An inquiry into the determinants of Vietnamese product export

Export led growth is the model of economic development that Vietnam has been following. While there are a great number of studies on the determinants of aggregate export of Vietnam, there are few that analyze the impacts of different factors on the export of different product groups. This paper aims at filling this gap in research on international trade of Vietnam. The results show that the fast GDP growth of Vietnam, the large population of importing countries, the wide economic gap between Vietnam and the importing countries, the depreciation of domestic currency, the free trade agreements that Vietnam signed and the shared border with the importing countries contribute to the increase of Vietnam’s export of all product groups. In contrast, the GDP of importing countries and population of Vietnam have no clear impacts on the export of any product groups.

Antibacterial, plasmonic, and toxic properties of engineered nanoparticles

Thesis supervisors: Drs. Mengshi Lin, Azlin Mustapha.Includes vita.There has been increasing application of novel nanomaterials in recent years in the area of agriculture and food science. This dissertation aims to study novel nanomaterials and investigate their applications in food safety, and to develop and use surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a rapid, simple, and sensitive analytical method to improve food safety. There have been increasing applications of nanomaterials in various areas, which may cause human exposure and environmental pollution. Therefore, it is important to study the toxicity of different nanomaterials against bacteria and human cells. The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop new types of substrate consisting of monolayer graphene, gold film, and/or gold nanorod structures; (2) detect and measure silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) in consumer products using SERS and aminothiophenol as an indicator molecule; (3) investigate the effect of graphene oxide (GO) on human intestinal bacteria and human intestinal cells; (4) study the antimicrobial activity of selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) against foodborne pathogens and the toxicity of Se NPs against Caco-2 cells. A simple, fast, and efficient method was developed to fabricate new SERS substrates by coating a gold nanorod-decorated graphene sheet on silicone substrate. The results demonstrate that GO is biocompatible and has a potential to be used in agriculture and food science, indicating that more studies are needed to exploit its potential applications. The data show that Se NPs can be used as an antimicrobial agent to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus in foods and can potentially be used as a chemopreventative and chemotherapeutic agent. More studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms of Se NPs and GO's cytotoxicity and their antibacterial properties. More research is also needed to improve the performance of SERS substrates using different materials and use them in improving food safety.Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-168)

Safer selection and use of pesticides: Integrating risk assessment, monitoring and management of pesticides

Crop Production/Industries,

Multi-source in DF cooperative networks with the PSR protocol based full-duplex energy harvesting over a Rayleigh fading channel: performance analysis

Due to the tremendous energy consumption growth with ever-increasing connected devices, alternative wireless information and power transfer techniques are important not only for theoretical research but also for saving operational costs and for a sustainable growth of wireless communications. In this paper, we investigate the multi-source in decode-and-forward cooperative networks with the power splitting protocol based full-duplex energy harvesting relaying network over a Rayleigh fading channel. In this system model, the multi-source and the destination communicate with each other by both the direct link and an intermediate helping relay. First, we investigate source selection for the best system performance. Then, the closed-form expression of the outage probability and the symbol error ratio are derived. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation is used for validating the analytical expressions in connection with all main possible system parameters. The research results show that the analytical and simulation results matched well with each other.Web of Science68327526

How scientific research changes the Vietnamese higher education landscape: Evidence from social sciences and humanities between 2008 and 2019

Background: In the context of globalization, Vietnamese universities, whose primary function is teaching, there is a need to improve research performance. Methods: Based on SSHPA data, an exclusive database of Vietnamese social sciences and humanities researchers’ productivity, between 2008 and 2019 period, this study analyzes the research output of Vietnamese universities in the field of social sciences and humanities. Results: Vietnamese universities have been steadily producing a high volume of publications in the 2008-2019 period, with a peak of 598 articles in 2019. Moreover, many private universities and institutions are also joining the publication race, pushing competitiveness in the country. Conclusions: Solutions to improve both quantity and quality of Vietnamese universities’ research practice in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0 could be applying international criteria in Vietnamese higher education, developing scientific and critical thinking for general and STEM education, and promoting science communication

Power beacon-assisted energy harvesting in a half-duplex communication network under co-channel interference over a Rayleigh fading environment: Energy efficiency and outage probability analysis

In this time, energy efficiency (EE), measured in bits per Watt, has been considered as an important emerging metric in energy-constrained wireless communication networks because of their energy shortage. In this paper, we investigate power beacon assisted (PB) energy harvesting (EH) in half-duplex (HD) communication network under co-channel Interferer over Rayleigh fading environment. In this work, we investigate the model system with the time switching (TS) protocol. Firstly, the exact and asymptotic form expressions of the outage probability (OP) are analyzed and derived. Then the system EE is investigated and the influence of the primary system parameters on the system performance. Finally, we verify the correctness of the analytical expressions using Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, we can state that the simulation and analytical results are the same.Web of Science1213art. no. 257

Half-duplex energy harvesting relay network over different fading environment: System performance with effect of hardware impairment

In this paper, we introduce a half-duplex (HD) energy harvesting (EH) relay network over the different fading environment with the effect of hardware impairment (HI). The model system was investigated with the amplify-and-forward (AF) and the power splitting (PS) protocols. The system performance analysis in term of the outage probability (OP), achievable throughput (AT), and bit error rate (BER) were demonstrated with the closed-form expressions. In addition, the power splitting (PS) factor was investigated. We verified the analytical analysis by Monte Carlo simulation with all primary parameters. From the results, we can state that the analytical and simulation results match well with each other.Web of Science911art. no. Unsp 228

How swelling debts give rise to a new type of politics in Vietnam

Vietnam has seen fast-rising debts, both domestic and external, in recent years. This paperreviews the literature on credit market in Vietnam, providing an up-to-date take on the domesticlending and borrowing landscape. The study highlights the strong demand for credit in both therural and urban areas, the ubiquity of informal lenders, the recent popularity of consumer financecompanies, as well as the government’s attempts to rein in its swelling public debt. Given thehigh level of borrowing, which is fueled by consumerism and geopolitics, it is inevitable that theamount of debt will soon be higher than the saving of the borrowers. Unlike the conventional wisdom that creditors have more bargaining power over the borrowers, we suggest that—albeitlacking a quantitative estimation—when the debts pile up so high that the borrowers could not repay, the power dynamics may reverse. In this new politics of debt, the lenders fear to lose the money's worth and continue to lend and feed the insolvent debtors. The result is a toxic lending/borrowing market and profound lessons, from which the developing world could learn

Applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) in Investigating Online Impulsive Buying Behavior of Vietnamese Consumers

Based on The Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003), this study builds a research model regarding the Factors affecting Vietnamese consumers' online impulsive buying behavior. The multiple regression results reveal that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Online Buying Intention play a crucial role in amplifying the development of online impulsive buying behavior in Vietnam. Keywords: buying behavior, online buying, impulsive buying behavior, compulsive buying behavior, UTAUT, Vietnam DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-6-19 Publication date:March 31st 2021