The Cult of Ho Chi Minh: Commemoration and Contestation

Ho Chi Minh, the “father of modern Viet Nam,” remains a powerful figure in contemporary Vietnamese politics and culture. Since his death in 1969, the Vietnamese Communist Party has constructed a state cult surrounding his image. The construction of the Ho Chi Minh memorial complex in Hanoi, the propagation of Ho Chi Minh’s teachings, and the state commemorative rituals for Uncle Ho contribute to his continuous presence. The state cult posits Ho Chi Minh not only as the “father figure” to whom Vietnamese people pay respect and tribute, but also as the moral compass by which the people orient themselves socially and culturally. The state cult, however, is continuously contested. On the one hand, meanings attributed to the state commemoration of Ho Chi Minh are changing temporally and regionally. On the other hand, development of various religious cults of Uncle Ho challenges the Party’s hegemonic interpretation of the image of Ho Chi Minh. Drawing from historical research and short-term fieldwork, this paper discusses various modes of commemorative rituals dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, and explores how they contribute to the cult of Ho Chi Minh as a contested field of knowledge, where political, cultural, and personal meanings are constantly negotiated. Particular attention is paid to how Vietnamese people, both in Vietnam and abroad, perform, construct, and challenge the discourses surrounding the cult, as well as to how the Party and the state respond to these voices of discordance

Crafting a Buddhist public: urban Buddhism and youth aspirations in late-socialist Vietnam

This dissertation examines the recent proliferation of Buddhist youth programs and of youth participation in Buddhism in contemporary Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Drawing on twenty months of ethnographic fieldwork from 2016 to 2019, as well as in-depth interviews with Buddhist monastics, lay Buddhist youth, and educators, the dissertation investigates the collaborative endeavors between monastics and youth to develop a new modernist and youth-oriented Buddhism in response to young people’s social and emotional needs under the influence of urbanization, late-socialist economic growth, and cultural globalization. The dissertation provides a case study of the Temple of Wisdom (a pseudonym), one of the most prominent Buddhist temples that has pioneered the creation of Buddhist youth programs. The dissertation is divided into three key ethnographic chapters that examine the central components of the youth-oriented Buddhism: the creation of a new lay Buddhist educational curriculum with the incorporation of innovative media technology and pedagogies; the popularization of mindfulness meditation; and the construction of ethical citizenship through Buddhist volunteering activities. In developing these programs, monastics and lay youth are constructing an emerging, middle-class Vietnamese Buddhist public. The study shows that participants in this Buddhist public reformulate what constitutes “Vietnamese” Buddhist piety and community by fashioning a new generation of self-reflexive, (aspirational) middle-class lay Buddhists who actively contribute to the growing influence of Buddhist practices and discourses in Vietnam’s emergent public ethics. In approaching the crafting of the Buddhist public as a collaboration between monastics and youth, my dissertation reconsiders the dichotomy between modernist/institutional and devotional/popular Buddhism in Vietnam. It contributes to scholarly conversations on public religion and secularism in late-socialist contexts by illuminating how Buddhist actors navigate the complex entanglements between Buddhist ethics and market socialism. The dissertation shows that such processes of ethical coordination not only reshape the role of Buddhism in public ideals of social well-being and national culture, but also impact Buddhist youth’s endeavors at ethical self-cultivation. By highlighting youth experiences, it demonstrates that religion is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of Vietnamese youth, as young Vietnamese draw on religious ethics in their striving towards socio-economic mobility and well-being

Application of the Fenton-like agent based on magnetic iron and manganese oxide in the degradation process of paracetamol in water

A Fenton-like catalyst MnO2-Fe3O4/SiO2 is synthesized via a two-step approach. The prepared composite has a mesoporous structure and a high surface area of 190 m2/g. The XRD pattern describes a specific peak of Fe3O4 magnetite on the baseline of amorphous silica. Furthermore, the FTIR spectra not only show the height assigned to stretching vibrations of Si-O-Si bonds, and Fe–O–Fe connections but also exhibit a small peak that matches the Mn–O bonds. SEM images exhibit a porous network structure of the composites with some holes among 30 – 100 nm clusters. The activity of the catalyst is determined in a paracetamol degradation as a Fenton oxidation. The paracetamol removal efficiency is at 85.6% with the optimal condition as initial pH 3, catalyst dosage of 0.15 g/50mL and H2O2 concentration of 1 mL/50 mL. In addition, the catalyst can be reused at least 5 times with a low reduction of the catalytic activity from 85.6% to 80.8%. The experiment results open a direction that has high efficiency in the treatment process of excess paracetamol in pharmacy wastewater

On-chip ZnO nanofibers prepared by electrospinning method for NO2 gas detection

In the present study, on-chip ZnO nanofibers were fabricated by means of the electrospinning technique followed by a calcination process at 600 oC towards the gas sensor application. The morphology, composition, and crystalline structure of the as-spun and annealed ZnO nanofibers were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The findings show that spider-net like ZnO nanofibers with a diameter of 60 – 100 nm were successfully synthesized without any incorporation of impurities into the nanofibers. The FESEM images also reveal that each nanofiber is composed of many nanograins. The combination of experimental and calculated X-ray diffraction data indicate that ZnO nanofibers were crystallized in hexagonal wurtzite structure. For the gas sensing device application, the ZnO nanofibers-based sensors were tested with the nitrogen dioxide gas in the temperature range of 200 oC to 350 oC and concentrations from 2.5 ppm to 10 ppm. The sensing property results indicate that at the optimal working temperature of 300 oC, the ZnO nanofibers-based sensors exhibited a maximum response of 30 and 166 times on exposure of 2.5 and 10 ppm NO2 gas, respectively. The presence of nanograins within nanofibers, which results in further intensification of the resistance modulation, is responsible for such high gas response

Static and free vibration analyses of laminated composite shells by cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (CS-DSG3) using three-node triangular elements

A cell-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (CS-DSG3) using three-node triangular elements was recently proposed to improve the performance of the discrete shear gap method (DSG3) for static and free vibration analyses of isotropic Reissner-Mindlin plates and shells. In this paper, the CS-DSG3 is further extended for static and free vibration analyses of laminated composite shells. In the present method, the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used in the formulation due to the simplicity and computational efficiency. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method are verified by comparing its numerical solutions with those of others available numerical results

Fractional flow reserve in assessment of intermediate non-culprit lesions in acute myocardial infarction

Context: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of intermediate non-culprit arteries can reduce death or heart attack risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease. Aims: To compare the effectiveness of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided PCI with angiography-guided PCI for intermediate non-culprit lesions in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease. Methods: In this cohort study, acute myocardial infarction patients with multivessel coronary artery disease who had successful percutaneous coronary intervention of the culprit artery were divided into group of patients receiving FFR-guided PCI (FFR≤0.80, n = 31) and group of patients receiving angiography-guided PCI (diameter stenosis of 50-90%, n = 62) for lesions in non-culprit arteries. These two groups were followed for at least 1 year for major adverse cardiovascular events. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in major cardiovascular events between FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group and angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group. However, FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group had a lower mortality rate compared to the angiography-guided percutaneous coronary intervention group (3.2% vs. 4.8%). Additionally, there were no reported cases of myocardial infarction in angiography-guided PCI group, while angiography-guided PCI group had a rate of 1.6%. Conclusions: This study found that it remains uncertain whether FFR-guided PCI is superior than angiography-guided PCI for intermediate non-culprit lesions in patients with acute myocardial infarction and multivessel coronary artery disease

Elevated Levels of Cell-Free Circulating DNA in Patients with Acute Dengue Virus Infection

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of severe dengue and the release of cell-free DNA into the circulatory system in several medical conditions. Therefore, we investigated circulating DNA as a potential biomarker for severe dengue. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A direct fluorometric degradation assay using PicoGreen was performed to quantify cell-free DNA from patient plasma. Circulating DNA levels were significantly higher in patients with dengue virus infection than with other febrile illnesses and healthy controls. Remarkably, the increase of DNA levels correlated with the severity of dengue. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that circulating DNA levels independently correlated with dengue shock syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating DNA levels were increased in dengue patients and correlated with dengue severity. Additional studies are required to show the benefits of this biomarker in early dengue diagnosis and for the prognosis of shock complication

Pharmacists’ Perspectives on the Use of Telepharmacy in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Introduction: Telepharmacy, the application of information and communication technologies in healthcare services, has been adopted in many countries to provide patients with pharmaceutical care. However, it has yet to be widely used in Vietnam. This study was conducted to assess the current status of use and the factors associated with the willingness to use telepharmacy of pharmacists in Vietnam. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February to July 2021; 414 pharmacists were recruited to fill in an online survey. Results: Overall, 86.7% of participants have used telepharmacy application and 87.2% of them were willing to apply telepharmacy in pharmacy practice. According to our multivariate analysis, the level of readiness was associated with positive attitude (odds ratio [OR] = 4.67; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.26-9.66), and a good behavior (OR = 11.34; 95% CI: 3.84-33.45). Discussion: Developing a telepharmacy system with appropriate features is essential to meet the requirements of pharmacy practice amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic