EXPLORING STRATEGIES USED BY ENGLISH MAJORS IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING FROM ENGLISH TO VIETNAMESE

This study was carried out to examine English majors’ strategies when practicing consecutive interpreting from English to Vietnamese. A questionnaire related to 22 commonly used consecutive interpreting procedures was employed in the study in order to obtain valid results. Then, the researchers presented the questionnaire to 80 respondents, who are second- and fourth-year English majors at Tra Vinh University’s Schools of Foreign Languages. Following the collection and analysis of the data, the study revealed that the participants tended to employ techniques aimed at enhancing their consecutive interpretation skills. Moreover, there was no distinction between the two participant groups’ frequent use of different types of strategies. Based on the results obtained and the suggestions made for EFL lecturers, English majors, and additional research, this study will be an invaluable resource for future research on consecutive interpretation strategies.  Article visualizations

Deprivation of Social Play: Implications for the Mechanisms of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Social play emerges in early adolescence and is one of the primary types of social interaction seen early in life in mammals. The experience of social play is essential for the normal trajectory of social and cognitive development. Adolescent mammals deprived opportunities for social interaction at this age display neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Social deprivation alters adult behavioral patterns, neuroanatomy, and neurochemistry in ways that resemble autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These deficits include impairments in communication, social perception, and social behavior. However, the symptom most characteristic of the earliest stage of ASD is decreased interest in social objects. Understanding the role of early social experience, especially play, in the development of social, cognitive, and emotional functioning will provide insight into the development of ASD. In order to understand how social deprivation can affect behavior, researchers isolate animals during early adolescence. Most studies have looked at rodents since it appears that isolation-rearing of rodents has detrimental effects on social development, making it a valid model of ASD. This chapter will consider the potential of this model as a model of ASD, and how it can inform understanding of ASD and the neurodevelopmental mechanisms altered by reduced social interactions early in life

ANTIOXIDATIVE DEFENSE RESPONSE TO APHID-INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. “Nam Dan”

Infestation of cowpea aphid (Aphis craccivora Koch) induced oxidative stress in leaves of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. “Nam Dan”) with a burst in generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) products such as superoxide anion radical (O2.-) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) recorded around 24 hours after aphid feeding. An increase in content of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in lipid peroxidation and a defined percentage of injury in aphid-infested leaves were resulted from the cellular oxidative damage. The enhanced activity of the antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) in leaves of soybean “Nam Dan” functions as the antioxidative response that controlled both ROS-generation to be enough levels to play as defensive element and ROS-detoxifying to reduce aphid-induced oxidative damage. The enhancement of SOD and CAT also can improve the tolerance of soybean “Nam Dan” to impact from A. craccivora

Species diversity of rotifers (Rotifera: Eurotatoria) of Phu Ninh Lake with five new records from Vietnam

A total of sixty-one taxa of rotifer, belonging to 15 families, 3 orders were identified from the Phu Ninh Lake, Vietnam. Of these, five species were recorded new to Vietnam Rotifera fauna, including Lecane acanthinula (Hauer, 1938), L. sola (Hauer, 1936), L. thailandensis Segers & Sanoamuang, 1994, L. pyriformis (Daday, 1905), and Mytilina bisulcata (Lucks, 1912). The result raised the total number of rotifers known from Vietnam to 227 species. Moreover, the results showed that the number of species recorded increased with the increase of sample size, which followed the equation y=12.85+14.12log(x) (R2 = 0.99). Based on the estimators, the α-diversity of rotifers in Phu Ninh Lake might be up to 67±4 taxa (according to the Bootstrap index), 71±8 taxa (according to the Chao index), or even up to 79 taxa (according to Jacknife 2 index)

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Canarium tramdenum Dai and Yakovl. in Northern Vietnam

Canarium tramdenum occurs naturally in subtropical and tropical regions of Indochina and China. The wood is used for making high quality furniture and the fruit and leaves are used in traditional medicine. However, a lack of information on genetic diversity and population structure has handicapped the genetic conservation and domestication of this high-value species. This study evaluated genetic variation within and among four C. tramdenum populations. Sixty individuals were collected from four natural populations in Vietnam in the provinces of Ninhbinh, Bacgiang, Nghean, and Backan. Genetic diversity and genetic structure were determined using 20 ISSR markers. A total of 192 DNA fragments with sizes ranging from 110 bp to 3,000 bp were detected, of which 154 segments (80.2%) were polymorphic and 38 segments (19.8%) were monomorphic. The ISSR data indicated a moderate degree of genetic diversity for the species (h = 0.252). The four populations were separated into three genetic clusters with low levels of genetic distance between them. AMOVA result showed that most (78%) of the genetic variation was within the populations. The moderate to high genetic diversity of C. tramdenum and the low genetic differentiation among populations suggested that all existing natural populations in the particular regions needed to be preserved to protect the genetic diversity of this species

Comparing smell identification ability among different motor subtypes of Parkinson’s disease using the Vietnamese Smell Identification Test and the Brief Smell Identification Test

IntroductionOlfactory dysfunction is one of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The association between smell identification ability and motor subtypes of PD is not uniform in previous studies. This study aimed to compare the odor identification ability among different motor subtypes of PD in Vietnamese participants.MethodsPatients who were diagnosed with PD according to the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Society 2015 Diagnostic Criteria and had normal cognitive function were recruited. Participants were divided into akinetic-rigid (AR), tremor-dominant (TD), and mixed (MX) motor subgroups using the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) score. Olfactory identification ability was evaluated using the Vietnamese Smell Identification Test (VSIT) and the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT). Cognitive status was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Age, age at PD onset, disease duration, smell identification ability, and cognitive function were compared among the three PD motor subtypes.ResultsThe AR subgroup was the most common motor subtype (n = 164, 75.2 %), followed by TD (n = 39, 17.9 %), and MX (n = 15, 6.9 %) subtypes. Age, age at PD onset, sex, disease duration, and MMSE score were not significantly different between the three motor subgroups (all p > 0.05). The median (IQR) VSIT scores of AR, TD, and MX subgroups were 5.00 [4.00;7.00], 5.00 [3.50;7.00], and 5.00 [3.00;6.00], respectively. The median (IQR) BSIT scores of AR, TD, and MX subgroups were 6.00 [4.00;7.00], 5.00 [4.00;7.00], and 5.00 [4.50;7.00], respectively. The VSIT and the BSIT scores were not significantly different among the three motor subtypes (all p > 0.05).ConclusionSmell identification ability assessed in both the VSIT and BSIT did not differ across the three motor subtypes of PD

Diagnostic value of vietnamese smell identification test in Parkinson's disease

IntroductionThe Vietnamese Smell Identification Test (VSIT) has been validated in determining olfactory dysfunction in the Vietnamese population; however, its value in diagnosing Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been established.MethodsThis case-control study was conducted at University Medical Center HCMC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study sample included non-demented PD patients and healthy controls (HC) who were gender- and age-matched. All participants were evaluated for odor identification ability using the VSIT and the Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT).ResultsA total of 218 HCs and 218 PD patients participated in the study. The median VSIT and BSIT scores were significantly different between PD and HC groups (VSIT, 5 (3) vs. 9 (2), P < 0.0001; BSIT, 6 (3) vs 8 (2), P < 0.0001). Using the cut-off of <8 for correct answers out of 12 odorants, the VSIT had higher sensitivity (84.4%) and specificity (86.2%) than those of the BSIT (sensitivity of 81.7% and specificity of 69.3%) for the diagnosis of PD. The area under the curve (AUC) value was greater for the VSIT than for the BSIT (0.909 vs 0.818). The smell identification scores were not significantly correlated with disease duration, disease severity, or LEDD (all p > 0.05).ConclusionThe VSIT can be a valuable ancillary tool for supporting the diagnosis of PD in Vietnam. Olfactory dysfunction in PD was unrelated to the disease duration and severity. The VSIT can be applied to improve the accuracy of clinical PD diagnosis

Morphological Traits and Nuclear Genetic Diversity of Coptis sp. in Hoang Lien National Park, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam

Coptis is a medicinal plant genus in the Ranunculaceae family, and is also known as “Hoang Lien” in Vietnamese. It is a perennial herb that grows in some regions of the world. However, Coptis is endangered and faces global threats. This study aimed to characterize some main morphological characteristics and performed a phylogenetic analysis of 11 samples of Coptis sp. collected from Hoang Lien National Park using nuclear DNA sequence analyses. All sample species have unique morphological traits with distinct yellow rhizomes and basal leaves with five segments. The petiole measures 13-25 cm and is smooth, while the leaf blade is ovate, ranging from 7 to 15.5 cm in length and 5.5 to 14 cm in width. The leaves are subleathery, glabrous on the underside, and sparsely puberulous on the veins on the upper side. The molecular characterization of Coptis sp. genotypes was determined by ITS markers. The length of the ITS1-ITS2 sequences varied from 363 to 371 nucleotides. The average nucleotide composition was 17.11% A, 31.25% C, 32.247% G and 19.41% T, respectively. The comparison with the GenBank database showed that the samples had 95.71- 96.37% similarity with the species Coptis quinquesecta. The genetic distance among the 11 Coptis samples fluctuated from 0.00 to 0.017. A neighbor-joining tree was constructed to show the genetic relationships among Coptis samples. The results indicated that this endangered species had low levels of genetic diversity. The study has provided valuable information for genetic-based conservation of this rare endemic species and suggested some conservation strategies