Training and fostering the contingent of police cadres of Hai Phong city to meet the requirements and missions of ensuring security and order in the new situation

Training, fostering and improving professional qualifications for the contingent of cadres is an important requirement of the People’s Public Security force in the period of accelerating the industrialization, modernization and international integration of the country. The article proposes solutions to improve the quality of training and fostering the contingent of public security officers with dedication, a high sense of responsibility at work, and the qualifications and capabilities that satisfy the increasing requirements of developing the People’s Public Security force of Hai Phong city to meet the requirements and tasks of ensuring security and order in the new situation

Bioefficacy of leaf extracts from Pouzolzia zeylanica (L.) Benn against diamondback moth plutella xylostella in Viet Nam

In Viet Nam, Pouzolzia zeylanica (L.) Benn is a native plant and has been demonstrated its applicability as a medical plant. Additionally, Pouzolzia zeylanica was used to control fly larvae during food processing due to insecticidal activity. We optimized the extraction of Pouzolzia zeylanica by ethanol at different conditions: concentration, the ratio of solid (material) - liquid (ethanol volume) (mg/ml) and the extraction time (hour). Results indicated that extraction yield was effected by all of the factors. The optimized extraction yield was 6.85% (Y) with ethanol concentration at 96 percent ethanol (Z1), the ratio solid to liquid is 1: 25 (mg/ml) (Z2) and extraction time is 4 days (Z3). We tested the efficiency of leaf extracts from Pouzolzia zeylanica and antifeedant activity against diamondback moth Plutella xylostella at different leaf extract concentrations. Results indicated that 80% mortality induced by those compounds was recorded on Plutella xylostella second instars at 30% leaf extract concentration and had significant difference compared to the control (P=0.0000); the leaf extract affected the ratio of pupation, adult emergence and antifeedant activity of P. xylostella (P=0.0000). The obtained results promise a potential of using Pouzolzia zeylanica as biopesticide in Viet Nam

Gene Family Abundance Visualization based on Feature Selection Combined Deep Learning to Improve Disease Diagnosis

Advancements in machine learning in general and in deep learning in particular have achieved great success in numerous fields. For personalized medicine approaches, frameworks derived from learning algorithms play an important role in supporting scientists to investigate and explore novel data sources such as metagenomic data to develop and examine methodologies to improve human healthcare. Some challenges when processing this data type include its very high dimensionality and the complexity of diseases. Metagenomic data that include gene families often have millions of features. This leads to a further increase of complexity in processing and requires a huge amount of time for computation. In this study, we propose a method combining feature selection using perceptron weight-based filters and synthetic image generation to leverage deep-learning advancements in order to predict various diseases based on gene family abundance data. An experiment was conducted using gene family datasets of five diseases, i.e. liver cirrhosis, obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer. The proposed method provides not only visualization for gene family abundance data but also achieved a promising performance level

Evaluation of the Luminex xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel FAST v2 assay for detection of multiple respiratory viral pathogens in nasal and throat swabs in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are among the leading causes of hospitalization in children ≤5 years old. Rapid diagnostics of viral pathogens is essential to avoid unnecessary antibiotic treatment, thereby slowing down antibiotic-resistance. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the Luminex xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel FAST v2 against viral specific PCR as reference assays for ARI in Vietnam. METHODS: Four hundred and forty two nose and throat swabs were collected in viral transport medium, and were tested with Luminex xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel FAST v2. Multiplex RT-PCR and single RT-PCR were used as references.    Results: Overall, viral pathogens were detected in a total count of 270/294 (91.8%, 95% CI 88.1-94.7) by the Luminex among reference assays, whilst 112/6336 (1.8%, 95% CI, 1.4-2.1) of pathogens were detected by the Luminex, but not by reference assays. Frequency of pathogens detected by Luminex and reference assays was 379 and 292, respectively. The diagnostic yield was 66.7% (295/442, 95%CI 62.1-71.1%) for the Luminex assay and 54.1% (239/442, 95% CI, 49.3-58.8%) for reference assays. The Luminex kit had higher yields for all viruses except influenza B virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and human bocavirus. High agreements between both methods [mean (range): 0.91 (0.83-1.00)] were found for 10/15 viral agents. CONCLUSIONS: The Luminex assay is a high throughput multiplex platform for rapid detection of common viral pathogens causing ARI. Although the current high cost may prevent Luminex assays from being widely used, especially in limited resource settings where ARI are felt most, its introduction in clinical diagnostics may help reduce unnecessary use of antibiotic prescription

Mangrove restoration in Vietnamese Mekong Delta during 2015-2020: Achievements and challenges

Mangrove forest in the Mekong Delta plays important roles in protecting coasts from soil erosion and strong waves, supplying seafood, and accumulating carbon. Despite these benefits, mangroves have been and continue to be severely damaged by the impacts of natural and socioeconomic activities. In recent years, large areas of mangrove forest have been restored through planting and other various management actions. In this study, we analyzed high-resolution WorldView-2 images to quantify changes in the mangrove forest in seven coastal provinces (Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, and Kien Giang) of the Mekong Delta from 2015 to 2020. Our study is one of the first to analyze mangrove forest change at the commune scale, the smallest official administrative unit in Vietnam, to determine the area of restored mangroves. The potentials and challenges in future mangrove restoration were also assessed by analyzing satellite imagery and field survey data. In the study area, mangrove forest area increased by 11,184 ha (approximately 2,237 ha per year) from 79,593 ha in 2015 to 90,777 ha in 2020. A total area of 16,138 ha (approximately 20.3%) was lost due to mangrove conversion to other land uses, aquaculture activities and coastal erosion, etc., while 27,322 ha (approximately 34.1%) was restored or newly planted during state- and NGO-funded mangrove restoration projects and programs. These results confirmed that mangrove restoration projects and programs have played a significant role in maintaining and increasing mangrove forest cover in Mekong Delta. The results can also assist managers and decision makers in mangrove restoration evaluation, and suggest analyzing WorldView-2 images to monitor mangrove restoration over time in Vietnam

Terpenoids from Dacrycarpus imbricatus.

The phytochemical investigation of the hexane extract from the twigs and leaves of Dacrycarpus imbricatus (Blume) de Laub led to the isolation of a rare sesquiterpene, spathulenol (1) along with three diterpenes named pimaric acid (2), trans-communic acid (3) and cis-communic acid (4). Their structures were determined by combination of spectral analysis and comparison with reported data. This is the first report on isolation of compound 1 from the Podocarpaceae family. Keywords. Dacrycarpus imbricatus, spathulenol, pimaric acid, communic acid