Red grapes contain elevated amounts of antioxidant compounds (polyphenols) that may potentially prevent cell aging, cardiovascular disease and oxidation-related disorders. Since functional drinks are presently one of the most dynamic sectors of the market, the present work was aimed at evaluating the possible antioxidant effect of an experimental grape juice in terms of urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6-s) and total antioxidant capacity in young (20 ± 10 yr-old), middle-aged (45 ± 10 yr-old) and elderly (75 ± 10 yr-old) individuals. Grapes (Vitis vinifera cv. Tempranillo) were de-stemmed, racked and pressed. The juice was subsequently stabilized by high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). Participants consumed 200 mL of grape juice twice a day (as the lunch and dinner desserts) for 5 days. First-void morning urines were collected before treatment (basal values), the day immediately after the last ingestion of juice (assay), and one day afterwards (post-assay). aMT6-s and total antioxidant capacity were quantified using commercial ELISA and colorimetric assay kits, respectively. The intake of grape juice cv. Tempranillo induced a significant increase of urinary aMT6-s and total antioxidant capacity in the three groups of age analyzed as compared to their corresponding basal and post-assay values. These functional/nutraceutical properties may be of interest for a prospective commercialization of the grape juice. The novel technology used for juice stabilization may be suitable for introducing into the market a product with high sensory and nutritional quality, as it has been shown in this study.

Background: Currently, there is limited evidence about effective strategies to manage childhood obesity and the metabolic syndrome in school settings. The present study aims to analyse changes in the prevalence of being overweight/obese and having the metabolic syndrome in relation to a 10-month lifestyle intervention based on individualised face-to-face sessions and parental education in school settings. Methods: The study sample comprised a cross-sectional sample of 96 overweight/obese Mexican children aged 6-12 years from eight schools. Clinical, anthropometric measurements and 24-h recalls were obtained during each of 13 visits. Laboratory measurements were determined at the beginning and end. The energy-reduced diet was based on dietary recommended intakes. Individualised structured daily meals and a physical activity plan, tailored-made for each child, were provided every 3 weeks at the schools. Parental attendance was required. Student′s t-test, McNemar and ShapiroWilk tests and simple linear regression were used for the statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome fell significantly from 44% to 16% (P < 0.01), high blood pressure fell from 19% to 0%, hypertrigliceridaemia fell from 64% to 35%, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol 40 fell from 60% to 41%, hyperglycaemia fell from 1% to 0%, and waist circumference ! 90th percentile fell from 72% to 57%. There was a 2.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) = À4.10 to À1.58; P < 0.01] significant decrease in body mass index percentile and in body-fat percentage (95% CI = À3.31 to À1.55; P < 0.01). Of the overweight children, 32% achieved normal-weight, whereas 24% of the obese ones converted to overweight and 1% reached normal-weight. Physical activity increased 16 min day -1 (P = 0.02) and

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To evaluate the incidence of certain symptoms in a population of health workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 patients. Study Design: Case-control study. Methods: The study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from March 1 to April 7, 2020. Health workers with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection were included. The presence of COVID-19 was detected by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods. Positive and negative RT-PCR patients were used as case and control groups, respectively. This study analyzed the incidence of COVID-19 symptoms in both patient groups. Visual analog scales were used for selfassessment of smell and taste disorders, ranging from 0 (no perception) to 10 (excellent perception). Results: There were 215 (60.6%) patients with positive RT-PCR and 140 (39.4%) patients with negative RT-PCR. The presence of symptoms such as hyposmia hypogeusia, dysthermia, and cough were strongly associated with a positive RT-PCR. The association of cough and subjective hyposmia had 5.46 times higher odds of having a positive test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that a fever higher than 37.45 C resulted in sensitivity and specificity of 0.65 and 0.61, respectively. A total of 138 cases (64.1%) and 114 cases (53%) had subjective hyposmia and hypogeusia, respectively. The 85.4% of these patients recovered olfactory function within the first 14 days of the onset of the symptoms. Conclusion: There is a significant association between positive RT-PCR and subjective hyposmia. The association of subjective hyposmia and cough increase significantly the odds of having a positive RT-PCR. The measurement of fever as the only method for screening of COVID-19 infection resulted in a poor association.

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Experiments of heating of solid targets by fast electrons have been analyzed by means of simulations with a recently developed hybrid code. Electron propagation, refluxing effects, relative importance of self-generated fields, and heating of targets are presented. We found a good agreement between simulations and experiments on the Kα yield.

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