PROVISION CAPACITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS IN HAI PHONG, VIETNAM

Objective: Hearing loss is a commonly occurring disability that affects 466 million people worldwide. This study aimed at determining the actual situations of early intervention delivery facilities for children with hearing loss. Out of this affected population, 7% are children (34 million) who, along with their families, grapple with the serious lifelong problems that accompany the disease. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with facilities investigated consisting of a school for the deaf, hospitals, an audiology center, and a social agency in Hai Phong province from January 2013 to December 2014. A sample composed of 353 children was also recruited. Results: The examined facilities suffer from shortcomings in provision capacity, which manifest in deficient materials, supplies and equipment, and human resources; the lack of interdisciplinary coordination of activities; inadequate community awareness; and the unaddressed need for early detection and intervention. The conditions of most of the children (98%) were detected by their families, and among those who were clinically diagnosed, the majority (76.8%) received such diagnosis at central hospitals. Hearing impairment among the children were detected, diagnosed, and subjected to intervention at a very late stage (on average, at ages 22.3, 34, and 32.5 months, respectively), thereby compelling up to 63.6% of the families to struggle with their children’s hearing loss. Conclusion: Solutions to current interventions are needed to enhance service delivery systems and guarantee early detection as well as timely and appropriate treatment

Purification and characterization of novel fibrinolytic proteases as potential antithrombotic agents from earthworm Perionyx excavatus

Six protease fractions, namely FI, FII, FIII-1, FIII-2, FIII-3 and FIV, were isolated from Perionyx excavatus earthworm biomass by acetone precipitation, followed by serial chromatography using anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction and size exclusion chromatography. All fractions exhibited strong hydrolytic activity towards casein. The activity of six fractions towards fibrin, determined by fibrin plate assay, ranged from 44 to 831 plasmin unit.mg-1 and ranked as FIII-3 > FIII-2 > FI > FIII-1 > FIV > FII. Casein degradation was optimal at pH 7 and 11, and at 45-60°C. All fractions were considerably stable at high temperature and wide pH range. They were completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). The molecular weights (MW) and isoelectric points (pI) determined by 2D-electrophoresis were 27.5-34.5 kDa, and 4.3-5.2, respectively. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS) analysis was used to deduce the amino acid sequences of some peptides from FIII-1 and FIII-2. The sequences shared 16.9% and 13.2% similarity, respectively, with the fibrinolytic enzymes from two related earthworm species, Lumbricus rubellus and Eisenia fetida. The P. excavatus proteases were classified as serine proteases. They could perform rapid hydrolysis on both coagulated fibrous fibrin and soluble fibrinogen monomers without the presence of activators such as tPA or urokinase

Lovastatin for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Dengue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Dengue endangers billions of people in the tropical world, yet no therapeutic is currently available. In part, the severe manifestations of dengue reflect inflammatory processes affecting the vascular endothelium. In addition to lipid lowering, statins have pleiotropic effects that improve endothelial function, and epidemiological studies suggest that outcomes from a range of acute inflammatory syndromes are improved in patients already on statin therapy. METHODS: Following satisfactory review of a short pilot phase (40 mg lovastatin vs placebo in 30 cases), we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 5 days of 80 mg lovastatin vs placebo in 300 Vietnamese adults with a positive dengue NS1 rapid test presenting within 72 hours of fever onset. The primary outcome was safety. Secondary outcomes included comparisons of disease progression rates, fever clearance times, and measures of plasma viremia and quality of life between the treatment arms. RESULTS: Adverse events occurred with similar frequency in both groups (97/151 [64%] placebo vs 82/149 [55%] lovastatin; P = .13), and were in keeping with the characteristic clinical and laboratory features of acute dengue. We also observed no difference in serious adverse events or any of the secondary outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: We found lovastatin to be safe and well tolerated in adults with dengue. However, although the study was not powered to address efficacy, we found no evidence of a beneficial effect on any of the clinical manifestations or on dengue viremia. Continuing established statin therapy in patients who develop dengue is safe.Chinese Clinical Trials Registration. ISRCTN03147572

PHÁT HIỆN MỘT SỐ THUỐC HẠ GLUCOSE MÁU TRỘN LẪN TRONG CHẾ PHẨM DƯỢC LIỆU BẰNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP SẮC KÝ LỎNG HIỆU NĂNG CAO (HPLC)

