Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the etiologic agent of enzootic bovine leucosis. Our previous study showed the BLV existence in cattle kept in the Red River Delta Region of Vietnam. However, no ...positive samples were identified in beef cattle. Besides, information related to the BLV circulation in the remained parts of Vietnam is limited. Therefore, we tested the existence of BLV in 48 beef cattle kept in the Central Coast Regions. Nested PCR targeting the BLV-env-gp51 confirmed the prevalence of 14.6% in investigated regions. Phylogenetic analysis suggested the co-existence of genotypes 1 and 10. The close relationship between strains found in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and China was revealed suggesting the possibility of BLV transmission through the movement of live cattle.
The striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, is a freshwater and benthopelagic fish common in the Mekong River delta. Catfish constitute a valuable source of dietary protein. Therefore, they are ...cultured worldwide, and P. hypophthalmus is a food staple in the Mekong area. However, genetic information about the culture stock, is unavailable for breeding improvement, although genetics of the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, has been reported. To acquire genome sequence data as a useful resource for marker-assisted breeding, we decoded a draft genome of P. hypophthalmus and performed comparative analyses.
Using the Illumina platform, we obtained both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular phylogeny using the mitochondrial genome confirmed that P. hypophthalmus is a member of the family Pangasiidae and is nested within a clade including the families Cranoglanididae and Ictaluridae. The nuclear genome was estimated at approximately 700 Mb, assembled into 568 scaffolds with an N50 of 14.29 Mbp, and was estimated to contain ~ 28,600 protein-coding genes, comparable to those of channel catfish and zebrafish. Interestingly, zebrafish produce gadusol, but genes for biosynthesis of this sunscreen compound have been lost from catfish genomes. The differences in gene contents between these two catfishes were found in genes for vitamin D-binding protein and cytosolic phospholipase A
, which have lost only in channel catfish. The Hox cluster in catfish genomes comprised seven paralogous groups, similar to that of zebrafish, and comparative analysis clarified catfish lineage-specific losses of A5a, B10a, and A11a. Genes for insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling were conserved between the two catfish genomes. In addition to identification of MHC class I and sex determination-related gene loci, the hypothetical chromosomes by comparison with the channel catfish demonstrated the usefulness of the striped catfish genome as a marker resource.
We developed genomic resources for the striped catfish. Possible conservation of genes for development and marker candidates were confirmed by comparing the assembled genome to that of a model fish, Danio rerio, and to channel catfish. Since the catfish genomic constituent resembles that of zebrafish, it is likely that zebrafish data for gene functions is applicable to striped catfish as well.
Prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF) induces luteolysis in cow by inducing a rapid reduction in progesterone production (functional luteolysis) followed by tissue degeneration (structural luteolysis). However ...the mechanisms of action of PGF remain unclear. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in regulating the luteolytic action of PGF. The local concentration of ROS is controlled by superoxide dismutase (SOD), the main enzyme involved in the control of intraluteal ROS. Thus SOD seems to be involved in luteolysis process induced by PGF in cow.
To determine the dynamic relationship between PGF and ROS in bovine corpus luteum (CL) during luteolysis, we determined the time-dependent change of Copper/Zinc SOD (SOD1) in CL tissues after PGF treatment in vivo. We also investigated whether PGF and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) modulates SOD1 expression and SOD activity in cultured bovine luteal endothelial cells (LECs) in vitro.
Following administration of a luteolytic dose of PGF analogue (0 h) to cows at the mid-luteal stage, the expression of SOD1 mRNA and protein, and total SOD activity in CL tissues increased between 0.5 and 2 h, but fell below the initial (0 h) level at 24 h post-treatment. In cultured LECs, the expression of SOD1 mRNA was stimulated by PGF (1-10 microM) and H2O2 (10-100 microM) at 2 h (P<0.05). PGF and H2O2 increased SOD1 protein expression and total SOD activity at 2 h (P<0.05), whereas PGF and H2O2 inhibited SOD1 protein expressions and total SOD activity at 24 h (P<0.05). In addition, H2O2 stimulated PGF biosynthesis at 2 and 24 h in bovine LECs. Overall results indicate that, SOD is regulated by PGF and ROS in bovine LECs. SOD may play a role in controlling intraluteal PGF and ROS action during functional and structural luteolysis in cows.
Since deep learning was introduced, a series of achievements has been published in the field of automatic machine translation (MT). However, Korean-Vietnamese MT systems face many challenges because ...of a lack of data, multiple meanings of individual words, and grammatical diversity that depends on context. Therefore, the quality of Korean-Vietnamese MT systems is still sub-optimal. This paper discusses a method for applying Named Entity Recognition (NER) and Part-of-Speech (POS) tagging to Vietnamese sentences to improve the performance of Korean-Vietnamese MT systems. In terms of implementation, we used a tool to tag NER and POS in Vietnamese sentences. In addition, we had access to a Korean-Vietnamese parallel corpus with more than 450K paired sentences from our previous research paper. The experimental results indicate that tagging NER and POS in Vietnamese sentences can improve the quality of Korean-Vietnamese Neural MT (NMT) in terms of the Bi-Lingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) and Translation Error Rate (TER) score. On average, our MT system improved by 1.21 BLEU points or 2.33 TER scores after applying both NER and POS tagging to the Vietnamese corpus. Due to the structural features of language, the MT systems in the Korean to Vietnamese direction always give better BLEU and TER results than translation machines in the reverse direction.
Introduction
The prevalence of mental health disorders among people who use drugs is high and well documented. This hard‐to‐reach population faces a very low awareness and access to mental health ...care, especially in developing countries. The objectives of this study were to design and assess a quick screening tool (QST) that community‐based organisations (CBO) could routinely apply to a Vietnamese population of people who inject drugs (PWID), in order to refer them appropriately to mental health specialists.
Methods
We devised a tool that included nine questions covering anxiety, depression, suicide risk and psychotic symptomatology. Its use required no specific background and 2 h training. Specificity and sensitivity of the QST were assessed in a population of 418 PWID recruited via respondent driven sampling, using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview questionnaire plus clinical evaluation as a reference standard. Acceptability was assessed using a self‐administered anonymous questionnaire submitted to all CBO members who used the QST.
Results
CBO members considered the QST easy to use, relevant and helpful to deal with mental health issues. Area under the curve for detection of any symptom using the QST was 0.770. The maximum sensitivity and specificity were reached with a cut‐off of 2 sensitivity was 71.1% (95% confidence interval 62.4, 78.8), specificity was 75.9% (70.5, 80.7).
Discussion and Conclusions
The QST appeared to be both efficient and well accepted. Given the burden of mental health problems among hard‐to‐reach PWID in developing countries, community‐based screenings such as this one could be a particularly appropriate response.
Objectives
The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with a strictly undetectable viral load (VL) using a routine sensitive real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) technology.
...Methods
From a large prospective cohort, 1392 patients with a VL < 50 HIV‐1 RNA copies/mL while receiving a three‐drug suppressive regimen for at least 1 year were included in a cross‐sectional analysis. Patients were classified into three groups and compared by univariate and multivariate analysis: 479 patients with a strictly undetectable VL (group 1; 34%), 617 patients with detectable VL below the threshold of 20 copies/mL (group 2; 44%), and 296 patients with a VL of 20–50 copies/mL (group 3; 12%).
Results
Comparing groups 1 and 2, VL zenith < 5 log10 copies/mL odds ratio (OR) 1.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–1.99; P = 0.003, current CD4 T‐cell count < 500 cells/μL (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.08–1.92; P = 0.01), and duration of viral suppression < 50 copies/mL longer than 2 years (OR 2.32; 95% CI 1.20–4.54; P = 0.01) were associated with undetectable VL. Comparing groups 1 and 3, VL zenith < 5 log10 copies/mL (OR 2.48; 95% CI 1.75–3.50; P < 0.001), duration of viral suppression < 50 copies/mL longer than 1 year (OR 3.33; 95% CI 1.66–6.66; P = 0.0006), and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)‐based regimens (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.03–2.04; P = 0.03) were associated with undetectable VL. No individual drug effect was found within NNRTI molecules.
Conclusions
Longer duration of viral suppression < 50 copies/mL, lower viral load zenith and NNRTI‐based regimen were independently associated with a strictly undetectable viral load. This routinely used RT‐PCR assay may prove to be a valuable tool in further large‐scale studies.
Vietnamese Yellow cattle are native cattle well adapted to local tropical environment. The aim of this study was to investigate genetic characteristics of the Yellow cattle using molecular markers. ...We investigated the nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA and SRY gene on Y chromosome, and genotyped SREBP‐1, SCD1, EDG1, NCAPG, DGAT1, MC1R, and HSP70 genes in the Yellow cattle population. The sequence analysis of the mitochondrial DNA showed that most of the cattle possesses zebu (Bos indicus) type I1 haplotype, suggesting relatively low genetic diversity in maternal lineage. The sequence analysis of the SRY gene indicates that while most of the males possess zebu type haplotype, taurine (Bos taurus) type haplotype was also observed, suggesting gene‐flow from taurine cattle. The results of the genotyping of the functional genes showed that the NCAPG, SCD, MC1R, and HsSP70 genes are polymorphic in the population, whereas the SREBP‐1, EDG1, and DGAT1 genes are monomorphic. Particularly, the presence of the desirable and undesirable alleles of the NCAPG and HSP70 genes, respectively, will be important for the selection of animals by potential performances in meat productivity and fertility. The present findings will be informative for future conservation and breeding of the Vietnamese Yellow cattle.
Display omitted
•Shiff base GMA-I as a novel effective UV-absorber for ink platform.•Extra high molar absorption coefficient of 43,554 M−1 cm−1.•High thermal stability up to 271.4 °C with a melting ...point of 137.59 °C.•Highly UV protection additive for ink platform with a low content of 2 wt%
Schiff base is a diverse group of organic compounds and has potential as a UV absorber for ink systems due to its high UV protection, simple synthesis, and high dispersion in organic matrices. In this work, a novel Schiff base α-(4-(2,3-dihydroxylpropoxy)phenylimino)-o-cresol (named GMA-I) was synthesized and investigated as a UV absorber for ink system. The UV-protection of GMA-I was evaluated on ink-coated duplex substrate samples via color measurement using an accelerated UV test chamber. The results showed that the GMA-I exhibited strong absorption in both UVA and UVB regions with an extra high molar absorption coefficient of 43,554 M−1 cm−1, and high thermal stability of 271.4 °C. Interestingly, the GMA-I showed high UV protection for ink platform at low content of 2 wt% thank to the intramolecular proton transfer mechanism and therefore potential as a UV absorber additive for ink systems.
PDF
