Poor quality seed is the major constraint limiting both the productivity of potato crops and the expansion of the potato industry in Vietnam. Despite numerous attempts to establish a certified seed system, the most practical solution is to import clean foundation seed of the desired variety and physiological age. With imports from Europe and North America proving to be immature and too expensive, Western Australia (WA) has emerged as a potential source of high quality seed. While seed imports from WA are unique in that the varieties imported have been selected by researchers in Vietnam as being suited to the agro-ecological environment in the Red River Delta (RRD), no assessment of the economic benefits to smallholder potato farmers from the use of WA potato seed has been undertaken. In 2006/08, the yield and profitability of three potato varieties Eben, KT3 and Atlantic in two locations were compared where the crops had been derived from new seed imported from WA (VN0), seed derived from crops cultivated in the RRD after one generation (VN1) and two generations (VN2). There was a significant difference in the yield produced between the three different seed sources but not between the locations. For all varieties, and in both years, the yield decreased with the number of multiplications in Vietnam. Furthermore, the marketable yield declined significantly from the first crop (VN0) to the third crop (VN2). The decline in yield and tuber quality with each successive generation was associated with an increase in PVY and PVX infection. Not unexpectedly, differences in yield and marketable yield between the seed generations had a significant impact on the gross income for each variety. / VN0 seed of all varieties produced the highest gross income (VND 2.4 to 4.1 M/sao) compared to VN1 (VND 1.9 to 3.1 M/sao) which was significantly higher than VN2 (VND 1.4 to 2.4 M/sao). However, while high quality seed is more productive, it is also more expensive. As a result, significant differences were observed between the seed costs. VN0 seed was almost two times more expensive (VND 10,500 – 11,000 per kg) than VN1 and VN2 seed (VND 6,000 – 6,500 per kg). Despite the higher costs, VN0 seed provided the highest net incomes compared to VN1 which was significantly higher than VN2. Farmers who retained seed received a higher net income (VND 0.13 – 0.6 M/sao) than those who did not retain seed. Ways to improve the accessibility of affordable, high quality potato seed to farmers in the RRD are discussed.

