HCC was diagnosed in 40 patients. Pathology confirmation of tumor histologic findings was obtained with percutanous biopsy, or fine needle biopsy aspiration. All patients were examined by using Shimazu SCT 3000 TX scanner. CT detected hepatoma on 36 of 40(90%) patients. In 36 cases of recognizable tumor, 28(77,78%) were solitary lesion; 5(13,89%) were multicenter and 3(8,33%) were diffused. On plain CT we identified 3/36(8,33%) tumors as an area of homogeneously hypoattenuating; 33(91,67%) as a heterogenic hypoattenuating. The CT appearance of HCC on intravenous contrast enhanced scans was variable. The mosaic patterns were identified in 14(46,47%) tumors; 13(44,33%) were heterogenic hypodence and 3 (10%) were homogeneously hypoattenuating. CT demonstrated tumor encapsulation in 19 of 36(52,78%) patients; tumor calcification was determined in 4 of 40(10%) and tumor necrosis was determined in 8 of 40 (20%) patients. Some remarks: Several CT features have been reported to be characteristic for HCC, including a mosaic pattern, tumor capsule, venous invasion. But in our result tumor calcification is 10%, therefore the presence of calcification in primary hepatic tumor should not exclude the diagnosis of HCC.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle

144 HCC patients diagnosed histopathologically/cytologically with fine needle aspiration under sonographic leading were studied ultrasonically. 52.08% of patients had 1 lesion, 44.45% had more 2 lesions and only 3.47% had dispersive lesions. Of 75 cases with 1 lesion, 21 had under 5cm lesion, 42 from 5 to 10cm and 12 above 10cm. The relation between dimention of the lesion and its ultrasonic echo-pattern was investigated
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Hepatocytes ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle

In this study, twenty-five yeast strains were isolated from soil samples collected in the gold mining ore in Gia Lai, Vietnam. Among them, one isolate named GL1 T could highly tolerate Cu 2+ up to 10 mM, and the isolates could also grow in a wide range of pH (3–7), and tem perature (10–40 ℃). Dried biomass of GL1 was able to remove Cu 2+ effectively up to 90.49% with a maximal biosorption capacity of 18.1 mg/g at pH 6, temperature 30 ℃, and incuba tion time 60 min. Sequence analysis of rDNA indicated this strain was closely related to Rhodotorula mucilaginosa but with 1.53 and 3.46% nucleotide differences in the D1/D2 domain of the 28S rRNA gene and the ITS1-5.8S rRNA gene-ITS2 region sequence, respect ively. Based on phylogenetic tree analysis and the biochemical characteristics, the strain appears to be a novel Rhodotorula species, and the name Rhodotorula aurum sp. nov. is pro posed. This study provides us with more information about heavy metal-tolerant yeasts and it may produce a new tool for environmental control and metal recovery operations.

In the present study, bioactivity-guided extraction and isolation of the n-hexane fraction of the fruits of Vietnamese Schisandra sphenanthera led to the isolation of five dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans as gomisin N (1), schisandrin C (2), gomisin H (3), gomisin D (4), and gomisin C (5). All the isolates were tested for their inhibition of NO production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. Among them, compounds 4 and 5 showed weak inhibition of NO production with IC 50 values of 25.0 ± 1.6 and 24.8 ± 2.0 µM, respectively. Compound 1 exhibited NO production inhibition with an IC 50 value of 15.8 ± 2.1 µM, meanwhile, schisandrin C (2) showed the most potent inhibition with an IC 50 value of 8.5 ± 0.5 µM. In addition, compound 2 had a concentrationdependent inhibitory effect on the protein expression of the inflammatory enzymes iNOS and COX-2. Their physicochemical properties and ADMET data were predicted by in silico, indicating favorable drug-like properties as well as low acute oral toxicity. The results suggest that the fruit of S. sphenanthera and its phytochemical constituents might be used as anti-inflammatory agents.

Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a perennial plant belonging to the Asteraceae family originating from the Mediterranean region. In Vietnam, there are some varieties of artichoke which are extensively cultivated and propagated in highland areas, however, there have been limited detailed scientific publications on the chemical composition and biological activity of artichoke grown in Vietnam. Therefore, this study provides a detailed description of the extraction, isolation, and structural determination of 20 natural secondary metabolites present in harvested artichoke. The antioxidant activity of the extract and the 9 isolated compounds are tested in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging and ex vivo malondialdehyde model. Among the selected compounds, 1-caffeoylquinic acid, 3-caffeoylquinic acid, chlorogenic acid, 4-caffeoylquinic acid, cynarin, 1,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-di-caffeoylquinic acid, cynaroside, and scolymoside exhibited strong radical scavenging activity with IC50 values ranging from 5.7 to 61.6 µM. In the malondialdehyde assay, 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid (or cynarin) showed the strongest activity with an IC50 value of 24.7 µM, followed by 1,5-di-caffeoylquinic acid (66.8 µM), and 4,5-di-caffeoylquinic acid (127.3 µM). This outcome contributes to establishing a database on the phytochemical and antioxidant activity of the Vietnamese artichoke.