Understanding the COVID-19 Infodemic: Analyzing User-Generated Online Information During a COVID-19 Outbreak in Vietnam

Ha-Linh Quach,Thai Quang Pham,Ngoc-Anh Hoang,Dinh Cong Phung,Viet-Cuong Nguyen,Son Hong Le,Thanh Cong Le,Dang Hai Le,Anh Duc Dang,Duong Nhu Tran,Nghia Duy Ngu,Florian Vogt,Cong-Khanh Nguyen 대한의료정보학회 2022 Healthcare Informatics Research Vol.28 No.4

Objectives: Online misinformation has reached unprecedented levels during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study analyzed the magnitude and sentiment dynamics of misinformation and unverified information about public health interventions during a COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang, Vietnam, between July and September 2020. Methods: We analyzed user-generated online information about five public health interventions during the Da Nang outbreak. We compared the volume, source, sentiment polarity, and engagements of online posts before, during, and after the outbreak using negative binomial and logistic regression, and assessed the content validity of the 500 most influential posts. Results: Most of the 54,528 online posts included were generated during the outbreak (n = 46,035; 84.42%) and by online newspapers (n = 32,034; 58.75%). Among the 500 most influential posts, 316 (63.20%) contained genuine information, 10 (2.00%) contained misinformation, 152 (30.40%) were non-factual opinions, and 22 (4.40%) contained unverifiable information. All misinformation posts were made during the outbreak, mostly on social media, and were predominantly negative. Higher levels of engagement were observed for information that was unverifiable (incidence relative risk [IRR] = 2.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33–0.62), posted during the outbreak (before: IRR = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.07–0.35; after: IRR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.34-0.63), and with negative sentiment (IRR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.23–2.75). Negatively toned posts were more likely to be misinformation (odds ratio [OR] = 9.59; 95% CI, 1.20–76.70) or unverified (OR = 5.03; 95% CI, 1.66–15.24). Conclusions: Misinformation and unverified information during the outbreak showed clustering, with social media being particularly affected. This indepth assessment demonstrates the value of analyzing online “infodemics” to inform public health responses.

Effects of Compounds from Physalis angulata on Fatty Acid Synthesis and Glucose Metabolism in HepG2 Cells via the AMP-activated Protein Kinase Pathway

Hoang Thai Hoa,Nguyen Thi Thu,Nguyen Thuong Dong,Tran Thi Oanh,Tran Thi Hien,Do Thi Ha 한국생약학회 2020 Natural Product Sciences Vol.26 No.3

The ability of the total extract from Physalis angulata; three fractions after partitioning with n-hexane, ethyl acetate (TBE), and water; and four withanolides (compounds 1 – 4) to phosphorylate 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in HepG2 cells was evaluated. The TBE fraction (50 μg/mL) activated p-ACC and p-AMPK expression most strongly. Compounds 1 – 4 (10 μM) upregulated p-ACC expression at different levels. Compound 4 induced the most significant changes in p-AMPK expression, followed by 1 and 2. Sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) play a functional role in the transcriptional regulation of the lipogenic pathway, including fatty acid synthase (FAS) and ACC. The effects of compounds 2 and 4 (10 μM) on FAS and SREBP-1c expression under high glucose conditions (30 mM) in HepG2 cells were evaluated further. Both dose-dependently inhibited FAS and SREBP-1c expression as well as lipid accumulation (1 – 10 μM) were compared to high-concentration glucose control, which upregulated FAS and SREBP-1c. These results suggest that compounds 2 and 4 upregulate AMPK, suppress FAS and SREBP-1c, and have potential effects on glucose and lipid metabolism.

Bioinformatic identification and expression analysis of the chicken B cell lymphoma (BCL) gene

Van Thai Than,Ha Thi Thanh Tran,Duc Viet Ly,Hoang Vu Dang,Minh Nam Nguyen,Anh Duc Truong 한국유전학회 2019 Genes & Genomics Vol.41 No.10

Background B cell lymphoma (BCL) families play an important role in apoptosis as a growth factor, cell death programming, cytokine expression and immune-related genes expression. Objectives In this study, to investigate the roles of BCLs, we performed genome-wide identification, expression and functional analyses of the BCL family in chicken. Methods Chicken BCLs genes were identified and analyzed by using bioinformatics approach. Expression profiles and Hierarchical cluster analysis of the BCLs genes in different chicken tissues were obtained from the genome-wide RNA-seq in the GEO, and Cluster and Java Treeview, respectively. Results A total of 16 BCLs genes were identified from the chicken genome, which could be further classified into five distinct groups in the phylogenetic tree. On the other hand, the interaction among BCLs proteins and between BCLs proteins with NF-κB subunits are limited, indicating that the remaining the functions of BCLs protein could be investigated in chicken. Moreover, KEGG pathway analysis indicated that BCL gene family was involved in regulation of apoptotic and immune response. Finally, BCL gene family was differentially expressed in chicken tissues, pathogen infection and growth stages of early chicken early embryo. Conclusion This study provides significant insights into the potential functions of BCLs in chicken, including the regulation of apoptosis, cell death and expression of immune-related genes.

A novel mathematical modelling for simulating the spread of heavy metals in solid waste landfills

Ngoc Ha Hoang,Anh My Chu,Kim Thai Thi Nguyen,Chi Hieu Le 대한환경공학회 2022 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.27 No.3

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills create the environmental pollutions due to problems related to toxins, leachate, and greenhouse gas, which are the growing environmental concerns, especially in developing countries. This paper presents a novel mathematical modelling for simulating the spread of heavy metals in soil layers in the MSW landfills. A new mathematical modelling procedure is studied for deriving the governing equation which describes the time varying concentration of pollutants in the leachate in a 3-dimensional (3D) space of soil layers. A Finite Element Method (FEM) based algorithm is then constructed to solve numerically the governing equation over time in 3D space for effectively analyzing the variation of pollutants concentrations. Finally, the applicability and advantages of the proposed novel method are demonstrated through the case study with soil samples collected from the actual MSW landfill. The successfully developed algorithm can be applied to model and predict the spread of different heavy metals in the MSW landfill sites; and to develop effective solutions and policies for solid waste classification and management, in order to minimise the negative impacts from the potential risk of the toxic heavy metal pollutions, soil contaminations and groundwater pollutions in the areas nearby the MSW landfill.

Influence of the amount of tooth surface preparation on the shear bond strength of zirconia cantilever single-retainer resin-bonded fixed partial denture

Charles-Ellie Sillam,Sibel Cetik,Thai Hoang Ha,Ramin Atash 대한치과보철학회 2018 The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics Vol.10 No.4

PURPOSE. Conventional resin-bonded fixed partial dentures (RBFPDs) are usually made with a two-retainer design. Unlike conventional RBFPDs, cantilever resin-bonded fixed partial dentures (Cantilever RBFPDs) are, for their part, made with a single-retainer design. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of tooth surface preparation on the bond strength of zirconia cantilever single-retainer RBFPDs. The objective is to evaluate the shear bond strength of these single-retainer RBFPDs bonded on 3 different amount of tooth surface preparation. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Thirty extracted bovine incisors were categorized to 3 groups (n=10), with different amounts of tooth surface preparations. Teeth were restored with single-retainer RBFPDs with different retainer surfaces: large retainer of 32 mm2; medium retainer of 22 mm2; no retainer and only a proximal connecting box of 12 mm2. All RBFPDs were made of zirconia and were bonded using an adhesive system without adhesive capacity. Shear forces were applied to these restorations until debonding. RESULTS. Mean shear bond strength values for the groups I, II, and II were 2.39±0.53 MPa, 3.13±0.69 MPa, and 5.40±0.96 MPa, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using a one-way ANOVA test with Bonferroni post-hoc test, at a significance level of 0.001. Failure modes were observed and showed a 100% adhesive fracture. CONCLUSION. It can be concluded that the preparation of large tooth surface preparation might be irrelevant. For zirconia single-retainer RBFPD, only the preparation of a proximal connecting box seems to be a reliable and minimally invasive approach. The differences are statistically significant.

Biomedical and Environmental Applications of Chitosan-based Nanomaterials

( Jae Kweon Park ),( Lam Dai Tran ),( Hoang Vinh Tran ),( Trang Thu Mai ),( Thu Phuong Ha ),( Binh Hai Nguyen ),( Hoang Thai ),( Hoang Dinh Vu ),( Dien Gia Pham ),( Phuc Xuan Nguyen ) 한국키틴키토산학회 2011 한국키틴키토산학회지 Vol.16 No.1

Being naturally abundant resources and having many interesting physicochemical and biological properties, chitin/chitosan have been found useful in many fields. This paper describes the strategy to design a multifunctional, chitosan based nanomaterials and their biomedical and environmental applications. Different physicochemical methods including FESEM/TEM, PPMS were used to characterize the obtained nanomaterials. For each application, a series of specific characterizing methods were used for evaluating the applicability/capacity of materials.