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

Bank Credit, Trade Credit, and Profit: Evidence from Agricultural Firms in Vietnam

This paper investigates the relationships between bank credit and trade credit with profit of 130 agricultural firms listed on Vietnam’s stock exchanges in the period of 2008-2014. Using the GMM approach, the paper reveals inverted-U shaped (?) relationships between bank credit and trade credit with profit. Specifically, the optimal threshold of bank credit and trade credit to total assets of the firms are 0.4173 and 0.2425, respectively. The findings mean that if the ratio of bank credit to total assets exceeds the benchmark of 0.4173, firms should consider restructuring debts to get them back to the benchmark. To do so, firms should withdraw from those business fields that are not of profession, in addition to liquiditizing unused assets to repay debts and not using short-term credit to invest in long-term projects. Firms may use of trade credit wisely when other sources of finance are lacking. In concrete, firms can increase trade credit use if the ratio of trade credit to total assets is below 0.2425. Yet, if this ratio goes beyond this benchmark, firms should get its back to this benchmark, e.g., keeping a suitable amount of inventory

Stability of Cracked Plates with Nonlinearly Variable Thickness Resting on Elastic Foundations

In this paper, the stability of rectangular cracked plates with nonlinearly variable thickness resting on the elastic foundations is studied. The thickness of the plate varies exponentially along the x-axis. Meanwhile, the elastic foundation is modeled by a two-parameter Pasternak elastic foundation type. The crack is assumed at the center of the plate with variable length and angle of inclination. The establishment of the stability equations of the cracked plate is based on the Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT) combined with the phase field theory. Next, using the finite element method to solve the equations to find the minimum force that causes plate instability. To test the reliability of the computational theory, the results are compared with several reputable published papers. Then, the article will investigate the influence of elastic foundation, crack location, crack length and crack inclination on the stability of plate. The results show that the elastic foundation has a great influence on the plate stability, while the crack inclination angle has less influence. Finally, there are some images of the destabilization patterns of cracked plates placed on an elastic foundation

Stability of Cracked Plates with Nonlinearly Variable Thickness Resting on Elastic Foundations

In this paper, the stability of rectangular cracked plates with nonlinearly variable thickness resting on the elastic foundations is studied. The thickness of the plate varies exponentially along the x-axis. Meanwhile, the elastic foundation is modeled by a two-parameter Pasternak elastic foundation type. The crack is assumed at the center of the plate with variable length and angle of inclination. The establishment of the stability equations of the cracked plate is based on the Higher Order Shear Deformation Theory (HSDT) combined with the phase field theory. Next, using the finite element method to solve the equations to find the minimum force that causes plate instability. To test the reliability of the computational theory, the results are compared with several reputable published papers. Then, the article will investigate the influence of elastic foundation, crack location, crack length and crack inclination on the stability of plate. The results show that the elastic foundation has a great influence on the plate stability, while the crack inclination angle has less influence. Finally, there are some images of the destabilization patterns of cracked plates placed on an elastic foundation

Influence of internal curing on compressive strength and drying shrinkage of super-sulfated cement mortar

The current study aims at assessing the effect of using cold-bonded fly ash based artificial lightweight aggregate (ALWA) as an internal curing (IC) agent on the compressive strength and drying shrinkage of a typical super-sulfated cement (SSC) produced with a mixture of 85% slag, 10% gypsum, and minor amount of 5% blended Portland cement (PCB). The ALWA was used as partial replacement of fine aggregate (FA) at values of 25, 50, 75, and 100 vol.%. Experimental results showed that the ALWA partially replacing FA in range of 25–100 vol.% significantly decreased both the unit weight and dried density of the fresh and hardened IC-SSC mortars at average values of 13.9% and 20.0%, when compared with the reference SSC mortar, respectively. The ALWA increment continuously reduced the compressive strengths of the hardened IC-SSC mortars. But, at 28 days of curing, the hardened IC-SSC mortar containing the ALWA amount partially replacing FA up to 50 vol.% showed compressive strength reaching 89.3%, and comparable or slightly lower drying shrinkage in comparison with the reference SSC mortar without the IC agent

The application of (Y,Gd)BO3:Tb3+ and CaGa2S4:Mn2+ phosphors to remote white light-emitting diodes

