Urban-rural disparities in acceptance of human papillomavirus vaccination among women in Can Tho, Vietnam.

Background: In Vietnam, cervical cancer is a significant public health concern for women. Unfortunately, despite the availability of the HPV vaccine, low vaccination rates persist. Objectives: This study investigates the discrepancy between urban and rural areas in the willingness to receive HPV vaccination with or without fees. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 648 women aged between 15 and 49, living in two urban and two rural Vietnamese districts of Can Tho, between May and December 2021. Results: The overall vaccination rate was 4%, with urban women having a higher rate of 4.9% compared to rural women at 3.1%. Among unvaccinated women, those from rural areas expressed a significantly higher desire to receive the free vaccine (91.4%) than urban women (84.4%). However, the intention to vaccinate declined when rural women and urban women were advised to pay the cost (63.4% and 57.1%, respectively). A strong correlation was found between a positive attitude and intention for vaccination, irrespective of its price or free availability. Education and access to information about the HPV vaccine were also identified as the most significant factors influencing the intention to vaccination among urban and rural women. Conclusion: The low HPV vaccination rates among women aged 15-49 living in both urban and rural regions of Vietnam are a notable public health concern. These outcomes emphasize the critical need for effective programs of vaccine laterization, as an introduction to the offer of affordable and accessible HPV vaccines for women in Can Tho, Vietnam.

Lack of health insurance among juvenile offenders: a predictor of inappropriate healthcare use and reincarceration?

OBJECTIVES: Relationships between the health insurance status and healthcare use among justice-involved youths transitioning into adulthood is an underexplored topic, even if transition to adulthood is a crucial time period for healthcare outcomes. To fill in these knowledge gaps, this study had two aims: (1) to examine trajectories of health insurance coverage and healthcare use among serious juvenile offenders transitioning into adulthood; and (2) to explore associations between the lack of health insurance, healthcare use and reincarceration. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a secondary analysis on the data of the US longitudinal Pathways to Desistance study between ages 20 and 23 years (2000-2010). METHODS: Participant data on health insurance coverage, healthcare use, reincarceration and sociodemographic variables (n = 1215) were extracted and analysed using descriptive statistics, generalized linear regressions and cross-lagged panel models. RESULTS: About half of the young offenders had no health insurance coverage or intermittent coverage between the age of 20 and 23 years. Emergency services were used (≥17.4%), notably more by insured participants and were increasingly used over time. Being uninsured at the age of 20 years was associated with reincarceration at the age of 23 years (b = -0.052, p = 0.014, odd-ratio = 0.95), but incarceration at the age of 20 years did not predict the insurance status at the age of 23 years (b = 0.009, p = 0.792). CONCLUSIONS: Serious juvenile offenders, especially if uninsured, faced major barriers to accessing health care and often reported an inappropriate healthcare use. This likely led to reincarceration. The lack of continuity of care and of access to health care may, therefore, increase health disparities, and efforts are needed to mitigate detrimental outcomes, by effective in and out of detention coordination of health insurance coverage and among health services.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara at Tra Vinh University Hospital in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the seroprevalence of Toxocariasis and its associated risk factors among individuals attending the outpatient department at Tra Vinh University Hospital, Vietnam, in 2022. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among outpatients of Tra Vinh University Hospital. Toxocariasis diagnosis was based on the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) performed at the hospital's laboratory department. We assessed the seroprevalence of Toxocariasis and evaluated associated risk factors, including demographics and certain behaviors. RESULTS: Of the 249 participants surveyed, 165 tested positive for Toxocariasis, yielding a seroprevalence of 66.3% (95% CI: 60.4-72.1). Multivariate analysis revealed that age groups up to 30 and 30-60 years had higher odds of Toxocariasis infection, with adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of 2.52 (95% CI: 1.04-6.11) and 3.21 (95% CI: 1.44-7.15) respectively. Additionally, individuals residing in rural areas and those in contact with dogs or cats had increased risks, with aORs of 2.21 (95% CI: 1.21-4.01) and 2.04 (95% CI: 1.10-3.79), respectively. Notably, hand washing before eating emerged as a protective factor against Toxocariasis, presenting an aOR of 0.38 (95% CI: 0.19-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underscore a significant seroprevalence (66.3%) of Toxocara spp. among outpatients at Tra Vinh University Hospital. Proactive measures, including hand hygiene before meals and after pet interactions, are advocated. There is a pronounced need for community-level epidemiological surveillance for human Toxocariasis.

Investigation of monoclonal antibody dimers in a final formulated drug by separation techniques coupled to native mass spectrometry.

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are highly complex proteins that must be exhaustively characterized according to the regulatory authorities' recommendations. MAbs display micro-heterogeneity mainly due to their post-translational modifications, but also to their susceptibility to chemical and physical degradations. Among these degradations, aggregation is quite frequent, initiated by protein denaturation and then dimer formation. Here, we investigated the nature and structure of the high molecular weight species (HMW) present at less than 1% in an unstressed formulated roledumab biopharmaceutical, as a model of high purity mAb. HMW species were first purified through preparative size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and then analyzed by a combination of chromatographic methods (ion-exchange chromatography (IEX), SEC) coupled to native mass spectrometry (MS), as well as sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and capillary gel electrophoresis under non-reducing conditions. Both covalently and non-covalently bound dimers were identified at a proportion of 50/50. In-depth characterization of the HMW fraction by SEC and IEX hyphenated to native MS revealed the presence of three mAb dimer forms having the same mass, but differing by their charge and size. They were attributed to different compact and elongated dimers. Finally, high-resolution middle-up approaches using different enzymes (IdeS and IgdE) were performed to determine the mAb domains implicated in the dimerization. Our results revealed that the roledumab dimers were associated mainly by a single Fab-to-Fab arm-bound association.

Veganism, bone mineral density, and body composition: a study in Buddhist nuns.

SUMMARY: This cross-sectional study showed that, although vegans had lower dietary calcium and protein intakes than omnivores, veganism did not have adverse effect on bone mineral density and did not alter body composition. INTRODUCTION: Whether a lifelong vegetarian diet has any negative effect on bone health is a contentious issue. We undertook this study to examine the association between lifelong vegetarian diet and bone mineral density and body composition in a group of postmenopausal women. METHODS: One hundred and five Mahayana Buddhist nuns and 105 omnivorous women (average age = 62, range = 50-85) were randomly sampled from monasteries in Ho Chi Minh City and invited to participate in the study. By religious rule, the nuns do not eat meat or seafood (i.e., vegans). Bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN), and whole body (WB) was measured by DXA (Hologic QDR 4500). Lean mass, fat mass, and percent fat mass were also obtained from the DXA whole body scan. Dietary calcium and protein intakes were estimated from a validated food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between vegans and omnivores in LSBMD (0.74 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.14 g/cm(2); mean +/- SD; P = 0.18), FNBMD (0.62 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.63 +/- 0.11 g/cm(2); P = 0.35), WBBMD (0.88 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.90 +/- 0.12 g/cm(2); P = 0.31), lean mass (32 +/- 5 vs. 33 +/- 4 kg; P = 0.47), and fat mass (19 +/- 5 vs. 19 +/- 5 kg; P = 0.77) either before or after adjusting for age. The prevalence of osteoporosis (T scores < or = -2.5) at the femoral neck in vegans and omnivores was 17.1% and 14.3% (P = 0.57), respectively. The median intake of dietary calcium was lower in vegans compared to omnivores (330 +/- 205 vs. 682 +/- 417 mg/day, P < 0.001); however, there was no significant correlation between dietary calcium and BMD. Further analysis suggested that whole body BMD, but not lumbar spine or femoral neck BMD, was positively correlated with the ratio of animal protein to vegetable protein. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that, although vegans have much lower intakes of dietary calcium and protein than omnivores, veganism does not have adverse effect on bone mineral density and does not alter body composition.

[Aspergillus niger responsible for a tracheo-oesophageal fistula in an immunocompetent patient]. / Aspergillus niger responsable d'une fistule trachéo-oesophagienne chez un sujet immunocompétent.

Tracheal or bronchial aspergillar locations are rare. They are mainly found in patients with general or localised immune deficiency. The authors report the case of a 53-year-old Vietnamese immunocompetent patient without any factors of risk who suddenly came down with a perforation syndrome indicating a tracheo-oesophageal fistula. The bronchial samples helped identify Aspergillus niger as the agent incriminated. Surgical treatment associated with an antifungal treatment provided a cure without any recurrence for 3 years.

Loss of ions in cavity ionization chambers.

