Impact of Educational Intervention Concerning Awareness and Behaviors Relating to Avian Influenza (H5N1) in a High-Risk Population in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Early initiation of treatment is essential for treatment of avian influenza A/H5N1 viral infection in humans, as the disease can lead to rapid development of severe pneumonia which can result in death. Contact with infected poultry is known to be a significant risk factor for contraction of H5N1 infection. However, handling and encountering poultry are a part of most peoples' daily lives, especially in rural communities in Vietnam where epidemic outbreaks among poultry have been continuously reported. Enhancing proper knowledge relating to H5N1 and to the importance of early initiation of treatment are crucial. The aim of this study was to develop an effective educational program to enhance awareness of H5N1 and motivate people to access to health care earlier when H5N1 infection is suspected or likely. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A study was conducted in two agricultural communities (intervention and control groups) in the Ninh Binh province in Vietnam, where epidemic outbreaks of avian influenza have recently occurred in birds. A unique educational intervention was developed and provided to the intervention group, and no intervention was provided to the control group. A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey was conducted in both groups with a face-to-face interview by trained local healthcare workers at time points before and after the educational intervention. KAP scores were compared between the different time points and between the groups. How educational intervention influenced awareness relating to H5N1 and accessibility of healthcare in the population was analyzed. The study indicated an increased awareness of H5N1 and increased reliance on local health care workers. CONCLUSIONS: The novel educational program which was developed for this study impacted awareness of H5N1, and resulted in more people seeking early access to healthcare, and also resulted in earlier medical intervention for patients with H5N1 avian influenza infection in Vietnam

Improved Electrical Properties of EHD Jet-Patterned MoS2 Thin-Film Transistors with Printed Ag Electrodes on a High-k Dielectric

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing is known as a versatile method to print a wide viscosity range of materials that are impossible to print by conventional inkjet printing. Hence, with the understanding of the benefits of EHD jet printing, solution-based MoS2 and a high-viscosity Ag paste were EHD jet-printed for electronic applications in this work. In particular, printed MoS2 TFTs with a patterned Ag source and drain were successfully fabricated with low-k silica (SiO2) and high-k alumina (Al2O3) gate dielectrics, respectively. Eventually, the devices based on Al2O3 exhibited much better electrical properties compared to the ones based on SiO2. Interestingly, an improvement of around one order of magnitude in hysteresis was achieved for devices after changing the gate insulator from SiO2 to Al2O3. In effect, the results of this work for the printed MoS2 and the printed Ag source and drains for TFTs demonstrate a new approach for jet printing in the fabrication of electronic devices

Antioxidant, α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activities and Potential Constituents of <i>Canarium tramdenum</i> Bark

The fruits of Canarium tramdenum are commonly used as foods and cooking ingredients in Vietnam, Laos, and the southeast region of China, whilst the leaves are traditionally used for treating diarrhea and rheumatism. This study was conducted to investigate the potential use of this plant bark as antioxidants, and &#945;-amylase and &#945;-glucosidase inhibitors. Five different extracts of C. tramdenum bark (TDB) consisting of the extract (TDBS) and factional extracts hexane (TDBH), ethyl acetate (TDBE), butanol (TDBB), and water (TDBW) were evaluated. The TDBS extract contained the highest amount of total phenolic (112.14 mg gallic acid equivalent per g dry weight), while the TDBB extract had the most effective antioxidant capacity compared to other extracts. Its IC50 values were 12.33, 47.87, 33.25, and 103.74 &#181;g/mL in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2&#8242;-azino-bis (ABTS), reducing power (RP), and nitric oxide (NO) assays, respectively. Meanwhile, the lipid peroxidation inhibition of the four above extracts was proximate to that of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as a standard antioxidant. The result of porcine pancreatic &#945;-amylase inhibition showed that TDB extracts have promising effects which are in line with the commercial diabetic inhibitor acarbose. Interestingly, the inhibitory ability on &#945;-glucosidase of all the extracts was higher than that of acarbose. Among the extracts, the TDBB extract expressed the strongest activity on the enzymatic reaction (IC50 = 18.93 &#181;g/mL) followed by the TDBW extract (IC50 = 25.27 &#181;g/mL), TDBS (IC50 = 28.17 &#181;g/mL), and TDBE extract (IC50 = 141.37 &#181;g/mL). The phytochemical constituents of the TDB extract were identified by gas chromatography&#8315;mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The principal constituents included nine phenolics, eight terpenoids, two steroids, and five compounds belonging to other chemical classes, which were the first reported in this plant. Among them, the presence of &#945;- and &#946;-amyrins were identified by GC-MS and appeared as the most dominant constituents in TDB extracts (1.52 mg/g). The results of this study revealed that C. tramdenum bark possessed rich phenolics and terpenoids, which might confer on reducing risks from diabetes. A high quantity of &#945;- and &#946;-amyrins highlighted the potentials of anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-tumor, and hepatoprotective properties of C. tramdenum bark

Autosomal recessive hyper‐IgE syndrome due to DOCK8 deficiency: An adjunctive role for omalizumab

Abstract Autosomal recessive hyper‐IgE syndrome (AR‐HIES) is a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder characterized by high serum IgE levels, recurrent viral skin infections, severe allergies, and early‐onset malignancies, associated with mutations in the gene encoding the dedicator of cytokinesis 8 protein (DOCK8). We report a rare case of AR‐HIES with DOCK8 deficiency in a young Japanese male with a past medical history of chronic atopic dermatitis, severe food allergies, and severe herpes simplex virus infection. Treatment was successfully based on infection management, skincare, and dietary elimination. In addition, anti‐IgE therapy with omalizumab was the target treatment for this syndrome

Establishment of cancer cell line originating from a patient with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma

Aim: Ovarian cancer is a serious malignancy with high prevalence and mortality. Methods: We isolated and characterized an ovarian high-grade serous cancer cell line (M4) from a tumor of a Vietnamese patient with ovarian carcinoma. Results: The M4 cancer cell line showed good proliferation and stability in culture. Morphologically, the M4 cells showed similar characteristics to tumor cells such as a polyhedral shape, large irregular nuclei, high nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, high nuclear density and expressing cancer markers like CA125, p53 and Ki67 markers. Conclusion: We have successfully isolated and characterized the M4 cell line from a Vietnamese patient with ovarian carcinoma

Whole-Genome Characteristics and Polymorphic Analysis of Vietnamese Rice Landraces as a Comprehensive Information Resource for Marker-Assisted Selection

Next generation sequencing technologies have provided numerous opportunities for application in the study of whole plant genomes. In this study, we present the sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of five typical rice landraces including three indica and two japonica with potential blast resistance. A total of 688.4 million 100 bp paired-end reads have yielded approximately 30-fold coverage to compare with the Nipponbare reference genome. Among them, a small number of reads were mapped to both chromosomes and organellar genomes. Over two million and eight hundred thousand single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions and deletions (InDels) in indica and japonica lines have been determined, which potentially have significant impacts on multiple transcripts of genes. SNP deserts, contiguous SNP-low regions, were found on chromosomes 1, 4, and 5 of all genomes of rice examined. Based on the distribution of SNPs per 100 kilobase pairs, the phylogenetic relationships among the landraces have been constructed. This is the first step towards revealing several salient features of rice genomes in Vietnam and providing significant information resources to further marker-assisted selection (MAS) in rice breeding programs

Background of study participants.

*<p>Frequencies between intervention and control groups were compared by ¹⁾chi-square test, ²⁾wilcoxon rank-sum test, and ³⁾fisher's exact test.</p>†<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on before the educational intervention.</p>‡<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on after the educational intervention.</p>§<p>Economic level was qualified based on the possessions of assets such as a television, radio, telephone, water machine, refrigerator, buffalo, bicycle, motorbike, car and air conditioner, and was divided into quintiles of family income.</p

Knowledge, attitude, and practice relating to avian influenza among study participants.

*<p>Frequencies between intervention and control groups were compared by chi-square test.</p>†<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on before the educational intervention.</p>‡<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on after the educational intervention.</p

Sources of avian influenza information.

*<p>Frequencies between intervention and control groups were compared by chi-square test.</p>†<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on before the educational intervention.</p>‡<p>The knowledge, attitude and practice survey on after the educational intervention.</p>§<p>A multiple choices question, subjects can select more than one option.</p