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This study aims to examine the impact of gamified learning using Quizizz on English as a second language (ESL) learners' grammar achievement. The pre-/post-test control group design was applied to research 63 English-majored freshmen. 20 multiple-choice quizzes were designed based on grammar points included in the basic grammar course over a 10-week intervention period. There were 33 students from the experimental group doing the quizzes on Quizizz, while 30 participants from the control group did the same quizzes on paper. The findings indicate that although students from the two groups both improved their marks on the post-test compared to the pre-test, students from the treatment group got significantly higher scores than those from the control group on the achievement test. However, educators are supported to consider using this gamified learning platform as a supportive tool besides choosing the appropriate instructional content to optimize the quality of their teaching.

This study investigates the difficulties in translation and factors influencing the translating process from foreign language students' perspectives at a private university. This work also aims to find out the reasons why foreign language students encounter the difficulties in the process and learn about the different ways in which students majoring in English translate a text into their first language of Vietnamese. Using the mixed method (quantitative and qualitative), the study analysis is based on descriptive statistics using SPSS programme and individual interview results. The results showed that salient findings emerged from the data concerning the relationships between four factors namely "lexis," "grammar," "culture," and "existing knowledge" under student's viewpoints. Those elements affected students hierarchically in their process of translation, in which lexis was the most difficult factor while grammar seemed to be less remarkable. Therefore, based on the findings, it is suggested to adjust, modify, and select appropriate translation materials in the curricula in higher education to well equip students with those elements to compete in the translation industry.

The study aims to examine the qualities of a good English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teacher perceived by English language teachers and EFL students at a Vietnamese university. The study also investigates how teachers and students perceived the qualities of a good EFL teacher and differences in teachers' and students' views on these qualities. Mixed-method research was employed under the participation of 22 teachers of English and 80 English-majored students. The study was based on the English Teacher Competency Framework (ETCF) by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET, 2008) in Vietnam. The results revealed that both teachers and students perceived knowledge of language teaching as the most considerable (M=4.28/5.0, SD=0.38). Although teachers' and students' perceptions had major similarities, there were some differences between their views from quantitative and qualitative findings. From the findings, it is suggested to provide a reference and standards for language teachers, teacher trainers, and policymakers regarding EFL teacher training programs in every educational institution.

Intercultural competence has played an extremely important role in an increasingly globalised world where people are likely to communicate with people from different cultural groups or countries which have been greatly shaped by various values, practices and perspectives. In Vietnam, whilst several scholars mainly focus on intercultural competence in the context of teaching and learning language, a few publications have been found in terms of assessing the level of intercultural competence among students in tertiary education. To fill this gap, this paper aims to give an insight into students' intercultural competence in public and private universities. A nineteen questionnaire was undertaken with 336 participants that include 175 students from private universities and 161 students from public universities. The findings show that students' intercultural competence in both types of school was not high although that from private schools was proved to be more outstanding regarding attitudes and skills.

This work investigates the influence of methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) on the properties of phthalic anhydride-based unsaturated polyester resin (PA-based UPR) when PA is replaced by MHHPA with different PA/MHHPA mole ratios, ranging from 100/0 to 0/100. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) are used to study the chemical structure, curing process and mechanical properties of the resins, showing the successful incorporation of MHHPA into the structure of UPRs with superior properties, compare to PA-based UPRs. In particular, the addition of MHHPA significantly lowers the acidity by up to 28% and promotes the curing reaction, reducing the enthalpy of the reaction by 2.5 times, and shortens the curing time by up to 40%. This incorporation also increases the gel content up to 99.9%, thereby increasing the crosslinking between the polyester chains and improving the rigidity of UPRs. In addition, the glass-transition temperature of the polymer increases approximately 78%, which can improve the working temperature of the MHHPA-modified UPRs. The electrical properties of the resins containing MHHPA reveal better insulating performance in comparison with the PA-based UPR. These findings demonstrate great potentials of the MHHPAmodified UPRs for various applications, especially in outdoor environments. KEYWORDS methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, unsaturated polyester resins, 1 | INTRODUCTION Unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) are generally linear polymers with ester bonds and unsaturated double bonds, which are generally formed by the condensation reaction of unsaturated diacids and [...]

Oligodendroglioma, the third most common glioma, accounts for 5% of primary brain tumors and around 20% of all glial neoplasms. They are quite uncommon in children. Here, we aimed to show an unusual case of a 9-year-old boy developing a huge anaplastic oligodendroglioma. A high-grade astrocytoma-like supratentorial tumor was discovered by a sophisticated brain scan employing magnetic resonance imaging. The tumor was identified by histopathology as an anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Anaplastic oligodendroglioma should be considered while making the differential diagnosis of high-grade astrocytoma notwithstanding its rarity.

Background: Unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) has been growing rapidly for a relatively short period of time. This minimally invasive surgical technique has achieved favorable results in some developed countries. In the present study, we reported the preliminary outcomes of patients with LDH treated with UBE discectomy in a limited resources institution. Methods: Clinical and radiographic data of 46 patients of LDH treated between July 2022 and March 2023 using UBE discectomy techniques including ipsilateral interlaminar approach, contralateral sublaminar approach and paraspinal approach, were reviewed. Outcomes were analyzed in view of modified-Macnab criteria, Japanese Orthopedic Association score (JOA), Visual analog scale (VAS) with a mean follow-up of 3.1 months. Results: At the final follow-up, the mean VAS for low back pain was improved from 4.2 ± 1.1 to 1.4 ± 0.3 and VAS for leg pain was improved from 7.9 ± 1.2 to 2.6 ± 0.4. The mean JOA score improved from 13.8 ± 5.2 to 24.4 ± 4.3. Modified Macnab criteria were excellent in 30 patients (65.3 %), good in 14 (30.4 %), fair in 2 (4.3 %). A total of 57 levels of LDH were done. L4-L5 disc herniation was performed in 30 patients (52.6 %), L5-S1 in 20 (35.1 %), L2-L3 in 4 (7.0 %), and L3-L4 in 3 (5.3 %). Ipsilateral approach technique was performed at 48 patients (84.2 %), contralateral sublaminar approach in 7 (12.3 %), and paraspinal approach in 2 (3.5 %). Complications included 2 patients with dural tears (4.3 %), and 1 epidural hematoma (2.2 %). Conclusions: UBE discectomy techniques may be performed safely and effectively for the treatment of LDH in limited resources hospitals.

The present data profile a large scale transcriptome changes associated with variations in seed dormancy level induced by seed development temperature in hexaploid wheat. Seed dormancy is an important trait that inhibits seed germination under optimal conditions and therefore has important implication in preventing the incidence of preharvest sprouting, which refers to the germination of seeds on the mother plant prior to harvest, in wheat. Since preharvest sprouting, which causes a significant reduction in seed yield and quality in wheat, is closely associated with low level of seed dormancy manifested in modern wheat cultivars, it is important to develop wheat cultivars with optimal level of dormancy to enhance wheat yield and quality. Thus, elucidation of the molecular mechanisms that regulate seed dormancy is critical for the development of preharvest sprouting resistant wheat cultivars. The data we are presenting here were generated from total RNA samples extracted from imbibed seeds of a dormant wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotype that were developed at different temperatures using the Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array. The raw and normalized formats of these data are deposited in the NCBI's gene expression data repository, Gene Expression Ominbus (GEO) with accession number GSE153527.

High-quality SnSe2 single crystals were successfully synthesized using a temperature gradient method. N-type characteristics and strong anisotropic transport properties of SnSe2 single crystals were exhibited between the ab plane and the c-axis. At 673 K, the power factor (PF) value along the ab plane is 3.43 μW cm-1 K-2, while it is 0.92 μW cm-1 K-2 along the c-axis. The ratio between thermal conductivities along the ab plane (κab) and c-axis (κc) is on the order of 7.6 at 300 K, while this value is about 5.6 at 673 K. The thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) in the c-axis (0.15) is higher than that (0.1) along the ab plane, according to the ultralow out-of-plane thermal conductivity. The electronic band structure results, which were examined by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) predicted the potential of improving the thermoelectric performance of SnSe2 single crystals by electron doping.

Plant hormones play important roles in seed development; however, transcriptional regulation of their metabolism and levels of the respective bioactive forms during barley seed development is poorly understood. To this end, this study performed a comprehensive analysis of changes in the expression patterns phytohormone metabolism genes and levels of the respective bioactive forms in the embryo and endosperm tissues. Our study showed the presence of elevated levels of abscisic acid (ABA), bioactive forms of gibberellins (GAs), jasmonate (JA) and cytokinins (CKs), auxin and salicylic acid (SA) in the endosperm and embryo tissues at early stage of seed filling (SF). The levels of all hormones in both tissues, except that of ABA, decreased to low levels during SF. In contrast, embryonic ABA level increased during SF and peaked at physiological maturity (PM) while the endospermic ABA was maintained at a similar level observed during SF. Although its level decreased high amount of ABA was still present in the embryo during post-PM. We detected low levels of ABA in the endosperm and all the other hormones in both tissues during post-PM phase except the relatively higher levels of jasmonoyl-isoleucine and SA detected at late stage of post-PM. Our data also showed that spatiotemporal changes in the levels of plant hormones during barley seed development are mediated by the expression of specific genes involved in their respective metabolic pathways. These results indicate that seed development in barley is mediated by spatiotemporal modulation in the metabolism and levels of plant hormones.

Whole-genome sequencing and genome mining are recently considered an efficient approach to shine more light on the underlying secondary metabolites of Streptomyces. The present study unearths the biosynthetic potential of endophytic SX6 as a promising source of biologically active substances and plant-derived compounds for the first time. Out of 38 isolates associated with Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) Blanco, Streptomyces parvulus SX6 was highly active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC® 9027™ and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) ATCC® 35984™. Additionally, S. parvulus SX6 culture extract showed strong cytotoxicity against Hep3B, MCF-7, and A549 cell lines at a concentration of 30 μg/ml, but not in non-cancerous HEK-293 cells. The genome contained 7.69 Mb in size with an average G + C content of 72.8% and consisted of 6,779 protein-coding genes. AntiSMASH analysis resulted in the identification of 29 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for secondary metabolites. Among them, 4 BGCs showed low similarity (28–67% of genes show similarity) to actinomycin, streptovaricin, and polyoxypeptin gene clusters, possibly attributed to antibacterial and anticancer activities observed. In addition, the complete biosynthetic pathways of plant-derived compounds, including daidzein and genistein were identified using genome mining and HPLC-DAD-MS analysis. These findings portray an exciting avenue for future characterization of promising secondary metabolites from mangrove endophytic S. parvulus.