Reproductive biology of the mudskipper Boleophthalmus boddarti in Soc Trang

The mudskipper Boleophthalmus boddarti is an amphibious fish widely distributed in the mudflat regions in Asia, but its reproductive biology was poorly stydied. This study was conducted in the Tran De, Soc Trang, Vietnam, from March 2013 to February 2014, to investigate reproductive parameters of B. boddarti. Data analysis based on a total of 360 collected fish (188 females and 172 males) suggest that the sex ratio of this mudskipper was not significantly different between dry and wet seasons. This fish was a multiple reproducer and spawned in the wet season with a peak spawning in three main months of this season (August to October) as difference stages of oocytes were observed in the ovaries. The male B. boddarti released sperms during the reproductive season since different type of spermatogonia were found in stage V testis sections. This fish reached 11.52 cm total length at first sex maturation and was high fecundity (9,800-33,800 eggs), indicating a possible adaptation of this species to the monsoonal climate. The understanding of the reproductive biology of B. boddarti provides useful knowledge of its reproductive adaptation to the mudflat toward sustainable management in the study region

RESEARCH TRENDS ON COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN THE PERIOD 2013 - 2023

Community-based tourism (CBT) has been around since the 1970s and so far, has grown in popularity in most continents. This study systematically evaluates and generalizes theoretical and practical issues on CBT based on 87 related articles published in scientific journals under the Scopus system from 2013 to 2023 through the application of content analysis methods. The results also show that research in this area has different research areas and mainly uses qualitative methods. The literature review identified a number of key themes including: (1) benefits of CBT development, (2) community and stakeholder engagement, (3) advantages and barriers in CBT development, (4) community perceptions about CBT, and (5) sustainable CBT development. The article has analyzed research trends on CBT: theory and application.  Article visualizations

Innovation and bank efficiency in Vietnam and Pakistan

The study investigates the effect of innovation on bank efficiency and the difference in efficiency between Vietnam and Pakistan banks. The balanced panel data from 23 banks (7 banks in Vietnam and 16 banks in Pakistan) in 2011-2019 is aggregated from the State Bank of Pakistan, the Vietstock, the MorningStar, the World Bank, and the website of banks. The quantitative models' estimation result is processed by the Pooled, the Fixed-effect, the Random-effect, and the Generalized Least Square approach, and confirmed again by the Tobit and T-test approach. The outcomes gave that innovation is the negative factor of bank efficiency. With or without the effect of innovation, the bank's efficiency in Vietnam is still lower than in Pakistan. The finding indicates that bank efficiency can be enhanced by increasing bank size instead of innovation, and bank age is the barrier to utilizing innovation for enhancing bank efficiency. Moreover, we found the bank's efficiency in Vietnam can be improved more quickly than in Pakistan by increasing bank assets. The macroeconomic condition is favorable for bank efficiency in both countries. © 2021 University of Pardubice. All rights reserved

Factors affecting consumer’s bargaining behavior: The case of fashionable clothing

Shopping is one of the current trends of the Vietnamese. According to Nielsen’s research results about consumer confidence in the fourth quarter of 2017, more than half of Vietnamese people (51%) use their spare money to buy new clothes at modern business models such as supermarkets, shopping centers, or at very traditional models like street vendors and wet markets where haggling (also known as bargaining) is considered as a common habit for Vietnamese. This is due to business characteristics from a very long time ago in Viet Nam. The bargaining behavior is not so hard to recognize in shopping. Even now, a large part of foreign tourists is familiar with the bargaining culture. This study aimed to discover bargaining behavior, the factors affecting such a behavior in buying fashionable clothing of the consumers in Ho Chi Minh City, and to consider whether the differences in bargaining behavior exist among different groups of gender, age, and income. The research was conducted using mixed methods concluding qualitative research (in-depth interview and focus group) and quantitative one (survey). The results showed that Attitude towards bargaining, Perceived behavioral control, Interest in bargaining affect Consumer’s bargaining behavior when buying fashionable clothes. Results were validated in Ho Chi Minh City context, and some conclusions were also presented

Development of a solar/LED lighting system for a plant tissue culture room

As the green energy, sunlight provides a friendly-environment and reduces electricity used for lighting. Our target is to enhance the use of natural energy and minimize the consumption of electricity for improving indoor environments. For this reason, a hybrid lighting system, combining sunlight with LEDs for plant tissue culture, are presented. The optical fiber daylighting system consists of three main parts: concentration, collimation beam, and transportation. The concentration part is formed by Fresnel lenses to collect and focus the sunlight into a small area by a non-imaging optical effect. The collimation part consists of optical filters and collimator lenses; the optical filters are used to reflect the ultraviolet (UV) and near infrared (NIR) regions, therefore, only the visible range of the solar light can be transmitted. The transportation part is a large-core optical fiber bundle. To increase the coupling efficiency, the collimator lens is used to expand and to collimate the focused light beam. The collimated light beam is then transported by the optical fiber bundle into a plant tissue culture room. In order to keep the plant tissue culture room at a constant illumination, a lighting control system based on LEDs is used to compensate variations of the natural light. In this paper, a prototype of optical fiber daylighting system and our proposed application will be presented.Ánh sáng mặt trời, một nguồn năng lượng xanh, được sử dụng cho chiếu sáng nhằm mang lại nguồn ánh sáng thân thiện với môi trường và giảm điện năng. Mục tiêu của chúng tôi là tăng cường sử dụng năng lượng tự nhiên và linh kiện tiêu thụ điện thấp để cải thiện môi trường ánh sáng trong nhà và giảm tiêu thụ điện cho chiếu sáng. Vì lý do này, một hệ thống chiếu sáng kết hợp ánh sáng mặt trời với đèn LED để nuôi cấy mô thực vật sẽ được trình bày. Hệ thống chiếu sáng ban ngày bằng sợi quang bao gồm ba phần chính:Bộ phận thu nhận và hội tụ ánh sáng, bộ phận chuẩn trực chùm sáng và bộ phận vận chuyển ánh sáng mặt trời tới nơi cần chiếu sáng. Phần tập trung được hình thành bởi một thấu kính Fresnel để thu thập và hội tụ ánh sáng mặt trời vào một vùng nhỏ bằng hiệu ứng quang học không tạo ảnh. Bộ phận chuẩn trực chumg sáng bao gồm bộ lọc quang học và thấu kính chuẩn trực. Bộ phận vận chuyển là các bó sợi quang lõi lớn. Bộ lọc quang học được sử dụng để phản xạ vùng cực tím (UV) và vùng hồng ngoại gần (NIR), chỉ cho phần ánh sáng nhìn thấy truyền qua. Để tăng hiệu quả ghép nối, thấu kính chuẩn trực được sử dụng để mở rộng và chuẩn trực chùm ánh sáng hội tụ. Chùm sáng chuẩn trực sau đó được vận chuyển bởi bó sợi quang vào phòng nuôi cấy mô thực vật. Để giữ cho phòng nuôi cấy mô thực vật được chiếu sáng liên tục, một hệ thống điều khiển ánh sáng dựa trên đèn LED để bù lại sự biến đổi của ánh sáng tự nhiên. Trong bài báo này, một nguyên mẫu của hệ thống chiếu sáng ban ngày bằng sợi quang và ứng dụng đề xuất của hệ thống sẽ được trình bày

Alterations of lipid-related genes during anti-tuberculosis treatment: insights into host immune responses and potential transcriptional biomarkers

BackgroundThe optimal diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) are challenging due to underdiagnosis and inadequate treatment monitoring. Lipid-related genes are crucial components of the host immune response in TB. However, their dynamic expression and potential usefulness for monitoring response to anti-TB treatment are unclear. MethodologyIn the present study, we used a targeted, knowledge-based approach to investigate the expression of lipid-related genes during anti-TB treatment and their potential use as biomarkers of treatment response. Results and discussionThe expression levels of 10 genes (ARPC5, ACSL4, PLD4, LIPA, CHMP2B, RAB5A, GABARAPL2, PLA2G4A, MBOAT2, and MBOAT1) were significantly altered during standard anti-TB treatment. We evaluated the potential usefulness of this 10-lipid-gene signature for TB diagnosis and treatment monitoring in various clinical scenarios across multiple populations. We also compared this signature with other transcriptomic signatures. The 10-lipid-gene signature could distinguish patients with TB from those with latent tuberculosis infection and non-TB controls (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve > 0.7 for most cases); it could also be useful for monitoring response to anti-TB treatment. Although the performance of the new signature was not better than that of previous signatures (i.e., RISK6, Sambarey10, Long10), our results suggest the usefulness of metabolism-centric biomarkersConclusionsLipid-related genes play significant roles in TB pathophysiology and host immune responses. Furthermore, transcriptomic signatures related to the immune response and lipid-related gene may be useful for TB diagnosis and treatment monitoring

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke