Search

In July 2018, the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (VNX) was transferred into the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam (MXV) to hedge price risks through futures on international commodity exchanges. This research aimed to verify the efficiency of futures on ICE EU and ICE US under the perspective of hedging for Vietnamese coffee, determine optimal hedging ratios and the optimal number of each futures contract, and investigate the feasibility of introducing domestic commodity exchanges in Vietnam. Using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the results show that (1) Robusta futures with expiration dates of January, March, May, and July on ICE EU are efficient hedging tools, but the adverse result is justified for Arabica futures on ICE US; (2) Robusta futures with the expiration date of January are the best in terms of risk management for Vietnamese coffee market; (3) optimal hedge ratio of Robusta futures of around 34% is much lower than ratios showed by previous researches; (4) in the short term, introducing coffee futures into the domestic commodity exchanges is still not feasible in the short term, but should be considered in the long term in Vietnam. This is the first study providing empirical evidence about the hedging role of futures contracts on ICE EU and ICE US, contributing to enrich the existing empirical evidence on the hedging role of futures for the agricultural sector.

The introduction of the first tradable stock index futures of VN 30 is a very good signal showing that Vietnam is starting to have a high-level financial market, which brings many expectations about sustainable and safe development of its stock market. However, risk concerns of this type of derivative products have been raising with many claims since then. This article aims to provide empirical evidences to show if futures trading plays important role of price discovery and information transmission for spot market. Using daily data collected about VN 30 Index Futures, VN 30 Index, VN Index from August 10, 2017 to February 28, 2019, which is divided into three sub-periods (increase/decrease/recovery), the research verifies VN 30 Index Futures’ role of price discovery and information transmission by applying Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Empirical findings show that there is a stable equilibrium relationship between the two series groups (including VN 30 Index Futures, VN 30 Index and VN 30 Index Futures and VN Index) during three sub-periods or spot and futures markets are integrated and synchronized. In particular, VN 30 Index Futures’ price discovery and information transmission are clearly seen when the market falls or does not change a lot.

In the third bank restructuring process in Vietnam during the 2011–2016 period, banking system experienced the participation of 14 commercial banks with 7 successful, both mandatory and voluntary, M&A deals. This research tries to answer if M&A was a good method of dealing with weak banks as Vietnam expected. Firstly, the article evaluates M&A activities’ effects on business results of acquiring banks through three financial ratios (including return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and net interest margin (NIM) by using paired sample T-Test. The results show that M&A activities only have positive effects on ROA of acquiring banks in Vietnam, while impacts of M&A activities on ROE and NIM are not clear. Secondly, by using a fuzzy TOPSIS approach based on Balanced Scorecard, the research shows that the performance of acquiring banks in mandatory M&A deals are not good as compared to the other acquiring banks. In fact, M&A deal only has strongly positive effects on acquiring bank performance, when it is totally based on real demands of both target and acquiring banks as well as created synergy. Therefore, to deal with weak banks in the next time period, Vietnamese banking system should focus on other market solutions in addition to keeping the nature of M&A activities and improving its efficiency.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a food-borne zoonotic pathogen with important implications for human health. Despite its importance, the burden of NTS infections in Vietnam is unknown. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis to describe the prevalence and phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for NTS over time in Vietnam. Following PRISMA guidelines, we identified 72 studies from PubMed and Google Scholar containing data relevant to ‘Salmonella’, ‘Salmonellosis’, and ‘Vietnam’, or ‘Viet Nam’. Of those, forty-two papers reporting prevalence of NTS, and twenty-six including data on phenotypic resistance were selected for meta-analysis. The prevalence of NTS ranged from 2% to 5% in humans and from 30% to 41% in samples from animals and the farm/slaughterhouse environment. Between 2000 and 2020 we observed a 27.3% (p = 0.044) increase in absolute terms in prevalence among individuals with enteric diseases and a 12.0% (p = 0.047) increase in aquaculture/seafood samples. The most commonly serovars identified across studies included S. Weltevreden (12.0%), followed by S. Typhimurium (10.1%), S. Derby (6.4%), S. London (5.8%), S. Anatum (4.4%), S. Rissen (3.9%), S. Enteritidis (3.7%), S. Albany (3.3%) and S. 4,[5],12:i:- (3.0%). Over the same period, there was an increasing trend in the pooled AMR prevalence for quinolones (15.6% relative increase), 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-generation cephalosporins (23.7%), penicillins (16.1%), tetracyclines (12.9%), sulfonamides (8.8%), amphenicol (17.8%), and multidrug resistance (11.4%) (all p ≤ 0.014). A broad range of AMR genes (ARGs) were detected in both human and animal populations. The observed prevalence and AMR trends in Vietnam underscore the need of adopting a One Health strategy encompassing surveillance systems, research initiatives, and awareness campaigns to effectively address the challenges posed by NTS.

