Huong Thanh Nguyen

Multiple types of child maltreatment and adolescent mental health in Viet Nam

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of multiple types of maltreatment (MTM), potentially confounding factors and associations with depression, anxiety and self-esteem among adolescents in Viet Nam. METHODS In 2006 we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 2591 students (aged 12-18 years; 52.1% female) from randomly-selected classes in eight secondary schools in urban (Hanoi) and rural (Hai Duong) areas of northern Viet Nam (response rate, 94.7%). Sequential multiple regression analyses were performed to estimate the relative influence of individual, family and social characteristics and of eight types of maltreatment, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse and physical or emotional neglect, on adolescent mental health. FINDINGS Females reported more neglect and emotional abuse, whereas males reported more physical abuse, but no statistically significant difference was found between genders in the prevalence of sexual abuse. Adolescents were classified as having nil (32.6%), one (25.9%), two (20.7%), three (14.5%) or all four (6.3%) maltreatment types. Linear bivariate associations between MTM and depression, anxiety and low self-esteem were observed. After controlling for demographic and family factors, MTM showed significant independent effects. The proportions of the variance explained by the models ranged from 21% to 28%. CONCLUSION The combined influence of adverse individual and family background factors and of child maltreatment upon mental health in adolescents in Viet Nam is consistent with research in non-Asian countries. Emotional abuse was strongly associated with each health indicator. In Asian communities where child abuse is often construed as severe physical violence, it is important to emphasize the equally pernicious effects of emotional maltreatment.

Female entrepreneurship in rural Vietnam: an exploratory study

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of governmental support policies and socio-cultural influences on female entrepreneurship in rural Vietnam. As such, the study addresses an important literature gap concerning female entrepreneurship within rural communities in South East Asia. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with six female entrepreneurs and six female non-entrepreneurs in northern Vietnam to examine the influence of various environmental factors on female entrepreneurship in a rural setting. Findings – The results suggest that government pro-entrepreneurship policies, together with private sector interventions, have had an impact on rural Vietnam. Yet females in rural and remote Vietnam are still constrained by societal prejudices, financial limitations, and limited entrepreneurship educational opportunities. Originality/value – The papers originality lies in its review of the circumstances confronting women in rural Vietnam and i...

Synthesis and characterization of nano-hydroxyapatite in maltodextrin matrix

AbstractIn this study, we report the direct precipitation of nano-HA in the present of maltodextrins with the different dextrose equivalent (DE) values in the range of 10–30. Characterization of the obtained samples, using X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, indicated that the presence of maltodextrins, with the different DE values, does not affect the phase composition and structure of the obtained composites. Morphology studies of the samples, using field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, revealed that maltodextrin has obvious effect on the size, shape, and morphology of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. In particular, in studied DE range, maltodextrin DE 28–30 with dominant structure of debranched chain is the most preferable choice to obtain the composite with highly dispersed nanoparticles. In vitro assay on pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells demonstrated the ability of the composites to stimulate alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization during differentiation of the cells.

Analysing IEEE 802.15.3c protocol in Fi-Wi hybrid networks

Even though 60 GHz frequency band has limited coverage, due to the availability of higher bandwidth worldwide (unlicensed, approximately 5 GHz between 57-62 GHz), it is one of the promising candidates for future broadband employing both Fiber and Wireless (Fi-Wi) technology. In this article we briefly explain an in-home radio over fiber (RoF) architecture employing 60 GHz spectrum band. The main challenge for designers of such networks is the additional delay introduced by the optical distribution network. Later in the light of this increased delay, we provide an investigation on the feasibility of applying the IEEE 802.15.3c MAC protocol in such a RoF system at 60 GHz. Mainly, we analyse various ACK mechanisms in the IEEE 802.15.3c when it is used in conjunction with RoF network. The analytical results show that the fiber optic network causes a slight drop in the throughput but it could still be easily used in home networks. This gives us an opportunity to sustain high bandwidth at low cost for home networking, also supporting mobility. Modelling of a RoF system with IEEE 802.15.3c and numerical results thereof are the contributions of this article.

Preconception Micronutrient Supplementation with Iron and Folic Acid Compared with Folic Acid Alone Affects Linear Growth and Fine Motor Development at 2 Years of Age: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Vietnam

Background: Maternal health and nutrition play a crucial role in early child growth and development. However, little is known about the benefits of preconception micronutrient interventions beyond the role of folic acid (FA) and neural tube defects.Objective: We evaluated the impact of weekly preconception multiple micronutrient (MM) or iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation on child growth and development through the age of 2 y compared with FA alone.Methods: We followed 1599 offspring born to women who participated in a randomized controlled trial of preconception supplementation in Vietnam. Women received weekly supplements that contained either 2800 μg FA, 60 mg Fe and 2800 μg FA, or 15 MMs including IFA, from baseline until conception followed by daily prenatal IFA supplements until delivery. Child anthropometry was measured at birth and at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo. Child development was measured with the use of the Bayley Scales for Infant Development III at 24 mo.Results: The groups were similar for baseline maternal and offspring birth characteristics. At 24 mo of age, the offspring in the IFA group had significantly higher length-for-age z scores (LAZs) (0.14; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.26), reduced risk of being stunted (0.87; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.99), and smaller yearly decline in LAZs (0.10; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.15) than the offspring in the FA group. Similar trends were found for the offspring in the MM group compared with the FA group for LAZs (0.10; 95% CI: -0.02, 0.22) and the risk of being stunted (0.88; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.01). Offspring in the IFA group had improved motor development (P = 0.03), especially fine motor development (0.41; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.77), at the age of 24 mo, but there were no differences for measures of cognition or language.Conclusions: Preconception supplementation with IFA improved linear growth and fine motor development at 2 y of age compared with FA. Future studies should examine whether these effects persist and improve child health and schooling. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01665378.

Resource management in indoor hybrid Fi-Wi network

In-home networking is becoming a reality. New multimedia applications envisaged for indoor networks require data rate of up to several gigabits per second. In order to meet such a demand for high data rate unlicensed spectrum of 5GHz around 60GHz band is being considered for a potential choice. This pico cellular infrastructure also helps in reducing the interference; at the same time, it is a cause for high deployment cost. Radio-over-fiber infrastructure is an obvious choice to feed this last mile high data rate links. The combination of radio-over-fiber and 60GHz wireless links, which is known as hybrid Fi-Wi, is a promising solution to offer high data rate indoor networking. Because of smaller cell size, handoffs between these small cells occur frequently in such a hybrid network. Because of smaller overlapping area between neighbouring cells, guaranteeing quality of service in this network is highly difficult compared with the traditional wireless cellular networks. Thus, resource management in such network is a challenging task. In indoor environments, techniques such as hidden Markov models can be employed to predict movements with high degree of accuracy. In this article, we propose a handoff scheme that utilises movement prediction to reserve bandwidth in only potential target cells before each handoff is initiated. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs better than the two other schemes from the literature in terms of the call dropping probability and the call blocking probability. Copyright

Antibiotic therapy for inpatients with community‐acquired pneumonia in a developing country

The aim of this study was to identify antibiotic prescription patterns for community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Vietnam.

Temporal patterns and predictors of bullying roles among adolescents in Vietnam: a school-based cohort study.

Abstract Although many cross-sectional studies have examined bullying experiences and correlated factors among adolescents in schools, relatively little is known about the extent to which bullying roles are stable or fluid over time. This short-term quantitative longitudinal study in Vietnam examined temporal patterns and predictors of bullying roles over an academic year. A total of 1424 middle and high school students aged 12–17 years completed two anonymous, self-administered questionnaires six months apart in 2014 and 2015. Young people were classified into different bullying roles as follow: not-involved (38.9%), victims only (24%), bullies only (6.6%), and bully-victims (40.4%) across the two times. About 60% of all surveyed students experienced bullying either as victim, bully, or bully-victim during the year. Of these students, nearly three in four indicated unstable bullying roles over time. Multivariate multinomial logistic regressions indicated factors ranging from individual (age, gender, and mental health) to family (social support, parental supervision and monitoring, witnessing parental violence, and conflict with siblings), school (perceived social support, teachers’ attempt to stop bullying at school), and peers (social support, students’ attempt to stop bullying at school) have significant associations with levels of bullying involvement. Implications for bullying prevention programs nationally and internationally are discussed.

Hospital clinical pharmacy services in Vietnam

Background Clinical pharmacy is key to the quality use of medicines. While there are different approaches in different countries, international perspectives may inform health service development. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health introduced a legal regulation of clinical pharmacy services in December 2012. Objective To describe the services, and to explore reported barriers and facilitators in implementing clinical pharmacy activities in Vietnamese hospitals after the introduction of Vietnamese Ministry of Health legal regulation. Setting Thirty-nine hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam, including 22 provincial and 17 district hospitals. Method A mixed methods study was utilized. An online questionnaire was sent to the hospitals. In-depth interviews were conducted with pairs of nominated pharmacists at ten of these hospitals. The questionnaire focused on four areas: facilities, workforce, policies and clinical pharmacy activities. Main outcome measure Proportion of clinical pharmacy activities in hospitals. Themes in clinical pharmacy practice. Results 34/39 (87%) hospitals had established clinical pharmacy teams. Most activities were non-patient-specific (87%) while the preliminary patient-specific clinical pharmacy services were available in only 8/39 hospitals (21%). The most common non-patient-specific activities were providing medicines information (97%), reporting adverse drug reactions (97%), monitoring medication usage (97%). The patient specific activities varied widely between hospitals and were ad hoc. The main challenges reported were: lack of workforce and qualified clinical pharmacists. Conclusion While most hospitals had hospital-based pharmacy activities, the direct patient care was limited. Training, education and an expanded work forces are needed to improve clinical pharmacy services.

Guidance toward the implementation of multicriteria decision analysis framework in developing countries

ABSTRACT Introduction: Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is increasingly used in health care mainly because it moves decision-making from ad hoc to an evidence-based and comprehensive process. Developing countries with more restricted financial and human research capacities, however, should consider their own methods of MCDA development and implementation. Areas covered: An MCDA framework to improve procurement decisions of off-patent pharmaceuticals was developed for developing countries and adapted to Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam during three policy workshops. Based on the experience of these workshops and one joint workshop with international experts and decision makers from multiple developing countries, general recommendations were formulated on how to implement MCDA specifically in developing countries. We provide 17 practical MCDA implementation recommendations in four major areas, including (1) MCDA objectives; (2) technical considerations of MCDA tool; (3) development and customization of MCDA tool and (4) policy implementation of MCDA in decision-making. Expert commentary: These practical MCDA recommendations for developing countries contribute to feasible, transparent, stepwise, iterative and standardized decision-making in health care.