Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) as a Non-traditional Security Issue in ASEAN: Vietnam’s Interests and Policies

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) has never received as much attention from the world’s leaders as it does today. This is because in addition to causing economic losses, disasters -both natural and man-made - have increasingly impacted on the quality of human life and human dignity. Disasters have become ‘securitized’ and have become increasingly understood as part of a ‘non-traditional’ security (NTS) agenda. The goal of disaster reduction and mitigation has become a greater priority for governments. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, ASEAN countries have paid greater attention to HADR as a non-traditional security issue. HADR is one item under the ASEAN Socio Cultural Community, whose aim is to contribute to building a people-oriented and socially responsible ASEAN Community. HADR has also become the subject of various cooperation activities and mechanisms among regional and extra-regional countries, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM). As a disaster-prone country, Vietnam has an interest in cooperating with regional states in dealing with, combating, preventing and reducing disasters. Active participation in regional HADR activities provides Vietnam with the chance to deal with its own natural disasters, and creates opportunities for Vietnam to pursue its wider objective of a open, diversified and multilateralized foreign policy

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) as an optical readout for transcription factor-DNA binding in biosensing applications

An alternative molecular recognition approach was developed for sensing small molecule analytes using the differential binding of an allosteric transcription factor (TF, specifically TetR) to its cognate DNA as the molecular recognition element coupled with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to yield an internally calibrated optical signal transduction mechanism. Sensors were evaluated comprising Cy5-modified DNA (FRET acceptor) with either a tdTomato-TetR fusion protein (FP-TF) or quantum dot-TetR conjugate (QD-TF) as the FRET donor by measuring the ratio of acceptor and donor fluorescence intensities (FA/FD) with titrations of a derivative of the antibiotic tetracycline, anhydrous tetracycline (aTc). A proof-of-concept FRET-based biosensor was successfully demonstrated through the modulation of FA/FD signal intensities based on varying analyte concentrations. Sensor design parameters affecting overall signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity of the sensors are also identified.2020-06-03T00:00:00

EFL STUDENT’S PROBLEMS WITH PARAGRAPH WRITING AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

This paper studied problems in EFL students’ paragraph writing. The research participants were first-year students of English in Tay Do University (TDU). To achieve the desired aims of the current study, the researcher combined both qualitative and quantitative methods, using questionnaires, interviews, and observations as the main instruments. The researcher used the package of social sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Research results showed that the freshmen at TDU often encountered problems in writing paragraphs. These accounted for grammatical structures, vocabulary, and coherence. Basing on the research results, students could recognize their difficulties when writing and find some new ways to overcome them. It is suggested that teachers should find and update some new teaching methods so as to develop students’ paragraph writing skills. Article visualizations

Impairment of Assets Under Perspectives of International and Vietnamese Accounting

This study investigates the impairment of assets on financial reportings of three separate entities - Vietnam Prosperity Joint-Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank), The Bank of East Asia (BEA) and The Nestlé Group - in the financial year of 2017. By bringing out the differences between international accounting system of asset impairment (IAS 36) and Vietnamese accounting system (VAS), this research has determined the gap between two sets of financial statements under IFRS and VAS in conveying the business performance and financial position. The empirical results show Vietnam’s necessary for a convergence in asset impairment with international accounting system. Therefore, we provide some recommendations for Vietnam in applying asset impairment regarding to IAS 36 partly or completely. Keywords: Asset impairment, International accounting, Vietnamese accounting. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/10-12-07 Publication date:June 30th 2019

Elements affecting primary school teachers' digital competency in Vietnam’s northern mountainous areas

This study aims to identify the elements that contribute to the digital competencies of primary school teachers working in the mountainous region of Northern Vietnam and assess the significance of these factors. The research sample consisted of 260 primary school teachers from this region. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multivariate regression methods are used. The results of this research indicate that seven characteristics have a substantial impact on the digital abilities of teachers: ability to incorporate digital technology into teaching,  conditions for digital transformation in teaching and learning activities are found to be influential, ability to create digital resources is highlighted as an important factor,  ability to select teaching content with opportunities for technology usage,  professional development needs of teachers,  school policy  and ability to select digital resources. These results offer education administrators a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing primary teachers' digital competencies and  enable them to implement strategic changes and prioritize each element. Moreover, this study provides a valuable reference for future researchers seeking to explore new research directions in this field and analyze the correlation between factors to propose solutions to develop digital competencies of primary school teachers suitable to specific contexts and conditions

Fetus Trafficking in Viet Nam – The New Criminal Method of Human Trafficking

When it comes to basic rights of the fetus, including the right to life, theoretical studies around the world on human rights of the fetus still have not reached an agreement on approaches and explanation. Criminal law at the international and national levels still leaves the possibility of protecting the unborn child. Viet Nam’s criminal law is no exception to this trend. In addition, Viet Nam is currently facing human trafficking with new methods and tricks. Children are bought and paid for while still in the womb, then born abroad and given to traffickers. Children are only protected by criminal law for human trafficking if they are born, alive, and detected by the authorities. While the act of trafficking in fetuses is often easily detected by the authorities right from the stage of purchasing and paying, it is not feasible to prosecute this act for human trafficking under the criminal law of Viet Nam. This reduces the criminal law’s ability to suppress crime, at the same time, leaves many fetuses unprotected. Should criminal law be left outside the legal mechanism to protect children while in the fetal stage? This article suggests considering fetus trafficking as a form of human trafficking and to criminalize fetus trafficking. Criminal law should recognize fetus trafficking as a sign of crime or an early stage in the criminal process of human trafficking, because children need special care and protection, including appropriate legal protection before and after birth, due to their physical and mental immaturity

Preschool STEM Activities and Associated Outcomes: A Scoping Review

This review highlights the need for further investigation into the benefits of STEM activities in preschool children’s learning, girls’ engagement and learning of children with disabilities in the STEM field. The review process involved accessing 19 relevant studies from Scopus, ERIC and Google Scholar databases in March 2023. Through the synthesis of information from these studies, seven STEM activities were identified as effective in enhancing preschool children’s learning: educational robots, educational games, argumentative interactions, inquiry-based learning and engineering design, drawing and telling about engineers, free play and pretend play, and group membership. Each of these activities contributes to different learning outcomes for children. Moreover, the review emphasizes the importance of role-playing activities ‘as if’ engineers and scientists, facilitated by teachers, in fostering girls’ motivation and engagement in the STEM field from an early age. Long-term scientific interventions at home have a significant positive impact on the science literacy skills of deaf children. The implications of this review are particularly relevant for early childhood educators, as it provides valuable insights into the use of STEM activities to enhance children’s learning outcomes

Lactic Acid Fermentation of Radish and Cucumber in Rice Bran Bed

The Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) strain XK1.4 isolated from pickled vegetables was applied for cucumber and radish fermentation using rice bran. Fermented radish and cucumber pickles are the lactic acid fermentation products formed through the influence of microorganisms present in the environment. The main objective of the study is to select the appropriate rice bran type (white/yellow rice bran) and treatment methods (roasting time), and also choose suitable fermentation conditions (initial microbial population and added salt content) for traditional pickled cucumber and white radish with appropriate lactic acid content and high acceptability by consumers. The results showed that the quality of white bran was better than yellow bran and less oxidized, the total free fatty acid was also much lower than that of yellow bran. It was found that the lactic acid content analyses provided significant different results for the samples, compared to the control (without inoculant addition). The pickled samples for which L. plantarum strain XK 1.4 was used displayed a better fermentation process. The lower concentration of bacteria added in the initial stage, the lower the acid content of the rice bran medium and the fermented products where L. plantarum strains were added. L. plantarum grew rapidly in rice bran fermenting bed of 10 CFU g at 25-26 °C and 3% NaCl. With the appropriate selection of fermentation parameters, it only takes about 4 days for the fermentation process (2 days of preparing rice bran medium and 2 days of fermenting white radish and cucumber) with high lactic acid content and consumer’s acceptability