Understanding the growing role of driving anger in the risk of traffic incidents involving Vietnamese motorcyclists.

OBJECTIVE: This study validates the Vietnamese versions of the Driving Anger Scale and Driving Anger Expression Inventory, two prominent instruments for determining driving anger proneness and expression. Using these scales, the authors investigate the relationships between driving anger and motorcyclists' on-road risks in Vietnam. METHODS: Factor analyses are conducted to explore the dimensional constructs of the two scales with a dataset of 960 Vietnamese motorcyclists. The t-tests were applied to assess the differences in driving anger levels between motorcyclists' subgroups. Negative binomial regression is used to predict the probability of motorcyclists' traffic incidents based on driving anger factors and individual differences. RESULTS: The Vietnamese Driving Anger Scale has three factors, including Hostile gestures (α=.78), Unpleasant conditions (α=.80), and Traffic violations (α=.74). Hostile gestures elicit the most driving anger among Vietnamese motorcyclists. Besides, females report higher propensities for driving anger than males over three anger-provoking factors. The Driving Anger Expression Inventory has a two-factor structure, including Aggressive expressions (α=.83) and Adaptive expressions (α=.74). Vietnamese motorcyclists are more prone to have adaptive expressions than aggressive expressions when angry on-road. The regression results reveal the significant effects of gender and two factors of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory on the probability of traffic incidences. Females have considerably fewer traffic accidents and offenses than males. Besides, the number of minor crashes and violations grows by 1.54 and 1.93 times with each unit rise of the Aggressive expressions factor. Increasing adaptive expression level is associated with a decrease in the numbers of major crashes and offenses (40% and 19% less, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights into driving anger in Vietnam, a motorcycle-dominant country. The findings corroborate the Vietnamese versions of the Driving Anger Scale and Driving Anger Expression Inventory, which contributes to understanding the formation and expression of driving anger and its roles in predicting driving outcomes. Furthermore, the higher on-road risks of males and motorcyclists with more aggressive expressions are highlighted. Generally, enhancing the risk perception about driving anger and promoting the advantages of on-road adaptive expressions may significantly reduce traffic issues in Vietnam.

Warming and Salt Intrusion Affect Microcystin Production in Tropical Bloom-Forming Microcystis.

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta is predicted to be one of the regions most impacted by climate change, causing increased temperature and salinity in inland waters. We hypothesized that the increase in temperature and salinity may impact the microcystin (MC) production of two Microcystis strains isolated in this region from a freshwater pond (strain MBC) and a brackish water pond (strain MTV). The Microcystis strains were grown at low (27 °C), medium (31 °C), high (35 °C) and extremely high (37 °C) temperature in flat photobioreactors (Algaemist). At each temperature, when cultures reached a stable state, sea salt was added to increase salinity to 4‱, 8‱, 12‱ and 16‱. MC concentrations and cell quota were reduced at high and extremely high temperatures. Salinity, in general, had comparable effects on MC concentrations and quota. At a salinity of 4‱ and 8‱, concentrations of MC per mL of culture and MC cell quota (based on chlorophyll, dry-weight and particle counts) were higher than at 0.5‱, while at the highest salinities (12‱ and 16‱) these were strongly reduced. Strain MBC produced five MC variants of which MC-RR and MC-LR were most abundant, followed by MC-YR and relatively low amounts of demethylated variants dmMC-RR and dmMC-LR. In strain MTV, MC-RR was most abundant, with traces of MC-YR and dmMC-RR only in cultures grown at 16‱ salinity. Overall, higher temperature led to lower MC concentrations and cell quota, low salinity seemed to promote MC production and high salinity reduced MC production. Hence, increased temperature and higher salinity could lead to less toxic Microcystis, but since these conditions might favour Microcystis over other competitors, the overall biomass gain could offset a lower toxicity.

Pancreaticopleural fistula in children: Report of 2 cases.

Pancreaticopleural fistula is an extremely rare complication of pancreatic duct injury. The reported treatments include conservative approaches, such as pleural drainage, and interventional approaches, such as sphincter stenting via endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and surgery. However, no specific consensus treatment has been defined. We present 2 cases of pediatric patients with pancreaticopleural fistulas due to pancreatic trauma and pancreatitis that were successfully treated surgically. The most prominent symptom in both cases was dyspnea caused by pleural effusion. Thoracoabdominal computed tomography scans showed large pleural effusions and visible fistulas from the pancreatic duct to the thoracic cavity through the esophageal hiatus and aortic hiatus. Following unsuccessful conservative treatment using pleural drainage, the 2 patients underwent surgical fistulo-jejunostomy and cystojejunostomy. Both patients were stable and were discharged on postoperative days 10 and 12. Conservative treatment for pancreaticopleural fistula often fails, and a surgical approach, such as fistulo-jejunostomy and cystojejunostomy, can serve as an efficacious management strategy when conservative treatment fails.

A rare pediatric case of portal vein aneurysm thrombosis.

Portal vein aneurysm (PVA) is rarely encountered, and published papers describing this etiology in adults and children typically include only case reports or small case series. We present a clinical case of PVA in a child associated with severe complications, including diffuse thrombosis of the portal venous system. A 10-year-old boy presented with abdominal pain and vomiting, resulting in an initial diagnosis of pancreatic head tumor based on suspicious images on abdominal grayscale ultrasound. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography confirmed a diagnosis of occlusive PVA thrombosis (36 × 37 × 95 mm). Lacking drastic symptoms, the patient was treated with conservative anticoagulant therapy. On follow-up, the thrombosis appeared to shrink gradually and disappeared at 6 months based on Doppler ultrasound imaging. The PVA was reduced in size, and hepatopetal flow was restored. Surgeons and radiologists should be aware of this rare entity to ensure that a precise diagnosis can be established and to provide suitable treatment.

Cyanobacterial Blooms and Microcystins in Southern Vietnam.

Studies on cyanobacteria in Vietnam are limited and mainly restricted to large reservoirs. Cyanobacterial blooms in small water bodies may pose a health risk to local people. We sampled 17 water bodies in the vicinity of urban settlements throughout the Mekong basin and in southeast Vietnam. From these, 40 water samples were taken, 24 cyanobacterial strains were isolated and 129 fish, 68 snail, 7 shrimp, 4 clam, and 4 duck samples were analyzed for microcystins (MCs). MCs were detected up to 11,039 µg/L or to 4033 µg/g DW in water samples. MCs were detected in the viscera of the animals. MC-LR and MC-RR were most frequently detected, while MC-dmLR, MC-LW, and MC-LF were first recorded in Vietnam. Microcystis was the main potential toxin producer and the most common bloom-forming species. A potential health hazard was found in a duck⁻fish pond located in the catchment of DauTieng reservoir and in the DongNai river where raw water was collected for DongNai waterwork. The whole viscera of fish and snails must be completely removed during food processing. Cyanobacterial monitoring programs should be established to assess and minimize potential public health risks.

Anti-amnesic effect of alkaloid fraction from Lycopodiella cernua (L.) Pic. Serm. on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice.

Lycopodiella cernua (L.) Pic. Serm. (Licopodiaceae) has been used in Vietnamese folk medicine for treating central nervous system conditions. In this study, the alkaloid fraction from the methanol extract of this plant (VLC) was evaluated for in vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity in cognition-relevant brain areas of mice. In in vivo study, the cognitive-enhancing effect of VLC on amnesic mice induced by scopolamine was investigated by assessing a passive avoidance and a Morris water maze test. VLC inhibited AChE activity in mouse frontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum with IC50 values of 26.7, 32.2 and 25.7µg/mL, respectively. Administration of VLC (10, 20, 50 and 100mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reversed cognitive impairments in mice by passive avoidance test. Treating with VLC (50mg/kg) reduced escape latencies in training trials and prolonged swimming times in the target quadrant during the probe trial in the water maze task (P<0.05). These results indicated that L. cernua originated from Vietnam has anti-cholinesterase activity and might be useful for the treatment of cognitive impairment.

Polymer prodrug nanoparticles based on naturally occurring isoprenoid for anticancer therapy.

The synthesis of a novel class of polymer prodrug nanoparticles with anticancer activity is reported by using squalene, a naturally occurring isoprenoid, as a building block by the reversible addition-fragmentation (RAFT) technique. The RAFT agent was functionalized by gemcitabine (Gem) as anticancer drug, and the polymerization of squalenyl-methacrylate (SqMA) led to well-defined macromolecular prodrugs comprising one Gem at the extremity of each polymer chain. The amphiphilic nature of the resulting Gem-PSqMA conjugates allowed them to self-assemble into long-term stable and narrowly dispersed nanoparticles with significant anticancer activity in vitro on various cancer cell lines. To confer stealth properties on these nanoparticles, their PEGylation was successfully performed, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and complement activation assay. It was also shown that the PEGylated nanoparticles could be internalized in cancer cells to a greater extent than their non-PEGylated counterparts.