Asia Life Sciences

For the first time in Uzbekistan, an anatomical and histological study of the vegetative organs of Artemisia annua was carried out. When treated with a solution of methylene blue and safranine, drops of yellow essential oil are found in palisade spongy cells. Also, in the primary crust, parenchymal cells are filled with biologically active substances. The results obtained made it possible to determine a number of morphological, anatomical, histological and characteristic diagnostic signs for this species. These identified diagnostic signs can serve in the identification of plant materials

The entire world has fallen to a psychological panic as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and the pandemic has triggered extreme psychological stress, such as fear, anxiety, and depression in people worldwide. More than 80% of all diseases is related to stress, and extreme stress contributes to the onset of various diseases.This study used a one-group pretest-posttest design to investigate the effects of shortened self-foot reflexology on stress and depression in older women. Perceived stress and depression decreased in the experimental group, showing a significant change after shortenedself-foot reflexology. This pilot study confirmed the feasibility of a shortened self-foot reflexology and shed light on the possibility of developing a shortened self-foot reflexology to be applied in communities to reduce perceived stress and depression in older women during the current pandemic situation

The quality of maize grains was markedly affected by critical storage conditions, such as high relative humidity and high temperature. This experiment was performed to estimate quality of maize seeds (Zea mays L.) after ageing during 2020 season. Two-factorial experiment was performed with completely randomized design with three replications, using four maize hybrids (SC10, SC132, TWC360 and TWC368) and four levels of accelerated ageing (non-aged, artificially aged for 2, 4 and 6 days at 45o C temperature and 95% relative humidity).  Germination percentage, mean germination time, electrical conductivity, shoot and root lengths, seedling dry weight, seedling vigor index, protein content, oil content, and activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes were measured. The results showed that, responses of varied parameters to aging periods were significantly different in all traits. When aging time increased, there was a depression in all traits except for mean germination time and electrical conductivity which were increased. In addition, the studied traits were significantly different due to diverse maize hybrids. TWC368 was superior compared with other hybrids in most of the measured traits

Indonesia has very high fishery commodities production. It also has the potential to increase the economic condition of coastal communities. Grouper commodity contributes greatly in increasing the country's export. One obstacle that still affects the export is the quality of grouper commodities. Indonesian grouper often deals with parasitic infections. This study aimed to determine the type and prevalence of parasites that infect grouper commodities both cultivated, consumed and as ornamental fish in Buleleng Regency, Bali, Indonesia. Descriptive analysis was used in this research to clearly explain the prevalence of the infection. The results showed that 80 collected and examined grouper samples in fry, consumption, and ornamental commodities, nine samples were found to be positively infected. The type of parasite found was Trichodina sp. and Diplectanum sp. with a total prevalence of 11.25%. The target organs infected in tiger grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) commodities were gills and fins, showing the potential of quality reduction caused by parasite infection in grouper commodities. Prevention and curing action should be carried out to reduce further loss potential in the commodities of grouper in Buleleng, Bali

Polypharmacy is prevalent among the aging population and has been a public health concern worldwide. Polypharmacy can have various negative effects on health, thus increasing the healthcare costs among the elderly. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and risk factors of polypharmacy among community-dwelling elderly in South Korea using nationally representative sample data. This cross-sectional, descriptive study used data from the 4th wave of the Living Condition of Elderly Study in South Korea conducted in 2017. The data of 12,290 participants aged ≥65 years were analyzed. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more prescribed or non-prescribed medications for over 3 months. The prevalence of polypharmacy was 39.3%. The elderly showing a significant correlation with polypharmacy were predominantly women, older in age, less educated, and not married. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the greatest risk factor of polypharmacy was presence of angina or myocardial infarction (OR = 5.506, 95% CI = 4.528, 6.695, p < .001). The other risk factors included advanced age, a lower level of education, diagnoses of stroke, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, low back pain, and depression. This study found that the prevalence of polypharmacy in community-dwelling older adults in South Korea was high. When controlled for other variables, advanced age, a lower education level, cardiovascular diseases, low back pain, and depression were found to be independent risk factors of polypharmacy. Further studies need to be conducted regarding changes in the prevalence of polypharmacy over time and its relationships with different variables in the long term