Economic, social and environmental disclosure, a theoretical framework and its application in Vietnam

This study focuses on the appraisal of firms performance and on its representation and reporting. Using interviews and inquiries in firms operating in the cement industry in Vietnam, two points are investigated. First, whether firms top executives consider that firms sustainable performance may include economic, social or environmental performance that is not integrated in financial statements. The theoretical framework is the stakeholder theory complemented with the institutional theory. Second, whether economic, social and environmental performance should be disclosed to answer the expectations of the various stakeholders. Therefore, our research contributes to corporate governance studies by focusing on reporting dedicated to all the stakeholders

Universality in odd-even harmonic generation and application in terahertz waveform sampling

Odd-even harmonics emitted from a laser-target system imprint rich, subtle information characterizing the system's dynamical asymmetry, which is desirable to decipher. In this Letter, we discover a simple universal relation between the odd-even harmonics and the asymmetry of the THz-assisted laser-atomic system -- atoms in a fundamental mid-IR laser pulse combined with a THz laser. First, we demonstrate numerically and then analytically formulize the harmonic even-to-odd ratio as a function of the THz electric field, the source of the system's asymmetry. Notably, we suggest a scaling that makes the obtained rule universal, independent of the parameters of both the fundamental pulse and atomic target. This universality facilitates us to propose a general pump-probe scheme for THz waveform sampling from the even-to-odd ratio, measurable within a conventional compact setup

Two decades of studies on learning management system in higher education: A bibliometric analysis with Scopus database 2000-2020

Over the past twenty years, using learning management systems in higher education has attracted increasing interest from researchers around the globe. In this context, the current study aimed to explore the volume, growth trajectory, and geographic distribution of learning management systems in higher education literature, along with identifying impactful authors, sources, and publications, and highlight emerging research issues. The authors conducted bibliometric analysis on 1334 documents, related to the use of learning management systems in the context of higher education, extracted from Scopus database. The findings show a rapidly growing knowledge base on learning management systems in higher education, especially intensely in the years 2015-2020 and primarily from research in developed societies. This flourishing is consistent with the development trend of international education and the strong development of technology. In addition, the core literature was identified based on the volume of publications and citations. The results also reveal the emerging intellectual structure of the field and provide points of reference for scholars studying the discipline. This paper offers a knowledge map for future research assessments of learning management systems in higher education

When Intervention Becomes Imperative: A Case Report of Spontaneous Vulvar Edema During Pregnancy

Spontaneous idiopathic vulvar edema during the second trimester is a rare condition. The approach to managing this condition involves relieving symptoms, identifying underlying causes, and implementing appropriate treatment. Managing such cases during pregnancy is challenging because of concerns for potential adverse fetal outcomes. Conservative management expects the condition to be relieved spontaneously postpartum, whereas invasive treatment offers a more rapid resolution. Treatment choices are controversial because each method has its pros and cons and influences the delivery process to a certain extent. Surgical drainage becomes a viable option when patients are not responsive to medications. We report a case of spontaneous massive vulvar edema in a 22-year-old primigravida in her 23rd week of pregnancy. After ruling out other notable causes of vulvar edema, we decided to intervene using an invasive procedure because she complained of progressive symptoms and discomfort. Subsequently, the edema subsided postprocedure, and the patient experienced successful labor with no complications. This report aims to alert clinicians that drainage attempts should be considered in pregnant patients with worsening symptoms

Inequalities between peri-urban and urban areas in urbanization process of Ho Chi Minh city: an urban political-ecology perspective

Thanks to the implementation of Vietnam’s economic renovation or ‘Doi Moi’ policy since 1986, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) urban has grown quickly. However, this also leads to an increase in inequality. Its peri-urban area, which undergoes higher level of urbanization than urban area, faces more problems such as land use change, inadequate development process, unequal allocation of services and investment, and ignorance of environmental protection and cultural preservation. These impacts show inequality in standards of living between residents of the two areas. Using the framework of the Peri-Urban Political-Ecology, this paper aims to depict a general picture of the situation and analyse the causes of social inequalities between these two areas in terms of economy, public services, and environment through “everyday practices” (i.e. events, problems, stories, etc.). The paper uses HCMC’s statistical data in 2015-2017 periods and research findings from previous studies. The results shows that the main causes in inequalities between these two areas are the inevitability of urban metabolism and the unequal power interaction among the state, society and market

Analyse de la performance économique et financière dans les activités de service industriel.

This thesis investigates how managers use the management control systems as levers of strategic change. This question is interesting both from a theoretical and a practical viewpoint. The investigation is focused on the case of industrial service operations. The specificities of this sector - immaterial flows, heterogeneous competences, customer involvement - make its environment particularly unstable. Meanwhile, the information technology era forces the service companies to continually carry out strategic change to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Simons (1995, 2000)'s lever-of-control framework is used as starting point. This framework proposes two extreme benchmarks to classify management control systems: interactive versus diagnostic systems depending on the degree of involvement of the top management. This thesis develops two new ideas: firstly, that the framework of analysis could be extended to cover four dimensions: the management tool, the organizational structure, the use of control system, and the compensation system; secondly, it explores how all four dimensions interact in practice. The tool dimension originates from the managerial literature on control systems. It emphasizes the importance of the horizontal coordination of the material flows from suppliers to customers. The organisational dimension comes from the literature on project management, which enlarges this coordination issue to new products and new services. The compensation dimension has already been introduced by Simons, though this dimension has rarely been explored in practice. Two case studies are used to explore the relevance of this grid. The analysis covers several years in which strategic changes occurred, making explicit how these changes were translated into the four dimensions of our grid. It appears that some configurations along these four dimensions are more efficient than others. A more efficient configuration simultaneously exhibits some interactive and diagnostic features. This balanced approach, which we characterize for industrial service companies, is offered as an interesting idea to be explored in future research. Consequences in terms of the role of the controller are also discussed.Cette thèse étudie la façon dont les gestionnaires utilisent les systèmes de contrôle de gestion comme des leviers de changement stratégique. Cette question est intéressante tant du point de vue théorique et une pratique. L'enquête se concentre sur le cas d'opérations de services industriels. Les spécificités de ce secteur - les flux immatériels, les compétences hétérogènes implication du client, - prendre son environnement particulièrement instable. Pendant ce temps, les forces de technologie de l'information époque les entreprises de services sans cesse procéder à des changements stratégiques à créer un avantage concurrentiel durable. Simons (1995, 2000) d 'un levier de contrôle de cadre est utilisé comme point de départ. Ce cadre propose deux repères extrêmes de classer les systèmes de contrôle de gestion: par rapport aux systèmes interactifs de diagnostic en fonction du degré d'implication du top management. Cette thèse développe deux idées nouvelles: premièrement, que le cadre de l'analyse pourrait être étendue à quatre dimensions: l'outil de gestion, la structure organisationnelle, l'utilisation du système de contrôle, et le système d'indemnisation, d'autre part, il explore la manière dont les quatre dimensions interagissent dans la pratique. La dimension outil provient de la littérature managériale sur les systèmes de contrôle. Il souligne l'importance de la coordination horizontale des flux de matières provenant de fournisseurs aux clients. La dimension organisationnelle est de la littérature sur la gestion de projet, ce qui élargit la coordination de cette question à de nouveaux produits et de nouveaux services. La dimension de compensation a déjà été mis en place par Simons, bien que cette dimension a rarement été exploré dans la pratique. Deux études de cas sont utilisées pour explorer la pertinence de cette grille. L'analyse porte sur plusieurs années où les changements stratégiques survenus, d'expliciter la manière dont ces changements ont été traduits dans les quatre dimensions de notre grille. Il semble que certaines configurations long de ces quatre dimensions sont plus efficaces que d'autres. Une configuration plus efficace à la fois présente des éléments interactifs et de diagnostic. Cette approche équilibrée, qui nous caractérisent des sociétés de services industriels, est présentée comme une idée intéressante à explorer dans de futures recherches. Conséquences en termes du rôle du contrôleur sont également discutées .

The Vietnam Women's Union Testimonial Campaign - “Women create smoke-free homes”

