APMEC: An Automated Provisioning Framework for Multi-access Edge Computing

Novel use cases and verticals such as connected cars and human-robot cooperation in the areas of 5G and Tactile Internet can significantly benefit from the flexibility and reduced latency provided by Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC). Existing frameworks managing and orchestrating MEC and NFV are either tightly coupled or completely separated. The former design is inflexible and increases the complexity of one framework. Whereas, the latter leads to inefficient use of computation resources because information are not shared. We introduce APMEC, a dedicated framework for MEC while enabling the collaboration with the management and orchestration (MANO) frameworks for NFV. The new design allows to reuse allocated network services, thus maximizing resource utilization. Measurement results have shown that APMEC can allocate up to 60% more number of network services. Being developed on top of OpenStack, APMEC is an open source project, available for collaboration and facilitating further research activities

Experimental Evaluation of Geopolymer Concrete Strength Using Sea Sand and Sea Water in Mixture

This paper presents the experimental strength evaluation of geopolymer concrete and ordinary concrete using sea sand and seawater in the mixture. A series of 30 cubic samples with a 150 mm side length and 12 rectangular specimens with a dimension of 100 × 100 × 400 mm (width × thickness × length) were cast and tested in this study. Specimens were divided equally into two groups. The first group of specimens was cast using geopolymer as the main binder (GPC), while the second group of samples was made using ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). While the compression tests were performed for specimens in two groups at the ages of 3, 7, 28, 60, and 120 days, the tensile tests were only performed for specimens at 7 and 28 days. The testing results revealed that the compression strength of GPC specimens using sea sand and seawater was significantly higher than that of OPC samples using the same type of salted sand and water. Besides, the use of sea sand and seawater for replacing river sand and fresh water in the production of GPC is feasible in terms of compressive strength since GPC produces a higher compressive strength than that of conventional concrete. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-08-03 Full Text: PD

The congruence effect between product emotional appeal and country-based emotion: The moderating role of country-of-origin

Previous research has suggested that country-based emotions (i.e., emotions associated with a country) can influence consumer evaluations of a product from thatcountry. However, it remains unclear when and how country-based emotions can be influential in consumer decision making. The results from an experiment revealthat only for a destination with a less favorable country-of-origin image will the match (vs. mismatch) between the country-based emotion and the emotional appealof the product advertisement increase the purchase likelihood of the product. Thesefindings are beneficial for local brands in that they can promote tourist spendingat their destination by cooperating with destination marketers in developing integrated promotional campaigns that elicit congruent emotions

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

The spindle of oocytes observed by polarized light microscope can predict embryo quality

Background: The aim is to evaluate spindle position of metaphase II oocyte and the development of embryos originated from oocytes with spindle and without spindle.Methods: Cross-sectional analysis Research: 250 MII oocytes were analyzed with polarized microscope in Military Institute of Clinical Embryology and Histology, Vietnam Military Medical University.Results: Spindles were detected in 170 (77.98%) of 218 metaphase II oocytes, 115 spindles (67.65%) of MII oocytes is beneath or adjacent to the first polar body, 55 oocytes had the spindle located between 300 and 1800 away from the first polar body. Fertilization rate and the rate of good quality embryos in oocytes with a visible spindle (77.98% and 61.02%) were higher than those in oocytes without a visible spindle (22.02% and 36.84%), the difference was statistically significant with p <0.001 and p <0.05.Conclusions: The spindle position of metaphase II oocytes is not always beneath or adjacent to the first polar body. Fertilization rate and the rate of good quality embryos in oocytes with a visible spindle were higher than those in oocytes without a visible spindle