Ion losses due to initial recombination, volume recombination, and back diffusion were each determined by measurements and calculations for different size cylindrical ionization chambers and spherical ionization chambers. By measuring signal currents from these ionization chambers irradiated with (60)Co gamma rays, two groups of ion losses were obtained. (Group 1) Ion loss due to initial recombination and diffusion, which changes proportionally to the inverse of the voltage applied to the ionization chambers; (and group 2) ion loss due to volume recombination, which changes proportionally to the inverse of the square of the applied voltage. The diffusion loss was obtained separately by computing electric field distributions in the ionization chambers. It was found that diffusion loss is larger than initial recombination loss for the cylindrical ionization chambers and vise versa for the spherical ionization chambers.

One-step capillary isoelectric focusing for the separation of the recombinant human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein glycoforms.

One-step capillary isoelectric focusing was investigated as a rapid method to resolve the glycoforms of the heterogeneous recombinant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope glycoprotein (rgp 160sMN/LAI). The separation was performed in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coated capillary using a mixture of ampholyte of narrow and wide pH range. A combination of saccaharose and 3-(cyclohexylamino)-1-propanesulfonic acid was shown to be the most efficient additive to avoid protein precipitation which occurs at a pH close to its pI. Although the calibration curve [isoelectric point (pI) vs. migration times] showed a non-linear relationship, an adequate linearity could be yielded for short pI ranges permitting to exhibit the acidic character of the different glycoforms of the rgp 160s MN/LAI (pI from 4.00 to 4.95). Reproducibility evaluated by comparing the performance of a polyacrylamide and a PVA coated capillary showed that low RSD values were obtained for intra-day (0.5 to 1.9%) and inter-day (1.6 to 7.6%) measurements using the PVA capillary. Moreover, the long term stability of the PVA capillary was demonstrated by measuring the variation of migration times of the protein markers for a long period of use. Finally, this method was able to differentiate the glycoform pattern of two close glycoproteins such as the rgp 160 of two sub-populations of the virus HIV-1.

Routine o-glycan characterization in nutritional supplements--a comparison of analytical methods for the monitoring of the bovine kappa-casein macropeptide glycosylation.

Analytical procedures, including capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF), high-performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled to amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD) and normal-phase chromatography with fluorescence detection are presented for the characterization of a highly O-glycosylated caseinomacropeptide (CGMP) and the detection of subtle glycosylation differences between CGMP Batches obtained with two different preparation procedures. Modified two-step CIEF allowed monitoring of glycopeptide heterogeneity and determination of the isoelectric points of acidic glycoforms. The mixture of wide and narrow pH range ampholytes was optimized to improve glycoform resolution. The pI of the different CGMP glycoforms was evaluated with pI internal standards and found to range between 3.08 and 3.58, which indicates a very acidic glycopeptide. Moreover, the monosaccharide composition was determined with HPAEC-PAD after neutral and amino sugars release by using adequate acidic hydrolysis of CGMP. Results indicated a similar composition for Batches I and II, but the monosaccharide percentages were 3-4 fold higher in Batch I, particularly for galactose and glucose. This likely reflects a higher content in lactose in the case of Batch I. Finally, O-linked oligosaccharides were released with an automated hydrazinolysis and derivatized with a sensitive labelling reagent, 2-aminobenzamide. The derivatives were then analyzed by normal-phase HPLC coupled with fluorescence detection, and separated on the basis of hydrophilic interaction, which allowed oligosaccharide mapping of the two CGMP. It appeared that the two CGMP preparations had an almost identical O-glycan population, but CGMP Batch I was more glycosylated than Batch II. Additionally, the sizes of the separated glycans, expressed as the number of glucose units, were tentatively assigned using calibration with a partial hydrolysate of dextran. In conclusion, a combination of electrophoretic and chromatographic techniques was found powerful in studying glycoprotein heterogeneity and assessing batch-to-batch consistency.

Mechanism of the burst fracture in the thoracolumbar spine. The effect of loading rate.

STUDY DESIGN: Calf lumbar spine motion segments were randomly assigned to two groups. After insertion of a transducer capable of measuring transient occlusion of the spinal canal during impact, a low rate axial impact was applied in one group and a high rate load in the other. Post-injury computed tomography scans and peak canal occlusions were measured to determine the effect of rate of load application on occlusion of the spinal canal. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine if for the same direction of impact and total energy delivered, occlusion of the spinal canal postvertebral fracture was related to the rate at which the impact was delivered (time from zero to peak load). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Several reports based on clinical observations have hypothesized that axial burst fractures, which displace bone fragments into the canal, occur because of internal pressurization and explosion of the vertebral body. The extent of bursting of the vertebra may depend on the rate of pressurization of the body, which could be related to the rate at which the load is applied. METHOD: Using calf lumbar spines, a transducer was placed within the spinal canal, after removal of the cord, to measure canal occlusion during impact. One group received axial compressive impacts at a mean loading rate of 400 msec (zero to peak load) using a materials-testing machine. The energy of failure was determined and used to select a drop weight and distance for the high loading rate tests, which would yield equivalent impact energy. The second group received impacts at a loading rate of of 20 msec. The post-injury radiographs and canal occlusion measurements were compared. RESULTS: The same mean energy of impact was used in the fractures for both groups. Post-injury radiographs of the low loading rate group showed compressive fractures with a mean canal occlusion of 6.84%, whereas the high loading rate group had burst fractures with mean canal encroachment of 47.6% (P = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: For the same energy and direction of impact, a high impact loading rate produces fractures with significant canal encroachment, whereas minimal encroachment is seen for fractures produced at a low loading rate.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 in retail ground beef in Seattle: results of a one-year prospective study.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 was sought systematically in 1,400 samples of retail ground beef in Seattle in a 1-year prospective study. Sorbitol-nonfermenting, lactose-fermenting, indole-positive colonies isolated after enrichment culture were probed for the presence of Shiga toxin genes. Totals of 67,040 sorbitol-nonfermenting and 66,705 sorbitol-fermenting colonies were characterized, but E. coli O157:H7 was not identified. The sensitivity of this technique was usually sufficient to detect E. coli O157:H7 at a concentration below 1 CFU/g of meat. These data demonstrate that retail ground beef in Seattle is neither frequently nor heavily contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Right atrial perforation secondary to implantable cardioverter defibrillator insertion.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) placements can be associated with serious complications. This paper reports a patient in whom percutaneous placement of an ICD resulted in a hemopneumothorax. This was due to an active fixation lead that perforated the right atrial wall and injured the adjacent lung parenchyma. The hemothorax was drained thoracoscopically, and the atrial injury was covered with fibrin glue.

Angle dependence of signal currents from cylindrical ionisation chambers.

A signal current from a cylindrical ionisation chamber with an ionisation volume of 62.7 cm3, 40 mm in diameter and 50 mm long, peaked when the chamber was lixed at 0 degrees and at 90 degrees in 137Cs and 60Co gamma ray fields for source-chamber distances of 1 m and 2 m. A smaller ionisation chamber showed a small peak at 0 degrees in both fields but not at 90 degrees. However, calculations indicated that the signal current from the smaller chamber would also show a peak at 90 degrees in a 137Cs point-source gamma ray field. Peaks occur because gamma rays attenuate along the cylindrical side wall or along the end walls when a chamber is tilted slightly from 0 degrees or 90 degrees and the direction of the gamma ray beam agrees with the plane of one of these walls. These facts suggest the need for care in the common practice of measuring and calculating responses for cylindrical ionisation chambers fixed perpendicular to gamma ray beams.

[Evaluation of different fibroscopic sampling techniques for the diagnosis of isolated peripheral pulmonary nodules. A prospective study of 74 cases in Vietnam]. / Evaluation des différentes techniques de prélèvement par fibroscopie pour le diagnostic des nodules pulmonaires isolés périphériques. Etude prospective de 74 cas, réalisée au Viêt-nam.

Isolated pulmonary nodules raise serious diagnostic problems. Combined imaging and endoscopic methods can often avoid exploratory thoracotomy. The situation is different however in developing countries where health facilities and technical availability are quite variable. Bronchial fibroscopy without image guidance can provide the diagnosis is an acceptable number of cases. We conducted a prospective study in 74 patients. After chest x-ray and CT scan of the lesion of interest, bronchial lavage was performed in each patient with brushings samples in 71 and transbronchial biopsy in 68. Riu staining was performed immediately in the endoscopy suite, providing an almost immediate diagnostic approach. The combination of lavage, brushing and biopsy provided a diagnostic yield as good as the brushings and biopsy combination. These endoscopic techniques gave the diagnosis of the specific lesion in 52 cases (70%). Most involved cancer but there were 15 cases of tuberculosis diagnosis, which remains frequent in developing countries.

One-step synthesis of highly biocompatible multi-shaped gold nanostructures with fruit extract.

In this study, the authors demonstrate the synthesis of various gold nanostructures through a one-step, green and complete bio-modulation approach. Nanoparticles were successfully synthesised by the addition of gold aqueous solution to fruit extracts, including orange, papaya, peach or lemon. The particles were of various shapes and sizes with high abundance, such as sphere, marigold, triangle and hexagon. The biocompatibility of the presented gold nanostructures was examined; haemolysis tests revealed a non-toxicity result in blood cell uptake of such gold nanostructures. This study opens the exciting possibility of synthesising various multi-shaped nanoparticles through a simple and green approach, as well as paving the way for future bio-applications.

Capillary zone electrophoresis method for the determination of famotidine and related impurities in pharmaceuticals.

A simple and rapid capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method with UV detection has been developed for the determination of famotidine and its potential impurities in pharmaceutical formulations. The electrophoretic separation of these compounds was performed using a fused silica capillary and 37.5mmolL(-1) phosphate buffer pH 3.5 as the electrolyte. Under the optimised conditions, six impurities could be resolved from the famotidine peak in less than 7min. The calibration curves obtained for the seven compounds were linear over the concentration range investigated (from 1.5 to 78.5microg mL(-1)). The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations for the migration times and corrected peak areas were less than 2% and 5%, respectively. The detection limits were found to be 0.09microg mL(-1) for famotidine, and from 0.1 to 0.62microg mL(-1) depending on the impurities. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of famotidine in commercial dosage forms.

A serine cluster prevents recycling of the V2 vasopressin receptor.

Receptor recycling plays a critical role in the regulation of cellular responsiveness to environmental stimuli. Agonist-promoted phosphorylation of G protein-coupled receptors has been related to their desensitization, internalization, and sequestration. Dephosphorylation of internalized G protein-coupled receptors by cytoplasmic phosphatases has been shown to be pH-dependent, and it has been postulated to be necessary for receptors to recycle to the cell surface. The internalized V2 vasopressin receptor (V2R) expressed in HEK 293 cells is an exception to this hypothesis because it does not recycle to the plasma membrane for hours after removal of the ligand. Because this receptor is phosphorylated only by G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs), the relationship between recycling and GRK-mediated phosphorylation was examined. A nonphosphorylated V2R, truncated upstream of the GRK phosphorylation sites, rapidly returned to the cell surface after removal of vasopressin. Less-drastic truncations of V2R revealed the presence of multiple phosphorylation sites and suggested a key role for a serine cluster present at the C terminus. Replacement of any one of Ser-362, Ser-363, or Ser-364 with Ala allowed quantitative recycling of full-length V2R without affecting the extent of internalization. Examination of the stability of phosphate groups incorporated into the recycling S363A mutant V2Rs revealed that the recycling receptor was dephosphorylated after hormone withdrawal, whereas the wild-type V2R was not, providing molecular evidence for the hypothesis that GRK sites must be dephosphorylated prior to receptor recycling. These experiments uncovered a role for GRK phosphorylation in intracellular sorting and revealed a GRK-dependent anchoring domain that blocks V2R recycling.

Electrophoretic methods for process monitoring and the quality assessment of recombinant glycoproteins.

In many ways electrophoretic techniques appear ideal for quality monitoring of proteins and are thus well suited for the analysis of recombinant glycoproteins. The requirements of high throughput, comparative analysis and resolution of many variants are met by several electrophoretic techniques. A wide variety of such techniques are available to biotechnologists in the rapidly developing area of recombinant glycoproteins. It is the aim of this review to specifically cover recent work which has been applied to the analysis of DNA-derived glycoproteins, both from a process control standpoint and final product validation. All major areas of electrophoresis including sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), isoelectric focusing and techniques utilizing capillary electrophoresis are covered, with emphasis on analysis of glycoforms and oligosaccharide profiles of recombinant glycoproteins. As illustration, actual examples rather than standard glycoproteins are given to indicate the potential and limitations which may be encountered. It is anticipated that this review will prove a useful and practical guide to the latest developments by indicating the relevant merits of different methods.