Spatio-temporal changes of underground coal fires during 2008-2016 in Khanh Hoa coal field(North-east of Viet Nam) using Landsat time-series data

Underground coal fires are one of the most common and serious geohazards in most coal producing countries in the world. Monitoring their spatio-temporal changes plays an important role in controlling and preventing the effects of coal fires, and their environmental impact. In this study, the spatio-temporal changes of underground coal fires in Khanh Hoa coal field(North-East of Viet Nam) were analyzed using Landsat time-series data during the 2008-2016 period. Based on land surface temperatures retrieved from Landsat thermal data, underground coal fires related to thermal anomalies were identified using the MEDIAN+1.5×IQR(IQR: Interquartile range) threshold technique. The locations of underground coal fires were validated using a coal fire map produced by the field survey data and cross-validated using the daytime ASTER thermal infrared imagery. Based on the fires extracted from seven Landsat thermal imageries, the spatiotemporal changes of underground coal fire areas were analyzed. The results showed that the thermalanomalous zones have been correlated with known coal fires. Cross-validation of coal fires using ASTER TIR data showed a high consistency of 79.3%. The largest coal fire area of 184.6 hectares was detected in 2010, followed by 2014(181.1 hectares) and 2016(178.5 hectares). The smaller coal fire areas were extracted with areas of 133.6 and 152.5 hectares in 2011 and 2009 respectively. Underground coal fires were mainly detected in the northern and southern part, and tend to spread to north-west of the coal field.

越南:Viet经济紧跟“中国模式”

越南是一个年轻的、变动中的、充满活力的国家。过去十几年来,越南沿着“中国模式”照亮的道路前行,使这个国家在经济和社会发展上取得了不俗的成绩,令世人刮目相看。英国《经济学家》杂志5月8日曾刊登一篇题为《好学生》的文章,认为越南在亚洲各国中的经济表现是最佳的。

Is convenience really king?Comparative evaluation of catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis in the public and private healthcare sectors of Viet Nam:a longitudinal patient cost study

Background In Viet Nam,tuberculosis(TB)represents a devastating life-event with an exorbitant price tag,partly due to lost income from daily directly observed therapy in public sector care.Thus,persons with TB may seek care in the private sector for its flexibility,convenience,and privacy.Our study aimed to measure income changes,costs and catastrophic cost incurrence among TB-affected households in the public and private sector.Methods Between October 2020 and March 2022,we conducted 110 longitudinal patient cost interviews,among 50 patients privately treated for TB and 60 TB patients treated by the National TB Program(NTP)in Ha Noi,Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City,Viet Nam.Using a local adaptation of the WHO TB patient cost survey tool,participants were interviewed during the intensive phase,continuation phase and post-treatment.We compared income levels,direct and indirect treatment costs,catastrophic costs using Wilcoxon rank-sum and chi-squared tests and associated risk factors between the two cohorts using multivariate regression.Results The pre-treatment median monthly household income was significantly higher in the private sector versus NTP cohort(USD 868 vs USD 578;P=0.010).However,private sector treatment was also significantly costlier(USD 2075 vs USD 1313;P=0.005),driven by direct medical costs which were 4.6 times higher than costs reported by NTP participants(USD 754 vs USD 164;P<0.001).This resulted in no significant difference in catastrophic costs between the two cohorts(Private:55%vs NTP:52%;P=0.675).Factors associated with catastrophic cost included being a single-person household[adjusted odds ratio[(a OR=13.71;95%confidence interval(CI):1.36-138.14;P=0.026)],unemployment during treatment(a OR=10.86;95%CI:2.64-44.60;P<0.001)and experiencing TB-related stigma(a OR=37.90;95%CI:1.72-831.73;P=0.021)].Conclusions Persons with TB in Viet Nam face similarly high risk of catastrophic costs whether treated in the public or private sector.Patient costs could be reduced through expanded insurance reimbursement to minimize direct medical costs in the private sector,use of remote monitoring and multi-week/month dosing strategies to avert economic costs in the public sector and greater access to social protection mechanism in general.

越南铜鼓和其他器物成份分析报告

2002年韦冬萍等在对76面越南出土铜鼓及18件相关物件样品进行铅同位素测定时,用电子探针的方法进行了成份分析,但只作了单点测试.2005年孙淑云等采用扫描电镜能谱仪无标样定量法对75面越南铜鼓及越南出土的13件其它相关器物样品进行了成份检测,结果显示与中国广西、云南出土铜鼓相比成份基本相同,但广西、云南铜鼓中锡青铜鼓占的比例高于越南铜鼓.而含砷铜鼓越南较中国数量多而且集中出土于平定.金相组织检测结果显示,越南铜鼓金相组织与中国铜鼓相似.从技术角度进一步提供了中、越古代铜鼓文化的交流传播的重要信息.

Reproductive Biology of Boiga guangxiensis Wen,1998(Serpentes:Colubridae)

Up to now, the reproductive biology of most species of the genus Boiga is investigated very little. Important data on the reproductive biology of Boiga guangxiensis were received by us for the first time. The investigations were carried out in Viet Nam during expeditions and in the laboratories of Tula Exotarium in the period between 1998-2000. The data on the feeding, egg size, incubation, size of hatchings, and juvenile colouration of this species are provided for the first time. In addition, the data on size and ratio of snout-vent length/tail length of this snake are provided based on the Vietnamese samples. Our researches demonstrated that B. guangxiensis is distinguished from most other species of the genus by a number of peculiarities of its reproductive biology. Also, morphological differences between Chinese and Vietnamese individuals of this species were noted.

Integrated Coastal Flood Risk Management as a Means to Build Resilient Communities

There is a clear trend in the increase of damages and loss of lives and livelihoods in coastal areas as a result of rapid increase in coastal populations, and overall socio-economic development in coastal regions resulting in an increase in vulnerability of populations exposed to coastal floods and exposed infrastructure. Coastal flooding as a result of i.e. storm surges are difficult to predict and cannot be prevented, however there are means to apply integrated flood risk management approaches aiming to reduce the impact of coastal floods. A measure of the effectiveness of such approaches is the awareness and response of coastal communities to coastal flood risks. The paper introduces best practices and methods to lower coastal flood risk at the level of provinces, districts and the community level. This includes advances in coastal flood forecasting and early warning practices, improvement of institutional preparedness and integrated flood management practices as well as measures at the community level aiming to strengthen their resilience to coastal floods. The paper provides a showcase for the historical development and achievements to pave ways for the eventual implementation of a pilot project on integrated flood risk management in coastal areas in central Viet Nam.

Progress towards universal HIV testing among TB patients in Viet Nam:a retrospective cohort evaluation of TB/HIV surveillance,2011-2017

Background:Tuberculosis(TB)and HIV remain a major causes of morbidity and mortality globally.We conducted an analysis of TB/HIV surveillance data to describe the trends in HIV testing coverage and HIV positivity rate among TB patients in Viet Nam,2011-2017.Main text:This was a descriptive study based on review and analysis of surveillance data from the National Tuberculosis Control Programme from 2011 to 2017.During this period,721342 TB cases were diagnosed.Of these,520490(72.2%)had a previously documented HIV status or were tested for HIV during TB care and treatment.The proportion of TB patients whose HIV status was reported increased,from 58.5%in 2011 to 82.9%in 2017(P value for trend=0.014).The proportion of TB patients infected with HIV decreased,from 8.0%in 2011 to 3.7%in 2017(P value for trend=0.018).Conclusions:The proportion of TB patients with a reported HIV status was increased from 2011 to 2017,however HIV testing coverage remained below the National Tuberculosis Control Programme targets(>90%).National Tuberculosis Control Programme needs to focus on ensuring eveny registered TB patients has a documented HIV status,ensuring full coverage of HIV testing as part of routine TB care.

Evaluating the yield of systematic screening for tuberculosis among three priority groups in Ho Chi Minh City,Viet Nam

Background: In order to end tuberculosis(TB),it is necessary to expand coverage of TB care services,including systematic screening initiatives.However,more evidence is needed for groups among whom systematic screening is only conditionally recommended by the World Health Organization.This study evaluated concurrent screening in multiple target groups using community health workers(CHW).Methods:: In our two-year intervention study lasting from October 2017 to September 2019,CHWs in six districts of Ho Chi Minh City,Viet Nam verbally screened three urban priority groups:(1)household TB contacts;(2)close TB contacts;and(3)residents of urban priority areas without clear documented exposure to TB including hotspots,boarding homes and urban slums.Eligible persons were referred for further screening with chest radiography and follow-on testing with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay.Symptomatic individuals with normal or without radiography results were tested on smear microscopy.We described the TB care cascade and characteristics for each priority group,and calculated yield and number needed to screen.Subsequently,we fitted a mixed-effect logistic regression to identify the association of these target groups and secondary patient covariates with TB treatment initiation.Results: We verbally screened 321020 people including 24232 household contacts,3182 social and close contacts and 293606 residents of urban priority areas.This resulted in 1138 persons treated for TB,of whom 85 were household contacts,39 were close contacts and 1014 belonged to urban priority area residents.The yield of active TB in these groups was 351,1226 and 345 per 100000,respectively,corresponding to numbers needed to screen of 285,82 and 290.The fitted model showed that close contacts[adjusted odds ratio(aOR)=2.07;95%CI:1.38–3.11;P<0.001]and urban priority area residents(aOR=2.18;95%CI:1.69–2.79;P<0.001)had a greater risk of active TB than household contacts.Conclusions: The study detected a large number of unreached persons with TB,but most of them were not among persons in contact with an index patient.Therefore,while programs should continue to optimize screening in contacts,to close the detection gap in high TB burden settings such as Viet Nam,coverage must be expanded to persons without documented exposure such as residents in hotspots,boarding homes and urban slums.

HOG-WILD IN VIET NAM

Amid growing pains, a Chongqing company finds Viet Nam good for breeding its motorcycles Back in 1998, Yin Mingshan found his company was between a rock and a hard place with seemingly nowhere to scooter through. As Chairman of the Board of Chongqing Lifan Industry Co. Ltd., China's largest motorcycle manufacturer, Vm was seeing his domestic market dry up while export volume also was shrinking.

A Brief Introduction to Viet Nam National Hospital of Acupuncture

The Viet Nam National Hospital of Acupuncture （VNHA） was founded on April 24, 1982. After 25 years of development, VNHA now has 450 hospital beds, including 300 hospital beds for inpatients and 150 for outpatients, and 19 departments, all of which strive to detect and cure diseases for patients in the whole country. VNHA has 350 employees, including one professor of acupuncture （acup）, 7 PhoDs of acup, 24 Masters of acup, 42 doctors specialized grade Ⅰ, 2 doctors specialized grade Ⅱ, 5 university-degree pharmacists, 60 doctors of acup, engineers and 5 university graduates from other areas of expertise, and 60 technicians and nurses, etc.

China Opposes Viet Nam’s South China Sea Oil Exploration

China opposes Viet Nam’s exploring oil and gas in China’s jurisdictional area ofthe South China Sea,Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on May 28."China’s stance on the South China Sea is clear and consistent.