BACKGROUND: Hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a disease of public health importance across the Asia-Pacific region. The disease is caused by enteroviruses (EVs), in particular enterovirus A71 ...(EV-A71). In EV-A71-associated HFMD, the infection is sometimes associated with severe manifestations including neurological involvement and fatal outcome. The availability of a robust diagnostic assay to distinguish EV-A71 from other EVs is important for patient management and outbreak response. METHODS: We developed and validated an internally controlled one-step single-tube real-time RT-PCR in terms of sensitivity, linearity, precision, and specificity for simultaneous detection of EVs and EV-A71. Subsequently, the assay was then applied on throat and rectal swabs sampled from 434 HFMD patients. RESULTS: The assay was evaluated using both plasmid DNA and viral RNA and has shown to be reproducible with a maximum assay variation of 4.41 % and sensitive with a limit of detection less than 10 copies of target template per reaction, while cross-reactivity with other EV serotypes was not observed. When compared against a published VP1 nested RT-PCR using 112 diagnostic throat and rectal swabs from 112 children with a clinical diagnosis of HFMD during 2014, the multiplex assay had a higher sensitivity and 100 % concordance with sequencing results which showed EVs in 77/112 (68.8 %) and EV-A71 in 7/112 (6.3 %). When applied to clinical diagnostics for 322 children, the assay detected EVs in throat swabs of 257/322 (79.8 %) of which EV-A71 was detected in 36/322 (11.2 %) children. The detection rate increased to 93.5 % (301/322) and 13.4 % (43/322) for EVs and EV-A71, respectively, when rectal swabs from 65 throat-negative children were further analyzed. CONCLUSION: We have successfully developed and validated a sensitive internally controlled multiplex assay for rapid detection of EVs and EV-A71, which is useful for clinical management and outbreak control of HFMD.
Rapid expansion of unsustainable farming practices in upland areas of Southeast Asia threatens food security and the environment. This study assessed alternative agroforestry systems for sustainable ...land management and livelihood improvement in northwest Vietnam. The performance of fruit tree-based agroforestry was compared with that of sole cropping, and farmers’ perspectives on agroforestry were documented. After seven years, longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)-maize-forage grass and son tra (Docynia indica (Wall.) Decne)-forage grass systems had generated 2.4- and 3.5-fold higher average annual income than sole maize and sole son tra, respectively. Sole longan gave no net profit, due to high investment costs. After some years, competition developed between the crop, grass, and tree components, e.g., for nitrogen, and the farmers interviewed reported a need to adapt management practices to optimise spacing and pruning. They also reported that agroforestry enhanced ecosystem services by controlling surface runoff and erosion, increasing soil fertility and improving resilience to extreme weather. Thus, agroforestry practices with fruit trees can be more profitable than sole-crop cultivation within a few years. Integration of seasonal and fast-growing perennial plants (e.g., grass) is essential to ensure quick returns. Wider adoption needs initial incentives or loans, knowledge exchange, and market links.
In this work, we proposed to synthesize CuFe
2
O
4
/Fe
2
O
3
core-shell materials with different Fe
2
O
3
contents in order to create new and efficient photo-Fenton-like catalysts for the degradation ...of methylene blue with oxalic acid as a radical-producing source. The catalysts were prepared through two stages: first, CuFe
2
O
4
was prepared by a hydroxide coprecipitation - annealing method and then, Fe
2
O
3
was immobilized on CuFe
2
O
4
surface by a simple impregnation - annealing procedure. According to the experimental results, our CuFe
2
O
4
/Fe
2
O
3
core-shell materials exhibit high photo-Fenton-like catalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue under both UVA light and visible light, as well as good ferromagnetic properties, which allows them to be easily separated from the solution by a magnet. Among them, the catalyst prepared with the molar CuFe
2
O
4
/Fe
2
O
3
ratio of 1:2 showed the best catalytic performance with the rate constant of 2.103 h
-1
under UVA light and 0.542 h
-1
under visible light, which were 2 times higher than CuFe
2
O
4
sample. The enhanced catalytic activities of our core-shell materials can be attributed to the high content of surface Fe
3+
species, high specific surface area and the presence of rod-like Fe
2
O
3
particles on their surface.
The aim of this study is to determine the suitable conditions for enzyme-assisted hydrolysis and the production of instant tea from hydrolysed ginger. Several parameters of ginger hydrolysis were ...investigated, such as the enzyme concentration from 0.1 to 0.4 g/100 g ginger powder (w/w), material/water ratios of 1/10; 1/15; 1/20; and 1/25 (w/w), pH from 3.5 to 5.0; temperature of hydrolysis process from 45 to 60°C, and time of hydrolysis process from 90 to 150 min. Subsequently, the hydrolysed ginger was spray-dried to produce instant products with surveyed parameters, including the maltodextrin concentration from 15 to 35 g/100 g ginger extraction, feed flow rates from 120 to 600 mL/h, and the temperatures of spray drying from 120 to 150°C. The suitable parameters for enzyme-assisted hydrolysis and production of instant tea were determined, including enzyme concentration as 0.2 g/100 g ginger powder (w/w), material/water ratio as 1/10 (w/w), pH at 5.0, temperature process as 55°C, the time of hydrolysis process as 120 min, the maltodextrin concentration as 15 g/100 g extraction (w/w), feed flow rate as 240 mL h
, and the inlet temperature as 140°C. Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of the product were identified with moisture content as 2.36 ± 0.09%, total phenolic content as 98.34 ± 0.59 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW, and IC
value as 1,082 µgAA/mL.
Elucidation of the rice genome will not only broaden our understanding of genetic characterization of the agronomic characteristics but also facilitate the rice genetic improvement through marker ...assisted breeding. However, the genome resources of aromatic rice varieties are largely unexploited. Therefore, the whole genome of two elite aromatic traditional japonica rice landraces in North Vietnam, Tam Xoan Bac Ninh (TXBN), and Tam Xoan Hai Hau (TXHH), was sequenced to identify their genome-wide polymorphisms. Overall, we identified over 40,000 novel polymorphisms in each aromatic rice landrace. Although a discontinuous 8-bp deletion and an A/T SNP just upstream the 5-bp deletion in exon 7 of BADH2 gene were present in both rice landraces, the number of SNP high resolution regions of TXBN was six times higher than that of TXHH. Furthermore, several hot spot regions of novel SNPs and indels were found in both genomes, providing their potential gene pools related to aroma formation. The genomic information of two aromatic rice landraces described in this study will facilitate the identification of fragrance-related genes and the genetic improvement of rice.
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the use of in-laboratory positive airway pressure (PAP) titration studies was not routinely suggested. PAP pressure prediction calculations are emerging as alternative ...methods for the treatment of these patients. The underestimation of PAP titration pressure usually leads to unsatisfactory results for PAP therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with the underestimation of PAP titration pressure when using PAP pressure prediction equations. Estimated PAP pressure formulas based on body mass index (BMI) and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) were chosen to validate the accuracy of equations in the successful prediction of titration pressure. Among 341 adult patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by overnight polysomnography (PSG) and who received overnight PAP titration in order to select a successful pressure, the mean age of the total subjects was 55.4 years old and 78.9% of patients were male. The average BMI and AHI scores were 27.1 ± 4.8 and 37 ± 21.7, respectively. After multivariate stepwise regression analysis, the odds ratio of participants with a pretitration AHI was 1.017 (95% CI: 1.005-1.030). Only the severity of OSA was significantly different between the underestimated group and the adequately assessed group. In conclusion, a high AHI, but not BMI, is associated with an underestimated CPAP titration pressure in adult patients with OSA.
Three new pregnane glycosides, drevoluosides O-Q (1-3) along with five known volubiloside C (4), dreageoside A11 (5), 17β-marsdenin (6), stavaroside H (7), and hoyacarnoside G (8) were isolated from ...the methanol extract of the Dregea volubilis leaves. Their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Compounds 6-8 showed significant anti α-glucosidase activity with the inhibitory percentages ranging from 32.6 to 47.1% at the concentration of 200 μM. Compound 3 showed significant inhibitory α-amylase activity with IC
50
value of 51.3 ± 2.1 μM.
Despite the Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program being recognized for its achievements in promoting environmental conservation and empowering forest-dependent communities, its ...vertical impacts require a more nuanced investigation, given the constantly changing policy landscape in Vietnam. In 2023, we employed the Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) approach to examine gender disparities in PFES participation, resource accessibility, decision-making power, and knowledge of PFES across 66 households in A Luoi district, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. Our findings reveal striking gender gaps in PFES participation, resource accessibility, decision-making power, and knowledge, with men dominating meetings and training programs, and having their names predominantly listed in forest land certificates, while women's perspectives are often overlooked. These inequities are deeply entrenched in patriarchal ideologies and traditional social prejudices, which have systematically excluded women from development programs. Moreover, our research uncovered a significant lack of knowledge about PFES among both men and women in the study community, partly attributable to institutional factors and command-and-control structures. We argue that achieving gender-equitable governance requires a multifaceted and nuanced approach that recognizes the complexity and diversity of institutions at the household and community level. Gender equality is a constantly evolving process with a wide range of issues and debates at various levels. Therefore, a long-term, gender-sensitive approach that empowers women and recognizes their critical role in forest governance is imperative for promoting equitable and sustainable development.
•Investigating gender disparities in PFES participation and knowledge in Vietnam.•FPE methodology reveals striking gender gaps in decision-making power.•Patriarchal ideologies and social prejudices exclude women from development.•Lack of PFES knowledge among men and women attributed to institutional factors.•Achieving gender-equitable governance requires a nuanced and multifaceted approach.
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