Rodents cause significant damage to lowland irrigated rice crops in the Red River Delta of Vietnam. A four-year study was conducted in 1999-2002 to examine the effectiveness of applying rodent control practices using the principles of ecologically based pest management. Four 100-150 ha study sites adjacent to villages were selected and farmers on two treated sites were asked to follow a set of rodent management practices, while farmers on the untreated sites were asked not to change their typical practices. Farmers on the treated sites were encouraged to use trap-barrier systems (TBS's; 0.065-ha early planted crop surrounded by a plastic fence with multiple capture traps; one TBS for every 10-15 ha), to work together over large areas by destroying burrows in refuge habitats soon after planting (before the rats reestablish in the fields and before the onset of breeding), synchronizing planting and harvesting of the their rice crops, cleaning up weeds and piles of straw, and keeping bund (embankment) size small (<30 cm) to prevent burrowing. A 75% reduction in the use of rodenticides and plastic barrier fences (without traps or an early crop) was achieved on treated sites. The abundance of rodents was low after implementation of the management practices across all sites. There was no evidence for an effect of treatment on the abundance of rodents captured each month using live-capture traps, and no difference in damage between treatments or in yields obtained from the rice crops. Therefore, ecologically based rodent management was equally effective as typical practices for rodent management. Farmers on the treated sites spent considerably less money applying rodent control practices, which was reflected in the comparative increase in the partial benefit:cost of applying ecologically based rodent management from 3:1 on treated sites and untreated sites prior to the implementation of treatments to 17:1 on treated sites in the final year of the project.

Rodent pests cause significant damage to lowland irrigated rice crops in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Data from a 4‐year study were examined to look at the population dynamics of the ricefield rat, Rattus argentiventer (representing 50% of captures), the lesser ricefield rat, Rattus losea (30% of captures), and the black rat, Rattusrattus complex (9% of captures) that inhabit the irrigated mixed‐cropping system. We tested the hypothesis that these rodent species were breeding in response to the availability of high‐quality food provided by crops rather than in response to rainfall. The abundance of rodents fluctuated annually, with a main peak following the spring rice crop, and a secondary peak following the summer rice crop. There was a strong relationship between the monthly abundance of rats and rainfall, but a weak relationship between monthly rates of increase and rainfall. There were distinct peaks in breeding activity during the reproductive stages of the rice crops suggesting that changes in crop stages were more important than rainfall in this seasonal, but irrigated agroecosystem. The modal litter size for R. argentiventer was 8 (mean of 8.67±0.20 SE, range 2–16), where the mode for R. losea, was 7 (mean of 7.32±0.15 SE, range 3–14). Management of these species needs to be conducted prior to the onset of the main breeding seasons.

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Background: Esophageal cancer is the fourth-most-common cancerous disease of the gastrointestinal tract, with increasing incidence rates. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the outcomes of right thoracoscopic esophagectomy combined with laparotomy for esophageal cancer treatment in Vietnamese patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 71 patients was conducted at 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam, from January 2010 to December 2017. Results: Right thoracoscopic esophagectomy combined with laparotomy was performed in 71 patients with esophageal cancer. The mean patient age was 55.8 years, and 100% were male. Patients were diagnosed with the following cancer stages: Stage 0: 4.2%; Stage I: 14.1%; Stage II: 59.2%; and Stage III: 22.5%. The lymph node metastasis rate was 33.8%. The overall complication rate was 42.3%, which included a pneumonia rate of 12.3%, a respiratory failure rate of 7.0%, an anastomotic leak rate of 11.3%, and a chylothorax rate of 4.2%. The mean postoperative time was 16.4 days. The mean follow-up time was 21.7 months. The median overall survival was 45.7 months. The 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year survival rates were 79.7%, 62.3%, 52.3%, and 43.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Thoracoscopic esophagectomy combined with laparotomy for esophageal cancer was a safe, effective, and minimally invasive procedure that should play a continued role in cancer treatment.