Level and intensity of objectively assessed physical activity among pregnant women from urban Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Women in low-income countries are generally considered to have a high physical workload which is sustained during pregnancy. Although most previous studies have been based on questionnaires a recent meta-analysis of doubly labeled water data has raised questions about the actual amount of physical activity performed. In this study we report objectively assessed levels of physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular fitness among pregnant urban Ethiopian women, and their association with demographic characteristics and anthropometric measures. METHODS: Physical activity was measured for seven consecutive days in 304 women using a combined uniaxial accelerometer and heart rate sensor. Activity energy expenditure was determined using a group calibration in a branched equation model framework. Type and duration of activities were reported using a 24-hour physical activity recall and grip strength was assessed using a dynamometer. RESULTS: Median (interquartile-range, IQR) activity energy expenditure was 31.1 (23.7-42.0) kJ/kg/day corresponding to a median (IQR) physical activity level of 1.46 (1.39-1.58). Median (IQR) time in sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous intensity was 1100 (999-1175), 303 (223-374) and 40 (22-69) min/day, respectively. Mean (standard deviation) sleeping heart rate was 73.6 (8.0) beats/min and grip strength was 21.6 (4.5) kg. Activity energy expenditure was 14% higher for every 10 cm(2) difference in arm muscle area and 10% lower for every 10 cm(2) difference in arm fat area and 10-week difference in gestational age. CONCLUSION: The level and intensity of physical activity among pregnant women from urban Ethiopia is low compared to non-pregnant women from other low income countries as well as pregnant European women from high-income countries.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Ranking Functions for Vector Addition Systems

Vector addition systems are an important model in theoretical computer science and have been used for the analysis of systems in a variety of areas. Termination is a crucial property of vector addition systems and has received considerable interest in the literature. In this paper we give a complete method for the construction of ranking functions for vector addition systems with states. The interest in ranking functions is motivated by the fact that ranking functions provide valuable additional information in case of termination: They provide an explanation for the progress of the vector addition system, which can be reported to the user of a verification tool, and can be used as certificates for termination. Moreover, we show how ranking functions can be used for the computational complexity analysis of vector addition systems (here complexity refers to the number of steps the vector addition system under analysis can take in terms of the given initial vector)

n-3 PUFA status in school children is associated with beneficial lipid profile, reduced physical activity and increased blood pressure in boys

Published by Cambridge University Press in the British Journal of Nutrition. Damsgaard, C. T., Stark, K. D., Hjorth, M. F., Biltoft-Jensen, A., Astrup, A., Michaelsen, K. F., & Lauritzen, L. (2013). n-3 PUFA status in school children is associated with beneficial lipid profile, reduced physical activity and increased blood pressure in boys. British Journal of Nutrition, 110(07), 1304–1312. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114513000585. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © The AuthorsDietary n-3 long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) improve dyslipidaemia and hypertension and may affect insulin resistance and adiposity. Increasing numbers of children show signs of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), but few studies have investigated the association with n-3 LC-PUFA status. We examined the relationship between fasting whole-blood EPA or DHA (w/w% of the total fatty acids, FA%) and markers of the MetS (anthropometry, blood pressure, plasma lipids and glucose homeostasis) cross-sectionally in seventy-three 8-11-year-old Danish children from the OPUS School Meal Pilot Study (OPUS is an acronym of the project 'Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet' and is supported by a grant from the Nordea Foundation). Also, we explored the potential mediating effects of physical activity and energy intake. Girls had higher body fat percentage (BF%), diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, plasma TAG, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance and glycosylated Hb than boys. Sexes did not differ in fish or macronutrient intake or whole-blood fatty acids. After adjustment for sex, age and total whole-blood fatty acid concentration, BF% and HDL: TAG increased with whole-blood EPA (beta > 0.25, P < 0.05), and HDL increased 0.35 (SEM 0.13) mmol/l per FA% EPA increase (beta = 0.30, P = 0.008). Unexpectedly, DHA was positively associated with mean arterial pressure in boys (6.3 (SEM 1.7) mmHg/FA% DHA increase, beta = 0.62, P = 0.001) and reduced physical activity in both sexes (244 (SEM 19) counts/min per FA%, beta = 20.22, P = 0.024). The associations with blood pressure and HDL remained after adjustment for physical activity, BF% and energy intake. The present study confirmed the beneficial association between n-3 LC-PUFA status and lipid profile seen in adults, but showed unexpected relationships with physical activity, BF% and blood pressure. This is the third time we have observed such tendencies in Danish children

Shannon Cain, ed., Roadside Curiosities. Stories about American Pop Culture

Roadside Curiosities is a collection of contemporary short stories which promises to marry “highbrow” and “lowbrow,” “literary fiction to American popular culture” (back cover). This union takes the form of twenty short stories selected by Shannon Cain, herself a short-story writer as well as a creative writing teacher, featuring Madonna, a superhero, the spectral image of Cary Grant, the hero of the Donkey Kong video game and more. In her introduction to the collection, Cain surprisingly re..

Low physical activity level and short sleep duration are associated with an increased cardio-metabolic risk profile:a longitudinal study in 8-11 year old danish children

BACKGROUND:As cardio-metabolic risk tracks from childhood to adulthood, a better understanding of the relationship between movement behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep) and cardio-metabolic risk in childhood may aid in preventing metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adulthood. OBJECTIVE:To examine independent and combined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between movement behaviors and the MetS score in 8-11 year old Danish children. DESIGN:Physical activity, sedentary time and sleep duration (seven days and eight nights) were assessed by accelerometer and fat mass index (fat mass/height2) was assessed using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The MetS-score was based on z-scores of waist circumference, mean arterial blood pressure, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, triglycerides and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. All measurements were taken at three time points separated by 100 days. Average of the three measurements was used as habitual behavior in the cross-sectional analysis and changes from first to third measurement was used in the longitudinal analysis. RESULTS:723 children were included. In the cross-sectional analysis, physical activity was negatively associated with the MetS-score (P0.17). Children in the most favorable tertiles of changes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sleep duration and sedentary time during the 200-day follow-up period had an improved MetS-score relative to children in the opposite tertiles (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION:The present findings indicate that physical activity, sedentary time and sleep duration should all be targeted to improve cardio-metabolic risk markers in childhood; this is possibly mediated by adiposity

Comparison of estimated energy intake in children using a Web-based Dietary Assessment Software with accelerometer-estimated energy expenditure in children

Background: The OPUS (Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet) project carried out a school meal study to assess the impact of a New Nordic Diet (NND). The random controlled trial involved 834 children aged 8–11 in nine local authority schools in Denmark. Dietary assessment was carried out using a program known as WebDASC (Web-based Dietary Assessment Software for Children) to collect data from the children. Objective: To compare the energy intake (EI) of schoolchildren aged 8–11 estimated using the WebDASC system against the total energy expenditure (TEE) as derived from accelerometers worn by the children during the same period. A second objective was to evaluate the WebDASC's usability. Design: Eighty-one schoolchildren took part in what was the pilot study for the OPUS project, and they recorded their total diet using WebDASC and wore an accelerometer for two periods of seven consecutive days: at baseline, when they ate their usual packed lunches and at intervention when they were served the NND. EI was estimated using WebDASC, and TEE was calculated from accelerometer-derived activity energy expenditure, basal metabolic rate, and diet-induced thermogenesis. WebDASC's usability was assessed using a questionnaire. Parents could help their children record their diet and answer the questionnaire. Results: Evaluated against TEE as derived from the accelerometers worn at the same time, the WebDASC performed just as well as other traditional methods of collecting dietary data and proved both effective and acceptable with children aged 8–11, even with perhaps less familiar foods of the NND. Conclusions: WebDASC is a useful method that provided a reasonably accurate measure of EI at group level when compared to TEE derived from accelerometer-determined physical activity in children. WebDASC will benefit future research in this area

Maternal fish oil supplementation during lactation is associated with reduced height at 13 years of age and higher blood pressure in boys only

Published by Cambridge University Press in the British Journal of Nutrition. Lauritzen, L., Eriksen, S. E., Hjorth, M. F., Nielsen, M. S., Olsen, S. F., Stark, K. D., … Damsgaard, C. T. (2016). Maternal fish oil supplementation during lactation is associated with reduced height at 13 years of age and higher blood pressure in boys only. British Journal of Nutrition, 116(12), 2082–2090. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114516004293. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © The AuthorsDietary long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) in infancy may have long-term effects on lifestyle disease risk. The present follow-up study investigated whether maternal fish oil (FO) supplementation during lactation affected growth and blood pressure in adolescents and whether the effects differed between boys and girls. Mother-infant pairs (n 103) completed a randomised controlled trial with FO (1.5 g/d n-3 LCPUFA) or olive oil (OO) supplements during the first 4 months of lactation; forty-seven mother-infant pairs with high fish intake were followed-up for 4 months as the reference group. We also followed-up 100 children with assessment of growth, blood pressure, diet by FFQ and physical activity by 7-d accelerometry at 13.5 (SD 0.4) years of age. Dried whole-blood fatty acid composition was analysed in a subgroup (n 49). At 13 years of age, whole-blood n-3 LCPUFA, diet, physical activity and body composition did not differ between the three groups. The children from the FO group were 3.4 (95% CI 0.2, 6.6) cm shorter (P = 0.035) than those from the OO group, and tended to have less advanced puberty (P= 0.068), which explained the difference in height. There was a sex-specific effect on diastolic blood pressure (P-sex x group = 0.020), which was driven by a 3.9 (95% CI 0.2, 7.5) mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure in the FO compared with the OO group among boys only (P= 0.041). Our results indicate that early n-3 LCPUFA intake may reduce height in early adolescence due to a delay in pubertal maturation and increase blood pressure specifically in boys, thereby tending to counteract existing sex differences.BASF AktiengesellschaftFOTEK, The Danish Research and Development Program for Food and Technolog

地震防災計画策定における戦略的計画論の構造と論理

AbstractSufficient summer/autumn vitamin D status appears important to mitigate winter nadirs at northern latitudes. We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate autumn vitamin D status and its determinants in 782 Danish 8–11-year-old children (55°N) using baseline data from the Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet (OPUS) School Meal Study, a large randomised controlled trial. Blood samples and demographic and behavioural data, including 7-d dietary recordings, objectively measured physical activity, and time spent outdoors during school hours, were collected during September–November. Mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was 60·8 (sd 18·7) nmol/l. Serum 25(OH)D levels ≤50 nmol/l were found in 28·4 % of the children and 2·4 % had concentrations &lt;25 nmol/l. Upon multivariate adjustment, increasing age (per year) (β −2·9; 95 % CI −5·1, −0·7 nmol/l), female sex (β −3·3; 95 % CI −5·9, −0·7 nmol/l), sampling in October (β −5·2; 95 % CI −10·1, −0·4 nmol/l) and November (β −13·3; 95 % CI −17·7, −9·1), and non-white ethnicity (β −5·7; 95 % CI −11·1, −0·3 nmol/l) were negatively associated with 25(OH)D (all P&lt;0·05). Likewise, immigrant/descendant background was negatively associated with 25(OH)D, particularly in females (β −16·3; 95 % CI −21·9, −10·7) (P&lt;0·001) (Pinteraction=0·003). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (min/d) (β 0·06; 95 % CI 0·01, 0·12), outdoor walking during school hours (min/week) (β 0·4; 95 % CI 0·1, 0·6) and intake of vitamin D-containing supplements ≥3 d/week (β 8·7; 95 % CI 6·4, 11·0) were positively associated with 25(OH)D (all P&lt;0·05). The high proportion of children with vitamin D status below the recommended sufficiency level of 50 nmol/l raises concern as levels expectedly drop further during winter months. Frequent intake of vitamin D supplements was strongly associated with status. MVPA and outdoor activity during school hours should be investigated further in interventions to improve autumn vitamin D status in children at northern latitudes.</jats:p

Are Children Like Werewolves? : Full Moon and Its Association with Sleep and Activity Behaviors in an International Sample of Children

In order to verify if the full moon is associated with sleep and activity behaviors, we used a 12-country study providing 33,710 24-h accelerometer recordings of sleep and activity. The present observational, cross-sectional study included 5812 children ages 9-11 years from study sites that represented all inhabited continents and wide ranges of human development (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, India, Kenya, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States). Three moon phases were used in this analysis: full moon (4 days; reference), half moon (5-9 days), and new moon (+10-14 days) from nearest full moon. Nocturnal sleep duration, moderate -to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and total sedentary time (SED) were monitored over seven consecutive days using a waist -worn accelerometer worn 24 h a day. Only sleep duration was found to significantly differ between moon phases (-5 min/night shorter during full moon compared to new moon). Differences in MVPA, LPA, and SED between moon phases were negligible and non-significant (Peer reviewe