Preventing long-term risk of obesity for two generations: Prenatal physical activity is part of the puzzle

Background. The period surrounding pregnancy has been identified as a risk period for overweight/obesity in both mother and child because of excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). The promotion of a healthy GWG is therefore of paramount importance in the context of the prevention of obesity in the current and next generations. Objective. To provide a comprehensive overview of the effect of prenatal physical activity interventions, alone or in combination with nutritional counselling, on GWG and to address whether preventing excessive GWG decreases the incidence of infant high birth weight and/or postpartum weight retention. Method. A search of the PubMed database was conducted to identify all relevant studies. Nineteen studies were included in this review: 13 interventions combining physical activity, nutrition, and GWG counselling and 6 interventions including physical activity alone. Results. Prenatal lifestyle interventions promoting healthy eating and physical activity habits appear to be the most effective approach to prevent excessive GWG. Achievement of appropriate GWG may also decrease the incidence of high infant birth weight and postpartum weight retention. Conclusion. Healthy eating habits during pregnancy, combined with an active lifestyle, may be important elements in the prevention of long-term risk of obesity for two generations. © 2012 Stephanie-May Ruchat and Michelle F. Mottola

The Case for Approximate Intermittent Computing

We present the concept of approximate intermittent computing and concretely demonstrate its application. Intermittent computations stem from the erratic energy patterns caused by energy harvesting: computations unpredictably terminate whenever energy is insufficient and the application state is lost. Existing solutions maintain equivalence to continuous executions by creating persistent state on non-volatile memory, enabling stateful computations to cross power failures. The performance penalty is massive: system throughput reduces while energy consumption increases. In contrast, approximate intermittent computations trade the accuracy of the results for sparing the entire overhead to maintain equivalence to a continuous execution. This is possible as we use approximation to limit the extent of stateful computations to the single power cycle, enabling the system to completely shift the energy budget for managing persistent state to useful computations towards an immediate approximate result. To this end, we effectively reverse the regular formulation of approximate computing problems. First, we apply approximate intermittent computing to human activity recognition. We design an anytime variation of support vector machines able to improve the accuracy of the classification as energy is available. We build a hw/sw prototype using kinetic energy and show a 7x improvement in system throughput compared to state-of-the-art system support for intermittent computing, while retaining 83% accuracy in a setting where the best attainable accuracy is 88%. Next, we apply approximate intermittent computing in a sharply different scenario, that is, embedded image processing, using loop perforation. Using a different hw/sw prototype we build and diverse energy traces, we show a 5x improvement in system throughput compared to state-of-the-art system support for intermittent computing, while providing an equivalent output in 84% of the cases

Physical activity throughout pregnancy is key to preventing chronic disease

According to The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory, the intrauterine environment of the developing fetus may impact later life physiology, including susceptibility to chronic disease conditions. Maternal exposures during pregnancy can affect the intrauterine environment and result in fetal programming for chronic diseases through changes in the structure or function of specific organs. Negative maternal exposures, such as poor nutrition intake, have been shown to increase the risk for later life chronic diseases. On the contrary, healthful behaviors, such as physical activity, may have a positive and protective effect against chronic disease risk. This narrative review summarizes literature to discuss the potential preventative role prenatal physical activity may have on prevalent chronic diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. We describe the natural physiological response to pregnancy that may increase the risk for complications and consequently later life disease for both mother and baby. We then present evidence highlighting the role prenatal exercise may have in preventing pregnancy complications and downstream chronic disease development, as well as proposing potential mechanisms that may explain the protective maternal and fetal physiological response to exercise. As the prevalence of these non-communicable diseases increase globally, intervening during pregnancy with an effective exercise intervention may be the key to preventing chronic disease risk in more than one generation

A Probabilistic Approach for the Optimal Sizing of Storage Devices to Increase the Penetration of Plug-in Electric Vehicles in Direct Current Networks

The growing diffusion of electric vehicles connected to distribution networks for charging purposes is an ongoing problem that utilities must deal with. Direct current networks and storage devices have emerged as a feasible means of satisfying the expected increases in the numbers of vehicles while preserving the effective operation of the network. In this paper, an innovative probabilistic methodology is proposed for the optimal sizing of electrical storage devices with the aim of maximizing the penetration of plug-in electric vehicles while preserving efficient and effective operation of the network. The proposed methodology is based on an analytical solution of the problem concerning the power losses minimization in distribution networks equipped with storage devices. The closed-form expression that was obtained is included in a Monte Carlo simulation procedure aimed at handling the uncertainties in loads and renewable generation units. The results of several numerical applications are reported and discussed to demonstrate the validity of the proposed solution. Also, different penetration levels of generation units were analyzed in order to focus on the importance of renewable generation

How Did Participating In a Prenatal Nutrition and Exercise Program Influence Postpartum Experiences During COVID-19?

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(3): 1-11, 2023. Lifestyle interventions focusing on prenatal physical activity (PA) and healthy nutritional habits can carry forward into the postpartum period. As many health resources, like PA facilities and postpartum support groups, were inaccessible due to the Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions, it may be plausible that individuals who participated in a prenatal lifestyle intervention continued engaging in positive health behaviours on their own. This study explored experiences of postpartum individuals during the pandemic who had engaged in a prenatal PA and nutrition program prior to COVID-19. Semi-structured interviews were completed with postpartum individuals following a qualitative description approach. The study objectives were to identify and summarize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PA and nutritional behaviours postpartum, and the role of previous participation in a prenatal lifestyle intervention, pre-pandemic, on PA and nutritional habits during postpartum quarantine restrictions. Thirteen participants completed interviews and reported that overall, PA levels stayed the same however, there was a change in PA type, as walking became the prominent choice of PA. Diet became more limited and involved a great deal of meal planning. Participation in a prenatal lifestyle intervention prior to the pandemic positively impacted PA and nutritional habits postpartum during COVID-19 restrictions. Specifically, it enabled individuals to implement walking as a daily PA habit and encouraged important concepts such as mindful eating and meal planning. Prenatal lifestyle interventions can be beneficial in establishing healthy postpartum habits, even during pandemic restrictions