Light Enhancement of Green Up-Conversion Emission from Er-Doped Silica Microspheres by Carbon Quantum Dot Coatings.

Combination of high quality cavity such as glass microsphere and emitting nano-particle coating layers can create novel strongly emitting devices. Herein, we demonstrate an erbium-doped silica microsphere coated by dual-emission carbon quantum dots, which have the sizes of 3-5 nm, emitting green up-conversion with narrow line-width green light at wavelength of 537 nm. The dual-emission carbon quantum dots fabricated by hydrothermal process and have luminescent emission wavelengths in the range of 410-550 nm. The carbon quantum dot coated erbium silica microsphere is pumped at wavelength of 976 nm through the optical fibre on which microsphere attached on the tip. The dual-emission carbon quantum dot layers attributed to the strong green up-conversion light enhancement similar coated noble metallic thin films, however the light enhancement from dual-emission carbon quantum dot coated erbium silica microsphere depended on the thickness of coating layers. This result is useful for making visible emitting micro-devices and photonic integrated circuits.

Spinal cysticercosis: A case report.

Spinal cysticercosis is a rare and severe cysticercosis complication. The pathology is from the inflammatory reaction and granuloma formation around the eggs, which cause focal neurological deficits. Because of the rarity of this condition, diagnosis may be delayed and confused with other myelopathies such as neoplasms or myelitis. We report a 42-year-old woman with low back pain and paraplegia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a lesion in the spinal canal at the level of L4/L5 that was toward the diagnosis of myelitis. The patient underwent an open biopsy, and the result was granulomatosis caused by cysticercosis. The patient was then given an anticysticercosis medication and gradually recovered.

Utilizing the theory of planned behavior to predict COVID-19 vaccination intention: A structural equational modeling approach.

It is essential to achieve herd immunity in order to control the COVID-19 pandemic, and this requires a high level of vaccination rate. Despite the importance of vaccination, hesitancy and unwillingness in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine still exists. It is therefore crucial to comprehend the intentions of adults regarding COVID-19 vaccination, which is beneficial for establishing community immunity and an efficient future pandemic response. An online survey was administered to 2722 adults in Vietnam. Cronbach's alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the reliability and validity of the developed scales. Then, structural equational modeling (SEM) was employed to test correlations. This study found that favorable attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines played the most important role in shaping adults' intention to receive these vaccines, followed by perceived behavioral control, perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccines, and subjective norms. Concurrently, all three core dimensions of the theory of planned behavior mediated the link between the perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccines and the intention to receive them. Also, there were significant differences between males and females in the way they formed this intention. The findings of this study offer valuable guidance for practitioners on how to encourage adults to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as how to limit the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

Etiology and Clinical Features of Bacterial Meningitis in Adults at National Hospital for Tropical Diseases during 2015-2018.

To evaluate the etiology and clinical features of bacterial meningitis (BM) in adults during 2015-2018 in Vietnam, a retrospective study using 102 patients was performed at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. BM occurred throughout the year, peaking in July-September. A total of 80.4% BM patients were males over 40 years old. The proportion of patients with underlying diseases was 41.2% and those in contact with pigs or pork products was 30.4%. Common manifestations include stiff neck, Kernig's sign, headache, fever/hypothermia, and altered consciousness. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) had high protein concentration (median: 3.2 g/L, range: 1.3-6.2) and leukocytes (median: 1,312 cell/mm3, range: 234-2,943). Moreover, 29.4% meningitis cases were associated with septicemia. Streptococcus suis was the main cause (72.5%), followed by Pneumococcus (6.8%) and a few other bacteria. Factors associated with S. suis risk were male sex (OR: 8.29, 95% CI: 2.83-24.33), over 40 years old (OR: 3.55, 95% CI: 1.28-9.87), drinking habits (OR: 3.78, 95% CI: 1.03-13.72), headache (OR: 6.19, 95% CI: 2.17-17.65), fever/hypothermia (OR: 5.17, 95% CI: 1.97-13.56) and ≥2.0 ng/mL procalcitonin (OR: 2.72, 95% CI: 1.07-6.89). Education on S. suis and nosocomial infection prevention, as well as pneumococcal vaccination use, should be continued.

First Full-Length Genome Sequence of Dengue Virus Serotype 2 Circulating in Vietnam in 2017.

INTRODUCTION: Dengue hemorrhagic fever is caused by four serotypes of dengue viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. In Vietnam, dengue outbreaks occur every year, and all four serotypes have been found circulating with the dominant one varying over time. However, in 2017 an unusual dengue fever outbreak occurred in the North of Vietnam, predominantly caused by DENV1 (92%) and DENV2 (7.3%). The objective of the present study was to obtain and characterize the full-length genome sequence of seven DENV2 strains in 2017 epidemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole-genome sequencing of seven DENV2 isolates from the 2017 outbreak were obtained using the Illumina MiSeq next generation sequencer system. Complete genome sequences were then analyzed to find out genetic variants and genetic relationships between these DENV2 with other strains that circulated in Vietnam previously and other regions of the world. RESULTS: The complete genome sequence of seven DENV2 isolates in the 2017 dengue outbreak comprised 10,696 nucleotides with an open reading frame coding for 3392 amino acids. The genome analysis showed only a small number of amino acid changes which were obtained in all genes, in which a few amino acids substitutions were distributed over the positions such as G156 (NS1), V106 (NS2A), and L258/T260 (NS5). The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the DENV2 isolates in the 2017 outbreak were most closely related to the dengue virus from India in 2006, suggesting that the causative virus originated from the DENV2 that caused dengue hemorrhagic fever in 2006 in India. CONCLUSION: The first complete genome sequences of seven DENV2 isolates in the 2017 dengue outbreak in Northern Vietnam were successfully obtained. The genetic and phylogenetic data indicated that these DENV2 isolates were not causative virus circulating in Vietnam previously but originated from India in 2006. These data are emerging and providing valuable information for the management and surveillance of dengue in Vietnam.

Whole genome sequencing and genetic variations in several dengue virus type 1 strains from unusual dengue epidemic of 2017 in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Dengue hemorrhagic fever is an acute viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes. In the 2017, a dengue epidemic occurred in Hanoi in a short time interval and many cases were serious with associated mortality. This was the largest and unusual dengue fever outbreak in the North of Vietnam over the past 20 years. The objective of the present study was to understand the genetic characteristics of the DENV-1 strain in the 2017 epidemic and its relationship with previous viruses in Vietnam and the rest of the world. METHODS: Complete genomes of 72 DENV-1 from patients in the 2017 epidemic were sequenced using NGS. The full genome sequences were then analyzed to find out the genetic variants in the groups of 72 strains, followed by their comparison with other strains that caused disease in Vietnam previously and several other regions of the world, revealing a genetic relationship between them. RESULTS: The complete genome sequence of 72 DENV-1 strains comprised 10,697 nucleotides with an open reading frame coding for 3392 amino acids. The genomic analysis revealed different amino acid substitutions in all genes, especially varying at position S75 (Capsid), M125 (PrM), D54 (E), T147, V180 (NS1), G45, Y126, I154 (NS2A), A94 (NS2B), M298 (NS3), K47, V68 (NS4A), I29 (NS4B), and R166, E536, G614, T821 (NS5). The genetic analysis suggested that the viruses were most closely related to the causative virus of the dengue outbreak in Vietnam and Cambodia from 2006 to 2008. These results indicated that DENV-1 from the dengue epidemic 2017 in Northern Vietnam originated from the virus that caused the dengue outbreak during the 2007 to 2008 period in Vietnam. CONCLUSION: The present study is the first of its kind to describe complete genome sequence as well as genetic variants and phylogenetic analysis of DENV-1 associated with the unusual dengue epidemic of 2017 in northern Vietnam. These results provide detailed evidence to elucidate the origin, circulation, and genetic evolution of DENV in Vietnam.

Fabrication of Silver Nano-Dendrites on Optical Fibre Core by Laser-Induced Method for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Applications.

In this work, we present a novel fabrication method for making the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probe based on silver (Ag) nano-dendrites which are grown and deposited on the end of multi-mode fibre core by a simple and low-cost laser-induced technique. The morphology of the Ag-nanoparticles (AgNPs) could be controlled by the experimental conditions such as laser power, illumination time, and concentration of the reaction solution. The morphology and chemical composition of SERS fibre probes are characterized by high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. These results confirmed how the Ag nanostructures morphology is modified as a function of illumination time of laser irradiation, and the growth and deposition of Ag nanostructures occur only in the main laser-irradiated part on the end of multi-mode fibre core. The achieved SERS-activity substrates on the fibre probes are testing with the detection of low concentration of Rhodamine 6G aqueous solutions in the range of 10-5-10-10 M. This study shows that SERS activity coupled with Ag nano-dendrites substrate on the fibre probe has the best enhancement factor of 1.93×107 for Rhodamine 6G due to the creation of many of hot-spots for amplifying Raman signals by Ag nano-dendrite structures, which is a promising candidate with low-cost SERS probe of chemical compact optical fibre sensors for direct, rapid, real-time and non-destructive detection of chemical compounds in liquid environment.

Detection of Permethrin pesticide using silver nano-dendrites SERS on optical fibre fabricated by laser-assisted photochemical method.

Permethrin, 3-Phenoxybenzyl (1 RS)-cis,trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)- 2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylate, has a wide range of applications like insecticide, insect repellent and prevents mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria in tropical areas. In this work, we develop a prominent monitoring method for the detection of permethrin pesticide using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) optical fibre substrates. The novel SERS-active optical fibre substrates were grown and deposited silver (Ag) nano-dendrites on the end of multi-mode fibre core by laser-assisted photochemical method. The characteristic of the Ag-nanostructures could be controlled by the experimental conditions, namely, laser illumination time. Ag nanoparticles optical fibre substrates and Ag nano-dendrites optical fibre substrates were prepared with laser illumination time of 3 min and 8 min, respectively. The achieved SERS-activity optical fibre substrates were tested with Rhodamine 6G aqueous solutions. We demonstrate that the SERS activity coupled with Ag nano-dendrites optical fibre substrate has higher Raman enhancement factor due to the creation of many of hot-spots for amplifying Raman signals. Besides, the stability and reproducibility of the Ag nano-dendrites optical fibre substrate were also evaluated with stored time of 1000 hours and relative standard deviation of less than 3%. The Ag nano-dendrite optical fibre substrate was selected for detection of permethrin pesticide in the concentration range of 0.1 ppm-20 ppm with limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.1 ppm and calculated limit of detection (LOD) of 0.0035 ppm, proving its great potential for direct, rapid detection and monitoring of permethrin.

Immunogenicity of the AIK-C measles vaccine in infants aged <9 months in Vietnam.

Measles-associated deaths have been reported in infants <9 months during outbreaks. A cohort study was conducted on 210 infants aged 6-8 months to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the AIK-C measles vaccine containing 104.21 plaque-forming units (PFU)/0.5 mL produced in Vietnam. Paired serum samples were obtained from 196 subjects. Seropositivity was defined as ≥120 mIU/mL. The seroresponse rate was 173/196 (88.27%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 83.77-92.77%) with geometric mean titer (GMT) of 511 mIU/mL (95% CI: 688-880 mIU/mL), and no significant differences were observed by different age groups. Among 196 paired sera, they were categorized into four groups: 122 subjects <14 IU/mL, 28 subjects 14-<60 mIU/mL, 30 subjects 60-<120 mIU/mL, and 16 subjects ≥ 120 mIU/mL. The seroresponse rate was 112/122 (91.8%, 95% CI: 86.94-96.67%) with GMT (597 mIU/mL, 95% CI: 749-1002 mIU/mL) in the <14 mIU/L group. In the 14-<60 mIU/mL group, the seroresponse rate was 18/28 (64.29%) with 184 mIU/L of GMT and was significantly lower (p < 0.01) than that in the <14 mIU/mL group. In the 16 seropositive group, all subjects showed seroconversion (4-fold higher than before) with a higher GMT of 1078 mIU/mL. Local pain and itching at the injection site were observed in 8 subjects (3.8%) within 7 days of the vaccination. Regarding systemic adverse reactions, febrile illness ≥37.5 °C was observed in 14 subjects (6.7%). These results indicate that the AIK-C measles vaccine is effective and safe for infants aged 6-8 months and will contribute to reducing the number of measles-associated deaths in future outbreaks.

Determination of low solvent concentration by nano-porous silicon photonic sensors using volatile organic compound method.

A vast majority of the organic solvents used in industry and laboratories are volatile, hazardous and toxic organic compounds, they are considered as a potent problem for human health and a cause of environmental pollution. Although analytical laboratory methods can determine extremely low solvent concentration, the sensing method with low cost and high sensitivity remains a conundrum. This paper presents and compares three methods (volatile organic compound (VOC), liquid drop and saturated vapour pressure) for determination of organic solvents in a liquid environment by using photonic sensor based on nano-porous silicon (pSi) microcavity structures. Among those, the VOC method provides the highest sensitivity at low solvent volume concentrations because it can create a high vapour pressure of the analyte on the sensor surface owing to the capillary deposition of the organic solvent into the silicon pores. This VOC method consists of three steps: heating the solution with its particular boiling temperature, controlling the flowing gas through liquid and cooling sensor. It delivers the highest sensitivity of 6.9 nm/% at a concentration of 5% and the limit of detection (LOD) of pSi-sensor is 0.014% in case of ethanol in water when using an optical system with a resolution of 0.1 nm. Especially, the VOC method is capable of detecting low volume concentration of methanol in two tested ethanol solutions of 30% (v/v) and 45% (v/v) with the LOD of pSi-sensor up to 0.01% and 0.04%, respectively. This result will help pave a way to control the quality of contaminated liquor beverages.

Reconstructing the evolutionary history of pandemic foot-and-mouth disease viruses: the impact of recombination within the emerging O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 lineage.

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of livestock affecting animal production and trade throughout Asia and Africa. Understanding FMD virus (FMDV) global movements and evolution can help to reconstruct the disease spread between endemic regions and predict the risks of incursion into FMD-free countries. Global expansion of a single FMDV lineage is rare but can result in severe economic consequences. Using extensive sequence data we have reconstructed the global space-time transmission history of the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 lineage (which normally circulates in the Indian sub-continent) providing evidence of at least 15 independent escapes during 2013-2017 that have led to outbreaks in North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Far East and the FMD-free islands of Mauritius. We demonstrated that sequence heterogeneity of this emerging FMDV lineage is accommodated within two co-evolving divergent sublineages and that recombination by exchange of capsid-coding sequences can impact upon the reconstructed evolutionary histories. Thus, we recommend that only sequences encoding the outer capsid proteins should be used for broad-scale phylogeographical reconstruction. These data emphasise the importance of the Indian subcontinent as a source of FMDV that can spread across large distances and illustrates the impact of FMDV genome recombination on FMDV molecular epidemiology.

Consideration of different heating lengths of needles with induction heating and resistance system: A novel design of needle module for thermal ablation.

Thermal ablation using alternating electromagnetic fields is a promising method to treat tissues including tumors. With this approach, an electromagnetic field is generated around an induction coil, which is supplied with high frequency current from a power source. Any electrically conducting object, which is placed in the electromagnetic field, is then heated due to eddy currents. Basic principles underlying this novel thermotherapy needle system are internal induction and resistance heating. This presents a new design of a standard gauge 18 percutaneous trans-hepatic cholangiography needle module combined with a compact power source. Three needle modules containing coils of different lengths were used to locally heat up different volumes of tissues in in vitro experiments on pig livers. Temperature on the inside surface of the needle was controlled and monitored through a K-type thermocouple. By using this needle module system, no two-section or ferromagnetic nanoparticle-coated needles were required; the system worked well with the SUS-304 stainless-steel needle. Successful results were demonstrated in the in vitro experiments on pig livers with different heating lengths of 10, 20, and 30 mm needles. With low power sources, needles could be heated up to a high temperature. The novel design of the needle module incorporated with a high frequency power source was thus shown to be a promising technology for tissue ablation. Bioelectromagnetics.38:220-226, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Characteristics of the Fiber Laser Sensor System Based on Etched-Bragg Grating Sensing Probe for Determination of the Low Nitrate Concentration in Water.

The necessity of environmental protection has stimulated the development of many kinds of methods allowing the determination of different pollutants in the natural environment, including methods for determining nitrate in source water. In this paper, the characteristics of an etched fiber Bragg grating (e-FBG) sensing probe-which integrated in fiber laser structure-are studied by numerical simulation and experiment. The proposed sensor is demonstrated for determination of the low nitrate concentration in a water environment. Experimental results show that this sensor could determine nitrate in water samples at a low concentration range of 0-80 ppm with good repeatability, rapid response, and average sensitivity of 3.5 × 10-3 nm/ppm with the detection limit of 3 ppm. The e-FBG sensing probe integrated in fiber laser demonstrates many advantages, such as a high resolution for wavelength shift identification, high optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR of 40 dB), narrow bandwidth of 0.02 nm that enhanced accuracy and precision of wavelength peak measurement, and capability for optical remote sensing. The obtained results suggested that the proposed e-FBG sensor has a large potential for the determination of low nitrate concentrations in water in outdoor field work.

Efficacy of second-line antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV/AIDS in Asia: results from the TREAT Asia HIV observational database.

BACKGROUND: Roughly 4% of the 1.25 million patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Asia are using second-line therapy. To maximize patient benefit and regional resources, it is important to optimize the timing of second-line ART initiation and use the most effective compounds available. METHODS: HIV-positive patients enrolled in the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database who had used second-line ART for ≥6 months were included. ART use and rates and predictors of second-line treatment failure were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 302 eligible patients. Most were male (76.5%) and exposed to HIV via heterosexual contact (71.5%). Median age at second-line initiation was 39.2 years, median CD4 cell count was 146 cells per cubic millimeter, and median HIV viral load was 16,224 copies per milliliter. Patients started second-line ART before 2007 (n = 105), 2007-2010 (n = 147) and after 2010 (n = 50). Ritonavir-boosted lopinavir and atazanavir accounted for the majority of protease inhibitor use after 2006. Median follow-up time on second-line therapy was 2.3 years. The rates of treatment failure and mortality per 100 patient/years were 8.8 (95% confidence interval: 7.1 to 10.9) and 1.1 (95% confidence interval: 0.6 to 1.9), respectively. Older age, high baseline viral load, and use of a protease inhibitor other than lopinavir or atazanavir were associated with a significantly shorter time to second-line failure. CONCLUSIONS: Increased access to viral load monitoring to facilitate early detection of first-line ART failure and subsequent treatment switch is important for maximizing the durability of second-line therapy in Asia. Although second-line ART is highly effective in the region, the reported rate of failure emphasizes the need for third-line ART in a small portion of patients.

Novel parallelized quadrupole/linear ion trap/Orbitrap tribrid mass spectrometer improving proteome coverage and peptide identification rates.

Proteome coverage and peptide identification rates have historically advanced in line with improvements to the detection limits and acquisition rate of the mass spectrometer. For a linear ion trap/Orbitrap hybrid, the acquisition rate has been limited primarily by the duration of the ion accumulation and analysis steps. It is shown here that the spectral acquisition rate can be significantly improved through extensive parallelization of the acquisition process using a novel mass spectrometer incorporating quadrupole, Orbitrap, and linear trap analyzers. Further, these improvements to the acquisition rate continue to enhance proteome coverage and general experimental throughput.

Cell type-specific nuclear pores: a case in point for context-dependent stoichiometry of molecular machines.

To understand the structure and function of large molecular machines, accurate knowledge of their stoichiometry is essential. In this study, we developed an integrated targeted proteomics and super-resolution microscopy approach to determine the absolute stoichiometry of the human nuclear pore complex (NPC), possibly the largest eukaryotic protein complex. We show that the human NPC has a previously unanticipated stoichiometry that varies across cancer cell types, tissues and in disease. Using large-scale proteomics, we provide evidence that more than one third of the known, well-defined nuclear protein complexes display a similar cell type-specific variation of their subunit stoichiometry. Our data point to compositional rearrangement as a widespread mechanism for adapting the functions of molecular machines toward cell type-specific constraints and context-dependent needs, and highlight the need of deeper investigation of such structural variants.

Study on pulmonary ventilating function in bronchial asthma

Through the study of 73 asthma patients of two male and female groups found that: The respiratory function in bronchial asthma is normal, although showings VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV1% and some other normal showings but V75 are reduced (in male group). In bronchial asthma of female, the distance within maximum breath out even in group diagnosed is normal ventilating function, it also reduced clearly by 58.77% of theory number. All showings on flow are reduced. In bronchial asthma, two showings PEF and V75 are ones for evaluating soon the obstructed ventilating disorder in bronchial asthma

Study on pulmonary ventilating function in chronic bronchitis

Study on 148 patients (92 males, 56 females) with chronic brochitis. Two showing PEF and V75 are ones that be seem changing soonest in chronic bronchitis because event at group that be seem a normal ventilating function, but PEF and V75 have reduced lower than 80%, especially in female, if reduced lower than 70% compared with theory number. Males in chronic bronchitis have complex ventilating disorder, all showings of ventilating function are under severe category (reduced to < 40% of theory number). Similar with female, some showings are only about 20% from the theory number

An imprinted PEG1/MEST antisense expressed predominantly in human testis and in mature spermatozoa.

PEG1 (or MEST) is an imprinted gene located on human chromosome 7q32 that is expressed predominantly from the paternal allele. In the mouse, Peg1/Mest is associated with embryonic growth and maternal behavior. Human PEG1 is transcribed from two promoters; the transcript from promoter P1 is derived from both parental alleles, and the transcript from P2 is exclusively from the paternal allele. We characterized the P1 and P2 transcripts in various normal and neoplastic tissues. In the normal tissues, PEG1 was transcribed from both promoters P1 and P2, whereas in six of eight neoplastic tissues, PEG1 was transcribed exclusively from promoter P1. Bisulfite sequencing demonstrated high levels of CpG methylation in the P2 region of DNA from a lung tumor. In the region between P1 and P2, we identified a novel transcript, PEG1-AS, in an antisense orientation to PEG1. PEG1-AS is a spliced transcript and was detected as a strong 2.4-kilobase band on a Northern blot. PEG1-AS and PEG1 P2-sense transcript were expressed exclusively from the paternal allele. Fragments of DNA from within the 1.5-kilobase region between PEG1-AS and the P2 exon were ligated to a pGL3 luciferase reporter vector and transfected into NCI H23 cells. This DNA exhibited strong promoter activity in both the sense and antisense directions, indicating that PEG1-AS and P2 exon share a common promoter region. Treatment of the transfected DNA fragments with CpG methylase abolished the promoter activity. Of interest, PEG1-AS was expressed predominantly in testis and in mature motile spermatozoa, indicating a possible role for this transcript in human sperm physiology and fertilization.