The triple burden of malnutrition (TBM) is a growing public health issue worldwide. This study examined the prevalence and association between undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs), and the key demographic and socioeconomic determinants, among Vietnamese children, using the nationally representative General Nutrition Survey (GNS) 2020(1).

The GNS 2020 was reviewed and approved by the Ethical Committee of the National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant and/or their parents prior to data collection. Data on anthropometric parameters, micronutrients biomarkers, demographic and socioeconomic indicators for 7,289 children aged 6 months to 9 years old were analysed(1). All analyses were weighted and accounted for complex survey design using svyset commands in STATA. Age-specific and region-specific prevalence of malnutrition were examined. Determinants of malnutrition were assessed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions, crude or adjusted odds ratio (OR/AOR) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported.

Overall, the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting/thinness of children was 12.7%, 10.5%, and 4.7%, respectively, in 2020. This finding underscores that child stunting reduction in Vietnam is on track towards the target of 40% reduction by 2025 set by the Global Nutrition Targets(2) (<20%). Meanwhile overweight and obesity among school aged children is off track the target(2), with the prevalence in urban areas increasing from 8.5% in 2010 to 31% in 2020. Low serum zinc, anaemia and iron deficiency (ID) were the common MNDs observed, affecting 53.1%, 15.2%, and 13.9% of children. Prevalence of low serum retinol was relatively low (<7%). In the bivariate regressions, older child (2-4 years old) [OR (95% CI): 1.43 (1.20, 1.72)], ethnic minorities [5.94 (3.78, 9.36)], and living in mountainous areas [5.06 (1.18, 14.42)] had increased odds of stunting, whereas reduced odds were found in children from the richest quintile [0.13 (0.05, 0.32)]. Similar determinants were found to be associated with underweight and MNDs. Males [1.43 (1.16, 1.76)], older children (5-9 years old) [10.02 (6.71, 14.97), and children from the richest quintile [2.91 (1.20, 7.05)] had increased odds of overweight. After adjusting for covariates including age, sex, region, wealth index and inflammation, children with anaemia, low serum retinol and low serum zinc had increased odds of stunting and underweight than non-micronutrient deficient children (AOR = 1.43-1.71). Compared to children without MNDs, those with ≥3 MNDs had almost double the odds of stunting and underweight, whereas those with ≤3 MNDs had reduced odds of overweight (AOR = 0.38−0.60).

TBM is becoming a major public health concern for Vietnamese children, and significant demographic variation and socioeconomic inequalities in malnutrition were observed. These findings suggest that national policies and programmes in Vietnam should address age-specific, sex-specific, geographical and socioeconomic disparities to accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition.

The cognitive deterioration of politicians is a critical emerging issue. As professions including law and medicine develop and implement cognitive assessments, their insights may inform the proper strategy within politics. The aging, lifetime-appointed judiciary raises legal and administrative questions of such assessments, while testing of older physicians experiencing cognitive decline provides real-life examples of implementation. In politics, cognitive assessment must contend with the field’s unique challenges, also taking context-dependent interpretations of cognitive-neuropsychological status into account. These perspectives, from legal and medical experts, political scientists, and officeholders, can contribute toward an equitable, functioning, and non-discriminatory system of assessing cognition that educates the public and enables politicians to maintain their public responsibilities. With proper implementation and sufficient public knowledge, we believe cognitive assessments for politicians, particularly political candidates, can be valuable for maintaining properly functioning governance. We offer recommendations on the development, implementation, and execution of such assessments, grappling with their democratic and legal implications.

Although in recent decades progress has been made in reducing the global burden of micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs), nonetheless MNDs prevalence remains high in some populations(1). Among the micronutrients, deficiencies in iron, zinc and vitamin A are particularly prevalent, and causally associated with adverse health outcomes for children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and associations between MNDs and components of the double burden of malnutrition in female adolescents utilizing the nationally representative Vietnam General Nutrition Survey 2020.

