Sleep Quality and Physical Activity as Predictors of Mental Wellbeing Variance in Older Adults during COVID-19 Lockdown:ECLB COVID-19 International Online Survey

Background. The COVID-19 lockdown could engender disruption to lifestyle behaviors, thus impairing mental wellbeing in the general population. This study investigated whether sociodemographic variables, changes in physical activity, and sleep quality from pre- to during lockdown were predictors of change in mental wellbeing in quarantined older adults. Methods. A 12-week international online survey was launched in 14 languages on 6 April 2020. Forty-one research institutions from Europe, Western-Asia, North-Africa, and the Americas, promoted the survey. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "pre" and "during" the lockdown period. Participants responded to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results. Replies from older adults (aged &gt;55 years, n = 517), mainly from Europe (50.1%), Western-Asia (6.8%), America (30%), and North-Africa (9.3%) were analyzed. The COVID-19 lockdown led to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, sleep quality, and total physical activity energy expenditure levels (all p &lt; 0.001). Regression analysis showed that the change in total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure (F-(2,F- 514) = 66.41 p &lt; 0.001) were significant predictors of the decrease in mental wellbeing from pre- to during lockdown (p &lt; 0.001, R-2: 0.20). Conclusion. COVID-19 lockdown deleteriously affected physical activity and sleep patterns. Furthermore, change in the total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure were significant predictors for the decrease in mental wellbeing.</p

Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?

Correction: Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Article Number: 44 DOI: 10.1186/s13601-020-00351-w Published: OCT 26 2020Reported COVID-19 deaths in Germany are relatively low as compared to many European countries. Among the several explanations proposed, an early and large testing of the population was put forward. Most current debates on COVID-19 focus on the differences among countries, but little attention has been given to regional differences and diet. The low-death rate European countries (e.g. Austria, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia) have used different quarantine and/or confinement times and methods and none have performed as many early tests as Germany. Among other factors that may be significant are the dietary habits. It seems that some foods largely used in these countries may reduce angiotensin-converting enzyme activity or are anti-oxidants. Among the many possible areas of research, it might be important to understand diet and angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) levels in populations with different COVID-19 death rates since dietary interventions may be of great benefit.Peer reviewe

Stability of some essential B-spectra of pencil operators and application

In this paper, we give some results on the essential B-spectra of a linear operator pencil, which are used to determine the essential B-spectra of an integro-differential operator with abstract boundary conditions in the Banach space Lp([−a, a] × [−1, 1]), p ≥ 1 and a > 0.peerReviewe

La perte rapide de masse corporelle affecte le contrôle postural chez les lutteurs de haut niveau

International audienc

Rapid weight loss alters muscular performance and perceived exertion as well as postural control in elite wrestlers.

AIM: The aim was to assess the effects of rapid decline of body mass on postural control, muscular performance and rating perceived exertion in elite free style wrestlers. METHODS: Ten high-level wrestlers (age: 19.3 ± 2.5 years, height: 175.7 ± 4.9 cm, body mass before dieting: 77.16 ± 11.94 kg) are included in the present study. Diet was monitored for all the athletes. Athropometric measurements and a variety of functional tests such as isometric hand grip strength (IHG) and isometric back strength (IBS) with dynamometers, dynamic postural control (DPC) with star excursion balance test, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) to a standard exercise of knee pushups, were performed before and after diet completion. RESULTS: The diet was based on food restriction and dehydration. Body mass, lean body mass and body water significantly decreased (P<0.001; P<0.004, P<0.001 respectively). There was no significant decrease in fat mass (P<0.061). Furthermore, IHG and IBS significantly decreased (P<0.001). DPC significantly altered with the left supporting leg in two positions of the right leg (posteromedial, P<0.038; posterior, P<0.012). At last, RPE significantly increased (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Previous studies showed that the rapid decline of body mass affects health and muscular and energetic performance while the present study highlights that it also alters perceived exertion and dynamic postural control

Envahissement ganglionaire cervical dans les cancers du Larynx

No Abstract. Journal Tunisien d\'ORL et de chirurgie cervico-faciale Vol. 17 2006: pp. 9-1

Dramatic effect of thermal expansion mismatch on the structural, dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties of low-cost epitaxial PZT films on SrTiO 3 and Si (001) subtrates.

Version preprint soumise à la revue CrystEngComm et publiée après correctionsInternational audienceBecause of different thermal expansion mismatches between the film and the substrate, either mainly c-oriented or a-oriented tetragonal epitaxial PZT layers are obtained on SrTiO3 or Si (001) substrates, respectively. The resulting large differences in the dielectric, ferroelectric and pyroelectric properties are measured along the out-of-plane direction