Participatory methods in surveillance and control of foot-and-mouth disease : how to better involve the farmers at local scale ?

This PhD thesis aimed at evaluating the contribution of participatory epidemiology (PE) to improve the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) surveillance and control activities, especially the involvement of farmers at local level. The first objective aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the FMD surveillance and vaccination strategy at local level by using PE approach. The second objective aimed at assessing the feasibility of applying PE tools to improve the involvement of farmers in the FMD surveillance in Vietnam. PE methods performed in our study included informal interviews (focus group and individual), scoring tools (pairwise ranking, proportional pilling, disease impact matrix scoring and disease signs matrix scoring), visualization tools (mapping, timeline, flow chart) and sociological tools called Q methodology. 122 focus groups, 467 individual interviews, 339 questionnaire surveys were performed during two field studies in 2014 and 2015. 409 sera and 152 probang samples were taken. Conventional questionnaire surveys, Bayesian modelling and laboratory test (ELISA and rtRT-PCR) was used to validate the performance of PE in FMD surveillance. Disease was considered as the most important issues in animal production. FMD was the most important disease for dairy cattle production, followed by haemorrhagic septicaemia. For beef cattle production, it was recorded in reverse order. The most important disease for pig production was porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome while FMD was ranked fourth. Farmers showed their abilities in differential diagnostic of important diseases based on its clinical symptoms. Sero-prevalence of FMD were estimated at 23% for population 1 (bordering with Cambodia) and 31% for population 2 (locating far from the border), respectively. Sensitivity and Specificity of PE were found to be 59% and 81%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive value were found to be 48% and 86% for population 1 and 58% and 81% for population 2, respectively. The presence of serotype A, lineage A/Asia/Sea-97 and serotype O with two separate lineages, O/ME-SA/PanAsia and O/SEA/Mya-98 supported virus circulation through trans-boundary animal movement activities. Dairy farms frequently applied quarantine, disinfection and vaccination as prevention methods. Beef farms preferred cleanliness and good husbandry management practices. Pig farms considered that all prevention methods had the same importance. Three distinct discourses “Believe”, “Confidence”, “Challenge”, representing common perceptions among farmers and accounting for 57.3 % of the variance, were identified based on Q methodology. Farmers take vaccination decisions themselves without being influenced by other stakeholders and feel more secure after FMD vaccination campaigns. However, part of the studied population did not consider vaccination to be the first choice of prevention strategy. The benefitcost ratio of FMD vaccination for dairy cow production in large-scale and in small-scale and meat cattle production were 37.2, 30.0 and 7.3, respectively. The sensibility analysis showed that FMD vaccination was profitable for all of production types even through the increase of vaccine cost and decrease of market price of milk and slaughter cattle. From the focus groups organized at sentinel villages, 18 new villages were identified as potentially infected by FMD. 77 suspected animals were confirmed positive for FMD, with viral serotypes O and A. Sensitivity and specificity of participatory surveillance were recorded at 0.75 and 0.65, respectively. The effectiveness of PE in FMD surveillance system to detect outbreak in Vietnam was demonstrated. It was demonstrated that vaccination was the most effective and economic method to prevent FMD. Through the application of simple, adaptive tools which facilitate direct and active participation of farmers, PE allowed to reach a better acceptability of surveillance and to obtain qualified information

The perception of crowding, quality and well-being:a study of Vietnamese public health services

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the perception of crowding by medical staff and patients impacts patients’ perceived service quality (SQ), overall satisfaction and emotional well-being. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 258 matched pairs of medical staff members and their patients at six public hospitals. Findings: Medical staff-perceived crowding negatively influences patients’ perceived SQ. The perceived SQ then impacts patients’ overall satisfaction and emotional well-being. Patients’ perceived crowding does not significantly impact their perceived SQ but increases the positive emotional well-being of patients. Originality/value: Scant research has investigated a matched pair of service providers and their customers. This study concentrates on how individuals’ perceived human crowding and medical staff SQ affect consumers’ emotional well-being. This research leads to the formulation of theoretical and public policy suggestions to improve the quality of interactive services with minimal cost and disruption.</p

Autologous Transplantation of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells to Treat Acute Spinal Cord Injury: Evaluation of Clinical Signs, Mental Signs, and Quality of Life

BACKGROUD: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage that can cause a temporary or permanent change in spinal cord functions AIM: This work evaluates clinical signs, mental signs, and quality of life (QoL) after autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) transplantation to treat acute spinal cord injury (SCI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, 47 SCI patients were recruited and divided into two groups: intervention and control. ADSCs were isolated and cultured under the cell culture quality control procedure. All patients in both groups underwent neurosurgery with or without ADSC transplantation. The recovery regarding neurological muscle, QoL, neurogenic bladder, and mental improvement was assessed after transplantation. RESULTS: All patients had improved in terms of motor function, bladder function, and daily living. No patients reported any side effect. MRI imaging showed significant changes in the lesion length of the spinal canal and the thickening of the spinal cord. Mental improvement was highest at six months after transplantation and lowest at one month after transplantation. The proportion of patients whose quality of life improved after treatment was 100%, while 80% of patients were satisfied with treatment outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, our data suggested that ADSCs transplantation was safe and effective for the treatment of SCI patients. Neurological muscle and neurogenic bladder were improved significantly after transplantation

Impacts of Economic Development on the Living Conditions of Ethnic Minority People in the Border Region of Northern Vietnam

Purpose:   In this study, we examine the effects of the economic development policies of the Vietnamese government on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Theoretical framework: We examine the impact of economic changes, societal changes, and environmental improvements on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The collected data was subsequently cleaned and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with the aid of SPSS 20 software.     Findings: The results show that the current Vietnamese government’s policies on developing agriculture, industry, trade, and service for ethnic minority people have a diverse impact on their living conditions. In general, agriculture, trade, and service are major fields that benefit the living conditions of ethnic minorities. In contrast, the industry seems to have no effects on improving the standard of living of ethnic minority people in Northern Vietnam.   Research, practical &amp; social implications: The results of this study provide suggestion to Vietnamese government on promoting living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Originality/Value: This is the first paper evaluates the impact of the economic development policies of the Vietnamese government on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam

Multichannel Photon Counting Lidar Measurements Using USB-based Digital Storage Oscilloscope

We present a simple method of making multichannel photon counting measurements of weak lidar signal from large ranges, using commonly available USB-based digital storage oscilloscopes. The single photon pulses from compact photomultiplier tubes are amplified and stretched so that the pulses are large and broad enough to be sampled efficiently by the USB oscilloscopes. A software interface written in Labview is then used to count the number of photon pulses in each of the prescribed time bins to form the histogram of LIDAR signal. This method presents a flexible alternative to the modular multichannel scalers and facilitate the development of sensitive lidar systems