Effect of molybdenum on growth and nitrogen metabolism of Brassica parachinensis L. and Brassica integrifolia L. under drought stress

Molybdenum (Mo) is an essential trace element that plays a critical role in various physiological processes of plants. Drought stress poses a significant threat to plant growth, making it imperative to study the effects of Mo in mitigating its impact on Brassica parachinensis L. and Brassica integrifolia L. This study aims to investigate the influence of molybdenum on the growth and nitrogen metabolism of Brassica species under drought-stress conditions. The study delves into the physiological and biochemical responses of these plants to Mo supplementation to comprehend the mechanisms by which Mo enhances drought tolerance and nitrogen assimilation. The results revealed that Mo supplementation (150 g ha-1) significantly improves the growth and nitrogen metabolism of Brassica species under drought-stress conditions. In particular, the application of Mo under drought stress leads to a notable increase in yield, as indicated by the improvement in productivity from 3.41 to 4.25 (kg m-2) and 3.89 to 4.97 (kg m-2) in Brassica parachinensis and Brassica integrifolia, respectively. Furthermore, Mo supplementation enhances chlorophyll levels, thereby promoting efficient photosynthesis. Additionally, it positively affects the accumulation of soluble sugars, starch, and proteins, indicating improved nutrient assimilation and utilization in the plants. These findings suggest that Mo supplementation plays a crucial role in enhancing drought tolerance and nitrogen assimilation in Brassica species. The study highlights the potential of Mo as a valuable tool for improving crop productivity and resilience under drought-stress condition

Alcohol Use, Risk Taking, Leisure Activities and Health Care Use Among Young People in Northern Vietnam

Alcohol consumption is associated with a wide range of health and social consequences. It is also associated with a number of risk taking behaviours. These include illicit drug use and unsafe sex.  Alcohol consumption appears to be increasing in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to examine the patterns of alcohol consumption and its relationship with a number of other risk taking behaviours amongst young people.  Information was also obtained concerning leisure activities and use of health care. The paper also sets out to examine possible gender differences in relation to alcohol consumption and risk behaviour and to propose the development and implementation of alcohol monitoring and prevention programs in Vietnam.  The study involved a cross-sectional, community survey using a standardised interview.  This was conducted during face-to-face interviews with 1,408 young people aged 10-19 years.  Respondents were recruited randomly through the lists of the households from 12 selected communes in three areas in Northern Vietnam. The findings presented here were part of a larger health risk behaviour survey.  Levels of alcohol use were low. Overall, 16.5% of participants were experienced drinkers, and only 4% of them were current drinkers. Males were significantly more likely than females to report drinking. This study also showed that rates of alcohol consumption were associated with age, education, geographical area, gender, tobacco smoking, involvement in violence, watching television, computer use and playing computer games, wearing safety helmets and use of health services. Alcohol consumption tended to increase with age for both males and females.  Alcohol and its effects on young people are clearly a growing public health issue in Vietnam.  Because of this, more detailed behavioral research should be conducted into the relationship between alcohol consumption and other risky behaviours amongst young people.  It is also recommended that alcohol harm reduction policies should be implemented and integrated into measures to reduce levels of other health problems such as HIV/AIDS and non communicable diseases. Such policies should ideally be evidence-based and evaluated

Direct costs of hypertensive patients admitted to hospital in Vietnam:a bottom-up micro-costing analysis

Background: There is an economic burden associated with hypertension both worldwide and in Vietnam. In Vietnam, patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure are hospitalized for further diagnosis and initiation of treatment. Because there is no evidence on costs of inpatient care for hypertensive patients available yet to inform policy makers, health insurance and hospitals, this study aims to quantify direct costs of inpatient care for these patients in Vietnam. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in a hospital in Vietnam. Direct costs were analyzed from the health-care provider's perspective. Hospital-based costing was performed using both bottom-up and micro-costing methods. Patients with sole essential or primary hypertension (ICD-code I10) and those comorbid with sphingolipid metabolism or other lipid storage disorders (ICD-code E75) were selected. Costs were quantified based on financial and other records of the hospital. Total cost per patient resulted from an aggregation of laboratory test costs, drug costs, inpatient-days' costs and other remaining costs, including appropriate allocation of overheads. Both mean and medians, as well as interquartile ranges (IQRs) were calculated. In addition to a base-case analysis, specific scenarios were analyzed. Results: 230 patients were included in the study (147 cases with I10 code only and 83 cases with I10 combined with E75). Median length of hospital stay was 6 days. Median total direct costs per patient were US$65 (IQR: 37 -95). Total costs per patient were higher in the combined hypertensive and lipid population than in the sole hypertensive population at US$78 and US$53, respectively. In all scenarios, hospital inpatient days' costs were identified as the major cost driver in the total costs. Conclusions: Costs of hospitalization of hypertensive patients is relatively high compared to annual medication treatment at a community health station for hypertension as well as to the total health expenditure per capita in Vietnam. Given that untreated/undetected hypertension likely leads to more expensive treatments of complications, these findings may justify investments by the Vietnamese health-care sector to control high blood pressure in order to save downstream health care budgets

Autophagy Inhibitor Chloroquine Downmodulates Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation and Liver Damage in Bile-Duct-Ligated Mice

Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation via the autophagy pathway is a critical factor in liver fibrogenesis. This study tests the hypothesis that chloroquine (CQ) treatment can prevent autophagy and HSC activation in vitro and in vivo in bile-duct-ligated (BDL) mice. Sham-operated and BDL mice were treated with either PBS or CQ in two 60 mg/kg doses the day (D) before and after surgery. On day 2 (2D), HSCs were isolated, and their biological activities were evaluated by measuring intracellular lipid content, alpha-sma/collagen, and expression of autophagy lc3, sqstm1/p62 markers. The treatment efficacy on liver function was evaluated with serum albumin, transaminases (AST/ALT), and hepatic histology. Primary HSCs were treated in vitro for 24 h with CQ at 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 30, and 50 mu M. Autophagy and HSC activation were assessed after 2D of treatment. CQ treatment improved serum AST/ALT, albumin, and bile duct proliferation in 2D BDL mice. This is associated with a suppression of HSC activation, shown by higher HSC lipid content and collagen I staining, along with the blockage of HSC autophagy indicated by an increase in p62 level and reduction in lc3 staining. CQ 5 mu M inhibited autophagy in primary HSCs in vitro by increasing p62 and lc3 accumulation, thereby suppressing their in vitro activation. The autophagy inhibitor CQ reduced HSC activation in vitro and in vivo. CQ improved liver function and reduced liver injury in BDL mice

A voltage electrical distance application for power system load shedding considering the primary and secondary generator controls

This paper proposes a method for determining location and calculating the minimum amount of power load needed to shed in order to recover the frequency back to the allowable range. Based on the consideration of the primary control of the turbine governor and the reserve power of the generators for secondary control, the minimum amount of load shedding was calculated in order to recover the frequency of the power system. Computation and analysis of the voltage electrical distance between the outage generator and the loads to prioritize distribution of the amount power load shedding at load bus positions. The nearer the load bus from the outage generator is, the higher the amount of load shedding will shed and vice versa. With this technique, a large amount of load shedding could be avoided, hence, saved from economic losses, and customer service interruption. The effectiveness of the proposed method tested on the IEEE 37 bus 9 generators power system standard has demonstrated the effectiveness of this method

Assessing Dietary Branched-Chain Amino Acids to Achieve Linear Programming Goals through Model Extrapolation and Empirical Research

Renewed interest, especially in the United States, has sparked in assessing branched-chain amino acid interactions in practical diets for broilers. Indeed, as L-valine enters formulation bird nitrogen excesses are reduced as diet protein falls to the new first limiting amino acid (e.g., isoleucine, arginine, or tryptophan). For a United States based example, the result is less oilseeds and more gains, which typically result in increased inclusions in corn or corn by-products, coupled with a concomitant increase in dietary leucine. The proceedings outline the foundations of the branched-chain amino acid early research, antagonism studies, and a meta-analysis conducted on publications with Cobb and Ross birds from 2000 to present. Results indicate that branched-chain amino acid interactions can occur in broilers fed on practical diets, and that responses vary by strain

Is Vietnam in need of supportive policies for promoting roots and tubers development? Insights from Quang Binh province

Despite their relative importance to the Vietnamese agri-food system, root and tuber crops are under-represented in terms of supportive policies at national level. The case of Quang Binh province shows the existence of potentially more conducive frameworks at provincial level, recognizing cassava as one the three provincial strategic crops and highlighting the roles of root and tuber crops in general in replacing other crops vulnerable to climate change