This paper presents a model of a Maglev train (the fastest train in the world) and the sliding mode controller for it. The control objectives are to levitate it to an equilibrium position and to keep it in this equilibrium position. In this study, the chattering problem is resolved by replacing the function sign(S) by the function tanh(S) in the control law.  Matlab/Simulink simulation and experimental results showed that the leviatation system of Maglev train had been decoded.

This paper presents the design of a system for the control and monitoring of electric devices. These actions are performed via an application that runs on android tablet. This tablet is connected with an embedded system via wireless network. The embedded system controls the device by executing commands that are transmitted from the tablet. It also transmits the device status to the tablet via wireless connection so that the table can updates the device status on its graphical user interface. Experimental results showed that this system had good performance. The application could be used to control and monitor power electric devices. It could also detect the device that experienced problems; measure and plot the current consumption versus time.

The inverse gravity problem - especially that to determine the crystal basement - does not have a unique solution so there are many methods to solve it. There are two parts presented in this paper which are (a) the developing of a program to determine the crystal basement from the gravity data using an improved Binary Genetic Algorithm, and (b) its application in interpreting some gravity anomalies in the Mekong delta. The results showed that the program was easy to use, and the maximum depth of the basement of Mekong delta area varies from 0.6 km to 1.7 km which agrees with other previous studies.

Uniaxial presser is generally used to characterize the physical properties of materials including constructional materials (soil, concrete), and food (meat, fruits). To design a presser, this research solved two fundamental problems: a mechanical system design with the appropriate transmission mechanism and an accurate control system with data acquisition module. In the mechanical system, a ball-screw structure was used to generate axial motion transmitted from a stepper motor through a gearbox. The microcontroller, displacement sensor, and load cell were implemented to acquire and process data then transmit the data to the graphical user interface (GUI) and to a computer for storage. The design uniaxial presser has met certain required specifications with the accuracy of 48 àm in displacement and 1.95 N in force measurement. The operation stability and reasonable cost of the system showed the feasibility of applying the system in measuring the mango firmness with destructive measurement methods.

This paper presents a general design process of a small unmaned aerial vehicle called quadrotor for aerial imaging. Since quadrotors are simple in term of design, the main concern in this study is the overview of a complete quadrotor model based on stable and popular flight control boards available on the market, and methods of aerial imaging to promote various aerial imaging applications using quadrotors. Three designs for quadrotor frames and one camera gimbal were proposed and evaluated. Vibration damping for sensor circuits was tackled and vibration damping methods were proposed. Different approaches to aerial image capture were also been introduced. Preliminary results showed that the designed quadrotor could be used to capture aerial images and would be potential for aerial imaging applications. Limitations of the current quadrotor designs were noted and solutions were also proposed.

Recently coconut copra and products from coconut copra are used in many food processing and medical industries. However, peeling the brown skin of coconut copra is often performed manually before the copra is sent to the next processing stage. This brown skin removal requires much time and labor; and is of low productivity. To tackle these issues, this research aims to design an automated system for classifying the black and white copra surfaces and flipping the white copra surface up for the next automated process of removing the brown skin of coconut copra. The requirements of the system are continuous operation, easy operation and repair, and ease for research work and application. Experimental results showed that the system was capable of automated classifying and up-flipping the white coconut copra surface at 600 kg copra per hour with 90% success rate for the most common copra size. These preliminary results indicate that the system can be further improved for higher productivity and suggests the development of a coconut peeling machine to increase the productivity of coconut copra processing, the value and quality of products from coconut copra.

This paper presents a solution for global optimized path planning with respect to finding the shortest distance for autonomous robotic system, particularly in two-dimensional space with a set of obstacles. The proposed approach is based on visibility-graph and the literature review of path planning is presented in details to explain why this approach is used. Through pros, cons, and complexity in the construction of a visibility-graph, the paper proposed two simple and efficient techniques to significantly reduce computation time in building a visibility-graph in the case of numerous obstacles. Finally, the method of how to control the robot follow exactly the identified path is shown. The experimental results, with a real robot, show that the proposed approach is efficient, feasible and straightforward to apply in practice.

In this paper, we propose a new machine learning algorithm, called the ARC-x4 of finite Newton Support Vector Machine (NSVM) for classifying very large datasets on standard personal computers (PCs). SVM and kernel related methods have provided accurate classification models but their learning tasks usually need a quadratic programming with the requirement of large memory capacity and long time. We extend the recent NSVM proposed by Mangasarian for building a boosting-SVM algorithm. We have used the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury formula to adapt the NSVM to process datasets with a very large number of dimensions. We have also applied the ARC-x4 approach proposed by Breiman to NSVM for classifying massive datasets with a very large number of datapoints as well as a very large number of dimensions. We have evaluated its performance on bio-medical datasets with a PC (2.4 GHz Pentium IV, 2 GB RAM).

To find out bacterial isolates having ability to degrade Paclobutrazol (PBZ), a plant flowering regulator, four soil samples were collected from four different orchard gardens located in Cho Lach, Ben Tre; Cai Lay, Tien Giang and Phong Dien, Can Tho (2 samples) where farmers have intensively applied PBZ in their gardens for a long history. Bacteria from soil samples were enriched in minimal salt medium (MSM) containing PBZ as a only carbon source for bacteria?s growth. Thirty bacterial strains were isolated from the enrichment step. Eight out of 30isolates were selected to examine their degradation capacity for PBZ in MSM liquid media containing 15 ppm of PBZ for 15 days in the dark at room temperature on a shaker. Results from experiment showed that among 8 tested bacterial strains, only 2 bacterial isolates coded as CT2-29 and CT3-18 revealed their high degradation capacity for PBZ. After 15 incubation days, 15,53% and 16,41% of the initially applied PBZ concentration were degraded by CT2-29 and CT3-18, respectively and the results of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that these 2 PBZ degrading bacterial strains were genetically identified as species of Burkholderia sp. CT2-29 and Burkholderia cepacia CT3-18, respectively.

