DNPTrapper: an assembly editing tool for finishing and analysis of complex repeat regions

BACKGROUND: Many genome projects are left unfinished due to complex, repeated regions. Finishing is the most time consuming step in sequencing and current finishing tools are not designed with particular attention to the repeat problem. RESULTS: We have developed DNPTrapper, a shotgun sequence finishing tool, specifically designed to address the problems posed by the presence of repeated regions in the target sequence. The program detects and visualizes single base differences between nearly identical repeat copies, and offers the overview and flexibility needed to rapidly resolve complex regions within a working session. The use of a database allows large amounts of data to be stored and handled, and allows viewing of mammalian size genomes. The program is available under an Open Source license. CONCLUSION: With DNPTrapper, it is possible to separate repeated regions that previously were considered impossible to resolve, and finishing tasks that previously took days or weeks can be resolved within hours or even minutes

Vietnam's visa policy for tourists

States employ travel visa as an instrument to leverage on visitor arrivals for various reasons. In tourism, visa plays a crucial role in facilitating potential and last-minute tourists’ decision making process. This paper focuses on the Vietnamese government’s visa policy in the context of tourism development. Adopting an economic approach, this paper reviews key achievements in tourist immigration policies and examines the challenges that deter tourists from visiting the country. This study purports that a stronger national strategy pertaining to simplification of visa processing and streamlining common visa entry union with neighboring countries within the AEC 2015 framework will translate to gains for Vietnamese tourism. __________________________________________________ Key words: economic approach, national visa policy, tourism developmen

Competencies of the Team of Department Head at Higher Education Institutions in Vietnam in The Context of the Industrial Revolution 4.0

This study aims to investigate the Competencies of the team of department head at higher education institutions in Vietnam to implement higher education development in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0. The authors conducted a Delphi study with 15 experts in educational management in Vietnam to gather their expert views on the competencies of the team of department head at higher education institutions. A total of 24 components of competency related to 4 fields (professional expertise, scientific research, subject management and leadership, social activities and international cooperation) were strongly emphasized by experts. The competence of the team of department head is proposed based on the ideas of a group of experts and the results need to be tested, completed and confirmed by follow-up work. Besides, in this study, we have not determined the level of achievement of each competence as well as developed assessment tools. The specific competencies of the team of department head can be considered as a foundation to contribute to the development of higher education in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0. We know that competence does not exist independently; in stead of, they should be considered in the specific context of teaching, university, culture and society. This study is one of the studies related to the competence contextualization of the team of department head at higher education institutions in the Vietnamese context

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS’ SELF-CONFIDENCE AND THEIR ENGLISH-SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM

This research aimed to discover the relationships between students' self-confidence and their English-speaking performance. In our research, self-confidence was divided into three components which are affective confidence, behavioral confidence, and cognitive confidence. In addition, speaking performance included eight components which are vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency, coherence, comprehension, task, and content. A sample of 150 English-majored students at a university in Vietnam was surveyed in this study by using a convenience sampling technique, and then conducting semi-structured interviews to seek for qualitative information from 10 participants out of 150. The result from our study showed that there are significant relationships between the two variables. The more confident the students are, the more accomplished they would be in the presenting procedure since they have superior cognition and understand how to modify their learning methods to build a comprehensive individual in learning English language. We expect that these findings can help students adjust their learning methods to improve their self-confidence as well as English speaking performance and by that way, universities can add more speaking-related subjects so that students can have more opportunities to speak and learn more speaking skills.  Article visualizations

Corrosion of stainless steel water storage tanks exposed in coastal atmospheric conditions

Results of corrosion survey for stainless steel tanks used in water storage at various coastal areas are presented. Corrosion damages were revealed at both the outer and inner surfaces of tanks made of 304 and 201 steel grades. Corrosion deterioration was more severely observed for the atmospheric areas with higher airborne salinity and time of wetness.  Corrosion products examined by visual inspection and SEM-EDX technique show relatively distinctive characteristics for outer and inner surfaces which are attributed to different mechanisms of corrosion initiated by various corrosive agents in the atmosphere. Atmospheric chlorides from airborne sources are considered the main reason for causing corrosion of 304 and 201 steel grade water tanks

