid to the importance of a systematic prevention to avoid late negative outcomes.

Infectious agents including COVID-19 and the involvement of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. A narrative review.

OBJECTIVE: Platelets, blood coagulation along with fibrinolysis are greatly involved in the pathophysiology of infectious diseases induced by bacteria, parasites and virus. This phenomenon is not surprising since both the innate immunity and the hemostatic systems are two ancestral mechanisms which closely cooperate favoring host's defense against foreign invaders. However, the excessive response of these systems may be dangerous for the host itself. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched and retrieved the articles, using the following electronic database: MedLine and Embase. We limited our search to articles published in English, but no restrictions in terms of article type, publication year, and geography were adopted. RESULTS: The hemostatic phenotype of the infectious diseases is variable depending on the points of attack of the different involved pathogens. Infectious diseases which show a prothrombotic phenotype are bacterial sepsis, SARS-CoV-2 and malaria. However, among the bacterial sepsis, Yersinia Pestis is characterized by a profibrinolytic behavior. On the contrary, the hemorrhagic fevers, due to Dengue and Ebola virus, mainly exploit the activation of fibrinolysis secondary to a huge endothelial damage which can release a large amount of t-PA in the early phase of the diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Blood coagulation and fibrinolysis are greatly activated based on the strategy of the different infectious agents which exploit the excess of response of both systems to achieve the greatest possible virulence.

A gender perspective on Person-Manager fit and managerial advancement.

This article presents two studies examining (1) the relationship between Person-Manager (P-M) fit and managerial advancement of women and men with, and without managerial aspirations and (2) the P-M fit as related to managerial and non-managerial women. The P-M fit was assessed by computing the congruence between participants' self-rated personality profile and the perceived personality profile of a manager. Sex (men show a higher P-M fit than women), gender (the higher the individual's masculine gender-role, the higher the P-M fit) and group (managers and managerial aspirants show a higher P-M fit than non-managerial aspirants and non-managers) hypotheses were tested. There was no support for the sex difference hypothesis. However, the group and gender hypotheses were confirmed showing that managers and managerial aspirants had a higher P-M fit than non-managers and non-aspirants. Further, analyses revealed that the higher the participants' masculinity scores, the higher the P-M fit. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the gendered image of the managerial role and adaptation theory.

Gender and projective imagination of threat in achievement and affiliation situations.

In a study by Pollak and Gilligan (1982) where fantasies of violence were seen as indicative of perception of danger, women responded with more violent imagery to situations of achievement, whereas men responded with more violent imagery to affiliation situations. This indicates gender differences in motivational needs, which corresponds to modern gender development theories (e.g., Chodorow, 1978). In the present studies, the hypotheses that women fear achievement situations whereas men fear situations of affiliation were tested on Swedish samples totaling 44 men and 47 women. In Study 1, the hypothesis that violent imagery correlates with affiliation themes in the stories written by men was partly supported, whereas the hypothesis that violent imagery would be highly correlated with achievement themes in the stories written by women was not confirmed. In Study 2, no support was obtained for the hypotheses. In sum, contrary to previous studies, no substantial support was obtained for the hypothesis that women connect violent imagery with achievement situations, whereas some evidence was found for the hypothesis that men construe danger as arising from affiliation situations. The greater incidence of violence in men's fantasy reported in previous studies was not supported in either of the two studies. The results are discussed in the context of cross-cultural differences.