43 research outputs found

    DARK SOIL PITS AND GRAVES IN VOLCANIC CAVE C6.1, KRONG NO, DAK NONG PROVINCE: DOCUMENTATION AND DISCUSSION

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    Dark soil pits and graves are critical documents discovered in volcanic cave C6.1. As a result of the investigation and excavation of cave C6.1 conducted in 2017, 2018, and 2019, we have discovered vestiges of nine dark soil pits and seven relatively intact graves, together with teeth and other human remains scattered in the cultural layer. This is an important source of information on the racial composition of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Central Highlands during the Neolithic period, as well as the paleoenvironment, environmental adaptations, and flora and fauna that prehistoric inhabitants exploited for their livelihoods. This article introduces documents and reconstructs the socioeconomic picture of the prehistoric inhabitants of cave C6.1. It also contributes scientific documents for the general conservation and promotion of heritage to develop sustainable cultural tourism in Dak Nong Province

    When Intervention Becomes Imperative: A Case Report of Spontaneous Vulvar Edema During Pregnancy

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    Spontaneous idiopathic vulvar edema during the second trimester is a rare condition. The approach to managing this condition involves relieving symptoms, identifying underlying causes, and implementing appropriate treatment. Managing such cases during pregnancy is challenging because of concerns for potential adverse fetal outcomes. Conservative management expects the condition to be relieved spontaneously postpartum, whereas invasive treatment offers a more rapid resolution. Treatment choices are controversial because each method has its pros and cons and influences the delivery process to a certain extent. Surgical drainage becomes a viable option when patients are not responsive to medications. We report a case of spontaneous massive vulvar edema in a 22-year-old primigravida in her 23rd week of pregnancy. After ruling out other notable causes of vulvar edema, we decided to intervene using an invasive procedure because she complained of progressive symptoms and discomfort. Subsequently, the edema subsided postprocedure, and the patient experienced successful labor with no complications. This report aims to alert clinicians that drainage attempts should be considered in pregnant patients with worsening symptoms

    Research to support and inform the development, implementation and/or evaluation of tobacco control policies in relation to the framework convention on tobacco control in low and middle-income countries

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    In order to enforce policies on tobacco control in Vietnam, reliable information on health and socio-economic hazards associated with tobacco farming is needed. The study investigates the harmful impact of tobacco cultivation and processing on health of tobacco farmers in a rural community in northern Vietnam. Objectives included estimation of health care costs as well as health beliefs related to tobacco cultivation and processing. The health of those who cultivate the crop is constantly put in peril. The study confirms that tobacco farming does not bring prosperity to the farmers while causing them a lot of health problems, especially among women

    Viral Etiology of Encephalitis in Children in Southern Vietnam: Results of a One-Year Prospective Descriptive Study

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    Viral encephalitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. However little is known about the causes of the disease due to a lack of diagnostic facilities in this relatively resource-poor setting. Knowledge about the etiologies and clinical outcome of viral encephalitis is necessary for future design of intervention studies targeted at improvement of clinical management, treatment and prevention of the disease. We report the viral agents, clinical outcome and prognostic factors of mortality of encephalitis in children admitted to a referral hospital for children in southern Vietnam. We show that about one third of the enrolled patients die acutely, and that mortality is independently associated with patient age and Glasgow Coma Scale on admission. Japanese encephalitis, dengue virus and enterovirus (including enterovirus 71) are the major viruses detected in our patients. However, more than half of the patients remain undiagnosed, while mortality in this group is as high as in the diagnosed group. This study will benefit clinicians and public health in terms of clinical management and prevention of childhood encephalitis in Vietnam

    Adjunctive dexamethasone for the treatment of HIV-uninfected adults with tuberculous meningitis stratified by Leukotriene A4 hydrolase genotype (LAST ACT): Study protocol for a randomised double blind placebo controlled non-inferiority trial [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

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    Background: Tuberculosis kills more people than any other bacterial infection worldwide. In tuberculous meningitis (TBM), a common functional promoter variant (C/T transition) in the gene encoding leukotriene A4 hydrolase (LTA4H), predicts pre-treatment inflammatory phenotype and response to dexamethasone in HIV-uninfected individuals. The primary aim of this study is to determine whether LTA4H genotype determines benefit or harm from adjunctive dexamethasone in HIV-uninfected Vietnamese adults with TBM. The secondary aim is to investigate alternative management strategies in individuals who develop drug induced liver injury (DILI) that will enable the safe continuation of rifampicin and isoniazid therapy.  Methods: We will perform a parallel group, randomised (1:1), double blind, placebo-controlled,  multi-centre Phase III non-inferiority trial, comparing dexamethasone versus placebo for 6-8 weeks in addition to standard anti-tuberculosis treatment in HIV-uninfected patients with TBM stratified by LTA4H genotype. The primary endpoint will be death or new neurological event. The trial will enrol approximately 720 HIV-uninfected adults with a clinical diagnosis of TBM, from two hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 640 participants with CC or CT- LTA4H genotype will be randomised to either dexamethasone or placebo, and the remaining TT- genotype participants will be treated with standard-of-care dexamethasone. We will also perform a randomised comparison of three management strategies for anti-tuberculosis DILI. An identical ancillary study will also be perfomed in the linked randomised controlled trial of dexamethasone in HIV-infected adults with TBM (ACT HIV).  Discussion: Previous data have shown that LTA4H genotype may be a critical determinant of inflammation and consequently of adjunctive anti-inflammatory treatment response in TBM. We will stratify dexamethasone therapy according to LTA4H genotype in HIV-uninfected adults, which may indicate a role for targeted anti-inflammatory therapy according to variation in LTA4H C/T transition. A comparison of DILI management strategies may allow the safe continuation of rifampicin and isoniazid

    Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

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    Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

    A tree-to-string phrase-based model for statistical machine translation

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    Though phrase-based SMT has achieved high translation quality, it still lacks of generaliza-tion ability to capture word order differences between languages. In this paper we describe a general method for tree-to-string phrase-based SMT. We study how syntactic trans-formation is incorporated into phrase-based SMT and its effectiveness. We design syntac-tic transformation models using unlexicalized form of synchronous context-free grammars. These models can be learned from source-parsed bitext. Our system can naturally make use of both constituent and non-constituent phrasal translations in the decoding phase. We considered various levels of syntactic analy-sis ranging from chunking to full parsing. Our experimental results of English-Japanese and English-Vietnamese translation showed a significant improvement over two baseline phrase-based SMT systems.
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