Policies on Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities in Vietnam

This article traces the history of inclusive education policy development, laws that have been promulgated, and the dissemination of policy and legal rights and responsibilities through conferences, seminars and university coursework in Vietnam since 1995 when the responsibility for educating children with disabilities shifted from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to the Ministry of Education and Training. Numerous standards of practice related to roles and responsibilities and recommendations for improvemtns in policy and practice are shared as well as lessons learned from external evaluation efforts that will be valuable for further development and refinement of poilicies to forward inclusive education in Vietnam

Treatment of acidic wastewater from thien ke tin processing factory by sulfate reducing bioreactor: a pilot scale study

A pilot-scale system of a total volume of 6 m3 using sulfate reducing (SR) bioreactor technology was established for the treatment of acidic wastewater from Thien Ke tin processing factory in Tuyen Quang province, Vietnam. In the system, the acidic wastewater with high metal content went first to a collecting tank filled with limestone gravels to increase pH to a value favorable for SRB growth, and at the second step to a SR bioreactor where sulfate reduction occurred to produce sulfide for metal precipitation. To activate the SR bioreactor, a laboratory SRB mixed culture dominated by Desufovibiro, Desulfobulbus and Desulfomicrobium species was added at a cell density of 106 cell/ml so that a full activation was achieved just after a week of incubation. Molasses was added to the SR bioreactor at 0.5 ml/L as substrate for the SRB growth during the operation. The performance of the system was studied under batch and continuous modes. The batch mode showed good results after three day-operation. The pH increased from 2.8 – 3.2 to 7 – 7.2, and a total of 750 mg/L sulfate was reduced to sulfide presumably by the SRB. The produced sulfide efficiently removed metals from the wastewater, such as iron from 143.1 mg/L to 0.3 mg/L, copper from 16.32 mg/L to 0.04 mg/L and manganese from 10.9 mg/L to 0.05 mg/L. The continuous mode with a hydraulic load of 100 l/h and an according retention time of three days showed constitutive contaminant removal. The effluent pH of the system was around 7 within six-day period. The sulfate reduction was active, keeping sulfate concentration in the final effluent as low as 150 mg/L. Accordingly, the three most metal contaminants (iron, copper and manganese) were found at concentrations below the regulated limits. The results showed the possibility of applying SR bioreactor technology for the treatment of AMD is feasible and the use of previously enriched mixed culture of SRB could be a good approach to shorten the activation period of the SR bioreactor

EFFECT OF SPENT MUSHROOM SUBSTRATE ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF THREE CULTIVARS OF MUSKMELONS (Cucumis melo)

Muskmelons are currently grown in several areas of Vietnam for domestic and international consumer markets. The fruit grows well in greenhouses in soil or soilless substrate such as coconut peat. Researchers in Vietnam are investigating the growth of muskmelons in a range of organic by-products. In this study, spent mushroom substrate was recycled for use as an organic substrate and to evaluate the growth, quality, and yield of three muskmelon varieties including RZ F1, PN 128, and TL3 in greenhouses over three months. The substrate was incubated for one month before use and contained 45% spent mushroom substrate, 30% manure, 7.7% rice husks, 1.5% phosphorus, 0.2% commercial Trichoderma (Tribac), 0.1% rice bran, 15% sand, and 0.5% micronutrients and water. Following incubation, the substrate had optimal pH for the growth of muskmelon and the concentration of nutrients and beneficial microorganisms had increased significantly. The growth of RZ F1 and TL3 cultivars was significantly better than PN 128 in terms of growth, fruit quality, and yield. Specifically, RZ F1 and TL3 species took 78 days and 75 days to complete their life cycle produced 1.76 kg and 1.62 kg of fruit, had a pericarp thickness of 4.0 cm, and possessed 14.20o Brix and 14.88o Brix of soluble solid content, respectively. These findings suggest that agricultural by-products, such as spent mushroom substrate, could be a valuable resource for the culture of muskmelons in Vietnam

Business Diversification and Financial Supply Chain Efficiency of Companies Listed on Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange

Abstract— This research evaluate the impact of business diversification of companies listed on HoSe from 2013 to 2017, the research has used balance panel data form of 145 listed enterprises. Business diversification is measured according to the Entropy index, measured by turnover in the Grade 2 subdivision and Level 4 subdivision according to Vietnam's industry standard. The results of the study showed that diversification would generally help improve financial efficiency, however, for those enterprises focusing on diversification outside the industry will reduce financial efficiency. In addition, the results of the study also showed that businesses increasing financial leverage for the purpose of expanding the left-sector business will be unstable, those businesses scaling up to strengthen the true diversification of businesses with experience will help increase their financial efficiency