ABSTRACT: Chickens are the primary reservoirs of Campylobacter spp., mainly C. jejuni and C. coli, that cause human bacterial gastrointestinal infections. However, genomic characteristics and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. in low- to middle-income countries need more comprehensive exploration. This study aimed to characterize 21 C. jejuni and 5 C. coli isolates from commercial broilers and native chickens using whole genome sequencing and compare them to 28 reference Campylobacter sequences. Among the 26 isolates, 13 sequence types (ST) were identified in C. jejuni and 5 ST in C. coli. The prominent ST was ST 2274 (5 isolates, 19.2%), followed by ST 51, 460, 2409, and 6455 (2 isolates in each ST, 7.7%), while all remaining ST (464, 536, 595, 2083, 6736, 6964, 8096, 10437, 828, 872, 900, 8237, and 13540) had 1 isolate per ST (3.8%). Six types of antimicrobial resistance genes (ant(6)-Ia, aph(3’)-III, blaOXA, cat, erm(B), and tet(O)) and one point mutations in the gyrA gene (Threonine-86-Isoleucine) and another in the rpsL gene (Lysine-43-Arginine) were detected. The blaOXA resistance gene was present in all isolates, the gyrA mutations was in 95.2% of C. jejuni and 80.0% of C. coli, and the tet(O) resistance gene in 76.2% of C. jejuni and 80.0% of C. coli. Additionally, 203 virulence-associated genes linked to 16 virulence factors were identified. In terms of phenotypic resistance, the C. jejuni isolates were all resistant to ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and nalidixic acid, with lower levels of resistance to tetracycline (76.2%), tylosin (52.3%), erythromycin (23.8%), azithromycin (22.2%), and gentamicin (11.1%). Most C. coli isolates were resistant to all tested antimicrobials, while 1 C. coli was pan-susceptible except for tylosin. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms concordance varied widely, with differences of up to 13,375 single-nucleotide polymorphisms compared to the reference Campylobacter isolates, highlighting genetic divergence among comparative genomes. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the molecular epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. in Thai chicken production systems.

Using 2012 and 2016 input–output tables, the paper aims to assess the dispersion effects of bank credit on value added created by exporting activities of 17 sectors from Vietnam to Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. The research contributes to the literature with respect to the role of the banks on providing credit to export in developing countries. Despite the increasing demand for export credit to ASEAN countries in the period of 2013–2017, Vietnamese export credit only accounted for roughly 30% of total credit. The research results indicate that capital requirements for exporting are always higher than other activities and keep growing during the recent period. It shows the importance of bank loans for exporting activities in Vietnam. Moreover, according to the research, exports to ASEAN countries have greater dispersion impact than exporting to other countries, and capital requirements for exporting to ASEAN countries are also higher. This implies bank credit for exporting activities to ASEAN countries should be encouraged. As a result of empirical evidence regarding the power of dispersion and level of value added induced by the increase of final demand, the study recommends that Vietnam should pay more attention to potential target countries like Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand, as well as prioritize some business sectors related to agriculture and services for funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the effect of spillovers regionally and worldwide on Vietnam’s stock market. The vector error correction model (VECM) is used to analyze the collected data from Bloomberg. Data include eight comparable stock market indices, namely DJI, NKY, SHCOMP, SET, MXSG, PCOMP, FBMKLCI, and JCI. The empirical results show that the Vietnamese stock market is significantly linked to that of the other countries. During the periods of dramatic market fluctuation, the cross-border linkage between the VN-Index and comparable indices is the largest. The impact of the stock markets of small nearby countries such as Singapore and Malaysia on the Vietnamese stock market are greater than the other large ones including the United States, Japan and China. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the interdependence and interaction of stock markets. The common economic integration, especially in showing that effect found in other studies, is meaningful in explaining the observed phenomenon.

