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Blended Learning (BL) has gained its prevalence in EFL teaching and learning context in Vietnamese higher education. This study aims to investigate language-majored students' perceptions of implementing Blended Learning in English classrooms at a Vietnamese public university. One hundred fifty-three freshmen majoring in Chinese, Korean and Japanese languages and currently learning English as a compulsory subject participated in this multi-method study. Data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with six randomly selected students, then transcribed and analyzed thematically. Findings indicate that participants mostly perceive that BL enhances digital literacy and motivation and supports in-class learning. However, some challenges faced by these respondents included technical difficulties and the lack of self-regulation skills. The findings are of great value in giving educators and students a profound understanding of BL in EFL classrooms. Based on the findings and discussion, the study gave some recommendations for EFL teachers and institutions to facilitate students' BL experience greatly.

A very important problem in the research of layer structures is the modeling of cracks on the material interface. Due to the complex physical and mechanical properties of this structure, the simulation of discontinuities such as cracks and material interface by traditional finite element methods requires a very fine mesh density. Furthermore, mesh smoothing requires a really large amount of computational resources. Therefore, the extended algorithm which does not require the remeshing technique was born to solve the crack problems. In this paper, the extended consecutive-interpolation finite element method (XCFEM) is employed to modeling the mix-mode interface cracks between two dissimilar isotropic materials. The XCFEM using 4-node consecutive-interpolation quadrilateral element (XCQ4) provides continuity of nodal gradient due to the concept of “consecutive-interpolation” so that the stress and strain fields derived from XCQ4 is smoother than that obtained by the classical FEM element. The accuracy and effectiveness of the method are demonstrated via various numerical examples and compared with other researches.

This paper presents a novel topology optimization approach without calculation of sensitivity for the minimum compliance problems, based on the meshfree Radial Point Interpolation Method (RPIM). Relying on the algorithm of Proportional Topology Optimization (PTO), material is distributed using only information of the objective function (which is the elastic strain energy). Material properties are interpolated by the well-known Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) technique; however the pseudo density (design variables) are not defined on the element center as usually encountered in finite element-based approaches, but on integration points. Since no element exists in meshfree analysis, this would be a natural choice. More importantly, the number of integration points is in general larger than that of elements or that of nodes, resulting in higher resolution of the density field. The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed approach are demonstrated and discussed via several numerical examples.

Retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer in children, is mostly caused by inactivating mutations of both copies of the RB1gene. Early diagnosis and identification ofRB1 gene mutations would improve treatment outcomes and patients’ management. This study was performed on 10 tumour samples of retinoblastoma patients using the direct sequencing technique. 11 different mutations were found in 9 out of 10 tumour samples, including 6 nonsense mutations, 1 missense mutation, 1 splice site mutation, and 3 frameshift mutations with 1 novel mutation that has not been reported before. The MLPA method was required to identify large deletion mutations in the RB1gene and the study on more samples to provide a picture of RB1 gene mutations in Vietnamese retinoblastoma patients

This paper presents a hybrid approach for multiscale topology optimization of structures. The topological shape of both macro-structure and micro-structure are concurrently optimized, based on the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) technique in combination with finite element method (FEM). The material is assumed to have periodically patterned micro-structures, such that the effective properties can be evaluated via energy-based homogenization method (EBHM). In every iteration, the effective properties of material are passed to the macroscopic problem, and the macroscopic behavior (e.g. strain energy) is transferred back to the micro-scale problem, where the unit cell representing the micro-structure of material is determined for the next iteration. It is found that the update process can be done separately, i.e., the sensitivity of macro-scale design variables is not required during the update of micro-scale design variables, and vice versa. Hence, the proposal is that the macro-structure is updated by the gradient-free Proportional Topology Optimization (PTO) algorithm to utilize the computational efficiency of PTO. The micro-structure is still updated by the common gradient-based algorithm, namely Optimality Criteria (OC). Three benchmark numerical examples are investigated, demonstrating the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed hybrid approach.

The present study was to investigate the effects of different salinities (0 (control), 3, 6, 9, 12, 15‰) in striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) at larvae stage. Four-hundred individuals were randomly distributed to each 500-L composite tank (containing 250-L water) in triplicates. After 60 days, fish was sampled to determine survival rate, growth performance, hematological parameters, stress response indicators, and enzymatic activities. The results showed that the survival rate was highest in 6‰ (60.9%) and lowest in 15‰ (1.25%) (p

One of the major issues about the operation of power systems is the prediction of load demand. Moreover, load forecasting is of prime concern to system operators. Recently, the integration of power system elements, such as renewable energy sources, energy storages and electricity vehicle, brings more challenges, particularly when there are large fluctuations in forecasting cycle. This study concentrates on short-term load demand forecasting and proposes a hybrid method that combines Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) with deep-learning Neural Network (NN) techniques. In the beginning, the SSA technique is applied as an initial filter to remove noises. Next, a hybrid neural network, including Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), is developed and trained. Then, the trained network is used as the core forecasting algorithm. Each SSA has different forms to combine with neural networks. The performance of the proposed forecasting algorithm is demonstrated using the power demand data recorded in Taiwan. Furthermore, this study compares the forecasting results by five models, including SSA, SSA-BPNN, ANN, SSA-LSTM, Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) and LSTM. The forecasting results reveal that the proposed forecasting model using Singular Spectrum Analysis provides the best performance on load forecasts.

This research is funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under Grant No. 502.02-2020.09. Although decentralised governance has been one of the most salient political regimes worldwide over the past few decades, many countries have started to realise various shortcomings associated with their decentralisation process. As a consequence, a number of central governments have attempted to pursue recentralisation reforms in order to reclaim authority from the localities. This government reform can lead to significant changes in institutional arrangements, and subsequently, may influence various aspects of socio-economic activities. However, the real impact of recentralisation reform still remains ambiguous. In this paper, we examine how recentralisation may affect foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. We exploit the pilot recentralisation reform that temporarily abolished the intermediate legislative branches in some provinces in Vietnam as a quasi-natural experiment. The result shows that recentralisation leads to a significant reduction in FDI inflows. Our results are robust to a number of sensitivity analyses and falsification tests. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature on the determinants of FDI and provide new evidence on the real effect of recentralisation reform. Publisher PDF

Considering the high metastatic potential of colorectal cancer (CRC), the inhibition of metastasis is important for anti-CRC therapy.

The Kirchhoff-Love plate theory is appropriate for analysing thin plate structures. In a simple form, only one degree of freedom (per node) is needed to describe the behaviour of the plate, thus saving the computational cost. Besides, the analysis of cracked structures is important because it is related to the lifetime of the structures. Therefore, this paper uses the extended radial point interpolation method (XRPIM) to investigate the free vibration of the Kirchhoff-Love plate. The XRPIM is based on RPIM so the requirement for calculating the second-order derivative in Kirchhoff-Love theory is easily done. The numerical results from this study are compared with other researchers to verify the accuracy of the method.

In this paper, we report on a SOI-based comb capacitive-type accelerometer that senses acceleration in two lateral directions. The structure of the accelerometer was designed using a proof mass connected by four folded-beam springs, which are compliant to inertial displacement causing by attached acceleration in the two lateral directions. At the same time, the folded-beam springs enabled to suppress cross-talk causing by mechanical coupling from parasitic vibration modes. The differential capacitor sense structure was employed to eliminate common mode effects. The design of gap between comb fingers was also analyzed to find an optimally sensing comb electrode structure. The design of the accelerometer was carried out using the finite element analysis. The fabrication of the device was based on SOI-micromachining. The characteristics of the accelerometer have been investigated by a fully differential capacitive bridge interface using a sub-fF switched-capacitor integrator circuit. The sensitivities of the accelerometer in the two lateral directions were determined to be 6 and 5.5 fF/g, respectively. The cross-axis sensitivities of the accelerometer were less than 5%, which shows that the accelerometer can be used for measuring precisely acceleration in the two lateral directions. The accelerometer operates linearly in the range of investigated acceleration from 0 to 4g. The proposed accelerometer is expected for low-g applications.

Background In 2016-2017, 68 women in Southern Vietnam had RT-PCR confirmed Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy. We report here the outcomes of the pregnancies and the virological analyses related to this outbreak. Methods We collected clinical and epidemiological information from the women who were enrolled in the study. Medical records related to the pregnancy in 2016–2017 were retrieved for those who were not able to be enrolled in the study. Children born to women with ZIKV infection during pregnancy were also enrolled. Serum samples were evaluated for presence of ZIKV antibodies. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on Zika virus genomes sequenced from the 2016–2017 serum samples. Findings Of the 68 pregnancies, 58 were livebirths and 10 were medically terminated. Four of the medical records from cases of fetal demise were able to be retrieved, of which one was consistent with congenital ZIKV infection. Of the 58 women with a livebirth, 21 participated in the follow-up investigation. All but two women had serologic evidence of ZIKV infection. Of the 21 children included in the study (mean age: 30.3 months), 3 had microcephaly at birth. No other clinical abnormalities were reported and no differences in neurodevelopment were observed compared to a control group. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a clade within the ZIKV Asian lineage and branch at the root of samples from the 2013–2014 French Polynesian outbreak. The prM S139N mutation was not observed. Interpretation We have been able to demonstrate a clade within the ZIKV Asian lineage implicated in adverse pregnancy outcomes in Southern Vietnam. Funding INCEPTION project (PIA/ANR-16-CONV-0005) and a grant received from BNP Paribas Simplidon.

Objectives We performed a One Health surveillance in Hanoi—a region with a high-density human population and livestock production, and a recognized hotspot of animal-associated antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—to study the contribution of blaCTX-M-carrying Escherichia coli and plasmids from food-animal sources in causing human community-acquired urinary tract infections (CA-UTIs). Methods During 2014–2015, 9090 samples were collected from CA-UTI patients (urine, n = 8564), pigs/chickens from farms and slaughterhouses (faeces, carcasses, n = 448), and from the slaughterhouse environment (surface swabs, water, n = 78). E. coli was identified in 2084 samples. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production was confirmed in 235 and blaCTX-M in 198 strains by PCR with short-read plasmid sequencing. Fourteen strains were long-read sequenced to enable plasmid reconstruction. Results The majority of the ESBL-producing E. coli strains harboured blaCTX-M (n = 198/235, 84%). High clonal diversity (48 sequence types, STs) and distinct, dominant STs in human sources (ST1193, n = 38/137; ST131, n = 30/137) and non-human sources (ST155, n = 25/61) indicated lack of clonal transmission between habitats. Eight blaCTX-M variants were identified; five were present in at least two sample sources. Human and food-animal strains did not show similar plasmids carrying shared blaCTX-M genes. However, IS6 elements flanking ISEcp1–blaCTX-M–orf477/IS903B structures were common across habitats. Conclusions In this study, animal-associated blaCTX-M E. coli strains or blaCTX-M plasmids were not direct sources of CA-UTIs or ESBL resistance in humans, respectively, suggesting evolutionary bottlenecks to their adaptation to a new host species. Presence of common IS6 elements flanking blaCTX-M variants in different plasmid backbones, however, highlighted the potential of these transposable elements for AMR transmission either within or across habitats.

We performed a One Health surveillance in Hanoi-a region with a high-density human population and livestock production, and a recognized hotspot of animal-associated antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-to study the contribution of blaDuring 2014-2015, 9090 samples were collected from CA-UTI patients (urine, n = 8564), pigs/chickens from farms and slaughterhouses (faeces, carcasses, n = 448), and from the slaughterhouse environment (surface swabs, water, n = 78). E. coli was identified in 2084 samples. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production was confirmed in 235 and blaThe majority of the ESBL-producing E. coli strains harboured blaIn this study, animal-associated bla

This paper investigates the effects of corruption on the performance of newly established enterprises. Using longitudinal data from enterprise surveys containing virtually all firms over the period from 2011 to 2015 in Vietnam, we find that corruption deteriorates firm financial performance, and subsequently exposes them to a greater failure probability. We further find that, while corruption imposes more harmful effects on the performance and survival of private domestic firms, it exerts no significant impact on state-owned firms. On the other hand, foreign firms are also able to take advantage of corruption to enhance their performance and survivability. In addition, our results suggest that the more mature firms are better at dealing with corruption and can eventually take advantage of it to enhance their performance. The results are robust after various model specifications as well as alternative classifications of newly established firms. Publisher PDF

This paper presents an integrated model for calculation of flood in the Vu Gia – Thu Bon river system. In this model, the flow in rivers and channels is considered as onedimensional and described by the Saint – Venant equations while the flow on the floodplains is considered as two-dimensional and described by the shallow water equations. All equations are solved by finitevolume method. Roads, railway with conducts on floodplains are also included in the model. The floods in years 1999, 2007, 2009 and 2010 were calculated. The results show that floods in the Vu Gia – Thu Bon delta were simulated in detail with reliable accuracy.

The aim of the study was to determine which cholinergic muscarinic receptor subtype is responsible for the endothelium-dependent vasodilatation evoked by acetylcholine (ACh) in mouse arteries. Endothelium-dependent relaxations were evaluated using isometric tension measurement of ring from femoral and aortic artery of M1, M2, and M3 knockout (KO) mice. Rings of femoral and aortic artery from M3 KO mice did not exhibit relaxation at the opposite of rings from M1+M2 KO and wild-type (WT) mice, which were relaxed by ACh. The proportion of endothelial cells responsive to ACh, as manifested by an increase in cytosolic free calcium ([Ca]i), was also observed on the intima of aorta wall in vitro by using laser line confocal microscopy. Of the cells from M3 KO mice and M1+M2 KO mice, 4% and 23%, respectively, responded to ACh in comparison with 20 % in WT mice. These results show that in the endothelium from femoral and aortic artery, the larger proportion of cells that express M3 receptor is responsible for the specificity of the M3 receptor subtype for endothelium-dependent relaxation caused by ACh.

The ability to handle changes is a characteristic feature of successful software projects. The problem addressed in this paper is what should be done in project planning and iterative replanning so that the project can react effectively to changes. Thus the work presents research results in software engineering, as well as transfer of methods in knowledge engineering to software engineering, applying the AI planning technique to software process modeling and software project management. Our method is based on inter-project experience and evolution patterns. We propose a new classification of software projects, identifying and characterizing ten software process evolution patterns and link them to different project profile. Based on the evolution patterns, we discuss the planning support for process evolution and propose several methods that are new or significantly extend existing work, e.g. cost estimation of process changes, evolution pattern analysis, and a coarse process model for the initial planning and the iterative replanning process. The preliminary results have shown that the study of evolution patterns, based on inter-project experience, can provide valuable guidance in software process understanding and improvement.

International audience; Composite latex particles based on homopolymers and graft-copolymers composed of polynorbornene (PNB) and poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBA) were synthesized in microemulsion conditions by simultaneous combination of two distinct methods of polymerization: Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Only one commercial compound (first generation Grubbs catalyst) was Lied to initiate the ROMP of norbornene (NB) and activate the ATRP of tert-butyl acrylate (tBA). Well-defined nanoparticles with hydrodynamic diameters smaller than 50 nm were prepared with original morphologies depending on the monomer compositions, the type of combination (polymer blend or graft-copolymer), and the conditions of microemulsion polymerizations.

Nowadays, most retail chains are organized in a network structure, which operates under the principals of mutual communication and cooperation for lower overhead cost, increased responsiveness and flexibility, and greater operational efficiency (Lozenzoni and Baden 1995). In addition, thanks to interfaces between many units, the network is a powerful tool to foster innovation. However, networks can also block innovation because of the divergence of interests among units (Hagedoorn 1995). A franchised network is an illustration of this, due to the fact that franchisees, as independent small business owner, have the right not to adopt all the modifications proposed by the franchiser. A solution is to use the plural form, associating franchise and company arrangements. In reality, the plural form is increasingly used in retailing; it has advantages over the pure franchised and wholly owned chains in terms of innovation.

Objectives WGS-based antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is as reliable as phenotypic AST for several antimicrobial/bacterial species combinations. However, routine use of WGS-based AST is hindered by the need for bioinformatics skills and knowledge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants to operate the vast majority of tools developed to date. By leveraging on ResFinder and PointFinder, two freely accessible tools that can also assist users without bioinformatics skills, we aimed at increasing their speed and providing an easily interpretable antibiogram as output. Methods The ResFinder code was re-written to process raw reads and use Kmer-based alignment. The existing ResFinder and PointFinder databases were revised and expanded. Additional databases were developed including a genotype-to-phenotype key associating each AMR determinant with a phenotype at the antimicrobial compound level, and species-specific panels for in silico antibiograms. ResFinder 4.0 was validated using Escherichia coli (n = 584), Salmonella spp. (n = 1081), Campylobacter jejuni (n = 239), Enterococcus faecium (n = 106), Enterococcus faecalis (n = 50) and Staphylococcus aureus (n = 163) exhibiting different AST profiles, and from different human and animal sources and geographical origins. Results Genotype–phenotype concordance was ≥95% for 46/51 and 25/32 of the antimicrobial/species combinations evaluated for Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. When genotype–phenotype concordance was Conclusions WGS-based AST using ResFinder 4.0 provides in silico antibiograms as reliable as those obtained by phenotypic AST at least for the bacterial species/antimicrobial agents of major public health relevance considered.

The use of gamification in education is of increasing interest. Numerous studies have explored various aspects of integrating digital games (DGs) into English language teaching and learning. This research sought to investigate teachers' and students' perceptions of incorporating DGs in improving vocabulary for non-English-majored students at Phenikaa University, Vietnam. This cross-sectional study was completed with a structured survey of 30 lecturers and 150 students, alongside in-depth interviews with some randomly-selected respondents from both groups. The findings revealed that these two groups of participants mostly shared positive attitudes toward DGs. The teachers were aware of the importance of DGs as a modern and appealing approach to teaching vocabulary; however, they were reluctant to use them frequently because of time constraints, distractions, and technological complexity. With regard to the students, most of them believe in the effectiveness of digital games as learners. However, they reflected that occasional class gaming-learning could be a more appropriate schedule. Contents that digital games can help most effectively with learning English tend to focus more on some aspects of vocabulary. The findings are of great value in giving educators and students a profound understanding of both the positive and negative impacts of using DGs to facilitate learners' vocabulary learning.