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In Myanmar, where backyard, semi-intensive, and intensive pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) farming coexist, there is limited understanding of the zoonotic risks and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) associated with these farming practices. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence, AMR and genomic features of Salmonella in pig farms in the Yangon region and the impact of farm intensification to provide evidence to support risk-based future management approaches. Twenty-three farms with different production scales were sampled for two periods with three sampling-visit each. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests and whole-genome sequencing were performed on the isolates. The prevalence of Salmonella was 44.5% in samples collected from backyard farms, followed by intensive (39.5%) and semi-intensive farms (19.5%). The prevalence of multi-drug resistant isolates from intensive farms (45/84, 53.6%) was higher than those from backyard (32/171, 18.7%) and semi-intensive farms (25/161, 15.5%). Among 28 different serovars identified, S. Weltevreden (40; 14.5%), S. Kentucky (38; 13.8%), S. Stanley (35, 12.7%), S. Typhimurium (22; 8.0%) and S. Brancaster (20; 7.3%) were the most prevalent serovars and accounted for 56.3% of the genome sequenced strains. The diversity of Salmonella serovars was highest in semi-intensive and backyard farms (21 and 19 different serovars, respectively). The high prevalence of globally emerging S. Kentucky ST198 was detected on backyard farms. The invasive-infection linked typhoid-toxin gene (cdtB) was found in the backyard farm isolated S. Typhimurium, relatively enriched in virulence and AMR genes, presented an important target for future surveillance. While intensification, in terms of semi-intensive versus backyard production, maybe a mitigator for zoonotic risk through a lower prevalence of Salmonella, intensive production appears to enhance AMR-associated risks. Therefore, it remains crucial to closely monitor the AMR and virulence potential of this pathogen at all scales of production. The results underscored the complex relationship between intensification of animal production and the prevalence, diversity and AMR of Salmonella from pig farms in Myanmar., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Trung et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), a significant pathogen in the alpha-herpesvirus subfamily, primarily infects cattle and causes the upper respiratory disease known as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). In silico studies evaluated the BoHV-1 D protein to be non-allergenic, non-toxic, and highly antigenic, highlighting its potential as an antigen for vaccine development. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a subunit vaccine using the ectodomain of glycoprotein D (gD 34-380 ) as an antigen. The truncated gD was successfully cloned and expressed in both Escherichia coli (E. coli, termed EgD) and baculovirus (termed BgD) systems, with expected molecular weights of 65 kDa and 50 kDa, respectively. For the vaccine formulation, the gD proteins were used either alone or in combination with in-house inactivated BoHV-1. Vaccination of mice and bovines showed that baculovirus-expressed gD 34-380 accelerated the antibody response. Moreover, the BgD-vaccinated group also showed significantly higher neutralizing antibody levels against BoHV-1 than the control group (p<0.0001). In conclusion, our study found that BgD from BoHV-1 can increase the immune response and enhance vaccine efficacy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest related to the research, authorship, and publication of this article. None of the authors has any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Methylene Blue (MB) is an industrial chemical used in a broad range of applications, and hence its discharge is a concern. Yet, the environmental effects of its degradation by HO˙ radicals have not been fully studied yet. This study employs quantum chemical calculations to investigate the two-step degradation of MB by HO˙ radicals in aqueous environments. It was found that MB undergoes a rapid reaction with the HO˙ radical, with an overall rate constant of 5.51 × 10 9 to 2.38 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 and has a rather broad lifetime range of 11.66 hours to 5.76 years in water at 273-383 K. The calculated rate constants are in good agreement with the experimental values ( k calculation / k experimental = 2.62, pH > 2, 298 K) attesting to the accuracy of the calculation method. The HO˙ + MB reaction in water followed the formal hydrogen transfer and radical adduct formation mechanisms, yielding various intermediates and products. Based on standard tests these intermediates and some of the products can pose a threat to aquatic organisms, including fish, daphnia, and green algae, they have poor biodegradability and have the potential to induce developmental toxicity. Hence MB in the environment is of moderate concern depending on the ratio of safe to harmful breakdown products., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The aim of this work was to evaluate the conformity of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), and verify the accuracy of the planning and delivery system used in this work based on the AAPM TG-119 protocol. The Eclipse 13.6 treatment planning system (TPS) was used to plan the TG-119 test suite, which included four test cases: MultiTarget, Prostate, Head/Neck, and C-Shape for IMRT and VMAT techniques with 6 MV and 10 MV acceleration voltages. The results were assessed and discussed in terms of the TG-119 protocol and the results of previous studies. In addition, point dose and planar dose measurements were done using a semiflex ion chamber and an electronic portal imaging device (EPID), respectively. The planned doses of all test cases met the criteria of the TG-119 protocol, except those for the spinal cord of the C-Shape hard case. There were no significant differences between the treatment planning doses and the doses given in the TG-119 report, with p-values ranging from 0.974 to 1 (p > 0.05). Doses to the target volumes were similar in the IMRT and VMAT plans, but the organs at risk (OARs) doses were different depending on the test case. The planning results showed that IMRT is more conformal than VMAT in certain cases. For the point dose measurements, the confidence limit (CL point ) of 0.030 and 0.021 were better than the corresponding values of 0.045 and 0.047 given in the TG-119 report for high-dose and low-dose areas, respectively. Regarding the planar dose measurements, the CL planar value of 0.38 obtained in this work was lower than that given in the TG-119 report (12.4). It is concluded that the dosimetry measurements performed in this study showed better confidence limits than those provided in the TG 119 report. IMRT remains more conformal in certain circumstances than the more progressive VMAT. When selecting the method of delivering a dose to the patient, several factors must be considered, including the radiotherapy technique, energy, treatment site, and tumour geometry., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Pyrrolo[2,3- b ]quinoxaline derivatives are known to possess antioxidant, anticancer, and antibacterial properties. Here we report the successful synthesis of five derivatives of 3-hydroxy-3-pyrroline-2-one through substitution. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was employed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the compounds. Out of these, ethyl 1,2-diphenyl-1 H -pyrrolo[2,3- b ]quinoxaline-3-carboxylate (3a) demonstrated the greatest potential as a radical scavenger. Thermodynamic and kinetic calculations of the radical scavenging activity indicated that 3a exhibited HO˙ radical scavenging activity with the overall rate constant of 8.56 × 10 8 M -1 s -1 in pentyl ethanoate; however, it was incapable of scavenging hydroperoxyl radicals in nonpolar media. In non-polar environments, the hydroxyl radical scavenging capability of 3a is fairly similar to that of reference antioxidants such as Trolox, melatonin, indole-3-carbinol, and gallic acid. Hence, in the physiological lipid environment, 3a holds promise as a scavenger of HO˙ radicals., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Background: Honey is a nutritious food made by bees from nectar and sweet deposits of flowering plants and has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for wound healing and other bacterial infections due to its antibacterial properties. Honey contains a diverse community of bacteria, especially probiotic bacteria, that greatly affect the health of bees and their consumers. Therefore, understanding the microorganisms in honey can help to ensure the quality of honey and lead to the identification of potential probiotic bacteria., Methods: Herein, the bacteria community in honey produced by Apis cerana was investigated by applying the next-generation sequencing (NGS) method for the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. In addition, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the honey sample were also isolated and screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity., Results: The results showed that the microbiota of A. cerana honey consisted of two major bacterial phyla, Firmicutes (50%; Clostridia , 48.2%) and Proteobacteria (49%; Gammaproteobacteria , 47.7%). Among the 67 identified bacterial genera, the three most predominant genera were beneficial obligate anaerobic bacteria, Lachnospiraceae (48.14%), followed by Gilliamella (26.80%), and Enterobacter (10.16%). Remarkably, among the identified LAB, Lactobacillus kunkeei was found to be the most abundant species. Interestingly, the isolated L. kunkeei strains exhibited antimicrobial activity against some pathogenic bacteria in honeybees, including Klebsiella spp ., Escherichia coli , Enterococcus faecalis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus . This underscores the potential candidacy of L. kunkeei for developing probiotics for medical use. Taken together, our results provided new insights into the microbiota community in the A. cerana honey in Hanoi, Vietnam, highlighting evidence that honey can be an unexplored source for isolating bacterial strains with potential probiotic applications in honeybees and humans., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2024 Lanh et al.)

Caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs) are well-known antioxidants. However, a key aspect of their radical scavenging activity - the mechanism of action - has not been addressed in detail thus far. Here we report on a computational study of the mechanism of activity of CQAs in scavenging hydroperoxyl radicals. In water at physiological pH, the CQAs demonstrated ≈ 10 4 times higher HOO˙ antiradical activity than in lipid medium ( k (lipid) ≈ 10 4 M -1 s -1 ). The activity in the aqueous solution was determined by the hydrogen transfer mechanism of the adjacent hydroxyl group (O6'-H) of the dianion states ( Γ = 93.2-95.2%), while the single electron transfer reaction of these species contributed 4.8-6.8% to the total rate constants. The kinetics estimated by the calculations are consistent with experimental findings in water (pH = 7.5), yielding a k calculated / k experimental = 2.4, reinforcing the reliability and precision of the computational method and demonstrating its utility for evaluating radical reactions in silico . The results also revealed the pH dependence of the HOO˙ scavenging activity of the CQAs; activity was comparable for all compounds below pH 3, however at higher pH values 5CQA reacted with the HOO˙ with lower activity than 3CQA or 4CQA. It was also found that CQAs are less active than Trolox below pH 4.7, however over pH 5.0 they showed higher activity than the reference. The CQAs had the best HOO˙ antiradical activity at pH values between 5.0 and 8.6. Therefore, in the physiological environment, the hydroperoxyl antiradical capacity of CQAs exhibits similarity to renowned natural antioxidants including resveratrol, ascorbic acid, and Trolox., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Vaccinations can serve as an important preventive measure against the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus that currently threatens the swine industry. This study focuses on the development of a fusion protein vaccine, FliC 99 - m COE, which combines the N-terminus of flagellin (FliC 99 ) with a modified core neutralizing epitope ( m COE) of PEDV. In silico immunoinformatic analysis confirmed the construct's non-toxic, non-allergenic, and highly antigenic nature. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrated FliC 99 - m COE's strong binding to the TLR-5 immunological receptor. Repeated exposure simulations and immunological simulations suggested enhanced cell-mediated immunity. Both FliC 99 - m COE and an inactivated PEDV vaccine were produced and tested in mice. The results from cell proliferation, ELISA, and neutralization assays indicated that FliC 99 - m COE effectively stimulated cellular immunity and neutralized PEDV. We conclude that the FliC 99 - m COE fusion protein may serve as a promising vaccine candidate against PEDV.

