Description of Geocenamus vietnamensis sp. n. (Nematoda : Merliniidae) from Vietnam

A new species of the genus Geocenamus was isolated from soil and root samples from the rhizosphere of Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae) in Quang Nam province, Vietnam. This species is characterized by a round-to-hexagonal labial disc, the presence of a labial region, which is continuous or slightly offset from the body with six sectors, lateral sectors of first labial annulus being smaller than the submedian sectors, the presence of six to seven labial annules; the absence of deirids; stylet length 24 to 28 mu m long, body length 776 to 979 mu m long; lateral field with six to eight lateral lines, without areolation at mid-body and with areolation in outer bands at the tail region and a pointed tail terminus. Geocenamus vietnamensis n. sp. most closely resembles G. boghiae in having a non-sclerotized head framework and lacking a bursa in the males. It can be clearly distinguished from all other species of the genus Geocenamus by these characteristics. The combination of morphology, morphometric features, and phylogenetic trees, based on D2-D3 of 28S and ITS rDNA sequences, showed that this new species can be clearly separated from all other sequenced species. This record is the first for Geocenamus in Vietnam

Community structure and ecological niches of free-living terrestrial nematodes in north-eastern Vietnam.

Nematodes are highly abundant and globally the most diverse group of soil fauna. Due to the lack of taxonomists, only a handful of studies exist on communities of free-living nematodes in tropical areas worldwide. The true species richness and functional composition of nematode communities in Vietnam are virtually unknown. Changes in soil functioning affect nematode community composition long before adverse effects on chemical and physical soil parameters are measurable. Consequently, nematodes are excellent indicators of soil function and ecosystem services. We investigated the nematode fauna in soils of three Nature Reserves in Cao Bang, Lang Son and Cat Ba provinces in north-eastern Vietnam in May, 2013. First, we identified the nematodes (if possible) until species level to estimate the numbers and diversity of known and undescribed taxa. Then, based on the different trophic groups, nematode functional guilds were determined. These data were used to calculate different ecological indices in order to describe how changes in land use affected the functioning of soils in a gradient from primary forest, secondary forests, slash and burn agriculture and intensive agricultural management. In total, more than 14,000 specimens were identified. These nematodes belonged to 105 genera, 42 families and 9 orders, of which 48 genera and 13 families belonged solely to the order Dorylaimida. The Order Dorylaimida is taxonomically particularly challenging because it is highly diverse, but species show only little differences in morphological characters. More than 1/3 of the identified species of Dorylaims were new to science. Twelve new species were described comprising three species of the genus Aporcelaimoides: A. brevistylum, A. minor, A. silvaticum; three species of the genus Aporcelinus: A. falcicaudatus, A. paramamillatus, A. paraseychellensis, and six species of the genus Sectonema: S. birrucephalum, S. buccociliatum, S. caobangense, S. ciliatum, S. tropicum and S. vietnamense. Three species were recorded for the first time from Vietnam: Axonchium thoubalicum, Belondira murtazai and Oxybelondira paraperplexa. One species Cephalobus topali was re-described and transferred to the genus Acrobeloides. Also molecular data confirmed that the diversity of dorylaims is little known, only 5 sequences obtained from Genbank could be assigned to the sequenced nematodes with a similarity higher than 95%. The nematode assemblages and diversity were significantly different between different regions and among four land use intensities. Nematode assemblages in primary forests were composed mainly of large and long-lived predators and omnivores (46-74%), compared to a successive increase of short-lived bacterivores (5-14%), plant parasites (11-24%) and fungivores (3-15%) with land-use intensification. Our data indicated that nematode community analysis was a useful tool to predict functional changes in soil ecosystems. Different ecological indices (i.e. the Maturity Index (MI), the Plant-Parasite Index (PPI), the Basal Index, Enrichment index, Structure index and Channel Index) have been developed in temperate ecosystems to describe shifts in soil functioning and ecosystem services based on changes in the composition of nematode trophic groups. We tested whether this framework could be applied to tropical soils. In particular the Maturity indices were hardly applicable in tropical soils. Further it turned out that comparable change in land use led to very different transformations of soil conditions. For example the soil C/N ratios did not change as expected with increasing land-use and were not correlated with the composition of the soil microflora. Overall, our studies substantially contribute to our understanding of the functioning and the causes of degradation of tropical soils and to the knowledge of the biodiversity of free-living nematodes. This study found clear evidence corroborating the idea that the diversity and species richness of nematodes from tropical regions is higher than temperate regions. In conclusions, my studies of free-living nematodes communities of Vietnam showed: 1) The diversity of nematodes in tropical soils has been vastly underestimated; 2) Land-use intensity had strong impacts on nematode communities; 3) Changes in nematode communities along gradients of within increasing land use intensity could not be simply explained by abiotic soil conditions

Morphological and molecular characteristics of Pratylenchus haiduongensis sp. n., a new species of root-lesion nematodes associated with carrot in Vietnam

Pratylenchus haiduongensis sp. n. is described as associated with carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus (Hoffm.) Schubl. & G. Martens) in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam. P. haiduongensis sp. n. is characterized by the lip region with three annuli and slightly separated from the body. Stylet knobs are rounded (never indented anteriorly). The lateral field includes four incisures, bearing areolation at the pharynx region and tail region and occasionally appears in the vulval region. Sometimes the appearances of oblique broken striaes divide the lateral field into five or six incisures. The ovary is distinct with one row of oocytes. Spermatheca is oval in shape with round central cavity, without sperm or reduced in some specimens. The postvuval uterine sac is long surpassing the vulva body diameter by 2 to 2.5 times (PUS = 31 to 65 mm). High vulva position with V = 66 to 75%. The tail shape can be subhemispherical with a smooth, slightly indented, broadly smooth, or cleft terminus observed in some specimens. The matrix code of P. haiduongensis sp. n. is: A2, B1, C4, D(1,3), E1, F(5,6), G(1,2), H(1,4); I(1,2,3,4), J1, K(1,2) according to Castillo and Vovlas (2007). The LSU-D2D3 segment and the ITS-rDNA region of this species were amplified and sequenced. The morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses confirmed that this is a new species of the genus Pratylenchus in Vietnam

STUDY ON LEARNING AUTONOMY STRATEGIES FOR ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS OF HIGH-QUALITY FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS, SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, CAN THO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

This study examined the challenges of self-studying English-speaking skills for first-year English studies majors at Can Tho University. The study aimed to answer questions such as: What self-study strategies can first-year students majoring in high-quality English at School of Foreign Languages at Can Tho University apply to develop speaking skills? The target audience was 96 English studies majors who have studied speaking and listening at Can Tho University. A questionnaire and an interview with 13 students were used to collect data for this study. In order to support the quantitative data, a questionnaire was used, while an interview was used for the qualitative data. This study aimed to find out the difficulties encountered by students, thereby proposing solutions to overcome them and improve the quality of their learning autonomy or self-studying English-speaking skills.  Article visualizations

Level of Factors Effects on Customers’ Satisfaction of State Health Insurance in Developing Countries: The Case of Vietnam

The article aims to assess the level of factors effecting on customer’s satisfaction with The State Health Insurance, study the case of Vietnam. Parasuraman's SERVQUAL model is utilized to measure the influence of five factors on the customers’ satisfaction with the Vietnam’s State Health Insurance. Five factors are (1) Tangibles, (2) Reliability, (3) Empathy, (4) Assurance and (5) Responsiveness. The data is surveyed by questionnaire by sampling selection method from three Vietnamese largest cities with a total of 764 respondents. Based on the results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis, five factors have positive effects on the customers’ satisfaction. The level of responsiveness effect is highest, whereas the level of empathy effect is lowest. This empirical result demonstrates that the service quality is essential to create high customers’ satisfaction with The State Health Insurance although it is compulsory for all Vietnamese citizens. Improving service quality is the key to maintain a high covered rate of state health insurance, which contributes to ensuring social security. Keywords: customer’s satisfaction, The State Health Insurance. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-24-08 Publication date: December 31st 201

MINING TOP-K FREQUENT SEQUENTIAL PATTERN IN ITEM INTERVAL EXTENDED SEQUENCE DATABASE

Abstract. Frequent sequential pattern mining in item interval extended sequence database (iSDB) has been one of interesting task in recent years. Unlike classic frequent sequential pattern mining, the pattern mining in iSDB also consider the item interval between successive items; thus, it may extract more meaningful sequential patterns in real life. Most previous frequent sequential pattern mining in iSDB algorithms needs a minimum support threshold (minsup) to perform the mining. However, it’s not easy for users to provide an appropriate threshold in practice. The too high minsup value will lead to missing valuable patterns, while the too low minsup value may generate too many useless patterns. To address this problem, we propose an algorithm: TopKWFP – Top-k weighted frequent sequential pattern mining in item interval extended sequence database. Our algorithm doesn’t need to provide a fixed minsup value, this minsup value will dynamically raise during the mining proces

First record of Longidorella xenura and Oriverutus parvus (Nematoda: Nodiidae) in Cuc Phuong national park, Vietnam

Longidorella xenura and Oriverutus parvus from Cuc Phuong National Park are described and illustrated for the first time in Vietnam. Longidorella xenura species is characterized by its small body 0.72 mm long; lip region continuous; odontostyle typical of the genus, slightly arched; odontophore linear, rod-like; female genital system didelphic-amphidelphic; tail conical elongated with finely rounded tip. Oriverutus parvus species is characterized by its body 0.64-0.68 mm long; lip region slightly angular, offset by depression or weak constriction; lips moderately amalgamated with protruding papillae but not typically lobe-like; odontostyle moderately robust; odontophore rod-like; female genital system didelphic-amphidelphic; tail conical with pointed tip.Longidorella xenura and Oriverutus parvus from Cuc Phuong National Park are described and illustrated for the first time in Vietnam. Longidorella xenura species is characterized by its small body 0.72 mm long; lip region continuous; odontostyle typical of the genus, slightly arched; odontophore linear, rod-like; female genital system didelphic-amphidelphic; tail conical elongated with finely rounded tip. Oriverutus parvus species is characterized by its body 0.64-0.68 mm long; lip region slightly angular, offset by depression or weak constriction; lips moderately amalgamated with protruding papillae but not typically lobe-like; odontostyle moderately robust; odontophore rod-like; female genital system didelphic-amphidelphic; tail conical with pointed tip

Level of Factors impact on the Buyers’ Intention in Buying Private Health Insurance with the Case of Vietnam Non-Life Insurance Companies

The study aims to determine the influence of factors affecting the intention to purchase private health insurance at non-life insurance companies in Vietnam. The samples were surveyed from 500 people from many areas but mostly in Hanoi. The study identified and clarified 5 independent factors affecting the intention to buy private health insurance at non-life health insurance companies in Vietnam. The analysis results show 5 variables: "Past experience", "Perception of service quality of insurance companies", "Perceived behavioral control", "Attitude towards risks and private health insurance ", and the variable "Subjective norms on private health insurance" affect people's intention to buy private health insurance. Several policies have been proposed to increase customers' intention to buy private health insurance at non-life insurance companies from the analysis. To raise customer's intention to purchase private health insurance, the research team recommends non-life insurance company to improve service quality, especially after-sales service, the quality and expertise of staff, and the government to complete policies and legal framework on private health insurance. Moreover, the research team also recommend to renovate the quality of organizing the private health insurance regime and form the basis of the entire population pathology record. Keywords: private health insurance, intention to purchase, non-life insurance company. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-27-06 Publication date:September 30th 202

An investigation of online teaching and lecturers' online teaching competence in Vietnam: A case study at universities of technology and education

The rapid digital transformation and the widespread influence of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted higher education in Vietnam. This social setting fosters online teaching and lecturers’ online teaching competencies.  The aim of this study is to investigate online teaching competence at two universities of technology and education in Vietnam through a survey. Based on a review of the literature, an online teaching competence scale for lecturers was developed and its validity and reliability were evaluated using exploratory component analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficients with data from 311 lecturers at two public universities of technology and education. The online teaching competency scale for lecturers consists of 25 items organized into five component competencies: “Understanding student learning”, “online session administration”, “digital content development and learning facilitation”, “technology” and “online learning outcomes assessment”. With the exception of “technology”, the remaining component competencies were identified as good. Not only online teaching modes but also online teaching activities and productions were also deployed to maintain learning activities especially during the COVID-19 pandemic at two universities. Recommendations for developing lecturers' online teaching competence were also considered