Photocatalysts based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) were widely applied to solve environmental problems such as water and air pollution treatment. Currently, the application of these compounds for food ...packaging is increasing. This study prepared silver (Ag) doped TiO2 photocatalyst (Ag/TiO2) for the decomposition of gas ethylene (Eth), which is the main factor that causes fruits to over-ripen and damage or decay. It found that the doping of Ag could improve the optical property and light adsorption ability of Ag/TiO2 photocatalyst, which directly enhanced the photocatalytic decomposition of Eth performance.
Under visible light, Ag/TiO2 could depredate 91.2% of Eth, while the removal performance by using the original TiO2 was 43.9%. The increased initial concentration of Eth from 5 to 30 ppm could inhibit the photocatalytic efficiency of Ag/TiO2 from 98.6 to 69.2%. Besides, the relative humidity and gas flow rate are roles in the Eth decomposition process. The recycling experiment confirmed that Ag/TiO2 had good reusability with a slight loss in photocatalytic performance (18.6%) after ten cycles tested. The future protective application of Ag/TiO2 for food protection during storage and transportation is discussed. This work provides a potential method to remove gas ethylene, reduce the ripening process and extend the shelf life of fruits.
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This study aims to identify the elements that contribute to the digital competencies of primary school teachers working in the mountainous region of Northern Vietnam and assess the significance of ...these factors. The research sample consisted of 260 primary school teachers from this region. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multivariate regression methods are used. The results of this research indicate that seven characteristics have a substantial impact on the digital abilities of teachers: ability to incorporate digital technology into teaching, conditions for digital transformation in teaching and learning activities are found to be influential, ability to create digital resources is highlighted as an important factor, ability to select teaching content with opportunities for technology usage, professional development needs of teachers, school policy and ability to select digital resources. These results offer education administrators a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing primary teachers' digital competencies and enable them to implement strategic changes and prioritize each element. Moreover, this study provides a valuable reference for future researchers seeking to explore new research directions in this field and analyze the correlation between factors to propose solutions to develop digital competencies of primary school teachers suitable to specific contexts and conditions.
Traditionally produced fish sauce can contain significant amounts of histamine. In some instances, the histamine concentration may be well above the limit recommended by the Codex Alimentarius ...Commission. The aim of this study was to discover new bacterial strains capable of growing under the stressful environmental conditions of fish sauce fermentation and metabolizing histamine. In this study, 28 bacterial strains were isolated from Vietnamese fish sauce products based on their ability to grow at high salt concentrations (23% NaCl) and tested for their ability to degrade histamine. Strain TT8.5 showed the highest histamine-degradation (45.1 ± 0.2% of initially 5 mM histamine within 7 days) and was identified as Virgibacillus campisalis TT8.5. Its histamine-degrading activity was shown to be localized intracellularly and the enzyme is a putative histamine dehydrogenase. The strain exhibited optimal growth and histamine-degrading activity at 37°C, pH 7%, and 5% NaCl in halophilic archaea (HA) histamine broth. It also showed pronounced histamine-degrading activity in HA histamine broth when cultivated at temperatures of up to 40 °C as well as in the presence of up to 23% NaCl. After treatment with immobilized cells, 17.6–26.9% of the initial histamine in various fish sauce products were reduced within 24 h of incubation, while no significant changes in other parameters of fish sauce quality were observed after this treatment. Our results indicate that V. campisalis TT8.5 is of potential interest to be applied in histamine degradation of traditional fish sauce.
•28 bacterial strains were isolated from Vietnamese fish sauce products, in which the strain TT8.5 showed the highest histamine degrading efficiency and was identified as Virgibacillus campisalis TT8.5.•After treatment with immobilized cells of V. campisalis TT8.5, 17.6–26.9% of the initial histamine in various fish sauce products were reduced within 24 h of incubation.•Immobilized V. campisalis TT8.5 cells is of potential interest to be applied in histamine degradation of traditional fish sauce.
(1) Background: Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles have great potential for biomedical applications, including hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging. In this study, we aimed to identify the ...biological activity of nanoconjugates composed of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with alginate and curcumin (Fe3O4/Cur@ALG) in cancer cells. (2) Methods: The nanoparticles were evaluated for the biocompatibility and toxicity on mice. The MRI enhancement and hyperthermia capacities of Fe3O4/Cur@ALG were determined in both in vitro and in vivo sarcoma models. (3) Results: The results show that the magnetite nanoparticles exhibit high biocompatibility and low toxicity in mice at Fe3O4 concentrations up to 120 mg/kg when administered via intravenous injection. The Fe3O4/Cur@ALG nanoparticles enhance the magnetic resonance imaging contrast in cell cultures and tumor-bearing Swiss mice. The autofluorescence of curcumin also allowed us to observe the penetration of the nanoparticles into sarcoma 180 cells. In particular, the nanoconjugates synergistically inhibit the growth of sarcoma 180 tumors via magnetic heating and the anticancer effects of curcumin, both in vitro and in vivo. (4) Conclusions: Our study reveals that Fe3O4/Cur@ALG has a high potential for medicinal applications and should be further developed for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
A new spiroterpenoid, namely tinctorin (1), along with one known compound, norreticulatin (2), were isolated from the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum (Despr. ex Nyl.) Hale. Their structures were ...elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. The absolute configuration of 2 was established for the first time. Compound 1 was evaluated for its inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and found to be inactive.
