Heterologous phytase expression in the food filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae using the added rice husk cultivation model

Aspergillus oryzae, a safe filamentous fungus, is widely used in food and enzyme production. In this study, we examined a cultivation model using rice husks as carrier to assess the capacity of recombinant protein production in A. oryzae. The model was first tested with the A. oryzae strain expressing the DsRed reporter gene. Expression of DsRed was easily detected by the pink color of the fungal mycelium on culture media and under a fluorescence microscope. The model was then evaluated with the phyA gene encoding a phytase from the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The phyA expression cassette regulated by the amyB promoter was permanently integrated into the genome of A. oryzae via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation with the pyrG nutritional marker. Results showed that A. oryzae transgenic strains carrying 2−3 copies of the phyA gene in their genomes exhibited a significant increase in phytase activity on agar medium supplemented with phytate. With rice husks added, these transgenic strains could secrete the recombinant phytase into the culture and phytase activity of the crude enzyme solution increased by 4.3 times compared to the unstransgenic A. oryzae. The established cultivation model and the transgenic approach in this study represent a potential for being used in production of secreted recombinant enzymes for animal feeds.

QUALITY OF PERSONNEL ETHNIC MINORITY IN THE MOUNTAIN AREA OF VIETNAM IN THE TIME OF PROMOTING INDUSTRIAL, MODERNIZING THE COUNTRY

Human resources are the most significant asset, a decisive factor for the existence and development of every country. Human resource development has become an urgent task not only of each country but also of each region and region according to the characteristics of geography, population and requirements of economic development orientation - society. In the mountainous areas of Vietnam, ethnic minority human resources are considered a central factor, playing a decisive role in socio-economic growth and development. Human resource training is a fundamental factor determining socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas in mountainous areas; it plays a decisive role in the education, professional and technical qualifications of human resources, training people capable of leading and gathering ethnic minority communities in production organization and social management; create human resources capable of applying new scientific and technological achievements in parallel with promoting indigenous knowledge and experiences of ethnic minorities in socio-economic development, and at the same time capable of solving new problems, problems arising in practice, production and social life.  Article visualizations

Adaptation options for agricultural cultivation systems in the South Central Coast under the context of climate change: Assessment Report.

This report highlights the results of consultation meetings and field visits organized by the Department of Crop Production and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia in association with the three offices of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in the South Central Coast provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa, in combination with consultation with the provinces in the conference: “Summing up crops production in the Winter-Spring season in 2018-2019, implementing the Summer-Autumn season, Main rice season in 2019 for the South Central Coast and the Central Highlands” held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Tam Ky City, Quang Nam Province on 12 April 2019. The meetings underlined the progress made by the provinces on climate change adaptation and mitigation, options for risk reductions in agricultural production, and conversion of crop structure as results of implementing the guidelines of the provinces and the Sector, especially, solutions for reservation and efficient and economic use of water under the context of climate change. This assessment report also reviews some issues related to the agricultural transformation of the region in adapting to risks caused by climate change. They are based on comparative advantages in terms of geographical location and market of key agricultural products. This report also points out shortcomings in using land and unreasonable points in managing and using important natural resources, especially water, and provides recommendations for the agricultural transformation and inter-regional connection with the Central Highlands and the Southeast. The team also introduces climate-related risks maps and adaptation plans (CS MAP) which is applied in the five provinces in the Mekong Delta Region, and hopes this solution’s expansion shall be supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the provinces

Data Structure Model on the Quality of Public Passenger Transport Services by Bus in Vietnam

The system of managing public passenger transport services (PPTS) by bus is a complex system, involving infrastructure, facilities, management and service communication activities between passengers and transport systems. In particular, quality information is the most important factor, providing necessary data for analysis, setting out measures to improve quality to meet the needs of passengers and meet the requirements of related parties. According to the peculiarity of the service, this study selects a database structure model to guide the process of computerizing the management of quality of PPTS by bus in urban areas in Vietnam. The results show that four database systems reflecting the quality information of the infrastructure, means of transport, transport operation and passenger service and each database system is structured by components that ensure proper implementation of QM process according to the continuous quality improvement cycle. The components of each database system are dispersed according to the scope of management to ensure the consistency for the quality management process and facilitate the collection, processing and distribution of information of related parties. Keywords: Quality, transport services, public passengers, Vietnam. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-10-13 Publication date:May 31st 201

Antibacterial Nanocomposites Based on Fe 3

For the vulcanized natural rubber (NR), incorporation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into the NR matrix did not exhibit the bactericidal property against Escherichia coli (E. coli). However, incorporation of AgNPs into polyethylene (PE) matrix showed good antibacterial activities to both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. In the present work, NR/PE (85/15) blends have been prepared by melt blending with presence of compatibilizer in an internal mixer. To possess antibacterial property, AgNPs (5–10 nm) or Fe3O4–Ag hybrid nanoparticles (FAgNPs, 8 nm/16 nm) were added into PE matrix before its blending with NR component. The tensile test indicated that the presence of compatibilizer in NR/PE blend significantly enhanced the tensile strength and elongation at break (up to 35% and 38% increases, resp.). The antibacterial activity test was performed by monitoring of the bacterial lag-log growth phases with the presence of nanocomposites in the E. coli cell culture reactor. The antibacterial test showed that the presence of FAgNPs in NR/PE blend had a better antibacterial activity than that obtained with the lone AgNPs. Two similar reasons were proposed: (i) the faster Ag+ release rate from the Fe3O4–Ag hybrid nanoparticles due to the electron transfer from AgNP to Fe3O4 nanoparticle and (ii) the fact that the ionization of AgNPs in hybrid nanostructure might be accelerated by Fe3+ ions

The immunogenicity of plant-based COE-GCN4pII protein in pigs against the highly virulent porcine epidemic diarrhea virus strain from genotype 2

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a serious infectious causative agent in swine, especially in neonatal piglets. PEDV genotype 2 (G2) strains, particularly G2a, were the primary causes of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) outbreaks in Vietnam. Here, we produced a plant-based CO-26K-equivalent epitope (COE) variant from a Vietnamese highly virulent PEDV strain belonging to genotype 2a (COE/G2a) and evaluated the protective efficacy of COE/G2a-GCN4pII protein (COE/G2a-pII) in piglets against the highly virulent PEDV G2a strain following passive immunity. The 5-day-old piglets had high levels of PEDV-specific IgG antibodies, COE-IgA specific antibodies, neutralizing antibodies, and IFN-γ responses. After virulent challenge experiments, all of these piglets survived and had normal clinical symptoms, no watery diarrhea in feces, and an increase in their body weight, while all of the negative control piglets died. These results suggest that the COE/G2a-pII protein produced in plants can be developed as a promising vaccine candidate to protect piglets against PEDV G2a infection in Vietnam

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

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