Electricity consumption and economic growth in Vietnam: A cointegration and causality analysis

Using a cointegration and causality analysis, this paper investigates the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in Vietnam during the period of 1975-2010. Empirical results show that there is no causality effect of per capita electricity consumption on per capita Gross domestic products (GDP) in both short-run and long-run, but a causality relationship running from per capita GDP to per capita electricity consumption in the long-run. This result is helpful to understand the roles of economic growth on making energy policies in Vietnam to deal with the current electricity shortage accompanied with economic growth and to ensure the national energy security

Electricity consumption and economic growth in Vietnam: A cointegration and causality analysis

Using a cointegration and causality analysis, this paper investigates the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in Vietnam during the period of 1975-2010. Empirical results show that there is no causality effect of per capita electricity consumption on per capita Gross domestic products (GDP) in both short-run and long-run, but a causality relationship running from per capita GDP to per capita electricity consumption in the long-run. This result is helpful to understand the roles of economic growth on making energy policies in Vietnam to deal with the current electricity shortage accompanied with economic growth and to ensure the national energy security

An Empirical Study for Food Consumption in Vietnam

This paper uses a linear approximation of Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) and extended AIDS models to investigate food consumption in Vietnam using the Vietnam Living Standard Survey (VLSS) in 2004. In particular, AIDS models are estimated to calculate income and price elasticities for three different components of food categories. Our results suggest that rice food and meat/fish are normal goods, while non-rice food is luxury. Household characteristics such as age, gender, and education do not appear to affect food consumption significantly, while urban/rural location is important. These results may give empirical evidence for policy-makers to design food policy in Vietnam

Effects of Corporate Governance on the Performance of Private Economic Groups in Vietnam

Using the unique combined dataset of three previous surveys, this paper examines the effects of corporate governance on the performance of large private interprises in Vietnam. Five measures of corporate governance and three variable proxies for performance are employed to investigate effects of corporate governance on performance. Estimated results show that Chair-CEO duality positively correlates with better performance, and increasing the size of the board of directors is negatively associated with worse performance regardless of performance measures. These empirical effects are the same across sectors, export and import–related enterprises, and between female and male CEO enterprises. Independence of the board has no link to performance of enterprises. Such results contribute to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence and shedding light on understanding the effects of corporate governance on the performance of large private enterprises in Vietnam

Effects of Corporate Governance on the Performance of Private Economic Groups in Vietnam

Using the unique combined dataset of three previous surveys, this paper examines the effects of corporate governance on the performance of large private interprises in Vietnam. Five measures of corporate governance and three variable proxies for performance are employed to investigate effects of corporate governance on performance. Estimated results show that Chair-CEO duality positively correlates with better performance, and increasing the size of the board of directors is negatively associated with worse performance regardless of performance measures. These empirical effects are the same across sectors, export and import–related enterprises, and between female and male CEO enterprises. Independence of the board has no link to performance of enterprises. Such results contribute to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence and shedding light on understanding the effects of corporate governance on the performance of large private enterprises in Vietnam

Study on association between SLC2A9 rs3733591 and Gout susceptibility in 481 Vietnamese individuals

Gout is a common form of inflammatory arthritis that is strongly associated with elevated uric acid concentration in the blood. The development of the disease is not only triggered by environmental factors but also genetic variations. Previous studies demonstrated that the genetic associations with gout vary in different populations in the world. This study aimed to identify the relationship between SLC2A9 rs3733591 and gout susceptibility in the Vietnamese population. Total DNAs were extracted from 481 blood samples including 160 patients with gout and 321 age-matched healthy controls. The genotyping of SLC2A9 rs3733591 was performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Chi-squared test was used to test whether the genotypes frequencies of rs3733591 follow Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and to check its association with gout in three models (additive, recessive, dominant) and allele form. The result showed that SLC2A9 rs3733591 was in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p>0.05). However, there was no association between the rs3733591 and gout in any tested models (p>0.05). This study will contribute to the genetic study of gout susceptibility in Vietnam

Saprochaete Capitata Infection in an 80–Year Old Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patient: A Case Report

BACKGROUND: The fungal disease caused by invasive fungus Saprochaete capitata is becoming an increasingly popular infection. Fungal pathogens mainly occur in patients with immunocompromised disorders such as hematologic malignancies, acute myeloid leukemia, transplant patients. CASE REPORT: In this study, we presented a COPD patient infected with S. capitata. At the first check, the patient showed cough, dyspnea, chest pain on both sides. The clinical laboratory test result was characterized with high White blood cell (12.8 G/L), HIV negative. The X ray showed bronchitis and emphysema. Bronchoscopy illustrated bronchial mucositis. CT scanner demonstrated pneumonia with fuzzy nodular lesions and thick interstitial organization in both lungs. The patient was treated with ciprofloxacin 800 mg/day; cefuroxime 2250 mmg/day. However, the fever appeared 2 weeks thereafter. The S. capitata was discovered in the bronchial fluid. The patient was then treated with fluconazole 400 mg/day for 14 days. At the end of treatment, all signs and symptoms of S. capitata infection disappeared and the patient recovered. CONCLUSION: This case study showed that S. capitata infection can occur in the COPD patients and fluconazole is a pertinent drug for treatment of the infection

The impact of productivity on export transitions: revisited evidence from the Vietnamese manufacturing sectors

The effect of total factor productivity (TFP) on exports particularly interests policy-makers and economists, but empirical evidence is ambiguous. This paper uses the 6-wave panel data in 2010-2015 to investigate the impact of TFP on export transitions at the firm level. We distinguish different types of export transitions, namely start, stop, continuity, fluctuation, and striving, and different phases of export transition. The Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimation is applied to control for endogeneity and unobserved time-invariant specific components. The results reveal that (i) the effect of productivity on export (the self-selection hypothesis) is heterogeneous, depending on specific sectors and types and phases of export transitions; (ii) productivity growth does not necessarily result in positive effects on and lead to participation in types and phases of export transitions. Our results also reveal strong evidence of favourable sunk cost in long-run export striving in nearly all sectors, and unlike previous studies, empirical results show a negative effect of sunk cost in some manufacturing sectors. Policy-makers should create dynamic comparative advantages and favourable environments for new exporters, focus the relevant policies on productivity stimulus, and strengthen the likelihood of survival for the domestic firms in the competitive global markets

AMRViz enables seamless genomics analysis and visualization of antimicrobial resistance

We have developed AMRViz, a toolkit for analyzing, visualizing, and managing bacterial genomics samples. The toolkit is bundled with the current best practice analysis pipeline allowing researchers to perform comprehensive analysis of a collection of samples directly from raw sequencing data with a single command line. The analysis results in a report showing the genome structure, genome annotations, antibiotic resistance and virulence profile for each sample. The pan-genome of all samples of the collection is analyzed to identify core- and accessory-genes. Phylogenies of the whole genome as well as all gene clusters are also generated. The toolkit provides a web-based visualization dashboard allowing researchers to interactively examine various aspects of the analysis results. Availability: AMRViz is implemented in Python and NodeJS, and is publicly available under open source MIT license at https://github.com/amromics/amrviz

Contrasting physiological traits of shade tolerance in Pinus and Podocarpaceae native to a tropical Vietnamese forest: insight from an aberrant flat-leaved pine

The absence of pines from tropical forests is a puzzling biogeographical oddity potentially explained by traits of shade intolerance. Pinus krempfii (Lecomte), a flat-leaved pine endemic to the Central Highlands of Vietnam, provides a notable exception as it seems to compete successfully with shade-tolerant tropical species. Here, we test the hypothesis that successful conifer performance at the juvenile stage depends on physiological traits of shade tolerance by comparing the physiological characteristics of P. krempfii to coexisting species from two taxa: the genus Pinus, and a relatively abundant and shade-tolerant conifer family found in pantropical forests, the Podocarpaceae. We examined leaf photosynthetic, respiratory and biochemical traits. Additionally, we compiled attainable maximum photosynthesis, maximum RuBP carboxylation (Vcmax) and maximum electron transport (Jmax) values for Pinus and Podocarpaceae species from the literature. In our literature compilation, P. krempfii was intermediate between Pinus and Podocarpaceae in its maximum photosynthesis and its Vcmax. Pinus exhibited a higher Vcmax than Podocarpaceae, resulting in a less steep slope in the linear relationship between Jmax and Vcmax. These results suggest that Pinus may be more shade intolerant than Podocarpaceae, with P. krempfii falling between the two taxa. However, in contrast, Vietnamese conifers’ leaf mass per areas and biochemical traits did not highlight the same intermediate nature of P. krempfii. Furthermore, regardless of leaf morphology or family assignation, all species demonstrated a common and extremely high carbon gain efficiency. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of shade-tolerant photosynthetic traits for conifer survival in tropical forests. However, they also demonstrate a diversity of shade tolerance strategies, all of which lead to the persistence of Vietnamese juvenile conifers in low-light tropical understories