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Background and Aims: Preimplantation genetic testing plays a crucial role in assisted reproductive technologies by aiding in the selection of embryos with optimal developmental potential. This study aims to compare the time required for biopsy and evaluate the ploidy status between Day3 and Day4 hatching-based methods and cases without assisted hatching (AH). Method: We retrospectively analyzed data from 257 embryos from 56 patients between November 2022 and March 2023. Embryos were categorized into three groups: Day3 hatching-based method (n=43), and Day4 hatching-based method (n=134), and cases without AH (n=80). We used Kruskal-Wallis tests and chi-square tests to compare the groups with R software (version 4.1.0) at a significance level of 0.05. Results: There was a significant difference in the median biopsy time per embryo between the hatching-based methods (H = 6.01, p = 0.049). The Day4 hatching-based method had a significantly shorter biopsy time per embryo than cases without AH (W = 95, p = 0.037). There were no significant differences in the percentages of euploid, aneuploid, or mosaic embryos between the hatching-based methods. The Chi-square test showed no significant differences between the observed and expected percentages of euploid ([Formula: see text] = 0.22, p = 0.893), aneuploid ([Formula: see text] = 2.35, p = 0.308), or mosaic ([Formula: see text]= 0.58, p = 0.748) embryos across all hatching-based methods. The Chi-square test of independence showed no significant differences in the percentages of euploid ([Formula: see text] = 0.56, p = 0.755), aneuploid ([Formula: see text] = 1.41, p = 0.495), or mosaic ([Formula: see text] = 0.22, p = 0.896) embryos between the hatching-based methods. Conclusion: We suggest that the Day4 hatching-based method may provide a significant advantage in terms of shorter biopsy time per embryo compared to cases without AH, but there were no significant differences in the percentages of euploid, aneuploid, or mosaic embryos between the hatching-based methods.

To assess the effectiveness of radiosurgery with a rotating gamma system (RGS) for paediatric brain tumours and arteriovenous malformation (AVM), this work was carried out on 123 patients with brain tumours or AVM received radiosurgery at Bach Mai hospital. The median dose was 13 Gy from a range of 8 to 20 Gy. Endpoints include the effects of increased intracranial pressure, seizures, hemiplegia, and tumour size on the syndrome. Results exhibited that the percentages of patients with complete response, partial response, and disease progression out of 59 patients with headache accounted for 11.9, 69.5, and 18.6%, respectively. Of the 20 patients with seizures, 30% had complete response, 65% partial response, and 5% stable disease. Regarding brain tumour size, 9 months after treatment, those with complete response, partial response, stable disease, and disease progression made up 18.7, 50.4, 14.6, and 16.3% of the total patients, respectively. There was no statistically significant effect of radiation dose on the results. This study showed a high percentage of children with brain tumours and AVM undergoing radiosurgery with a RGS had symptomatic responses after treatment.

To bolster the drive for economic and social development in Vietnam, 31 coal-fired power plants were constructed to meet the demand for electricity. According to a survey by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, approximately 20.5 million tons of coal ash will be generated in 2020. A part of the generated coal ash was recycled as landfill; however, the rest lies unused or discarded, causing serious environmental pollution. Since fly ash (FA) forms a major component of coal ash, it is necessary to establish methods for the safe, continuous, and effective use of FA. This study compared the Vietnamese National Standards with the Japanese Industrial Standards from the perspective of using FA as an admixture in concrete. Japanese FA was used in the experiments. Consequently, by using suitable amounts of chemical admixtures and adjusting the ratio of FA as a cement replacement and as a fine aggregate replacement, structural concrete can be manufactured, and the required quality can be assured.

The analysis of the mutational landscape of cancer, including mutual exclusivity and co-occurrence of mutations, has been instrumental in studying the disease. We hypothesized that exploring the interplay between co-occurrence, mutual exclusivity, and functional interactions between genes will further improve our understanding of the disease and help to uncover new relations between cancer driving genes and pathways. To this end, we designed a general framework, BeWith, for identifying modules with different combinations of mutation and interaction patterns. We focused on three different settings of the BeWith schema: (i) BeME-WithFun, in which the relations between modules are enriched with mutual exclusivity, while genes within each module are functionally related; (ii) BeME-WithCo, which combines mutual exclusivity between modules with co-occurrence within modules; and (iii) BeCo-WithMEFun, which ensures co-occurrence between modules, while the within module relations combine mutual exclusivity and functional interactions. We formulated the BeWith framework using Integer Linear Programming (ILP), enabling us to find optimally scoring sets of modules. Our results demonstrate the utility of BeWith in providing novel information about mutational patterns, driver genes, and pathways. In particular, BeME-WithFun helped identify functionally coherent modules that might be relevant for cancer progression. In addition to finding previously well-known drivers, the identified modules pointed to other novel findings such as the interaction between NCOR2 and NCOA3 in breast cancer. Additionally, an application of the BeME-WithCo setting revealed that gene groups differ with respect to their vulnerability to different mutagenic processes, and helped us to uncover pairs of genes with potentially synergistic effects, including a potential synergy between mutations in TP53 and the metastasis related DCC gene. Overall, BeWith not only helped us uncover relations between potential driver genes and pathways, but also provided additional insights on patterns of the mutational landscape, going beyond cancer driving mutations. Implementation is available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Przytycka/software/bewith.html.

Recent genome-wide analyses have uncovered a high accumulation of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) at the 5' end of genes. This elevated Pol II presence at promoters, referred to here as Poll II poising, is mainly (but not exclusively) attributed to temporal pausing of transcription during early elongation which, in turn, has been proposed to be a regulatory step for processes that need to be activated "on demand". Yet, the full genome-wide regulatory role of Pol II poising is yet to be delineated. To elucidate the role of Pol II poising in B cell activation, we compared Pol II profiles in resting and activated B cells. We found that while Pol II poised genes generally overlap functionally among different B cell states and correspond to the functional groups previously identified for other cell types, non-poised genes are B cell state specific. Focusing on the changes in transcription activity upon B cell activation, we found that the majority of such changes were from poised to non-poised state. The genes showing this type of transition were functionally enriched in translation, RNA processing and mRNA metabolic process. Interestingly, we also observed a transition from non-poised to poised state. Within this set of genes we identified several Immediate Early Genes (IEG), which were highly expressed in resting B cell and shifted from non-poised to poised state after B cell activation. Thus Pol II poising does not only mark genes for rapid expression in the future, but it is also associated with genes that are silenced after a burst of their expression. Finally, we performed comparative analysis of the presence of G4 motifs in the context of poised versus non-poised but active genes. Interestingly we observed a differential enrichment of these motifs upstream versus downstream of TSS depending on poising status. The enrichment of G4 sequence motifs upstream of TSS of non-poised active genes suggests a potential role of quadruplexes in expression regulation.

P2X7 is a ligand-gated ion channel which is activated by ATP and displays secondary permeability characteristics. The mechanism of development of the secondary permeability pathway is currently unclear, although a role for the hemichannel protein pannexin-1 has been suggested. In this study we investigated the role of pannexin-1 in P2X7-induced dye uptake and ATP-induced IL-1β secretion from human monocytes. We found no pharmacological evidence for involvement of pannexin-1 in P2X7-mediated dye uptake in transfected HEK-293 cells with no inhibition seen for carbenoxolone and the pannexin-1 mimetic inhibitory peptide, 10Panx1. However, we found that probenecid inhibited P2X7-induced cationic and anionic dye uptake in stably transfected human P2X7 HEK-293 cells. An IC50 value of 203 μM was calculated for blockade of ATP-induced responses at human P2X7. Probenecid also reduced dye uptake and IL-1β secretion from human CD14+ monocytes whereas carbenoxolone and 10Panx1 showed no inhibitory effect. Patch clamp and calcium indicator experiments revealed that probenecid directly blocks the human P2X7 receptor.

The consensus in the finance literature is that a large proportion of inside ownership (defined as greater than 5% share ownership by non-institutional holders, managerial holdings, founding family holdings, cross-shareholdings by affiliated firms and ownership by creditors) tends to be associated with more unsatisfactory performance (as measured by ROE or ROA) when compared to firms with lower inside ownership, all else equal. However, this need not be the case if insiders act as monitors of the firm and have the same interest in returns as outsiders. Ownership structure and firm level financial performance have not been widely studied in Vietnam. Using data from 729 listed firms in Vietnam for 2018, we test the hypothesis that greater insider ownership has a negative impact on firm performance. We found that Vietnam's insiders play a monitoring role, exercising their relative power to ensure the firm's profitable functioning. These findings are inconsistent with research on Japanese groupings, as well as other findings. The Vietnamese stock market does not appear to be negatively affected by insider influence; indeed, insiders appear to act as positive monitors.

The recent surge in biosignal-based control signifies a profound paradigm shift in biomedical engineering. This innovative approach has injected new life into control theory, ushering in advancements in human-body interaction and control. Surface Electromyography (sEMG) emerges as a pivotal biosignal, attracting considerable attention for its wide-ranging applications across medicine, science, and engineering, particularly in the domain of functional rehabilitation. This study delves into the use of sEMG signals for controlling a robotic arm, with the overarching aim of improving the quality of life for people with disabilities in Vietnam. Raw sEMG signals are acquired via appropriate sensors and subjected to a robust processing methodology involving analog-to-digital conversion, band-pass and low-pass filtering, and envelope detection. To demonstrate the efficacy of the processed sEMG signals, this study introduces a robotic arm model capable of mimicking intricate human finger movements. Employing a fuzzy logic control strategy, the robotic arm demonstrates successful operation in experimental trials, characterized by swift response times, thereby positioning it as a valuable assistive device for people with disabilities. This investigation not only validates the feasibility of sEMG-based control for robotic arms, but also underscores its potential to significantly improve the lives of individuals with disabilities, a demographic that represents a substantial portion (approximately 8%) of the Vietnamese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), a subtype of chronic cutaneous lupus may be observed in a linear pattern. A 21-year-old woman with history of chronic granulomatous disease state presented to our clinic for a chronic six-year skin eruption on her left eyebrow, left cheek, and left forehead. A punch biopsy of involved left forehead skin was performed and revealed perivascular and periadnexal lymphohistiocytic infiltrate without features of morphea or panniculitis, confirming the histopathologic changes of cutaneous lupus erythematous. The patient was diagnosed with linear DLE, mimicking en coup de sabre, within Blaschko lines. The pathogenesis for DLE in association with chronic granulomatous disease is ambiguous; however, X-linked lyonization is crucial for both conditions and may explain cooccurrence of disease states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]