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The research focuses deeply on and evaluates the factors affecting financial management of educational managers training and fostering institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This is a very specific model for countries in transition economies as in Vietnam, a country is in the process of comprehensive renovation, restructuring public service delivery institutions, increasing the assignment of self-responsibility to institutions, reducing financial pressure on the State budget. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods together with techniques, i.e., testing reliability scales with Cronbach's alpha coefficients, exploratory factor analysis EFA, CFA and linear model SEM, the study investigated 500 samples in 07 educational institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The findings revealed six (06) factors, which are internal control system, technology infrastructure, top managers’ commitment, cash management and budget system, organizational responsibility, affected the financial reporting system, and meanwhile, the financial reporting system has a positive impact on the financial management. Based on this result, the study has proposed implications for improving financial management in educational managers training and fostering institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Background and objective Celastrus hindsii Benth. has been used for generations in Northern Vietnam, for the treatment of disease relating to ulcers, tumors and inflammation without safety evidence. This study's goal is to evaluate the safety of the aqueous extract of leaves of C. hindsii through an acute and semi-chronic toxicity oral administration. Materials and methods In the acute study, a single oral dose (1000, 3000, 5000 and 15000 mg kg-1) of the aqueous of C. hindsii extract were administered to mice and observed for seven days. In the semi-chronic study, rabbits were administered daily with 1000 and 3000 mg kg-1 of the extract for 35 days. Hematological and biochemical analyzes were carried out on blood and serum samples collected. Results A single oral administration of 15000 mg kg-1 per day for white mice did not determine the LD50 dose. At doses of 1000 and 3000 mg kg-1 for 35 days, the extract from C. hindsii induced neither clinical symptoms of rabbits nor significant changes in hematological parameters such as; total blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, white blood cells and platelets. The quantity of aspartate transaminase (AST or GOT), alanine transaminase (ALT or GPT) of rabbits in the experimental and control group did not differ (p> 0.05). Liver and kidney organizations were also not affected adversely. Conclusion The results indicate that the oral administration of C. hindsii extract did not produce any significant toxicity in mice, therefore, it is recommended to be used safely for traditional medical practices and modern pharmaceutical applications.

Vietnam has abundant natural resources, but a high vulnerability to climate change. The Vietnamese government, therefore, has avddeclared its intention to encourage clean energy development. To achieve this, the cost of renewables needs to be competitive with fossil fuels. The purpose of this paper is to review past studies of the levelised international costs for various renewable energy resources and compare them to the costs of renewables in Vietnam. In Vietnam, there is evidence that the cost of non-hydro renewables has fallen in recent years, as they have internationally, making them more viable. In the Vietnamese case, however, the potential for growth in the use of non-hydro renewables is impeded by the low cost of hydropower, which constitutes a significant barrier to the introduction of non-hydro renewables in the short to medium terms.

Home composting (HC) has become an increasingly important consideration in the framework of sustainable municipal organic waste (MOW) management in developing countries. We develop, for the first time, two HC behavior models, which include households’ decisions to participate in a HC scheme and the level of HC participation. By applying Logit and Ordered logit models, a survey of 202 respondents in rural areas of Hoi An, Vietnam, indicates that households’ decisions to get involved in a HC scheme and the level of HC participation are affected by motivational factors such as knowledge about HC, attitude toward it, and owning a garden. We then explore the differences between the influencing factors for the two models. Interestingly, while participation in the HC training program influence the decision to participate in the HC scheme, the factor appears unimportant in increasing the level of HC practice. In addition, once the HC participation decision has been made, we find that pro-environmental behavior (such as habit of reusing plastic bags and reducing wastefulness) could promote a higher level of HC practice. These findings could help policy makers in promoting HC behavior to enhance a sustainable MOW management strategy at the household level.

Most recent municipal organic waste-separation at source (MOW-SAS) programs that have been introduced in developing countries remain pilot programs, but have not fully developed into sustainable municipal solid-waste management strategies. The city of Hoi An, Vietnam, implemented a mandatory MOW-SAS program in 2012. Using Structural Equation Modeling, this study investigates the psychological driving forces behind households’ behaviors toward the MOW-SAS program. This study finds that moral norm (moral perception of what is good or bad), attitude toward sorted waste, and situational factors (issues concerning physically sorting garbage, such as time, space, and lack of family cooperation) can significantly affect household behaviors toward MOW-SAS. It confirms the need for supplying frequent environmental educational campaigns and highlighting the benefits of MOW-SAS programs. Moreover, the study finds that households’ system trust in local authority concerning the MOW-SAS program is an important driving force behind the behavior. Therefore, recommendation is also made on the need to develop strong leadership in local authorities through improving: (1) reliability (ability to effectively treat sorted waste), (2) legitimacy (punitive measures for non-participants), and (3) effectiveness (dissemination of information about the benefits of MOW-SAS programs) for promoting MOW-SAS.

Background Owing to globalization, there is a need for enhanced global health competencies among nursing students. In this context, global service learning programs are important opportunities for nursing students. Objectives To explore the effect of a short-term service learning program in a developing country on the global health competencies of students attending a South Korean nursing college. Design A mixed methods design. Setting The Global Nursing Internship is a two-week pre-experience, eight-day on-site, and one-week post-experience program. Participants The on-site activities involved 15 nursing students participating in global health activities in a rural Vietnamese community. Methods A self-reported questionnaire was used to assess changes in global health competencies in six domains, measured on a four-point Likert scale. Student satisfaction with each activity was measured on a five-point Likert scale. After completing the program, the participants wrote a self-reflection essay. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to analyze global health competencies, and content analysis was used to analyze participants' self-reflections. Results Regarding global health competencies, the overall mean score showed a significant increase at the post-program evaluation (Z = −3.41, p = .001). A pre-post-program comparison showed that the domain of “health care in low-resource settings” displayed the greatest increase in scores. The mean overall satisfaction with the program was high (mean = 4.31, standard deviation = 0.17). In the students' view, as expressed in their essays, their global health knowledge and attitude had improved. Conclusions The program was useful in promoting global health competencies, empathy, and confidence and should be embedded among the essential requirements of nursing curricula. Suggestions are provided to develop an enhanced pre-experience program that could help students prepare better for on-site activities. As cultural competency is crucial for nurses, nursing educators should consider integrating similar global service learning programs into their existing nursing curricula.

The Politburo Resolution No.08 on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector has brought about the advantages of promoting tourism activities by the exploitation of natural resources, reducing poverty, and boosting the citizen’s income. Under these beneficial conditions, Dak Nong province can have more opportunities to develop its local’ s economy by investing in tourism. However, the interrelation of both competition and cooperation with the Central Highlands provinces, Dak Nong, needs to determine its own way to enhance the competitiveness for tourism development. Based on the theory of tourist destination attractiveness, the authors confirm that designing specific tourism products to promote destination image and to build up the attractiveness of tourist destinations in Dak Nong are necessary. Through assessment of the current situation and potential of tourism development, by using secondary information analyses and in-depth interviews, the result shows that tourism in Dak Nong has not been effectively exploited. In the coming time, specific tourism products based on resources from Dak Nong Geopark can be the key factors to promote the tourism image of Dak Nong.

In this paper, an adaptive and wide-range output DC-DC converter designed for lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery charger circuit is proposed. The converter operates in continuous conduction mode (CCM) to provide an output voltage in response to battery voltage and a wide-range output current to ensure that circuit requirements are met. This circuit is designed on Cadence using 0.35-um BCD technology. Simulation results show that the circuit fully operates in CCM mode with a load current from 50 mA to 1000 mA and output voltage ripple factor is less than 1 %. Furthermore, the current supplied to the load circuit responses to three types of Li-Ion rechargeable currents. The output voltage of the converter varies from 2.8 to 4.5 V corresponding to the voltage range of the battery being charged from 2.5 to 4.2 V. The average power efficiency of the converter in large load current mode (1000 mA) reaches 94 %.

The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has supported the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MOH) in implementing behavior change strategies to slow the HIV epidemic. These programs target commercial sex workers (CSW), injection drug users (IDU), and men who have sex with men (MSM). Using data from a program evaluation to assess effectiveness of the PEPFAR intervention, we conducted a sub-analysis of HIV/AIDS knowledge, sexual behaviors, and injection drug risk behaviors among 2,199 Vietnamese respondents, including those reporting recent contact with an outreach worker and those who did not report contact. We found overall high levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge, low rates of needle sharing, and moderate to high rates of inconsistent condom use. Average knowledge scores of IDU were significantly higher than non-IDU for antiretroviral treatment knowledge, while MSM had significantly less knowledge of treatment compared to non-MSM. HIV/AIDS-related knowledge was not significantly associated with needle-sharing practices. Knowledge was modestly but significantly associated with more consistent use of condoms with primary and commercial sex partners, even after controlling for contact with an outreach worker. Contact with an outreach worker was also an independent predictor of more consistent condom use. Outreach programs appear to play a meaningful role in changing sexual behavior, though the effect of outreach on IDU risk behaviors was less clear. More research is needed to understand the relationship between outreach programs and skill development, motivation, and use of referral services by most-at-risk populations in Vietnam.

Introduction Eltrombopag and romiplostim are thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) marketed for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Thrombotic events have been reported with both drugs. This study was aimed at assessing whether there is a signal for differential risks of thrombosis between these two TPO-RAs. Methods We carried out a disproportionality analysis in the World Health Organization global individual case safety report (ICSR) database (VigiBase). We selected all ICSRs with exposure to a TPO-RA between January 2011 and December 2014. We searched for exposures to eltrombopag or romiplostim in thrombosis reports as compared with other ICSRs, and we calculated adjusted reporting odds ratios (aRORs). Results We identified 5850 ICSRs, including 764 cases of thrombosis. In multivariate analyses, there was a signal for an increased risk of thrombosis (venous or arterial; aROR 1.72, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.47‐2.02), venous thrombosis (aROR 1.88, 95 % CI 1.53‐2.31), arterial thrombosis (aROR 1.54, 95 % CI 1.18‐2.00), ischaemic stroke (aROR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.13‐2.42) and myocardial infarction (aROR 1.50, 95 % CI 1.05‐2.13) with eltrombopag as compared with romiplostim. Restriction to ICSRs reported by physicians led to similar results. However, worldwide dispensing data for romiplostim and eltrombopag were not accessible, so the rates of thrombosis with both drugs were not normalized by the daily defined doses and the generalizability of the results is limited. Conclusion This study suggests the presence of a signal for an increased risk of thrombosis with eltrombopag compared with romiplostim. These results must be confirmed and quantified by large aetiological pharmacoepidemiological studies.

In this paper, the design of a multi-band circularly polarized stacked microstrip antenna for low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications and precise global positioning system (GPS) is proposed. The microstrip antenna for multi-band frequency is constructed by stacking two different square patches and circular polarization is obtained by different approaches. The top patch has a pair of truncated square corners, and the bottom patch is fed with two pins placed symmetrically on the two main axes. The antenna is designed to operate at L1 (1.575 GHz±12 MHz) and LEO at two frequency ranges uplink (148-150 MHz), downlink (137-139 MHz). All the design details and numerical results will be discussed in this context.

A novel compact metamaterial antenna for wireless area local network (WLAN) applications is proposed in this paper. The antenna is fed by a co-planar waveguide (CPW). Size reduction of the antenna is achieved thanks to the use of a modified conventional composite right/left handed (CRLH) model without vias. As a result, the antenna demonstrates a good size reduction in comparison with the conventional patch antenna resonating at 2.4 GHz. In order to investigate the merits of proposed model, both antennas are simulated and fabricated. Experimental results show a good agreement between the simulated and measured parameters.

Distributed multimedia applications over mobile ad hoc network have a great potential in various scenarios. However, establishing ad hoc multimedia sessions is not simple given that ad hoc nodes are highly dynamic and resource-limited. For session control, the conventional SIP is not applicable since using a particular mobile endpoint as a server is unrealistic. Recently, several proposals on extension of SIP have been introduced but most of reported results are in term of simulation statistics. In this study, we instead implement a real-world testbed for the proposed framework. Taking into account node mobility and route instability, we initiate a fully distributed and service-oriented design. In the strategy, routing information messages are exploited to convey user identity data. At the same time, each node maintains a compound routing table that contains both route data and peer address. Experimental results from the aforementioned testbed were reported, demonstrating the feasibility of our architecture.

Although Vietnam has a high risk of fishborne zoonotic trematode (FZT) infections for humans, little information exists on the epidemiology of these infections in the country's fish. Because of the importance of cultured catfish and snakehead production in An Giang province, a major production area in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, a survey for FZTs was carried out in randomly selected fish farms between June 2005 and March 2006. For comparison, wild fish from the same area were also surveyed. A total of 852 cultured fish from 4 districts were collected and examined by pepsin digestion to determine their FZT infection status. In Tra catfish, the prevalence of all types of metacercariae was 2.6%, of which the prevalence of Haplorchis pumilio was 0.7%. The overall prevalence of metacercariae in wild fish was 30.6%, of which 10.3% harbored zoonotic species: H. pumilio (2.8%) and Procerovum sp. (5.6%). The prevalence of Opisthorchis metacercariae, which were diagnosed as O. viverrini, was 1.9%. No metacercariae were found in cultured snakehead fish, although wild-caught snakehead fish had a FZT prevalence of 10.3%: 5.1% were O. viverrini; 2.6% H. pumilio; and 2.6% were Procerovum sp. These are the first reports of H. pumilio, Procerovum sp., and O. viverrini metacercariae in Vietnamese fish. These results indicate that consumption of improperly prepared fish represents a significant risk of acquiring FZTs in this south Vietnam region.

Introduction:Eltrombopag and romiplostim are two thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) marketed for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Thrombotic events have been reported with both drugs. Whether there exists a differential risk of thrombosis between the two TPO-RAs is unknown. Indeed, there exist pharmacological arguments to sustain a differential risk: i) the two drugs have different structures and different sites of action: romiplostim is an Fc-peptide fusion protein binding to the extracellular TPO receptor domain, while eltrombopag is a small non-peptide molecule that binds to a transmembrane site of the TPO receptor; ii) consequently the intracellular signaling pathways activated by TPO-RAs are not strictly identical in vitro; iii) in clinical practice, a patient who stops a given TPO-RA due to inefficacy, adverse drug reaction (ADR) or important platelet fluctuations can be efficiently rechallenged with the other TPO-RA; and iv) a disproportionality study carried out in the French PharmacoVigilance Database suggested a signal for a different pattern of ADRs between the two drugs. The aim of this study was to assess whether there exists a signal for a different risk of thrombosis, arterial thrombosis, venous thrombosis, ischemic stroke (IS) and myocardial infarction (MI) between romiplostim and eltrombopag. Methods:We carried out a disproportionality analysis (case/non-case method) in the World Health Organization PharmacoVigilance Database (VigiBase®). We selected all the adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports with exposure to eltrombopag or romiplostim between 01 January 2011 and 31 December 2013. Cases were all reports of thrombosis, identified thanks to validated standardized queries and checked by two independent investigators. Non-cases were all other reports. We searched an exposure to eltrombopag (versus romiplostim) in cases and in non-cases, allowing the calculation of Reporting Odds Ratios (RORs). All analyses were adjusted on thrombotic risk factors recorded in the database: age, gender, indication, exposure to oral contraceptive, danazol, polyvalent immunoglobulins, and other pro-thrombotic drugs. We conducted two sensitivity analyses: one restricted to cases and non-cases reported by physicians, and one including the reports of "cerebrovascular accident" among the cases. Results: Out of 2 733 224 ADR reports colligated in VigiBase®during the study period, 4714 were included in the study. TPO-RA indication was ITP in 96.6% of the reports. We found 598 cases of thrombosis: 203 arterial thromboses (94 IS and 110 MI) and 324 venous thrombosis. Among the 324 venous thromboses, 131 (40.4%) were pulmonary embolisms, 45 (13.9%) portal thromboses, and 17 (5.2%) cerebral venous thromboses were found. In multivariate analyses, there was an increased risk of thrombosis (ROR=1.46; 95% CI [1.18-1.82]) and venous thrombosis (ROR=1.46; 95% CI [1.10-1.94]) with eltrombopag. There was no statistically significant difference between the two TPO-RAs regarding arterial thrombosis (ROR=1.29; 95% CI [0.89-1.87]), IS (ROR=1.28; 95% CI [0.79-2.05]) and MI (ROR=1.53; 95% CI [0.96-2.43]). Age was independently associated with the risk of thrombosis. Female gender was a risk factor for venous thrombosis (ROR=1.55; 95% CI [1.16-2.06]); in contrast, it was a protective factor for arterial thrombosis (ROR=0.65; 95% CI [0.44-0.94]) and MI (ROR=0.55; 95% CI [0.34-0.90]). Exposure to oral contraceptive was also an independent risk factor for venous thrombosis (ROR=3.45; 95% CI [1.20-9.90]). Exposure to IVIg was associated with MI (ROR=2.13; 95% CI [1.23-3.68]). When we restricted to ADRs reported by physicians, all ROR measures were slightly increased (overall thrombosis: ROR=2.07; 95% CI [1.60-2.69]; venous thrombosis: ROR=2.02; 95% CI [1.44-2.83]), reaching significance for arterial thrombosis (ROR=1.58; 95% CI [1.01-2.48]) and IS (ROR=2.00; 95% CI [1.16-3.44]). Inclusion of the 45 reports of "cerebrovascular accident" did not influence the results (data not shown). Conclusions: This study suggests a signal for an increased risk of thrombosis with eltrombopag compared to romiplostim, that must be confirmed by population-based pharmacoepidemiological studies. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.