1,471 female adolescents were included and categorised into: pre-adolescent (10-12-year-old), middle-adolescent (13-15-year-old), and late-adolescent (16-18-year-old) groups. Biomarkers of micronutrients, anthropometry, and sociodemographic data were selected for analyses. WHO growth reference values were applied to define stunting (height-for-age z-score (HAZ) < −2 SD), thinness (BMI-for-age z-score (BAZ) < −2 SD) and overweight (BAZ > 1). Iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin<15μg/L (<70 μg/L for individuals with inflammation), vitamin A insufficiency (VAI) as serum retinol<1.05 μmol/L, zinc deficiency was based on Zinc International Consultative Group Recommendation, and inflammation as C-reactive protein >5 mg/L or α1-acid glycoprotein >1 g/L. One or multiple MNDs were defined as individuals with ≥ 1 MNDs.

Data were analysed by STATA 17 (STATA Corporation, US). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed based on the sampling weight adjustments for the estimation at population level. Multivariate logistic regressions between MNDs and growth indicators were presented as crude (COR) and 95% confidence intervals or adjusted odds ratio (AOR), after adjusting for sociodemographic variables (age, ecological area, demographic, ethnicity, and wealth index) and inflammation.

Compared to the pre-adolescent group, prevalence of stunting doubled in late adolescence (12.4% to 26.8%). Meanwhile, the prevalence of overweight and thinness decreased with age (29.7% to 22.0% and 9.4% to 2.7%, respectively). Overall, the prevalence of MNDs increased with age. Zinc deficiency occurred most often in the entire cohort (39.8% in 10-18) and contributed the most to multi-MNDs. Prevalence of one or multiple MNDs increased with age, from 58.1% in pre-adolescence to 80% in late adolescence. In logistic regression analyses adjusting for inflammation and sociodemographic factors, stunting increased the risk of having ≥1 MNDs (AOR: 1.94 (1.3, 2.88), p=0.002), but not individual MND alone. Thinness increased the risk of VAI (AOR: 2.38 (1.34, 4.22), p=0.005). No association was found between any MND and overweight, although overweight was protective against zinc deficiency (COR: 0.76 (0.59, 0.99), p=0.04) in the unadjusted model.

Female late adolescents in Vietnam had a higher prevalence of stunting and MNDs, but lower prevalence of thinness and overweight in comparison to pre-adolescents. Stunting was a risk factor associated with having one or multiple MNDs. Thinness was associated with higher risk of VAI. No association was found between overweight and MNDs in this cohort.

Competition among the two-plasmon decay (TPD) of backscattered light of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), filamentation of the electron-plasma wave (EPW) and forward side SRS is investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Our previous work [K. Q. Pan et al., Nucl. Fusion 58, 096035 (2018)] showed that in a plasma with the density near 1/10 of the critical density, the backscattered light would excite the TPD, which results in suppression of the backward SRS. However, this work further shows that when the laser intensity is so high ($>{10}^{16}$ W/cm2) that the backward SRS cannot be totally suppressed, filamentation of the EPW and forward side SRS will be excited. Then the TPD of the backscattered light only occurs in the early stage and is suppressed in the latter stage. Electron distribution functions further show that trapped-particle-modulation instability should be responsible for filamentation of the EPW. This research can promote the understanding of hot-electron generation and SRS saturation in inertial confinement fusion experiments.

The FU Orionis (FUor) and EX Lupi (EXor) type objects are rare pre-main sequence low-mass stars undergoing accretion outbursts. Maser emission is widespread and is a powerful probe of mass accretion and ejection on small scales in star forming region. However, very little is known about the overall prevalence of water masers towards FUors/Exors. We present results from our survey using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope to observe the largest sample of FUors and EXors, plus additional Gaia alerted sources (with the potential nature of being eruptive stars), a total of 51 targets, observing the 22.2 GHz H2O maser, while simultaneously covering the NH3 23 GHz.

We analyzed the 3 mm wavelength spectral line survey of 408 clumps from the APEX telescope large area survey of the Galaxy, focusing on the methanol maser transitions. The main goals of this study are (1) to search for new methanol masers, (2) to statistically study the relationship between class I masers and shock tracers, (3) to study the properties between methanol masers and their host clumps, also as a function of their evolutionary stages and, (4) to better constrain the physical conditions using multiple co-spatial line pairs.

Extant research indicates that Chinese higher education has overlooked creativity. However, based on indirect clues, we infer that the degree of emphasis on creativity and related courses in Chinese higher education has changed. Therefore, we conducted a survey using a questionnaire to compare the creativity-related courses and adopted creativity methods in higher education between China and developed countries. The results indicate that participation rates and assessments of creativity-related courses, adopted creativity methods, and evaluations differ between China and developed countries.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization stressed the importance of daily clinical assessments of infected patients, yet current approaches frequently consider cross-sectional timepoints, cumulative summary measures, or time-to-event analyses. Statistical methods are available that make use of the rich information content of longitudinal assessments. We demonstrate the use of a multistate transition model to assess the dynamic nature of COVID-19-associated critical illness using daily evaluations of COVID-19 patients from 9 academic hospitals. We describe the accessibility and utility of methods that consider the clinical trajectory of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Former lakes and wetlands can provide valuable insights to the late Pleistocene environments encountered by the first humans to enter the Levant from Africa. Fluvial incision along Wadi Gharandal in hyperarid southern Jordan has exposed remnants of a small riverine wetland that accumulated as a sedimentary sequence up to ~20 m thick. We conducted a chronometric and sedimentological study of this wetland, including 10 optically stimulated luminescence dates. The wetland sequence accumulated during the period ~125 to 70 ka in response to a positive water balance coupled with a (possibly coseismic) landslide that dammed the outlet. The valley fill was dissected when the dam was incised shortly after ~36 ± 3 ka. Comparison of our ages with regional palaeoclimate indicates that the Gharandal oasis developed during the relatively humid Marine Isotope Stage 5. A minimum age of 74 ± 7 ka for two Levallois flakes collected from stratified sediments suggests that the oasis was visited by humans during the critical 130–90 ka time window of human migration out of Africa. Gharandal joins a growing network of freshwater sites that enabled humans to cross areas of the Levant and Arabia along corridors of human dispersal.

KRTAP8-1 was the initial high-glycine-tyrosine keratin-associated protein gene recognized in sheep, but little is known about the functional influence of this gene. The current study used polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism analysis to genotype KRTAP8-1 in 391 Southdown × Merino-cross sheep from six sire-lines. Five previously described variants (named A to E) of KRTAP8-1 were identified with frequencies of 67.0, 14.2, 7.0, 10.7 and 1.0%, respectively. Of the four variants (A, B, C and D) that occurred at a frequency greater than 5%, the presence of C was found to be associated with a reduction in mean fibre curvature (MFC) and the presence of D was associated with an increase in mean staple strength (MSS), whereas the presence of A had a trend of association with reduced MSS. Associations were not identified with other wool traits. These results suggest that variation in KRTAP8-1 affects MSS and MFC, and that KRTAP8-1 has the potential to be used as a genetic marker for improving these traits.

Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are constituents of wool and hair fibres and are believed to play an important role in determining the characteristics of the fibres. In the current study, a polymerase chain reaction-single stranded conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) approach was used to screen for variation in the ovine KAP15-1 gene (KRTAP15-1). Four PCR-SSCP banding patterns, representing four different variants (named A to D), were detected. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms were found within the coding region and three of these were non-synonymous. The effect of this genetic variation on wool traits was investigated in 396 Merino × Southdown-cross sheep. Of the three variants found in these sheep (A, B and C), the presence of B was found to be associated with decreased wool yield, while C was associated with increased wool yield and decreased fibre diameter standard deviation. Sheep of genotype AC had a higher wool yield than those of genotype AA or AB.

Hepatitis E is an important zoonosis that is prevalent in China. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a pathogen that affects humans and animals and endangers public health in China. In this study, the detection of HEV epidemics in swine in Sichuan Province, China, was carried out by nested real-time PCR. A total of 174 stool samples and 160 bile samples from swine in Sichuan Province were examined. In addition, software was used to analyse the biological evolution of HEV. The results showed that within 2 years of swine HEV (SHEV) infection in China, SHEV was first detected in Sichuan Province. HEV was endemic in Sichuan; the positive rate for pig farms was 11.1%, and the total positive sample rate was 10.5%. The age of swine with the highest positive rate (17.9%) was 5–9 weeks. The examined swine species in order of highest to lowest HEV infection rates were Chenghua pig, Large White, Duroc, Pietrain, Landrace and Hampshire. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence analysis showed that the HEV epidemic in swine in Sichuan Province was related to genotype IV, which had the highest homology to HEV in Beijing. Sichuan strains have greater variation than Chinese representative strains, which may indicate the presence of new HEV strains.