Childhood Obesity: Epidemiology - A Social and Cultural Perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the social and cultural aspects of the epidemiology of childhood obesity among local populations in Houston, TX. Methods: Review of recent journal articles, studies, and surveys regarding the relationship between childhood obesity and other social factors, including race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, and parental behaviors. Literatures should contain not just quantitative data or listing of social and cultural factors affecting childhood obesity, but also discuss how these factors accomplish that. Literatures are analyzed and compared for consistencies and inconsistencies. Results: The findings are divided into three sections: socioeconomic factors, ethno-cultural factors, and familial and parental influences. Socioeconomic factors include living environment and financial limitations of low-income neighborhoods. Ethno-cultural factors include cultural context of food and eating habits, as well as traditional uses and meanings of food within ethnic groups and society and differences in body image perspectives. Familial and parental influences include how parental beliefs and perception of obesity affect feeding behaviors, diet, and physical activity level of children. Conclusions: Childhood obesity goes beyond the genetic and environmental implications. The socioeconomic and ethno-cultural factors, along with familial influences are also important determinants involved in this complicated relationship surrounding childhood obesity. Research into attitudes and behaviors of minority populations, from the community to the family level, is an important and needed area of research. Understanding the interaction and interdependence of genetic, environmental, and social influences would provide a strong base for educating and addressing misconceptions and unhealthy beliefs among health care providers, educators, and parents regarding childhood obesity

ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND USE IN VIETNAM IN CONDITIONS OF INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT

The article presents the results of analysis of ecological and economic features of agricultural land use, characterizing the main aspects of land resources management in terms of spatial and territorial conditions, soil quality, natural landscape conditions. Various methods of analyzing the efficiency of agricultural land use are analyzed. The aspects of the ecological and economic analysis of agricultural land use in Vietnam under the conditions of innovative development are considered. Environmental factors affecting land use are given. Recommendations for improving the ecological and economic efficiency of agricultural land use are presented

Plus and minus ends of microtubules respond asymmetrically to kinesin binding by a long-range directionally driven allosteric mechanism

Although it is known that majority of kinesin motors walk predominantly toward the plus end of microtubules (MTs) in a hand-over-hand manner, the structural origin of the stepping directionality is not understood. To resolve this issue, we modeled the structures of kinesin-1 (Kin1), MT, and the Kin1-MT complex using the elastic network model and calculated the residue-dependent responses to a local perturbation in the constructs. Kin1 binding elicits an asymmetric response that is pronounced in α/β-tubulin dimers in the plus end of the MT. Kin1 opens the clefts of multiple plus end α/β-tubulin dimers, creating binding-competent conformations, which is required for processivity. Reciprocally, MT induces correlations between switches I and II in the motor and enhances fluctuations in adenosine 5′-diphosphate and the residues in the binding pocket. Our findings explain both the directionality of stepping and MT effects on a key step in the catalytic cycle of kinesin

Extremely Hot Ambient Temperature and Injury-related Mortality

This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effects of extremely hot ambient temperatures on the total number of fatal injuries. Data were collected from a population-based mortality registry of Thanh Hoa, a province in the North Central region of Vietnam. This study qualified the distributed lag non-linear model and calculated the RR and 95% CI adjusted for long-term trend and absolute humidity. For the entire study population with 3,949 registered deaths due to injuries collected during 2005-2007, after the onset of extremely hot ambient temperatures, an increased risk of death was observed on the 9th day RR (95% CI) = 1.44 (1.06–1.97) and reached the peak on the 12th day RR (95% CI) = 1.58 (1.14–2.17), and at the 15th day RR (95% CI) = 1.49 (1.08–2.06). Men and old adults were identified as the most vulnerable groups. This study confirmed a positive association between hot temperatures and injury-related deaths in the province of 3.6 million people. The findings motivated further investigation into the effect of warm climate changes and the risk of deaths related to other specific causes such as road traffic, work-related injury, and etc

The Association Between Ambient Temperatures and Hospital Admissions Due to Respiratory Diseases in the Capital City of Vietnam

This study aimed to examine the short-term effects of ambient temperature on hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases among Hanoi residents. We collected 34,653 hospital admissions for 365 days (November 1, 2017, to November 31, 2018) from two hospitals in Hanoi. A quasi-Poisson regression model with time series analysis was used to explore the temperature-health outcome relationship's overall pattern. The non-linear curve indicated the temperatures with the lowest risk range from 22 degrees (Celcius) to 25 degrees (Celcius). On average, cold temperatures showed a higher risk than hot temperatures across all genders and age groups. Hospital admissions risk was highest at 13 degrees (Celcius) (RR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.26–1.54) for cold effects and at 33 degrees (Celcius) (RR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.04–1.39) for the hot effects. Temporal pattern analysis showed that the most effect on respiratory diseases occurred at a lag of 0 days for hot effect and at a lag of 1 day for cold effect. The risk of changing temperature among women and people over 5 years old was higher than other groups. Our results suggest that the risk of respiratory admissions was greatest when the temperature was low. Public health prevention programs should be enhanced to improve public awareness about the health risks of temperature changes, especially respiratory diseases risked by low temperatures

Environmental contamination with clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile in Vietnam

AIMS: To investigate the prevalence, molecular type, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridioides difficile in the environment in Vietnam, where little is known about C. difficile. METHODS AND RESULTS: Samples of pig faeces, soils from pig farms, potatoes, and the hospital environment were cultured for C. difficile. Isolates were identified and typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotyping. The overall prevalence of C. difficile contamination was 24.5% (68/278). Clostridioides difficile was detected mainly in soils from pig farms and hospital soils, with 70%-100% prevalence. Clostridioides difficile was isolated from 3.4% of pig faecal samples and 5% of potato surfaces. The four most prevalent ribotypes (RTs) were RTs 001, 009, 038, and QX574. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole, fidaxomicin, vancomycin, and amoxicillin/clavulanate, while resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline, and moxifloxacin was common in toxigenic strains. Clostridioides difficile RTs 001A+B+CDT- and 038A-B-CDT- were predominantly multidrug resistant. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental sources of C. difficile are important to consider in the epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Vietnam, however, contaminated soils are likely to be the most important source of C. difficile. This poses additional challenges to controlling infections in healthcare settings