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Andrographis paniculata is a traditional medicinal plant which has been known for various beneficial properties, such as the inhibition of bacterial growth and health enhancement properties. This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial effects, polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities of extracts from Andrographis paniculata plant materials, so as to partly explain its traditional application. Plant materials were extracted with 6 solvents: hot water, ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone and hexane. We applied the agar-well-diffusion method to evaluate the inhibitory effects of extracts on several bacteria strains, including: Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633; Geobacillus stearothermophilus ATCC 7953; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027; Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25023; Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923; Escherichia coli ATCC 85922; Escherichia coli ATCC 35218; Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Salmonella ATCC 13311. Reagents, such as Folin Ciocalteu and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), were used to measure the polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities of the extracts, which were then respectedly converted to mg acid chlorogenic equivelent and mg VTME equivelent per 100 mg plant powder. The results showed that extracts from Andrographis paniculata showed antibacterial effects, in which the ethanol extract showed the highest antibacterial effects on bacteria, as it induced inhibitory zones on all testes bacteria, with the largest one was on Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 (18.81±2.22 mm). Extracts with high polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities were methanol, hot water and ethanol, in which the highest polyphenol content belonged to methanol extract (with the value reached to 0.270±0.019 mg acid chlorogenic equivalent per 100 mg plant powder), and the strongest antioxidant activity belong to hot water extract (with the value reached to 0.691±0.115 mg VTME equivalent per 100 mg plant powder).

Vietnam's sea is assessed to be very diverse and rich in seaweed species. It is about 1000 different species of seaweed, of which more than 800 species have been identified, classify into genus, families, classes, phylums, and continuously updated from the 1950s to the present. Previous studies by Vietnamese and international scientists have shown that lipids from seaweed contain many valuable active ingredients such as acids C20: 4n-6 (AA), C20:5n-3 (EPA), C22:6n-3 (DHA), prostaglandin E2… In this study, fatty acids were converted to methyl esters and identified by gas chromatography using flame ionization detector (GC-FID) with column Cap Mao Equity 5 (Merck, L×ID 30m×0.25 mm, df 0.25 µm). From the total lipid of 50 of Vietnamese seaweed, we have identified 30 fatty acids, in which, C16:0, C18:1n-9, C20:4n-6 (AA) fatty acids have the high content, and C20:5n-3 (EPA), C22:6n-3 (DHA), C22:5n-3 (DPA) fatty acids have the high bioactivities. By the method of PCA main component analysis, from the dataset of fatty acids, we have identified 8 main fatty acids with high correlation and used to represent the distribution of seaweed species on the two-way plane. Three phylums were classified by different fatty acid groups with the high reliability. In the detail, the distribution of the phylum Phaeophyta depends on the content of 3 fatty acids including C16:1n-7, C18:1n-9 và C20:4n-6, the phylum Rhodophyta depends on C15:0, C16:0, C18:0 fatty acids, and the phylum Chlorophyta depends on C18:1n-7, C18:3n-6 fatty acids. This method can may help provides more chemical data in the taxonomy of Vietnamese seaweed species.

The aim of this study is to evaluate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Vietnam’s road transport service through establishing scenarios in 2015-2050. Four scenarios are firstly developed toward improving energy efficiency, floating automotive industry strategy and then energy demands, GHG emissions for road transport in these scenarios are estimated. Transport demand, technology penetrative rate, fuel type, fuel economy, emission standard and influence of other factors on emissions are bases of the selected input data. Calculator 2050 is used as a support tool of interface and calculation. The results are shown as following: Energy consumption and GHG emissions of road transport service will reach 11.28 Mtoe and 32.07 MtCO2e in 2030 as well as 36.95 Mtoe and 105.04 MtCO2e in 2050 in basic scenario, respectively, with annual average growth rate reach 6.4%. The contribution to increasing the energy consumption and GHG emissions of freight transport service is higher than that of passenger transport service. In the best case, energy consumption and GHG emissions are reduced by 27.4%, 30.3% in 2030 and 37.8%, 50.7% in 2050 compared to the basic scenario. This reduction is mainly due to the use of alternative fuels/vehicles in these activities.

Anacardic acid (AA) is a natural active ingredient that accounts for 65% of the liquid extract from the shell of the cashew nut. Due to the stronger cytotoxic activity of hydrogenated AA (HAA) against NTERA-2 cancer stem cells (CSCs) than AA itself, HAA was co-conjugated with CD133 monoclonal antibody (mAb^CD133) into nanoliposomal particles (AMC). This nanoliposomal complex is expected to improved HAA activities against CSCs based on the targeting capacity of mAb^CD133 toward CD133, a typical CSCs’ surface marker. AMC was manufactured with a mean size of 100.9 nm, a zeta potential of −40.7 mV, and a PDI of 0.283. We report a 100% encapsulation efficiency of HAA into liposomes and a 90.7% conjugation efficiency with mAb^CD133. The penetration of AMC into NTERA-2 CSCs after 2 h was 83.7%. The AMC complex inhibited NTERA-2 growth with an IC50 (inhibition concentration at 50%) value of 75.83 ± 6.70 µM, showing the targeting ability and lower toxicity (IC50 > 100 µM) on healthy cells. The AMC nanoparticles also demonstrated significant potential apoptotic induction by activating caspase 3 activity by up to 2.57 and 2.06 folds compared to that of the negative control at 20 and 4 µM, respectively. This induction was significant improvement in comparison with that of unconjugated HAA ( P 50 = 64.25 ± 3.15 µM, compared to the free form with an IC50 = 82.22 ± 0.65 µM ( P

Credit policy is an important component of Vietnam's national program of sustainable poverty reduction. In the 2011 - 2015 period, the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy implemented many preferential credit policies at sub-national levels. This study adopts a binary logistic regression model to evaluate the impact of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy’s loans on poor and near poor households in Trang Bom district, Dong Nai province in the above-mentioned period. The research results indicate that the Bank's loans have a significant and positive influence on poverty reduction.

Aiming to clarify the environmental impact caused by transportation activities in sectors of Vietnam, this study uses the Input-Output (IO) model to assess energy consumptions and air emissions from railway, road traffic, waterway, transport service as well as aviation vehicles in 2016. The data is based on the 2012 IO table updated for 2016. All sectors of the original IO table are aggregated into 38 sectors where the transport service sectors are kept intact for the deeper analysis. The energy consumptions of transport activities are determined based on the net contribution rate of fuels to each product/service sector and the calorific value of each fuel type. Then multiplying with the corresponding emission factors of CO2, NOx and SO2, the respective emissions from above sectors are calculated. The results show the contribution of transport activities in total emissions of each product/service sector and compare these numbers among all the sectors. Additionally, the study evidences that among transportation service sectors, the road traffic occupies the highest rate in term of energy consumptions and air emissions as well.

This research is set in the field of library and information science. It aimed to explore the nature of the collaborative relationship between academics and library staff in universities through the theoretical lenses of structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) and duality of technology theory (Orlikowski, 1992a). The main research objectives were: - To identify characteristics of collaborative relationships between academics and library staff, and to differentiate between more and less effective forms of collaboration in different situations and contexts; - To elucidate the factors that constrain and enable collaboration between academics and library staff, including the role of socio-cultural factors, professional boundaries, and information technology; - To develop a theoretical framework of collaboration between academics and librarians. The scope of this research is limited to collaboration between academics and library staff in areas of teaching, learning, student academic and research skills development, and library research projects. It does not include data on the areas of research support related services such as bibliometrics, data management, publishing or research infrastructure. The research used a multiple embedded case study design to study collaboration between academics and library staff in two universities: one in Australia, and one in Vietnam. Collaboration at the Australian university was more structured and reached a wider scope of practice than its Vietnamese counterpart, but both universities’ governance systems lacked an institution-wide focus, development strategies and action plans for collaboration. There was little in the way of intersecting structures, shared missions or tasks that required library staff and academics to work together. The universities provided an imbalanced resourcing structure to support the implementation of collaboration frameworks and policies. Strategies for developing collaboration were insufficient, since libraries focused on collaboration in teaching rather than research, while faculties displayed a more research-focused orientation. Moreover, academics and library staff both faced challenges in terms of multiple roles, particularly in the case of the academics. Levels of collaboration therefore varied according to academics, faculties, libraries and campuses, but success was mainly based on relationships between participants. Both universities faced similar challenges in terms of government funding reduction, resource constraints, imbalanced collaboration structures, issues of power asymmetries, insufficient understanding of librarians’ roles, and technological issues. The situation at the Vietnamese university was harder due to its higher bureaucratic and rigid organisational structure, lower levels of development of infrastructure and facilities, limited budget, low income, and a larger social divide between academics and library staff. Differences in work culture between academics and librarians could create frustration. Academic culture emphasised a more independent working style and individualistic focus whilst library culture was more collaborative and responsive, but also more structured and detail-focused, emphasising the value of collective decisions and teamwork. In comparison with the Australian university, the work culture of both academics and library staff in the Vietnamese university was more strongly influenced by leaders’ work culture. The leaders could create either an individualistic or a collaborative environment. Different management styles presented by the university leaders (either the Western or Asian work culture) shaped the work practice of their subordinates. Findings of the similarities and differences of the two universities are important for understanding collaboration patterns that exist across the social, cultural and educational contexts and how factors in particular contexts produce different forms of collaboration. The cross-country comparisons of factors that influenced collaboration enhance understanding of how and why collaboration between academics and library staff varies from one country to another. The research findings contribute insights into the challenges of collaboration from the perspectives of library staff, academics and other involved partners, rather than solely from the library practitioners’ viewpoint. There are also national implications from this comparative study. It explicates important characteristics of the collaborative relationship in a particular country’s context including the similarities and differences in social, cultural, professional, technological structures that influence collaboration. Theoretically, the research has examined the utility of structuration theory and duality of technology theory in studying contextual factors that influence the outcomes of the academic and librarian relationship. From a social perspective, the theoretical lens of the recurring interplay between structures and practice enabled the researcher to grasp the dynamic changes in social practices, and the complex nature of a collaborative relationship, particularly different collaboration patterns that are mediated by the interplay of social power relationships, financial resources, distinctive cultural values, and norms. From an organisational perspective, structuration theory helped to explain how organisational structure enabled and constrained practices, as well as how practices influenced and transformed the structure. From a structural perspective, Giddens’ theory underlined the importance of time and space as elements of social systems that exist in instantiations of social practices. These concepts held significant implications in the findings of the presence of time and space in collaborative practice and how time and space linked with the varying levels of collaboration. From a cultural perspective, Giddens’ conceptualisation of cultural values as shared meaning systems in relation to power, norms and knowledgeability of participants led to a deeper understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics and professional culture and norms of academics and library staff. The research contributes to the literature of organizational collaboration an emergent theoretical framework of influencing factors on the collaborative relationship between academics and library staff. From a practical perspective, it offers contextual recommendations for the Australian university and the Vietnamese university, and extrapolates key insights for interested universities and practitioners in addressing the problems of collaboration in different cultural and educational contexts.