COMMON ERRORS IN PRONOUNCING FINAL CONSONANTS OF ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

It is not deniable that pronunciation is considered one of the most crucial parts of learning English helping learners enhance their communication in both speaking and listening comprehension. To reach a level of a clear and precise pronunciation has never been an effortless task; however, it is a far more problematic one for English majored students regardless of their learning years. For this reason, the study entitled “Common Errors in Pronouncing Final Consonants of English-Majored Sophomores at Tay Do University” was implemented with the aim at investigating the errors that English-majored students encountered in pronouncing final consonants. 80 English-majored sophomores from course 13 at Tay Do University were selected to participate in the study. Questionnaires and recording tests were delivered to the participants for collecting data and getting more information. The collected data from the two instruments mentioned above were all analyzed afterward. The findings of the research revealed that sophomores of English major often mispronounced the final consonants, particularly /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /f/ and /v/ in two main mistakes, including omission and substitution. The results of this study may also be useful for those who are interested in this field. Article visualizations

A STUDY ON ERRORS IN PRONOUNCING DENTAL SOUNDS OF ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

It is not deniable that pronunciation is considered one of the most crucial parts of learning English helping learners enhance their communication in both speaking and listening comprehension. To reach a level of a clear and precise pronunciation has never been an effortless task; however, it is a far more problematic one for English majored students regardless of their learning years. For this reason, the study entitled “Common Errors in Pronouncing Dental Sounds of English-Majored Sophomores at Tay Do University” was implemented with the aim at investigating the errors that English-majored students encountered in pronouncing dental sounds. 80 English-majored sophomores from course 14 at Tay Do University were selected to participate in the study. Questionnaires and recording tests were delivered to the participants for collecting data and getting more information. The collected data from the two instruments mentioned above was all analyzed afterward. The findings of the research revealed that sophomores of English major often mispronounced the dental sounds, including omission and substitution. The results of this study may also be useful for those who are interested in this field. Article visualizations

Adopting the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index to estimate the financial sustainability of Vietnamese public universities

Over several decades, the Vietnamese government has increasingly cut its investment in the public higher education system and has also introduced a cost-sharing mechanism. Under this scheme, Vietnamese public universities have been seeking other sources of revenue. Despite the bold emphasis on the need for revenue diversification in higher education in Vietnam, there is little empirical evidence of the status quo of Vietnamese public higher education finance. The purpose of this paper was to fill this research gap by using the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index to estimate the degree of financial diversity in 51 public universities in Vietnam between 2015 and 2017. Our findings revealed that all institutions in this study were unsustainable due to their weak financial diversity. Suggestions for policy makers and university leaders that may enhance financial sustainability include the adoption of performance-based financial allocations and the implementation of capacity-building programs for universities with regard to fund-raising and entrepreneurship skills

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol Silver Nanoparticles Gel for Wound Dressing Applications

The purpose of this study was to fabricate chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)/Ag nanoparticles (CPA) gels with microwave-assistance for skin applications. Microwave irradiation was employed to reduce silver ions to silver nanoparticles and to crosslink chitosan (CS) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The presence of silver nanoparticles in CPA gels matrix was examined using UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The interaction of CS and PVA was analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The release of silver ions was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The antimicrobial properties of CPA gels against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were investigated using agar diffusion method. Finally, the biocompatibility and wound-healing ability of the gels were studied using fibroblast cells (in vitro) and mice models (in vivo). In conclusion, the results showed that CPA gels were successfully fabricated using microwave irradiation method. These gels can be applied to heal an open wound thanks to their antibacterial activity and biocompatibility

Magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Pd4Co(111) film by first-principles calculations

The Pd–Co alloy is a suitable candidate for the perpendicular magnetic recording and related applications. However, no research is available to clarify influences of local structures on the magnetic anisotropy of the Pd–Co alloy. Therefore, in this work, we studied the effects of Co arrangement on the magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Pd4Co(111) film with 20% Co content by using the density functional theory calculations. We found that a Co monolayer in the surface layer of the ultrathin film offers a large in-plane magnetic anisotropy while the Co atoms mixed inside the Pd matrix exhibit the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Notably, a Co monolayer beneath the surface layer of the Pd matrix maximizes the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy up to 1.85 erg/cm2. Electronic properties were also analyzed to clarify the magnetic anisotropy of the ultrathin film. Keywords: Magnetic recording, Magnetic anisotropy, Density functional theory, Electronic structure properties, Ultrathin fil

Adsorptive Removal of Copper by Using Surfactant Modified Laterite Soil

Removal of copper ion (Cu2+) by using surfactant modified laterite (SML) was investigated in the present study. Characterizations of laterite were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and total carbon analysis. The optimum conditions for removal of Cu2+ by adsorption using SML were systematically studied and found as pH 6, contact time 90 min, adsorbent dosage 5 mg/mL, and ionic strength 10 mM NaCl. The equilibrium concentration of copper ions was measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F-AAS). Surface modification of laterite by anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) induced a significant increase of the removal efficiency of Cu2+. The surface modifications of laterite by preadsorption of SDS and sequential adsorption of Cu2+ were also evaluated by XRD and FT-IR. The adsorption of Cu2+ onto SML increases with increasing NaCl concentration from 1 to 10 mM, but at high salt concentration this trend is reversed because desorption of SDS from laterite surface was enhanced by increasing salt concentration. Experimental results of Cu2+/SML adsorption isotherms at different ionic strengths can be represented well by a two-step adsorption model. Based on adsorption isotherms, surface charge effects, and surface modification, we suggest that the adsorption mechanism of Cu2+ onto SML was induced by electrostatic attraction between Cu2+ and the negatively charged SML surface and nonelectrostatic interactions between Cu2+ and organic substances in the laterite

Evaluation of the Morphology and Biocompatibility of Natural Silk Fibers/Agar Blend Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

This study was aimed to develop a tissue engineering scaffold by incorporation of Bombyx mori silk fiber (BMSF) and agar. This promised the improvement in enhancing their advantageous properties as well as limiting their defects without occurring chemical reactions or crosslink formation. The morphology and chemical structure of scaffolds were observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra. The SEM results show that scaffolds containing BMSF have microporous structures, which are suitable for cell adhesion. Agar scaffolds, by contrast, had much more flat morphology. FT-IR spectra confirm that no modifications to BMSF happened in scaffolds, which indicates that there was no chemical reaction or crosslink formation between silk and agar in this process. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of scaffolds was performed in the mouse’s subcutaneous part of the dorsal region for 15 days, followed by Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining. H&E staining results demonstrate that scaffolds had good biocompatibility and there was no sign of the body rejection in all of samples. The results from animal study show that SA scaffolds have the most stable structure for cell adhesion compared with those single materials

Landslide susceptibility mapping using state-of-the-art machine learning ensembles

This study propose a new approach through which the landslide susceptibility in Quang Nam (Vietnam) will be estimated using the best model among the following algorithms: Decision Table (DT), Naïve Bayes (NB), Decision Table - Naïve Bayes (DTNB), Bagging Ensemble, Cascade Generalization Ensemble, Dagging Ensemble, Decorate Ensemble, MultiBoost Ensemble, MultiScheme Ensemble, Real Ada Boost Ensemble, Rotation Forest Ensemble, Random Sub Space Ensemble. In this regard, a map with 1130 landslide, was created and further partitioned into training (70%) and testing (30%) locations. The correlation-based features selections (CFS) method was used to select a number of 15 landslide influencing factors. Landslide locations, included in the training sample, and the landslide predictors were used as input data in order to run the above mentioned models. Kappa index, Accuracy (%) and ROC curve were employed to estimate the model’s performance and to test the outcomes provided by the models. Among the eleven machine learning algorithms, Random Sub Space Decision Table Naïve Bayes (RSSDTNB) was the most performant model with an AUC = 0.839, Accuracy = 76.55% and Kappa Index = 0.531. Therefore, this algorithm was involved in the estimation of landslide susceptibility. The Success Rate (AUC = 0.815) and Prediction Rate (AUC = 0.826) revealed the achievement of high-quality results