5 Lipoxygenase\u27s Role in Chondrogenesis of the ATDC5 Cell Line

5-Lipoxygenase metabolizes arachidonic acid (AA) to generate leukotrienes (LTs). Leukotrienes are very potent inflammatory mediators that can have negative effects on bone healing and cartilage tissue generation. Recent studies have shown that decreasing 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) activity during fracture healing accelerates endochondral ossification and decreases healing time in animal fracture models, however, the roles of 5-LO in chondrogenesis is not fully investigated. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that 5-LO inhibition will increase the process of chondrogenesis. The ABT-761 is an N-hydroxyurea analog structurally similar to zileuton, which is a 5-LO enzyme inhibitor, The ATDC5 cell line which is derived from teratocarcinoma cells of mice is a chondrogenic cell line. The ATDC5 cells were treated with ABT-761 and Insulin. Then, they were evaluated for cellular proliferation via colorimetric assay, 5-LO gene expression via Immunocytochemistry (ICC) and Immunoblotting (Western Blot), and chondrogenesis by measuring calcium deposition, proteoglycan synthesis via Alizarin Red stain and Alcian Blue stain respectively at specific timepoints 7 days, 14 days, 21 days and 28 days. Our data demonstrated that ATDC5 cells express a 5-LO protein which can be directly inhibited by ABT-761 treatment. At a concentration of 10 μM, ABT-761 treatment does not affect ATDC5 cellular proliferation, however, higher doses inhibit significantly. In term of chondrogenesis, in this study, we demonstrated that 1μM ABT-761 has no effect on chondrogenesis, neither increase nor decrease, in ATDC5 chondrogenic cell line. In contrast, concentrations of 10 μM and 100μM ABT-761 have negative effects on chondrogenesis through which ABT-761 promotes chondrocyte apoptosis that may potentially lead to accelerating endochondral ossification or long bone formation in patients with a long bone fracture. However, ABT-761 may not be a clinical value to regenerate or promote chondrogenesis in patients suffering from osteoarthritis

Analyses of Potential Ravine and Bluff Stabilization Sites within the Blue Earth and Le Sueur River Basins

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has listed much of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) basin as impaired waters due to excessive turbidity, sedimentation, and nutrient loading. Of particular importance are the associated environmental problems (e.g. eutrophication, habitat and wetland loss, loss of biodiversity, and changes in water quality) that have developed within Lake Pepin, a popular recreational riverine lake of the UMR. Three major drainages contribute to these issues and empty in to the UMR near Lake Pepin - the Minnesota River Basin (MRB), St. Croix River, and UMR. The MRB makes up approximately one-third of the drainage area above Lake Pepin, but has been found to contribute approximately 85-90% of all sediment entering the lake – both in the past and present. A major tributary system of the MRB, the Blue Earth River Basin (BERB) and its subbasins, contribute as much as half of the sediment exiting the Minnesota River, despite accounting for only one-fifth of the MRB drainage area. The tremendous sediment yields from this basin are a result of both post-glacial landscape evolution and contemporary land-use practices. Recent radioisotopic fingerprinting of these sediments has helped narrow the focus of mitigations strategies as they indicate that the majority of the sediment originates from near-channel sources in the MRB, specifically ravines and bluffs. Significantly, it was also found that the rate of sedimentation has increased ten-fold over the past 150 years. Thus, mitigations strategies to curtail the sediment yields arriving downstream should focus on the near-channel sources of the BERB and its subbasins. Unfortunately, the resolution of radioisotopic methods is inadequate in locating of specific near-channel sources on which to implement mitigation strategies. Therefore, a crucial first step of an effective mitigation strategy to reduce erosion is to develop a methodology that aids in identifying the precise geographic position of ravines and bluffs with high erosion potential. This study uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to compile county Light Detection and Ranging (LiDar) and elevation, watershed and stream network, county infrastructure (private and public buildings and roads), county and watershed soil, county and watershed land use data in the BERB and its subbasins, to attempt to locate precise locations of ravines and bluffs with high erosion potential. Using two LiDar data sets taken in 2005 and 2012, and incorporating net sediment loss, slope grade, soil material, soil texture, connectivity to river, distance to river, surrounding adjacent land use, proximity and threat to roads, proximity and threat to public and private buildings, accessibility from roads, visibility from stream, and visibility from roads; 14 ravines and 10 bluffs were identified in the BERB, and 18 ravines and 29 bluffs were identified in the BERB, the Le Sueur River Basin (LSRB). These ravine and bluff sites exhibited an abundant amount of erosion between 2005 and 2012. As a baseline study, a comprehensive review of hydrologic and sediment transport models and stabilization techniques were completed to provide natural resource managers tools to stabilize and effectively manage these erosive sites. Preliminarily, this thesis study provides an effective protocol for identifying potential mitigation/stabilization sites that are not readily accessible with conventional surveying equipment. The models and stabilization techniques reviewed are effective strategies for watershed management in highly geomorphically active regions. Moving forward, a future LiDar dataset is recommended for further temporal and spatial analysis of the identified sites. Moreover, long-term monitoring of selected sites are recommended in order to isolate parameters to model erosion events, determine rates of change, and further understand the evolution of the landscape for effective watershed management

First molecular report of Feline panleukopenia virus infection in diarrheic cats at Can Tho City, Vietnam

Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) belongs to the family Parvoviridae and causes an acute viral infection in cats worldwide. Information on the circulation of FPV among cats is currently limited in Vietnam. Herein, the full–length VP2 gene and molecular characteristics of FPV isolated in diarrhea cats in Can Tho City were first exhibited. Phylogenetic analysis based on seven obtained nucleotide sequences revealed that the isolated sequences were clustered into a narrow group with FPV sequences in the neighboring countries such as China, Thailand, and Japan, and distantly grouped with the vaccine strains. Regarding nucleotide and amino acid sequence analysis, the nucleotide and amino acid homology of 99.98–100% and 99.99–100% among obtained sequences, and showed high homology with reference sequences, accounting for 97.38–98.51% and 98.96–99.27%, respectively. Besides, the nucleotide and amino acid sequences were a homology of 98.51% and 99.26% with two vaccine strains in GenBank. Regarding amino acid translation, seven obtained sequences were closely related to FPV strains, meanwhile, they were different from CPV–2 strains in GenBank at amino acid substitutions of K80, K93 and V103. Overall, this is the first detection of FPV in diarrhea cats and illustrated the molecular characteristics of FPV in the cat population in Can Tho City of Vietnam

The Role of Multi-Sensory Experience Toward Perceived Medical Service Quality: A Research at Vietnam Public Hospital

The theory of Sensory Marketing has been developed as a special approach to help managers understand customers through creating multi-sensory experiences. In medical services, a patient's multi-sensory experience with a medical facility will shape each customer's different perception of service quality. The article evaluates the role of multi-sensory experience in customers’ perceived service quality at public hospitals in Vietnam. Research results have shown that tactile, olfactory, visual and taste stimuli have a significant influence on the perceived service quality of customers when experiencing medical services. Besides, the authors also detected that customer’s expectation and satisfaction have a proportional relationship. Discussions and recommendations on the application of sensory marketing to improve people's perception of the medical service quality have been proposed to enhance the brand image of Vietnam's public hospitals as well as to ensure the interests of the customer during the use of the service. Keywords: sensory marketing, perceived service quality, medical service, public hospital. DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/83-02 Publication date: December 31st 202

Covid-19 And Factors Affecting Vietnamese Students’ Readiness For Digital Transformation

Education in Vietnam is trying to make use of the values of the digital technology revolution. As one of the eight key fields of National Digital Transformation, education needs to find ways to develop and take advantage of opportunities to be able to shape the future of society with high-quality human resources. As a huge challenge, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly put pressure on the past predicted trends in education such as the “university of the future”, but, from a positive viewpoint, it also brings a big opportunity for universities to make the transformation, from classic one to the new and trendy university – the digital one. The paper analyzes in-depth the factors affecting the readiness of Vietnamese students for digital transformation in the above context. The research model is built based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory and corrects necessary variables. The results show that the impact of Covid-19, self-study ability and attitude are the factors that have the most influence on the willingness to shift the learning method towards digitization. According to the result, the authors will propose several recommendations on improving the readiness of Vietnamese students for the digital transformation of education and training. Thereby helping students change to adapt to learning activities when the pandemic appears, and know how to take advantage of digital transformation. Keywords: digital transformation, Covid-19, awareness, attitude, self-study DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-16-04 Publication date:June 30th 202

