Dynamic skill formation in Vietnam: Beyond a ‘skill mismatch’ paradigm

There are growing claims that an increasing skill mismatch, in terms of skill shortages and gaps, is impeding further economic growth and industrialisation in Vietnam. Previous studies often attributed it to the failure of supply-side initiatives to meet increasing skill demand. However, this supply-side approach, which emanates from human capital theory, provides only a partial view of Vietnam’s skill formation model and its challenges. This research investigated the perceptions of skill mismatch in the machine manufacturing sector, which is expected to lead higher value-added industrialisation, obtained through questionnaires and in-depth qualitative interviews with policymakers, educators, and employers. It found that employers are not uniformly concerned about large skill shortages and skill gaps because many of them do not require large numbers of skilled workers due to intensified supply chain competition, small domestic markets, and incremental technological progress. In contrast, policymakers and educators often perceive large skill shortages and gaps, in particular for intermediate workers such as technicians. Accordingly, they are adopting the supply-side approach by suggesting that education and training, in particular TVET programs, should be improved in accordance with the perceived skill needs of employers. However, they confront two fundamental challenges in trying to deliver improvements to their skill formation system through a supply-side approach. Firstly, many employers have weak incentives to engage in TVET reform due to stagnant skill demand. Secondly, they struggle to determine current and future skill ‘needs’ precisely. In these conditions, imposing the supply-side approach amplifies mutual distrust between the supply and demand sides. In order to overcome these two challenges and achieve further industrialisation, Vietnam needs an integrated skill formation strategy which stimulates the dynamism of skill demand, while promoting inclusive upskilling beyond employers’ immediate skills needs. This requires active local initiatives focusing on sectors with high aspirations for ascending value chains and upskilling

テンネン センイ デ キョウカ シタ キノウセイ グリーン コンポジット ノ カイハツ

Various types of unidirectional and random bamboo fiber reinforced “green” composites were fabricated, and examined their damping properties as a function of fiber content. The loss factors decreased with increasing fiber content. However they decreased gently higher than 40mass percent fiber content, the tensile modulus increased proportionally to the fiber content of about 80mass percent. The definite relationship between loss factor and Young’s modulus was not found. In addition, loss factors of random fiber (10mm fiber) reinforced “green” composites are larger than loss those unidirectional (continuous fiber) ones

TREM2 Expression in Schizophrenia

TREM2 and TYROBP are causal genes for Nasu–Hakola disease (NHD), a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by bone lesions and early-onset progressive dementia. TREM2 forms a receptor signaling complex with TYROBP, which triggers the activation of immune responses in macrophages and dendritic cells, and the functional polymorphism of TREM2 is reported to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The objective of this study was to reveal the involvement of TYROBP and TREM2 in the pathophysiology of AD and schizophrenia. Methods: We investigated the mRNA expression level of the 2 genes in leukocytes of 26 patients with AD and 24 with schizophrenia in comparison with age-matched controls. Moreover, we performed gene association analysis between these 2 genes and schizophrenia. Results: No differences were found in TYROBP mRNA expression in patients with AD and schizophrenia; however, TREM2 mRNA expression was increased in patients with AD and schizophrenia compared with controls (P < 0.001). There were no genetic associations of either gene with schizophrenia in Japanese patients. Conclusion: TREM2 expression in leukocytes is elevated not only in AD but also in schizophrenia. Inflammatory processes involving TREM2 may occur in schizophrenia, as observed in neurocognitive disorders such as AD. TREM2 expression in leukocytes may be a novel biomarker for neurological and psychiatric disorders

SST Ensemble Experiment-Based Impact Assessment of Climate Change on Storm Surge Caused by Pseudo-Global Warming: Case Study of Typhoon Vera in 1959

金沢大学理工研究域環境デザイン学系To evaluate future changes in storm surge caused by global warming, dynamical downscaling was conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting model for Typhoon Vera under present- and future-climate conditions and storm surge simulation using the Coupled Model of Surge, Wave, and Tide. The present-climate experiment entailed dynamical downscaling using data from the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis project as the initial and boundary conditions, and the future-climate experiments entailed downscaling considering future changes simulated through sea-surface temperature ensemble experiments using the Meteorological Research Institute Atmosphere General Circulation Model. The characteristics of the downscaled typhoon agreed well with the Best Track, and the future changes in the typhoon characteristics were as follows: intensification of the central pressure, delayed decline in the high-latitude area, and westward track migration. Present-climate storm surge simulation executed using these downscaling results after correcting for the track error agreed with the observed surge, but the storm surges under future-climate conditions were underestimated because of differences in the typhoon track and surface roughness. Storm surge simulations were conducted using an empirical typhoon model; the results suggest a storm surge of 26cm (average of the ensemble) at Nagoya Port, which is located in the innermost region of Ise Bay. © 2017 World Scientific Publishing Company.Embargo Period 12 month

A Multicenter, Open-label, Clinical Trial to Assess the Effectiveness and Safety of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Using Reduced-intensity Conditioning in Relapsed/refractory Anaplastic Large-cell Lymphoma in Children

No standard treatment for relapsed or refractory anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) has been established. This study is a multicenter, open-label trial to examine the effectiveness and safety of transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) for patients under 20 years old with relapsed or refractory ALCL. We defined RIC as the administration of fludarabine (30 mg/m2/day) for five days plus melphalan (70 mg/m2/day) for two days and total body irradiation at 4 Gy, followed by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Increased Susceptibility to LPS-induced Endotoxin Shock in Secretory Leukoprotease Inhibitor (SLPI)-deficient Mice

Secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI) protects tissue against the destructive action of neutrophil elastase at the site of inflammation. Recent studies on new functions of SLPI have demonstrated that SLPI may play a larger role in innate immunity than merely as a protease inhibitor. To clarify the functions of SLPI in bacterial infections, we generated SLPI-deficient mice (SLPI−/− mice) and analyzed their response to experimental endotoxin shock induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). SLPI−/− mice showed a higher mortality from endotoxin shock than did wild type mice. This may be explained in part by our observation that SLPI−/− macro-phages show higher interleukin 6 and high-mobility group (HMG)-1 production and nuclear factor κB activities after LPS treatment than do SLPI+/+ macrophages. SLPI also affects B cell function. SLPI−/− B cells show more proliferation and IgM production after LPS treatment than SLPI+/+ B cells. Our results suggest that SLPI attenuates excessive inflammatory responses and thus assures balanced functioning of innate immunity

Planar-type silicon thermoelectric generator with phononic nanostructures for 100 {\mu}W energy harvesting

Energy harvesting is essential for the internet-of-things networks where a tremendous number of sensors require power. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs), especially those based on silicon (Si), are a promising source of clean and sustainable energy for these sensors. However, the reported performance of planar-type Si TEGs never exceeded power factors of 0.1 ${\mu} Wcm^{-2} K^{-2}$ due to the poor thermoelectric performance of Si and the suboptimal design of the devices. Here, we report a planar-type Si TEG with a power factor of 1.3 ${\mu} Wcm^{-2} K^{-2}$ around room temperature. The increase in thermoelectric performance of Si by nanostructuring based on the phonon-glass electron-crystal concept and optimized three-dimensional heat-guiding structures resulted in a significant power factor. In-field testing demonstrated that our Si TEG functions as a 100-${\mu}W$-class harvester. This result is an essential step toward energy harvesting with a low-environmental load and cost-effective material with high throughput, a necessary condition for energy-autonomous sensor nodes for the trillion sensors universe

The Japan Monkey Centre Primates Brain Imaging Repository for comparative neuroscience: an archive of digital records including records for endangered species

Advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational analysis technology have enabled comparisons among various primate brains in a three-dimensional electronic format. Results from comparative studies provide information about common features across primates and species-specific features of neuroanatomy. Investigation of various species of non-human primates is important for understanding such features, but the majority of comparative MRI studies have been based on experimental primates, such as common marmoset, macaques, and chimpanzee. A major obstacle has been the lack of a database that includes non-experimental primates’ brain MRIs. To facilitate scientific discoveries in the field of comparative neuroanatomy and brain evolution, we launched a collaborative project to develop an open-resource repository of non-human primate brain images obtained using ex vivo MRI. As an initial open resource, here we release a collection of structural MRI and diffusion tensor images obtained from 12 species: pygmy marmoset, owl monkey, white-fronted capuchin, crab-eating macaque, Japanese macaque, bonnet macaque, toque macaque, Sykes’ monkey, red-tailed monkey, Schmidt’s guenon, de Brazza’s guenon, and lar gibbon. Sixteen postmortem brain samples from the 12 species, stored in the Japan Monkey Centre (JMC), were scanned using a 9.4-T MRI scanner and made available through the JMC collaborative research program (http://www.j-monkey.jp/BIR/index_e.html). The expected significant contributions of the JMC Primates Brain Imaging Repository include (1) resources for comparative neuroscience research, (2) preservation of various primate brains, including those of endangered species, in a permanent digital form, (3) resources with higher resolution for identifying neuroanatomical features, compared to previous MRI atlases, (4) resources for optimizing methods of scanning large fixed brains, and (5) references for veterinary neuroradiology. User-initiated research projects beyond these contributions are also anticipated