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Long Doan,1 Huong T Nguyen,2 Thao TP Nguyen,3 Thi Thuy Linh Phan,4 Le Duc Huy,4 Thi Thuy Hang Nguyen,4 Thuoc Phuoc Doan2 1Internal Medicine Department, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam; 2Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam; 3Institute for Community Health Research, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam; 4Health Personnel Training Institute, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, VietnamCorrespondence: Thuoc Phuoc Doan, Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University, Hue, Thua Thien Hue, 53000, Vietnam, Tel +84 914932577, Email dpthuoc@hueuni.edu.vnPurpose: Our study aims to evaluate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in the next 10 years using ModAsian FINDRISC and additionally explore associated factors among the Vietnam population.Participants and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2258 participants aged 25 years old or above in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. The sample size is calculated based on the estimated sensitivity, and participants were randomly selected from different geographical and socio-economic areas. All participants were thoroughly medically examined, taking blood lipid profile and fasting blood glucose, taking blood pressure, anthropometric indexes, 12-lead electrocardiogram, and behavioral factors were investigated using the Vietnamese version of the WHO STEPS toolkit. The risk of developing T2DM was made based on the ModAsian FINDRISC.Results: The incidence of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus among the study population was 4.21%. The group with a high or very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in the next 10 years accounted for 2.52%. Body mass index (AUC = 0.840, 95% CI: 0.792– 0.888), waist circumference (AUC = 0.824, 95% CI: 0.777– 0.871), family history of diabetes mellitus (AUC = 0.751, 95% CI = 0.668– 0.833), and history of antihypertensive medication use regularly (AUC = 0.708, 95% CI: 0.632– 0.784) are the most associated factors of the ModAsian FINDRISC. Residential location (OR = 5.62, 95% CI: 1.91– 16.54) and occupational status (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.20– 0.62) were significant factors associated with a high and very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus in the next 10 year.Conclusion: Screening for the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and implementing intervention programs focusing on controlling weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure are essential for reducing type 2 diabetes mellitus incidence and burden in Vietnam.Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, Vietnam, noncommunicable diseases, ModAsian FINDRISC

The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem or MAUP is frequently alluded to but rarely addressed directly. The MAUP posits that statistical distributions, relationships and trends can exhibit very different properties when the same data are aggregated or combined over different reporting units or scales. This paper explores a number of approaches for determining appropriate scales of spatial aggregation. It examines a travel survey, undertaken in Ha Noi, Vietnam, that captures attitudes towards a potential ban of motorised transport in the city centre. The data are rich, capturing travel destinations, purposes, modes and frequencies, as well as respondent demographics (age, occupation, housing etc) including home locations. The dataset is highly dimensional, with a large n (26339 records) and a large m (142 fields). When the raw individual level data are used to analyse the factors associated with travel ban attitudes, the resultant models are weak and inconclusive - the data are too noisy. Aggregating the data can overcome this, but this raises the question of appropriate aggregation scales. This paper demonstrates how aggregation scales can be evaluated using a range of different metrics related to spatial and non-spatial variances. In so doing it demonstrates how the MAUP can be directly addressed in analyses of spatial data.

The objective of the present study is to investigate removal of cationic dye, rhodamine B (RhB), in water environment using a high-performance absorbent based on metal oxide nanomaterials toward green chemistry. The adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) onto synthesized alpha alumina (α-Al2O3) material (M0) at different ionic strengths under low pH was studied to fabricate a new adsorbent as SDS-modified α-Al2O3 material (M1). The RhB removal using M1 was much higher than M0 under the same experimental conditions. The optimal conditions for RhB removal using M1 were found to be contact time 30 min, pH 4, and adsorbent dosage 5 mg/mL. The maximum RhB removal using M1 achieved 100%, and adsorption amount reached 52.0 mg/g. Adsorption isotherms of RhB onto M1 were well fitted by the two-step adsorption model. The electrostatic attraction between positive RhB molecules and negatively charged M1 surface controlled the adsorption that was evaluated by the surface charge change with zeta potential and adsorption isotherms. Very high RhB removal of greater than 98% after four regenerations of M1 and the maximum removal for all actual textile wastewater samples demonstrate that SDS-modified nano α-Al2O3 is a high-performance and reusable material for RhB removal from wastewater.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is the largest city in Vietnam, with the highest economic growth rate and the most populous density in the country. By the year 2019, HCMC currently has 8.99 million people with 24 districts. Ho Chi Minh city has robust industrial and service development; therefore, this city focuses on developing large-scale livestock facilities with a large number of pigs and limiting small livestock facilities. According to statistic data, HCMC has a total of 275,000 pigs in 2019. These livestock facilities are mainly built in Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Can Gio, and Nha Be districts. These livestock facilities in HCMC have inefficient waste treatment systems located interleaved with residential areas. So that, environmental issues are also a big challenge for the city's government because of the great influence of odor on the surrounding environment causing by the wind direction. The main purposes of this study are (i) calculation of odor emissions from livestock facilities, (ii) simulation of the odor from livestock facilities, and (iii) development of the safe distance of odor for livestock facilities in HCMC. The study results show that 230m and 650m is the minimum distance from the livestock facility with capacity from over 500 to 1,000 pigs and over 1,000 pigs to the residential area, respectively. The procedure for calculating the odor isolation distance developing in this study could apply for other livestock facilities in other provinces, cities.

Together with the urbanization, industrial activities are increasing and transportation system is being rapidly developing. In 2017, the population of Ho Chi Min city (HCMC) is over 8.6 million. The city has 8 million vehicles including 637,323 automobiles and more than 7,339,522 motorcycles. Up to now, the city has a total of 2708 factories generating air emissions (including 3 processing zones (EPZs) and 16 industrial parks (IPs), with thousands of factories outside the IPs / EPZs), resulting in an increase in emissions from these activities and affecting the air quality of the city. Therefore, in this study (i) collect air emission data, evaluate and calculate of air emissions by applying EMISENS emission calculation models and survey and traffic counting methods; (ii) Develop clean air action plan and climate change mitigation for Ho Chi Minh City. The results showed that on-road activities are the major contributor, accounting for 88% of NOx, 99% of CO, 79% of SO2, 99% of NMVOC, 88% of PM in total emissions from transportation activities. Key finding in this study is that harbour activities contribute up to 20% of total SOx and 10% of total PM. Other sources (airport, harbour, bus station, rail way) only accounting for negligible amount of emissions. Emission maps showed that emissions in harbours and in central areas of the city as District 1, district 10, district 3 and district 5 are higher than the other districts. This study has also developed 13 measures to effectively manage air quality and reduce GHG in Ho Chi Minh City.

Most Vietnamese students who learn English often make mistakes when learning Vietnamese-English translation because there are many differences between Vietnamese and English. Therefore, translation is a difficult subject when learning English. This research “Some common errors in the Vietnamese-English translation of English majors at Tay Do University” focused on some common errors of English majors in Vietnamese-English translation. In this research, the participants were 75 English majored juniors at Tay Do University in which 55 students randomly were chosen to complete the translation tests and the remaining ones (20 students) were selected to answer the interview questions. The results of this thesis showed that the English majors made errors in Vietnamese-English translation related to word order, grammar, and lexicon. It is hoped that this research can be helpful for both students and teachers in the process of learning and teaching translation. Article visualizations

This thesis “A study on the difficulties in writing essays of English-majored sophomores at Tay Do University” was conducted to examine the difficulties that second-year students majoring in English often met in writing essays. For this purpose, the participants in this study were 100 English majored sophomores in classes 14A, 14B and 14C at Tay Do University. The interview with 3 extended statements for English majored teachers and a questionnaire with 25 closed statements for students is used as instruments to collect the data. The data from the interview and questionnaire were collected to make clear and prove the problems that the students have had in writing essays. The study figured out some difficulties about background knowledge, vocabulary, grammar structure, idea arrangement and orthography in writing essays faced by English majors sophomores at Tay Do University. Besides, this study also helps students realize their challenges and improve their writing essays. Article visualizations

A comprehensive emission inventory (EI) was conducted in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the largest city of Vietnam rapid urbanization rate. In 2017, HCMC had 8.6 million inhabitants with a total of nine millions of private vehicles, 19 manufacturing and industrial zones, 30 industrial clusters, and numerous other factories and enterprises. All those sources could contribute to the high levels of emissions which caused the potentially negative impact on human health and environment. The aims of this study were (i) application bottom-up and top-down approaches to conduct a complete air emission inventory, (ii) development of spatial distribution of air emission, and (iii) estimation of emission forecast for HCMC by 2025 and 2030. A combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches was employed to conduct air pollution EI, in which EMISENS model was utilized to generate the EI for road traffic sources. The results showed that the motorcycles were the main reasons of emission in HCMC, contributing 90% of CO, 68% of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), 63% of CH4, 41% of SO2, 29% of NOx, and 18% of patriculate matter (PM2.5). The emission forecasts for HCMC by 2025 and 2030 also were calculated based on the data of strategies and plans for socioeconomic development of HCMC. The results showed that the emissions of pollutants will increase around 30 to 50% by the year 2025 and from 40 to 65% by the year 2030. If the local government does not have any plan for the reduction of emissions (scenario of socioeconomic development as usual), the emissions will increase significantly.

This article seeks to examine Vietnam-Australia bilateral relations from 2000 to 2018. It will focus on political and economic dynamics of this relationship. Canberra and Hanoi established initial ...

We used the experiences of Vietnam following the economic reform, known as Doimoi, to study urbanization, economic development, and environmental and social changes in transitional economies at multi-scales. The country underwent rapid urban land expansion, as indicated by the increase in the mean value of nighttime light data from −1.4 in 1992 to 4.4 in 2012. The urban population grew at a faster annual rate following Doimoi (1986–2015) compared to the pre-Doimoi period (1960–1985). At the inter-city level, cities with populations more than 1 million experienced more rapid growth of built-up land intensity and population size compared to the national average. At the intra-city level, conversion from farmland contributed significantly to built-up land in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from 1990 to 2010. As indicated by PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, urban environments in large cities deteriorated; yet poverty was alleviated, as measured by populations falling under the poverty line and the proportion of the urban population living in slums. Coupled dynamics of urbanization, economic development, and environmental and social changes were modeled and the main findings are: (1) economic development strongly influenced urbanization and (2) urbanization and economic development contributed to environmental deterioration while promoting the social conditions. How urban land expansion was facilitated by local institutional interventions such as frequent changes of administrative boundaries, master plans, and policies is also discussed. Our study highlighted a multi-scale and multi-dimensional perspective, the independent and coupled relationships between economic development, urbanization, and environmental/social changes, and a hybrid approach of examining the influences of the institutional intervention and the market mechanism on urbanization in transitional economies.

Background: Non-communicable diseases seriously affect public health and socio-economic development of the country due to the high number of people suffering from diseases, being disabled and mortal. However, the proportion of people who recognized themselves a suffering from non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia is not high. For cases that their disease situations have been identified, there are not appropriate treatment and preventive behaviors. Objectives: 1) To determine the proportion of 25 - 84 years old peoplewho identified themselves as suffering from hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia. 2) To learn treatment and preventive behaviors in the group of people who identified themselves as suffering from diseases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 1600 residents in Thua Thien Hue province. Results: The proportion of people knowing that they are suffering from hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia was 29.4%; 3.2% and 7.8% respectively. Among them, the proportion of people who did not treat and treated irregularly accounted for 42.7%; 13.7% and 75.2% respectively; the proportion of people who did not change their lifestyles and dietary habits accounted for 50.1%; 5.9% and 56.8% respectively. Conclusions: The proportion of people who identified themselves as suffering from some non-communicable diseases without appropriate treatment and preventive behaviors is alarming. Interventions are needed to help people realize the importance of treatment and prevention effectively. Key words: Non-communicable diseases, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia

This paper studied problems in EFL students’ paragraph writing. The research participants were first-year students of English in Tay Do University (TDU). To achieve the desired aims of the current study, the researcher combined both qualitative and quantitative methods, using questionnaires, interviews, and observations as the main instruments. The researcher used the package of social sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Research results showed that the freshmen at TDU often encountered problems in writing paragraphs. These accounted for grammatical structures, vocabulary, and coherence. Basing on the research results, students could recognize their difficulties when writing and find some new ways to overcome them. It is suggested that teachers should find and update some new teaching methods so as to develop students’ paragraph writing skills. Article visualizations

It is undoubted that translation plays an indispensable role in exchanging information, news, culture, literature and sciences among people globally. In other words, translation facilitates communication and understanding between people who come from various cultures and speak different languages. Owing to the significance of translation, it is employed as a fundamental subject to English majored students. Nevertheless, it is not an easy subject for students to master. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the obstacles that students often encountered when translating texts from Vietnamese to English. This was a quantitative and qualitative research. The questionnaire and test paper were used as two major instruments to gain the most reliable findings. To achieve the goal, 74 English majored juniors from both English 10A and 10B at Tay Do University were selected as the sample for this research. The results showed that English majored juniors faced many challenges in Vietnamese-English translation, consisting of vocabulary, grammatical structures and cultural aspects. Article visualizations

In the 21st century, speaking is considered to be one of the most important skills for language learners. However, it is so difficult for students to master this skill. It is so difficult for students to master this skill because they encounter in some common mistakes when speaking in class. Therefore, the purpose of this research aimed at finding out common errors in English speaking class of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University. Specifically, this study is done to figure out whether English majored freshmen at Tay Do University encounter regularly with some mistakes while speaking English in class. In this study, a questionnaire embraced 28 questions, including questions and statements which were used as the main instruments to collect the data. The participants in this study were 91 English majored freshmen in the 3 classes of English 14A, 14B, 14C at Tay Do University. The results of the study pointed out that the English-majored freshmen had some common errors and difficulties with vocabulary, pronunciation, psychology in English speaking class. It is hoped that this research can be helpful for both the English-majored freshmen and other non-majored English students at Tay Do University to realize their common errors in the process of improving and developing their speaking skill. Article visualizations

Among the many factors that increase students’ achievement in the mastery of foreign languages, including English, are motivation and use of language learning strategies. Previous studies by a range of researchers have identified these two elements as the most important in obtaining success in language learning. This study carried out on 152 university students, roughly equal in gender, studying at a university in Can Tho, Vietnam, sought to discover the relationships between these two factors within the Vietnamese language learning context. In particular, the study sought to 1) discover which of two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic, is most prevalent among the students studied; 2) their use of language learning strategies; 3) reveals the relationship between students' motivation and use of language learning strategies; and 4) describe the differences in their use of language learning strategies based on whether their motivation was high, medium or low. Research instruments included Schmidt et al.'s Questionnaire on Motivation in Learning English, and Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (both modified for the Vietnamese language learning context and translated into Vietnamese), plus an interview with 18 of the students to gain greater insight into the answers they gave on the questionnaires. Results were obtained using standard deviations and t-tests. They showed that Vietnamese university students are mainly extrinsically motivated; that all strategies were used at least at a medium level, amidst other fluctuations; and that those metacognitive strategies are most prevalent among medium and high motivated students but affective strategies are most common among low motivation students. Recommendations flowing from these results are that teachers should prioritize the formal teaching of learning strategies and should attempt to increase intrinsic motivation by putting greater emphasis on making language learning fun and relevant to the students' interests and passions. Article visualizations

Along with its rapid urban development, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in recent years has suffered a high concentration of air pollutants, especially fine particulate matters or PM2.5. A comprehensive study is required to evaluate the air quality conditions and their health impact in this city. Given the lack of adequate air quality monitoring data over a large area of the size of HCMC, an air quality modeling methodology is adopted to address the requirement. Here, by utilizing a corresponding emission inventory in combination with The Air Pollution Model-Chemical Transport Model (TAPM-CTM), the predicted concentration of air pollutants is first obtained for PM2.5, NOx, and SO2. Then by associating the pollutants exposed with the mortality rate from three causes, namely Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), cardiopulmonary, and lung cancer, the impact of air pollution on human health is obtained for this purpose. Spatial distribution has shown a high amount of pollutants concentrated in the central city with a high density of combustion vehicles (motorcycles and automobiles). In addition, a significant amount of emissions can be observed from stevedoring and harbor activities, including ferries and cargo handling equipment located along the river. Other sources such as household activities also contribute to an even distribution of emission across the city. The results of air quality modeling showed that the annual average concentrations of NO2 were higher than the standard of Vietnam National Technical Regulation on Ambient Air Quality (QCVN 05: 2013 40 &micro, g/m3) and World Health Organization (WHO) (40 &micro, g/m3). The annual average concentrations of PM2.5 were 23 &micro, g/m3 and were also much higher than the WHO (10 &micro, g/m3) standard by about 2.3 times. In terms of public health impacts, PM2.5 was found to be responsible for about 1136 deaths, while the number of mortalities from exposure to NO2 and SO2 was 172 and 89 deaths, respectively. These figures demand some stringent measures from the authorities to potentially remedy the alarming situation of air pollution in HCM City.

The compressive characteristics of the steel-slag concrete were investigated through an experimental test. The term &ldquo, steel-slag concrete&rdquo, in this research work was defined as a kind of concrete using steel-slag material as a coarse aggregate replacement. Three types of the steel-slag concretes were examined under compression as follows: XT01, XT02, XT03 with their cement/water ratios of 1.76, 2.00, 2.21, respectively. The coarse aggregate used in producing concrete was steel-slag material, while the fine aggregate was traditional river sand, the ratio of coarse aggregate to fine aggregate was kept constant at a value of 1.98. Firstly, the age-dependent compressive strength of the steel-slag concretes were investigated up to one year, it was clear that the concrete strength increased rapidly in 7 days, then more and more slowly after that. Secondly, the modulus of elasticity and Poisson&rsquo, s ratio of the steel-slag concretes were explored at the 28-day age. Thirdly, there was an important size and shape effect on the compressive strength of the XT02, and its significance of brittleness in failure was analytically analyzed. Lastly, the effects of water amount added in the XT02 on its compressive strength and slump were evaluated at the 28-day age.

In the present study, we investigated the removal of an emerging pesticide lindane from aqueous solution using synthesized aluminum hydroxide Al(OH)3 (bayerite) nanomaterials with surface modification by an anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The Al(OH)3 nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer&ndash, Emmett&ndash, Teller (BET) and zeta potential. The lindane removal using SDS-modified nano-aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles (SMNAH) achieved removal of up to 93.68%, which was 3.3 times higher than that of nano-aluminum hydroxide nanoparticles. The adsorptive removal conditions were studied and found to have an adsorption time of 60 min, a pH of 6, an adsorbent dosage of 25 mg/mL and an ionic strength of 10 mM NaCl. After reusing four times, the removal efficiency of lindane using SMNAH still reached 75%. Two-step adsorption can fit adsorption isotherms of lindane onto SMNAH at two salt concentrations. On the basis of the change in zeta potential, surface functional groups and adsorption isotherms, we suggest that the formation of a bilayer micelle induced the removal of lindane.

Objective: To determine pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) by echocardiography - Doppler and to find correlation between pulmonary vascular resistance with left ventricular EF, PAPs, TAPSE, tissue S-wave of the tricuspid valve in patients with ischemic heart disease. Subjects and Methods: We studied on 82 patients with ischemic heart disease and EF

The increasing use of smartphone among young people is creating negative effects and is an important public health problem in many countries. Smartphone abuse and addiction may cause physical and psychological disorders among users. However, the awarenes on this issue has been inadequate due to lacking of evidence. Objectives: To describe the current situation of smartphone using among students at highschools and universities in Hue city and to examine the relationship between smartphone using and sleep disturbances and psychological disstress among participants. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a randomly selected sample of 1,150 students at highschools and universities in Hue city. SAS-SV scale was used to evaluate phone addiction status, K10 scale was used for psychological distress assessment and PSQI scale was used to examine the sleep quality. Results: The proportion of students at highschools and universities having smartphones was 78.0%. The rate of smartphone addiction among high school students was 49.1% and that among university students was 43.7%. There was 57.3% of high school students had poor sleep quality, and that of university students was 51.6%. There was a statistically significant association between smartphone addiction and sleep disturbances and psychological disstress among participants (p