Development of a nutritional model to define the energy and protein requirements of cobia, Rachycentron canadum

This study assessed the protein and energy requirements of Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) using a bio-energetic factorial approach. Using a series of inter-related studies, several parameters were defined to enable the construction of a bio-energetic factorial model for this species. The studies included two controlled laboratory experiments and also extensive field-data collection from commercial and research farms in Vietnam. The devised model includes parameters for both maintenance and protein demands; the effect of fish live-weight on maintenance protein (LW0.697), lipid (LW0.972), and energy demands (LW0.815); the efficiencies of protein, lipid and energy utilisation at various protein, lipid and energy intake levels; and the variability in whole body composition with varying live-weight. The protein utilisation efficiencies (0.456·[protein intake]−0.445), lipid utilisation efficiencies (1.292·[lipid intake]−1.120) and energy utilisation efficiencies (0.651·[energy intake]−48.41) were similar to other carnivorous fish species. However, the maintenance requirements for both energy (74.3kJ/kgBW0.8/d−at 28°C) and protein (0.99g/kgBW0.7/d at 27.9°C) were about double to other species. Using this modelling approach it was possible to iteratively derive optimal dietary protein and energy specifications for this species

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS’ SELF-CONFIDENCE AND THEIR ENGLISH-SPEAKING PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN VIETNAM

This research aimed to discover the relationships between students' self-confidence and their English-speaking performance. In our research, self-confidence was divided into three components which are affective confidence, behavioral confidence, and cognitive confidence. In addition, speaking performance included eight components which are vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency, coherence, comprehension, task, and content. A sample of 150 English-majored students at a university in Vietnam was surveyed in this study by using a convenience sampling technique, and then conducting semi-structured interviews to seek for qualitative information from 10 participants out of 150. The result from our study showed that there are significant relationships between the two variables. The more confident the students are, the more accomplished they would be in the presenting procedure since they have superior cognition and understand how to modify their learning methods to build a comprehensive individual in learning English language. We expect that these findings can help students adjust their learning methods to improve their self-confidence as well as English speaking performance and by that way, universities can add more speaking-related subjects so that students can have more opportunities to speak and learn more speaking skills.  Article visualizations

Epidemiological and molecular characteristics of Infectious bursal disease virus naturally infected in the broiler flocks in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam during 2015 and 2018

Infectious bursal disease is a highly contagious and economically devastating disease in the poultry industry worldwide caused by Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). However, the data on epidemiological and molecular characteristics of the IBDV outbreak in broiler flocks in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam is unclear. Herein, the epidemiological data of IBDV–positive flocks over a period of 2015–2018 were recorded and the hypervariable region of the VP2 gene of IBDV was amplified to analyze the local phylogeny. The current investigation showed that the overall morbidity and mortality rates of IBDV–positive flocks were 45% and 4.81%, respectively. The IBDV–positive birds occurred clinical signs and macroscopic findings involved with the very virulent (vv) IBDV outbreak. Epidemiological results revealed that IBDV was frequently infected in broiler flocks at 12–42 days, and birds belonging to Tau Vang and Binh Dinh breeds were more sensitive to IBDV. Also, the morbidity rate of IBDV was dramatically decreased in the open farming system. Flocks with complete vaccination significantly dropped morbidity in comparison with other groups. Regarding phylogenetic analysis, all identified IBDV sequences clustered in the same branch of vv phenotype and closely homology with prior strains circulated in Vietnam and other countries. These findings first indicated the epidemiological characteristics of the IBDV–positive broiler flocks in the Mekong Delta and highlighted the IBDV strain circulating in this region

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