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Businesses are making efforts to implement green marketing to meet the needs of consumers and build a sustainable living environment. Many studies around the world have investigated the influence of marketing mix on green purchase behavior. In order to understand the impact of 7Ps tools of retail service marketing on Vietnamese consumers' green food purchase intention, this study surveyed 368 consumers and analyzed quantitative data. Research shows that 7Ps of green retail stores affect customers attitude and their attitude have impact on their purchase intention. This result is the basis for green food retailers in Vietnam to understand consumers and make more effective green marketing decisions.

This article investigates the private sector participation in investment, management, and operation in rural water supply schemes in Vietnam. Different organizations manage rural water supply facilities, including the private sector, public sector, and others. This paper aims to compare the different characteristics affecting user satisfaction of water supply facilities managed by the private sector and the remaining sectors. An ordered logit model was utilized for calculation with the data collected from semi-structure questionnaires with 1200 households using water from rural water supply systems managed by different sectors in Vietnam. The results indicate that the water-user satisfaction with rural water supply projects managed by the private sector is higher than that in other sectors (community, cooperative, commune people’s committee), whereas there is no significant difference in customer satisfaction between systems managed by the public sector and the private sector (enterprise, private management). The water availability and quality of schemes greatly influence the customer satisfaction. Findings from this study provide considerable information for the private sector on how to improve the management and operation of water supply systems efficiently through customer satisfaction assessment.

Background. To evaluate the ratio of acute kidney injury (AKI) to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) patients of the intensive care unit (ICU) and predictive value of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) measured at the admission time in the progression of AKI to CKD. Methods. A study of 121 consecutive adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) diagnosed as SA-AKI. AKI and CKD were defined based on Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by the CKD-EPI formula. Serum and urine NGAL was measured using the BioVendor Human Lipocalin-2/NGAL ELISA with a blood sample taken at hospital admission time. Results. The ratio of AKI to CKD in SA-AKI patients was 22.3%. Mean concentration of serum and urine NGAL in AKI to the CKD group was 790.99 ng/ml and 885.72 ng/ml, higher significantly than those of recovery patients (351.86 ng/ml and 264.68 ng/ml), p<0.001. eGFR, both serum and urine NGAL had a predictive value for AKI to CKD (eGFR: AUC=0.857, Se=74.1%, Spe=92.6%, p<0.001. Serum NGAL: AUC=0.868, Se=77.8%, Spe=91.5%. Urine NGAL: AUC=0.869, Se=77.8%, Spe=92.6%, p<0.001. Conclusion. Serum and urine NGAL, measuring at hospital admission time, were good prognostic biomarkers of AKI to CKD in SA-AKI patients.

In this study, we focused on the role of elevated serum interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentration in predicting 5-year cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis patients using low-flux dialyzer reuse. We measured serum IL-6 concentrations in 236 hemodialysis patients (138 males and 98 females) to predict 5-year cardiovascular mortality. We assessed the baseline demographics of all patients who had a mean age of 44 years and a median hemodialysis duration of 38.5 months. We divided all patients into two equal groups based on the serum IL-6 concentration: G1 (n = 118) with serum IL-6 concentration

This study aims to develop and test the integrative model of the factors affecting customers’ acceptance intention of the adoption of blockchain technology. Data were collected from a sample of 195 customers who have been conducting transactions at Dong A Bank – Hue branch. Samples are selected by using the systematic random sampling method. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings indicate that six out of eight tested relationships are supported. Perceived usefulness (PU) and Perceived ease of use (PEU) are the most critical factors affecting customers’ Attitude (AT). Attitude also has a direct and positive correlation to customers’ acceptance Intention (IN). Notably, Personal characteristics (PC) and Risk perception (RP) are the two most influential factors affecting Perceived usefulness. And, the Perceived ease of use factor is only affected by customers’ Self-command (SC). In general, this study contributes to enriching the existing knowledge of blockchain adoption in banks and helps banks figure out an efficient way to adopt blockchain technology.Keywords: customers’ acceptance, blockchain adoption, Dong A Bank, Hue branch

We performed this study to evaluate serum iron and ferritin concentrations, serum total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and proportion of overall iron deficiency among patients with non-dialysisdependent chronic kidney disease (ND-CKD).A hospital-based cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 175 adult patients with stage 3-5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) by using 51 healthy age-sex-matched Vietnamese adults as the control group. We next examined the prevalence of anemia and determined the serum iron and ferritin concentrations and TIBC. Anemia in CKD was defined as hemoglobin levels13 g/dL in men and12 g/dL in women. Transferrin saturation (TSAT, %) was calculated as (serum iron x 100)/TIBC. Functional iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin100 ng/mL and TSAT20%, and absolute iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin100 ng/mL and TSAT20%. Overall iron deficiency was defined as the presence of either absolute or functional iron deficiency.Anemia prevalence in our study was approximately 88.6% with a mean hemoglobin concentration of 9.71±2.26 g/dL. The median serum TIBC was lower in the CKD group (50.4 μmol/L) than in the control group (66.0 μmol/L; p0.001). The proportion of overall iron deficiency was 44.0%. TIBC had a diagnostic value for overall iron deficiency (area under the ROC curve=0.81; p0.001).Anemia and iron deficiency are common in Vietnamese patients with NDCKD. TIBC had diagnostic value for overall iron deficiency.

The study aims to explore and measure the relationship between employees and customers impacting positively to the word-of-mouth of customers who bought house from the real estate developers in Ho Chi Minh City. The study was based on survey data from 300 customers who bought house from the real estate developers in Ho Chi Minh City and using techniques of Cronbach Alpha analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The study shows 4 factors of customer relationship affecting positively customers’ word-of-mouth, including: (1) Familiarity; (2) Personal connection; (3) Care; (4) Trust. From the findings, the study suggests some policy implications to the real estate developers to improve the customers’ positive word-of-mouth.

This study identifies the important factors that contribute to or inhibit forest transitions in nine Asian countries: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. A qualitative comparative analysis method was used to determine which conditions or combinations of conditions led to or prevented a forest transition. Under the condition of public ownership with no private forest tenure or ownership of forest land, there was no instance of forest transition among the nine countries studied. Under the condition of non-liberal timber trade policies, there was no instance of forest transition in the countries studied. The results of this analysis suggest that for a forest transition to occur, the country should liberalize timber import and provide forest tenure to the private sector. Based on these results, we argue that in order for a forest transition to take place or for REDD + to be effective, the state should allow for private sector to participate in forest management and create market conditions that meet the demand for timber via trade policy alignment.

Nguyen Huu Dung,1 Nguyen Trung Kien,2 Nguyen Thi Thu Hai,1 Phan The Cuong,1 Nguyen Thi Thu Huong,3 Dao Bui Quy Quyen,4 Nguyen Minh Tuan,4 Do Manh Ha,2 Truong Quy Kien,2 Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung,2 Pham Quoc Toan,2 Hoang Trung Vinh,2 Tomoko Usui,5 Le Viet Thang21Bach Mai Hospital, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 2Military Hospital 103, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 3Ha Noi Kidney Hospital, Ha Noi, Vietnam; 4Cho Ray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; 5University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, JapanPurpose: Beta2-microglobulin (β2-M) is recognized as a surrogate marker relating to the mechanisms of dialysis-associated amyloidosis. Few studies have evaluated the association of serum β2-M with clinical outcome in hemodialysis patients using high-flux type. However, study on patients using low-flux dialyzer reuse has not been done yet.Patients and methods: Using serum β2-M level on predicting long-term mortality of hemodialysis patients was examined in 326 prevalent hemodialysis patients (45.59±14.46 years, hemodialysis duration of 47.5 (26–79) months, 186 males and 140 females). The patients were divided into 3 groups with equal number of patients, according to their serum β2-M levels: group A (n=109, serum β2-M concentration ≤55.7 mg/L), group B (n=109, serum β2-M level from 55.8 mg/L to 75.4 mg/L) and group C (n=108, serum β2-M concentration >75.4 mg/L).Results: During the follow-up period of 5 years, there were 75 all-cause deaths (23.0%). Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that all-cause mortality in the higher β2-M group was significantly higher compared to that in the lower β2-M groups (p

The mutational spectrum of deafness in Indochina Peninsula, including Vietnam, remains mostly undetermined. This significantly hampers the progress toward establishing an effective genetic screening method and early customized rehabilitation modalities for hearing loss. In this study, we evaluated the genetic profile of severe-to-profound hearing loss in a Vietnamese pediatric population using a hierarchical genetic analysis protocol that screened 11 known deafness-causing variants, followed by massively parallel sequencing targeting 129 deafness-associated genes. Eighty-seven children with isolated severe-to-profound non-syndromic hearing loss without family history were included. The overall molecular diagnostic yield was estimated to be 31.7%. The mutational spectrum for severe-to-profound non-syndromic hearing loss in our Vietnamese population was unique: The most prevalent variants resided in the MYO15A gene (7.2%), followed by GJB2 (6.9%), MYO7A (5.5%), SLC26A4 (4.6%), TMC1 (1.8%), ESPN (1.8%), POU3F4 (1.8%), MYH14 (1.8%), EYA1 (1.8%), and MR-RNR1 (1.1%). The unique spectrum of causative genes in the Vietnamese deaf population was similar to that in the southern Chinese deaf population. It is our hope that the mutation spectrum provided here could aid in establishing an efficient protocol for genetic analysis of severe-to-profound hearing loss and a customized screening kit for the Vietnamese population.

The article "Interleukin 6 is a better predictor of 5-year cardiovascular mortality than high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in hemodialysis patients using reused low-fux dialyzers".

Vietnam&rsquo, s forests have experienced a notable transformation over the past 20 years from net deforestation to reforestation and expanding forests. Continued reforestation that aims to achieve further economic and environmental benefits remains a national priority and strategy. We explore the current status of plantation forests and highlight possible means to facilitate their expansion in the uplands of Vietnam. We employ mixed method triangulation to empirically explore plantation forests and their economic role in household livelihood, to quantify trade-offs between plantation forests and shifting cultivation, and to assess the constraints on plantation forest expansion in Nghe An province, north-central Vietnam. Results show that forest in the study area expanded by 406,000 ha (71.1%) between 1990 and 2016. Plantation forests increased by nearly 500% (from 32,000 ha to 190,000 ha), while natural forests expanded by 48.1% (from 538,000 ha to 797,000 ha). Plantation forests contributed an average of 35.1 percent of total household income in wealthier households and 27.9 percent of income in poor households. Switching from shifting cultivation to plantation forests would increase total household income and average carbon stock but decrease food provision. Total Economic Value would be higher for plantation forest scenarios if increased carbon stocks in plantations can be monetized. This carbon income might drive conversion of shifting cultivation to plantation forests. Constraints on further expansion of plantation forest are low external cooperation, education, market stability, and agroforestry extension services. Our empirical results inform national plantation forest development, sustainable upland livelihood development, and climate change mitigation programs to ultimately facilitate forest transition and improve the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems.

We report the band gap modification and strong room ferromagnetism by substituting the Co ions for the Ti site of Bi0.5K0.5TiO3 materials. The predicted band gap of 2.11 eV and magnetic moment of 2.7 μB/Co are reproduced precisely in UV–Vis spectroscopy and superconducting quantum interference device experiments, respectively. We elucidate the driving mechanisms for these results in terms of the spin-exchange splitting between spin subbands in the presence of substitution ions and high-spin crystal field energy spectrum. This method would provide a promising approach to get single-phase multiferroics and resolve the problem of the scarcity of single-phase multiferroics in nature.

This paper investigates the productivity and optimal rotation for economic timber management of Eucalyptus urophylla S.T Blake clones being planted in Northeast Vietnam in Fluvic Gleysol and Ferric Acrisol soils. In the first section of the paper, timber yield functions for all eucalyptus monoculture clones and seedlings are identified. Next, the biological optimum rotation period for maximizing sustained yield is calculated based on the yield functions for each soil type. In the last section, the economically optimal rotation (EOR) lengths for all clones and seedlings planted in the two types of soil are calculated using a modified Faustmann model. The results indicate that eucalypts in Fluvic Gleysol will produce larger timber yields than in Ferric Acrisol. Among the clones commonly planted in Northeast Vietnam, eucalyptus clones U16 and PN14 can yield the largest timber volumes in Fluvic Gleysol and Ferric Acrisol, respectively. Our EOR model reveals that EOR lengths of eucalyptus plantations in Northeast Vietnam are longer than the biological rotation time by 1–3 years under the governmentally subsidized credit scheme for rural households. If growers borrow from commercial and private entities, such rotation period will be substantially shortened and negative site values will appear in a number of cases. Nevertheless, wherever eucalyptus clones are economically qualified, their EOR length is longer than what is currently practiced. To capture the highest profits from eucalypt plantations, growers should extend their current farming business cycle of 7 years to 14–18 years under the subsidized credit scheme and to 10–12 years under the commercial borrowing interest rate. As increasing land use profitability is of great concern across the region, these findings are of practical importance for Vietnamese farmers in choosing clones, land lots, and economic optimal rotation for their farming businesses.

The serological relationships among 13 strains of Edwardsiella ictaluri isolated from wild ayu Plecoglossus altivelis in Japan were studied, using other E. ictaluri strains isolated from catfish as references. Slide agglutination with rabbit antisera revealed that all E. ictaluri strains from ayu were antigenically homogeneous and closely related to two Vietnamese strains and three Indonesian strains from striped catfish Pangasius hypophthalmus. The type strain of E. ictaluri (JCM1680 = ATCC33202) isolated from channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus and one Indonesian strain from striped catfish belonged to a different serogroup. These results were corroborated by serum absorption tests with the homologous and heterologous antigens.

Paddy productivity and variable factors efficiency were calculated based on a farm survey. Logit regression was employed to relate econometrically a set of farmer characteristics to indicators of pesticide exposure to identify types of health impairments that may be attributed to prolonged pesticide use. Then, the pesticides' negative effects on farmers' health were estimated by means of dose-response function. The empirical results indicated that the amount of pesticides applied was far higher than the optimal level for profit maximization. Insecticides influenced negatively and significantly farmers' health via the number of contacts rather than the total dose. Meanwhile, the higher the number of the doses and the number of applications of herbicides and fungicides, the bigger the health cost due to exposure. Since economic gains from input savings and a decrease in health cost outweighed productivity losses, a tax of 33.4 percent of pesticide price was proposed.