Housing development and the role of self-help housing in Vietnamese cities: a case study of Can Tho city

This research explores how new urban housing has been developed in recent years in a high climate change risk city of Can Tho in Vietnam, with a strong focus on self-help housing process and its role in providing urban housing for the low and middle-income groups. In order to achieve this aim, four objectives were clarified in this thesis, which include: (1)-Exploring why and how does self-help housing happen commonly in Vietnamese cities, and what is the role of self-help housing in urban housing development in Vietnam; (2)-Identifying the main approaches, forms and identities of new urban housing developments in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta Region (VMDR), and what economic, social or environmental problems arise from this; (3)-Finding out to what extent does the legal and administrative framework, land ownership and the practical process of land use change affect housing development in Vietnam; and (4)-Pointing out the major risks in housing development in the VMDR. Firstly, by initially examining the literature on housing development and self-help housing, mostly in relation to the developing countries, the author established the different approaches for housing the urban low and middle-income groups as well as an analytical framework for the research which includes the pros and cons of self-help housing approaches. This conceptual contribution of the research summarises the theory of self-help housing and the self-help approach in urban development in developing countries. The framework provided a firm structure to study self-help housing in Vietnam in this research through the analysis of the Can Tho city case study. Secondly, the contribution of the thesis at the practical level is the provision of lessons from developing countries such as China, Turkey, Thailand and others that Vietnam can learn from (in both positive and negative ways) with reference to various aspects of urban development management, urban design, living condition improvement and environmental protection. Although the thesis did not draw extensively on the lessons from the four developing countries, they did provide general overviews of self-help housing development in developing countries facing similar problems to those of Vietnam. Thirdly, the research investigated the Vietnamese construction industry context, including Vietnam’s planning structure, legislation (including Laws on planning, construction, real estate and housing), which has driven the housing development in Vietnam. The empirical analysis of the case study shows that self-help housing is dominant in housing development in Vietnamese cities in recent years. It plays an important role in housing the low and middle-income groups. This trend will take place in the short and medium term, as the loose regulation in planning and development control and the fact that many people (including government officials) are highly satisfied with this type of housing. However, in the longer term most of the informal housing will arguably be transformed into or replaced by formal housing, as people will recognize both the short and long-term benefit of the formal housing planning and development process. This study reveals that self-help housing, including both the informal and formal self-help, has been successful in providing affordable and flexible housing for the low and middle-income groups in Vietnamese cities. Due to the high level of land accessibility for self-help housing in many Vietnamese cities and the lack of a proper housing finance system to support house buyers, most people prefer to develop their own houses depending on their current financial abilities. The changing of land use purposes which leads to a significant change in land value is also an important factor in driving the growth of self-help housing development in Vietnam. Institutionally, the pro-self-help housing government and a weak urban planning and management system are also part of underlying causes of the enormous development of self-help housing in Vietnamese cities in recent years. This study also gives recommendations towards a pro-active government’s initiatives to strengthen the urban governance in order to archive a fair and transparent environment in housing development in Vietnamese cities for stakeholders, enhance the land use effectiveness and improving the living condition of urban resident in a more sustainable way

Evaluation of the phage display protocol for target identification of small molecules

Currently, the phage display is the potential method for target identification of small molecules. Thus, the first objective of this thesis was to establish a cDNA phage display protocol for affinity isolation of target proteins binding to small molecules of interest as an alternative to the affinity-based approach. For that reason we generated a cDNA phage display library using HeLa cells, which are usually used for phenotypic studies and for target identification using affinity chromatography in our group. This approach was applied different molecules including melophlin A, CD 267, tubulexin A. and glutathione (GSH) as control. Preincubation the library with streptavidin-biotin or streptavidin-PEG-biotin or inactive compound before biopanning step was employed to reduce on-specific binding. In parallel, specific elution approaches was employed to elute proteins and identified one known hit of GSH. The binders identified by phage display were not identical with the binders identified using affinity purification in the case of melophlin A, CD 267 and tubulexin A. Even though we could succeed in establishing a protocol with the optimal conditions determined. However, there is unlikely to get the same hits of affinity purification for melophlin A, CD 267 and tubulexin A. A separate study focused on the biological evaluation of hit compounds from phenotypic high content screening that monitors changes in cytoskeleton and DNA. Molecules interfering with microtubule dynamics are among the most successful therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Despite the availability of many tubulin targeting agents, cells can become resistant towards the drugs. Hence, there is high demand for the identification of new anti-tubulin agents that are able to overcome anti-tubulin drug resistance. Within this work, the aim was to further validate the effects of tubulexin A and podoverin A and characterize their mode of action. Tubulexin A and the natural product podoverin A are potent inducers of a G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Tubulexin A is the most active compound identified from tetrahydropyran library. Base on target validation showed that tubulexin A inhibits tubulin polymerization by targeting the vinca alkaloid binding site of tubulin and also bind to the protein CAS. Further validation of the effects of those compounds on tubulin polymerization, the cell cycle, and their binding to CAS was done by biophysical measurements, binding assays, tubulin polymerization assays, immunofluorescence and life time imaging, binding assays, and affinity chromatographic methods. Results showed that CAS binds to tubulexin A independent from tubulin. Additionally, tubulin polymerization is inhibited in a synergistic manner in the presence of both, tubulexin A and CAS in vitro. Based on results of overcome vinblastine-resistance, tubulexin A can become a promising antimitotic drug for cancer treatment with the dual mode of action of the tubulexin A and CAS. For the natural product podoverin A is the most active mitosis modulator in natural product library. This compound is a potential target for further study on natural product as mitosis modulator to use for anticancer drugs, also used as natural product scaffold for synthesis library. The third aim of this thesis is discovery new CAS inhibitors as mitosis modulators. Despite the high relevance of CAS as a target in cancer, there is no small molecule targeting CAS published yet. Therefore, additional focus of this work was to discover further compounds that bind to CAS which might interfere with CAS function and thus might inhibit growth of cancer cells. A reverse chemical genomics-approach was chosen in collaboration with the group of Prof. Osada (RIKEN-Wako-Japan). This strategy is based on a chemical array screening. After chemical array screening of approximately 25,000 compounds, 263 potential hit compounds have been obtained. Further validation the hit compounds was based on phenotypic changes and specific function of the target using immunofluorescence and life time imaging, biophysical methods for the determination of the binding affinity, as well as studies on the interaction of the hit compounds with DNA and tubulin polymerization in vitro. The most interesting compound R89 was further validated on HeLa cells and we found that this compound inhibited cell proliferation. Result showed that R89 has effect on mitosis by formation of multipolar mitotic spindles and caused chromosome congression defects and also induces nuclear accumulation of RANBP1. Thus R89 is an interesting mitosis modulator to study for anticancer drugs

L’effet de l’annonce médiatique d’irrégularités financières sur les risques financiers des entreprises

