Malassezia species can cause serious dermatologic diseases in humans. Synthetic antifungal drugs, which have been usually utilised as a treatment for Malassezia-associated diseases, are belonged to the azole group. However, the hypersensitivity and resistance to synthetic drugs due to improper use are raising public concerns. Recently, the study of using herbal essential oils in the control of Malassezia fungus has attracted great attention from researchers. This study analysed and identified 19 compounds of Ocimum sanctum L. essential oil, where eugenol is the main composition in O. sanctum L. essential oil, accounting for 42.4%. O. sanctum L. essential oil showed strong activity against 3 strains of human skin fungi M. furfur VNF01, M. furfurATCC14521, and M. globosa VNG02 with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2.5 μl/ml. Using this concentration, 74.66-80.66% of tested yeast strains’ cell numbers were eliminated after a 20-minute treatment. The results suggested that the herbal O. sanctum L. essential oil could be a potential agent to develop cosmetic products including shampoo and cream for the prevention and treatment of Malassezia-associated diseases.

Corporate governance structures are expected to help a firm have better financial performance through giving proper decision-making (Shivani, Jain, & Yadav, 2017). In recent years, along with the completing process of the business environment, the corporate governance framework in Vietnam has also been gradually built and implemented. However, corporate governance in Vietnam still has some limitations. This study is conducted to investigate the impact level of corporate governance on the financial performance of warehouse transportation firms listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) of Vietnam. We employ both qualitative and quantitative methods for processing data collected from twenty-two listed firms. The results reveal that determinant of corporate governance including the nationality of the board (NB), board composition (BC) has a negative relationship with financial performance; the remaining determinants, such as board size (BS), professional qualifications of the board (BE), the proportion of women (PW), the average age of the board (AA), general director concurrently of the board chairman (PO), do not influence financial performance. However, this impact level changes when we put some controlled variables in the model. In addition, the controlled variable of enterprise continuous uptime (COT) also has a negative impact on financial performance. Based on the findings, some recommendations are proposed relating to corporate governance for enhancing the financial performance of listed warehouse transportation firms in Vietnam

This research is conducted to investigate the impact levels of dividend policy on stock prices variation in the case of the stock exchange of an emerging country − Vietnam. Data were collected from 248 listed firms on the Vietnamese stock market for the period from 2014 to 2017. By employing ordinary least squares (OLS) and quantile regression (QR), we found that there is a negative relationship between dividend policy and variation of stock prices. Some variables including income variation, long term liabilities and growth have positive relationships with stock price variation whereas firm size has no impact on it. We also found that firms using low dividend yields influence stock prices variation in a clearer way. The results of this study are important for management in emerging countries, and in this case Vietnam, to have a proper dividend policy because dividend policy is crucial information for stakeholders to make economic decisions.

Streptomyces are considered to be one of the actinomycetes genera having potential in the production of agricultural probiotics because they are safe and have strong antagonism to many bacterial and fungal species that cause plant diseases. In this study, 18 strains of actinomycetes were isolated from growing oranges’ soil in Ha Giang province, of which the actinomycete strain XK1 was considered to be strongly resistant to the fungi Penicillium digitatum and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing fruit rot and shedding in citrus. Based on morphological characteristics and 16S rRNA sequence, the strain XK1 was determined to belong to the Streptomyces albulus. On MT2 medium with pH=6, after five days of shaking cultivation at 30°C, the liquid cultures of S. albulus XK1 showed the strongest resisting activity to P. digitatum and C. gloeosporioides. At the same time, the broth cultures of S. albulus XK1 showed inhibitory activity against P. digitatum in oranges. The actinomycete strain S. albulus XK1 was selected base on strong antifungal ability against P. digitatum and C. gloeosporioides and had a potential for application in the production of probiotics used to control fruit rot and shedding in citrus.

This study is conducted to investigate the impact levels of determinants influencing liquidity of listed steel firms on Vietnam Stock Exchange. Data were collected from audited financial statements of 25 listed food processing firms from 2014 to 2017. This research employs the least squares method (OLS) and tests to determine the influence of factors on the liquidity of listed sample firms. The results indicate that return on assets (ROA), operating period (AGE) and asset structure (AS) have positive impacts on the liquidity. In contrast, the firm size and debt ratio has the opposite effects. Based on the findings, a number of recommendations are proposed to increase the liquidity ratio of listed firms in the future.