Designing Functional Clothing for People with Locomotor Disabilities

This article presents a study on functional clothing for people with disabilities. The clothing items which were the subject of research, i.e. polo shirt, T-shirt, shirt, trousers and jeans, were designed for people with physical disabilities, namely for daily activities for people who often sit in wheelchairs. The study used the research method of anthropometric theory, pattern design, textile materials, and an actual survey to analyse and evaluate the reality of movement ability and perception of clothes to determine the requirements for people with disabilities. The authors proposed suitable materials and provided solutions to adjust the basic pattern to become more suitable for people with locomotor disabilities. Finished sewing products were tested and evaluated experimentally by people with leg disabilities at the Center for Sponsoring - Vocational Training and Employment Introduction of Ho Chi Minh City and the Association for the support of people with Disabilities and Orphans of Ho Chi Minh City according to the Likert scale with 5 rating levels for each criterion. The results showed that the Cronbach’s Alpha index was over 0.7. The research addressed the comfort of disabled people’s clothing, indicating promising further development of other functional clothing

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF COLLOCATIONS IN ACADEMIC ESSAYS OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS OF THE HIGH-QUALITY PROGRAM AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

One of the main goals of language learners is to master all four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing when it comes to their acquisition of the target language. However, during the process of learning English, learners inevitably face a variety of challenges related to their writing including grammatical errors, word choice, organization, idea development, and most importantly their difficulties in using collocations (Duong & Nguyen, 2021). Therefore, this study has been conducted to investigate the students’ use of English collocations in their academic essays associated with their difficulties so that appropriate pedagogical approaches and practices would be taken into consideration in order to help students improve their English collocational competences in academic writing. This descriptive study was carried out with 103 English-majored students of the High-quality program of the School of Foreign Languages at Can Tho University, Vietnam. A 5-point Likert scale survey with 18 questionnaire items was employed to examine the frequency of students' exposure to as well as their usage of English collocations, and their difficulties in using English collocations. The results of this study have shown that the most commonly used collocations in the students’ academic essays were ‘verb + noun’, and ‘adjective + noun’ lexical collocations. Additionally, the research outcomes have revealed that the types of English collocations that the students were more likely to make the most mistakes belonged to ‘verb + adverb’, and ‘adjective + noun’ lexical collocations.  Article visualizations

Corporate Social Responsibility, Board of Directors’ Affect Financial Performance: Evidence in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Purpose: The study aims to explore corporate social responsibility and corporate governance issues such as the board of directors’ characteristics that affect the financial performance of the manufacturing listed companies on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in Vietnam.   Theoretical framework: The study is based on the agency theory, stakeholder theory and the fundamental corporate social responsibility to clarify its role and the importance of information disclosure to interested parties when making economic decisions.   Methodology: Using pooled Ordinary least squares causes biased results because of autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity, thus the authors conduct Feasible Generalized Least Squares to increase the reliability of findings.   Findings: The research results show that there are four statistically significant factors that affect financial performance: corporate social responsibility, board gender diversity, ownership concentration, and government ownership.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The obtained results highlight the direct relationship between corporate social responisibility and financial performance, implying that these listed companies can improve their firm value based on the mentioned factors.   Originality/value: by examing the significant relationship between CSR and performance, the author emphasizes the role of managers in disclosing information relevant to their responsibilies to the environment and community. The problem is still a limited concern by corporates in the emerging market as Vietnam

Antibacterial hydrogel containing Piper betle L. extract for acne treatment, an ex vivo investigation

The current treatments of acne vulgaris and acne-like disorders such as gram-negative folliculitis possess lots of unwanted side effects. Thus, alternative approach of utilizing natural plant extracts, specifically Piper betle L., have gained much attention. To this end, this work developed, characterized, and ex vivo evaluated novel antibiotics hydrogels containing P. betle L. leaf extract for acne treatment. Firstly, the design of experiments (DoE) D-optimal method was successfully developed, optimized, and validated, to investigate the relationship between P. betle L. extraction conditions and the extract properties. Secondly, the best extract was encapsulated in the hydrogel formulations composed of carbopol 940, propylene glycol, and cocamidopropyl betaine. Finally, the hydrogel was ex vivo determined its antibacterial activity on bacteria isolated from 15 patient acne samples. The optimal extraction condition being an extraction solvent/plant weight ratio of 4.034:1, an extraction time of 2.147 h, and a water extract volume of 91.4 mL. This condition yielded an extract total phenolic content of 3.337±0.034 g GAE/g, and minimum inhibitory concentrations of 32 µg/mL and 128 µg/mL on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, respectively. The hydrogel possessed suitable properties for a topical medication, including a viscosity of 6800 cps, a pH of 7.0, and a good foaming ability, at both 10°C, 25°C, and 40°C. The hydrogel showed higher antibacterial activity than the positive controls in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Conclusively, the hydrogel could become a potential pharmaceutical product for acne treatment

The Impact of Social Media Marketing on Brand Awareness and Purchase Intention: Case Study of Vietnam's domestic fashion brands

The study aimed to examine the impact of social media marketing on brand awareness and purchase intention for Vietnamese domestic fashion brands. Quantitative research was conducted on 302 Vietnamese people of Generation Z. The questionnaire designed on Google forms was sent to research samples who were willing to participate. Research results determined the role and benefits of social media marketing in 2 aspects: (1) information about the brand of social media marketing on social networks and (2) brand engagement on social networks. Social media marketing has a positive impact on brand awareness and purchase intention of Vietnamese domestic fashion brands. In particular, brand information when communicating on social networks has a direct and positive impact on brand awareness and purchase intention. Brand engagement on social networks has a positive direct impact on brand awareness and a positive indirect impact on purchase intention through brand awareness. The research results show that Vietnamese domestic fashion brands do quite well in social media marketing, and are highly appreciated by the online community of generation Z in Vietnam. In the future, in order to improve brand awareness and purchase intention, Vietnamese domestic fashion brands need to pay attention to the brand information properties of social media marketing programs and need to invest more in brand engagement characteristics of social networks. Keywords: social media marketing, brand awareness, purchase intentio

Developing and validating a scale for evaluating internship-related learning outcomes

Developed as an integral component of many higher education programs, internships provide a multitude of benefits for participating students. However, there is a lack of tools designed to measure internship-related learning outcomes. Therefore, this article will present the process of constructing and validating a scale that can be used to evaluate students’ internship-related learning outcomes. Content validity of the scale was established with an extensive review of relevant literature, interviews with current interns along with checking the adequacy of the scale content with interns and academics. Construct validity was established with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Through that process, the resulting scale was proven to have achieved construct reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity. The article discusses the use of the scale, its weaknesses, and implications for organizing internships so that the effectiveness of this form of work-integrated learning can be continuously improved

Investigation of acute, sub-chronic toxicity, effects of mangiferin and mangiferin solid dispersion (HPTR) on Triton WR1339-induced hyperlipidemia on Swiss albino mice

Mangiferin is a xanthonoid found in Mango leaves in abundance with many effects as a hypoglycemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory agent, plant metabolite, and so on. However, nowadays, mango leaves are merely a waste product in Vietnam. To take advantage of this valuable medicinal resource, extraction conditions of mangiferin using classical and ultrasound methods were researched, and mangiferin was purified from Cat Chu mango leaves (Mangifera indica L., Anacardiaceae) collected in Dong Thap. Ultrasound-assisted extraction method was conducted with the following conditions and mangiferin was extracted at a percentage of 6.728% with a purity of 91.11%. Purified mangiferin was evaluated using molecular absorption spectroscopy UV-Vis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, simultaneous thermal analysis (STA: TGA/DSC), and dissolution measurement method. To optimize the solubility and permeability of mangiferin, the solid dispersion system (HPTR) was made by the combination of HPMC 6M:mangiferin at the ratio of 1:5. To investigate the acute, sub-chronic toxicity and hypolipidemia effect of HPTR as compared to purified mangiferin, we followed guidelines for preclinical and clinical trials of Traditional Medicine and Herbal Medicines by the Vietnam Ministry of Health and OECD, and used tyloxapol (Triton WR1339, 400 mg/kg, i.p.) to induce hyperlipidemia. Our results indicated that purified mangiferin and HPTR extract showed no acute toxicity and sub-chronic toxicity and has potential as an antihyperlipidemic agent. The HPTR brought about a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-c when compared to mangiferin, however there was no significance between them

Addition of Mentha arvensis in Infusions of Cleistocalyx operculatus Improves the Hedonic Score and Retains the High Antioxidant and Anti Lipid-Peroxidation Effects

(1) Background: Many human diseases are associated with oxidative stress, which is caused by reactive oxygen species and free radicals generated in living cells. Some biomass extracts derived from various types of plants can act as efficient drugs against pathological disorders related to oxidative stress. Numerous herbal blends have thus been shown to improve health. Cleistocalyx operculatus (Roxb.) Merr. and L.M.Perry teas have been considered in that way. Problem: Because of amertume, the taste of C. operculatus avoids or limits a large use of such alleged healthy leaf infusions. (2) Methods: The phytochemistry, oxygen, free radical scavenging activity, and antilipid peroxidation of C. operculatus teas were here studied in vitro. Then different mixes of C. operculatus and Mentha arvensis were infused together and tasted in a hedonic test. The chemical and biological properties of the best mix were then analyzed. (3) Results: The herbal blend of C. operculatus revealed significant scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) with IC50 values of 35.6 µg/mL. Induced by hydroxyl radicals, this beverage could significantly inhibit the lipid peroxidation of mouse brain homogenates. Our results demonstrate that the lipid peroxidation inhibition of dried leaves of C. operculatus might be related to its scavenging effects on oxygen free radicals. This C. operculatus bitter blend was then combined with various amounts of M. arvensis Linn. The taste was evaluated, and further biochemical analyses were conducted on the best 7/3 ratio. They showed that the healthy properties were maintained. (4) Conclusion: The optimized 7/3 ratio of the Cleistocalyx/Mentha mix led to the best results in terms of taste (sensory tests). It is demonstrated that the potential health benefits against oxidative stress remained high as compared with pure C. operculatus infusion

The Degradation of Methylene Blue by Microcubes Catalyst -Fe2O3 Via Heterogenous Fenton Process

Cubic Fe2O3 was synthesized in a facile approach by annealing molecular organic framework Prussian Blue (PB) at 350oC, 550oC, and 650oC. The final product was characterized by IR, Raman and XRD spectroscopic methods illustrating the presence of pure a-Fe2O3. SEM images of this material revealed a homogeneous morphology of microcube Fe2O3 with a size of about 500 nm. The catalytic activity of cubic Fe2O3 was investigated on the degradation of methylene blue in a heterogeneous Fenton system. It was shown that the thermally oxidative decomposition of PB at 550oC has resulted in porous Fe2O3 which exhibited highest MB degradation efficiency. In the presence of 0.5 M H2O2 and 0.3 g/L Fe2O3 at pH = 3.59, 50 ppm MB in studied solution has been removed at a rate constant of 0.0398 min-1, which is comparable with other analogous catalytic materials