A conceptual analysis of China’s soft power in contemporary South East Asia

openThis thesis conducts a rigorous examination of China's soft power in contemporary East Asia, focusing on the overarching research question of how China strategically deploys soft power tools within the region. The study defines and contextualizes soft power in international relations, probing its theoretical underpinnings and limitations. Centered on China, the research analyzes cultural, economic, and public diplomacy initiatives, along with media campaigns, exploring their collective impact on shaping China's national image. Employing a case study approach, with Vietnam as an illustrative example, the thesis critically assesses the efficacy of these strategies in influencing regional perceptions and power dynamics.This thesis conducts a rigorous examination of China's soft power in contemporary East Asia, focusing on the overarching research question of how China strategically deploys soft power tools within the region. The study defines and contextualizes soft power in international relations, probing its theoretical underpinnings and limitations. Centered on China, the research analyzes cultural, economic, and public diplomacy initiatives, along with media campaigns, exploring their collective impact on shaping China's national image. Employing a case study approach, with Vietnam as an illustrative example, the thesis critically assesses the efficacy of these strategies in influencing regional perceptions and power dynamics

THE INFLUENCES OF ‘POWER DISTANCE’ ON PRE-SERVICE TEACHER LEARNING IN VIETNAM

Globalisation has moved nations to take steps to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive employment market. The Vietnamese Government has introduced a number of initiatives to equip its labour force with the necessary knowledge and skills, one of which is requiring teachers to change their teaching methods toward constructivist pedagogies.  This study focuses on pre-service teachers’ learning in Vietnam, where a ‘large power distance’ is widely practiced in education. This article reports on part of the action research study, showing the influences of ‘large power distance’ on pre-service teacher learning in Vietnam. The findings show that the ‘large power distance’ in Vietnamese culture generated both negative and positive influences during the teacher learning process. The findings contribute to the discussions about the role of teacher educators in promoting change for better education in Vietnam. Keywords: Constructivist pedagogies, power distance, pre-service teachers, teacher learning, Vietnamese teachers.Cite as: Nguyen, H.T.M. (2016). The influences of ‘power distance’ on pre-service teacher learning in Vietnam. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 1(2), 38-49.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol1iss2pp38-4

Spatial Clustering Analysis Of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever In The First 9-Monthsof 2023 In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Background: Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a notable vector-borne viral disease, currently becoming the most dreaded worldwide health problem in terms of the number of people affected. The objective of this study is to investigate spatial clustering of dengue hemorrhagic fever incidence in the first 9-months of 2023 in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Methods: the global Moran’s I statistic, Moran’s I scatterplot and local statistic were employed to spatial clusters (high-high and low-low) and spatial outliers (low-high and high-low) in the study area of Ho Chi Minh city. The first and third order of contiguity were used to constructe spatial weight matrix. Results: it was found from a case study of the first 9-months of 2023 in Ho Chi Minh city, a total of four high-high clusters, two low-low spatial clusters were detected in urban area and rural areas in the north and south of the Ho Chi Minh city, respectively when using the first order contiguity (statistically significance at the 0.05 level). For the case of using the third order of contiguity, a total of six high-low, two low-high spatial clusters and one low-low spatial cluster were successfully identified. Conclusions: the study results has proven the effective use of the global Moran’s I statistic, Moran’s I scatterplot and local Moran’s I statistic in the identification of spatial clustering of dengue hemorrhagic fever incidence

Ethanol Enhances High-Salinity Stress Tolerance by Detoxifying Reactive Oxygen Species in Arabidopsis thaliana and Rice

横浜市立大学2017年

Structural transformation and the livestock revolution in Vietnam: current situation and future scenarios for the dairy sector

In Vietnam, the dairy sector has emerged since the 2000s, in response to the rapid growth of the demand for dairy products. After having supported small-scale dairy production farms, the national policies since 2008 (the “2020 Livestock Development Strategy” in 2008, and the “Livestock sector Restructuring Action Plan towards greater Added Value and Sustainable Development” in 2014) highlighted the government's priorities for large-scale and industrial farms. Those recent programs focused on reducing the import dependency to meet the increasing domestic demand and improving price competitiveness vis-à-vis imported dairy products. However, in the context of a rapid transition of the economy and of the ecosystems, smallholder and family farms are still the mainstay of the agricultural sector and continue to play an important role in sustainable development. The present study raises the question of the viability, sustainability and inclusiveness of different dairy farming models, taking into account the land constraint (farmland availability: 0.8 ha per farm, 0.12 ha per capita), labor abundance, especially in agriculture (50% of the total active population) as well as the environmental challenges related to animal products value chains. This thesis aims to contribute to the current policy debates in Vietnam in order to know whether the future dairy sector should be based on family farming or on large-scale production. The first section is dedicated to the analysis of the structural and agrarian transformation in relation to the ongoing dynamics of the livestock and dairy sector more weighted on the larger commercial farms. To better understand the market dynamics, the second section characterizes the governance of the dairy value chain in the largest milk-shed in the Red River Delta (Ba Vi district, Ha Noi). Based on interviews with 70 actors involved in local dairy value chain, the thesis underlines factors shaping a mixed relational-captive governance and the close connection between the local authorities and firms that might threaten the inclusion of smallholder dairy farmers in the chain. In the third section, we report on a participatory scenario planning exercise conducted with stakeholders of the dairy sector (one scenario planning seminar at district level, two seminars at the national level) to discuss about future policy orientations. In support to this participatory scenario planning, a quantitative simulation was done. 4 potential plausible scenarios for the Vietnamese dairy sector until 2030 were drawn up. In all scenarios, Vietnam still has to import large quantities of milk products and animal feed raw materials from abroad, but the 4 proposed scenarios differ on policy implications upon labor absorption, land availability and efficiency, and environmental impact. In particular, a “Dual System” scenario is discussed to accommodate different farm models (private mega-farms, specialized family farms and mixed crops-livestock farms) in view of balancing supply and demand as well as adapting to the puzzles of local land, labor and environment. Taking into account the co-existence and cohabitation of the different farms, appropriate policy actions are needed to ensure the sustainable and inclusive development of the dairy sector

Structural transformation, agriculture and livestock in Vietnam (1970-2015)

Vietnam has exhibited rapid economic growth over thirty years of comprehensive economic reforms. However, about half of the country’s active population remains in agriculture. In order to characterize the role of agriculture and livestock in Vietnam’s structural transformation, we assess ongoing dynamics at three complementary scales: national, sectoral (agriculture and livestock) and local (district of Bavi). We show that the transition since Doi Moi (Renovation) has given rise to a political economy that provides incentives to industries and services. However, labor abundance (due to population density) and limited land availability (85% of agricultural land is composed of less than 1 ha farms) have slowed the canonical structural transformation, and widened income inequality between agriculture and non-agricultural workers. In this ‘Lewis trap’ context, intensive livestock (as it is the case for aquaculture and horticulture) has played a significant role in increasing labor and land productivity, offering some perspectives to secure smallholder agricultural systems. But the emergence of those very intensive systems producing a lot of effluents has in the same time jeopardized sustainable development of rural and peri-urban areas. More recently, the political shift towards industrial corporate agriculture and large-scale farming has increased this pressure on the environment, and endangered inclusive agricultural development. Today, smallholder farming and rural communities encounter many challenges to exploit resources efficiently and gain access to input markets to achieve higher productivity and value added. To avoid the risk of poverty trap and to pursue a sustainable and inclusive development over the long run, deeper and wider reforms are needed based on smallholder viability, agroecological principles, and crop-livestock integration

Emotion Regulation Training Companion: A Design Science Research

Emotion regulation ability has a critical role in our physical and mental well-being. Strong emotion regulation capability is associated with academic success and life satisfaction. This capability also bolsters people’s psychological strength to bounce back from negative, challenging emotional experiences. Although interest in designing emotion regulation support technology has grown significantly in the past few years, much of the effort has been put into helping users to change their physiological responses to emotional episodes. Limited works have focused on designing a solution that equips users with the necessary “tools” that enable them to master their own emotions. Informed by theories in affective neuroscience, we propose to design a conversational agent that helps users regulate their emotions by identifying their true cause, labeling them with a wide range of emotion words, and gradually building up their emotional granularity. By acquiring more fine-grained emotion concepts, we expect users to have more clarity and flexibility in navigating their emotional experiences

ANALYSIS OF PRESCRIPTION INDICATORS FOR OUTPATIENTS WITH HEALTH INSURANCE IN OUTPATIENTS DEPARTMENT AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY HOSPITAL IN THE PERIOD 2017-2018

Objective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the drug prescription parameters and to find out the elements had an influence on the prescribing practice of doctors’. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to collect 300 outpatient drug prescriptions and 30 questionnaires of physicians during the period of 2017-2018. The data were analyzed according to WHO’s the guideline. Results: Average number of drug per prescription: 3.73, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic or international name (INN): 100%, percentage of prescriptions with an antibiotic prescribed: 24%, of β-lactam antibiotics group, including cephalosporin (31.17%) and aminopenicillin (27.27%), accounted for the highest percentage of using in antibiotic groups with a total of 58.44%, of corticosteroid: 12%, of vitamin: 27.3%, of drugs prescribed including in the Essential Medicines List issued by the Ministry of Health: 35.3%. Average drug cost per prescription: 88,867 VNĐ. Percentage of drug costs for antibiotics (%): 7.48%, of corticosteroids (%): 1.85% and of vitamins (%): 5.25%. Conclusion: The results of this research have identified some prescription indicators and elements affect the prescription indicators such as drug information, patient, drug, which may lead to intervention studies for evaluating changes in these issues in the outpatient clinic