The Other Country: Stories and a novella

The Other Country is a collection of seven short stories and a novella, all of which take place in Saigon and the Saigon area and portray the lives of its citizens in contemporary Vietnam. Given the country\u27s recent history, this setting inevitably evokes the Vietnam War, a connection that casts the book---especially from the American perspective---into the shadow of contemporary American fiction that focuses on the war both as a historical experience and as a cultural idea: important novels like Graham Greene\u27s The Quiet American, Robert Olen Butler\u27s A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Larry Heinemann\u27s Paco\u27s Story, and Tim O\u27Brien\u27s Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried. But although the stories in this collection often show the war\u27s influence on the cultural landscape and personal histories of its characters, the war itself is rarely the dramatic focus. There are characters who embody obvious connections---former soldiers, the children and wives of soldiers, a woman fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, a man returning two decades after fleeing---but their dilemmas are always more personal and cultural than political or ideological. Most of the collection does not mention the war or America at all. The focus remains exclusively on Vietnamese characters and how they negotiate themselves in a society shaped by centuries of conflict and occupation---by memory, religion, family ties, and the constant struggle for survival, whether it\u27s physical, economic, spiritual, or even artistic. The most prominent theme, inherent in every story, is the struggle with love and loneliness in a culture where people are rarely alone and rarely without familial and societal obligations

REGIONAL LINKAGE IN TOURISM: THE CASE OF VIETNAM

Abstract. This research is conducted for investigating the current situations of regional linkage in tourism development in the areas of Midlands and Northern Mountains in Vietnam. Data were collected from a survey of 755 people, including officials from State management bodies in charge of tourism, officials and staffs at tourism resorts, tourism firms, tourism scientists and tourists. In addition, we conducted focus group and interviewed tourism agency officials and tourism firms in the Midland and Mountainous provinces of Vietnam. The results show that tourism development in Vietnam in general and the Northwest region in particular is extremely fragmented, not yet forming a regional linkage; regional and national tourism development projects are just formalistic. Some causes are the limited regional integration policy, lack of appropriate regional governance mechanisms and inactive participation of the private sector in regional integration. Based on the findings, we propose a tourism sector linkage model; besides, policyimplications are given for fulfilling the linkage policies in Vietnam in particular, and more broadly for emerging countries in general.Keywords: Midlands and Northern Mountains, tourism linkage, Vietnam

Limitations of cyclic pile load tests by kentledge system in soft clay soil

The paper describes the inadequacies of cycled head-down load tests on two barrettes and one bored pile installed in soft clay soil region in Binh Thanh district, and district 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, respectively. The soil profile of these sites consisted of layers of organic soft clay and silt from 22.5 m to 28.6 m depth on compact silty sand or semi-stiff to stiff clays to about 60 m depth and followed by dense to very dense sand. The cross-section area of two barrettes located on the Tan Cang complex area was 2,800 mm by 800 mm, which were constructed using the bucket drill technique with bentonite slurry into 65 m depth.  The bored pile of the Lakeside project in district 7 having a pile diameter was 1200 mm and 80 m depth. All instrumented piles were attached from ten to eleven strain gages levels along the pile shaft to record the deformation data during the load tests. The strain data analysis shows that the shaft frictions of pile portions located in the soft clay soil regions were increased dramatically, and the base resistances were smaller expected by the setting-up of Kentledge and the cyclic loading tests

Current status and behavior modeling on household solid-waste separation: a case study in Da Nang city, Vietnam

This study focused on household solid-waste recycling in Da Nang city, Vietnam to assess the existing separation behavior and clarify the factors influencing the separation behavior. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey for 150 households in 6 urban districts, which consisted of household attributes, separation behavior, and the household's attitude on recycling and the environment. The waste separation rates were determined for leftover food and 13 recyclable items and the recyclable disposal habit was also assessed. The separation rate of leftover food was 77.3%. Among 13 surveyed recyclable items, plastic bottles and metal cans were two popular items with higher separation rate (72.5% and 63.8%, respectively). To identify the conscious structure and determinants of separation behavior, the authors developed a predictive model on the separation behavior of leftover food and recyclables by logistic and multiple linear regression analyses. The positive factors included behavior intention, sympathy for the collector, incentive brought by recycling, goal intention, internal norm, and perception of responsibility and seriousness. The negative factor was evaluation of trouble. The authors also analyzed the differences in separation rates among attributes. Based on the significant influence factors and attributes, the authors suggested how to promote separation behavior

Sovereign credit ratings during the COVID-19 pandemic

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank anonymous referees for their comments and Thang Ngoc Dang and Lucia Murgia for their invaluable research assistance.Peer reviewedPostprin

INVESTIGATION OF THE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: THE CASE OF BUU DIEN GENERAL HOSPITAL IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Objective: In Vietnam, antibiotic resistance has been gained the attention of medical professionals in antibiotic use management. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic resistance among hospital-acquired infections at Buu Dien General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 01-12/2017. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on the retrospective data of all antibiograms of bacteria isolated from hospital-acquired infections at Buu Dien General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 01-12/2017 to investigate the antibiotic resistance. Characteristics of antibiotic resistance were described by frequency and percentage of types of bacteria isolated and antibiotics being resistant. Results: A total of 179 isolates were collected during the period 01-12/2017, of which E. coli was the most commonly isolated pathogen (41.3%). The highest prevalent infections were in the skin and mucosa; respiratory tract; and urinary tract (34.6%; 32.4%; and 27.9%). The antibiotic susceptibility testing used 21 types of antibiotics. Among them, S. aureus was 82% resistant to clindamycin and 75% resistant to cefuroxime; the Proteus resistance percentages to amoxicillin/clavulanic, second-generation cephalosporins, ciprofloxacin and fosfomycin varied from 50 to 93%; Pseudomonas was 92% resistant to fosfomycin and 62% resistant to ceftazidime; A. baumannii was resistant to most classes of agents used (50-75%). Both E. coli and Klebsiella were highly resistant to gentamicin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, 2nd and 3rd generation cephalosporin’s. Polymyxin B-resistant Proteus cultures were detected at 67%. Conclusion: The study described the antibiotic resistance situation of hospital-acquired bacteria at the Buu Dien General Hospital from 01-12/2017. This information will aid physicians to select proper antibiotics for their patients in the next period

Effect of Red Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor on the color quality and luminous efficacy of the 7000K IPW-LEDs

In this study, we investigate the effect of concentration of the red Y2O3:Eu3+ phosphor on the Color Rendering Index (CRI), Color Quality Scale (CQS) and Lumen Output (LO) of the 7000K in-cup packaging white LEDs (IPW-LEDs). The physical model of the 7000K IPW-LEDs is conducted by Light Tools software. By varying the concentration of the red phosphor from 0% to 0.36%, we use the Light Tools software to investigate the CRI, CQS, and LO of the 7000K IPW-LEDs. From the research results, it can be observed that the CRI and CQS can be increased to 85 and 71, respectively. However, the LO has a decrease in the increasing trend of the red phosphor concentration. This paper provides the new recommendation for the manufacturing of the IPW-LEDs