Whole-Genome Analysis of Antimicrobial-Resistant Salmonella enterica Isolated from Duck Carcasses in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Salmonella enterica is one of the most dangerous foodborne pathogens listed by the World Health Organization. In this study, whole-duck samples were collected at wet markets in five districts in Hanoi, Vietnam, in October 2019 to assess their Salmonella infection rates and evaluate the susceptibility of the isolated strains to antibiotics currently used in the prophylaxis and treatment of Salmonella infection. Based on the antibiotic resistance profiles, eight multidrug resistance strains were whole-genome-sequenced, and their antibiotic resistance genes, genotypes, multi-locus sequence-based typing (MLST), virulence factors, and plasmids were analyzed. The results of the antibiotic susceptibility test indicate that phenotypic resistance to tetracycline and cefazolin was the most common (82.4%, 28/34 samples). However, all isolates were susceptible to cefoxitin and meropenem. Among the eight sequenced strains, we identified 43 genes associated with resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics such as aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, chloramphenicol, lincosamide, quinolone, and tetracycline. Notably, all strains carried the blaCTX-M-55 gene, which confers resistance to third-generation antibiotics including cefotaxime, cefoperazone, ceftizoxime, and ceftazidime, as well as resistance genes of other broad-spectrum antibiotics used in clinical treatment such as gentamicin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and ampicillin. Forty-three different antibiotic resistance genes were predicted to be present in the isolated Salmonella strains' genomes. In addition, three plasmids were predicted in two strains, 43_S11 and 60_S17. The sequenced genomes also indicated that all strains carried SPI-1, SPI-2, and SPI-3. These SPIs are composed of antimicrobial resistance gene clusters and thus represent a potential threat to public health management. Taken together, this study highlights the extent of multidrug-resistant Salmonella contamination in duck meat in Vietnam.

Non-farm employment, natural resource extraction, and poverty: evidence from household data for rural Vietnam.

Natural resources are important in sustaining the livelihoods of rural households and the environment. However, over-exploitation is causing an alarming depletion of natural resources in many developing countries. At the same time, rapid economic growth has created non-farm employment opportunities for local people. In this context, examining the interrelationship between non-farm employment and natural resource extraction provides useful information for reducing resource extraction and improving rural households' welfare. In this study, we use a dataset of 1780 identical households from three survey waves undertaken in 2010, 2013, and 2016 in Vietnam to (i) identify the determinants of rural households' participation in non-farm activities, (ii) examine the interrelationship between non-farm employment and natural resource extraction, and (iii) investigate the impact of non-farm employment on rural households' welfare. The findings from pooled sample estimations reveal that (i) cable internet at home and rural road quality positively affect households' decisions to participate in non-farm employment; (ii) non-farm income and income from natural resource extraction have a negative association; and (iii) non-farm income significantly contributes to poverty reduction in both relative and absolute terms. Our findings suggest that improved provision of non-farm opportunities and increased investment in infrastructure and telecommunication are needed to improve rural households' welfare and consequently reduce their natural resource exploitation.

Triamine-bearing activated rice husk ash as an advanced functional material for nitrate removal from aqueous solution.

In this study, we proposed a simple method for preparing triamine-bearing activated rice husk ash material (TRI-ARHA) as an advanced functional material with high nitrate adsorption capacity and durability. The novel TRI-ARHA was generated via a post-synthesis grafting method and modified by acidification to form ammonium moiety. TRI-ARHA was then characterized by using thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and SEM-mapping. The TRI-ARHA had high nitrate adsorption capacity of 163.4 mgNO3 -/g, which was 2.06 times higher than that of a commercial anion exchange resin (Akualite A420) due to strong interactions of Si, C, and N in the material structure. This functional material with good durability after 10 cycles could be very promising for adsorption of other anions (e.g. sulfate and phosphate) in water and wastewater treatment.

Comparison between U-shaped structural deep learning models to detect landslide traces.

Landslides endanger lives and public infrastructure in mountainous areas. Monitoring landslide traces in real-time is difficult for scientists, sometimes costly and risky because of the harsh terrain and instability. Nowadays, modern technology may be able to identify landslide-prone locations and inform locals for hours or days when the weather worsens. This study aims to propose indicators to detect landslide traces on the fields and remote sensing images; build deep learning (DL) models to identify landslides from Sentinel-2 images automatically; and apply DL-trained models to detect this natural hazard in some particular areas of Vietnam. Nine DL models were trained based on three U-shaped architectures, including U-Net, U2-Net, and U-Net3+, and three options of input sizes. The multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images were chosen as input data for training all models. As a result, the U-Net, using an input image size of 32 × 32 and a performance of 97 % with a loss function of 0.01, can detect typical landslide traces in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the U-Net (64 × 64) can detect more considerable landslide traces. Based on multi-temporal remote sensing data, a different case study in Vietnam was chosen to see landslide traces over time based on the trained U-Net (32 × 32) model. The trained model allows mountain managers to track landslide occurrences during wet seasons. Thus, landslide incidents distant from residential areas may be discovered early to warn of flash floods.

Combining multiple autosomal introns for studying shallow phylogeny and taxonomy of Laurasiatherian mammals: Application to the tribe Bovini (Cetartiodactyla, Bovidae).

Mitochondrial sequences are widely used for species identification and for studying phylogenetic relationships among closely related species or populations of the same species. However, many studies of mammals have shown that the maternal history of the mitochondrial genome can be discordant with the true evolutionary history of the taxa. In such cases, the analyses of multiple nuclear genes can be more powerful for deciphering interspecific relationships. Here, we designed primers for amplifying 13 new exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC) autosomal loci for studying shallow phylogeny and taxonomy of Laurasiatherian mammals. Three criteria were used for the selection of the markers: gene orthology, a PCR product length between 600 and 1200 nucleotides, and different chromosomal locations in the bovine genome. Positive PCRs were obtained from different species representing the orders Carnivora, Cetartiodactyla, Chiroptera, Perissodactyla and Pholidota. The newly developed markers were analyzed in a phylogenetic study of the tribe Bovini (the group containing domestic and wild cattle, bison, yak, African buffalo, Asian buffalo, and saola) based on 17 taxa and 18 nuclear genes, representing a total alignment of 13,095 nucleotides. The phylogenetic results were compared to those obtained from analyses of the complete mitochondrial genome and Y chromosomal genes. Our analyses support a basal divergence of the saola (Pseudoryx) and a sister-group relationship between yak and bison. These results contrast with recent molecular studies but are in better agreement with morphology. The comparison of pairwise nucleotide distances shows that our nuDNA dataset provides a good signal for identifying taxonomic levels, such as species, genera, subtribes, tribes and subfamilies, whereas the mtDNA genome fails because of mtDNA introgression and higher levels of homoplasy. Accordingly, we conclude that the genus Bison should be regarded as a synonym of Bos, with the European bison relegated to a subspecies rank within Bos bison. We compared our molecular dating estimates to the fossil record in order to propose a biogeographic scenario for the evolution of Bovini during the Neogene.

First report of emerging fungal pathogens of Cordyceps militaris in Vietnam.

Cultivation of Cordyceps militaris, a valuable medicinal and edible fungus, has dramatically increased in Vietnam since 2010. During industrial production, parasitic white molds were found to infect the mycelia and fruiting bodies of C. militaris causing significant quality and yield losses. Two different fungal strains were obtained from the mycelia and fruiting bodies of C. militaris in Danang mushroom farms and were characterized by morphological and multiple DNA markers analysis. The sequence alignment of ITS, LSU and rpb2 markers revealed that the pathogens are related to the type species Lecanicillium coprophilum and Calcarisporium cordycipiticola with more than 99% sequence identities. The growth characteristics and pathogenic activities of the two isolated species on their host C. militaris were also investigated. The phylogenetic analysis based on the ITS sequences showed that L. coprophilum WF2611 is closer to its host C. militaris than C. cordycipiticola NT1504. To our knowledge, this is the first worldwide report of C. militaris infected by L. coprophilum which would be an useful information on prevention and control of the disease and be helpful for the industrial cultivation of C. militaris.

Denitrification of nitrate in regeneration waste brine using hybrid cation exchanger supported nanoscale zero-valent iron with/without palladium nanoparticles.