Circular No. 10/2021/TT-BYT stipulated that several hypoglycemic drugs, such as metformin hydrochloride, are prohibited from adulterating medicinal herbal preparations. Therefore, this study aims to develop a procedure to detect five hypoglycemic drugs, including metformin hydrochloride, glibenclamide, gliclazide, glimepiride, and glipizide, adulterated in herbal preparations by using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The chromatographic program includes the methanol:phosphate buffer pH 3 mobile phase 70/30 (v/v), chromatographic column C18 (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), and analysis time of 25 minutes. The procedure has high specificity, accuracy and precision, according to AOAC. We detected six herbal products reacting positively with glibenclamide and one with both metformin hydrochloride and glibenclamide.Thông tư số 10/2021/TT-BYT quy định một số thuốc hạ glucose máu, như metformin hydroclorid, là các chất cấm trộn lẫn trong chế phẩm có nguồn gốc từ dược liệu. Do đó, mục tiêu nghiên cứu này là xây dựng quy trình phát hiện năm loại hoạt chất hạ glucose máu, gồm metformin hydroclorid, glibenclamid, gliclazid, glimepirid và glipizid, trộn lẫn trong chế phẩm có nguồn gốc dược liệu bằng phương pháp sắc ký lỏng hiệu năng cao (HPLC). Chúng tôi đã xây dựng được chương trình sắc ký gồm hệ pha động methanol:đệm phosphat pH 3 với tỷ lệ 30/70 (v/v), cột sắc ký C18 (250 × 4,6 mm, 5 μm), và thời gian phân tích 25 phút. Phương pháp thẩm định có tính đặc hiệu cao, độ đúng, độ lặp lại và độ tái lặp cao, đạt yêu cầu theo AOAC. Chúng tôi đã phát hiện bảy mẫu chế phẩm dược liệu dương tính trong đó sáu mẫu dương tính với glibenclamid và một mẫu dương tính đồng thời với metformin và glibenclamid

Isolation and characterization of Rhizobium spp. and Bradyrhizobium spp. from legume nodules

Rhizobia topic has been re-focused in recent years because of new findings on their traits not only as nitrogen-fixing bacteria but also as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. When combing rhizobial strains with novel biological carriers (e.g., biochar) for inoculant production, it brings great potential for improving soil health in long-term. Appreciating this trend, this study is designed to isolate and characterize local rhizobial strains from legume fields using the conventional method with some modifications to increase efficiency in rhizobial identification. As a result, 17 rhizobial strains were isolated and classified biochemically that genetic identification outcome confirmed 10 strains belong to 07 different Rhizobium species as R. mayense, R. paknamense, R. pusense, R. miluonense, R. tropici, R. phaseoli, and R. multihospitium while the rest belong to 06 various Bradyrhizobium species as B. elkanii, B. centrosematis, B. guangxiense, B. liaoningense, B. yuanmingense, and B. arachidis. Thermal and saline tolerant tests together with seed germination tests also performed on these rhizobial strains to gain data on their responses to abiotic stresses. By comparing rice and mung bean GI values, we can assess the effectiveness of each rhizobial strains to help seeds at their early germination

"Persistence, determination, and hard work are crucial ingredients for life": A narrative inquiry into the lives of first-generation Vietnamese American students

Asian Americans are often regarded as the “model minority,” applauded for their ability to blend in to American society, achieve academically, and climb the socio-economic ladder. However, this model minority status is a myth that fails to recognize the variation that exists across different Asian American subpopulations. Recent studies have acknowledged the diverse ethnicities, cultural, economic, and social capital among different Asian American subgroups. This narrative inquiry explored the K-16 educational experiences of academically successful first-generation Vietnamese American college students. This Asian American subpopulation has experiences and outcomes that, in many ways, resemble those of traditionally underrepresented groups like African American and Latino students. Thus this study examined the experiences of those who have succeeded to better understand the supports upon which they have drawn and the obstacles they have navigated. Through narrative inquiry, this study gives contour and voice to the educational experience and academic life of these students from their own perspectives. More specifically, this study employed narrative representation to retell lived experiences in the form of a chronology. Themes across participants were also examined and presented to honor the voices of other participants and provide deeper insights into the experiences of first-generation Vietnamese American students. The stories of these understudied, disadvantaged students are examined to understand the personal, social, and institutional influences that affect the experience of this population and the possible interactions among these contributing factors as students navigate the K-16 educational pipeline. By means of storytelling, findings elucidate the factors that support the scholastic achievement of first-generation Vietnamese American youth and the barriers that hinder their success using a student retention and anti-deficit approach. Findings indicate that first-generation Vietnamese American youth navigated the K-16 educational pipeline as active agents with a wealth of capital and great resilience. Like other marginalized students of color, youth in this study arrived at school with aspirational, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital. Further, collectively, cognitive, social, and institutional factors enhanced students’ ability to persevere and triumph in face of barriers. However, findings also suggest that some assets, such as family and language, were not absolute. In many cases, one form of capital interacted, facilitated, or constrained another form of capital. For instance, while family could be supportive and facilitative of student success, family members and traditions also presented significant barriers for at least some study participants. Findings from this study inform policy, practice, and future research to facilitate greater participation, engagement, and educational achievement for first-generation Vietnamese American youth, as well as assist other first-generation youth navigate the educational process and create their own college-going tradition. Based on the findings of from this study, policy makers should increase funding for qualified support staff (such as, school counselors, school psychologists, school psychiatrists, school social workers, school-community liaisons, and bilingual aides) to help Vietnamese American youth overcome personal and institutional barriers to success. Schools and colleges should annually develop improvement plans, as well as publicize and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts to promote minority student and parent engagement

Pentagalloyl Glucose (PGG) Exhibits Anti-Cancer Activity against Aggressive Prostate Cancer by Modulating the ROR1 Mediated AKT-GSK3β Pathway

Androgen-receptor-negative, androgen-independent (ARneg-AI) prostate cancer aggressively proliferates and metastasizes, which makes treatment difficult. Hence, it is necessary to continue exploring cancer-associated markers, such as oncofetal Receptor Tyrosine Kinase like Orphan Receptor 1 (ROR1), which may serve as a form of targeted prostate cancer therapy. In this study, we identify that Penta-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (PGG), a plant-derived gallotannin small molecule inhibitor, modulates ROR1-mediated oncogenic signaling and mitigates prostate cancer phenotypes. Results indicate that ROR1 protein levels were elevated in the highly aggressive ARneg-AI PC3 cancer cell line. PGG was selectively cytotoxic to PC3 cells and induced apoptosis of PC3 (IC50 of 31.64 µM) in comparison to normal prostate epithelial RWPE-1 cells (IC50 of 74.55 µM). PGG was found to suppress ROR1 and downstream oncogenic pathways in PC3 cells. These molecular phenomena were corroborated by reduced migration, invasion, and cell cycle progression of PC3 cells. PGG minimally and moderately affected RWPE-1 and ARneg-AI DU145, respectively, which may be due to these cells having lower levels of ROR1 expression in comparison to PC3 cells. Additionally, PGG acted synergistically with the standard chemotherapeutic agent docetaxel to lower the IC50 of both compounds about five-fold (combination index = 0.402) in PC3 cells. These results suggest that ROR1 is a key oncogenic driver and a promising target in aggressive prostate cancers that lack a targetable androgen receptor. Furthermore, PGG may be a selective and potent anti-cancer agent capable of treating ROR1-expressing prostate cancers

A modified particle swarm optimization algorithm for solving DNA problem

© 2019 IEEE. DNA Sequencing is a complex problem since DNA computation depends on the biochemical reactions of DNA molecules that resulted in an improper or unwanted results. Thus, researchers are focusing to make the molecular computation for the DNA sequences design problem more consistent. Designing of DNA sequencing consists of several difficult and inconsistent designing parameters and typical optimization approaches do not perform well. As a result, a Modified Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (MPSO) is proposed to elucidate this problem. Four objective functions that are continuity, similarity, hairpin, and H-measure are used to evaluate this multi-objective problem. Different methods are used to explain DNA problem but to solve it with MPSO the multi-objective problem is converted into a single-objective problem. MPSO is presented to minimize the objective functions subject to two constraints. Average and Standard deviation values of the objective functions are used to calculate the efficiency of the presented method. The results obtained are compared with the other approaches and it showed that MPSO gives better performance

EFFECTIVENESS OF INITIAL SOLUTIONS INCORPORATED INTO EARLY INTERVENTION DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS: EVIDENCE FROM HAI PHONG, VIETNAM

Objective: Hearing loss is a serious disease that needs attention from society because of its considerable effects on the normal development of children. This study incorporated systematic solutions into early intervention delivery systems for children with hearing loss in Hai Phong, Vietnam, and evaluated the effectiveness of the strategies. Methods: This community intervention study, which was carried out from 2013 to 2014, involved a comparison of the early intervention delivery systems before and after the implementation of the proposed solutions. Results: Two years after the solutions were applied, the following results were derived: The availability of resources and the quality of service provision improved and access to and the use of services by families whose children suffer from hearing loss increased. The solutions also facilitated the creation of an early communal intervention program and significantly enhanced the situations of children with hearing loss as regards the average ages at which disease onset was suspected, the disease was definitively identified, hearing aid fitting was initiated, and language intervention was implemented (15.5, 21, 23.7, and 26.5 months, respectively). Finally, the solutions enabled detection, diagnosis, and early intervention at <12 and 24 months of age (p<0.001). Conclusion: The strategy of reinforcing intervention programs with general and comprehensive solutions can be expanded to other Vietnamese provinces grappling with similar problems