Traditionally seen as a President consumed by the war on terror, George W. Bush is frequently portrayed as being relatively uninterested in Asia, and unable to outline a vision or a strategy to China, America’s Asian allies and Asian multilateral mechanisms. This article will revisit Bush’s policy on Asia and show a president who guided the United States with a policy that balanced the need to combat global terrorism and locate a focus on Asia. He faced the dilemmas of building cooperative relations with a rising China while trying to foster American alliances and partnerships in Asia, and managing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Utilizing qualitative content analysis as the main research method, the article will demonstrate that the Bush administration had not a lack of focus on Asia and that Bush’s diplomacy to Asia should be recognized as one of the most significant achievements of his presidency.

Vietnam’s urban areas have faced with serious environmental pollution issues, including: water pollution, municipal waste and air pollution. Air in Ho Chi Minh city is polluted by PM2.5 (particle matter with the diameter is less than 2.5 μm, so-called PM2.5), O3, CO, NO2 and TSP which greatly affects public health. In 2017, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) had 8,640,000 inhabitants with a total of 7,339,552 motorcycles and 637,323 automobiles. There are about 2,500 factories, 2,061,957 household and 5,096 restaurants in the city. The aim of this study is to (i) conduct a detailed air pollution emission inventory for PM2.5; (ii) stimulate PM2.5’s dispersion in HCMC and (iii) propose mitigation measures for PM2.5 in the city. Simulations of air pollution were conducted in HCMC by using TAPM-CTM system model. The model performance was evaluated using observed meteorological data at Tan Son Hoa station and air quality data at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Science. The result states that the sum of air pollutants from main sources of disposal in HCMC is 3,978.32 ton of PM2.5 in 2017. Average maximum 1 hours, 24 hours and annual of PM2.5 concentration in 2017 does not exceed QCVN 05:2013/BTNMT, but it is 1.3 to 2.3 times higher than the WHO’s guideline. Therefore, the PM2.5 in HCMC impacts on public health of HCMC. To control and manage the air’s quality and minimize the generation of PM2.5 in HCMC there are possible solutions such as the control of air pollutants from the main source, the creation of encouraging policy, the regulation of air pollutants in HCMC and the raising people’s awareness of environmental protection.

With a historical approach, this paper examines the Nixon administration’s policy and stance towards the European Political Cooperation (the EPC). In December 1969, at The Hague Summit the leaders of the European Community expressed their determination for deepening European integration. The final communiqué of The Hague Summit stressed the European Community’s desire to achieve the EPC and to parallel the European Community’s increasing economic strength with a role to play in the world affairs. With this in mind, the paper will examine the impacts that Nixon administration’s attempts to rebalance U.S. foreign relations reflected in the opening to China and the détente with the Soviet Union had on the European political integration. Then, it will be argued that the Nixon administration’s shifting of foreign policy priorities can be seen as one of the driving forces of the EPC. The paper puts forth that a European Community, whose weight was increased first by its economic integration and then by its political cooperation, was seen by the Nixon administration as a challenge to the United States. It is concluded that after a long time of consistently supporting European integration as a means to secure peace and prosperity in Europe, the United States under the Nixon administration had to reconsider its foreign relations and rebalance its focus on the global chessboard. This rebalancing certainly impacted the EPC in particular and the European integration process in general.

