On Building a Community to Exchange and Share Sustainable Fashion Applications

Sustainable development is a standard plan for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future, set forth by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all United Nations member states and agreed to in 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call to action for all developed and developing countries in relation to global cooperation. Many factors cause environmental pollution, but the fashion industry is considered by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as the second most polluting industry in the world. It accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions due to the energy used in production, manufacturing, and transportation. In particular, the factors that strongly affect the environment in the fashion industry are the textile materials, the fabric dyeing industry, and the rapid development of fast fashion. The data was collected through an online survey of 101 fashion consumers and interviews with nine target audiences who need to buy and sell used clothes or are interested in buying and selling used clothes or sustainable fashion. Sustainable design is not a new concept, but it is still quite strange to the Vietnamese. Consumer ignorance about sustainable consumption and the harmful effects of the fashion industry on planet Earth is a big reason why consumers constantly plunge into the shopping vortex. The problem of wasteful and unsustainable fashion consumption is a big global problem at a time when the fashion industry is gradually emerging into the sustainable fashion movement. This is an opportunity to build a community by connecting consumers through their essential needs, helping them raise awareness, change their behavior, and make each individual part of a sustainable fashion community. They are thus contributing to sustainable development in the future. Keywords: SDGs, sustainable fashion, sustainable consumption, communit

Building Comprehensive Sex Education Plans for Teenagers: Groundwork-Based Research Design Application

Although sexual education is an important part of a child’s education and upbringing, in Vietnam, sex education is not an official subject in school, and young people’s awareness of Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) is still limited. While sex education at school is necessary, it is not the only way nor sufficient enough to change teenage sexual behavior. A parent’s role could involve communicating about values, providing a positive family environment, and monitoring their children’s behavior. This topic explores the awareness of teenagers about CSE and the availability of teaching CSE in Vietnamese schools and families. Data was collected via an online survey of 89 teenagers and 119 parents whose children are teenagers. The findings revealed that the target group is not fully aware of CSE and in particular, they also feel the importance of the family in this regard but are afraid to share gender issues with their parents and tend to find information on their own through the internet. Keywords: teenagers, sex education, reproductive health, Vietnam, sex and sexualit

LEARNING IDIOMS FOR ENGLISH MAJORS: VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DIFFICULTIES AND LEARNING STRATEGIES

Learning idioms play an influential role in language generally and in English notably. Comprehending idioms assists language learners in integrating culture, enhancing skills, and ameliorating English levels. Numerous studies have analyzed the function of idioms in second language acquisition (Cieślicka, 2015). This study investigates the difficulties and strategies used in learning idioms by English-majored students at a regional public university (PU) in the south of Vietnam. This paper furnishes data showing learners’ perceptions of facing complications and learning methods. The samples consisted of 150 undergraduate EFL students from English-medium instruction programs. The data was analyzed by utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reveal that students struggle to understand idiomatic terms without specific, understandable contexts. Furthermore, the results indicate that the most frequently employed strategies are guessing the meaning of idioms, learning idioms through keywords, and learning from a range of sources, particularly via media. The findings also mentioned that low-proficiency and high-proficiency students encounter identical challenges, with no significant differences. The study's results revealed that the majority of students have difficulty acquiring, recognizing, and interpreting idioms. The findings indicated that guessing the implication of idioms is the most used strategy.  Article visualizations

A new record of congrid eel, Bathycongrus bleekeri (Congridae) from Vietnam

Three specimens of Bathycongrus bleekeri were collected during the survey in 2015 and 2017. The newly recorded species is described herein, a small, moderately elongate species of Bathycongrus with head and body compressed; vertical fins without black mark; tail slender, attenuated, but not filiform; trunk length 1.2 times greater than head length; teeth small, conical, in about three-four rows on jaws, in a small triangular patch on vomer; 28–29 preanal vertebrae, total of 111–113 vertebrae; 26–28 preanal lateral-line pores. Additional data on the morphology and distribution of the species increases the total number of known species in the family Congridae in Vietnamese waters to twelve

Study of the morphology of the low-latitude D region ionosphere using the method of tweeks observed at Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak

Tweek is the electromagnetic waves at Extremely Low Frequency (3 - 3000 Hz) and Very Low Frequency (3-30 kHz) bands, which originates from lightning discharges and propagates about thousands of kilometers in the Earth-Ionosphere waveguide. Recording the tweeks with a maximum up to eighth harmonics using the receiver installed at Tay Nguyen University (12.65oN, 108.02oE), Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak, during January - June 2013, we have studied the morphology of the low-latitude D region ionosphere in the nighttime. The occurrence of  tweeks with mode number m = 2 - 3 is more dominant. Tweeks with higher modes (m ≥ 4) appear less than other tweeks due to the higher attenuation of wave energy for higher modes reflected at the ionospheric D region. The results show that electron density varies from 25.1-189.4 cm-3, corresponding to the tweeks with m = 1-8 at the reflection height from 82.2-86.5 km. The reference height h’ and electron density gradient β are higher during summer seasons as compared to those during winter and equinox seasons. The mean values of h’ and β are 82.5 km and 0.53 km-1, respectively. The electron density using the tweek method is lower by about 11-38 % than those obtained using the IRI-2012 model.References Bremer, J. and Singer W., 1977. Diurnal, seasonal, and solar-cycle variations of electron densities in the ionospheric D and E region, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 39,  25-34. Budden, K. G., 1961. The Wave-Guide Mode Theory of Wave Propagation, Logos Press, London, pp. 325. Budden, K. G., 1962: The influence of the earth’s magnetic field on radio propagation of wave-guide modes. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 265, 538-553. Cannam, C., Landone C., and Sandler M., 2010. Sonic Visualiser: An Open Source Application for Viewing, Analysing, and Annotating Music Audio Files. Proceedings of the ACM Multimedia 2010 International Conference. Danilov, A. D., 1998. Solar activity effects in the ionospheric D region, Ann. Geophys., 16, 1527-1533. Davies, K., 1965. Ionospheric Radio Propagation, National Bureau of Standard Monogragh 80, Washington, pp. 487. Hargreaves, J. K., 1992. The Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Cambridge Univ. Press, pp. 420. Heaps, M. G., 1978. Parameterization of the cosmic ray ion-pair production rate above 18 km, Planet. Space Sci., 26, 513-517. Helliwell, R. A., 1965. Whistlers and Related Ionospheric Phenomena, Stanford University Press, USA, pp. 368 Inan, U. S., Cummer, S. A., and Marshall, R. A., 2010. A survey of ELF and VLF research on lightning-ionosphere interactions and causative discharges, J. Geophys. Res., 115, A00E36. Kumar, S., Deo A., and Ramachandran V., 2009: Nightime D-region equivalent electron density determined from tweek sferics observed in the South Pacific Region, Earth Planets Space, 61, 905-911. Kumar, S., Kishore A., and Ramachandran V., 2008. Higher  harmonic  tweek  sferics  observed  at  low  latitude:  estimation  of  VLF  reflection  heights  and  tweek propagation distance,  Ann. Geophys, 26, 1451-1459. Le Huy Minh, Tran Thi Lan, C. Amory -Mazaudier, R. Fleury, A. Bourdillon, J. Hu, Vu Tuan Hung, Nguyen Chien Thang, Le Truong Thanh, Nguyen Ha Thanh, 2016. Continuous GPS network in Vietnam and results of study on the total electron content in the Southeast Asian region, Vietnam Journal of  Earth Sci.,  38 (2), doi: 10.15625/0866-7187/38/2/8598. Maurya, A. K., Veenadhari, B., Singh, R., Kumar, S., et al., 2012. Nighttime D region electron density measurements from ELF-VLF tweek radio atmospherics recorded at low latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 117. Ohya, H., Nishino M., Murayama Y., and Igarashi K., 2003. Equivalent electron density at reflection heights of tweek atmospherics in the low - middle latitude D-region ionosphere, Earth Planets Space, 55, 627-635. Ohya, H., Nishino, M., Murayama, Y., Igarashi, K., 1981. Effects of land and sea parameters on the dispersion of tweek atmospherics, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys. 43, 1271-1277. Ohya, H., Shiokawa K., and Miyoshi Y., 2008. Development of an automatic procedure to estimate the reflection height of tweek atmospherics, Earth Planets Space, 60, 837-843. Prasad, R., 1981. Effects of land and sea parameters on the dispersion of tweek atmospherics, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 43, 1271-1273, 1275-1277. Saini, S. and Gwal A. K., 2010. Study of variation in the lower ionospheric reflection height with polar day length at Antarctic station Maitri: Estimated with tweek atmospherics, J. Geophys. Res., 115, A05302. Shariff, K.K.M., Salut, M. M., Abdullah, M., and Graf, K. L. 2011. Investigation of the D-region ionosphere characteristics using tweek atmospherics at low latitudes.  Proceeding of the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Space Science and Communication, 12-13 July 2011, Penang, Malaysia. Shvets, A. V., and Hayakawa M., 1998. Polarization effects for tweek propagation. J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 60, 461- 469. Tan, L. M., Thu, N. N., Ha, T. Q., 2014. Observation of the effects of solar flares on the NWC signal using the new VLF receiver at Tay Nguyen University, Sun Geosphere, 8, 27-31. Wait, J. R. and Spies K. P., 1964. Characteristics of the Earth-ionosphere waveguide for VLF radio waves. NBS Tech. Not.,  pp.300. Wood, G. T., 2004. Geo-loaction of individual lightning discharges using impulsive VLF electromagnetic waveforms. Ph.D. Thesis, Stanford University. Yamashita, M., 1978. Propagation of tweek atmospherics. J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 40, 151-153, 155-156. http://www.ultramsk.com/software

Liver Involvement Associated with Dengue Infection in Adults in Vietnam

Globally, the number of adults hospitalized with dengue has increased markedly in recent years. It has been suggested that hepatic dysfunction is more significant in this group than among children. We describe the spectrum and evolution of disease manifestations among 644 adults with dengue who were prospectively recruited on admission to a major infectious disease hospital in southern Vietnam and compare them with a group of patients with similar illnesses not caused by dengue. Transaminase levels increased in virtually all dengue patients and correlated with other markers of disease severity. However, peak enzyme values usually occurred later than other complications. Clinically severe liver involvement was infrequent and idiosyncratic, but usually resulted in severe bleeding. Chronic co-infection with hepatitis B was associated with modestly but significantly increased levels of alanine aminotransferase, but did not otherwise impact the clinical picture

CÁ MÚ GIỐNG VÀ BẢO VỆ BÃI GIỐNG Ở ĐẦM THỊ NẠI, VỊNH QUY NHƠN VÀ ĐẦM CÙ MÔNG

The wild grouper fingerling have provided the important seed source for the development of commercial fish farming. Among the wild grouper fingerling collected in the Thi Nai lagoon, Quy Nhon bay (Binh Dinh) and Cu Mong lagoon (Phu Yen), 7 species of grouper have been identified as Banded grouper (Epinephelus amblycephalus), Yellow grouper (E. awoara), Longtooth grouper (E. bruneus), Malabar grouper (E. malabaricus), Sixbar grouper (E. sexfasciatus), Orange-spotted grouper (E. coioides) and grouper (Epinephelus sp.); in which three species of Longtooth grouper, Malabar grouper and Orange-spotted grouper were endangered in Red List Categories Criteria of IUCN as VU and NT. The Malabar grouper seed makes up a high proportion of over 30%. The total length of the juveniles is different between species, ranging from an average of 25.0 mm to 116.82 mm; Orange-spotted grouper is 112.48 mm in total length; four grouper species Banded grouper, Yellow grouper, Longtooth grouper and Malabar grouper are longer than 30 mm in total length with 31.96, 32.23, 33.78 and 33.86 mm respectively. The Sixbar grouper and grouper (Epinephelus sp.) are smaller than 30 mm. The catching of grouper fingerling is distributed in wide area, along the bank, mangroves in the lagoon, along the western shore of the Quy Nhon bay, from Ghenh Rang to the southern part of the coast and along the Cu Mong lagoon (from south to southwest). The production of grouper seed fluctuates irregularly, 3 - 4 million seeds per year for highest yields, alternating with very low yields. The protection of nursing grounds is necessary with the solution of selective catching and limiting artisanal fishing.Cá mú giống khai thác tự nhiên đã cung cấp nguồn giống quan trọng cho việc phát triển nuôi cá thương phẩm. Nguồn cá mú giống khai thác tự nhiên ở vùng đầm Thị Nại, vịnh Quy Nhơn (Bình Định) và đầm Cù Mông (Phú Yên) đã xác định được 7 loài là cá mú chấm vạch (Epinephelus amblycephalus), cá song gio (E. awoara), cá song nâu (E. bruneus), cá mú điểm gai (E. malabaricus), cá mú sau sọc (E. sexfasciatus), cá mú mè (E. coioides) và cá song (Epinephelus sp); trong đó có ba loài là cá song nâu (E. bruneus), cá mú điểm gai (E. malabaricus) và cá mú mè (E. coioides) là những loài được IUCN xếp ở mức nguy cấp bậc VU và NT. Con giống cá mú điểm gai chiếm tỉ lệ khá cao trên 30%. Chiều dài toàn thân trung bình cá giống của các loài khác nhau, từ 25,0 - 116,82 mm; cá mú mè  có chiều dài toàn thân lớn nhất đếm 112,48 mm, ba loài cá mú chấm vạch, cá song gio và cá mú điểm gai có chiều dài lớn hơn 30 mm tưong ứng là 31,96; 32,23; 33,78 và 33,86 mm. Hai loài còn lại là cá mú sáu sọc và cá song đều có kích thước nhỏ hơn 30 mm. Vùng khai thác cá mú giống khá rộng; dọc theo các cồn, dãi cây ngập mặn trong đầm Thị Nại, ven bờ phía bắc lên phía tây của vịnh Quy Nhơn; nơi tập trung khai thác ở ven gần bờ phía tây vịnh, từ Ghềnh Ráng kéo dài vào đến khu vực phía nam và vùng dọc bờ của đầm Cù Mông (từ phía nam đến tây nam). Sản lượng khai thác các mú giống biến động khá thất thường, năm có sản lượng cao lên đến 3 - 4 triệu con/năm, xen kẽ có năm sản lượng rất thấp. Việc bảo vệ bãi giống là cần thiết với các giải pháp khai thác có chọn lọc và hạn chế khai thác tận thu

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

Factors Affecting Successful Quality Assurance Implementation in Vietnamese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

Quality assurance and accreditation was officially introduced into the higher education system in Vietnam over ten years ago. It is evident that quality assurance has resulted in positive impacts on university management, teaching, learning and research activities. This paper aims to explore factors that aid the successful implementation of higher education quality assurance and accreditation in Vietnam. Through semi-structured interviews with 32 participants, this study identified a number of factors that contributed to quality assurance processes, including awareness of the importance of quality assurance, better institutional manager leadership, support of university lecturers, staff, and students, and the vital responsibility of internal quality assurance staff. These confirm that internal stakeholders play an important role in undertaking quality assurance programmes and activities

Simultaneously induced mutations in eIF4E genes by CRISPR/Cas9 enhance PVY resistance in tobacco

Tobacco is an important commercial crop and a rich source of alkaloids for pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. However, its yield can be reduced by up to 70% due to virus infections, especially by a potyvirus Potato virus Y (PVY). The replication of PVY relies on host factors, and eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4Es (eIF4Es) have already been identified as recessive resistance genes against potyviruses in many plant species. To investigate the molecular basis of PVY resistance in the widely cultivated allotetraploid tobacco variety K326, we developed a dual guide RNA CRISPR/Cas9 system for combinatorial gene editing of two clades, eIF4E1 (eIF4E1-S and eIF4E1-T) and eIF4E2 (eIF4E2-S and eIF4E2-T) in the eIF4E gene family comprising six members in tobacco. We screened for CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutations by heteroduplex analysis and Sanger sequencing, and monitored PVY(O) accumulation in virus challenged regenerated plants by DAS-ELISA both in T0 and T1 generations. We found that all T0 lines carrying targeted mutations in the eIF4E1-S gene displayed enhanced resistance to PVY(O) confirming previous reports. More importantly, our combinatorial approach revealed that eIF4E1-S is necessary but not sufficient for complete PVY resistance. Only the quadruple mutants harboring loss-of-function mutations in eIF4E1-S, eIF4E1-T, eIF4E2-S and eIF4E2-T showed heritable high-level resistance to PVY(O) in tobacco. Our work highlights the importance of understanding host factor redundancy in virus replication and provides a roadmap to generate virus resistance by combinatorial CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing in non-model crop plants with complex genomes