Assimilation of SMAP products for improving streamflow simulations over tropical climate region — is spatial information more important than temporal information?

Streamflow is one of the key variables in the hydrological cycle. Simulation and forecasting of streamflow are challenging tasks for hydrologists, especially in sparsely gauged areas. Coarse spatial resolution remote sensing soil moisture products (equal to or larger than 9 km) are often assimilated into hydrological models to improve streamflow simulation in large catchments. This study uses the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) technique to assimilate SMAP soil moisture products at the coarse spatial resolution of 9 km (SMAP 9 km), and downscaled SMAP soil moisture product at the higher spatial resolution of 1 km (SMAP 1 km), into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to investigate the usefulness of different spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed soil moisture products in streamflow simulation and forecasting. The experiment was set up for eight catchments across the tropical climate of Vietnam, with varying catchment areas from 267 to 6430 km2 during the period 2017–2019. We comprehensively evaluated the EnKF-based SWAT model in simulating streamflow at low, average, and high flow. Our results indicated that high-spatial resolution of downscaled SMAP 1 km is more beneficial in the data assimilation framework in aiding the accuracy of streamflow simulation, as compared to that of SMAP 9 km, especially for the small catchments. Our analysis on the impact of observation resolution also indicates that the improvement in the streamflow simulation with data assimilation is more significant at catchments where downscaled SMAP 1 km has fewer missing observations. This study is helpful for adding more understanding of performances of soil moisture data assimilation based hydrological modelling over the tropical climate region, and exhibits the potential use of remote sensing data assimilation in hydrology

Influence of Sintering Temperature on Low-field Spin-polarized Tunneling Magnetoresistance of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3

In this study we report the effect of sintering temperature on the low field magnetoresistance (LFMR) of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 manganite synthesized through sol-gel technique. The La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 has been sintered at 600°C, 700°C, 800°C, 900°C and 1200°C. The crystallite as well as particle size also show strong dependence on the sintering temperature. While the ferromagnetic – paramagnetic (FM-PM) transition temperature remains almost constant, the metal – insulation transition temperature drop gradual and the low field magnetoresistance (LFMR) increase with a decrease in grain size. We have analyzed our data based on the spin – polarized transport of conduction electrons at the grain boundaries

Evaluation Of Agronomic Traits And Adaptation Of Some Promising Salt Tolerant Rice Lines/Varieties Growing In The Coastal Areas In Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the main food in Vietnam and plays an important role in economic activity in this country. However, rice yield and growing areas are adversely influenced by the threats of the devastation caused by the rise of sea level. This study aimed to evaluate the salt effects in field experiments of 19 promising salt tolerance rice lines/varieties carrying QTL/Saltol, which were selected from the BC2F5 breeding combination between FL479 and Bac Thom 7 (BC7). The field experiments were conducted in two consecutive seasons at three saline-affected rice growing areas, including Nga Son, Hoang Hoa and Quang Xuong districts, Thanh Hoa province. The results showed that among those promising rice lines, the HL15 line had the best yield components in all experimented sites, and good agronomic traits with short plant height and shorter growth duration than the BC7 variety (115-117 days) in the spring season and 102-103 days in the summer season, respectively. All tested had the same level of pest resistance/infection as the control variety BT7 under production conditions using pesticides including HL1, HL13 and HL15, which were mildly infected with the bacterial leaf blight, while HL15 variety showed high resistance to pests and diseases. Moreover, the HL2, HL15 and HL19 lines had scored 3, equivalent to FL478 (tolerant), and the survival rate was over 85% compared with the control variety. Overall, our findings showed that the promising purebred variety HL15 had a range of good agronomic characteristics, resistance to major pests and diseases, high yield potential and salinity tolerance of 6‰. The HL15 variety was renamed as SHPT15 and continued to conduct procedures to recognize it as a new rice variety

The Role of Serial NT-ProBNP Level in Prognosis and Follow-Up Treatment of Acute Heart Failure after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

BACKGROUND: After coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, heart failure is still major problem. The valuable marker for it is needed. AIM: Evaluating the role of serial NT-proBNP level in prognosis and follow-up treatment of acute heart failure after CABG surgery. METHODS: The prospective, analytic study evaluated 107 patients undergoing CABG surgery at Ho Chi Minh Heart Institute from October 2012 to June 2014. Collecting data was done at pre- and post-operative days with measuring NT-proBNP levels on the day before operation, 2 hours after surgery, every next 24 h until the 5th day, and in case of acute heart failure occurred after surgery. RESULTS: On the first postoperative day (POD1), the NT-proBNP level demonstrated significant value for AHF with the cut-off point = 817.8 pg/mL and AUC = 0.806. On the second and third postoperative day, the AUC value of NT- was 0.753 and 0.751. It was statistically significant in acute heart failure group almost at POD 1 and POD 2 when analyzed by the doses of dobutamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline (both low doses and normal doses). CONCLUSION: Serial measurement of NT-proBNP level provides useful prognostic and follow-up treatment information in acute heart failure after CABG surgery

Fabrication and Magnetic Properties of Mn1 - xZnxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) Nanoparticles

In this paper, we report results on the fabrication and magnetic properties of spinel ferrite Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The effects of substituting Zn for Mn on the magnetic properties and particles size were focused. It was found that the phase-formation temperature is 90OC and the average particle size decreases from 40 nm to 10 nm when increased Zn concentration from zero to 0.8. The Curie temperature TC strongly decreases from 585 K (x = 0) to 320 K (x = 0.8) concomitantly with a decrease of the saturation magnetization MS. With a TC of 320 K and MS of 17 emu/g, the x=0.8 sample could be a promising candidate for some biomedical applications

