The linear span of projections in AH algebras and for inclusions of C*-algebras

A $C^*$-algebra is said to have the LP property if the linear span of projections is dense in a given algebra. In the first part of this paper, we show that an AH algebra $A = \underrightarrow{\lim}(A_i,\phi_i)$ has the LP property if and only if every real-valued continuous function on the spectrum of $A_i$ (as an element of $A_i$ via the non-unital embedding) belongs to the closure of the linear span of projections in $A$. As a consequence, a diagonal AH-algebra has the LP property if it has small eigenvalue variation. The second contribution of this paper is that for an inclusion of unital $C^*$-algebras $P \subset A$ with a finite Watatani Index, if a faithful conditional expectation $E\colon A \rightarrow P$ has the Rokhlin property in the sense of Osaka and Teruya, then $P$ has the LP property under the condition $A$ has the LP property. As an application, let $A$ be a simple unital $C^*$-algebra with the LP property, $G$ a finite group and $\alpha$ an action of $G$ onto $\mathrm{Aut}(A)$. If $\alpha$ has the Rokhlin property in the sense of Izumi, then the fixed point algebra $A^G$ and the crossed product algebra $A \rtimes_\alpha G$ have the LP property. We also point out that there is a symmetry on CAR algebra, which is constructed by Elliott, such that its fixed point algebra does not have the LP property.Comment: 24 page

The emerging business of science in Vietnam

Manh-Tung Ho, Khanh-Linh Hoang, Minh-Hoang Nguyen, Manh-Toan Ho (2019). Chapter 8. The emerging business of science in Vietnam. In Quan-Hoang Vuong, Trung Tran (Eds.), The Vietnamese Social Sciences at a Fork in the Road (pp. 163–177). Warsaw, Poland: De Gruyter. DOI:10.2478/9783110686081-013. Online ISBN: 9783110686081 © 2019 Sciendo / De Gruyte

Understanding the Intention to Use the Grab Service in Ho Chi Minh City

The primary objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence Grab’s intention to use its services in Ho Chi Minh City and assess the impact of these factors. The ultimate goal was to provide appropriate recommendations to enhance Grab’s services. The study involved 200 participants from Ho Chi Minh City. To achieve this objective, a quantitative research method was employed, and several analytical techniques were used, including reliability testing using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression. The analysis results revealed three factors that significantly influence the intention to use Grab services, ranked in descending order of influence: (1) Perceived Usefulness, (2) Price Value, and (3) Alternative Vehicles. These factors play a significant role in shaping customers’ intentions to use Grab’s services. The study acknowledges its limitations and suggests future research directions for similar studies to further explore and refine the understanding of customer behavior in the ride-hailing industry. Keywords: intention, service quality, perceived usefulness, prive value, alternative vehicle

Improving Bayesian statistics understanding in the age of Big Data with the bayesvl R package

The exponential growth of social data both in volume and complexity has increasingly exposed many of the shortcomings of the conventional frequentist approach to statistics. The scientific community has called for careful usage of the approach and its inference. Meanwhile, the alternative method, Bayesian statistics, still faces considerable barriers toward a more widespread application. The bayesvl R package is an open program, designed for implementing Bayesian modeling and analysis using the Stan language’s no-U-turn (NUTS) sampler. The package combines the ability to construct Bayesian network models using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation technique, and the graphic capability of the ggplot2 package. As a result, it can improve the user experience and intuitive understanding when constructing and analyzing Bayesian network models. A case example is offered to illustrate the usefulness of the package for Big Data analytics and cognitive computing

On how religions could accidentally incite lies and violence: Folktales as a cultural transmitter

This research employs the Bayesian network modeling approach, and the Markov chain Monte Carlo technique, to learn about the role of lies and violence in teachings of major religions, using a unique dataset extracted from long-standing Vietnamese folktales. The results indicate that, although lying and violent acts augur negative consequences for those who commit them, their associations with core religious values diverge in the final outcome for the folktale characters. Lying that serves a religious mission of either Confucianism or Taoism (but not Buddhism) brings a positive outcome to a character (βT_and_Lie_O= 2.23; βC_and_Lie_O= 1.47; βT_and_Lie_O= 2.23). A violent act committed to serving Buddhist missions results in a happy ending for the committer (βB_and_Viol_O= 2.55). What is highlighted here is a glaring double standard in the interpretation and practice of the three teachings: the very virtuous outcomes being preached, whether that be compassion and meditation in Buddhism, societal order in Confucianism, or natural harmony in Taoism, appear to accommodate two universal vices—violence in Buddhism and lying in the latter two. These findings contribute to a host of studies aimed at making sense of contradictory human behaviors, adding the role of religious teachings in addition to cognition in belief maintenance and motivated reasoning in discounting counterargument

Comparative views on research productivity differences between major social science fields in Vietnam: Structured data and Bayesian analysis, 2008-2018

Since Circular 34 from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam required the head of the national project to have project results published in ISI/Scopus journals in 2014, the field of economics has been dominating the number of nationally-funded projects in social sciences and humanities. However, there has been no scientometric study that focuses on the difference in productivity among fields in Vietnam. Thus, harnessing the power of the SSHPA database, a comprehensive dataset of 1,564 Vietnamese authors (854 males, 705 females) with 2,410 publications in the 2008 – 2018 period was extracted and analyzed. Various factors were considered including age, gender, new authors, leading authors, co-authorship, and Impact Factor. The findings suggest a high level of contribution from authors at the age of 40 – 44 in economics (858 publications) in a 12-years period, which is equivalent to the social medicine total output, and two times more than the total output of the education. Moreover, the presence and reinforcement of male researchers are still dominating in Economics and other fields, with the only exception of education. Despite the rapid rise in the number of Vietnamese lead authors, gender disparity among disciplines is an issue. Contrary to the strong international collaboration-oriented tendency in social medicine, economics, and other fields, educational authors are not open to international collaborating. Finally, most of the publications in economics belong to the group with JIF from 0 to 2, in contrast with the high number of social medicine publications with JIF from 2 to 5, which suggesting the field of economics is fulfilling the quantity, but still, need more quality publications

Policy Response, Social Media and Science Journalism for the Sustainability of the Public Health System Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Vietnam Lessons

Vietnam, with a geographical proximity and a high volume of trade with China, was the first country to record an outbreak of the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. While the country was expected to have a high risk of transmission, as of April 4, 2020—in comparison to attempts to contain the disease around the world—responses from Vietnam are being seen as prompt and effective in protecting the interests of its citizens, with 239 confirmed cases and no fatalities. This study analyzes the situation in terms of Vietnam’s policy response, social media and science journalism. A self-made web crawl engine was used to scan and collect official media news related to COVID-19 between the beginning of January and April 4, yielding a comprehensive dataset of 14,952 news items. The findings shed light on how Vietnam—despite being under-resourced—has demonstrated political readiness to combat the emerging pandemic since the earliest days. Timely communication on any developments of the outbreak from the government and the media, combined with up-to-date research on the new virus by the Vietnamese science community, have altogether provided reliable sources of information. By emphasizing the need for immediate and genuine cooperation between government, civil society and private individuals, the case study offers valuable lessons for other nations concerning not only the concurrent fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but also the overall responses to a public health crisis