PRELIMINARY STUDY ON CHEMICAL MECHANISM OF DECREASE OF TETRODOTOXIN CONTENT IN OVARIES OF A PUFFER FISH Lagocephalus inermis (Temminck and Schlegel, 1850) FERMENTED WITH RICE BRAN

Tetrodotoxins in salted and fermented ovaries with rice bran of a puffer fish Lagocephalus inermis (Temminck Schlegel, 1850) during five months were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detector (HPLC- FLD). The analysed results showed that the original ovaries contained only tetrodotoxin with content of 7.59 µg/g fresh weight. 4,9-Anhydrotetrodotoxin - an isomer which is less toxic than tetrodotoxin has been found in all ovary samples since the second month. Tetrodotoxin in the ovaries disappeared in the 4th month of the experiment. In addition, 4,9-anhydrotetrodotoxin level in ovaries increased during fermentation. The present study contributes to clarifying the chemical mechanism of decreasing tetrodotoxin content in fermented ovary of puffer fish.Tetrodotoxins in salted and fermented ovaries with rice bran of a puffer fish Lagocephalus inermis (Temminck and Schlegel, 1850) during five months were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detector (HPLC- FLD). The analysed results showed that the original ovaries contained only Tetrodotoxin with content of 7.59 µg/g fresh weight. 4,9-Anhydrotetrodotoxin- an isomer which is less toxic than Tetrodotoxin has been found in all ovary samples since the second month. Tetrodotoxin in the ovaries disappeared in the 4th month of the experiment. In addition, 4,9-Anhydrotetrodotoxin level in ovaries increased during fermentation. The present study contributes to clarify the chemical mechanism of decreasing Tetrodotoxin content in fermented ovary of puffer fish

MỘT SỐ ĐẶC TÍNH CỦA CANXI HYDROXYAPATIT CHIẾT XUẤT TỪ XƯƠNG CÁ NGỪ VẰN Katsuwonus pelamis

This paper is concerned with certain properties of calcium hydroxyapatite from skipjack tuna bone (Katsuwonus pelamis) which are by-products of fish export industry. Hydroxyapatite Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 and β-tricalcium phosphate Ca3(PO4)2, the high-value compounds, have been successfully extracted from skipjack tuna bones. The bones were heated at different temperatures of 600oC, 900oC, 1200oC. While at 600oC hydroxyapatites were obtained with Ca/P ratio of 1.658, comparable to the value of 1.67 found in human bone; the hydroxyapatite crystals of average size of 0.25 µm were formed with the same size distribution. In case of heated bone samples at 900°C and 1200°C, the calcium formed were biphasic calcium phosphate composed of hydroxyapatite and β-tricalcium phosphate; the Ca/P ratio was between 1.660–1.665; the calcium crystals of more than 1 µm were highly porous and connected to each other in priority orientation of tube direction.Bài báo này trình bày kết quả nghiên cứu về một số đặc tính của canxi hydroxyapatit chiết xuất từ xương cá ngừ Katsuwonus pelamis, một sản phẩm phụ từ ngành xuất khẩu thịt cá ngừ. Các hợp chất có giá trị là hydroxyapatit Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 và β-tricanxi phosphat β-TCP Ca3(PO4)2 đã được chiết xuất thành công từ xương cá ngừ vằn. Xương cá ngừ được nung ở các nhiệt độ khác nhau 600, 900 và 1.200oC. Dạng canxi thu được khi nung mẫu ở 600oC là hydroxyapatit với tỉ lệ Ca/P 1,658 gần với tỉ lệ Ca/P 1,67 trong xương người; các tinh thể hydroxyapatit có kích thước trung bình 0,25 µm và sự phân bố kích thước tương đối đồng đều. Đối với mẫu xương được xử lý ở 900 và 1.200oC, canxi thu được là hỗn hợp hai pha hydroxyapatit Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 và β-tricanxi phosphat Ca3(PO4)2; tỉ lệ Ca/P từ 1,660–1,665, các tinh thể canxi có độ xốp cao và liên kết với nhau theo hướng ưu tiên kiểu hình ống với kích thước lớn hơn 1 µm

Cyanide detoxification efficiency of injection and soak of hydroxocobalamin, sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate for sea water ornamental fish

The Oceanographic Museum offers interesting exhibits of several marine lives for tourist sightseeing and entertainment. These sea water ornamental fish are all caught in the wild. However, its health can be affected by cyanide poisoning during human fishing. Depending on the level of cyanide poisoning, fish can die after one and two weeks that caused economic damages for the museum. The present study is concerned with results of cyanide detoxification by using direct injection into cinnamon clownfish or soak of hydroxocobalamin, sodium nitrite and sodium thiosulfate with the aim of improving the health, survival and life time for fish, contributing to increasing economic efficiency for the Oceanographic Museum

The role of nutritional risk evaluation in predicting adverse outcomes among patients with severe COVID-19 in Vietnam

IntroductionAs sufficient nutrition helps alleviate catabolic stress and modulate the systemic inflammatory response of the body, it plays an indispensable role in the good prognosis of critically ill patients. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the malnutrition of patients with severe COVID-19 and its association with adverse treatment outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study in two provincial hospitals in Hanoi from February to April 2022. Participants were patients with severe COVID-19 admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Malnutrition risk were evaluated by Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS), Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM), Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI), and the adverse prognosis was assessed by Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II). The multivariate receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to estimate the predictive ability of those criteria regarding worse treatment results.ResultsThe percentages of malnutrition measured by NRS, GLIM, PNI, and BMI were 62.6, 51.5, 42.9, and 16.6%, respectively. Patients with more severe malnutrition assessed by GLIM, PNI, and having above target fasting blood glucose (FBG) (≥10.0 mmol/L) were more likely to have higher APACHE scores. PNI had a better diagnostic performance than NRS and BMI (AUC = 0.84, 0.81, and 0.82, respectively). In addition, FBG revealed a good prognostic implication (AUC = 0.84).ConclusionA relatively high percentage of patients experienced moderate and severe malnutrition regardless of screening tools. Individuals at higher risk of malnutrition and high FBG were predicted to have more adverse treatment outcomes. It is recommended that nutritional screening should be conducted regularly, and personalizing nutritional care strategies is necessary to meet patients’ nutrient demands and prevent other nutrition-related complications

Surveillance and treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (aka. STOP HCC): protocol for a prospective cohort study of high-risk patients for HCC using GALAD-score.

Vietnam and Saudi Arabia have high disease burden of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Early detection in asymptomatic patients at risk for HCC is a strategy to improve survival outcomes in HCC management. GALAD score, a serum-based panel, has demonstrated promising clinical utility in HCC management. However, in order to ascertain its potential role in the surveillance of the early detection of HCC, GALAD needs to be validated prospectively for clinical surveillance of HCC (i.e., phase IV biomarker validation study). Thus, we propose to conduct a phase IV biomarker validation study to prospectively survey a cohort of patients with advanced fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis, irrespective of etiologies, using semi-annual abdominal ultrasound and GALAD score for five years. We plan to recruit a cohort of 1,600 patients, male or female, with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis (i.e., F3 or F4) and MELD ≤ 15, in Vietnam and Saudi Arabia (n = 800 each). Individuals with a liver mass ≥ 1 cm in diameter, elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (≥ 9 ng/mL), and/or elevated GALAD score (≥ -0.63) will be scanned with dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and a diagnosis of HCC will be made by Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LiRADS) assessment (LiRADS-5). Additionally, those who do not exhibit abnormal imaging findings, elevated AFP titer, and/or elevated GALAD score will obtain a dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI annually for five years to assess for HCC. Only MRI nearest to the time of GALAD score measurement, ultrasound and/or AFP evaluation will be included in the diagnostic validation analysis. MRI will be replaced with an abdominal computed tomography scan when MRI results are poor due to patient conditions such as movement etc. Gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced MRI will not be carried out in study sites in both countries. Bootstrap resampling technique will be used to account for repeated measures to estimate standard errors and confidence intervals. Additionally, we will use the Cox proportional hazards regression model with covariates tailored to the hypothesis under investigation for time-to-HCC data as predicted by time-varying biomarker data. The present work will evaluate the performance of GALAD score in early detection of liver cancer. Furthermore, by leveraging the prospective cohort, we will establish a biorepository of longitudinally collected biospecimens from patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis to be used as a reference set for future research in early detection of HCC in the two countries. Name of the registry: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration date: 22 April 2022 Trial registration number: NCT05342350 URL of trial registry record

Prospects for Food Fermentation in South-East Asia, Topics From the Tropical Fermentation and Biotechnology Network at the End of the AsiFood Erasmus+Project

Fermentation has been used for centuries to produce food in South-East Asia and some foods of this region are famous in the whole world. However, in the twenty first century, issues like food safety and quality must be addressed in a world changing from local business to globalization. In Western countries, the answer to these questions has been made through hygienisation, generalization of the use of starters, specialization of agriculture and use of long-distance transportation. This may have resulted in a loss in the taste and typicity of the products, in an extensive use of antibiotics and other chemicals and eventually, in a loss in the confidence of consumers to the products. The challenges awaiting fermentation in South-East Asia are thus to improve safety and quality in a sustainable system producing tasty and typical fermented products and valorising by-products. At the end of the “AsiFood Erasmus+ project” (www.asifood.org), the goal of this paper is to present and discuss these challenges as addressed by the Tropical Fermentation Network, a group of researchers from universities, research centers and companies in Asia and Europe. This paper presents current actions and prospects on hygienic, environmental, sensorial and nutritional qualities of traditional fermented food including screening of functional bacteria and starters, food safety strategies, research for new antimicrobial compounds, development of more sustainable fermentations and valorisation of by-products. A specificity of this network is also the multidisciplinary approach dealing with microbiology, food, chemical, sensorial, and genetic analyses, biotechnology, food supply chain, consumers and ethnology

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead