Is Nonfarm Diversification a Way Out of Poverty for Rural Households? Evidence from Vietnam in 1993-2006

school. Using the four high quality household living standards surveys available to date this paper reveals that Vietnam’s rural labour force has been markedly diversifying toward nonfarm activities in the doi moi (renovation) reform period. The employment share of the rural nonfarm sector has increased from 23 percent to 58 percent between the years 1993 and 2006. At the individual level, the results indicate that participation in the rural nonfarm sector is determined by a set of individual-, household-, and community-level characteristics. Gender, ethnicity, and education are reported as main individual-level drivers of nonfarm diversification. Lands as most important physical assets of rural households are found to be negative to nonfarm employment. It is also evident that both physical and institutional infrastructure exert important influences on individual participation in the nonfarm sector. At the household level, a combination of parametric and semi-parametric analysis is adopted to examine whether nonfarm diversification is a poverty exit path for rural households. This paper demonstrates a positive effect of nonfarm diversification on household welfare and this effect is robust to different estimation techniques, measures of nonfarm diversification, and the usage of equivalent scales. However, the poor is reported to benefit less than the non-poor from nonfarm activities. Though promoting a buoyant nonfarm sector is crucial for rural development and poverty reduction, it needs to be associated with enhancing access to nonfarm opportunities for the poor.Rural nonfarm sector, nonfarm diversification, household welfare, Vietnam

Support Vector Machine for Regression of Ultimate Strength of Trusses: A Comparative Study

Thanks to the rapid development of computer science, direct analyses have been increasingly used in the design of structures in lieu of member-based design methods using the effective length factor. In a direct analysis, the ultimate strength of a whole structure can be sufficiently estimated, so that the need for member capacity checks is eliminated. However, in complicated structural design problems where many structural analyses are required, the use of direct analyses requires an excessive computation cost. In such cases, Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are used to build metamodels that can predict the structural responses without performing costly structural analysis. In this paper, the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is employed for the first time to develop a metamodel for predicting the ultimate strength of trusses using direct analysis. Several kernel functions for the SVM model, including linear, sigmoid, polynomial, radial basis function (RBF), are considered. A planar 39-bar nonlinear inelastic steel truss is taken to study the performance of the kernel functions. The results confirm the applicability of the SVM-based metamodel for predicting the ultimate strength of trusses. In particular, the RBF appears to be the best kernel among others. This investigation also provides a deeper understanding of the effect of the parameters on the efficiency of the kernel functions

React Concurrent Mode: mechanisms, patterns and application

Single page applications are becoming a popular alternative to traditional websites or desktop or mobile applications due to their dynamicity and cross-platform capabilities. The rise of single page applications is in sync with the rise of libraries and platforms that support developing such applications, one of which is React, a popular framework developed and maintained by Facebook and open-source developers worldwide. Recently, new versions of React are released with one significant update - Concurrent Mode, which promises to improve React applications’ performance and user experience, therefore providing better services for customers. This thesis focuses on Concurrent Mode as a solution to the current issues in React appli- cations development, and how Concurrent Mode solves it using its features. Concurrent Mode usage patterns and adoption in a React application are also discussed. To gain better insights into its potential impact on a real application, Concurrent Mode is enabled in an in-development React project, whose differences in performance will be measured before and after the adoption of Concurrent Mode. Evolution of Concurrent Mode, from an experimental set of features, to a more matured version shipped with React, is also documented. The primary finding of the experiment with the React application is a clear, significant improve- ment in the application’s UI rendering performance. However, Concurrent Mode was not utilised fully due to the application’s architecture not being compatible with all of Concurrent Mode’s fea- tures. To be able to take full advantage of Concurrent Mode, refactoring work would be required. This issue might also translate to the real world when current applications want to use Concurrent Mode to improve their performance. Couple this with its immaturity and lack of interoperability with current platforms, the effect of Concurrent Mode on applications is limited. However, Con- current Mode’s undeniable potential means that more development and contribution should be encouraged, which would advance its maturity and compatibility in the React development scene

Performance of free-space QKD systems using SIM/BPSK and dual-threshold/direct-detection

This paper proposes a novel free-space quantum key distribution (QKD) system using subcarrier intensity-modulation (SIM) binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK) and dual-threshold/direct-detection (DT/DD) receiver with an avalanche photodiode (APD). The proposed system enables the adoption of well-developed analytical models in conventional free-space optical (FSO) communications and achieves the QKD function with a simple configuration. We analytically investigate the design criteria for transmitter and receiver, in particular, the modulation depth and the setting for dual-threshold in the context of security requirement of QKD systems. The quantum bit error rate (QBER) and the ergodic secret-key rate of the proposed system are analytically derived in closed-form expressions, considering the channel loss, atmospheric turbulence modeled by the log-normal distribution, and receiver noises. Monte-Carlo (M-C) simulations are also implemented to validate the analytical results, and numerical results confirm the feasibility of the proposed system

Dataset of Vietnamese students’ intention in respect of study abroad before and during COVID-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 Pandemic had completely disrupted the worldwide educational system. Many schools chose the online delivery mode for students in case learning losses incurred during social distance decree. However, as to these students who are currently in the study abroad planning stages, reached an intention crossroads, whether standing for certain unchanging decisions in study abroad destinations or changing swiftly due to the unexpected policies in quarantine. This case opened to interpretation, which was based on our e-survey since 3 May to 13 May 2020 with 397 responses covering a range of Vietnamese students. In this dataset, we focused on (i) Students’ Demographics; (ii) The previous intention of students to study abroad before and during the Covid-19 ravaged and (iii) Their intention afterwards

Cultivating Social Science Research in Vietnam: A Case of Collaboration between a Private Research Institute with International and Domestic Research Entities

Developing research groups within universities and science-technology institutions is one topic that gained a special interest in recent times. In this article, we will present our experience of building a research team in the field of Social Science at EdLab Asia Educational Research and Development Centre (EdLab Asia), a young research institute which achieved several initial results after one year of establishment: 14 published works in the journals from Clarivate WOS and Scopus list, between the time from Sept 2019 to Sept 2020. This article will present the goals, strategies, structure, and operating principles of EdLab Asia. Policy implications for universities and science-technology institutions in educational science in particular, and social science in general will be mentioned at the end of this article

Encourage Fathers' Use of Paternal Leave in Vietnam: the Labor Contract Characteristics and Fathers' Behavior

Vietnam reformed the maternity regime in 2014, in which male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth to children are entitled to a maternity leave of from 5 to 14 working days. This is widely regarded as a landmark reform that has shifted the Vietnam maternity regime toward a model that is more supportive of the compatibility of work and family life. In this paper, we show that fathers' leave-taking was only about 5,2% of total male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth, even when fathers are on leave period, they spend very little time with their children; despite drastic changes in gender norms in Vietnam, as well as short periods of leave, may have long-lasting effects on fathers’ involvement in newborn care and housework. We also find that groups of fathers, who are cadres and civil servants, as well as those with permanent working contracts profited more strongly from changing their behavior, while self-employment and temporary work lower fathers’ chances of taking leave. Finally, we make some compelling proposals to increase the number of fathers taking parental leave

Encourage Fathers' Use of Paternal Leave in Vietnam: the Labor Contract Characteristics and Fathers' Behavior

Vietnam reformed the maternity regime in 2014, in which male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth to children are entitled to a maternity leave of from 5 to 14 working days. This is widely regarded as a landmark reform that has shifted the Vietnam maternity regime toward a model that is more supportive of the compatibility of work and family life. In this paper, we show that fathers' leave-taking was only about 5,2% of total male employees currently paying social insurance premiums whose wives give birth, even when fathers are on leave period, they spend very little time with their children; despite drastic changes in gender norms in Vietnam, as well as short periods of leave, may have long-lasting effects on fathers’ involvement in newborn care and housework. We also find that groups of fathers, who are cadres and civil servants, as well as those with permanent working contracts profited more strongly from changing their behavior, while self-employment and temporary work lower fathers’ chances of taking leave. Finally, we make some compelling proposals to increase the number of fathers taking parental leave