Ho et al. proposed to exclude Stenogyne section from the genus Gentiana and classifying it as a distinct genus (Metagentiana). Fourteen species of this genus have been recorded and distributed in China, Myanmar and Thailand. This is the first time there has been a confirmed genus Metagentiana distributed in Vietnam. This genus has two species: Metagentiana rhodantha and Metagentiana primuliflora, which are proposed in Vietnam. Particularly, Metagentiana rhodantha, which had only been known from China, was reported in Vietnam. A detailed description along with their distribution, habitat, ecology, illustrations, and photos has been provided to aid species identification. The key to identify all taxa of the genus has been constructed

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has quickly become a modernized and industrialized city undergoing a rapid population growth affecting on the local environment, especially the air quality and human health. It's urgent need to have a Clean Air Action Plan (CAP) for HCMC. The aim of this research is to develop a clean air plan for HCMC based on scientific basis by integrating results of emissions inventory, air emssion loading capacties and results of the impact of air pollution on people's health. This research applied the Clean Air For Smaller City in ASEAN Region project (CASC) method of Germany to develop the CAP. Emission inventory resulted from the integration of two approaches of bottom-up and top-down. The results of simulation of air pollution dispersion and air emission loading capacities were from the TAPM-CTM model system. Method of calculating the impact of air pollution on the health of people in Ho Chi Minh City was based on BENMAP model theory. The results showed that the source of traffic accounts for the largest emissions of all pollutants, contributed respectively, 99%, 97%, 93%, 78%, 23%, 64% and 45% of total CO, NMVOC emissions, NOx, SO2, TSP, CH4, and PM2:5 of the whole HCMC. For some central areas, the city was no longer able to receive more emissions of CO and NOx. Assessing the impact of air pollution on health showed that the great impact of PM2:5 on public health accounted for 81.45% of the total deaths caused by all three pollutants ( PM2:5, SO2, NO2). Finally, a CAP was suggested with 13 proposals and 1 recommendation for reducing air pollution in HCMC for the period of 2020–2025. This is the first comprehensive study on CAP in Vietnam. This result supports government authorities to promulgate plans and actions to reduce emissions protecting human health and the environment for a sustainable development.

Experimental tests were performed to investigate the responses of coarse steel slag concrete under splitting and flexure. The name of coarse steel slag concrete (CSC) here refers to concrete using industrial byproduct steel slag as natural coarse aggregate replacement. Three CSC types were examined in this investigation as follows: CSC1, CSC2, and CSC3, having a water/cement ratio of 0.57, 0.50, and 0.45, respectively. In the compositions of the three studied CSCs, the water content by weight remained constant and other partial materials were changed, but the ratio of coarse steel slag/fine river sand was still fixed. Under splitting, three types of test methods were conducted including a cylinder splitting test, side-cube splitting test, and diagonal-cube splitting with the same sizes: the diameter of the cylinder and side of the cube were 100 mm. The orders of splitting test methods were observed for CSC2 as follows: cylinder &gt, side-cube &gt, diagonal-cube in terms of maximum applied load, and, cylinder &gt, diagonal-cube &gt, side-cube in terms of splitting strength. Additionally, there were clear size effects on the splitting strengths of CSC2 with different sizes as follows: 70 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm for cylindrical diameter, and/or cubic side. Under flexure, there was a strong co-relationship between compressive strength and flexural resistance of CSCs. The flexural engineering parameters were examined then assessed for plain CSCs, using a rectangular prism with the size of 100 &times, 100 &times, 300 mm (width &times, height &times, span-length), and, for steel-reinforced beams using CSCs with the size of 200 &times, 300 &times, 3000 mm (width &times, span-length).

Background: The Ho-Chi-Minh-city Heart Institute in Vietnam took part in the Optimize Heart Failure (OHF) Care Program, designed to improve outcomes following heart failure (HF) hospitalization by increasing patient awareness and optimizing HF treatment. Methods: HF patients hospitalized with left ventricular ejection-fraction (LVEF)

In 1995, the forest coverage area in Vietnam was 27.2%, but by 2019, it reached to 41.89%. The Government claims that the fast-growing forest coverage is highly contributing to GDP. However, recent studies reveal that the economic growth rate of ethnic minorities in the forest area is very slow. Some studies have been conducted on the Government’s efforts to reforest over the years. However, very few studies have carried on (de)forestation in Vietnam from the perspective of political ecology. The present article co-relates (de)forestation in Vietnam with ecosystems, socio-economic status, and politics. The paper presents the study in four broad sections. The first segment explores the current situation of forests in Vietnam. In the second part, the paper discusses the impacts of (de)forestation on the ecosystem. Thirdly, the article analyses impact of (de)forestation on the socio-economic development of Vietnamese citizens. Finally, the paper discusses the conclusions approaching from the perspective of the Government and citizens, before turning to the end, it proposes some policy-recommendations for public and private stakeholders to promote and protect the forestry sector in Vietnam.

