The Electronic Signature Law in Vietnam: a note

Nguyen D. Linh provides a summary of the main provisions of the recent electronic signature act passed in Vietnam

Tegument Glycoproteins and Cathepsins of Newly Excysted Juvenile Fasciola hepatica Carry Mannosidic and Paucimannosidic N-glycans

Recently, the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in some areas has increased considerably and the availability of a vaccine to protect livestock from infection would represent a major advance in tools available for controlling this disease. To date, most vaccine-target discovery research on this parasite has concentrated on proteomic and transcriptomic approaches whereas little work has been carried out on glycosylation. As the F. hepatica tegument (Teg) may contain glycans potentially relevant to vaccine development and the Newly Excysted Juvenile (NEJ) is the first lifecycle stage in contact with the definitive host, our work has focused on assessing the glycosylation of the NEJTeg and identifying the NEJTeg glycoprotein repertoire. After in vitro excystation, NEJ were fixed and NEJTeg was extracted. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis of released N-glycans revealed that oligomannose and core-fucosylated truncated N-glycans were the most dominant glycan types. By lectin binding studies these glycans were identified mainly on the NEJ surface, together with the oral and ventral suckers. NEJTeg glycoproteins were affinity purified after targeted biotinylation of the glycans and identified using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). From the total set of proteins previously identified in NEJTeg, eighteen were also detected in the glycosylated fraction, including the F. hepatica Cathepsin B3 (FhCB3) and two of the Cathepsin L3 (FhCL3) proteins, among others. To confirm glycosylation of cathepsins, analysis at the glycopeptide level by LC-ESI-ion-trap-MS/MS with collision-induced dissociation (CID) and electron-transfer dissociation (ETD) was carried out. We established that cathepsin B1 (FhCB1) on position N80, and FhCL3 (BN1106_s10139B000014, scaffold10139) on position N153, carry unusual paucimannosidic Man2GlcNAc2 glycans. To our knowledge, this is the first description of F. hepatica NEJ glycosylation and the first report of N-glycosylation of F. hepatica cathepsins. The significance of these findings for immunological studies and vaccine development is discussed

Extreme downside risk and market turbulence

We investigate the dynamics of the relationship between returns and extreme downside risk in different states of the market by combining the framework of Bali, Demirtas, and Levy (2009) with a Markov switching mechanism. We show that the risk-return relationship identified by Bali, Demirtas, and Levy (2009) is highly significant in the low volatility state but disappears during periods of market turbulence. This is puzzling since it is during such periods that downside risk should be most prominent. We show that the absence of the risk-return relationship in the high volatility state is due to leverage and volatility feedback effects arising from increased persistence in volatility. To better filter out these effects, we propose a simple modification that yields a positive tail risk-return relationship in all states of market volatility

Systematic Extreme Downside Risk

We propose new systematic tail risk measures constructed using two different approaches. The first is a non-parametric measure that captures the tendency of a stock to crash at the same time as the market, while the second is based on the sensitivity of stock returns to innovations in market crash risk. Both tail risk measures are associated with a significantly positive risk premium after controlling for other measures of downside risk, including downside beta, coskewness and cokurtosis. Using the new measures, we examine the relevance for investors of the tail risk premium over different horizons

Features of elementary burst formation during cutting coals and isotropic materials with reference cutting tool of mining machines

The paper considers the cutting of brittle coals and rocks by a single cutter of a mining machine, in contrast to the generally accepted integral approach, different from the standpoint of the formation of successive elementary bursts that make up the cut. The process of the formation of an elementary bust in time is viewed as successive phases. Due to the complexity and multi-factor nature of the process, preference is given to experimental bench studies using reference cutters, isotropic materials, and real rock blocks. The bursting parameters values greatly influence the time of static forces action, the peculiarities of the formation of stress fields in the undercutter zone of the rock mass and the conditions for the emergence and development of main cracks in the near-cut zones during the cutting process. The accepted phase-energy method of analyzing the process, which most closely matches the structure of the studied process, revealed a more significant, than previously expected, effect on the cutting process, variability of cutting speed and potential energy reserve in the cutter drive. The paper discusses the possibility of purposeful formation of the parameters of elementary bursts. It describes new ways to improve the efficiency of cutting coal and rocks, in particular, reducing the maximum loads and specific energy consumption. It also considers the possibility of reducing the grinding of the rock mass and dust formation

