Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Vietnam: The Impact of Autonomy Policy

The autonomous university model is recognized as a method of advanced university governance to improve training quality . In Vietnam, university autonomy has made many positive changes in training quality in recent years. This study examines if there is a difference in the QA activities of academic programs between two types of higher education institutions: the public universities with financial autonomy and the public universities without financial autonomy. A quantitative method was used to analyze the survey data from 593 participants. An independent T-test was used to analyze the differences between the two types of institutions. The results indicated statistical differences in most activities in seven research areas. The quantitative result provided strong evidence of the impact of autonomy policy on two types of higher education institutions, which was not addressed in the national report on autonomy policy in 2022. Some recommendations were made to improve the QA activities toward continuous quality improvement

Quantifying antimicrobial access and usage for paediatric diarrhoeal disease in an urban community setting in Asia.

OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial-resistant infections are a major global health issue. Ease of antimicrobial access in developing countries is proposed to be a key driver of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) epidemic despite a lack of community antimicrobial usage data. METHODS: Using a mixed-methods approach (geospatial mapping, simulated clients, healthcare utilization, longitudinal cohort) we assessed antimicrobial access in the community and quantified antimicrobial usage for childhood diarrhoea in an urban Vietnamese setting. RESULTS: The study area had a pharmacy density of 15.7 pharmacies/km2 (a pharmacy for every 1316 people). Using a simulated client method at pharmacies within the area, we found that 8% (3/37) and 22% (8/37) of outlets sold antimicrobials for paediatric watery and mucoid diarrhoea, respectively. However, despite ease of pharmacy access, the majority of caregivers would choose to take their child to a healthcare facility, with 81% (319/396) and 88% (347/396) of responders selecting a specialized hospital as one of their top three preferences when seeking treatment for watery and mucoid diarrhoea, respectively. We calculated that at least 19% (2688/14427) of diarrhoea episodes in those aged 1 to <5 years would receive an antimicrobial annually; however, antimicrobial usage was almost 10 times greater in hospitals than in the community. CONCLUSIONS: Our data question the impact of community antimicrobial usage on AMR and highlight the need for better education and guidelines for all professionals with the authority to prescribe antimicrobials

Climate Variability and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, Vietnam during 2004–2014

&quot;Background: Currently, dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) is an important public health challenge in many areas, including the Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, Vietnam. Methods and Aim: This study was conducted in 2015 using a retrospective secondary data analysis on monthly data of DF/DHF cases and climate conditions from 2004–2014 in Ba Tri District, which aimed to explore the relationship between DF/DHF and climate variables. Results: During the period of 2004–2014, there were 5728 reported DF/DHF cases and five deaths. The disease occurred year round, with peaked from May to October and the highest number of cases occurred in June and July. There were strong correlations between monthly DF/DHF cases within that period with average rainfall (r = 0.70), humidity (r = 0.59), mosquito density (r = 0.82), and Breteau index (r = 0.81). A moderate association was observed between the monthly average number of DF/DHF cases and the average temperature (r = 0.37). The monthly DF/DHF cases were also moderately correlated with the Aedes mosquito density. Conclusions and Recommendations: Local health authorities need to monitor DF/DHF cases at the beginning of epidemic period, starting from April and to apply timely disease prevention measures to avoid the spreading of the disease in the following months. More vector control efforts should be implemented in March and April, just before the rainy season, which can help to reduce the vectordensity and the epidemic risk. A larger scale study using national data and for a longer period of time should be undertaken to thoroughly describe the correlation between climate variability and DF/DHF cases as well as for modeling and building projection model for the disease in the coming years. This can play an important role for active prevention of DF/DHF in Vietnam under the impacts of climate change and weather variability.&quot

Preparation and Biological Properties of Platinum(II) Complex-Loaded Copolymer PLA-TPGS

A new nanodrug system containing bis(menthone thiosemicarbazonato) Platinum(II) complex (Pt-thiomen) encapsulated with the block copolymers polylactide-d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (PLA-TPGS) was prepared by a modified solvent extraction/evaporation technique. The characteristics of the nanoparticles including surface morphology, size distribution, structure, and biological activities such as antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities were in vitro investigated. The spherical nanoparticles were around 50 nm in size with core-shell structure and narrow-size distribution. The encapsulated Pt-thiomen can avoid interaction with proteins in the blood plasma. The inhibitory activity of Pt-thiomen-loaded PLA-TPGS nanoparticles on the growth of some bacteria, fungi, and Hep-G2 cells suggests a possibility of developing PLA-TPGS-Pt-thiomen nanoparticles as one of the potential chemotherapeutic agents

#256 : Reproductive Outcomes and Satisfaction Among Patients Using Telemedicine During Assisted Reproduction: A Meta-Analysis

Background and Aims: Telemedicine refers to the delivery of healthcare services through the use of information and communication technology, across distances. There has been a significant increase in the demand for infertility treatment and virtual consultations from home after the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, due to a lack of sufficient data, and concerns about patient compliance, telemedicine has struggled to gain widespread acceptance. Our aim was to compare the success of treatment between telemedicine and in-office care during assisted reproduction treatment. Additionally, we evaluated patient satisfaction with telemedicine. Method: We conducted a literature search of published articles in the PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to November 30, 2022. We used the keywords “telemedicine” or “telehealth” and “in vitro fertilization” or “assisted reproduction”. Both randomized controlled trials and observational studies were included in the search. We registered our protocol on PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42022379428). Results: We identified 14 studies that reported data on 5182 patients. Quality assessment revealed an acceptable risk of bias for both randomized controlled trials and observational studies. The data showed that telemedicine was non-inferior to in-person care in terms of pregnancy rate achieved (OR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.83–1.25, p = 0.84). The Q test p-value of 0.99 and I2 statistic of 0% indicated that all the included studies were homogeneous. Patients who received telemedicine follow-ups during fertility treatment reported adequate satisfaction (88%, 95% CI: 77%-94%). Eggers’ test did not indicate the presence of Deek’s funnel plot asymmetry (p = 0.62), confirming that no publication bias was found. Conclusion: Telemedicine use has resulted in a comparable treatment success rate in terms of pregnancy rate, when compared to face-to-face consultation. These emerging tools also yielded a high level of patient satisfaction

Household trends in access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities in Vietnam and associated factors: findings from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2000–2011

Background: Despite progress made by the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number 7.C, Vietnam still faces challenges with regard to the provision of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Objective: This paper describes household trends in access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities separately, and analyses factors associated with access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities in combination. Design: Secondary data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in 2000, 2006, and 2011 were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance describe trends over time in access to water and sanitation by location, demographic and socio-economic factors. Binary logistic regressions (2000, 2006, and 2011) describe associations between access to water and sanitation, and geographic, demographic, and socio-economic factors. Results: There have been some outstanding developments in access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities from 2000 to 2011. In 2011, the proportion of households with access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities reached 90% and 77%, respectively, meeting the 2015 MDG targets for safe drinking water and basic sanitation set at 88% and 75%, respectively. However, despite these achievements, in 2011, only 74% of households overall had access to combined improved drinking water and sanitation facilities. There were also stark differences between regions. In 2011, only 47% of households had access to both improved water and sanitation facilities in the Mekong River Delta compared with 94% in the Red River Delta. In 2011, households in urban compared to rural areas were more than twice as likely (odds ratio [OR]: 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.9–2.5) to have access to improved water and sanitation facilities in combination, and households in the highest compared with the lowest wealth quintile were over 40 times more likely (OR: 42.3; 95% CI: 29.8–60.0). Conclusions: More efforts are required to increase household access to both improved water and sanitation facilities in the Mekong River Delta, South East and Central Highlands regions of Vietnam. There is also a need to address socio-economic factors associated with inadequate access to improved sanitation facilities

Anthropometric Cut-Off Values for Detecting the Presence of Metabolic Syndrome and Its Multiple Components among Adults in Vietnam: The Role of Novel Indices

Recent studies have shown that using international guidelines to diagnose metabolic syndrome (MetS) may underestimate its prevalence in different Asian populations. This study aims to determine the validity of anthropometric indicators and appropriate cut-off values to predict MetS for Vietnamese adults. We analyzed data on 4701 adults across four regions of Vietnam. Four conventional and five novel anthropometric indexes were calculated. The area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and Youden’s J statistic were applied to evaluate the diagnostic ability and optimal cut-off values. Regardless of diagnostic criteria and gender, Abdominal volume index (AVI), Body roundness index (BRI), and Waist-height ratio (WHtR) had the highest AUC values, followed by Body mass index (BMI) and Waist-hip ratio (WHR). However, it was seen that differences among the AUC values of most indices were minor. In men, using International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria, the threshold of indices was 3.86 for BRI, 16.20 for AVI, 0.53 for WHtR, 22.40 for BMI, and 0.90 for WHR. In women, the threshold for these figures were 3.60, 12.80, 0.51, 23.58, and 0.85, respectively. It is recommended that health personnel in Vietnam should apply appropriate thresholds of anthropometry, which are lower than current international guidelines, for MetS screening to avoid under-diagnosis

Fabrication and Response Surface Methodology for the Adsorption of Nickel Ferrite-Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite for the Removal of Methylene Blue from Water

This study is aimed at studying the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions by nickel ferrite/graphene oxide (NGO) nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller-specific surface area, and vibrating sample magnetometer analyses. The interactive effects of critical variables including pH, initial concentration, and contact time on the adsorption capacity of NGO for MB were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) according to composite central design. In RSM models, the predicted values agreed well with verification experiments, with a high correlation coefficient of 0.9887. The adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. The maximum capacity for adsorption of MB onto NGO was found to be 476.19 mg/g. Based on these results, NGO has the potential as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of MB from water

Optimization design for die-sinking EDM process parameters employing effective intelligent method

AbstractElectrical discharge machining (EDM) is a highly regarded method for producing ultra-precise mechanical parts. In this study, the process parameters of die-sinking EDM using copper electrodes and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) P20 tool steel workpieces are optimized for various output responses. The study surveys three input parameters, including Current (I), Pulse on Time (Ton), and Pulse Off Time (Toff). Some statistical methods, such as Taguchi and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), are applied to find the optimal set of parameters for the output responses, consisting of Material Removal Rate (MRR), Electrode Wear Rate (EWR), and Surface Roughness (SR), and determine the most influential input factor. With the L9 Orthogonal Array (OA), the analytical results demonstrate the optimal parameter set for MRR is I = 6 A, Ton = 120 µs, and Toff = 30 µs, while those optimal values for EWR and SR are I = 2 A, Ton = 120 µs, and Toff = 90 µs and I = 2 A, Ton = 60 µs, and Toff = 30 µs, respectively. The study also indicates that input factor I has the most effect on the output responses, followed by Ton and Toff. Moreover, Grey relational analysis in the Taguchi method is also employed for multi-response optimization. The optimal parameter set for the three output factors is I = 6 A, Ton = 120 µs, and Toff = 60 µs, respectively. In this research, the microstructure and recast layer of the machined surfaces are investigated using optical microscopy as well