Search

After several international outbreaks of infectious diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, all World Health Organization (WHO) Member States, including Vietnam, agreed to comply with the revised International [...]

A homogeneous model for prediction of the longitudinal distributions of pressure, velocity, and void fraction for two-phase bubbly flow in horizontal pipes is presented. The mixture flow is described by a system of two nondimensional ordinary differential equations that can be integrated numerically to yield the distributions of the flow variables along the pipe. The viscosity of the two-phase mixture is assumed to vary with the void fraction according to a polynomial form. Experimental data were obtained for a range of air-water bubbly flow in a horizontal pipe. Prediction of pressure distributions along the pipe compares favorably with experimental data, while prediction of void fraction distributions can be achieved with moderate accuracy. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2953226] Keywords: bubbly flow, homogeneous model void fraction, pressure distribution, mixture viscosity

Introduction: Hospitals are a key source of information for the early identification of emerging disease outbreaks and acute public health events for risk assessment, decision-making and public health response. The objective of this study was to identify potential facilitators and barriers for event reporting from the curative sector to the preventive medicine sector in Viet Nam. Methods: In 2016, we conducted 18 semi-structured, in-depth interviews, as well as nine focus group discussions, with representatives from the curative and preventive medicine sectors in four provinces. We transcribed the interviews and focus group discussions and used thematic analysis to identify the factors that appeared to affect public health event reporting. Results: We identified five major themes. First, the lack of a legal framework to guide reporting meant hospital staff relied on internal procedures that varied from hospital to hospital, which sometimes delayed reporting. Second, participants stated the importance of an enabling environment, such as leadership support and having focal points for reporting, to facilitate reporting. Third, participants described the potential benefits of reporting, such as support provided during outbreaks and information received about local outbreaks. Fourth, some challenges prohibited timely reporting such as not perceiving reporting to be the task of the curative sector and hesitancy to report without laboratory confirmation. Finally, limited resources and specialist capacities in remote areas hindered timely detection and reporting of unusual events. Discussion: This study identified potential opportunities to promote the detection and reporting of unusual events from health-care workers to the public health sector, and thus to improve the overall health security system in Viet Nam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]