Rubiadin ( RBD ), an anthraquinone derivative, is obtained from Rubia cordifolia , a plant species classified under the Rubiaceae family. Rubiadin has proven beneficial properties, such as anticancer, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic activity. The antioxidant activity of this molecule was suggested by some experimental results but has not been clearly established thus far. In this study, we employ DFT calculations to comprehensively assess the mechanism and kinetics of the HO • /HOO • radical scavenging activity of this compound in relation to solvents. RBD showed moderate HO • radical scavenging activity, with rate constants of 2.95 × 10 8 and 1.82 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 in lipid and polar media, respectively. In the aqueous solution, the compound exhibited remarkable superoxide anion radical scavenging activity ( k = 4.93 × 10 8 M -1 s -1 ) but modest HOO • antiradical activity. RBD also showed promising antiradical activity against a variety of radicals (CCl 3 O • , CCl 3 OO • , NO 2 , SO 4 •- , and N 3 • ), while experimental and computational results confirmed that RBD has moderate activity in DPPH/ABTS •+ assays. Thus, RBD is predicted to be a good, albeit selective, radical scavenger.

Rosmarinic acid ( RA ) is reported in separate studies to be either an inducer or reliever of oxidative stress, and this contradiction has not been resolved. In this study, we present a comprehensive examination of the radical scavenging activity of RA using density functional theory calculations in comparison with experimental data. In model physiological media, RA exhibited strong HO • radical scavenging activity with overall rate constant values of 2.89 × 10 10 and 3.86 × 10 9 M -1 s -1 . RA is anticipated to exhibit excellent scavenging properties for HOO • in an aqueous environment ( k overall = 3.18 × 10 8 M -1 s -1 , ≈2446 times of Trolox) following the hydrogen transfer and single electron transfer pathways of the dianion state. The neutral form of the activity is equally noteworthy in a lipid environment ( k overall = 3.16 × 10 4 M -1 s -1 ) by the formal hydrogen transfer mechanism of the O6(7,15,16)-H bonds. Chelation with RA may prevent Cu(II) from reduction by the ascorbic acid anion (AA - ), hence blocking the OIL-1 pathway, suggesting that RA in an aqueous environment also serves as an OIL-1 antioxidant. The computational findings exhibit strong concurrence with the experimental observations, indicating that RA possesses a significant efficacy as a radical scavenger in physiological environments.

Antifungal drug resistance is an emerging cause of treatment failure in invasive fungal infections, and antifungal susceptibility testing (AFST) may inform treatment decisions. Currently, there are no established AFST guidelines for Talaromyces marneffei (Tm) or other dimorphic fungi. We developed a colorimetric AFST method using a fluorescent redox indicator alamarBlue, which changes from blue to pink in proportion to cellular metabolic activity. We determined the optimal time for alamarBlue addition to be 24 h post-inoculation and for MIC reading to be 72 h post-inoculation. Our method allows three ways to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC): visual inspection of color change, optical density, and fluorescence intensity. We validated the assay by determining the MICs for seven antifungals against 32 Tm clinical isolates and assessed the essential agreement (EA) and inter-rater reliability between our alamarBlue and the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) broth microdilution methods. The MIC ranges (from low to high) were: 0.008-0.025 μg/ml for itraconazole, 0.004-0.13 μg/ml for voriconazole, 0.03-0.13 μg/ml for posaconazole, 0.06-0.5 µg/ml for flucytosine, 0.5-1 µg/ml for amphotericin B, 0.5-4 µg/ml for caspofungin, and 0.5-16 µg/ml for fluconazole. The EAs were 100% between all three MIC readouts of the alamarBlue method, and 94%-100% between the alamarBlue and CLSI methods. Our alamarBlue method had substantially higher inter-rater agreement and offers a more reliable method that can be standardized across laboratories in both high- and low-resource settings compared to the established CLSI methodology., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology.)

Sumatranus lignans ( SL ) isolated from Cleistanthus sumatranus have demonstrated bioactivities, e.g., they were shown to exhibit immunosuppressive properties in previous research. Their structure suggests potential antioxidant activity that has not attracted any attention thus far. Consistently, a comprehensive analysis of the antioxidant activity of these compounds is highly desirable with the view of prospective medical applications. In this work, the mechanism and kinetics of the antiradical properties of SL against hydroperoxyl radicals were studied by using calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). In the lipid medium, it was discovered that SL reacted with HOO • through the formal hydrogen transfer mechanism with a rate constant of 10 1 -10 5 M -1 s -1 , whereas in aqueous media, the activity primarily occurred through the sequential proton loss electron transfer mechanism with rate constants of 10 2 -10 8 M -1 s -1 . In both lipidic and aqueous environments, the antiradical activity of compounds 6 and 7 exceeds that of resveratrol, ascorbic acid, and Trolox. These substances are therefore predicted to be good radical scavengers in physiological environments., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Talaromycosis, a severe and invasive fungal infection caused by Talaromyces marneffei, is difficult to treat and impacts those living in endemic regions of Southeast Asia, India, and China. While 30% of infections result in mortality, our understanding of the genetic basis of pathogenesis for this fungus is limited. To address this, we apply population genomics and genome-wide association study approaches to a cohort of 336 T. marneffei isolates collected from patients who enrolled in the Itraconazole vs Amphotericin B for Talaromycosis trial in Vietnam. We find that isolates from northern and southern Vietnam form two distinct geographical clades, with isolates from southern Vietnam associated with increased disease severity. Leveraging longitudinal isolates, we identify multiple instances of disease relapse linked to unrelated strains, highlighting the potential for multistrain infections. In more frequent cases of persistent talaromycosis caused by the same strain, we identify variants arising over the course of patient infections that impact genes predicted to function in the regulation of gene expression and secondary metabolite production. By combining genetic variant data with patient metadata for all 336 isolates, we identify pathogen variants significantly associated with multiple clinical phenotypes. In addition, we identify genes and genomic regions under selection across both clades, highlighting loci undergoing rapid evolution, potentially in response to external pressures. With this combination of approaches, we identify links between pathogen genetics and patient outcomes and identify genomic regions that are altered during T. marneffei infection, providing an initial view of how pathogen genetics affects disease outcomes., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest statement The author(s) declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Genetics Society of America.)

Poly( N -vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) is a polymer with many applications in cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and biomedical formulations due to its minimal toxicity. PVP can be synthesized through radical polymerization in organic solvents; this well-known industrial process is thoroughly characterized experimentally, however, quantum chemical modeling of the process is scarce: the mechanism and kinetics have not been thoroughly investigated yet. In this work, the mechanism and kinetics of the alkoxy radical polymerization of N -vinylpyrrolidone in organic solvents, namely isopropanol (IP) and toluene (TL), were successfully modeled by computational chemistry. The initiator radicals di- tert -butyl peroxide (TBO˙) and dicumyl peroxide (CMO˙) as well as the solvents isopropanol and toluene, were shown to be capable of assisting in the initiation reactions. The rate constant was influenced by the combination of initiators and solvent and the values of the rate constant of propagation were approximately 10 1 -10 3 M -1 s -1 . The radical polymerization of NVP with dicumyl peroxide as an initiator was comparable to that of di- tert -butyl peroxide in all of the examined organic solvents, whereas the solvents had less of an effect., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

2-Mercaptoimidazole ( 2MI ) is related to natural ovothiols that are recognized as powerful radical scavengers. Yet, despite early reports of its potent antioxidant properties, 2MI received little attention. Specifically, its radical scavenging activity against typical free radicals like HO • and HOO • has not yet been studied in terms of its mechanism and kinetics. In this project, density functional theory (DFT) simulations were used to assess the antiradical activity of 2MI . Calculations indicate that 2MI can demonstrate anti-HO • activity in both lipid and aqueous environments ( k overall of 1.05 × 10 10 and 2.07 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 , respectively). The calculated kinetics is extremely close to the experimental data in water (pH = 7.0), resulting in a k calculated / k experimental ratio of 1.73, validating the accuracy of the computational method and its usefulness for assessing radical scavenging activity in silico. In lipid media, the HOO • radical scavenging activity of 2MI is faster than that of common typical natural scavengers such as ascorbic acid, Trolox, and trans-resveratrol; hence, 2MI is a powerful radical scavenger in nonpolar media.

Background: Escherichia coli is an opportunistic pathogen which colonizes various host species. However, to what extent genetic lineages of E. coli are adapted or restricted to specific hosts and the genomic determinants of such adaptation or restriction is poorly understood., Results: We randomly sampled E. coli isolates from four countries (Germany, UK, Spain, and Vietnam), obtained from five host species (human, pig, cattle, chicken, and wild boar) over 16 years, from both healthy and diseased hosts, to construct a collection of 1198 whole-genome sequenced E. coli isolates. We identified associations between specific E. coli lineages and the host from which they were isolated. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified several E. coli genes that were associated with human, cattle, or chicken hosts, whereas no genes associated with the pig host could be found. In silico characterization of nine contiguous genes (collectively designated as nan-9) associated with the human host indicated that these genes are involved in the metabolism of sialic acids (Sia). In contrast, the previously described sialic acid regulon known as sialoregulon (i.e. nanRATEK-yhcH, nanXY, and nanCMS) was not associated with any host species. In vitro growth experiments with a Δnan-9 E. coli mutant strain, using the sialic acids 5-N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) as sole carbon source, showed impaired growth behaviour compared to the wild-type., Conclusions: This study provides an extensive analysis of genetic determinants which may contribute to host specificity in E. coli. Our findings should inform risk analysis and epidemiological monitoring of (antimicrobial resistant) E. coli., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Patients with prolonged hospitalisation have a significant risk of carriage of and subsequent infection with extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. However, the distinctive roles of the community and hospital environments in the transmission of ESBL-producing or carbapenemase-producing K pneumoniae remain elusive. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and transmission of K pneumoniae within and between the two tertiary hospitals in Hanoi, Viet Nam, using whole-genome sequencing., Methods: We did a prospective cohort study of 69 patients in intensive care units (ICUs) from two hospitals in Hanoi, Viet Nam. Patients were included if they were aged 18 years or older, admitted for longer than the mean length of stay in their ICU, and cultured K pneumoniae from their clinical samples. Longitudinally collected samples from patients (collected weekly) and the ICU environment (collected monthly) were cultured on selective media, and whole-genome sequences from K pneumoniae colonies analysed. We did phylogenetic analyses and correlated phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing with genotypic features of K pneumoniae isolates. We constructed transmission networks of patient samples, relating ICU admission times and locations with genetic similarity of infecting K pneumoniae., Findings: Between June 1, 2017, and Jan 31, 2018, 69 patients were in the ICUs and eligible for inclusion, and a total of 357 K pneumoniae isolates were cultured and successfully sequenced. 228 (64%) of K pneumoniae isolates carried between two and four different ESBL-encoding and carbapenemase-encoding genes, with 164 (46%) isolates carrying genes encoding both, with high minimum inhibitory concentrations. We found a novel co-occurrence of bla KPC-2 and bla NDM-1 in 46·6% of samples from the globally successful ST15 lineage. Despite being physically and clinically separated, the two hospitals shared closely related strains carrying the same array of antimicrobial resistance genes., Interpretation: These results highlight the high prevalence of ESBL-positive carbapenem-resistant K pneumoniae in ICUs in Viet Nam. Through studying K pneumoniae ST15 in detail, we showed how important resistance genes are contained within these strains that are carried broadly by patients entering the two hospitals directly or through referral., Funding: Medical Research Council Newton Fund, Ministry of Science and Technology, Wellcome Trust, Academy of Medical Sciences, Health Foundation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests JP is a paid consultant for Next Gen Diagnostics. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Paederia scandens (Lour.) is a widely used medicinal herb in Vietnam, China, India, and Japan for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including toothache, chest pains, piles, and spleen inflammation. There is broad interest in identifying the composition of its extracts and confirming their numerous biological activities, including anti-nociceptive, antiviral, and anticancer properties. Two iridoid glucosides obtained from the MeOH extract of P. scandens , 6'-O- E -feruloylmonotropein (6-FMT) and 10'-O- E -feruloylmonotropein (10-FMT), are potential antioxidants based on their structure. In this study, the hydroperoxyl scavenging activity of 6-FMT and 10-FMT was examined in silico by using density functional theory. These FMTs are predicted to be weak antioxidants in non-polar environments, whereas a good HOO˙ scavenging activity is expected in polar environments (pH = 7.4) with k overall = 3.66 × 10 7 M -1 s -1 and 9.45 × 10 6 M -1 s -1 , respectively. This activity is better than many common antioxidants such as trolox and nearly equivalent to ascorbic acid and resveratrol. The hydroperoxyl scavenging activity was exerted mainly by the di-anion form of FMTs in water at physiological pH following the single electron transfer mechanism. The results suggest that FMTs are promising natural antioxidants in aqueous physiological environments., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Nicotine (NCT) is a prevalent and highly poisonous tobacco alkaloid found in wastewater discharge. Advanced oxidative processes (AOP) are radical interactions between harmful pollutants and ambient free radicals that, theoretically, result in less toxic compounds. For a better understanding of the chemical transformations and long-term environmental effects of toxic discharges, the study of these processes is crucial. Here, quantum chemical calculations are used to investigate the AOP of the NCT in aqueous and lipidic environments. It was found that NCT interacted with HO • in polar and nonpolar media, with an overall rate constant k overall  = 10 6 - 10 10  M -1  s -1 . The computed kinetic data are reasonably accurate as seen by the comparison with the experimental rate constant in water (pH = 7.0), which results in a k calculated /k experimetal ratio of 1.4. The hydrogen transfer (C7, C9, C12)-single electron transfer pathways are the main mechanisms for the HO •  + NCT reaction in pentyl ethanoate solvent to form the cations as the primary products of the two-step reaction. However, in aqueous environments, the degradation of NCT by HO • radicals increases with increasing pH levels. It is predicted that oxidation products are less toxic than nicotine itself, especially in an aqueous environment with a pH < 7.0., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Depression is a widespread and incapacitating mental health disorder that impacts millions of people worldwide, playing a substantial role in the overall global health challenges. Depression has a big impact on a person's quality of life, cognitive and social functioning, risk of suicide, risk of heart disease and other illnesses, as well as death from all causes., Objective: It may be challenging to choose the best tools to screen for severe depression in patients with recurrent depression disorder (PRD) considering the diversity of psychological scales in Vietnam. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic value for detect severe depression of four psychological scales including Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Beck Depression Inventory Scale (BECK), and Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) by genders and age groups among PRD in Vietnam., Methods: This study was conducted at National Institute of Mental Health, Bach Mai Hospital, Vietnam, from 2020 to 2021. There were 109 PRD evaluated with HAM-D, HAM-A, BECK, and SAS by qualified psychiatrists. By analysing Area Under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, we determined sensitivity, specificity and cut points of four above scales., Results: Among four scales, the BECK scale had the best diagnostic effect with the most optimal sensitivity and specificity (61.64% and 75%, respectively). We proposed the new cut-off of HAM-D, HAM-A, BECK, and SAS for detecting severe depression among PRD were 20, 34, 30, and 45, respectively. By genders, the cut points for the HAM-D, HAM-A, BECK, and SAS in males were 20, 27, 34, and 44, respectively, while those figure in females were 14, 34, 30, and 46, respectively. By age groups, adults had cut values for four above scales of 20, 34, 27, and 45, respectively, whereas those for the elderly were 16, 17, 35, and 44, respectively., Conclusion: We highly recommended that BECK is the most optimal method to screen severe depression in PRD in Vietnam. It is essential to utilize varied cut values of HAM-D, HAM-A, BECK, and SAS for different genders and age groups., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 Vu Son Tung, Nguyen-Van Thong, Nguyen-Thi Phuong Mai, Le-Thi Thao Linh, Dang Cong Son, Tran-Thi Thu Ha, Nguyen-Thi Hoa, Nguyen Thanh Long, Nguyen-Van Tuan.)

Repeated column chromatography resulted in the isolation of two new glycosides, miliusides A-B ( 1 and 7 ), along with six known metabolites ( 2 - 6 , and 8 ) from the leaves of Miliusa sinensis Finet and Gagnep. The structures of the purified phytochemicals were elucidated by interpreting their spectroscopic data (NMR, HRMS), as well as comparison with the previous literature. The biological evaluation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effects and anti-inflammatory activity by measuring nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 mouse macrophage cells, were also conducted. Among them, compounds 5 and 7 exhibited significant AChE inhibitory activities (IC 50 = 53.36 ± 4.20 and 88.50 ± 8.79  µ M, respectively), compared with the positive control (Galanthamine, IC 50 = 1.65 ± 0.15  µ M). Only the MeOH extract showed suppression effects on NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells (IC 50 = 38.18 ± 3.25  μ g/mL) comparable to that of the positive control, l-NMMA (IC 50 = 2.21 ± 0.56  μ g/mL).

Glycozolidol was isolated from the root of Glycosmis pentaphylla (6-hydroxy-2-methoxy-3-methylcarbazole, GLD). This molecule attracted considerable interest due to its beneficial biological activities that likely stem from its antioxidant activity; yet, the radical scavenging action of GLD has not been investigated thus far. In this study, DFT calculations were used to estimate the radical scavenging activity of GLD against a variety of biologically significant radical species in physiological environments. The findings demonstrated that GLD exerts significant antiradical activity in water at pH = 7.40 and in pentyl ethanoate (as a model of lipidic media) with k overall = 8.23 × 10 6 and 3.53 × 10 4 M -1 s -1 , respectively. In aqueous solution, the sequential proton-loss electron transfer mechanism made the highest contribution to the activity, whereas in nonpolar solvents the formal hydrogen transfer mechanism dominated the activity. GLD is predicted to have strong antiradical activity against CH 3 O˙, CH 3 OO˙, CCl 3 OO˙, NO 2 , SO 4 ˙ - , DPPH and ABTS + ˙ k app ≈ 10 9 M -1 s -1 and k f ≈ 10 6 M -1 s -1 . The results suggest that GLD is a good radical scavenger in physiological environments., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Background: Viet Nam has high rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) but little capacity for genomic surveillance. This study used whole genome sequencing to examine the prevalence and transmission of three key AMR pathogens in two intensive care units (ICUs) in Hanoi, Viet Nam., Methods: A prospective surveillance study of all adults admitted to ICUs at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Bach Mai Hospital was done between June 19, 2017, and Jan 16, 2018. Clinical and environmental samples were cultured on selective media, characterised with MALDI TOF mass spectrometry, and sequenced with Illumina. Phylogenies based on the de-novo assemblies (SPAdes) were constructed with