Background and challenges to implementation Almost 16 million Vietnamese adults currently smoke tobacco, including 45.3% of men and 1.1% of women. In Vietnam more women die from tobacco-related disease (9.5%) than smoke cigarettes, suggesting that women suffer disproportionately greater illness and premature death from exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS). Intervention or response The Vietnam Women's Union developed the “Women create smoke-free homes” national initiative to help protect women and children from exposure to SHS throughout Vietnam. Supported by Vital Strategies and Danson Media, a campaign was designed for the initiative, featuring the personal story of a 41 year-old, non-smoking victim of lung cancer, Ms Nguyen Thi Huong, with a call to action to “Protect yourselves and your loved ones”. Pre-testing research was conducted on initial testimonial edits to strengthen communication of Ms Huong's story. The resulting three 30-second ads were launched by the Women´s Union and disseminated from December 2016 to February 2017 through Facebook, with accompanying Facebook posts, radio spots and public relations activities in print, online, radio and television media. Results and lessons learnt The testimonial ads received 4,152,937 views, with Facebook comments mostly from women tagging male partners. A national tobacco campaign evaluation study (n=2022) found 8% of respondents, including 10% of female non-smoker respondents, recalled the testimonial ads unprompted (representing approximately 4.75 million people aged 15-55 years). Of these, 74% of female non-smokers (and 75% of male smokers) reported trying to make their home 'smokefree' and 77% reported trying to persuade others to quit smoking as a result of seeing the ads, while 67% of male smokers reported making a quit attempt after seeing the ads. Conclusions and key recommendations The campaign demonstrates effectiveness of a national Women's Organization communicating personal stories of tobacco-related harm to women. This supports previous evidence of the power of testimonial approaches and points to further potential opportunities for tobacco control communication in Vietnam and other countries

Adsorptive Removal of Rhodamine B Using Novel Adsorbent-Based Surfactant-Modified Alpha Alumina Nanoparticles

The objective of the present study is to investigate removal of cationic dye, rhodamine B (RhB), in water environment using a high-performance absorbent based on metal oxide nanomaterials toward green chemistry. The adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) onto synthesized alpha alumina (α-Al2O3) material (M0) at different ionic strengths under low pH was studied to fabricate a new adsorbent as SDS-modified α-Al2O3 material (M1). The RhB removal using M1 was much higher than M0 under the same experimental conditions. The optimal conditions for RhB removal using M1 were found to be contact time 30 min, pH 4, and adsorbent dosage 5 mg/mL. The maximum RhB removal using M1 achieved 100%, and adsorption amount reached 52.0 mg/g. Adsorption isotherms of RhB onto M1 were well fitted by the two-step adsorption model. The electrostatic attraction between positive RhB molecules and negatively charged M1 surface controlled the adsorption that was evaluated by the surface charge change with zeta potential and adsorption isotherms. Very high RhB removal of greater than 98% after four regenerations of M1 and the maximum removal for all actual textile wastewater samples demonstrate that SDS-modified nano α-Al2O3 is a high-performance and reusable material for RhB removal from wastewater

Multiresidue Pesticides Analysis of Vegetables in Vietnam by Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography in Combination with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-Orbitrap MS)

An ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography in combination with high-resolution mass spectrometry Thermo Q-Extractive Focus Orbitrap MS has been introduced for analysis of multiclass pesticides in vegetable samples collected in Hanoi, Vietnam. Multiclass pesticides were separated on the Thermo Hypersil Gold PFP column utilizing a gradient of the mobile phase consisting of 5 mM ammonium formate, 0.1% formic acid in deionized water, and methanol. The target analytes were detected in the full-scan mode on Thermo Scientific Q-Exactive Focus Orbitrap MS for quantitation at the optimum operating conditions. These conditions included, but not limit to, the resolution of 70000 at the full width at half maximum in both positive and negative mode, mass range from 80 to 1000 m/z, and optimized parameters for the heated electrospray ionization source. The identification of the analytes in real samples was based on retention times, mass to charge ratios, mass accuracies, and MS/MS spectra at the confirmation mode with the inclusion list of target analytes. The mass accuracies of target analytes were from −4.14 ppm (dinotefuran) to 1.42 ppm (cinosulfuron) in the neat solvent and from −3.91 ppm (spinosad D) to 1.29 ppm (cinosulfuron) in the matrix-matched solution. Target analytes in the vegetable-based matrix were extracted by the QuEChERS method. Some critical parameters of the analytical method such as linearity, repeatability, limit of detection, and limit of quantitation have been evaluated and implemented. Excellent LOD and LOQ of the developed method were achieved at the range of 0.04–0.85 and 0.13–2.9 μg·kg−1, respectively. Intraday and interday repeatability of the analytical signal (peak area, n=6) of the developed method were below 3% and 10%, correspondingly. The matrix effect, extraction recovery, and overall recovery were fully investigated by spiking experiments. Experimental results demonstrated that the ionization suppression or enhancement was the main contribution on the overall recoveries of target analytes. Finally, the in-house validated method was applied to pesticides screening in vegetables samples in local villages in Hanoi, Vietnam. The concentrations of all target analytes were below limit of quantitation and lower than US-FDA or EU maximum residue levels