STRUCTURAL ELUCIDATION OF GLYCOSIDES FROM THE SEEDS OF Entada phaseoloides GROWING IN THUA THIEN HUE

Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr. belongs to Fabaceae family and widely distributes throughout Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, New Guinea, and Australia. In Vietnamese traditional medicine, the seeds of Entada phaseoloides were used for the treatment of stomachache, haemorrhoids, and hernia diseases. In this article, we report the isolation and structural elucidation of four glycosides from the water extract of seeds of E. phaseoloides including phaseoloideside C (1), phaseoloideside E (2), acanthoside D (3), and 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)prop-7-en-9-ol-O-(6ʹʹ-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4). To the best of our knowledge, compounds 3-4 were isolated from E. phaseoloides for the first time

Use of Korean dramas to facilitate precision mental health understanding and discussion for Asian Americans

Precision mental health holds great potential for revolutionizing care and reducing the burden of mental illness. All races and ethnicities such as Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group in the United States (U.S.), need to be engaged in precision mental health research. Owing to its global popularity, Korean drama ('K-drama') television shows may be an effective educational tool to increase precision mental health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among Asian Americans. This qualitative study examined the participants' perspectives about and acceptance of using K-dramas to educate and engage Asian Americans about precision mental health. Twelve workshops were conducted in English, Vietnamese and Korean with a convenience sample in the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. (n = 122). Discussions were coded for themes. Findings revealed that all language groups reported positive reactions to using K-dramas to learn about precision health, genetics and mental health. Overall, participants shared that they learned about topics that are not generally talked about (e.g. precision health; genetic testing; mental health), from other people's perspectives, and the importance of mental health. Participants expressed how much they enjoyed the workshop, how they felt relieved due to the workshop, thought the workshop was interesting, and had an opportunity for self-reflection/healing. This pilot test demonstrated that K-dramas has promise to be used as a health educational tool in a workshop format focused on mental health among a diverse group of Asian Americans. Given the widespread access to K-dramas, they present a scalable opportunity for increasing awareness about specific health topics

Efficacy of Adding Oral Simvastatin to Topical Therapy for Treatment of Psoriasis: The Vietnamese Experience

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis, the prevalence of which ranges from 2% to 3% of the general population, has been recently recognised as not only a chronic inflammatory skin disorder but also an immunometabolic systemic disease. Dyslipidemia is one of the most important comorbidities of psoriasis. Statins, frequently used as anti-hyperlipidemic agents, may be beneficial in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory characteristics. Hence, we hypothesised that using this medication was not only beneficial for reducing hyperlipidemia but also improving psoriatic conditions. AIM: We conducted a study to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in psoriatic patients as well as whether the addition of statins (simvastatin prescribed forms) to standard topical antipsoriatic treatment can improve skin lesions in psoriatic patients. METHODS: A group of 128 psoriatic patients and 128 healthy controls who were matched with the patients regarding ethnicity, age, and sex were enrolled, and their lipid concentrations were determined. Furthermore, sixty patients were randomly selected from the former group and divided into two treatment subgroups to evaluate the effect of statins on the severity of psoriasis using the PASI score. RESULTS: We found that the rate of dyslipidemia in the patient group was significantly higher than in the healthy group (53.9% versus 21.9%, p < 0.001), particularly the triglyceride concentration (1.86 ± 1.17 versus 1.43 ± 0.79 mg/dL, p < 0.001). Also, the PASI score reduction in the simvastatin-treated subgroup was significantly different from that in the placebo-treated one after eight weeks of therapy (8.63 ± 4.78 versus 5.34 ± 3.59, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study showed that simvastatin might play a role in controlling hyperlipidemia and in turn decrease the PASI score in psoriatic patients

Effects of water scarcity awareness and climate change belief on recycled water usage willingness: Evidence from New Mexico, United States

The global water crisis is being exacerbated by climate change, even in the United States. Recycled water is a feasible alternative to alleviate the water shortage, but it is constrained by humans’ perceptions. The current study examines how residents’ water scarcity awareness and climate change belief influence their willingness to use recycled water directly and indirectly. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of 1831 residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid inland region in the US. We discovered that residents’ willingness to use direct recycled potable water is positively affected by their awareness of water scarcity, but the effect is conditional on their belief in the impacts of climate change on the water cycle. Meanwhile, the willingness to use indirect recycled potable water is influenced by water scarcity awareness, and the belief in climate change further enhances this effect. These findings implicate that fighting climate change denialism and informing the public of the water scarcity situation in the region can contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term water conservation and climate change alleviation efforts

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions