This research was carried out in order to treat nitrogen and phosphate in seafood processing wastewater for preventing eutrophication of receiving water bodies. A continuous treatment system was established based on nitrification, denitrification and phosphate adsorption processes by microorganisms in attached media made from local materials including porous concrete blocks and acid sulfate soil. Results showed that the porous concrete blocks were a suitable media for attached-growth microorganism which performed denitrification reaction. It was recorded that this treatment system was capable of removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus of 89.7% and 82.1%, respectively. The indicated effluent quality for total nitrogen, nitrogen, phosphate, and total phosphorus reached the national technical regulations on the Effluent of Aquatic Products Processing Industry (QCVN 11:2008/BTNMT, column A).

Objectives of the current work were to develop optimized protocol for the synthesis of biodiesel from Terminalia captappa L. (TC) and to evaluate the quality of the produced biodiesel. The results showed that the oil was obtained in around 49% (% mass) from the kernels of the fruit and the yield of transesterification procedure with methanol and potassium methoxide as a catalyst was found to be 72%. The fatty acid composition of the formed TC biodiesel was quite similar to that of conventional oils and kinematic viscosity at 40oC was in acceptable range for use as biodiesel in diesel engines.

The Global Climate Model (GCM), a climate simulation model with large spatial resolution of 250 - 600 km2, is used to study the changes of the global climate. The results from the GCM are limited to apply for evaluating climate pattern changes in a smaller area but it is rather used to provide inputs for the Regional Climate Model (RCM). However, the simulated rainfall data from the RCM is still significantly different from actual measurements, especially when the RCM covered a large range of topography (i.e. mountainous vs. deltaic system). The modification of the simulated rainfall from the RCM in accordance with the observation is an important issue as it would support policy-making in relation to the socio-economic development of certain areas. To solve this problem, we apply the cutting-and-adjusting-gradually methods from the simulation data based on the relationship with the observations to adjust the simulated results (from the RCM). This approach reduces existing gaps of the simulation and historical measurements and is applied to predict the future pattern of rainfall changes in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

The research on using and exploiting effectively small and scattered capacity renewable energy sources, named Distributed Energy Resources (DER), to generate electricity is meaningful to reduce the climate change and dependence of power demand on fossil energy sources, which are at risk of being exhausted and cause environmental pollution. Using power electronic converters for grid connection control of distributed generators has some advantages such as capability of power transferring in both directions. The grid integration of DERcan help them to achieve  equivalent scale and stable power supply as that of traditional power plants. The combination of harmonic filter circuits to suppress high order harmonics on the grid will also have a significal effect on improvingpower quality. The article presentedthe simulation result of the grid-connected control model of DER using power electronic converters, which maintains maximum capacity of the systemirrespective of connected powerloads.

Study of ?Survey of Cu, Zn, Cd and As content inside dyke-systems in An Giang province? was carried out to assess heavy metal contents in different existing dyke-systems in An Giang province. Soil sample were collected inside full-dyke system (Kien An village), flood-flush practice dyke systems (Tan Hoa and Phu My village) and non-dyke system (Tan Trung village) in Autumn-Winter and Winter-Spring crop in An Giang province and were analysed Cu, Zn, Cd and As contents. The results showed that total and dissolved Cu contents were not different amongst the dyke systems and were 10.57-22.74 mg/Kg and 4.26-15.30 mg/Kg respectively for the both crops. The total Zn contents were not different the amongst dyke systems, while the dissolved Zn inside the the non-dyke system were higher (10.46-13.23 mg/Kg) (p

An Giang province has recently been facing the problems of declining water quality due to the blooming of intensive aquaculture. Four fishpond wastewater treatment systems currently being applied in the province include: (1) aeration lagoon with aquatic plants; (2) Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) method; (3) microbiological method; and, (4) high-speed Purolite. In this study, the Collective Utility Method was applied to compare the effectiveness of these wastewater treatment systems according to five criteria: (a) treatment efficiency; (b) cost per cubic meter of wastewater to be treated; (c) cost of system operation; (d) total area required; and, (e) treatment rate per day. The results showed that the SBR system gained advantages in medium-size fish farm (about 10% of the total fish farming area used for treatment) over the others. In the case of having a greater treatment area (greater than 20% of the total raising area), using aeration lagoon with water hyacinth plants could be an alternative.

Bioflocculants produced by microorganisms can flocculate and settle dispersed organic particles so that they can be used for wastewater treatment and it is not toxic to human and the environment. Fifty-five bioflocculant-producing bacterial isolates were isolated from ten leacheate samples of five landfills from Vinh Long, Can Tho and Hau Giang. Two isolates (P1.1 and P2.4) in 55 isolates had the highest flocculant rate and they were chosen to sequence randomly by automatic sequencer. DNA sequencing were compared with Gen Bank database of NCBI by BLAST N software. The results showed that P1.1 isolate was 99% of the identify with Klebsiella sp. NBRC 100048 and FJ577970 Klebsiella sp. T-6-1; P2.4 isolate was 98% of the identify with Enterobacter sp.A2 andJN695719 Enterobacter sp. TX2 (2011). The optimal medium consists of starch, YE, CaCl2 for P1.1 isolate; sucrose, NH4Cl, K2HPO4+KH2PO4 for P2.4 isolate with kaolin solution after 5 minutes at pH=4 (P1.1 isolate) and pH=5 (P2.4 isolate) together with CaCl2, 0.1% inoculant (bacterial liquid). Applying these two isolates for landfill leachate treatment showed that theyreduced the total solid suspension (TSS) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) by 12.09% and 19.84% (P1.1 isolate);12.4% and 21.89% (P2.4 isolate), respectively.

