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

Folklore has a critical role as a cultural transmitter, all the while being a socially accepted medium for the expressions of culturally contradicting wishes and conducts. In this study of Vietnamese folktales, through the use of Bayesian multilevel modeling and the Markov chain Monte Carlo technique, we offer empirical evidence for how the interplay between religious teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism) and deviant behaviors (lying and violence) could affect a folktale’s outcome. The findings indicate that characters who lie and/or commit violent acts tend to have bad endings, as intuition would dictate, but when they are associated with any of the above Three Teachings, the final endings may vary. Positive outcomes are seen in cases where characters associated with Confucianism lie and characters associated with Buddhism act violently. The results supplement the worldwide literature on discrepancies between folklore and real-life conduct, as well as on the contradictory human behaviors vis-à-vis religious teachings. Overall, the study highlights the complexity of human decision-making, especially beyond the folklore realm

Multi-faceted insights of entrepreneurship facing a fast-growing economy: A literature review

This study explores entrepreneurship research in Vietnam, a lower-middle-income country in Southeast Asia that has witnessed rapid economic growth since the 1990s but has nonetheless been absent in the relevant Western-centric literature. Using an exclusively developed software, the study presents a structured dataset on entrepreneurship research in Vietnam from 2008 to 2018, highlighting: low research output, low creativity level, inattention to entrepreneurship theories, and instead, a focus on practical business matters. The scholarship remains limited due to the detachment between the academic and entrepreneur communities. More important are the findings that Vietnamese research on entrepreneurship, still in its infancy, diverges significantly from those in developed and emerging economies in terms of their content and methods. These studies are contextualized to a large extent to reflect the concerns of a developing economy still burdened by the high financial and nonfinancial costs

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

Saponins isolated from the Vietnamese sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus.

Using various chromatographic methods, three triterpene saponins neothyonidioside (1), stichoposide D (2), and holothurin B (3), were isolated from the methanol extract of the sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D-NMR experiments and comparison of their NMR data with reported values. Compound 1 was isolated from S. chloronotus for the first time

SECURITY CAPABILITY ANALYSIS OF COGNITIVE RADIO NETWORK WITH SECONDARY USER CAPABLE OF JAMMING AND SELF-POWERING

This paper investigates a cognitive radio network where a secondary sender assists a primarytransmitter in relaying primary information to a primary receiver and also transmits its own information toa secondary recipient. This sender is capable of jamming to protect secondary and/or primary informationagainst an eavesdropper and self-powering by harvesting radio frequency energy of primary signals.Security capability of both secondary and primary networks are analyzed in terms of secrecy outageprobability. Numerous results corroborate the proposed analysis which serves as a design guidelineto quickly assess and optimize security performance. More importantly, security capability trade-offbetween secondary and primary networks can be totally controlled with appropriate selection of systemparameters

Spatiotemporal evolution of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta variants during large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam, 2021

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions

Prevalence and correlates of zinc deficiency in pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City

Background: Although Vietnam is a region with a plant-based diet that has a high zinc deficiency, epidemiological data showing how this affects pregnant women are limited. This study explores the prevalence of zinc deficiency and possible correlates in pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City. Methods: This was a crosssectional study conducted at a general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. All pregnant women who came to their first antenatal care visit from November 2011 to June 2012 were recruited. Those taking a vitamin and/or mineral supplement were excluded. Serum zinc concentrations, determined by a standard colorimetric method, of 10.7 mol/L-17.5 mol/L (70.0 g/dL-114 g/dL) were classified as normal and under 10.7 mol/L (70.0 g/dL) as zinc deficient. Results: In total, 254 pregnant women were invited and 107 (42%) participated. The mean age of participants was 29 years, and mean gestational age was 10 weeks. Median zinc concentration in serum was 13.6 mol/L, and the prevalence of zinc deficiency was 29% (95% CI=21%-39%). The daily intake of a milk product supplement was the only significant correlate of zinc deficiency of the items investigated (adjusted OR=0.40, p=0.049). Discussion: This is the first study reporting that more than 25% of pregnant Vietnamese women in Ho Chi Minh City are zinc deficient. Further academic and clinical input is needed to confirm the scale of this neglected issue and to investigate the potential of milk product supplementation in this population

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke