A 3-variable PDE model for predicting fungal growth derived from microscopic mechanisms.

In this work, we present a new PDE model of the growth of Postia placenta, a species of brown rot fungus. The formulation was derived mainly from the biological mechanisms embedded in our discrete model, validated against experimental data. In order to mimic the growth mechanisms, we propose a new reaction-diffusion formulation, based on three variables: the concentration of tips, the branch density and the total hyphal density.

Infection control and tuberculosis among health care workers in Viet Nam, 2009-2013: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Data on tuberculosis (TB) among health care workers (HCW) and TB infection control (TBIC) indicators are rarely available at national level. We assessed multi-year trends in notification data of TB among HCW and explored possible associations with TBIC indicators.

Methods: Notified TB incidence among HCW and 3 other TBIC indicators were collected annually from all 64 provincial and 3 national TB facilities in Vietnam.

Clonal expansion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and coexisting drug resistance in patients newly diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Background: Newly diagnosed patients without anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment histories have not often undergone drug susceptibility testing (DST), but have received the standard treatment regimen without information about their DST profiles in many countries with inadequate resources.

Methods: We collected 346 clinical isolates from previously untreated patients with smear-positive active TB in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Of these, 339 were tested for susceptibility to four first-line anti-TB drugs, including isoniazid (INH), rifampicin (RMP), streptomycin (SM), and ethambutol (EMB), using the proportion method.