The Combined Use of Pediococcus pentosaceus and Fructooligosaccharide Improves Growth Performance, Immune Response, and Resistance of Whiteleg Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei Against Vibrio parahaemolyticus

In this study, we evaluated the effect of probiotic bacteria Pediococcus pentosaceus supplemented at different inclusion levels in a control diet [basal diet containing 0.5% fructooligosaccharide (FOS)] on the growth performance, feed conversion ratio, immune response, and the disease resistance of whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles against Vibrio parahaemolyticus. A control diet with 0.5% FOS but without P. pentosaceus supplementation (Control) was prepared. In addition, three other test diets were also formulated: control diet supplemented with P. pentosaceus at (i) 1 x 10(6) cfu g(-1) diet (P1), (ii) 1 x 10(7) cfu g(-1) diet (P2), or (iii) 1 x 10(8) cfu g(-1) diet (P3). After a 60-day feeding trial, the experimental shrimps were challenged with V. parahaemolyticus. The results showed that dietary supplementation of P. pentosaceus significantly improved the growth performance and immune responses of L. vannamei juveniles. The juveniles that were fed with a P2 or P3 diet recorded the maximum increase in the final body weight, final length, weight gain, and survival rate. The total hemocyte counts, phenoloxidase, and lysozyme activity of shrimp fed with either of these two diets were significantly enhanced. The results also showed that juveniles fed with a P2 or P3 diet exhibited significantly lower mortality when challenged with V. parahaemolyticus. Overall results suggested that a combination of P. pentosaceus at the inclusion level of 1 x 10(7) cfu g(-1) diet (P2) and 0.5% FOS could be considered as a potential synbiotic formulation for improving the growth, health, and robustness of L. vannamei

Evaluation Of Agronomic Traits And Adaptation Of Some Promising Salt Tolerant Rice Lines/Varieties Growing In The Coastal Areas In Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the main food in Vietnam and plays an important role in economic activity in this country. However, rice yield and growing areas are adversely influenced by the threats of the devastation caused by the rise of sea level. This study aimed to evaluate the salt effects in field experiments of 19 promising salt tolerance rice lines/varieties carrying QTL/Saltol, which were selected from the BC2F5 breeding combination between FL479 and Bac Thom 7 (BC7). The field experiments were conducted in two consecutive seasons at three saline-affected rice growing areas, including Nga Son, Hoang Hoa and Quang Xuong districts, Thanh Hoa province. The results showed that among those promising rice lines, the HL15 line had the best yield components in all experimented sites, and good agronomic traits with short plant height and shorter growth duration than the BC7 variety (115-117 days) in the spring season and 102-103 days in the summer season, respectively. All tested had the same level of pest resistance/infection as the control variety BT7 under production conditions using pesticides including HL1, HL13 and HL15, which were mildly infected with the bacterial leaf blight, while HL15 variety showed high resistance to pests and diseases. Moreover, the HL2, HL15 and HL19 lines had scored 3, equivalent to FL478 (tolerant), and the survival rate was over 85% compared with the control variety. Overall, our findings showed that the promising purebred variety HL15 had a range of good agronomic characteristics, resistance to major pests and diseases, high yield potential and salinity tolerance of 6‰. The HL15 variety was renamed as SHPT15 and continued to conduct procedures to recognize it as a new rice variety

Si11Mn0/+ cluster is endohedral or exohedral: a proof by DFT calculation

The geometries of Si11, Si11Mn+ and Si11Mn0 clusters have been determined by the method of density functional theory using B3P86/6-311+G(d) level of theory. The pure silicon clusters Si11have cage structure associating with a low spin state.Although the geometrical structure of the most stable isomer of Si11Mn+ cationic cluster is exohedral, the endohedral isomers have their calculated IR spectra fitting well with the experimental IRMPD spectra. The Si11Mn0 neutral cluster is found to be most stable in both exohedral and endohedral forms. The most stable isomers of manganese-doped silicon clusters Si11Mn0/+ possess high spin states and local magnetic moment of the Mn atom is reduced or even completely quenched when it is encapsulated inside the Si11 cage. Keywords. Silicon cluster doped manganese, density functional theory (DFT)

Isolation and characterization of a c-repeat binding factor gene from Tevang-1 maize cultivar

C-repeat binding factor (CBF) proteins are transcription factors involved in plant response to abiotic stresses, especially low-temperature condition. In this research, a CBF3-coding gene was isolated from a cold-acclimation maize variety, Zea mays var. Tevang-1 and denoted as ZmCBF3tv. The isolated gene shared 96.49% homology with the B73-reference gene and had no intron in the coding sequence. By using bioinformatic tools, a number of variations in the nucleotide and amino acid sequences were identified. An alignment between ZmCBF3tv and other CBF/DREB1 proteins from various species revealed functional regions and typical features, such as nuclear localization signal (NLS), the AP2 DNA-binding domain, and acidic-amino-acid-rich segments. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis based on the AP2 domain showed that the maize CBF3 transcription factor had the highest similarity with that from rice and closely related to other DREB1/CBF protein of monocots. The function of the ZmCBF3tv product is suggested to be a CBF/DREB1 transcription factor.    

