Editorial: Exercise intervention for prevention, management of and rehabilitation from COVID-19

exercise, prevention, rehabilitation, infection, COVID-1

Examination of construct validity and criterion-related validity of the german motor test in egyptian schoolchildren

Physical fitness is an indicator for children’s public health status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the German motor test (GMT) in Egyptian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 931 children aged 6 to 11 years (age: 9.1 ± 1.7 years) with 484 (52%) males and 447 (48%) females in grades one to five in Assiut city. The children’s physical fitness data were collected using GMT. GMT is designed to measure five health-related physical fitness components including speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility of children aged 6 to 18 years. The anthropometric data were collected based on three indicators: body height, body weight, and BMI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 using full-information maximum likelihood. The results indicated an adequate fit (χ2 = 112.3, df = 20; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.07). The χ2-statistic showed significant results, and the values for CFI and RMSEA showed a good fit. All loadings of the manifest variables on the first-order latent factors as well as loadings of the first-order latent factors on the second-order superordinate factor were significant. The results also showed strong construct validity in the components of conditioning abilities and moderate construct validity in the components of coordinative abilities. GMT proved to be a valid method and could be widely used on large-scale studies for health-related fitness monitoring in the Egyptian population

Effect of plowing depths and type of transmission system on the performance of agricultural tractors under clay soil condition

&nbsp; The study was conducted at the Experimental Farm of the University of Gedarif during summer season of 2016 at a soil moisture content of 7.24% and bulk density of 1.4 g/cm3. Three types of tractors with different transmission systems were used in this study, the transmission systems were conventional, powershift and combination of conventional and powershift. The tested parameters were drawbar power, fuel consumption, wheel slip and field capacity.&nbsp; To evaluate the tested parameters, three different depths were used, namely, 15, 20 and 25 cm. A completely randomized block design with four replications was used to execute the experiment. The statistical analysis indicated that there was no significant difference (p ≥0.05) between the tractors in drawbar power for the plowing depths of 15 and 20 cm, while there was a significant difference (p ≥0.05) between conventional and the other two tractors for the depth of 25cm; it produced the least power

Relationship between motor and cognitive learning abilities among primary school-aged children

Background: The relationship between motor and cognitive development has already been proven in young children. However, in relation to the academic achievement the association between motor and cognitive performance still not well established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the levels of motor and cognitive learning abilities and their independent and combined associations among German primary school-children.Methods: Participants were (n = 197) between the ages of six to eight. The German motor test (DMT), the cognitive abilities test (KFT), height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were measured.Results: ANOVA testing found that boys perform better in long jumping and in the six minutes running test while girls perform better in balancing backwards and in deductive thinking test (p &lt; 0.05). With maturation from ages six to eight the achievement level of both populations showed a higher performance in motor and cognitive learning abilities (p &lt; 0.001). Concerning the combined and independent associations between the tested abilities, a significant correlation was shown between total motor and total cognitive learning abilities (p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.60) with higher contribution of balancing backwards, six minutes running and push-up levels (r = 0.63, r = 0.62, r = 0.60, respectively) in the performance of the cognitive learning abilities (i.e. mathematical thinking, r = 0.62 and language understanding, r = 0.59).Conclusions: In conclusion, fostering the childrens’ physical fitness during the primary school age could enhance both motor and cognitive learning abilities related to the academic achievement

Association between aerobic fitness and attentional functions in Egyptian preadolescent children

Growing evidence indicates that culture and education can influence cognitive constructs. Studies targeting Western and Asian populations have shown a positive relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive control in children; however, this association has yet to be explored in the Arab world. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between aerobic fitness and attentional networks in Egyptian preadolescent children. In total, 103 preadolescent children (9.76 ± 0.11) completed an assessment of aerobic fitness using a 6-min running test and a computerized attention network test that allowed for assessing alerting, orienting, and executive networks. The results revealed that higher aerobic fitness was associated with shorter response time and higher response accuracy in a more cognitively demanding task condition (i.e., incongruent trials). Furthermore, higher aerobic fitness was associated with a more efficient executive network. No associations were observed for alerting and orienting networks. These findings corroborate growing evidence indicating the importance of aerobic fitness for cognitive development and extend the literature by suggesting that the positive association between aerobic fitness and cognitive control might be generalized to the Arab population and not significantly change across cultures

Effects of pomegranate juice supplementation on oxidative stress biomarkers following weightlifting exercise

