Perceptions and Experiences of Perinatal Mental Disorders in Rural, Predominantly Ethnic Minority Communities in Northern Vietnam

Background: Preliminary research has suggested that perinatal mental disorders (PMDs), including post-partum depression, are prevalent in Vietnam. However the extent to which these disorders are recognized at the community level remains largely undocumented in the literature. PMDs have also never been investigated within Vietnam’s significant ethnic minority populations, who are known to bear a greater burden of maternal and infant health challenges than the ethnic majority. Objective: To investigate knowledge and perceptions of PMDs and their treatments at the community level in a rural, predominantly ethnic minority region of northern Vietnam

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Protective effects of taurine and betaine against neurotoxicity via inhibition of endoplasmic reticulum stress and inflammation signaling in the brain of mice fed a Western diet

Western diet (WD) has been shown to impair liver functions via endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress. Although osmolytes prevent liver dysfunction, little is known about the mechanisms by which they exert neuroprotective effects against WD-induced damage. We investigated neuroprotective effects of osmolytes and determined the involvement of inflammasome-mediated inflammation in liver and brain. Mice were fed a control diet, WD, or WD with taurine or betaine. Osmolyte supplementation attenuated serum lipid peroxidation and inflammatory cytokine levels in WD-fed mice. Oxidative stress, inflammasome-mediated inflammation, ER stress, and insulin resistance were lower in liver and brain of mice fed osmolyte-supplemented diet than in those fed WD. Moreover, they activated brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling and decreased β-amyloid deposition and tau hyperphosphorylation in the brain. These data implicate that osmolytes might be promising neuroprotective dietary supplements for WD-induced brain damage, as well as for previously reported genetically and chemically induced brain damage

Fibril-Type Textile Electrodes Enabling Extremely High Areal Capacity through Pseudocapacitive Electroplating onto Chalcogenide Nanoparticle-Encapsulated Fibrils

Effective incorporation of conductive and energy storage materials into 3D porous textiles plays a pivotal role in developing and designing high-performance energy storage devices. Here, a fibril-type textile pseudocapacitor electrode with outstanding capacity, good rate capability, and excellent mechanical stability through controlled interfacial interaction-induced electroplating is reported. First, tetraoctylammonium bromide-stabilized copper sulfide nanoparticles (TOABr-CuS NPs) are uniformly assembled onto cotton textiles. This approach converts insulating textiles to conductive textiles preserving their intrinsically porous structure with an extremely large surface area. For the preparation of textile current collector with bulk metal-like electrical conductivity, Ni is additionally electroplated onto the CuS NP-assembled textiles (i.e., Ni-EPT). Furthermore, a pseudocapacitive NiCo-layered double hydroxide (LDH) layer is subsequently electroplated onto Ni-EPT for the cathode. The formed NiCo-LDH electroplated textiles (i.e., NiCo-EPT) exhibit a high areal capacitance of 12.2 F cm(-2) (at 10 mA cm(-2)), good rate performance, and excellent cycling stability. Particularly, the areal capacity of NiCo-EPT can be further increased through their subsequent stacking. The 3-stack NiCo-EPT delivers an unprecedentedly high areal capacitance of 28.8 F cm(-2) (at 30 mA cm(-2)), which outperforms those of textile-based pseudocapacitor electrodes reported to date. © 2022 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.TRU

Perceptions and experiences of perinatal mental disorders in rural, predominantly ethnic minority communities in northern Vietnam

