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Ha Thi Thu Tran,1,* Yen Hoang Nguyen,1,* Thuy Dinh Vuong,2 Loi Van Bui,3 Hue Thi Doan,1 Ha Thi Thu Le,1 Thien Cong Le,1 Thai Quoc Nguyen,4 Son Ngoc Do,5 Phuong Doan Nguyen,6 Chinh Quoc Luong,5 Tung Son Vu,7 Son Nam Tran,8 Ngoc Bao Doan,9 Long Bao Hoang,10 Tuan Van Nguyen1,11 1Department of Psychiatry, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Schizophrenia, Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Department of Stress-Related Disorders, Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Center of Tropical Diseases, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Center for Emergency Medicine, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 6Outpatient Department, Construction Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 7Department of Mood Disorders, Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health, Hanoi, Vietnam; 8Department of Oncology, Vietnam National Hospital of Traditional Medicine, Hanoi, Vietnam; 9School of Preventive medicine and Public health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 10Research and Training Management Department, Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hanoi, Vietnam; 11Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health, Hanoi, Vietnam*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ha Thi Thu Tran, Email tran_thuha@hmu.edu.vnObjective: To evaluate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological disturbances in the Vietnamese healthcare workers (HCWs) at COVID-19 field hospitals.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Impact of Event Scale–Revised (IES-R) to measure PTSD and the Depression Anxiety Stress scale (DASS) to measure other psychological disturbances. The anxiety about COVID-19 was evaluated by the fear of COVID-19 (FOC) scale. A self-developed questionnaire was used to assess work conditions and HCW’s major concerns and preparedness. Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the severity of PTSD. A structural modeling equation (SEM) model was fitted to examine the correlation between PTSD and other psychological disturbances.Results: A total of 542 HCWs participated in this study. The prevalence of PTSD was 21.2%, most cases were mild. In the ordinal logistic regression analysis, a history of mental illness, poor preparedness, working in a condition with poor resources, a greater number of concerns, and greater fear of COVID-19 were independently associated with higher severity of PTSD. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 46.8%, 38.3%, and 60.2, respectively. In the SEM model, PTSD and psychological disturbances had a strong correlation (standardized covariance 0.86).Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD and other psychological disturbances was alarmingly high among HCWs who worked at COVID-19 field hospitals. The reported associated factors can be useful for policymakers and health authorities in the preparation for future pandemics.Keywords: PTSD, COVID-19, healthcare workers, DASS, fear of COVID, psychological disturbances

Chung Pham Van,1,2,&ast; The Trong Nguyen,2,3,&ast; Sy Tien Bui,2,4 Trong Van Nguyen,2,4 Huyen Thi Thanh Tran,2,5 Dong Trac Pham,6 Long Phi Trieu,7 Manh Dang Nguyen1,2 1Department of Foodborne Infectious Disease, Institute of Clinical Infectious Disease, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Vietnamese-German Center of Excellence in Medical Research, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Department of Airborne Infectious Disease and Intensive Care Unit, Institute of Clinical Infectious Disease, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Department of Microbiology, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Department of Molecular Biology, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 6Military Medical Department, Ministry of National Defense, Hanoi, Vietnam; 7Department of Microbiology, Military Institute of Preventive Medicine, Hanoi, Vietnam&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: The Trong NguyenDepartment of Airborne Infectious Disease and Intensive Care Unit, Institute of Clinical Infectious Disease, 108 Military Central Hospital, No. 1, Tran Hung Dao Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, 11610, VietnamTel +84 964666899Email drthe108@gmail.comObjective: Despite strict surveillance, Neisseria meningitidis still causes life-threatening invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). The study aimed to describe the prevalence, clinical and subclinical features, and treatment outcomes of IMD among young soldiers of the Vietnam People’s Army.Methods: A prospective, population-based surveillance study was conducted in all Vietnamese military hospitals from January 2014 to June 2021. The presence of Neisseria meningitidis was confirmed by PCR or culture from blood or/and CSF. Epidemiological indices (incidence, serogroups, and distribution of cases by length of service), medical history, clinical and sub-clinical features, and treatment outcomes were documented and analyzed.Results: There were 69 IMD cases (91% serogroup B) documented, mainly in conscripts (91%). The highest annual incidence was 3.33/100,000 soldiers per year. Of these cases, 44% were meningitis (n=30), 19% septicemia (n=13), and 38% meningococcemia (n=26). The most common clinical symptoms were neck stiffness (61 cases, 88%), petechial rash (51%), and shock (20 cases, 29%). Laboratory findings showed leukocytosis in 96% of IMD cases, PCT > 0.05 (ng/mL) in 100%, elevated leukocyte count (> 1,000/mm3) in 71%, and high protein > 1 g/L in 70%. The overall mortality rate was 9%. Two cases were found to be resistant to ceftriaxone. Prognostic factors of severity included petechial rash (OR = 9.82, p < 0.001), septicemia (OR = 5.83, p < 0.001), meningococcemia (OR = 6.22, p < 0.001), low platelet count, prolonged prothrombin time; high PCT (AUC = 0.84, p < 0.001), and increased creatinine (AUC = 0.86, p < 0.001).Conclusion: IMD remains a health threat in the armed forces in Vietnam, especially among new recruits. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Vietnam describing ceftriaxone resistance in Neisseria meningitidis and suggests the need to reconsider standard empiric therapy for IMD.Keywords: meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, sepsis

Tuan Dinh Le, 1,* Nga Phi Thi Nguyen, 2, 3,* Son Tien Nguyen, 2, 3 Hien Thi Nguyen, 4 Hoa Thanh Thi Tran, 5 Thi Ho Lan Nguyen, 6 Cuong Duy Nguyen, 7 Giang Thi Nguyen, 6 Xuan Thanh Nguyen, 8 Bac Duy Nguyen, 9 Son The Trinh, 10 Tuan Anh Ngo, 11 Binh Nhu Do, 12, 13 Thuc Cong Luong 8, 14 1Department of Internal Medicine, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 2Department of Endocrinology, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 3Department of Rheumatology and Endocrinology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 4Department of Physiology, Thai Binh university of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 5Department of Intensive Care Unit, National Hospital of Endocrinology, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 6Department of Internal Medicine, National Hospital of Endocrinology, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 7Department of Intensive Care Unit, Thai Binh university of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 8Department of Vascular Cardiology, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 9Department of Anatomy, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 10Military Institute of ClinicalEmbryology and Histology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 11Department of Health Economic, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 12Department of Infectious Disease, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 13Division of Military Science, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 14Director Office, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Thuc Cong Luong; Son The Trinh Email lcthuc@gmail.com; trinhtheson@vmmu.edu.vnIntroduction: Endothelium dysfunction and decrease of incretin effects occur early in type 2 diabetes mellitus and these changes contribute to diabetic cardiovascular complications such as atherosclerosis, thick intima-media, coronary, and peripheral arterial diseases. In patients with diabetes, the femoral artery is a site of a high incidence of injury in peripheral vascular diseases, and atherosclerotic changes may appear earlier in the femoral artery compared to the carotid artery. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of increased femoral artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and atherosclerotic plaque and their correlation with serum glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels in newly-diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 332 patients with nT2D in the National Endocrinology Hospital, Vietnam from January 2015 to May 2018. IMT was measured by Doppler ultrasound and GLP-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All data were analyzed with SPSS version 26 for Windows (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL).Results: Prevalence of thick femoral artery IMT and atherosclerotic plaque was 38.2 and 22.3%, respectively. There was a relationship between IMT and age, waist to hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting GLP-1, high sensitive CRP (hsCRP) and 24-hour microalbuminuria secretion (24-h MAUS). The fasting serum GLP-1 (fGLP-1) levels were reduced significantly in patients with thickness and atherosclerosis femoral artery (p = 0.001). After adjusting with other related factors, namely, DBP and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), whilst hsCRP and 24-h MAUS showed a significantly positive correlation to IMT (Standardized B and p of 0.242, 0.004 and 0.178, 0.043, respectively), fGLP-1 showed a significantly negative correlation to IMT (Standardized B = − 0.288, p = 0.001).Conclusion: Among n2TD, the percentage for femoral artery thick IMT and atherosclerosis was 38.2% and 22.3% respectively, and serum GLP-1 was negatively correlated with thick IMT and atherosclerosis.Keywords: newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus, intima-media thickness and atherosclerotic plaque, femoral artery, serum glucagon-like peptide-1 levels

Tuan Dinh Le,1,* Nga Thi Phi Nguyen,2,3,* Son Tien Nguyen,2,3 Hoa Thi Thanh Tran,4 Lan Thi Ho Nguyen,4 Hoang Huy Duong ,1 Ha Manh Nguyen ,4 Binh Nhu Do5,* 1Department of Internal Medicine, Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam; 2Department of Endocrinology, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 3Department of Rheumatology and Endocrinology, Vietnam Military Medical University, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 4The National Endocrinology Hospital, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 5Division of Military Science, Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Nga Thi Phi Nguyen; Binh Nhu Do Email ngabv103@yahoo.com.vn; nhubinh.do@vmmu.edu.vnIntroduction: To investigate effects of Sitagliptin on the enhancement of beta-cell function, reducing insulin resistance, serum glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1) concentrations and blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and suggest one of the underlying mechanisms on beta-cell function and insulin resistance.Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and observational study in comparison to the control group. A study population of 44 newly diagnosed patients with T2D treated with Sitagliptin with a dose of 100 mg/day for 3 months was analyzed to compare 52 healthy participants. Indices for beta-cell function, peripheral insulin sensitivity, and insulin resistance were calculated with homeostasis model assessment 2 (HOMA2) calculator and compared. Serum GLP-1 concentrations were analyzed, and regression analysis was conducted to find the correlations between GLP-1 and beta-cell function and insulin resistance.Results: Newly diagnosed patients with T2D witnessed a significant reduction in beta-cell function, serum GLP-1 concentrations at the time of diagnosis. After treatment with Sitagliptin 100 mg/day, they achieved significant improvements in beta-cell function, peripheral insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. Serum GLP-1 concentrations were increased significantly to those levels in the control group and correlated with peripheral insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance in patients whose beta-cell functions improved.Conclusion: Sitagliptin improved beta-cell function, insulin resistance and blood glucose in newly diagnosed patients with T2D. Meanwhile, Sitagliptin ameliorated serum GLP-1 concentrations, which contributed to the enhancement of beta-cell.Keywords: Sitagliptin, serum GLP-1 concentrations, beta-cell function, insulin resistance, newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction: The two most severe complications of single-stage, porous polyethene microtia reconstruction are flap necrosis/framework exposure and frontal nerve paralysis. To reduce these risks, require a temporoparietal fascia (TPF) flap that includes both the parietal and frontal branches of the superficial temporal artery (STA) while sparing the nerve. We propose a classification that helps minimize said complications., Material and Methods: Fifty-five TPF flaps of 54 microtia patients who underwent single-stage auricular reconstruction from May 2018 to July 2021 were studied. Flaps were harvested using endoscopic techniques. The parietal and frontal branch characteristics and measurements were obtained using a microscope/endoscope., Results: The frontal artery might have 1 to 4 branches. If they were close to Pitanguy's line (≤5 mm), there would be a high risk of nerve damage. Parietal (P) and frontal (F) artery diameters <0.5 mm were risk factors for partial flap necrosis. Based on this observation, we proposed 0.5 mm as the diameter threshold to determine whether an arterial branch is hypoplasia or sufficient. From this study, a new classification of STA branching pattern was proposed with five types: PF1 (23.6 %), PF2 (43.6 %), pF1 (3.6 %), pF2 (12.8 %), and Pf (16.4 %); where P/F indicates sufficient branches, p/f indicates absent or hypoplasia ones, and the number indicates single or multiple frontal artery branching., Conclusion: The risk of flap necrosis and frontal nerve damage is due to abnormalities of the frontal artery of the STA in the TPF flap. Understanding the anatomical classification with clear visualization during flap harvest ensures a successful outcome., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study validates a direct multiplex real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay which was previously established for enabling rapid and simultaneous detection of African swine fever (ASF) virus (ASFV) and classical swine fever virus. The assay eliminates the need for viral nucleic acid purification using a buffer system for crude extraction and an impurity-tolerant enzyme. However, the assay had not yet been validated using field samples of ASFV-infected pigs. Therefore, to address this gap, we tested 101 samples collected from pigs in Vietnam during 2018 and 2021 for validation., Results: The rRT-PCR assay demonstrated a diagnostic sensitivity of 98.8% and a specificity of 100%. Remarkably, crude samples yielded results comparable to those of purified samples, indicating the feasibility of using crude samples without compromising accuracy in ASFV detection. Our findings emphasize the effectiveness of the rRT-PCR assay for the prompt and accurate diagnosis of both swine fever viruses, which is essential for effective disease prevention and control in swine populations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is a commonly used insecticide that is recalcitrant and highly stable in the environment. Currently, DDT residue contamination, especially in agricultural soil, is still a concern in many countries, threatening human health and the environment. Among the approaches to resolve such an issue, novel biodegradation-based methods are now preferred to physicochemical methods, due to the sustainability and the effectiveness of the former. In this study, we explored the possibility of building mixed microbial cultures that can offer improved DDT-degrading efficiencies and be more environmentally transilient, based on genome annotation using the KEGG database and prediction of interactions between single strains using the obtained metabolic maps. We then proposed 10 potential DDT-degrading mixed cultures of different strain combinations and evaluated their DDT degradation performances in liquid, semi-solid and solid media. The results demonstrated the superiority of the mixtures over the single strains in terms of degrading DDT, particularly in a semi-solid medium, with up to 40-50% more efficiency. Not only did the mixed cultures degrade DDT more efficiently, but they also adapted to broader spectra of environmental conditions. The three best DDT-degrading and transilient mixtures were selected, and it turned out that their component strains seemed to have more metabolic interactions than those in the other mixtures. Thus, our study demonstrates the effectiveness of exploiting genome-mining techniques and the use of constructed mixed cultures in improving biodegradation., (© 2024 The Author(s). Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: Probiotics are living microorganisms that can provide health benefits when consumed. Here, we investigated the effects of probiotics on gene expression in the spleen of mice using RNA-sequencing analysis between negative control and probiotic groups (including 4 Lactobacillus strains: Lactobacillus fermentum, L. casei, L. plantarum, and L. brevis)., Methods: Mice exposed with probiotic in 4 weeks by intragastric administration. Then, spleen tissues of the control and probiotics groups were collected on days 14 and 28 for RNA sequencing., Results: In total, 665, 186, and 81 DEGs were significantly expressed on day 14 vs. control, day 28 vs. control groups, and probiotics day 28 vs. day 14 groups, respectively. On the other hand, 12 Toll-like receptor (TLR) genes underwent additional validation through qRT-PCR, affirming the increased alignment between qRT-PCR and RNA-Seq findings. In addition, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses revealed that the DEGs were predominantly enriched in defense responses to pathogens, including inflammatory bowel diseases, malaria, leukaemia virus 1, and herpes virus, as well as immune processes related to immune response and signal transduction. This study represents the first investigation into mice's gene expression in the spleen exposed to probiotics using Lactobacillus spp. isolated from a field strain in Vietnam., Conclusion: Our results provide valuable insights into the impacts and functions of probiotics on mammalian development, offering crucial information for the potential therapeutic use of probiotics in defending against pathogens in Vietnam. The findings from this study highlight the potential of probiotics in modulating gene expression in the spleen, which may have implications for immune function and overall health in mice.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of phase-change-material mattress (PCM) during transportation of newborns with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)., Study Design: Randomized controlled trial of newborns with HIE from June 2016 to December 2019. Patients were randomized to transport with PCM or without PCM (control) when transferred to a cooling center in northern Vietnam. Primary outcome measure was mortality rate, secondary outcomes including temperature control and adverse effects., Result: Fifty-Two patients in PCM-group and 61 in control group. Median rectal temperature upon arrival was 34.5 °C (IQR 33.5-34.8) in PCM-group and 35.1 °C (IQR 34.5-35.9) in control group (p = 0.023). Median time from birth to reach target temperature was 5.0 ± 1.4 h and 5.5 ± 1.2 h in the respective groups (p = 0.065). 81% of those transported with PCM versus 62% of infants transported without (p = 0.049) had reached target temperature within the 6-h timeframe. There was no record of overcooling (< 32 °C) in any of the groups. The was no difference in mortality rate between the two groups (33% and 34% respectively (p > 0.05))., Conclusion: Phase-change-material can be used as a safe and effective cooling method during transportation of newborns with HIE in low-resource settings., Trial Registration: The study was retro-prospectively registered in Clinical Trials (04/05/2022, NCT05361473)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Measurable residual disease (MRD) is detected in approximately a quarter of AML chemotherapy responders, serving as a predictor for relapse and shorter survival. Immunological control of residual disease is suggested to prevent relapse, but the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. We present a peripheral blood single cell immune profiling by mass cytometry using a 42-antibody panel with particular emphasis on markers of cellular immune response. Six healthy donors were compared with four AML patients with MRD (MRD + ) in first complete remission (CR1 MRD+ ). Three of four patients demonstrated a favorable genetic risk profile, while the fourth patient had an unfavorable risk profile (complex karyotype, TP53-mutation) and a high level of MRD. Unsupervised clustering using self-organizing maps and dimensional reduction analysis was performed for visualization and analysis of immune cell subsets. CD57 + natural killer (NK)-cell subsets were found to be less abundant in patients than in healthy donors. Both T and NK cells demonstrated elevated expression of activity and maturation markers (CD44, granzyme B, and phosho-STAT5 Y694) in patients. Although mass cytometry remains an expensive method with limited scalability, our data suggest the utility for employing a 42-plex profiling for cellular immune surveillance in whole blood, and possibly as a biomarker platform in future clinical trials. The findings encourage further investigations of single cell immune profiling in CR1 MRD+ AML-patients., (© 2024 The Author(s). Cytometry Part B: Clinical Cytometry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Clinical Cytometry Society.)

Background: In 2021, Vietnam experienced an outbreak of Lumpy skin disease (LSD), which infected 207,687 cattle and buffaloes, as officially reported, and resulted in the culling of 29,182 animals., Aim: In this study, samples from cattle that died and showed typical signs of LSD in the Ha Tinh province of Vietnam were confirmed by three World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH)-recommended methods and further studied to compare the Vietnam and China reference strains to the new clinical cases., Methods: Three methods recommended by WOAH for agent detection (PCR, virus isolation, and transmission electron microscopy) were used to confirm this clinical LSD case. The sequence analysis of three well-known markers (P32, RPO30, and GPCR genes) has been utilized in Vietnam to understand this circulating pathogen better., Results: Our findings showed that the CX01 LSDV strain is 100% identical to the Vietnam reference strain HL01 and China reference strains based on P32 and RPO30 genes. Interestingly, analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the GPCR gene showed that the CX01 strain belongs to the same cluster as the reference strains, but it has branches different from those of both the HL01 and China LSDV strains. The nucleotide identification between the CX01 strain and these reference virus strains ranked 99.65%-99.91%, suggesting that it is a new variant of LSDV., Conclusion: This finding is new and indicates that at least two variants of the LSD virus were circulating in Vietnam based on analysis of the GPCR gene. Additionally, these results suggest that the sequence analysis of the GPCR gene is a great tool for subgrouping LSDV circulating in Vietnam., Competing Interests: There are no potential conflicts of interest.

Probiotics are essential in the body's nutrients, improving the ratio of meat to meat, immune response, and preventing diseases. In this study, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), enriched related pathways, and Gene Ontology (GO) terms among blank negative control (NC), supplemented with Bacillus spp. (BS) and commercial probiotic (PC) groups after a 42-day fed supplementation. The results showed that 2005, 1356, and 2189 DEGs were significantly altered in BS vs. NC, PC vs NC, and BS vs PC groups, respectively. On the other hand, 9 DEGs were further validated by qRT-PCR, indicating that the qRT-PCR and RNA-Seq results were more consistent. Therefore, the GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses of DEGs showed that the DEGs were mainly enriched to metabolism signalling pathways (alpha-linolenic acid metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, tyrosine metabolism, ether lipid metabolism, and metabolic pathway, etc) and immune response pathways (cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, MAPK signalling pathway, and intestinal immune network for IgA production, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction etc). These results will provide a better understanding of the role of probiotics in chicken development and provide basic information on the genetic development of chickens., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Little research has focused on the relationship between gut microbiome and chemotherapy-induced toxicity., Methods: This prospective study involves 301 patients with breast cancer who had prechemotherapy stool samples collected. Gut microbiome was sequenced by shotgun metagenomics; associations with chemotherapy-induced toxicities during first-line treatment by gut microbial diversity, composition, and metabolic pathways with severe (i.e., grade ≥3) hematological and gastrointestinal toxicities were evaluated via multivariable logistic regression., Results: High prechemotherapy α-diversity was associated with a significantly reduced risk of both severe hematological toxicity (odds ratio [OR] = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.89-0.99; p = .048) and neutropenia (OR = 0.94; 95% CI, 0.89-0.99; p = .016). A high abundance of phylum Synergistota, class Synergistia, and order Synergistales were significantly associated with a reduced risk of severe neutropenia; conversely, enrichment of phylum Firmicutes C, class Negativicutes, phylum Firmicutes I, and class Bacilli A, order Paenibacillales were significantly associated with an increased risk of severe neutropenia (p range: 0.012-2.32 × 10 -3 ; false discovery rate <0.1). Significant positive associations were also observed between severe nausea/vomiting and high Chao1 indexes, β-diversity (p < .05), 20 species belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae, Oscillospiraceae, and Ruminococcaceae (p value range: 6.14 × 10 -3 to 1.33 × 10 -5 ; false discovery rate <0.1), and three metabolic pathways involved in reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle I and cycle II, and an incomplete reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle (p < .01). Conversely, a high abundance of species Odoribacter laneus and the pathway related to the L-proline biosynthesis II were inversely associated with severe nausea/vomiting., Conclusions: Our study suggests that gut microbiota may be a potential preventive target to reduce chemotherapy-induced toxicity., (© 2024 American Cancer Society.)

Small auxin-up RNA (SAUR) proteins were known as a large family that supposedly participated in various biological processes in higher plant species. However, the SAUR family has been still not explored in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), one of the most important industrial trees. The present work, as an in silico study, revealed comprehensive aspects of the structure, phylogeny, and expression of TcSAUR gene family in cacao. A total of 90 members of the TcSAUR gene family have been identified and annotated in the cacao genome. According to the physic-chemical features analysis, all TcSAUR proteins exhibited slightly similar characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these TcSAUR proteins could be categorized into seven distinct groups, with 10 sub-groups. Our results suggested that tandemly duplication events, segmental duplication events, and whole genome duplication events might be important in the growth of the TcSAUR gene family in cacao. By re-analyzing the available transcriptome databases, we found that a number of TcSAUR genes were exclusively expressed during the zygotic embryogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. Taken together, our study will be valuable to further functional characterizations of candidate TcSAUR genes for the genetic engineering of cacao., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

During a 2023 outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-associated community-acquired pneumonia among children in northern Vietnam, we analyzed M. pneumoniae isolated from nasopharyngeal samples. In almost half (6 of 13) of samples tested, we found known A2063G mutations (macrolide resistance) and a novel C2353T variant on the 23S rRNA gene.

In October 2020, the first outbreaks of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Lang Son Province, Vietnam were reported by our laboratory. The disease had rapidly spread to the South, and it was reported in 55 of 63 provinces and cities of Vietnam by the end of 2021. The most economic loss caused by this disease occurred in the north-central region in 2021 where approximately 46,788 LSD virus (LSDV) infected cattle and buffaloes have been reported and 8,976 animals have been culled. However, the information on this pathogen circulating in this region is missing. Here, we describe the molecular characterization of LSDV circulating in north-central Vietnam in 2021 and early 2022. In total, 155 LSDV samples were collected during this period and three of these samples from each province were further characterized by Sanger sequencing analysis based on three key maker genes (GPCR, RPO30, and p32). Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis based on GPCR, RPO30, and p32 genes indicated that LSDV strains circulating in north-central Vietnam are closely related to previously reported strains in Vietnam regions which bordered China and all LSDV strains were 100% identical. These results show the importance of continuous monitoring and characterization of circulating LSDV strains and are important for vaccine development for the control and eradication of LSD in Vietnam.

Economic and environmental concerns over the accumulation of end-of-life carbon fibre composite waste have led to increased attention to sustainable materials with low environmental impact. Over decades of research, vitrimers, a modern class of covalent adaptable networks, have bridged the gap between thermoplastics and thermosets. With the distinguishing feature of dynamic covalent bonds, vitrimers can be rearranged and reprocessed within their existing network structures in response to external stimuli such as heat or light. This poses a unique solution to repairing damaged composites, extending their service life, and reducing post-consumer waste. However, the synthesis of vitrimers often requires petrochemical consumption, which increases their carbon footprint. Using bio-based materials could be a promising solution to reduce the reliance on petrochemicals and their related pollution. This review compiles the contemporary requirements for bio-based vitrimers regarding their properties, scalability, and recycling features. This article also presents a comprehensive overview of the pathways to produce sustainable bio-based vitrimers and an overview of promising studies showing the potential uses of bio-derived vitrimers on carbon fibre composite productions.

Background: Single-stage microtia auricular reconstruction is becoming more relevant. The determining factor is a temporoparietal fascia flap (TPF) with both branches of the superficial temporal artery (STA). There are not many studies regarding vascular branching in people with microtia., Methods: We conducted an anatomical study on the TPF flap harvested during single-stage endoscopic-assisted microtia auricular reconstruction from May 2018 to July 2021. We observed the flaps under endoscopic and surgical microscopes to determine several variables (vascular size, number of frontal/parietal branches, distance from the branching location to the estimated external ear canal, distance from the frontal artery to projected course of facial nerve's frontal branch, etc.)., Results: The study included 55 flaps from 54 patients. Of the 55 flaps, 50 (90.9%) had a parietal branch, and all 55 (100%) had a frontal branch with a mean diameter of 0.98 and 0.91 mm, respectively. Regarding the frontal artery, 1.8%, 25.5%, 50.9%, 16.35% and 5.45% had 0-4 traverse frontal branch(es), respectively. The mean distance from the frontal artery to the estimated course of the frontal nerve was 10.56 mm. Parietal artery absence is more likely in patients with severe hemifacial microsomia or STA trunk go under the auricular cartilage remnants (p < 0.05). Either frontal or parietal artery absence or small diameter can cause necrosis. Frontal arteries travelling near the frontal nerve may result in post-operative nerve palsy., Conclusions: Microtia auricular reconstructive surgery is always a big challenge for plastic surgeons. Anatomical variants are common. A detailed anatomical description of the STA, with the help of microsurgery and endoscopy, allows arterial-based flap designing and harvest, which tremendously improves surgical success rate by diminishing flap necrosis and nerve damage., Clinical Question/level of Evidence: Therapeutic, IV., (Copyright © 2024 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Sleep disorders are common in cancer patients and have negative consequences for patient well-being and treatment outcomes. This study aimed to investigate sleep quality and related factors in Vietnamese middle-aged cancer patients., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 246 middle-aged in-patient cancer patients at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital (VNCH) from 1/2021 to 7/2021. Sleep was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), with a cutoff of 5., Results: The results showed a male/female ratio of 0.85 with an average age of 52. The five most prevalent cancer types were breast, colorectal, lung, and esophagus-stomach cancer, primarily in the late stage and treated with chemotherapy. The prevalence of sleep disturbances was 58.5%. The mean PSQI score was 7.5, with sleep duration and latency of 5.4 h and 1 h, respectively. Approximately 44% of participants reported poor sleep quality, nearly 9% had daytime dysfunction, and 10.6% used sleep medication. The multivariate logistic regression results indicate that people with depression were 8.89 times more likely to have poor sleep than those without depression (95% CI:2.63-28.27, p < .001)., Conclusion: Sleep problems are common among middle-aged people with cancer in Vietnam, especially individuals with depression. It is necessary to have more effective approaches to sleep management for cancer patients with limited resources., (© 2024 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aim: To determine neurodevelopmental outcome at 18 months after therapeutic hypothermia for hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) infants in Vietnam, a low-middle-income country., Method: Prospective cohort study investigating outcomes at 18 months in severely asphyxiated outborn infants who underwent therapeutic hypothermia for HIE in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the time period 2016-2019. Survivors were examined at discharge and at 6 and 18 months by a neonatologist, a neurologist and a rehabilitation physician, who were blinded to the infants' clinical severity during hospitalisation using two assessment tools: the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE), to detect impairments and promote early interventions for those who require it., Results: In total, 130 neonates, 85 (65%) with moderate and 45 (35%) with severe HIE, underwent therapeutic hypothermia treatment using phase change material. Forty-three infants (33%) died during hospitalisation and in infancy. Among the 87 survivors, 69 (79%) completed follow-up until 18 months. Nineteen children developed cerebral palsy (8 diplegia, 3 hemiplegia, 8 dyskinetic), and 11 had delayed neurodevelopment. At each time point, infants with a normal or delayed neurodevelopment had significantly higher ASQ and HINE scores (p<0.05) than those with cerebral palsy., Conclusion: The rates of mortality and adverse neurodevelopment rate were high and comparable to recently published data from other low-middle-income settings. The ASQ and HINE were useful tools for screening and evaluation of neurodevelopment and neurological function., Competing Interests: Competing interests: No, there are no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Purpose: Gut microbiota play an important role in human health, including cancer. Cancer and its treatment, in turn, may alter the gut microbiome. To understand this complex relationship, we profiled the gut microbiome of 356 Vietnamese patients with breast cancer., Materials and Methods: Stool samples were collected before chemotherapy, with 162 pre- and 194 postsurgery. The gut microbiome was measured by shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Associations of gut microbial diversity, taxa abundance, and gut microbiome health index (GMHI) with sociodemographic, clinical factors, and tumor characteristics were evaluated., Results: Postsurgery samples were associated with significantly lower α- and β-diversities ( P < .001) and showed significant differences in the abundance of 15% of 2,864 investigated taxa (false discovery rate [FDR] <0.1) compared with presurgery samples. An unhealthy gut microbiome was prevalent among patients with breast cancer, with a mean GMHI of -0.79 and -2.81 in pre- and postsurgery stool samples, respectively. In an analysis of 162 presurgery stool samples, diagnosis delay was significantly associated with lower α-diversity, variation in β-diversity, an increased abundance of species Enorma massiliensis , and a decreased abundance of Faecalicoccus pleomorphus . High intake of fiber was significantly associated with lower α-diversity and a higher abundance of species belonging to Bifidobacterium , Prevotella , and Bacteroides gena (FDR < 0.1). We did not find that cancer stage and subtype, menopausal status, comorbidity, antibiotic use during 3 months before stool collection, or physical activity was significantly associated with α- and β-diversities or GMHI although a few significant differences were observed in taxa abundance., Conclusion: Our study revealed that diagnosis delay, high fiber intake, and breast cancer surgery, which is always followed by antibiotic prophylaxis in Vietnam, led to a less diverse and unhealthy gut microbiome among patients with breast cancer.

Despite substantial heterogeneity of studies, there is evidence that antibiotics commonly used in primary care influence the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota in terms of changing their composition and/or diversity. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) from the food and medicinal plant nasturtium ( Tropaeolum majus ) is known for its antimicrobial activity and is used for the treatment of infections of the draining urinary tract and upper respiratory tract. Against this background, we raised the question of whether a 14 d nasturtium intervention (3 g daily, N = 30 healthy females) could also impact the normal gut microbiota composition. Spot urinary BITC excretion highly correlated with a weak but significant antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli . A significant increase in human beta defensin 1 as a parameter for host defense was seen in urine and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) upon verum intervention. Pre-to-post analysis revealed that mean gut microbiome composition did not significantly differ between groups, nor did the circulating serum metabolome. On an individual level, some large changes were observed between sampling points, however. Explorative Spearman rank correlation analysis in subgroups revealed associations between gut microbiota and the circulating metabolome, as well as between changes in blood markers and bacterial gut species., Competing Interests: The study was partly supported by a grant from Repha GmbH, Langenhagen, Germany. Repha GmbH was not involved in the design, conduction, interpretation, or publishing of the results.

Background: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) function as molecular chaperones with critical roles in chicken embryogenesis, immune response to infectious diseases, and response to various environmental stresses. However, little is known on HSP genes in chicken. In this study, to understand the roles of chicken HSPs, we performed genome-wide identification, expression, and functional analyses of the HSP family genes in chicken., Results: A total of 76 HSP genes were identified in the chicken genome, which were further classified into eight distinct groups (I-VIII) based on phylogenetic tree analysis. The gene-structure analysis revealed that the members of each clade had the same or similar exon-intron structures. Chromosome mapping suggested that HSP genes were widely dispersed across the chicken genome, except in chromosomes 16, 18, 22, 25, 26, and 28-32, which lacked chicken HSP genes. On the other hand, the interactions among chicken HSPs were limited, indicating that the remaining functions of HSPs could be investigated in chicken. Moreover, KEGG pathway analysis showed that the HSP gene family was involved in the regulation of heat stress, apoptotic, intracellular signaling, and immune response pathways. Finally, RNA sequencing data revealed that, of the 76 chicken HSP genes, 46 were differentially expressed at 21 different growth stages in chicken embryos, and 72 were differentially expressed on post-infection day 3 in two indigenous Ri chicken lines infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza., Conclusions: This study provides significant insights into the potential functions of HSPs in chicken, including the regulation of apoptosis, heat stress, chaperone activity, intracellular signaling, and immune response to infectious diseases., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Preliminary information about LSD virus isolated from the first outbreaks in Vietnam has been reported by our laboratory. In the current study, LSDV strain, LSDV/Vietnam/Langson/HL01(HL01) was further analyzed to provide a better understanding of this viral pathogen. HL01 LSDV strain was propagated at MOI 0.01 in MDBK cells and then given to cattle at dose of 10 6.5 TCID50/ml (2ml/animal). The production of proinflammatory (IFN-γ, IL-1α, and TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (IL-6, IL-10, and TGF-ß1) cytokines were measured by real-time PCR, both In vitro and In vivo. The results demonstrated that HL01 strain caused the typical signs of LSD and LSDV In vitro and In vivo, respectively suggesting a virulent field LSDV strain. Additionally, different cytokine profiles were observed in these In vitro and In vivo studies. In MDBK cells, different cytokines profiles were observed in two phases: in the early phase, the expression levels of all examined cytokines were significantly increased at 6 h (p < 0.05). In the later phase, the peak levels of the cytokine secretion were recognized from 72 to 96 h, with the exception of IL-1α when compared to controls. In cattle, the expression levels of all six cytokines were significantly higher at day 7 following LSDV challenge (p < 0.05) when compared to controls, especially expression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-10. These findings suggest the important roles of these cytokines in protection against LSDV infections. Additionally, the data from diverse cytokine profiles followed by this LSDV strain challenge provides key understanding of the underlying cellular immune mechanisms in the host against LSDV infection In vitro and In vivo., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Previous cohort studies reported inconsistent findings regarding the association between dietary or supplementary vitamin C intake and lung cancer risk. These associations were investigated by conducting a meta-analysis of cohort studies. The PubMed and EMBASE databases were utilized, using keywords related to the topic from inception to April 15, 2022. Pooled effect sizes, such as relative risk (RR) or hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were calculated using a random-effects model. A total of 20 cohort studies from 13 articles were included in the final analysis. In a meta-analysis of all studies, there was no significant association between dietary or supplementary vitamin C intake and lung cancer risk (RR/HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80-1.01; I 2 =56.4%; n=20). In the subgroup meta-analysis by the source of vitamin C, dietary vitamin C intake decreased the risk of lung cancer (RR/HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.73-0.92; I 2 =42.5%; n=14), whereas there was no association between supplementary vitamin C intake and lung cancer risk (RR/HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.84-1.22; n=4). The present meta-analysis of cohort studies found that dietary vitamin C intake is beneficial for preventing lung cancer, whereas its supplementary intake does not have a beneficial effect., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © Tran et al.)

Silicon carbide has a planar two-dimensional structure; therefore it is a potential material for constructing twisted bilayer systems for applications. In this study, DFT calculations were performed on four models with different twist angles. We chose angles of 21.8°, 17.9°, 13.2°, and 5.1° to estimate the dependence of the electronic and phononic properties on the twist angle. The results show that the band gap of bilayer SiC can be changed proportionally by changing the twist angle. However, there are only small variations in the band gaps, with an increment of 0.24 eV by changing the twist angle from 5.1° to 21.8°. At four considered twist angles, the band gaps decrease significantly when fixing the structure of each layer and pressing the separation distance down to 3.5 Å, 3.0 Å, 2.7 Å, and 2.5 Å. A noteworthy point is that the pressing also makes the band linearly smaller at a certain rate regardless of the twist angles. Meanwhile, the phonon bands are not affected by the value of the twist angle. The optical bands are between 900 cm -1 and 1100 cm -1 and the acoustic bands are between 0 cm -1 and 650 cm -1 at four twist angles., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Scope: As prostaglandin E2 (PGE 2 ) has important roles in physiological and inflammatory functions, a double-blind randomized controlled crossover study to investigate the potential of nasturtium ( Tropaeolum majus ) for modulating PGE 2 was conducted, aiming at clarifying the role of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC). As secondary parameters leukotriene 4 (LTB 4 ), and cytokine release (tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-α; interleukins IL-1β, IL-10, and IL-12) were quantified., Methods and Results: Thirty-four healthy female participants consumed 1.5 g nasturtium containing BITC, ( verum ) or no BITC (control) twice a day for 2 weeks each. Nasturtium intervention resulted in an increase in mean PGE 2 levels in serum samples ( verum : 1.76-fold, p  ≤ 0.05; control: 1.78-fold, p  ≤ 0.01), and ex vivo stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) ( verum : 1.71-fold, p  ≤ 0.01; control: 1.43-fold). Using a pre-to-post responder analysis approach, 18 of 34 subjects showed a  > 25% PGE 2 increase in serum, while it was >25% decreased for 9 subjects (stimulated PBMC: 14 and 8 of 28, respectively). Under the selected conditions, the BITC content of nasturtium did not affect the observed changes in PGE 2 . Verum intervention also increased mean LTB 4 serum level (1.24-fold, p  ≤ 0.01), but not in LPS stimulated PBMC, and significantly increased TNF- α release in stimulated PBMC after 3 h ( verum : 1.65-fold, p  = 0.0032; control: 1.22-fold, p  = 0.7818). No change was seen in the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, or the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, and IL-12., Conclusion: In contrast to the previously reported in vitro results, on average, LPS activated PBMC and serum from both groups showed increased PGE 2 levels. Further analyses suggest that PGE 2 release after intervention could possibly depend on the baseline PGE 2 level. Identification of phenotypes that respond differently to the nasturtium intervention could be useful to establish personalized approaches for dosing phytopharmaceuticals medicines., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Herz, Frei, Tran, Claßen, Spöttel, Krell, Hanschen, Arvandi, Binder, Schreiner, Rohn and Lamy.)

Background: Health outcomes among Agent Orange/dioxin (dioxin) victims are significant due to many individuals requiring daily assistance, informal care, and rehabilitation support. This study aimed to identify the information needs of informal caregivers of dioxin victims in Vietnam., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh province - an area with a large number of dioxin victims, from June 2019 to June 2020. Quantitative data were collected from 124 caregivers of victims via structured interviews. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interview guides with in-depth interviews (IDI) (n = 36) and two focus group discussions (FGD) (n = 12)., Results: The results demonstrated that all caregivers of dioxin victims were family members, predominantly older (71.8%), 61.5 years old on average, living on low incomes (87.9%), and were farmers (80.7%). Almost all participants (96.8%) reported having information needs, particularly concerning dioxin's harms, nutrition, dioxin-related policies and rehabilitation, and psychological support for patients. Caregivers reported that they would like to receive information via health staff counselling (85.0%), television (75.0%), and community loudspeaker (65.8%). Notably, the majority of caregivers reported the need for information regarding psychological support (70.0%). These findings are consistent with qualitative data, which identify an urgent need to provide information, especially through health staff and digital resources., Conclusion: Many families with dioxin victims lived with little support and information, highlighting their high demand for information about care and rehabilitation. Thus, the healthcare system should promote information support, policy, and psychological support for caregivers and victims. An online support system for caregivers and victims is also recommended., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Objectives: This work aimed to construct a versatile, effective, and food-grade Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) system for recombinant expression in the filamentous fungus Penicillium rubens (also known as Pencillium chrysogenum)., Results: In this study, the wild-type P. chrysogenum VTCC 31172 strain was re-classified as P. rubens by a multilocus sequencing analysis. Further, the pyrG gene required for uridine/uracil biosynthesis was successfully deleted in the VTCC 31172 strain by homologous recombination to generate a stable uridine/uracil auxotrophic mutant (ΔpyrG). The growth of the P. rubens ΔpyrG strain could be restored by uridine/uracil supplementation, and a new ATMT system based on the uridine/uracil auxotrophic mechanism was established for this strain. The optimal ATMT efficiency could reach 1750 transformants for 10 6 spores (equivalent to 0.18%). In addition, supplementation of uridine/uracil at the concentrations of 0.005-0.02% during the co-cultivation process significantly promoted transformation efficiency. Especially, we demonstrated that the pyrG marker and the amyB promoter from the koji mold Aspergillus oryzae were fully functional in P. rubens ΔpyrG. Expression of the DsRed reporter gene under the regulation of the A. oryzae amyB promoter lighted up the mycelium of P. rubens with a robust red signal under fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, genomic integration of multiple copies of the Aspergillus fumigatus phyA gene under the control of the amyB promoter significantly enhanced phytase activity in P. rubens., Conclusions: The ATMT system developed in our work provides a safe genetic platform for producing recombinant products in P. rubens without using drug resistance markers., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger is widely exploited as an industrial workhorse for producing enzymes and organic acids. So far, different genetic tools, including CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing strategies, have been developed for the engineering of A. niger. However, these tools usually require a suitable method for gene transfer into the fungal genome, like protoplast-mediated transformation (PMT) or Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT). Compared to PMT, ATMT is considered more advantageous because fungal spores can be used directly for genetic transformation instead of protoplasts. Although ATMT has been applied in many filamentous fungi, it remains less effective in A. niger. In the present study, we deleted the hisB gene and established an ATMT system for A. niger based on the histidine auxotrophic mechanism. Our results revealed that the ATMT system could achieve 300 transformants per 10 7 fungal spores under optimal transformation conditions. The ATMT efficiency in this work is 5 - 60 times higher than those of the previous ATMT studies in A. niger. The ATMT system was successfully applied to express the DsRed fluorescent protein-encoding gene from the Discosoma coral in A. niger. Furthermore, we showed that the ATMT system was efficient for gene targeting in A. niger. The deletion efficiency of the laeA regulatory gene using hisB as a selectable marker could reach 68 - 85% in A. niger strains. The ATMT system constructed in our work represents a promising genetic tool for heterologous expression and gene targeting in the industrially important fungus A. niger., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play critical roles in embryo development, and immune responses to infectious diseases. In this study, to investigate the roles of FGFs, we performed genome-wide identification, expression, and functional analyses of FGF family members in chickens., Methods: Chicken FGFs genes were identified and analyzed by using bioinformatics approach. Expression profiles and Hierarchical cluster analysis of the FGFs genes in different chicken tissues were obtained from the genome-wide RNA-seq., Results: A total of 20 FGF genes were identified in the chicken genome, which were classified into seven distinct groups (A-F) in the phylogenetic tree. Gene structure analysis revealed that members of the same clade had the same or similar exon-intron structure. Chromosome mapping suggested that FGF genes were widely dispersed across the chicken genome and were located on chromosomes 1, 4-6, 9-10, 13, 15, 28, and Z. In addition, the interactions among FGF proteins and between FGFs and mitogen‑activated protein kinase (MAPK) proteins are limited, indicating that the remaining functions of FGF proteins should be further investigated in chickens. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway analysis showed that FGF gene interacts with MAPK genes and are involved in stimulating signaling pathway and regulating immune responses. Furthermore, this study identified 15 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in 21 different growth stages during early chicken embryo development. RNA-sequencing data identified the DEG of FGFs on 1- and 3-days post infection in two indigenous Ri chicken lines infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 (HPAIV). Finally, all the genes examined through quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and RNA-Seq analyses showed similar responses to HPAIV infection in indigenous Ri chicken lines (R2 = 0.92- 0.95, p<0.01)., Conclusion: This study provides significant insights into the potential functions of FGFs in chickens, including the regulation of MAPK signaling pathways and the immune response of chickens to HPAIV infections.

Interleukin-1 receptor type 2 (IL1R2) is a decoy receptor for exogenous IL-1. However, its functional role in chicken immunity is poorly understood. Herein, chicken IL-1R2 (chIL-1R2) was identified and functionally characterized in vivo and in vitro. The chIL-1R2 coding sequence includes 1,236 nucleotides encoding 412 amino acids, is highly conserved, and has a close relationship with its mammalian counterpart. Its extracellular region has three Ig-like domains but no TIR domain for intracellular signaling. Using ELISA, the recombinant chIL-1R2 protein was demonstrated to specifically bind to the chicken IL-1β. ChIL-1R2 mRNA expression was shown to be higher in the spleen, lung, kidney, small intestine, and liver. The expression of chIL-1R2 and chIL-1R1 was significantly upregulated in DF-1 cells treated with poly (I:C), but significantly downregulated in the presence of NF-κB, JNK, and MEK inhibitors, indicating that the NF-κB, JNK, and MEK signaling pathways are required for the transcriptional regulation of chIL-1R1 and chIL-1R2 expression. It is worth noting that while the p30 MAPK pathway was required for chIL-1R1 expression, it was not required for chIL-1R2 expression. Furthermore, chIL-1R2 expression increased as early as day 1, and then significantly decreased until day 3, while chIL-1R1 was dramatically upregulated in four organs of chickens infected with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV). These findings indicate that chIL-1R1 and chIL-1R2 may play a crucial in innate and adaptive immune responses toward HPAIV infection. In summary the present study showed that chIL-1R2 binds to chIL-1β antibody. ChIL-1R2 expression can be induced by a viral infection, and may be regulated through NF-κB/JNK/MEK-mediated signaling pathways., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Salmonella enterica is one of the most common agents of foodborne bacterial illness with poultry being an important reservoir. The indiscriminate use of antimicrobial compounds in poultry farming increasingly leads to antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) which threatens the health of both animals and humans. Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella enterica from the poultry can spread to human through the direct contact with infected poultry or fecal contaminated environments. Antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica, especially fluoroquinolone-resistant nontyphoidal Salmonella is in the list of global health concern stated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Here we report the whole-genome sequencing data and de novo genome assemble of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica strains S8 and S9 from the C. moschata carcass collected in Vietnam. Genomic DNA of S. enterica were extracted and subjected to whole-genome sequencing using Illumina MiSeq platform. The genome size of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica strain S8 is 4,707,459 bp with a GC-content of 52.38%, containing 10 antimicrobial resistant genes. The genome size of antimicrobial-resistant Samonella enterica strain S9 is 4,923,944 bp with a GC-content of 52,39%, containing 10 antimicrobial resistance genes. Our data provided the insights on antimicrobial resistant genes of S. enterica isolates from the C. moschata carcass, which help to understand the infection mechanism of antimicrobial-resistant S. enterica in human., Competing Interests: 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., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

African swine fever (ASF) virus (ASFV) is responsible for one of the most severe swine diseases worldwide, with a morbidity rate of up to 100%; no vaccines or antiviral medicines are available against the virus. Exosomal miRNAs from individual cells can regulate the immune response to infectious diseases. In this study, pigs were infected with an ASFV Pig/HN/07 strain that was classified as acute form, and exosomal miRNA expression in the serum of infected pigs was analyzed using small RNA sequencing (small RNA-seq). Twenty-seven differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs were identified in the ASFV-infected pigs compared to that in the uninfected controls. Of these, 10 were upregulated and 17 were downregulated in the infected pigs. All DE miRNAs were analyzed using gene ontology (GO) terms and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, and the DE miRNAs were found to be highly involved in T-cell receptor signaling, cGMP-PKG signaling, Toll-like receptor, MAPK signaling, and mTOR signaling pathways. Furthermore, the Cytoscape network analysis identified the network of interactions between DE miRNAs and target genes. Finally, the transcription levels of four miRNA genes (ssc-miR-24-3p, ssc-miR-130b-3p, ssc-let-7a, and ssc-let-7c) were examined using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and were found to be consistent with the small RNA-seq data. These DE miRNAs were associated with cellular genes involved in the pathways related to immune response, virus-host interactions, and several viral genes. Overall, our findings provide an important reference and improve our understanding of ASF pathogenesis and the immune or protective responses during an acute infection in the host., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) is an extremely contagious and high mortality rates in chickens resulting in substantial economic impact on the poultry sector. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of HPAIV for infection control., Objective: Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) can effectively avoid the limitations of subjective screening for differential gene expression. Therefore, we performed GSEA to compare HPAI-infected resistant and susceptible Ri chicken lines., Methods: The Ri chickens Mx (A)/ BF2 (B21) were chosen as resistant, and the chickens Mx (G)/ BF2 (B13) were selected as susceptible by genotyping the Mx and BF2 genes. The tracheal tissues of HPAIV H5N1 infected chickens were collected for RNA sequencing followed by GSEA analysis to define gene subsets to elucidate the sequencing results., Results: We identified four differentially expressed pathways, which were immune-related pathways with a total of 78 genes. The expression levels of cytokines ( IL-1β , IL-6 , IL-12 ), chemokines ( CCL4 and CCL5 ), type interferons and their receptors ( IFN-β , IFNAR1 , IFNAR2 , and IFNGR1 ), Jak-STAT signaling pathway genes ( STAT1 , STAT2 , and JAK1 ), MHC class I and II and their co-stimulatory molecules ( CD80 , CD86 , CD40 , DMB2 , BLB2 , and B2M ), and interferon stimulated genes ( EIF2AK2 and EIF2AK1 ) in resistant chickens were higher than those in susceptible chickens., Conclusions: Resistant Ri chickens exhibit a stronger antiviral response to HPAIV H5N1 compared with susceptible chickens. Our findings provide insights into the immune responses of genetically disparate chickens against HPAIV., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 The Korean Society of Veterinary Science.)

Host cell entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is facilitated via priming of its spike glycoprotein by the human transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2). Although camostat and nafamostat are two highly potent covalent TMPRSS2 inhibitors, they nevertheless did not hold promise in COVID-19 clinical trials, presumably due to their short plasma half-lives. Herein, we report an integrative chemogenomics approach based on computational modeling and in vitro enzymatic assays, for repurposing serine-targeted covalent inhibitors. This led to the identification of BC-11 as a covalent TMPRSS2 inhibitor displaying a unique selectivity profile for serine proteases, ascribable to its boronic acid warhead. BC-11 showed modest inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 (omicron variant) spike pseudotyped particles in a cell-based entry assay, and a combination of BC-11 and AHN 1-055 (a spike glycoprotein inhibitor) demonstrated better viral entry inhibition than either compound alone. Given its low molecular weight and good activity against TMPRSS2, BC-11 qualifies as a good starting point for further structural optimizations., (© 2022 The Authors. Archiv der Pharmazie published by Wiley-VCH GmbH on behalf of Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

Interferon-alpha inducible protein 6 (IFI6) is an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), belonging to the FAM14 family of proteins and is localized in the mitochondrial membrane, where it plays a role in apoptosis. Transcriptional regulation of this gene is poorly understood in the context of inflammation by intracellular nucleic acid-sensing receptors and pathological conditions caused by viral infection. In this study, chicken IFI6 (ch IFI6 ) was identified and studied for its molecular features and transcriptional regulation in chicken cells and tissues, i.e., lungs, spleens, and tracheas from highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV)-infected chickens. The ch IFI6 -coding sequences contained 1638 nucleotides encoding 107 amino acids in three exons, whereas the duck IFI6 -coding sequences contained 495 nucleotides encoding 107 amino acids. IFI6 proteins from chickens, ducks, and quail contain an IF6/IF27-like superfamily domain. Expression of ch IFI6 was higher in HPAIV-infected White Leghorn chicken lungs, spleens, and tracheas than in mock-infected controls. TLR3 signals regulate the transcription of ch IFI6 in chicken DF-1 cells via the NF-κB and JNK signaling pathways, indicating that multiple signaling pathways differentially contribute to the transcription of ch IFI6 . Further research is needed to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying IFI6 transcription, as well as the involvement of ch IFI6 in the pathogenesis of HPAIV in chickens., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology.)

A series of density functional theory calculations were performed to understand the bonding and interaction of hydrogen adsorption on two-dimensional silicon carbide obtained from molecular dynamics simulation. The converged energy results pointed out that the H atom can sufficiently bond to 2D SiC at the top sites (atop Si and C), of which the most stable adsorption site is T Si . The vibrational properties along with the zero-point energy were incorporated into the energy calculations to further understand the phonon effect of the adsorbed H. Most of the 2D SiC structure deformations caused by the H atoms were found at the adsorbent atom along the vertical axis. For the first time, five SiC defect formations, including the quadrilateral-octagon linear defect (8-4), the silicon interstitial defect, the divacancy (4-10-4) defect, the divacancy (8-4-4-8) defect, and the divacancy (4-8-8-4) defect, were investigated and compared with previous 2D defect studies. The linear defect (8-4) has the lowest formation energy and is most likely to be formed for SiC materials. Furthermore, hydrogen atoms adsorb more readily on the defect surface than on the pristine SiC surface., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Background: African swine fever (ASF) is one of the most important diseases in pigs because of its effects on all ages and breeds. To date, commercial vaccines and drugs for the prevention of ASF are lacking in the market and the survival of African swine fever virus (ASFV) in various environmental, farm, and or feed matrices has allowed the virus to remain, causing new outbreaks in the pig population. Besides biosecurity and animal husbandry management practices, the improvement of the host immune responses is critical to control, managing, and preventing ASF., Aim: In this study, we investigated the protective role of β-glucan against ASFV infection using a porcine alveolar macrophage (PAM) model., Methods: The effects of β-glucan on cell proliferation were evaluated by using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The potential effects of β-glucan against a field ASFV strain isolated in Vietnam were further examined by real-time PCR and hemadsorption assays. The interferon (IFN)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 protein production induced by β-glucan was determined using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay., Results: Our results demonstrated that the β-glucan additive possessed an immune stimulus factor against ASFV. Specifically, protection of PAMs against ASFV infection in vitro was observed at 12 hours ( p < 0.05) at the tested doses (30 and 50 µg/ml) as induced by incubation with β-glucan for 2 hours. These effects remained until 24 hours after post-infection. Additionally, at a high dose (50 µg/ml), pre-treatment with the β-glucan statistically increased the expression levels of IFNα and IL-6 when compared to untreated groups or only ASFV infection., Conclusion: Together, these findings indicated that the β-glucan may protect the host against ASFV infection via the multiple cellular immune mechanisms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Understanding the burden and factors related to chemotherapy-induced toxicity is important in treatment planning for breast cancer patients. We conducted a prospective study among 396 newly diagnosed and chemotherapy-treated breast cancer patients recruited in two major cancer hospitals in northern Vietnam. Toxicities were captured through medical chart reviews and patient self-reports and graded using NCI CTCAE classification. Associations for sociodemographic and clinical factors with chemotherapy-induced toxicities during first-line chemotherapy were evaluated via multivariable logistic regression. Severe (i.e., grade ≥ 3) hematological (38.6%), and gastrointestinal (12.9%) toxicities were common. A pre-existing nephrological condition was significantly associated with the risk of severe hematological toxicity with adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of 2.30 (1.32-4.01). Patients living in rural areas had a lower risk of severe hematological toxicity (OR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.30-0.77). Patients diagnosed with stage II and stage III-IV had a lower risk of severe gastrointestinal toxicity with ORs and 95% CIs of 0.26 (0.12-0.59) and 0.47 (0.20-1.10), respectively. Triple-negative/basal-like subtype was associated with a higher risk of severe hematological (OR = 3.15; 95% CI, 1.56-6.34) and gastrointestinal toxicities (OR = 3.60; 95% CI, 1.45-8.95) comparing to hormone receptor (HR)-positive HER2-negative subtype. Further research investigating underlying mechanisms would facilitate the development and delivery of personalized treatment and care plans.

The Coronavirus disease pandemic of 2019 is a vast worldwide public health hazard, impacting people of all ages and socioeconomic statuses. Vaccination is one of the most effective methods of controlling a pandemic like COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the number of vaccination injections and fear of COVID-19 and test whether beliefs benefit from vaccination COVID-19 mediate the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the number of vaccination injections. A total of 649 Vietnamese adults were enrolled online to finish answering, including scales The Health Belief Model (HBM) and The Fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S), consisting of 340 (52.4%) males and 309 (47.6%) females. The data were analyzed using variance, regression, and a simple mediation model. The total score of COVID-19 fear was M = 22.26, SD = 5.49. Vietnamese fear of COVID-19 was at a medium level. Our results suggest that 18- to 20-year-olds are more fearful of COVID-19 than others. People who received the first dosage exhibited a greater fear of COVID-19 than those who received the second dose and were not inoculated. Additionally, the beliefs benefit of vaccination COVID-19 has a role in the relationship between the number of vaccination injections and fear of COVID-19. During the pandemic, adults in Vietnam are more afraid of COVID-19 than during prior outbreaks. Besides, the Vietnamese populace demonstrated a considerable demand for and high acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine. The current study indicates that psychological counselors and therapists should counsel clients on the value of vaccination and address the fear of COVID-19 as public understanding of the benefits of vaccines increases. To further clarify the effect of this issue on the correlation between fear of COVID-19 and the number of vaccinations, the results of this study indicate that the existing vaccine communication factor for COVID-19 vaccination should be modified to increase confidence in the benefits of immunization., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Hoang, Nguyen, Huynh, Hua, Tran and Tran-Chi.)

Introduction: Although classification for facial fractures have been extensively described in the literature, corresponding systems for major maxillofacial wounds (MMW) are few. We would like to present MOXAIC: a new classification system for MMW., Material and Methods: A retrospective study of 310 patients with MMW who underwent emergency operation between January 2005 and December 2016. MMW was defined as a facial wound longer than 10 cm, which includes damage to the craniofacial bone or other important facial structures such as the carotid arteries, facial nerves, parotid gland, Stensen's duct, or the eye. All the patients were followed at least 36 months., Result: Based on the shape of the wound, the severity, and the mechanism of injury we were able to classify the MMW into five types: O, X, A, I, C. For each wound type we then looked at the treatment required and the outcome, objectively classified as good, satisfactory, or poor, concerning anatomical correction, aesthetics, and function. + Type OCircumferential wound: 81.6% result good. + Type X-Oblique wound: only 48.1% good, despite initial multidisciplinary approach. + Type A-Transverse facial wound: 78.1% good. + Type I-Direct wound: Immediate airway management and hemorrhage control are important. 48.8% good. + Type CCut wound: 88.1% good. The above classification was named MOXAIC which is a mnemonic of 'Maxillofacial' and the five wound types: O, X, A, I, C., Conclusion: This classification is highly reproducible, easy to use, and allows quick treatment work up and prognosis. However, this classification requires further specialist review and study., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

COVID-19 herbal medicinal products may have the potential for symptom relief in nonsevere or moderate disease cases. In this in vitro study we screened the five herbal medicinal products Sinupret extract (SINx), Bronchipret thyme-ivy (BRO-TE), Bronchipret thyme-primula (BRO TP), Imupret (IMU), and Tonsipret (TOP) with regard to their potential to (i) interfere with the binding of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor with the SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 protein, (ii) modulate the release of the human defensin HBD1 and cathelicidin LL-37 from human A549 lung cells upon spike S1 protein stimulation, and (iii) modulate the release of IFN- γ from activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The effect of the extracts on the interaction of spike S1 protein and the human ACE2 receptor was measured by ELISA. The effects on the intracellular IFN- γ expression in stimulated human PBMC were measured by flow cytometry. Regulation of HBD1 and LL-37 expression and secretion was assessed in 25 d long-term cultured human lung A549 epithelial cells by RT-PCR and ELISA. IMU and BRO-TE concentration-dependently inhibited the interaction between spike S1 protein and the ACE2 receptor. SINx, TOP, and BRO-TE significantly upregulated the intracellular expression of anti-viral IFN- γ from stimulated PBMC. Cotreatment of A549 cells with IMU or BRO TP together with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein significantly upregulated mRNA expression (IMU) and release of HBD1 (IMU and BRO TP) and LL-37 (BRO TP). The in vitro screening results provide first evidence for an immune-activating potential of some of the tested herbal medicinal extracts in the context of SARS-CoV-2. Whether these could be supportive in symptom relief or curing from SARS-CoV-2 infection needs deeper understanding of the observations., Competing Interests: JS, PP, and DAS are employees of Bionorica SE., (Copyright © 2022 Hoai Thi Thu Tran et al.)

Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) is reported as a threat to tilapia aquaculture in 16 countries on four continents with outbreaks causing up to 90% mortality. This research is one of the first studies on TiLVs from Vietnam. We propagated successfully one TiLV isolate HB196-VN-2020 from a diseased tilapia sample using an E-11 cell line and evaluated its virulence in two different weights of red hybrid tilapia and three serial 10-fold diluted viral titers. Smaller fish (4.5 ± 1.98 g) were proved to be more susceptible to TiLV infection at the viral titre of 9.1 × 10 5 TCID 50 fish -1 than larger fish (20.8 ± 7.5 g) with the mortalities of 92.5% and 12.5%, respectively. Reassortant detection analysis revealed seven potential reassortment events among 23 TiLV genomes, indicating the mixed infection of multiple TiLV isolates at the farms and the fish movement among different regions. Seven maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees based on the individual segments or the concatenated coding regions of some segments showed the genetically distant relationship of the Southern Vietnamese isolate RIA2-VN-2019 with the 21 reference isolates, and suggest the different origins of two Vietnamese TiLV isolates (RIA2-VN-2019 and HB196-VN-2020). However, additional sequences from various sampling locations and times are required to better understand the impacts of genetic diversity and reassortments on the evolution, migration and natural selection of TiLVs in Vietnam and other countries., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)