Search

This study aims to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter and its antibiotic susceptibility at slaughterhouses and live poultry markets in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. A total of 177 samples, including 112 fecal samples, 28 cecal samples, and 37 rectal swab samples were collected. Thirty-nine samples tested positive for Campylobacter spp. by culture method, accounting for 22%. Isolation rates of Campylobacter in rectal swab samples were highest at 29.7% (11/37), followed by cecal samples at 25% (7/28) and fecal dropping samples at 18.8% (21/112). Species identification was performed by multiplex PCR and the result showed that the prevalence of Campylobacter coli (12.4%) was higher than Campylobacter jejuni (3.4%). Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that all isolated Campylobacter were susceptible to imipenem and meropenem (100%). Most Campylobacter were resistant to tetracycline (96.4%), ciprofloxacin (92.9%), nalidixic acid (89.3%), and ampicillin (67.9%). This study highlights the high contamination of Campylobacter and its antibiotic resistance in poultry in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the note-taking method on the listening performance of second-year English language teacher education students and their feedbacks. The experimental study was conducted with a class of forty-four second-year students majoring in English language teacher education at Vinh University. The participants were divided into a pilot group and a control group. A mixed-method intervention design was applied, in which data were collected from pre-test, post-test, and semi-structured interviews. The results of statistical analysis, topic analysis, and comparison of data sets from tools showed that second-year English language teacher education students using the note-taking method performed better than those in the control group. More specifically, students in the experimental group made significant progress after applying the note-taking method. Most of the feedback was positive on the use of the note-taking method. Although research results are limited due to speaking speed and many other factors, the note-taking method should be used in teaching listening skills to English language teacher education students with some suggested notes

Mortality and morbidity from tuberculous meningitis (TBM) are common, primarily due to inflammatory response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We aimed to uncover genes and pathways associated with TBM pathogenesis and mortality, and determine the best predictors of death, utilizing whole-blood RNA sequencing from 281 Vietnamese adults with TBM, 295 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), and 30 healthy controls. Through weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we identified hub genes and pathways linked to TBM severity and mortality, with a consensus analysis revealing distinct patterns between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. We employed multivariate elastic-net Cox regression to select candidate predictors of death, then logistic regression and internal bootstrap validation to choose best predictors. Increased neutrophil activation and decreased T and B cell activation pathways were associated with TBM mortality. Among HIV-positive individuals, mortality associated with increased angiogenesis, while HIV-negative individuals exhibited elevated TNF signaling and impaired extracellular matrix organization. Four hub genes—MCEMP1, NELL2, ZNF354C, and CD4—were strong TBM mortality predictors. These findings indicate that TBM induces a systemic inflammatory response similar to PTB, highlighting critical genes and pathways related to death, offering insights for potential therapeutic targets alongside a novel four-gene biomarker for predicting outcomes.

Spears or cladophylls are edible parts of asparagus ( Asparagus officinalis L.) implemented in a human diet while its hard-stem by-products have been used for animal feeding. In this study, the asparagus hard-stem was proved to be rich in dietary fiber and total phenolics with high antioxidant capacity. Wheat flour was partially replaced by asparagus hard-stem powder (AHP) in the cracker recipe and the AHP ratios were 0 (control), 5, 10, 15, 20% of the blend weight; the nutritional constituents, antioxidant capacities, physical attributes, and sensory overall acceptability of crackers were then evaluated. As the AHP ratio increased from 0 to 20%, the dietary fiber and total phenolic contents of the fortified crackers were improved by 5.0 times and 3.2 times, respectively, while their ferric reducing antioxidant power and DPPH scavenging capacity were enhanced by 6.1 and 1.4 times, respectively. Besides, the elevated ratio of AHP also increased the product hardness and reduced its overall acceptability. The impacts of water amount used in the dough kneading on the high-fiber cracker quality were then investigated. At 20% AHP level, the appropriate water amount was 55 g/100 g of the flour blend to reduce hardness and improve overall acceptability of the fortified crackers. The study results show that AHP is a potential dietary fiber and antioxidant ingredient for high-fiber cracker making.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have recently emerged as an alternative solvent for nanoparticle synthesis. There have been numerous advancements in the fabrication of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), but the potential of DESs in Ag NP synthesis was neither considered nor studied carefully. In this study, we present a novel strategy to fabricate Ag NPs in a DES (Ag NPs-DES). The DES composed of ᴅ-glucose, urea, and glycerol does not contain any anions to precipitate with Ag+ cations. Our Ag NPs-DES sample is used in a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor. The two analytes for SERS quantitation are nitrofurantoin (NFT) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) whose residues can be traced down to 10−8 M. The highest enhancement factors (EFs) are competitive at 6.29 × 107 and 1.69 × 107 for NFT and SDZ, respectively. Besides, the linearity coefficients are extremely close to 1 in the range of 10−8 to 10−3 M of concentration, and the SERS substrate shows remarkable uniformity along with great selectivity. This powerful SERS performance indicates that DESs have tremendous potential in the synthesis of nanomaterials for biosensor substrate construction.

Flexible rubber composites based on blends of bromobutyl rubber (BIIR)/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) filled with a hybrid filler of layered double hydroxides (LDH)/carbon nanotubes (CNT) were prepared, which may be of interest for use in tires and inner liner. An imidazole mixture of butyl-imidazole and 1H-imidazole was proposed to achieve reversible non-covalent networks consisting of ionic clusters and hydrogen bonding that led to the self-healing properties of each blend phase. The objective of the present work was to characterize the effects of selective modification of the rubber blends by imidazole and selective wetting of the hybrid filler on the mechanical and electrical properties and the self-healing effectivity. The wetting concept used to characterize the selective wetting of a single filler in a rubber blend was further developed for a hybrid filler in BIIR/ENR blends. During the one-step mixing and the masterbatch mixing process, re-localization of the hybrid filler between the blend phases under thermodynamic driving forces was observed. Within the specified mixing time, the thermodynamic equilibrium state of filler localization could not be reached. The nearly uniform distribution of LDH in both blend phases and the preferential localization of CNTs in the ENR matrix were found to be essential in giving the BIIR/ENR blends the best combination of self-healing properties and electrical conductivity. The high electrical conductivity of the composites can be exploited to generate a high temperature locally at the damage site inside the rubber samples when an electrical voltage is applied, resulting in an acceleration of the self-healing process.

Bài báo nghiên cứu lựa chọn các giải pháp đấu nối nhà máy điện gió ngoài khơi vào hệ thống điện Việt Nam, với hai giải pháp đấu nối hiện nay là truyền tải điện xoay chiều (HVAC) và truyền tải điện một chiều (HVDC). Bài báo đã thực hiện tính toán phân tích ảnh hưởng của nhà máy điện gió ngoài khơi đến hệ thống điện dựa vào các tiêu chuẩn kỹ thuật yêu cầu đảm bảo khi thực hiện đấu nối với hai giải pháp truyền tải trên. Ngoài các tính toán trào lưu công suất và phân tích ảnh hưởng đến hệ thống điện bằng hai giải pháp đấu nối, bài báo đã thực hiện phân tích kinh tế tổng mức đầu tư cho hai giải pháp đấu nối cho nhà máy Điện Gió Ngoài Khơi (ĐGNK) Trung Nam công suất 800MW đang đề xuất bổ sung Quy hoạch nhằm lựa chọn giải pháp đấu nối cho nhà máy điện gió ngoài khơi đảm bảo về mặt kỹ thuật và kinh tế cho dự án. Kết quả cho thấy, phương án đấu nối bằng HDVC đảm bảo được các yếu tố về kỹ thuật và kinh tế.

Today, the rapidly increasing share of renewable energy sources requires a suitable mechanism to promote the development of renewable energy is urgently needed. To solve this problem, the paper will conduct a study to find out the incentive mechanism to promote the development of renewable energy with participation in the electricity market. The article compares different models of Fixed feed-in premium with CAP and FLOOR (month, week, day, and cycle) to point out the advantages and disadvantages of each model, thereby providing comments and assessing the impact of the models on the revenue of renewable energy plants. The result shows that the monthly average revenue of FIXED FIP with CAP and FLOOR (0.19-0.23 million VND/MWh) is less variation than half-hourly (0.16-0.23 million VND/MWh) and daily revenue (0.18-0.23 million VND/MWh). Moreover, the monthly model can mitigate the variation of spot price and cop with the payment period (monthly).

A 50-year-old woman was admitted to our institute because of a large tumour in her neck. This patient had been diagnosed with thyroid goitre for 5 years, but no treatment was administered. No specific medical history was noted. A large mass in the neck region was found during clinical examination, which restricted neck movement. Computed tomography revealed a diffuse, large, multinodular goitre with tracheal compression. Results from the fine-needle aspiration procedure showed benign cytology. Laboratory tests revealed normal results, including serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, free triiodothyronine, and free thyroxine levels. The patient underwent surgery for the removal of the entire thyroid tumour. The patient's postoperative period was uneventful. The patient was discharged on the 5th postoperative day. In conclusion, surgical management remains the standard treatment for giant thyroid tumours with compressive symptoms. Careful dissection and awareness of the high risk of postoperative complications in these cases are crucial for achieving good outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the sensitivity of connectedness among bank stock returns in Vietnam. The aim of this study is to examine the strength of this connectedness along with the effect of government lockdown policy and COVID-19 cases on the total connectedness index (TCI) of 16 listed banks on Vietnamese stock exchanges. They are assessed using the database of FiinPro on the banking sector between January 2020 and July 2022, Vietnam Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and The World Health Organization (WHO) on the COVID-19 pandemic, employing a time-varying-parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) connectedness framework and the conditional quantile regression model. The results show that at the firm level, there is strong interdependence among bank stock returns with the average TCI being as high as 90.66%. It is also revealed that medium and large-sized banks are receivers of shock, while smaller banks are transmitters. As far as the impact on TCI is concerned, the widespread of the pandemic with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases is significantly negative, whereas the tightening of lockdown is significantly positive. Besides, the degree of the impact varies according to the 95th, 75th, 50th and 25th levels of conditional quantile regression. Based on the study’s findings, individual investors are recommended to thoroughly analyze the connectedness of banks before making investment decisions, while bank regulators should strengthen controls on credit relationships with small banks. Regarding policy makers, it is proposed to apply flexible restrictions and short-term lockdown depending on the actual outbreak of the pandemic. AcknowledgmentThe paper was conducted within the scope of Project QG21.48 of Vietnam National University.

Unmanned surface pursuit is a complex and challenging engineering problem, especially when conducted by multiple intelligent surface vehicles (ISVs). To enhance the pursuit performance and facilitate strategic interaction during the target pursuit, this paper proposes a novel game theory-based maneuver planning method for pursuit ISVs. Firstly, a specific two-player zero-sum pursuit–evasion game (ZSPEG)-based target-pursuit model is formed. To ensure the vehicles reach a quick consensus, a target-guided relay-pursuit mechanism and the corresponding pursuit payoffs are designed. Meanwhile, under the fictitious play framework, the behavioral pattern and the strategies of the target could be fictitiously learned. Furthermore, mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium (MNE) is employed to determine the motions for the vehicles, the value of which is the best response in the proposed ZSPEG model. Finally, simulations verify the effectiveness of the above methods in multi-ISV surface pursuit.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001788.].

