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Over the past decades, the Vietnamese government has strategically encouraged the import of the ‘Western’ curriculum through the so-called Advanced Programmes. It is envisioned that by learning from the more advanced systems such as Australia, Canada, the US, and the UK, Vietnamese universities will be able to overhaul their outdated curriculum and embark on a shortcut to the league of global rankings. Drawing on 21 interviews with Vietnamese and foreign staff and students in two Advanced Programmes imported from the US, this article reviews these programmes’ twelve-year implementation to explore the challenges arising and the roles of local academics in implementing and mediating the curriculum. The research revealed considerable challenges in imparting ‘Western’ knowledge to the local context due to ideological and practicality differences. However, it is the process through which academics mediated between the international content and local students’ needs that enables practical internationalisation of the imported curriculum.

The fingerprint identification technology has been developed and applied effectively to security systems in financial transactions, personal information security, national security, and other fields. In this paper, we proposed the development of a fingerprint identification system based on image processing methods that clarify fingerprint contours, using machine learning methods to increase processing speed and increase the accuracy of the fingerprint identification process. The identification system consists of the following main steps: improving image quality and image segmentation to identify the fingerprint area, extracting features, and matching the database. The accuracy of the system reached 97.75% on the mixed high- and low-quality fingerprint database.

Every year, 2.4 million neonates die during their first month of life and even more suffer permanent injury. The main causes are intrapartum-related events, prematurity, and infection, with sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia being the worst affected regions. With a focus on intrapartum-related events, we aimed to assess the neonatal demographic characteristics, clinical management, and outcomes among neonates born at the largest obstetric hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. This was a retrospective cross-sectional study that included all the inborn neonates in November 2019, which was selected as a representative month. A total of 4554 neonates were born during the study period. Of these, 1.0% (n = 44) were stillbirths, 0.15% (n = 7) died in hospital, 0.61% (n = 28) received positive pressure ventilation at birth, and 0.15% (n = 7) were diagnosed with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. A total of 581 (13%) neonates were admitted to the neonatal unit, among which the most common diagnoses were prematurity (37%, n = 217) and infection (15%, n = 89). Except for the intrapartum-related events, our findings are consistent with the previously documented data on neonatal morbidity. The intrapartum-related events, however, were surprisingly low in number even in comparison to high-income countries. Research on the current clinical practice at Phu San Hanoi Hospital may bring further clarity to identify the success factors.

Smart cities refer to place-specific collaborative systems where multiple actors collaborate to collectively address public problems. However, smart city initiatives regularly frame citizens as the weakest link, as passive consumers rather than active creative agents. This article argues that power imbalances between citizens and other organisational participants structurally mute citizens' voices, ultimately compromising smart cities' aims. Living laboratories are a popular smart city intervention that have the potential to address this power imbalance and empower citizens to influence smart city development. This research theoretically and empirically explores this role of living labs through a multiple-case study of urban living labs in the region of Catalonia. The findings uncover a ‘power banking’ mechanism which, coupled with other critical factors, facilitates the effectiveness of such initiatives. The considerable efforts required to engage citizens at a fairly basic level suggest that incorporating citizens into smart city models is more challenging than simplistic Quadruple Helix discourses convey This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme [grant number 722295]; and the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad [grant number ECO2017-86054-C3-3-R].

The ionic reaction products of the title pyridines with iodine in low-density polyethylene are identified by comparison of their IR spectra with literature data. The bis(pyridine)iodine(I), bis(4-methylpyridine)iodine(I), and bis(tert-butylpyridine)iodine(I) cations are spontaneously formed in the polymer medium. At elevated temperature, the 4-methylpyridinium cation is identified as a product of the reaction between 4-methylpyridine and iodine. In spite of their elongated molecular shape, the bis(pyridine)iodine(I) and bis(4-methylpyridine)iodine(I) cations are randomly aligned in stretched polyethylene; they probably form micro-crystalline polyiodide aggregates in the amorphous regions of the polymer. In contrast, the bis(tert-butylpyridine)iodine(I) cation is efficiently aligned in stretched polyethylene.

International audience; A growing concern on the deleterious effects of chemical inputs to the environment has been on the rise from the excessive use of chemical inputs leading to soil and water pollution, destruction to fauna and microbial communities, reduced soil fertility and increased crop disease susceptibility. In the Great Mekong Region (GMR), a large majority of the population relies on agriculture and faces severe challenges including decline in soil fertility, increased pests and diseases, leading to lower ecosystem productivity. In this region, over-dependence on chemical fertilizers also continues to impact negatively on soil health and the wider ecosystem. Agroecological practices, and beneficial microorganisms in particular, offer an affordable and sustainable alternative to mineral inputs for improved plant nutrition and soil health for optimal crop performance and sustainable production. Biofertilizers are a key component in integrated nutrient management as well as for increased economic benefits from reduced expenditure on chemical fertilizers, holistically leading to sustainable agriculture. To cope with the need for biofertilizer adoption for sustainable agricultural production, the countries in the GMR are putting efforts in promoting development and use of biofertilizers and making them available to farmers at affordable costs. Despite these efforts, farmers continue to use chemical fertilizers at high rates with the hope of increased yields instead of taking advantage of microbial products capable of providing plant nutrients while restoring or improving soil health. This study explored the current agricultural practices in the six countries in the GMR (China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR), the critical need for sustainable agroecological practices with a special emphasis on biofertilizers. We highlighted the current status, distribution, adoption and gaps of biofertilizer production in the GMR, in order to obtain an insight on the nature of biofertilizers, efficacy and production standards, adoption or lack of biofertilizers in the GMR.

Sulfonated microphere material based on crosslinked polystyrene was synthesized by emulsification polymerization, the polymerization yield was of 75 % ± 5 % and the size of microspheres was ranging from 30–180 µm. In order to obtain the suitable capacity for the enrichment of aromatic amines (1.0 meqv/g) the condition for sulfonation process were derived from the model based on an experimental design. The products were used as a stationary phase in solid phase extraction (SPE) to enrich 18 aromatic amines derived from banned azo dyes in textile. In this study, an analytical method has been developed, with LOQ of 2 ppm. The correlation coefficient R2 of the cabliration curve was ≥ 0.9997, most of the aromatic amines had the recoveries > 80 % and RSD < 5 %. In addition, a comparison between obtained results by the developed method and those by international standard methods BS EN 14326-1: 2012 and BS EN 14326-3:2012, was also done.

Perennial commodity crops, such as coffee, often play a large role globally in agricultural markets and supply chains and locally in livelihoods, poverty reduction, and biodiversity. Yet, the production of spatial information on these crops are often overlooked in favor of annual food crops. Remote sensing detection of coffee faces a particular set of challenges due to persistent cloud cover in the tropical “coffee belt,” hilly topography in coffee growing regions, diversity of coffee growing systems, and spectral similarity to other tree crops and agricultural land. Looking at the major coffee growing region in Dak Lak, Vietnam, we integrate multi-temporal 10 m optical Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 SAR data in order to map three coffee production systems: i) open-canopy sun coffee, ii) intercropped and other shaded coffee and iii) newly planted or young coffee. Leveraging Google Earth Engine (GEE), we compute five sets of features in order to best enhance separability between coffee and other land cover and within coffee production systems. The features include Sentinel-2 dry and wet season composites, Sentinel-1 texture features, Sentinel-1 spatiotemporal metrics, and topographic features. Using a random forest classification algorithm, we produce a 9-class land cover map including our three coffee production classes and a binary coffee/non-coffee map. The binary map has an overall accuracy of 89% and the three coffee production systems have user accuracies of 65, 56, 71% for sun coffee, intercropped coffee and newly planted coffee, respectively. This is a first effort at large-scale distinction of within-crop production styles and has implications across many applications. The binary coffee map can be used as a high-resolution crop mask, whereas the detailed land cover map can inform monitoring of deforestation dynamics, biodiversity, sustainability certification and implementation of climate adaptation strategies. This work offers a scalable approach to integrating optical and radar Sentinel data for production of spatially explicit agricultural information and contributes particularly to tree crop and agroforestry mapping, which often is overlooked in between agricultural and forestry sciences.

The recent results of the LHC search for electroweak production of supersymmetric (SUSY) particles at $\sqrt{s}=13\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$ have shown improved lower limits for their masses. In addition, the projected experiment E989 will be able to measure the muon anomalous magnetic moment precisely so that the experimental uncertainty can be reduced by a factor of four. It was pointed out that if the center value of the muon $g\ensuremath{-}2$ remains unchanged the deviation between the standard model (SM) prediction and the experimental value will be as large as $7.0\ensuremath{\sigma}$. Such a large deviation will be solid evidence for new physics beyond the SM. Motivated by these results, we investigate the minimal SUSY extension of the SM with universal gaugino masses at the grand unified scale in the light of the muon $g\ensuremath{-}2$ and the updated LHC constraints. The squarks are assumed to be heavy and decoupled from physics at low energy scales to resemble the SM-like Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV and other bounds for squark masses at the LHC. We have pinned down allowed windows for the lightest neutralino and the smuon masses as well as other input parameters relevant to the light SUSY sector. The expected results of the E989 experiment play a crucial role in narrowing these windows. The viability of the model for small mass regions can be tested at the LHC Run 3 and the High Luminosity LHC in the near future.

The contactless automatic anthropometric system is proposed for the reconstruction of the 3D-model of the human body using the conventional smartphone. Our approach involves three main steps. The first step is the extraction of 12 anthropological features. Then we determine the most important features. Finally, we employ these features to build the 3D model of the human body and classify them according to gender and the commonly used sizes.

As neoliberal ideals of deregulation, accountability, quality and financial autonomy take hold of education worldwide, higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing economies are adopting strategies to improve educational quality; attract local and international students; enhance institutional ranking and global competitiveness; and, more critically, increase their income. These strategies include internationalising education and developing partnerships with high-ranking universities, particularly those in English-speaking countries. Introducing English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has been a key element of these strategies. Using language-in-education planning as an analytical framework, this study investigates how a Vietnamese public university deployed EMI as a strategy to navigate through the new regime of institutional autonomy (IA) mandated by the government in the context of neoliberal approaches to HE reform. We argue that this top-down policy reform challenged Vietnamese universities to find ways to become autonomous. Although the pursuit of autonomy may lead to financial success, it may also result in HEIs not giving due consideration to questions of educational quality. Furthermore, in the absence of adequate structural planning, IA may have a negative impact on HEIs and the HE system in the country.

The objective of this paper is to propose a robust approach to building a computer vision system to detect and classify pavement defects based on features, such as the contour of feature (chain code histogram, Hu-moment), the shape of an object (length, width, area). In this paper, we present a method to build an automated system to detect and classify the different types of defects such as rupture of the road edge, potholes, subsidence depressions based on image processing techniques and machine learning methods. That system includes the following steps. First step is to detect defect position (ROI) then the defect is described by its features. Finally, each defect is classified these different defect features. In our approach the following algorithms have been using: Markov Random Fields and Graph cuts method for image segmentation, Random Forests algorithm for data classification.

With the diversification of contexts in which LPP processes take place, from traditional national to supra-national and sub-national settings, the authors of this chapter—which draws on three recently completed doctoral studies on agency and language-in-education policy conducted in three universities in Vietnam—note a growing analytical emphasis on agentive processes that, they argue, echoes the ‘agency turn’ in social sciences and reflects recent postmodern tendencies in LPP research. Aligned with this perspective, they examine the nature of agency as exercised by English language and content area academics in enacting three forms of language-in-education policy in higher education in Vietnam: (1) a policy to develop learner autonomy to transform students into critical, responsible and life-long learners; (2) an EMI policy to enhance students’ content knowledge and English proficiency; and (3) an assessment policy that draws on the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) for Languages to measure Vietnamese students’ English proficiency. The first study draws on data from interviews and classroom observations, and examines teacher agency in the English language classroom towards fostering learner autonomy. The second study examines EMI in academic programs within the context of internationalizing higher education. The third study considers qualitative data collected over a six-month period that revealed intrapersonal and interpersonal tensions in the way agency is exercised by university teachers in responding to the CEFR policy. Drawing insight from these studies, Hamid et al. discuss the potential and the need for emerging forms of agency in language-in-education policy in higher education.

The proactive approach to internationalisation of higher education in Vietnam in the last twenty years is closely related to the phenomena of using English as medium of instruction (EMI) and borrowing curriculum from foreign institutions. In both policy and practice, EMI has been simultaneously used as a key instrument and as an indicator of internationalisation of higher education. Vietnam’s language policy stresses the preservation and enrichment of Vietnamese, the national official language, and other ethnic minority languages. However, the ways in which internationalisation is constructed through the use of EMI and EMI programs are promoted as a marker of distinction in higher education and in the labour market perpetuate the sentiment that the mainstream programs delivered in Vietnamese, alongside with EMI programs within the same university, are of second order importance and have lower status. This chapter addresses the promotion of EMI in the internationalisation agenda of Vietnamese universities and its implications for local language policies. It argues for maximising the potential benefits of using EMI to enhance the quality of higher education and graduate employability while ensuring equity and equality in university contexts where both EMI and Vietnamese medium programs are offered concurrently.

English medium instruction (EMI) programs, where discipline content is taught through English, have been mandated in a number of Vietnam’s universities as part of the government’s National Foreign Languages 2020 project and their Higher Education Reform Agenda. The aim is to promote international exchange, increase revenue, raise the quality and prestige of educational programs, and provide a well-qualified, bilingual workforce for Vietnam’s rapidly-developing economy. Three main types of program are delivered: those from overseas institutions that are delivered onshore by overseas staff; overseas programs taught under franchise by local staff; and domestic programs that are informed by offshore curricula but modified for local requirements. But as with many Asia-Pacific countries, Vietnam’s EMI drive has been beset with issues at the macro- (governmental), meso- (institutional) and micro- (classroom) levels. Policy on EMI is mandated and regulated in an ad hoc fashion; institutions struggle to adapt programs designed in Anglophone countries to local requirements; classroom academics wrestle with increased preparation loads, the limits of their own English language proficiency and that of their students. This chapter examines these issues, providing illustrative detail through a case study of EMI implementation at a Vietnamese higher education institution. Recommendations are then made for improved implementation and practice.

Searches for SM Higgs boson production in the leptons plus jets final states with a data set corresponding to 9.7 fb-1 of $$\bar{p}$$p collisions at √s = 1.96TeV collected by the DO Experiment are presented in this thesis. The searches are carried out in two independent analyses, accounting for different signal topologies.

Two approaches to grammar instruction are often discussed in the ESL literature: direct explicit grammar instruction (DEGI) (deduction) and indirect explicit grammar instruction (IEGI) (induction). This study aims to explore the effects of indirect explicit grammar instruction on EFL learners’ mastery of English tenses. Ninety-four eleventh-graders were conveniently selected and randomly assigned into either the experimental group (EG) or the control group (CG). A pre-post tests design was used to collect the data. Before and after the treatment, the following tests were administered: rule analysis, grammar, and speaking. A delayed written test was given to both groups to assess students’ retention of structure acquired; in addition, a questionnaire was provided to the EG to investigate their perception on the treatment. The results indicated that the EG significantly outperformed the CG in the analysis of grammar rules and the oral proficiency, except for the use of grammar structures in a pre-defined context. Convincingly, there was a positive correlation between the grammar rules and their subsequent use. This validates the cause and effect of grammar rules’ acquisition and the use of them in receptive and productive stages. Also, the EG had favorable attitudes towards the instruction. This study may provide practical implications and techniques for improving EFL students’ grammar performance in high schools in Vietnam.

Background Differences between urban and rural settings can be seen as a very important example of gaps between groups in a population. The aim of this paper is to compare an urban and a rural area regarding child growth during the first two years of life as related to mother’s use of antenatal care (ANC), breastfeeding and reported symptoms of illness. Methods The studies were conducted in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites, one rural and one urban in Hanoi, Vietnam. Results We found that children in the urban area grow faster than those in the rural area. There were statistical associations between growth and the education of the mother as well as household resources. There were positive correlations between the number of ANC visits and child growth. We also saw a positive association between growth and early initiation (first hour of life) of breastfeeding but the reported duration of exclusive breastfeeding was not statistically significantly related to growth. Reporting symptoms of illness was negatively correlated to growth, i.e. morbidity is hampering growth. Conclusions All predictors of growth discussed in this article, ANC, breastfeeding and illness, are associated with social and economic conditions. To improve and maintain good conditions for child growth it is important to strengthen education of mothers and household resources particularly in the rural areas. Globalization and urbanization means obvious risks for increasing gaps not least between urban and rural areas. Improvement of the quality of programs for antenatal care, breastfeeding and integrated management of childhood illness are also needed in Vietnam.

Mandating English as the medium of instruction (EMI) is a common strategy that higher education institutions (HEIs) in non-English-dominant contexts often use in the process of internationalisation. The English language has, therefore, become a tool that enables the internationalisation and mobility of academics, students, programs and institutions. However, one problem relating to EMI is the issue of teaching and learning quality because students and academics have to work in a foreign language and encounter much difficulty. Vietnamese higher education (HE) is a case in point when its government promulgated HE reform in 2005 in which internationalisation and EMI served as the key for enhancing the sector. EMI has then been stipulated in an increasing number of universities, often in cooperation with HEIs from English-speaking countries. Against that background, the study reported in this chapter presents the EMI implementation realities in a Vietnamese university with focus on language aspects. Using Language Management Theory as the framework of analysis, it is revealed that EMI in Vietnamese HE has been regarded as a means to an end in the process of internationalisation rather than a strategic approach to improve students’ and academics’ English language proficiency (ELP), also to access updated trans-national knowledge and intellectual resources and to enhance international collaboration. It is, argued that the absence of an organised language management for EMI has disadvantaged academics and students and therefore hampered institutional and national goal of improving education quality in the context of globalisation and internationalisation.

Background Good infant growth is important for future health. Assessing growth is common in pediatric care all over the world, both at the population and individual level. There are few studies of birth weight and growth studies comparing urban and rural communities in Vietnam. The first aim is to describe and compare the birth weight distributions and physical growth (weight and length) of children during their first year in one rural and one urban area of Hanoi Vietnam. The second aim is to study associations between the anthropometric outcomes and indicators of the economic and educational situations. Methods Totally 1,466 children, born from 1st March, 2009 to June 2010, were followed monthly from birth to 12 months of age in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites; one rural and one urban. In all, 14,199 measurements each of weight and length were made. Birth weight was recorded separately. Information about demographic conditions, education, occupation and economic conditions of persons and households was obtained from household surveys. Fractional Polynomial models and standard statistical methods were used for description and analysis. Results Urban infants have higher birth weight and gain weight faster than rural infants. The mean birth weight for urban boys and girls were 3,298 grams and 3,203 grams as compared to 3,105 grams and 3,057 grams for rural children. At 90 days, the urban boys were estimated to be 4.1% heavier than rural boys. This difference increased to 7.2% at 360 days. The corresponding difference for girls was 3.4% and 10.5%. The differences for length were comparatively smaller. Both birth weight and growth were statistically significantly and positively associated with economic conditions and mother education. Conclusion Birth weight was lower and the growth, weight and length, considerably slower in the rural area, for boys as well as for girls. The results support the hypothesis that the rather drastic differences in maternal education and economic conditions lead to poor nutrition for mothers and children in turn causing inferior birth weight and growth.

Background Since the Doi Moi reform 1986 economic conditions in Vietnam have changed significantly and positive health and health care developments have been observed. International experience shows that improved economic conditions in a country can reduce the risk of perinatal mortality, decrease the risk of low birth weight and increase the mean birth weight in newborns. The Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS) FilaBavi in Bavi district outside Hanoi city has been operational since 1999. An open cohort of more than 12,000 households (52,000 persons) has been followed primarily with respect to demography, economy and education. The aim of this research is to study trends in birth weight as well as birth and delivery practices over the time period 1999–2010 in FilaBavi in relation to the social and economic development. Methods Information about birth weight, sex, place and method of delivery, mother’s age and education as well as household economy of 10,114 children, born from 1999 to 2010, was obtained from the routine data collection in the HDSS. Results Over the study period the mean birth weight remained at the same level, about 3,100 g, in spite of increased economic resources and technology development. At the individual child level we found associations between birth weight and household economy as well as the education of the mother. Hospital delivery increased from about 35% to 65% and the use of Caesarian section increased from 2.6% to 10.1%. Conclusion During the twelve years studied, household income as well as the use of modern technology increased rapidly. In spite of that, the mean and variation of birth weight did not change systematically. It is suggested that increasing gaps in economic conditions and misallocation of resources, possibly to overuse of technology, are partly responsible.