A LOOK BACK ON THE VERSE OF PHAN VĂN TRỊ AFTER 130 YEARS

Phan Văn Trị (潘文值1830–?) was a prominent writer in Cochinchina in the late nineteenth century. He achieved the rank of senior bachelor (舉人 cử nhân) in the Confucian court examination at a young age but never joined the imperial bureaucracy. Despite living an agrarian life as a layman, he was popular all over Cochinchina for his talent in poetry creation. When the three provinces of Eastern Cochinchina were taken by the French, Phan Văn Trị led a patriotic writing movement against Tôn Thọ Tường (尊壽祥) and his idea of surrendering to the colonizers. Phan Văn Trị was famous for his polemical poems, object poems, and pastoral poems. This article provides a brief literature review of Phan Văn Trị’s writings, describes the condition of his texts, and evaluates his poetry

Nanomaterial for Adjuvants Vaccine: Practical Applications and Prospects

Vaccines contain adjuvants to strengthen the immune responses of the receiver against pathogen infection or malignancy. A new generation of adjuvants is being developed to give more robust antigen-specific responses, specific types of immune responses, and a high margin of safety. By changing the physical and chemical properties of nanomaterials, it is possible to make antigen-delivery systems with high bioavailability, controlled and sustained release patterns, and the ability to target and image. Nanomaterials can modulate the immune system so that cellular and humoral immune responses more closely resemble those desired. The use of nanoparticles as adjuvants is believed to significantly improve the immunological outcomes of vaccination because of the combination of their immunomodulatory and delivery effects. In this review, we discuss the recent developments in new adjuvants using nanomaterials. Based on three main vaccines, the subunit, DNA, and RNA vaccines, the possible ways that nanomaterials change the immune responses caused by vaccines, such as a charge on the surface or a change to the surface, and how they affect the immunological results have been studied. This study aims to provide succinct information on the use of nanomaterials for COVID-19 vaccines and possible new applications

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

Assessment of a 27-kDa antigen in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the diagnosis of fasciolosis in Vietnamese patients

Fasciolosis has emerged as an important zoonotic disease in many parts of the world. In recent years, an increasing number of human cases were reported in Vietnam. In this study, the 27-kDa component protein from the excretory/secretory production of adult Fasciola gigantica, purified by high performance liquid chromatography, was assessed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies against Fasciola spp. for diagnosis of human fasciolosis. The ELISA showed a high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (97.67%) when tested on patients with fasciolosis, other parasitic infections, cholangiocarcinoma and on healthy controls. The assay was applied for diagnosis on 143 patients in the Viet Duc-Hanoi hospital who presented with clinical signs of liver disease and lesions in their livers as shown by imaging techniques. Antibodies were found in 37 (25.9%) of these patients, of whom only 3 shed Fasciola eggs in their stools (2.1%). The excellent response to triclabendazole treatment of 37 sero-positive patients confirmed the diagnosis of fasciolosis. This study demonstrated the diagnostic potential for human fasciolosis of the 27-kDa antigen ELISA. Fasciolosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hepatic disease in Vietnam

Concordance of Clinical, Histologic and Direct Immunofluorescence Findings in Patients with Autoimmune Bullous Dermatoses in Vietnam

Introduction: Autoimmune bullous dermatoses (ABD) represent a heterogeneous group of blistering disorders that may be debilitating with high morbidity. Clinical, histological, and direct immunofluorescence (DIF) studies are essential in establishing an accurate diagnosis of ABD, which is essential for its clinical management. Our study objective was to perform a systematic evaluation of ABD cases in a patient population at an academic medical center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and determine the degree of concordance of clinical, histological, and DIF findings in ABD. Methodology: A systematic retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on 92 patients diagnosed with ABD by clinical, histological, and DIF studies at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, between September 2019 and September 2021. The clinical histories, H and E stained tissue sections, and DIF stains were evaluated by pathologists at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Results: ABD was evaluated as a whole and subdivided into an intraepidermal blister subgroup and a subepidermal blister subgroup. The analysis of paired diagnostic methods (clinical, histological, and DIF) for concordance with the final diagnosis was performed and showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the paired methods (McNemar&rsquo;s test, p &gt; 0.05). There was moderate concordance between the clinical, histological, and DIF diagnoses among all ABD cases (Brennan-Prediger coefficient Kappa test, &kappa;BP = 0.522, CI = 0.95). In the intraepidermal blister subgroup, the diagnostic accuracies of the histology and DIF stains were comparable to each other, and both were more accurate than a clinical diagnosis alone. In the subepidermal blister subgroup, there was no statistically significant difference in each pair of the three diagnostic methods (clinical, histological, and DIF) (McNemar&rsquo;s test, p &gt; 0.05). The concordance between the clinical, histological, and DIF diagnoses was high for the intraepidermal blister subgroup (Kappa test, &kappa;BP = 0.758, CI = 0.95). However, the concordance between the clinical, histological, and DIF diagnoses was slight for the subepidermal blister subgroup (Kappa test, &kappa;BP = 0.171, CI = 0.95). Conclusion: Histological evaluation is highly accurate in the diagnosis of the intraepidermal blister subgroup, but it is not as accurate in the diagnosis of the subepidermal blister subgroup in the Vietnamese patient cohort in which clinical, histological, and DIF studies were performed. DIF stains are a crucial diagnostic tool for ABD in this patient population