Pathogenicity of an H5N1 avian influenza virus isolated in Vietnam in 2012 and reliability of conjunctival samples for diagnosis of infection

The continued spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) subtype H5N1 among poultry in Vietnam poses a potential threat to animals and public health. To evaluate the pathogenicity of a 2012 H5N1 HPAIV isolate and to assess the utility of conjunctival swabs for viral detection and isolation in surveillance, an experimental infection with HPAIV subtype H5N1 was carried out in domestic ducks. Ducks were infected with 10[superscript 7.2] TCID[subscript 50] of A/duck/Vietnam/QB1207/2012 (H5N1), which was isolated from a moribund domestic duck. In the infected ducks, clinical signs of disease, including neurological disorder, were observed. Ducks started to die at 3 days-post-infection (dpi), and the study mortality reached 67%. Viruses were recovered from oropharyngeal and conjunctival swabs until 7 dpi and from cloacal swabs until 4 dpi. In the ducks that died or were sacrificed on 3, 5, or 6 dpi, viruses were recovered from lung, brain, heart, pancreas and intestine, among which the highest virus titers were in the lung, brain or heart. Results of virus titration were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Genetic and phylogenetic analysis of the HA gene revealed that the isolate belongs to clade 2.3.2.1 similarly to the H5N1 viruses isolated in Vietnam in 2012. The present study demonstrated that this recent HPAI H5N1 virus of clade 2.3.2.1 could replicate efficiently in the systemic organs, including the brain, and cause severe disease with neurological symptoms in domestic ducks. Therefore, this HPAI H5N1 virus seems to retain the neurotrophic feature and has further developed properties of shedding virus from the oropharynx and conjunctiva in addition to the cloaca, potentially posing a higher risk of virus spread through cross-contact and/or environmental transmission. Continued surveillance and diagnostic programs using conjunctival swabs in the field would further verify the apparent reliability of conjunctival samples for the detection of AIV.Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant-in-Aid for Bilateral Joint Projects)Heiwa Nakajima FoundationNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Contract HHSN2662007000010C

Carbonization and H3PO4 activation of fern Dicranopteris linearis and electrochemical properties for electric double layer capacitor electrode

Today, the world’s climate change is a growing problem, plant carbon sequestration is one of the effective ways to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gases, mostly carbon gases. Dicranopteris linearis (D. linearis), a common fern species in the tropic or subtropic ecoregions, has been recently recognized as a potential feedstock to produce highly porous biochar. This study aims to enhance the specific surface area (SSA) and pore volumes of biochars derived from the D. linearis by H3PO4 activation and examine electrical properties of the activated biochars and their possible usage for the electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) electrode. The treated raw fern was activated with H3PO4 85% by the three different mixing ratios 1:0, 1:1, and 1:3 (w/w) and then pyrolysis under N2 flow maintained at 500 °C for 1 h. The performance as the electrode for an EDLC was evaluated in 1 mol L−1 H2SO4 solution for the H3PO4-activated samples. The SSA and pore volumes were drastically increased after activation. The maximum SSA and pore volume were 1212 m2 g−1 and 1.43 cm3 g−1, respectively for the biochar activated at 400 °C with a weight mixing ratio 1:3 (w/w) between the fern and H3PO4 acid while these values of the biochar at 400 °C were 12 m2 g−1 and 0.02 cm3 g−1, respectively. The biochar activated at 600 °C with the mixing ratio 1:1 (w/w) showed the maximum capacitance value, ca. 108 F g−1 at 1 mV s−1. The activation using H3PO4 showed a positive tendency to enhance electrochemical properties and it could be a premise toward a higher performance of EDLC from the D. linearis derived activated biochar

Performance and livestock producers’ integration into cattle and pig farmer groups in NWH Vietnam

Farmer groups in Vietnam have undergone considerable transformations following the enforcement of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives. Under the new regulations, the old cooperative model became obsolete, which led to the disintegration or stop operation of numerous organisations. This gave way to a developing process of new forms of association in agricultural production, a field open to exploration. Within an evolving economy with greater exposure to international markets, adopting a scheme based on collective voluntariness reveals a challenging path for agricultural production’s social organisation, even more so if the individual perspectives of stakeholders on the performance and convenience of these groups are considered. Previous interventions have promoted the creation of farmer groups in Vietnam’s Northwest Highlands (NWH) to foster associativity, facilitating connection to markets and economies of scale for services, technologies, and knowledge transfer to livestock farmers. This research thus provides an assessment of the functioning and capacities of farmer groups engaged in cattle and pig production. To this end, five components were defined based on tools commonly used for strengthening farmer groups: 1) democratic, inclusive, and participatory management, 2) service offer and capacity building, 3) economic and financial sustainability, 4) managerial and administrative capacity, and 4) market connections and trading capacity. This approach integrates the analysis of behavioural elements from members, non-members, men, women, and local authorities on the perceived trust and commitment to participate in existing forms of cooperation. Information was collected through focus groups discussion and key informant interviews. The findings are currently being analysed and will allow researchers to design interventions aimed at strengthening farmer groups. They will too serve as input for current efforts to develop innovative models to deliver and scale innovations towards sustainable livestock production, replicable in other regions.Farmer groups in Vietnam have undergone considerable transformations following the enforcement of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives. Under the new regulations, the old cooperative model became obsolete, which led to the disintegration or stop operation of numerous organisations. This gave way to a developing process of new forms of association in agricultural production, a field open to exploration. Within an evolving economy with greater exposure to international markets, adopting a scheme based on collective voluntariness reveals a challenging path for agricultural production’s social organisation, even more so if the individual perspectives of stakeholders on the performance and convenience of these groups are considered. Previous interventions have promoted the creation of farmer groups in Vietnam’s Northwest Highlands (NWH) to foster associativity, facilitating connection to markets and economies of scale for services, technologies, and knowledge transfer to livestock farmers. This research thus provides an assessment of the functioning and capacities of farmer groups engaged in cattle and pig production. To this end, five components were defined based on tools commonly used for strengthening farmer groups: 1) democratic, inclusive, and participatory management, 2) service offer and capacity building, 3) economic and financial sustainability, 4) managerial and administrative capacity, and 4) market connections and trading capacity. This approach integrates the analysis of behavioural elements from members, non-members, men, women, and local authorities on the perceived trust and commitment to participate in existing forms of cooperation. Information was collected through focus groups discussion and key informant interviews. The findings are currently being analysed and will allow researchers to design interventions aimed at strengthening farmer groups. They will too serve as input for current efforts to develop innovative models to deliver and scale innovations towards sustainable livestock production, replicable in other regions

Aquatic emergency preparedness and response system in Viet Nam

Viet Nam is one of the top worldwide producers of aquaculture products which accounts for about 22 percent of total agricultural GDP of Viet Nam. Recently, diseases have become the biggest challenge for global aquaculture development therefore the Vietnamese government has paid close attention to develop an effective aquatic emergency preparedness and response system to timely deal with disease introduction and outbreaks. The Department of Animal Health (DAH), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), which is the competent authority of aquatic animal health management. To monitor transboundary diseases (especially the OIE-listed diseases), the current Vietnamese regulations only allow import of aquatic animals and its products which are certified as disease-free by competent authority of exporting country, and export aquatic animals and its products complying with importing conditions of importing country. Regional Animal Health Offices (belong to DAH) shall carry out sampling for testing pathogens and isolation for imported aquatic animals and its products as regulated in Circular 26/2016/TT-BNNPTNT dated 30 June 2016 before granting permit to import or export. For domestic transportation of aquatic animals, provincial sub DAH is responsible for monitoring infectious pathogens to certify disease-free status of aquatic animals before issuing health certificate for movement. In addition, a reporting and response system to aquatic animal diseases was established in the country from farm level to central level (DAH). Early detection and warning of diseases is critical for disease prevention and control, thus since 2014, the DAH has implemented national surveillance programs focusing on dangerous diseases in the key farming species (brackish-water shrimps, pangasius catfish) according to Circular 04/2016/TT-BNNPTNT dated 10 May 2016 of MARD and support exportation of aquatic animals and its products complying with international regulations and importing countries based on OIE recommendations and Circular 14/2016/TT-BNNPTNT dated 2 June 2016

Clinical implications of reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones in paediatric Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri infections.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to quantify the impact of fluoroquinolone resistance on the clinical outcome of paediatric shigellosis patients treated with fluoroquinolones in southern Vietnam. Such information is important to inform therapeutic management for infections caused by this increasingly drug-resistant pathogen, responsible for high morbidity and mortality in young children globally. METHODS: Clinical information and bacterial isolates were derived from a randomized controlled trial comparing gatifloxacin with ciprofloxacin for the treatment of paediatric shigellosis. Time-kill experiments were performed to evaluate the impact of MIC on the in vitro growth of Shigella and Cox regression modelling was used to compare clinical outcome between treatments and Shigella species. RESULTS: Shigella flexneri patients treated with gatifloxacin had significantly worse outcomes than those treated with ciprofloxacin. However, the MICs of fluoroquinolones were not significantly associated with poorer outcome. The presence of S83L and A87T mutations in the gyrA gene significantly increased MICs of fluoroquinolones. Finally, elevated MICs and the presence of the qnrS gene allowed Shigella to replicate efficiently in vitro in high concentrations of ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSIONS: We found that below the CLSI breakpoint, there was no association between MIC and clinical outcome in paediatric shigellosis infections. However, S. flexneri patients had worse clinical outcomes when treated with gatifloxacin in this study regardless of MIC. Additionally, Shigella harbouring the qnrS gene are able to replicate efficiently in high concentrations of ciprofloxacin and we hypothesize that such strains possess a competitive advantage against fluoroquinolone-susceptible strains due to enhanced shedding and transmission

Rapid integrated assessment of food safety and nutrition related to pork consumption of regular consumers and mothers with young children in Vietnam

Pork is the most common and widely consumed meat product in Vietnam. The study aimed to assess nutrition and food safety risks and opportunities associated with pork value chains in Vietnam. Twenty-nine focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces with 164 participants who were both regular pork consumers and mothers with young children. In each province, three districts were selected, and in each district we selected one commune. To assess the quality of pork, we took 30 swab samples of pig carcasses at slaughterhouses, 90 pork samples at slaughterhouses and markets and analysed all samples for total bacterial count (TBC), coliforms, water holding capacity and pH. The results showed that pork was the main livestock product consumed and women are responsible for buying and preparing food for daily meals. Pork was the main animal sourced food (ASF) for Vietnamese consumers, for 50–60% of ASF. There was little knowledge of zoonotic diseases. The findings suggest further studies to address consumers’ concern on chemical contamination. Most market pork samples were not within the allowable range of limits standards of Vietnam for bacterial contamination: 90% of samples were above the official permissible limit for TBC and 98% did not meet standards for coliforms. Fifty percent of samples had acceptable pH but only 5% had acceptable water holding capacity. There were no significant differences in pork quality between intensifying Hung Yen and traditional Nghe An provinces, although there was a tendency for samples from Hung Yen to have better compliance. This rapid assessment revealed considerable interest and knowledge on pork nutrition and safety and found some behavioural but few quality and safety differences between traditional and intensifying systems. This indicated marketed pork is of low quality and safety, and a lack of support to consumers in making good choices

Dynamic Power Management for Reactive Stream Processing on the SCC Tiled Architecture

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling} (DVFS) is a means to adjust the computing capacity and power consumption of computing systems to the application demands. DVFS is generally useful to provide a compromise between computing demands and power consumption, especially in the areas of resource-constrained computing systems. Many modern processors support some form of DVFS. In this article we focus on the development of an execution framework that provides light-weight DVFS support for reactive stream-processing systems (RSPS). RSPS are a common form of embedded control systems, operating in direct response to inputs from their environment. At the execution framework we focus on support for many-core scheduling for parallel execution of concurrent programs. We provide a DVFS strategy for RSPS that is simple and lightweight, to be used for dynamic adaptation of the power consumption at runtime. The simplicity of the DVFS strategy became possible by sole focus on the application domain of RSPS. The presented DVFS strategy does not require specific assumptions about the message arrival rate or the underlying scheduling method. While DVFS is a very active field, in contrast to most existing research, our approach works also for platforms like many-core processors, where the power settings typically cannot be controlled individually for each computational unit. We also support dynamic scheduling with variable workload. While many research results are provided with simulators, in our approach we present a parallel execution framework with experiments conducted on real hardware, using the SCC many-core processor. The results of our experimental evaluation confirm that our simple DVFS strategy provides potential for significant energy saving on RSPS.Peer reviewe

A prospective multi-center observational study of children hospitalized with diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

We performed a prospective multicenter study to address the lack of data on the etiology, clinical and demographic features of hospitalized pediatric diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Over 2,000 (1,419 symptomatic and 609 non-diarrheal control) children were enrolled in three hospitals over a 1-year period in 2009-2010. Aiming to detect a panel of pathogens, we identified a known diarrheal pathogen in stool samples from 1,067/1,419 (75.2%) children with diarrhea and from 81/609 (13.3%) children without diarrhea. Rotavirus predominated in the symptomatic children (664/1,419; 46.8%), followed by norovirus (293/1,419; 20.6%). The bacterial pathogens Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shigella were cumulatively isolated from 204/1,419 (14.4%) diarrheal children and exhibited extensive antimicrobial resistance, most notably to fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins. We suggest renewed efforts in generation and implementation of policies to control the sale and prescription of antimicrobials to curb bacterial resistance and advise consideration of a subsidized rotavirus vaccination policy to limit the morbidity due to diarrheal disease in Vietnam