Association between visual status and mental health status in Thai rural elderly:a community-based study

AIM：To evaluate the association between visual impairment（VI） and mental health or social engagement in older adults living in rural Thailand.METHODS：Data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from a community survey conducted in 2015 in Saraburi Province,Thailand.Participants were 327 adults aged ≥50 y.VI was assessed using presenting distance visual acuity.Mental health and social engagement were evaluated in face-to-face interviews using validated questionnaires.After determining the prevalence of VI and relevant sociodemographic characteristics,multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate the impact of VI on mental health and social engagement.RESULTS：The prevalence of VI was 18.3%.Major causes were refractive error（58.3%） and cataract（35%）.Factors associated with VI in the crude analysis were：older age [odds ratio（OR） 8.08],unemployment（OR 2.72）,widowhood（OR 2.47）,being divorced/separated（OR 3.27）,smoking（OR 2.09） and disability in activities of daily living（OR 2.35）.Protective factors were undergoing eye screening at least once a year（P=0.029） and obesity（P=0.005）.VI was significantly associated with low social engagement（adjusted OR 4.13） but not with poor mental health（P〉0.05）.CONCLUSION：Although VI older adults reported less participation in social activities,there is no significant association between VI and poor mental health.Annual eye examinations may prevent VI in older adults.Information about employment and anti-smoking should be targeted to older adults with VI.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors in South-Eastern Nigeria: A Community Based Survey

Background: Cardiovascular risk factors play a major role in cardiovascular disease burden worldwide. The prevalence is known to be in the increase especially in the developing countries. There is need for timely community based studies in order to keep tab with the current scope. It is against this background that we embarked on this cross-sectional community based study of the prevalence of selected cardiovascular risk factors in semi-urban community in Abakaliki Southeastern part of Nigeria in October 2016. Method: The consecutive consenting persons of 18 years and above were screened for selected cardiovascular risk factors in October 2016. Results: A total of 1074 adults were seen (males-567, females-507) with age range of 18 - 80 years and mean age of 35.63 ± 12.45 years. They were predominantly farmers, petty traders and artisans. The identified CVD risk factors were hypertension 285 (26.4%), alcohol abuse 131 (12.1%), obesity 122 (11.3%), diabetes 97 (9%), family history of stroke 87 (8.1%), smoking 74 (6.9%) and previous stroke 29 (2.7%). Conclusion: The cardiovascular risk factors were quite prevalent with male preponderance of alcohol abuse and smoking.

Drinking Water as Iron Carrier for the Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia:The Brazilian Experience

On a global base, estimated 2 billion people are iron deficient and/or anemic with small children and child bearing age most likely to be the ones affected. These high levels of world anemia prevalence have been maintained and even growing in spite of the global and national food fortification programmes carried out in several places. These have been based on the iron fortification of local foods. In Brazil a wheat flour iron fortification program has been going on for several years and the anemia prevalence has been going on as a still large public health problem. We started since the nineties and in several under five day care centers, in various part of Brazil a new program using drinking water as the iron carrier for the prevention of iron deficiency anemia. It was shown through several studies in different places in Brazil that drinking water being available everywhere, daily consumed by everyone, children, adults and old people have shown to be effective for the prevention of iron anemia. Iron salts are low-priced, water soluble, effective, easily and locally prepared, should be known and accepted as a rational, practical and effective locally community preventive solution for iron anemia, still a great problem of our developing and underdeveloped countries of the world.

Study Tour on Community Forestry and Agroforestry Approaches in China

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SECURITY OF USE RIGHT FOR FOREST LAND AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY-A Case Study of the CompensatedTransfer of Use Right over CollectiveWasteland in Yao'an County

1Background1.1BasicsituationofstudysiteYao'ancountyislocatedinthenorthwesternpartofcentralYunnanplateau.ItisoneoftheimportantgrainProductionbasecountiesofYunnanProvince.HanandYiarethemainethnicgroupsinthisprovince.BanliuAdministrativeVillagebelongsto...

Impact of preozonation on the bioactivity and biodiversity of subsequent biofilters under low temperature conditions-- A pilot study

The combination of preozonation and subsequent biological granular activated carbon （O3/BAC） filtration is well known as a promising method for the removal of many pollutants. Temperature and nutrients are the dominant factors in external conditions to influence the biological communities. To explore the influence of preozonation under low temperature, the factors such as dissolved oxygen （DO）, dissolved organic carbon （DOC） and NH4^＋-N were analyzed from the sampling ports every week; triphenyl tetrazolium ehloride-dehydrogenase activity （TTC-DHA） and the nitrifying activity were detected along the bed height ofbiofilter at four levels （10. 40. 70 and i 10 cm） on the 90th, 110th, and 130th day; ~nicrobial community, based on 16S rRNA gene-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE）, was monitored on the 130th day of the operation. The observed microbial property showed that preozonation had a positive influence on bioactivity, biomass and nitrifying activity. Community analysis showed no significant difference on the biodiversity of nitrifying bacteria between the parallel filters in the inlet end based on the method employed. This result showed that biofilters＇ performance is not correlated well with microbial biodiversity. The elevated functionality in O3/BAC filters can be a result of increased microbial activity, which was promoted by preozonation.