Athletes' Opinions on Food Provision at European Athletics Championships: Implications for the Future.

In competitive events, athletes' performances can be affected by their food choices. In addition, nutrition labels are essential to sustain informed decisions and to allow athletes to comply with their dietary planning. Knowing what influences athletes' food choices will help to improve the food provision in future championships. Therefore, we aimed to study the factors influencing athletes' choices, their knowledge on nutrition labels, and their opinion on the food service at two European Athletics Championships. Questionnaires were completed by 339 athletes (57% males, 19.6 ± 1.3 years) competing at the 2019 European Athletics Under 20 and Under 23 Championships. Factors that may impact performance (time of the day and nutrient composition) were rated as important and very important by a higher percentage of athletes (78% and 74%, respectively) compared to the presence of teammates (32%) and the coach (23%). Among the athletes who knew what nutrition labels are (49%), 72% would like to have additional nutritional information in future championships. Furthermore, our study revealed that for most athletes (72%), food temperature is important or very important for food choices. Overall, food provision had positive results, but further research is needed to help organizers better tailor food provision to athletes' needs.

Risk of Low Energy Availability among Female and Male Elite Runners Competing at the 26th European Cross-Country Championships.

Low energy availability (LEA) causes impaired physiological functioning. Cross-country running is a weight-sensitive sport, making athletes more prone to LEA. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of elite European cross-country athletes at risk of LEA using the LEA in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) and to analyze demographic and physical characteristics that are associated with LEA. Athletes ≥ 18 years competing at the 26th European Cross-Country Championships (n = 602) were invited to complete a questionnaire (sociodemographic, training, anthropometric characteristics, and LEAF-Q). A total of 207 valid surveys were collected (83 females, 22.1 (4.0) years, and 124 males, 22.3 (4.1) years), and 16 surveys were excluded. A high prevalence of athletes at risk of LEA (64.3%) was observed, being higher in females than in males (79.5 and 54.0% respectively, p < 0.001). More than half of athletes (54.1%, n = 112) reported bowel movements once a week or more rarely, while 33 female athletes (41.3%) did not report normal menstruation. Overall, cross-country athletes are at high risk of LEA. Moreover, a high prevalence of gastrointestinal and menstrual impairments was reported. Hence, athletes should be followed by multidisciplinary teams to inform, prevent, and treat LEA and its effects.

Synthesis, characterization, absolute structural determination and antifungal activity of a new chlorinated aromatic avenaciolide analogue.

BACKGROUND: Avenaciolide, a natural product isolated from Aspergillus avenaceus H. Smith, possesses several interesting biological properties, such as antifungal and antibacterial activities and inhibition of glutamate transport in mitochondria. In a study aiming to discover new compounds with antifungal activity, a bis-gamma-lactone analogous to avenaciolide was prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, and infrared and NMR spectroscopy. RESULTS: The absolute structures of this compound and of the synthetic precursor (also a bis-gamma-lactone) were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The bis-gamma-lactones synthesized crystallize in the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), and the crystal packings are supported by C--H...O hydrogen bonds. The compound showed antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc., while the synthetic precursor was inactive under the in vitro test conditions employed. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that it is not only the bis-gamma-lactone skeleton that is important to antifungal activity. The latter also depends on the presence of the exocyclic double bond possibly due to a Michael addition type reaction with the fungal enzymes.

Inhibition and uncoupling of photosynthetic electron transport by diterpene lactone amide derivatives.

Nine diterpene lactone amide derivatives 1-9 were synthesized from 6-oxovouacapan-7beta,17beta-lactone, which was obtained from 6alpha,7beta-dihydroxyvouacapan-17beta-oic acid isolated from Pterodon polygalaeflorus Benth., and tested for their activity on photosynthetic electron transport. Amide derivatives 3-5 behaved as electron transport chain inhibitors; they inhibited the photophosphorylation and uncoupled non-cyclic electron transport from water to methylviologen (MV). Furthermore, 4 and 5 enhanced the basal electron rate acting as uncouplers. Compound 6 behaved as an uncoupler; it enhanced the light-activated Mg2+-ATPase and basal electron flow, without affecting the uncoupled non-cyclic electron transport. Compounds 1-2 and 7-9 were less active or inactive. Compounds 3-5 did not affect photosystem I (PSI); they inhibited photosystem II (PSII) from water to 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol (DCPIP). Compound 4 inhibited PSII from water to silicomolybdate (SiMo), but it had no effect on the reaction from diphenylcarbazide (DPC) to DCPIP indicating that its inhibition site was at the water splitting enzyme complex (OEC). Compounds 3 and 5 inhibited PSII from water to DCPIP without any effect from water to SiMo, therefore they inhibited the acceptor site of PSII. Chlorophyll a fluorescence kinetics confirmed the behaviour of 3-5.

Synthesis and antifungal activity of aromatic bis-gamma-lactones analogous to avenaciolide.

Avenaciolide is a bis-gamma-lactone isolated from Aspergillus avenaceus and possesses antifungal activity. Here, we describe the total syntheses and characterization by elemental analyses, and IR and NMR spectroscopy of three new bis-gamma-lactones analogous to avenaciolide, where the octyl group of the natural product was replaced by aromatic groups. The effects of the avenaciolide, the novel compounds, and their synthetic precursors on the mycelia development and conidia germination of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides were evaluated in vitro. The new compounds were as active as avenaciolide in the tested conditions, while the synthetic precursors were inactive. The preparation and characterization of 15 new synthetic intermediates are also described.