Self-reported health status of older adults in Malaysia and Singapore: evidence from the 2007 Global Ageing Survey

The aim of this study is to investigate the correlates of self-reported health (SRH) among older adults in Malaysia and Singapore. The study uses data collected in the Global Ageing Study (GLAS) 2007, one of the largest surveys of its kind, specially designed to investigate attitudes towards later life, ageing and retirement. Data were collected from 1002 and 1004 respondents from Malaysia and Singapore respectively. The study found that Singaporeans report a healthier life than Malaysians. The two countries have consistent results with regard to the influences of selected covariates on individual health. Poorer health is more prevalent among people with lower education, among those widowed, divorced or separated, and those working in blue-collar occupations. Although social support is found to be an important determinant of SRH, the effects are partially confounded with other covariates. These findings enhance our knowledge about the health status of older people, and in turn will be useful for governments to ensure effective policy making

Kahler-Ricci flow on stable Fano manifolds

We study the Kahler-Ricci flow on Fano manifolds. We show that if the curvature is bounded along the flow and if the manifold is K-polystable and asymptotically Chow semistable, then the flow converges exponentially fast to a Kahler-Einstein metric.Comment: 19 page

Results of Epizootiological Survey on Plague and Other Zoonotic Infections in the Northern Provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam During Spring Months of 2019

Objective of the study is to detect circulation of plague agent and agents of other zoonotic infections (tularemia, pseudotuberculosis, leptospirosis, West Nile fever, Lassa fever, Dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, CrimeanCongo hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, Hantaviruses, tick-borne encephalitis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, and borreliosis) among small mammals and their ectoparasites in the territory of seven northern provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Materials and methods. We have carried out epizootiological survey of seven northern provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lào Cai, Hà Giang, Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, and Quảng Ninh). Over the period of the study, 3400 trap/nights were accumulated, 179 specimens of small mammals caught, belonging to 10 species, 213 fleas of seven different species – collected, and 143 specimens of gamaside ticks falling under two species. The material gathered was investigated using enzyme immunoassay and polymerase chain reaction at the premises of mobile laboratory for monitoring and diagnostics. Results and discussion. Two-fold testing of 136 blood samples from small mammals revealed antibodies to F1 of Y. pestis in 14 (10.3 %) of them. Investigation of 158 samples of lung and kidney suspensions of small mammals showed that 22 (13.9 %) samples contained 16S rRNA of pathogenic leptospira, Leptospira spp. Analysis of 60 brain samples for the presence of Leptospira spp. revealed three (5.0 %) positive ones. 25 samples of gamaside ticks were tested for the presence of the DNA of Q fever, plague, tularemia and granulocytic anaplasmosis agents, and for the RNA of tick-borne encephalitis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, and borreliosis agents. One sample (4 %) of gamaside ticks, Laelaps echidninus, contained RNA of Borrelia

Aberrant Splicing of the Senataxin Gene in a Patient with Ataxia with Oculomotor Apraxia Type 2

Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2) is caused by a diversity of mutations within the coding region of the senataxin gene. Recently, rare noncoding senataxin mutations affecting RNA processing have been identified in AOA2. Here, we report the case of an 18-year-old woman, with classic clinical features of AOA2, who was found to harbor a mutation within senataxin intron 16. This mutation disrupts the local 5′ splice site architecture via a novel intronic frameshift mechanism, causing skipping of exon 16 with predicted disruption of the conserved DNA/RNA helicase domain. RNA processing mutations expand the growing complexity of pathogenic senataxin mutations

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

Observation of the electromagnetic doubly OZI-suppressed decay J/ψ→ϕπ0J/\psi \rightarrow \phi \pi^{0}

Using a sample of $1.31$ billion $J/\psi$ events accumulated with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, we report the observation of the decay $J/\psi \rightarrow \phi\pi^{0}$, which is the first evidence for a doubly Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka suppressed electromagnetic $J/\psi$ decay. A clear structure is observed in the $K^{+} K^{-}$ mass spectrum around 1.02 GeV/$c^2$, which can be attributed to interference between $J/\psi \rightarrow \phi\pi^{0}$ and $J/\psi \rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{0}$ decays. Due to this interference, two possible solutions are found. The corresponding measured values of the branching fraction of $J/\psi \to \phi\pi^{0}$ are $[2.94 \pm 0.16\text{(stat.)} \pm 0.16\text{(syst.)}] \times 10^{-6}$ and $[1.24 \pm 0.33\text{(stat.)} \pm 0.30\text{(syst.)}] \times 10^{-7}$.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, published in Phys. Rev.

Synthesis of Novel Flower-Like Zn(OH)F via a Microwave-Assisted Ionic Liquid Route and Transformation into Nanoporous ZnO by Heat Treatment

Zinc hydroxide fluoride (Zn(OH)F) with novel flower-like morphology has been prepared via a microwave-assisted ionic liquid route. The flower-like Zn(OH)F particle has six petals and every petal is composed of lots of acicular nano-structure. Nanoporous ZnO is obtained by thermal decomposition of as-prepared Zn(OH)F in air, and the flower-like morphology is well retained. In the process of synthesis, ionic liquid 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate is used as both the reactant and the template

At the bottom of the differential diagnosis list: unusual causes of pediatric hypertension

Hypertension affects 1–5% of children and adolescents, and the incidence has been increasing in association with obesity. However, secondary causes of hypertension such as renal parenchymal diseases, congenital abnormalities and renovascular disorders still remain the leading cause of pediatric hypertension, particularly in children under 12 years old. Other less common causes of hypertension in children and adolescents, including immobilization, burns, illicit and prescription drugs, dietary supplements, genetic disorders, and tumors will be addressed in this review