Diversity of plant-parasitic nematodes on medicinal plants in Melinh station for biodiversity, Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam

Plant-parasitic nematodes are known as one of the most important pests attacking various plants in the world, and investigating the nematode component is very essential for management of this pest and prevent damage to plants in general. Our survey of plant-parasitic nematodes on medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, a place for conservation of precious plants and animals in Vietnam, identified ten species that belong to nine genera, five families, and two orders of plant-parasitic nematodes parasitizing six medicinal plants. Excoecaria cochinchinensis was parasitized by the highest number of nematode genera (5 genera, including Xiphinema, Discocriconemella, Meloidogyne, Helicotylenchus, and Hemicriconemoides), while Hymenocallis littoralis was associated with the highest number of plant-parasitic nematodes (2060 nematodes/250g soil). The results also showed that Discocriconemella limitanea was found to be a dominant species with the highest number of individuals on 6 medicinal plants, and the genus Helicotylenchus had the highest frequency of appearance (5/6 plants or 83.3%). These nematodes caused symptoms such as yellowing leaves, root galls, and root lesions, which directly affect the quality and yield of medicinal plants. Based on the results, this study showed that plant-parasitic nematodes are a potential threat to the cultivation of medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, and thus, control measures should be applied to ensure sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants in this place

Research on Using Dolomite Aggregate as Cement Treated Base for Highway Pavement Construction in Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Dolomite is commonly used in the construction of highway pavement in the world. However, there are still no concrete specifications or regulations on the use of dolomite for highway construction. Dolomite is available in huge quantities in NinhBinh Province. This is a high potential material for grain bases of highway pavement structure. The alternative material could be a considerable contribution to diversify the supply of aggregate resources for highway pavement construction in the province, and thus contribute to the conservation of natural landscape heritages and limestone resources for related building materials manufacturing industries. In order to evaluate the use of dolomite in highway pavement construction, a research program is conducted to test the working capacity of the cement treated dolomite aggregate, which is intended to use as upper base material in pavement structure. The experimental results showed that the mechanical indicators of the mixture satisfy the requirements for the base layers of highway pavement structure

Research on Using Dolomite Aggregate as Cement Treated Base for Highway Pavement Construction in Ninh Binh, Vietnam

Dolomite is commonly used in the construction of highway pavement in the world. However, there are still no concrete specifications or regulations on the use of dolomite for highway construction. Dolomite is available in huge quantities in NinhBinh Province. This is a high potential material for grain bases of highway pavement structure. The alternative material could be a considerable contribution to diversify the supply of aggregate resources for highway pavement construction in the province, and thus contribute to the conservation of natural landscape heritages and limestone resources for related building materials manufacturing industries. In order to evaluate the use of dolomite in highway pavement construction, a research program is conducted to test the working capacity of the cement treated dolomite aggregate, which is intended to use as upper base material in pavement structure. The experimental results showed that the mechanical indicators of the mixture satisfy the requirements for the base layers of highway pavement structure

Difference in quality of life and associated factors among the elderly in rural Vietnam

Background. In Vietnam today, many generations remain living together in a family. With escalating urbanization and population aging, mental health disorders and the quality of life (QoL) among the elderly are gradually presenting themselves as of great concern. The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in QoL and some associated factors among the elderly in rural Vietnam using the QoL scale of WHO (WHOQOL-BREF). Methods. A cross-sectional study using quantitative methods. Results and Conclusions. The proportion of the elderly men having higher level of QoL in physical health, psychological health and environment was higher than that of their women counterparts. Reversely, of those having medium and lower QoL, females made up a larger proportion than males. The overall QoL score in elderly men (75.32) was higher than that of women (72.32) and the same pattern was witnessed in all four domains of QoL. While higher QoL in elderly men was significantly correlated with 5 factors, aged ≥ 80 years, following Buddhism and Christianity, having better connection and without illness in the past 6 months, these among female counterparts are aged ≥ 80 years, completing secondary level or above, having medium and high socioeconomic status and without illness in the last 6 months. © 2017, Pacini Editore S.p.A. All rights reserved

An efficient approach to measure the difficulty degree of practical programming exercises based on student performances

oai:ojs.www.rev-jec.org:article/282This study examines the generality of easy to hard practice questions in programming subjects. One of the most important contributions is to propose four new formulas for determining the difficulty degree of questions. These formulas aim to describe different aspects of difficulty degree from the learner's perspective instead of the instructor's subjective opinions. Then, we used clustering technique to group the questions into three easy, medium and difficult degrees. The results will be the baseline to consider the generality of the exercise sets according to each topic. The proposed solution is then tested on the data set that includes the results of the two subjects: Programming Fundamentals, Data Structures and Algorithms from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. The most important result is to suggest the instructors complete various degrees according to each topic for better evaluating student's performance

Metabolic syndrome does not affect sustained virologic response of direct-acting antivirals while hepatitis C clearance improves hemoglobin A1c.

AimTo determine whether successful treatment with directacting antivirals (DAA) is associated with improvements in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and if type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or metabolic syndrome affects sustained virologic response (SVR).MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of all hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System treated with varying DAA therapy between 2014-2016. Separate multivariable logistic regression was performed to determine predictors of HbA1c decrease ≥ 0.5 after DAA treatment and predictors of SVR 12-wk post treatment (SVR12).ResultsA total of 1068 patients were treated with DAA therapy between 2014-2016. The presence of T2DM or metabolic syndrome did not adversely affect SVR12. 106 patients had both HCV and T2DM. Within that cohort, patients who achieved SVR12 had lower mean HbA1c pre treatment (7.35 vs 8.60, P = 0.02), and lower mean HbA1c post-treatment compared to non-responders (6.55 vs 8.61, P = 0.01). The mean reduction in HbA1c after treatment was greater for those who achieved SVR12 than for non-responders (0.79 vs 0.01, P = 0.03). In adjusted models, patients that achieved SVR12 were more likely to have a HbA1c decrease of ≥ 0.5 than those that did not achieve SVR12 (adjusted OR = 7.24, 95%CI: 1.22-42.94).ConclusionIn HCV patients with T2DM, successful treatment with DAA was associated with a significant reduction in HbA1c suggesting that DAA may have a role in improving insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, the presence of T2DM or metabolic syndrome does not adversely affect SVR12 rates in patients treated with DAA

The Improvement Model of Navigational Safety for Inland Waterway Transport

This paper aims at evaluating navigational safety for inland waterway transport (IWT). In doing so, the literature and operational features of IWT were initially reviewed to figure out risk elements (REs) influencing the navigational safety for IWT. After that, a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) approach was adopted to estimate the weight for the likelihood and consequence measures of REs. Then, continuous risk matrix (RM) was introduced to identify REs\u27 risk level. Lastly, to test the proposed research model\u27s applicability, IWT operators across Vietnam were empirically surveyed. The empirical findings could be useful for IWT operators in launching managerial policies to boost their navigational safety. Furthermore, the proposed risk evaluation framework may serve as a methodological reference in relevant literature