Study Day

Postcard from Mai Doan, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program in Aix-en-Provence, Franc

Sustainable Supply Chain in the Textile and Garment Industry of Vietnam

The textile and garment industry has contributed significantly to the Vietnamese economy. However, as it faces increasing pressure from importers who place more stringent requirements on product quality, the industry needs to adopt sustainable practices to stay competitive in the global market. This article examines the current state of the textile and garment supply chain in Vietnam using the sustainable development goals framework proposed by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) regarding the economic, social, and environmental aspects. It also considers the five criteria for determining the sustainable supply chain throughout the production-to-distribution process in the textile and garment industry suggested by Shen (2014), which cover Eco-material Preparation, Sustainable Manufacturing, Green Distribution, Green Retailing, and Ethical Consumers. The article evaluates the achievements and challenges of the supply chain in Vietnam based on these criteria and, thereby, offers recommendations to various stakeholders, such as the government, ministries, sectors, associations, and enterprises, to foster a more sustainable textile and garment industry in Vietnam

Mass Azithromycin Distribution and Community Microbiome: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.

BackgroundMass distributions of oral azithromycin have long been used to eliminate trachoma, and they are now being proposed to reduce childhood mortality. The observed benefit appears to be augmented with each additional treatment, suggesting a possible community-level effect. Here, we assess whether 2 biannual mass treatments of preschool children affect the community's gut microbiome at 6 months after the last distribution.MethodsIn this cluster-randomized controlled trial, children aged 1-60 months in the Dossa region of Niger were randomized at the village level to receive a single dose of azithromycin or placebo every 6 months. Fecal samples were collected 6 months after the second treatment for metagenomic deep sequencing. The prespecified primary outcome was the Euclidean PERMANOVA of the gut microbiome, or effectively the distance between the genus-level centroid at the community level, with the secondary outcome being the Simpson's α diversity.ResultsIn the azithromycin arm, the gut microbial structures were significantly different than in the placebo arm (Euclidean PERMANOVA, P < .001). Further, the diversity of the gut microbiome in the azithromycin arm was significantly lower than in the placebo arm (inverse Simpson's index, P = .005).ConclusionsTwo mass azithromycin administrations, 6 months apart, in preschool children led to long-term alterations of the gut microbiome structure and community diversity. Here, long-term microbial alterations in the community did not imply disease but were associated with an improvement in childhood mortality.Clinical trials registrationNCT02048007

The Viet Nam National Innovation System: A Diagnostic Review

National Innovation Systems (NIS) plays a crucial role in countries’ efforts to catch up with technological advances which are critical for the long-term sustainable economic growth and development of countries. This paper provides a diagnostic review of the NIS in Viet Nam such that appropriate policies could be devised and im - plemented. This paper provides an analysis of the institutions, policies and linkages that characterize Viet Nam’s national innovation system. It focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s system of innovation that Viet Nam has put in place in order to promote technological innovation for economic growth and development. The first part provides an overview of Viet Nam’s 20 years of economic reform as the context within which innovation takes place. The remainder offers a deeper insight into Viet Nam’s NIS, starting with the legal framework and institutions, including laws on science and technology, legislative government bodies and other supporting agencies. The current funding of R&D activities in general and in different sectors is given along with government’s attempts to encourage investment or financial support for R&D. The key actors in Viet Nam’s NIS are identified and investigated. The conclusion is a summary of rooms for improvement in Viet Nam’s NI

Determination of stress state in deep subsea formation by combination of hydraulic fracturing in situ test and core analysis: A case study in the IODP Expedition 319

[1] In situ test of hydraulic fracturing (HF) provides the only way to observe in situ stress magnitudes directly. The maximum and minimum horizontal stresses, SHmax and Shmin, are determined from critical borehole pressures, i.e., the reopening pressure Pr and the shut-in pressure Ps, etc, observed during the test. However, there is inevitably a discrepancy between actual and measured values of the critical pressures, and this discrepancy is very significant for Pr. For effective measurement of Pr, it is necessary for the fracturing system to have a sufficiently small compliance. A diagnostic procedure to evaluate whether the compliance of the employed fracturing system is appropriate for SHmax determination from Pr was developed. Furthermore, a new method for stress measurement not restricted by the system compliance and Pr is herein proposed. In this method, the magnitudes and orientations of SHmax and Shmin are determined from (i) the cross-sectional shape of a core sample and (ii) Ps obtained by the HF test performed near the core depth. These ideas were applied for stress measurement in a central region of the Kumano fore-arc basin at a water depth of 2054?m using a 1.6?km riser hole drilled in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 319. As a result, the stress decoupling through a boundary at 1285?m below seafloor was detected. The boundary separates new upper layers and old lower ones with an age gap of ~1.8?Ma, which is possibly the accretionary prism. The stress state in the lower layers is consistent with that observed in the outer edge of accretionary prism

Willingness to Use the Internet to Seek Information on HIV Prevention and Care among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Background: In Vietnam, men who have sex with men (MSM) are highly affected by HIV and need new targeted HIV prevention strategies. Objectives: To assess the willingness to use the Internet to seek information on HIV prevention and care and associated factors among MSM in Ho Chi Minh City. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2012. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method in venues most frequented by MSM and completed a self-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression models were performed to estimate factors associated with the willingness to use the Internet to seek information on HIV prevention and care. Results: A total of 358 MSM were approached for the survey and 222 questionnaires (62.0%) were eligible for analyses. Overall, 76.1% of the respondents reported that they were willing to use the Internet to seek information on HIV prevention and care. A number of male partners in last year less than or equal to 3 (Adjusted Odds Ratio: 3.07, 95% Confidence interval: 1.40–6.73), a history of STI screening (4.10, 1.02–16.48) and HIV testing (3.23, 1.20–8.64) and having ever sought a male sexual partner through the Internet (3.56, 1.55–8.18) were significantly positively associated with the willingness to use the Internet to seek information on HIV prevention and care. Conclusion: The MSM interviewed in Ho Chi Minh City reported a high willingness to use the Internet to seek information on HIV prevention and care. In a context where new media are increasingly considered as promising options for reaching this HIV risk group, further research should be conducted on developing and testing tailored online tools adapted to the needs of Vietnamese MSM

Brain Activity Elicited by Positive and Negative Feedback in Preschool-Aged Children

To investigate the processing of positive vs. negative feedback in children aged 4–5 years, we devised a prize-guessing game that is analogous to gambling tasks used to measure feedback-related brain responses in adult studies. Unlike adult studies, the feedback-related negativity (FRN) elicited by positive feedback was as large as that elicited by negative feedback, suggesting that the neural system underlying the FRN may not process feedback valence in early childhood. In addition, positive feedback, compared with negative feedback, evoked a larger P1 over the occipital scalp area and a larger positive slow wave (PSW) over the right central-parietal scalp area. We believe that the PSW is related to emotional arousal and the intensive focus on positive feedback that is present in the preschool and early school years has adaptive significance for both cognitive and emotional development during this period

Constituents from stem barks of Anacolosa poilanei Gagnep. (Olacaceae)

Four compounds were isolated from the stem barks of Anacolosa poilanei Gagnep. Theirs structures were established by spectroscopic analysis including MS and NMR. Accordingly, the isolates were identified as trichadenic acid B (1), trichadonic acid (2), amentoflavone (3) and β-sitosterol (4)