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Fermentation of cocoa beans is the most important process contributing to the flavor in chocolate and other related products. The present study aimed to investigate the fermentation at a laboratory scale of cocoa beans with and without 10% w/w mucilage removal (whole beans). The physicochemical properties and microorganism development were monitored for six days of continuous fermentation (sampling was conducted every 24 hours). The results indicated the effects of partial mucilage removal of cocoa beans before the fermentation, in which the temperature, pH, and mucilage content (with/without mucilage removal) were recorded as 36.5 oC/38.6 oC, 3.44/3.31, and 18.41%/21.84%, respectively at the final day. Besides, the density of microorganisms (yeast-mold, lactic acid bacteria, and acetic acid bacteria) of cocoa beans with partial mucilage removal was higher than whole cocoa beans due to the increased aeration of the beans with mucilage removal, creating favorable conditions for the growth of microorganisms. After the fermentation, several physicochemical properties of the two cocoa bean types were compared, which demonstrated the more favorable quality of the cocoa beans with partial mucilage removal compared to the whole cocoa beans for the fermentation, e.g., lower seed shell content (14.1% vs. 17.8%), lower total acid (1.67% vs. 2.77%), and pH of around 5.0.

The goal of this study is to see if there is a link between the usage of metacognitive reading strategies by non-English major students and their reading comprehension performance. This research was conducted at Dong Nai Technology University with 70 students ranging in age from 19 to 22 years old. Both quantitative and qualitative data were used in the investigation. These students were asked to complete a TOEIC reading test to assess their reading ability, followed by the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) (Mokhtari and Reichard, 2002) to assess their metacognitive use. Semi-structured interviews with four high scorers and four low scorers from the sample were used to acquire qualitative data. The findings demonstrated that students’ metacognitive reading strategy use is at a moderate level, and the most frequent and least frequent strategies that they used are Problem-solving and Global strategies, respectively. Additionally, it found that more proficient readers used metacognitive strategies more frequently, more successfully, and more appropriately than less proficient readers and vice versa. Some qualitative results were also mentioned. The results of the study have some implications for both teachers and students to employ appropriate metacognitive reading strategies in second language acquisition.

Introduction. The article deals with the linguocultural units of value considering them as the main objects of cultural and cognitive analysis to obtain data for compiling nationally oriented lexicographic sources, namely, a nationally oriented linguistic and cultural dictionary for the Vietnamese who study Russian. The authors of the article argue that the implementation of a detailed analysis of value-marked elements that reflect cultural facts and realities, which are rooted in the national linguistic consciousness, is a recurrent theme in modern comparative lexicography. The scientific novelty and significance of the study are based on the practical application of its findings in the field of comparative lexicography, a successfully developing scientific area.Methodology and sources. The article focuses on a comparative study of phraseological units of Russian and Vietnamese linguocultures. The comparative study is carried out using interpretive analysis as well as analysis of definitions. There are used data from dictionaries of various types.Results and discussion. The key objects of cultural and cognitive analysis are linguocultural units reflecting the realities of culture and values of a particular nation. The material of the study allowed the authors to consider some characteristics of the conceptual division of the world and of its conceptualization with the assistance of language distinctive for both Russian and Vietnamese linguocultures. Thus, a comparative analysis of Russian and Vietnamese set phrases, which reflect the peculiarities of the national worldview, made it possible to draw conclusions about the existing national and cultural differences between Russians and Vietnamese, and, that is most importantly, about the existing of discrepancies in the attitude of Vietnamese and Russians to certain values - a circumstance, that must be taken into account in development of linguistic and cultural educational lexicography.Conclusion. The concept of nationally oriented educational lexicography as a special field in a number of other linguistic disciplines aims at fulfilling the tasks of acquiring foreign cultural awareness avoiding any possible interference. The importance of nationally oriented educational lexicography arises from the need to create such teaching aids that will most adequately facilitate the process of foreign language mastering. In our specific case, it will assist a Vietnamese to study the Russian language as a means of intercultural communication.

Tecoma stans (L.) Juss. Ex Kunth is widely used in folk medicine. In ethnomedicine, it is applied as a cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, antiarthritic, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial. The aqueous extract is considered antidiabetic, and is used as a traditional remedy in Mexico. More than 120 chemical constituents have been identified in its leaves, barks, and roots. However, less is known about the phytochemical properties of T. stans flower extracts. The herbal plant Nervilia concolor (Blume) Schltr. is native to Vietnam, and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat diseases such as bronchitis, stomatitis, acute pneumonia, and laryngitis. Only two previous reports have addressed the chemical content of this plant. Bouea macrophylla Griff., commonly known as marian plum or plum mango, is a tropical plant that is used to treat a range of illnesses. Phytochemical analysis of B. macrophylla suggests the presence of volatile components and flavonoids. However, existing data have been obtained from screening without isolation. As part of our ongoing search for alpha-glucosidase inhibitors from Vietnamese medicinal plants, we conducted bioactive-guided isolation of the whole plant N. concolor, the flowers of T. stans, and the leaves of B. macrophylla. We isolated and structurally elucidated five known compounds from T. stans: ursolic acid (TS1), 3-oxours-12-en-28-oic acid (TS2), chrysoeriol (TS3), ferulic acid (TS4), and tecomine (TS5). Three known compounds were isolated from Nervilia concolor: astragalin (NC1), isoquercitrin (NC2), and caffeic acid (NC3). From B. macrophylla, betullinic acid (BM1), methyl gallate (BM2), and 3-O-galloyl gallic acid methyl ester (BM3) were isolated. All compounds showed promising alpha-glucosidase inhibition, with IC50 values ranging from 1.4 to 143.3 µM. The kinetics of enzyme inhibition showed BM3 to be a competitive-type inhibitor. An in silico molecular docking model confirmed that compounds NC1, NC2, and BM3 were potential inhibitors of the α-glucosidase enzyme. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out with compound BM3 demonstrating the best docking model during simulation up to 100 ns to explore the stability of the complex ligand–protein.

α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 nanoplates and nanorices were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction and used for organic pollutant adsorption and removal studies. The effect of size and morphology of α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 nanoplates and nanorices on the dye adsorption efficiency were investigated systematically. The adsorption studies showed a good selectivity and high adsorption capacity (~93%) of the α-Fe2O3 nanoplates towards congo red (C.R.) dye, due to the formation of hydrogen bonding between amine group (─ NH2) of C.R. and surface carboxylate group (─ COOH), and adsorbed ─ OH groups of α-Fe2O3 nanoplates. The α-Fe2O3 nanoplates also showed excellent recyclability with negligible loss of the adsorption capacity, owing to their stable morphology and crystal structure. The excellent C.R. adsorption capacity of the α-Fe2O3 nanoplates was further confirmed by conducting experiments with a solution containing a mixture of dyes. Our findings indicate that the synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanoplates have a great potential in removing industrial waste, such as C.R. from polluted water.

Tyrosine-430 of d-ornithine/d-lysine decarboxylase (DOKDC) is located in the active site, and was suggested to be responsible for the D-stereospecificity of the enzyme. We have prepared the Y430F mutant form of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium DOKDC and evaluated its catalytic activity with D- and l-lysine and ornithine. The kinetic results show that the Y430F mutant has measurable decarboxylase activity with both D- and l-lysine and ornithine, which wild type DOKDC does not. Spectroscopic experiments show that these amino acids bind to form external aldimine complexes with the pyridoxal-5'-phosphate with λ

Objectives: To evaluate the compliance of patients with treatment regime of type 2 diabetes on outpatients at Dong Thap Regional General Hospital. Objects and methods: Retrospective descriptive study on 240 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and outpatient treatment at Dong Thap General Hospital. Results: The percentage of patients who always adhered to the treatment regime was not high: 38.40% of patients always limited the use of fast hyperglycemic foods; 30.28% of patients always limited the intake of high-fat foods; The rate of patients who always ate washy foods was 27.68%, the rate of patients who always limited drinking beer and alcohol was 28.12%, 31.45% of patients always consumed fiber foods. The rate of patients complying with exercise regimes was an average level: 53.48% patients had the regular adherence to exercise regimes. The rate of good compliance of using drugs was an average level of 60.43%, still having 11.30% of patients were poor drug compliance. Conclusion: The proportion of patients who always adhered to the treatment regime was not high. The percentage of patients adhering to the exercise regimen was moderate. The proportion of patients who complied with good drug administration was moderate.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare malignant tumor in childhood cancer. This type of tumor is difficult to identify and can easily be misdiagnosed. The International PPB protocol is a complicated and aggressive protocol. It is not easily applicable to developing countries where hospitals do not have enough resources. Here we present a challanging case of a patient successfully treated in Vietnam, using limited medical resources. The patient (22 month old, male) was diagnosed with congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation in his 1

Introduction: Nowadays, a resistive switching memory using biological, transparent, and environmentally friendly materials is appreciated as the tendency of science and technology, especially in the field of electronic devices. Chitosan (CS), having dominant characteristics such as non-toxic, biocompatible and large capacity, plays as a switching medium in resistive random access memory devices (RRAM). Methods: In our study, CS film was fabricated onto a commercial substrate (FTO) using a simple spin coating method, and the top electrode (Ag) was deposited by a direct-current sputtering technique. Results: The Ag/CS/FTO devices shown the bipolar switching behavior when applying sequence voltage from -1.5 to 2V with the set process in the negative bias and the reset process in the positive bias. The content (0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 wt%) and thickness (100, 300, 500 nm) of chitosan film significantly affect the resistive switching performance. The devices with 0.5 wt%/v concentration and 300 nm-thickness of CS have shown better efficiency than the others with endurance over 100 sweeping cycles and ON/OFF ratio at ca. 2x10 times. Conclusions: It is found that the chitosan material has a large potential candidate for applications in optoelectronic devices.

Haploid plants achieve through androgenesis or gynogenesis. In gynogenesis method, the ovary or ovule are used as explants induct haploid plants. Female flower one day before flowering of Cucumis sativus L. are collected. Cold pretreatment of ovaries at 4°C up to 24 hours and culture under dark conditions. Significantly enhanced callus induction response is compared with cultures under 4-week cultured on CBM medium supplemented with various concentration of TDZ 0.01-0.04 mg/L. After 4 weeks, ovaries are transferred to medium with kinetin 0.05 – 0.20 mg/L. Then, ovaries were transferred to medium supplemented with BA: IAA 3:1. Finally, green ovaries were transferred to BA 1.5 mg/L and GA3 1.5 mg/L. The results showed that ovary induction has best affected on CBM with TDZ 0.03 mg/L with 11 callus/sample. Ovaries developed on kinetin 0.1 mg/L with 7.4 callus/sample. Ovaries become green and had leaves and roots formation on BA: IAA (3 mg/L: 1 mg/L). 11 plantlets were harvested from ovary culture after 12-week culture on CBM supplemented with BA 1.5 mg/L and GA3 1.5 mg/L.

Objectives Cytokine dysregulation has been proposed as one of the main culprits for severe COVID-19 and poor prognosis. We examined the parallel presence of lymphopoietic, proinflammatory, Th1, Th2, regulatory cytokines, and chemokines in the serum of 47 patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 and evaluated the association between cytokine concentrations and disease severity. Methods A multiplex quantitative cytokine analysis ProcartaPlex™ immunoassay was applied, using the LuminexTM 200X detection system (Invitrogen). Results The concentrations of twelve cytokines: IL-18, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha; IL-21; IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-22; IL-10, IL-1RA; IL-7 and IFN-alpha were consistently elevated in the studied serum samples. All examined chemokines—Eotaxin, GRO-alpha, IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, SDF-1alpha, and RANTES, were detectable in all studied groups, confirming their importance in mediating the adaptive immune response regardless of disease severity. The serum concentrations of six mediators: IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-18, IL-10, IL-8, and IP-10, showed statistically significant differences among the groups with different disease severity. IL-6, IL-1beta, and IL-10 were more significantly elevated in severe cases while milder symptoms were associated with lower levels of IL-8 and IP-10. Conclusion Overall, the studied chemokines demonstrated an associated production in acute COVID-19 infection. A strong correlation was observed between the Th1 mediators IL-18 and IL-10 and the proinflammatory IL-6 in the severe COVID-19 group. Our results indicated that severe COVID-19 was characterized by a dysregulated cytokine pattern whereby the Th1 immune response is outweighed by the immunoregulatory response, while inhibitory signals cannot balance the hyperinflammatory response.

The resistive switching memory device based on nanocomposites has become a potential candidate in the data storage field. Understanding resistive switching characteristics and electrical conduction mechanisms may support the appropriate way to fabricate and control the operation of a device. In this study, a capacitor-like structure using PVA-ZnO as an insulator layer was fabricated by a solution method. The crystalline structure, morphology, and absorption spectrum of ZnO nanoparticles were revealed respectively. The resistive switching effect was observed with the ON/OFF ratio of 0.5´102, high endurance, excellent retention and the electrical transport mechanisms were followed by the SCLC and Ohmic’s law in the low resistance state and Flower- Nordheim tunneling in the high resistance state. The resistive switching mechanism was contributed by the oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanoparticles and the oxygen ions in the bottom electrode.

Job satisfaction of employees has been attracted to many researchers nowadays in general and in Vietnam in specific. Past researches on job satisfaction in Vietnam includes Dung (2005); Toan (2009); Anh (2010), Thuy (2011), and Ngoc (2013). However, there was not many research study on the job satisfaction of administrative staff at public university, especially in Vietnam. This research is to provide an in-depth of job satisfaction of administrative staff in Vietnamese public technology university and identifies the factors influencing on their job satisfaction. Both quantitative and qualitative research applied in this study. Findings of this research show that the job satisfaction of administrative staff is quite high in the public university in Vietnam. 7 factors influence including “Reward and discipline”, “Income “, “Supervisor”, “Colleagues”, “Working environment”, “Job characteristics”, and “Benefits and welfare” on job satisfaction at these universities. Among these factors, “Working environment” has the strongest positive impact and the “Benefits and welfare” has the lowest positive impact on the job satisfaction of administrative staff at the public university. Some alternative solutions on improving the working environment, supervisor’s feedback, fair payment system and training provided to administrative staff are suggested. Thanks to these solutions, the job satisfaction of administrative staff will be strengthened and the public universities will retain the engagement of their administrative staff.

Alloy nanocrystals (NCs) provide access and control of the parameters for nanoscale engineering because their physical and optical properties depend on size, shape, and composition. Here, alloy CdS x Se1−x NCs with different shapes were synthesised via a one-pot method using cadmium acetate, sulfur, and selenium as precursors in trioctylphosphine solution. The luminescence and shapes of NCs were characterised by fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. It was found that the modification of precursor concentration resulted in NC shape variation, including branched NCs, long and short nanorods. Consequently, a series of alloy CdS x Se1−x NCs with different shape-based light emitting devices (LEDs) were fabricated and their operation characteristics were also compared. The obtained luminance and luminous efficiency showed that the control of NC shape is the key factor for the improvement of LED performance. We anticipate that this work will provide further insight into the design of CdSxSe1−x NCs-based LEDs with shape variation.

Objective: Describing the clinical and subclinical characteristics on breast cancer patients treated with Anthracyclines at Thong Nhat hospital.Subjects and methods: a prospective descriptive study on 43 patients with breast cancer was treated with Anthracyclines with 4 to 6 cycles as determined by clinical doctor at Thong Nhat hospital. Results: Average age: 49.2 ± 3.2 years old. The age group accounted for the largest proportion in the study object was the 50-60 age group (48.84%). The percentage of patients who self-examined the tumor was the highest with 79.07%. There were 9.30% of patients with pain symptoms, 11.63% of patients with nipple discharge. Tumor position in the upper-external quadrant accounted for the largest percentage with 55.81%. The average size of tumors was 2.56 ± 1.2 (cm). The main form of lesions detected on ultrasound was the local lesion with over 80% with an unknown boundaryfeature (81.40%) and predominantly invasive (76.74%). The histopathological type accounted for the highest percentage was the invasive tubular carcinoma (79.07%), the medullary carcinoma andmucinous carcinoma body accounted for the lowest rate with 2.33% and 0%, respectively. The histological degree accounted for the highest percentage among the research subjects was degree 2with 50.18%. Stage III accounted for the highest rate with 46.51%.Conclusion: The most common age group for breast cancer was 50-60 years old, the main symptom was self-examination with breast tumors, breast cancer were mainly local tumor at the upper-externalposition. On ultrasound, the lesions were the local, unknown boundary, and invasive lesions. Breast cancer was mainly invasive ductal carcinoma, histologic degree 2.

Background Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a challenge for clinicians treating patients with HIV/AIDS. CD4 counts can be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to determine several common etiologies of FUO stratified by CD4 count levels in HIV/AIDS patients. Methods A cross-sectional retrospective and prospective study was conducted in 195 HIV/AIDS patients with FUO admitted to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases from January 2016 to June 2019. Clinical parameters, immune status, and etiologies for each patient were recorded. Odds ratios were calculated to compare the distributions of common etiologies in groups with two different CD4 count levels: 3 and ≥ 50 cells/mm3. Results The proportions of opportunistic infections and noninfectious etiologies were 93.3% and 3.6%, respectively. Tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection (46.7%), followed by talaromycosis (29.2%) and Pneumocystis jiroveci (PCP) infection (20.5%). Tuberculosis was predominant in all CD4 level groups. Most patients with talaromycosis had CD4 counts below 50 cells/mm3. In total, 53.8% of the patients were infected by one pathogen. The risks of tuberculosis and talaromycosis in FUO-HIV patients were high when their CD4 counts were below 50 cells/mm3. Conclusions Opportunistic infections, especially tuberculosis, are still the leading cause of FUO in HIV/AIDS patients. Tuberculosis and Talaromyces marneffei (TM) infection should be considered in patients with CD4 cell counts 3. This study implies that guidelines for appropriate testing to identify the etiology of FUO in HIV/AIDS patient based on the CD4 cell count should be developed, thereby reducing resource waste.

Mục tiêu: Khảo sát tính hợp lý trong sử dụng thuốc điều trị viêm phổi tại Bệnh viện Nhi đồng Cần Thơ. Đối tượng và phương pháp: Nghiên cứu hồi cứu mô tả trên 384 bệnh án nội trú tại Bệnh viện Nhi đồng Cần Thơ từ tháng 1/2019 đến tháng 12/2019 được chẩn đoán là viêm phổi. Kết quả: Tỷ lệ phác đồ điều trị ban đầu chưa phù hợp với phác đồ sử dụng kháng sinh tương đối cao 84,11%. Tỷ lệ kháng sinh có liều dùng chưa phù hợp chỉ chiếm 1,71% trên tổng số trường hợp khảo sát. Tỷ lệ phù hợp liều kháng sinh cao chiếm 98,29%. Tỷ lệ thuốc hỗ trợ có liều dùng phù hợp cao như Salbutamol, Hydrocortison và Prednisolon chiếm tỷ lệ 100%. Nhịp đưa thuốc kháng sinh phù hợp với khuyến cáo chiếm 94,67%. Nhịp đưa thuốc hỗ trợ có tỷ lệ phù hợp rất cao, chỉ có vài trường hợp chưa phù hợp với khuyến cáo như Ibuprofen có 14 trường hợp chiếm 37,84%, Acetylcystein và Hydrocortison chiếm 14,58% với 7 trường hợp, còn lại là Prednisolon và Budesonid chiếm tỷ lệ rất thấp. Kết luận: Tỷ lệ phác đồ điều trị ban đầu chưa phù hợp với phác đồ sử dụng kháng sinh tương đối cao. Tỷ lệ phù hợp liều kháng sinh cao. Tỷ lệ thuốc hỗ trợ có liều dùng phù hợp cao như Salbutamol, Hydrocortison và Prednisolon. Nhịp đưa thuốc kháng sinh phù hợp cao với khuyến cáo. Nhịp đưa thuốc hỗ trợ có tỷ lệ phù hợp rất cao.