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

One-Photon Absorption-Based Direct Laser Writing of Three- Dimensional Photonic Crystals

A simple and low-cost technique called low one-photon absorption (LOPA) direct laser writing (DLW) is demonstrated as an efficient method for structuration of multidimensional submicrostructures. Starting from the diffraction theory of the electromagnetic field distribution of a tightly focused beam, the crucial conditions for LOPA-based DLW are theoretically investigated, and then experimentally demonstrated using a simple optical confocal microscope. Various 1D, 2D, and 3D submicrostructures were successfully fabricated in different materials, such as commercial SU8 photoresist and magnetic nanocomposite. The advantages and drawbacks of this LOPA-based DLW technique were also studied and compared with the conventional two-photon absorption based DLW. Several methods were proposed to overcome the existing problem of the DLW, such as the dose accumulation and shrinkage effect, resulting in uniform structures with a small lattice constant. The LOPA-based DLW technique should be useful for the fabrication of functionalized structures, such as magneto-photonic and plasmon photonic crystals and devices, which could be interesting for numerous applications

HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY ASSAY FOR DETERMINATION OF MOXIFLOXACIN IN HUMAN PLASMA

A simple reversed phase HPLC method with UV detection has been successfully developed and validated for determination of moxifloxacin in human plasma. The sample pretreatment involves only single-step protein precipitation with tricloroacetic acid. Moxifloxacin was measured in plasma using a validated HPLC method with UV detector at 295 nm, C18 column (25cm×4.5mm, 5µm), a mixture of phosphate buffer pH 4.0 and acetonitrile (70:30, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min. Retention time of moxifloxacin was found to be 7.4 min. The mean recovery for the drug was obtained 97.30%. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 0.3 to 25.0 µg/mL with coefficient correlation of 0.9991. This method was successfully applied for therapeutic drug monitoring

Arbitrary Form Plasmonic Structures: Optical Realization, Numerical Analysis and Demonstration Applications

Surface plasmon resonance has attracted more and more attention thanks to its wide range of applications in numerous fields (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.). In this chapter, we present different aspects, from theoretical calculation and experimental fabrication to applications demonstration, related to arbitrary shape plasmonic nanostructures. First, numerical calculations based on finite-difference time-domain method were realized to investigate the plasmonic properties of gold nanostructures having various size and shapes. Then the direct laser writing method was demonstrated as an excellent tool for fabrication on demand of arbitrary nanostructures. Plasmonic structures were obtained indirectly by a standard lift-off method from a polymeric template and directly by tightly focusing a continuous-wave laser beam onto a metallic thin film. Finally, demonstration of various applications of fabricated plasmonic structures, namely plasmonic-based data storage, color nanoprinter, tunable filters, and plasmonic-magneto-optics sensors will be shown

Preliminary data on the aquatic invertebrate fauna of the Ma River, Thanh Hoa province: Research article

A field survey for the invertebrate fauna conducted in the Ma River, Thanh Hoa province in 2013. The research applied multivariable analysis performed by the Primer v.6 software, such as CLUSTER, one-way ANOSIM, BEST and DIVERSE. The results showed a list of 138 aquatic invertebrate species. Of these, most were freshwater wide-distributing species coupled with others characterized for brackish and marine waters. The biodiversity status was quite high compared to several other rivers in the North of Vietnam. The list contained many economic-valued species and 2 of these were listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam. The aquatic invertebrates showed a significant relation to the two different combinations of physiochemical factors for zooplanktons and zoobenthos, respectively. The values of the species number, abundance and Shannon-Weiner index for both of zooplanktons and zoobenthos showed a curved trend from the upper river segments to lower river segments. These figures for zooplanktons peaked in the middle river segments, whereas the numbers for zoobenthos achieved the highest numbers in the estuaries. The species composition of the estuaries differentiated significantly from that of other freshwater habitats.Năm 2013 đã tiến hành một đợt điều tra khu hệ động vật không xương sống sông Mã, tỉnh Thanh Hóa. Nghiên cứu sử các phân tích đa biến thông qua phần mền Primer v.6, bao gồm: CLUSTER, one-way ANOSIM, BEST và DIVERSE. Kết quả phân tích thu được 138 loài với thành phần loài chủ yếu là những loài nước ngọt thường gặp và phân bố rộng, ngoài ra còn có các loài đặc trưng cho nước lợ và mặn. Trong số các loài thu được, nhiều loài có giá trị kinh tế và 2 loài có tên trong Sách Đỏ Việt Nam. Khu hệ động vật không xương sống sông Mã có quan hệ chặt với hai nhóm chỉ số thủy lý hóa học khác nhau, tương ứng cho động vật nổi và động vật đáy. Giá trị các chỉ số sinh học gồm số lượng loài, mật độ và Shannon-Weiner hồi quy theo đường cong phi tuyến từ thượng lưu tới hạ lưu; đạt giá trị cao nhất tại cửa sông đối với động vật đáy và vùng trung lưu với động vật nổi. Thành phần loài cửa sông khác biệt rõ rệt với thành phần loài các sinh cảnh nước ngọt khác

