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Soft tissue coverage of the leg was challenging due to some defect and usually required a free flap. Usage of a free flap came with donor site morbidity, not only consuming considerable time but also requiring a facility for microsurgery. This study reports findings regarding the pedicled perforator flap for the management of small- and medium-sized defects of the leg. From March 2011 to December 2019, 55 patients were treated with the pedicled perforator flaps for leg defects. Defect size ranged from 2 × 3 cm to 6 × 14 cm. The flap was based on a single perforator of the anterior tibial, posterior tibial, and peroneal arteries and was rotated 180°. The hand-held Doppler ultrasound and 320-slice computed tomography scanner were used preoperatively to determine the perforators in 37 and 18 cases, respectively. Forty-two patients (76.4%) had flaps that completely survived, and 11 patients (20%) developed partial flap necrosis, yet the flaps were still successful in covering the defects. One patient (1.8%) developed partial flap necrosis but the flap did not succeed in covering the lesion, and 1 patient (1.8%) developed total flap necrosis. Donor sites were closed primarily in 19 patients (34.5%) and were closed with small skin grafting in 36 patients (65.5%). The flap was based on a single perforator of the anterior tibial, posterior tibial, and peroneal arteries and was rotated up to 180°. The operating time was from 90 to 150 min. The remaining flaps survived well with good aesthetic results. The pedicled perforator flap is safe and reliable when used for the reconstruction of small to medium-sized leg defects. The technique is convenient and less time-consuming while also minimizing donor site morbidity and providing good aesthetic results. Level of evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study

Nguyen Le Trung,1,2 Pham Quoc Toan,1,3 Le Viet Thang,1,3 Nguyen Dinh Ngan,1,2 Nguyen Chien Thang,1,2 Nguyen Van Cuong,1,2 Nguyen Van Dam,1,2 Hoang Tuan Anh,1,2 Vo Thi Hang,1,2 Nguyen Kien Trung,4 Do Nhu Binh,1,5 Vu Anh Tuan6 1Vietnam Military Medical University, Hanoi, 12108, Vietnam; 2Vietnam Department of Opthalmology, Military Hospital 103, Hanoi, 12108, Vietnam; 3Vietnam Department of Nephrology, Military Hospital 103, Hanoi, 12108, Vietnam; 4Vietnam National Eye Hospital, Hanoi, 11613, Vietnam; 5Vietnam Department of Infectious Diseases, Military Hospital 103, Hanoi, 12108, Vietnam; 6Vietnam Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, 11601, VietnamCorrespondence: Vu Anh Tuan Email vuanhtuan64@gmail.comPurpose: Patients with end-stage renal failure are susceptible to dry eye disease. This study explores the relationship between dry eye disease and influence factors.Patients and Methods: The control group consisted of 57 healthy subjects who were kidney donors. They were of the same age and sex as the kidney transplant recipients. The outcome variable was the dry eye condition of the participants. The Schirmer test confirmed dry eye disease, TBUT (breakup time test), and the Eye Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, using linear regression to evaluate the association.Results: The total number of subjects was 146 (89 kidney recipients and 57 kidney donors). When univariate analysis found the level of visual acuity, the age group involved was statistically significant, while the other factors were not statistically significant. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, age (odds ratio: 2.8, p< 0.05), smoking history (odd ratio: 0.1, p< 0.05), corneal conjunctival calcification (odd ratio: 0.2, p< 0.05); central corneal thickness (odd ratio: 1.02, p< 0.05) is considered to be an influence factor for disease progression.Conclusion: Age group, smoking history, corneal central thickness, and conjunctival calcification are factors for dry eye disease in patients preparing to receive a kidney. These results reinforce the evidence for multifactorial dry eye disease in patients with renal impairment.Keywords: dry eye, renal failure, renal transplant, Hanoi Vietnam

Antimicrobials are extensively used both prophylactically and therapeutically in poultry production. Despite this, there are little data on the effect of antimicrobial use (AMU) on disease incidence rate and per cent mortality. We investigated the relationships between AMU and disease and between AMU and mortality using data from a large (n = 322 flocks) cohort of small-scale chicken flocks in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, that were followed longitudinally from day old to slaughter (5,566 observation weeks). We developed a parameterized algorithm to emulate a randomized control trial from observational data by categorizing the observation weeks into 'non-AMU', 'prophylactic AMU' and 'therapeutic AMU'. To evaluate the prophylactic AMU effect, we compared the frequencies of clinical signs in 'non-AMU' and 'prophylactic AMU' periods. To analyse therapeutic AMU, we compared weekly per cent mortality between the weeks of disease episodes before and after AMU. Analyses were stratified by clinical signs (4) and antimicrobial classes (13). Prophylactic AMU never reduced the probability of disease, and some antimicrobial classes such as lincosamides, amphenicols and penicillins increased the risk. The risk of diarrhoea consistently increased with prophylactic AMU. Therapeutic AMU often had an effect on mortality, but the pattern was inconsistent across the combinations of antimicrobial classes and clinical signs with 14/29 decreasing and 11/29 increasing the per cent weekly mortality. Lincosamides, methenamines and cephalosporins were the only three antimicrobial classes that always decreased the mortality when used therapeutically. Results were robust respective to the parameters values of the weeks categorization algorithm. This information should help support policy efforts and interventions aiming at reducing AMU in animal production.

Small-scale farming of meat chicken flocks using local native breeds contributes to the economy of many rural livelihoods in Vietnam and many other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These systems are also the target of high levels of antimicrobial use (AMU); however little is known about the profitability and sustainability of such systems. Since small scale farms are commercial enterprises, this knowledge is essential in order to develop successful strategies aimed at curbing excessive AMU. Using longitudinal data from 203 randomly selected small-scale (100-2,000 chickens) native chicken flocks raised in 102 farms in Dong Thap province (Mekong Delta, Vietnam), we investigated the financial and economic parameters of such systems and the main constraints to their sustainability. Feed accounted for the largest financial cost (flock median 49.5% [Inter-quartile range (IQR) 41.5-61.8%]) of total costs, followed by day-old-chicks (DOCs) (median 30.3% [IQR 23.2-38.4%]), non-antimicrobial health-supporting products (median 7.1% [IQR 4.7-10.5%]), vaccines (median 3.1% [IQR 2.2-4.8%]), equipment (median 1.9% [IQR 0.0-4.9%]) and antimicrobials (median 1.9% [IQR 0.7-3.6%]). Excluding labor costs, farmers achieved a positive return on investment (ROI) from 120 (59.1%) flocks, the remainder generated a loss (median ROI 124% [IQR 36-206%]). Higher ROI was associated with higher flock size and low mortality. There was no statistical association between use of medicated feed and flock mortality or chicken bodyweight. The median daily income per person dedicated to raising chickens was 202,100 VND, lower than alternative rural labour activities in the Mekong Delta. In a large proportion of farms (33.4%), farmers decided to stop raising chickens after completing one cycle. Farmers who dropped off chicken production purchased more expensive feed (in 1,000 VND per kg) (11.1 [10.6-11.5] vs. 10.8 [10.4-11.3] for farms that continued production (p=0.039) and experienced higher chicken mortality (28.5% [12.0-79.0%] vs. 16 [7.5-33.0%] (p=0.004). The turnover of farmers raising chickens in such systems represents a challenge in targeting messages on appropriate AMU and on chicken health. In order to ensure sustainability of small-scale commercial systems, advisory services need to be available as farmer initiate new flocks, and support them in the early stages to help overcome their limited experience and skills. This targeted approach would support profitability whilst reducing risk of emergence of AMR and other disease problems from these systems.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) is an avascular proliferation of different types of cells between the posterior vitreous cortex and the internal limiting membrane. That causes visual impairment including blurry, distortion, scotoma. Many studies of iERM were done to describe the clinical characteristics and investigate the histopathology of this disease. Nonetheless, there has not been a study of iERM histopathology in Vietnam. AIMS: To describe clinical characteristics and histopathological results of idiopathic retinal membrane and the association between them. METHODS: A cross sectional decriptive study of 35 iERMs (33 patients) in Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO). RESULTS: High morbidity incidence was in group age >50 years (32/35), female gender (26/35), limited movement works (27/35), and high educational levels (28/35). Distortion was the highest (77.14%), scotoma and floater was less frequent (28.5%, 45.7%). Macular edema in all cases and PVD and exudate were high frequent (65.7%, 62.8%). Symptom duration was 8.2 ± 4.7 months, (1-21 months). Mean of central macular thickness was 468.51 ± 97.24 µm (656-274 µm). Six types of cell were detected, including glial cell (35/35), fibroblast (23/35), myofibroblast (23/35), macrophage (13/35), lymphocyte (5/35) and neutrophil (2/35). The number of cell types in one sample ranged from 1-5 types (2.85 ± 1.28 cell types). Number of cell types were correlated to symptom duration (r = 0.47, p = 0.004, Pearson's test) and central macular thickness (r = 0.72, p < 0.001, Pearson's test). CONCLUSION: There were 6 types of cells in iERM. Glial cell was the most frequent cell, inflammatory cells (macrophage, lymphocyte, neutrophil) was also detected. The number of cell types was stastitically correlated to symptom duration and CMT.

Commercial small-scale chicken farms using all-in-all-out production but operating with low standards of hygiene/biosecurity are increasingly common in Vietnam. These conditions facilitate transmission of gastrointestinal helminths. However there are no published data on these parasites in these systems. The aims were: (1) to determine the prevalence/burden of gastrointestinal helminths in small-scale commercial flocks in commercial small-scale flocks in the Mekong Delta region; and (2) to investigate the association between worm burdens and birds’ weight and disease status. Randomly selected chickens (n=120) (‘normal’ flocks) were investigated at the end of their production cycle (∼18 weeks), as well as 90 chickens with signs of respiratory and/or severe disease. The gastrointestinal tract of chickens was dissected and all visible helminths were identified. 54.2% and 54.4% healthy and diseased chickens contained helminths. Diseased, colonized chickens harboured a higher mass of helminth worms (3.8 ±SD 8.6g) than colonized, healthy chickens (1.9 ±6.3g). Eight species were identified, three nematodes (Ascaridia galli, Cheilospirura hamulosa and Heterakis gallinarum), four cestodes (Hymenolepis, Raillietina cesticillus, Raillietina echinobothrida, Raillietina tetragona,) and one trematode (Echinostomatidae). Heterakis gallinarum was the most prevalent helminth (43.3% and 42.2% in healthy and sick chickens, respectively), followed by A. galli (26.7% and 41.1%). Colonized chickens weighed 101.5g less than non-colonized birds. Colonisation was significantly higher during the rainy months (May-November) for both H. gallinarum and A. galli. Anthelminthic usage was not associated with reduced helminth burdens. We recommend upgrading cleaning and disinfection and limiting access to ranging areas to control helminth infections in small-scale commercial chicken flocks.

Indiscriminate antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal production is a driver of antimicrobial resistance globally. There is a need to define sustainable interventions to reduce AMU in small-scale production systems, which currently represent the most widespread farming systems in South East Asia and many low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a before-and-after intervention study on a random sample of small-scale chicken farms in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam from 2016 to 2019. The study included a baseline followed by an intervention phase where farmers were provided with regular veterinary advice on flock health and husbandry, as well as antimicrobial replacement products. Of 102 recruited farms (raising >100 chickens per flock cycle), thirty-five (34.2%) entered the intervention phase, whilst the rest stopped raising chickens, mainly due to suboptimal flock performance. Through the implementation of our intervention, chicken flocks reduced levels of AMU by 66% [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.34; p = 0.002) from a baseline of 343.4 Animal Daily Doses per 1,000 chicken-days and decreased weekly mortality by 40% (adjusted HR = 0.60; p = 0.005) from a baseline mortality of 1.60 per 100 birds. Chicken bodyweight increased by 100 g (p = 0.002) in intervention flocks. Our findings demonstrate that the provision of veterinary advice can achieve substantial reductions in AMU in small-scale production systems without compromising flock health and productivity.

Fronthaul is associated with a new and different type of Radio Access Network architecture consisting of centralized Baseband Units (BBUs) and Remote Radio Units (RRUs) [2] . In order to meet the fifth-generation wireless (5G) challenges of increased traffic and data flows, a new connection protocol for the fronthaul network called Evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) has been published. This paper aims to design a system that supports this interface to transmit data from the BBUs to RRUs in 5G Radio Access Network (RAN). By referencing the specification of eCPRI, we develop a hardware system on FPGA to encapsulate and extract required headers for this protocol. The system is compatible with a 10Gb Ethernet subsystem that provides 10Gb Ethernet MAC and a Physical Interface. On top of the system, we develop drivers and applications to configure and run the system.

DDoS attacks often happen in cloud servers and cause a devastating problem. However, an increasing number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices makes us not ignore the influence of large-scale DDoS attacks from IoT devices. In this paper, we propose a machine learning-based on a multi-layer IoT DDoS attack detection system, including IoT devices, IoT gateways, SDN switches, and cloud servers. Firstly, we build eight smart poles with various sensors on our campus and collect sensor data as our datasets through wireless networks or wired networks. Next, we extract the features based on DDoS attack types. The feature selection can result in high accuracy DDoS attack detection in the real IoT environment. The experimental results show that our multi-layer DDoS detection system can accurately detect DDoS attacks. And the SDN controller can block venomous devices effectively according to blacklists from the results of our IoT DDoS attacks detection system.

Excessive antimicrobial usage and deficiencies in hygiene in meat production systems may result in undesirable human health hazards, such as the presence of antimicrobial drug residues and non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), including antimicrobial resistant (AMR) NTS. Recently, Vietnam has witnessed the emergence of integrated intensive animal production systems, coexisting with more traditional, locally-sourced wet markets. To date no systematic studies have been carried out to compare health hazards in beef, pork and chicken in different production systems. We aimed to: (1) estimate the prevalence of antimicrobial residues in beef, pork and chicken meat; (2) investigate the prevalence and levels of NTS contamination; and (3) investigate serovar distribution and AMR against critically important antimicrobials by animal species and type of retail (wet market vs. supermarket) in Vietnam. Fresh pork, beef and chicken meat samples (N = 357) sourced from wet markets and supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Hanoi and Dong Thap were screened for antimicrobial residues by PremiTest, and were further investigated by Charm II. Samples from HCMC (N = 113) were cultured using ISO 6579:2002/Amd 1:2007. NTS bacteria were quantified using a minimum probable number (MPN) technique. NTS isolates were assigned to serovar by Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST), and were investigated for their phenotypic susceptibility against 32 antimicrobials. A total of 26 (7.3%) samples tested positive by PremiTest (9.5% beef, 4.1% pork and 8.4% chicken meat). Sulfonamides, tetracyclines and macrolides were detected by Charm in 3.1%, 2.8% and 2.0% samples, respectively. Overall, meat samples from wet markets had a higher prevalence of residues than those from supermarkets (9.6% vs. 2.6%) (p = 0.016). NTS were isolated from 68.4% samples from HCMC. Chicken samples from wet markets had by far the highest NTS counts (median 3.2 log MPN/g). NTS isolates displayed high levels of resistance against quinolones (52.2%) and β-lactams (49.6%), but low levels against 3rd generation cephalosporins (4.4%) and aminoglycosides (0.8%). The highest adjusted prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR) corresponded to isolates from chicken meat and pork (OR 8.3 and 1.8, respectively) (baseline = beef). S. Kentucky was the most common serovar identified (11 from chicken, 1 from beef) and 91.7% isolates was MDR. 11/12 isolates corresponded to ST198, a worldwide-disseminated multi-resistant NTS clone. We recommend stepping up policy measures to promote responsible antimicrobial use in animal production, as well as awareness about withdrawal periods to limit the hazard of residues in animal products, and improving slaughtering/hygiene procedures to limit cross-contamination with NTS, particularly in poultry wet markets., Highlights • Antimicrobial residues were found in 7.3% meat samples (9.6% in meat from wet markets and 2.6% in meat from supermarkets). • Over two thirds (68.4%) of meat samples were contaminated with non-typhoidal Salmonella; 52.2% of isolates were multidrug resistant. • Chicken meat from wet markets had the highest loads of contamination with non-typhoidal Salmonella (median 3.2 log MPN/g in positive samples). • Multidrug resistance was highest in Salmonella from chicken meat, and lowest in beef; the type of retail was not linked to increased resistance. • The most commonly identified serovar was multidrug resistant Salmonella Kentucky ST198, with high levels resistance against β-lactams and quinolones.

The accurate assessment of antimicrobial use (AMU) requires relating quantities of active ingredients (AAIs) with population denominators. These data can be used to prioritize potential sources of selective pressure for antimicrobial resistance and to establish reduction targets. Here, we estimated AMU in Vietnam (human population 93.4 M in 2015), and compared it with European Union (EU) data (population 511.5 M in 2014). We extrapolated AMU data on each key animal species and humans from different published sources to calculate overall AMU (in tonnes) in Vietnam. We then compared these data with published statistics on AMU in the European Union (EU). A total of 3838 t of antimicrobials were used in Vietnam, of which 2751 (71.7%) corresponded to animal use, and the remainder (1086 t; 28.3%) to human AMU. This equates to 261.7 mg and 247.3 mg per kg of human and animal biomass, compared with 122.0 mg and 151.5 mg in the EU. The greatest quantities of antimicrobials (in decreasing order) were used in pigs (41.7% of total use), humans (28.3%), aquaculture (21.9%) and chickens (4.8%). Combined AMU in other species accounted for

The paper presents a study on calculating optimum gear ratios of mechanical driven systems using a three stage bevel helical gearbox and a chain drive. An optimization problem in which the system cross section area was chosen as the objective function was solved. In addition, 6 input parameters including the total system ratio, the allowable contact stress, the face width coefficients of the bevel and the helical gear sets, and the output torque were taken into account. To evaluate the impacts of these factors on the optimum gear ratios, a simulation experiment was designed and performed. From the results of the optimization problem, the effects of the input parameters on the optimum ratios were estimated and some equations to calculate the optimum gear ratios were proposed.

Grinding cost is an essential factor in a grinding process. In external cylindrical grinding, there exist different input technology parameters which have significant influences on the grinding costs. This paper presents a study on optimization of exchanged grinding wheel diameter to minimize the grinding cost in the external grinding stainless steel. The work is concerned with the influences of seven input grinding process parameters including the initial grinding wheel diameter, the grinding wheel width, the wheel life, the radial grinding wheel wear per dress, the total depth of dressing cut, the machine tool hourly rate, and the grinding wheel cost on the optimum exchanged grinding wheel diameter in the external grinding process based on the optimization of grinding cost. In addition, the effect of the interactions between the input grinding parameters was also evaluated. Finally, the regression equation for computing the optimum exchanged grinding wheel diameter was introduced. The proposed model can be further applied effectively for the external grinding process.

A study on the calculation of the optimum gear ratios of mechanical driven systems using a worm-helical gearbox and a chain drive was presented. To find the optimum gear ratios, an optimization problem in which the height of the system was selected as the objective function was conducted. Also, the influences of the input parameters including the total gear ratio of the system, the calculated coefficient of the worm diameter coefficient, the coefficient of wheel face width and the allowable contact stress of helical gear unit, and the output torque were examined. To weigh the effect of these parameters on the optimum gear ratios, a simulation experiment was performed by computer programming. Additionally, equations to calculate the optimum gear ratios were introduced. Using these equations, the optimum gear ratios can be found easily and accurately because the equations are all in the explicit form.

In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, small-scale poultry farmers use large amounts of antimicrobials to raise their flocks, and veterinary drug shops owners and their staff are a key source of advice to farmers on antimicrobial use (AMU). We described the network of veterinary drug shops (n = 93) in two districts within Dong Thap province (Mekong Delta). We also interviewed a randomly selected sample of chicken farmers (n = 96) and described their linkages with veterinary drug shops. Antimicrobials represented 15.0% [inter quartile range (IQR) 6.0&ndash, 25.0] of the shops&rsquo, income. Fifty-seven percent shop owners had been/were affiliated to the veterinary authority, 57% provided diagnostic services. The median number of drug shops supplying antimicrobials to each farm during one production cycle was 2 [IQR 1&ndash, 2]. Visited shops were located within a median distance of 3.96 km [IQR 1.98&ndash, 5.85] to farms. Drug shops owned by persons affiliated to the veterinary authority that did not provide diagnostic services had a higher fraction of their income consisting of antimicrobial sales (&beta, = 1.913, p &lt, 0.001). These results suggest that interventions targeting veterinary drug shop owners and their staff aiming at improving their knowledge base on livestock/poultry diseases and their diagnosis may contribute to reducing overall levels of AMU in the area.

File System is an important component of a secure operating system. The need to build data protection systems is extremely important in open source operating systems, high mobility hardware systems, and miniaturization of storage devices that make systems available. It is clear that the value of the data is much larger than the value of the storage device. Computers access protection mechanism does not work if the thief retrieves the hard drive from the computer and reads data from it on another computer. Encrypted File System (EFS) is a secure level of operating system kernel. EFS uses cryptography to encrypt or decrypt files and folders when they are being saved or retrieved from a hard disk. EFS is often integrated transparently in operating system There are many encrypted filesystems commonly used in Linux operating systems. However, they have some limitations, which are the inability to hide the structure of the file system. This is a shortcoming targeted by the attacker, who will try to decrypt a file to find the key and then decrypt the entire file system. In this paper, we propose a new architecture of EFS called KVEFS which is based on cryptographic algorithms, FUSE library and key-value store. Our method makes EFS portable and flexible; Kernel size will not increase in Operating System. &nbsp

Antimicrobial use (AMU) in animal production is a key contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide. As consumption of animal protein and associated animal production is forecast to increase markedly over coming years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), accurate monitoring of AMU has become imperative. We summarized data from 89 scientific studies reporting AMU data in animal production published in English since 1998, identified through the ‘ISI Web of Knowledge’ search engine. The aims were as follows: (a) to describe methodologies and metrics used to quantify AMU; (b) to summarize qualitative (on-farm prevalence of use) and quantitative (amounts of antimicrobial active principle) data, in order to identify food animal species at the highest risk of AMU; and (c) to highlight data gaps from LMICs. Only 17/89 (19.1%) studies were conducted in LMICs. Sixty (67.3%) reported quantitative data use, with ‘daily doses per animal-time’ being the most common metric. AMU was greatest in chickens (138 doses/1000 animal-days [inter quartile range (IQR) 91.1–438.3]), followed by swine (40.2 [IQR 8.5–120.4]), and dairy cattle (10.0 [IQR 5.5–13.6]). However, per kg of meat produced, AMU was highest in swine, followed by chickens and cattle. Our review highlights a large deficit of data from LMICs, and provides a reference for comparison with further surveillance and research initiatives aiming to reduce AMU in animal production globally.

Supported by GAVI Alliance, measles-rubella vaccination was introduced in Vietnam in 2014, involving a mass campaign among 1-14 year olds and routine immunization of children aged 9 months. We explore the impact on the incidence of Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) during 2013-2050 of this strategy and variants involving women aged 15-35 years. We use an age and sex-structured dynamic transmission model, set up using recently-collected seroprevalence data from Central Vietnam, and also consider different levels of transmission and contact patterns. If the serological profile resembles that in Central Vietnam, the planned vaccination strategy could potentially prevent 125,000 CRS cases by 2050 in Vietnam, despite outbreaks predicted in the meantime. Targeting the initial campaign at 15-35 year old women with or without children aged 9 months-14 years led to sustained reductions in incidence, unless levels of ongoing transmission were medium-high before vaccination started. Assumptions about contact greatly influenced predictions if the initial campaign just targeted 15-35 year old women and/or levels of ongoing transmission were medium-high. Given increased interest in rubella vaccination, resulting from GAVI Alliance funding, the findings are relevant for many countries.

Highlights • Vietnam's EPI has caused sharp decreases in vaccine-preventable disease incidence. • EPI may have saved over 370,000 lives. • EPI represents good value for money., Introduction Countries like Vietnam transitioning to middle-income status increasingly bear the cost of both existing and new vaccines. However, the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) as a whole has never been assessed on a country level. Methods Data on vaccine-preventable disease incidence and mortality from Vietnam's national surveillance was analysed to estimate the likely impact that vaccination in 1980–2010 may have had. Adjustment for under-reporting was made by examining trends in reported mumps incidence and in case-fatality risks for each disease. The same data were separately analysed using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) to give an alternative estimate of impact. The financial cost of EPI in 1996–2010 was also estimated from the perspective of service provider. Results National surveillance data suggests that up to 5.7 million diseases cases and 26,000 deaths may have been prevented by EPI. Analysis using LiST suggests that even more deaths (370,000) may have been prevented by measles and pertussis vaccination alone. The cost-effectiveness of EPI is estimated to be around $1000–$27,000 per death prevented. Conclusion Two separate approaches to assessing EPI impact in Vietnam give different quantitative results but a common conclusion: that EPI has made a substantial impact on mortality and represents good value for money.

Intellectual Property (IP) core remote update via the Internet is an advantage of FPGA-based devices. Whereby the system designer or user can change or renew a part of his equipment. However, the problem of communication in an untrusted environme nt can lead to significant damage: The risks for the IP cores of designers or damaging devices or losing the properties of the user. There have been already many proposals to overcome these problems, for example, using symmetric encryption techniques for bitstream, bitstream version to prevent replay attacks. This paper presents a framework, which include a protocol and authentication and encryption algorithms for protecting IP cores and partially reconfigurable embedded systems based on FPGA. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed technique reduces resource overhead, increase the flexibility of the system, and it is robust against attacks.

NoC based SoC FPGAs are a promising technology for high performance embedded systems because they provide a good balance between performance, rapid time to market, cost and flexibility. The reconfigurability aspect of FPGAs allows FPGA platforms to adapt themselves to the various processing requirement of applications. On the other hand, many applications are designed in such a way that their quality level can be adjusted to match the processing capability of hardware platforms. In this paper, we consider the problem of mapping quality adjustable applications onto heterogeneous NoC-based dynamically reconfigurable platforms under resource constraints while ensuring the maximum overall quality of service (QoS) of the applications. The parameters such as resource usage efficiency, processing time, communication overhead and quality of service will be considered in the mapping. Simulation results show that the proposed solution is very flexible and can accommodate more applications than existing solutions on the same platform.

Background. Vietnam conducted a measles catch-up supplementary immunization activity (SIA) during 2002–2003 that targeted children 9 months–10 years of age, followed by subnational SIAs targeting persons up to 20 years of age during 2004 and 2007–2008. A measles epidemic began among young adults in October 2008 in the northern region, spread nationwide during early 2009, and continued during 2010.Methods. We reviewed national epidemiologic and laboratory surveillance data. Measles cases were defined and classified according to World Health Organization recommendations.Results. From October 2008 through January 2010, 7948 confirmed measles cases were reported from 60 of 63 provinces, an incidence of 93 cases per million population. Incidence was 328 cases per million population among children age 1–4 years, 318 cases per million population among infants, and 271 cases per million population among persons aged 20–24 years. Few cases were reported among persons 7–17 or >27 years of age. Median age of cases trended downward over time in all regions.Conclusions. The 2002–2003 measles SIA protected its targeted age group, but this epidemic was not prevented by follow-up subnational SIAs in selected provinces during 2007–2008. Transmission began among young adults and was sustained among children. The outcome of Vietnam's 2010 SIA targeting children only and change in routine schedule may influence elimination strategies for other countries.

Conventional liposomal drug delivery has been associated with obvious limitations, such as a rapid absorption by the recticulo-endothelial system in the liver and spleen, a short circulation time and a low therapeutic efficacy. Various modifications of liposomal drugs have been developed to prolong the duration of actions of the drugs at target sites, reduce its adverse effects and increase therapeutic index of drugs such as polymeric conjugation and polymeric fixation on the surface of a liposome. The lymphatic system is an important highway to spread the metastasis of most human cancers including breast, colon, and lung, ovarian and prostate. To eradicate those metastatic cancer cells from the lymphatic system, several efforts have been made to develop new and efficient lymphatic targeting drug delivery systems in order to achieve a high initial lymphatic uptake and lymph node localization. Recently, molecule targeting of liposome to lymphatic system may enhance therapeutic efficacy by improving the initial lymphatic uptake and the lymph nodal retention of liposomes such as the ligand-receptor and antibodies binding on the surface of liposome. This article aims to review the emerging liposomal drug, which is targeting the lymphatic system. The significant factors associated with targeting liposomal drugs will also be discussed in more detail in this review.

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact on measles case incidence of a nationwide measles immunization campaign in Viet Nam, while considering differences in disease surveillance before and after the campaign. METHODS: A nationwide mass immunization campaign was conducted in the north and south of Viet Nam in 2002 and 2003, respectively. During the campaign, a second vaccination dose was given to children aged 9 months to 9 years, and the reported coverage reached 99% in both zones. National measles case-based surveillance data collected during 2001-2006 were reviewed and analysed. Surveillance performance was assessed in terms of case investigation and specimen collection rates and reporting sensitivity for febrile rash cases. Fisher's exact test was used to test for differences in indicator values before and after the campaign at the national and regional levels; the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used at the provincial level. FINDINGS: Despite significant improvements in disease surveillance, a dramatic reduction in observed measles incidence was noted nationwide after the immunization campaign, with a drop in the national incidence of confirmed measles cases per 100 000 population from 5.44 in 2001 to 0.14 after the campaign (i.e. 2003 in the north and 2004 in the south; P < 0.001). Rapid measles resurgence was observed in 2005 and 2006 only in the north-western mountainous region of the country. The north did not show a statistically significant age shift for new cases (median age: 9 years in 2001 versus 8 years in 2003; P = 0.113), whereas the south did (median age: 7 years versus 12 years; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A campaign approach for controlling measles in developing parts of Asia can prove effective. The swift re-emergence of disease in the north-western region was probably due to suboptimal coverage by the campaign and by the subsequent routine expanded programme on immunization in the north-western mountainous region.

Face recognition systems play a vital role in many applications including surveillance, biometrics and security. In this work, we present a face recognition system using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and Singular Value Decompositions proposed by Naimi an Davari in [3]. In this system, we use parallel technique to accelerate the recognition process. Besides, we use reduced HMMs instead of full HMMs to train the system. This will help in reducing the amount of computations required for training process.

