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Background: Uncontrolled blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy offers a promising approach to addressing this challenge by providing a convenient single-tablet solution that enhances the effectiveness of blood pressure control. In our systematic review, we assess the effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC in managing blood pressure.Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across four primary electronic databases, namely, PubMed, Virtual Health Library (VHL), Global Health Library (GHL), and Google Scholar, as of 8 February 2022. Additionally, we performed a manual search to find relevant articles. The quality of the selected articles was evaluated using the Study Quality Assessment Tools (SQAT) checklist from the National Institute of Health and the ROB2 tool from Cochrane.Results: Our systematic review included 17 eligible articles. The findings show that the use of perindopril/amlodipine FDC significantly lowers blood pressure and enhances the quality of blood pressure control. Compared to the comparison group, the perindopril/amlodipine combination tablet resulted in a higher rate of blood pressure response and normalization. Importantly, perindopril/amlodipine FDC contributes to improved patient adherence with minimal side effects. However, studies conducted to date have not provided assessments of the cost-effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC.Conclusion: In summary, our analysis confirms the effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine FDC in lowering blood pressure, with combination therapy outperforming monotherapy and placebo. Although mild adverse reactions were observed in a small subset of participants, cost-effectiveness assessments for this treatment remain lacking in the literature.

Abstract Background Meta-analyses are on top of the evidence-based medicine pyramid, yet many of them are not completed after they are begun. Many factors impacting the publication of meta-analysis works have been discussed, and their association with publication likelihood has been investigated. These factors include the type of systematic review, journal metrics, h-index of the corresponding author, country of the corresponding author, funding sources, and duration of publication. In our current review, we aim to investigate these various factors and their impact on the likelihood of publication. A comprehensive review of 397 registered protocols retrieved from five databases was performed to investigate the different factors that might affect the likelihood of publication. These factors include the type of systematic review, journal metrics, h-index of the corresponding author, country of the corresponding author, funding sources, and duration of publication. Results We found that corresponding authors in developed countries and English-speaking countries had higher likelihoods of publication: 206/320 (p = 0.018) and 158/236 (p = 0.006), respectively. Factors affecting publications are the countries of corresponding author (p = 0.033), whether they are from developed countries (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2–3.1, p = 0.016), from English-speaking countries (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2–2.7, p = 0.005), update status of the protocol (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.0–2.6, p = 0.033), and external funding (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.7, p = 0.025). Multivariable regression retains three variables as significant predictors for the publication of a systematic review: whether it is the corresponding author from developed countries (p = 0.013), update status of the protocol (p = 0.014), and external funding (p = 0.047). Conclusion Being on top of the evidence hierarchy, systematic review and meta-analysis are the keys to informed clinical decision-making. Updating protocol status and external funding are significant influences on their publications. More attentions should be paid to the methodological quality of this type of publication.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and adverse events of favipiravir in patients with COVID-19. Methods: Our protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020206305). Fourteen databases were searched until February 8th, 2021. An update search for new RCTs was done on March 2nd, 2022. Meta-analysis was done for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. Results: Overall, 157 studies (24 RCTs, 1 non-RCT, 21 observational studies, 2 case series, and 106 case reports) were included. On hospitalized patients, in comparison to standard of care, favipiravir showed a higher rate of viral clearance at day 5 (RR = 1.60, p = 0.02), defervescence at day 3–4 (RR = 1.99, p

Background: Drinking water quality affects directly human health. Assessment and prevention of water-borne diseases are crucial for primary prevention, especially for children. Objective: The main aim of this study was to investigate the quality of drinking water from tap water in preschools and primary schools in a district area in Hanoi City, Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed from August to October 2019. Water samples from tap water of 154 schools in a district area of Hanoi were collected to determine the quality of drinking water. From each school, at least 2 bottles of water samples were collected on the basis of a standard operating procedure (SOP). Each water sample was analyzed for microbial and physicochemical parameters, including Color, Taste and Odor, Turbidity, pH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonium, Total Iron, Permanganate, Chloride, Hardness, Total Manganese, Sulfate, Arsenic, Coliform , and E.coli , by analytical methods. The obtained values of each parameter were compared with the standard values set by WHO and National Technical Regulation on Domestic Water Quality of Vietnam. Results: All of the schools employed community water system as a main source for drinking water. The results showed that all tested samples were found to be within the standards for some physicochemical properties, including Color, Taste and Odor, Hardness, Chloride, Total Iron (Fe 2+ và Fe 3+ ), Total Manganese (Mn), Nitrate (NO 3 – ), Sulfate (SO 4 2– ), and Total Arsenic (As). On the other hand, some samples did not meet the allowable limits of the national standard, due to pH (3.9%), Turbidity (0.6%), Nitrite (3.2%), Permanganate (6.5%), and Ammonium (5.8%). Furthermore, the microbial data revealed that the substandard water samples from municipal water systems were contaminated by Coliform (9.7%) and/or E.coli ( 7.8%). Conclusions and recommendations: Contaminants such as bacterial and chemical agents in to drinking water could be occurred during transport, storage and handling before using by the consumer without regular surveillance. A periodic treatment procedure and monitoring system to keep the level of microbial and chemical contamination of drinking water in schools under control should be performed.

