The status of invasive plants and animals in Cu Lao Cham biosphere reserve, Quang Nam province, Vietnam

The biodiversity of Cu Lao Cham Biosphere Reserve (Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province) has been faced with some passive impacts, one of which is invasion/expansion of alien species. In 2017, according to the data of GISD, CABI and the Inter-ministerial Circular No.27/2013/TTLT-BTNMT-BNNPTNT, based on filed survey conducted in May, 19 alien plant and 3 alien animal species were recorded in the biosphere reserve. Among them, 13 plant species were identified as invaders, of which details were assessed in this study; among those invader plants, 3 species were ranked at medium risk and the 10 others were ranked at low risk. All of the medium risk-invasive plant species have been appeared on the islands but one of them - siam weed (Chromolaena odorata) were not identified as impacting to the mainland of the biosphere reserve. Likewise, all of the alien animal species have been not recognized as the invasive species. In general, the impact of alien species found in the Cu Lao Cham was assessed as “Low Risk”. The impact status of invasive species in the Hoi An mainland part is more serious than the situation in the islands. Base on the results, we suggest that, five species, beggar-ticks (Bidens pilosa), coast morning glory (Ipomoea cairica) Bay Biscayne creeping-oxeye (Sphagneticola trilobata), Blue porterweed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) and billygoat-weed (Ageratum conyzoides) should be added in the invasive appendix of the national invasive species list while three other species as vilfa stellata (Cynodon dactylon), guava (Psidium guava) and rose myrtle (Rhodomyrtus tomentosa) should be listed in the potential appendix of that list. It is necessary to conduct some survey to obtain solution to control invasive species as soon as possible to protect the biodiversity of this study area. Citation: Vu Anh Tai, Uong Dinh Khanh, Luu The Anh, Le Thi Thu Hien, 2017. The status of invasive plants and animals in Cu Lao Cham biosphere reserve, Quang Nam province, Vietnam. Tap chi Sinh hoc, 39(4): 434-450. DOI: 10.15625/0866-7160/v39n4.10082.*Corresponding author: [email protected] 15 June 2017, accepted 12 December 201

ỨNG DỤNG TƢ LIỆU ẢNH VIỄN THÁM VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ GIS THÀNH LẬP BẢN ĐỒ NGUY CƠ CHÁY RỪNG TỈNH ĐẮK LẮK

Forest fire is one of the disasters causing threats to the forests and the ecosystem and socio-economic aspects throught out the world. Forest fire also leads to an increase in green house gases emisstions. Air pollution due to smoke causes prolonged effects on human health such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Knowledge of flammable materials and their potential fire behavior in different forest types is essential in forest fire management. Remote Sensing and GIS can play an important role in detecting burnt forest and developing the spatial models to predict potential forest for fire risk. This study demonstrates the effective use of remote sensing imagery and geographic information system for establishing the forest fire hazard map at scale of 1:100.000 for Daklak province. Landsat ETM image captured in 2011 and Weighted Overlay tool in ArcGIS software were used in this study. Eight parameters of forest types, daily average temperature during  dry  season, daily average precipitation in dry season, daily average  wind  speed,  slope, terrain direction, distant  between  burned  field to forest  and  distant from  resident to forest  were  used  as main inputs in  GIS model. The study result shown that, the total fire area at low fire risk is 219,344 ha (accounting for 35.9% of total area of forest in Daklak province), medium fire risk is 130,207 ha (21.3%), high fire risk is 220,565 ha (36.1%) and very high fire risk is 41,488 ha (6.8%).ReferencesAmparo, A.B., Oscar, F.R., 2003. An intelligent system for forest fire risk prediction and fire fighting management in Galicia. Expert Systems with Applications 25(6), 545-554. Chuvieco, E., Congalton, R.G., 1989. Application of remote sensing and geographic information systems to forest fire hazard mapping. Remote Sensing of the Environment 29, 147-159. Dong, X.U., 2005. Forest fire risk zone mapping from satellite images and GIS for Baihe Forestry Bureau, Jilin, China. Journal of Forestry Research 16(3), 169-174. Gholamreza, J.G., Bahram, G., Osman, M.D., 2012. Forest fire risk zone mapping form Geographic Information System in Northern Forests of Iran (Case study, Golestan province). International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Science 4(12), 818-824. Phạm Ngọc Hưng, 2001. Thiên tai khô hạn cháy rừng và giải pháp phòng cháy chữa cháy rừng ở Việt Nam. Nxb. Nông nghiệp, Hà Nội, 224tr. Phạm Ngọc Hưng, 2004. Quản lý lửa rừng ở Việt Nam. Nxb. Nghệ An, 231tr. Jaiswal, R.K., Mukherjee, S., Raju, D.K., Saxena, R., 2002. Forest fire risk zone mapping from satellite imagery and GIS. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 4, 1-10. Lazaros, S.I, Anastaios, K.P., Panagiotis, D.L., 2002. A computer-system that classifies the prefectures of Greece in forest fire risk zones using fuzzy sets [J]. Forest Policy and Economics 4, 43-54. Mariel, A., Marielle, J., 1996. Wildland fire risk mapping using a geographic information system and including satellite data: Example of "Les Maures" forest, south east of France [J]. EARSeL Advances in Remote Sensing 4(4), 49-56. Shailesh Nayak, Sisi Zlatanova, 2008. Remote sensing and GIS technologies for monitoring and prediction of disasters. Springer-Verlag Environment Science and Engineering, 127pp. William, A.T., Ilan, V., Hans, S., 2000. Using forest fire hazard modeling in multiple use forest management planning [J]. Forest Ecology and Management 134(2), 163-176. Bộ Nông nghiệp và Phát triển nông thôn, 2004. Cẩm nang ngành lâm nghiệp - Chương "Phòng cháy và chữa cháy rừng". Chương trình hỗ trợ ngành lâm nghiệp và đối tác, 89tr. Chi cục Kiểm lâm Đắk Lắk, 2012. Báo cáo chuyên đề "Thực trạng cháy rừng, nguyên nhân và các giải pháp phòng cháy chữa cháy rừng". Tài liệu lưu trữ tại Viện Địa lý, 27tr. Forest fire is one of the disasters causing threats to the forests and the ecosystem and socio-economic aspects throught out the world. Forest fire also leads to an increase in green house gases emisstions. Air pollution due to smoke causes prolonged effects on human health such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Knowledge of flammable materials and their potential fire behavior in different forest types is essential in forest fire management. Remote Sensing and GIS can play an important role in detecting burnt forest and developing the spatial models to predict potential forest for fire risk. This study demonstrates the effective use of remote sensing imagery and geographic information system for establishing the forest fire hazard map at scale of 1:100.000 for Daklak province. Landsat ETM image captured in 2011 and Weighted Overlay tool in ArcGIS software were used in this study. Eight parameters of forest types, daily average temperature  during  dry  season,  daily  average  precipitation  in  dry  season,  daily  average  wind  speed,  slope,  terrain direction,  distant  between  burned  field  to forest  and  distant from  resident to forest  were  used  as main  inputs in  GIS model. The study result shown that, the total fire area at low fire risk is 219,344 ha (accounting for 35.9% of total area of forest in Daklak province), medium fire risk is 130,207 ha (21.3%), high fire risk is 220,565 ha (36.1%) and very high fire risk is 41,488 ha (6.8%)

An Application of the Boyer Model in Developing Business Faculty in Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Accreditation in Vietnamese Membership Institutes

The Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) is an accrediting body that assesses the quality and integrity of business-related training programs at educational institutions. As ACBSP applied the Boyer model in evaluating, categorising the business faculty, forcing the faculties to develop the quality of their human resources indirectly, improved education quality. This paper was written to reflect how the Boyer model was applied in business faculties in Vietnamese member institutes and how the institutes are changing to fulfill the standards. The methodology that would be used to analyze the secondary data is descriptive analysis. The data is collected under the acceptance of those institutes. The primary data could be deep interviews with faculty managers, faculty members, board of management of the institutes. In order to be more convincing, the research would also pick some ACBSP members as empirical studies. The findings of the research are the trends of the faculties and the lesson withdrawn from their changing experience

Biocontrol of Alternaria alternata YZU, a causal of stem end rot disease on pitaya, with soil phosphate solubilizing bacteria

