Hospital effluents represent an important source for the release of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria into the environment. This study aims to determine concentrations of various ...antibiotics in wastewater before and after wastewater treatment in a rural hospital (60 km from the center of Hanoi) and in an urban hospital (in the center of Hanoi) in Vietnam, and it aims to explore the relationship between antibiotic concentrations in wastewater before wastewater treatment and quantities of antibiotics used in the rural hospital, over a period of one year in 2013. Water samples were collected using continuous sampling for 24 h in the last week of every month. The data on quantities of antibiotics delivered to all inpatient wards were collected from the Pharmacy department in the rural hospital. Solid-phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were used for chemical analysis. Significant concentrations of antibiotics were present in the wastewater both before and after wastewater treatment of both the rural and the urban hospital. Ciprofloxacin was detected at the highest concentrations in the rural hospital's wastewater (before treatment: mean = 42.8 µg/L; after treatment: mean = 21.5 µg/L). Metronidazole was detected at the highest concentrations in the urban hospital's wastewater (before treatment: mean = 36.5 µg/L; after treatment: mean = 14.8 µg/L). A significant correlation between antibiotic concentrations in wastewater before treatment and quantities of antibiotics used in the rural hospital was found for ciprofloxacin (r = 0.78; p = 0.01) and metronidazole (r = 0.99; p < 0.001).
Comprehensive profiling of actionable mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is vital to guide targeted therapy, thereby improving the survival rate of patients. Despite the high incidence ...and mortality rate of NSCLC in Vietnam, the actionable mutation profiles of Vietnamese patients have not been thoroughly examined. Here, we employed massively parallel sequencing to identify alterations in major driver genes (EGFR, KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, ALK and ROS1) in 350 Vietnamese NSCLC patients. We showed that the Vietnamese NSCLC patients exhibited mutations most frequently in EGFR (35.4%) and KRAS (22.6%), followed by ALK (6.6%), ROS1 (3.1%), BRAF (2.3%) and NRAS (0.6%). Interestingly, the cohort of Vietnamese patients with advanced adenocarcinoma had higher prevalence of EGFR mutations than the Caucasian MSK-IMPACT cohort. Compared to the East Asian cohort, it had lower EGFR but higher KRAS mutation prevalence. We found that KRAS mutations were more commonly detected in male patients while EGFR mutations was more frequently found in female. Moreover, younger patients (<61 years) had higher genetic rearrangements in ALK or ROS1. In conclusions, our study revealed mutation profiles of 6 driver genes in the largest cohort of NSCLC patients in Vietnam to date, highlighting significant differences in mutation prevalence to other cohorts.
The under-representation of several ethnic groups in existing genetic databases and studies have undermined our understanding of the genetic variations and associated traits or diseases in many ...populations. Cost and technology limitations remain the challenges in performing large-scale genome sequencing projects in many developing countries, including Vietnam. As one of the most rapidly adopted genetic tests, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) data offers an alternative untapped resource for genetic studies. Here we performed a large-scale genomic analysis of 2683 pregnant Vietnamese women using their NIPT data and identified a comprehensive set of 8,054,515 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, among which 8.2% were new to the Vietnamese population. Our study also revealed 24,487 disease-associated genetic variants and their allele frequency distribution, especially 5 pathogenic variants for prevalent genetic disorders in Vietnam. We also observed major discrepancies in the allele frequency distribution of disease-associated genetic variants between the Vietnamese and other populations, thus highlighting a need for genome-wide association studies dedicated to the Vietnamese population. The resulted database of Vietnamese genetic variants, their allele frequency distribution, and their associated diseases presents a valuable resource for future genetic studies.
Developing a simple structure using low-cost material that enables both large-scale fabrication and broadband absorption response is highly desirable but very challenging for achieving ...high-performance metamaterial absorber. Herein, we propose and numerically investigate an ultra-broadband and wide-angle insensitive perfect metamaterial absorber in the ultraviolet to near-infrared (UV–NIR) region based on a simple metal–dielectric–metal structure. The proposed absorber structure consists of a periodic array of a tungsten hexagonal prism and a tungsten ground plane separated by a silicon dioxide dielectric substrate. The proposed absorber achieves an ultra-broadband absorption response in the range of 275–1000 nm with an absorptivity above 90
%
and a relative bandwidth of 106.8
%
at normal incidence, which covers from the UV to NIR region. The absorption efficiency is maintained with the figure of merit
η
OBW
higher than 90
%
for a wide incident angle up to 40
o
for transverse electric (TE) polarization and 65
o
for transverse magnetic (TM) polarization. The effects of structural parameters and different metallic materials on the absorption performance are presented. In addition, the physical mechanism is analyzed using the surface density and distributions of electric and magnetic fields that are attributed to both localized surface plasmon (LSP) and propagating surface plasmon (PSP) resonances. Owing to outstanding merits of simple structure, low cost, and high absorption performance, the designed absorber can be suitable for many applications in the UV–NIR spectrum such as thermal emitters and solar cells.
The environmental spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been recognised as a growing public health threat for which hospitals play a significant role. The aims of this study were to investigate ...the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in
isolates from hospital wastewater in Vietnam. Wastewater samples before and after treatment were collected using continuous sampling every month over a year. Standard disk diffusion and E-test were used for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production was tested using combined disk diffusion. ARGs were detected by polymerase chain reactions. Resistance to at least one antibiotic was detected in 83% of isolates; multidrug resistance was found in 32%. The highest resistance prevalence was found for co-trimoxazole (70%) and the lowest for imipenem (1%). Forty-three percent of isolates were ESBL-producing, with the
gene being more common than
Co-harbouring of the
,
and
genes was found in 46% of isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin. The large presence of antibiotic-resistant
isolates combined with ARGs in hospital wastewater, even post-treatment, poses a threat to public health. It highlights the need to develop effective processes for hospital wastewater treatment plants to eliminate antibiotic resistant bacteria and ARGs.
A simple design of a broadband multifunctional polarization converter using an anisotropic metasurface for X-band application is proposed. The proposed polarization converter consists of a periodic ...array of the two-corner-cut square patch resonators based on the FR-4 substrate that achieves both cross-polarization and linear-to-circular polarization conversions. The simulated results show that the polarization converter displays the linear cross-polarization conversion in the frequency range from 8 to 12 GHz with the polarization conversion efficiency above 90%. The efficiency is kept higher than 80% with wide incident angle up to 45°. Moreover, the proposed design achieves the linear-to-circular polarization conversion at two frequency bands of 7.42-7.6 GHz and 13-13.56 GHz. A prototype of the proposed polarization converter is fabricated and measured, showing a good agreement between the measured and simulated results. The proposed polarization converter exhibits excellent performances such as simple structure, multifunctional property, and large cost-efficient bandwidth and wide incident angle insensitivity in the linear cross polarization conversion, which can be useful for X-band applications. Furthermore, this structure can be extended to design broadband polarization converters in other frequency bands.
We report a facile design of an ultra-thin broadband metamaterial absorber (MA) for C-band applications by utilizing a single layer of a metal-dielectric-metal structure of FR-4 substrate. The ...absorption performances are characterized using a numerical method. The proposed MA exhibits the broadband absorption response over the entire C-band spectrum range from 4.0 GHz to 8.0 GHz with absorptivity above 90% and the high absorptivity is remained over 80% for a large incident angle up to 40° under both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarizations over the band. The origin of absorption mechanism is explained by the electric and surface current distributions, which is also supported by the retrieved constitutive electromagnetic parameters, significantly affected by magnetic resonance. In addition, compared with the previous reports, the proposed MA presents a greater practical feasibility in term of low-profile and wide incident angle insensitivity, suggesting that the proposed absorber is a promising candidate for C-band applications.
Abstract
In this study, the impacts of different augmented observations on forecasts of Typhoon Wutip’s (2013) formation are examined. Using the local ensemble transformed Kalman filter (LETKF) ...implemented for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, it is found that the prediction of Wutip’s formation location and timing is strongly governed by the strength of a monsoon trough that extends from the Bay of Bengal to the Philippine Sea. By properly capturing the strength of the monsoon trough after assimilating augmented observations available during Wutip’s early stage, the WRF Model could provide better forecasts of Wutip’s formation location and timing as compared to the forecasts initialized directly from global model analyses. Among different types of augmented observations, the satellite atmospheric motion wind vector (AMV) maintained by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) appears to be the most critical in enhancing the large-scale representation of the monsoon trough. The benefit of augmented observations in Wutip’s formation forecast is most apparent at about 36 h prior to the observed formation time. At the shorter 24-h lead time, there is, however, no clear benefit of augmented observations in predicting the timing and the location of Wutip’s formation due to better global analyses. The results obtained in this study demonstrate the vital role of the CIMSS-AMV data in improving the large-scale environment required for TC formation that one should take into account for real-time TC forecasts.
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.
The existing literature has focused on the exclusive relationship between institutional logics that are perceived as competing. The current study argues that multiple logics can co-exist in a blended ...relationship. The purpose of this study is to shed light on such a blended relationship between the alleged competing logics through the analysis of the institutional demands prescribed for artisan product innovation. A qualitative study with 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews as the main data source was conducted in Bát Tràng, a local artisan ceramic community in Hanoi, Vietnam. This exploratory study reveals that institutional logics show the mutual intersection of some attributes that pave for the existence of the blended relationship. In other words, the mutual intersection of two logics permits the agents to traverse such a blurry boundary between these two logics without incurring institutional conflicts. This study also offers future research agenda in an established literature of institutional logics.
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