Anti–inflammatory and antioxidant properties of the ethanol extract of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum turcz in copper sulfate‐induced inflammation in zebrafish

Oxidative stress and inflammation are commonly present in many chronic diseases. These responses are closely related to pathophysiological processes. The inflammatory process can induce oxidative stress and vice versa through the activation of multiple pathways. Therefore, agents with antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory activities are very useful in the treatment of many pathologies. Clerodendrum cyrthophyllum Turcz, a plant belonging to the Verbenaceae family, is used in Vietnamese traditional medicine for treating migraine, hypertension, inflammation of the throat, and rheumatic arthritis. Despite its usefulness, studies on its biological properties are still scarce. In this study, ethanol extract (EE) of leaves of C. cyrtophyllum showed protective activity against CuSO4 toxicity. The protective activity was proven to relate to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. EE exhibited relatively high antioxidant activity (IC50 of 16.45 µg/mL) as measured by DPPH assay. In an in vivo anti-antioxidant test, three days post fertilization (dpf) zebrafish larvae were treated with different concentrations of EE for 1 h and then exposed to 10 µM CuSO4 for 20 min to induce oxidative stress. Fluorescent probes were used to detect and quantify oxidative stress by measuring the fluorescent intensity (FI) in larvae. FI significantly decreased in the presence of EE at 5 and 20 µg/mL, demonstrating EE’s profound antioxidant effects, reducing or preventing oxidative stress from CuSO4. Moreover, the co-administration of EE also protected zebrafish larvae against oxidative damage from CuSO4 through down-regulation of hsp70 and gadd45bb expression and upregulation of sod. Due to copper accumulation in zebrafish tissues, the damage and oxidative stress were exacerbated overtime, resulting in the upregulation of genes related to inflammatory processes such as cox-2, pla2, c3a, mpo, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (il-1ß, il-8, tnf-α, and il-10, respectively). However, the association of CuSO4 with EE significantly decreased the expression of cox-2, pla2, c3a, mpo, il-8, and il-1ß. Taken together, the results suggest that EE has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and may be useful in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases

Eupolauridine alkaloids of Polyalthia nemoralis

Two eupolauridine alkaloids, eupolauridine (1) and 8-methoxyeupolauridine (2), together with a phenanthrene compound, 2,7-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethoxyphenanthrene (3), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Polyalthia nemoralis barks. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and comparison with related known compounds. These compounds were evaluated the cytotoxicity on seven human cancer cell lines including KB, MCF7, LU-1, HepG2, LNCap, SW626 and SW480

Corporate Social Responsibility, Board of Directors’ Affect Financial Performance: Evidence in Vietnam

ABSTRACT Purpose: The study aims to explore corporate social responsibility and corporate governance issues such as the board of directors’ characteristics that affect the financial performance of the manufacturing listed companies on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in Vietnam.   Theoretical framework: The study is based on the agency theory, stakeholder theory and the fundamental corporate social responsibility to clarify its role and the importance of information disclosure to interested parties when making economic decisions.   Methodology: Using pooled Ordinary least squares causes biased results because of autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity, thus the authors conduct Feasible Generalized Least Squares to increase the reliability of findings.   Findings: The research results show that there are four statistically significant factors that affect financial performance: corporate social responsibility, board gender diversity, ownership concentration, and government ownership.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The obtained results highlight the direct relationship between corporate social responisibility and financial performance, implying that these listed companies can improve their firm value based on the mentioned factors.   Originality/value: by examing the significant relationship between CSR and performance, the author emphasizes the role of managers in disclosing information relevant to their responsibilies to the environment and community. The problem is still a limited concern by corporates in the emerging market as Vietnam

Synthesis of antiulcer drug esomeprazole.

Esomeprazole (Nexium®), the (S)-isomer of Omeprazole, is the first proton-pump inhibitor developed as a single isomer for the treatment of acid-related diseases. It is used for the treatment of peptic ulcers, gastroesophagal reflux disease, and erosive esophagitis. Herein, we report our synthetic study of esomeprazole sodium salt from the starting    2-mercapto-5-methoxybenzimidazole and 2-(chloromethyl)-4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylpyridine hydrochloride reagents. The Esomeprazole sodium salt was obtained from enantioselectivesulfoxidation reaction in moderate yield with high enantioselectivity