Stem end rot is the most destructive disease caused by Alternaria alternata YZU in pitaya-growing regions of Vietnam. This study was conducted to characterize antagonistic phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) from rhizosphere soil for their biocontrol activities against A. alternata YZU and evaluate the effect of temperature, pH, and water activity on that antagonism. Among seven PSB isolated from 45 rhizosphere soil samples, PSB31 (identified as Bacillus sp. strain IMAU61039, Accession number: MF803700.1) exhibited the highest antagonistic activity against A. alternata YZU with an average inhibition diameter of 0.65 ± 0.05 cm. The results also show that the strain PSB31 controlled the mycelial growth of A. alternata YZU by secreting antifungal metabolites. The most potent inhibitory activity was identified under in vitro conditions of 25 °C, pH 7, and aw 1. The isolated PSB31 could be a potential biological control agent against A. alternata YZU

CSA: Thực hành nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu ở Việt Nam

During the last five years, Vietnam has been one of the countries most affected by climate change. Severe typhoons, flooding, cold spells, salinity intrusion, and drought have affected agriculture production across the country, from upland to lowland regions. Fortunately for Vietnam, continuous work in developing climate-smart agriculture has been occurring in research organizations and among innovative farmers and entrepreneurs. Application of various CSA practices and technologies to adapt to the impact of climate change in agriculture production have been expanding. However, there is a need to accelerate the scaling process of these practices and technologies in order to ensure growth of agriculture production and food security, increase income of farmers, make farming climate resilient, and contribute to global climate change mitigation. This book aims to provide basic information to researchers, managers, and technicians and extentionists at different levels on what CSA practices and technologies can be up scaled in different locations in Vietnam

Synthesis and cytotoxic activity of madecassic acid–silybin conjugate compounds in liver cancer cells

A series of 14 conjugates of 2α,3β,23-triacetyl-madecassic acid and silybin were designed and synthesized. The madecassic acid unit was linked to silybin either directly at position C-7 or C-3; or through an amino acid linker (glycine, β-alanine, or 11-aminoundecanoic acid) at position C-3. The conjugates were tested in vitro for their cytotoxic effect on HepG2 cells using the MTT assay. The results confirmed that the conjugated compounds demonstrated a stronger cytotoxic effect compared to the parent compounds. Of these compounds, the most promising conjugate, compound 8, was evaluated for cytotoxic activity in the additional Hep3B, Huh7, and Huh7R human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and also for cell cycle changes and induction of apoptosis in HepG2 cells. This compound caused a rapid and significant induction of caspase 3 activity and induced cell cycle arrest in the S phase – effects distinct from the activity of madecassic acid. This is the first study on the synthesis and cytotoxicity of madecassic acid–silybin conjugates, and of their testing against liver cancer cell lines and provides evidence for a distinct biological profile versus madecassic acid alone

Emerging Role of Circulating Tumor Cells in Gastric Cancer

With over 1 million incidence cases and more than 780,000 deaths in 2018, gastric cancer (GC) was ranked as the 5th most common cancer and the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Though several biomarkers, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and cancer antigen 72-4 (CA72-4), have been identified, their diagnostic accuracies were modest. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), cells derived from tumors and present in body fluids, have recently emerged as promising biomarkers, diagnostically and prognostically, of cancers, including GC. In this review, we present the landscape of CTCs from migration, to the presence in circulation, biologic properties, and morphologic heterogeneities. We evaluated clinical implications of CTCs in GC patients, including diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic management, as well as their application in immunotherapy. On the one hand, major challenges in using CTCs in GC were analyzed, from the differences of cut-off values of CTC positivity, to techniques used for sampling, storage conditions, and CTC molecular markers, as well as the unavailability of relevant enrichment and detection techniques. On the other hand, we discussed future perspectives of using CTCs in GC management and research, including the use of circulating tumor microembolies; of CTC checkpoint blockade in immunotherapy; and of organoid models. Despite the fact that there are remaining challenges in techniques, CTCs have potential as novel biomarkers and/or a non-invasive method for diagnostics, prognostics, and treatment monitoring of GC, particularly in the era of precision medicine

Awareness and preparedness of healthcare workers against the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey across 57 countries.

BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave. METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training. RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors. INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type