Synthesis of ZnO nanorod for immunosensor application

This paper reported a facile method to synthesize ZnO nanorods for immunosensor application. The ZnO nanorods were synthesized by hydrothermal reaction. Synthesis time affecting on morphology of nanorods was also studied. The immobilization of anti-rotavirus onto ZnO nanorod-deposited sensor was performed via absorption method. The electrochemical responses of the immunosensor were studied by cyclic voltammetry (C-V) method with [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− as redox probe. A linear decreased response in C-V for cell of rotavirus concentration was found in the range of 7.8×105 CFU/mL to 7.8×108 CFU/mL. The detection limit of the immunosensor was 7.8×105 CFU/mL. The results indicated application of ZnO nanorod sensor for label-free real-time detection of a wide dynamics range of biological species

ASSESSING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR TOWARDS FISH SAUCE PRODUCTS BY USING FOOD CHOICE QUESTIONNAIRE

This study aims to assess Vietnamese consumer behavior towards fish sauce product. It consists of two experiments. In the first experiment, consumer concept was explored using word association method. It was performed on 300 Vietnamese consumers with the prompt word as “fish sauce”. The data were analyzed by a triangulation method. The results evoke six factors associated with fish sauce as Sensory Appeal, Health, Price, Convenience, Traditional Value, Quality and Safety. These findings were the starting point for a modification of food choice questionnaire (FCQ) adapted to fish sauce product. In the second experiment, the modified FCQ with 18 items was used to assess the consumer behavior. The survey was performed on 300 Vietnamese consumers. The data were analyzed by using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The obtained model with five factors was adapted to fish sauce for Vietnamese consumers ( = 1.67, GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.92, RSME = 0.47). In this, Sensory Appeal is the most important factor which might affect consumer food choice motivations. We expect that these results will be useful for the local manufacturers who want to develop traditional food products and/or enlarge national market

Data frauds, health risks, and the growing question of ethics during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this essay, we advocate that the issue of health data ethics should no longer be considered on the level of individual scientists or research labs, but rather as a problem involving all stakeholders, from publishers, funders, ethical committees to governments, for the sake of research integrity

One-pot preparation of alumina-modified polysulfone-graphene oxide nanocomposite membrane for separation of emulsion-oil from wastewater

In recent years, polysulfone-based nanocomposite membranes have been widely used for contaminated water treatment because they comprise properties such as high thermal stability and chemical resistance. In this study, a polysulfone (PSf) nanocomposite membrane was fabricated using the wet-phase inversion method with the fusion of graphene oxide (GO) and alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles. We also showed that GO-Al2O3 nanoparticles were synthesised successfully by using a one-pot hydrothermal method. The nanocomposite membranes were characterised by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and water contact angle. The loading of GO and Al2O3 was investigated to improve the hydrophilic and oil rejection of the matrix membrane. It was shown that by using 1.5 wt.% GO-Al2O3 loaded in polysulfone, ~74% volume of oil was separated from the oil/water emulsion at 0.87 bar and 30 min. This figure was higher than that of the process using the unmodified membrane (PSf/GO) at the same conditions, in which only ~60% volume of oil was separated. The pH, oil/water emulsion concentration, separation time, and irreversible fouling coefficient (FRw) were also investigated. The obtained results suggested that the GO-Al2O3 nanoparticles loaded in the polysulfone membrane might have potential use in oily wastewater treatment applications

Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of essential oils from fruits of Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. Ex Benth.) T.G. Hartley grown in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

In the present study, chemical composition and antibacterial properties of essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of the Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T.G Hartley in Dalat were evaluated. Essential oil was isolated through hydro-distillation. Twenty-nine constituents comprising 100% of the essential oil were characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. The major compounds in the essential oil were (+)-Sabinene (34.73%), Cis-α-bergamotene (13.15%), Z-α-trans-bergamotol (5.28%), β-mycrene (4.98%), and 1,3,6-octatriene, 3,7-dimethyl-(4.71%). Antibacterial activities of Melicope pteleifolia essential oil were investigated against Gram-positive and-negative bacteria. Results showed significant activities against Streptococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli using an agar well diffusion method. The application of this essential oil in preventing and eliminating bacteria could be useful in fields as medicine and cosmetics.

Exploring the effects of paranormal belief and gender on precognition task: An application of the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework on parapsychological research

Precognition is an anomaly in information transmission and interpretation. Extant literature suggests that paranormal beliefs and gender may have significant influences on this unknown information process. This study examines the effects of these two factors, including their interactions, on precognition performance by employing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics. Using Bayesian analysis on secondary data of 60 participants, we found that men may have higher chances to score a hit in a precognition task compared to women. Interestingly, stronger beliefs in the paranormal may decrease the success probability in performing precognition tasks. Considering the interactions between the two factors, the effect of paranormal beliefs on precognition task performance is stronger in men than women. Using mindsponge-based reasoning, we argue that paranormal beliefs may increase the interference of imagination in the reception of hypothetical precognitive information. Women tend to rely more on intuition, which may lessen the interference effect of imagination on hypothetical psi reception. Based on the findings, we suggest that researchers should be careful when assessing participants’ psi potential for experiments. We also demonstrate some advantages of utilizing the BMF in parapsychological research

A new theory of serendipity

This document represents some preliminary and unpublished content of a chapter in the edited book titled A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism, which will soon be published and distributed by De Gruyter Poland (Sciendo Imprint; part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin, Germany). A proper referencing should be like: Quan-Hoang Vuong, Tam-Tri Le, Quy Khuc, Minh-Hoang Nguyen. (2022). A new theory of serendipity. In: QH Vuong. (Ed.) A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism (pp. 91-108). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter

Environments and cultures that nurture serendipity strikes

Based on the properties and mechanism of serendipity presented in former chapters, this chapter discusses how to create an environment for higher serendipity encounters and attainment possibilities. We examine four types of environments with different navigational and useful information concentration combinations. Building a pro-serendipity culture will help create environments that value and supports serendipity across fields. Additionally, we also address the notion that serendipity is a skill. Thus, it can produce either good or bad impacts on a collective level, depending on the ultimate purposes behind it

LBMT team at VLSP2022-Abmusu: Hybrid method with text correlation and generative models for Vietnamese multi-document summarization

Multi-document summarization is challenging because the summaries should not only describe the most important information from all documents but also provide a coherent interpretation of the documents. This paper proposes a method for multi-document summarization based on cluster similarity. In the extractive method we use hybrid model based on a modified version of the PageRank algorithm and a text correlation considerations mechanism. After generating summaries by selecting the most important sentences from each cluster, we apply BARTpho and ViT5 to construct the abstractive models. Both extractive and abstractive approaches were considered in this study. The proposed method achieves competitive results in VLSP 2022 competition.Comment: In Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Vietnamese Language and Speech Processing (VLSP 2022

The Attraction of the Cosmos: How information inducing happiness and impression affects attitudes toward space tourism

Space tourism is an emerging field where few people have direct experience. However, considering the potential in the near future, it is beneficial to better understand how related information influences people’s attitudes about this new form of tourism. Employing information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 361 respondents consuming content related to space tourism on Chinese social media, we found that induced happiness and impression are positively associated with willingness to try space tourism. Information authenticity positively moderates these two associations. Our findings emphasize three aspects of information during the processes of reception and filtering: meaning, intensity, and trust. Since promotional materials for space tourism rely heavily on mental simulations rather than objective feedback, creative uses of digital technology are advantageous. However, precautions must be taken to prevent exploitation, such as false advertising, exaggeration, and emotional manipulation