On the braiding of an Ann-category

A braided Ann-category \A is an Ann-category \A together with the braiding $c$ such that (\A, \otimes, a, c, (I,l,r)) is a braided tensor category, and $c$ is compatible with the distributivity constraints. The paper shows the dependence of the left (or right) distributivity constraint on other axioms. Hence, the paper shows the relation to the concepts of {\it distributivity category} due to M. L. Laplaza and {\it ring-like category} due to A. Frohlich and C.T.C Wall. The center construction of an almost strict Ann-category is an example of an unsymmetric braided Ann-category.Comment: 20 page

The software for oceanographic data management: VODC for PC 2.0

To manage and process a large amount of oceanographic data, users must have powerful tools that simplify these tasks. The VODC for PC is software designed to assist in managing oceanographic data. It based on 32 bits Windows operation system and used Microsoft Access database management system. With VODC for PC users can update data simply, convert to some international data formats, combine some VODC databases to one, calculate average, min, max fields for some types of data, check for valid data

Culturally adaptive storytelling intervention versus didactic intervention to improve hypertension control in Vietnam: a cluster-randomized controlled feasibility trial

BACKGROUND: Vietnam is experiencing an epidemiologic transition with an increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases. Novel, large-scale, effective, and sustainable interventions to control hypertension in Vietnam are needed. We report the results of a cluster-randomized feasibility trial at 3 months follow-up conducted in Hung Yen province, Vietnam, designed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of two community-based interventions to improve hypertension control: a storytelling intervention, We Talk about Our Hypertension, and a didactic intervention. METHODS: The storytelling intervention included stories about strategies for coping with hypertension, with patients speaking in their own words, and didactic content about the importance of healthy lifestyle behaviors including salt reduction and exercise. The didactic intervention included only didactic content. The storytelling intervention was delivered by two DVDs at 3-month intervals; the didactic intervention included only one installment. The trial was conducted in four communes, equally randomized to the two interventions. RESULTS: The mean age of the 160 study patients was 66 years, and 54% were men. Most participants described both interventions as understandable, informative, and motivational. Between baseline and 3 months, mean systolic blood pressure declined by 8.2 mmHg (95% CI 4.1-12.2) in the storytelling group and by 5.5 mmHg (95% CI 1.4-9.5) in the didactic group. The storytelling group also reported a significant increase in hypertension medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Both interventions were well accepted in several rural communities and were shown to be potentially effective in lowering blood pressure. A large-scale randomized trial is needed to compare the effectiveness of the two interventions in controlling hypertension. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02483780

Building the hospital event-based surveillance system in Viet Nam: a qualitative study to identify potential facilitators and barriers for event reporting

Introduction: Hospitals are a key source of information for the early identification of emerging disease outbreaks and acute public health events for risk assessment, decision-making, and public health response. The objectives of this study were to identify potential facilitators and barriers for reporting of unusual events from the curative sector to the preventive medicine system in Viet Nam. Methods: In 2016, we conducted 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews and 9 focus group discussions with representatives from the curative and preventive medicine sectors in four provinces. We transcribed the interviews and focus group discussions and conducted a thematic analysis of the factors that appeared to affect public health event reporting. Results: We identified five major themes. Firstly, the lack of a legal framework to guide reporting meant there was an over-reliance on internal procedures. Secondly, participants reported the importance of an enabling environment to facilitate reporting such as leadership support and having focal points for reporting. Thirdly, potential benefits for reporting were seen such as support during outbreaks and receiving feedback. Fourthly, some challenges prohibited timely reporting such as not perceiving reporting to be the task of the curative sector and hesitancy to report without laboratory confirmation. Finally, the limited resources and specialist capacities in remote areas hindered timely detection and reporting of unusual events. Discussion: This study identified potential opportunities to promote the detection and reporting of unusual events from health care workers to the public health sector, and thus improving the overall health security system in Viet Nam and beyond

Ordered Mesoporous Carbons as Novel and Efficient Adsorbent for Dye Removal from Aqueous Solution

Ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) were successfully synthesized by using hard template and soft template methods. These materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, and N2 adsorption-desorption Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). From the obtained results, it is revealed that the obtained OMCs samples showed high surface area (>1000 m2/g) with high pore volume, mainly mesopore volume (1.2–2.4 cm3/g). Moreover, OMCs samples had similar structure of the SBA-15 silica and exhibited high MB adsorption capacity with qm of 398 mg·g−1 for OMCs synthesis with hard template and 476 mg·g−1 for OMCs synthesis with soft template, respectively. From kinetics investigation, it is confirmed that MB adsorption from aqueous solution obeys the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio