BIODIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF FREE-LIVING NEMATODES COMMUNITIES IN BALAI RIVER, BENTRE PROVINCE

Nematodes communities in Ba Lai river, Ben Tre province were investigated in September of 2015 (eight stations from estuary to upstream). The results showed that the nematodes communities have characterized by high density and biodiversity, providing useful information of nematodes assemblages in freshwater habitas, in particular inland river. Also the results indicated that the distribution of nematodes communities in Ba Lai river was strongly discriminated between in and outside of dam with two groups. The Ba Lai dam may be reasons for cause  the nematodes distribution discontinuity. Present study is a pioneering attempt to record the impact of the dam on benthic-invertebrate in Vietnam

Multi-correlation between nematode communities and environmental variables in mangrove-shrimp ponds, Ca Mau Province, Southern Vietnam

Multi-correlation between bio-indices of nematode communities and ecological parameters in mangrove-shrimp farming ponds in Tam Giang commune, Nam Can District, Ca Mau Province, Vietnam were investigated. In which, diversities of nematode communities and several environmental variables in eight ponds were considered to process. Our findings underlined the high diversity of nematode communities in mangrove-shrimp farming ponds compared to other mangrove habitats. Nematode diversities provided more oppotunity in natural food for shrimp. Single correlation analyses showed that the species richness index correlated significantly to three variables (salinity, total organic carbon, and total nitrogen), the Margalef diversity index correlated to two variables (salinity, total organic carbon), and the expected number of species for 50 individuals index correlated with one variable (salinity). Results of multi-correlation analyses between the nematode bio-indices and the environmental variables were completely different from those of single-correlation analyses. In multi-correlation analyses, the species richness and the Margalef diversity index correlated to two variables (salinity, total organic carbon), Pielou’s evenness index and Hill indices correlated with dissolved oxygen, also the Hurlbert index correlated to total organic carbon. Hence, it is necessary to pay attention to the impact of complex interactions between the multi-environmental variables and nematode communities. This research aims to explain the differences between single- and multi-correlation for evaluation of the effects of environmental factors on nematodes as well as aquatic organisms.

Targeting effect of folate on cancer cell through curcumin carrier nano-system

Folate receptor (FR) is well known for its overexpression on surface of various cancer cell lines, which is identical to normal tissue. Folic-based targeting drug delivery systems, therefore, are one of the most effective targeting carriers that effectively bind to FR up-regulated cancer cells. Curcumin was used both for labeling and chemotherapy. The materials were characterized and structurally confirmed by FT-IR spectra, fluorescent images and FE-SEM images. Bioassays were conducted on HeLa and HT29 cancer cell lines after 4 and 12 hours. Results show that folic acid significantly enhanced both targeting efficiency and internalization of curcumin to FR-expressing cancer cells

Differentiation Effect of Two Alkaloid Fractions from Vietnamese Lycopodiaceae on Mouse Neural Stem Cells

Various Lycopodium alkaloids have been studied for their various biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective activities. Moreover, these alkaloid compounds have high potential in the treatment of neuron degenerative disease. This study has been carried out to test the effect of Huperzia serrata (Thunb.) Trevis, and Lycopodium clavatum L alkaloid fractions on the mouse neural stem cells (NSCs). Firstly, the alkaloid fractions were used to verify its toxicity on NSCs. The multiple concentrations of alkaloid fractions from H. serrata (0.044; 0.088; 0.175; 0.35; 0.7; 1.4 mg/ml) and L. clavatum (0.031; 0.063; 0.125; 0.25; 0.50; 1.0; 2.0 mg/ml) have been used for the treatment of NSCs at period of 48h incubation. Results of the study suggested that the IC50 value of H. serrata and L. clavatum was 0.56 mg/ml and 0.50 mg/ml, respectively. Then, the NSCs were differentiated in the presence of 5 and 10 µg/ml of alkaloid fraction from H. serrata; 0.625 and 1.25 µg/ml of alkaloid fraction from L. clavatum for 6 days. Here, we observed the primary NSCs treated with alkaloid fraction extract from H. serrata showed the increased gene expression level of early neuron TUBB3 and neuron-specific cytoskeleton MAP2. On the other hand, the L. clavatum alkaloid fraction increased the expression of neural stem cell marker genes (Nestin and PAX6) and decreased neuron marker genes. In conclusion, these results established that alkaloid fraction from H. serrata promoted differentiation of the mouse NSCs to neuron cells, and L. clavatum extract had a capacity for stemness maintenance

