Comparison of sensory characteristics of green tea in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho, Vietnam

Green tea is a popular consumption product in Vietnam. Especially, tea which origins from Tan Cuong, Thai Nguyen has been known for long by its better quality than those coming from other regions on the country. The study aims at comparing and finding out if the difference between tea in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho can be figured by sensory tasting. Two products picked from Tan Cuong, Thai Nguyen province and two others from Phu Ho district, Phu Tho are were evaluated by a panel of twelve judges (eleven women and one man) who was set from a group of thirty eight peoples, had completed a general training and sensory tasting on tea. The experiment on dry tea (eleven descriptors) was carried out separately of the experiment on brewed tea (twenty-one descriptors) and brewed leaf (five descriptors). All attributes are made notes on the sensory unstructured intensity scale. Statistic analyses have shown typical differences by region among all of trees groups of attributes: dry leaf (10/11 attributes), liquor (6/21 attributes) and brewed leaf (5/5 attributes)

INFLUENCES OF SOME HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON THE COASTAL ENVIRONMENT OF THAI BINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

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

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

Geographical indication in Vietnam: case of Tan Cuong green tea

The Tan Cuong green tea is highly-appreciated since a long time for its quality, according to the Vietnamese consumers. This tea has been recently certified "Geographical Indications (GI)" by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam. Within the framework of PIC project "Development of the medium and small entrepreneurship in the Vietnam agricultural sector" - financed by the University Commission for Development (CUD), Belgium, Hanoi University of Science and Technology had led a multidisciplinary research on this certified tea product fora better understanding of pros and cons of GI and to identify the constraints of the producers. Pursuing these purposes, three researches related to Tan Cuong green tea were conducted on the commodity, the consumers and the characteristics of products. The commodity research aims to reveal the situation and the problems of tea production in Tan Cuong region. It es based on the survey of 90 households’ producers, combined with in-depth interviews with numerous traders and related suppliers in this area and Hanoi. The second research was a survey which focused on 150 consumers in Hanoi capital, the main market of Tan Cuong green tea to comprehend their perceptions, their opinions and their recommendations for the product. The last study has conducted to contribute to a better knowledge of the product quality. The sensory analysis and bibliographical research on the chemical components of Tan Cuong green tea have been applied to reach this purpose. The result shows that Tan Cuong green tea is a high quality and a high economic profit product. The consumers appreciate the quality of Tan Cuong green tea and expressed an expectation for a healthy and quality tea product. In short, based on the results of various researches, three main recommendations can be drawn: the first one highlights the importance of implementing the GI control system for Tan Cuong green tea, the second one underlines the interest for the Tan Cuong green tea production with an organic label and the third one aims at strengthening the cooperation of all the accors of this sector.Le thé vert de Tan Cuong est apprécié pour sa qualité depuis longtemps par les consommateurs vietnamiens. Depuis peu celui-ci est certifié "Indication Géographique Protégée" par le NOIP du Vietnam. Dans le cadre du projet PIC "Développement de l’entrepreneuriat en amont et en aval de l’activité agricole au Vietnam", financé par la Commission Universitaire pour le Développement, Belgique, l’Institut Polytechnique de Hanoï a souhaité conduire des recherches multidisciplinaires sur ce produit certifié en vue de mieux comprendre les atouts d’une IGP et d’identifier les contraintes qui pèsent sur les producteurs. Afin d’atteindre ce but, des recherches sur la filière, auprès de consommateurs et sur les caractéristiques des produits issus du thé vert Tan Cuong ont été réalisées. La recherche sur la filière vise à comprendre la situation et les problématiques à Tan Cuong. Elle se base sur une enquête réalisée auprès de 90 foyers producteurs, des commerçants de la commune et de Hanoi, des fournisseurs de matériel… Ensuite, une recherche a été réalisée auprès de 150 consommateurs de la capitale, Hanoï étant le marché principal du thé Tan Cuong, afin de comprendre leurs perceptions, leurs opinions et leurs recommandations envers le produit. La dernière partie a pour objectif de contribuer à une meilleure connaissance de la qualité du produit. Pour cela nous avons réalisé des recherches sensorielles et une recherche bibliographique sur les composants chimiques du thé Tan Cuong. Il ressort de cette étude que le thé de Tan Cuong est un produit de qualité et de haute rentabilité économique. Les consommateurs apprécient la qualité du thé de Tan Cuong (Thai Nguyen) et ont exprimé des attentes pour un produit sain et de qualité. [ l’issue de cette étude et sur base des résultats des différentes recherches, trois recommandations principales ont été mises en évidence : la première concerne l’importance de la mise en oeuvre d’un système de contrôle de l’IGP pour le thé vert Tan Cuong, la deuxième souligne l’intérêt d’orienter la production de thé de Tan Cuong vers un label biologique et la troisième vise à renforcer les coopérations à tous les échelons de la filièr

Metal-Organic Framework MIL-53(Fe): Synthesis, Electrochemical Characterization, and Application in Development of a Novel and Sensitive Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Cadmium Ions in Aqueous Solutions

A metal-organic framework MIL-53(Fe) was successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. A synthesized MIL-53(Fe) sample was characterized, and results indicated that the formed MIL-53(Fe) was a single phase with small particle size of 0.8 μm and homogeneous particle size distribution was obtained. The synthesized MIL-53(Fe) has been used to modify a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) by a drop-casting technique. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of the MIL-53(Fe)-modified GCE showed that the MIL-53(Fe) was successfully immobilized onto the GCE electrode surface and the electrochemical behavior of the GCE/MIL-53(Fe) electrode was stable. In addition, several electrochemical parameters of MIL-53(Fe)-modified GCE (GCE/MIL-53(Fe)) including the heterogeneous standard rate constant (k0) and the electrochemically effective surface area (A) were calculated. Obtained results demonstrated that the synthesized MIL-53(Fe) with the small particle size, highly homogeneous particle size, and high electrochemically effective surface area was able to significantly enhance the electrochemical response signal of the working electrode. Therefore, the GCE/MIL-53(Fe) electrode has been used as a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for cadmium ion (Cd(II)) monitoring in aqueous solution using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. The response signal of the electrochemical sensor increased linearly in the Cd(II) ion concentration range from 150 nM to 450 nM with the limit of detection (LOD) of 16 nM

Graphene Oxide/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Fe3O4 Nanocomposite: An Efficient Adsorbent for Co(II) Ion Removal

In this work, an effective nanocomposite-based adsorbent directed to adsorb cobalt (Co2+) ion was successfully synthesized from graphene oxide (GO), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles via a coprecipitation technique. The synthesized GO/PVA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was applied for Co2+ ion removal with the optimized working conditions including 100 min of contact time, 0.01 g of adsorbent dosage, pH of 5.2, and 50°C of temperature. The investigation of adsorption kinetics showed that the adsorption of Co2+ ion onto the GO/PVA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with the rate constant k2 being 0.0026 (g mg−1·min−1). The Langmuir model is suitable to describe the adsorption of Co2+ ion onto the GO/PVA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite with the maximum sorption capacity (qmax) reaching 373.37 mg·g−1. The obtained results also indicated that the GO/PVA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite can adsorb/regenerate for at least 5 cycles with a little reduction in removal efficiency. Therefore, we believe that the GO/PVA/Fe3O4 nanocomposite could be used as a potential adsorbent for heavy metal treatment in terms of high adsorption capacity, fast adsorption rate, and recyclability

Comparison of Sensory Characteristics of Green Tea Produced in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho Province, Vietnam

peer reviewedGreen tea is a popular product with a high consumption in Vietnam. Moreover, green tea produced in Tan Cuong commune, Thai Nguyen province, has long been recognized for its superior quality to those coming from other regions of the country. This study aims at comparing the tea from Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho and finding out if the difference can be identified through sensory analysis. Two products picked from Tan Cuong, Thai Nguyen province, and two others from Phu Ho district, Phu Tho province were evaluated by a trained panel of 12 judges (11 women and 1 man). The sensory evaluation of the dry tea (11 descriptors) was carried out separately from the brewed tea (21 descriptors) and brewed leaf (five descriptors) using an unstructured intensity scale (10 cm). Statistic analyses have shown differences between regions in all three groups of attributes: dry leaf, liquor and brewed leaf

Impact of COVID-19 on patterns of drug utilization: A case study at national hospital.

BackgroundThe Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the corresponding mitigation measures have had a discernible impact on drug utilization among outpatients. However, limited research exists on the prescription trends in the elderly population during the pandemic period in Viet Nam.ObjectivesThis study aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on outpatient drug utilization patterns at a national geriatric hospital in Ho Chi Minh City before and after the early onset of the pandemic.MethodsData was collected from the prescriptions and administration claims, encompassing the period from January 2016 to December 2022. The dataset was divided into two periods: Period 1: January 2016 to December 2020 and Period 2: January 2021 to December 2022. The drug utilization was measured using DDD/1000P (defined daily doses-DDD per 1000 prescriptions) on a monthly basis. The analysis employed interrupted time series using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) to detect changes in drug use levels and rates.ResultsA total of 1,060,507 and 644,944 outpatient prescriptions from Thong Nhat Hospital were included in Period 1 and Period 2, respectively. The median age of the patients were 58 in Period 1 and 67 years old in Period 2. The most common comorbidities were dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. In terms of medication utilization, cardiovascular drugs were the most frequently prescribed, followed by drugs active on the digestive and hormonal systems. The study observed significant surges in the number of prescriptions and the average number of drugs per prescription. However, there were no significant changes in the overall consumption of all drugs. Among the drug groups related to the cardiovascular system, three subgroups experienced a sudden and significant increase: cardiac therapy, beta-blocking agents, and antihypertensives, with increasing consumption levels of 1,177.73 [CI 95%: 79.29; 2,276.16], 73.32 [CI 95%: 28.18; 118.46], and 36.70 [CI 95%: 6.74; 66.66] DDD/1000P, respectively. On the other hand, there was a significant monthly decrease of -31.36 [CI 95%: -57.02; -5.70] DDD/1000P in the consumption of anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products. Interestingly, there was a significant increase of 74.62 [CI 95%: -0.36; 149.60] DDD/1000P in the use of antigout preparations.ConclusionCOVID-19 resulted in a sudden, non-significant increase in overall drug consumption levels among outpatients. Notably, our findings highlight significant increases in the utilization of three drug groups related to the cardiovascular system, specifically cardiac therapy, beta-blocking agents, and antihypertensives. Intriguingly, there was a statistically significant increase in the consumption of antigout preparations, despite a decline in the monthly consumption rate of non-steroidal anti-flammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Further studies in the following years are necessary to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on outpatient drug utilization patterns

Job satisfaction of clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacy activities implemented at Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam pioneered the practice of clinical pharmacy; however, hospitals in HCMC have faced numerous challenges that might influence the job satisfaction of clinical pharmacists (CPs). Additionally, there have been no official statistics about clinical pharmacy activities that have been reported so far. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the current status of the clinical pharmacy profession and to analyze the key factors affecting job satisfaction of CPs in HCMC. This was a cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all the CPs in all the 128 hospitals in HCMC via an online survey tool from May to June 2020. Only about 30% of the respondents were full-time CPs. The percentage of CPs participating in clinical wards was relatively low (52.79%). "Provide drug information for patients and medical employees" was the most common clinical pharmacy activity, with the percentage of CPs participating in it being nearly 90%. Overall, 74.1% of the 197 CPs surveyed were satisfied with their current job. The factors that they were satisfied with the most and the least were "Inter & Intra professional relationships" (95.9%) and "Income" (59.9%), respectively. The only demographic and work-related characteristic that had a statistically significant association with overall job satisfaction was "Ward round participation". Most clinical pharmacy tasks noted a high rate of participation from the CPs. Nevertheless, hospitals in HCMC was found to be experiencing a shortage of CPs and low levels of participation of CPs in ward rounds, and most CPs were unable to completely focus on clinical pharmacy tasks. Regarding CPs' job satisfaction-related aspects, income and ward round participation appear to be the two factors that should be increased, in order to enhance CPs' job satisfaction

THE PHYLOGENETIC TREE OF Alexandrium Prorocentrum AND PSEUDO-NITZSCHIA OF HARMFUL AND TOXIC ALGAE IN VIETNAM COASTAL WATERS BASED ON SEQUENCES OF 18sRdna, Its1-5.8s-Its2 GENE FRAGMENTS AND SINGLE CELL -PER METHOD

Molecular biological techniques support the identification of microalgae of Vietnam. Prorocentrum, Alexandrium and Pseudo-nitzschia are main harmful and toxic microalgal genera found in Vietnam coastal waters. The results of morphology and nucleotide sequence analysis of 18S rDNA and ITS 1-5.8S-ITS2 gene obtained from genomic DNA have shown that the Prorocentrum sp. 3 (isolated from Cat Ba, Hai Phong on October, 2004), Alexandrium sp. 5 (collected on October, 2004) and Pseudo-nitzschia sp. G3 (colleted in Do Son, Hai Phong on December, 2005) belonging to Prorocentrum mexicanum (the homological percent of 99.9% with sequencing of P mexicanum in Genbank ofY16232, AY886763), A. minutum (99.8% - AJ535388, DQ168664) and Pseudo-nitzschia pungens (98.8% - AY544769, DQ166533), respectively. The obtained results indicated that the exceptional fresh samples, for Prorocentrum genus which may be preserved at 25% ethanol, 4% formaldehyde, 1% glutaraldehyde, while Alexandrium genus ó at 25% ethanol, and Pseudo-nitzschia genus - 4% formaldehyde and 1% glutaraldehyde for two weeks have not effected on their analysis of sequences generated by Single Cell PCR method. In these studied samples, the nucleotide sequences obtained from genomic DNA and Single-cell PCR methods were the same with the homological percent more than 99%. Application of this method to samples collected from Phu Quoc Island, southern part of Vietnam, in 27-29, June, 2006 showed that Prorocentrum mican and P sigmoisdes were found