Ecotoxicity of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic delafloxacin to the water flea Simocephalus vetulus and its offspring under the influence of calcium modulation.

Delafloxacin (DFX), one of the latest additions to the fluoroquinolone antibiotics, is gaining heightened recognition in human therapy due to its potential antibacterial efficacy in a wide range of applications. Concerns have arisen regarding its presence in the environment and its potential interactions with multivalent metals, such as calcium (Ca). The present study investigated the trans- and multigenerational effects of environmentally projected concentrations of DFX (100-400 µg DFX L-1) on individual- and population-level responses of parental S. vetulus (F0) and its descendants (F1) under normal (26 mg L-1) and high (78 mg L-1) Ca conditions. Exposure of the F0 generation to DFX under the normal Ca condition resulted in reduced juvenile body length (JBL), increased age-specific survival rate (lx), indicating prolonged developmental time, reduced age-specific fecundity rate (mx), and decreased population growth rate (rm). Under the high Ca condition, JBL, mx, and rm were adversely affected. Transgenerational effects of DFX existed, as F1 individuals exhibited persistent suppressions in at least one endpoint under both Ca conditions even after being transferred to a clear medium. Continuous exposure of the F1 generation to DFX had negative impacts on JBL, mx, and rm under the normal Ca condition, and on JBL and rm under the high Ca condition. However, cumulative effects were not observed, suggesting the potential development of tolerance to DFX in the F1 organisms. These findings suggest that DFX is a harmful compound for the non-target model organism S. vetulus and reveal a potential antagonism between DFX and Ca. Nevertheless, the interaction between other (fluoro)quinolones and Ca remains unclear, necessitating further research to establish this phenomenon more comprehensively, including understanding the interaction mechanism in ecotoxicological contexts.

Synthesis of new DOPO derivatives and investigation of their synergistic effect with APP-PEI on the flame retardancy of epoxy composite.

Epoxy resin has been extensively used in many industrial and daily applications due to its unique properties. However, the high flammability of epoxy has limited its further development. DOPO derivatives, which are organophosphorus compounds, are highly effective components of flame retardant epoxy composites due to their good compatibility with the resin and their lower toxicity compared to halogenated compounds. This study synthesized sixteen new DOPO derivatives, characterizing their chemical structures with NMR spectroscopy. The combination of synthesized DOPO derivatives and APP-PEI (ammonium polyphosphate-polyethyleneimine) has shown a synergistic effect on enhancing the flame retardancy of epoxy resin with the UL-94 V-0 rating and the LOI value of 28.6%. Moreover, the epoxy composites displayed relatively high mechanical performance with the impact strength of 26-28 kJ m-2.

Arterial Switch Operation in Patients With Single Sinus Coronary Artery Anatomy: Risk Factors for Mortality From a Lower-Middle Income Country.

Background: This study evaluates mortality and intermediate outcomes of the arterial switch operation (ASO) for transposition or Taussig-Bing anomaly with single sinus coronary artery (CA) anatomy in a high-volume cardiac program in Vietnam. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed and performed risk factor analysis pertaining to 41 consecutive patients who presented with single sinus CA anatomy and who underwent ASO from January 2010 to December 2016 in our center. Results: The median age at operation was 43 days [interquartile range (IQR): 20-65] and the median weight was 3.6 kg (IQR: 3.4-4.0). Four in-hospital deaths (9.8%), of which one was related to coronary insufficiency. There were no late deaths, with a median follow-up time of 7.2 years. Survival for all patients with single sinus CA was 90.2% at 1 year and remained constant at 5 years and 10 years after ASO. The presence of a coexisting aortic arch anomaly was the only risk factor for overall mortality identified in this study (hazard ratio: 8.66, P = .031, 95% confidence interval: 1.21-61.92). There were three cardiac reoperations. Freedom from reintervention after ASO for patients with single sinus CA at 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years were 97.3%, 91.9%, and 91.9%, respectively. Interestingly, among all patients undergoing ASO during this time period (n = 304), single-sinus CA anatomy was not a risk factor for overall death (P = .758). Conclusions: In a high-volume cardiac program in a lower middle-income country like Vietnam, ASO can be safely performed with single sinus CA anatomy, irrespective of the presenting coronary anatomy.