MAFFT (PARsnp), Gubbins, and RAxML. Resistance genes were detected with Abricate against the US National Center for Biotechnology Information database., Findings: 3153 Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from 369 patients were analysed. Phylogenetic analysis revealed predominant lineages within A baumannii (global clone 2, sequence types ST2 and ST571) and K pneumoniae (ST15, ST16, ST656, ST11, and ST147) isolates. Isolation from stool was most common with E coli (87·0%) followed by K pneumoniae (62·5%). Of the E coli, 85·0% carried a bla CTX-M variant, while 81·8% of K pneumoniae isolates carried bla NDM (54·4%), or bla KPC (45·1%), or both. Transmission analysis with single nucleotide polymorphisms identified 167 clusters involving 251 (68%) of 369 patients, in some cases involving patients from both ICUs. There were no clear differences between the lineages or AMR genes recovered between the two ICUs., Interpretation: This study represents the largest prospective surveillance study of key AMR pathogens in Vietnamese ICUs. Clusters of closely related isolates in patients across both ICUs suggests recent transmission before ICU admission in other health-care settings or in the community., Funding: UK Medical Research Council Newton Fund, Viet Nam Ministry of Science and Technology, Wellcome Trust, Academy of Medical Sciences, Health Foundation, and UK National Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests LWR reports travel fees from European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), and is on the Microbial Genomics Early Career Microbiologists board of reviewers, outside of the submitted work. HRvD is a board member of the Surveillance and Epidemiology of Drug Resistant Infections Consortium, outside of the submitted work. JP reports grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Wellcome Trust and consulting fees and stock options from Next Gen Diagnostics, outside of the submitted work. ZI reports grants from Global Challenges Research Fund, UK Research and Innovation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit, travel fees from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is part of the advisory board for Laboratory of Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden and CLIMB-BIG-DATA, outside of the submitted work. MET reports book royalties from Oxford University Press and teaching honoraria from Wellcome Sanger Institute, outside of the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The spike protein (S) of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), in particular, the C-terminal domain of the S1 subunit (S1-CTD), which contains the conserved CO-26K-equivalent (COE) region (aa 499-638), which is recognized by neutralizing antibodies, exhibits a high degree of genetic and antigenic diversity. We analyzed 61 PEDV S1-CTD sequences (630 nt), including 26 from samples collected from seven provinces in northern Vietnam from 2018 to 2019 and 35 other sequences, representing the G1a and 1b, G2a and 2b, and recombinant (G1c) genotypes and vaccines. The majority (73.1%) of the strains (19/26) belonged to subgroup G2b. In a phylogenetic analysis, seven strains were clustered into an independent, distinct subgenogroup named dsG with strong nodal support (98%), separate from both G1a and G1b as well as G2a, 2b, and G1c. Sequence analysis revealed distinct changes (513 T>S , 520 G>D , 527 V>(L/M) , 591 L>F , 669 A>(S/P) , and 691 V>I ) in the COE and S1 D regions that were only identified in these Vietnamese strains. This cluster is a new antigenic variant subgroup, and further studies are required to investigate the antigenicity of these variants. The results of this study demonstrated the continuous evolution in the S1 region of Vietnamese PEDV strains, which emphasizes the need for frequent updates of vaccines for effective protection., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

Honeybees play a vital role in the ecological environment and agricultural economy. Increasing evidence shows that the gut microbiome greatly influences the host's health. Therefore, a thorough understanding of gut bacteria composition can lead to the development of probiotics specific for each development stage of honeybees. In this study, the gut microbiota at different developmental stages (larvae, pupae, and adults) of the honeybees Apis cerana in Hanoi, Vietnam, was assessed by sequencing the V3-V4 region in the 16S rRNA gene using the Illumina Miseq platform. The results indicated that the richness and diversity of the gut microbiota varied over the investigated stages of A. cenara . All three bee groups showed relative abundance at both phylum and family levels. In larvae, Firmicutes were the most predominant (81.55%); however, they decreased significantly along with the bee development (33.7% in pupae and 10.3% in adults) in favor of Proteobacteria . In the gut of adult bees, four of five core bacteria were found, including Gilliamella apicola group (34.01%) Bifidobacterium asteroides group (10.3%), Lactobacillus Firm-4 (2%), and Lactobacillus Firm-5 (1%). In contrast, pupae and larvae lacked almost all core bacteria except G. apicola (4.13%) in pupae and Lactobacillus Firm-5 (4.04%) in larvae. This is the first report on the gut microbiota community at different developmental stages of A. cerana in Vietnam and provides potential probiotic species for beekeeping., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

