A pre-post evaluation of a digital intervention to improve psychosocial outcomes of caregivers of people living with cancer in Vietnam.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a co-designed intervention using digital resources "Vietnam Cancer Caring Coping" (V-CCC) on the health literacy, depression, and quality of life of caregivers supporting a cancer patient in oncology hospitals in Vietnam. METHODS: A pre-post quantitative evaluation with adult cancer caregivers across regional Oncology hospitals in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho, and Hue). Participants completed baseline and follow-up measures of health literacy (HLS-SF12) depression (PHQ-9) and Health-related Quality of Life (5Q-5D-5L). Participants accessed and reviewed V-CCC for a 2-week period. RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-four caregivers completed pre and post-tests. Most participants were female (n = 143, 61%), married (n = 165, 70%), aged 18-44 (n = 155, 66%), lived rurally (n = 157, 67%). All health literacy scores of participants in post-intervention were significantly higher than that in pre-intervention across all domain's healthcare, disease prevention, and health promotion as well as the total score (p < 0.001). A significant reduction in the proportion of caregivers reporting PHQ-9 moderately severe/severe depression post-intervention was demonstrated (10.2 vs. 6.1%, respectively (p ≤ 0.001). No significant differences were observed pre and post-intervention across four 5Q-5D-5L health dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, and pain/discomfort. Regarding anxiety/depression as measured by 5Q-5D-5L the proportion of participants who reported having moderate, severe, and extreme problems in pre- and post-intervention was statistically significant (32 vs. 24%), respectively (p = 0.0028). CONCLUSION: Co-designed digital resources can reduce health literacy inequities and improve psychological outcomes for cancer caregivers.

Sharing health information across online platforms: A systematic review.

Advanced Web 2.0 communication technologies have facilitated health-related information (HRI) sharing on the Internet. Especially, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns around the world have forced more people to turn to the Internet for HRI. A better understanding of users' sharing content and sharing behavior can help communicators improve health literacy, raise community awareness, and facilitate social support exchanges. This paper reports the results of a systematic review of online HRI sharing literature, including key research topics, theories and methods used in past studies, and key factors of sharing behavior across online platforms. Following the PRISMA procedure for a systematic review, 58 articles were identified and analyzed using keyword matching, thematic analysis, and expert review. Guided by the platform theory, our findings differentiated five types of online platforms that differently influenced online users' sharing content and sharing purposes, including micro-blogs, social network sites, online health communities, social question and answer sites, and Wikis. The findings also clarify five main research topics and applicable theories used in each topic, including personal health sharing, health-related knowledge sharing, general health message diffusion, outcomes of HRI sharing, and exploratory research. Key factors of sharing behavior and potential sharing outcomes are also reviewed and summarized in the research framework developed from the motivation theory. Our study contributes to the understanding of online sharing behavior and provides implications for health communicators to develop effective health campaigns. Potential research directions are also identified and discussed.

Ten years of severe respiratory syncytial virus infections in a tertiary paediatric intensive care unit.

AIM: To describe the epidemiology and treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in a tertiary paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), including the clinical presentations, comorbidities, respiratory support required, costs and outcomes. METHODS: This study was an analysis of a database for all children with RSV infections admitted to the PICU in Melbourne between 2005 and 2015. RESULTS: A total of 604 episodes of community-acquired RSV infections were analysed, and the median age of children was 4 months (interquartile range 2-14 months); 94% of cases had lower respiratory tract infection, principally bronchiolitis, and 8.9% presented with extrapulmonary features. Respiratory support included humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy (76% of patients since its introduction in 2011), non-invasive ventilation (41%) and intubation and mechanical ventilation (32%). Almost half (n = 270; 45%) had one or more pre-existing comorbid condition. Risk factors for intubation and mechanical ventilation were presence of comorbidities (odds ratio 1.97; confidence interval 1.39-2.79, P < 0.001) and transfer from an external hospital (odds ratio 1.82; confidence interval 1.58-2.57, P < 0.001). Of the children without pre-existing comorbidities, 25% required intubation and mechanical ventilation. Following the introduction of humidified high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy, the number of annual PICU admissions for RSV infection doubled; however, the number of children requiring intubation remained unchanged. The median length of intensive care unit stay was 3.7 days and further hospital stay was 3.6 days, and the average cost per case was approximately AU$20000. CONCLUSIONS: RSV infection carries a high burden in PICU, in bed-days and cost. Chronic comorbidities and transfer from a peripheral hospital were associated with a higher rate of need for mechanical ventilation.

TEN-like eruption in setting of EBV positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disease with HLH, in a child.

Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis complicating Epstein-Barr virus positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disease of childhood is a rare and life-threatening entity. We report a child with this condition presenting with a toxic epidermal necrolysis-like eruption.

Mental health, sleep, and respiratory health after initiating elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor treatment in children with cystic fibrosis.

INTRODUCTION: Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI) significantly improves lung function but its effect on mental health and sleep remains poorly understood. We report on mental health, sleep, and respiratory health outcomes of adolescents with CF commenced on ETI therapy, and monitored the prevalence of neuropsychiatric issues through the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a prospective longitudinal study of 31 adolescents (aged 10-18 years) from July 2021 to October 2022. Data collected include demographics, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS), Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) scores, and FEV1 percent predicted. Twenty of 31 adolescents had data before and after ETI initiation. Mean differences (MD) in mental health, sleep, and respiratory health pre- and post-ETI therapy commencement were estimated using paired t-tests. The prevalence and trajectories of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance were described between the ETI epochs, and over the pandemic period. RESULTS: FEV1 improved following ETI therapy commencement (MD, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.1% (4.7%-9.6%) whereas PHQ-9, GAD-7, PDSS, and SDSC scores did not change significantly. Ten percent of participants developed new-onset anxiety/depression concerns and 10% developed new sleep concerns following ETI initiation. CONCLUSION: This is the first prospective longitudinal study of mental health and sleep changes after ETI commencement in adolescents with CF. Although respiratory outcomes improved, ETI did not improve anxiety, depression or sleep.

Insight into uniform filming of LiF-rich interphase via synergistic adsorption for high-performance lithium metal anode.

Multi-scale simulation is an important basis for constructing digital batteries to improve battery design and application. LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is experimentally proven to be crucial for the electrochemical performance of lithium metal batteries. However, the LiF-rich SEI is sensitive to various electrolyte formulas and the fundamental mechanism is still unclear. Herein, the structure and formation mechanism of LiF-rich SEI in different electrolyte formulas have been reviewed. On this basis, it further discussed the possible filming mechanism of LiF-rich SEI determined by the initial adsorption of the electrolyte-derived species on the lithium metal anode (LMA). It proposed that individual LiF species follow the Volmer-Weber mode of film growth due to its poor wettability on LMA. Whereas, the synergistic adsorption of additive-derived species with LiF promotes the Frank-Vander Merwe mode of film growth, resulting in uniform LiF deposition on the LMA surface. This perspective provides new insight into the correlation between high LiF content, wettability of LiF, and highperformance of uniform LiF-rich SEI. It disclosed the importance of additive assistant synergistic adsorption on the uniform growth of LiF-rich SEI, contributing to the reasonable design of electrolyte formulas and high-performance LMA, and enlightening the way for multi-scale simulation of SEI.

Pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations identified in Vietnamese children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using high-resolution SNP genotyping platform.

Among the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is highly diverse showing a broad phenotypic spectrum. ASD also couples with a broad range of mutations, both de novo and inherited. In this study, we used a proprietary SNP genotyping chip to analyze the genomic DNA of 250 Vietnamese children diagnosed with ASD. Our Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping chip directly targets more than 800 thousand SNPs in the genome. Our primary focus was to identify pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations that are potentially linked to more severe symptoms of autism. We identified and validated 23 pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations in this initial study. The data shows that these mutations were detected in several cases spanning multiple biological pathways. Among the confirmed SNPs, mutations were identified in genes previously known to be strongly associated with ASD such as SLCO1B1, ACADSB, TCF4, HCP5, MOCOS, SRD5A2, MCCC2, DCC, and PRKN while several other mutations are known to associate with autistic traits or other neurodevelopmental disorders. Some mutations were found in multiple patients and some patients carried multiple pathogenic/likely pathogenic mutations. These findings contribute to the identification of potential targets for therapeutic solutions in what is considered a genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder.

Hematochezia due to arteriovenous malformation of the mesoappendix: a rare case report.

An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the mesoappendix is a very rare clinical entity. The clinical features, diagnosis and management of an AVM of the mesoappendix have yet to be sufficiently explained since reports about it are scarce. We report a 57-year-old man presented with hematochezia for 2 weeks. Upper and lower endoscopic could not find the source of bleeding. Abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed an AVM of the mesoappendix. A laparoscopic appendectomy was performed, and he had a resolution of his symptoms. Intraoperative findings and pathological results confirmed the diagnosis of AVM of the mesoappendix.

Real world validation of an AI-based CT hemorrhage detection tool.

Introduction: Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a potentially life-threatening medical event that requires expedited diagnosis with computed tomography (CT). Automated medical imaging triaging tools can rapidly bring scans containing critical abnormalities, such as ICH, to the attention of radiologists and clinicians. Here, we retrospectively investigated the real-world performance of VeriScout™, an artificial intelligence-based CT hemorrhage detection and triage tool. Methods: Ground truth for the presence or absence of ICH was iteratively determined by expert consensus in an unselected dataset of 527 consecutively acquired non-contrast head CT scans, which were sub-grouped according to the presence of artefact, post-operative features and referral source. The performance of VeriScout™ was compared with the ground truths for all groups. Results: VeriScout™ detected hemorrhage with a sensitivity of 0.92 (CI 0.84-0.96) and a specificity of 0.96 (CI 0.94-0.98) in the global dataset, exceeding the sensitivity of general radiologists (0.88) with only a minor relative decrement in specificity (0.98). Crucially, the AI tool detected 13/14 cases of subarachnoid hemorrhage, a potentially fatal condition that is often missed in emergency department settings. There was no decrement in the performance of VeriScout™ in scans containing artefact or postoperative change. Using an integrated informatics platform, VeriScout™ was deployed into the existing radiology workflow. Detected hemorrhage cases were flagged in the hospital radiology information system (RIS) and relevant, annotated, preview images made available in the picture archiving and communications system (PACS) within 10 min. Conclusion: AI-based radiology worklist prioritization for critical abnormalities, such as ICH, may enhance patient care without adding to radiologist or clinician burden.

Regulation of Dendrite-Free Li Plating via Lithiophilic Sites on Lithium-Alloy Surface.

Lithium (Li) deposition behavior plays an important role in dendrite formation and the subsequent performance of lithium metal batteries. This work reveals the impact of the lithiophilic sites of lithium-alloy on the Li plating process via the first-principles calculations. We find that the Li deposition mechanisms on the Li metal and Li22Sn5 surface are different due to the lithiophilic sites. We first propose that Li plating on the Li metal surface goes through the "adsorption-reduction-desorption-heterogeneous nucleation-cluster drop" process, while it undergoes the "adsorption-reduction-growth" process on the Li22Sn5 surface. The lower adsorption energy contributes to the easy adsorption of Li on the lithiophilic sites of the Li22Sn5 surface. The lower Li reduction energy on the Li metal surface indicates that it is easy for Li to be reduced on the Li metal surface, attributed to its higher Fermi energy level. Furthermore, the faster Li diffusion on the Li22Sn5 surface results in smooth Li deposition, which is based on a "two-Li synergy diffusion" mechanism. However, Li diffuses more slowly on the Li metal surface than on the Li22Sn5 surface due to the "single Li diffusion" mechanism. This work provides a fundamental understanding on the impact of lithiophilic sites of Li alloy on the Li plating process and points out that the future design of 3D Li-alloy substrates decorated with multilithiophilic sites can prevent dendrite formation on the lithium-alloy substrate by guiding uniform Li deposition.

A Bibliometric Review of Research on International Students' Mental Health: Science Mapping of the Literature from 1957 to 2020.

The mental health of university students is not only a predominant topic for psychology and education researchers but also a source of interest for policymakers and various stakeholders. Although there has been a lot of research on higher education students' mental health, we have little understanding on the mental health of international students (MHIS). Despite their distinctive characteristics compared to native students, the mental health issues of international students only started receiving attention very recently. So far, the literature on this topic lacks a comprehensive overview of its sub-topic and trending issues. By using bibliometric analysis, this research aims to fulfil this gap and provide a review of the extant literature about MHIS. Specifically, this study aims to (i) draw the growth trajectory and geographic distribution of the literature on MHIS; (ii) identify the documents and authors that have the greatest impact, generally and locally, within the major topic clusters of the literature on MHIS; and (iii) identify the most researched keywords in the literature on MHIS over time. The results have shown that academic documents about international students' mental health are increasing in number and becoming more extensive content-wise. The research's findings provide implications for stakeholders and identifies some prominent research avenues for the future.

Dataset of Vietnamese student's learning habits during COVID-19.

A dataset was constructed to examine Vietnamese student's learning habits during the time schools were suspended due to the novel coronavirus - SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), in response to a call for interdisciplinary research on the potential effects of the coronavirus pandemic (Elsevier, 2020). The questionnaires were spread over a network of educational communities on Facebook from February 7 to February 28, 2020. Using the snowball sampling method, researchers delivered the survey to teachers and parents to provide formal consent before they forwarded it to their students and children. In order to measure the influence of students' socioeconomic status and occupational aspirations on their learning habits during school closures, the survey included three major groups of questions: (1) Individual demographics, including family socioeconomic status, school type, and occupational aspirations; (2) Student's learning habits, including hours of learning before and during the period of school suspension, with and without other people's support; and (3) Students' perceptions of their self-learning during the school closures. There was a total of 920 clicks on the survey link, but only 460 responses accompanied by consent forms were received. Non-credible answers (e.g., year of birth after 2009, more than 20 hours of learning per day) were eliminated. The final dataset included 420 valid observations.

Dataset of Vietnamese teachers' perspectives and perceived support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented damage to the educational system worldwide. Besides the measurable economic impacts in the short-term and long-term, there is intangible destruction within educational institutions. In particular, teachers - the most critical intellectual resources of any schools - have to face various types of financial, physical, and mental struggles due to COVID-19. To capture the current context of more than one million Vietnamese teachers during COVID-19, we distributed an e-survey to more than 2,500 randomly selected teachers from two major teacher communities on Facebook from 6th to 11th April 2020. From over 373 responses, we excluded the observations which violated our cross-check questions and retained 294 observations for further analysis. This dataset includes: (i) Demographics of participants; (ii) Teachers' perspectives regarding the operation of teaching activities during the pandemic; (iii) Teachers' received support from their schools, government bodies, other stakeholders such as teacher unions, and parents' associations; and (iv) teachers' evaluation of school readiness toward digital transformation. Further, the dataset was supplemented with an additional question on the teachers' primary source of professional development activities during the pandemic.

Clinical Utility of Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Vertebral Fractures From Computed Tomography Images.

Osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are a risk factor for morbidity and mortality, frequently asymptomatic and often present in computed tomography (CT) scans performed for unrelated conditions. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of VCF from such images can potentially improve identification and treatment of osteoporosis. This single-blinded, single tertiary center study compared a CAD (Zebra Medical Vision®) to an adjudicated imaging specialist reevaluation using a retrospective consecutive sample of abdominal and thoracic CT scans (n = 2357) performed as part of routine care. Subjects over 50 years between January 1, 2019 and May 12, 2019 were included. Duplicates and unanalyzable scans were excluded resulting in a total of 1696 CT scans. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated for all VCF and for Genant grades 2 or 3 (ie, height loss of >25%) using imaging specialist as the gold standard. Prestudy VCF reporting by hospital-rostered radiologist was used to calculate the number of scans needed to screen (NNS) to detect one additional VCF using CAD. Prevalence of any VCF was 24% (406/1696) and of Genant 2/3 VCF was 18% (280/1570). The sensitivity and specificity were 54% and 92%, for all fractures, respectively, and 65% and 92% for Genant 2/3 fractures, respectively. Accuracy for any VCF, and for detection of Genant 2/3 VCF, was 83% and 88%, respectively. Of 221 CAD-detected VCFs, 133 (60.2%) were reported prestudy resulting in 88 additional fractures (72 Genant 2/3) being identified by CAD. NNS to detect one additional VCF was 19 scans for all fractures and 23 for Genant 2/3 fractures. Thus, the CAD tested in this study had a high specificity with moderate sensitivity to detect incidental vertebral fractures in CT scans performed for routine care. A low NNS suggests it is an efficient tool to assist radiologists and clinicians to improve detection and reporting of vertebral fractures. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

Dataset of ex-pat teachers in Southeast Asia's intention to leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic exerted an adverse influence on the global education system, especially since starting school lockdown. The growth of teacher unemployment figures climbed double-digit and spawned these unexpected sequels. For instance, while native teachers seemed indisposed to leave the profession with the aim of seeking another more profited and seasonal jobs, many ex-pat teachers presented themselves with moving or stayed dilemma in the way the government salvaged their situation. In preference with the ex-pat teacher's case, we elucidated further throughout an e-survey in the International Baccalaureate community on Facebook from 4 to 11 April 2020 for 18,000 ex-pat teachers, who are teaching at Southeast Asia. This dataset includes 307 responses of ex-pat teachers who are staying in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia during the pandemic. The dataset comprises (i) Survey partakers' Demographics; (ii) Ex-pat teachers' perceptions in the relation of national, regional and school plans were afoot to the pandemic; (iii) The degree of attachment of ex-pat teacher to their current society, the ex-pat community, friends, and families during the pandemic time; (iv) Ex-pat teachers' embryo intention to reconsider their current teaching location.

A New Aspect of the Li Diffusion Enhancement Mechanism of Ultrathin Coating Layer on Electrode Materials.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating on active material particles has been widely considered as an effective and efficient strategy to improve the capacity and cycle life of lithium-ion batteries. One of the key roles of the ALD coating layer is to facilitate the Li ion transfer in electrode particles. Several recent studies demonstrated that an ALD coating layer could significantly improve the effective diffusion coefficients in cathode particles. As such, this enhanced transport property is generally believed to be a result of the higher conductivity of the coating layer itself when compared to that of active materials. However, since the fraction of ALD coating layer is very small, it is questionable that the ultrathin coating layer could lead to such a significant improvement of the diffusivity for the whole particle. Thus, we proposed a new hypothesis about the role of ALD coating layer on Li ion transportation. Due to the agglomeration of particles in an electrode, the surfaces of the particles are partially blocked, and, correspondingly, Li ion intercalation is not uniform over the whole surface. Herein, we propose that the ALD coating could provide a quick path to distribute Li ions over the whole particle surface and allow Li ions to spread uniformly and effectively, leading to improved effective diffusivity of the particles and their utilization. In this work, this hypothesis was validated by simulation and experimental study. It was proved that the particle with an optimal ALD coating thickness has the most uniform Li ion distribution, leading to an optimal discharge capacity. Along with the validation of the hypothesis, a parametric study was conducted by consideration of the flux area, particle size, and current density, which revealed the fundamental role of coating layer on charge transfer, Li ion diffusion, and corresponding battery performance.

An open database of productivity in Vietnam's social sciences and humanities for public use.

This study presents a description of an open database on scientific output of Vietnamese researchers in social sciences and humanities, one that corrects for the shortcomings in current research publication databases such as data duplication, slow update, and a substantial cost of doing science. Here, using scientists' self-reports, open online sources and cross-checking with Scopus database, we introduce a manual system and its semi-automated version of the database on the profiles of 657 Vietnamese researchers in social sciences and humanities who have published in Scopus-indexed journals from 2008 to 2018. The final system also records 973 foreign co-authors, 1,289 papers, and 789 affiliations. The data collection method, highly applicable for other sources, could be replicated in other developing countries while its content be used in cross-section, multivariate, and network data analyses. The open database is expected to help Vietnam revamp its research capacity and meet the public demand for greater transparency in science management.

Exploring Vietnamese co-authorship patterns in social sciences with basic network measures of 2008-2017 Scopus data.

Background: Collaboration is a common occurrence among Vietnamese scientists; however, insights into Vietnamese scientific collaborations have been scarce. On the other hand, the application of social network analysis in studying science collaboration has gained much attention all over the world. The technique could be employed to explore Vietnam's scientific community. Methods: This paper employs network theory to explore characteristics of a network of 412 Vietnamese social scientists whose papers can be found indexed in the Scopus database. Two basic network measures, density and clustering coefficient, were taken, and the entire network was studied in comparison with two of its largest components. Results: The networks connections are very sparse, with a density of only 0.47%, while the clustering coefficient is very high (58.64%). This suggests an inefficient dissemination of information, knowledge, and expertise in the network. Secondly, the disparity in levels of connection among individuals indicates that the network would easily fall apart if a few highly-connected nodes are removed. Finally, the two largest components of the network were found to differ from the entire networks in terms of measures and were both led by the most productive and well-connected researchers. Conclusions: High clustering and low density seems to be tied to inefficient dissemination of expertise among Vietnamese social scientists, and consequently low scientific output. Also low in robustness, the network shows the potential of an intellectual elite composed of well-connected, productive, and socially significant individuals.

Three-Dimensional Adult Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Promotes Maturation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes.

Pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) have great potential in the development of new therapies for cardiovascular disease. In particular, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may prove especially advantageous due to their pluripotency, their self-renewal potential, and their ability to create patient-specific cell lines. Unfortunately, pluripotent stem cell-derived CMs are immature, with characteristics more closely resembling fetal CMs than adult CMs, and this immaturity has limited their use in drug screening and cell-based therapies. Extracellular matrix (ECM) influences cellular behavior and maturation, as does the geometry of the environment-two-dimensional (2D) versus three-dimensional (3D). We therefore tested the hypothesis that native cardiac ECM and 3D cultures might enhance the maturation of iPSC-derived CMs in vitro. We demonstrate that maturation of iPSC-derived CMs was enhanced when cells were seeded into a 3D cardiac ECM scaffold, compared with 2D culture. 3D cardiac ECM promoted increased expression of calcium-handling genes, Junctin, CaV1.2, NCX1, HCN4, SERCA2a, Triadin, and CASQ2. Consistent with this, we find that iPSC-derived CMs in 3D adult cardiac ECM show increased calcium signaling (amplitude) and kinetics (maximum upstroke and downstroke) compared with cells in 2D. Cells in 3D culture were also more responsive to caffeine, likely reflecting an increased availability of calcium in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Taken together, these studies provide novel strategies for maturing iPSC-derived CMs that may have applications in drug screening and transplantation therapies to treat heart disease.