The remote phosphor structure is superior to the conformal phosphor and the in-cup phosphor in terms of lighting efficiency; however, managing the color quality of the remote phosphor structure has been a nuisance to the manufacturers. To address this problem, many researches were conducted and the results suggested that using dual-layer phosphor structure and triple-layer phosphor structure could improve the color quality in remote phosphor structures. The purpose of this article is to study which one between the two configurations mentioned above allows multi-chip white LEDs (WLEDs) to reach highest indexes in color rendering index (CRI), color quality scale (CQS), luminous flux (LF), and color uniformity. The color temperature of the WLEDs used for the experiments in this article is 8500 K. The result of this research shows that the triple-layer phosphor configuration has higher CRI, CQS, and LE and also able to reduce color deviation resulting in better color uniformity. This conclusion can be verified by analyzing the scattering features of the phosphor layers using the Mie-theory. Being verifiable increases the reliability of the research result and makes it a valuable reference for producing better quality WLEDs

Enhancing the CRI and lumen output for the 6600 K WLED with convex-dual-layer remote phosphor geometry by applying red-emitting MGSR3SI2O8:EU2+,MN2+ phosphor

The traditional white LED product established with a single chip and a single phosphor results in a low color rendering index (CRI). The upgrade of LED package is comprised of two chips and one phosphor material and gives the higher CRI while keeping high luminous efficiency. Based on previous findings, the research paper performs the application of the two chips and two phosphors to enhance the color tunability of LEDs with different amounts and intensities of the two employed phosphors. Additionally, a color design model is built to serve the purpose of bettering the color fine-tuning of the white-light LED module. The maximum value of the difference between the measured CIE 1931 color coordinates and that of the simulated model is approximately 0.0063 around the 6600 K correlated color temperature (CCT). From the results, this study offers a quick approach to achieve the color fine tuning of a white-light LED module with a high CRI and luminous efficiency

Functional Complementation Studies and Analysis of Downstream Regulatory Gene Expression Networks of Trichome Trimeric Complex

In Arabidopsis, previous genetic analysis has revealed that trichome initiation is positively mediated by a trimeric activation complex comprised of an R2R3-MYB protein GLABRA1 (GL1), a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) GLABRA3 (GL3) which acts redundantly with its close homolog ENHANCER OF GLABRA3 (EGL3), and a WD40 protein TRANSPARENT TESTA GLABRA1 (TTG1). We studied the functionality of four individual cotton genes MYB2, TTG3, DEL65 and DEL61 from diploid cotton A and D genomes, which show high similarity in sequence with GL1, TTG1, GL3 and EGL3, respectively, in their respective Arabidopsis glabrous mutants. Our complementation assays proved that transgenic lines with MYB2, TTG3 from diploid genomes A and D could rescue the trichomeless phenotype of gl1-1 and ttg1-1, respectively. However, DEL61 from both the species could not rescue this phenotype of gl3-1 egl3-77439 double mutant. Interestingly, the DEL65 from A species rescued gl3-1 egl3-77439 double mutant but not from D diploid species. Comparative quantitative PCR analysis of the downstream regulatory network genes showed a similar pattern for MYB, TTG3 complemented lines from A- and D- diploid species. Comparative analysis of the DEL65 from A- (rescued the trichomeless phenotype) and D- (did not rescued the trichomeless phenotype) showed differential expression of regulatory network genes between these two lines. These results suggested that MYB2, TTG3 and DEL65, when expressed in Arabidopsis, regulated the regulatory network genes during the trichome initiation process

Identity Representation in Customization. A Case of Nike Shoes

Customization has been well-studied in perspective of manufacturers in the context of developed countries, however, not well-explored in developing countries like Vietnam. The present research was conducted to address customization as a value creator, associated withthe particularcase of Nike's shoes, for consumers in Vietnam. Based on prior studies, a model was built to examine customization through the meaning of customized products. This research aims to determineimportantfactors influencing the product meaning that young consumers use to evaluate Nike's products. Following a survey-based quantitative approach, Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze 227 participants, who have used Nike's products. The findings showed that personal identity-based motivation, social identity-based motivation, need for uniqueness, andaestheticimpressions wereimportantpredictors of customized Nike's shoes meaning, which influences consumer evaluation of the products