Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Carboxymethyl Cellulose-DTPA-Incorporated Lettuce Leaves for Lead Decontamination: Modeling, Economic Evaluation, and Practical Wastewater Treatment.

The development of environmentally friendly materials for the efficient elimination of heavy metals is both ecologically and economically important. In this study, lettuce leaves (LC), a low-cost agricultural byproduct, were modified using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) to create a biomaterial aimed at removing Pb ions. The synthesized LC/CMC-DTPA was ascertained through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential, and X-ray diffraction (XRD).

Building citizen science intelligence for outbreak preparedness and response: a mixed-method study in nine countries to assess knowledge, readiness and feasibility.

Introduction: Citizen science (CS) is an emerging approach in public health to harness the collective intelligence of individuals to augment traditional scientific efforts. However, citizens' viewpoint, especially the hard-to-reach population, is lacking in current outbreak-related literature. We aim to understand the awareness, readiness and feasibility of outbreak-related CS, including digitally enabled CS, in low-income and middle-income countries.

Structural Equation Model for Social Support and Quality of Life Among Individuals With Mental Health Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the distribution of social support for mental health problems has likely become unequal. Family- and community-based social support has been recognized as a promising approach for mental disorders; however, limited global frameworks have been applied to developing countries such as Vietnam.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life and social support among patients with mental health disorders in Vietnam and to investigate the factors associated with quality of life among these patients.

Passive acoustic monitoring using smartphones reveals an alarming gibbon decline in a protected area in the central Annamite Mountains, Vietnam.

Monitoring populations is critical for understanding how they respond to anthropogenic disturbance and for management of protected areas. The use of passive acoustic monitoring can improve monitoring efforts as it allows for collection of data on vocal animals at spatial and temporal scales that are difficult using only human observers. In this study, we used a multiseason occupancy model to monitor occurrence, apparent extinction, and colonization probabilities of a northern yellow-cheeked gibbon, Nomascus annamensis population with acoustic data collected from mobile smartphones in Dakrong Nature Reserve, Vietnam.

Preference and Willingness to Pay for the Regular COVID-19 Booster Shot in the Vietnamese Population: Theory-Driven Discrete Choice Experiment.

Background: The COVID-19 booster vaccination rate has declined despite the wide availability of vaccines. As COVID-19 is becoming endemic and charges for regular booster vaccination are being introduced, measuring public acceptance and the willingness to pay for regular COVID-19 boosters is ever more crucial.

Objective: This study aims to (1) investigate public acceptance for regular COVID-19 boosters, (2) assess the willingness to pay for a COVID-19 booster shot, and (3) identify factors associated with vaccine hesitancy.

Invasive Meningococcal Disease Remains a Health Threat in Vietnam People's Army.

Objective: Despite strict surveillance, 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.

Entomological survey in two communes with residual malaria transmission in Gia Lai Province in the central highlands of Vietnam.

Background: In 2018, the National Malaria Control Programme in Vietnam switched from prioritizing malaria control to elimination. However, with the ongoing elimination programme, there are still areas where residual malaria transmission persists, including the central highlands. This entomological survey was conducted to evaluate Anopheles diversity and host-seeking activity of Anopheles vectors in two communes with very low malaria transmission in Gia Lai Province.

Virus detections among patients with severe acute respiratory illness, Northern Vietnam.

Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) is a major cause of death and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries, however, the etiologic agents are often undetermined due to the lack of molecular diagnostics in hospitals and clinics. To examine evidence for select viral infections among patients with SARI in northern Vietnam, we studied 348 nasopharyngeal samples from military and civilian patients admitted to 4 hospitals in the greater Hanoi area from 2017-2019. Initial screening for human respiratory viral pathogens was performed in Hanoi, Vietnam at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) or the Military Institute of Preventative Medicine (MIPM), and an aliquot was shipped to Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore for validation.

An assessment of the impact of climate change on the distribution of the grey-shanked douc Pygathrix cinerea using an ecological niche model.

Climate change can have many negative impacts on wildlife species, and species with narrow distributions are more likely to be significantly affected. In this study, we used ecological niche modeling for species (MaxEnt software) as well as species occurrence data and climate variables to assess the impacts of climate change on the distribution of the grey-shanked douc-an endemic and rare primate species of Vietnam. We used climate data at the current time and two future times (2050 and 2070).

Development of artificial intelligence models for the prediction of Compression Coefficient of soil: An application of Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis.

In this study, we developed Different Artificial Intelligence (AI) models namely Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Adaptive Network based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) for the prediction of Compression Coefficient of soil (Cc) which is one of the most important geotechnical parameters. A Monte Carlo approach was used for the sensitivity analysis of the AI models and input parameters. For the construction and validation of the models, 189 soft clayey soil samples were analyzed.

A distance sampling approach to estimate density and abundance of gibbon groups.

All 18 species of gibbons are considered threatened with extinction and listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Because gibbons (Hylobatidae) are one of the most threatened primate families, a great need exists to determine and monitor their status effectively. To meet this need, we employed distance sampling methods to estimate the density and number of gibbon groups.

Partial mitochondrial DNA sequences suggest the existence of a cryptic species within the Leucosphyrus group of the genus Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae), forest malaria vectors, in northern Vietnam.

Background: During the last decade, Southeast Asian countries have been very successful in reducing the burden of malaria. However, malaria remains endemic in these countries, especially in remote and forested areas. The Leucosphyrus group of the genus Anopheles harbors the most important malaria vectors in forested areas of Southeast Asia.