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that pomegranate juice supplementation would blunt acute and delayed oxidative stress responses after a weightlifting training session. Nine elite weightlifters (21.0 ±1 years) performed two Olympic-Weightlifting sessions after ingesting either the placebo or pomegranate juice supplements. Venous blood samples were collected at rest and 3 min and 48 h after each session. Compared to the placebo condition, pomegranate juice supplementation attenuated the increase in malondialdehyde (-12.5%; p < 0.01) and enhanced the enzymatic (+8.6% for catalase and +6.8% for glutathione peroxidase; p < 0.05) and non-enzymatic (+12.6% for uric acid and +5.7% for total bilirubin; p < 0.01) antioxidant responses shortly (3 min) after completion of the training session. Additionally, during the 48 h recovery period, pomegranate juice supplementation accelerated (p < 0.05) the recovery kinetics of the malondialdehyde (5.6%) and the enzymatic antioxidant defenses compared to the placebo condition (9 to 10%). In conclusion, supplementation with pomegranate juice has the potential to attenuate oxidative stress by enhancing antioxidant responses assessed acutely and up to 48 h following an intensive weightlifting training session. Therefore, elite weightlifters might benefit from blunted oxidative stress responses following intensive weightlifting sessions, which could have implications for recovery between training sessions

Effects of home confinement on mental health and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak:insights from the ECLB-COVID19 multicentre study

Although recognised as effective measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing and self-isolation have been suggested to generate a burden throughout the population. To provide scientific data to help identify risk factors for the psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 outbreak, an international cross-disciplinary online survey was circulated in April 2020. This report outlines the mental, emotional and behavioural consequences of COVID-19 home confinement. The ECLB-COVID19 electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists, following a structured review of the literature. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform and was promoted by thirty-five research organizations from Europe, North Africa, Western Asia and the Americas. Questions were presented in a differential format with questions related to responses “before” and “during” the confinement period. 1047 replies (54% women) from Western Asia (36%), North Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other continents (3%) were analysed. The COVID-19 home confinement evoked a negative effect on mental wellbeing and emotional status (P < 0.001; 0.43 ≤ d ≤ 0.65) with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing psychosocial and emotional disorders (+10% to +16.5%). These psychosocial tolls were associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing (i) physical (+15.2%) and social (+71.2%) inactivity, (ii) poor sleep quality (+12.8%), (iii) unhealthy diet behaviours (+10%), and (iv) unemployment (6%). Conversely, participants demonstrated a greater use (+15%) of technology during the confinement period. These findings elucidate the risk of psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 home confinement period and provide a clear remit for the urgent implementation of technology-based intervention to foster an Active and Healthy Confinement Lifestyle AHCL)

Globally altered sleep patterns and physical activity levels by confinement in 5056 individuals:ECLB COVID-19 international online survey

Symptoms of psychological distress and disorder have been widely reported in people under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic; in addition to severe disruption of peoples' daily activity and sleep patterns. This study investigates the association between physical-activity levels and sleep patterns in quarantined individuals. An international Google online survey was launched in April 6th, 2020 for 12-weeks. Forty-one research organizations from Europe, North-Africa, Western-Asia, and the Americas promoted the survey through their networks to the general society, which was made available in 14 languages. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "before" and "during" the confinement period. Participants responded to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. 5056 replies (59.4% female), from Europe (46.4%), Western-Asia (25.4%), America (14.8%) and North-Africa (13.3%) were analysed. The COVID-19 home confinement led to impaired sleep quality, as evidenced by the increase in the global PSQI score (4.37 +/- 2.71 before home confinement vs. 5.32 +/- 3.23 during home confinement) (p &lt; 0.001). The frequency of individuals experiencing a good sleep decreased from 61% (n = 3063) before home confinement to 48% (n = 2405) during home confinement with highly active individuals experienced better sleep quality (p &lt; 0.001) in both conditions. Time spent engaged in all physical-activity and the metabolic equivalent of task in each physical-activity category (i.e., vigorous, moderate, walking) decreased significantly during COVID-19 home confinement (p &lt; 0.001). The number of hours of daily-sitting increased by similar to 2 hours/days during home confinement (p &lt; 0.001). COVID-19 home confinement resulted in significantly negative alterations in sleep patterns and physical-activity levels. To maintain health during home confinement, physical-activity promotion and sleep hygiene education and support are strongly warranted.</p