This study aims to describe the diagnostic performance of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha-fetoprotein L3 isoform (AFP-L3), protein induced by vitamin K absence II (PIVKA-II), and combined biomarkers ...for non-B non-C hepatocellular carcinoma (NBNC-HCC). A total of 681 newly-diagnosed primary liver disease subjects (385 non-HCC, 296 HCC) who tested negativity for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV) enrolled in this study. At the cut-off point of 3.8 ng/mL, AFP helps to discriminate HCC from non-HCC with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.817 (95% confidence interval CI: 0.785-0.849). These values of AFP-L3 (cut-off 0.9%) and PIVKA-II (cut-off 57.7 mAU/mL) were 0.758 (95%CI: 0.725-0.791) and 0.866 (95%CI: 0.836-0.896), respectively. The Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) statistic identified the optimal model, including patients' age, aspartate aminotransferase, AFP, and PIVKA-II combination, which helps to classify HCC with better performance (AUC = 0.896, 95%CI: 0.872-0.920, P < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the optimal model reached 81.1% (95%CI: 76.1-85.4) and 83.2% (95%CI: 78.9-86.9), respectively. Further analyses indicated that AFP and PIVKA-II markers and combined models have good-to-excellent performance detecting curative resected HCC, separating HCC from chronic hepatitis, dysplastic, and hyperplasia nodules.
Using various chromatographic separations, three new acylated flavonoid glycosides, namely barringosides G-I (1-3), were isolated from the water-soluble extract of Barringtonia racemosa branches and ...leaves. The structure elucidation was performed by extensive analysis of the 1D and 2D NMR and HR-QTOF-MS data. Of the isolated compounds, barringoside I (3) showed moderate inhibitory effects on LPS-induced NO production in RAW264.7 cells with an IC
50
of 52.48 ± 1.04 µM.
Background:
Healthcare workers are frontline responders facing a disproportionate increase in occupational responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Added work-related stress among healthcare ...personnel may lead to personal and work-related repercussions, such as burnout or decreased quality of care for patients; however, little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the daily work and life of these workers. This study aimed to evaluate the personal and occupational impacts of the COVID-19 induced partial lockdown in Vietnam among hospital staff.
Methods:
A cross-sectional web-based study was carried out to collect demographic data and the personal and job impacts of respondents during the second week of national lockdown in April 2020. Snowball sampling technique was applied to recruit 742 hospital staff. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the validity of the instrument.
Results:
Of the 742 respondents, 21.2% agreed that “working attitude well-maintained,” followed by 16.1% of respondents who reported that there were “enough employees at work.” Only 3.2% of respondents agreed that “their work was appreciated by society.” Furthermore, healthcare workers in the central region were less likely to have experienced “Avoidance of disclosure and discrimination related to COVID-19” than other areas (Coef. = – 0.25, CI: −0.42 to −0.07). Being women also had a negative association with scores in “Avoidance of disclosure and discrimination related to COVID 19” domain (Coef. = −0.27, CI: −0.43 to −0.12) while having a positive association with “negative attitude towards working conditions” domain (Coef. = 0.19, CI: 0.09 to 0.3). In addition, working in administrative offices (Coef. = 0.20; 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.36) and infectious departments (Coef. = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.09 to 0.63) had a positive association with “Increased work pressure due to COVID 19” domain.
Conclusion:
These findings revealed marginal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work and life of hospital staff in Vietnam. Furthermore, this study highlighted the importance of implementing preventive strategies during the nationwide partial lockdown to manage hospital admissions and the burden on healthcare workers. Finally, this study characterizes targeted demographics that may benefit from appreciation by employers and society during a national pandemic.
Incineration plants for electricity generation have offered a solution to the challenges of domestic solid waste treatment in many countries. However, their emissions, fly ash (FA) and bottom ash ...(BA), have had a detrimental impact on environmental quality. This study investigated the morphology, element composition, and concentration of metals in FA and BA from municipal solid waste incineration plants using scanning electronic microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. It also evaluated the distribution ratios of metal species across five fractions: exchangeable, carbonate-bound, oxide-bound, organic-bound, and sulfide-bound, and residual. The total metal content in both FA and BA was comparable, with calcium having the highest concentration (28,170–135,130 mg·kg
dry weight) and silver having the lowest (5.26–19.3 mg·kg
dry weight). However, the percentage proportion of metals differed between the extracted fractions. Except for cadmium in FA, ecological risk assessment indicated low direct bioavailability and potential risk of metals in both FA and BA. These findings contribute to the hazard assessment of FA and BA generated from waste incinerators and provide a scientific basis for developing treatment techniques for this type of waste.
Nine cembranoid diterpenes 1–9, including four new compounds, crassumols D–G (1–4), were isolated from the methanol extract of the Vietnamese soft coral Lobophytum crassum. Spectroscopic methods were ...used to elucidate the structures of these compounds. Compound 5 exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)-induced nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) transcriptional activation in HepG2 cells and significantly inhibited the mRNA expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in a dose-dependent manner.
How teachers perform and react to the world-wide pandemic and how the epidemic affects an education system may also be used as new conditions to consider the way to enhance SDG4 in developing ...countries. Regarding that concern, this study investigated 294 teachers’ perspective on their teaching effectiveness and satisfaction during COVID-19. The findings underlined the significant roles of support from various stakeholders, school readiness toward digital transformation, and teachers’ anxiety over teacher satisfaction. Notably, teachers’ newly absorbed technological and pedagogical skills do elevate their teaching effectiveness but do not lead to higher satisfaction during the pandemic.
Children are susceptible to severe or fatal enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of EV71vac, an aluminium phosphate-adjuvanted inactivated ...EV71 vaccine in children aged 2–71 months.
We did a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial at five hospitals in Taiwan and two in Vietnam. Children aged 2–71 months were stratified by country and age, and randomly assigned (1:1) to receive two doses of EV71vac or placebo via intramuscular injection 56 days apart. Children aged 2–23 months received a third booster dose on day 366. The primary endpoint was the clinical efficacy of the total vaccinated cohort against EV71-associated diseases during the follow-up period, from 14 days after the second dose to when 15 cases of EV71 infections were confirmed in the per-protocol population. Our safety analysis included all participants who received at least one dose of EV71vac. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03865238, and is complete.
Between April 23 and Dec 25, 2019, of 3663 children assessed, 3061 were randomly assigned, of whom 3049 were vaccinated: 1521 children in the EV71vac group and 1528 in the placebo group. By May 20, 2021, our primary efficacy analysis included 2959 children, with 1476 children in the EV71vac group and 1483 children in the placebo group. The vaccine efficacy of EV71vac was 96·8% (95% CI 85·5–100) against EV71 associated diseases (p<0·0001). The percentage of participants who reported solicited adverse events were similar in both groups: 865 (56·9%) in the EV71vac group and 852 (55·8%) in the placebo group. Almost all reported solicited adverse events were mild and self-limited.
EV71vac is safe, well-tolerated, and highly effective in preventing EV71 associated diseases in children aged 2–71 months.
Medigen Vaccine Biologics and A+ Industrial Innovative R&D Program of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.
This paper investigates an attempt to stimulate autonomous practices among EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in Vietnam. While recent educational policies have advocated the development of ...learner autonomy in English language teaching and learning, approaches taken to support autonomy can sometimes be limited. In this paper, we reported the participation of one teaching colleague and twenty-six students in an action research project. Data sources included two rounds of interview and test between which a project work was conducted. Autonomy-supporting priorities included goal setting, planning, implementing and evaluation. The findings indicated that traditional pedagogy impacts on language learner autonomy to some extent. However, there was strong evidence that the development of project work can help Vietnamese learners to take greater control over their own learning. Pedagogical practices of autonomous learning through the use of project work in Vietnam and the region are suggested.
-derived products are expected to exhibit anti-diabetes properties. Natural dipterocarpol (1) was isolated from
collected in Quang Nam province, Vietnam; afterwards, 20 derivatives including 13 oxime ...esters (2 and 3a-3m) and 7 lactones (4, 5, 6a-6e) were semi-synthesised. Their inhibitory effects towards diabetes-related proteins were investigated experimentally (α-glucosidase) and computationally (3W37, 3AJ7, and PTP1B). Except for compound 2, the other 19 compounds (3a-3m, 4, 5, and 6a-6d) are reported for the first time, which were modified at positions C-3, C-24 and C-25 of the dipterocarpol
imidation, esterification, oxidative cleavage and lactonisation reactions. A framework based on docking-QSARIS combination was proposed to predict the inhibitory behaviour of the ligand-protein complexes. Enzyme assays revealed the most effective α-glucosidase inhibitors, which follow the order 5 (IC
of 2.73 ± 0.05 μM) > 6c (IC
of 4.62 ± 0.12 μM) > 6e (IC
of 7.31 ± 0.11 μM), and the computation-based analysis confirmed this,
, 5 (mass: 416.2 amu; polarisability: 52.4 Å
; DS: -14.9 kcal mol
) > 6c (mass: 490.1 amu; polarisability: 48.8 Å
; DS: -13.7 kcal mol
) > 6e (mass: 549.2 amu; polarisability: 51.6 Å
; DS: -15.2 kcal mol
). Further theoretical justifications predicted 5 and 6c as versatile anti-diabetic inhibitors. The experimental results encourage next stages for the development of anti-diabetic drugs and the computational strategy invites more relevant work for validation.
Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) is an ideal bone substitute with controllable bioresorption/biodegradation by changing its relative amount of hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ...compositions. This study investigated the effect of synthetic conditions on the physicochemical properties and the remineralization behaviors of BCP materials in artificial saliva (AS). BCPs were obtained under the sonochemical condition at pH of 5.0 (BCP_5), 7.0 (BCP_7), and 9.0 (BCP_9), and all were sintered at 800, 1000, and 1200 °C. The HA/β-TCP ratio of BCPs increased according to the pH increase during the synthesis process. BCP_5 sintered at 800 °C with the highest β-TCP contents demonstrated (1) fast neutralization capacity to prevent enamel from dissolving in acidic saliva and (2) remineralization ion supply, and (3) new apatite formation found in acidic AS, indicating its high potential remineralization agent for dental care applications.
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•BCPs synthesized at pH 5.0 with high β-TCP had fast neutralization capacity in acidic saliva and ion supply.•BCPs synthesized at pH 5.0 generated new apatite formation in acidic and neutral artificial saliva.•BCPs sintered at 800 and 1000 °C achieved better remineralization properties than 1200 °C.
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