Difference in quality of life and associated factors among the elderly in rural Vietnam

Background. In Vietnam today, many generations remain living together in a family. With escalating urbanization and population aging, mental health disorders and the quality of life (QoL) among the elderly are gradually presenting themselves as of great concern. The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in QoL and some associated factors among the elderly in rural Vietnam using the QoL scale of WHO (WHOQOL-BREF). Methods. A cross-sectional study using quantitative methods. Results and Conclusions. The proportion of the elderly men having higher level of QoL in physical health, psychological health and environment was higher than that of their women counterparts. Reversely, of those having medium and lower QoL, females made up a larger proportion than males. The overall QoL score in elderly men (75.32) was higher than that of women (72.32) and the same pattern was witnessed in all four domains of QoL. While higher QoL in elderly men was significantly correlated with 5 factors, aged ≥ 80 years, following Buddhism and Christianity, having better connection and without illness in the past 6 months, these among female counterparts are aged ≥ 80 years, completing secondary level or above, having medium and high socioeconomic status and without illness in the last 6 months. © 2017, Pacini Editore S.p.A. All rights reserved

Smoke-free environment policy in Vietnam : what did people see and how did they react when they visited various public places?

Introduction. Since Vietnam has signed WHO framework on tobacco control (FCTC) in 2003 and has issued tobacco control law in 2013, there has been little research concerning about what impacts smoke-free regulations have had on public compliance. The objective of this study was to assess public exposure to secondhand smoke and reaction toward smoke-free policy regulations in Vietnam and the associated factor. Methods. Using the design of GATS (Global Adult Tobacco Survey), a nationally representative sample of 8,996 adults were approached for data collection. Logistic regression was used to examine the associated factor. Results. The study revealed that the prevalence of respondents exposed to secondhand smoke was much higher in bars/café/tea shops (90.07%) and restaurants (81.81%) than in any other public places, universities (36.70%), government buildings (31.12%), public transport (20.04%), healthcare facilities (17.85%) and schools (15.84%). 13.23% of respondents saw smokers violate smoke-free regulations. Among those who saw them violate smoke-free regulations, just onethird cautioned them to stop smoking. Strikingly, a higher rate of cautioning smokers to stop smoking was observed among the older, married, and better educated respondents. Respondents who were married, better educated and in lower economic status were more likely to remind smokers to stop smoking. Conclusions. The study has called for strengthening two of the six MPOWER (Monitor, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforce and Raise) components of the tobacco free initiative introduced by WHO, Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies and Protecting people from tobacco smoke. © 2019 Pacini Editore SPA. All rights reserved. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Huy Nguyen” is provided in this record*

Frequency Bin Entangled Photons

A monochromatic laser pumping a parametric down conversion crystal generates frequency entangled photon pairs. We study this experimentally by addressing such frequency entangled photons at telecommunication wavelengths (around 1550 nm) with fiber optics components such as electro-optic phase modulators and narrow band frequency filters. The theory underlying our approach is developed by introducing the notion of frequency bin entanglement. Our results show that the phase modulators address coherently up to eleven frequency bins, leading to an interference pattern which can violate a Bell inequality adapted to our setup by more than five standard deviations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures (extended version