An internet of radiation sensor system (IoRSS) to detect radioactive sources out of regulatory control.

A radioactive source that is not under regulatory control, either because it has never been under regulatory control or because it has been abandoned, lost, misplaced, stolen, or otherwise transferred without proper authorization, is considered an orphan source. Orphan sources are usually gathered as scrap metal because of their heavy metallic containers. Melting an orphan source with scrap metal produces contaminated recycled metal and waste; the consequences will be extremely serious for humans and the environment, affecting the economy and social stability. In this paper, we propose and develop an Internet of Radiation Sensor System (IoRSS) to detect radioactive sources out of regulatory control in scrap metal recycling and production facilities. It is a complete IoT system consisting of a network of wirelessly connected radiometric devices that optimizes the detection, localization, and identification of radioactive sources by integrating data from multiple portable radiation detectors. The proposed IoRSS system creates a robust and flexible network architecture along with advanced data fusion algorithms that combine information from many detectors. The IoRSS system provides advanced search and monitoring capabilities in a large coverage area and in difficult operational environments.

Using Contingent Valuation Method to Estimate Adults' Willingness to Pay for a Future Coronavirus 2019 Vaccination.

OBJECTIVES: Vaccines are recognized as the most effective strategy for long-term prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because they can reduce morbidity and mortality. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate willingness to pay (WTP) for a future COVID-19 vaccination among young adults in Southern Vietnam. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytic study was undertaken with data collected from a community-based survey in southern Vietnam for 2 weeks in May 2020. The contingent valuation method was used to estimate WTP for COVID-19 vaccine. The average amount that respondents were willing to pay for the vaccine was US$ 85.9 2 ± 69.01. RESULTS: We also found the differences in WTP according to sex, living area, monthly income, and the level of self-rated risk of COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Our findings possibly contribute to the implementation of a pricing policy when the COVID-19 vaccine is introduced in Vietnam.

Cancer classification from microarray data for genomic disorder research using optimal discriminant independent component analysis and kernel extreme learning machine.

One of the challenging tasks in the medicinal field is genomic disorder investigation and its classification from the microarray dataset. The microarray dataset reorganization and its classification is more complex and expensive in the biomedical research area due to the larger number of features in the microarray dataset. In this paper, we construct a hybrid feature selection method such as t test, Fisher ration, and Bayesian logistic regression to select genes and that reduce the time cost. Based on the features, the top-ranked features are selected via the best hybrid rank method. Thereafter, the features are extracted using the modified firefly optimization-based discriminant independent component analysis (MF-DICA). Especially, the modified firefly optimization algorithm is capable of improving the search efficiency of DICA. From the high dimensional microarray dataset, MF-DICA is used to obtain the best features within the entire search space. The kernel extreme learning machine classifies the gene features depending upon the most relevant class. Experimentally, six datasets namely Leukemia dataset, Diffuse Larger B-cell Lymphomas, Lung cancer, Breast cancer, Prostate tumor, and Colon dataset are chosen to evaluate the performance of proposed approaches. Finally, the experimental data demonstrate that the proposed method is well suitable to classify the microarray data.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health state utilities with chronic hepatitis-B (CHB): A population-based survey in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis-B infection is a worldwide consideration despite of vaccination availability. Chronic Hepatitis-B (CHB) results in various complications and the impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Health state utilities and HRQoL are the fundamental input to decision models as well as economic evaluation analysis. Although the effect of CHB on the HRQoL and health state utilities is well-known, the results remain uncertain. The objective is to measure health state utilities and HRQoL among CHB patients at two provincial hospitals in southern Vietnam using both preference-based and non-preference-based tools. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 2017 to July 2018 in Dongnai and Kiengiang General Hospitals (DNGH and KGGH). Patients with the ICD-10 code of B18 was enrolled using convenience sampling method. Each respondent was experienced a face-to-face interview with four health measurement instruments. SPSS 20.0 software was used for data analsysis. RESULTS: The total research population included 546 patients at DNGH and 338 patients at KGGH, each of them was classified in to one of four stages of the disease. The majority were male, well-educated and alcohol-consumers. The average physical component score was highest in patients with compensated cirrhosis at KGGH (58.7}0.9). The average mental component score was highest in patients with noncirrhotic CHB at DNGH (60.3}0.2). In both hospitals, patients with noncirrhotic chronic Hepatitis B had the highest mean score of EuroQoL 5 dimensions questions; patients with decompensated cirrhosis had the lowest mean score of visual analogue scale. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Vietnam which used both preference-based and non-preference-based insstrument to measure the HRQoL in HBV-infected patients. The results from different instruments were similar. These findings were promised to be a fundamental input for future cost-effectiveness analysis in the same field.

