The Impact of Personal Financial Literacy on the Choice of Lending Channel by Vietnamese Householders Who Just Escaped Poverty

Purpose: The Newly-Escaped-Poverty-List householders (NEPLH) in Vietnam served as the survey subjects for this study, which sought to determine the impact of "Personal Financial Literacy" on "The Probability of Using Lending Services of Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (P_VBSP)" and "The Probability of Using Informal Private Lending Services (P_ILC)".   Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 186 respondents, by structured online questionnaire with convenient non-probability sampling technique.  Aspects of personal financial literacy (FLi) such as personal financial knowledge (FL1), personal financial skills (FL2), personal financial attitude (FL3), and personal financial behavior (FL4) are measured. When respondents were divided into groups based on subgroup criteria (CVj), such as gender, age, marital status, role in the family, career, education level, religion, and number of years since being removed from the list of poor households, ANOVA techniques were used to examine differences in various aspects of personal financial literacy. The impact of FLi and subgroup variables (CVj) on P_VBSP and P_ILC was assessed using the binary logistic regression analysis technique.   Findings: Research results show that  there is a statistical difference in the average score of FL1, FL2, FL3 and FL4. The research findings also show that FL2, FL4, and "Career Status – CAR" have a positive impact on P_VBSP, while "Aged group - AGE", "Education level - EDU", and "Number of years since being removed from the list of poor households - YEAR" have a negative impact on P_VBSP. Meanwhile, the P_ILC is positive influenced by the AGE factor and moves in the opposite direction of FL2, FL4, EDU, and YEAR.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The research findings provide the basis for governance implications as well as policy recommendations to promote financial literacy among the NEPLH in Vietnam, encouraging them access policy lending services from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, and at the same time help them stay away from informal private lending services, thereby helping them to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable economic development family.   Originality/value: A theoretical framework for personal finance literacy, including (i) financial knowledge, (ii) financial attitude, (iii) financial skills, and (iv) financial behavior, has been developed by the authors after reviewing earlier studies. At the same time, it is more significant to measure financial literacy by objective assessment than relying on the subjective self-assessment of each respondent in the context of actual study in Vietnam. In the model analyzing the influence of personal financial literacy on the decision of Newly-Escaped-Poverty-List householders in choosing the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies or Informal Private Credit Channels, the authors also took into account additional factors including gender, age group, marital status, role in the family, career, education level, religion, and number of years since being removed from the list of poor households

Para-Social Interaction and Trust in Live-Streaming Sellers

Live streaming is one of the modern methods that allows sellers to create, transmit, or broadcast some content on the internet in real-time, and it has been used by many small individual merchants. Understanding how live streaming contributes to online consumption is becoming increasingly important in social commerce as the live-streaming industry has grown more and more popular. However, the number of studies on live streaming is still quite limited in Vietnam. Therefore, this research will look at the mechanism that enables live streaming to boost customer trust in streamers. Using PLS-SEM on a sample of 360 respondents who viewed selling live streams on social network sites in Vietnam, we discovered that other members' endorsement, value similarity, hedonic value, and utilitarian value contribute to good para-social interaction. Next, utilitarian and hedonic values, streamer product expertise, and para-social interaction all positively affect trust in the streamers. The findings could help live-streaming sellers better understand their social interactions with viewers, resulting in increased customer trust. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-03-06 Full Text: PD

In vitro growth and content of vincristine and vinblastine of Catharanthus roseus L. hairy roots in response to precursors and elicitors

Catharanthus roseus L. is a medicinal plant that produces numerous indole terpenoid alkaloids, including vincristine and vinblastine, which are used for cancer treatment. The effect of specified precursors (L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine) and elicitors (chitosan, methyl jasmonate) on C. roseus hairy roots (CHR) growth has been examined in order to increase the content of vincristine and vinblastine. Our results showed that CHR generated by an Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain isolated in Vietnam was capable of producing both vincristine and vinblastine when subjected to precursors, but only vinblastine when exposed to elicitors. However, both precursors and elicitors were evaluated to have an effect on increasing the accumulation of TIAs in CHR. In particular, the use of elicitors required more time to find the appropriate induction conditions, while the use of precursors gave outstanding efficiency in the treatment with 1 µM phenylalanine. The greatest yields of vincristine (51.99 µg g-1 DW) and vinblastine (699.92 µg g-1 DW) were obtained in the 7th week (with 0.306 g DW biomass). This result is the first time we might boost the levels of vincristine and vinblastine in our CHR clone generated by the Vietnam strain of A. rhizogenes

Papillary thyroid carcinoma with tall cell features is as aggressive as tall cell variant: a meta-analysis

There are still ongoing debates as to which cut-off percentage of tall cell (TC) should be used to define tall cell variant (TCV) papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In this meta-analysis, we aimed to investigate the clinicopathological significance of PTC with tall cell features (PTC-TCF, PTC with 10–50% of TCs) in comparison with classical PTC and TCVPTC (PTC with more than 50% of TCs) to clarify the controversial issue. Four electronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Virtual Health Library were accessed to search for relevant articles. We extracted data from published studies and pooled into odds ratio (OR) and its corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using random-effect modeling. Nine studies comprising 403 TCVPTCs, 325 PTC-TCFs and 3552 classical PTCs were included for meta-analyses. Overall, the clinicopathological profiles of PTC-TCF including multifocality, extrathyroidal extension, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and patient mortality were not statistically different from those of TCVPTC. Additionally, PTC-TCF and TCVPTC were both associated with an increased risk for aggressive clinical courses as compared to classical PTC. The prevalence of BRAF mutation in PTC-TCF and TCVPTC was comparable and both were significantly higher than that in classical PTC. The present meta-analysis demonstrated that even a PTC comprising only 10% of TCs might be associated with a poor clinical outcome. Therefore, the proportions of PTC in PTC should be carefully estimated and reported even when the TC component is as little as 10%

Awareness and preparedness of healthcare workers against the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey across 57 countries.

BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave. METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training. RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors. INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type

The influence of human genetic variation on early transcriptional responses and protective immunity following immunization with Rotarix vaccine in infants in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam : a study protocol for an open single-arm interventional trial [awaiting peer review]

Background: Rotavirus (RoV) remains the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and children aged under five years in both high- and low-middle-income countries (LMICs). In LMICs, RoV infections are associated with substantial mortality. Two RoV vaccines (Rotarix and Rotateq) are widely available for use in infants, both of which have been shown to be highly efficacious in Europe and North America. However, for unknown reasons, these RoV vaccines have markedly lower efficacy in LMICs. We hypothesize that poor RoV vaccine efficacy across in certain regions may be associated with genetic heritability or gene expression in the human host. Methods/design: We designed an open-label single-arm interventional trial with the Rotarix RoV vaccine to identify genetic and transcriptomic markers associated with generating a protective immune response against RoV. Overall, 1,000 infants will be recruited prior to Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) vaccinations at two months of age and vaccinated with oral Rotarix vaccine at two and three months, after which the infants will be followed-up for diarrheal disease until 18 months of age. Blood sampling for genetics, transcriptomics, and immunological analysis will be conducted before each Rotarix vaccination, 2-3 days post-vaccination, and at each follow-up visit (i.e. 6, 12 and 18 months of age). Stool samples will be collected during each diarrheal episode to identify RoV infection. The primary outcome will be Rotarix vaccine failure events (i.e. symptomatic RoV infection despite vaccination), secondary outcomes will be antibody responses and genotypic characterization of the infection virus in Rotarix failure events. Discussion: This study will be the largest and best powered study of its kind to be conducted to date in infants, and will be critical for our understanding of RoV immunity, human genetics in the Vietnam population, and mechanisms determining RoV vaccine-mediated protection. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03587389. Registered on 16 July 2018

Research Trends in Evidence-Based Medicine: A Joinpoint Regression Analysis of More than 50 Years of Publication Data

Background Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has developed as the dominant paradigm of assessment of evidence that is used in clinical practice. Since its development, EBM has been applied to integrate the best available research into diagnosis and treatment with the purpose of improving patient care. In the EBM era, a hierarchy of evidence has been proposed, including various types of research methods, such as meta-analysis (MA), systematic review (SRV), randomized controlled trial (RCT), case report (CR), practice guideline (PGL), and so on. Although there are numerous studies examining the impact and importance of specific cases of EBM in clinical practice, there is a lack of research quantitatively measuring publication trends in the growth and development of EBM. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was constructed to determine the scientific productivity of EBM research over decades. Methods NCBI PubMed database was used to search, retrieve and classify publications according to research method and year of publication. Joinpoint regression analysis was undertaken to analyze trends in research productivity and the prevalence of individual research methods. Findings Analysis indicates that MA and SRV, which are classified as the highest ranking of evidence in the EBM, accounted for a relatively small but auspicious number of publications. For most research methods, the annual percent change (APC) indicates a consistent increase in publication frequency. MA, SRV and RCT show the highest rate of publication growth in the past twenty years. Only controlled clinical trials (CCT) shows a non-significant reduction in publications over the past ten years. Conclusions Higher quality research methods, such as MA, SRV and RCT, are showing continuous publication growth, which suggests an acknowledgement of the value of these methods. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of research method publication trends in EBM

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