The Distribution of Microplastics in Beach Sand in Tien Giang Province and Vung Tau City, Vietnam

Microplastics threaten the ecosystem because of undesirable properties such as non-biodegradability, easy-to-absorb persistant organic compounds, etc. They are found worldwide in marine, fresh water and beach sand environments. In this study, microplastics in beach sand samples from two sites in Tien Giang province and two sites in Vung Tau city were investigated. The results showed that the microplastics amount was 0 to 295 pieces/kg dry sand and they mainly distributed near estuarine areas. Microplastics were more prevalent at bathing sites than non-bathing sites. In Tien Giang fragments were the most dominant among the three types of shapes (fragments, fibers, granules) at 60.2%. In Vung Tau granules were most prevalent at 71.7%. The composition of the plastics was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. It was revealed that PE, PP and PS were the main types of plastics found in the sampling sites.

Interaction Between Two Charged-Hardcore Soft Particles

During two last decades, theories of soft-particles has been introduced and developed in order to describe the behavior of bacteria and virus which can be considered as the bio-colloid particles. Soft particles are assumed to be consist of a rigid core inside an ion-permeable shell. The outer layer is always negatively charged while the core can be neutral or charged. In this paper, we investigate the interaction between two identical soft-particles with charged core. We derived the analytic formula for the interaction energy in a compact form. We showed that this interaction energy involving a screened Coulomb-like interaction term with a distance-independent coefficient. The numerical calculations showed that the interaction energy has very small amplitude and exponentially decay on the distance between the soft particles. The results indicate that it is possible to measure this kind of interaction energy when the system is put into a salt solution with the concentration low enough

STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF CALCIUM-ALGINATE AND WHEY PROTEIN ON THE SURVIVAL RATE OF Bifidobacterium bifidum IN MAYONNAISE

ABSTRACT – QMFS 2019The functional food development by adding probiotic bacteria is getting a lot of concern. In this study, Bifidobacterium bifidum AS 1.1886 was encapsulated in calcium-alginate 2% w/v (C sample) or the mix of calcium-alginate 2% (w/v) and whey protein 1% (w/v) (CW sample) or calcium-alginate 2% (w/v) coated by whey protein 1% (w/v) (CcW sample) by extrusion method, and added to mayonnaise product. The pH changes, the survival rate of probiotic bacteria, and total yeast and mold count during storage, as well as the probiotic survival in simulated gastric medium, were evaluated. The result showed that the pH changes were not significantly different in all mayonnaise samples in this test. The viability of the free probiotic cell was significant decrease about 5.85 log CFU/g compared to 0.26 ÷ 1.14 log CFU/g in encapsulated cell samples after four weeks of storage. None of the free cells survived after six weeks of storage. The total yeast and mold count in samples related to the probiotic count, the viability of probiotic cells higher 6 log CFU/g might be controlling the growth of yeast and molds in mayonnaise. Whey protein has been shown to significantly improve the survival rate of B.bifidum and calcium-alginate coated by whey protein, indicating the most effective protection. The result showed that the application potential of encapsulated probiotic in mayonnaise product

The Relationship between Public Debt, Budget Deficit, and Sustainable Economic Development in Developing Countries: The Role of Corruption Control

This study investigates the effects of public debt and budget deficits on the sustainable economic development of developing countries, taking into account the role of control of corruption. The two-step GMM method was applied for unbalanced panel data of 59 developing countries from 2004 to 2015. The study found that public debt and the budget deficit had negative effects on sustainable development, while the effect of control of corruption was positive. Moreover, using interaction terms between control of corruption and public debt and budget deficit, respectively, empirical results showed that controlling corruption limited these adverse effects. Thus, if the objective is to achieve sustainable economic development, developing countries should not see raising public debt or maintaining budget deficits as a strategy for economic development. The study contributes empirical evidence to the theory of debt overhang, crowded effects, and institutional theory in the context of developing countries. The implications are also discussed in this paper

Synthesis of cuprous oxide nanocubes combined with chitosan nanoparticles and its application to p-nitrophenol degradation

