Iron and calcium nutrition interventions among Vietnamese women

Iron and calcium deficiencies remain a concern amongst working-age women in low to middle-income countries. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutritional intervention on the improvement of the iron status and calcium intake of this population. Non-pregnant workers at a company were divided into two groups. The intervention group (n=118) received nutritional intervention including nutritional education and an 8-week course of oral nutritional supplements (ONS). The control group (n=106) did not receive any intervention. Nutritional assessment, level of Hb concentration, serum iron, and ferritin were taken at baseline and after eight weeks. The results showed iron and calcium intake increased significantly in the intervention group. The effective intervention of serum iron was 33.3%. In conclusion, nutritional intervention such as nutritional education and ONS consumption is effective for improving iron status and calcium intake in working-age women

New quinazolinone-based Mannich bases: Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxic evaluation

This research presents the synthesis of new quinazolinone-based Mannich bases in good yields via a three-step procedure. The first step is the reaction of 6-hydroxyanthranilic acid 1 with an excess of acetic anhydride at 150°C for 2 h to afford benzoxazinone 2 in 87% yield. Compound 2 is then reacted with 4-aminophenol in DMSO at reflux for 7 h to give compound 3 in 75% yield. Finally, the reaction of 3 with paraformadehyde and secondary amines in ethanol affords new quinazolinone-based Mannich bases 4a-c and 5a-e in 55-70% yields. The structure of Mannich bases have been characterized by NMR and MS spectra. The bio-assay results show that some new Mannich bases exhibited weak to moderate cytotoxic activity against SKLu-1 and MCF-7 cell lines

STEM education and outcomes in Vietnam: Views from the social gap and gender issues

United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 4 Quality Education has highlighted major challenges for all nations to ensure inclusive and equitable quality access to education, facilities for children, and young adults. The SDG4 is even more important for developing nations as receiving proper education or vocational training, especially in science and technology, means a foundational step in improving other aspects of their citizens’ lives. However, the extant scientific literature about STEM education still lacks focus on developing countries, even more so in the rural area. Using a dataset of 4967 observations of junior high school students from a rural area in a transition economy, the article employs the Bayesian approach to identify the interaction between gender, socioeconomic status, and students’ STEM academic achievements. The results report gender has little association with STEM academic achievements; however, female students (αa_Sex[2] = 2.83) appear to have achieved better results than their male counterparts (αa_Sex[1] = 2.68). Families with better economic status, parents with a high level of education (βb(EduMot) = 0.07), or non-manual jobs (αa_SexPJ[4] = 3.25) are found to be correlated with better study results. On the contrary, students with zero (βb(OnlyChi) = -0.14) or more than two siblings (βb(NumberofChi) = -0.01) are correlated with lower study results compared to those with only one sibling. These results imply the importance of providing women with opportunities for better education. Policymakers should also consider maintaining family size so the parents can provide their resources to each child equally

How Digital Natives Learn and Thrive in the Digital Age: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

As a generation of ‘digital natives,’ secondary students who were born from 2002 to 2010 have various approaches to acquiring digital knowledge. Digital literacy and resilience are crucial for them to navigate the digital world as much as the real world; however, these remain under-researched subjects, especially in developing countries. In Vietnam, the education system has put considerable effort into teaching students these skills to promote quality education as part of the United Nations-defined Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4). This issue has proven especially salient amid the COVID−19 pandemic lockdowns, which had obliged most schools to switch to online forms of teaching. This study, which utilizes a dataset of 1061 Vietnamese students taken from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s “Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP)” project, employs Bayesian statistics to explore the relationship between the students’ background and their digital abilities. Results show that economic status and parents’ level of education are positively correlated with digital literacy. Students from urban schools have only a slightly higher level of digital literacy than their rural counterparts, suggesting that school location may not be a defining explanatory element in the variation of digital literacy and resilience among Vietnamese students. Students’ digital literacy and, especially resilience, also have associations with their gender. Moreover, as students are digitally literate, they are more likely to be digitally resilient. Following SDG4, i.e., Quality Education, it is advisable for schools, and especially parents, to seriously invest in creating a safe, educational environment to enhance digital literacy among students

Status Poles and Status Zoning to Model Residential Land Prices: Status-Quality Trade off Theory (Short Paper)

This study describes an approach for augmenting urban residential preference and hedonic house price models by incorporating Status-Quality Trade Off theory (SQTO). SQTO seeks explain the dynamic of urban structure using a multipolar, in which the location and strength of poles is driven by notions of residential status and dwelling quality. This paper presents in outline an approach for identifying status poles and for quantifying their effect on land and residential property prices. The results show how the incorporation of SQTO results in an enhanced understanding of variations in land / property process with increased spatial nuance. A number of future research areas are identified related to the status pole weights and the development of status pole index

Policy Response, Social Media and Science Journalism for the Sustainability of the Public Health System Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Vietnam Lessons

Vietnam, with a geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, was the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. While the country was expected to have a high risk of transmission, as of April 4, 2020—in comparison to attempts to contain the disease around the world—responses from Vietnam are being seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis

Multidrug resistance plasmids underlie clonal expansions and international spread of Salmonella enterica serotype 1,4,[5],12:i:- ST34 in Southeast Asia

Salmonella enterica serotype 1,4,[5],12:i:- (Typhimurium monophasic variant) of sequence type (ST) 34 has emerged as the predominant pandemic genotype in recent decades. Despite increasing reports of resistance to antimicrobials in Southeast Asia, Salmonella ST34 population structure and evolution remained understudied in the region. Here we performed detailed genomic investigations on 454 ST34 genomes collected from Vietnam and diverse geographical sources to elucidate the pathogen’s epidemiology, evolution and antimicrobial resistance. We showed that ST34 has been introduced into Vietnam in at least nine occasions since 2000, forming five co-circulating major clones responsible for paediatric diarrhoea and bloodstream infection. Most expansion events were associated with acquisitions of large multidrug resistance plasmids of IncHI2 or IncA/C2. Particularly, the self-conjugative IncA/C2 pST34VN2 (co-transferring blaCTX-M-55, mcr-3.1, and qnrS1) underlies local expansion and intercontinental spread in two separate ST34 clones. At the global scale, Southeast Asia was identified as a potential hub for the emergence and dissemination of multidrug resistant Salmonella ST34, and mutation analysis suggests of selection in antimicrobial responses and key virulence factors

NGHIÊN CỨU THÀNH PHẦN VÀ HÀM LƯỢNG CÁC LỚP CHẤT LIPID, PHOSPHOLIPID, AXIT BÉO, VÀ PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE LOÀI SAN HÔ MỀM CAPNELLA SP.

The total lipid content of the soft coral Capnella sp. contained 1.44 ± 0.10% of the fresh weight. In the fatty acid content, the tetracosapolyenoic fatty acids 24:5n-6 and 24:6n-3, which were the typical markers for the soft corals (the eight compartment coral), and the fatty acids that marked for symbiotic microorganism including 18:5n-3, 18:2n-6, 18:3n-6, 18:4n-3, 20:4n-3 were presented. The result of the lipid composition analysis showed that the total lipid contained polar lipid, sterol, free fatty acid, triacylglycerol, monoalkyldiacylglycerol, hydrocarbon and wax. Of these, the polar lipid displayed the highest content with 21.14 ± 1.17% of the total lipid. The phospholipid composition of the soft coral Capnella sp. contained the characteristic phospholipid subclasses of the animals of the phylum Cnidaria, including phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and ceramide aminoethylphosphonate (phosphonolipid, CAEP). Of these, phosphatidylcholine exhibited the highest content with 35.53 ± 1.46% of the total phospholipid. This is the first time that the content and composition of the molecular types of the phosphatidylcholine from a Vietnamese soft coral species have been investigated and reported. By using modern mass spectrometry IT TOF LC-MS, the presence of 13 molecular types have been precisely identified, which PC 18:0e/20:4 and PC 16:0e/20:4 were the two ingredients displaying the highest content.Hàm lượng lipid tổng của mẫu san hô mềm Capnella sp. chiếm 1,44 ± 0,10% so với trọng lượng mẫu tươi. Trong thành phần axit béo có mặt các axit béo tetracosapolyenoic 24:5n-6 và 24:6n-3 là axit béo đánh dấu điển hình cho san hô mềm (san hô tám ngăn) và các axit béo đánh dấu cho vi sinh vật cộng sinh như 18:5n-3, 18:2n-6, 18:3n-6, 18:4n-3, 20:4n-3. Kết quả phân tích lớp chất lipid cho thấy trong lipid tổng có mặt các lớp chất lipid chính là lipid phân cực, sterol, axit béo tự do, triacylglycerol, monoalkyldiacylglycerol, hydrocacbon và sáp, trong đó lipid phân cực chiếm hàm lượng cao nhất (21,14 ± 1,17% hàm lượng lipid tổng). Thành phần phospholipid của san hô mềm Capnella sp. có mặt các phân lớp phospholipid đặc trưng của động vật ngành Cnidarian là phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphonolipid là ceramide aminoethylphosphonate, trong đó phosphatidylcholine chiếm hàm lượng cao nhất (35,53 ± 1,46% tổng phospholipid). Đây là lần đầu tiên ở Việt Nam, thành phần và hàm lượng các dạng phân tử trong lớp chất phosphatidylcholine từ loài san hô mềm của Việt Nam được nghiên cứu và công bố, kết quả đã xác định được sự có mặt của 13 dạng phân tử bằng phương pháp phổ khối hiện đại LC-MS IT TOF với độ chính xác cao. Hai dạng phân tử chiếm hàm lượng cao nhất là PC 18:0e/20:4 và PC 16:0e/20:4

