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Background: The school presents an ideal environment to positively impact the long-term health and nutrition outcomes of early adolescents, who are at risk of obesity and anemia. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, we described differences in weight and anemia by sociodemographic, diet and physical activity indicators among 1059 students aged 11 to 15 years from 22 junior secondary schools in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Weight was based on body mass index (BMI) z-scores according to the WHO reference and anemia status was defined by standardized hemoglobin (Hb) measure cut-offs. We calculated dietary diversity scores (DDS) from a 24-hour dietary recall and a global diet quality score (GDQS) from a 7-day dietary recall. Results: The prevalence of obesity (5%) and anemia (50%) was relatively high among the students, which differed significantly between gender, household wealth and school grade, but not age groups. Eighteen percent of the female adolescents were overweight or obese and 22% were moderately anemic compared to 13% and 16% of the male adolescents. Dietary diversity was significantly different between weight categories, but not anemia status. For physical activity, those taking transportation to school were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese. In adjusted multivariable Poisson regression analyses, only the DDS was significantly associated with thinness and both thinness and anemia, while taking transportation to school was significantly associated with overweight among adolescents. Conclusion: We encourage the promotion of school-based interventions and provision of a curriculum on health and healthy eating in order to reduce obesity, anemia, and its comorbidities.

The present investigation portrayed the synthesis of bare LaZn2O4 material and La2-xAlxZnO4 material (x = 0.1–0.4 mol) by sol–gel auto combustion technique. All these materials were characterized by various prime nano characterization technique to investigate the structural and surface properties. X-ray diffraction pattern for LaZn2O4 material confirms the hexagonal wurtzite lattice for this material. The surface characterization and topographical parameters were confirmed from scanning electron microscopy, while the elemental composition of various concentrations Al3+ modified LaZn2O4 was confirmed from energy dispersive spectroscopy. High resolution transmission electron microscopy technique was utilized to substantiate the lattice parameter and polycrystalinity of the fabricated material. UV-DRS technique was used to validate the tuned band gap of the fabricated materials. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller was employed to calculate total surface area of the prepared materials. The La2-xAlxZnO4 is having highest surface area 85.59 m2/g and pore radius 80.85 Å. Sensor materials with varied composition of Al3+ (x = 0.1–0.4 mol) were fabricated by photolithographic technique having 40 s, mesh number 355. The various toxic gases such as CO, NO2, LPG, and Acetone were investigated for varied gas concentrations. Among all sensors La2-xAlxZnO4 (LZO, x = 0.2) sensor shows highest response for acetone vapors with 88.80% at lowest 60°C. The humidity sensing for the sensors shows that the sensor LZO is operational at moderate humid conditions. The rapid response recovery, reusability, thermal stability, good porosity, high surface area, operational at lower temperature is the characteristics of LZO-2 sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article investigates the effect of thermal shrinkage on the yielding behavior of waxy oil gel. The paper compares constant gap and constant normal force measurement protocols to examine the effect of measurement protocol on the rheological behavior of thermoreversible gel. The findings of this study reveal that the extent of stress overshoot and yield stress in a constant shear-rate start-up flow shows a lower magnitude in a constant gap protocol compared to a constant normal force protocol. The decrease in gel strength in the former protocol is mainly attributed to the formation of voids. These voids cause localized fractures within the crystal network. In contrast, in the constant normal force measurement protocol, gel contraction is compensated by utilizing a variable gap setting. Variable gaps compensate for the lower specific volume of the gel after crystallization, minimizing void formation and subsequent rupture of the crystal network. Hence, the gel network formed using the constant normal force protocol is more homogeneous, eliminating the uncertainties in yield stress measurement. Finally, the effect of thermal history, wax content, and aging period on the yield stress values highlights notable findings. Contrary to the conventionally accepted results, the aging period is found to impact the yield stress negatively, and a nonmonotonic relationship between the cooling rate and yield stress is noticed under the constant gap protocol. Thus, the results obtained under the constant normal force protocol are more reliable and can help in developing a fundamental understanding of the yielding behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]