In this paper, we propose and evaluate the performance of fountain codes (FCs) based secure transmission protocols in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems, in presence of a passive eavesdropper. In the proposed protocols, a source selects its best antenna to transmit fountain encoded packets to a destination that employs selection combining (SC) or maximal ratio combing (MRC) to enhance reliability of the decoding. The transmission is terminated when the destination has a required number of the encoded packets to reconstruct the original data of the source. Similarly, the eavesdropper also has the ability to recover the source data if it can intercept a sufficient number of the encoded packets. To reduce the number of time slots used, the source can employ non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) to send two encoded packets to the destination at each time slot. For performance analysis, exact formulas of average number of time slots (TS) and intercept probability (IP) over Rayleigh fading channel are derived and then verified by Monte-Carlo simulations. The results presented that the protocol using NOMA not only reduces TS but also obtains lower IP at medium and high transmit signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), as compared with the corresponding protocol without using NOMA.

In this paper, we consider a cooperative multi-hop secured transmission protocol to underlay cognitive radio networks. In the proposed protocol, a secondary source attempts to transmit its data to a secondary destination with the assistance of multiple secondary relays. In addition, there exists a secondary eavesdropper who tries to overhear the source data. Under a maximum interference level required by a primary user, the secondary source and relay nodes must adjust their transmit power. We first formulate effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) as well as secrecy capacity under the constraints of the maximum transmit power, the interference threshold and the hardware impairment level. Furthermore, when the hardware impairment level is relaxed, we derive exact and asymptotic expressions of end-to-end secrecy outage probability over Rayleigh fading channels by using the recursive method. The derived expressions were verified by simulations, in which the proposed scheme outperformed the conventional multi-hop direct transmission protocol.

The study aims to report empirical findings of quantitative research investigating what variables are significant leading proxies of fraudulent financial reporting (FFR) and the performance of the fraud detection model. The paper used financial and non-financial proxies as indicators to detect FFR with the panel data of 2235 observations of listed companies on the Vietnamese Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2020. Based on the materiality principle in auditing, the study divided the profit variance ratio into four material fraud thresholds of over 5%, 10%, 20%, and 50%. Two data mining techniques were employed: random forest for the classification model and an artificial neural network for building the best fraud prediction model. The findings show that the average accuracy of the prediction results of the random forest algorithm (RFA) reaches 91% for a material fraud threshold of 5%; when the materiality of fraud increases to above 50% of profit variance, the predictability is 98%. The average prediction accuracy of an artificial neural network (ANN) for the training set is 99%, and the test set is 97% at different fraud thresholds. These results confirm that RFA and ANN give a high accuracy in predicting fraud, and the determinants of firms committing to FFR are proxies of financial stability, followed by cash in the business and the nature of the industry. Notably, the three most important proxies related to FFR include return on total assets, return on equity, and EBT on total assets. The findings have practical implications: to identify fraudulent firms, creditors, analysts, and other stakeholders should use financial and non-financial ratios and employ data mining techniques instead of traditional fraud detection methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the nonlinear dynamic response of sandwich plates placed on the Kerr elastic substrate under blast loading. The plate is composed of an auxetic honeycomb core and functionally graded material (FGM) coating layers. The volume fraction of FGM is determined following the power-law model (P-FGM). The equations of motion of the plate are formulated by using the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) in conjunction with the use of the Airy stress function. The Runge-Kutta scheme, with the assistance of the Galerkin technique, is utilized in the present study to obtain numerical results for the nonlinear dynamic response of the plate. After verifying the proposed solution, the influences of material characteristics, blast loading, elastic substrate, and geometry parameters on the free vibration and nonlinear dynamic behavior of the plate are investigated comprehensively. The results show that negative Poisson's ratio has a significant effect on the linear and nonlinear vibration characteristics of the auxetic-FGM sandwich plate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juvenile granulosa cell tumor (GCT) is a rare ovarian tumor in children, presenting with a multiloculated cystic pattern and irregular wall-thickening on imaging and serous cystadenoma (SCA) is also another rare benign cystic ovarian tumor in children. The appearance of two uncommon types of ovarian tumors on both sides in children is extremely rare. We report the case of a 4-year-old female presenting with symptoms of precocious puberty and diagnosed with juvenile GCT on the left ovary after surgical resection. However, during follow-up 1 year after GCT resection, she presented with another multiloculated cystic mass in the right ovary, and diagnosed as SCA after surgical resection and histopathologic evaluations. The appearance of cystic ovarian tumor after primarily GCT resection need to differentiate between the recurrence of the primarily GCT and other cystic ovarian tumors although it is very uncommon. Furthermore, the imaging features played a key role in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant ovarian tumors.

The article studies the factors affecting the dividend policy of enterprises in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as profitability, business size, financial leverage, growth rate, solvency, and enterprise longevity. The study collects data on enterprises listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2019 to 2022 with 2736 observations. Using the general regression method (GLS) and the fixed regression method (FEM), the authors have identified the factors that have a positive and statistically significant impact: (i) profitability and the longevity of the business; (ii) At the same time, the research results also show that the factors that have a negative impact on the dividend payout ratio are revenue growth rate, business size, financial leverage, solvency. Besides, in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic, the dividend yield tends to decrease. The research results are a scientific basis for businesses to have more appropriate dividend payment policies, better capital attraction in the stock market, and especially a hedging strategy for risks such as Covid 19 epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the impact of corporate governance (CG), capital structure (CS) on firm value (FV) of firms in Vietnam. The study used different regression methods using the data collected at enterprises listed on the stock market in Vietnam over the period 2008 - 2018, with 2937 observations. The research results find that the size of the Board of Directors, the independence of the Board of Directors, the percentage of women participating in the Board of Directors had a positive influence on FV. Besides, in the case of the Chairman of the Board of Directors controlling the CEO, the frequency of the Board meeting had a negative effect on FV. The study has determined that CS has nonlinear influence on FV, in addition, the research results also prove that firm size had positive relationship to FV. The empirical research results are a useful basis to help businesses improve FV, thereby helping businesses need to consider the elements of the Board of Directors in each enterprise, determine the appropriate capital structure.

The mycelial biomass, antioxidant activity and production of extra- and intra-cellular polysaccharides production [EPS, IPS] of Cordyceps militaris strains AG-1, PSJ-1 were evaluated under different submerged liquid culture (SLC) conditions. At 24 0C mycelial biomass and polysaccharide production of AG-1, PSJ-1 was optimal using PVC media and static culture conditions; (AG-1: 21.85 ± 1.00; PSJ-1: 18.20 ± 1.84 g l-1 ), and oven drying at 40 oC (AG-1: 25.95 ± 0.84, PSJ-1: 23.55 ± 0.69 mg g-1) compared with hot water extraction (AG-1: 7.07 ± 0.15, PSJ-1: 7.39 ± 0.61 mg g-1). Maximum biomass, EPS and IPS production were observed when the initial pH was 6.7: AG-1: 12.92 ± 0.33, 209.70 ± 1.56, 32.62 ± 0.87; PSJ-1: 9.03 ± 0.24 g l-1 , 198.16 ± 0.85 mg g-1, 30.63 ± 1.96 mg g-1, respectively. The use 3.5 % coconut oil improved biomass, EPS, IPS production, which were 8.27 ± 0.09, 8.01 ± 0.01 g l-1 ; 1208.00 ± 8.60, 1110.40 ± 7.20 mg g-1; 32.43 ± 0.49, 29.74 ± 0.44, for AG-1 and PSJ-1, respectively. Both culture condition and oven drying methods had significant effects on H2O2 and radical scavenging activity, ABTS.+ radical activity, lipid peroxidation, and also had effects on total flavonoid and, total phenolic contents. The use of crude submerged liquid culture and oven drying on strains AG-1, PSJ-1 led to extracts with potent antioxidant activity, suggesting the therapeutic use of polysaccharides from strains AG-1, PSJ-1.

Nanocomposite from polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) and nanoclay were prepared by melt proccessing in Brabender extruder. XRD analysis shows the formation of nanostructure (intercalated and exfoliated) of nanocomposite with interlayer space (d-space) increasing from 26.3Å to 30.9Å. These structures, however, do not affect the microcrystalline structure of polymer part of nanocomposite in whole. The study on nonisothermal crystallization shows the development in 3-dimentional direction of crystallites, that means spherulite form of crystalline structure.

Midline diastema has been a popular aesthetic problem for children. Several treatment options are available, however, the use of elastic bands without other appliances for closing the diastema still remains a pressing issue in Vietnam, which could be done by the patient’s parents either themselves or under the dental practitioners’ suggestion. Objective: To report a specific case about the extensive extrusion regarding upper central incisors in a pediatric patient due to misusing the elastic band, in which management was complex due to an unfavorable situation for splinting. Case Report: Single rubber band usage for orthodontic movement in closing diastema has been an unresolved disaster in Vietnam, leading to the need for early diagnosis and immediate intervention when facing the complications. Conclusion: Significant information dissemination is paramount for long-term improvement in the oral health of pediatric patients in Vietnam and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binh Chau Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve is located in the tropical rainforest zone of southeast Vietnam. The obtained results from the study undertaken on the composition of plant species and forest vegetation in Binh Chau Phuoc Buu Nature Reserve indicated a record of 743 species, 423 genera and 122 families that belongs to the three divisions of vascular plants. These includes: Polypodiophyta, Pinophyta and Magnoliophyta. Useful plants of 743 taxonomy species listed consists of 328 species of medicinal plants, 205 species of timber plants, 168 species of edible plants, 159 species of ornamental plants, 56 species of industrial plants, 10 species of fiber plants and 29 species of unknown use plants, respectively. During the duration of investigation, Nervilia aragoana Gaudich. was newly recorded in the forest vegetation of Binh Chau Phuoc Buu Reserve. A variety of forest vegetations in the area under study is described. In this study, two major vegetation types of forest were identified in Binh Chau Phuoc BuuReserve.

