Do Corporate Social Responsibilities Support Its Financial Performance? Evidence of the Listed Firms in Vietnam

In the latest decades, corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are incrementally noticed in emerging countries regarding to the surge of globalization and the advance of social concerns. However, there exist opposing arguments on how CSR practices influence a firm’s financial performance (CFP), either in theoretical or empirical perspectives, causing many managers’ hesitation in CSR engagement. This study, therefore, examines the impacts of CSR on CFP, considering the individual effect of each CSR endeavor by using the data from listed firms’ financial statements during the period 2015-2019 and panel regression analysis methods. The findings reveal inconstant effects of different CSR activities on CFP. Specifically, a firm’s fulfillment of shareholders’ and customers’ interests contributes to raise its profitability, while its engagement in the benefits of employees and creditors causes a reduction in financial returns. Interestingly, the correlations between firms’ responsibilies towards regulators and suppliers and CFP are statistically insignificant. Furthermore, we make pairwise marginal comparisons to identify the distinctions of CSR-CFP relations across industries. The results only indicate that listed firms in Utilities sector have the lower level of CSR intensity than those in Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Staples sectors. The implications and limitations are also discussed in this study

Mediating Effect of Social Commerce Continuance Use Intention on the Relationship Between Perceived Values and Brand Loyalty

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of social commerce continuance use intention on the relationship between perceived values and brand loyalty in the social commerce context. The data was collected from 176 members of the Apple Watch Social Commerce site in Vietnam via an online questionnaire. Applying the structural equation modelling method, we found that social commerce continuance use intention has mediating effects on the relationship between perceived values and brand loyalty. Keywords: Perceived values, continuance use intention, brand loyalty, social commerce, Vietnam DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-11-07 Publication date: April 30th 202

Osteogenesis activity of fractions extracted from Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. F.) Lindau

Osteogenesis activity of fractions extracted from Clinacanthus nutans was evaluated on an in vitro model using osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells. The results showed that all fractions, including ethanol (EtOH), n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and butanol (BuOH) were not significantly toxic to the osteoblast cells at the test concentrations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 µg/mL. The EtOH and EtOAc fractions exhibited the highest osteogenesis activity in terms of enhancement of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and mineralization activity of MC3T3-E1 cells, especially the EtOAc fraction which increased ALP activity up to 30% and mineralization activity up to 100%. Thus, the EtOAc fraction shows osteogenesis activity through stimulating activites of the two markers for bone generation including ALP and mineralization in osteoblast cells. The fraction is now under extensive investigation to isolate and fully understand the modes of action of the active compounds. 

Structure and Magnetic Properties of PZT/CoCr Heterostructures

The microstructure, crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of ferroelectric-ferromagnetic PZT/CoCr heterostructures have been investigated by using XRD, SEM and VSM.~Upon applying an electric field, the in-plane magnetization of the heterostructures decreases at various bias magnetic fields. The change in magnetization and the magnetization reversed voltage were obtained. The results demonstrate that the change in magnetic anisotropy can be controlled by electric field via strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling

Isolation, screening antimicrobial activity and identification of fungi from marine sediments of the area Thanh Lan, Co To, Vietnam

Marine environment is rich in natural product resources, including marine microorganisms, especially fungi which are not only seen as a potential source of highly applicable bioactive substances but also can provide for science new chemical structures. The objective of this study is to isolate and screen fungal strains with antibacterial activity from the marine environment. Twenty five strains of fungi were isolated from marine sediments of Thanh Lan, Co To island and assessed on antibiotic activity against 7 tested microbial strains, including three Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Salmonella enterica ATCC13076), three Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis ATCC29212, Stapphylococus aureus ATCC25923, Bacillus cereus ATCC 13245), and the yeast Candida albicans ATCC10231. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the tested microorganisms was determined for the crude extracts obtained from the culture broths after ethyl acetate extraction and vacuum rotary evaporation. Three strains with the highest antimicrobial activity M26, M30 and M45 were capable of inhibiting 4 - 5 of the 7 tested microorganisms with MIC values from 64 to 256 μg/ml, depending on each tested strain. Morphological and phylogenetic investigations based on 18S rRNA gene sequences of the three selected strains showed that strains M26 and M30 belonged to the genus Penicillium, whereas strain M45 belonged to the genus Neurospora. The sequences of 18S rRNA gene of three strains M26, M30 and M45 were registered on GenBank database with accession numbers: MH673730, MH673731, MH673732, respectively. Research results showed that marine environment has a great potential in isolation of fungal strains for the search for antibacterial substances as well as other biologically active compounds

ARSENIC POLLUTION IN TUBE WELL WATER AT HANOI SUBURB VILLAGES

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

ANALYSIS OF THE POPULARITY OF VOCABULARY USED WHEN PERFORMING SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN THE CLASS OF FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDENTS IN THE DIRECTION OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Vocabulary learning is extremely important when learning a foreign language. Fluency in a language depends on vocabulary and its use in specific situations. Speaking well is using vocabulary flexibly and speaking fluently. Researching the popularity of vocabulary is analyzing the prevalence of vocabulary used by linguistics students in communication from discourse analysis. This is a topic the research team is working on. This project will help the researchers learn about common vocabulary that students often use to communicate outside or in the classroom. Thereby understanding whether the vocabulary that students use is diverse, rich, and for the right purpose or not. This study will help students have a more comprehensive view of the ways to use words in communication. In addition, it also helps students improve their communication vocabulary, helps in exams and can be useful for later work. In this study, the research team will investigate the students' ability to use spoken vocabulary, i.e., frequency and extent of vocabulary usage.  Article visualizations

ARSENIC POLLUTION IN GROUNDWATER IN RED RIVER DELTA, VIETNAM : SITUATION AND HUMAN EXPOSURE

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

Alkaloids and Their Pharmacology Effects from <em>Zanthoxylum</em> Genus

Zanthoxylum genus (Rutaceae) comprises about 212 species distributed in warm temperature and subtropical areas in the worldwide. Zanthoxylum species have been used in traditional for the treatment of tooth decay, snakebites, blood circulation problems, stomach problems, inflammation, rheumatic, and parasitic diseases. The chemical investigations of Zanthoxylum have been studied by many scientists over the world. Several classes of compounds have been isolated from this genus such as alkaloids, coumarins, and monoterpenes. Of these, alkaloids are the main components and play an important role in Zanthoxylum species. Alkaloids have been shown the potential promise about biological activities: cytotoxic, antimalarial, leishmanicidal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiviral, and antibacterial activities. This chapter will focus on the structure elucidation and pharmacological activities of alkaloids from Zanthoxylum species. In addition, the absolute configuration of some alkaloids from Zanthoxylum genus will be also discussed