DEVELOPING A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE FISSION YEAST CELL CYCLE: SIMULATING MUTANTS OVEREXPRESSING EITHER CDC25 OR WEE1

During the last decade several mathematical models were constructed to describe the fission yeast cell cycle. In these models, fluctuations of MPF activity were responsible for cell cycle transitions, and they successfully explained the behaviour of wild-type fission yeast cells and many cell division cycle mutants as well. However, the mutants involved in these models were mainly loss-of-function mutants (either temperature-sensitive point mutants or gene deletion ones). By contrast, the phenotypes of several gene overproducing (op) mutants have been published during the last twenty years, like those of cdc25op and wee1op cells (in the case of the latter one, even the effects of different overexpression levels are known). Since Wee1 and Cdc25 is a kinase-phosphatase pair, regulating MPF activity and as a consequence, timing mitotic onset in fission yeast, a detailed mathematical model of the fission yeast cell cycle should be able to simulate these overexpression mutants. Within the framework of this paper, a formerly published model was tested for these mutants. In order to describe properly the behaviour of cdc25op and wee1op mutants, some alterations had to be made in the original model, both in the parameter values and in the equations. If these corrections have been involved, the newly developed model also maintained its capability to explain the phenotypes of all those mutants, for which the original model was made. Furthermore, the model predicts the phenotypes of two mutants not yet constructed by geneticists

Interaction between triphenylphosphine or 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane with some complexes K[PtCl3(olefin)] (olefin: methyleugenol, safrole, isopropyl eugenoxyacetate)

Novel study on the interaction between K[PtCl3(olefin)] (olefin: methyleugenol, safrole and isopropyl eugenoxyacetate) with TPP and DPPE shows that TPP and DPPE readily replace the olefins to form complexes [PtCl2(TPP)2] (P4), [PtCl2(DPPE)] (P5) and [Pt(DPPE)2]Cl2 (P6). P4 possesses trans configuration when the molar ratio of the mono olefin and TPP of 1:1. When the ratio is 1:2, P4 is a mixture of trans and cis isomers of which trans one is prevailing. The cis isomer trends to convert to trans one in chloroform solvent. P5 and P6 were formed when the molar ratio of mono isopropyl eugenoxyacetate and DPPE of 1:1 and 1:2, respectively. The structures of P4÷P6 were elucidated by Pt analysis, ESI-MS, IR and 1H NMR spectra studies. Keywords. Pt(II) complexes, olefins, phosphine derivatives

Survey on Vietnamese teachers’ perspectives and perceived support during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented damage to the educational system worldwide. Besides the measurable economic impacts in the short-term and long-term, there is intangible destruction within educational institutions. In particular, teachers – the most critical intellectual resources of any schools – have to face various types of financial, physical, and mental struggles due to COVID-19. To capture the current context of more than one million Vietnamese teachers during COVID-19, we distributed an e- survey to more than 2,500 randomly selected teachers from two major teacher communities on Facebook from 6th to 11th April 2020. From over 373 responses, we excluded the observations which violated our cross-check questions and retained 294 observations for further analysis. This dataset includes: (i) Demographics of participants; (ii) Teachers' perspectives regarding the operation of teaching activities during the pandemic; (iii) Teachers' received support from their schools, government bodies, other stakeholders such as teacher unions, and parents' associations; and (iv) teachers' evaluation of school readiness toward digital transformation. Further, the dataset was supplemented with an additional question on the teachers' primary source of professional development activities during the pandemic

The first successful bone marrow transplantation in Vietnam for a young Vietnamese boy with chronic granulomatous disease: a case report

BackgroundChronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an inborn error of immunity (IEI) disorder that results from defects in the respiratory burst activity in phagocytes, leading to the inability to kill bacterial and fungal microorganisms. CGD patients usually have a high incidence of morbidity such as infections and autoinflammatory diseases and a high mortality rate. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is the only definitive cure for patients who suffer from CGD.Case presentationWe report the first transplant case of chronic granulomatous disease in Vietnam. A 25-month-old boy with X-linked CGD underwent bone marrow transplantation from his 5-year-old, full-matched human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-carrier sibling after myeloablative conditioning regimen with busulfan 5.1 mg/kg/day for 4 days, fludarabine 30 mg/m2/day for 5 days, and rATG (Grafalon-Fresenius) 10 mg/kg/day for 4 days. Neutrophil was engrafted on day 13 posttransplant, donor chimerism was 100% on day 30 with the dihydrorhodamine-1,2,3 (DHR 123) flow cytometric assay test that reached 38% of the normal 45 days posttransplant. Five months after transplant, the patient was free of infection with stable DHR 123 assay at 37%, and donor chimerism remained 100%. No sign of a graft-versus-host disease had been observed posttransplant.ConclusionWe suggest that bone marrow transplantation is a safe and effectual cure for CGD patients, especially for patients with HLA-identical siblings

Cross-sectional study of coeliac autoimmunity in a population of Vietnamese children

Objective: The prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) inVietnam is unknown. To fill this void, we assessed the prevalence of serological markers of CD autoimmunity in a population of children in Hanoi. Setting: The outpatient blood drawing laboratory of the largest paediatric hospital in North Vietnam was used for the study, which was part of an international project of collaboration between Italy and Vietnam. Participants: Children having blood drawn for any reason were included. Exclusion criteria were age younger than 2 years, acquired or congenital immune deficiency and inadequate sample. A total of 1961 children (96%) were enrolled (838 females, 1123 males, median age 5.3 years). Outcomes: Primary outcome was the prevalence of positive autoimmunity to both IgA antitransglutaminase antibodies (anti-tTG) assessed with an ELISA test and antiendomysial antibodies (EMA). Secondary outcome was the prevalence of CD predisposing human leucocyte antigens (HLA) (HLA DQ2/8) in the positive children and in a random group of samples negative for IgA anti-tTG. Results: The IgA anti-tTG test was positive in 21/1961 (1%; 95% CI 0.61% to 1.53%); however, EMA antibodies were negative in all. HLA DQ2/8 was present in 7/21 (33%; 95% CI 14.5% to 56.9%) of the anti-tTG-positive children and in 72/275 (26%; 95% CI 21% to 32%) of those who were negative. Conclusions: Coeliac autoimmunity is rare in Vietnam, although prevalence of HLA DQ2/8 is similar to that of other countries. We hypothesise that the scarce exposure to gluten could be responsible for these findings

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

Effects of water scarcity awareness and climate change belief on recycled water usage willingness: Evidence from New Mexico, United States

The global water crisis is being exacerbated by climate change, even in the United States. Recycled water is a feasible alternative to alleviate the water shortage, but it is constrained by humans’ perceptions. The current study examines how residents’ water scarcity awareness and climate change belief influence their willingness to use recycled water directly and indirectly. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of 1831 residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid inland region in the US. We discovered that residents’ willingness to use direct recycled potable water is positively affected by their awareness of water scarcity, but the effect is conditional on their belief in the impacts of climate change on the water cycle. Meanwhile, the willingness to use indirect recycled potable water is influenced by water scarcity awareness, and the belief in climate change further enhances this effect. These findings implicate that fighting climate change denialism and informing the public of the water scarcity situation in the region can contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term water conservation and climate change alleviation efforts