EFL Agreeing and Disagreeing Discourses in Facebook

Agreeing and disagreeing are two common speech acts that occur in social conversations. Driven by the fact that there are direct and indirect way for expressing agreement and disagreement, and there are also mitigating strategies to protect interlocutors from face-threatening in disagreeing discourses, this study examined EFL students’ use of discourse strategies in their Facebook interaction. Thirty-four pre-intermediate EFL students at a university in Vietnam took part in this study. Data analysis shows that direct discourses is linguistically limited while indirect ones exhibit wider language use. Students also demonstrate two different directions of using mitigating strategies for their disagreeing discourses. Some pedagogical implications are also suggested in this study. Keywords: agreeing, disagreeing, direct, indirect, strategies DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/86-03 Publication date: February 28th 202

Application of Google Docs in English for Specific Purposes Collaborative Writing

English language learners today have considerable opportunities to practice their writing skill via their peer interaction in Web 2.0 platforms, such as Blogs, Wikis, and Google Docs. Different studies have investigated the influence of these platforms on student writing collaboration and interaction, but few studies had explored factors that may affect English for Specific Purposes (ESP) student collaborative writing in Vietnamese settings. This study, therefore, attempts to explore the impact of four factors, namely gender, student attitudes towards learning English, student economic status, and availability of English at home on Google Docs-based interaction and collaborative writing outcome at a southern university in Vietnam. Fifty participants took part in this study and they worked collaboratively in small groups in Google Docs to finish two writing tasks and complete a survey afterwards. Analysis of their survey, interaction, and writing outcome suggests that gender, student attitudes towards learning English, and the number of books available at their homes have an impact on their writing outcome whereas their economic status did not seemingly affect their writing quality. Some pertinent pedagogical implications are also discussed in this paper. Keywords: Google Docs, collaborative writing, English for Specific Purposes DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/78-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

Genome Elimination Mediated by Gene Expression from a Selfish Chromosome

Numerous plants and animals harbor selfish B chromosomes that “drive” or transmit themselves at super-Mendelian frequencies, despite long-term fitness costs to the organism. Currently, it is unknown how B chromosome drive is mediated, and whether B-gene expression plays a role. We used modern sequencing technologies to analyze the fine-scale sequence composition and expression of paternal sex ratio (PSR), a B chromosome in the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis. PSR causes female-to-male conversion by destroying the sperm’s hereditary material in young embryos to drive. Using RNA interference, we demonstrate that testis-specific expression of a PSR-linked gene, named haploidizer, facilitates this genome elimination–and–sex conversion effect. haploidizer encodes a putative protein with a DNA binding domain, suggesting a functional link with the sperm-derived chromatin

The effect of a dam construction on subtidal nematode communities in the Ba Lai Estuary, Vietnam

Nematode communities and relevant environmental variables were investigated to assess how the presence of a dam affects the Ba Lai estuary benthic ecosystem, in comparison to the adjacent dam-free estuary Ham Luong. Both estuaries are part of the Mekong delta system in Vietnam. This study has shown that the dam's construction had an effect on the biochemical components of the Ba Lai estuary, as observed by the local increase in total suspended solids and heavy metal concentrations (Hg and Pb) and by a significant oxygen depletion compared to the natural river of Ham Luong. The nematode communities were also different between the two estuaries in terms of density, genus richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity, and dominant genera. The Ba Lai estuary exhibited lower nematode densities but a higher diversity, while the genus composition only slightly differed between estuaries. The results indicate that the present nematode communities may be well adapted to the natural organic load, to the heavy metal accumulation and to the oxygen stress in both estuaries, but the dam presence may potentially continue to drive the Ba Lai's ecosystem to its tipping point

Frequency and Risk Factor of Lower-limb Deep Vein Thrombosis after Major Orthopedic Surgery in Vietnamese Patients

BACKGROUND: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a prevalent complication of orthopedic surgery. According in many studies. The incidence of DVT may be up to 50% if thromboprophylaxis is not available. AIM: The objective of this study was to check the degree of disease, clinical characteristics and analyzed factors in vulnerabilities with lower-limp DVT after orthopedic surgery in a Vietnam teaching hospital. METHODS: Orthopedic patients who met criteria were recruited at our hospital between August 2017 and June 2018. Ultrasound was used to discovering lower-limp DVT in pre-surgery and 7 days after surgery in all patients. RESULTS: The incidence of DVT after orthopedic surgery was 7.2%. Patients with older age (> 60) have a risk of 2 times higher of DVT after surgery than normal people (p < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative DVT was higher in immobile individuals > 72 hours (p < 0.05). Patients with prolonged surgical time (>120 minutes) had a higher risk of postoperative DVT than non-surgical patients’ surgery (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: DVT remains a common complication following orthopedic surgery. Older age, immobility status, and surgical time have been found to be risky factors for the development of postoperative lower-limp DVT in orthopedic patients