No abstract

Meningococcal bacterium Neisseria meningitidis is one of the major causes of meningitis worldwide. Currently in Vietnam, N. meningitidis B and C are the most prevalent invasive serogroups. N. meningitidis expresses two major transmembrane proteins, PorA and PorB, of which PorA showed high levels of polymorphism among strains and has been studied as one component of vaccines against N. meningitidis B. Polymorphisms in porA gene clustered into three variable regions VR1, VR2 and VR3. In this study, we sequenced the entired porA gene of 19 N. meningitidis strains isolated from military units in northern Vietnam during the period 2008 – 2017 in order to: (1) evaluate the polymorphism of porA gene at nucleotide level and predict its immuno-reactivity from annotated amino acide sequences; and (2) compare porA variants of Vietnamese strains with known strains worldwide. Our results showed a high level of polymorphisms among Vietnamese strains, with the highest polymorphism found in VR1, followed by VR2 and VR3. Notably, 5/19 strains in this study showed novel variants at VR2 with unknown immunological reactivity. This result suggested potential novel immunological characteristics of meningococcal strains from Vietnam.

Enhancing the digital competence of teachers is not only an urgent issue to help students live in a safe and effective digital environment, but also a key to improving the quality of education, bridging the gap in education and leaving no student behind. However, the development of this competence for English language teachers in the northern mountainous area of Vietnam still faces many difficulties. The article presents research results on digital competence: the concept, importance, and framework of teachers' digital competence and proposes some measures to develop digital competence for Philology teachers in the northern mountainous area of Vietnam.

In modern society, digital competence is of great importance for both adults and children. In a world where half of the population lives and works online, where 70% of the population is aged 15-24, the ability of citizens to make the most of digital and Internet opportunities has become very important. This is even more important for children, as children tend to spend more time online than adults and so they will benefit more from and take more risks online. Furthermore, investing in children's digital literacy means creating a future generation of more responsible, workable, and tolerant citizens. However, developing this capacity for ethnic minority students in Vietnam still faces many difficulties. The article presents research results on the concept of digital competence, factors affecting the ability to develop digital competence of 9th grade students who are ethnic minorities, the current situation, and some solutions to develop digital competence. There are digital resources for 9th grade students who are ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous areas of Vietnam.

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