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Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) is a severe consequence that typically follows acute myocardial infarction (MI) and can occur in nonischemic cardiomyopathies. In patients who have experienced an ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI), LVT is seen up to 15% of the time; for patients without an ischemic cardiomyopathy, it is only 2% to 36% of the time. According to Virchow's triad, the cornerstone of LVT formation includes endothelial injury, blood stasis, and hypercoagulability. However, LVT increases morbidity and mortality in patients with both ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathies by increasing the risk of stroke or systemic embolism. Studies on nonischemic etiology are limited, and the majority of LVT case series concentrate on ischemic cardiomyopathies. We present this case with the nonischemic cardiomyopathies caused by LVT. Specifically, the patient underwent coronary artery assessment using photon-counting computed tomography, which is among the most advanced systems worldwide.

Aeromonas hydrophila has been identified as a causative agent of necrotizing fasciitis and myonecrosis, with most reported cases having a connection to aquatic-related trauma. Cases without such trauma history are rare in existing literature. Here, we present the case of a 56-year-old cirrhotic patient who lacked any prior aquatic-related trauma and arrived at the emergency department in a state of septic shock. The suspected route of entry was through necrotizing fasciitis and myonecrosis in his left forearm. Unfortunately, the patient succumbed to multi-organ failure and passed away within 12 hours of admission to the emergency department.

Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical sensors are a rapidly developing field in analytical chemistry. However, commercial systems often lack versatility and affordability, hindering wider adoption. Additionally, the absence of integrated excitation light sources limits their application in photoelectrochemical sensing. Here, we present a highly precise, versatile, affordable measurement system for both electrochemical and photoelectrochemical sensing applications. The system incorporates a three-electrode potentiostat with a synchronized excitation light source. This design enables the system to perform conventional electrochemical measurements like cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and photoelectrochemical amperometric measurements with controlled light excitation. The developed measurement system operates within a voltage range suitable for a measurable current range of 1 nA to 18 mA, with a high precision of 99%. The excitation source is a monochromatic LED system offering seven distinct wavelengths with digitally controlled intensity via a digital-to-analog converter. Furthermore, an Android-based user interface allows wireless system control via Bluetooth Low Energy. The report also details the construction of a photoelectrochemical experiment using copper (II) oxide nanorods synthesized by the hydrothermal process as the photoactive material employed to test the experiment on a potassium ferricyanide/potassium ferrocyanide solution. This user-friendly system allows broader exploration of electrochemical and photoelectrochemical sensing applications.

In this study, we investigated the influence of pH on the hydrothermal synthesis of copper (II) oxide CuO nanostructures with the aim of tuning their morphology. By varying the pH of the reaction medium, we successfully produced CuO nanostructures with three distinct morphologies including nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanosheets according to the pH levels of 4, 7, and 12, respectively. The observed variations in surface morphology are attributed to fluctuations in growth rates across different crystal facets, which are influenced by the presence of intermediate species within the reaction. This report also compared the structural and optical properties of the synthesized CuO nanostructures and explored their potential for photoelectrochemical glucose sensing. Notably, CuO nanoparticles and nanorods displayed exceptional performance with calculated limits of detection of 0.69 nM and 0.61 nM, respectively. Both of these morphologies exhibited a linear response to glucose within their corresponding concentration ranges (3–20 nM and 20–150 nM). As a result, CuO nanorods appear to be a more favorable photoelectrochemical sensing method because of the large surface area as well as the lowest solution resistance in electroimpedance analysis compared to CuO nanoparticles and nanosheets forms. These findings strongly suggest the promising application of hydrothermal-synthesized CuO nanostructures for ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical glucose biosensors.

The Ca Mau Peninsula (CMP) in Vietnam’s Lower Mekong Delta faces pressing challenges, including sea-level rise (SLR), land subsidence, flooding, and saltwater intrusion. Recent years have witnessed an earlier and more severe dry season, leading to heightened saltwater intrusion. As many CMP provinces rely on the Mekong River for their water supply, they are highly susceptible to prolonged drought and salinization. This study employs the MIKE 11 hydraulic model to project saltwater intrusion scenarios in the CMP up to 2050, based on Vietnam’s 2016 Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) SLR projections, considering water regulation from the Cai Lon-Cai Be sluice system. The modelled discharge, water level and salinity were calibrated and validated successfully based on di_erent statistical measures. The projections indicate that saltwater intrusion during the dry season could start 1 to 1.5 months earlier by 2050, with salinity levels exceeding 30 g/l in February. The findings underscore the importance of developing adaptation strategies to address the challenges of climate change and saltwater intrusion, notably in the region’s significant agricultural sector.

Social behavior is complex and fundamental, and its deficits are common pathological features for several psychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Acute stress may have a negative impact on social behavior, and these effects can vary based on sex. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of acute footshock stress, using analogous parameters to those commonly used in fear conditioning assays, on the sociability of male and female C57BL/6J mice in a standard social approach test. Animals were divided into two main groups of footshock stress (22 male, 24 female) and context exposed control (23 male and 22 female). Each group had mice that were treated intraperitoneally with either the benzodiazepine-alprazolam (control: 10 male, 10 female; stress: 11 male, 11 female), or vehicle (control: 13 male, 12 female; stress: 11 male, 13 female). In all groups, neuronal activation during social approach was assessed using immunohistochemistry against the immediate early gene product cFos. Although footshock stress did not significantly alter sociability or latency to approach a social stimulus, it did increase defensive tail-rattling behavior specifically in males (p = 0.0022). This stress-induced increase in tail-rattling was alleviated by alprazolam (p = 0.03), yet alprazolam had no effect on female tail-rattling behavior in the stress group. Alprazolam lowered cFos expression in the medial prefrontal cortex (p = 0.001 infralimbic area, p = 0.02 prelimbic area), and social approach induced sex-dependent differences in cFos activation in the ventromedial intercalated cell clusters (p = 0.04). Social approach following stress-induced cFos expression was positively correlated with latency to approach and negatively correlated with sociability in the prelimbic area and multiple amygdala subregions (all p < 0.05). Collectively, our results suggest that acute footshock stress induces sex-dependent alterations in defensiveness and differential patterns of cFos activation during social approach.

This study estimates the amount antiretroviral therapy (ART) clients paid out of pocket for preventive and treatment services and the percentage of ART clients incurring catastrophic payments during the period when ART services were transitioning from donor funding to domestic social health insurance (SHI) in Vietnam. Using a cross-sectional facility-based survey in 9 provinces, a sample of 582 clients across 18 ART facilities representatives of all facilities where SHI-financed ART was being implemented were interviewed in 2019. Results indicated 13.4% (95% CI: 5.7%, 28.2%) of clients incurred a payment for outpatient ART care. The average out of pocket expenditures for outpatient visits and HIV related outpatient visits was USD $71.2 and $8 per year, respectively. The average out of pocket expenditure for inpatient admission and HIV related inpatient admission was $7.1 and $1.6, respectively. Only 0.1% clients currently experienced HIV-related catastrophic payment at the 25% of total expenditures threshold. The study confirms the transition from donor-financed ART to SHI-financed ART is not causing financial hardship for ART clients. However, more commitment from the Government of Vietnam to strengthen HIV-related services under SHI may be needed in the future, and there is still need to ensure universal SHI coverage among people with HIV/AIDs in Vietnam.

Changes in the efficacies of synapses are thought to be the neurobiological basis of learning and memory. The efficacy of a synapse depends on its current number of neurotransmitter receptors. Recent experiments have shown that these receptors are highly dynamic, moving back and forth between synapses on time scales of seconds and minutes. This suggests spontaneous fluctuations in synaptic efficacies and a competition of nearby synapses for available receptors. Here we propose a mathematical model of this competition of synapses for neurotransmitter receptors from a local dendritic pool. Using minimal assumptions, the model produces a fast multiplicative scaling behavior of synapses. Furthermore, the model explains a transient form of heterosynaptic plasticity and predicts that its amount is inversely related to the size of the local receptor pool. Overall, our model reveals logistical tradeoffs during the induction of synaptic plasticity due to the rapid exchange of neurotransmitter receptors between synapses.

The vast burden of cryptococcal meningitis occurs in immunosuppressed patients, driven by HIV, and is caused by Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii. We previously reported cryptococcal meningitis in Vietnam arising atypically in HIV uninfected, apparently immunocompetent patients, caused by a single amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) cluster of C. neoformans var. grubii (VNIγ). This variant was less common in HIV infected individuals; it remains unclear why this lineage is associated with apparently immunocompetent patients. To study this host tropism we aimed to further our understanding of clinical phenotype and genomic variation within Vietnamese C. neoformans var. grubii. After performing MLST on C. neoformans clinical isolates we identified 14 sequence types (STs); ST5 correlated with the VNIγ cluster. We next compared clinical phenotype by lineage and found HIV infected patients with cryptococcal meningitis caused by ST5 organisms were significantly more likely to have lymphadenopathy (11% vs. 4%, p = 0.05 Fisher's exact test) and higher blood lymphocyte count (median 0.76 versus 0.55 X109 cells/L, p = 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test). Furthermore, survivors of ST5 infections had evidence of worse disability outcomes at 70 days (72.7% (40/55) in ST5 infections versus 57.1% (52/91) non-ST5 infections (OR 2.11, 95%CI 1.01 to 4.41), p = 0.046). To further investigate the relationship between strain and disease phenotype we performed genome sequencing on eight Vietnamese C. neoformans var. grubii. Eight genome assemblies exhibited >99% nucleotide sequence identity and we identified 165 kbp of lineage specific to Vietnamese isolates. ST5 genomes harbored several strain specific regions, incorporating 19 annotated coding sequences and eight hypothetical proteins. These regions included a phenolic acid decarboxylase, a DEAD-box ATP-dependent RNA helicase 26, oxoprolinases, a taurine catabolism dioxygenase, a zinc finger protein, membrane transport proteins and various drug transporters. Our work outlines the complexity of genomic pathogenicity in cryptococcal infections and identifies a number of gene candidates that may aid the disaggregation of the pathways associated with the pathogenesis of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii.