THE STATUS OF PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR SPORT TRAINING OF STUDENTS IN SOC TRANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM

The method of sociological investigation is used in the article to survey students' opinions at colleges in Soc Trang province and provided information on the status of participation in extracurricular sports of students at colleges in Soc Trang province by gender, ethnicity and purpose.  Article visualizations

Do Corporate Social Responsibilities Support Its Financial Performance? Evidence of the Listed Firms in Vietnam

In the latest decades, corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are incrementally noticed in emerging countries regarding to the surge of globalization and the advance of social concerns. However, there exist opposing arguments on how CSR practices influence a firm’s financial performance (CFP), either in theoretical or empirical perspectives, causing many managers’ hesitation in CSR engagement. This study, therefore, examines the impacts of CSR on CFP, considering the individual effect of each CSR endeavor by using the data from listed firms’ financial statements during the period 2015-2019 and panel regression analysis methods. The findings reveal inconstant effects of different CSR activities on CFP. Specifically, a firm’s fulfillment of shareholders’ and customers’ interests contributes to raise its profitability, while its engagement in the benefits of employees and creditors causes a reduction in financial returns. Interestingly, the correlations between firms’ responsibilies towards regulators and suppliers and CFP are statistically insignificant. Furthermore, we make pairwise marginal comparisons to identify the distinctions of CSR-CFP relations across industries. The results only indicate that listed firms in Utilities sector have the lower level of CSR intensity than those in Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors. The implications and limitations are also discussed in this study

Income Diversification and Financial Performance: The Mediating Effect of Banks’ Size, Ownership Structure, and the Financial Crisis in Vietnam

Research aims: This study focuses on the correlation between income diversification and financial performance, taking into account banks’ size, type of ownership, and the financial crisis.Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses financial data of 29 commercial banks in Vietnam during the period from 2005 to 2018. This research employs a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) regression.Research findings: The results do not find statistical evidence of a direct effect of banks’ income diversification on their financial performance. However, when considering the classification factors, such as the bank’s size and ownership type, the findings show that big banks and state-owned banks could take advantage of diversification strategies to boost their profitability. Moreover, the study has proven that income diversification generates a significant positive effect on banks’ financial performance during the crisis time.Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study provides a theoretical evidence on the direct effect of income diversification on a bank’s financial performance concerning banks’ size, ownership type, and the financial crisis.Practitioner/Policy implication: Further, this research also offers the bank’s managers, policymakers, and investors an insight of good banks’ financial performance in the context of an unstable economy.Research limitation/Implication: The limitations still exist in this research, such as (1) the number of banks participating in the research sample was a predictable limitation; (2) this research mainly focused on financial variables but ignored the variables representing the managers’ behavior and the banks’ organizational structure; (3) the future studies can focus on these aspects to explore further the hidden picture of diversification strategy and banking performance

Optimization of protein extraction from "Cam" rice bran by response surface methodology

"Cam" rice bran was considered a waste product from rice, which is rich in natural compounds and protein owing to its outstanding nutritional value. This study aimed to establish an optimization model for extracting protein from rice bran, with two responses: extraction yield (%) and protein content (%). The variable parameters included were pH (8.5-9.5), stirring time (3.5-4.5 h), and enzyme incubation temperature (85-95°C). The coefficient of determination for both models were above 0.95, indicating a high correlation between the actual and estimated values. The maximum extraction yield and protein content were achieved when the conditions were set at pH of 9.02, stirring time of 4.02 h, and extraction temperature of 90.6°C. Under these optimum conditions, the predicted protein extracted from rice bran was 43.03% (moisture <13.0%), with an extraction yield of 15.9%. The findings of this study suggested that this protocol can enhance the utilization of rice bran and might be employed on a large scale in the food industry to exploit the nutritional source

A Giant Frontal Meningioma with Psychiatric Symptoms in a Young Woman: A Case Report

Background:Frontal meningioma is often asymptomatic but patients might experience psychiatric symptoms. Since symptoms are atypical in giant meningioma, to the best of our knowledge, we present a rare clinical scenario. Case Presentation: A 24-year old female patient with no medical history presented with two months of depressive symptoms, personality changes such as easy irritability, and feelings of frustration and mental depression, as well as forgetfulness and blurred vision. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a well-defined markedly enhancing lesion in the left frontal region measuring 65 x 70 x 70 mm with mass effects to the adjacent brain tissue and associated surrounding edema which was pressed to the frontal horn of the lateral ventricle. The patient underwent frontal unilateral craniotomy and excision of the tumor. After surgery, the quality of life was improved. Conclusion: Meningioma with psychiatric symptoms is quite rare. This clinical case helps clinicians avoid missing symptoms and use appropriate management strategies for patients with giant meningiomas

DETERMINATION THE PRIORITY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING OVERSEAS INVESTMENT DESTINATIONS OF BUSINESSES USING AN ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS METHOD

Because of the great benefits overseas investment brings, countries and businesses are increasingly concerned with the question of an ideal investment destination. Many studies have shown that, factors of the consumption market, the infrastructure and resources, economic and political environment have a significant impact on the decision to choose an investment location, however the priority order of these factors are different for various research spaces. By studying the specific case of Viettel Group - one of the largest telecommunications groups in Vietnam that is having many international investment activities in recent years, the study has been verified the priority order of factors influencing the decision to choose an overseas investment location of this corporation. The research outcomes show that the group of factors that have the most influence on investment decisions is the group "Consumption market", more specifically, the sub-factor "Market Size" is considered more than the others.    Keywords: Investment Destinations, Foreign Investment Decision, Analytic Hierarchy Process

Spondylolysis-induced Multilevel Lumbar Spondylolisthesis; Challenges in Lumbar Spine Surgery

Lumbar spondylolysis and multilevel lumbar spondylolysis account for 4.4-5.8% and 0.3% of the general population, and multilevel lumbar spondylolysis resulting in spondylolisthesis is even rarer. Herein, we report two cases of three-level lumbar spondylolisthesis because of spondylolysis: A 49-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for dull lower back pain over the past 8 months, with exacerbating symptoms when standing and walking. Spasticity at lumbar region and radiculopathy at S1 nerve root was found on examination and a 63-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of numbness and perianal sensory disturbances with difficulty urinating 2 weeks ago, the symptoms gradually increased to the time of examination. Both patients were diagnosed with multilevel lumbar spondylolisthesis because of spondylolysis and were indicated for posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). After surgery, both patients recovered well without any significant complications. The improved treatment results suggest the application of PLIF technique to treat spondylolysis-induced multilevel lumbar spondylolisthesis