Factors affecting the flipped classroom in the educational context of Vietnam

In the context of the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program, teachers are required to implement a teaching model oriented to the development of students’ quality and competence. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the flipped classroom model of teaching in schools as its advantages are suitable for novel teaching strategies. This study focuses on analyzing factors affecting the application of this model in the teaching and learning process by collecting feedback from 351 teachers from various cities in Vietnam. The questionnaire included Likert-type questions analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 for quantitative analysis and an open question for qualitative analysis with context and personal information. The research-oriented factors focus on the group of potential internal factors (perception, proficiency, desire and readiness of teachers) and the group of external factors (infrastructure, facilities and support resources, training programs). The results showed that those factors include the school’s infrastructure and information communication technology (ICT) condition, the teacher’s ICT competence as well as competence-related teaching and assessment methodologies and the students’ internet access conditions. Finally, the study offers suggestions on how to apply this model in teaching practice to meet the requirements of educational innovation in Vietnam

Factors influencing the urge to buy impulsively of Vietnamese online buying customers towards Biti’s Hunter sport shoes

Our study investigates the factors that drive Vietnamese online shoppers in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to make impulsive purchases of Biti's Hunter sports shoes (BHS), using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theory and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Mixed methods are applied: in-depth interviews with ten regular online shoppers and focus group discussions with e-commerce managers for qualitative data collection, and survey techniques to gather quantitative data from 319 online shoppers. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 22.0. Our findings reveal five factors as a stimulus - visual appeal, website ease of use, product availability, portability, and social influence – and three factors as an organism - instant gratification, impulsiveness, and trust, that lead to the response of urge to buy impulsively. Significant positive effects are found among these constructs, except the relationship between portability and impulsiveness, visual appeal, social influence, trust, instant gratification, and urge to buy impulsively

The Role of Social Network Sites in English Language Teaching_Harnessing the Potential of Facebook and YouTube as Learning Tools

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the role of Social Network Sites (SNSs) in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and learning. It examines the definitions and potential applications of SNSs, with a specific focus on Facebook and YouTube. The paper discusses the educational and instructional implementations of these SNSs, as well as the challenges and drawbacks faced by both teachers and students when utilizing them. Furthermore, it explores the pedagogical implications of incorporating the cutting-edge features offered by SNSs, aiming to bridge the gap between traditional and technologically driven learning environment

Impact of climate change on meteorological, hydrological and agricultural droughts in the Lower Mekong River Basin: a case study of the Srepok Basin, Vietnam

peer reviewedThe objective of this study is to assess future changes in meteorological, hydrology and agricultural droughts under the impact of changing climate in the Srepok River Basin, a subbasin of LMB, using three drought indices; standardized precipitation index (SPI), standardized runoff index (SRI) and standardized soil moisture index (SSWI). The well-calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used as a simulation tool to estimate the features of meteorological, hydrological and agricultural droughts. The climate data for the 2016–2040 period is obtained from four different regional climate models; HadGEM3-RA, SNU-MM5, RegCM4 and YSU-RSM, which are downscaled from the HadGEM2-AO GCM. The results show that the severity, duration and frequency of droughts are predicted to increase in the near future for this region. Moreover, the meteorological drought is less sensitive to climate change than the hydrological and agricultural droughts; however, it has a stronger correlation with the hydrological and agricultural droughts as the accumulation period is increased. These findings may be useful for water resources management and future planning for mitigation and adaptation to the climate change impact in the Srepok River Basin

Hydroxyurea synergizes with valproic acid in wild-type p53 acute myeloid leukaemia

Palliative care in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is inadequate. For elderly patients, unfit for intensive chemotherapy, median survival is 2–3 months. As such, there is urgent demand for low-toxic palliative alternatives. We have repositioned two commonly administered anti-leukaemia drugs, valproic acid (VPA) and hydroxyurea (HU), as a combination therapy in AML. The anti-leukemic effect of VPA and HU was assessed in multiple AML cell lines confirming the superior anti-leukemic effect of combination therapy. Mechanistic studies revealed that VPA amplified the ability of HU to slow S-phase progression and this correlated with significantly increased DNA damage. VPA was also shown to reduce expression of the DNA repair protein, Rad51. Interestingly, the tumour suppressor protein p53 was revealed to mitigate cell cycle recovery following combination induced arrest. The efficacy of combination therapy was validated in vivo. Combination treatment increased survival in OCI-AML3 and patient-derived xenograft mouse models of AML. Therapy response was confirmed by optical imaging with multiplexed near-infrared labelled antibodies. The combination of HU and VPA indicates significant potential in preclinical models of AML. Both compounds are widely available and well tolerated. We believe that repositioning this combination could significantly enhance the palliative care of patients unsuited to intensive chemotherapy.publishedVersio

THÀNH LẬP SƠ ĐỒ PHÂN BỐ ĐỨT GÃY KHU VỰC BIỂN VEN BỜ NAM TRUNG BỘ TRÊN CƠ SỞ MINH GIẢI TÀI LIỆU ĐỊA CHẤT - ĐỊA VẬT LÝ

The scheme of the faults in South Central coastal region was established on the basis of interpreting the high resolution shallow seismic data and the deep-seismic data, in combination with the previous studies on geodynamics, tectonic evolution, geological hazards of the South Central coastal region. The fault systems were formed based on updated geophysical, geomorphological, tectonophysic and remote sensing data, including 19 faults in 3 directions: Sub-longitudinal (8 faults), NE-SW (7 faults) and NW-SE (4 faults).Sơ đồ phân bố đứt gãy khu vực biển ven bờ Nam Trung Bộ được thành lập trên cơ sở minh giải, phân tích tài liệu địa chấn nông phân giải cao, địa chấn dầu khí, kết hợp và kế thừa các kết quả nghiên cứu địa chất-địa động lực, tiến hóa kiến tạo. Hệ thống đứt gãy được nghiên cứu, chính xác hóa từ các tài liệu địa vật lý, địa chất-địa mạo, vật lý kiến tạo, viễn thám mới nhất. Trong khu vực có 19 hệ đứt gãy, phát triển theo 3 hướng chính là á kinh tuyến (8 hệ đứt gãy), đông bắc -tây nam (7 hệ đứt gãy) và tây bắc - đông nam (4 hệ đứt gãy)

Cider Production from King Mandarin (Citrus nobilis Lour.) and Its Antioxidant Activity

With the necessity of diversifying alcoholic beverages, cider has become a kind of drink that can fulfill this demand. This is because the cider will be diversified depending on the kinds of fruit that are chosen to be used for the cider fermentation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of dilution ratio, Brix, pH, and yeast concentration on the production of cider from king mandarin (Citrus nobilis Lour.), and to evaluate the analytical characteristics and antioxidant activity of the product. After the investigation, it can be claimed that the dilution of the juice causes the ethanol content to decrease, whereas the increase of Brix, pH, and yeast concentration makes the ethanol content increase. However, the proportional increase in the ethanol content with Brix, pH, and yeast concentration has its limitations. Specifically, when the Brix and the yeast concentrations were, respectively, higher than 16°Brix and 0.04%, the ethanol content tended to maintain the same. This is also the same when the pH was lower than 4.5. In addition, by using the DPPH and ABTS●+ methods, the antioxidant activity of cider is estimated to be lower than the one of the juice before fermentation, which is smaller than 3.78 times for the DPPH method and 3.76 times for the ABTS●+ method

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Duration and Obesity alter the Efficacy of Autologously Transplanted Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells

Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (BM-MSCs) represent promising stem cell therapy for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the results of autologous BM-MSC administration in T2DM patients are contradictory. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that autologous BM-MSC administration in T2DM patient is safe and that the efficacy of the treatment is dependant on the quality of the autologous BM-MSC population and administration routes. T2DM patients were enrolled, randomly assigned (1:1) by a computer-based system into the intravenous and dorsal pancreatic arterial groups. The safety was assessed in all the treated patients, and the efficacy was evaluated based on the absolute changes in the hemoglobin A1c, fasting blood glucose, and C-peptide levels throughout the 12-month follow-up. Our data indicated that autologous BM-MSC administration was well tolerated in 30 T2DM patients. Short-term therapeutic effects were observed in patients with T2DM duration of <10 years and a body mass index <23, which is in line with the phenotypic analysis of the autologous BM-MSC population. T2DM duration directly altered the proliferation rate of BM-MSCs, abrogated the glycolysis and mitochondria respiration of BM-MSCs, and induced the accumulation of mitochondria DNA mutation. Our data suggest that autologous administration of BM-MSCs in the treatment of T2DM should be performed in patients with T2DM duration <10 years and no obesity. Prior to further confirming the effects of T2DM on BM-MSC biology, future work with a larger cohort focusing on patients with different T2DM history is needed to understand the mechanism underlying our observation

APOBEC3A Is a Specific Inhibitor of the Early Phases of HIV-1 Infection in Myeloid Cells

Myeloid cells play numerous roles in HIV-1 pathogenesis serving as a vehicle for viral spread and as a viral reservoir. Yet, cells of this lineage generally resist HIV-1 infection when compared to cells of other lineages, a phenomenon particularly acute during the early phases of infection. Here, we explore the role of APOBEC3A on these steps. APOBEC3A is a member of the APOBEC3 family that is highly expressed in myeloid cells, but so far lacks a known antiviral effect against retroviruses. Using ectopic expression of APOBEC3A in established cell lines and specific silencing in primary macrophages and dendritic cells, we demonstrate that the pool of APOBEC3A in target cells inhibits the early phases of HIV-1 infection and the spread of replication-competent R5-tropic HIV-1, specifically in cells of myeloid origins. In these cells, APOBEC3A affects the amount of vDNA synthesized over the course of infection. The susceptibility to the antiviral effect of APOBEC3A is conserved among primate lentiviruses, although the viral protein Vpx coded by members of the SIVSM/HIV-2 lineage provides partial protection from APOBEC3A during infection. Our results indicate that APOBEC3A is a previously unrecognized antiviral factor that targets primate lentiviruses specifically in myeloid cells and that acts during the early phases of infection directly in target cells. The findings presented here open up new venues on the role of APOBEC3A during HIV infection and pathogenesis, on the role of the cellular context in the regulation of the antiviral activities of members of the APOBEC3 family and more generally on the natural functions of APOBEC3A