ĐẶC ĐIỂM SINH HỌC SINH SẢN CỦA NGÁN (AUSTRIELLA CORRUGATA) TẠI VÙNG TRIỀU VEN BIỂN TỈNH QUẢNG NINH

360 samples of mud clam (Austriella corrugata) were collected in the intertidal zone of Quang Ninh province city from January 2015 to December 2015 for this study. The results showed that the gonad of female is black, that of male is milky white. The spawning season is from mid April to early September and the peak of spawning occurs from early June to early August. In spawning season, ratio of male/female is toward balance. In other months, rate of male is dominant in the population. Hermaphroditism occurs in the mud clam with a small percentage (from 3.3% to 10%) in the breeding season, in group with size of more than 40 mm. The length of mud clam at first sexual maturity is over 30 mm and the weight is over 20 g. The average absolute fecundity (Fa) is 960,680 eggs/individual. Development of mud clam larvae goes through main stages: Veliger, Umbo and Spat. Our findings contribute information to the planning of the artificial seed production, conservation and sustainable development of mud clam native resource.Kết quả phân tích 360 mẫu ngán (A. corrugata) thu tại các khu vực nơi có ngán phân bố thuộc vùng triều ven biển tỉnh Quảng Ninh từ tháng 1/2015 đến tháng 12/2015 cho thấy: Tuyến sinh dục ngán đực có màu trắng sữa, ngán cái có màu đen thẫm. Mùa vụ sinh sản của ngán hàng năm được xác định từ giữa tháng 4 đến đầu tháng 9, mùa sinh sản tập trung từ đầu tháng 6 đến đầu tháng 8. Ở các tháng tromg năm, tỷ lệ con đực luôn chiếm ưu thế so với con cái trong quần đàn ngán. Vào mùa sinh sản tỷ lệ đực cái cân bằng. Ngán lưỡng tính xuất hiện với tỷ lệ nhỏ (3,3 - 10%) vào mùa sinh sản và ở nhóm kích thước lớn hơn 40 mm. Ngán thành thục sinh dục lần đầu khi chiều dài đạt trên 30 mm, khối lượng trên 20 g. Sức sinh sản tuyệt đối giao động từ 340.690  - 2.090.000 trứng/cá thể, trung bình đạt 960.680 trứng/cá thể. Ấu trùng của ngán phát triển trải qua các giai đoạn chính: Ấu trùng chữ D, ấu trùng đỉnh vỏ và ấu trùng chân bò. Sau đó, ngán phát triển thành con non. Kết quả nghiên cứu góp phần cung cấp cơ sở khoa học cho việc xây dựng kế hoạch sản xuất giống nhân tạo, bảo vệ và phát triển bền vững nguồn lợi ngán tại địa phương

Multifunctional nanocarriers of Fe3O4@PLA-PEG/curcumin for MRI, magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery

Background: Despite medicinal advances, cancer is still a big problem requiring better diagnostic and treatment tools. Magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-based nanosystems for multiple-purpose applications were developed for these unmet needs. Methods: This study fabricated novel trifunctional MNPs of Fe3O4@PLA-PEG for drug release, MRI and magnetic fluid hyperthermia. Result: The MNPs provided a significant loading of curcumin (∼11%) with controllable release ability, a high specific absorption rate of 82.2 W/g and significantly increased transverse relaxivity (r2 = 364.75 mM-1 s-1). The in vivo study confirmed that the MNPs enhanced MRI contrast in tumor observation and low-field magnetic fluid hyperthermia could effectively reduce the tumor size in mice bearing sarcoma 180. Conclusion: The nanocarrier has potential for drug release, cancer treatment monitoring and therapy.The authors are grateful for the financial support by AOARD under award FA2386-17-1-4042. The Spanish government is acknowledged for the “Nanotechnology in translational hyperthermia (HIPERNANO)” research network (RED2018102626-T) and for funding under the project number MAT2017-83631-C3. NTK Thanh thanks EPSRC (EP/M015157/1). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

The Risk of Stroke after Percutaneous Vertebroplasty for Osteoporosis: A Population-Based Cohort Study

PURPOSE: To investigate the incidence and risk of stroke after percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with osteoporosis. METHODS: A group of 334 patients with osteoporosis, and who underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty during the study period, was compared to 1,655 age-, sex- and propensity score-matched patients who did not undergo vertebroplasty. All demographic covariates and co-morbidities were deliberately matched between the two groups to avoid selection bias. Every subject was followed-up for up to five years for stroke. Adjustments using a Cox regression model and Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 1,989 osteoporotic patients were followed up for 3,760.13 person-years. Overall, the incidence rates of any stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke were 22.6, 4.2 and 19.6 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Patients who underwent vertebroplasty were not more likely to have any stroke (crude hazard ratio = 1.13, p = 0.693), hemorrhagic stroke (HR = 2.21, p = 0.170), or ischemic stroke (HR = 0.96, p = 0.90). After adjusting for demographics, co-morbidities and medications, the vertebroplasty group had no significant difference with the comparison group in terms of any, hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes (adjusted HR = 1.22, 3.17, and 0.96, p = 0.518, 0.055, and 0.91, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Osteoporotic patients who undergo percutaneous vertebroplasty are not at higher risk of any stroke in the next five years after the procedure