Ophiopogonin D (OPD) is a steroidal glycoside derived from Ophiopogon japonicus , a traditional Chinese medicine with diverse biological activities, including antithrombosis, anti-inflammation, and antitussive effects. To investigate the cellular effects and mechanisms of OPD on oral squamous cell carcinoma, cell viability was explored, and the effects of OPD on cell cycle regulators, apoptotic marker proteins, and key proteins involved in metastasis and signaling pathways were examined by MTT assay and Western blotting in YD38 cells. OPD strongly inhibited cell proliferation and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis of YD38 cells by suppressing the cell cycle and activating caspase-3 and poly ADP ribose polymerase. Additionally, OPD suppressed the expression of vital proteins regulating metastasis and proliferation within the integrin/matrix metalloproteinases/FAK and AKT/PI3K/mTor pathways. Thus, OPD can be a potential treatment candidate for gingival cancer.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for evaluating the impact of motivational factors on the work results of lecturers at Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU), one of two leading multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral national universities in Vietnam. This study has considered wages and other benefits (WB), training and development (TD), working environment (WE) and working motivation (WM) as motivational factors, and proposed a structural model of the impact of motivational factors on the work results of lecturers at VNU. The empirical analysis used data from the survey data of 321 university lecturers. Comprehensive, valid, and reliable tools (SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 3.0 software) are used to evaluate rigorous statistical tests including convergence validity, discriminatory validity, reliability, and average variance extracted to analyze and verify the gathered data, and the hypotheses developed. The result of path analysis shows that four motivational factors constitute a structured system with different degrees of influence on the work results of lecturers. There is also a positive relationship between the motivational factors and the work results of lecturers. As a result, it can be concluded that all hypotheses developed are supported. Several recommendations are further suggested to improve the performance of lecturers at VNU.

The study aims to examine the impact of productivity in addition to the policy of increasing the foreign investors’ ownership rate on the performance of businesses which were listed on Vietnam's stock exchange market from 2010 to 2017. With the database of 3.961 observations, the study employs a statistical method – multiple regression to estimate the relationship between labor productivity, foreign ownership as well as other firm-level characteristics and firm performance. Research findings show that increasing labor productivity and increasing foreign ownership rates help increase firm performance. In addition, except for financial leverage, variables such as liquidity and firm size have positive effects on firm performance measured by Tobin’s Q. These findings have theoretical contributions and practical implications for managers, investors and government in Vietnam. Managers should pay attention to improving labor productivity through employing incentive mechanisms, building a good working environment, investing in technology, etc. in order to enhance the firm performance. Investors could utilize the labor productivity and foreign ownership indicators to select stocks of good companies for investment. For Vietnamese government, relaxing the limit of foreign ownership and accelerating the divesting of State capital in Stateowned enterprises could help increase the investment scale of foreign investors and resulting in positive effects on the firm performance.