Factors affecting the adoption of climate-smart aquaculture (CSAq) in the North Central Coast of Vietnam

Climate-smart aquaculture (CSAq) is considered an appropriate and effective adaptation approach for the coastal aquaculture sector under the climate change phenomenon. This study, applying probit model, aims to assess the influence of several factors on the farmers’ decision to apply CSAq practices in extensive coastal shrimp farming. Data were collected from interviews with 200 households who have both already applied and have yet to apply CSAq practices in five coastal districts of Thanh Hoa Province. The results showed six key factors that influenced the decision of the farmers to apply CSAq practices: availability of household labor; access to information on CSAq practices; market price of products applying CSAq practices; economic efficiency; ability to ensure food security; and improved pond environment when applying CSAq practices. These factors explained 69.41% of their decision to apply CSAq, among which economic efficiency had the greatest impact (30.2%). Market prices and access to information about CSAq are also important factors with respective levels of influence at 16.0% and 14.9%. The result implies that strengthening access to CSAq information and improving technical understanding of CSAq practices are important solutions to upscale CSAq in the North Central Coast of Vietnam

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT OF VIETNAMESE HOTEL ENTERPRISES

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting the publication of sustainability reports from the perspective of managers at 4-5 star hotels in Vietnam. Issues of corporate size, profitability, legal regulation, corporate governance and technology of the company were mentioned as factors that may affect the publication of the report on sustainable development. The author has synthesized the relevant background theory as well as previous outstanding studies on the issue of publishing sustainable development reports. SPSS 20 software was used to test the relationship between the factors affecting the publication of the Sustainable Development Report based on the manager's point of view. The results of the study show that the factors of business size, profitability, and legal regulations all affect the publication of sustainable development reports at 4-5 star hotels in Vietnam. A new finding of this study is that the two factors of corporate governance and the company's technology combine into a public governance factor based on technology and it is the technology that has the strongest influence on the publication of the Sustainable Development Report. The study once again confirms the relationship between the factors affecting the publication of the Sustainable Development Report and is a document to help researchers understand better in the research context in Vietnam, one of the leading countries in the world developing countries and have limited access to and use of secondary data

Gender Analysis of the Tuna Value Chain's Purchasing Stage in the South Central Provinces of Vietnam-Case Study of Binh Dinh Province

peer reviewedThis study aims to identify the gender disparities between men and women as purchasing actors in the tuna value chain in South Central provinces, thereby suggesting gender-sensitive policies towards gender equity, women’s empowerment, and sustainable tuna fisheries management. The study was conducted with the aid of a set of structured questionnaires executed through personal interview surveys. Tam Quan and Quy Nhon fishing ports in Binh Dinh province were chosen as study sites for conducting gender analysis at the tuna value chain's purchasing stage in the South Central provinces of Vietnam. Forty respondents were directly interviewed at their home or at the fishing ports in Binh Dinh province in May 2020, of which are ten middlemen and nine middlewomen purchasing yellowfin and bigeye tunas at Tam Quan fishing port; and twelve middlewomen and nine female traders purchasing skipjack tuna at Quy Nhon fishing port. This study used gender analysis tools such as the Harvard, Moser, and the USAID's six gender dimensions to identify gender differences between men and women in the tuna purchasing stage in productive, reproductive, and community managing roles. Some policy recommendations for improving gender equity, women's empowerment, and sustainable tuna fisheries management were proposed, including (i) describe the importance of women's reproductive role in gender-responsive strategies; (ii) establish tuna trading management board at the fishing port to collect information on the needs, issues, and interests of purchasing actors; (iii) organize training courses on tuna business and management skills at the fishing ports during the low season for the full participation of middle-actors, especially women; (iv) provide access to savings, credit, and microfinance for female traders to create opportunities for expanding their business; (v) improve facilities at the fishing ports to increase the overall well-being of the fish trading communities; (vi) introduce alternative job opportunities for laborers in the tuna purchasing stage during the low season; (vii) support laborers trading yellowfin and bigeye tuna in seeking other ways to make a living due to the depletion of these tuna resources

Exploring the feasibility of introducing triple artemisinin-based combination therapy in the malaria treatment policy in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the processes regarding changing malaria treatment policies in Vietnam. Moreover, it explores the feasibility of introducing triple artemisinin-based combination therapy (TACT) in Vietnam to support the national malaria control and elimination plan. METHODS: Data were collected via 12 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, combined with a review of policy documents. RESULTS: TACT is considered as a useful backup strategy in case future treatment failures with current artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) would occur. Moreover, TACT is also considered as a promising strategy to prevent the re-establishment of malaria. However, regulatory procedures and implementation timelines for TACT were expected to be lengthy. Therefore, strategies to engage national decision-makers, regulators, and suppliers should be initiated soon, stipulating the benefits of TACT deployment. In Vietnam, a procedure to apply for an import permit without registration that has previously been applied to the introduction of artesunate-pyronaridine was proposed to accelerate the introduction of TACT. Global-level support through the World Health Organization recommendations and prequalification were considered critical for supporting the introduction of TACT in Vietnam. CONCLUSIONS: Appropriate approach strategies and early stakeholder engagement will be needed to accelerate the introduction of TACT in Vietnam