The assessment of the benthic invertebrates distribution on the Cai Khe canal was carried out at the end of the rainy season and mid of the dry season. The results showed that there were 30 species of benthic invertebrates of 5 classes including oligochaete, polychaete, Bivalve, Gastropod and insect. The worm Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri was indicated for the pollution of organic matter in the water body. According to the ranking by the ASPT index, the Cai Khe canal was polluted from low to high level. The diversity index at the sampling sites on the water body was rather low (ranging from 0.05 to 1.96) and it was not similar to the ASPT index for evaluating pollution of a water body.

Acid catalyst C-SO3H was synthesized to replace traditional acid catalyst in order to reduce environmental impacts. The synthesis process was carried out through two steps: (i) formation of carbon particles; (ii) sulfonation of carbon to form catalyst. Glucose hydrothermal method at 180°C in 4 hours was used to generate carbon particles with size of 2-3 ?m and sulfonation of carbon particles by H2SO4 at different conditions was ultilized to create the catalyst. The results showed that reaction time and temperature strongly influenced the sulfonation process to form SO3H groups. However, carbon content in the acid solution was not significantly affected. In addition, using of the catalyst for hydrolyzing starch gave good results. The concentration of the total sugar increased with increase of concentration, temperature and reaction time. Moreover, when catalyzed by C-SO3H, the total sugar concentration was obtained at a value of 17,42 g/L that was higher than that of using 2% H2SO4 catalyst (obtained total sugar, 13,27 g/L).

Rice production is considered as an important aspect of economic development in the Mekong Delta. Recently, aiming at ensuring domestic food security and exporting demand, intensive cultivation has been stepped up in the whole delta. Contemporarily the use of agri-chemical in rice production has been increased rapidly. Results of study on the current practice of pesticides showed that farmers often applied variaties of pesticides belonging to categories of II (moderately hazadous) and III (lightly hazadous) according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Pesticides were not properly applied in terms of frequency, time and dosage of use. Unsafe in use and management of pesticides was found according to households interviewed. On the other hand wastes originated from pesticide use were often not managed and treated properly on the fields as well as at storage places in house. This practice caused risks to public health and the surrounding environment. Nevertheless the majority of interviewed farmers neglected resorts avoiding or reducing exposure to pesticide residues although most of them perceived the negative effects of pesticides. How to reduce improper pesticide use and management as well as its wastes are urgent problems to ensure a sustainably agricultural development and to reduce unwanted impacts from pesticide application.

In the traditional earthern pond culture, water in intensive Trichogaster pectorlis Regan pond culture needs to be renewed by flushing out directly to the adjacent canals, leading to degradation of aquatic ecosystem. In order to reuse excessive nutrients, purify pond water and use surface water more effectively, the floating beds of water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.) at four coverage ratios of 0, 25, 50 and 75% pond surface area were applied. The concentration of NH4-N in the water body was low in all treatments while TP concentration was higher in the lower coverage ratios of 0 and 25%. Coverage ratios did not affect fish growth except the greatest feeding efficiency in the 25% coverage. During 60 days of experiment, water in the experimental tanks did not require changing, but water quality was remained within a suitable range for normal growth of Snakeskin gourami. Therefore, the study helps to maximize efficiency of water use and utilize nutrients that contributes to protect the environment and to sustainably manage water resource.

This paper presents an approach to classify text documents usingthe Bag-of-Word (BoW) model and ensemble-based learning algorithms. The ensemble-based learning algorithms include random multinomial naive Bayes (rMNB) and random oblique decision stump (rODS) models. The bag-of-word model is used to look for the sparse vectors of occurrence counts of words in text documents. The pre-processing step using the bag-of-word model brings out a dataset with a very large number of dimensions. Thus, we propose the new algorithms, called boosting of random multinomial naive Bayes and oblique decision stump models,whichare usually suited for classifying very-high-dimensional datasets. The results of the experiment on a real dataset show that our proposed algorithms have a high performance compared with other algorithms. The new approach has achieved an accuracy of 94.8%.

This study evaluates the biogas appliance and the possibility to enhance the development of the biogas practices in the Mekong Delta. There were 100 households with and without biogas installation at Tien Giang interviewed. Before constructing the digester, there were 54/65 biogas-user households applied pig dung direct to their trees, 7 households discharged direct to the surrounding canal, and the rest of households buried pig dung at their garden or gave to their neighbor. For 35 non-biogas user there were 10 households applied pig dung direct to their trees, 5 households discharged direct to the surrounding canal, 10 households sold pig dung to their neighbor and the rest of households buried at their garden. Among 65 biogas-user households, there was 41 households mentioned on decrease of disease after construct a biogas plant, 22 house-holds connect their toilet to biogas plant, and 26 households mentioned time-saving (i.e. quick cooking with biogas and save  time from wood collection) for husbandry and gardening. About 60% of non-biogas user households had information on biogas technology but they did not construct a biogas plant due to high investment cost. 70% of the non-biogas household would like to install a digester if the investment cost of about 3 million dong while the rest could construct one if they were offered (freely) 50% of investment cost.

The biogas technology is widely used in Vietnam and in the Mekong Delta, especially plastic biogas digesters which has been successfully applied in the rural area in Can Tho City. Using plastic biogas systems for treating livestock wastes does not only bring farmers benefits such as creating bio-energy for cooking and lighting, providing organic fertilizers for crops, and providing nutrients for fish ponds, but also help to improve environmental quality, and increase farmer?s income leading to the sustainable development in rural areas in the Mekong Delta. There were many studies on alternative local materials in the case of lacking pig manure for maintaining the operation of the biogas digester, which could be accounted for water hyacinth, duckweed and garden grasses - the local species. Besides, such activities encouraged searching for partners for practicing the GHG emission reduction and exchange of GHG emission reduction certificate in agriculture. Therefore, the research on sustainable development of biogas systems in rural areas of the Mekong Delta is needed.

ZnS nanocrystallites have been successfully prepared by using sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3) and zinc chloride as starting materials. Hierarchical nanospheres of ZnS were formed when ZnS nanocrystallites were irradiated by microwave in 15 or 60 minutes, at 100oC. The obtained ZnS nanopowder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) to determine the crystal lattice structure, lattice composition and average crystal size. Optical properties of ZnS powder were studied by means of photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. PLE spectra of  those samples showed  emitted band in the range of  about 280-350 nm which was about 65 nm blue-shift from the absorption of bulk ZnS at 344 nm, that indicated the quantum confinement effects. PL spectra of the samples centered at 350-650 nm. PL spectrum of hiearachical nanospheres had an emission peak at 453 nm, which was about 15 nm red-shift from the emission peaks at 438 nm of the formed ZnS nanoparticles.

Lactic acid fermentation of cucumbers was affected by many factors. For example, size of cucumbers and scale or fermentor could influence on fermentation time as well as quality of final product. In this study, the cucumber sizes including smaller than 50 gram, from 50 to 100 gram and larger than 100 gram per fruit were  investiagted. The scale of fermentation batch was 1 kg, 3 kg and 5 kg cucumbers consequently. The result showed that lactic acid fermentation of the cucumber of medium size (50 á 100 gram per fruit) gave a low pH of 3.5 after 10 days. In case of fermentation of the cucumber of various sizes and different fermented batch weights, in the same brine-stock, the fermentation time was changed but cucumber quality was not influenced significantly. These results give great significance for large-scale application.

The reasearch on ?Technical efficiency of Chlorella sp. algae biomass culture using wastewater from Pangasianodon hypophthalmus ponds" was conducted in 10 days duration. Experiment was designed completely random with four treatments and triplications for each culture medium consisting of distilled water (control), Walne solution, 75% and 100% of wastewater in 10 litre glass jar of which 4.5 liters of wastewater mixed with 0.5 liters of Chlorella algae stock solution. Purebred of Chlorella sp. algae was cultured by Walne solution before starting the experiment. The density and biomass of algae, environmental parameters such as  temperature, pH, DO, N-NO3-, N-NH4+, P-PO43- were collected for analysis on day 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9of the cultured period. Results showed that environmental parameterswere suitable for the development of Chlorella with the best growth in 100% wastewater at day 3 of culture. Chlorella algae showed remarkable uptake the nutrients at day 3 with N-NO3- concentration was reduced from 5.49 mg/L to 0.26 mg/L, N-NH4+ from 0.782 mg/L to 0.042 mg/L and P-PO43-mg/L from 0.97 to 0.11 mg/L with the corresponding efficiencies of 95.27%, 43.48% and 88.66%, respectively.

Responding to the demand of very early rice varieties for the sustainable three-rice-crop system per year in Vinh Long province, this study was proposed to conduct the yield trial of fifteen very early rice varieties, bred and selected by Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI), at four districts (Tam Binh, Long Ho, Vung Liem and Tra On) of Vinh Long province in three continuous crop seasons of Summer-Autumn 2011, Autumn-Winter 2011 and Winter-Spring 2011-2012. Results showed that most of rice varieties have very short growth durations (suitable to the demand), grain yields were significantly different among varieties at each location but not for the mean of   grain yields over all locations and crop seasons, except the Winter-Spring 2011-2012 crop, through analyses of adaptibility and stability. By evaluating the adaptibility and stability characteristics of fifteen very early rice varieties, seven promising varieties were determined in three groups of (i) OM10423 and IR73382, (ii) OM6932 and OM6893, and (iii) OM9584, OM10424 and OM8019 suitable to Summer-Autumn, Autumn-Winter and Winter-Spring crop seasons, respectively.

Antioxidant activity of extracts from fifteen plant species and a straw mushroom species in Vietnam were investigated to choose the plant with high antioxidant activity. Based on the screening, the antioxidant activity and the polyphenoloxidase inhibitory activity of the selective extract in oil-in-water model were evaluated. Afterward, the extracts were applied for melanosis formation prevention in shrimp and lipid oxidation in fish muscle. Research results indicated that all of selected plants had antioxidant activity. Guava leaf extract (GLE) exhibited the highest antioxidant activity based on DPPH free radical scavenging ability with an IC50 of 22 àl. The GLE also showed retardation of hydroperoxides in oil-in-water model and polyphenoloxidase inhibition. Results revealed that the GLE delayed effectively melanosis formation and lipid oxidation in shrimp and lipid oxidation in mackerel fish muscle during refrigerated storage (p < 0.05). Findings in this study showed potential of using antioxidant-containing and antimelanosis-containing plant extracts in fishery processing yield.