Les irrégularités financières en entreprise ne sont pas un nouveau phénomène. Cependant, depuis les années 90 avec l’omniprésence des médias, la diffusion médiatique des annonces de fraudes boursières semble avoir un impact significatif sur le comportement des investisseurs et, plus particulièrement, sur les cours boursiers. Toutefois, au-delà de son effet sur la performance financière, une autre question fondamentale se pose : est-ce que l’annonce médiatique d’irrégularités ou de fraudes financières influence le risque des entreprises ? Si oui, quels sont les types de risque affectés et quel est l’effet du traitement médiatique ? Afin de répondre à cette question, ce papier se base sur un modèle d’évaluation d’actif conditionnel et sur un modèle de variance conditionnelle GJR-GARCH. Ces modèles capturent, respectivement, la variation du risque systématique et la variation du risque total. Nous étudions ces variations de risque selon le traitement médiatique, le type de fraude, la victime de fraude ainsi que la décision juridique. Notre échantillon contient 491 événements-entreprise, concernant des fraudes et des irrégularités financières d’une entreprise (première diffusion et suivi) qui commence, au plus tôt, le 1er janvier 2000, et qui se termine, au plus tard, le 31 décembre 2011. En général, nos résultats ne permettent pas de conclure à une augmentation significative du risque d’une entreprise suite à une annonce d’irrégularité. Ces résultats sont cohérents avec la littérature existante sur l’analyse de risque à la suite d’une annonce de fraude. Plusieurs avenues sont proposées pour expliquer cette conclusion qui peut sembler, de prime abord, contre-intuitive. Ainsi, cette conclusion pourrait être expliquée par l’anticipation de l’annonce d’une irrégularité par les investisseurs, par une meilleure gestion anticipée de l’entreprise suite à la révélation d’une irrégularité, ou encore par la neutralité de l’irrégularité sur le risque de l’entreprise. Nos résultats indiquent cependant des augmentations significatives de risque pour des entreprises touchées par des fraudes « corporatives », par du piratage ou par une fraude contre le gouvernement. Ces résultats sont robustes pour différents horizons d’estimation et pour différents sous-échantillons

Strengthen roles of commercial banks in vietnam economy– a case of eximbank

Is it the time for us to evaluate roles of Vietnam commercial banks and importance of risk management activities? This paper uses both quantitative analysis with statistical data and charts, combined with qualitative analysis including synthesis, inductive and explanatory methods in order to estimate and compare market risk via beta CAPM of Eximbank (EIB) and Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), 2 big listed joint stock banks in Vietnam. Research findings show us that market risk of Eximbank is higher and increase during post-low (L) inflation stage, compared to pre-L inflation time. Results may be used for policy implications and research models can be references for other countries including emerging markets

INVESTIGATION OF THE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: THE CASE OF BUU DIEN GENERAL HOSPITAL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Objective: In Vietnam, antibiotic resistance has been gained the attention of medical professionals in antibiotic use management. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic resistance among hospital-acquired infections at Buu Dien General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 01-12/2017. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the retrospective data of all antibiograms of bacteria isolated from hospital-acquired infections at Buu Dien General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 01-12/2017 to investigate the antibiotic resistance. Characteristics of antibiotic resistance were described by frequency and percentage of types of bacteria isolated and antibiotics being resistant. Results: A total of 179 isolates were collected during the period 01-12/2017, of which E. coli was the most commonly isolated pathogen (41.3%). The highest prevalent infections were in the skin and mucosa; respiratory tract; and urinary tract (34.6%; 32.4%; and 27.9%). The antibiotic susceptibility testing used 21 types of antibiotics. Among them, S. aureus was 82% resistant to clindamycin and 75% resistant to cefuroxime; the Proteus resistance percentages to amoxicillin/clavulanic, second-generation cephalosporins, ciprofloxacin and fosfomycin varied from 50 to 93%; Pseudomonas was 92% resistant to fosfomycin and 62% resistant to ceftazidime; A. baumannii was resistant to most classes of agents used (50-75%). Both E. coli and Klebsiella were highly resistant to gentamicin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, 2nd and 3rd generation cephalosporin’s. Polymyxin B-resistant Proteus cultures were detected at 67%. Conclusion: The study described the antibiotic resistance situation of hospital-acquired bacteria at the Buu Dien General Hospital from 01-12/2017. This information will aid physicians to select proper antibiotics for their patients in the next period

The lasting effects of innovation on firm profitability: panel evidence from a transitional economy

This study is the first to study the lasting effects of innovation on firm profitability in Vietnam. Using a unique panel dataset for the period 2005–2015, our results show that innovators achieve higher profit in comparison with non-innovating firms. The positive effects of innovation on firm profitability are observed not only in the short term but also in the longer term. The benefits of innovation for firm profitability can be seen in higher export probability, better productivity, better access to formal credit, and the ability to secure government support, but only after innovation

Unexploded ordnance contamination and household livelihood choice in rural Vietnam

Vietnam is a country that found itself at the center of the Indochina wars and was subjected to the most intense aerial bombing in history. However, little research has been done on the effect of unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination on household livelihoods in rural Vietnam. In this paper, we investigate the contaminating effect of unexploded ordnance on households. Livelihood choices are classified by cluster analysis techniques, and unexploded ordnance contamination is measured at the district level by the proportion of land at risk from unexploded bombs and mines. We examine the effect of UXO contamination on livelihood choices using a multinomial logit model, controlling for various important household and regional level characteristics. It was found that households in districts with greater contamination were less likely to adopt a formal wage-earning livelihood, characterized by higher income and less poverty, than they were to engage in an agricultural livelihood. This suggests that the Indochina wars have had a long-running effect, reducing the likelihood of non-farm diversification, which in turn diminishes economic well-being among rural households in Vietnam

THE PATENTED DRUGS UTILIZATION: A STUDY AT NGUYEN DINH CHIEU HOSPITAL IN BEN TRE PROVINCE FROM 2011 TO 2017

Objective: With their new and efficacious active ingredients, patented drugs have important roles in offering high-quality healthcare. However, huge cost-related barriers in accessing patented drugs along with the availability of low-cost bioequivalent generics have great impact on drugs policy in Vietnam. To understand situation of patented drugs utilization at hospitals for a certain period, this pilot study was conducted at Nguyen-Dinh-Chieu Hospital in Ben-Tre Province. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the retrospective data of all patented drugs used at Nguyen-Dinh-Chieu Hospital in Ben-Tre Province from 2011-2017. Characteristics of drugs utilization were described by frequency and percentage of drugs quantities and costs. Criteria for the description were as follows: active ingredient, route of administration, therapeutic class and manufacturing country. Data were extracted from the hospital information system and were processed by R software. Results: From 2011 to 2017, there were 212 patented drugs used which related to 145 active ingredients and 20 therapeutic classes. 88% were single active ingredient drugs and 49% were oral drugs. Antimicrobial and cardiovascular drugs represented the largest number of drugs and the highest cost. 79% of patented drugs were manufactured by companies in Europe and the majority came from France and Germany. Conclusion: This study provided initial information about the utilization of patented drugs during a long period of time at a Vietnamese hospital. The understanding gained will aid medical managers in assessment and adjustment of the drugs list, thus, optimizing the hospital budget and the equity in access to drugs within communities

INFLUENCE OF SYNTHESIS FACTORS ON PROPERTIES OF GEOPOLYMERS BASED ON RED MUD AND RICE HUSK ASH

In this paper, the effect of mixing ratio of raw materials, curing temperature and time on geopolymerization between red mud and rice husk ash were investigated. The results showed that the optimum conditions were SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 4 and Na2O/Al2O3 ratio of 2.0, curing temperature of 100oC and curing time of 24 hours. The compressive strength, bulk density, total shrinkage of the obtained product were 22.8 MPa, 2.39 g.cm-3, 15%, respectively that met requirement of unsintered bricks using for construction

A STUDY ON THE SYNTHESIS OF MgAl2O4 SPINEL BY STARCH ASSISTED SOL-GEL PROCESS

In this paper, the synthesis of ceramic spinel MgAl2O4 by starch assisted sol - gel process is presented. The gel mixture was prepared by using Mg(NO3)2.6H2O, Al(NO3)3.9H2O as precursors and starch as a gel agent. The study focused on relevant components of gel mixture and the calcinating temperature. The results showed that suitable molar proportion of Mg2+/Al3+; starch/(Mg2+ + Al3+) and H2O/starch were 0.5, 0.4 and 60, respectively. The calcination at               1100 oC for 60 minutes was suitable for forming phase of spinel. The product was a single phase of spinel MgAl2O4 with excellent crystallinity and uniform size in the range of 300 to 400 nm