CSA: Thực hành nông nghiệp thông minh với khí hậu ở Việt Nam

During the last five years, Vietnam has been one of the countries most affected by climate change. Severe typhoons, flooding, cold spells, salinity intrusion, and drought have affected agriculture production across the country, from upland to lowland regions. Fortunately for Vietnam, continuous work in developing climate-smart agriculture has been occurring in research organizations and among innovative farmers and entrepreneurs. Application of various CSA practices and technologies to adapt to the impact of climate change in agriculture production have been expanding. However, there is a need to accelerate the scaling process of these practices and technologies in order to ensure growth of agriculture production and food security, increase income of farmers, make farming climate resilient, and contribute to global climate change mitigation. This book aims to provide basic information to researchers, managers, and technicians and extentionists at different levels on what CSA practices and technologies can be up scaled in different locations in Vietnam

IDENTIFICATION AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF ACTINOMYCETES STRAINS ISOLATED FROM SAMPLES COLLECTED IN THE COASTAL AREA OF HUE, DA NANG AND QUANG NAM PROVINCES, VIETNAM

Microorganisms are of particular interest because of their ability to synthesize high-value secondary compounds and provide us with novel and diverse chemical structures. The most common source of antibiotics is Actinomycetes which provide around two-third of naturally occurring antibiotics, including many of medical importance. In this study, 81 strains of actinomycetes were isolated from 145 samples including: sediments, sponges, soft corals, echinoderms and starfish collected from three sea areas of Vietnam: Hue, Da Nang and Quang Nam. The strains were fermented in A+ medium and fermentation broths were extracted 5 times with ethyl acetate. The extracts were evaporated under reduced  pressure to yield crude extracts. Quantitative assay was used to determine MIC (Minimum inhibitory concentration) of extract against 7 reference strains. From the results of screening, Seven strains of actinomycetes that have the highest biological activity (Code: G244, G246, G261, G266, G278, G280 and G290) were chosen to be identified by morphological and phylogenetic based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The results showed that 6 strains G246, G261, G266, G278, G280 and G290 belonged to the genus Streptomyces; and the strain G244 belonged to the genus Micromonospora. In particular, strains G244, G278, G280 were resistant 5/7 strains of microorganisms test, with values  MICs from 2 µg/mL to 256 µg/mL; and three strains G261, G266, G290 showed the inhibitory effect towards 4/7 strains of microorganisms test, with respective values MICs from 2 µg/mL to 256 µg/mL. Moreover, six of the seven selected strains were highly resistant to yeast Candida albicans ATCC10231 with MIC values from 2 µg/mL to 256 µg/mL. These results indicated that marine Actinomycetes in Vietnam are also a potential source to find bioactive substances

SECONDARY METABOLITES FROM MICROMONOSPORA SP. (G044)

In the course of our screening program, the EtOAc extract of a Micromonospora sp. (strain G044) from sponge Tethya aurantium of the sea of Côtô - Thanh Lân exhibited antimicrobial activity against Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus and Candida albicans. In this paper, we reported the isolation and structural elucidation of six secondary metabolites Cyclo-(Pro-Trp) (1), Cyclo-(Pro-Met) (2), Cyclo-(Pro-Val) (4), N-acetyltryptamine (3), uridine (5), and 2-phenylacetic acid (6) from the cultures broth of Micromonospora sp. (strain G044). The structures of 1 – 6 were determined by analyses of MS and 2D NMR data. All compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against a panel of clinically significant microorganisms. Compound 1 inhibited Escherichia coli with a MIC value of 128 µg/ml

The global response: How cities and provinces around the globe tackled Covid-19 outbreaks in 2021

Background: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc. However, given the heterogeneity in the enforcement of these strategies and constant fluctuations in the strictness levels of these strategies, it becomes challenging to assess the true impact of these strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19.Methods: In the present study, we evaluated various transmission control measures that were imposed in 10 global urban cities and provinces in 2021 Bangkok, Gauteng, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, London, Manila City, New Delhi, New York City, Singapore, and Tokyo.Findings: Based on our analysis, we herein propose the population-level Swiss cheese model for the failures and pit-falls in various strategies that each of these cities and provinces had. Furthermore, whilst all the evaluated cities and provinces took a different personalized approach to managing the pandemic, what remained common was dynamic enforcement and monitoring of breaches of each barrier of protection. The measures taken to reinforce the barriers were adjusted continuously based on the evolving epidemiological situation.Interpretation: How an individual city or province handled the pandemic profoundly affected and determined how the entire country handled the pandemic since the chain of transmission needs to be broken at the very grassroot level to achieve nationwide control

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead