Rapid assessment of Hib disease burden in Vietnam

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several countries have applied the <it>Haemophilus influenzae </it>type b (Hib) rapid assessment tool (RAT) to estimate the burden of Hib disease where resources for hospital- or population-based surveillance are limited. In Vietnam, we used the Hib RAT to estimate the burden of Hib pneumonia and meningitis prior to Hib vaccine introduction.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Laboratory, hospitalization and mortality data were collected for the period January 2004 through December 2005 from five representative hospitals. Based on the WHO Hib RAT protocol, standardized MS Excel spreadsheets were completed to generate meningitis and pneumonia case and death figures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found 35 to 77 Hib meningitis deaths and 441 to 957 Hib pneumonia deaths among children < 5 years of age annually in Vietnam. Overall, the incidence of Hib meningitis was estimated at 18/100,000 (95% confidence interval, CI, 15.1-21.6). The estimated Hib meningitis incidence in children < 5 years age was higher in Ho Chi Minh City (22.5/100,000 [95% CI, 18.4-27.5]) compared to Hanoi (9.8/100,000 [95% CI, 6.5-14.8]). The Hib RAT suggests that there are a total of 883 to 1,915 cases of Hib meningitis and 4,414 to 9,574 cases of Hib pneumonia per year in Vietnam.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In Hanoi, the estimated incidence of Hib meningitis for children < 5 years of age was similar to that described in previous population-based studies of Hib meningitis conducted from 1999 through 2002. Results from the Hib RAT suggest that there is a substantial, yet unmeasured, disease burden associated with Hib pneumonia in Vietnamese children.</p

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

Characterisation of acacia and eucalyptus plantation wood for veneer production in vietnam

This study presents the characterisation of three most commercially common Vietnamese hardwood plantation Acacia mangium, Acacia hybrid (Acacia mangium × Acacia auriculiformis), Eucalyptus urophylla) for veneer production. The aim of the study was to provide the veneer processing industry with linkages between current hardwood plantation resource characteristics and utilisation potential. Research results indicated that some species appear to perform better than others in terms of peeled veneer quality dependent on the final utilisation of the veneer or veneer based products. Eucalyptus urophylla produces veneer with higher stiffness and a higher proportion of stiffer material than the other species at a similar age, may be more suitable for structural products than the other species. Net recovery, which indicates the saleable volume recovered, varied between 49% and 55%, approximately double that reported for solid wood processing (sawmilling) of similar diameter and plantation species. A very high proportion of the recovered veneer meets the requirements of D-grade in accordance with Australian and New Zealand standard AS 2269.0:2012, only a small proportion meets the requirements of higher grade qualities, with the exception of 14 and 19-year-old Eucalyptus urophylla. In addition, a grading system for peeled logs in Vietnam was proposed in this study

Hg2+-Promoted Spirolactam Hydrolysis Reaction: A Design Strategy for the Highly Selective Sensing of Hg2+ over other Metal Ions in Aqueous Media

A mercury sensor (N-(rhodamine-6G)lactam-ethylenediamine-4-dimethylamino-cinnamaldehyde—RLED) based on the Hg2+-promoted hydrolysis reaction has been designed and developed with a combination of theoretical calculations and experimental investigations. The interaction between RLED and Hg2+ goes through a fast-initial stage with formation of a 1:1 complex, followed by a slow hydrolysis process. The formation of durable intermediate complexes is due to quite a long hydrolysis reaction time. As a result, RLED can selectively detect Hg2+ in the presence of other metal ions, with a detection limit of 0.08 μM for the colorimetric method, and of 0.008 μM with the fluorescent method. In addition, the RLED sensor can work in a solution with a small amount of organic solvent, with a wide pH range from 5 to 10. The time-dependent density functional theory has been used for investigations of the excitation and de-excitation processes in RLED, intermediate complexes, and reaction products, thereby clarifying the changes in the fluorescence intensity before and after the RLED interacts with Hg2+ ions

Topographic Effects on the Spatial Species Associations in Diverse Heterogeneous Tropical Evergreen Forests

Studying spatial patterns and habitat association of plant communities may provide understanding of the ecological mechanisms and processes that maintain species coexistence. To conduct assessments of correlation between community compositions and habitat association, we used data from two topographically different plots with 2 ha area in tropical evergreen forests with the variables recorded via grid systems of 10 × 10 m subplots in Northern-Central Vietnam. First, we tested the relationship between community composition and species diversity indices considering the topographical variables. We then assessed the interspecific interactions of 20 dominant plant species using the nearest-neighbor distribution function, Dij(r), and Ripley’s K-function, Kij(r). Based on the significant spatial association of species pairs, indices of interspecific interaction were calculated by the quantitative amounts of the summary statistics. The results showed that (i) community compositions were significantly influenced by the topographic variables and (ii) almost 50% significant pairs of species interactions were increased with increasing spatial scales up to 10–15 m, then declined and disappeared at scales of 30–40 m. Segregation and partial overlap were the dominant association types and disappeared at larger spatial scales. Spatial segregation, mixing, and partial overlap revealed the important species interactions in maintaining species coexistence under habitat heterogeneity in diverse forest communities

Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam

Degradation of tropical forests is a major driver of the global extinction crisis. A key question is understanding the role of evolution history during forest succession in the context of forest restoration for maintaining ecosystem function and stability. This study was conducted in a fragmented forest landscape in the central highlands of Vietnam. We sampled living trees with diameters at breast height of &ge;6.0 cm in nineteen 0.25 ha plots to evaluate forest community structure changes over two early successional stages (&lt;10 years and 10&ndash;20 years old) after abandonment and old-growth. We used both statistically metric and nonmetric analyses to examine correlations of community composition during successional stages and along elevational gradients. We found that (i) significant differences existed in the structural compositions between early successional forests and old-growth forests, but did not exist within early successional forests; (ii) the phylogenetic structure shifted from overdispersion to clustering with increasing successional ages; and (iii) above-ground biomass (AGB), representing ecosystem functioning, significantly increased from early-to-late successional stages, but did not correlate with phylogenetic diversity or elevation. Our results revealed that the forest community structure was strongly affected by degradation, particularly AGB and phylogenetic structure. These findings have clear implications for sustaining biodiversity persistence and ecosystem functioning in human-modified landscapes in the study region

Coverage degrees of colloids on electrochemical electrodes and signal amplification for anti-citrullinated peptide antibody detection

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been used to increase the power of electrochemical biosensors. However, densities and pattern distributions of AuNPs colloids have not been determined yet. In this report, we attempt identifying coverable densities of AuNPs on interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) and increasing the sensing signal by using cyclic antigen (CCP)-coated-AuNPs in impedance biosensors. IDEs were covalently functionalized with CCP-coated AuNPs and used for detection of anti-CCP antibody (ACPA), a remarkable biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis. 36% and 82% of ACPA in human commercial serum were captured by a low CCP (300 CCP per 40-nm nanoparticles) and high CCP (17 × 105 CCP per 40-nm nanoparticles) densities of colloids, respectively. Coverage of the colloids on gaps between two digits of IDEs were observed about at 2.7 × 106 AuNPs (30 nm) per 1 μm2 for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The enzyme-catalyzed deposition of silver nanocrystal increased the SNR of the impedance signal up to 7.8 folds of magnitude higher than un-deposited counterparts. Sensitivity and limit of detection were determined at 1.3 ng/mL and 0.12 ng/mL, respectively, at a frequency 900 kHz in the range of 200–2000 kHz. Finally, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed the ability of the biosensor to follow variation over time of the number of CCP and therefore also the quantify of ACPA in the samples

Hg2+-Promoted Spirolactam Hydrolysis Reaction: A Design Strategy for the Highly Selective Sensing of Hg2+ over other Metal Ions in Aqueous Media

A mercury sensor (N-(rhodamine-6G)lactam-ethylenediamine-4-dimethylamino-cinnamaldehyde&mdash;RLED) based on the Hg2+-promoted hydrolysis reaction has been designed and developed with a combination of theoretical calculations and experimental investigations. The interaction between RLED and Hg2+ goes through a fast-initial stage with formation of a 1:1 complex, followed by a slow hydrolysis process. The formation of durable intermediate complexes is due to quite a long hydrolysis reaction time. As a result, RLED can selectively detect Hg2+ in the presence of other metal ions, with a detection limit of 0.08 &mu;M for the colorimetric method, and of 0.008 &mu;M with the fluorescent method. In addition, the RLED sensor can work in a solution with a small amount of organic solvent, with a wide pH range from 5 to 10. The time-dependent density functional theory has been used for investigations of the excitation and de-excitation processes in RLED, intermediate complexes, and reaction products, thereby clarifying the changes in the fluorescence intensity before and after the RLED interacts with Hg2+ ions