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Background: The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the corresponding mitigation measures have had a discernible impact on drug utilization among outpatients. However, limited research exists on the prescription trends in the elderly population during the pandemic period in Viet Nam., Objectives: This study aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on outpatient drug utilization patterns at a national geriatric hospital in Ho Chi Minh City before and after the early onset of the pandemic., Methods: Data was collected from the prescriptions and administration claims, encompassing the period from January 2016 to December 2022. The dataset was divided into two periods: Period 1: January 2016 to December 2020 and Period 2: January 2021 to December 2022. The drug utilization was measured using DDD/1000P (defined daily doses-DDD per 1000 prescriptions) on a monthly basis. The analysis employed interrupted time series using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) to detect changes in drug use levels and rates., Results: A total of 1,060,507 and 644,944 outpatient prescriptions from Thong Nhat Hospital were included in Period 1 and Period 2, respectively. The median age of the patients were 58 in Period 1 and 67 years old in Period 2. The most common comorbidities were dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. In terms of medication utilization, cardiovascular drugs were the most frequently prescribed, followed by drugs active on the digestive and hormonal systems. The study observed significant surges in the number of prescriptions and the average number of drugs per prescription. However, there were no significant changes in the overall consumption of all drugs. Among the drug groups related to the cardiovascular system, three subgroups experienced a sudden and significant increase: cardiac therapy, beta-blocking agents, and antihypertensives, with increasing consumption levels of 1,177.73 [CI 95%: 79.29; 2,276.16], 73.32 [CI 95%: 28.18; 118.46], and 36.70 [CI 95%: 6.74; 66.66] DDD/1000P, respectively. On the other hand, there was a significant monthly decrease of -31.36 [CI 95%: -57.02; -5.70] DDD/1000P in the consumption of anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products. Interestingly, there was a significant increase of 74.62 [CI 95%: -0.36; 149.60] DDD/1000P in the use of antigout preparations., Conclusion: COVID-19 resulted in a sudden, non-significant increase in overall drug consumption levels among outpatients. Notably, our findings highlight significant increases in the utilization of three drug groups related to the cardiovascular system, specifically cardiac therapy, beta-blocking agents, and antihypertensives. Intriguingly, there was a statistically significant increase in the consumption of antigout preparations, despite a decline in the monthly consumption rate of non-steroidal anti-flammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Further studies in the following years are necessary to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on outpatient drug utilization patterns., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Le-Dang 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.)

Background: Despite medicinal advances, cancer is still a big problem requiring better diagnostic and treatment tools. Magnetic nanoparticle (MNP)-based nanosystems for multiple-purpose applications were developed for these unmet needs. Methods: This study fabricated novel trifunctional MNPs of Fe 3 O 4 @PLA-PEG for drug release, MRI and magnetic fluid hyperthermia. Result: The MNPs provided a significant loading of curcumin (∼11%) with controllable release ability, a high specific absorption rate of 82.2 W/g and significantly increased transverse relaxivity ( r 2  = 364.75 mM -1 s -1 ). The in vivo study confirmed that the MNPs enhanced MRI contrast in tumor observation and low-field magnetic fluid hyperthermia could effectively reduce the tumor size in mice bearing sarcoma 180. Conclusion: The nanocarrier has potential for drug release, cancer treatment monitoring and therapy.

TBR225 is one of the most popular commercial rice varieties in Northern Vietnam. However, this variety is highly susceptible to bacterial leaf blight (BLB), a disease caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) which can lead to important yield losses. OsSWEET14 belongs to the SWEET gene family that encodes sugar transporters. Together with other Clade III members, it behaves as a susceptibility (S) gene whose induction by Asian Xoo Transcription-Activator-Like Effectors (TALEs) is absolutely necessary for disease. In this study, we sought to introduce BLB resistance in the TBR225 elite variety. First, two Vietnamese Xoo strains were shown to up-regulate OsSWEET14 upon TBR225 infection. To investigate if this induction is connected with disease susceptibility, nine TBR225 mutant lines with mutations in the AvrXa7, PthXo3 or TalF TALEs DNA target sequences of the OsSWEET14 promoter were obtained using the CRISPR/Cas9 editing system. Genotyping analysis of T0 and T1 individuals showed that mutations were stably inherited. None of the examined agronomic traits of three transgene-free T2 edited lines were significantly different from those of wild-type TBR225. Importantly, one of these T2 lines, harboring the largest homozygous 6-bp deletion, displayed decreased OsSWEET14 expression as well as a significantly reduced susceptibility to a Vietnamese Xoo strains and complete resistance to another one. Our findings indicate that CRISPR/Cas9 editing conferred an improved BLB resistance to a Vietnamese commercial elite rice variety., Competing Interests: Authors XP, PD, HPT, HNT, and TB are employee of ThaiBinh Seed Corporation. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare.

Background/purpose: Acemannan is an osteoinductive material. This study's objective was to compare the outcomes of bone defect healing using 3-dimensional images after apical surgery with or without adding acemannan sponges., Materials and Methods: Twenty-two anterior teeth from 9 males and 13 females requiring apical surgery were included in this randomized controlled trial. Post-surgery, the bone defects were randomly divided into three groups: blood clot control, 5-, or 10-mg acemannan sponge groups. CBCT scans were taken immediately (baseline), 3-, 6-, and 12-month post-surgery. Sagittal serial sections (1 mm thick slices parallel to the long axis of the tooth) of the defect image were created. The defect boundary was located and the total bone defect volume (BDV) was calculated from the sum of the volume of the serial defect sections. The bone healing was assessed by the percentage of total bone defect volume reduction (%ΔBDV). The paired t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the differences within each group and between groups, respectively., Results: The baseline mean BDV of the control, 5-, and 10-mg acemannan groups were not significantly different ( p  > 0.05). After treatment, the mean BDV for each group was reduced in a time-dependent manner. Compared with the control group, the 5- and 10-mg acemannan groups had a significantly greater %ΔBDV (approximately 2- and 1.89-fold) at 3-months post-surgery, respectively ( p  < 0.05). However, at the 6- and 12- month follow-up, the %ΔBDV was not significantly different between the groups., Conclusion: These data suggest acemannan enhanced early bone healing after apical surgery., (© 2020 Association for Dental Sciences of the Republic of China. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V.)

Paclitaxel is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for treating various types of cancer. However, the clinical application of paclitaxel in cancer treatment is considerably limited due to its poor water solubility and low therapeutic index. Thus, it requires an urgent solution to improve therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel. In this study, folate decorated paclitaxel loaded PLA-TPGS nanoparticles were prepared by a modified emulsification/solvent evaporation method. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) method. The spherical nanoparticles were around 50 nm in size with a narrow size distribution. Targeting effect of nanoparticles was investigated in vitro on cancer cell line and in vivo on tumor bearing nude mouse. The results indicated the effective targeting of folate decorated paclitaxel loaded copolymer nanoparticles on cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.

Fen1 and Mus81-Mms4 are endonucleases involved in the processing of various DNA structural intermediates, and they were shown to have genetic and functional interactions with each other. Here, we show the in vivo significance of the interactions between Mus81 and Rad27 (yeast Fen1). The N-terminal 120 amino-acid (aa) region of Mus81, although entirely dispensable for its catalytic activity, was essential for the abilities of Mus81 to bind to and be stimulated by Rad27. In the absence of SGS1, the mus81Δ120N mutation lacking the N-terminal 120 aa region exhibited synthetic lethality, and the lethality was rescued by deletion of RAD52, a key homologous recombination mediator. These findings, together with the fact that Sgs1 constitutes a redundant pathway with Mus81-Mms4, indicate that the N-terminus-mediated interaction of Mus81 with Rad27 is physiologically important in resolving toxic recombination intermediates. Mutagenic analyses of the N-terminal region identified two distinct motifs, named N21-26 (aa from 21-26) and N108-114 (aa from 108-114) important for the in vitro and in vivo functions of Mus81. Our findings indicate that the N-terminal region of Mus81 acts as a landing pad to interact with Rad27 and that Mus81 and Rad27 work conjointly for efficient removal of various aberrant DNA structures., (© The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.)

We prepared an aminothiourea-derived Schiff base (DA) as a fluorescent chemosensor for Hg(2+) ions. Addition of 1 equiv of Hg(2+) ions to the aqueous solution of DA gave rise to an obvious fluorescence enhancement and the subsequent addition of more Hg(2+) induced gradual fluorescence quenching. Other competing ions, including Pb(2+), Cd(2+), Cr(3+), Zn(2+), Fe(2+), Co(3+), Ni(2+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), K(+) and Na(+) , did not induce any distinct fluorescence changes, indicating that DA can selectively detect Hg(2+) ions in aqueous solution., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Viet Nam has high modern contraceptive prevalence (68%), with most services received through the public sector. As the country transitions to middle-income status, Viet Nam's donors have ceased donations of contraceptive supplies, causing a large projected shortfall in the family planning budget. In response, the Ministry of Health has decided to prioritize free or subsidized contraceptives for poor and vulnerable groups, while enhancing social marketing and sales of contraceptives in the free market. To support planning for this "total market approach", a descriptive exploratory study was conducted with 38 public and private sector family planning stakeholders to gain their perceptions of the proposals. There was a high level of support for government leadership of public-private coordination and stewardship of the entire family planning system. Key information gaps were identified regarding how the reforms can promote equitable access to family planning and financial sustainability in pricing. The government's experience with this transition may yield valuable guidance for other settings., (Copyright © 2010 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)