Abstract Background In this study, we investigated the relationship between clinicopathologic factors, BRAFV600E mutation status and [18F] F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) avidity in patients with radioiodine (RAI)-negative recurrent or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Methods From 2015 to 2018 all patients with suspected recurrent or metastatic radioiodine-negative DTC patients who underwent FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) were retrospectively reviewed. Suspected lesions on FDG PET/CT were biopsied and underwent BRAFV600E mutation testing by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR. Tumor size, recurrent versus metastatic disease, histopathologic features including classical type versus aggressive subtypes (poorly differentiated, tall cell, columnar cell, hobnail variants) and BRAFV600E mutation status were correlated with the SUVmax of highest hypermetabolic lesions on FDG PET/CT by the univariate analysis using logistic regression. Results Sixty-three consecutive patients, 55 (87.3%) female, with median age of 48 (range 17–81) were included. The majority of patients had BRAFV600E mutation and classical subtype, 55/63 (87.3%) and 45/63(71.4%), respectively. Thyroglobulin at the time of suspected recurrence was 262.7 ng/ml (range 16.3–1000) and patients received a median 3 prior RAI treatments. Fifty-four patients (85.7%) had local recurrence. The majority of patients 58/63 (92.1%) had FDG-avid disease on PET/CT. On univariate analysis, tumor size aggressive histopathologic types and distant metastasis are the significant factors for predicting FDG uptake, p = 0.04, p = 0.001 and p = 0.004 respectively. Although FDG uptake of BRAFV600E bearing recurrent/metastatic RAIR DTC lesions was higher than those without the mutation, the difference did not reach statistical significance, SUVmax of 7.11 versus 4.91, respectively, p = 0.2. Conclusion The majority of recurrent or metastatic RAI-negative DTC have BRAFV600E mutation and detectable disease on FDG PET/CT. FDG avidity of the recurrent or metastatic RAI-negative DTC is independently associated with the aggressive histopathologic features.

In the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, small-scale chicken farming is common. However, high levels of disease or mortality in such flocks impair economic development and challenge the livelihoods of many rural households. We investigated 61 diseased small-scale flocks (122 chickens) for evidence of infection with 5 bacteria, 4 viruses, and helminths. Serological profiles (ELISA) were also determined against 6 of these pathogens. The aims of this study were the following: (1) to investigate the prevalence of different pathogens and to compare the probability of detection of bacterial pathogens using PCR and culture; (2) to investigate the relationship between detection of organisms in birds' tissues and the observed morbidity and mortality, as well as their antibody profile; and (3) to characterize risk factors for infection with specific viral or bacterial pathogens. We used PCR to test for viral (viruses causing infectious bronchitis [IB], highly pathogenic avian influenza [HPAI], Newcastle disease, and infectious bursal disease [IBD]) and bacterial pathogens (Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Pasteurella multocida, Avibacterium paragallinarum, and Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale [ORT]). The latter two were also investigated in respiratory tissues by conventional culture. Colisepticemic Escherichia coli was investigated by liver or spleen culture. In 49 of 61 (80.3%) flocks, at least one bacterial or viral pathogen was detected, and in 29 (47.5%) flocks, more than one pathogen was detected. A. paragallinarum was detected in 62.3% flocks, followed by M. gallisepticum (26.2%), viruses causing IBD (24.6%) and IB (21.3%), septicemic E. coli (14.8%), ORT (13.1%), and HPAI viruses (4.9%). Of all flocks, 67.2% flocks were colonized by helminths. Mortality was highest among flocks infected with HPAI (100%, interquartile range [IQR]: 81.6–100%) and lowest with flocks infected with ORT (5.3%, IQR: 1.1–9.0%). The results indicated slight agreement (kappa ≤ 0.167) between detection by PCR and culture for both A. paragallinarum and ORT, as well as between the presence of cestodes and ORT infection (kappa = 0.317). Control of A. paragallinarum, viruses causing HPAI, IBD, and IB, M. gallisepticum, and gastrointestinal helminths should be a priority in small-scale flocks.

Many studies on phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of bacteria from healthy populations are conducted on freeze-stored samples. However, the impact of this practice on phenotypic AMR is not known. We investigated the prevalence of phenotypic AMR in Escherichia coli from chicken (n = 10) and human (n = 11) faecal samples collected from healthy subjects, subject to freeze storage (−20 °C and −80 °C) for 1, 2, 3, and 6 months. We compared counts of E. coli and prevalence of phenotypic resistance against five antimicrobials commonly used in chicken farming (ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, doxycycline, gentamicin, and florfenicol) with samples processed within 24 h of collection. Prevalence of phenotypic AMR was estimated by performing differential counts on agar media with and without antimicrobials. At −20 °C, there was a considerable reduction in E. coli counts over time, and this reduction was greater for human samples (−0.630 log10 units per 100 days) compared with chicken samples (−0.178 log10 units per 100 days). For most antimicrobials, AMR prevalence estimates decreased in freeze-stored samples both in humans and chickens over time. Based on these results, we conclude that results on the prevalence of phenotypic AMR on samples from freeze-stored samples are unreliable, and only fresh samples should be used in such studies.

We investigated the consequences of colistin use in backyard chicken farms in Vietnam by examining the prevalence of mcr-1 in fecal samples from chickens and humans. Detection of mcr-1–carrying bacteria in chicken samples was associated with colistin use and detection in human samples with exposure to mcr-1–positive chickens.

In the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, farmers use large quantities of antimicrobials to raise small-scale chicken flocks, often including active ingredients regarded of “critical importance’” by the World Health Organization. Due to limitations in laboratory capacity, the choice of antimicrobials normally does not follow any empirical criteria of effectiveness. The aim of this study was to highlight non-critically important antimicrobials against which chicken pathogens are likely to be susceptible as a basis for treatment guidelines. Microtiter broth dilution method was performed to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 12 commonly used antimicrobials for 58 isolates, including Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) (n = 22), Gallibacterium anatis (n = 19), and Avibacterium endocarditidis (n = 17). Unfortunately, internationally accepted breakpoints for resistance in these organisms do not exist. We drew tentative epidemiological cut-offs (TECOFFs) for those antimicrobial-pathogen combinations where MIC distributions suggested the presence of a distinct non-wild-type population. Based on the observed results, doxycycline would be the drug of choice for A.endocarditidis (11.8% presumptive non-wild type) and G. anatis infections (5.3% presumptive non-wild type). A total of 13.6% ORT isolates were non-wild type with regards to oxytetracycline, making it the drug of choice against this pathogen. This study illustrates the challenges in interpreting susceptibility testing results and the need to establish internationally accepted breakpoints for veterinary pathogens.

The mesoporous Cr/ZSM-5 and W-Cr/ZSM-5 zeolites have been successfully synthesized by loading chromium and tungsten on zeolite support. The metal loaded ZSM-5 catalysts were analyzed by several characterizations such as XRD, SEM-EDS, TEM, and BET. The catalytic activities and recycle efficiency were also investigated by applying catalysts for oxidation of oleic acid. These catalysts exhibited the high catalytic efficiency for cleavage of double bond with the use of H2O2. The oleic conversion of 88.7% and 93.3% could be achieved for Cr/ZSM-5 and W-Cr/ZSM-5 catalyst, respectively. Moreover, the modified ZSM-5 catalysts also demonstrated a long life time and high stability.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat, and antimicrobial usage and AMR in animal production is one of its contributing sources. Poultry is one of the most widespread types of meat consumed worldwide. Poultry flocks are often raised under intensive conditions using large amounts of antimicrobials to prevent and to treat disease, as well as for growth promotion. Antimicrobial resistant poultry pathogens may result in treatment failure, leading to economic losses, but also be a source of resistant bacteria/genes (including zoonotic bacteria) that may represent a risk to human health. Here we reviewed data on AMR in 12 poultry pathogens, including avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), Salmonella Pullorum/Gallinarum, Pasteurella multocida, Avibacterium paragallinarum, Gallibacterium anatis, Ornitobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), Bordetella avium, Clostridium perfringens, Mycoplasma spp., Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, and Riemerella anatipestifer. A number of studies have demonstrated increases in resistance over time for S. Pullorum/Gallinarum, M. gallisepticum, and G. anatis. Among Enterobacteriaceae, APEC isolates displayed considerably higher levels of AMR compared with S. Pullorum/Gallinarum, with prevalence of resistance over >80% for ampicillin, amoxicillin, tetracycline across studies. Among the Gram-negative, non-Enterobacteriaceae pathogens, ORT had the highest levels of phenotypic resistance with median levels of AMR against co-trimoxazole, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, amoxicillin, and ceftiofur all exceeding 50%. In contrast, levels of resistance among P. multocida isolates were less than 20% for all antimicrobials. The study highlights considerable disparities in methodologies, as well as in criteria for phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing and result interpretation. It is necessary to increase efforts to harmonize testing practices, and to promote free access to data on AMR in order to improve treatment guidelines as well as to monitor the evolution of AMR in poultry bacterial pathogens.