Fractional flow reserve in assessment of intermediate non-culprit lesions in acute myocardial infarction

Context: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of intermediate non-culprit arteries can reduce death or heart attack risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease. Aims: To compare the effectiveness of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided PCI with angiography-guided PCI for intermediate non-culprit lesions in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease. Methods: In this cohort study, acute myocardial infarction patients with multivessel coronary artery disease who had successful percutaneous coronary intervention of the culprit artery were divided into group of patients receiving FFR-guided PCI (FFR≤0.80, n = 31) and group of patients receiving angiography-guided PCI (diameter stenosis of 50-90%, n = 62) for lesions in non-culprit arteries. These two groups were followed for at least 1 year for major adverse cardiovascular events. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in major cardiovascular events between FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group and angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group. However, FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group had a lower mortality rate compared to the angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group (3.2% vs. 4.8%). Additionally, there were no reported cases of myocardial infarction in angiography-guided PCI group, while angiography-guided PCI group had a rate of 1.6%. Conclusions: This study found that it remains uncertain whether FFR-guided PCI is superior than angiography-guided PCI for intermediate non-culprit lesions in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease

A comparison between Hydrochloric acid and Trifluoroacetic acid in hydrolysis method of exopolysaccharide from Ophiocordyceps sinensis in Monosaccharide composition analysis by GC-FID

The monosaccharide composition is one of the crucial factors affecting the bioactivity of exopolysaccharide (EPS) in Cordyceps species. Therefore, many scientists have studied, analyzed monosaccharide composition and structure of EPS from Cordyceps species, especially Ophiocordyceps sinensis (O. sinensis). This study aimed to compare hydrochloric acid (HCl) with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the EPS hydrolysis process in monosaccharide composition analysis by Gas Chromatography with Flame-Ionization Detection (GC-FID). The hydrolysis is a crucial step in forming the acetyl derivative, which helps the GC-FID technique to have good results in monosaccharide composition analysis. The results showed that hydrolysis with HCl gave a higher hydrolysis efficiency and was more suitable than hydrolysis by TFA in pretreatment to EPS for GC-FID. Hydrolysis results were analyzed through thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), then Acetyl derivatives were produced and finally analyzed by GC-FID to determine the monosaccharide composition of EPS. For EPS hydrolyzed by HCl, the analytical results presented that this sample had 6 kinds of monosaccharides, including rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucose, and galactose; the most monosaccharide was glucose. The EPS hydrolyzed by TFA only detected three kinds of monosaccharides, including mannose, arabinose, and galactose, mainly mannose. The study has set a foundation for further analysis of monosaccharide composition and structure of EPS from O. sinensis

Molecular testing for Lynch syndrome in people with colorectal cancer: systematic reviews and economic evaluation

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Inherited mutations in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) mismatch repair (MMR) genes lead to an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), gynaecological cancers and other cancers, known as Lynch syndrome (LS). Risk-reducing interventions can be offered to individuals with known LS-causing mutations. The mutations can be identified by comprehensive testing of the MMR genes, but this would be prohibitively expensive in the general population. Tumour-based tests - microsatellite instability (MSI) and MMR immunohistochemistry (IHC) - are used in CRC patients to identify individuals at high risk of LS for genetic testing. MLH1 (MutL homologue 1) promoter methylation and BRAF V600E testing can be conducted on tumour material to rule out certain sporadic cancers. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether testing for LS in CRC patients using MSI or IHC (with or without MLH1 promoter methylation testing and BRAF V600E testing) is clinically effective (in terms of identifying Lynch syndrome and improving outcomes for patients) and represents a cost-effective use of NHS resources. REVIEW METHODS: Systematic reviews were conducted of the published literature on diagnostic test accuracy studies of MSI and/or IHC testing for LS, end-to-end studies of screening for LS in CRC patients and economic evaluations of screening for LS in CRC patients. A model-based economic evaluation was conducted to extrapolate long-term outcomes from the results of the diagnostic test accuracy review. The model was extended from a model previously developed by the authors. RESULTS: Ten studies were identified that evaluated the diagnostic test accuracy of MSI and/or IHC testing for identifying LS in CRC patients. For MSI testing, sensitivity ranged from 66.7% to 100.0% and specificity ranged from 61.1% to 92.5%. For IHC, sensitivity ranged from 80.8% to 100.0% and specificity ranged from 80.5% to 91.9%. When tumours showing low levels of MSI were treated as a positive result, the sensitivity of MSI testing increased but specificity fell. No end-to-end studies of screening for LS in CRC patients were identified. Nine economic evaluations of screening for LS in CRC were identified. None of the included studies fully matched the decision problem and hence a new economic evaluation was required. The base-case results in the economic evaluation suggest that screening for LS in CRC patients using IHC, BRAF V600E and MLH1 promoter methylation testing would be cost-effective at a threshold of £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for this strategy was £11,008 per QALY compared with no screening. Screening without tumour tests is not predicted to be cost-effective. LIMITATIONS: Most of the diagnostic test accuracy studies identified were rated as having a risk of bias or were conducted in unrepresentative samples. There was no direct evidence that screening improves long-term outcomes. No probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic review evidence suggests that MSI- and IHC-based testing can be used to identify LS in CRC patients, although there was heterogeneity in the methods used in the studies identified and the results of the studies. There was no high-quality empirical evidence that screening improves long-term outcomes and so an evidence linkage approach using modelling was necessary. Key determinants of whether or not screening is cost-effective are the accuracy of tumour-based tests, CRC risk without surveillance, the number of relatives identified for cascade testing, colonoscopic surveillance effectiveness and the acceptance of genetic testing. Future work should investigate screening for more causes of hereditary CRC and screening for LS in endometrial cancer patients. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42016033879. FUNDING: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.Funding for this study was provided by the Health Technology Assessment programme of the National Institute for Health Researc

Industrial Symbiosis Applied to Vietnam Coal Mining Industry to Promote the Circular Economic Model towards Sustainable Development Goals

Industrial symbiosis associated with the eco-industrial parks is the cooperative activities between businesses to optimize using of inputs and outputs such as raw materials, energy, water, waste materials, etc. in the orperation of businesses. In the industrial symbiosis model, the overall benefits of the symbiosis activities are more than the ones when working individually. Applying the model could help to reduce the demand of raw materials and increase the waste that be treated – an important part of the circular economy model. The coal mining industry includes many different stages from exploration, exploitation, processing, and trading. Each stage could be performed by different businesses which could corporate with each other. Besides the contributions to the socio-economic development, the industry also emits lots of waste into the environment to cause environmental pollution that needs to be treated. The paper summarizes the theoretical basis of the industrial symbiosis, the circular economy and clarifies the relationship between the industrial symbiosis, the circular economy and the sustainable development goals. From analyzing some typical situations of industrial symbiosis activities in Vietnamese coal mining industry; analyzing some characteristics and potential application of industrial symbiosis in the industry, the paper proposes the model of industrial symbiosis for Vietnamese coal mining industry. The paper also proposes some solutions to promote symbiotic activities in the industry

KHẢO SÁT NGHIỆM CỦA PHƯƠNG TRÌNH POISSON BA CHIỀU TÌM BẰNG THUẬT TOÁN BiCGstab(l)

This paper presents the use of the BiCGstab(l) algorithm to find the solutions for the three-dimensional Poisson’s equation. This subroutine was incorporated into the self-consistent ensemble Monte-Carlo device simulation program to test its efficiency. Moreover, in order to compare the convergent rate and stability of the BiCGstab(l) algorithm to the corresponding characteristics of the BiCGstab algorithm, we investigated the dependence of the logarithm of the Euclidean norm of the residual vector on the number of the main loops of Poisson subroutine. The results showed that the program for solving Poisson’s equation based on the BiCGstab(l) algorithm gives more accurate simulation results as using the BiCGstab algorithm.Bài báo này trình bày việc sử dụng thuật toán BiCGstab(l) để tìm nghiệm của phương trình Poisson ba chiều. Chương trình này sau đó sẽ được tích hợp vào một chương trình mô phỏng linh kiện bằng phương pháp Monte-Carlo tập hợp tự hợp nhằm kiểm tra hiệu năng của nó. Bên cạnh đó, để so sánh tốc độ hội tụ và tính ổn định của thuật toán BiCGstab(l) so với các đặc trưng tương ứng của thuật toán BiCGstab, chúng tôi đã tiến hành khảo sát sự phụ thuộc của chuẩn Euclide của véc-tơ thặng dư vào số vòng lặp của chương trình con Poisson. Kết quả thu được cho thấy chương trình giải phương trình Poisson dựa trên thuật toán BiCGstab(l) cho kết quả mô phỏng chính xác hơn như khi sử dụng thuật toán BiCGstab

A Method for Analysis and Calculation of Electricity Systems with Integrated Wind Energy Resources

Today, the demand for electricity is increasing while fossil fuels are becoming increasingly exhausted. To meet the demand for electricity as well as solve environmental problems, renewable energy resources, especially wind power, have been being exploited and widely used in Vietnam in particular and in the world in general. However, the random nature of this source causes many difficulties in integration and operation in the electrical system. In this article, the method for modelling wind energy resources as well as the appropriate method for analyzing and calculating power systems with integrated wind resources is studied for the purpose of giving comprehensive evaluation of the system

Dynamic interval valued neutrosophic set: Modeling decision making in dynamic environments

Dynamic decision problems constrained by time are of highly-interested in many aspects of real life. This paper proposes a new concept called the Dynamic Interval-valued Neutrosophic Set (DIVNS) for such the dynamic decision-making applications. Firstly, we define the definitions and mathematical operations, properties and correlations of DIVNSs. Next, we develop a new TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method based on the proposed DIVNS theory. Finally, a practical application of the method for evaluating lecturers’ performance at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (ULIS-VNU) is given to illustrate the efficiency of our approach