A study on the species composition and abundance of the goby fish in Eleotridae in Hau river was conducted from August 2012 to February 2013. Fish samples were collected from trawl, cast, bag net and also from the local markets in An Giang, Can Tho and Soc Trang provinces with five sampling sites in each province. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) was determined by the trawl net every two months. Results showed that five species of Eleotridae were identified as Eleotris melanosoma, Oxyeleotris urophthalmus, O. marmorata, Butis humeralis and B. butis. In which, B. humeralis appeared only in Soc Trang province at the downstream of the Hau river, while B. butis appeared in both Can Tho and Soc Trang provinces. CPUEn were significantly different among sampling times and locations, and ranged from 1 to 23 ind.ha-1, whereas B.butis appeared in October, December with low variation (2-10 ind.ha-1). The high variation of CPUEw was observed in October and December (2,9-761,3 g.ha-1) indicating that in October, a number of fish was low but the size of fish was larger than before. The results also indicated that pH (7-8.5) and water temperature (27-33oC) were slightly variation in studied areas, however the salinity was high fluctuation (1 - 16?) only in Soc Trang province. Our findings showed that when the salinity decreased to 0?, E. melanosoma was appeared abunduntly in An Giang and Can Tho provinces.

An experiment was conducted by using a 5 x 5 Latin square design on 5 male Phan Rang sheep at 3 months of age to find out the suitable neutral detergent fiber (NDF) level in diets. Five treatments were 55, 57, 59, 61 and 63% NDF in diets (DM basis) corresponding to NDF55, NDF57, NDF59, NDF61 and NDF63 treatments. The results indicated that DM intakes were not significantly different (p>0.05) among the treatments and they were 661, 654, 677, 690 and 660 g/animal/day for the NDF55, NDF57, NDF59, NDF61 and NDF63 treatments, respectively. The relationship between DM intake and NDF levels in diets followed the equation y = -1.23x2 + 146x ? 3670 (R2 = 0.61). DM digestibility was not significantly different (p=0.061), however there was an gradual increase from NDF55 to NDF61 treatment, then a reduction for the NDF63 treatment (R2 =0.65). The conclusion was that NDF digestibility of the sheep from 3 to 5 months of age was improved when increasing the dietary NDF level from 55 to 61% corresponding to the nutrient utilization and growth rate.

Population dynamics of the sweet potato weevil (Cylas formicarius) in two consecutive sweet potato crop seasons and in a whole year was surveyed by using synthetic sex pheromone traps at Binh Minh and Binh Tan districts (Vinh Long province). In a crop season survey, the population density of C. formicarius was low in the vegetative period, increased rapidly from tuber bearing to harvest of sweet potato. Otherwise, there was an accumulation of C. formicarius density from the first to the second crop season. In a whole year survey, C. formicarius adults appeared throughout the year with the density was much depended upon the status of tuber bearing of sweet potato in field.

Field-mouse blood permanent slide stained with Wright - Giemsa stains in PH 7,4 phosphate buffer gave  the high contrast in colours between nucleus and cytoplasm, cytoplasm and granules. Erythrocytes and five major types of leukocytes: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes and monocytes are distinguishable under the light microscope.

Extraction of enzyme bromelain from non-used part of pineapple from agriculture and food processing industries can give a profit for adding value to these by products, on the other hand it can also minimize the environmental pollution. In this study, the factors affecting on bromelain extraction and preservation were explored. The results showed that among different part of pineapple wastes (stem, leave, fruit) stem was the most appropriate subject for enzyme production. The enzyme was precipitated by 70% ammonium sulfate saturation at 28°C with the protein yield 69.52%. Bromelain powder was obtained by vacuum drying for 24 hours with the moisture content of 1.87% and specific activity of 12.29 TU/mg. The enzymatic activity of the product was almost stabilised for twelve weeks when it was stored in glass bottles at 4oC.

This study aims to analyze the situation and suggest some solutions for raising trionychid turtles in Go Quao District, KienGiangProvince. Data were collected randomly by direct interviews from 36 farmers who raised trionychid turtles. Descriptive statistical method and financial ratio analysis were applied in this study. Results showed that the households could not get benefits from trionychid turtle raising in Go Quao District. However, the farmers did not take their own manpowers into account of total cost, so it might increase their profits. The study also proposed 4 solutions to contribute the development of the raising model for trionychid turtles in Go Quao district, Kien Giang province including technical improvements, financial resource increases, access enhancement to market information and associated organizations, also the establishment of associated production groups and cooperatives.

Purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of organic fertilizers on yield and quality of  mangosteen fruits at Cau Ke district of Tra Vinh province, 2011/2012 crop season on the twenty four-year-old trees. The experimental design was Completely Randomized, including five treatments are five dosages of organic fertilizer (0, 10, 20, 40, and 80 kg.tree-1), with four replications, each replication had one tree and organic fertilizers applied right after the fruit harvest (2010/2011 crop season). The amount of inorganic fertilizers was applied evenly for all treatments,  divided into 3 times: (i) 3kg.tree-1 NPK 20-20-10 together with  organic fertilizer, (ii) 2kg.tree-1 NPK 8-24-24 at 2 weeks after budding and (iii) 2kg.tree-1 NPK 13-13-20 at 3-4 weeks after flowering. Results showed that organic fertilizers had effect on yield and quality of mangosteen fruits through the  improvement of  soil physico-chemical properties. Applying 40 or 80 kg.tree-1 increased yields compared with noorganic fertilizer from 12.5 to 14.3 kg.tree-1, applying 20 to 80 kg.tree-1 increased pH index of fruit flesh and translucent flesh disorder ratio, applying 40 or 80 kg.tree-1 reduced  the Brix degree and inner gamboge disorder ratio. Organic fertilizer limited the sudden changes of  soil moisture, increased porosity and water holding capacity of soil as well as organic matter content, available N  and P, exchangeable K and Ca in soil.

In order to maintain quality and extend postharvest storage of "nhan" rambutan, the research was conducted on survey of factors (i) postharvest handling conditions [(citric acid (0.25; 0.5; 0.75%) in combination with calcium chloride (0.2; 0.3; 0.4%), ozonation (0.1; 0.15; 0.2 ppm) for 5 mins], (ii) type of packaging materials (PP, PE, PSE and PVC, PP and carton, PE and carton) and (iii) storage temperature (10á25oC). Fruit quality (in terms shell color, weight loss, soluble solid content, citric acid, ascorbic acid) and sensory values ??were analyzed. The results showed that the quality of ?Nhan? rambutan was maintained when the fruits were treated using citric acid in combination with calcium chloride  (0.5%:0.3%) or by ozonation at level of 1.5 ppm compared to the control sample. Under these conditions, the weight loss of fruit was reduced, sensory value and consumer acceptability were increased. The quality of rambutan stored in PP and PE bag at 10°C was maintained for 15 days, better than those stored at other temperatures. The nutrients of fruit (sugar, citric acid, ascorbic acid content) almost were stabilized during storage.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different diets on the growth and survival rate of black apple snail Pila polita during nursing phase. There were 3 food treatments and 3 replicates in each treatment as follow: 1). Vegetable; 2). Vegetable+Industrial pellet; 3). Industrial pellet. Newly hatched snails (initial weight and shell height were 0,03 g and 4,5 mm) were reared in the plastic tanks with a density of 150 ind/tank. After 35 days of culture period, the survival rate in pellet diet (93.3%) was higher than in mixture diet (90.2%) and vegetable (89.9%), however there was no significant difference (p>0.05). Feeding with pellet, snails also reached highest body weight and shell height (0.83 g and 15.69 mm) compared to feeding with mixture diet (0.69 g; and 14.66 mm) or vegetable (0.29 g and 11. 08 mm). Snails were fed with pellet also presented highest feed efficiency (2847%) and that was significant difference (p

Rice is an important food crop not only for Vietnam but also for the stability of food security of the world. Climate change has caused many adverse impacts on rice production, thus maintaining rice yield and reducing investment costs in rice culture would contribute more benefits for farmers. In this study, the effects of alternate wetting and drying irrigation in combination with reduction in phosphorous fertilizer application and crop establishment methods on rice growth, rice yield, and economic efficiency was investigated on OM5451 cultivar at Ta Danh commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province in 2011 - 2012 Winter-Spring. The results showed that without phosphorous application in one crop season had no reduction in rice yield and no change in available phosphorous level in the soil. Alternate wetting and drying irrigation saved about 50% of irrigated water in comparison with continuous flooding of farmer practice. Crop establishment by transplanting yielded 7 tons/ha higher than directing seeding 1 ton/ha. Transplanted plants accumulated phosphorous in their shoots and leaves almost twice more than those of direct seeded plants. Reasonable combination of these factors contributed to boost economic efficiency equal to an increase in rice yield of 1 ton/ha.

Flash profile is a quick sensory profiling technique designed to meet industrial needs. It is based on the combination of free choice profiling and a comparative evaluation of the whole product set. This research applied the flash profile method associated with investigating of consumer tastes to build the preference map for tropical fruit yogurt products. Yogurts enriched with jams of ten tropical fruits, namely pineapple, jackfruit, mango, papaya, red flesh dragon, palm, orange, grapefruit, longan and sim were analyzed using the flash profile method. Besides, products were compared for the consumer liking according to the scoring method using the hedonic scale. Based on the combination of above results the preference map of products was developed. Yogurts added with jackfruit, mango, papaya or pineapple jams were of good sensory quality and got high acceptibility from the consumers.

Genetic diversity analysis of polyphosphate accumulating bacterial community isolated from water of catfish pond and piggery wastewater in the Mekong Delta, Vietnamwas studied from August 2012 to April 2013. The results of Shannon-Weiner species diversity index (H?) and Shannon Evenness index (J?) shown that the H? indices among different classes highly varied from 0,301 to 0,797. This difference was mainly changed because of the total number of species and the species evenness for each class. The H? indices of polyphosphate accumulating bacterial community isolated from water of catfish pond and piggery wastewater were relatively high and similar (H?=1,07) although there was a difference in the total number of isolates. These results revealed that the H? indices of polyphosphate accumulating bacterial community from different niches were less dependent on the total number of isolates but more dependent on the composition of species, the total number of species and relative frequency of isolates in each species.

A feeding trial on (Landrace x Yorkshire-Ba Xuyen) growing pigs was conducted in  a 2 x 2 factorial design with three different diets.  The feeding factors consisted of 0 (T1, control, complete diet), 10 (T2) and 16% (T3) coconut meal (CM) inclusion in the diet. At the final period, 18 finishing pigs comprising an equal number of castrated males and females (97±1 kg) were selected  for slaughtering to evaluate the carcass performance and meat quality. Results on dietary treatments showed that the carcass yield and loin eye area were similar among treatments. However, backfat thickness was higher in T2 than that in T1 and T3 (p

Applying protein electrophoresis SDS-PAGE is the good way to choose seeds that have good grain quality such as low amylose content, based on the color of waxy bands. This method helps to quickly select the individuals that have desirable traits before breeding, and determine the satisfactory offsprings in order to shorten the breeding selection. Growing and evaluating the purity and yield of selected lines in 2012-2013 on the field to evaluate the agronomic characteristics, yield and quality before releasing for production. From results of breeding and selecting on the field, two very short duration varieties that have plant type suitable for  production requirements were selected: MTL815 with 79-83-day growing duration, good rice (chalkiness rate 9 of 4.6%) and low amylose content (23.5%), and MTL816 with 80-85-day growing duration, very good rice (chalkiness rate 9 of 0%), fragrant and low amylose content (19.2%). These rice varieties were also evaluated for resistance to the brown planthopper and blast disease.

Adults were collected from the stomach of dogs and larvae of G. spinigerum were collected in muscle and liver of the snakehead fish at some southern provinces of Vietnam. Body structure of the adult has mouth lips, esophagus, intestine and anus opened at the ventral side of posterior end. The female adult has uterus and reproductive pore, and the male adult has two copulatory spines at the body end. Two thirds of the anterior body covered with spines. The average size for female was 25.8 mm long and 2.5 mm wide, while for male was 18 mm long and 1.2 mm wide. The head bulb armed with seven cephalic hooklet rows with the number in rows 1 to 7 were 34.5, 43.4, 58, 66.5, 74.8, 76.4 and 81.4, respectively. The morphological characteristics of  the  third instar larva were similar to those of adult worms, but its head bulb had only four cephalic hooklet rows, uterus and copulatory spines undeveloped.

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of canine parvovirus (CPV) infection in dogs at the age from 1 to 6 months in Can Tho city and to evaluate the changes of parameters of haemic physiology and biochemistry. Dogs with the signs of bloody diarrhea were diagnosed with CPV infection by using the Parvovirus Rapid test kit (CPV Ag). In the present study, 84 out of 184 dogs showed positive infection with CPV (45.1%). The proportion of infected dogs at the age 1-4 months was significantly higher than those at 2-4 month- old dogs (45% - 55.4% vs 21.7%). There was no significant difference in terms of gender. Low numbers of erythrocytes, hemoglobin and hematocrite were recorded in dogs with CPV-positive infection (74.7%, 72.3% và 50.6%, respectively). The results of biochemical examination showed that CPV-infected dogs had greater concentrations of AST and ALT than the normal ones. In general, 65.1% CPV-infected dogs were recovered after two treatment procedures.

The citrus pock caterpillar, Prays endocarpa, is one of serious insect pests of pomelo in the Mekong Delta. In order to apply sex pheromone as a tool for a sustainable management of P. endocarpa, optimal conditions for the application were investigated in Nam Roi pomelo orchards at My Hoa village, Binh Minh district, Vinh Long province. The results showed that Vietnamese lure (lure prepared in Vietnam) was as effective as Japanese lure (lure prepared in Japan) in attraction of P. endocarpa males. Otherwise, sticky traps showed more efficient in capture of P. endocarpa males than water traps. Traps setting with the horizontal sticky board captured more P. endocarpa  than those with vertical sticky board, while roof trap did not effect on the attractiveness of lure. The best height for trap catch of  P. endocarpa males in Nam Roi pomelo orchards was 1.0 ? 1.5 meter.

Selection of salt tolerant rice varieties using hydroponic system and marker-assisted selection (MAS) is effective and accurate. 244 rice varieties were evaluated for salt tolerance in Yosida media with addition of 4 and 6? NaCl. Four SSR markers RM206, RM223, RM10745 and RM8094 were used to identify the salt tolerant genotypes. The PCR patterns indicated that RM206 was associated with salt tolerant trait. In addition, the salt-tolerant varieties were tested for yield and yield components on the field under 4? NaCl. The results showed that MTL664 and MTL702 appeared to be the good salt tolerant candidates.

The study was carried out to investigate the effects of (i) the maturation (80-100 days), (ii) storage temperature (10-25oC) and (iii) packaging types (PP, PE, EPS and PVC, PP and carton, PE and carton) on the post-harvest quality of ?Java? rambutan (grown in Cho Lach District, Ben Tre). Research results showed that the best harvesting time was from 90-95 days after flowering, fruit had bright red color, oBrix 17.5-19. During maturation, the quality attributes of fruit changed significantly. ?Java? rambutan stored in PP or PE bag at 10°C could maintain the commercial value until 15 days as compared with other types of packaging.

