Current Status of Elderly Social Support Services in Elderly Care Centers in Hanoi

The Article aims to elaborate and analyze the current status of social support services for the elderly in general and semi-professional social work services provided in care centers in Hanoi in particular today. The centers subject to the investigation include Social Protection Center 3 Hanoi, Dien Hong Nursing Home, Bach Nien Thien Duc Elderly Care Center, and Social Protection Center 2 Hanoi. The service performance is determined based on the satisfaction of the needs of the elderly group. The results evidence that from the point of view of the elderly, “the need for medical care, examination and treatment is the highest among other needs of the elderly (with 149 votes, taking up 64.2%), from the point of view of social support workers, the need for “someone to share their feelings” is the highest (with 144 votes, taking up 77.4%). The services subject to assessment and review to the extent of the Article include (1) Consultancy; (2) Legal aid; (3) Supporting the elderly in the integration; (4) Communication. The frequency of rendered services changes at the “sometimes received by the elderly” level, approx. 50% on average. The level of performance as assessed by the elderly and social workers is at a medium and quite high level, ranging from 2.26 to 3.30 and from 1.98 (high) to 3.1 (medium), respectively.  Keywords: the elderly, social support services, care centers DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/12-20-04 Publication date:October 31st 202

INNOVATIONS OF VIETNAMESE PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES IN THE CURRENT CONTEXT

New technologies create new ways of sourcing to meet the needs of previously traditional markets. The new demands for production and consumption and changing consumer expectations require businesses to change their production, business, design, marketing, and product distribution methods. With globalization taking place more and more strongly and the emergence of the 4.0 industrial revolution, innovation creates a competitive advantage for the country and businesses. In Vietnam, the processing and manufacturing industry has played an essential role in the economy's driving force. This article aims to assess the role and status of innovation for the survival and development of processing enterprises in the Covid–19 epidemic Keywords: Innovation, Technology, Competition, Processing, Manufacturing Enterprises

The Role of Trade and Renewables in the Nexus of Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation: Revisiting the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)

Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, this study investigates whether there is a revised EKC relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions under the presence of renewable energy and trade for a panel of 35 countries whose trade openness index have remained higher than average global trade index over the period 1980-2012. By addressing similar trade characteristics rather than income levels, this paper applies a panel analysis with random effects and fixed effects to test EKC hypothesis. We use the principal component analysis to explain why CO2 emissions stands as a critical indicator of environmental quality. The results from our random-effects and country-fixed effects models, including the impacts of trade and renewables, reveal evidence of the revised EKC hypothesis within our sample. Trade is found to have a positive association with the level of CO2 emissions, while renewable energy has a negative relationship with CO2 levels. As a policy implication, countries should strengthen environmental regulations of trade agreements and encourage investment in renewables to combat climate change

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING STAFF AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM IN THE CURRENT PHASE

Thai Nguyen University in Vietnam identifies improving the quality of the foreign language teaching staff as one of the priority tasks in the development strategy, training advanced and modern human resources to serve the economic, political, cultural, and social development needs of the midland and northern mountainous regions. Despite certain achievements, due to its unique characteristics, Thai Nguyen University is facing numerous challenges, especially in terms of the foreign language faculty, which is deficient and weak compared to the requirements. To meet the needs of training and cultivating foreign language teachers in the future, it is necessary to conduct research to accurately assess the current situation and propose solutions to improve the quality of the foreign language teaching staff.  Article visualizations

Morphology and Niche Partitioning of Fish Assemblage in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve - a Case Study of the Prek Toal Core Area

A morphological approach provides vital information on community structure and ecological adjustments among different species that occupy in the same habitat. The coexistence of competing species in a diverse community results in niche partitioning in order to increase stabilization. Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, one of the world’s most productive inland wetlands is a tropical river ecosystem so dynamic that supports high biodiversity, especially fish population. This study tests the relationship between morphology and niche partitioning to understand the coexistence of diverse fish assemblages in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve. By measuring 31 morphological variables and gathering ecological data of the collected 27 fish species, this study applies principal component analysis and cluster analysis to examine the influence of morphology on the ecological niches of the fish assemblage. The results of the study demonstrate that the diversifications in morphological characters directly determine niche partitioning of the fish assemblage in the Prek Toal core area of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve

VARIATIONS IN FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF TEA LEAVES (CAMELLIA SINENSIS) DUE TO PLUCKING TIME AND CULTIVARS

Fatty acid in green tea leaves is important flavour precursor which has a negative effect onaroma quality of black teas. In this study, fatty acid composition of three cultivars includingShan Chat Tien, Trung Du and PH11 plucked at different time was analyzed by GC-MS/MS.The results showed that C16:0, C18:2, C18:1, C18:0 and C18:3 were the most abundant fattyacids indentified in tea leaves. In particular, total saturated fatty acid in the tea leaves plucked inJune and September was higher than total unsaturated fatty acid and vice versa for sampleplucked in March. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that fatty acid compositions insamples plucked in June of three cultivars were similar to each other and they were characterizedby C18:0, C22:0 and C20:0. The sample plucked in March and in September were characterizedby C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3, andC18:1, C16:1, C18:0, C14:1 and C14:0; respectively. Thesample plucked in March had the highest total fat content followed by sample plucked inSeptember and June. The results showed that plucking time and cultivars significantlyinfluenced the fatty acid composition of tea leaves

Using ICT to foster collaborative writing for EFL university students in Vietnam

The development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has changed most aspects of life, and its diffusion into education was inevitable. Vietnam is a developing country where English and ICT are highly valued as two of the most important instruments of industrialisation and modernisation. These instruments help facilitate the country’s integration into the globalised world. Thus, the use of ICT in English language teaching and learning has received much attention from both policy makers and researchers. In this study, the possibilities of using ICT in fostering English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students’ collaborative writing in a Vietnamese context were examined. Teachers’ and students’ readiness for ICT-supported collaborative writing as well as their attitudes and perceptions toward this learning mode were investigated. Pedagogical implications for ICT-supported collaborative writing are also discussed. A case study methodology using both quantitative and qualitative data was employed. The study consisted of two phases. Phase 1 was a preliminary investigation in which online surveys were distributed to 16 English language teachers and 315 first year students at FPT University. The results of the surveys suggested that it was feasible to implement ICT-supported collaborative writing in this university and that the most suitable ICT applications to use were Facebook and Google Docs. In Phase 2, an intervention, in which Facebook and Google Docs were used as ICT platforms for collaborative writing was conducted with three EFL classes of three English levels: elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate. During Phase 2, methods of data collection such as observations, focus group interviews and experience-of-change interviews were employed. This study found that successful ICT integration in English language teaching and learning required not only the readiness of teachers and students to engage with technology, but also the pedagogy to use that technology informed by an understanding of the cultural characteristics of the learners. Based on the main findings, a number of recommendations have been suggested in relation to policies, teacher training, curriculum design, and future research

Economic Growth and Changes in Forested Areas in Southeast Asia: Is Environmental Kuznets Curve Still Relevant?

The environmental history of the twentieth century in Southeast Asia reveals tremendous loss of forested areas as a consequence of unprecedented economic transformations and unrestrained globalization. Featuring some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, Southeast Asia has been experiencing fundamental changes in its economic structure, sociopolitical institutions, and the rate of natural resources extraction and depletion, including deforestation. This study reexamines evidence of the (EKC) hypothesis in light of the deforestation the above region experienced over the period 1990-2013. We use the change in forest cover as an indicator for environmental degradation. A panel co-integration approach is invoked to investigate the presence of the EKC hypothesis for two different data panels, gauging the effects of changes in economic structure, agricultural productivity, institutional factors, demographic transformation, renewable energy, and international trade across Southeast Asian countries. We do not find evidence of the EKC. However, our results confirm the negative impacts of increasing agricultural productivity on forest stocks. We identify major Granger causality relationships between economic growth, the ratio of the value of the exported forest products to the value of imported manufactures, the share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries over total manufacturing, the debt ratio, trade openness, and renewable energy consumption. A variable capturing institutional change is found to play an important role in the management of forest resources. Southeast Asian countries should develop strong political foundations, using international trade to foster sustainable development paths compatible with growth and less pressure on forested land

Performance optimisation through the use of compression garments and biosensors

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.It is well known that exercise-induced muscle damage and the disruption of metabolic processes occur in individuals who are not accustomed to intensive physical activity. Disruption in the muscles’ contractile elements and metabolic processes results in a reduction in sports performance and muscle power output alike. There were three main aims of the current study, and the first aim was to determine whether compression garments (CGs) affected cardiovascular function during exercise of running trainers. The second aim was to establish whether electrocardiogram (ECG) signals are affected by wearing CGs on the recovery phase. The last purpose was to investigate the relationship between brain activity and the application of CGs. Subjects randomly performed the experiments in different garments including compression garments and non-compression garments. ECG and EEG sensor collected the electrical signals based on the electrodes attached to the body. The sensors of ECG-Flex/Pro were used for the collection of cardiovascular signal through lead II position. Besides, the raw EEG signal were collected from the surface of head via O1 position using Flexcomp Infiniti Monitor. Parameters were compared based on paired t-tests. Statistical significance was reported when the p-value was lower than 0.05. As part of the study, participants completed the designed protocols for data collection. In Experiment 1, eight subjects (women, n=3; men, n=5; 25.1 ± 3.8 yrs; 61.4 ± 13.7 kg; 165.9 ± 8.3 cm; 19.6 ± 4.4 kg.m-2) completed a running protocol for ECG collection wearing non-compression garments (NCGs), under-size compression garments (UCGs) and correct-size compression garments (CCGs). Experiment 2 (n=14; 24.7±4.5 years, 166.0±7.6 cm; 60.9±12.0 kg) concentrated on the recovery phase. In Experiment 3, ten subjects (men, n=5; women, n=5; 24.1 ± 4.5 yrs; 58.7 ± 11.0 kg; 163.6 ± 7.7 cm; 21.77 ± 2.63 kg.m-2) completed the tests with electroencephalography (EEG) collection wearing no-compression garments (NCGs) and fitted compression garments (CCGs). Electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were collected using wearable bio-sensors. In Experiment 1, results obtained indicated significant alteration (p < 0.05) in heart rate between both correctly fitted compression garments (CCGs), undersize compression garments (UCGs), and non-compression garments (NCGs). QT intervals (QT), corrected of QT intervals (QTc) was demonstrated significant difference in UCGs compared with NCGs. The results of Experiment 2 indicated a significant difference between CGs and NCGs at the end of the running test and from 90 minutes onwards during the recovery phase (p < 0.05). ECG parameters showed some significant difference in heart rate (HR), ST interval and corrected QT (QTc) interval (p < 0.05). Moreover, there were significant differences in alpha, beta and theta power spectral density between CCGs and NCGs in Experiment 3 (p < 0.05). The findings of this research conclude that the utilization of CGs during exercise produces positive effects on cardiovascular function and brain activity