Determinants of Green Banking Implementation in Emerging Country: Evidence from Vietnam Banks

With the purpose of examining which factors affecting on the implementation of ‘Green Banking’ in transitional countries, the research used in-depth interview and survey questionnaire with statistics analysis with the case of Vietnam banks. The results showed that in emerging country such as Vietnam, the level of ‘Green Banking’ implementation is most affected by Human determinant, followed by Strategy, Product & Services, Culture and Technology determinant respectively. Based on findings, several implications were proposed to enhance the performance of these kind of environment friendly financial products in transitional country. By determining these factors, the banking sector in transitional countries will enhance the implementation of ‘Green Banking’ and achieve sustainable development in the context of escalating environmental contamination. Keywords: Green Banking, Implementation, Emerging Country, Human DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-15-04 Publication date:May 31st 201

Study on synthesis of carboxymethyl cellulose from pineapple leaf waste and its potential applications as a thickener

In this study, cellulose and hemicellulose were successfully extracted from pineapple leaf waste at yields of 58.8 and 16.1% by dried weight, respectively. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was synthesised from pineapple leaf cellulose by an esterification process using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and monochloroacetic acid (MCA) with isopropanol as the supporting medium. Preparation of CMC was investigated by varying three free factors, namely, NaOH concentration, MCA dose, and cellulose size. The carboxymethylation process was optimised to produce CMC with differing degrees of substitution (DS). The highest DS of CMC (0.86) was obtained with 15% (w/v) NaOH solution, 0.6 g of MCA/g cellulose, and 50 μm cellulose. The obtained CMC were characterised by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM images and XRD diffractions. Moreover, the thickening performance of obtained CMC was also determined. The influence of the CMC’s molecular weight and degree of substitution on the viscosity of 1% (w/v) aqueous solution was tested. The experimental results suggest that the viscosity of the solution increases with increasing molecular weight and degree of substitution of CMC

Genetic Interaction Between Two VNTRs in the SLC6A4 Gene Regulates Nicotine Dependence in Vietnamese Men

Nicotine dependence is an addiction to tobacco products and a global public health concern. Association between the SLC6A4 polymorphisms and nicotine dependence is controversial. Two variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) domains, termed HTTLPR and STin2, in the SLC6A4 gene are well characterized transcriptional regulatory elements. Their polymorphism in the copy number of the repeat correlates with the particular personality and psychiatric traits. We analyzed nicotine dependence in 1,804 participants from Central Vietnam. The Fagerström Test (FTND) was used to evaluate the nicotine dependence and PCR was used to determine the SLC6A4 HTTLPR and STin2 VNTRs. The HTTLPR VNTR was associated with difficulties to refrain from smoking in a prohibiting environment. The STIn2 10/10 genotype was associated with (1) years of smoking, (2) difficulties to quit the first cigarette, and (3) higher number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD). Stratification analysis was used to find the genetic interaction between these two VNTRs in nicotine dependence as they may synergistically regulate the SLC6A4 expression. Smokers with the S/S HTTLPR genotypes showed a much stronger association between STin2 10/10 variant and CPD. This finding is consistent with the molecular evidence for the functional interaction between HTTLPR and STin2 in cell line models, where STin2 has described as a stronger expressional regulator. Similarly, we found that STin2 is a much stronger modifier of smoking with 10/10 genotype related to higher nicotine dependence. The present study supports genetic interaction between HTTLPR and STin2 VNTRs in the regulation of nicotine dependence with the dominance of the STin2 effects. This finding could be explained by their differential effect on the SLC6A4 expression

Awareness and preparedness of healthcare workers against the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey across 57 countries.

BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave. METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training. RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors. INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type

Genetic Interaction Between Two VNTRs in the SLC6A4 Gene Regulates Nicotine Dependence in Vietnamese Men

Nicotine dependence is an addiction to tobacco products and a global public health concern. Association between the SLC6A4 polymorphisms and nicotine dependence is controversial. Two variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) domains, termed HTTLPR and STin2, in the SLC6A4 gene are well characterized transcriptional regulatory elements. Their polymorphism in the copy number of the repeat correlates with the particular personality and psychiatric traits. We analyzed nicotine dependence in 1,804 participants from Central Vietnam. The Fagerström Test (FTND) was used to evaluate the nicotine dependence and PCR was used to determine the SLC6A4 HTTLPR and STin2 VNTRs. The HTTLPR VNTR was associated with difficulties to refrain from smoking in a prohibiting environment. The STIn2 10/10 genotype was associated with (1) years of smoking, (2) difficulties to quit the first cigarette, and (3) higher number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD). Stratification analysis was used to find the genetic interaction between these two VNTRs in nicotine dependence as they may synergistically regulate the SLC6A4 expression. Smokers with the S/S HTTLPR genotypes showed a much stronger association between STin2 10/10 variant and CPD. This finding is consistent with the molecular evidence for the functional interaction between HTTLPR and STin2 in cell line models, where STin2 has described as a stronger expressional regulator. Similarly, we found that STin2 is a much stronger modifier of smoking with 10/10 genotype related to higher nicotine dependence. The present study supports genetic interaction between HTTLPR and STin2 VNTRs in the regulation of nicotine dependence with the dominance of the STin2 effects. This finding could be explained by their differential effect on the SLC6A4 expression