Leprosy, impurity, and stigma in Vietnam

This Position Piece examines the nature of Vietnamese folk constructions of leprosy through Mary Douglas’s (1969) and Victor Turner’s (1967) works. Investigating Vietnamese explanations for the origins of leprosy and its channels of transmissions, symptoms, and consequences, I argue that these accounts are rooted in narratives of transition, transgression, the crossing of boundaries, and categorical confusion of various kinds. I argue that these deeply embedded perceptions of leprosy help to explain the existence of persistent stigma against leprosy in Vietnam, despite highly effective drug treatments and extensive state awareness programmes

Electroweak phase transition in the economical 3-3-1 model

We consider the EWPT in the economical 3-3-1 (E331) model. Our analysis shows that the EWPT in the model is a sequence of two first-order phase transitions, $SU(3) \rightarrow SU(2)$ at the TeV scale and $SU(2) \rightarrow U(1)$ at the $100$ GeV scale. The EWPT $SU(3) \rightarrow SU(2)$ is triggered by the new bosons and the exotic quarks; its strength is about $1 - 13$ if the mass ranges of these new particles are $10^2 \,\mathrm{GeV} - 10^3 \,\mathrm{GeV}$. The EWPT $SU(2) \rightarrow U(1)$ is strengthened by only the new bosons; its strength is about $1 - 1.15$ if the mass parts of $H^0_1$, $H^\pm_2$ and $Y^\pm$ are in the ranges $10 \,\mathrm{GeV} - 10^2 \,\mathrm{GeV}$. The contributions of $H^0_1$ and $H^{\pm}_2$ to the strengths of both EWPTs may make them sufficiently strong to provide large deviations from thermal equilibrium and B violation necessary for baryogenesis.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Vietnamese EFL High School Teachers’ Self-assessment of their English Language Proficiency in Relation to the Official Assessment Test Results

The current study explored how Vietnamese EFL high school teachers self-assessed their current English proficiency. It also compared teachers’ self-ratings with the results they obtained in the Project 2010 test, which was  used to assess English level of EFL teachers across Vietnam as part of the implementation of the National Foreign Language Project 2020. The data were drawn from 15-item online questionnaire with 94 teacher participants. The findings revealed that teachers perceived themselves as being more proficient in skills of writing and reading, compared to listening, spoken production (e.g., making presentations) and spoken interaction (e.g., making conversations). Most of them rated their current English proficiency level lower than the level they achieved in the Project 2020 test.  The findings offer information  about the language aspects that teachers were least proficient, which can be used to specify what support they actually desire from in-service training courses.  Also, as teachers are at the centre of the Project 2020, their perceptions of their own English proficiency provide insightful input to enhance the effectiveness of this educational reform

Time-Frequency Nexus between Tourism Development, Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, and Ecological Footprint in Singapore

Singapore has been listed as one of the top-visited countries and has the highest ecological deficit. Despite the abundance of previous studies, the distinction between short, medium, and long term by decomposing tourism development, economic growth, energy consumption, and ecological footprint has been largely ignored. This study aims to investigate the lead-lag nexus structures between ecological footprint and Singapore's economic activities from 1978 to 2016. By adopting the wavelet analysis and scale-by-scale Granger causality test, the outcomes show that energy consumption positively impacts ecological footprint at high frequencies, while tourism and economic growth positively drive ecological footprint at high and medium frequencies. We also find that the positive impact of macroeconomic variables on ecological footprint has not been evident since 2003. Additionally, the wavelet-based Granger test confirms a bi-directional causal between economic growth and ecological footprint at all frequencies, whilst there is a bi-directional relationship between tourism, energy consumption, and ecological footprint at high frequency. Based on these findings, the research may further strengthen the belief of Singapore’s policy-makers on the promotion of tourism and suggests some helpful lessons for emerging countries