Customers' preferences and willingness to pay for a future dengue vaccination: a study of the empirical evidence in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Dengue was endemic to Vietnam. Due to the lack of a readily available remedy, dengue vaccines (DV) have been used elsewhere to cure the disease. However, introducing DV in Vietnam has met resistance from society and the government, influencing decisions about willingness-to-pay (WTP) and other pharmacoeconomic studies. This research aimed to evaluate the extent to which Vietnamese customers would be willing to pay to vaccinate themselves and their children, if any at all, against dengue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional interview-based research. Contingent valuation method, combined with the bidding technique and several open-ended questions, were used to obtain the maximum WTP values for six hypothetical scenarios of two types of DV (60% efficacy for 10 years, "Type 1" vs 90% efficacy for 20 years, "Type 2"). RESULTS: The median WTP per adult for Type 1 and Type 2 DV were US$130.34 and US$217.39, respectively. The median WTP rates per parent for their own vaccination were US$86.96 (Type 1) and US$156.52 (Type 2), for their children vaccination costs were US$108.70 (Type 1) and US$195.65 (Type 2). Five factors affected the WTP rates: monthly income, marital status, area, locality and level of education. CONCLUSION: The WTP rates for DV were high, supporting the introduction of DV in Vietnam.

Clinical and CT scan features of fourth ventricle tumors

Study on 73 fourth ventricle tumors that were operated at Cho Ray hospital, from May 2000 to October 2003. The results: tumors were seen in both children and adults, in male more than female at the ages ranging from 2 years old to 64 years old. The most common age group were 1-10 years (52%), then 11-20 years old (21.9%). In fourth ventricle tumors, the median duration of symptoms prior to radiological diagnosis was 6 weeks. The patients experienced symptoms such as headache, vomitting, vertigo. The common syndromes were: raised intracranial pressure syndrome, cerebellar syndrome, pyramidal syndrome and epilepsy. Brain CT scan, absence of cysts and calcifications, homogeneous hyperdensity favor the diagnosis of medulloblastoma. Ependymomas were typically nonhomogeneous hyperdensity, calcified. Astrocytomas showed nonhomogenous hyperdensity and minimal calcification. Most of cases had ventricular dilatation

Clinical and CT Scan findings of tumors located in the fourth ventricle

This study was carried out on 36 patients (the youngest was 2 years old and the oldest was 64 years old) with tumors located in the 4th ventricle, which were admitted to Cho Ray Hospital in 2002. Results: meduloblastomas was the most common tumors (58.3%), following ependymomas (19.4%) and astrocytomas (11.1%). Some type of tumors were rare: hemangioblastomas (5.6%), meningioma (2.8%), and lymphoma (2.8%). The median duration of symptoms from the onset to diagnosis was 8 weeks. Most of patients experienced intra-cranial hypertension syndrome (97.2%), and cerebellar syndrome (77.8%). On the brain CT scan images, the different characteristics of tumors including calcifications, hemorrhage, cyst-necrosis, density and contrast enhancements were useful in making differential diagnosis. The rate of lateral and the 3rd ventricular dilatations were very high (94.4%) because tumors quickly blocked flow of cerebrospinal fluid