Impact of Stratigraphic Heterogeneity on Hydrocarbon Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs: Effect of Fluid Properties and Development Strategy

Imperial Users onl

European Trade on the Far East and the Mercantile Relationship with Vietnam from the 16th to 19th Century

The 16th century witnessed a significant start for European maritime trade on the Far East, triggering by the pioneer Portuguese. Though being not a great market as compared with China, Japan, Indonesia in the Far East, Vietnam still attracted many European empires by an abundant quantity of merchandise as well as a strategic position on the international trade route. The Portuguese, Dutch, British and French respectively represented themselves in Vietnam, with somewhat different interests, paying much attempts to establish a stronghold for trade there. Nonetheless, their trade in Vietnam had become feeble since the end of 17th century. That was explained by several reasons

The Hue Citadel Area in the Transition of Urban Composition During the Rise and Fall of the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th Century

The history of the old Hue City intertwined closely with the fortunes of the Nguyen Dynasty. After the citadel area was chosen as the capital of a unified Vietnam from 1802 by Emperor Gia Long (the founder of the Nguyen Dynasty, 1802—1945), the appearance of Hue changed rapidly towards urbanization. In the first period from 1802 to 1884, urban composition was informed along the course of the Huong River by royal sites, of which the core was the Hue citadel – an admirable combination of geographical space and human talents, handicrafts works, and commercial space. That made Hue an interesting historical landscape albeit its narrow space for a broader urbanization. However, with incoherent policies on the economy, diplomacy as well as religious conflict, the Nguyen Dynasty was not able to avoid an invasion by the French Empire or to save itself from decline. Being home to a defeated native dynasty, Hue became powerless in both economy and administration under French colonization, in spite of the fact that modern industrial locations were partly encouraged to be built here from 1884. The present paper attempts to give a general view on the urban composition and urbanization of Hue based on the two political periods of the feudalistic period (1802—1884) and period of colonization (1884—1899)

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.

Impacts of Economic Development on the Living Conditions of Ethnic Minority People in the Border Region of Northern Vietnam

Purpose:   In this study, we examine the effects of the economic development policies of the Vietnamese government on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Theoretical framework: We examine the impact of economic changes, societal changes, and environmental improvements on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The collected data was subsequently cleaned and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with the aid of SPSS 20 software.     Findings: The results show that the current Vietnamese government’s policies on developing agriculture, industry, trade, and service for ethnic minority people have a diverse impact on their living conditions. In general, agriculture, trade, and service are major fields that benefit the living conditions of ethnic minorities. In contrast, the industry seems to have no effects on improving the standard of living of ethnic minority people in Northern Vietnam.   Research, practical & social implications: The results of this study provide suggestion to Vietnamese government on promoting living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam.   Originality/Value: This is the first paper evaluates the impact of the economic development policies of the Vietnamese government on the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the border region of Northern Vietnam

Design and fabrication of a moving robotic glove system

This paper presents the research, design, and manufacture of a robotic hand to control movement with a glove. The moving glove-controlled robotic hand is based on two main parts: the hand mechanism and the control circuit. The control glove unit includes an Arduino nRF24l01 microcontroller module and five flex sensors for five fingers. These sensors are used to collect data about the curvature of each finger. Then those data will be received by the Arduino microcontroller and sent by the nRF24l01 module. The hand's microcontroller will process that information and control five servo motors so that the five fingers of the robotic hand are moved. The result of this research is to produce a robotic hand that accurately simulates the curvature of a user's finger and mimics the motion of a glove well. Moreover, the robot hand can grip objects of different sizes (from 0.1 to 1 kg) and shapes, from which this robot helps users easily manipulate objects

A literature review of washback effects of assessment on language learning

This paper reviews the empirical studies on washback effects of assessment on language learning. The study begins with the definitions of washback, its equivalent terms, and dimensions of washback. Then it summarizes the empirical studies of washback on three most frequently investigated areas, namely learners’ motivation, behaviours, and achievement. Finally, it examines the mechanism by which washback on learning is generated. The findings show how complex and context-dependent test washback is and, based on these findings, the authors provide some recommendations for future research

Self-Portrait of the "Minh Huong" Chinese-Vietnamese in Central Vietnam

The aim of this paper is to examine the self-portrait of Chinese-Vietnamese called "Minh Huong" in Hoi An city by analyzing mainly their family genealogies. The category of Chinese-Vietnamese refers to people who share the roots of having migrated from regions that historically were geopolitically delineated as part of China and their descendants. In this category, those who continue maintaining their "Chinese-ness", are regarded as ethnic Chinese (華人), one of the minority groups living in Vietnam. On the other hand, people who lose their consciousness of their Chinese origin and choose indigenization are, at present, registered not as one of the 53 minority groups but as the major ethnic group "Kinh." The category "Minh Huong" falls under the latter. The author conducted fieldwork focusing on people describing themselves as "Minh Huong" in Hoi An for about one year from April 2015 to March 2016. Hoi An is a small city in Quang Nam Province in Central Vietnam. It prospered as an overseas trading port and a base for trade between Vietnam and foreign countries from the 16th century to the 19th century. At that time, the rise of Hoi An was supported by Chinese immigrants. Among the Chinese immigrants in Hoi An at the time, it is widely known that a large number of people fled from China during the fall of the Ming dynasty from the 1600s to the late 17th century, aiming for permanent residence when they first arrived in Hoi An. Those Chinese immigrants and the mixed-heritage children who were born between them and the local women were called "明香" (this was changed to "明郷" from 1827, but the two words have the same Vietnamese pronunciation, "Minh Huong"). The historical explanation of the name is "people who maintain the incense of the Ming dynasty". The communities named "Minh Huong Xa (明香社)" have been established in many parts of Vietnam since the latter half of the 17th century. Today, among the local people, Hoi An is said to be the birthplace of the first "Minh Huong" community established in Vietnam. Along with the change of times, those descendants who continue to declare themselves "Minh Huong", are actively managing the "Minh Huong 萃先堂" (Minh Huong ancestors hall), a base for meetings and activities of the "Minh Huong" group in Hoi An. By analyzing mainly family genealogies obtained with the cooperation of self-proclaimed "Minh Huong" in Hoi An, the author attempts to elucidate the category "Minh Huong" in the historical and present context, e.g. "how they positioned and position themselves among the genealogies", "how they are conscious of their ancestors" and "how they intend to maintain their Chinese-ness in the future"

MACRO AND MICRO SKILLS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACADEMIC WRITING: A STUDY OF VIETNAMESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH

The ability to write in a second language is one of the major skills required in academic settings. However, research about the effectiveness of academic programs on second language writing in long term perspective is rather scarce and the findings are mixed (e.g. Archibald, 2001; Elder & O’Loughlin, 2003; Hu, 2007; Knoch et al., 2014, 2015; Storch 2007). The present study aimed to contribute further empirical evidence about the effectiveness of academic training on the development of the writing skills of Vietnamese second language learners enrolled in an undergraduate English program. The investigation was designed in view of the L2 writing standards set by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and in reference to the specificities of the Vietnamese English language educational system. The sample involved a total of 90 participants, 30 from each of the following CEFR English language proficiency levels: B1, B2, and C1. The instrument was modeled after the IELTS Academic Module Writing Task 2 which requires test-takers to write a minimum of 250-word essay on a given prompt. The participants’ essays were scored by two independent raters following the IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors. The data was analyzed through 5 one-way ANOVAs, which aimed to compare the three levels of proficiency, B1, B2, and C1, on their overall writing scores, and on each of the two macro (Task Response and Cohesion and Coherence) and micro sills (Lexical Resources and Grammatical Range and Accuracy) The results revealed two main trends. First, it was found that the writing skills of Vietnamese L2 learners of English have shown a significant improvement in the course of their study, across proficiency levels. Second, the development was of a bigger magnitude between levels B1 and B2 and on a smaller scale between levels B2 and C1. The latter trend appears more meaningful when juxtaposed with the expected IELTS writing band score ranges for each of the three CEFR levels investigated in the present study. Specifically, the obtained scores matched the CEFR standards at level B2, but were above the expected minimum score for level B1 and below the minimum expected score for level C1. These findings carry valuable implications for the specific Vietnamese educational context, highlighting both the strengths and lacks of the English language writing curriculum. They pinpoint issues related to the placement of students in CEFR levels without specific empirical data as well as raise questions about the time, effort, and teaching practices necessary to secure learners’ progress from lower to higher proficiency, particularly after level B1. Another contribution of the study is that it examined developments in L2 academic writing both on the macro and micro level, and has, thus, offered a more comprehensive picture of the different components of the writing skill and their development through a course of study. In contrast, existing research has either looked at the writing skill in a holistic way or focused on one or some of its elements, but has rarely approached writing as a balanced composite of macro and micro skills