Livelihoods and sustainable livelihoods play a very essential role in coastal fishing communities in Vietnam. In this paper, based on the sustainable livelihood model, we evaluate the current situation of coastal fishing livelihoods in the North central region of Vietnam with case study for Nghe An province and identifies favorable and unfavorable factors for accessing livelihood development resources by fishermen. For the research methods, secondary data from selected governmental agencies were gathered, and 200 fishermen were interviewed to collect primary data. The results of this research indicate that the income of fishermen is quite good but not stable due to their dependence on marine resources. Moreover, the types of livelihoods in the coastal zone of Nghe An province face certain difficulties with their specific occupational characteristics such as lack of capital, no stable job, reduced marine resources, weather dependence, lack of labor. Based on these, 3 groups of solutions and policies are proposed to promote sustainable livelihood development for coastal fishermen in Nghe An province, such as renewing fishing activities, promoting specialization and associating in maritime manufacturing and processing, as well as developing a variety of occupational groups associated with the exploitation of marine resources.

Infections with the zoonotic liver flukes Fasciola gigantica and Fasciola hepatica may result in severe disease in humans. In Vietnam, an emergence of fascioliasis cases has been observed from the late 1990s onwards. Various diagnostic tools are used in the country, but the agreement between these tools has not been critically evaluated. We aimed to describe the clinical presentation and diagnostic outcomes in fascioliasis patients in Vietnam. A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on the medical records of a group of 145 patients diagnosed with fascioliasis at a tertiary referral hospital in Hanoi. Based on the review, sociodemographic background and clinical presentation were recorded. These patients all received standard routine serologic tests, including internal antibody (Ab)-ELISA, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and commercial coproantigen (cAg)-ELISA. The majority of cases were between 30 and 59 years old (68.3%), and about half of them were male (51.0%). Upper quadrant and epigastric pain were the most commonly reported symptoms (61.4% and 35.2%, respectively). All but one patient had liver lesions upon ultrasound examination (99.3%), and eosinophilia was present in most of the patients (89.7%). A high number of patients were positive in the in-house and the commercial Ab-ELISA (95.9% and 87.4%, respectively), yet only a slight agreement was observed between the two tests (kappa coefficient, 0.06). A further 47.4% of cases were positive for the commercial cAg-ELISA, whereas stool microscopy indicated the presence of Fasciola spp. eggs in 25.7% of patients. The current study emphasizes the challenges related to the diagnosis of human fascioliasis in Vietnam.

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Kết quả nghiên cứu đã xác định ở Khu bảo tồn thiên nhiên Bà Nà - Núi Chúa có 4 loài trong giống Calotes thuộc họ Nhông Agamidae, bộ Có vảy Squamata, lớp Bò sát Reptilia. Trong đó có 3 loài bổ sung cho Khu bảo tồn, 2 loài cho Đà Nẵng và 1 loài Calotes bachae cho khu hệ lưỡng cư, bò sát Trung Trung Bộ. Bài báo còn cung cấp dẫn liệu hình thái của các loài trong vùng nghiên cứu, với kết quả cho thấy không có sự sai khác nhiều so với mô tả chuẩn cũng như mô tả của các loài này ở những vùng khác.

Background: Metoprolol has been widely used in the treatment of hypertension. The usage of drugs for cardiovascular diseases is highly required safety and effectiveness for patients. Therefore, a convenient method for the determination of metoprolol in plasma is necessary. Objectives: (1) To develope an HPLC method for quantification of metoprolol in human plasma and (2) To validate of the method. Materials and methods: human plasma. Results: Chromatographic conditions include: Eclipse XDB-C18 column, fluorescence detector, mobile phase: acetonitril : NaH2PO4 buffer (25 mmol/L, pH 3.0) with a solvent gradient program. The analytical method met current FDA guidelines for bioanalytical method validation. Conclusions: The method can be applied to determine metoprolol in biological fluids for pharmacokinetic and biocompatibility study. Key words: Metoprolol, plasma, HPLC