This study was carried out by direct interview 30 traditional rotation shrimp-rice farmers (TS) and 30 improved rotation shrimp-rice farmers (IS) in An Minh and An Bien districts, Kien Giang province. In addition, on farm trials were also conducted in 3 TS farms and 3 IS farms from January to May 2012. The survey results shown that average culture area and percentage of surrounding ditch in TS and IS were 2.72 ha/farm; 30.6% and 1.4 ha/farm; 26.4%, respectively. Water depth in IS and TS were 1.5 m and 1.23 m. Stocking density and survival rate in IS (6.7 ind./m2; 53.5%) were significantly higher (p

Acorus calamus L. is one of the precious herbs. The study on propagation of Acorus calamus L. by plant tissue culture technique was carried out to determine the suitable media for in vitro proliferation of this plant. Three experiments were conducted at the laboratory of plant tissue culture and net house of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Department, College of Agriculture and Applied Biology, Can Tho University, from December 2012 to April 2013. The results showed that: (i) MS medium supplemented with BA (2-4 mg/L) was effective for rapid proliferation of shoots in vitro (3.13-4.67 shoots after a 4 week culture); (ii) Solid MS medium or MS supplemented with activated charcoal (2 g/L) gave highest rate of in vitro root induction (100%); and (iii) Acclimatization of micropropagated plants which were planted in (or not) plastic pots containing rice husk ashes or coconut (fiber) dust showed a high survival rate (97.87-98.89%), and most seedlings grew very well.

This research attempts to find the correlation between personal values and work motivation in purpose to measure personal values and work motivations of white collar workers in Can Tho City, as well as to suggest certain advice for employers. After building a survey based on personal values and work motivations theories, the data with 194 samples were collected and processed with statistical tools in SPSS: descriptive statistics, internal reliability with Cronbach's Alpha, exploratory factor analysis, means comparison with t-test and correlation analysis. The results exposed correlations between several personal values and several work motivations. It is suggested that the employers wisely affect his employees or build a standard of personal values for his/her employees in order for the employees to get high motivation and work performance. A minor problem is that, the personal value measurement scale needs to be tested further for the sake of checking the higher validity of construct and making it fit for Vietnamese employees if necessary. In summary, this research built a measurement scale with high reliability for measuring personal values and work motivations of Can Tho City employees, providing the basic steps in this field for next studies.

In recent years, import - export activities have significantly contributed to not only leading Bac Ninh, Vietnam towards the international economy but also improving the economic growth and making the society and politics of the province stable. However, the information about Bac Ninh?s import - export activities have not been popularly decleared. Some decleared information is disjointed, undetailed and uncombinated. Therefore, this paper is concerned about solving the existing problems by generalizing Bac Ninh import-export situation, using 45 survey copies and SWOT analysis model to analyse the strong points and weak points, opotunities and challenges for Bac Ninh import - export. Accordingly, several strategic solutions and output new rising model were suggested for Bac Ninh import - export.

The study was conducted through surveying 126 actors involved in the value chain of green apple in three districts of in Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam: Ninh Hai, Ninh Phuoc and Phan Rang. Several experts were also interviewed in this study. The study applied the theories of value chain link and competitive advantage analysis in order to find out how market operation of this chain is. The main results obtained from this study show that there are two traditional marketing channels for fresh green apple and one for dryed green apple. Income distribution is not in favour of the growers. However, there is a room for improvement of this income distribution among actors towards increasing growers? distributed income. Through using SWOT analysis, this study identified four groups of strategies, including eight groups of activities needed to implement in order to increase net value added for the whole chain in general, and for growers in particular.

This study investigated the current status of capital investment, capital investment demand and the development trend of small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam, using the partial adjustment investment demand model and the enterprise development trend identification framework, respectively. Results showed that operating performance, revenue growth and the scale of enterprise were main factors affecting to the capital structure choice of the SMEs. Due to limited equity, many of the fixed assets had been highly depreciated. SMEs? capital investment demand was mainly dependent on revenue growth rather than previous investments. The long-term and short-term elasticities of investment demand were 2.55 and 2.18 respectively. The results also illustrated that labor increase rather than investment accumulation was a main source of growth of the SME economy in Hau Giang Province.

The aim of this paper is to understand whether and, if so, how variations in firm and context characteristics determine the variation in unofficial payment (or firm-level bribery) in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. In this paper, the author explains why several firms are forced to pay unofficial payment more than others. The former include the (perceived) level of competition and the (perceived) level of the quality of local government. The latter includes the size and the age of the focal organization. Based on firm-level data, the authors found that firm characteristics (e.g., age, size) affect a firm?s likelihood of paying unofficial payment. Similarly, variations in the business environment (e.g., the perceived degree of competition, the quality of government services) affect a firm?s likelihood of paying unofficial payment.

This study aimed to identify factors affecting access to consumer credit at commercial banks of households in Can Tho City, Vietnam. The study used  Probit model to determine the factors affecting access to consumer credit in commercial banks of the households, and used Tobit regression model to determine the factors affecting the consumer credit quantity of the households in Can Tho City. The analytical results showed that the educational level of the household, mortgage certificates of land use rights, area of land and the household income are factors that affected the ability of households to access consumer credit in commercial banks. The amount of consumer credit by households was affected by the following factors: education level of the household head, the land use rights, household income and term loans.

This research aimed to identify the factors that impact the satisfaction among staff working at Tien Giang University. The research results indicated five groups of factors (variables) which had impacted on these staff?s satisfaction namely: job characteristics, wage and financial rewards, staff relationship, job promotion opportunities, and working conditions. These five factor groups were measured by 24 observed variables. The factor analysis for impacts on working motivation aimed at realistically contributing to the human resource planning at the research sites and creating further satisfaction at work for the University?s staff.

This study analyzed the factors influencing rural households? access to formal and informal credit in the rural credit market in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. The results showed that land holding status, informal interest and informal loan duration are important factors influencing access to informal credit. Factors influencing formal credit accessibility include local government employee status, credit group membership, a poor certificate, educational attainment, working skills and village road access. Despite the fact that microcredit programs are designed to target households at the bottom of the population pyramid, the lowest income group faces more credit rationing than other groups. To reduce reliance on informal loans and improve formal credit access, rural households should actively participate in a credit group. The findings also confirmed the interaction effect between the two credit sectors, in which an informal loan positively influences the probability of borrowing from the formal sector.

The study was conducted to assess the level of student satisfaction with the quality of training of the School of Economics - Business Administration at Can Tho University, Vietnam. The data were collected from 155 economic students by stratified random sampling. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used to determine the factors affecting student satisfaction on the quality of training. Research results have shown two groups affecting the students? satisfaction: (1) Manners, the capacity of lecturers and (2) Facilities. In general, the economic students showed that they felt satisfied with the quality of the training of the School.

The present study examined determinants of expenditure on public lottery of individuals in Can Tho City, Vietnam. Data for the analysis were collected from the survey on 400 individuals. The Tobit model was applied to determine the determinants of lottery expenditure in the latest week and month before the survey. Findings showed that lottery players accounted for a great part of sampled individuals, about 55%. Permanent players accounted for about 85% of the players. Individuals, who are Kinh (a people group of Vietnamese) at the old age and with high education, have lower expenditure. In addition, individual, who are living with couple, with high income, accessibility to lottery vendors and being self-employed are likely to play more than others are. That someone in the family won a lottery prize also promote people to play lottery. A great part of players have a wish to win a prize and to help the poor vendors.

Following the essences and advancing the values of Vietnam tradition and humanity about the human beings, the people are considered the determining factor of all development. On the basis of Marxism - Leninism, President Ho Chi Minh always considered: ?Human is the most valuable to the society? and is?objective and motivation of all revolution?. He always ranked the aim of the people liberation on the top. In the past years, the Vietnam?s Communist Party of and President Ho Chi Minh have led the Vietnamese people to overcome the difficulties and challenges to reach further development at all circumstances, which has marked the brilliant milestones for the national history, contributing to changing the position of Vietnamese people in international recognition. On that basis, potential solutions are suggested for capacity building and development of the Vietnamese people in the current period.

This study aims to analyse impacts of land owning on farm households?income, particularly in My Tu Commune, My Tu District, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. The study was conducted through direct intensive interview with structured questionnaire. There were 90 interviewed households, including 30 households of land owning less than 0.5 hectare and 30 households of land owning from 0.5 to 1 hectare, 30 households of land owning over 1 hectare. The results showed that average income of the households of land owning more land (about 1.8 hectare) was highest, although these households only implement agricultural production.When the land owned by the households met the production demand, the agricultural income would be stable and important source of income. Household income has been affected by land owning. Especially, for large-size farm households of owning land area over 1 hectare, 100% households reached over 60 millions VND/year.

The analysis of financial ratios shows that households which hold craft production together with other production perform more effectively compared with ones which specialize in only craft production. The results also show that the effectiveness of capital usage in households with large revenue (i.e coal craft villages) is not high. Results from regression analysis illustrate that the number of educated years significantly and positively influenced the unit income while the number of labours had significantly negative influence. The study also finds out that average unit income of four different craft villages (mats, coal, hyacinth and boat) in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam  are significantly different from one another. PBA shows that tourism combination model runs more effectively than the traditional one. ZTCM finds out that the surplus from tourism development in Hau Giang Province is really huge. Besides such financial benefits, many non-financial benefits could be achieved through Hau Giang image development, brand promotion of craft products and through other word-of-mouth benefits.

The project ?Strengthening Farmer-Agricultural Research and Extension System Partnership (FERAS) ? Vietnam (2011-2013)? has been put into practice in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam since 2011. The purpose of this activity is to provide the farmers with practical knowledge about the farming ? ecology system, how to apply the modern technology in seed selection, approaching to socialize seed selection activities in the local area. In this study, the author focused on farming households that had been attended the Training Workshop of FFS. The study concentrated on examining the modern technology comprehension, improvement and application of the households through the FFS?s training. The result of the study indicated that learners had a big improvement in studying. The proof is that, before attending the course, 100% of learners had weak or average levels; however, after the course, 100% of learners reached good or very good levels. The study also showed that the rates of the amendment of different farmers groups? knowledge were in correlation. Moreover, it is suggested several directions to improve the comprehension of the knowledge and apply the new technology of the farmers in the surveyed area.

The study focused on the non-parametric approach to measure the cost utilization efficiency based on a combination estimate of technical efficiency and allocative efficiency of households at Vinh Chau in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Moreover, the study attempted to confirm the value by estimation and comparison towards the effectiveness of production scale. Research data were collected from 70 households, who have been grown the purple onion. Data Envelopment Analysis was used in this study to estimate the components of effective production of households. Research results showed that the purple onion-growing households achieved fairly the high and stable effectiveness upon the production scale (0.98 on average with standard deviation 0.03); whereas the cost utilization efficiency is rather low (0.62).