African swine fever (ASF) has been considered as one of the most important and devastating swine diseases with high mortality rates. Since effective vaccines and treatment are not available, mass euthanasia of infected and exposed pigs has been known to be the best measure to control ASF. Although composting has been proved to be a safe method for the rapid disposal of animal carcasses during outbreaks, there is no information about the effect of composting on the viability of ASF virus in swine carcasses. This study investigates the survival of the ASF virus in swine carcasses during composting. The findings suggested that the DNA of the ASF virus was detected in all samples tested. On the contrary, infectious ASF virus particles were rapidly destroyed at day 3., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Foods that contain hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives (HBA) include red fruits, black radish, onion, and potato peel. HBA are widely known for their anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and especially antioxidant capabilities; however, a comprehensive study of the mechanism and kinetics of the antiradical action of these compounds has not been performed. Here, we report a study on the mechanisms and kinetics of hydroperoxyl radical scavenging activity of HBA by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. According to the results, HBA exert low HOO • antiradical activity in the nonpolar environment with overall rate constants in the range of k overall  = 5.90 × 10 -6 - 4.10 × 10 3  M -1  s -1 . However, most HBA exhibit significant HOO • antiradical activity (k overall  = 10 5  - 10 8  M -1  s -1 ) by the single electron transfer (SET) reaction of the phenoxide anions in water at physiological pH. The overall rate constant increases with increasing pH values in the majority of the substances studied. At pH ≤ 4, gentisic acid had the best HOO • antiradical activity (log(k overall ) = 3.7-4.8), however at pH > 4, the largest HOO • radical scavenging activity (log(k overall ) = 4.8-9.8) was almost exclusively found for gallic and syringic acids. Salicylic and 5-sulphosalicylic acids have the lowest antiradical activity across most of the pH range. The activities of the majority of the acids in this study are faster than the reference compound Trolox. Thus, in the aqueous physiological environment, these HBA are good natural antioxidants., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The heterocyclic γ-lactam ring 2-pyrrolidinone has four carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. Among the group of derivatives of 2-pyrrolidinones, 1,5-dihydro-2 H -pyrrol-2-ones, also known as 3-pyrroline-2-ones, play a significant structural role in a variety of bioactive natural compounds. In this study, three-component reactions were used to successfully synthesize six polysubstituted 3-hydroxy-3-pyrroline-2-one derivatives. The antioxidant activity of the compounds was tested by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, identifying 4-ethoxycarbonyl-3-hydroxy-5-(4-methylphenyl)-1-phenyl-3-pyrroline-2-one (4b) as the most promising radical scavenger. Quantum chemistry calculations of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the radical scavenging activity also suggest that 4b is an effective HO˙ radical scavenger, with k overall values of 2.05 × 10 9 and 1.54 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 in pentyl ethanoate and water, respectively. On the other hand, 4b could not scavenge hydroperoxyl radicals in either media. The ability of 4b to scavenge hydroxyl radicals in polar and non-polar environments is comparable to that of conventional antioxidants such as melatonin, gallic acid, indole-3-carbinol, ramalin, or Trolox. Thus 4b may be classed as a promising HO˙ radical scavenger in the physiological environment., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The significant bottlenecks in determining bacterial species are much more time-consuming and the biology specialist's long-term experience requirements. Specifically, it takes more than half a day to cultivate a bacterium, and then a skilled microbiologist and a costly specialized machine are utilized to analyze the genes and classify the bacterium according to its nucleotide sequence. To overcome these issues as well as get higher recognition accuracy, we proposed applying convolutional neural networks (CNNs) architectures to automatically classify bacterial species based on some key characteristics of bacterial colonies. Our experiment confirmed that the classification of three bacterial colonies could be performed with the highest accuracy (97.19%) using a training set of 5000 augmented images derived from the 40 original photos taken in the Hanoi Medical University laboratory in Vietnam.

The sesquiterpenoid compound abelsaginol ( AS ) was successfully isolated from Abelmoschus sagittifolius for the first time. The compound was identified using NMR and MS data. The antioxidant activity of AS was also evaluated both theoretically and experimentally. AS was found to be a weak HOO • radical scavenger in organic solvents such as pentyl ethanoate and dimethyl sulfoxide ( k overall = ∼ 10 2 M -1 s -1 ), in a good agreement with the results of the 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assay. However, AS exhibited good HOO • antiradical activity in water at pH 7.40 ( k overall = 9.00 × 10 6 M -1 s -1 ) through the single-electron transfer mechanism of the anion state. Further calculations also demonstrated that AS could exert good to moderate activity against CH 3 O • , CH 3 OO • , CCl 3 OO • , NO 2 , and SO 4 •- radicals, with k f values from 4.00 × 10 3 to 1.52 × 10 7 M -1 s -1 . However, AS exerted much lower activity against HO • , CCl 3 O • , NO, O 2 •- , and N 3 • radicals under the studied conditions. In general, the activity of AS in water at pH 7.40 is higher than that of Trolox or butylated hydroxytoluene, which are common reference antioxidants. Thus, in an aqueous physiological milieu, AS is a promising natural antioxidant., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

7-O-Galloyltricetifavan ( 7OGT ), a natural flavonoid, is isolated from the leaves of Pithecellobium clypearia . The compound exhibits a variety of biological activities. This study details the evaluation of the HOO • antiradical activity of 7OGT by quantum chemistry calculations. The HOO • trapping activity of 7OGT in the gas phase (reference state) was discovered to follow the formal hydrogen transfer mechanism with a rate constant of k = 4.58 × 10 8 M -1 s -1 . In physiological environments, 7OGT is predicted to be an excellent HOO • radical scavenger with k overall = 2.65 × 10 8 and 1.40 × 10 4 M -1 s -1 in water and pentyl ethanoate solvents, respectively. The HOO • antiradical activity of 7OGT in water at physiological pH is approximately 2000 times that of Trolox and substantially higher than that of other well-known natural antioxidants such as trans-resveratrol or ascorbic acid. Thus, 7OGT is an excellent natural antioxidant in polar environments., (© 2022 The Authors.)