The estimated quantity of rice straw and its use in different provinces (An Giang, Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Can Tho) in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta were investigated based on a prepared questionnaire and field survey. The results showed that local farmers used six common types of rice straw treatment and management, including: burning, burying, mushroom cultivation, breeding, sale and giving to neighbors. The usage of rice straw also varied seasonally. In the winter-spring season, straw burning is the most common activity (98.2%), whereas the remaining activities are mushroom cultivation and sale. In the summer-autumn season, the proportion of straw burning decreased to 89.7% level, burying was accounted for 6.65%. In the autumn-winter season, burning had lowest level (54.1%) while the proportion of straw burying was quite high (26.1%), followed by mushroom cultivation (8.1%) and the rest. Annually, the estimated quantity of rice straw in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta was approximated of about 26.2 million tons, in which 20.9 million tons was burned directly on the fields. This led to an accumulated release approximately 17.95 million tons of CO2, 485.58 thousand tons of CO and 10.38 thousand tons of NOx in the atmosphere. The results also showed that most of farmers tended to continue burning rice straw as a habit in the coming years.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of adsorbent made from basaltic and acidic soil for effective removal of phosphorus in wastewater. In this study, the basaltic soil was collected in the Lam Dong province, and the acidic soil was collected in the Hoa An village, Hau Giang province. Adsorption capacity experiment showed that 1 g basaltic soils adsorbed 10.8 mg PO4-P, while 1 g acidic soil adsorded 2.5 mg PO4-P. The experiment for investigation adsorption capacity of material made from 80% basaltic soil and 20% acidic soil showed that the most appropriate flow rate for effective treating of phosphorus by the bazalt-contained filter system was 360mL/hour. The application of this filter system for phosphorus removal in fish processing wastewater was highly effective, about 83%, and the concentration of PO4-P remained in the efflluent was of 0.50 mgP/L in average (within the acceptable range of the Vietnamese regulation for surface water quality (QCVN 08:2008/BTNMT, class B2)).

From the hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of leaves of Annona glabra L., two compounds were isolated by column chromatography. The structures of these compounds were characterized as 8(14),15-pimaradien-18-oic acid (1),and  quercetin (2) based on 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic methods.

This paper introduces the synthesis of three diaryl ether derivatives 2?chloro-(4-nitrophenoxy) benzene (3a); 2-(4-nitrophenoxy) naphthalene (3b) and 3-methoxy-4-(4-nitrophenoxy) benzaldehyde (3c). These aryl ethers have been synthesized via SNAr reaction under mild conditions and in excellent yields. This effective synthetic procedure could be used to synthesize other diaryl ethers with potential bioacitivities.

Hyperuricemia is associated with gout, and also closely related to cardiovascular diseases, renal calculus, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Xanthine oxidase which catalyses the oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and then to uric acid, plays a crucial role in gout. In treatment of gout, allopurinol is clinically used as xanthine oxidase inhibitor, but this drug suffers from many side effects. Therefore, new alternatives with increased therapeutic activity and least side effects are desired. Herein, we report a study on using the ethanolic extract from the leaves of Artocarpus altilis (Park.) Fosb as xanthine oxidase inhibitor in vitro in gout treatment. The results showed that the optimal concentrations for uric acid production of xanthine and xanthine oxidase were 0.5 mM and 0.0125 U, respectively, with reactive productivity being 93.36 ± 0.09%. Moreover, the activity of xanthine oxidase was almost completely inhibited (97.96 ± 0.49%) at 0.5 mg/mL of crude extract and the estimated value of IC50  was 0.198 mg/mL.

The research was conducted based on the result analysis of 22,868 earthworm individuals from 187 collected sites in the Mekong Delta during the period of 2007 ? 2012. As a result, 34 earthworm species of 9 genera in 6 families were recorded including two newly described species (Pheretima thaii and Ph. mangophila) and one newly recorded species (Drawida barwelli). Among genera, Pheretima was the largest genus with 24 species. Almost all Pheretima species belonged to three group, postthuma ? houlleti ? and peguana ? species. Some evidences proved that peguana ? species could be originated from a mountainous region of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The earthworm fauna of the Mekong Delta was dominated by Oriental element followed by Etiopian, Neotrpic and Holartic elements. In addition, an identification key to species was provided.

Silica nanoparticles have been successfully prepared from rice husk ash by using precipitation method. At first, the rice husk ash (RHA) was obtained by annealing at temperatures 500 - 700oC for 4 hours, then nanosilica particles were extracted by using 3N sodium hydroxide solution followed by precipitating with HCl solution to pH = 6. The obtained product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), Fourrier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) to determine the crystal lattice structure, phase and elemental composition. The morphology and grain size of the sample were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the prepared SiO2 nanoparicles were amorphous phase with the average size about 15 nm.

The objective of this survey was to obtain information on the current status of husbandry, nutrition, feed utilization and performances of rabbits in the Mekong Delta (MD) in order to identify and prioritize research needs for future studies. A survey was conducted on 53 rabbit farms in 12 provinces/cities in the MD. The results showed that rabbits are mainly raised for meat and laboratorial tests and. crossbred rabbits (New Zealand x local) were the most popular (75.5%) in this region. Forage sources such as natural grasses, sweet potato vines and water spinach were often used as basal diets, while brewery waste, soybean waste and concentrates were used as supplements. The dietary crude protein (13.9-14.1%) was low as compared to the requirements of the temperate rabbits (15-19%). The nutrient intakes (58.4 g DM, 7.84 g CP and 680 kJ ME per rabbit/day) and growth rate (13.2 g/rabbit/day) of meat rabbits were lower than domestic data reported (16.7-24.5 g/rabbit/day). Rabbit production in the MD has advantages of easy sale, yearly available feed sources and adaptable breeds but due to limited knowledge on nutritional techniques, the production has not reached its potential.  It is recommended that more studies on nutrient requirements and local feeds for crossbred rabbits should be considered to serve for extension activities in raising rabbits.

Two nitrogen- fixing bacterial strains were selected among groups of bacterial strains isolated from rice rhizosphere alum soil of Phung Hiep, Hau Giang (PH27) and Tam Nong, Dong Thap (TN20). These materials were used to test the affection of their nitrogen-fixing ability on the growth, development and yield of OM10424 rice variety in field condition. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Completed Block Designed (RCBD) with 4 replications and two factors. The results showed that, among agronomic parameters, nitrogen-fixing ability of both two bacterial strains could not improve the plant height and panicle length, but did increase straw dried weight. Dried weight mean of straw in treatments with TN20 strain innoculation attained the highest value (11,5 g/hill) and signifficantly differed with that of PH27 strain and without bacterial innoculation (10,1 g/hill). Among the yield components, the affection of nitrogen doses and bacterial innoculation did not make the unfill grain ratio and 1000 grains weight difference among treatments. Treatments innoculated with PH27 strain produced the highest panicle number/m2 (256 panicles), the highest fill grain number/panicle (63.8 grains) and the highest yield (3.25 T/ha). Innoculation with PH27 strain could save up to 50% nitrogen supplying but the obtained yield was different insignifficantly in comparison to those of full nitrogen dose without bacterial innoculation.

With the aim of inoculating lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from sour fermented fish into the mixture before fermentation time to achieve better products than natural ones; Pediococcus acidilactici (L1), 107, 108, 109 CFU/g; Lactobacillus farciminis (L2), 108, 109 CFU/g; and Lactobacillus farciminis (L3), 106, 107 CFU/g; were inoculated into the mixture before fermentating. The density of total microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria, chemical criteria (pH, lactic acid, calcium in fish bones, NH3), and sensory evaluations (colour, flavour, taste, texture of products) for fixed fermentation periods of 10, 20 and 30 days showed that Pediococcus acidilactici L1 ? a potential species of LAB inoculum - would be selected to inoculate into sour fermented fish to improve the quality of products on flavour, taste; lower content of NH3 occurred naturally in products; 15 - 20% of fermentation time was also saved and finally products could meet perfectly the quality control of microorganisms, chemistry, sensory levels as the same as natural fermented products.

Four aggregation bacteria strains Bacillus cereus KG.05, Bacillus megaterium VL.01; Bacillus sp. VL.05, Bacillus aryabhattai ST.02 were isolated and selected from one hundred fifty piggery wastewater samples of anaerobic digester collected in 13 provinces of the Mekong Delta. From the results of physicochemical methods for the bacterial strain linked with each pair (Bacillus cereus KG.05+ Bacillus megaterium VL.01), (Bacillus cereus KG.05+Bacillus sp. VL.05), (Bacillus cereus KG.05+ Bacillus aryabhattai ST.02) và (Bacillus megaterium VL.01+Bacillus sp. VL.05) and based on hydrophobic surfaces of cells and pH together with elements (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+) in the environment, coaggregation efficiency of bacteria was determined. The results identified environmental elements affected the performance aggregation process of wastewater treatment optimal value at pH=7 and cation valence I (K+) at a concentration of 30 mM, and cation valence II (Mg2+) at a concentration of 20 mM had aggregated performance >70%. Through which, showed that best pairs of selected strains representing Bacillus cereus KG.05+ Bacillus megaterium VL.01 microbial community aggregation in piggery wastewater after treatment biogas in the Mekong Delta.

Vietnamese Tra fish (Pangasius hypophthalmus), as a ?white flesh fish? on the western market, has become an economical valuable freshwater fishery product in recent years. The availability of data in microbiological quality of Tra fish product is, however, limited. Therefore, the microbiological evolution of Tra fish processed at large and small scale factories was evaluated. The total aerobic bacteria counts on fish, hands and food contact surfaces of small scale factory were revealed to be significantly higher than that of large scale factory (p < 0.05). Particularly, the total microbiological counts on the frozen fillets from the large and small scale plants were 2.9 ± 0.4 log CFU/g and 5.3 ± 0.4 log CFU/g, respectively. Some preventive measures should be improved to avoid a potential food safety problem at the small scale plant sampled.

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of rice straw compost incorporation on CH4, N2O emissions and rice yield in lysimeter. The greenhouse experiment including four treatments of (i) without rice straw incorporation (WRS), (ii) fresh rice straw incorporation (FRS), (iii) application of 3 tons per hectare of rice straw compost (RSC1) and (iv) application of 6 tons per hectare of rice straw compost (RSC2) was established in a randomized complete block design at College of Agriculture & Applied Biology, Can Tho University, with four replications. Results showed that the fresh rice straw incorporation increased CH4 emission and decreased N2O emission while the rice straw compost incorporation mitigated both CH4 and N2O emissions. In greenhouse condition, application of 6 tons per hectare of rice straw compost improved the number of panicle per m2, number of grain per panicle and filled grain percentage and, therefore, the grain yield of this treatment has been  increased (5.76 t/ha).

Production of glutinous rice is one of important sectors in the agricultural economy at Long An province. However, yields, quality and income of glutinous rice production are highly determined by farming practices. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis that seeding rates and methods strongly influence yields, grain quality and economic profitability of glutinous rice production at Long An. An on-farm trial, conducted in Thu Thua district in the dry season 2012-2013 crop, included three treatments of seeding rates and methods: (1) hand-seeding with 150 kg/ha, (2) row-seeding with 100 kg/ha with a row distance of 11 cm x 11 cm, and (3) row-seeding with 90 kg/ha with a row distance of 20 cm x 20 cm). Results showed that the row-seeding method helped farmers to reduce seeding rate while yield and income increased, comparing to hand-seeding with 150 kg/ha (farmer?s practice). The row-seeding with a row distance 11 cm x 11 cm gave the highest yield and economic return. Grain quality did not differ among seeding methods and rates.

