The DKAP Project The Country Report of Vietnam

Viet Nam is at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In order to grasp the opportunities that the revolution has brought about, and to successfully build the society of digital citizens, there must be the demand of enhancing the capacity and capability for students to meet international standards in terms of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills. Viet Nam was selected as one of the four countries (Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Fiji, and the Republic of Korea) to join UNESCO Bangkok’s “Digital Kids Asia Pacific (DKAP)” project, a comparative cross-national study with the aim to seek the understanding and address children’s ICT practices, attitudes, behaviors, and competency levels within an educational context. Thanks to the project, the Vietnamese research team completely conducted the survey in twenty (20) schools from five (5) provinces in Viet Nam. With the data on the digital citizenship competency levels of 1,061 10th grade students, the research team discovered the valuable findings to draw an initial big picture for Vietnamese policy makers, educators, and teachers about digital citizenship competencies of 15-year-old Vietnamese students

Residue of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Soil of Some Areas in Vietnam

This chapter evaluates the contamination of selected persistent organic pollutants (S-POPs) in soil of some typical areas in Vietnam (mangrove forest, industrial, and urban areas in northern part). S-POPs are composed of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The collected data and analyzed results indicated the wide occurrence of significant S-POPs residues in study areas. The main sources of S-POPs are discussed by using composition analyses and diagnostic ratios of S-POPs indicator. Risk assessment of S-POPs in soil is assessed by using the guidance of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The obtained results have contributed to assess the S-POPs fate in the soil environment in Vietnam

Determinants Influencing Quality of Finance and Accounting Education: The Case Study of Vietnam

The quality of undergraduate program in general and in the discipline of finance and accounting in particular is one of the big concerned issues in society. For a long time, Vietnam has trained a large number of bachelor students which exceeds the real needs, especially in the field of economics. In the dimension of this study, we investigate the impact levels of determinants on quality of financial and accounting education in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Data were collected by receiving questionnaire feedbacks from students of Trade Union University of Vietnam. By employing the tests of Cronbach’s Alpha, exploratory factor analysis and multivariate regression, the results show that four determinants including (i) role of trainers, (ii) innovation of the training program, (iii) applying information technology; (iv) and social behavior skills of students influence positively the quality of education in the field of finance and accounting. Keywords: Education quality, finance and accounting, Vietna

Achieving the successful lean implementation at manufacturing companies in Vietnam: Awareness of critical barriers

This study focuses on identifying the critical barriers/difficulties and exploring the roots of barriers/difficulties for successful Lean implementation at manufacturing companies in Vietnam. The literature review and in-depth interviews are applied in this study. The literature review is done to review and to obtain experiences of the inhibitors of Lean Implementation from previous studies. An in-depth interview is conducted with eight experts of eight manufacturing companies deployed Lean to explore and identify the critical barriers/difficulties for Lean implementation successfully. As a result, it finds that seven key barriers inhibiting the successful Lean implementation come from the leadership; the employees; the workplace; resources; operation process; the integration with customers; and from the integration with suppliers. These challenges are not easy and take a lot of time to overcome, though, this study provides helpful advice for business in Vietnam who has plans to follow Lean implementation in looking back to the company and restructuring strategies, objectives so that Lean implementation process would be more efficient and more open

Changes in the levels of immunological markers after treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis

Introduction: Monitoring changes in the levels of immune markers is of great significance in evaluating the effectiveness of treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis. Objectives: Determine the change in the concentration of immune markers after treatment in patients with allergic rhinitis caused by cotton dust. Methods : A descriptive, single-group, comparative before and after intervention study on 52 patients with allergic rhinitis caused by cotton dust. Comparison of immunological markers results before and after 36 months of treatment. Results: Total IgE concentration after treatment decreased, the median decreased from 1227.756 U/mL to 676.805 UI/mL. Serum levels of IgG, IgG4, and IgG1 in patients after treatment increased compared to before (p< 0.001). The cytokines also changed in the direction of no longer responding toward allergy. Median IL-17 decreased from 1.752 mg/dL to 0.417 mg/dL. Conclusion: In patients with allergic rhinitis after specific sublingual desensitization treatment, IgE levels and cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-17 are significantly reduced and IgG, IgG4 and IgG1 levels are increased after treatment

Promoting skills-based education in the 21st century: A dataset of Vietnamese secondary students

As the world has become more digitally interconnected than ever before in the 21stcentury, the next generation is required to possess various sets of new skills to succeed in their works and lives. The purpose of the article is to present a dataset of socio-demographic, in-school, out-of-school factors as well as the eight domains of 21st-century skills of Vietnamese secondary school students. A total of 1183 observations from 30 secondary schools in both rural and urban areas of Vietnam are introduced in this dataset. The linear regression analysis was also utilized as an analysis example for this dataset. The insights generated from the dataset are hoped to contribute to skills-based education and policy planning in Vietnam

Ecological and behavioural risk factors of scrub typhus in central Vietnam: a case‑control study

Background: The risk factors for scrub typhus in Vietnam remain unknown. Scrub typhus caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi often presents as an undifferentiated febrile illness and remains under appreciated due to the limited availability of diagnostic tests. This tropical rickettsial illness is increasingly recognized as an important cause of non-malaria acute undifferentiated fever in Asia. This study aimed to investigate behavioural and ecological related risk factors of scrub typhus to prevent this potentially life-threatening disease in Vietnam. Methods: We conducted a clinical hospital-based active surveillance study, and a retrospective residence-enrolment date-age-matched case-control study in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam, from August 2018 to March 2020. Clinical examinations, polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay IgM tests were applied to define cases and controls. All enrolled participants filled out a questionnaire including demographic socio-economic status, personal behaviors/protective equipment, habitat connections, land use, and possible exposure to the vector. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to define the scrub typhus associated risk factors. Results: We identified 44 confirmed cases and matched them with 152 controls. Among cases and controls, the largest age group was the 41-50 years old and males accounted for 61.4% and 42.8%, respectively. There were similarities in demographic characteristics between the two groups, with the exception of occupation. Several factors were significantly associated with acquisition of scrub typhus, including sitting/laying directly on household floor [adjusted OR (aOR) = 4.9, 95% CI: 1.6-15.1, P = 0.006], household with poor sanitation/conditions (aOR = 7.9, 95% CI: 1.9-32.9, P = 0.005), workplace environment with risk (aOR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.2-7.6, P = 0.020), always observing mice around home (aOR = 3.7, 95% CI: 1.4-9.9, P = 0.008), and use of personal protective equipment in the field (aOR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1-1.1, P = 0.076). Conclusions: Ecological and household hygiene-related factors were more associated with scrub typhus infection,than individual-level exposure activities in the hyper-endemic area. These findings support local education and allow people to protect themselves from scrub typhus, especially in areas with limitations in diagnostic capacit

Evaluation of Xpert MTB/RIF and MODS assay for the diagnosis of pediatric tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) in children is rarely confirmed due to the lack of effective diagnostic tools; only 10 to 15% of pediatric TB is smear positive due to paucibacillary samples and the difficulty of obtaining high-quality specimens from children. We evaluate here the accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF in comparison with the Micoroscopic observation drug susceptibility (MODS) assay for diagnosis of TB in children using samples stored during a previously reported evaluation of the MODS assay. METHODS: Ninety-six eligible children presenting with suspected TB were recruited consecutively at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City Viet Nam between May to December 2008 and tested by Ziehl-Neelsen smear, MODS and Mycobacterial growth Indicator (MGIT, Becton Dickinson) culture. All samples sent by the treating clinician for testing were included in the analysis. An aliquot of processed sample deposit was stored at −20°C and tested in the present study by Xpert MTB/RIF test. 183 samples from 73 children were available for analysis by Xpert. Accuracy measures of MODS and Xpert were summarized. RESULTS: The sensitivity (%) in detecting children with a clinical diagnosis of TB for smear, MODS and Xpert were 37.9 [95% CI 25.5; 51.6], 51.7 [38.2; 65.0] and 50.0 [36.6; 63.4], respectively (per patient analysis). Xpert was significantly more sensitive than smear (P=0.046). Testing of additional samples did not increase case detection for MODS while testing of a second sputum sample by Xpert detected only two additional cases. The positive and negative predictive values (%) of Xpert were 100.0 [88.0; 100.0] and 34.1 [20.5; 49.9], respectively, while those of MODS were 96.8 [83.3; 99.9] and 33.3 [19.6; 49.5]. CONCLUSION: MODS culture and Xpert MTB/RIF test have similar sensitivities for the detection of pediatric TB. Xpert MTB RIF is able to detect tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance within two hours. MODS allows isolation of cultures for further drug susceptibility testing but requires approximately one week to become positive. Testing of multiple samples by xpert detected only two additional cases and the benefits must be considered against costs in each setting. Further research is required to evaluate the optimal integration of Xpert into pediatric testing algorithms

Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Drug-Resistant Tuberculous Meningitis Treated With an Intensified Antituberculosis Regimen.

Drug-resistant tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is difficult to diagnose and treat. Mortality is high and optimal treatment is unknown. We compared clinical outcomes of drug-resistant and -susceptible TBM treated with either standard or intensified antituberculosis treatment. We analyzed the influence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance on the outcomes of patients with TBM enrolled into a randomized controlled trial comparing a standard, 9-month antituberculosis regimen (containing rifampicin 10 mg/kg/day) with an intensified regimen with higher-dose rifampicin (15 mg/kg/day) and levofloxacin (20 mg/kg/day) for the first 8 weeks. The primary endpoint of the trial was 9-month survival. In this subgroup analysis, resistance categories were predefined as multidrug resistant (MDR), isoniazid resistant, rifampicin susceptible (INH-R), and susceptible to rifampicin and isoniazid (INH-S + RIF-S). Outcome by resistance categories and response to intensified treatment were compared and estimated by Cox regression. Of 817 randomized patients, 322 had a known drug resistance profile. INH-R was found in 86 (26.7%) patients, MDR in 15 (4.7%) patients, rifampicin monoresistance in 1 patient (0.3%), and INH-S + RIF-S in 220 (68.3%) patients. Multivariable regression showed that MDR (hazard ratio [HR], 5.91 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 3.00-11.6]), P < .001), was an independent predictor of death. INH-R had a significant association with the combined outcome of new neurological events or death (HR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.11-2.23]). Adjusted Cox regression, corrected for treatment adjustments, showed that intensified treatment was significantly associated with improved survival (HR, 0.34 [95% CI, .15-.76], P = .01) in INH-R TBM. Early intensified treatment improved survival in patients with INH-R TBM. Targeted regimens for drug-resistant TBM should be further explored