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Introduction: School-based exercise interventions targeted at reducing obesity are often successful in the short term, but they are resource-heavy and don’t always lead to long-lasting behaviour changes. This study investigated the effect of reducing sedentary time, rather than increasing exercise, on physical activity (PA) behaviours and obesity in primary school children. Methods: 30 UK state primary schools participated in this cluster-controlled intervention study (IDACI score = .15 ± .07, Free school meals = 26 ± 9 %). Twenty-six intervention and 4 control schools (intervention = 3529, control = 308 children) completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) in terms 1 and 3. Three intervention and 3 control schools (intervention = 219, control = 152 children) also measured waist-to-height ratio (WTHR). The Active Movement intervention is a school-based programme which integrates non-sedentary behaviours such as standing and walking in the classroom. Data was analysed via ANCOVAs and multiple linear regressions. Results: WTHR was reduced by 8% in the intervention group only (F(2,285) = 11.387 p < .001), and sport participation increased by 10% in the intervention group only (F(1,232) = 6.982, p = .008). Other PAQ-C measures increased significantly in the intervention group, but there was no group*time interaction. Changes in PAQ-C did not predict reductions in WTHR. Instead, the amount of change in WTHR was predicted by intervention group and by baseline WTHR of the pupil, where children with higher baseline WTHR showed greater reductions (F(2, 365) = 77.21, p < .001, R2 = .30). Socio-economic status (SES), age or gender did not mediate any of the changes in the PAQ-C nor WTHR. Conclusion: Reducing sedentary behaviours during school time can be an effective obesity reduction strategy for primary school children who are overweight. The lack of demographic effects suggests that this method can be effective regardless of the school’s SES, pupil age or gender.

Abstract Saliva has significant advantages as a test medium for detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients, such as ease of collection, minimal requirement of supplies and trained personnel, and safety. Comprehensive validation in a large cohort of prospectively collected specimens with unknown SARS-CoV-2 status should be performed to evaluate the potential and limitations of saliva-based testing. We developed a saliva-based testing pipeline for detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids using real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) readouts, and measured samples from 137 outpatients tested at a curbside testing facility and 29 inpatients hospitalized for COVID-19. These measurements were compared to the nasal swab results for each patient performed by a certified microbiology laboratory. We found that our saliva testing positively detects 100% (RT-PCR) and 93.75% (ddPCR) of curbside patients that were identified as SARS-CoV-2 positive by the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) certified nasal swab testing assay. Quantification of viral loads by ddPCR revealed an extremely wide range, with 1 million-fold difference between individual patients. Our results demonstrate for both community screening and hospital settings that saliva testing reliability is on par with that of the nasal swabs in detecting infected cases, and has potential for higher sensitivity when combined with ddPCR in detecting low-abundance viral loads that evade traditional testing methods.

Purpose: Nutritional quality and oxidation stability are two main factors in the evaluation of edible oils. Oils in their pure form do not have an ideal fatty acid composition or suitable oxidative stability during processing or storage. Methods: This study was designed to evaluate the chemical, nutritional and rheological properties of oil mixtures in three ratios of olive: sesame: linseed, 65:30:5; 60:30:10 and 55:30:15. Acidity value, peroxide value, rancimat test, fatty acid profile, nutritional indexes and rheological properties of the oil blends were determined. The nutritional quality was determined by indexes, including the atherogenic and thrombogenic indexs; the ratios of hypocholesterolemic: hypercholesterolemic; poly unsaturated fatty acid: saturated fatty acid and the ω6:ω3. Results: The results indicated that blending of other vegetable oils with linseed oil could balance ω6:ω3. Results showed that formulated oils had a good balance of oxidation stability and nutritional properties as well. Rheological data showed that these oil blends followed Newtonian behavior at 4°C and 25°C. Conclusion: According to the results, addition of linseed oil to vegetable oils containing high levels of bioactive compounds was a simple and economic practice to obtain a functional oil with good nutritional and stability properties.

Purpose: Nutritional quality and oxidation stability are two main factors in the evaluation of edible oils. Oils in their pure form do not have an ideal fatty acid composition or suitable oxidative stability during processing or storage. Methods: This study was designed to evaluate the chemical, nutritional and rheological properties of oil mixtures in three ratios of olive: sesame: linseed, 65:30:5; 60:30:10 and 55:30:15. Acidity value, peroxide value, rancimat test, fatty acid profile, nutritional indexes and rheological properties of the oil blends were determined. The nutritional quality was determined by indexes, including the atherogenic and thrombogenic indexs; the ratios of hypocholesterolemic: hypercholesterolemic; poly unsaturated fatty acid: saturated fatty acid and the ω6:ω3. Results: The results indicated that blending of other vegetable oils with linseed oil could balance ω6:ω3. Results showed that formulated oils had a good balance of oxidation stability and nutritional properties as well. Rheological data showed that these oil blends followed Newtonian behavior at 4°C and 25°C. Conclusion: According to the results, addition of linseed oil to vegetable oils containing high levels of bioactive compounds was a simple and economic practice to obtain a functional oil with good nutritional and stability properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Suitable ratio of essential fatty acids has an important role in maintaining good health. There is no pure oil with an ideal fatty acid composition and oxidative stability. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate the physical, chemical and nutritional properties of oil obtained by blending flaxseed oil as a rich source of ω3 fatty acids with sesame and olive oils. Methods: Three different ratios (65:30:5, 60:30:10 and 55:30:15) were prepared using olive, sesame and flaxseed oils. These mixtures were stored at 4°C and 24°C and their quality and physicochemical properties were determined by measuring the fatty acid composition, phenolic compound, peroxide, anisidine values and schaal tests. Results: Fatty acid composition indicated that adding 10% and 15% flaxseed oil into blends have suitable ratio of essential fatty acids. The sample which contained 5% flaxseed oil had the highest phenolic content among treatments and these compounds showed a significant decrease during storage. A significant increase (p