Two-drug versus three-drug regimens for treating Mycobacterium avium complex infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection, requiring prolonged treatment with an antibiotic combination, is an emerging public health concern.

Methods: This meta-analysis compared the efficacy of 2-drug regimens with that of 3-drug regimens in bacteriological responses, acquired macrolide resistance (AMR), and mortality among adult patients with disseminated MAC infection (DMAC) and MAC pulmonary disease (MAC-PD).

Results: Seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 3 non-RCT studies, encompassing 1369 patients, were included.

Comparison of natural anticoagulant deficiency in cerebral venous thrombosis with deep venous thrombosis.

The impact of a deficiency in natural anticoagulants on the occurrence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is controversial, as well as whether there is a difference between CVT and deep venous thrombosis (DVT). The present study aimed to evaluate the association between a deficiency in natural anticoagulants and the occurrence of CVT vs. DVT.

White coat color in Vietnamese native buffalo is attributed to the LINE1 insertion in ASIP.

The coat color of the swamp buffalo is commonly dark gray, while the white coat color variant, which may have potential heat stress advantages, is also present in some Asian countries, including Vietnam. This study analyzed the most likely candidate genes, ASIP and TYR, responsible for the white coat color of Vietnamese native buffaloes. We found that LINE1 insertion in ASIP, a mutation previously reported in white swamp buffalo from other Asian countries, was exclusively found in white Vietnamese buffalo.

Propensity-Score Matching Analysis for Laser Hemorrhoidoplasty Versus Circumferential Stapler Hemorrhoidectomy: One-Year Outcomes.

Background: Laser hemorrhoidectomy (LHP) is a minimally invasive procedure with less pain, short operative time and length of stay, and a low recurrent rate. This study aimed to analyze the surgical outcomes of the circumferential stapler hemorrhoidectomy (CSH, Longo operation) by propensity score-matching analysis, including perioperative outcomes and quality of life.

Materials And Methods: Between March 2022 and March 2023, 216 patients underwent CSH and 198 LHP in Binh Dan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Factors associated with 90-day mortality in Vietnamese stroke patients: Prospective findings compared with explainable machine learning, multicenter study.

The prevalence and predictors of mortality following an ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage have not been well established among patients in Vietnam. 2885 consecutive diagnosed patients with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage at ten stroke centres across Vietnam were involved in this prospective study. Posthoc analyses were performed in 2209 subjects (age was 65.

Association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism and arterial thrombosis.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and arterial thrombosis (AT).

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study including 585 medical records obtained from all consecutive patients who were suspected of having thrombosis.

Results: The AT group had a higher neutrophil count and NLR and a lower lymphocyte count than the non-thrombosis group.

Ultrahigh peroxidase-like catalytic performance of Cu-N and Cu-NS active sites-containing reduced graphene oxide for sensitive electrochemical biosensing.

Carbon-based nanozymes possessing peroxidase-like activity have attracted significant interest because of their potential to replace native peroxidases in biotechnology. Although various carbon-based nanozymes have been developed, their relatively low catalytic efficiency needs to be overcome to realize their practical utilization. Here, inspired by the elemental uniqueness of Cu and the doped elements N and S, as well as the active site structure of Cu-centered oxidoreductases, we developed a new carbon-based peroxidase-mimicking nanozyme, single-atom Cu-centered N- and S-codoped reduced graphene oxide (Cu-NS-rGO), which preserved many Cu-N and Cu-NS active sites and showed dramatically high peroxidase-like activity without any oxidase-like activity, yielding up to 2500-fold higher catalytic efficiency (k/K) than that of pristine rGO.

Topics Included in Health Literacy Studies in Asia: A Systematic Review.

The study aimed to review general and specific health literacy studies in different countries in Asia to understand the progress of health literacy researches in the region. English-published studies with quantitative measurements of health literacy were collected through a systematic search in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science, without publication dates limitation. A total of 156 articles on general health literacy, oral, mental, disease-specific health literacy, and eHealth literacy were collected.

Effectiveness of Vitamin D Supplements in Reducing the Risk of Falls among Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: The role of vitamin D in reducing the risk of falls in older adults has not been clearly demonstrated. This study examined the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in reducing the risk of falls in older adults.

Methods: Four databases (Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, and CINAHL) were searched without language restrictions or time limitations.

Sex disparity in stroke outcomes in a multicenter prospective stroke registry in Vietnam.

Background: Although men have a higher rate of stroke than women, it is not clear whether women have a worse outcome after adjusting for confounders such as vascular risk factors, age, stroke severity, and reperfusion therapy. We evaluated sex differences on 90-day functional outcomes after stroke in a multicenter study in Vietnam.

Methods: We recruited patients presenting with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke at 10 stroke centers in Vietnam for a period of 1 month from 1 August 2022 to 31 August 2022.

Advanced Fabrication and Multi-Properties of Aluminum-Based Aerogels from Aluminum Waste for Thermal Insulation and Oil Absorption Applications.

Metal-based aerogels have attracted numerous studies due to their unique physical, structural, thermal, and chemical properties. Utilizing aluminum waste, a novel, facile, environmentally friendly approach to aluminum-based aerogels is proposed. In this work, the aluminum-based aerogels produced do not use toxic chemicals unlike conventional aerogel production.

Detection of bovine leukemia virus in beef cattle kept in the Central Coast Regions of Vietnam.

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.

Comparing attachment across cultures, child gender, age, and parental gender: Vietnamese versus Belgian adolescents' self-reported attachment anxiety and avoidance.

The short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised Child version (ECR-RC) is a promising self-report measure of anxious and avoidant attachment in Western adolescents, yet little is known about its psychometric properties across cultures. More importantly, little is known about attachment styles across cultures, child gender, and parental gender. The present study aims to address these limitations by studying the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the ECR-RC in a sample of 1,232 Belgian and Vietnamese adolescents (45.

Addressing the quantitative conversion bottleneck in single-atom catalysis.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) offer many advantages, such as atom economy and high chemoselectivity; however, their practical application in liquid-phase heterogeneous catalysis is hampered by the productivity bottleneck as well as catalyst leaching. Flow chemistry is a well-established method to increase the conversion rate of catalytic processes, however, SAC-catalysed flow chemistry in packed-bed type flow reactor is disadvantaged by low turnover number and poor stability. In this study, we demonstrate the use of fuel cell-type flow stacks enabled exceptionally high quantitative conversion in single atom-catalyzed reactions, as exemplified by the use of Pt SAC-on-MoS/graphite felt catalysts incorporated in flow cell.

Ruptured tuberculous aneurysms of the abdominal aorta: Two case series.

Background: Ruptured aneurysms secondary to the tuberculous infection of the aorta are a rare and life-threatening disease. We report a single-center experience of two patients with ruptured infrarenal tuberculous aneurysms.

Case Presentation: We report 2 patients with ruptures of the tuberculous aneurysm.

Recent Progresses in Eco-Friendly Fabrication and Applications of Sustainable Aerogels from Various Waste Materials.

Tons of waste from residential, commercial and manufacturing activities are generated due to the growing population, urbanization and economic development, prompting the need for sustainable measures. Numerous ways of converting waste to aerogels, a novel class of ultra-light and ultra-porous materials, have been researched to tackle the issues of waste. This review provides an overview of the status of aerogels made from agricultural waste, municipal solid, and industrial waste focusing on the fabrication, properties, and applications of such aerogels.

Nutritional Intervention with Dried Bonito Broth for the Amelioration of Aggressive Behaviors in Children with Prenatal Exposure to Dioxins in Vietnam: A Pilot Study.

Unlabelled: Dioxins have been suggested to induce inflammation in the intestine and brain and to induce neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), partly due to deficits in parvalbumin-positive neurons in the brain that are sensitive to inflammatory stress. Previously, we reported ADHD traits with increased aggressiveness in children with prenatal exposure to dioxins in Vietnam, whereas dried bonito broth (DBB) has been reported to suppress inflammation and inhibit aggressive behavior in animal and human studies. In the present study, we investigated the association between dioxin exposure and the prevalence of children with highly aggressive behaviors (Study 1), as well as the effects of DBB on the prevalence of children with highly aggressive behaviors (Study 2).

A novel aerogel from thermal power plant waste for thermal and acoustic insulation applications.

Massive quantities of fly ash are produced worldwide from thermal power plants, posing a serious environmental threat due to their storage and disposal problems. In this study, for the first time, fly ash is converted into an advanced and novel aerogel through a green and eco-friendly process. The developed aerogel has a low density of 0.

Building HIV healthcare worker capacity through telehealth in Vietnam.

Development of a robust technical assistance system is an essential component of a sustainable HIV response. Vietnam's National HIV Program is transitioning from a largely donor-funded programme to one primarily supported by domestic resources. Telehealth interventions are increasingly being used for training, mentoring and expert consultation in high-resource settings and hold significant potential for use as a tool to build HIV health worker capacity in low and middle-income countries.

Fabrication and Properties of Hybrid Coffee-Cellulose Aerogels from Spent Coffee Grounds.

A fully biodegradable hybrid coffee-cotton aerogel has been successfully developed from spent coffee grounds, 100% cotton fiber and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) flakes via environmental friendly processes. The cotton fibers in coffee aerogel help to maintain the structure and improve the overall properties of the new hybrid coffee-cotton aerogel. The results show that increasing the concentration of fibers, while keeping the concentration of spent coffee grounds constant, the sinking of coffee ground particles in solution and shrinking effect on the aerogels are minimized and the overall mechanical and oil absorption properties are improved.

Cellulose-based aerogels from sugarcane bagasse for oil spill-cleaning and heat insulation applications.

A promising and economic material for various applications, such as thermal insulation in construction building and oil clean-up in marine ecosystems, is successfully developed from the by-product of the sugarcane industry. Biodegradable sugarcane bagasse aerogels are produced using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) binder, followed by a freeze-drying method. This environmental-friendly recycled aerogel has an ultra-low density ([0.

Applications of functionalized polyethylene terephthalate aerogels from plastic bottle waste.

Millions of tons of plastic are produced annually, but less than 10% are reported to be recycled. This work sets out to transform environmental plastic (polyethylene terephthalate - PET) waste into aerogels for high-value engineering applications, primarily to enhance the monetary incentive in recycling plastics. Coating techniques, using silicone ceramic (SCC) and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APS, or APTES) solutions, are successfully devised to enhance the thermal stability and CO adsorption capability of rPET aerogel.

Advanced Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Aerogels from Plastic Waste for Acoustic and Thermal Insulation Applications.

This work presents for the first time, a simple, practical and scalable approach to fabricating recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) aerogels for thermal and acoustic insulation applications. The rPET aerogels were successfully developed from recycled PET fibers and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) cross-linkers using a freeze-drying process. The effects of various PET fiber concentrations (0.

VIETHERB: A Database for Vietnamese Herbal Species.

Vietnam carries a highly diverse practice of traditional medicine in which various combinations of herbs have been widely used as remedies for many types of diseases. Poor hand-written records and current text-based databases, however, perplex the process of conventionalizing and evaluating canonical therapeutic effects. In efforts to reorganize the valuable information, we provide the VIETHERB database ( http://vietherb.