Explore the vast range of titles available.

The Vietnamese Mekong River Delta emerged as a rice production giant in the 1990s. Currently, the Vietnamese government is attempting to reduce environmental impacts resulting from the triple annual rice crop regime. This article explores how gender influences farming practice adoption using household livelihood survey data from Tien Giang Province. Each farm is disaggregated into male-managed, female-managed, and jointly managed plots. The study uses correlation to explore how sustainable intensification (SI) and conventional intensification (CI) practices are applied in complementary packages, and then a binary logistic regression to determine if livelihood approaches within households influence adoption of farming practices. The study finds that CI practices are more than twice as popular as SI practices, and that CI and SI practices are adopted in pairs that complement each other. The research also shows that gendered plot management is directly associated with SI and CI practice adoption, including decreased fertilizer use ( p  < .0005) and increased pesticide use ( p  = .047) on male-managed plots; and decreased likelihood of using organic fertilizers or compost ( p  = .013) or adopting integrated pest management ( p  = .004) on female-managed plots. Across all SI and CI practices, there is a significant indirect gendered impact due to unequal access between the sexes to natural and human capitals that are associated with increased SI adoption, such as education and extension trainings. This research contributes empirical evidence toward understanding the tension between CI and SI practice adoption and uniquely explores the gendered implications of the recent SI push in Vietnamese agriculture.

Fluoroquinolone (FQ) is a potent antibiotic class. However, resistance to this class emerges quickly which hinders its application. In this study, mechanisms leading to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains under FQ exposure were investigated. S. aureus ATCC 29213 was serially exposed to ciprofloxacin (CIP), ofloxacin (OFL), or levofloxacin (LEV) at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) for 12 days to obtain S. aureus -1 strains and antibiotic-free cultured for another 10 days to obtain S. aureus-2 strains. The whole genome (WGS) and target sequencing were applied to analyze genomic alterations; and RT-qPCR was used to access the expressions of efflux-related genes, alternative sigma factors, and genes involved in FQ resistance. A strong and irreversible increase of MICs was observed in all applied FQs (32 to 128 times) in all S. aureus-1 and remained 16 to 32 times in all S. aureus-2. WGS indicated 10 noticeable mutations occurring in all FQ-exposed S. aureus including 2 insdel mutations in SACOL0573 and rimI; a synonymous mutation in hslO; and 7 missense mutations located in an untranslated region. GrlA, was found mutated (R570H) in all S. aureus-1 and -2. Genes encoding for efflux pumps and their regulator (norA, norB, norC, and mgrA); alternative sigma factors (sigB and sigS); acetyltransferase (rimI); methicillin resistance (fmtB); and hypothetical protein BJI72_0645 were overexpressed in FQ-exposed strains. The emergence of MDR S. aureus was associated with the mutations in the FQ-target sequences and the overexpression of efflux pump systems and their regulators.

Epigenetic modifications, especially DNA methylation, play an increasingly important role in oral cancer. However, their specific contributions to the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remain unclear. The present study used the Shiny Methylation Analysis Resource Tool (SMART) database (https://smart.embl.de/smart/change_mode.cgi) to identify methylation-driven genes associated with OSCC. Among the identified candidates, integrin subunit α4 (ITGA4) exhibited significantly elevated methylation levels in head and neck cancers. A methylation-specific PCR assay showed that ITGA4 is highly methylated in OSCC cells compared with normal immortalized human normal oral keratinocyte (iNOK) cells. Additionally, the mRNA expression levels of ITGA4 were significantly lower in OSCC cell lines compared with normal iNOK cells. ITGA4 overexpression markedly inhibited the cell proliferation, migratory ability and capacity of colony formation and induced apoptosis in FaDu and YD-15 cells. In proteomic analysis, ITGA4 suppressed the expression of Sorting Nexin 5 (SNX5), a protein linked to cancer progression. siRNA-mediated knockdown of SNX5 importantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and colony formation in FaDu and YD-15 cells. Moreover, in a chick chorioallantoic membrane xenograft model, overexpression of ITGA4 or small interfering SNX5 significantly inhibited OSCC tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo. Collectively, these findings demonstrated that ITGA4 acts as a tumor suppressor in OSCC by downregulating SNX5 and suggested that ITGA4 may serve as a valuable prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

Brown algae are considered a marine algae resource for human health. This study investigated ethanol extract’s chemical composition and biological activity from brown algae Dictyota implexa. The extract from D. implexa was examined for total contents of quercetin, tannic acid, phenolic, flavonoid, polysaccharides, agar, and fucoidan, and the antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, and α‐amylase inhibitory activities of the crude extract were determined. Results revealed the presence of a source of phenolic (85.95 ± 1.21 mg GAE/g of the sample), flavonoid (245.6 ± 2.83 mg QE/g of the sample), and tannin (172.179 mg/g DW) compounds in the extract. Evaluating antioxidant activity proved the ethanol extract of D. implexa possessed the highest activity on two testing methods of DPPH scavenging capacity and reducing power. Besides, the anti‐inflammatory activity was potent in the extract with an IC 50 value of 9.95 ± 1.51 μg/mL. Concerning antimicrobial activities, the ethanol extract of D. implexa (70 mg/mL) showed potential inhibitory ability against E. coli and B. cereus . Moreover, the algal extract displayed cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells and inhibited α‐amylase activity with an IC 50 value of 276.82 μg/mL. The current findings demonstrated that exploring novel natural resources offers a promising avenue for advancements in human health and economic well‐being.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam pioneered the practice of clinical pharmacy; however, hospitals in HCMC have faced numerous challenges that might influence the job satisfaction of clinical pharmacists (CPs). Additionally, there have been no official statistics about clinical pharmacy activities that have been reported so far. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the current status of the clinical pharmacy profession and to analyze the key factors affecting job satisfaction of CPs in HCMC. This was a cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all the CPs in all the 128 hospitals in HCMC via an online survey tool from May to June 2020. Only about 30% of the respondents were full-time CPs. The percentage of CPs participating in clinical wards was relatively low (52.79%). “Provide drug information for patients and medical employees ” was the most common clinical pharmacy activity, with the percentage of CPs participating in it being nearly 90%. Overall, 74.1% of the 197 CPs surveyed were satisfied with their current job. The factors that they were satisfied with the most and the least were “Inter & Intra professional relationships” (95.9%) and “Income” (59.9%), respectively. The only demographic and work-related characteristic that had a statistically significant association with overall job satisfaction was “Ward round participation” . Most clinical pharmacy tasks noted a high rate of participation from the CPs. Nevertheless, hospitals in HCMC was found to be experiencing a shortage of CPs and low levels of participation of CPs in ward rounds, and most CPs were unable to completely focus on clinical pharmacy tasks. Regarding CPs’ job satisfaction-related aspects, income and ward round participation appear to be the two factors that should be increased, in order to enhance CPs’ job satisfaction.

This study explores the key factors that shape Vietnamese consumers' intentions to purchase organic fruits and vegetables, with a particular focus on the role of consumer trust. Analysis of data collected from 330 randomly sampled individuals in Ho Chi Minh City reveals a distinct connection between unsafe food storage and handling practices and heightened consumer caution. As a result, this increased consumer caution has contributed to a rise in the consumption of organic foods identified as ‘rau an toan’ (RAT), meaning safe produce. Structural equation modelling shows that consumers’ intention to buy RAT products is influenced by their product knowledge and, importantly, their trust in both the products and distributors like corner stores. Other significant factors include cost perceptions, feelings of convenience and concerns about health and the environment. The empirical analysis validates the salience of consumer trust in their purchase intentions towards organic products. This finding is supported using regression, pairwise and non-parametric tests, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Overall, this study offers valuable insights for managers on how to cultivate consumer trust and, in turn, enhance their commitment to purchasing organic fruits and vegetables through targeted marketing. In conclusion, initiatives like the RAT scheme are vital for making sustainable and organic food consumption more accessible.

The preparation of oligochitosan through the heterogeneous degradation of chitosan/H combined with the homogeneous reaction of chitosan with H under gamma radiation was studied. Oligochitosan with weight-average molecular weight (M ) of less than 10 kDa could be efficiently prepared by gamma Co irradiation of chitosan solution (4%) and hydrogen peroxide (0.5%) at doses ranging from 8 to 24 kGy. The M , chemical structure, and the crystallinity of chitosan and oligochitosan were characterized by GPC, FT-IR, and XRD. The solubility and antioxidant activity of chitosan and of oligochitosan with the different molecular weights were investigated. Results showed that oligochitosan CS (20 kGy) and CS (24 kGy) have good solubility in the pH range of 3 to –11. The scavenge percentage of CS against 2,2-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical is 99.2% in 90 min. The antioxidant activity of oligochitosan is effective in a short time period; therefore, it has potential application as an effective and natural antioxidant.

As a basic notion in algebra, closure operations have been successfully applied to many fields of computer science. In this paper we study dense family in the closure operations. In particular, we prove some families to be dense in any closure operation, in which the greatest and smallest dense families, including the collection of the whole closed sets and the minimal generator of the closed sets, are also pointed out. More important, a necessary and sufficient condition for an arbitrary family to be dense is provided in our paper. Then we use these dense families to characterize minimal keys of the closure operation under the viewpoint of transversal hypergraphs and construct an algorithm for determining the minimal keys of a closure operation.

In this paper, the authors present results on dynamic behavior analysis of the stiffened composite plate with piezoelectric patches under airflow by finite element method and experimental study. The first-order shear deformation plate theory and nine-noded isoparametric piezoelectric laminated plate finite element with five elastic degrees of freedom at each node and one electric degree of freedom per element per piezoelectric layer were used in the dynamic analysis of plates by finite element method. The modern equipment was used in the dynamic behaviors analysis of plates subjected to airflow load by experimental method. In this study, the results of the theoretical method have been compared with experimental studies.

Vietnam is a country that found itself at the center of the Indochina wars and was subjected to the most intense aerial bombing in history. However, little research has been done on the effect of unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination on household livelihoods in rural Vietnam. In this paper, we investigate the contaminating effect of unexploded ordnance on households. Livelihood choices are classified by cluster analysis techniques, and unexploded ordnance contamination is measured at the district level by the proportion of land at risk from unexploded bombs and mines. We examine the effect of UXO contamination on livelihood choices using a multinomial logit model, controlling for various important household and regional level characteristics. It was found that households in districts with greater contamination were less likely to adopt a formal wage-earning livelihood, characterized by higher income and less poverty, than they were to engage in an agricultural livelihood. This suggests that the Indochina wars have had a long-running effect, reducing the likelihood of non-farm diversification, which in turn diminishes economic well-being among rural households in Vietnam.