Comparison of Pressures Applied by Digital Tourniquets in the Emergency Department

Background: Digital tourniquets used in the emergency department have been scrutinized due to complications associated with their use, including neurovascular injury secondary to excessive tourniquet pressure and digital ischemia caused by a forgotten tourniquet. To minimize these risks, a conspicuous tourniquet that applies the least amount of pressure necessary to maintain hemostasis is recommended.Objective: To evaluate the commonly used tourniquet methods, the Penrose drain, rolled glove, the Tourni-cot and the T-Ring, to determine which applies the lowest pressure while consistently preventing digital perfusion.Methods: We measured the circumference of selected digits of 200 adult males and 200 adult females to determine the adult finger size range. We then measured the pressure applied to four representative finger sizes using a pressure monitor and assessed the ability of each method to prevent digital blood flow with a pulse oximeter.Results: We selected four representative finger sizes: 45mm, 65mm, 70mm, and 85mm to test the different tourniquet methods. All methods consistently prevented digital perfusion. The highest pressure recorded for the Penrose drain was 727 mmHg, the clamped rolled glove 439, the unclamped rolled glove 267, Tourni-cot 246, while the T-Ring had the lowest at 151 mmHg and least variable pressures of all methods.Conclusion: All tested methods provided adequate hemostasis. Only the Tourni-cot and T-Ring provided hemostasis at safe pressures across all digit sizes with the T-Ring having a lower overall average pressure. [West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(2):242-249.

SURFACE WATER QUALITY IN THUA THIEN-HUE PROVINCE

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

CSR, marketing capabilities and human resource development: the endogenous role of network capabilities

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between human resource development (HRD) and the interaction between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and marketing capabilities in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses the extended regression model on a sample of 2,649 food SMEs in Vietnam. Findings: This research found that CSR and marketing strategies positively influence HRD; the interaction of CSR and marketing capabilities has a negative effect on HRD; the endogenous role of network capabilities on the effects of CSR and marketing capabilities on HRD. Originality/value: This research helps food companies use their resources in allocating resources for CSR and conduct marketing reasonably and effectively. This study highlights that the impact of CSR and marketing on HRD is dominated by endogenous networking

Phytoplankton diversity and its relation to the physicochemical parameters in main water bodies of Vinh Long province, Vietnam

Phytoplankton samples were collected in 2016 during the dry and rainy seasons at nine sampling sites in Vinh Long province, Vietnam. Some basic environment parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and phosphate were measured and a total of 209 phytoplankton species (six phyla, 96 genera) were identified. The phylum that had the greatest number of species was Bacillariophyta (82 species), followed by Chlorophyta (61 species), Cyanophyta (39 species), Euglenophyta (21 species), Chrysophyta (three species) and Dinophyta (three3 species). The phytoplankton density ranged from 4,128 to 123,029 cells/liter. The dominant algae recorded in the study area include Microcystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia glauca, Oscillatoria perornata, Jaaginema sp., Planktothrix agardhii, Coscinodiscus subtilis, Melosira granulata. In particular, Microcystis aeruginosa was the most density dominant species in the total number of sampling sites during the dry season survey, and this species was classified as a group producing toxins harmful to the environment. Surface water quality, according to QCVN 08: 2015/BTNMT was classified into Column A1 for pH, nitrate and Column B1 for dissolved oxygen, and Column B2 for phosphate. Phytoplankton community structure and environmental factors changed substantially between dry and rainy seasons. A Pearson (r) correlation coefficient was used for the relative analysis. The results indicated that the number of phytoplankton species were a significantly positive correlation with pH, dissolved oxygen and nitrate in the rainy season. The phytoplankton abundance was uncorrelated with environmental factors in both seasons.Các mẫu thực vật phù du được thu thập trong năm 2016 (mùa khô và mùa mưa) tại 9 vị trí ở tỉnh Vĩnh Long, Việt Nam. Một số thông số môi trường như nhiệt độ, pH, oxy hòa tan, nitrat và phốt phát được đo ngay tại hiện trường. Tổng cộng 209 loài thực vật phù du được ghi nhận (6 ngành, 96 chi). Số lượng loài cao nhất là tảo Silic (82 loài), kế đến là tảo Lục (61 loài), tảo Lam (39 loài), tảo Mắt (21 loài), tảo Vàng ánh (3 loài) và tảo Giáp (3 loài). Mật độ thực vật phù du dao động từ 4.128 đến 123.029 tế bào/ lít. Các loài ưu thế ghi nhận được ở khu vực nghiên cứu gồm có: Microcystis aeruginosa, Merismopedia glauca, Oscillatoria perornata, Jaaginema sp., Planktothrix agardhii; Coscinodiscus subtilis, Melosira granulata. Trong đó, loài Microcystis aeruginosa chiếm ưu thế nhiều nhất trên tổng số điểm thu mẫu trong đợt khảo sát mùa khô, đồng thời loài này được xếp vào nhóm sản sinh độc tố gây hại cho môi trường. Chất lượng nước mặt theo QCVN 08:2015/BTNMT được xếp vào loại A1 đối với thông số pH, nitrat và loại B1 đối với thông số oxy hòa tan, và loại B2 đối với phốt phát. Cấu trúc quần xã thực vât nổi và các yếu tố môi trường thay đổi đáng kể giữa mùa mưa và mừa khô. Hệ số tương quan Pearson (r) được dùng để phân tích. Kết quả cho thấy số lượng thực vật phù du có tương quan thuận với pH, oxy hòa tan và nitrat trong mùa mưa và có ý nghĩa về mặt thống kê. Mật độ của thực vật phù du không tương quan với các yếu tố môi trường trong cả hai mùa

COMPARISON EFFICACY OF ITS AND 18S rDNA PRIMERS FOR DETECTION OF FUNGAL DIVERSITY IN COMPOST MATERIAL BY PCR-DGGE TECHNIQUE

Through composting process, biosolid wastes are gradually transformed into compost material which can be used as soil fertilizer. Among microorganisms involved in composting process, fungi play important roles because they break down complex substrates, such as ligno-cellulose. Recently, PCR-DGGE technique has been considered as a useful tool for analysis of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Among other factors, primer set selection is necessary for successful of the PCR-DGGE analysis. There are several PCR primer sets targeting fungal variable regions of 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) for the use in community analyses, however there exist just few reports on efficacy of these primers in studying fungal communities in compost materials. In this study, four different primer sets were tested, including EF4/Fung5 (followed by EF4/NS2-GC), EF4/ITS4 (followed by ITS1F-GC/ITS2), NS1/GC-Fung, and FF390/FR1-GC. Extracted DNA from compost materials often contains co-extracted humic substances and other PCR inhibitors. Therefore, the primers were tested for (i) tolerance to the PCR inhibitors presenting in the DNA extracted from compost materials, and (ii) efficacy and specificity of the PCR. The results showed that of the four primer sets, only FF390/FR1-GC achieved both criteria tested whereas the other three did not, i.e. primer EF4/ITS4 had low tolerance to PCR inhibitors, primers EF4/Fung5 was low in PCR amplification efficacy, whereas primers EF4/ITS4 created unspecific products. DGGE analyses of PCR products amplified with the primer set FF390/FR1-GC showed single bands for reference pure cultures Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., and Trichoderma sp., as well as distinctly separated bands for the fungal communities of three different composting materials. Thus, the primer set FF390/FR1-GC could be suitable for studying structure and dynamic of fungal communities in compost materials

FIRST - Flexible interactive retrieval SysTem for visual lifelog exploration at LSC 2020

Lifelog can provide useful insights of our daily activities. It is essential to provide a flexible way for users to retrieve certain events or moments of interest, corresponding to a wide variation of query types. This motivates us to develop FIRST, a Flexible Interactive Retrieval SysTem, to help users to combine or integrate various query components in a flexible manner to handle different query scenarios, such as visual clustering data based on color histogram, visual similarity, GPS location, or scene attributes. We also employ personalized concept detection and image captioning to enhance image understanding from visual lifelog data, and develop an autoencoderlike approach for query text and image feature mapping. Furthermore, we refine the user interface of the retrieval system to better assist users in query expansion and verifying sequential events in a flexible temporal resolution to control the navigation speed through sequences of images

Optimising diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis infection in community and primary care settings in two urban provinces of Viet Nam: a cohort study

Objectives: To end tuberculosis (TB), the vast reservoir of 1.7–2.3 billion TB infections (TBIs) must be addressed, but achieving global TB preventive therapy (TPT) targets seems unlikely. This study assessed the feasibility of using interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) at lower healthcare levels and the comparative performance of 3-month and 9-month daily TPT regimens (3HR/9H). Design, setting, participants and intervention: This cohort study was implemented in two provinces of Viet Nam from May 2019 to September 2020. Participants included household contacts (HHCs), vulnerable community members and healthcare workers (HCWs) recruited at community-based TB screening events or HHC investigations at primary care centres, who were followed up throughout TPT. Primary and secondary outcomes: We constructed TBI care cascades describing indeterminate and positivity rates to assess feasibility, and initiation and completion rates to assess performance. We fitted mixed-effects logistic and stratified Cox models to identify factors associated with IGRA positivity and loss to follow-up (LTFU). Results: Among 5837 participants, the indeterminate rate was 0.8%, and 30.7% were IGRA positive. TPT initiation and completion rates were 63.3% (3HR=61.2% vs 9H=63.6%; p=0.147) and 80.6% (3HR=85.7% vs 9H=80.0%; p=0.522), respectively. Being male (adjusted OR=1.51; 95% CI: 1.28 to 1.78; p<0.001), aged 45–59 years (1.30; 1.05 to 1.60; p=0.018) and exhibiting TB-related abnormalities on X-ray (2.23; 1.38 to 3.61; p=0.001) were associated with positive IGRA results. Risk of IGRA positivity was lower in periurban districts (0.55; 0.36 to 0.85; p=0.007), aged <15 years (0.18; 0.13 to 0.26; p<0.001), aged 15–29 years (0.56; 0.42 to 0.75; p<0.001) and HCWs (0.34; 0.24 to 0.48; p<0.001). The 3HR regimen (adjusted HR=3.83; 1.49 to 9.84; p=0.005) and HCWs (1.38; 1.25 to 1.53; p<0.001) showed higher hazards of LTFU. Conclusion: Providing IGRAs at lower healthcare levels is feasible and along with shorter regimens may expand access and uptake towards meeting TPT targets, but scale-up may require complementary advocacy and education for beneficiaries and providers

Prevalence and correlates of zinc deficiency in pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City

Background: Although Vietnam is a region with a plant-based diet that has a high zinc deficiency, epidemiological data showing how this affects pregnant women are limited. This study explores the prevalence of zinc deficiency and possible correlates in pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City. Methods: This was a crosssectional study conducted at a general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. All pregnant women who came to their first antenatal care visit from November 2011 to June 2012 were recruited. Those taking a vitamin and/or mineral supplement were excluded. Serum zinc concentrations, determined by a standard colorimetric method, of 10.7 mol/L-17.5 mol/L (70.0 g/dL-114 g/dL) were classified as normal and under 10.7 mol/L (70.0 g/dL) as zinc deficient. Results: In total, 254 pregnant women were invited and 107 (42%) participated. The mean age of participants was 29 years, and mean gestational age was 10 weeks. Median zinc concentration in serum was 13.6 mol/L, and the prevalence of zinc deficiency was 29% (95% CI=21%-39%). The daily intake of a milk product supplement was the only significant correlate of zinc deficiency of the items investigated (adjusted OR=0.40, p=0.049). Discussion: This is the first study reporting that more than 25% of pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City are zinc deficient. Further academic and clinical input is needed to confirm the scale of this neglected issue and to investigate the potential of milk product supplementation in this population

Model Predictive Control Dedicated to an Electrified Auxiliary in HEV/PHEV

International audienc

Game theoretic approach for electrified auxiliary management in high voltage network of HEV/PHEV

International audienceAuxiliary electrification becomes a potential solution to reduce the vehicle energy consumption. However, electrified auxiliaries operate mostly in individual way, non-cooperative in regardless of the vehicle state. In this paper, a new control strategy for electrified auxiliary system is proposed in order to improve the coordination among auxiliaries. This new control strategy is not only based on a game theoretic approach but also a model predictive control (MPC). In this approach, each electrified auxiliary is considered as a player participating in an energy consumption game, where players have incentive to cooperate and improve the global vehicle consumption. Simulation results on a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle show that this new control design provides a promising and simple approach to control the electrified auxiliary system