Diagnostic challenges of arboviral infections and dengue virus serotype distribution in febrile patients in East Java, Indonesia.

Objectives: Arboviruses pose significant public health threats worldwide, with Southeast Asia being a hotspot for these infections. This study aimed to reassess the incidence of dengue, Zika, and chikungunya viruses in patients clinically diagnosed with dengue in East Java, Indonesia in 2023.

Methods: The study included 108 patients admitted to hospitals in Jember, with blood samples collected on admission.

Single-incision endoscopic-assisted temporoparietal fascia harvest for single stage auricular reconstruction.

Introduction: The temporoparietal fascia flaps (TPFF) have been widely used to cover the framework in auricular reconstructions. However, flap harvesting is mostly done by open surgery which may be easier but often results in bad scarring and hair loss. We would like to present a series of cases using endoscopic-assisted flap harvesting techniques with only one single cosmetic auricular incision.

Molecular surveillance and temporal monitoring of malaria parasites in focal Vietnamese provinces.

Background: While the World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asia region has the second highest incidence of malaria worldwide, malaria in Vietnam is focal to few provinces, where delayed parasite clearance to anti-malarial drugs is documented. This study aims to understand Plasmodium species distribution and the genetic diversity of msp1 and msp2 of parasite populations using molecular tools.

Methods: A total of 222 clinical isolates from individuals with uncomplicated malaria were subjected to Plasmodium species identification by nested real-time PCR.

Diagnostic Function of 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Assessment of Brachial Plexus Injury.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic function of 3-Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the assessment of brachial plexus injury (BPI), in comparison with intraoperative findings.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 60 patients (47 men and 13 women), who had clinical manifestations of BPI, underwent 3T MRI of the brachial plexus, and were surgically treated at the Viet Duc and Vinmec Times City hospitals, in Hanoi, Vietnam, from March 2016 to December 2019. Preganglionic and postganglionic lesion features were identified on MRI.

Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of {110}-Faceted TiO₂ Rutile Nanorods in the Photodegradation of Hazardous Pharmaceuticals.

Rutile TiO₂ with highly active facets has attracted much attention owing to its enhanced activity during the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants such as pharmaceuticals in wastewater. However, it is difficult to obtain by controlling the synthetic conditions. This paper reports a simple hydrothermal synthesis of rutile TiO₂ nanorods with highly exposed {110} facets.

Enrichment of bacterial DNA for the diagnosis of blood stream infections.

Background: Blood cultures are commonly employed to identify bacterial pathogens causing sepsis. PCR assays to diagnose septicemia require extraction of bacterial DNA from blood samples and thus, delay the initiation of appropriate antimicrobial treatment. The presence of abundant human DNA may hamper the sensitivity of PCR in the detection of bacteria.

Simple multiplex PCR assays to detect common pathogens and associated genes encoding for acquired extended spectrum betalactamases (ESBL) or carbapenemases from surgical site specimens in Vietnam.

Unlabelled: Surgical site infection (SSI) is common in Vietnamese post-operative patients. It contributes to increased morbidity, mortality, hospitalization time and health care expenditure. Bacterial culture is considered the gold standard procedure to identify SSI pathogens and antibiotic resistant properties; however, it can detect microbes that can readily grow and is time-consuming.

S-bacillithiolation protects conserved and essential proteins against hypochlorite stress in firmicutes bacteria.

Aims: Protein S-bacillithiolations are mixed disulfides between protein thiols and the bacillithiol (BSH) redox buffer that occur in response to NaOCl in Bacillus subtilis. We used BSH-specific immunoblots, shotgun liquid chromatography (LC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis and redox proteomics to characterize the S-bacillithiolomes of B. subtilis, B.