First Report on Multidrug-Resistant Methicillin-Resistant Isolates in Children Admitted to Tertiary Hospitals in Vietnam.

The extensive distribution of multidrug-resistant (MDR) methicillin-resistant (MRSA) poses a threat to healthcare worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the MDR and molecular patterns of MRSA isolates in children admitted to the two biggest tertiary care pediatric hospitals in northern and southern Vietnam. A total of 168 MRSA strains were collected to determine antibiotic susceptibility by minimum inhibitory concentration tests.

A theoretical study on charge transport of dithiolene nickel complexes.

Organic semiconducting materials play an important role in the fabrication of high performance organic electronic devices. In the present work, we theoretically designed a series of organic semiconductors based on nickel complexes. Their characteristics of charge transport were investigated using DFT computational approaches.

Theoretical design of n-type organic semiconducting materials containing thiazole and oxazole frameworks.

The characteristics of molecular structure and charge transport of some new n-type organic semiconductors containing thiazole 1a-6a and oxazole 1b-6b frameworks and trifluoromethylphenyl as terminal groups were predicted using density functional theory (DFT) methods. The energy levels of HOMO and LUMO of these compounds are decreased when thiophene and furan units are replaced by thiazole and oxazole units, respectively. The same trend was observed when benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bisthiazole groups were replaced with benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d']bisthiazole-4,8-diones.

Design of aromatic heteropolycyclics containing borole frameworks.

The heteropolycyclic compounds containing borole units were theoretically designed. The presence of electron deficient boron atoms results in full electron delocalization and remarkably affects their aromaticity. While molecules 1 and 2a exhibit antiaromaticity for inner rings and non-aromaticity for outer rings, 2b and 2c are completely aromatic.

Development of a single-tube loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for detection of four pathogens of bacterial meningitis.

Several loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays have been developed to detect common causative pathogens of bacterial meningitis (BM). However, no LAMP assay is reported to detect Streptococcus agalactiae and Streptococcus suis, which are also among common pathogens of BM. Moreover, it is laborious and expensive by performing multiple reactions for each sample to detect bacterial pathogen.

The π-conjugated P-flowers C16(PH)8 and C16(PF)8 are potential materials for organic n-type semiconductors.

Following the theme of this special issue, two new compounds, the P-flowers C(16)(PH)(8) and C(16)(PF)(8), are designed by us and subsequently characterized by quantum chemical computations. Their geometries and infrared signatures are analyzed and compared to those of the well-known sulflower C(16)S(8). Their electronic structure and aromaticity are examined using the electron localization function (ELF) and also by the total and partial densities of state (DOS).

Fine-scale population structure of Accumulibacter phosphatis in enhanced biological phosphorus removal sludge.

To investigate the diversities of Accumulibacter phosphatis and its polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase gene (phaC) in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge, an acetate-fed sequencing batch reactor was operated. Analysis of microbial communities using fluorescence in situ hybridization and 16S rRNA gene clone libraries showed that the population of Accumulibacter phosphatis in the EBPR sludge comprised more than 50% of total bacteria, and was clearly divided into two subgroups with about 97.5% sequence identity of the 16S rRNA genes.