Objectives
We investigated the characteristics of prophylactic antimicrobial use in clean and clean‐contaminated surgical procedures and assessed the efficacy of a prophylactic antimicrobial ...stewardship intervention at Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 354 patients who underwent either clean or clean‐contaminated surgical procedures at Thong Nhat Hospital. Eligible patients were classified with respect to three periods of intervention from 2017 to 2020. Data collection included surgical procedures, patient characteristics, and prophylactic antimicrobial usage. We determined the efficacy of antimicrobial stewardship intervention based on comparisons among the primary outcome (the appropriateness of prophylactic antimicrobials) and secondary outcomes (postoperative antimicrobial prophylaxis (AP) prolongation, length of postoperative hospital stay, and cost of antimicrobials).
Results
The mean age of patients in periods 1, 2, and 3 was 54.5 ± 16.6, 50.2 ± 16.5, and 52.8 ± 17.3 years, respectively, with an overall male/female ratio of 1.1/1. No significant differences were detected in basic patient characteristics during the three periods. Majority of the surgical procedures were clean (56%–59%) and scheduled (85%–86%). Prophylactic antimicrobial stewardship intervention enhanced AP appropriateness (by 12.7%, 12.7%, and 39.0% in periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively, p < 0.001), decreased postoperative prophylactic antimicrobial duration 3.0 (0–6), 1.5 (0–5), and 0.0 (0–1) days, respectively, p < 0.001, and reduced average antimicrobial expenses (p < 0.001).
Conclusions
The prophylactic antimicrobial stewardship interventions introduced at Thong Nhat Hospital had several positive impacts on the appropriateness of prophylactic antimicrobial use and treatment costs.
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children ,2 years of age. Little is known about RSV intra-host genetic diversity over the course of ...infection or about the immune pressures that drive RSV molecular evolution. We performed whole-genome deep-sequencing on 53 RSV-positive samples (37 RSV subgroup A and 16 RSV subgroup B) collected from the upper airways of hospitalized children in southern Vietnam over two consecutive seasons. RSV A NA1 and RSV B BA9 were the predominant genotypes found in our samples, consistent with other reports on global RSV circulation during the same period. For both RSV A and B, the M gene was the most conserved, confirming its potential as a target for novel therapeutics. The G gene was the most variable and was the only gene under detectable positive selection. Further, positively selected sites inG were found in close proximity to and in some cases overlapped with predicted glycosylation motifs, suggesting that selection on amino acid glycosylation may drive viral genetic diversity. We further identified hotspots and coldspots of intra-host genetic diversity in the RSV genome, some of which may highlight previously unknown regions of functional importance.
Six undescribed prenylated chalcones gagones A–F were isolated from the acetone fraction of Mansonia gagei heartwood. Their structures were unambiguously established based on spectroscopic analysis ...(HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR), as well as comparison to literature data. Their absolute configurations were elucidated using DP4 and electronic circular dichroism calculations. Isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and DPPH assay. All of the tested compounds exhibited better activity than that of acarbose (IC50 93.6 ± 0.5 μM). Among them, gagone D exhibited the highest α-glucosidase inhibitory with the IC50 value of 3.6 ± 0.4 μM. For antioxidant activity, gagones A–C, and E showed more active than that of ascorbic acid (IC50 30.2 ± 0.5 μM) with the IC50 values of 13.2 ± 0.7, 20.1 ± 0.4, 19.3 ± 0.5 and 12.8 ± 0.2 μM, respectively.
Six undescribed prenylated chalcones have been isolated from the acetone fraction of Mansonia gagei heartwood. Some isolated chalcones significantly exhibited α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and antioxidant activity. Display omitted
•Six undescribed chalcones were isolated from the acetone fraction of Mansonia gagei heartwood.•The stereochemistry was determined by using DP4 protocol and ECD calculations.•Their antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities were evaluated.
Recently, much attention has been paid to natural product-derived compounds for antidiabetic drug discovery. More recent studies are being focused on clarifying the bioactivity of plants and derived ...products. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-oxidant and antidiabetic activities of Clerodendrum inerme leaf extract (CILE) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.
C. inerme leaves were analyzed for preliminary phytochemical properties and the content of total phenolic and flavonoid were determined. In vitro anti-oxidant activity was measured using DPPH assay. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic model in mice was applied for in vivo study by the effect of CILE at two dose levels (343 and 686 mg/kg b.w.).
The results showed that C. inerme leaves contained the major constituents of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, triterpenes, and saponins. CILE exhibited the total polyphenol and flavonoid content with 120.458 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight and 4.494 mg hispidulin equivalent/g dry weight, respectively. The anti-oxidant activity of CILE was expressed with IC50 = 25.28 µg/mL. CILE at the doses of 343 mg/kg and 686 mg/kg after 7 d administration exerted a decrease in plasma glucose, protected the liver, kidneys against oxidation stress via increasing glutathione content in the liver, and reduced malondialdehyde content in the liver and kidneys. Pancreatic histological analysis in diabetic mice treated with CILE also showed the pancreatic β-cells regeneration via increasing the size and number of pancreatic islets.
These findings suggested that C. inerme leaves had potent antidiabetic and anti-oxidant activities. The results provide reliable scientific base, which is the premise for further research and development of CILE as supplements.
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