In recent years, mangosteen?s area and productivity have decreased. The main difficulty for mangosteen growers is that the soil is degraded, which makes yields of mangosteen decrease. Especially, sap leaking of mangosteen makes the fruit quality decrease. Results of survey done at Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province showed that most of mangosteen gardens were old of 20-40 year-age (approximated 40%), while the younger orchards (less than 20 year-old) contributed only 9%. Most of the orchards in Cho Lach District were from 20 to 60 year-old (about 60%), with some reached 60-70 year-old. Though the farming techniques applied with low amounts of organic fertilizers or even without application, soil bulk density has been still low and the soils have not been compacted yet.  However, the soil structure stability was relatively low. In addition, soil pH was very low since farmers rarely applied lime for improvement of the soil pH. Therefore, it is suggested to mangosteen growers owning gardens over 20 years that they should apply balanced amounts of N, P and K in combination with organic fertilizers of 20 kg per plant to improve soil quality and, therefore, enhance fruit yield and quality.

The temperature at the grave of the waste stream can increase and inhibit the degradation of normal microorganism strains. The aim of this study was to screen and isolate for the keratin degrading heat tolerant bacteria from slaughter-houses and farm. Five hair dumping soil samples and two waste water samples were collected from Dong Thap province for this study. These samples were serially diluted and plated on the feather-meal-containing medium for isolating and screening of efficient hair-degrading bacteria. Eighteen (18) aerobic heat resistant bacterial strains were isolated and 18 strains showed the degrading ability of feather and goat-hair. 18 strains were able to grow and degraded keratin at 45oC; 10 strains had the capacity of development at 50°C and two strains had the ability to survive at 55oC. 18 isolates showed the feather-degrading ability with most of them presented in the white color colonies, 17 rod shapes and 1 sphere shape (15 showed negative and 3 positive in Gram staining) were selected. The isolations designated as V1, V2 and V9 revealed significant differences among differentials with the highest rates as 35.64%, 32.29% and 37.76% respectively in the feather-degrading ability. In goat hair-containing medium they showed 40.48%, 40.85% and 42.18% of degradation. 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that isolate V1 was  related to Bacillus megaterium (with 99% similarity); while isolate V2 was 99% similar to Bacillus sp. P014 and V9 was related to Pseudomonas putida Rs-198 (with 93% similarity).

Thanh Phu is one of the coastal districts in Ben Tre province. The district is divided into three sub-regions namely fresh water, brackish and saline water. The objectives of this study were to set up and evaluate the suitability and economic efficiency of the new cropping patterns compared to the existing systems. In the fresh water sub-region, the cultivation systems were executed as rice-corn, snakehead fish on plastic tank, prawn-rice intercropped with prawn and prawn-coconut intercropping. Tiger shrimp in rotation with rice intercropped with prawn was established in brackish water sub-region. In the saline sub-region, tiger shrimp in rotation with white shrimp was introduced. Results indicated that all the new cropping patterns were suitable to the natural condition of the study area. The economic efficiency of the new patterns was higher in comparison to the current cropping systems. These promising cropping patterns need to be introduced and developed in three sub-regions of Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province.

Effects of soil treatments on the bacterial ginger rhizome rot disease was evaluated in the net house and field conditions during the ginger season of 2012. Results showed that, under the greenhouse condition, gingers grown in bags or microplots treated with lime:urea mixture (50:500 kg/ 1,000 m2), Ca(ClO)2 (5 kg/ 1,000 m2) and Coc 85WP (3.125 kg/ 1,000 m2), then monthly supplied with rhizosphere bacteria (108 cfu/m2soil surface) gave the best performance to gingers by reducing the growth of R. solanacearum and controlling the rhizome rot disease. Disease suppression was higher in sandy soil (collected from Tri Ton district) than in clay soil (collected from Cho Moi district). In the field condition (Tri Ton district, An Giang province), seed treatment of rhizosphere bacteria before planting combined with monthly supplying rhizosphere bacteria until harvest effectively reduced the population of bacterial pathogen, and actually suppressed the rhizome rot disease in Noi ginger cultivar.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes of some soil properties under submergence at different salinity levels. Laboratory experiment was conducted by submerging an alluvial soil with instant ocean at salinity concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 25 parts per thousand (ppt). Soil samples were taken from a paddy field in Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province where it is anticipated to be affected by salinity intrusion. Salinity, exchangeable sodium percentage, availability of nitrogen and phosphorus in soil were measured once a week during a course of six weeks. Results showed that when submerging soil at 2 ppt salinity, the electric conductivity of saturated soil (ECe) reached 7 mS.cm-1 in the second week, above the critical value of saline soil. Soil pH increased during the course of incubation and at different saline levels. Soil sodification was formed after two-week of submergence from the 6 ppt salinity treatment and higher. Soil available ammonium increased during six weeks and was not significantly different among salinity levels. Available phosphorus content in soil at high salinity concentrations were reduced (P

The survey was conducted by interviewing directly 124 Artemia farmers in the five communes, including Xiem Cang and Vinh Hau (Bac Lieu Province); Vinh Phuoc, Lai Hoa and Vinh Tan (Vinh Chau District, Soc Trang Province), to assess the current status of technical application and economic efficiency of Artemia farming. Data were recorded from 2007 to 2011 showed that Artemia monoculture system was commonly applied (89.51%) with 1 or 2 cycles. Artemia culture area per household ranged from 1.1 to 1.9 ha. Stocking density was in the range of 3.5 - 4.8 Artemia cyst cans. Chicken manure was commonly used and varied from 0.5 to 2.2 tons/ha/crop, inorganic fertilizers such as Urea, NPK and DAP fluctuated 10-250 kg/ha/crop, and rice bran: 50-200 kg/ha/crop. The average Artemia cyst yields were 65.72 -72.45 kg/ha/crop which had significantly positive correlation (p

Research has optimized the PCR procedure with suitable chemical components, thermal cycling conditions to detect infectious myonecrosis virus in whiteleg shrimp. Research focused to optimise PCR step 2 with the identified PCR master mixture including 1X PCR buffer, 1.0 mM MgCl2, 200 mM dNTPs, 0.465 ?M primers NF and 0.465 ?M primers NR, 2.0U Taq polymerase and 1st step PCR product. Thermal cycling conditions included initial denaturation at 95°C for 2 min, followed by 35 cycles of 95°C for 30 seconds, 65°C for 20 seconds, 72°C for 30 seconds and final extension step at 72°C for 7 min. Total amplification time was about 2 hours. This assay was demonstrated to have good sensitivity and specificity for detection of infectious myonecrosis virus in extracted RNA from shrimp.