Abstract Background Preliminary research has suggested that perinatal mental disorders (PMDs), including post-partum depression, are prevalent in Vietnam. However the extent to which these disorders are recognized at the community level remains largely undocumented in the literature. PMDs have also never been investigated within Vietnam’s significant ethnic minority populations, who are known to bear a greater burden of maternal and infant health challenges than the ethnic majority. Objective To investigate knowledge and perceptions of PMDs and their treatments at the community level in a rural, predominantly ethnic minority region of northern Vietnam. Methods Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted on the topic of common PMDs. Participant groups were primary health workers (PHWs) working at local community health centers, and pregnant or postpartum women enrolled in a program for maternal and infant health that was not mental health related. Interviews included vignette scenarios that asked respondents to interpret cases of women experiencing PMDs, as well as open-ended questions about mental disorders and their treatments. Results Twelve PHWs and 14 perinatal women completed the study. Major themes that emerged from the interviews included (1) Family relationships impact psychological well-being, (2) Nutrition contributes to perinatal mental health, (3) Both traditional and western medicine play roles in perinatal health, (4) There was a lack of personal experience with women experiencing PMDs, (5) Descriptions of mental health symptoms focused on behaviours, and (6) Community care is the primary mental health support. Conclusions PHWs reported having almost never treated a woman with a PMD. However, anecdotal evidence from the women interviewed suggests that there are incidents of mental disorders during the perinatal period that go largely unaddressed. Willingness to present to primary care appears to be high, and presents an opportunity to address this need by training PHWs in effective screening, treatment, and referral. Such training should account for culturally specific presentations of mental disorders as well as the importance of the patient’s social context. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this research presents the first evidence of a PMD burden within Vietnam’s ethnic minority communities

Comparison between Deep-Learning-Based Ultra-Wide-Field Fundus Imaging and True-Colour Confocal Scanning for Diagnosing Glaucoma

In this retrospective, comparative study, we evaluated and compared the performance of two confocal imaging modalities in detecting glaucoma based on a deep learning (DL) classifier: ultra-wide-field (UWF) fundus imaging and true-colour confocal scanning. A total of 777 eyes, including 273 normal control eyes and 504 glaucomatous eyes, were tested. A convolutional neural network was used for each true-colour confocal scan (Eidon AF™, CenterVue, Padova, Italy) and UWF fundus image (Optomap™, Optos PLC, Dunfermline, UK) to detect glaucoma. The diagnostic model was trained using 545 training and 232 test images. The presence of glaucoma was determined, and the accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) metrics were assessed for diagnostic power comparison. DL-based UWF fundus imaging achieved an AUC of 0.904 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.861–0.937) and accuracy of 83.62%. In contrast, DL-based true-colour confocal scanning achieved an AUC of 0.868 (95% CI: 0.824–0.912) and accuracy of 81.46%. Both DL-based confocal imaging modalities showed no significant differences in their ability to diagnose glaucoma (p = 0.135) and were comparable to the traditional optical coherence tomography parameter-based methods (all p > 0.005). Therefore, using a DL-based algorithm on true-colour confocal scanning and UWF fundus imaging, we confirmed that both confocal fundus imaging techniques had high value in diagnosing glaucoma

Micro/nano‐wrinkled elastomeric electrodes enabling high energy storage performance and various form factors

Abstract Stretchable elastomer‐based electrodes are considered promising energy storage electrodes for next‐generation wearable/flexible electronics requiring various shape designs. However, these elastomeric electrodes suffer from the limited electrical conductivity of current collectors, low charge storage capacities, poor interfacial interactions between elastomers and conductive/active materials, and lack of shape controllability. In this study, we report hierarchically micro/nano‐wrinkle‐structured elastomeric electrodes with notably high energy storage performance and good mechanical/electrochemical stabilities, simultaneously allowing various form factors. For this study, a swelling/deswelling‐involved metal nanoparticle (NP) assembly is first performed on thiol‐functionalized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers, generating a micro‐wrinkled structure and a conductive seed layer for subsequent electrodeposition. After the assembly of metal NPs, the conformal electrodeposition of Ni and NiCo layered double hydroxides layers with a homogeneous nanostructure on the micro‐wrinkled PDMS induces the formation of a micro/nano‐wrinkled surface morphology with a large active surface area and high electrical conductivity. Based on this unique approach, the formed elastomeric electrodes show higher areal capacity and superior rate capability than conventional elastomeric electrodes while maintaining their electrical/electrochemical properties under external mechanical deformation. This notable mechanical/electrochemical performance can be further enhanced by using spiral‐structured PDMS (stretchability of ~500%) and porous‐structured PDMS (areal capacity of ~280 μAh cm−2)