Depression, anxiety and stress among healthcare workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in a tertiary hospital in Northern Vietnam

IntroductionThe outbreak of coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) had significant effects on the mental well-being in general, particularly for healthcare professionals. This study examined the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress, and identified the associated risk factors amongst healthcare workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in a tertiary hospital located in Vietnam.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study at a tertiary-level hospital, where the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) web-based questionnaire was employed. We analyzed the determinant factors by employing multivariate logistic models.ResultsThe prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were 19.2%, 24.7%, and 13.9%, respectively. Factors such as engaging in shift work during the pandemic, taking care of patients with COVID-19, and staff’s health status were associated with mental health issues among health professionals. In addition, having alternate rest periods was likely to reduce the risk of stress.ConclusionThe prevalence of mental health problems in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic was relatively high. Having resting periods could potentially mitigate the development of stress among health professionals. Our findings could be taken into account for improving mental health of the health professional population

THỰC TRẠNG NĂNG LỰC KIẾN THỨC CÁN BỘ ĐỊA CHÍNH CẤP XÃ TRONG QUẢN LÝ ĐẤT ĐAI TẠI HUYỆN A LƯỚI, TỈNH THỪA THIÊN HUẾ

Cadastral officials play an important role in land management at the local level. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the knowledge capacity of cadastral officials in A Luoi district. We used secondary and primary data by interviewing 171 people, including cadastral officials, commune leaders, district level staff and households. In parallel, we used the 5-point Likert scale (from 1-5, corresponding to the level of competence of cadastral officials from very poor to very good) for analysis. The results show that the knowledge capacity of the cadastral officials is only average, with a score of 3.4. In particular, 4 out of a total of 4 knowledge capacities in law, procedures, time and authority implementation of cadastral officials in conciliation and land dispute resolution are at an average level. In contrast, 3 out of a total of 4 knowledge capacities in conditions for issuance of land use rights certificate, procedures, and authority implementation of cadastral officials in issuance of land use rights certificate are at a good level, and 1 knowledge capacity in law is at an average level. The research results highlighted reasons and proposed some solutions to improve the knowledge capacity of cadastral officials in the study area.Cán bộ địa chính (CBĐC) cấp xã là lực lượng nòng cốt trong công tác quản lý đất đai tại địa phương. Do vậy, nghiên cứu này nhằm đánh giá năng lực kiến thức của CBĐC cấp xã trong quản lý đất đai tại huyện A Lưới. Nghiên cứu sử dụng số liệu thứ cấp và sơ cấp thông qua phỏng vấn 171 người: cán bộ cấp huyện, lãnh đạo xã, CBĐC cấp xã, và người dân để phân tích. Đồng thời, sử dụng thang đo Likert 5 mức độ (từ 1–5, tương ứng rất chưa tốt – rất tốt) để đánh giá năng lực kiến thức. Kết quả cho thấy, năng lực kiến thức CBĐC chỉ ở mức trung bình với số điểm bình quân là 3,4. Trong đó, thủ tục hoà giải, giải quyết tranh chấp đất đai có 4/4 tiêu chí về năng lực kiến thức pháp luật; trình tự thủ tục; thời gian và thẩm quyền thực hiện của CBĐC đều ở mức độ trung bình. Trái lại, thủ tục đăng ký đất đai, cấp GCN, lập và quản lý HSĐC, 3 tiêu chí kiến thức về điều kiện; trình tự và thẩm quyền thực hiện ở mức tốt, 1 tiêu chí kiến thức pháp luật bị đánh giá ở mức trung bình. Kết quả nghiên cứu đã chỉ ra các nguyên nhân và đề xuất một số giải pháp góp phần nâng cao năng lực kiến thức của CBĐC cấp xã tại địa phương