Diagnosis of tuberculosis in a high burden resource limited setting

It is estimated that over nine million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide occurred in 2009. However, only 63% of these cases were notified, which is lower than the 75% target set by the DOTS strategy. The lack of ideal diagnostic tests is one of the major barriers to effective TB reduction. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the efficiency of a novel liquid culture based technique (Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility Assay-MODS) and a new generation fluorescence microscope (Light Emitting Diodes fluorescence microscope - LED fluorescence microscope) in diagnosis of TB and multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR- TB) in Viet Nam, a resource limited, high burden setting. In the studies described in this thesis, MODS had a higher sensitivity than homogenous smear microscopy, detecting an additional 13% of cases, in diagnosis of TB. Importantly, the pooled sensitivity of MODS (53.0%) was comparable to that of Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube technique (MGIT) (57.8%) with clinical presentation as the gold standard. In terms of multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR- TB) diagnosis, MODS had rather low sensitivity in detection of Isoniazid (INH) or Rifampicin (RIF) resistant and MDR isolates, 72.6%, 72.7% and 77.8%, respectively against the proportional drug susceptibility testing (DST) method. The low sensitivity of DST-MODS in this study was probably due to low bacterial load samples and use of a high INH critical concentration (O.4~g/ml). For LED microscopy, the detection rate, sensitivity, specificity and false negative of LED 40X were comparable to those of conventional fluorescence microscope and light microscope. The false positive rate • of LED 40X increased in comparison with Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) reading in the early phases of the evaluation (2.6% and 2.7% vs 0% in the validation and implementation phases vs continuation phase, respectively), probably due to lack of experience among technicians, but no significant difference was found (P>0.05). In the last phase, no false positive result was recorded. Although the reading time of fluorescence-LED (FM-LED) and ZN reading were less than 2 minutes, ZN-light microscope (ZN-LM) reading time was shorter than that of FM-LED40X, especially in positive smears (P=0.007) in the early study phase. By the end of the study, FM-LED reading time was shorter than ZN-LM which was recorded in the early phase. With high experienced technicians there may be little or no additional benefit to case detection if a light microscope is replaced by a fluorescence microscope. In general, MODS and LED microscopy are reliable methods for use in diagnosis of TB in resource limited settings due to their accuracy, reliability and low costs. Large scale operational projects should be conducted to evaluate the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of these methods in countries where these techniques are to be implemented

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS IN VIET NAM

Microfinance plays an important role in the nation's financial inclusive system. Therefore, the development of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) increasingly receives the attention of governments, especially in developing countries. In which, financial sustainability is one of the determinants which measures the development of microfinance institutions (MFIs). In this research, the institutionalist approach is applied with the purpose of developing empirical evidence for the determinants that affect the financial sustainability of MFIs in Viet Nam. Financial sustainability is analyzed through the evaluation criteria of the investors and the wholesale lending organizations. The Fixed Effect Model is applied to determine the factors that affect the financial sustainability of MFIs in Viet Nam. Quantitative results show that the financial sustainability of MFIs is governed by five factors, including (i) the growth rate of MFIs’ outstanding loans, (ii) the efficiency of MFIs’ performance, (iii) the ratio of borrowers to the number of staffs of MFIs with a positive impact; (iv) the debt-to-equity ratio of MFIs; and (v) the incremental cost per client of the MFIs with negative effec

Optimization of protein extraction from "Cam" rice bran by response surface methodology

"Cam" rice bran was considered a waste product from rice, which is rich in natural compounds and protein owing to its outstanding nutritional value. This study aimed to establish an optimization model for extracting protein from rice bran, with two responses: extraction yield (%) and protein content (%). The variable parameters included were pH (8.5-9.5), stirring time (3.5-4.5 h), and enzyme incubation temperature (85-95°C). The coefficient of determination for both models were above 0.95, indicating a high correlation between the actual and estimated values. The maximum extraction yield and protein content were achieved when the conditions were set at pH of 9.02, stirring time of 4.02 h, and extraction temperature of 90.6°C. Under these optimum conditions, the predicted protein extracted from rice bran was 43.03% (moisture <13.0%), with an extraction yield of 15.9%. The findings of this study suggested that this protocol can enhance the utilization of rice bran and might be employed on a large scale in the food industry to exploit the nutritional source

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)

Income Diversification and Financial Performance: The Mediating Effect of Banks’ Size, Ownership Structure, and the Financial Crisis in Vietnam

Research aims: This study focuses on the correlation between income diversification and financial performance, taking into account banks’ size, type of ownership, and the financial crisis.Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses financial data of 29 commercial banks in Vietnam during the period from 2005 to 2018. This research employs a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) regression.Research findings: The results do not find statistical evidence of a direct effect of banks’ income diversification on their financial performance. However, when considering the classification factors, such as the bank’s size and ownership type, the findings show that big banks and state-owned banks could take advantage of diversification strategies to boost their profitability. Moreover, the study has proven that income diversification generates a significant positive effect on banks’ financial performance during the crisis time.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study provides a theoretical evidence on the direct effect of income diversification on a bank’s financial performance concerning banks’ size, ownership type, and the financial crisis.Practitioner/Policy implication: Further, this research also offers the bank’s managers, policymakers, and investors an insight of good banks’ financial performance in the context of an unstable economy.Research limitation/Implication: The limitations still exist in this research, such as (1) the number of banks participating in the research sample was a predictable limitation; (2) this research mainly focused on financial variables but ignored the variables representing the managers’ behavior and the banks’ organizational structure; (3) the future studies can focus on these aspects to explore further the hidden picture of diversification strategy and banking performance

Tannins: Extraction from Plants

The chapter presents mainly on different extraction methods of tannin. Some technical means required for effective extraction are also presented, for example, collection and treatment of plant and drying and storage of plant. Opportunity and challenges in application of extraction methods are also exhibited in the chapter

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 assessment and the effect of squalene isolated from schizochytrium mangrovei pq6 on serum hdl - cholesterol levels in animal models

In this paper, the acute and subchronic toxicity and the effect of squalene isolated from heterotrophic marine microalga Schizochytrium mangrovei PQ6 on the serum levels of HDL-C were investigated using animal models. The results of acute toxicity study showed that by oral administration of the squalene on albino mice at the highest dose of 58.25 g/kg of whole body of mice/day, the LD50 was not determined. Squalene at doses of 400 mg and 1,200 mg/kg/day for 60 consecutive days have allowed the normal behavior, body weight, hematological and biochemical parameters, liver and kidney functions, morphology of liver, kidney and spleen, total plasma cholesterol content, however, HDL-C level was higher in squalene treated mices compared to control group (p 0.05). In addition, at doses of 600 and 1,200 mg/kg/day for 60 continuous days, squalene treated mice showed the increase in HDL-C level and HDL-C/total cholesterol ratio and the decrease in the contents of LDL-C and VLDL-C without affecting the body and liver weights and levels of total cholesterol and triglyceride.