Microalgae are considered as valuable feed for Artemia. The aim of this experiment was to assess the potential of the biofloc technology for brine shrimp through composition of algae prevailed in fertilized ponds. The experiment was carried out in earthen pond (150 m2) at four different salinities (35, 60, 80 and 100?) with 3 replicates per each treatment, the experimental period was 21 days. Algae composition were 44, 34, 21 and 19 genus at 35, 60, 80 and 100? treatments, respectively, Bacillariophyta was the most dominant genus at all treatments. At the 35 and 60? treatments, the dominant genus were usually Peridinium (dinophyta), Nitzschia (Bacillariophyta); Nanochloropsis, Tetraselmis (Chlorophyta). While at the higher salinities (80 and 100?), Nitzschia, Chlamydomonas, Nannochloropsis, Tetraselmis were dominant genus. The density of the algae was from 7,093 to 47,589 cells/L. There were not statistically significant in the density of algae among the treatments (p>0.05) during the experimental period, excepted at day 15 and 18 (p

The development of the digestive system in the larvae of Malayan Leaffish (Pristolepis fasciata) was examined morphologically and histologically from newly hatched fry to the age of 30 days. For morphological development, form of digestive tract from 10 fish was observed daily under a stereomicroscope. Histological method was employed to determine the changes of yolk sac and digestive tract during the larval development stage. Thirty specimens were sampled in day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 after hatching then fixed, sectioned and stained with haematoxylin and eosin (HE). Results showed that the larvae completely absorbed their yolk sacs on day 3 after hatching and started exogenous feeding. After the onset of exogenous feeding, 4 regions including buccal capvity, oesophagus, a future stomach, and intestine can be easily distinguished. At this time, the intestinal tract was functional however the stomach was not developed completely. The first signal of intestinal absorption appeared in day 9 after hatching as the present of lipid and protein vacuoles in the posterior part of the intestine. After metamorphosis, the appearance of gastric glands in day 20 indicated that the development of digestive tract of Malayan leaffish was completed. Development of the other parts of digestive tract was also described in this study.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotics supplementation methods on the growth, survival rate and reproduction of Artemia franciscana Vinh Chau. Results showed that Artemia obtained highest survival rate when probiotic was supplemented into algae together culture medium (94.33 ± 0.6%) and it was significantly higher than those from other treatments (p

This article presents the result of research on the self-esteem of 234 university students in Ho Chi Minh City. The purpose of the study was to identify the elements of self-esteem of students themselves. This study mainly used quantitative methods. The findings showed that what was self-evaluation nearly the most was moral character, then endeavor in learning elements came to the second, and the ability of sharing ones came to the lowest. The reliability coefficient of self-esteem scale was 0.905. The study results provided educators with scientific information for orienting education.

Gaps in research outcomes have long got an attention to both researchers and managers in academic organizations. Basing on existing literature and empirical evidences on this, the central objective  of this paper is to build up proposed hypotheses on explaining about gaps in research outcomes  for the particular case of  Can Tho University, concerning with some following aspects: fields, genders, collaboration, after the completion of post-graduate levels, research budgets, and promotional schemes. The potential results from six proposed hypotheses would be disseminated on schedule on next discussion papers, based on the empirical findings from the field survey at schools/colleges of Can Tho University.

This paper studied the use of maps in teaching and learning Geography at grade 11 of teachers and students in a number of high schools in Can Tho City and Hau Giang provinces. The authors have combined both theoretical and practical methods (such as document  research, using questionnaires, interviews, class observations and teaching experimentation in high school) to learn fundamentals of maps that teachers and students in these schools are using and how they use those maps in teaching and learning Geography at grade 11. In particular, we would like to investigate the advantages, disadvantages and specific needs that teachers and students meet most . Based on these findings and the policy of ?Building and development programs of general education basing on developing the quality and competency of learners? of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) from June 2013, the authors have proposed suitable solutions to help teachers and students use maps more effectively in teaching and learning Geography at grade 11 with a view to enhancing the quality and competency of students.

The Problem to find the maximum and minimum values (Min - Max  problems) that we would like  to mention here is to find the maximum and minimum values of the algebraic expressions or functions in the mathematical textbooks Grade 10. In this article, we will use the tools of the Anthropological theory to analyze the Problem. Therefore, the objectives of the article are to show the characteristics of the Min - Max problems in the mathematical textbooks Grade 10 and to clarify the techniques used to solve the Problem. From the analysis results, we will offer some general comments about this Problem.

Factors predicting the English proficiency development of learners have been reported in a few empirical studies. The current study on a Cohort of 75 students of English enrolled in the 120-credit English language teacher education program at Can Tho University, investigated factors that may predict their English proficiency. The study used an IELTS test to determine their proficiency levels after two-year training and a questionnaire of the predictive factors. The results showed that their management for part-time job and self-study could better predict their English proficiency than the others. The students? entry levels, determined by a TOEIC test at the beginning of their training, ranked second in predictability. Learning strategies in general were not a strong predictor; only the use of self-regulated learning slightly correlated with the proficiency level.

This study aims to analyze the disadvantaged learning elements affecting the learning process of the first ? year students at Soc Trang Community College. The data were collected from 219 first ? year students after the school year 2012 ? 2013. Some analytical methods such as: statistical analysis, Cronbach?s Alpha, Explored factor analysis (EFA) and Multiple linear regression were used to determine the scale and analyze the data. The results showed that there were four factors (grouped from 15 elements) made it difficult for the first ? year students were: the teacher including 7 elements, the facilities with 4 elements, distant and living conditions with2 elements; and the personal students with 2 elements. In particular,   the facilities were the most affecting factor on the learning process of the first ? year students, followed by theteacher, the personal students and the distant and living conditions.

This article presents the results of study evaluating the rating results and predicting students? outcomes based on Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and Grey Model (1, 1) (GM(1,1)). The findings show that the combination of GRA and GM(1,1) not only can assess the rating results in Biology of 30 junior high school students but also help to determine students with  stable learning outcomes and can select students with  potentials for learning. In addition, the comparison results between GRA and GM(1,1) with the method of assessment of students? outcomes based on average score also find that GRA and GM(1,1) can improve the traditional method of evaluating academic performances of students. They provide teachers an effective method for evaluating, classifying and predicting students? outcomes.

The current study was conducted in the context of School of Education (SOE), Can Tho University and brought with it two aims. One was to find out the average number of questions made in a 50-minute period. The other was to survey the kinds of those questions. Used as the basis for the classification of questions in the survey was Bloom’s taxonomy (1956) which identified six levels within the cognitive domain, namely “Knowledge”, “Comprehension”, “Application”, “Analysis”, “Synthesis”, and “Evaluation”. Direct observation of 60 classes was made to record the questions that were actually asked by randomly-selected instructors from nearly all departments of SOE. Also conducted as a check on the previous observation results were in-depth interviews on a one-to-one basis with a random sample of 20 students of SOE, from which valid conclusions could be drawn. The study results showed that the average number of questions made per class was 10.33 and the two question types of “Knowledge” and “Comprehension” outnumbered the others asked in the classroom. It was concluded that the number and types of questions asked varied greatly from class to class and depended on such factors as the teaching time, students’ educational needs and interests, teaching objectives, and students’ learning habits.

This article indicates the viewpoint, the approach and the basic content of the assessment of mathematical competence  in PISA. From these  perspectives, we conduct the survey and show some initial results of high school students? mathematical competence  in Can Tho City.

Research on the ?Current situation of Rural Labors, the Impact of Occupational Training, Employment, and the Income of Rural Laborers in Ben Tre province? was conducted through a Participatory Rural Appraisal approach, including group discussions and key informant panel interviews. Data were also collected from household interviews and secondary sources as well. The research findings showed that production activities in Chau Thanh and Thanh Phu districts, Ben Tre province, were very diverse in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Laborers in the area seemed to prefer working near their home towns. Most people in the area expressed a need for training in agriculture, but young people increasingly need training in non-agricultural work. The range of occupational training was diverse, but most trainees enrolled in agricultural training courses. The aim of these occupational training courses was to increase income, and most laborers received a subsidy from the government for their participation. The biggest problem faced by trainees was the lack of experience in non-agricultural occupations, but the experience of most households showed that rural occupational training courses were effective. Prospects for post-training employment depended on the relationship between trainees, training organizations, and labor-recruiting businesses. The average household income after training is 83.3 million Vietnam, but total income depends on the training level, the number of trainees in a household, and whether the trainees work in an appropriate occupation or not. Currently, occupational training is still not completely appropriate to the needs of the trainees. A sustainable solution to this problem is for the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs in Ben Tre province to develop a long-term plan to provide occupational training and employment for rural laborers.

In teaching mathematics, one of the main tasks of teachers is training and developing students? thinking. From there, they get important skills which help the process of discovering knowledge in math and other subjects. According to Marzano, mathematical knowledge has two major types: informed knowledge (including teaching concepts) and process knowledge. Therefore, teaching the concepts is a very important part of elementary education. Moreover, the training and development of thinking for students through teaching concepts is essential. In this paper, we organize a survey research for teachers and students to verify the effectiveness of the four pedagogical methods designed to train and develop pupils' thinking through teaching concepts in primary school.

Spiritual culture tourism has been becoming one of the main trends of tourism development in Vietnam. Its development is not only to provide benefits for economic, social, and cultural issues but contribute to the enhancement of spiritual life of tourists as well. An Giang is a province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, which has many potentials to develop spiritual culture tourism. However, like other provinces/cities in Vietnam, An Giang has not developed this type of tourism soundly and effectively. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to investigate tourists? evaluations on contemporary situation and to understand influencing factors to the development of the spiritual culture tourism in An Giang. Based on outcomes, the paper points out the practical foundations for the executing solutions to improve and enhance the quality of spiritual culture tourism which are important backgrounds to stimulate the development of An Giang tourism industry.

The South of Vietnam is a quite new area which tolerates gradually cultural values ??and beliefs of many different groups. A house space of the South people also convergences many different worship objects. These objects become part of the God bless which is believed of bringing peace, good luck to the house owners. In particular, deceased parents and grandparents are considered family?s Gods or ?visual magic Gods? that are prayed beside other Gods in one?s family, or shrines and temples of the village. This article focuses mainly on describing the religious worship traditions in the South region.

Inspiration sources about life and moral principles are main ideologies that influence on Nguyen Quang Sang?s short stories after the year 1975. The transition from epic inspiration to life and moral inspiration is the meaningful step while the writer explores and renews himself to be in harmony with development of literature and satisfy new aesthetic requirements of modern life; besides, to make his short stories more special. Thereby, we have more basis to affirm that the above inspiration has contributed to the durable vitality for Nguyen Quang Sang?s short stories.

This study aims to build a theoretical framework to find some main factors which affect to work motivation of government employees in Vietnam. The author uses meta ? analysis method in order to inherit valuable findings of previous researches in Vietnam and other countries. The theoretical framework is suggested by the author based on Maslow?s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) and Nevis?s Chinese Hierarchy of Needs (1983). However, the suggested model contains the modification and implementation of Maslow?s model and Nevis?s model to fit in the context of Vietnamese people today. In addition to, this research carefully considers the features of a collectivist culture, public sector and socioeconomic background in Vietnam. The suggested theoretical model shows that government employees? hierarchy of needs includes the following five orders: Belonging (social) ? Physiological ? Safety and Security ? Self esteem ? Self actualization. The five levels of needs can be considered the five main variables in an econometric model. These variables are measured by 26 items. The theoretical model can be well applied in public organizations in Vietnam.

Today, in the trend of human development, people?s lifestyle has attracted the interest and attention of everyone. In this article, from a number of concepts based on survey data and the sociology of lifestyles of rural people in Thanh Binh District, Dong Thap Province, the aim of this article is to provide insight on the role of lifestyle in the rural industrialization progress today. In the process of gathering information, the crucial issue is to answer the question ?Has lifestyle of the rural today impacted on the process of the industrialization??. The role of lifestyle is mentioned in some of the three basic roles: (1) promoting the lifestyle of traditional values ??served industrialization process, (2) motivating the lifestyle of economic and social development in the process of industrialization and the negative side is gradually formed through role groups (3) And organized lifestyle and community links to help the process of industrialization and sustainable development. In particular, the study results showed that lifestyle still plays an important role in the formation of industrial behavior of people in the process of industrialization taking place in rural areas today. In particular, lifestyle has both positive and negative roles,in which the positive aspects of the two groups are often considered as (1) and (2) and more dominantly, the negative side has not yet occurred, but it has also been formed. Therefore, the process of rural industrialization has had the positive changes but not sustainable yet.

Nowadays, Geographic Information System is an effective tool for organizing social-economic territory in general and for organizing tourism territory in specific. Kien Giang province has high potential for tourism development. Therefore, well-organized tourism territory in this area will create opportunities for tourism development and for tourism investment. This paper presents organizing territorial tourism of Kiên Giang province by using map-overlaying method and synthetically rating scale method in geographic information system to evaluate tourism territorial potentiality of Kiên Giang province. Research outcomes to define important areas to develop tourism. As a result, this paper proposes orientations to organizing tourism territory of Kiên Giang province. This research will help to use tourism resources effectively and to protect tourism environment system in this area.

This study aims at testing the validity of the Fama and French three-factor model for the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE). Data used in the study consist of weekly series of market index (VN-Index) and prices of non-financial stocks listed on HOSE for the period from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2012. The results derived from this study reveal that market risk, size and book equity to market equity ratio (BE/ME) have positive effects on excess returns of stocks. In other words, Fama and French three-factor model is validity for the HOSE.

Distribution of profit per kilogram of raw pangasius material for two actors, producers and processing companies, along the value chain seems to be equal. This shows that distribution of profit along the value chain is relatively reasonable. Production cost per unit of raw pangasius material has increased years by years due to an increase in prices of industrial feed. Production cost per unit of raw material pangasius holds a lot of risks for producers. There are many solutions for development of this industry, yet the most active solutions are cutting down production cost and developing the of Vietnam fillet pangasius.

Agricultural diversification is a potential solution to improve profit as well as reduce environmental impact of monoculture intensive rice practiced in full-protected dike system areas in the upper Mekong Delta provinces. This research is firstly to analyze profit of dominant farming systems of triple rice crop, upland crop and grassing combined with raising cow in Chau Phu district, An Giang province. Secondly, a solver function in MS Excel is explored to find the best combinations of land area and labour to maximize household profit. Results showed that: (i) small households, who have land area of around 0,5 ha and their labour availability ranged from 1 to 3, can maximize their profit by concentrating on upland crop and grass in combining with raising cow; (ii) those who have bigger land area, ranged from 1 to 2 ha, can maximize their profit by practicing upland crop in associating with raising cow up to 4 heads in a certain land while most land should devote to rice production. To ensure the profit maximization could be achieved, public services of extension and marketing system should be improved that could better help farmers sell their diversed farming products.

The study was carried out to assess the current state of rambutan production employed Global GAP standard through a survey of 69 households in Cho Lach district, Ben Tre province. The results indicate that the Gobal GAP production brought farmers about 23 million thousand VND per 1,000 m2 of cultivated land, which means there was 2.36 million thousand VND higher compared with normal production. The Global GAP production could be considered an essential solution for protecting health and belief of consumers. Simultaneously, the Global GAP production also helps improving techniques as well as establishing scientific cultivation habits for the farmers, such as writing diaries about their process of producing products and using environmentally friendly inputs.

Structural Equation Modelling was employed to examine relationships between corporate social responsibility, business benefits and financial performance of enterprises in Can Tho city. The research results illustrate that corporate social responsibility measurement has three dimensions with 14 attributes in total; the three dimensions are: organization?s quality (meeting customers and staffs), social relationships (meeting suppliers and community) and protecting environment. Besides, the construct of business benefits includes two components with 9 attributes, namely: attachment to the organization and attracting resources. Research results also show that the enhanced practice of social responsibility has positive impactson increasing of business benefits, and increasing of business benefits was found to have a strong positive relationship with financial performance. This study contributes theoretical model of the relationships between corporate social responsibility, business benefits and financial performance to subsequent studies.

The research shows that the access of formal credit of shrimp-raising households depends on the following factors: household income, duration in profession (production experience), loan interest rate, distance from household location to the district center, number of transactions with credit organizations and number of local credit organizations. Among former factors, there are 05 factors having a positive correlation with formal credit accessibility, they are: households income, duration in profession (production experience), loan interest rate, number of transaction with credit organizations, and the of local credit organizations. In contrast, distance from household location the district center hashas negative correlation (-) with the accessof formal credit of shrimp-raising households in Tra Vinh province. Based on the analysis results, some solutions to improve the ability to access formal credit by shrimp-raising households in Tra Vinh province are proposed.

This study aimes to explore the effect of demographic factors on job migration in Vietnam. We use quantitative analysis method for the VHLSS2010 data. The result of the study shows a number of conclusions. Firstly, for gender factor, the migratory probability of male is lower than female. Secondly, for education factor, the migratory probability of people who qualify at the levels as primary school, secondary school, high school, intermediate/associate degree and bachelor degree increases. On the other hand, the migratory probability of postgraduate qualifications group are stable. Next, for the marital status, the group of married and widowed people seem to decline in migration, while the migration of divorced group rose considerably. In addition, there are a positive relationship between the migration probability and family net income and member? number. Besides, age and housing area has a negative relationship with migratory probability.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate customers? satisfaction regarding on service quality of CoopMart chain in the Mekong Delta. The cross sestional data are collected from directly interviewing 294 customers in Can Tho, An Giang, Soc Trang, Vinh Long and Tien Giang province. After analysing Cronbach?s Alpha and EFA, the relevant factors are used in Binary Logistic model to evaluate customers? satisfaction while purchasing at CoopMart. The results show that customers? satisfaction is mainly influenced by supermarkets? display, serving capacity, facilities, safety and diversified products. Finally, based on the results of the study and customers? comments, some solutions to enhance the satisfaction of customers at CoopMart chain in Mekong Delta are proposed.

The purpose of the studywas to analyze factors affecting consumer behavior of milk powder for children under 6 years old in Can Tho City . The study was conducted on 200 parents having children under age 6 that have used milk powder. The survey was carried out in three districts: Cai Rang, Ninh Kieu and Thot Not. In this study, Cronbach's alpha, EFA, CFA, and Structural Equation Modeling SEM combined with multiple-group structural modelling are used to clarify the relationship of the factors. The results showed that there are 5 major factors affecting the decision of consumers, namely product usage, price and product quality; affected group; brand and package products. Among them, affected group and product usage are 2 most strongly influent factors on consumer decision.

This study was condcuted to determine the factors that affect the application of advanced techniques in production of rice farmers in Hau Giang province. Data used for the study was from a survey of 376 rice farmers in the province. Methods of logistic regression and exploratory factor analyses were used to determine the factors affecting decision of application and level of application of advanced techniques in production of rice farmers. The results showed that education level, participation in social organizations, total production land area of household, loan for production, and agricultural infrastructure positively correlated with farmer?s decision of application of advanced techniques. The level of application of advanced techniques in rice production of farmers in Hau Giang province was depended on ?production resources of the household?, ?economic benefits? and ?social benefits? as well.

The Mekong Delta is one of regions with high rates of out-migration in Vietnam. However, the majority of out-migrants from rural areas has limitations in professional knowledge and skills, and their livelihoods so are highly vulnerable. This research is aimed at (1) assessing livelihood vulnerability among rural out-migrants and (2) suggesting solutions for mitigating livelihood vulnerability among this group. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework is used to create a livelihood vulnerability index for this study. The findings show that the out-migrants have limited livelihood assets and high vulnerability index of 0.71. In order to mitigate livelihood vulnerability, it is crucial to improve the educational level of out-migrants and to provide training courses to this group, as well as encouraging their involvement in mass organizations. In addition, negative impacts of policies on vulnerable groups must also be taken into account.

Assessment methods of livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) were used to assess the impact of climate change (CC) on the livelihoods of local communities in Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province. Research data were collected from a stratified random sample of 82 households living in Dat Mui commune. The research results showed that the livelihood vulnerability of Dat Mui communities decreases with factors such as social networks, livelihood strategies, foods, household characteristics, water resources, natural disasters, financial capital and health. The local impacts of climate change are at moderate levels, the sensitivity / vulnerability by the impacts of climate change is not too high. From the findings, some solutions were proposed to help communities in Dat Mui commune enhancing adaptation to climate change impacts.

The purpose of this research is to determine the factors that affect the job satisfaction of health workers in Can Tho city. The research was conducted with 330 observations of the doctors and nurses at both private and public hospital in Can Tho city. Research results showed that there are 5 factors influencing the level of health workers? job satisfaction such as management environment, working facilities, wages, colleagues, training and development. Of those, the factors such as salary, colleagues and working facilities have strongest effects on the level of health workers? job satisfaction in Can Tho.

The objective of this study is to assess the performance of the ?night market? business model in Ninh Kieu, Can Tho city through a survey of 147 respondents who are consumers and travelers visting at night markets. With these regards, 26 variables used for the assessment are introduced and tested using analytical tools, namely the Cronbath?s alpha and the factor analysis. In doing so, 22 out of 26 variables have been selected for the next steps in the analytical process due to their significant correlations. The result finds that the assessment by the respondents has likely focused on 8 factor groups regarding with various levels (ranging from the worst to the best). Among those, the best levels are for the factors including saler?s attitudes, product showing, and product diversity; the average levels are for the factors consisting of shoping area and space, trading convenience, and security related issues; and the worse ones are for the factors such as public toilets, local specialities, parking, and quality related issues.

The study is aimed to evaluate the effect of international tourist?s satisfaction on intention to revisit Can Tho and willingness to recommend Can Tho to other. Convenient sampling method is employed. The survey was conducted in Can Tho, Vietnam, with sample size of 100. The respondents are international tourists who can speak English, visit Can Tho first time with leisure purpose. By administering survey in different locations and at different time, the weakness of convenient sampling in general could be overcome. The SEM has been used in order to simultaneously evaluate effect of satisfaction on both intention to revisit and intention to recommend. It?s found that satisfaction has majorly affected on intention to recommend while the influence of satisfaction on intention to revisit is relatively quite small. This is an interesting, new finding that adds to the current literature.

Conciliation at grassroots level is one among good morality traditions of Vietnamese. The conciliation development history has existed in parallel with the development history of Vietnam. Conciliation explicitly expresses strong humanity, it is also for the sake of people and based on human affection. Conciliation at grassroots level has significant contribution into social life, and the rate of successful conciliation cases has been increased. However, in order to conciliate more effectively and successfully, it is necessary to have basic measures and solution for conciliation such as: improving legal regulations of conciliation at grassroots level; strengthening the organization, upgrading the capacity of conciliation group and conciliators; calling for and ensuring investment resources for operation fund and facility for conciliation at grassroots level; enhancing the role of Party organizations, authorities and Vietnamese Fatherland Front at all levels etc.