On non-linear network embedding methods

As a linear method, spectral clustering is the only network embedding algorithm that offers both a provably fast computation and an advanced theoretical understanding. The accuracy of spectral clustering depends on the Cheeger ratio defined as the ratio between the graph conductance and the 2nd smallest eigenvalue of its normalizedLaplacian. In several graph families whose Cheeger ratio reaches its upper bound of Theta(n), the approximation power of spectral clustering is proven to perform poorly. Moreover, recent non-linear network embedding methods have surpassed spectral clustering by state-of-the-art performance with little to no theoretical understanding to back them. The dissertation includes work that: (1) extends the theory of spectral clustering in order to address its weakness and provide ground for a theoretical understanding of existing non-linear network embedding methods.; (2) provides non-linear extensions of spectral clustering with theoretical guarantees, e.g., via different spectral modification algorithms; (3) demonstrates the potentials of this approach on different types and sizes of graphs from industrial applications; and (4)makes a theory-informed use of artificial networks

TEACHERS' EXPERIENCE WITH USING TEACHING TECHNIQUES TO PROMOTE CHILDREN'S MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN A NON-FORMAL ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL SETTING

In this increasing globalized and internationalized world, teaching techniques reported to be effective in one country are more frequently adopted for use in other countries. However, these techniques may not yield similar effects across educational contexts. This article reports a study that (i) explored teaching techniques that teachers in commercial English Language Centres (CELC) in Southern Vietnam used to promote children’s learning motivation and engagement, (ii) examined why they adopted these teaching techniques and (iii) identified challenges associated with the use of these techniques. Content analysis of 21 semi-structured interviews with teachers from four CELC showed that teachers were frequently using games, picture flashcards, videos, miming, role play and storytelling for the mentioned purpose. The study also revealed several challenges for the use of these techniques associated with (i) teachers considering teaching in CELC as an extra job, (ii) educational norms and values ingrained in stakeholders’ perception, and (iii) practicality issues involved in their teaching. The article highlights that teachers’ adoption of a teaching technique was driven by their beliefs about its effectiveness, about expectations of important stakeholders, and about contextual factors that may affect the use of the technique

TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCE WITH USING TEACHING TECHNIQUES TO PROMOTE CHILDREN’S MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN A NON-FORMAL ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL SETTING

In this increasing globalized and internationalized world, teaching techniques reported to be effective in one country are more frequently adopted for use in other countries. However, these techniques may not yield similar effects across educational contexts. This article reports a study that (i) explored teaching techniques that teachers in commercial English Language Centres (CELC) in Southern Vietnam used to promote children’s learning motivation and engagement, (ii) examined why they adopted these teaching techniques and (iii) identified challenges associated with the use of these techniques. Content analysis of 21 semi-structured interviews with teachers from four CELC showed that teachers were frequently using games, picture flashcards, videos, miming, role play and storytelling for the mentioned purpose. The study also revealed several challenges for the use of these techniques associated with (i) teachers considering teaching in CELC as an extra job, (ii) educational norms and values ingrained in stakeholders’ perception, and (iii) practicality issues involved in their teaching. The article highlights that teachers’ adoption of a teaching technique was driven by their beliefs about its effectiveness, about expectations of important stakeholders, and about contextual factors that may affect the use of the technique.  Article visualizations

Village Baseline Study – Site Analysis Report for My Loi, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province – Viet Nam

Data collection for the Village Baseline Study (VBS) of My Loi village in the CCAFS benchmark site of central Viet Nam took place on 17- 19 October 2014. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for 45 men and 45 women villagers.. The VBS had three main topics: map of (1) community resources, (2) organizational landscapes, and (3) information networks. A seminar was held in December 2014 to seek participants’ feedback. My Loi village has experienced multiple extreme weather events (temperature and water stresses, storms and typhoons) throughout the years. The main constraints for agricultural development and livelihoods are limited water resources and poor conditions of irrigation systems, which are challenges to improving the agricultural production situation. Moreover, sand and rock mining have caused water pollution, erosion on riverbanks and loss of farmland area. Another constraint is marketing, as villagers are not aware of any organization involved in finding outlets for agricultural products. The potentials for developing innovative climate-smart solutions in the village are several: farmers have experiences and are interested in trying new varieties and adjusting farming calendars to improve the situation. Livestock expansion and agroforests/reforestation hold opportunities for improving household incomes. Furthermore, at least half of the organisations identified in the region are working to address food security issues

Multi-faceted identities of teacher assessors: A qualitative study in the Vietnamese educational context

Within the educational landscape of Vietnam, the professional identity of teachers when acting as assessors remains a comparatively uncharted domain and requires further explorations. Consequently, this qualitative investigation was initiated to delve deeper into the intricate identities Vietnamese teachers adopt in their capacities as assessors. Relying upon frameworks such as Constructivist Grounded Theory and Identity Theory, the study meticulously analyzed self-reported narratives from 15 tertiary lecturers based in Vietnam. Through this rigorous analysis, a spectrum of fifteen distinct identities was uncovered. These identities included “Gatekeepers of Knowledge and Competency”, “Nurturers”, “Diplomatists”, “Auditors”, “Confusian Sages”, “Innovators”, “Social Justice Advocators”, “Cultural Mediators”, “Emotional Anchors”, “Scalfolders”, “Technological Navigators”, “Lifelong Learners”, “Community Builders”, “Ethical Guardians”, and “Democratic Facilitators.” Intriguingly, these identities were not merely seen as additional layers to their professional duties; instead, they emerged as foundational components of teachers’ professional self-image. The forces molding these roles are diverse, encompassing deep-seated cultural values, prevailing educational paradigms, and personal lived experiences of educators. Unraveling these identities offers consequential implications for the broader educational sector. It underscores the imperative to holistically re-envision teacher training programs and assessment design, ensuring they resonate with the multifaceted roles educators play in steering both academic achievements and wider societal outcomes

In-action reflective teaching in Vietnam: A qualitative exploration of practices, influences and implications

Reflective teaching plays a crucial role in the field of education though its intricacies in particular cultural contexts like Vietnam are still little understood. This study aims to investigate reflective teaching practices in more detail within the context of Vietnamese education.  This study used a qualitative methodology and semi-structured interviews with twelve Vietnamese teachers, each representing a different stage of their careers to shed light on the many forms of in-action reflective practices and their implementation, benefits, drawbacks and even cultural influences. The results of this in-depth investigation provided an overview of the wide range of in-action reflective practices that are actively used in the classroom.  The enhancement of adaptive teaching methodologies and the bolstering of student engagement are prominent among the many advantages that were noted.  Teaching in the Vietnamese context also presents unique challenges. Teachers often struggle with the demands of multitasking, the complexities of navigating uncertainties in real-time classroom scenarios   and the predominant challenge of managing large class sizes. Moreover, it was surprising to learn how many Vietnamese cultural, social   and educational factors influenced teacher understanding and use of in-action reflection.  The understanding of reflective teaching practices is enhanced by the research findings which also have broad implications for areas such as instructional strategies, teacher preparation programmes, academic research perspectives and even the development of educational policies.  The study strongly emphasizes the pressing need for more context-specific investigations into reflective teaching and underscores the indispensable role of reflection in fostering an environment conducive to effective teaching and learning

Investigating the diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi from Gymnema sylvestre and Curcuma longa in Vietnam

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are soil eukaryotes that belong to phylum Glomeromycota and have symbiosis with the vast majority of higher plants’ roots. AM fungi are believed to be coevolved with terrestrial plants, the abundance and diversity of AM fungal communities as a result are host plant dependent. A survey of AM fungi from the rhizospheres of medicinal plants in Northern Vietnam including gurma Gymnema sylvestre and turmeric Curcuma longa was carried out. From the extracted total DNAs of the medicinal plants’ rhizosphere soil samples, 35 mycorrhizal fungal species were identified by analyzing small subunit rRNA gene sequences. Result revealed that genus Glomus is the most abundant in the AM communities of G. sylvestre and C. longa, followed by Gigaspora and Acaulospora. Besides, AM species belonging to genera Scutellospora, Diversispora and Rhizophagus were observed in almost all rhizosphere soil samples. The spore counting by wet sieving and decanting method uncovered a variation in AM spore density of gurma and turmeric rhizosphere. In general, AM species were found more abundantly and more diverse in collected rhizome soil samples of C. longa (27 species belonging to 10 genera) than of G. sylvestre (17 species found belonging to 7 genera). The observed difference in AM communities of G. sylvestre and C. longa supports evidence for the dependence of AM fungal species on host plants, and indicates that AM fungi may have relation to the host plants’ secondary metabolite production

Erratum: Mott Transition in the Mass Imbalanced Ionic Hubbard Model at Half Filling

Erratum: Mott Transition in the Mass Imbalanced Ionic Hubbard Model at Half Filling[Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, Le Duc Anh, Hoang Anh Tuan, Nguyen Toan Thang and Tran Thi Thu Trang, Communications in Physics, Vol. 29, No. 3SI (2019), pp. 305-312]This paper was published on 22 October 2019 with an omission in the text of the author’s list. The author list should read asNGUYEN THI HAI YEN$^1$, LE DUC ANH$^2$, HOANG ANH TUAN$^{1,3,\dagger}$, NGUYEN TOAN THANG$^1$, TRAN THI THU TRANG$^4$ AND NGUYEN THI HUONG$^5$$^1$Institute of Physics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam $^2$Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam $^3$Graduate University of Science and Technology, VAST, Hanoi, Vietnam $^4$Ha Long University, Quang Ninh, Vietnam $^5$Thuy Loi University, Hanoi, Vietnam$^{\dagger}$E-mail: [email protected] author’s list has been corrected as of 29 November 2019. The author’s list has been corrected in the electronic version of the journal

Megastigmans and other compounds from Antidesma hainanensis Merr.

Four megastigmans 7-megastigmene-3-ol-9-one 3-O-[α-L-arabinofuranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside]  (1),  alangionoside L (2),  alangioside (3), ampelopsisionoside (4), and other constituents as N–trans-feruloyloctopamide (5), trans-linalool-3,6-oxide-β-D-glucopyranoside (6),  5α,8α-dipioxiergosta-6,22-diene-3β-ol (7), and (Z)-2-hexenyl β-D-glucopyranoside (8) were isolated from the methanol extract of the Antidesma hainanensis leaves. Their chemical structures were successfully determined using NMR and ESI-MS analysis as well as in comparison with the reported data. This is the first report of these compounds from Euphorbiaceae family

Two cases of bacteriemia caused by nontoxigenic, non-O1, non-O139 Vibrio cholerae isolates in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The toxigenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae belonging to the O1 and O139 serogroups is commonly associated with epidemic diarrhea in tropical settings; other diseases caused by this environmental pathogen are seldom identified. Here we report two unassociated cases of nonfatal, nontoxigenic V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 bacteremia in patients with comorbidities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that occurred within a 4-week period