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research

Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Health system planning requires careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology, but data for morbidity and mortality of this disease are scarce or non-existent in many countries. We estimated the global, regional, and national burden of CKD, as well as the burden of cardiovascular disease and gout attributable to impaired kidney function, for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. We use the term CKD to refer to the morbidity and mortality that can be directly attributed to all stages of CKD, and we use the term impaired kidney function to refer to the additional risk of CKD from cardiovascular disease and gout. Methods The main data sources we used were published literature, vital registration systems, end-stage kidney disease registries, and household surveys. Estimates of CKD burden were produced using a Cause of Death Ensemble model and a Bayesian meta-regression analytical tool, and included incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, mortality, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). A comparative risk assessment approach was used to estimate the proportion of cardiovascular diseases and gout burden attributable to impaired kidney function. Findings Globally, in 2017, 1·2 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1·2 to 1·3) people died from CKD. The global all-age mortality rate from CKD increased 41·5% (95% UI 35·2 to 46·5) between 1990 and 2017, although there was no significant change in the age-standardised mortality rate (2·8%, −1·5 to 6·3). In 2017, 697·5 million (95% UI 649·2 to 752·0) cases of all-stage CKD were recorded, for a global prevalence of 9·1% (8·5 to 9·8). The global all-age prevalence of CKD increased 29·3% (95% UI 26·4 to 32·6) since 1990, whereas the age-standardised prevalence remained stable (1·2%, −1·1 to 3·5). CKD resulted in 35·8 million (95% UI 33·7 to 38·0) DALYs in 2017, with diabetic nephropathy accounting for almost a third of DALYs. Most of the burden of CKD was concentrated in the three lowest quintiles of Socio-demographic Index (SDI). In several regions, particularly Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, the burden of CKD was much higher than expected for the level of development, whereas the disease burden in western, eastern, and central sub-Saharan Africa, east Asia, south Asia, central and eastern Europe, Australasia, and western Europe was lower than expected. 1·4 million (95% UI 1·2 to 1·6) cardiovascular disease-related deaths and 25·3 million (22·2 to 28·9) cardiovascular disease DALYs were attributable to impaired kidney function. Interpretation Kidney disease has a major effect on global health, both as a direct cause of global morbidity and mortality and as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. CKD is largely preventable and treatable and deserves greater attention in global health policy decision making, particularly in locations with low and middle SDI

Prophylactic and Therapeutic Efficacy of Avian Antibodies against Influenza Virus H5N1 and H1N1 in Mice

Background: Pandemic influenza poses a serious threat to global health and the world economy. While vaccines are currently under development, passive immunization could offer an alternative strategy to prevent and treat influenza virus infection. Attempts to develop monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been made. However, passive immunization based on mAbs may require a cocktail of mAbs with broader specificity in order to provide full protection since mAbs are generally specific for single epitopes. Chicken immunoglobulins (IgY) found in egg yolk have been used mainly for treatment of infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Because the recent epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) strain H5N1 has resulted in serious economic losses to the poultry industry, many countries including Vietnam have introduced mass vaccination of poultry with H5N1 virus vaccines. We reasoned that IgY from consumable eggs available in supermarkets in Vietnam could provide protection against infections with HPAIV H5N1. Methods and Findings: We found that H5N1-specific IgY that are prepared from eggs available in supermarkets in Vietnam by a rapid and simple water dilution method cross-protect against infections with HPAIV H5N1 and related H5N2 strains in mice. When administered intranasally before or after lethal infection, the IgY prevent the infection or significantly reduce viral replication resulting in complete recovery from the disease, respectively. We further generated H1N1 virus-specific IgY by immunization of hens with inactivated H1N1 A/PR/8/34 as a model virus for the current pandemic H1N1/09 and found that such H1N1-specific IgY protect mice from lethal influenza virus infection. Conclusions: The findings suggest that readily available H5N1-specific IgY offer an enormous source of valuable biological material to combat a potential H5N1 pandemic. In addition, our study provides a proof-of-concept for the approach using virus-specific IgY as affordable, safe, and effective alternative for the control of influenza outbreaks, including the current H1N1 pandemic