Quali sono la conoscenza, l'attitudine e la percezione dei rischi alimentari nei giovani adulti? Un'indagine effettuata in Italia.

BACKGROUND: in recent years, food safety has become increasingly important and a public health priority, especially in developed and rich countries. OBJECTIVES: to investigate knowledge and perception of food risk among young adults and the related behaviours. DESIGN: observational study conducted from March to October 2022 through the administration of an anonymous questionnaire based on multiple-choice questions spread online through social networks. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 317 men and women with a mean age of 23.6 ± 6.7 (71% F, 29% M), mainly students, who filled the questionnaire and gave their consent to the use of personal data for the purpose of scientific research. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: knowledge, attitudes, and perception of food risk in the target population. RESULTS: the majority think that food safety is very important to their health. The most perceived food risks are the presence of pesticides, bacterial and viral contamination, residuals of antibiotics and/or hormones, and microplastics. More than half believes to be poorly informed about the risk associated with food consumption. There is a high level of trust in data from scientific evidence and physicians and a low level of trust in data from European institutions and the Italian government. Almost everyone thinks that public authorities should provide more information. CONCLUSIONS: these data show a good knowledge of the importance of food safety for health; nevertheless, the majority does not feel well informed. The evaluation of the risk perception and of the factors influencing it is important for the success of the information/communication about food safety and for the consumer empowerment.

Thiol-Ene Photo-Click Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties Resulting from the Exposure of Different -Ene Moieties through a Green Chemistry.

Temperature and light responsiveness are widely exploited stimuli to tune the physico-chemical properties of double network hydrogels. In this work, new amphiphilic poly(ether urethane)s bearing photo-sensitive moieties (i.e., thiol, acrylate and norbornene functionalities) were engineered by exploiting the versatility of poly(urethane) chemistry and carbodiimide-mediated green functionalization procedures. Polymers were synthesized according to optimized protocols maximizing photo-sensitive group grafting while preserving their functionality (approx. 1.0 × 1019, 2.6 × 1019 and 8.1 × 1017 thiol, acrylate and norbornene groups/gpolymer), and exploited to prepare thermo- and Vis-light-responsive thiol-ene photo-click hydrogels (18% w/v, 1:1 thiol:ene molar ratio). Green light-induced photo-curing allowed the achievement of a much more developed gel state with improved resistance to deformation (ca. 60% increase in critical deformation, γL). Triethanolamine addition as co-initiator to thiol-acrylate hydrogels improved the photo-click reaction (i.e., achievement of a better-developed gel state). Differently, L-tyrosine addition to thiol-norbornene solutions slightly hindered cross-linking, resulting in less developed gels with worse mechanical performances (~62% γL decrease). In their optimized composition, thiol-norbornene formulations resulted in prevalent elastic behavior at lower frequency compared to thiol-acrylate gels due to the formation of purely bio-orthogonal instead of heterogeneous gel networks. Our findings highlight that exploiting the same thiol-ene photo-click chemistry, a fine tuning of the gel properties is possible by reacting specific functional groups.

Health literacy in Mediterranean general population.

Introduction: Health literacy refers to "the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and access health services in order to make informed choices." In essence, being able to acquire, understand, and use information for one's own health. Methods: Observational study through the administration of a face-to-face questionnaire conducted between July and September 2020 on 260 individuals residing between Calabria and Sicily, aged between 18 and 89 years. Questions related to education, lifestyle (alcohol, smoking, and physical activity). Multiple-choice questions to assess health literacy and conceptual skills, ability to find information on health topics and services, use of preventive medicine especially vaccinations, and ability to make decisions about one's own health. Results: Of 260, 43% were male and 57% female. The most represented age group is between 50 and 59 years. Forty-eight percent of respondents had a high school diploma. 39% smoke and 32% habitually consume alcoholic beverages; only 40% engage in physical activity. Ten percent had a low level of health literacy, average 55%, and adequate 35%. Conclusions: Given the importance of adequate HL on health choices and on individual and public wellbeing, it is essential to expand the knowledge of the individual, through public and private information campaigns and with an increasing involvement of family physicians, who are fundamental in training and informing their patients.