BackgroundThis study aimed to measure the preferences for mental health support among health professionals, their willingness to support the mental health of colleagues and associated factors.MethodA descriptive cross-sectional study was performed from August to October 2022 within five hospitals located in Hanoi, Vietnam. A total of 244 health professionals participated in the study. Data on socio-economic status, health and COVID-19-related characteristics, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21); and preferences for mental health support services were collected by using a structured self-reported questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to identify associated factors with the demand for mental support services.Results13.9%, 17.1% and 8.6% reported having at least mild depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. There 13.9% did not seek any mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common support included talking with friends (52.9%), family (50.8%), colleagues (47.6%) and using social networks/Internet (43.5%). There 31.1% had been aware of mental health services, but only 18.0% used this service at least once. Regarding preferences, 47.3% had a demand for mental support services, and the most preferred service was providing coping skills (25.9%), followed by skills to support others against mental problems (22.2%). Major sources of support included psychiatrists (34.4%), colleagues (29.1%) and family (27.9%). The main preferred channels for support included telephone/mobile phone (35.7%) and Internet (20.9%). Only 12.3% were willing to provide mental support for colleagues during the pandemic. Age, education, perceived mental health status, ever seeking any mental service, and DASS-21 depression score were associated with demand for mental support services.ConclusionThis study found a lack of awareness of mental health services for health professionals, as well as moderate levels of demand for this service in this population. Raising awareness and developing tailored mental health support services are important to enhancing the mental well-being of health professionals in Vietnam to prepare for the next pandemic.

Since first being identified in 1999, disease outbreaks from Edwardsiella ictaluri remain a significant health challenge for the farmed catfish sector in Vietnam. To better understand the population structure of E. ictaluri circulating in Vietnamese striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) farms, this study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity of 83 E. ictaluri isolates recovered from natural disease outbreaks occurring in the Mekong Delta region between 2001 and 2021. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis resolved isolates into 15 pulsotypes following restriction digest with speI, with a Simpson’s diversity index of 0.8548. The genetic fingerprints of isolates recovered from recent outbreaks across different provinces were highly shared (100% similarity), suggesting clonal expansion within the production systems situated in the Mekong Delta region. Findings from this study also showed that E. ictaluri populations circulating this region have changed over time, as isolates recovered between 2001 and 2011 were genetically distinct from those recovered after 2017. Furthermore, isolates recovered after 2004 and 2010 lacked the virulence gene traD and a 5.8 Kb plasmid DNA fragment, respectively. Findings from this study illustrate the need for continued epidemiological monitoring of E. ictaluri to ensure prevention and treatment strategies in the Vietnamese striped catfish sector remain robust and effective.

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions.

Mpox was diagnosed in 2 women returning to Vietnam from the United Arab Emirates. The monkeypox viruses belonged to an emerging sublineage, A.2.1, distinct from B.1, which is responsible for the ongoing multicountry outbreak. Women could contribute to mpox transmission, and enhanced genomic surveillance is needed to clarify pathogen evolution.

With the development of image processing technology and video analysis technology, forest fire monitoring technology based on video recognition is more and more important in the field of forest fire prevention and control. The objects currently applied to forest fire video image monitoring system monitoring are mainly flames and smoke. This paper proposes a forest fire risk monitoring and early warning algorithm, which integrates a deep learning model, infrared monitoring and early warning, and forest fire weather index. The algorithm first obtains the current visible image and infrared image of the same forest area, utilizing a smoke detection model based on deep learning to detect smoke in the visible image, and obtains the confidence level of the occurrence of fire in said visible image. Then, it determines whether the local temperature value of said infrared image exceeds a preset warning value, and obtains a judgment result based on the infrared image. It calculates again a current FWI based on environmental data, and determines a current fire danger level based on the current FWI. Finally, it determines whether or not to carry out a fire warning based on said fire danger level, said confidence level of the occurrence of fire in said visible image, and said judgment result based on the infrared image. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the algorithm in this paper reaches 94.12%, precision is 96.1%, recall is 93.67, and F1-score is 94.87. The algorithm in this paper can improve the accuracy of smoke identification at the early stage of forest fire danger occurrence, especially by excluding the interference caused by clouds, fog, dust, and so on, thus improving the fire danger warning accuracy.

The valorization of shrimp wastes to develop advanced materials brings economic and environmental advantages. This paper presents a facile and eco-friendly synthesis of shrimp chitosan-derived carbon (CCS) and CCS/NiO@Ni(OH)2 (CSSN) aerogel nanocomposite for supercapacitor application, in which NiO and Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles were tightly attached to the porous surface of CCS aerogel. As a result, CCSN-300 aerogel carbonized at 300 °C has high porosity and electrical conductivity and demonstrates its potential as an active electrode material for supercapacitors. The CCSN-300 aerogel material electrode exhibits a high capacitance of 316 mAh g−1 at 1.0 A g−1. Furthermore, the CCS//CCSN-300 device had a capacitance of 209 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 and over 84% remaining after the 10,000 cycles. Moreover, it has a high energy density of 65 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 1500 W kg−1. The results demonstrate that chitosan-derived carbon composites hold great promise in high application efficiency for energy storage.

The paper examines the factors affecting the intentions of Can Tho residents to travel to Dalat as the COVID-19 pandemic is gradually brought under control. The data were collected from a survey of 213 Can Tho residents and analyzed with Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The results show that the intentions of Can Tho residents to travel to Dalat depend on four factors: (1) attitude toward Dalat tourism, (2) subjective norms, (3) perceived behavioral controls, and (4) perceived health risk. In particular, the attitudinal factor significantly influences Dalat travel intentions. Based on the research results, the article proposes four recommendations for managers, corresponding to the four influencing factors, to increase the intentions of Can Tho residents to travel to Dalat in the COVID-19 era.

Deaths from tuberculosis (TB) reached over 1.6 million in 2021 with 10.6 million people becoming ill. Multidrug-resistant TB, defined as the Mycobacterium tuberculosis organism having resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, represented 3.9% of new TB cases and 18% of previously treated cases. While new drug regimens continue to be developed and introduced to improve treatment of drug-resistant forms of TB, diagnostic capability to identify drug resistance lags woefully behind. While significant mortality benefits exist for these newer drug regimens, implementing them without proper drug resistance diagnostic capacity could lead to development of more drug resistances and exhaust these new therapeutic tools. Moving forward, the roll-out of new TB drugs and regimens must be paired with implementation of diagnostics to ensure judicious use of resources and the best chance for improving TB worldwide.

Terminalia catappa L. (TC) trees are grown in many parts of the world including Vietnam, their seeds have high lipids content used as feed, and the yield of Terminalia catappa L. seed oil (TCO) is high. A survey on Mus musculus L mice was conducted, in addition to the diet they were also given TCO daily to evaluate its safety and effects. Results after 72 h of use with the highest oral dose of 21780 mg/kg of mice, all instinctive behaviors of mice were normal, the survival rate was 100%, when increasing the oral dose to the weight of mice, there was a tendency of slight downward tend. Continuously given daily dose of 5445 mg/kg of mice for 14 and 28 days, no abnormalities affecting instinctive behaviors were detected, the weight of mice fluctuated but not much, Mouse death rate is 0%. Analysis results of blood physiological parameters including RBC (Red Blood Cell), HGB (Hemoglobin), HCT (Hematocrit), WBC (White Blood Cell), LYM (Lymphocyte), NEU (Neutrophil), PLT (Platelet Count) values are within the standard limits of healthy mice. Some other findings when prolonging the intake of TCO, the mouse coat was thick, soft, and smooth compared to the short time of 72-h use, the concentration of ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) decreased to the standard of healthy mice that can regulate liver enzymes to reduce liver damage. Creatinine levels related to kidney function are low, but when observing the microscopic liver and kidney tissue, no lesions or abnormalities are detected.

In this research, we have mainly focused on the controlled synthesis, and properties of micro/nanosized ferrite and hexaferrite powders by the polyol process. They are Fe3O4-type Sr-Fe-O oxide and SrFe12O19 with the structure and magnetic properties by SEM, XRD, and VSM measurements. After heat treatment, it was discovered that Sr element was gradually fully incorporated into Fe3O4 for the formation of the original hexaferrite structure of SrFe12O19 at 950°C.

We study the momentum-dependent dielectric function of barium titanateperovskite in the cubic phase. We perform first-principle calculations within the time-dependent density functional theory, including local effects. The results show that these effects play an important role on the high energy side of the obtained function.

Plasmonic photocatalytic nanocomposites of TiO2 and Au nanoparticles (NPs) have recently attracted the attention of researchers, who aim to improve the photocatalytic activity of potential TiO2 NPs. In this study, we report photocatalytic activity enhancement for a Au/TiO2 nanocomposite prepared by the plasma–liquid interaction method using an atmospheric microplasma apparatus. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the prepared Au/TiO2 is demonstrated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in water under both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light irradiation. The prior treatment of TiO2 with microplasma in a NH3 and H2O2 solution is found to strongly improve the photocatalytic activity of both the treated TiO2 NPs, as well as the synthesized Au/TiO2 nanocomposite.

Six lineages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis sensu stricto (which excludes M. africanum) are described. Single-country or small observational data suggest differences in clinical phenotype between lineages. We present strain lineage and clinical phenotype data from 12,246 patients from 3 low-incidence and 5 high-incidence countries. We used multivariable logistic regression to explore the effect of lineage on site of disease and on cavities on chest radiography, given pulmonary TB; multivariable multinomial logistic regression to investigate types of extra-pulmonary TB, given lineage; and accelerated failure time and Cox proportional-hazards models to explore the effect of lineage on time to smear and culture-conversion. Mediation analyses quantified the direct effects of lineage on outcomes. Pulmonary disease was more likely among patients with lineage(L) 2, L3 or L4, than L1 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.79, (95% confidence interval 1.49-2.15), p

A three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide/nickel-cobalt sulfide (RGO/NiCo2S4) aerogel was fabricated by an efficient and facile one-step hydrothermal approach. The NiCo2S4 needle-like structure consisted of many small nanoparticles well attached to the surface of the RGO sheet. The prepared aerogel had high porosity and conductivity. As an active electrode material for supercapacitors, the RGO/NiCo2S4 aerogel exhibited a large capacitance of 813 F g−1 at 1.5 A g−1. Besides, the asymmetric supercapacitor (RGO/NiCo2S4 aerogel//RGO) showed a Cs of 45.3 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 and a suitable remaining capacitance of over 84.3 % after 2000 cycles. The asymmetric supercapacitor had a high energy density of 40.3 Wh kg−1 at 375.0 W kg−1 and a power density of 26.2 kW kg−1 at 3.7 kWh kg−1, which suggests this device has great potential applications in energy storage.

Abstract Background The Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model is considered a platform for academic medical centers to expand their healthcare workforce capacity to medically underserved populations. It has been known as an effective solution of continuing medical education (CME) for healthcare workers that used a hub-and-spoke model to leverage knowledge from specialists to primary healthcare providers in different regions. In this study, we aim to explore the views of healthcare providers and hospital leaders regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of Project ECHO for pediatricians. Methods This qualitative study was conducted at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital and its satellite hospitals from July to December 2020. We conducted 39 in-depth interviews with hospital managers and healthcare providers who participated in online Project ECHO courses. A thematic analysis approach was performed to extract the qualitative data from in-depth interviews. Results Project ECHO shows high feasibility when healthcare providers find motivated to improve their professional knowledge. Besides, they realized the advantages of saving time and money with online training. Although the courses had been covered fully by the Ministry of Health’s fund, the participants said they could pay fees or be supported by the hospital’s fund. In particular, the expectation of attaining the CME-credited certificates after completing the course also contributes to the sustainability of the program. Project ECHO’s online courses should be improved if the session was better monitored with suitable time arrangements. Conclusions Project ECHO model is highly feasible, acceptable, and sustainable as it brings great benefits to the healthcare providers, and is appropriate with the policy theme of continuing medical education of the Ministry of Health. We recommend that further studies should be conducted to assess the impact of the ECHO program, especially for patient and community outcomes.

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.

Current research on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 mainly focuses on its nano- or micro-particle forms, which are difficult to recycle and apply in real engineering applications. This study aims to apply a small pilot of TiO2 in the ceramic form to remove carbamazepine (CBZ) from an aqueous solution under simulated sunlight. A high removal efficiency up to >99% was shown in a 5 mg L−1 CBZ solution after 6 h of irradiation with a total energy of 150.92 kJ. The kinetic degradation was not affected in an alkaline solution (at pH 7, pH 10, and pH 13) but was faster under acidic conditions (pH 2) in which CBZ existed in the protonated form. The presence of NO3− (10–50 mg L−1) slightly affected the photodegradation of CBZ while humic acid significantly reduced the photocatalytic activity. In addition, the presence of major ions in water also had a negative effect at concentrations between 10 and 50 mg L−1. The MS/MS was used to identify the transformation products of CBZ, and a possible degradation mechanism was proposed. The toxicity of CBZ and the by-products was primarily evaluated. The results showed that TiO2 ceramics show high reusability and stability with a photocatalytic performance of >95% and a mass loss of

Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae may be regarded as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly biosorbent for complex effluent treatment. The effect of pH, contact time, temperature, and silver concentration on metal removal from silver-containing synthetic effluents using Saccharomyces cerevisiae was examined. The biosorbent before and after biosorption process was analysed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and neutron activation analysis. Maximum removal of silver ions, which constituted 94–99%, was attained at the pH 3.0, contact time 60 min, and temperature 20 °C. High removal of copper, zinc, and nickel ions (63–100%) was obtained at pH 3.0–6.0. The equilibrium results were described using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm, while pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were applied to explain the kinetics of the biosorption. The Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order model fitted better experimental data with maximum adsorption capacity in the range of 43.6–108 mg/g. The negative Gibbs energy values pointed at the feasibility and spontaneous character of the biosorption process. The possible mechanisms of metal ions removal were discussed. Saccharomyces cerevisiae have all necessary characteristics to be applied to the development of the technology of silver-containing effluents treatment.

Actinidia latifolia and Actinidia deliciosa (kiwifruit) are two species with many applications in food and medicine. They are capable of growing and developing in Lam Dong province and similar temperate climates. This study assesses the effect of three plant growth regulators (NAA, IBA, and IAA) on the root formation of Actinidia latifolia cuttings. At the same time, seed germination and the effect of various soil and coir mixtures on the growth of kiwifruit seedlings were tested in the nursery. The results for the Actinidia latifolia cuttings after 60 days showed that NAA and IBA at 1.00% concentration gave the best results, with a rooting percentage of 76.67%, number of roots/cutting of 3.91, and length of roots/cutting of 5.65 cm for NAA. For IBA at 1.00% concentration, the rooting percentage was 66.67%, the number of roots/cutting was 2.43, and the length of roots/cutting was 4.42 cm. When using IAA, the concentration of 1.50% brought the best results, with a rooting percentage of 66.67%, number of roots/cutting of 2.81, and length of roots/cutting of 4.34 cm. The germination percentage of kiwifruit reached 81.00% after 25 days. The best growth of Actinidia deliciosa seedlings was in a media mixture of 25.00% soil and 75.00% coconut coir, with survival percentage, height of seedlings, and number of leaves/seedling of 96.00%, 5.02 cm, and 7.17 leaves, respectively, after 45 days.

AbstractTracking dialogue states to better interpret user goals and feed downstream policy learning is a bottleneck in dialogue management. Common practice has been to treat it as a problem of classifying dialogue content into a set of pre-defined slot-value pairs, or generating values for different slots given the dialogue history. Both have limitations on considering dependencies that occur on dialogues, and are lacking of reasoning capabilities. This paper proposes to track dialogue states gradually with reasoning over dialogue turns with the help of the back-end data. Empirical results demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in terms of joint belief accuracy for MultiWOZ 2.1, a large-scale human--human dialogue dataset across multiple domains.