The Vietnam Initiative for Zoonotic Infections (VIZIONS) includes community-based ‘high-risk sentinel cohort’ (HRSC) studies investigating individuals at risk of zoonotic infection due to occupational or residential exposure to animals. A total of 852 HRSC members were recruited between March 2013 and August 2014 from three provinces (Ha Noi, Dak Lak and Dong Thap). The most numerous group (72.8%) corresponded to individuals living on farms, followed by slaughterers (16.3%) and animal health workers (8.5%). Nasal/pharyngeal and rectal swabs were collected from HRSC members at recruitment and after notifying illness. Exposure to exotic animals (including wild pigs, porcupine, monkey, civet, bamboo rat and bat) was highest for the Dak Lak cohort (53.7%), followed by Ha Noi (13.7%) and Dong Thap (4.0%). A total of 26.8% of individuals reported consumption of raw blood over the previous year; 33.6% slaughterers reported no use of protective equipment at work. Over 686 person-years of observation, 213 episodes of suspect infectious disease were notified, equivalent of 0.35 reports per person-year. Responsive samples were collected from animals in the farm cohort. There was noticeable time and space clustering of disease episodes suggesting that the VIZIONS set up is also suitable for the formal epidemiological investigation of disease outbreaks.

Recently, Network-on-Chip (NoC) paradigm has been known as a promising solution for complex Systems-on- Chip (SoC) design. A network interface is a significant part of a NoC. The network interface operates like a bridge between processing resources and network routers. This paper presents a new network interface design using parallel writing and reading buffers. The network interface architecture is modeled using Verilog HDL and implemented targeting Xilinx Virtex-6 board. The experimental results prove that our network interface design can obtain stability, reduce average latency of the packet up to 25.1 % and have a higher speed compared to an architecture that uses one normal FIFO buffer for both reading and writing processes.

Vietnam is the first and only country in the world to regularly use oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) in their cholera control program. From 1998 to 2012, more than 10.9 million doses of the locally produced OCV were deployed in the country through its public health system. We present an overview of cholera epidemiology in Vietnam and the development and deployment of the OCV. Since 1997, the number of cholera cases in Vietnam has declined, in association with increased OCV use as well as improvements in socioeconomic and water and sanitation conditions. It is not possible to establish the relative contributions of each of these to the reduction in cholera rates. Hue, the only province to use OCVs consistently every year, has not reported any cholera case since 2003. As WHO organizes a stockpile of OCV for use in emergencies and recommends the use of OCVs together with traditional means of control, the experience in Vietnam will be helpful to other at-risk countries as they look towards adopting the vaccine in their cholera control programs.

Group A rotaviruses (ARoVs) are a common cause of severe diarrhea among children worldwide and the cause of approximately 45% of pediatric hospitalizations for acute diarrhea in Vietnam. ARoVs are known to cause significant economic losses to livestock producers by reducing growth performance and production efficiencies, however little is known about the implications of asymptomatic endemic circulation of ARoV. We aimed to determine the prevalence and predominant circulating genotypes of ARoVs on pig farms in a southern province of Vietnam. We found overall animal-level and farm-level prevalence of 32.7% (239/730) and 74% (77/104), respectively, and identified six different G types and 4 P types in various combinations (G2, G3, G4, G5, G9, G11 and P[6], P[13], P[23], and P[34]). There was no significant association between ARoV infection and clinical disease in pigs, suggesting that endemic asymptomatic circulation of ARoV may complicate rotavirus disease attribution during outbreaks of diarrhea in swine. Sequence analysis of the detected ARoVs suggested homology to recent human clinical cases and extensive genetic diversity. The epidemiological relevance of these findings for veterinary practitioners and to ongoing pediatric ARoV vaccine initiatives in Vietnam merits further study. © 2014 The Authors.

Remote updating for hardware system via the Internet is an advantage of FPGA-based devices. Whereby the system designer or user can change or renew a part of his equipment. However, the problem of communication in an untrusted environment can lead to significant damage: The risks (cloning, reverse engineering) for the Intellectual Property (IP) of designers; damaging devices (from malicious) or losing the properties of the user (by trojan horse). In this paper, we proposed a safe and flexible protocol for secure remote update of run-time partial reconfigurable systems. Our proposed protocol can prevent cloning, reverse engineering, downgrade of the system and can protect key and license of IP cores. We have also proposed a new method to verify keys by using a SHA hash function.

Few studies document the costs of operating vaccine supply chains, but decision-makers need this information to inform cost projections for investments to accommodate new vaccine introduction. This paper presents empirical estimates of vaccine supply chain costs for Vietnam's Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) for routine vaccines at each level of the supply chain, before and after the introduction of the pentavalent vaccine. We used micro-costing methods to collect resource-use data associated with storage and transportation of vaccines and immunization supplies at the national store, the four regional stores, and a sample of provinces, districts, and commune health centers. We collected stock ledger data on the total number of doses of vaccines handled by each facility during the assessment year. Total supply chain costs were estimated at approximately US$65,000 at the national store and an average of US$39,000 per region, US$5800 per province, US$2200 per district, and US$300 per commune health center. Across all levels, cold chain equipment capital costs and labor were the largest drivers of costs. The cost per dose delivered was estimated at US$0.19 before the introduction of pentavalent and US$0.24 cents after introduction. At commune health centers, supply chain costs were 104% of the value of vaccines before introduction of pentavalent vaccine and 24% after introduction, mainly due to the higher price per dose of the pentavalent vaccine. The aggregated costs at the last tier of the health system can be substantial because of the large number of facilities. Even in countries with high-functioning systems, empirical evidence on current costs from all levels of the system can help estimate resource requirements for expanding and strengthening resources to meet future immunization program needs. Other low- and middle-income countries can benefit from similar studies, in view of new vaccine introductions that will put strains on existing systems.

From our ideas and the demand to control and to monitor household appliances (eg lights, fans, pumps, shower, etc) anywhere by using mobile handset through GSM technology, this paper is aimed to present a new idea of using the embedded system on FPGA platform with the microprocessor MicroBlaze and the real time operating system FreeRTOS to control and to monitor household appliances through GPRS and using the PIR sensor to carry out monitoring break-in. Due to the strict requirements of the time constraints, the use of resources and the importance of scheduling, real-time operating system (TRTOS) plays a very important role in the development of embedded systems.

Intellectual Property protection on FPGAs is a major challenge for FPGA manufacturers. Adding security features to the FPGA is not difficult but there is no consistency among the different manufacturers. Meanwhile, more features will increase resource costs and product prices, forcing users to pay for all these features even if they do not use them. As a result, decoders are often not integrated inside low-cost FPGAs. To protect an FPGA-based system of this kind, we must build separate security solutions. This paper presents the importance of bit stream security, including a number of attack scenarios and FPGA bitstream security methods. We introduced bitstream encryption and authentication solutions in partial reconfigurable embedded systems based on the MicroBlaze soft-core processor aimed at improving the flexibility of the system. The highlight of our solution is that it can be applied to systems that use embedded processor. This is most practical when using shared resources (soft-core processors, memory...) for different target applications.

Southeast Asia is an area of great economic dynamism. In recent years, it has experienced a rapid rise in the levels of animal product production and consumption. The region is considered to be a hotspot for infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We reviewed English-language peer-reviewed publications related to antimicrobial usage (AMU) and AMR in animal production, as well as antimicrobial residues in meat and fish from 2000 to 2016, in the region. There is a paucity of data from most countries and for most bacterial pathogens. Most of the published work relates to non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Campylobacter spp. (mainly from Vietnam and Thailand), Enterococcus spp. (Malaysia), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Thailand). However, most studies used the disk diffusion method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; breakpoints were interpreted using Clinical Standard Laboratory Institute (CSLI) guidelines. Statistical models integrating data from publications on AMR in NTS and E. coli studies show a higher overall prevalence of AMR in pig isolates, and an increase in levels of AMR over the years. AMU studies (mostly from Vietnam) indicate very high usage levels of most types of antimicrobials, including beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, and quinolones. This review summarizes information about genetic determinants of resistance, most of which are transferrable (mostly plasmids and integrons). The data in this review provide a benchmark to help focus research and policies on AMU and AMR in the region.

With the current evolution in run-time reconfigurable computing, runtime reconfigurable platforms are becoming increasingly viable. End users can download an updated version of a bitstream over the Internet and reconfigure the hardware platform partially without affecting the rest of the system like downloading and installing software. However, remote downloading and upgrading of bitstream is vulnerable to spoofing and replay attacks. This paper presents a framework to guarantee a secure and efficient remote updating of FPGA bitstream on runtime reconfigurable embedded platforms which consist of an embedded microprocessor and a runtime reconfigurable FPGA hardware. The framework addresses different issues including bitstream management, compression, encryption and authentication. A prototype system based on Xilinx Spartan-6 LX45 FPGA Altys board is used as a proof of concept for our framework.

A cohort of Japanese encephalitis (JE) survivors in Cambodia and Viet Nam were assessed at least 4 months after hospital discharge in order to understand the extent of disability after JE. We used a simple assessment tool which focuses on the impact on daily life. In total, 64 disability assessments were conducted: 38 in Cambodia and 26 in Viet Nam. In Cambodia, 4 (11%) children had severe sequelae, suggesting the children would likely be dependent, 15 (39%) had moderate sequelae and 17 (45%) had mild sequelae. In Viet Nam, two (8%) persons had severe sequelae, five (19%) had moderate sequelae and eight (31%) had mild sequelae. In many JE-endemic areas there are no multi-disciplinary teams with sophisticated equipment to assess patients after JE disease. This assessment tool can assist with patient management and generate data to support the need for programmes to prevent disease and improve outcomes for survivors.

This Article analyzes the current provisions on cartels in Vietnamese Competition Law of 2004 and provides some comments about the approaches of this Law in dealing with cartels.

This paper discusses how principle of contractual freedom in Vietnam should be modified to better protect consumers in its developing market economy.

System Security means protecting confidentiality and integrity of input or output data to as well as the safety of the system. To meet stated security requirements, designers will need to add some special functions into the system. However, in several cases including high-throughput requirement, limited resource or trade-off between risks and costs, adding security functions should be taken into comprehensive consideration. This paper presents a method to enhance safety and update speed of the partially reconfigurable embedded systems based on FPGA is updated remotely via the Internet or from external storage devices such as a Compact Flash (CF) memory card.