For the first time, cuprous oxide nanocubes (Cu2O NCBs) were successfully combined with chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) to generate Cu2O NCBs/CS NPs composites material with highly optical property and photocatalytic activity using a simple and eco-friendly synthetic approach at room temperature for 30 min. The synthesized Cu2O NCBs NPs/CS NPs were determined characterizations by Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X – ray Diffraction (XRD),  Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Results show that the Cu2O NCBs/CS NPs composites have an average particle size of ~3-5 nm; in which, Cu2O has the form of nanocubes (Cu2O NCBs) with size ~3-4 nm and chitosan nanoparticles with spherical shape (CS NPs) with size ~4-5 nm. In addition, the percent (%) composition of elements present in Cu2O NCBs/CS NPs composites material have been obtained respective: Cu (23.99%), O (38.18%), and C (33.61%). Moreover, Cu2O NCBs/CS NPs composites material was also investigated for photocatalytic activity applied in p-nitrophenol degradation. The obtained results showed that the catalytic capability of Cu2O NCBs/CS NPs for p-nitrophenol reduction reached the highest efficiency >55% in the treatment time of 25 min, and this efficiency was higher than that result of using ZnO@chitosan nanoparticles (ZnO@CS NPs) catalyst under the same conditions for comparison

Modeling quality of life of Ho Chi Minh City dwellers

Quality of life (QoL) has received more and more attention from scholars and researchers from various fields such as healthcare, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and especially economics after many decades of focusing on income. However, researchers have faced many challenges to gain the proper measurement of QoL due to the contextually based concept. This study employs the primary data conducted in Ho Chi Minh City including 500 observations in 2022, with the application of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to construct a hierarchical model to measure the QoL of the dwellers in Ho Chi Minh City. The empirical model supports the multi-level hierarchical structure of the QoL. The statistically significant contribution of economic, social, and environmental dimensions in the integrated index has been confirmed. The environmental component shares the highest weight, followed by the economic factor. The social aspect contributes the least share in the quality- of-life index. Further analysis of the sub-criteria in each dimension has been made. The findings implicitly suggest the policy concentration on sustainable factors enhancement to raise the QoL. It was a milestone for policy makers to switch the focus from material to non-material factors in the life quality model in Vietnam

Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from leaf callus with genetic stability validation using SCoT markers in Paramignya trimera, a medicinal plant native to Vietnam

Xao tam phan (Paramignya trimera (Oliv.) Guillaum) is a medicinal plant native to Vietnam, that is renowned for its therapeutic properties, particularly for the treatment of various ailments, including cancer. This study investigated in vitro propagation of P. trimera through somatic embryogenesis and shoot organogenesis using leaf callus. Various culture media, plant growth regulators, malt extract, and carbon sources were evaluated to optimize callus induction and somatic embryo formation from leaf explants. DNA barcoding confirmed 96.96% to 100% homology with P. trimera specimens from Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The highest callus formation rate, reaching 100%, was observed in one-year-old explants cultured in Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 2.0 mg L-1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 0.2 mg L-1 benzylaminopurine (BAP) in the dark for over six weeks. In WPM supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose, 4.0 mg L-1 BAP, and 500 mg L-1 malt extract, globular stage embryos developed into embryoids and shoots and buds clumped at 10 and 18 weeks, respectively. Shoot organogenesis was observed in WPM supplemented with 30 g L-1 sucrose and 0.07 mg L-1 thidiazuron (TDZ) after 18 weeks of culture. Genetic fidelity assessments using 12 SCoT markers indicated that in vitro plantlets were homologous to the mother plant. This study provides a viable method for the conservation and sustainable cultivation of Xao tam phan, ensuring a stable supply of this valuable medicinal resource

Lovastatin for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Dengue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Dengue endangers billions of people in the tropical world, yet no therapeutic is currently available. In part, the severe manifestations of dengue reflect inflammatory processes affecting the vascular endothelium. In addition to lipid lowering, statins have pleiotropic effects that improve endothelial function, and epidemiological studies suggest that outcomes from a range of acute inflammatory syndromes are improved in patients already on statin therapy. METHODS: Following satisfactory review of a short pilot phase (40 mg lovastatin vs placebo in 30 cases), we performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 5 days of 80 mg lovastatin vs placebo in 300 Vietnamese adults with a positive dengue NS1 rapid test presenting within 72 hours of fever onset. The primary outcome was safety. Secondary outcomes included comparisons of disease progression rates, fever clearance times, and measures of plasma viremia and quality of life between the treatment arms. RESULTS: Adverse events occurred with similar frequency in both groups (97/151 [64%] placebo vs 82/149 [55%] lovastatin; P = .13), and were in keeping with the characteristic clinical and laboratory features of acute dengue. We also observed no difference in serious adverse events or any of the secondary outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: We found lovastatin to be safe and well tolerated in adults with dengue. However, although the study was not powered to address efficacy, we found no evidence of a beneficial effect on any of the clinical manifestations or on dengue viremia. Continuing established statin therapy in patients who develop dengue is safe.Chinese Clinical Trials Registration. ISRCTN03147572