Environmental impact assessment of the pangasius sector in the Mekong Delta

In the past seven years the export of white pangasius fillets grew fast. The culture method shifted to intensive production of striped catfish (Ca Tra) in deep ponds because this is more efficient than the pen and cage culture of Ca Basa. Today, striped catfish comprises more than 90 % of the culture. The increased production was achieved by producers investing in large ponds. The market chain is gearing towards vertical integration. Most farms keep fish at relatively high densities of 15 to 25 fish/m3 in ponds having a depth of up to 4m, and are advised to exchange daily 20 to 40% of the water. The sustainability of the sector is threatened due to the increased environmental pressure, and hampered by the growing cost of inputs and reduced farm-gate prices of the fish. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) intends to identify measures for preventing or mitigating the environmental impacts of catfish culture in the Mekong Delta. The EIA was a seven-step process during which we interacted twice with part of the main stakeholders. To build trust among the stakeholders from the sector, we conducted the scoping and goal setting with them

Potential benefits from the adoption of new groundnut varieties in northern Vietnam: An ex ante assessment

Enabled by land reforms and fuelled by technological change, agricultural production in Vietnam grew tremendously after the mid-1980s. Focusing on groundnut, an export-oriented cash and food crop, this paper provides estimates of potential benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in northern Vietnam. At farm level, switching over to improved varieties generates additional revenue of VND1.8 to 3.9 million per hectare (US$1 is equivalent to about VND15,969). The aggregate benefits for northern Vietnam are huge. With the groundnut area remaining unchanged, the annual value of benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in 80$35.8 million) at a real discount rate of 5%. These benefits will be 14% larger if the groundnut area continues to expand at the rate achieved in the recent past

Clinical features, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and genomics of bacteria causing neonatal sepsis in a children's hospital in Vietnam: protocol for a prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical syndrome of neonatal sepsis, comprising signs of infection, septic shock and organ dysfunction in infants ≤4 weeks of age, is a frequent sequel to bloodstream infection and mandates urgent antimicrobial therapy. Bacterial characterisation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is vital for ensuring appropriate therapy, as high rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), especially in low-income and middle-income countries, may adversely affect outcome. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam is a rapidly expanding city in Southeast Asia with a current population of almost 8 million. There are limited contemporary data on the causes of neonatal sepsis in Vietnam, and we hypothesise that the emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria is an increasing problem for the appropriate management of sepsis cases. In this study, we aim to investigate the major causes of neonatal sepsis and assess disease outcomes by clinical features, antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and genome composition. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: We will conduct a prospective observational study to characterise the clinical and microbiological features of neonatal sepsis in a major children's hospital in HCMC. All bacteria isolated from blood subjected to whole genome sequencing. We will compare clinical variables and outcomes between different bacterial species, genome composition and AMR gene content. AMR gene content will be assessed and stratified by species, years and contributing hospital departments. Genome sequences will be analysed to investigate phylogenetic relationships. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study will be conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and the International Council on Harmonization Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice. Ethics approval has been provided by the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee 35-16 and Vietnam Children's Hospital 1 Ethics Committee 73/GCN/BVND1. The findings will be disseminated at international conferences and peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN69124914; Pre-results

Drug-Related Problems in Coronary Artery Diseases

Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of mortality among cardiovascular diseases, responsible for 16% of the world’s total deaths. According to a statistical report published in 2020, the global prevalence of CAD was estimated at 1655 per 100,000 people and is predicted to exceed 1845 by 2030. Annually, in the United States, CAD accounts for approximately 610,000 deaths and costs more than 200 billion dollars for healthcare services. Most patients with CAD need to be treated over long periods with a combination of drugs. Therefore, the inappropriate use of drugs, or drug-related problems (DRPs), can lead to many consequences that affect these patients’ health, including decreased quality of life, increased hospitalization rates, prolonged hospital stays, increased overall health care costs, and even increased risk of morbidity and mortality. DRPs are common in CAD patients, with a prevalence of over 60%. DRPs must therefore be noticed and recognized by healthcare professionals. This chapter describes common types and determinants of DRPs in CAD patients and recommends interventions to limit their prevalence

Performance of hybrid buffer Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) layers doped with plasmonic silver nanoparticles

We compare the performance of a typical hole transport layer for organic photovoltaics (OPVs), Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) thin film with a series of PEDOT:PSS layers doped with silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) of various size distributions. These hybrid layers have attracted great attention as buffer layers in plasmonic OPVs, although there is no report up to date on their isolated performance. In the present study we prepared a series of PEDOT:PSS layers sandwiched between indium tin oxide (ITO) and gold (Au) electrodes. Ag NPs were deposited on top of the ITO by electron beam evaporation followed by spin coating of PEDOT:PSS. Electrical characterization performed in the dark showed linear resistive behavior for all the samples; lower resistance was observed for the hybrid ones. It was found that the resistivity of the samples decreases with increasing the particle's size. A substantial increase of the electric field between the ITO and the Au electrodes was seen through the formation of current paths through the Ag NPs. A striking observation is the slight increase in the slope of the current density versus voltage curves when measured under illumination for the case of the plasmonic layers, indicating that changes in the electric field in the vicinity of the NP due to plasmonic excitation is a non-vanishing factor

Investigation of Uniaxial Induced Anisotropy in Co0.02Ni0.58Cd0.20Fe2.20O4 and Co0.02Ni0.58Cd0.20Cr0.20Fe2O4 Ferrites

The NiCd ferrites with Fe excess in comparison with stoichiometry composition and with Fe excess amount substituting by Cr, moreover containing small amount of Co are prepared. The formation of preminvar effect and uniaxial induced anisotropy in these ferrites are examined under the heat treatment with and without magnetic field. The appearence of uniaxial induced anisotropy causes unexpected changes of some magnetic and electric properties of ferrites