411 research outputs found
The evolution of social health insurance in Vietnam and its role towards achieving universal health coverage
Our research examines the development of social health insurance (SHI) in Vietnam between 1992 and 2016 and SHI's role as a financial mechanism towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC). We reviewed and analysed legislation from the Government of Vietnam (GoV) and performance data from the GoV and the World Bank. Stages of development were identified from legislative change leading to change in SHI functioning as a public financing mechanism: revenue collection, pooling of risk, and purchasing. Movement towards UHC was assessed relative to: population coverage, benefit coverage, and financial protection. Vietnam has implemented SHI through five stages: Stage I (1992–1998), Stage II (1998–2005), Stage III (2005–2008), Stage IV (2008–2014), and Stage V (2014 onwards). Coverage has widened from a compulsory scheme for civil servants and pensioners and a voluntary scheme for others, to a scheme that targets the entire population. However, UHC has not been achieved with 19% of the population uninsured in 2016 and high out-of-pocket payments. The benefit package includes a wide range of services and many expensive medications and considered to be generous. It is recommended that Vietnam focus on improving population coverage rather than further expanding the benefit package to achieve UHC
Assessment of Aspergillus flavus Infection and Aflatoxin Contamination in Groundnut in Southern Vietnam
Groundnut is an important food and cash crop in Vietnam with a high export potential. Limited studies of foods in the country have indicated that aflatoxin contamination is a problem in groundnut and maize. Vietnam considers the aflatoxin problem in groundnut to be of great importance, especially in view of Vietnam's expanding trade in this commodity, and the increasing use of groundnut cake as animal feed, Systematic surveys were conducted to assess Aspergillus flevus infection and aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts from farmers' fields and marketsloil mills in the major groundnut-growing areas of southern Vietnam. Results indicated that preharvest aflatoxin contamination is not likely to be a serious problem in adequately irrigated groundnuts. However, groundnuts grown under residual moisture or limited irrigation can be contaminated under conducive environmental conditions prevailing in the winter-spring season as evidenced by moderate to high aflatoxin levels found in some samples. Soilborne diseases such as stemlpod rot and bacterial wilt prevalent in many parts of southern Vietnam are likely to encourage A. flavus invasion of podlseed in the field. It is emphasized that the aflatoxin problem should be viewed holistically as contamination can be pre- and postharvest with many factors influencing, e,g., the crop rotation, soil moisture, soilborne pests and diseases, crop produce drying and storage conditions. A brochure on "Aflatoxin contamination problems in groundnuts and groundnut products" was prepared (in English and Vietnamese) and distributed to many farmers, traders, and extension and research workers to enhance awareness of the aflatoxin problem and management option
Occurrence of White Grubs in Groundnut Crop in Uplands of South Vietnam: A New Report
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is an important crop in
South Vietnam covering more than 125,000 ha under
different cropping systems. Crop surveys, and the onfarm
research organized in Trang Bang, Cuchi, Duc Hoa
and Go Dau during the past (until 2000), brought out the
importance of the foliage feeding insect pests (Spodoptera,
Helicoverpa) as economically important in farmers’ fields
(Ranga Rao 1995). Field visits during the last week of
May 2004 and interactions with the farmers in Tra Vinh
province, villages around Cau Ngang town revealed the
occurrence and importance of white grubs in this region.
This soil-inhabiting pest is a menace in this area, which is
in the heart of Mekong delta mostly covered by irrigated
rice (Oryza sativa) cultivation with multiple cropping
system
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New technologies to improve healthcare in low- and middle-income countries: Global Grand Challenges satellite event, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Ho Chi Minh City, 17th-18th September 2019
We report the outputs of a satellite event in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, organized as part of the "2 nd Global Grand Challenges of Engineering Summit". The event considered challenges and potential solutions for improving low- and middle-income country (LMIC) healthcare systems, with particular reference to critical care. Participants from key regional and local stakeholders in healthcare and engineering discussed how new advances in technology, especially in the field of Artificial Intelligence, could be of potential benefit. This article summarizes the perspectives and conclusions of a group of key stakeholders from LMICs across South and South East Asia
All-sky search for time-integrated neutrino emission from astrophysical sources with 7 years of IceCube data
Since the recent detection of an astrophysical flux of high energy neutrinos,
the question of its origin has not yet fully been answered. Much of what is
known about this flux comes from a small event sample of high neutrino purity,
good energy resolution, but large angular uncertainties. In searches for
point-like sources, on the other hand, the best performance is given by using
large statistics and good angular reconstructions. Track-like muon events
produced in neutrino interactions satisfy these requirements. We present here
the results of searches for point-like sources with neutrinos using data
acquired by the IceCube detector over seven years from 2008--2015. The
discovery potential of the analysis in the northern sky is now significantly
below , on average
lower than the sensitivity of the previously published analysis of four
years exposure. No significant clustering of neutrinos above background
expectation was observed, and implications for prominent neutrino source
candidates are discussed.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, 3 tables; ; submitted to The Astrophysical
Journa
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory: Instrumentation and Online Systems
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer-scale high-energy
neutrino detector built into the ice at the South Pole. Construction of
IceCube, the largest neutrino detector built to date, was completed in 2011 and
enabled the discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. We describe here
the design, production, and calibration of the IceCube digital optical module
(DOM), the cable systems, computing hardware, and our methodology for drilling
and deployment. We also describe the online triggering and data filtering
systems that select candidate neutrino and cosmic ray events for analysis. Due
to a rigorous pre-deployment protocol, 98.4% of the DOMs in the deep ice are
operating and collecting data. IceCube routinely achieves a detector uptime of
99% by emphasizing software stability and monitoring. Detector operations have
been stable since construction was completed, and the detector is expected to
operate at least until the end of the next decade.Comment: 83 pages, 50 figures; updated with minor changes from journal review
and proofin
Observation and Characterization of a Cosmic Muon Neutrino Flux from the Northern Hemisphere using six years of IceCube data
The IceCube Collaboration has previously discovered a high-energy
astrophysical neutrino flux using neutrino events with interaction vertices
contained within the instrumented volume of the IceCube detector. We present a
complementary measurement using charged current muon neutrino events where the
interaction vertex can be outside this volume. As a consequence of the large
muon range the effective area is significantly larger but the field of view is
restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. IceCube data from 2009 through 2015 have
been analyzed using a likelihood approach based on the reconstructed muon
energy and zenith angle. At the highest neutrino energies between 191 TeV and
8.3 PeV a significant astrophysical contribution is observed, excluding a
purely atmospheric origin of these events at significance. The
data are well described by an isotropic, unbroken power law flux with a
normalization at 100 TeV neutrino energy of
and a hard spectral index of . The observed spectrum is
harder in comparison to previous IceCube analyses with lower energy thresholds
which may indicate a break in the astrophysical neutrino spectrum of unknown
origin. The highest energy event observed has a reconstructed muon energy of
which implies a probability of less than 0.005% for
this event to be of atmospheric origin. Analyzing the arrival directions of all
events with reconstructed muon energies above 200 TeV no correlation with known
-ray sources was found. Using the high statistics of atmospheric
neutrinos we report the currently best constraints on a prompt atmospheric muon
neutrino flux originating from charmed meson decays which is below in
units of the flux normalization of the model in Enberg et al. (2008).Comment: 20 pages, 21 figure
Neutrinos and Cosmic Rays Observed by IceCube
The core mission of the IceCube Neutrino observatory is to study the origin
and propagation of cosmic rays. IceCube, with its surface component IceTop,
observes multiple signatures to accomplish this mission. Most important are the
astrophysical neutrinos that are produced in interactions of cosmic rays, close
to their sources and in interstellar space. IceCube is the first instrument
that measures the properties of this astrophysical neutrino flux, and
constrains its origin. In addition, the spectrum, composition and anisotropy of
the local cosmic-ray flux are obtained from measurements of atmospheric muons
and showers. Here we provide an overview of recent findings from the analysis
of IceCube data, and their implications on our understanding of cosmic rays.Comment: Review article, to appear in Advances in Space Research, special
issue "Origins of Cosmic Rays
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