A Novel Approach to Fine-grained Content-based Access Control for Video Databases

ABSTRAC

THE PATENTED DRUGS UTILIZATION: A STUDY AT NGUYEN DINH CHIEU HOSPITAL IN BEN TRE PROVINCE FROM 2011 TO 2017

Objective: With their new and efficacious active ingredients, patented drugs have important roles in offering high-quality healthcare. However, huge cost-related barriers in accessing patented drugs along with the availability of low-cost bioequivalent generics have great impact on drugs policy in Vietnam. To understand situation of patented drugs utilization at hospitals for a certain period, this pilot study was conducted at Nguyen-Dinh-Chieu Hospital in Ben-Tre Province. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the retrospective data of all patented drugs used at Nguyen-Dinh-Chieu Hospital in Ben-Tre Province from 2011-2017. Characteristics of drugs utilization were described by frequency and percentage of drugs quantities and costs. Criteria for the description were as follows: active ingredient, route of administration, therapeutic class and manufacturing country. Data were extracted from the hospital information system and were processed by R software. Results: From 2011 to 2017, there were 212 patented drugs used which related to 145 active ingredients and 20 therapeutic classes. 88% were single active ingredient drugs and 49% were oral drugs. Antimicrobial and cardiovascular drugs represented the largest number of drugs and the highest cost. 79% of patented drugs were manufactured by companies in Europe and the majority came from France and Germany. Conclusion: This study provided initial information about the utilization of patented drugs during a long period of time at a Vietnamese hospital. The understanding gained will aid medical managers in assessment and adjustment of the drugs list, thus, optimizing the hospital budget and the equity in access to drugs within communities

Community perceptions of social, economic and environmental impacts of flooding in central districts of Hanoi, Vietnam

The impacts of flooding on road infrastructure in Hanoi are highly disruptive, despite recent progress by the Vietnamese authorities in improving the city’s drainage systems. The GCRF–OSIRIS Project aims to optimise investment strategies to minimise the impacts of flood disasters, making disaster risk reduction more effective, by introducing operational research methods. In support of this objective, the project carried out an impact assessment in four of the city’s central districts. The assessment considered locally perceived social, economic and environmental impacts on residents, local entrepreneurs, and on visiting street vendors and transport service providers. Impacts of flooding were found to be highly gender-differentiated. When roads are flooded, women—both resident and visiting—face greater conflicts between the need to maintain their incomes and the responsibilities of caring for vulnerable family members, resulting in increased stress and increasing risks to their health. The assessment suggests that such disproportionate impacts on women could be mitigated through public education and pre-emptive planning measures

CSR, marketing capabilities and human resource development: the endogenous role of network capabilities

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between human resource development (HRD) and the interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and marketing capabilities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses the extended regression model on a sample of 2,649 food SMEs in Vietnam. Findings: This research found that CSR and marketing strategies positively influence HRD; the interaction of CSR and marketing capabilities has a negative effect on HRD; the endogenous role of network capabilities on the effects of CSR and marketing capabilities on HRD. Originality/value: This research helps food companies use their resources in allocating resources for CSR and conduct marketing reasonably and effectively. This study highlights that the impact of CSR and marketing on HRD is dominated by endogenous networking

The human Piwi protein Hiwi2 associates with tRNA-derived piRNAs in somatic cells

The Piwi-piRNA pathway is active in animal germ cells where its functions are required for germ cell maintenance and gamete differentiation. Piwi proteins and piRNAs have been detected outside germline tissue in multiple phyla, but activity of the pathway in mammalian somatic cells has been little explored. In particular, Piwi expression has been observed in cancer cells, but nothing is known about the piRNA partners or the function of the system in these cells. We have surveyed the expression of the three human Piwi genes, Hiwi, Hili and Hiwi2, in multiple normal tissues and cancer cell lines. We find that Hiwi2 is ubiquitously expressed; in cancer cells the protein is largely restricted to the cytoplasm and is associated with translating ribosomes. Immunoprecipitation of Hiwi2 from MDAMB231 cancer cells enriches for piRNAs that are predominantly derived from processed tRNAs and expressed genes, species which can also be found in adult human testis. Our studies indicate that a Piwi-piRNA pathway is present in human somatic cells, with an uncharacterised function linked to translation. Taking this evidence together with evidence from primitive organisms, we propose that this somatic function of the pathway predates the germline functions of the pathway in modern animals. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research

Reproductive tract infections in women seeking abortion in Vietnam

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Women requesting abortion are at increased risk of developing RTI complications. However, RTI control in many resource-poor countries including Vietnam have been faced with logistical and methodological problems due to lack of standardized definitions of RTIs, lack of well-validated diagnostic criteria, lack of accurate laboratory tests, and lack of diagnostic equipment and skills. This article investigates the prevalence of RTIs among Vietnamese abortion-seeking women, to evaluate the available diagnostic techniques, and to assess antibiotic resistance among aetiological agents of RTI.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The study was conducted in Phu-San hospital (PSH) from December 2003 through April 2004 among 748 abortion clients. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-economic and reproductive characteristics. Specimens were collected for laboratory analyses of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, vaginal candidiasis (VC), bacterial vaginosis (BV) and syphilis. To assess the validity of the obtained results, the study was repeated among 100 women and the duplicate samples were analysed at PSH and Copenhagen University Hospital (CUH).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all 54% of the women were diagnosed as having an RTI, including 3.3% with sexually transmitted infections. Endogenous infections were most prevalent (VC 34% and BV 12%) followed by chlamydia (1.3%) and trichomoniasis (0.7%). The sensitivity of culture for VC and BV was 30% and 88%, respectively, when tests in PSH were measured against tests in CUH. Antibiotic resistance was common among bacterial isolates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>RTIs are common among women seeking abortion. The presence of RTIs is associated with an increased risk of developing iatrogenic infections, routine administration of prophylactic antibiotic to all women undergoing abortion should be considered. However, the choice of routine prophylactic antibiotics should be based on relevant surveillance data of antibiotic resistance. Moreover, since the accuracy of diagnosis is doubtful and to address the problem of under-diagnosed and treated RTIs new investment in diagnostic facilities with simple performed microscopy or improved rapid tests should also be taken into consideration.</p

An Uncertainty-Driven Risk Assessment Framework for Development of Advanced Aircraft Technologies

The task of assessing which technologies are most suitable for long-term aeronautics research investments is a matter of understanding the uncertainties and risk posed by technologies in terms of performance, maturity, and scalability into commercial production and operation. Within this study, a novel technology development risk assessment (TDRA) framework for advanced aircraft technologies is presented, where the concept of technology development risk is evaluated using the five-step Performance, Integration, Certification, Timeline, and Operation (PICTO) approach. The PICTO approach provides a TDRA framework for decision-makers that outlines uncertainty-driven qualitative and quantitative methods that can be used as early as the conceptual design phase to determine the risk levels, associated uncertainties, and commercial viability of advanced aircraft technologies within a portfolio. For performance and schedule risks, new systems-level analysis techniques are introduced within the PICTO approach that couple semi-empirical methods, aircraft sizing and performance estimation techniques, and Monte Carlo simulations within a modeling and simulation environment. Additionally, important risk factors absent from previous TDRA frameworks such as integration, certification, and operation are now formally included in this new approach to technology development risk. Finally, to demonstrate the capabilities of the new TDRA framework to early-stage risk assessment, a case study applying advanced aircraft technologies from the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT) project portfolio onto a short-haul, commuter regional turboprop studied under EPFD to obtain performance, timeline readiness, integration, certification, and operational risk assessment results

A Two-Stage Multi-Criteria Supplier Selection Model for Sustainable Automotive Supply Chain under Uncertainty

Sustainable supplier selection (SSS) is gaining popularity as a practical method to supply chain sustainability among academics and practitioners. However, in addition to balancing economic, social, and environmental factors, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the selection of long-term suppliers to ensure sustainable supply chains, recover better from the pandemic and effectively respond to any future unprecedented crises. The purpose of this study is to assess and choose a possible supplier based on their capability to adapt to the COVID-19 epidemic in a sustainable manner. For this assessment, a framework based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is provided that integrates spherical fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (SF-AHP) and grey Complex Proportional Assessment (G-COPRAS), in which spherical fuzzy sets and grey numbers are used to express the ambiguous linguistic evaluation statements of experts. In the first stage, the evaluation criteria system is identified through a literature review and experts’ opinions. The SF-AHP is then used to determine the criteria weights. Finally, the G-COPRAS method is utilized to select sustainable suppliers. A case study in the automotive industry in Vietnam is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach’s effectiveness. From the SF-AHP findings, “quality”, “use of personal protective equipment”, “cost/price”, “safety and health practices and wellbeing of suppliers”, and “economic recovery programs” have been ranked as the five most important criteria. From G-COPRAS analysis, THACO Parts (Supplier 02) is the best supplier. A sensitivity study was also conducted to verify the robustness of the proposed model, in which the priority rankings of the best suppliers are very similar. For long-term development and increased competitiveness, industrial businesses must stress the integration of response mechanisms during SSS implementation in the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the findings. This will result in significant cost and resource savings, as well as reduced environmental consequences and a long-term supply chain, independent of the crisis

Outsourcing Reverse Logistics for E-Commerce Retailers: A Two-Stage Fuzzy Optimization Approach

On the heels of the online shopping boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, the electronic commerce (e-commerce) surge has many businesses facing an influx in product returns. Thus, relevant companies must implement robust reverse logistics strategies to reflect the increased importance of the capability. Reverse logistics also plays a radical role in any business’s sustainable development as a process of reusing, remanufacturing, and redistributing products. Within this context, outsourcing to a third-party reverse logistics provider (3PRLP) has been identified as one of the most important management strategies for today’s organizations, especially e-commerce players. The objective of this study is to develop a decision support system to assist businesses in the selection and evaluation of different 3PRLPs by a hybrid fuzzy multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. Relevant criteria concerning the economic, environmental, social, and risk factors are incorporated and taken into the models. For obtaining more scientific and accurate ranking results, linguistic terms are adopted to reduce fuzziness and uncertainties of criteria weights in the natural decision-making process. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is applied to measure the criteria’s relative significance over the evaluation process. The fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (FTOPSIS) is then used to rank the alternatives. The prescribed method was adopted for solving a case study on the 3PRLP selection for an online merchant in Vietnam. As a result, the most compatible 3PRLP was determined. The study also indicated that “lead time,” “customer’s voice,” “cost,” “delivery and service,” and “quality” are the most dominant drivers when selecting 3PLRLs. This study aims to provide a more complete and robust evaluation process to e-commerce businesses and any organization that deals with supply chain management in determining the optimized reverse logistics partners