Spatial variations of arsenic in groundwater from a transect in the Northwestern Hanoi

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a major health problem and has been a growing concern in the last decade in several regions of the world, especially in South and Southeast Asia, including the Red River delta, Vietnam. Regional groundwater studies have been carried out in the vicinity of Hanoi, on the banks of the Red River and its adjacent floodplains. In this study, the groundwater from a transect in the Northwestern area of Hanoi was examined. The results showed that 28.8% the wells of the B-B’ transect exceed the WHO guideline value for arsenic concentration in drinking water. The arsenic concentrations varied in a wide range from point to point, with the highest concentration found at Van Phuc and the lowest one found at Cam Yen. They also varied accordingly to the depth.References Anawar H.M., Akai J., Sakugawa H., Sakugawa H., 2004. Mobilization of arsenic from subsurface sediments by effect of bicarbonate ions in groundwater. Chemosphere, 54, 753-762. Appelo C.A.J., Postma D., 2004. Geochemistry, Groundwater and Pollution, second edition. Berg M., Tran H.C., Nguyen T.C., Pham H.V., Schertenleib R., Giger W., 2001. Arsenic contamination of groundwater and drinking water in Vietnam: A human health threat. Environmental Science Technology, 35(13), 2621-2626. Berg M., Stengel C., Pham T.K.T., Pham H.V., Sampson M.L., Leng M., Samreth S., Fredericks D., 2007. Magnitude of arsenic pollution in the Mekong and Red River Delta - Cambodia and Vietnam. Science of the Total Environment, 372, 413-425. Chowdhury U.K., Biswas B.K., Chowdhury T.R., Samanta G., Mandal B.K., Basu G.C., Chanda C.R., Lodh D., Saha K.C., Mukherjee S.K., Roy S., Kabir S., Quamruzzaman Q., Chakraborti D., 2000. Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Environmental Health Perpectives, 108(5), 393-397. Eiche E., Neumann T., Berg M., Weinman B., Van Geen A., Norra S., Berner Z., Pham T.K.T., Pham H.V., Stuben D., 2008. Geochemical processes underlying a sharp contrast in groundwater arsenic concentrations in a village on the Red River delta, Vietnam. Applied Geochemistry, 23, 3143-3154. Fendorf S., Michael H.A., Van Geen A., 2010. Spatial and temporal variations of groundwater arsenic in South and Southeast Asia. Science, 328, 1123. Doi: 10.1126/Science.1172974. General Statics Office of Vietnam, 2015. Regional statistics of Area, Population and Population density. McArthur J.M., Ravenscroft P., Safuilla S., Thirlwall M.F., 2001. Arsenic in groundwater: Testing pollution mechanisms for sedimentary aquifers in Bangladesh. Water Resources Research, 31(1), 109-117. Postma D., Larsen F., Nguyen T.M.H., Mai T.D., Pham H.V., Pham Q.N., Jessen S., 2007. Arsenic in groundwater of the Red River floodplain, Vietnam: Controlling geochemical processes and reactive transport modeling. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 71, 5054-5071. Postma D., Larsen F., Nguyen T.T., Pham T.K.T., Jakobsen R., Pham Q.N., Tran V.L., Pham H.V., Murray A.S., 2012. Groundwater arsenic concentrations in Vietnam controlled by sediment age. Nature GeoScience. Doi: 10.1038/NGEO1540. Smedley P.L., Kinniburgh D.G., 2002. A review of the source, behavior and distribution of arsenic in natural waters. Applied Geochemistry, 17, 517-568. Smedley P.L., 2006. Sources and distribution of arsenic in groundwater and aquifers. In T. Appelo (Ed.), Arsenic in Groundwater - A World Problem, 4-33. Van Geen A., Bostick B.C., Pham T.K.T., Vi M.L., Nguyen N.M., Dao M.P., Pham H.V., Radloff K., Aziz A., Mey J.L., Stahl M.O., Harvey C.H., Oates P., Weinman B., Stengel C., Frei F., Kipfer R., Berg M., 2013. Retardation of arsenic transport through a Pleistocene aquifer. Nature, 501, 204-208. Van Geen, A., Zheng Y., Versteeg R., Stute M., Horneman A., Dhar R., Steckler M., Gelman A., Small C., Ahsan H., Graziano J.H., Hussain I., Ahmed K.M., 2003. Spatial variability of arsenic in 6000 tube wells in a 25 km2 area of Bangladesh. Water Resources Research, 39(5), 1140. Doi:10.1029/2002WR001617. World Health Organization, 2011. Guidelines for drinking-water quality, fourth edition. Winkel L.H.E., Pham T.K.T., Vi M.L., Stengel C., Amini M., Nguyen T.H., Pham H.V., Berg M., 2011. Arsenic pollution of groundwater in Vietnam exacerbated by deep aquifer exploitation for more than a century. PNAS, 108(4), 1246-1251

Multiple Recurrent Acute Ischemic Strokes Treated by Thrombectomy in a Patient with Acute Pulmonary Embolism

BACKGROUND: Thrombectomy is recommended to treat for an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patient with anterior large vessel occlusion. However, there were neither detailed guidelines nor systematic reviews of acute ischemic stroke patients having multiple times or re-occluded arteries. CASE REPORT: In our case report, we struggled a multiple (4-times) AIS patient underwent by one intravenous r-tpA and 3 remaining of endovascular treatment of thrombectomy. Especially, the finding of both pulmonary embolism and cerebral arteries occlusion in this patient made us difficult to decide the appropriate treatment plan. The patient was considered having multiple cardiac thrombi pumping out to the brain and pulmonary vessels even in treatment with NOAC (New Oral Anticoagulant). Our priority, normally, was to recanalize the brain vessels compared to the pulmonary arteries. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, based on this noticed case study, we want to share our experiences on the diagnosis of ischemic stroke, the strategy in treatment and prevention with anticoagulant therapy

Can a Short Food Supply Chain Create Sustainable Benefits for Small Farmers in Developing Countries? An Exploratory Study of Vietnam

A number of studies have indicated that short food supply chains could create economic, social, and environmental benefits, but most of those chains were implemented in developed countries. This research aims to find out the characteristics of short food supply chains and their benefits to small farmers in Vietnam, which is a developing country, based on the survey results from 338 small farmers in the third quarter of 2020, with the support of Stata 14 software. The results showed that the short food supply chains in the survey sample in Vietnam were characterized by two main actors: small farmers and distributors. Farmers could sell products flexibly at the local market. There was some initial evidence to prove that these chains helped to stabilize the input, output price, and revenue; formulated sustainable income; and increased the satisfaction and confidence of farmers. They eliminated gender discrimination in rural areas and improved livelihood for ethnic minorities. These chains also enhanced the mindset on green, organic, and clean production of farmers, which in turn created environmental benefits. COVID-19 has posed a negative impact on the income of farmers and made them change their production and sales method. Therefore, the research could suggest some policies to sustainably develop the short food supply chains in Vietnam in the future

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

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