This article introduces experimental and analytical studies on the resistance under eccentric loads of reinforced fly ash concrete (RFAC) columns, in which fly ash (FA) is used to partially replace ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with a by-mass ratio of 20%. Based on experimental results of concrete specimens with mean 28-day cylinder strength of 30 MPa, modifications on simplified bi-linear and tri-linear models of stress-strain relationships of OPC concrete specified in the Russian and Vietnamese design standards are proposed. These nonlinear deformation models are incorporated into an analytical approach to establish the resistance of RFAC columns in the form of interaction surface, associated with an assessment method for safety factor based on the principle of inverse distance weighted average (IDWA). Parameters of the proposed analytical approach are determined by test results obtained from eight RFAC column specimens having 150 x 200 (mm) rectangular cross-section, 1600 mm-height, and 4Φ14 longitudinal rebars with yield strength of 362.6 MPa. In the tests, the specimens were loaded with uniaxial eccentricities ranging from 0 to 80 mm until failed. It is shown that with ε'b1 = 0.0022 and kE = 0.91, the corresponding safety factors of bi-linear and tri-linear models validated for the tested specimens are conservative and nearest to unity, proving that the proposed analytical approach is capable of closely predicting the RFAC columns' resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper analyzes the nonlinear buckling and post-buckling characteristics of the porous eccentrically stiffened functionally graded sandwich truncated conical shells resting on the Pasternak elastic foundation subjected to axial compressive loads. The core layer is made of a porous material (metal foam) characterized by a porosity coefficient which influences the physical properties of the shells in the form of a harmonic function in the shell’s thickness direction. The physical properties of the functionally graded (FG) coatings and stiffeners depend on the volume fractions of the constituents which play the role of the exponent in the exponential function of the thickness direction coordinate axis. The classical shell theory and the smeared stiffeners technique are applied to derive the governing equations taking the von Kármán geometrical nonlinearity into account. Based on the displacement approach, the explicit expressions of the critical buckling load and the post-buckling load-deflection curves for the sandwich truncated conical shells with simply supported edge conditions are obtained by applying the Galerkin method. The effects of material properties, core layer thickness, number of stiffeners, dimensional parameters, semi vertex angle and elastic foundation on buckling and post-buckling behaviors of the shell are investigated. The obtained results are validated by comparing with those in the literature.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of corporate governance and the presence of females in the Board of Directors (BOD) on audit quality using the Big4 group of auditing firms. The Logarit and Probit regression models indicated that while the size of the Board of Directors had a favorable effect on audit quality, ownership by significant shareholders had a negative effect. On the other side, we did not detect any effect of the Board of Directors members' independence or concurrent Director/BOD positions on audit quality. Additionally, the presence of females on the Board of Directors directly correlates and affects the audit quality. The findings of this study may help to strengthen corporate governance further, exercise caution in gender diversity, increase audit quality, and educate users of financial statements about another perspective that should be considered when evaluating audit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangroves play an important role in coastal estuarine areas with different ecological functions, such as reducing the impact of waves and currents, accumulating biomass and sequestering carbon. However, estimation of terrestrial biomass in mangrove areas, especially in Vietnam, has not been fully studied. The application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), mounted with multispectral cameras combined with field verification is an effective method for estimating terrestrial biomass for mangroves, as it reduces field survey time and allows for greater spatial range research. In this study, ground biomass was estimated for the mangrove area in the Dong Rui commune, based on multispectral image data obtained from UAV and survey results in 16 standard cells measuring actual biomass according to four regression models: Log-Log, Log-Lin, Lin-Log and Lin-Lin. The results of comparing the data from these four models show that the log-log model has the highest accuracy with a high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.831). Based on the results of the analysis and selection of ground-based biomass estimation models, a biomass map was established for the UAV flying area in the Dong Rui mangrove forest with biomass values ranging from 20 Mg/ha to 150 Mg/ha. In summary, we present a biomass estimation method through four basic linear regression models for mangrove areas, based on multispectral image data obtained from ultrahigh-resolution UAV. The resulting research results can serve as a basis for managers to calculate and synchronise the payment of carbon services, thus contributing to effectively promoting the livelihoods of local people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Localization always plays a critical role in wireless sensor networks for a wide range of applications including military, healthcare, and robotics. Although the classical multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a conventionally effective model for positioning, the accuracy of this method is affected by noises from the environment. In this paper, we propose a solution to attenuate noise effects to MDS by combining MDS with a Kalman filter. A model is built to predict the noise distribution with regard to additive noises to the distance measurements following the Gaussian distribution. From that, a linear tracking system is developed. The characteristics of the algorithm are examined through simulated experiments and the results reveal the advantages of our method over conventional works in dealing with the above challenges. Besides, the method is simplified with a linear filter; therefore it suits small and embedded sensors equipped with limited power, memory, and computational capacities well.

Introduction: Enamel demineralization expressed as white spot lesions (WSLs) has been reported to be associated with both fixed and removable orthodontic appliances. Case report: This case report described the management of a patient with clear aligner-related severe enamel demineralization using a modified resin infiltration technique. Microabrasion with Opalustre (Ultradent, Utah, USA) was performed to remove the remineralized enamel surface followed by repeated etching with ICON Etch (DMG, Hamburg, Germany) until the WSLs disappeared after ethanol application. A #12 blade could be used to check whether the superficial layer was demineralized enough for the resin to infiltrate. The ICON-Infiltrant (DMG, Hamburg, Germany) was applied to the etched enamel and light-cured. After treatment, all the WSLs showed improvement with the color nearly matching the adjacent sound enamel. Discussion: Modified resin infiltration technique combined with microabrasion could be an effective noninvasive method to treat severe enamel demineralization including shallow localized enamel breakdown. However, more clinical studies are required to assess the efficacy and safety of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability of building structures subjected to ground motion is a time-consuming, complex, and iterative computation problem involving multidiscipline theories such as probability theory, reliability theory, and dynamic structural analysis. In order to address this challenge, this study proposes a highly efficient approach based on the subset simulation and a deep learning-based surrogate model. The subset simulation is an efficient sampling strategy that significantly diminishes the number of samples to compute when determining the failure probability, especially for very small ones. On the other hand, the surrogate model based on a deep learning algorithm can deliver equivalently accurate structures' responses compared to the well-known finite element method with markedly smaller time complexity, given appropriate available training data. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach are demonstrated in detail through three case studies with increasing complexity: a 1-DoF problem, a 2D frame, and a 3D structure based on experimental data showing a reduction up to two orders of magnitude in time complexity compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using finite element method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]