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Thermal energy storage (TES) system has been widely employed in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants to ensure the system efficiency. With excellent thermal characteristics, electrolytic copper powder (ECP), graphene oxide (GO) and lead-smelter slag (LSS) aggregate – a mining waste material, have been utilised in this study, aiming to fabricate metallurgical geopolymer material as a storage medium in the TES system. This paper investigated the effect of ECP contents (0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) on the strength, specific heat, thermal conductivity and thermal stability of GO-engineered geopolymer mixes incorporating LSS aggregate. With 10% ECP inclusion, the flow rate and compressive strength improved significantly. Increasing ECP content improved the thermal conductivity but reduce specific heat of geopolymers. The results revealed that ECP was a promising component to be incorporated into geopolymer to enhance its physio-mechanical characteristics and thermal stability. The combination of ECP, GO and LSS to produce geopolymer materials for TES system can provide an eco-friendly solution to the CSP plants and the industry waste recovery.

Globally, zoonotic vector-borne diseases are on the rise and understanding their complex transmission cycles is pertinent to mitigating disease risk. In North America, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease and is caused by transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) from Ixodes spp. ticks to a diverse group of vertebrate hosts. Small mammal reservoir hosts are primarily responsible for maintenance of B. burgdorferi s.l. across the United States. Nevertheless, birds can also be parasitized by ticks and are capable of infection with B. burgdorferi s.l. but their role in B. burgdorferi s.l. transmission dynamics is understudied. Birds could be important in both the maintenance and spread of B. burgdorferi s.l. and ticks because of their high mobility and shared habitat with important mammalian reservoir hosts. This study aims to better understand the role of avian hosts in tick-borne zoonotic disease transmission cycles in the western United States. We surveyed birds, mammals, and ticks at nine sites in northern California for B. burgdorferi s.l. infection and collected data on other metrics of host community composition such as abundance and diversity of birds, small mammals, lizards, predators, and ticks. We found 22.8% of birds infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. and that the likelihood of avian B. burgdorferi s.l. infection was significantly associated with local host community composition and pathogen prevalence in California. Additionally, we found an average tick burden of 0.22 ticks per bird across all species. Predator and lizard abundances were significant predictors of avian tick infestation. These results indicate that birds are relevant hosts in the local B. burgdorferi s.l. transmission cycle in the western United States and quantifying their role in the spread and maintenance of Lyme disease requires further research.

Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) is one of the issues of interest attracting researchers in recent decades. However, while collaborative learning introduced a prospective tool for FLA, it has not been much researched in the L2 classroom context, particularly in Vietnam. This paper focuses on using collaborative learning to reduce foreign language anxiety and enhance the L2 speaking performance of young learners at an English center in Ho Chi Minh city. A combination of tools, including Aydin et al.'s (2017) Children Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (CFLAS) for the pre-tests and post-tests, the teacher's diary, and follow-up interviews, was used to measure the changes in learner' FLA level and speaking performance. After five-week implementations, these learners' FLA was slightly alleviated, and their speaking performance was improved using a collaborative learning approach. Moreover, learners were found to have positive attitudes and experience with learning in the new approach. These findings implied that collaborative learning could be a potential treatment to help L2 learners uncover their anxious selves and find more confidence in using the target language.

Drawing on social cognitive theory, we developed a research model in which entrepreneurial alertness mediates the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intentions, and this process is moderated by resilience. The data for our research model were collected from 612 undergraduate students majoring in business from six universities in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Our findings reveal a positive association between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions, and this association is mediated by entrepreneurial alertness. Additionally, resilience is found to moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial intentions. Our study advances the stream of research on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions and provides important practical implications for universities and policy makers to facilitate access to entrepreneurship education for students.

This article reports a study that investigated prospective and current Vietnamese international students' motivations to study abroad and their immigration intentions. Analyses of 55 intercept interviews and 313 responses to a survey revealed 12 push and pull factors that motivated students to pursue overseas studies and 18 sociocultural, economic, and political factors that influenced their immigration intentions. Independent samples t tests indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the influence of motivations on decisions to study overseas between groups of male and female students and prospective and current students. The analyses, furthermore, suggested that students' immigration intentions depended on their personal attachment to the home country and (perceived) adaptability to the host country.

Internationalization of higher education programs has become more diverse in non-Western countries but there has been a paucity of studies exploring these at-home initiatives of internationalization, particularly using business students' experience. This article reports a qualitative study that investigated 18 Vietnamese business students, majoring in marketing and international business, for their motivations of pursuing an elite internationalized university program. The results showed that business students were motivated by several foreign elements embedded in these programs: English language instruction, foreign certificate/degree, international teachers and friends, among others. The motivations were influenced by their rational self-interest and opinions of third parties and were practically driven by the motive of enhancing their employability. The article discusses the findings in relation to the current socio-cultural and educational context of Vietnam and provides practical implications for sustainable implementation of these business programs on the principle of meeting students-as-customers' learning needs and expectations.