In the history of Vietnam’s establishment and development, agriculture has always been an important economic sector. In 2019, the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors accounted for 13.96% of Vietnam’s GDP. However, this is also the year that witnessed the GDP growth of the agriculture sector plummeted to only 2.2 percent. There are many factors responsible for the decline in the share of agriculture in economic growth, while other sectors have increased. In the current context, with the outstanding development of science and technology, global networking and information society, every aspect of development including agriculture development cannot be separated from the operation of media, especially online media. This paper analyses the role of online media in agriculture development in Vietnam by analyzing hundreds of articles published in different electronic newspapers. The paper particularly examines 217 news-articles produced on VnExpress, the most read Vietnamese newspaper. While discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the role of media in agriculture development, the paper also explores some new paradigm and recommends to enhance the role of online media for digitizing the development of agriculture in Vietnam in this digital age.

Background: The literature has recorded changes in ECG, cardiac morphology in male alcoholics is known by the term "Holiday heart syndrome" with normal heart function. Tei Chuwa devised and published in1995 an index of myocardial performance (the Tei index) that evaluates the LV systolic and diastolic function in combination. To assess cardiac morphology and function through Tei index in male alcoholics, we conducted this study with the following objectives: identify of cardiac morphology and Tei index in male alcoholics, compared with a control group and find out the correlation between left ventricular morphology, Tei index with duration and lifetime intake amount of alcohol. Material and Methods: This study was carried on 100 male subject, 50 alcoholics, mean age 45.50 ± 7.78 and 50 healthy male non-alcoholics with similar age. They are all under echocardiography to measure left ventricular morphology, conventional Doppler Tei index and tissue Doppler Tei indexes. Results: Morphological parameters were significantly greater in alcoholics than in controls: VLTd (9.56 ± 1.64 vs 8.52 ± 0.83), TSTTd (9.29 ± 1.64 vs 8.75 ± 1.10), LVMI (89.82 ± 29.29 vs 77.42 ± 12.67). There were significant differences between the groups of alcoholics and the control subjects with respect to conventional Doppler Tei index and tissue Doppler Tei indexes. The left ventricular mass index correlated with lifetime intake amount of alcohol. conventional Tei index had correlation with duration and lifetime intake amount of alcohol. Conclusions: The alcoholics had left ventricular structural changes, compared to controls. Heart function was evalued by Tei index showed abnormal in alcoholics. Keywords: Alcoholic’s heart, Doppler echocardiography, Tei index.

Background: Many studies has reported that chronic smoking affects arterial stiffness. Smoking causes changes in both peripheral and central blood vessel function, even in young or middle-aged smokers. Echocardiography is a noninvasive and simple test, simply, to help evaluate the elastic properties of ascending aorta through the indices such as aortic strain, aortic stiffness, aortic distensibility. Aim: To determine the association between smoking status and elastic indexes of the ascending aortia measured by echocardiography. Material and Methods: this study was carried on 180 male subject, 90 smokers, mean age 37.56 ± 7.31 years and 90 healthy male non-smokers with similar age. Echocardiography was done with the following indexes: systolic and diastolic aortic diameter, aortic strain, aortic stiffness, aortic distensibility and blood pressure. Relationship between these indexes and duration of smoking was determined. Results: In group of smoking 0,05. In group of smoking ≥ 17 pack year, strain index and aortic distensibility are significantly lower than the control group, whereas stiffness index is higher than the control group with p

Background and purpose: Chest X ray is the first choice for all chest abnormal, especially in evaluation the affection of cardiac diseases on the pulmonary vascularity distribution. This study are realised in the order to answer the question: How well the chest X ray reflect the cardiac dysfunction? Material and methods