The Sustainable Development Goals require that reducing waste is a priority. This work described the application of an innovative zero-waste hybrid ion exchange nanotechnology that concurrently removed nitrate and induced denitrification to ammonia, with the ability to generate fertilizer for the agriculture sector from the recycled by-products. Herein, hybrid cation exchanger-supported zero-valent iron (Fe0), and bimetallic Fe0/Pd nanoparticles (HCIX-Fe0 and HCIX-Fe0/Pd) were synthesized and successfully validated for denitrification of nitrate in spent waste brine that contained nitrate. The kinetics of nitrate catalysis by both HCIX-Fe0 and HCIX-Fe0/Pd were compared and presented by six kinetic models, namely, zero-order, pseudo first- and second-order reaction, pseudo first- and second-order adsorption, and Elovich. HCIX-Fe0/Pd displayed a higher kinetic value than HCIX-Fe0, with k1 of 0.0019 and 0.0026 min-1, respectively. Nitrate was predominantly catalysed to NH4+ at a ratio of ammonia to other nitrogen compounds of around 80:20. Although HCIX-Fe0/Pd showed slightly better (14%) kinetic results, it was determined as unfavourable for real-life application due to low selectivity toward N2 gas and the need to use H2 gas. Based on practicability, the HCIX-Fe0 was further validated. The effect of salt (using NaCl) and the role of initial pH conditions were optimized and discussed. The recovery of nitrate removal was also calculated, and a recovery range of 91.42-99.14% was obtained for three consecutive runs. The sustainable, novel, zero waste hybrid ion exchange nanotechnology using the combination of two fixed-bed columns containing nitrate-selective resin for nitrate removal and novel HCIX-Fe0 for nitrate reduction to NH4+ may be a promising sustainable solution toward the goal of discharging zero nitrate waste to the environment.

Whole-genome sequencing of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella enterica isolates from a Cairina moschata carcass.

Salmonella enterica is one of the most common agents of foodborne bacterial illness with poultry being an important reservoir. The indiscriminate use of antimicrobial compounds in poultry farming increasingly leads to antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) which threatens the health of both animals and humans. Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella enterica from the poultry can spread to human through the direct contact with infected poultry or fecal contaminated environments. Antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica, especially fluoroquinolone-resistant nontyphoidal Salmonella is in the list of global health concern stated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Here we report the whole-genome sequencing data and de novo genome assemble of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica strains S8 and S9 from the C. moschata carcass collected in Vietnam. Genomic DNA of S. enterica were extracted and subjected to whole-genome sequencing using Illumina MiSeq platform. The genome size of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica strain S8 is 4,707,459 bp with a GC-content of 52.38%, containing 10 antimicrobial resistant genes. The genome size of antimicrobial-resistant Samonella enterica strain S9 is 4,923,944 bp with a GC-content of 52,39%, containing 10 antimicrobial resistance genes. Our data provided the insights on antimicrobial resistant genes of S. enterica isolates from the C. moschata carcass, which help to understand the infection mechanism of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica in human.

Management of brain metastasis from rectal cancer using whole­brain radiation therapy followed by bevacizumab and chemotherapy: A case report.

Brain metastases in colorectal cancer are uncommon, which has resulted in a shortage of data concerning their screening and management. Multiple therapeutic modalities with chemotherapy, chemoradiation and targeted therapy, including bevacizumab and cetuximab regimens, have shown promising results. The present study describes the case of a 47-year-old male, diagnosed with T4N2M1 rectal cancer who underwent systemic therapy with modified FOLFOXIRI and cetuximab. The patient achieved a complete clinical response after 12 cycles. Following the discontinuation of cetuximab, the patient was given capecitabine as a maintenance therapy and subsequently developed brain metastasis. The patient received whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT) followed by a bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI regimen. The patient showed a good response as revealed by cranial magnetic resonance imaging, with a reduction in lesion size and no sign of cerebral edema. In addition, the patient maintained a stable neurological condition for >10 months. These findings suggest that the early detection of brain metastases requires the close monitoring of neurological symptoms. In addition, WBRT followed by bevacizumab and chemotherapy is a potential management plan for brain metastasis from rectal cancer.

Benchmarking Continuous Dynamic Optimization: Survey and Generalized Test Suite.

Dynamic changes are an important and inescapable aspect of many real-world optimization problems. Designing algorithms to find and track desirable solutions while facing challenges of dynamic optimization problems is an active research topic in the field of swarm and evolutionary computation. To evaluate and compare the performance of algorithms, it is imperative to use a suitable benchmark that generates problem instances with different controllable characteristics. In this article, we give a comprehensive review of existing benchmarks and investigate their shortcomings in capturing different problem features. We then propose a highly configurable benchmark suite, the generalized moving peaks benchmark, capable of generating problem instances whose components have a variety of properties, such as different levels of ill-conditioning, variable interactions, shape, and complexity. Moreover, components generated by the proposed benchmark can be highly dynamic with respect to the gradients, heights, optimum locations, condition numbers, shapes, complexities, and variable interactions. Finally, several well-known optimizers and dynamic optimization algorithms are chosen to solve generated problems by the proposed benchmark. The experimental results show the poor performance of the existing methods in facing new challenges posed by the addition of new properties.

A Novel Conjugate Mechanism for Enhancing the Adsorption Capacity of Amine-Functionalized Activated Rice Husk Ash for Simultaneous Removal of Organics and Anions in Wastewater: Experimental and Theoretical Explanations.

In this study, amine-functionalized rice husk ash (TRI-ARHA) was prepared and successfully applied as a multipurpose adsorbent for simultaneous removal of organics (i.e., methyl orange, MO), nitrate, and phosphate in wastewater with adsorption capacities of around 16.6 mgMO/g, 32.9 mgNO3 --N/g, and 13.4 mgPO4 3--P/g. These capacities were superior to those of the other commercially available materials such as activated carbon and ion-exchange resins in both individual and multipollutant adsorption experiments. In addition, the simultaneous adsorption of three components gives a higher adsorption capacity than individual adsorption for each anion (e.g., 1.18 times for nitrate and 1.11 times for phosphate). A conjugated adsorption mechanism may occur on the surface of the TRI-ARHA material, which can be ascribed to the amine groups in the MO molecule that are further activated by H+ (released from the surface amine groups) or Na+ ions (present in the solution), to form new adsorption centers for nitrate and phosphate. The integration process of H+ and Na+ to the nitrogen positions of MO was also studied by computational chemistry with the basis set of B3LYP/6-32G* calculated by Gaussian 16 software. The application in the treatment of real wastewaters proved that the TRI-ARHA material was more advantageous for multipollutant removal than other materials, thanks to its conjugated adsorption mechanism.

Non-communicable diseases prevention in remote areas of Vietnam: Limited roles of health education and community workers.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to measure the exposure of residents to health education messages about non-communicable diseases (NCD)-related risk factors, and activities of village health workers (VHWs) in NCDs prevention and control in the mountainous setting of Vietnam. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was performed in Dap Thanh commune (Ba Che, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam), a mountainous area. There were 151 residents aged 18 years or above recruited for this study. Information regarding exposure to messages about risk factors of NCDs, and activities of VHWs was collected via face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to identify associated factors with exposing messages about NCD-related risk factors. RESULTS: The majority of participants heard about messages related to risk factors of NCDs in the last 30 days, from 56.3% (physical inactivity message), 59.6% (diet message), 75.5% (alcohol use message) to 79.5% (smoking message). Radio/television was the most common source of the messages (from 91.8% to 95.8%) and the majority of participants heard these messages from one source (from 77.1% to 80.9%). Most of sample reported the unavailability of VHWs in their locals (53.6%). Among locals having VHWs, health communication and education was the most common service provided (54.3%); however, only 30% received NCD management services. Participants who had other jobs were less likely to hear about diet-related messages (OR = 0.32; 95%CI = 0.11-0.92), and those ever smoking were more likely to hear these messages in the last 30 days (OR = 6.86; 95%CI = 1.06-44.51). People who had diabetes mellitus were more likely to hear physical activity-related messages in the last 30 days (OR = 2.55; 95%CI = 1.20-5.41). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that health communication regarding risk factors of NCDs in mountainous areas in Vietnam was insufficient, and the role of health workers as formal information source was not recognized. Efforts should be made to increase the capacity and involvement of VHWs in health education and NCD prevention in mountainous regions.

Comparison of STA-NeoPTimal (Stago) and STA-Neoplastine CI Plus (Stago) thromboplastin reagents using a STA Satellite Max analyzer to measure prothrombin times in dogs.

BACKGROUND: Different thromboplastins are available to measure prothrombin time (PT). Stago coagulation analyzers and reagents are currently used in veterinary laboratories and enable PT measurements to explore the coagulation cascade (extrinsic pathway). OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to compare PT measurements obtained with the STA-NeoPTimal reagent with the commonly used STA-Neoplastine CI Plus reagent. The secondary objective was to compare the PT ratio with the international normalized ratio (INR) calculated from our derived clotting times. METHODS: Analytical performance was evaluated with intra-assay and inter-assay precision. Seventy-two individual canine plasma samples were collected. Each sample was tested with both thromboplastins, using an STA Satellite Max analyzer. The PT, PT ratio, and INR values obtained with the two reagents were compared using Passing-Bablok regression for correlations and Bland-Altman plots for method agreements. RESULTS: The analytical performance of STA-NeoPTimal reagent was acceptable. Compared with the STA-Neoplastine CI Plus reagent, the STA-NeoPTimal reagent showed a positive proportional bias for PT values. Narrow range analyses showed good agreement for normal PT values (less than 9.5 seconds, internal reference cutoff with STA-Neoplastine CI Plus), and clinical concordance was achieved. When PT was prolonged (more than 9.5 seconds), PT increases were more marked with the STA-NeoPTimal reagent. Agreement was good for INR values across the whole range of PT results. CONCLUSION: STA-NeoPTimal can be reliably implemented in veterinary laboratories for canine PT measurements, as agreement between the PT results measured with the two reagents was clinically acceptable.

Synthesis of a novel porous Ag2O nanomaterial on ion exchange resin and its application for COD determination of high salinity water.

This study reports for the first time on the synthesis of novel resin@P-Ag2O material and its application for reducing the chloride effect on COD determination of high salinity water. This engineered core-shell nanomaterial with cationic ion exchange resin core and porous Ag2O shell was prepared by facile ion exchange and silver oxidation method at ambient temperature without using toxic chemicals. The material was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and SEM-EDX mapping. In the chloride removal test, this material gave a high adsorption capacity of ca. 244 mgCl/gAg at the mild condition with high durability after several adsorption-desorption cycles. Moreover, resin@P-Ag2O was applied for removing chloride in water to improve the accuracy of the SMEWW 5220C:2012 method for COD determination of high salinity water. The result showed that the COD of a water sample with salt content after being treated by the material had a low error (≤ 10%) as compared to the sample without salt. Meanwhile, the COD of salty water measured by the dilution method had an error of around 15%. These results indicate that resin@P-Ag2O material has a very potential application for chloride removal and COD determination of high salinity water.

Evolutionary history of Carnivora (Mammalia, Laurasiatheria) inferred from mitochondrial genomes.

The order Carnivora, which currently includes 296 species classified into 16 families, is distributed across all continents. The phylogeny and the timing of diversification of members of the order are still a matter of debate. Here, complete mitochondrial genomes were analysed to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships and to estimate divergence times among species of Carnivora. We assembled 51 new mitogenomes from 13 families, and aligned them with available mitogenomes by selecting only those showing more than 1% of nucleotide divergence and excluding those suspected to be of low-quality or from misidentified taxa. Our final alignment included 220 taxa representing 2,442 mitogenomes. Our analyses led to a robust resolution of suprafamilial and intrafamilial relationships. We identified 21 fossil calibration points to estimate a molecular timescale for carnivorans. According to our divergence time estimates, crown carnivorans appeared during or just after the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum; all major groups of Caniformia (Cynoidea/Arctoidea; Ursidae; Musteloidea/Pinnipedia) diverged from each other during the Eocene, while all major groups of Feliformia (Nandiniidae; Feloidea; Viverroidea) diversified more recently during the Oligocene, with a basal divergence of Nandinia at the Eocene/Oligocene transition; intrafamilial divergences occurred during the Miocene, except for the Procyonidae, as Potos separated from other genera during the Oligocene.

Standardised patient study to assess tuberculosis case detection within the private pharmacy sector in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: Of the estimated 10 million people affected by (TB) each year, one-third are never diagnosed. Delayed case detection within the private healthcare sector has been identified as a particular problem in some settings, leading to considerable morbidity, mortality and community transmission. Using unannounced standardised patient (SP) visits to the pharmacies, we aimed to evaluate the performance of private pharmacies in the detection and treatment of TB. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken at randomly selected private pharmacies within 40 districts of Vietnam. Trained actors implemented two standardised clinical scenarios of presumptive TB and presumptive multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Outcomes were the proportion of SPs referred for medical assessment and the proportion inappropriately receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics. Logistic regression evaluated predictors of SPs' referral. RESULTS: In total, 638 SP encounters were conducted, of which only 155 (24.3%) were referred for medical assessment; 511 (80·1%) were inappropriately offered antibiotics. A higher proportion of SPs were referred without having been given antibiotics if they had presumptive MDR-TB (68/320, 21.3%) versus presumptive TB (17/318, 5.3%; adjusted OR=4.8, 95% CI 2.9 to 7.8). Pharmacies offered antibiotics without a prescription to 89.9% of SPs with presumptive TB and 70.3% with presumptive MDR-TB, with no clear follow-up plan. CONCLUSIONS: Few SPs with presumptive TB were appropriately referred for medical assessment by private pharmacies. Interventions to improve appropriate TB referral within the private pharmacy sector are urgently required to reduce the number of undiagnosed TB cases in Vietnam and similar high-prevalence settings.

Multi-Response Optimization of Electrical Discharge Drilling Process of SS304 for Energy Efficiency, Product Quality, and Productivity.

The electrical discharge drilling (EDD) process is an effective machining approach to produce various holes in difficult-to-cut materials. However, the energy efficiency of the EDD operation has not thoroughly been considered in published works. The aim of the current work is to optimize varied parameters for enhancing the material removal rate (MRR), saving drilled energy (ED), and decreasing the expansion of the hole (HE) for the EDD process. Three advanced factors, including the gap voltage adjustor (GAP), capacitance parallel connection (CAP), and servo sensitivity selection (SV), are considered. The predictive models of the performances were proposed with the support of the adaptive neuro-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). An integrative approach combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the neighborhood cultivation genetic algorithm (NCGA) was employed to select optimal factors. The findings revealed the optimal values of the CAP, GAP, and SV were 6, 5, and 4, respectively. Moreover, the ED and HE were decreased by 16.78% and 28.68%, while the MRR was enhanced by 89.72%, respectively, as compared to the common setting values. The explored outcome can be employed as a technical solution to enhance the energy efficiency, drilled quality, and productivity of the EDD operation.

COVID-19 in the Greater Mekong Subregion: how resilient are rural households?

In this paper we submit some thoughts on the possible implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for rural people in the countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). We base our observations and conclusions on our long-term research experience in the region. The paper focuses on the economics of rural households during this crisis period and its aftermath. We conclude that country differences clearly exist due to their different stages of development. However, while rural households belong to the Corona risk groups, they are also resilient to such a shock. We submit that Governments in the GMS should strengthen policies that conserve the safety-net function of rural villages.

Effects of Diabetic Complications on Health-Related Quality of Life Impairment in Vietnamese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) adversely influence patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study is aimed at examining HRQOL of T2DM patients, as well as the effects of diabetic complications and comorbidities on HRQOL in this population. This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study on 214 T2DM patients in Hanoi, Vietnam. Short-form 12 version 2 (SF-12v2) and EuroQOL-5 Dimensions-5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) were employed to measure the HRQOL. The median physical component summary score (PCS), mental component summary score (MCS), and EQ-5D index were 45.6, 56.3, and 0.94, respectively. Having at least one diabetic complication was associated with the reduction of SF-12 scores in social functioning (Diff. = -5.69, 95%CI = -9.24; -2.13), role emotional (Diff. = -1.81, 95%CI = -3.12; -0.51), and MCS (Diff. = -2.55, 95%CI = -5.01; -0.1). Significant decrement of physical functioning, role physical, social functioning, role emotional, and MCS was found in patients having diabetic heart diseases compared to those without diabetic complications. The study revealed that HRQOL of Vietnamese patients with diabetic complications was moderately low, especially in social and mental health perspectives. Strategies to prevent the onset of diabetic complications should be developed as a priority in diabetes management.

An Open Framework for Constructing Continuous Optimization Problems.

Many artificial benchmark problems have been proposed for different kinds of continuous optimization, e.g., global optimization, multimodal optimization, multiobjective optimization, dynamic optimization, and constrained optimization. However, there is no unified framework for constructing these types of problems and possible properties of many problems are not fully tunable. This will cause difficulties for researchers to analyze strengths and weaknesses of an algorithm. To address these issues, this paper proposes a simple and intuitive framework, which is able to construct different kinds of problems for continuous optimization. The framework utilizes the k -d tree to partition the search space and sets a certain number of simple functions in each subspace. The framework is implemented into global/multimodal optimization, dynamic single objective optimization, multiobjective optimization, and dynamic multiobjective optimization, respectively. Properties of the proposed framework are discussed and verified with traditional evolutionary algorithms.