Tuberculosis transmission continues to be a major public health challenge. In this cluster-randomized, controlled trial conducted in Vietnam, active community-wide screening for tuberculosis over 4 ...years is shown to decrease the prevalence of tuberculosis.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental consequences of packaging. Businesses are under pressure not only from consumers but also from governments to use eco-friendly packaging ...for their products. However, what consumers perceive to be eco-friendly packaging is still unclear, especially in emerging markets. This study examines consumer perceptions of eco-friendly packaging in the context of packaged food products of Vietnam. The study involved a series of six focus group discussions conducted with a diverse range of consumers. The focus of the discussion was consumer perceptions of eco-friendly packaging, particularly whether or not consumers would adjust their purchase behaviours to be more environmentally friendly. The data analysis procedure was undertaken using inductive manual coding principles associated with interpretivist research. The results indicate that consumer perceptions of eco-friendly packaging can be categorised along three key dimensions: packaging materials, manufacturing technology and market appeal. While consumers have diverse perceptions of eco-friendly packaging, their knowledge is limited and more related to packaging materials (such as biodegradability and recyclability), and market appeal (such as attractive graphic design and good price). Consumers show little knowledge about manufacturing technologies but still desire an eco-friendly manufacturing process. Results also suggest that a consumer-defined eco-friendly package for food products should be visually appealing while satisfying consumers’ environmental expectations relating to packaging materials and manufacturing process. We therefore propose a consumer-initiated development of eco-friendly packaging that can be applied for sustainable packaging strategies.
Thematic map – Consumer perceptions of eco-friendly packaging. Display omitted
•Eco-friendly packaging is seen in three dimensions relating to materials, technology and appeal.•Packaging materials are used by consumers as cues to assess if a package is or is not eco-friendly.•Despite little knowledge, consumers express desire for eco-friendly manufacturing processes.•Market appeal of eco-friendly packaging is perceived as having attractive design and good price.•Consumers welcome eco-friendly packaging only if it satisfies market appeal criteria.
The liver is the only visceral organ in the body with a tremendous capacity to regenerate in response to insults that induce inflammation, cell death, and injury. Liver regeneration is a complicated ...process involving a well‐orchestrated activation of non‐parenchymal cells in the injured area and proliferation of undamaged hepatocytes. Furthermore, the liver has a Hepatostat, defined as adjustment of its volume to that required for homeostasis. Understanding the mechanisms that control different steps of liver regeneration is critical to informing therapies for liver repair, to help patients with liver disease. The Hippo signaling pathway is well known for playing an essential role in the control and regulation of liver size, regeneration, stem cell self‐renewal, and liver cancer. Thus, the Hippo pathway regulates dynamic cell fates in liver, and in absence of its downstream effectors YAP and TAZ, liver regeneration is severely impaired, and the proliferative expansion of liver cells blocked. We will mainly review upstream mechanisms activating the Hippo signaling pathway following partial hepatectomy in mouse model and patients, its roles during different steps of liver regeneration, metabolism, and cancer. We will also discuss how targeting the Hippo signaling cascade might improve liver regeneration and suppress liver tumorigenesis.
Case 1 tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative organism of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), on Jan 30, 2020, and remained in isolation ...until recovery. Screening of 79 individuals who had been in contact with these two patients (namely, family members in the same household and anyone who had been within 2 m of them) was initiated on Jan 31. On Feb 8, 2020, increased contact investigation was commenced among an additional 343 contacts of the people returning from China and the secondary cases diagnosed in Vinh Phuc, with screening of contacts of any suspected cases, and health workers providing direct medical care.
This paper contributes to the growing literature regarding the role of Information and Communication Technologies as well as Innovation on driving the level of carbon dioxide emissions and economic ...growth in context of the 21st conference of the Parties to the Climate convention (COP21). Drawing the data from 13 selected G-20 countries (including Argentina, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States) during the period of 15 years, our study achieves significant results. First, only five factors impede the carbon emissions namely energy price, foreign direct investment, technology, spending on innovation and trade openness while the remainder of determinants contribute to contamination of environment, including financial development. Second, when it comes to economic growth, information and communication technological and financial development are positive driving factors. Our results do reject the absence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) from our sample. Finally, our study empirically suggests that the work of controlling consumption of oil and environmentally friendly process including manufacture-trading in these economies will limit the amount of pollution.
•GDP per capita, energy consumption and financial development lead to an increase in CO2 emissions.•The effects of FDI, trade openness, and oil prices on CO2 emissions are negative following the pollution-halo hypothesis.•There is a negative relationship between ICT, innovation and CO2 emissions in these selected G20 countries.•To some extent, measures of ICTs and financial development tend to boost the economic growth in these countries.
Targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) provides survival benefits to a majority of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, resistance to TKI almost always develops ...after treatment. Although genetic and epigenetic alterations have each been shown to drive resistance to TKI in cell line models, clinical evidence for their contribution in the acquisition of resistance remains limited. Here, we employed liquid biopsy for simultaneous analysis of genetic and epigenetic changes in 122 Vietnamese NSCLC patients undergoing TKI therapy and displaying acquired resistance. We detected multiple profiles of resistance mutations in 51 patients (41.8%). Of those, genetic alterations in EGFR, particularly EGFR amplification (n = 6), showed pronounced genome instability and genome-wide hypomethylation. Interestingly, the level of hypomethylation was associated with the duration of response to TKI treatment. We also detected hypermethylation in regulatory regions of Homeobox genes which are known to be involved in tumor differentiation. In contrast, such changes were not observed in cases with MET (n = 4) and HER2 (n = 4) amplification. Thus, our study showed that liquid biopsy could provide important insights into the heterogeneity of TKI resistance mechanisms in NSCLC patients, providing essential information for prediction of resistance and selection of subsequent treatment.
We characterized the spatial distribution of drug-susceptible (DS) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) cases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, a major metropolis in southeastern Asia, and ...explored demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with local TB burden. Hot spots of DS and MDR TB incidence were observed in the central parts of Ho Chi Minh City, and substantial heterogeneity was observed across wards. Positive spatial autocorrelation was observed for both DS TB and MDR TB. Ward-level TB incidence was associated with HIV prevalence and the male proportion of the population. No ward-level demographic and socioeconomic indicators were associated with MDR TB case count relative to total TB case count. Our findings might inform spatially targeted TB control strategies and provide insights for generating hypotheses about the nature of the relationship between DS and MDR TB in Ho Chi Minh City and the wider southeastern region of Asia.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
Azole‐resistant environmental Aspergillus fumigatus presents a threat to public health but the extent of this threat in Southeast Asia is poorly described. We conducted environmental ...surveillance in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, collecting air and ground samples across key land‐use types, and determined antifungal susceptibilities of Aspergillus section Fumigati (ASF) isolates and azole concentrations in soils. Of 119 ASF isolates, 55% were resistant (or non‐wild type) to itraconazole, 65% to posaconazole and 50% to voriconazole. Azole resistance was more frequent in A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates (95%) than other ASF species (32%). Resistant isolates and agricultural azole residues were overrepresented in samples from cultivated land. cyp51A gene sequence analysis showed 38/56 resistant A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates carried known resistance mutations, with TR34/L98H most frequent (34/38).
Two new earthworm species, namely Amynthas rarus sp. nov. and Amynthas tayninhensis sp. nov., are described from Tay Ninh Province, southeastern Vietnam. Amynthas rarus sp. nov. is recognized by ...having male pores in xix, two pairs of spermathecal pores in 6/7/8, and genital markings paired in vii, viii, 18/19, and 19/20. Amynthas tayninhensis sp. nov. is distinguished by having a pair of spermathecal pores in 5/6, numerous genital markings in transverse lines in 17/18 including three surrounding male pores, and spermatheca with fully developed diverticula. The COI fragments are also provided for those two new species.
In agricultural production, abiotic stresses are known as the main disturbance leading to
negative impacts on crop performance. Research on elucidating plant defense mechanisms against the
stresses ...at molecular level has been addressed for years in order to identify the major contributors in
boosting the plant tolerance ability. From literature, numerous genes from different species, and from
both functional and regulatory gene categories, have been suggested to be on the list of potential candidates
for genetic engineering. Noticeably, enhancement of plant stress tolerance by manipulating
expression of Transcription Factors (TFs) encoding genes has emerged as a popular approach since
most of them are early stress-responsive genes and control the expression of a set of downstream target
genes. Consequently, there is a higher chance to generate novel cultivars with better tolerance to
either single or multiple stresses. Perhaps, the difficult task when deploying this approach is selecting
appropriate gene(s) for manipulation. In this review, on the basis of the current findings from molecular
and post-genomic studies, our interest is to highlight the current understanding of the roles of TFs
in signal transduction and mediating plant responses towards abiotic stressors. Furthermore, interactions
among TFs within the stress-responsive network will be discussed. The last section will be reserved
for discussing the potential applications of TFs for stress tolerance improvement in plants.
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