The Prognostic Significance of Pretreatment White Blood Cell and Platelet Counts for Survival Outcome in Primary Lung Cancer.

Background: In Vietnam, lung cancer ranks second among common types of cancer. Although there have been many advances in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, it is still one of the deadliest types of cancer. Objective: We investigated the prognostic value of pretreatment white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts of patients with lung cancer. Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive study with longitudinal follow-up. Data from 203 patients with stage IIIA-IV lung cancer presenting at Can Tho City Oncology Hospital between June 2020 and June 2022 were analyzed. Complete blood cell counts were obtained using standard methods. Lung cancer diagnoses and histological classifications were obtained from cancer registries. The optimal overall survival cutoff point for pretreatment WBC and platelet counts was determined using maximally selected rank statistics. Results: The median follow-up was 6 (interquartile range 4-8) months and the median age was 61.3 years. The number of male patients was higher than the number of female patients. Most (71.4%) patients had adenocarcinoma; 62.1% of the patients had a WBC count of > 10 × 109/L and 38.4% had a platelet count of > 400 × 109/L. The median overall survival (OS) of all patients was 8 months. The 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year OS was 88.7%, 62.4%, and 28.3%, respectively. Patients with a WBC count of <9.18 × 109/L had a higher OS than those with a count of ≥ 9.18 × 109/L (17 months versus 8 months; p < 0.001) Patients with a platelet count of < 453 × 109/L had a higher OS than those with a count of ≥ 453 × 109/L (8 months versus 7 months; p < 0.001). Conclusion: White blood cell and platelet count tests are routine investigations that are valuable, in combination with other factors, for predicting OS of lung cancer patients. They can help clinicians to monitor treatment response and survival.

Workplace wellbeing in community pharmacy practice: A cross-sectional study in Can Tho, Vietnam.

Background: Among pharmacy workers, low workplace wellbeing can lead to reduced effectiveness. However, to date, studies on this issue are limited within the community pharmacy setting in Vietnam. Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the component aspects of workplace wellbeing and their associations with demographic characteristics. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Can Tho, Vietnam. Self-administered questionnaires were hand-delivered to all pharmacy workers working at selected community pharmacies. The workplace wellbeing scale comprised 18 items. Results: In total, 382 pharmacy workers participated in this study. Factor analysis revealed three fundamental aspects to workplace wellbeing: Factor 1 - perceived self-worth and job satisfaction, Factor 2 - positive emotions with work, and Factor 3 - negative emotions with work. Factor 1 showed a positive correlation with Factor 2, with a correlation coefficient (ρ) of 0.509, while both Factor 1 (ρ = -0.399) and Factor 2 (ρ = -0.416) demonstrated negative correlations with Factor 3. Higher income was associated with higher positive emotions with work (P = 0.008), higher perceived self-worth and job satisfaction (P = 0.013), and lower negative emotions with work (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Workplace wellbeing of pharmacy workers in their professional environments was associated with financial aspects. These findings suggest that policies aimed at improving income for pharmacy workers could bring benefits to enhancing job satisfaction and workplace wellbeing.

JAXA's new high-resolution land use land cover map for Vietnam using a time-feature convolutional neural network.

Land use land cover (LULC) maps are crucial for various applications, such as disaster management, natural resource conservation, biodiversity evaluation, climate modeling, etc. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released several high-resolution LULC maps for national and regional scales. Vietnam, due to its rich biodiversity and cultural diversity, is a target country for the production of high-resolution LULC maps. This study introduces a high-resolution and high-accuracy LULC map for Vietnam, utilizing a CNN approach that performs convolution over a time-feature domain instead of the typical geospatial domain employed by conventional CNNs. By using multi-temporal data spanning 6 seasons, the produced LULC map achieved a high overall accuracy of 90.5% ± 1.2%, surpassing other 10-meter LULC maps for Vietnam in terms of accuracy and/or the ability to capture detailed features. In addition, a straightforward and practical approach was proposed for generating cloud-free multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images, particularly suitable for cloudy regions. This study marks the first implementation of the time-feature CNN approach for the creation of a high-accuracy LULC map in a tropical cloudy country.

Analysis of Human Clinical Mutations of Mitochondrial ND1 in a Bacterial Model System for Complex I.

The most common causes of mitochondrial dysfunction and disease include mutations in subunits and assembly factors of Complex I. Numerous mutations in the mitochondrial gene ND1 have been identified in humans. Currently, a bacterial model system provides the only method for rapid construction and analysis of mutations in homologs of human ND1. In this report, we have identified nine mutations in human ND1 that are reported to be pathogenic and are located at subunit interfaces. Our hypothesis was that these mutations would disrupt Complex I assembly. Seventeen mutations were constructed in the homologous nuoH gene in an E. coli model system. In addition to the clinical mutations, alanine substitutions were constructed in order to distinguish between a deleterious effect from the introduction of the mutant residue and the loss of the original residue. The mutations were moved to an expression vector containing all thirteen genes of the E. coli nuo operon coding for Complex I. Membrane vesicles were prepared and rates of deamino-NADH oxidase activity and proton translocation were measured. Samples were also tested for assembly by native gel electrophoresis and for expression of NuoH by immunoblotting. A range of outcomes was observed: Mutations at four of the sites allow normal assembly with moderate activity (50−76% of wild type). Mutations at the other sites disrupt assembly and/or activity, and in some cases the outcomes depend upon the amino acid introduced. In general, the outcomes are consistent with the proposed pathogenicity in humans.

Assessment of the risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes mellitus: A national survey in Vietnam.

This study aims to estimating the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes among adult from 30 to 69 years old and assess the association of risk factor with the conditions. A total of 5244 aged 30 to 69 years old were participated in this cross-sectional study, using nationally representative sampling frame. All participants were taking blood sample to measure fasting blood glucose level and 2-hour postload oral glucose tolerance test by National Hospital of Endocrinology, Vietnam. Multinomial logistic regressions with baseline-category logit models were conducted to identify factors associated with diabetes and prediabetes among respondents. The prediabetes prevalence was in 17.9% and diabetes in 7.3%. Patients who were male (reference group vs female OR = 0.79; 95% CI: 0.64, 0.97), in the 50 to 59 years old group (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.28, 2.00), have hypertension and WHR risk have higher prevalence to have prediabetes (OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.53; OR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.70, respectively). Male patients (reference group vs female OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.84), patients who were in 40 to 49; 50 to 59; 60 to 69 years old, those who were housewife (OR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.43, 3.28; OR = 2.85; 95% CI: 1.91, 4.27; OR = 3.12; 95% CI: 2.08, 4.69; OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.40, respectively). Diabetes have significant associated with participants have hypertension (OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.72, 2.70). The common factor directly related to prediabetes and diabetes in both genders is age. Other factors directly associated with prediabetes and diabetes include BMI, WHR, hypertension, educational level, and job.

The Distribution of Dengue Virus Serotype in Quang Nam Province (Vietnam) during the Outbreak in 2018.

Objectives: Quang Nam province in the Centre of Vietnam has faced an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) in 2018. Although DHF is a recurrent disease in this area, no epidemiological and microbiological reports on dengue virus serotypes have been conducted mainly due to lack of facilities for such a kind of advanced surveillance. The aim of this study was to detect different dengue virus serotypes in patients' blood samples. Design and Methods: Suspected cases living in Quang Nam province (Vietnam) and presenting clinical and hematological signs of dengue hemorrhagic fever were included in the study. The screening was performed, and the results were compared by using two methodologies: RT real-time PCR (RT-rPCR) and the Dengue NS1 rapid test. Results: From December 2018 to February 2019, looking both at RT-rPCR [+] and NS1 [+] methodologies, a total of 488 patients were screened and 336 were positive for dengue virus detection (74 children and 262 adults); 273 of these patients (81.3%) underwent viral serotype identification as follows: 12.82% (35/273) D1 serotype, 17.95% (49/273) D2, 0.37% (1/273) D3, 68.50 (187/283) D4, and 0.37% (1/273) D2+D4 serotypes. The RT-rPCR outcomes showed higher sensitivity during the first three days of infection compared to NS1 (92.3% vs. 89.7%). The NS1 increased sensitivity after the first 3 days whilst the RT-rPCR decreased. Conclusions: Advanced surveillance with dengue virus serotypes identification, if performed routinely, may help to predict and prevent further DHF epidemics based on the exposure of the different serotypes during different periods that lead to the intensification of disease severity as a consequence of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE).

First comprehensive quantification of annual land use/cover from 1990 to 2020 across mainland Vietnam.

Extensive studies have highlighted a need for frequently consistent land cover information for interdisciplinary studies. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for the automatic production of the first Vietnam-wide annual land use/land cover (LULC) data sets (VLUCDs) from 1990 to 2020, using available remotely sensed and inventory data. Classification accuracies ranged from 85.7 ± 1.3 to 92.0 ± 1.2% with the primary dominant LULC and 77.6 ± 1.2% to 84.7 ± 1.1% with the secondary dominant LULC. This confirmed the potential of the proposed framework for systematically long-term monitoring LULC in Vietnam. Results reveal that despite slight recoveries in 2000 and 2010, the net loss of forests (19,940 km2) mainly transformed to croplands over 30 years. Meanwhile, productive croplands were converted to urban areas, which increased approximately ten times. A threefold increase in aquaculture was a major driver of the wetland loss (1914 km2). The spatial-temporal changes varied, but the most dynamic regions were the western north, the southern centre, and the south. These findings can provide evidence-based information on formulating and implementing coherent land management policies. The explicitly spatio-temporal VLUCDs can be benchmarks for global LULC validation, and utilized for a variety of applications in the research of environmental changes towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Analysis of Human Mutations in the Supernumerary Subunits of Complex I.

Complex I is the largest member of the electron transport chain in human mitochondria. It comprises 45 subunits and requires at least 15 assembly factors. The subunits can be divided into 14 "core" subunits that carry out oxidation-reduction reactions and proton translocation, as well as 31 additional supernumerary (or accessory) subunits whose functions are less well known. Diminished levels of complex I activity are seen in many mitochondrial disease states. This review seeks to tabulate mutations in the supernumerary subunits of humans that appear to cause disease. Mutations in 20 of the supernumerary subunits have been identified. The mutations were analyzed in light of the tertiary and quaternary structure of human complex I (PDB id = 5xtd). Mutations were found that might disrupt the folding of that subunit or that would weaken binding to another subunit. In some cases, it appeared that no protein was made or, at least, could not be detected. A very common outcome is the lack of assembly of complex I when supernumerary subunits are mutated or missing. We suggest that poor assembly is the result of disrupting the large network of subunit interactions that the supernumerary subunits typically engage in.

Prevalence of Diabetes and Prediabetes among Children Aged 11-14 Years Old in Vietnam.

AIM: Diabetes in children is becoming more prevalent in some countries. However, in most countries, little is known about the epidemiology of this disease. This study is aimed at estimating the prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and prediabetes among children in Vietnam and examining factors associated with the conditions. METHODS: A total of 2880 students aged 11-14 years old were recruited for the survey, using a school-based and nationally representative sampling frame. Capillary blood samples of participants were collected to measure fasting glucose level, using glucose meter OneTouch Verio Pro+. Diabetes and impaired fasting plasma glucose were initially diagnosed based on the cut-off points of the American Diabetes Association criteria. Diabetes status and type of diabetes of participants were confirmed at a hospital. Additionally, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were conducted following a standardized procedure. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between outcome and independent variables. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of diabetes among the participants was 1.04‰ (three cases), with 2 cases (0.75‰) diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (one known and one newly diagnosed) and 1 case newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (0.35‰). The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose was 6.1%. Body mass index, place of residence, and age were found to be significantly associated with the impaired fasting glucose condition in participants. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children in Vietnam is lower than that in some other countries reported recently. However, there is a high prevalence in impaired fasting glucose, requiring attention from policymakers to take action to prevent the occurrence of the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in children in the future.

Global Mapping of Interventions to Improve Quality of Life of People with Diabetes in 1990-2018.

Improving the quality of life (QOL) of people living with diabetes is the ultimate goal of diabetes care. This study provides a quantitative overview of global research on interventions aiming to improve QOL among people with diabetes. A total of 700 English peer-reviewed papers published during 1990-2018 were collected and extracted from the Web of Science databases. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) analysis was undertaken to categorize papers by topic or theme. Results showed an increase in interventions to improve the QOL of patients with diabetes across the time period, with major contributions from high-income countries. Community- and family-based interventions, including those focused on lifestyle and utilizing digital technologies, were common approaches. Interventions that addressed comorbidities in people with diabetes also increased. Our findings emphasize the necessity of translating the evidence from clinical interventions to community interventions. In addition, they underline the importance of developing collaborative research between developed and developing countries.

Catalysis of CO2 absorption in aqueous solution by inorganic oxoanions and their application to post combustion capture.

To reduce CO2 emission into the atmosphere, particularly from coal-fired power stations, post combustion capture (PCC) using amine-based solvents to chemically absorb CO2 has been extensively developed. From an infrastructure viewpoint, the faster the absorption of CO2, the smaller the absorber required. The use of catalysts for this process has been broadly studied. In this manuscript, a study of the catalytic efficiencies of inorganic oxoanions such as arsenite, arsenate, phosphite, phosphate, and borate is described. The kinetics of the accelerated CO2 absorption at 25 °C was investigated using stopped-flow spectrophotometry. The catalytic rate constants of these anions for the reaction of CO2 with H2O were determined to be 137.7(3), 30.3(7), 69(2), 32.7(9), and 13.66(7) M(-1)s(-1), respectively. A new mechanism for the catalytic reaction of oxoanions with CO2 has also been proposed. The applicability of these catalysts to PCC was further studied by simulation of the absorption process under PCC conditions using their experimental catalytic rate constants. Arsenite and phosphite were confirmed to be the best catalysts for CO2 capture. However, considering the toxicological effect of arsenic and the oxidative instability of phosphite, phosphate would be the most promising inorganic catalyst for PCC process from the series of inorganic oxoanions studied.

Effects of regional differences in waste composition on the thermal formation of polychlorinated aromatics during incineration.

Two artificial wastes (A and B) whose contents reflect regional differences in municipal solid waste composition, were used to investigate the thermal formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), biphenyls (PCBs), and naphthalenes (PCNs) during incineration. Flue gas samples were simultaneously collected at three ports in the post-combustion zone corresponding to flue gas temperatures of 400, 300, and 200 °C. The combustion of Waste B, which had a higher chlorine and metal content than Waste A, produced greater levels of highly-chlorinated homologues, as demonstrated by a higher degree of chlorination. The total concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs, PCBs, and PCNs formed in the combustion of both wastes increased as temperature decreased along the convector. There were no significant differences in total concentrations between Waste A and Waste B combustion at specific temperatures, with exception of PCDFs at 400 °C. Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) modeling, used to evaluate the data for all compound groups, suggest that during flue gas quenching at temperatures of 400 °C low-chlorinated homologues are preferentially formed in the presence of copper, which is known to be a very active catalyst for this process. At 300 and 200 °C, the formation of highly-chlorinated homologues is favored.

Accurate sampling of PCDD/F in high temperature flue-gas using cooled sampling probes.

In a laboratory-scale combustion reactor, flue-gas samples were collected at two temperatures in the post-combustion zone, 700°C and 400°C, using two different water-cooled sampling probes. The probes were the cooled probe described in the European Standard method EN-1948:1, referred to as the original probe, and a modified probe that contained a salt/ice mixture to assist the cooling, referred to as the sub-zero probe. To determine the efficiency of the cooling probes, internal temperature measurements were recorded at 5cm intervals inside the probes. Flue-gas samples were analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). Samples collected at 700°C using the original cooling probe showed higher concentrations of PCDD/Fs compared to samples collected using the sub-zero probe. No significant differences were observed between samples collected at 400°C. The results indicated that artifact formation of PCDD/Fs readily occurs during flue-gas sampling at high temperatures if the cooling within the probe is insufficient, as found for the original probe at 700°C. It was also shown that this problem could be alleviated by using probes with an enhanced cooling capacity, such as the sub-zero probe. Although this may not affect samples collected for regulatory purposes in exit gases, it is of great importance for research conducted in the high-temperature region of the post-combustion zone.

Kinetics and mechanism of carbamate formation from CO2(aq), carbonate species, and monoethanolamine in aqueous solution.

Removal of carbon dioxide from fossil-based power generation is a potentially useful technique for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Reversible interaction with aqueous amine solutions is most promising. In this process, the formation of carbamates is an important reaction of carbon dioxide. In this contribution, a detailed molecular reaction mechanism for the carbamate formation between MEA (monoethanolamine) and dissolved CO(2) as well as carbonate species in aqueous solution is presented. There are three parallel, reversible reactions of the free amine with CO(2), carbonic acid, and the bicarbonate ion; the relative importance of the three paths is strongly pH dependent. Kinetic and equilibrium measurements are based on (1)H NMR and stopped-flow measurements with rate constants, equilibrium constants, and protonation constants being reported.