A Multi-Center Randomised Controlled Trial of Gatifloxacin versus Azithromycin for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Typhoid Fever in Children and Adults in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Drug resistant typhoid fever is a major clinical problem globally. Many of the first line antibiotics, including the older generation fluoroquinolones, ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, are failing. OBJECTIVES: We performed a randomised controlled trial to compare the efficacy and safety of gatifloxacin (10 mg/kg/day) versus azithromycin (20 mg/kg/day) as a once daily oral dose for 7 days for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever in children and adults in Vietnam. METHODS: An open-label multi-centre randomised trial with pre-specified per protocol analysis and intention to treat analysis was conducted. The primary outcome was fever clearance time, the secondary outcome was overall treatment failure (clinical or microbiological failure, development of typhoid fever-related complications, relapse or faecal carriage of S. typhi). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We enrolled 358 children and adults with suspected typhoid fever. There was no death in the study. 287 patients had blood culture confirmed typhoid fever, 145 patients received gatifloxacin and 142 patients received azithromycin. The median FCT was 106 hours in both treatment arms (95% Confidence Interval [CI]; 94-118 hours for gatifloxacin versus 88-112 hours for azithromycin), (logrank test p = 0.984, HR [95% CI] = 1.0 [0.80-1.26]). Overall treatment failure occurred in 13/145 (9%) patients in the gatifloxacin group and 13/140 (9.3%) patients in the azithromycin group, (logrank test p = 0.854, HR [95% CI] = 0.93 [0.43-2.0]). 96% (254/263) of the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid and 58% (153/263) were multidrug resistant. CONCLUSIONS: Both antibiotics showed an excellent efficacy and safety profile. Both gatifloxacin and azithromycin can be recommended for the treatment of typhoid fever particularly in regions with high rates of multidrug and nalidixic acid resistance. The cost of a 7-day treatment course of gatifloxacin is approximately one third of the cost of azithromycin in Vietnam. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN67946944

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Nghiên cứu điều kiện thủy phân dịch quả thanh long ruột đỏ (Hylocereus polyrhizus) và thừ nghiệm lên men rượu

Nghiên cứu được thực hiện nhằm xác định thông số thủy phân dịch thanh long ruột đỏ bằng enzyme Pectinex Ultra SP-L và đánh giá chất lượng nước thanh long ruột đỏ sau lên men. Chế phẩm enzyme Pectinex Ultra SP-L bổ sung vào trong dịch quả với tỷ lệ 0,3% và điều kiện thủy phân ở nhiệt độ 50  trong 1 giờ đã cho hiệu suất thu hồi dịch quả 77,03%, hiệu suất thu hồi betacyanin 82,31%, hiệu suất thu hồi polyphenol tổng số 41,57% và độ truyền suốt 86,28%. Kết quả phân tích sắc ký khí rượu có 49 hợp chất tạo mùi, trong đó chủ yếu là nhóm alcohol (9 nhóm) và ester (14 nhóm). Sản phẩm đạt yêu cầu về một số chỉ tiêu hóa học cơ bản theo TCVN 7045:2013 cho rượu vang: methanol 0,00967 g/L, aldehyde 1,12 mg/L, hàm lượng ethanol 9,5%

Study of all-polymer-based waveguide resonant gratings and their applications for optimization of second-harmonic generation

International audienc

Fabrication and Characterization of Large-Area Unpatterned and Patterned Plasmonic Gold Nanostructures

International audienc