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Acceleration and running speed develop in childhood based on biological growth. The research aims to compare, according to gender and age, the running times of 5, 10, and 15 m of children aged 6 to 11 years in the north-eastern area of Romania. Our proposed distance analysis is scarce in the literature and we want to enrich and update the existing data, especially for the north-eastern region of Romania. Our research included 3460 primary school students whom we grouped according to chronological age and gender. Using the TracTronix TF100, the 12 groups formed were measured for 5, 10, and 15 m running times during physical education classes. The first hypothesis states that boys will have higher acceleration and speed values. Second, we assume that growth from 6 to 11 years will improve acceleration and speed for both genders. The unpaired t-test and one-way ANOVA confirmed both hypotheses (p<0.05). Both criteria we tested influence acceleration and running speed. Boys achieved better times than girls in all three events, except for 5 m at 10 and 11. Advancing in age improves acceleration and speed, there is a stagnation from 10 to 11 years for both genders, as well as the 7-8 years threshold for boys. Our study reinforces the effect that gender and age have on children's acceleration and speed, and can be a benchmark for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interacting with children's cognitive processes and mental health status, body mass index (BMI) could be analyzed in relation to motor performance. This study aims to analyse the relationship between BMI and agility of primary school students in the northeast of Romania. Hypothesis testing was done by analyzing data obtained from 3250 pupils (1605 girls and 1645 boys) aged 6 to 11 years old from the North-East of Romania. BMI was calculated based on height and weight, as well as agility through the 505 change of direction speed test. The sample was divided according to gender and age, and the differences and correlations were analysed. We assumed that our sample has a significant correlation of BMI with agility and that its strength increases with age, based on neural maturation. Children's results showed gender- and age-determined differences in anthropometric as well as motor skills. The development of Romanian girls and boys differs punctually at this stage, with the two genders having close BMI values at age 11. The time to complete the 505 test is close at age 6, with boys performing better by age 11. The correlation between BMI and agility has weak strength in the 6-11 years age group of Romanian students. It is significant in girls at 9 (r = 0.20) and 10 years (r = 0.15), and in boys from 7 (r = 0.20) to 10 years (r = 0.22). The data partially confirm our hypothesis, with the correlation existing in the 7-10 years age range, its strength having a fluctuating evolution. At 11 years the link between BMI and agility ceases to exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the growth intensification in the aquaculture industry it is desirable to ensure fish production and improve it in a sustainable manner. It is known that the protein source from fish diet is represented by the fish meal wich is very expensive. Obtaining fishmeal requires quite a lot of pressure on fish stocks in the natural environment due tu overfishing, which leads to a drastic reduction of stoks. For this reason, it is desirable to find sustainable alternative sources that can replace the protein from fish meal. Therefore, was tried the replacement with soy, sorghum or wheat meal, but their production involves a very large cultivation area. Recently, was made some research on the fish growth and welfare effect in case of replacement of fish meal with insect meal. In conclusion, it has been demonstrated that the insect meal has a much higher nutritional value and has a low impact on the environment (low footprint, less water and feed consuming), but the selection of optimal insect species for the production of protein for fish feed represents a considerable challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical pollution is a new area that has attracted interest because of its environmental detrimental effects. A major issue currently is the usage that leads to abuse, which leads to the further release of chemicals into the environment. A very wide range of pharmaceutical substances, from anti-epileptics, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, antidepressants or anti-diabetics, are present in the environment. These substances have been frequently detected in recent years from waste water, surface water, groundwater and even in drinking water. This has raised public health concerns and therefore further research studies are needed to fill the information gaps in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]