Abstract not available

In recent decades, there have been an increasingly large number of developing countries that have embraced external economic liberalisation policies. Following trade theory, trade liberalisation has the potential to increase employment elasticity of economic growth and hence, have a greater poverty reduction impact, compared to import-substitution or closed economies. However, critics of globalisation often emphasise that the benefits from growth may not be evenly spread; hence, the distributional impacts may have an adverse effect on the poor. Vietnam has undertaken major market-based reforms to transform itself into an outward-oriented economy. The resulting effects show that not only has Vietnam achieved significant growth, but it has also managed to satisfy all the Millennium Development Goals. However, a significant element of Vietnam’s reforms involves integrating the Vietnamese economy with world markets through trade liberalisation policies, which may affect the welfare and distributional impacts on Vietnamese households. This dissertation examines the impact of trade liberalisation on growth, poverty and inequality for Vietnam. It develops a macro-micro analytical framework whereby a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is linked to a representative household model in order to capture these effects. The findings indicate that trade liberalisation will cause a significant increase in economic growth. The smallest gains occur under Vietnam’s unilateral trade liberalisation against ASEAN while the largest gains take place when Vietnam extends its liberalisation with the rest of the world. There will be a shift away from primary sectors towards industry-based sectors such as low-tech, intermediate manufacturing and durables. There is also substantial up-skilling of unskilled labour. Combined with the large real returns to capital goods, this will result in significant increases in both capital investments as well as in the accumulation of human capital. In addition, economic growth will induce a fall in poverty rates in Vietnam. Nonetheless, there will also be large increases in the inequality of income, especially in the rural sector. Hence, although growth has lifted a large proportion of households out of poverty, the distributional impacts have been detrimental to the most vulnerable households.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND. There have been few studies conducted in hospitalized patients in Viet nam on the epidemiology of surgical site infections (SSIs) and the impact of hand hygiene practices. This study aimed to assess the impact of a bedside hand sanitizer program on SSIs in orthopaedic and neurosurgical patients. DESIGN. A prospective quasi-experimental study was conducted with an untreated control group design in neurosurgical patients and before-after design in orthopaedic patients. A cost analysis based on data derived from the results of this study was also performed. SETTING. Cho Ray Hospital, a tertiary university hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet nam. PATIENTS. All patients admitted for operation between 11 July and 15 August 2000 (Before), and 14 July and 18 August 2001 (After) were included, except those who had undergone another operation within one month prior to admission or were admitted because of SSIs. INTERVENTION. Bedside hand sanitizers were introduced into the Orthopaedic ward and one Neurosurgical ward (Ward A) from September 2000. Training on proper use was also provided to ward staff. Another Neurosurgical ward (Ward B) was used as a control group with no intervention conducted. RESULTS. A total of 1368 patients were recruited into the study. After intervention, in Ward A of the neurosurgical department, the SSI rate between the two periods was reduced by 54% (8.3% to 3.8%; p=0.09). Superficial SSIs were eliminated after the intervention (p=0.007). Comparison between Ward A (intervention) and Ward B (control) showed that, before the intervention, there was no difference in incidence of SSI between the two wards (Ward A: 8.3%, Ward B: 7.2%, p=0.7); however, after intervention, the incidence of SSI in Ward A was significantly lower than Ward B (3.8% and 9.2%, p=0.04). For orthopaedic patients, the SSI rate between the two periods was reduced by 34% (14.8% to 9.8%; p=0.07). SSI patients had a median post-operative length of stay of 19 days longer than patients without SSI (p&lt0.001). Costs were 2.5 times higher in patients with in-hospital SSI compared to uninfected patients (p&lt0.001). Mean SSI-attributable costs were conservatively estimated at US$368 in neurosurgical patients and US$207 in the orthopaedic patients in the before period. SSIs were responsible for at least 14 percent of the annual budget before intervention. The savings per SSI prevented were estimated at US$332 in neurosurgical patients and US$157 in orthopaedic patients. Annual cost savings arising from the intervention were estimated at US$11,112 in orthopaedic patients and US$19,320 in neurosurgical patients. CONCLUSIONS. The incidence of SSI in the hospital was high. The use of hand sanitizers reduced SSI rates, particularly impacting on the incidence of superficial SSIs. The hand sanitization program was found to be a dominant intervention being both more effective and cost saving as compared with no intervention in both study departments. The use of bedside hand sanitizers should be encouraged in the hospitals in Viet nam, where there often is a lack of other hand-washing facilities. / PhD Doctorate

This field study is aimed at establishing criteria for an appropriate syllabus for the first-year students of English at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College. Following an overview of the past and present English language teaching in North Vietnam and at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College, the students and their learning problems are analyzed with a view to determining student needs. Such needs should be taken into account when selecting appropriate syllabus content. The relative advantages and disadvantages of language syllabus and teaching methods are discussed. The types of syllabus analyzed are : the structural syllabus, the situational syllabus, and the functional syllabus. The methods considered are:the grammar translation method, the direct method, the audio-lingual method and the communicative approach. The study next identifies the constraints in designing the first year syllabus for the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College. The things to be considered are the desired qualifications of the language teacher and the program for teacher-training at the college. At the same time, the first year students of English are studied in terms of previous learning experience and motivation. The next stage brings together institutional needs and methodological options in a discussion of an appropriate syllabus for the first year. 1 . The syllabus aims and objectives : that is, the production of proficiency in the four language skills, especially the oral skills of speaking and listening. 2. The syllabus content : the general principles as well as the actual selection of various functions and topics. 3. The method : examination of an eclectic method and the teacher's roles in the classroom as well as the guidelines for more effective teaching. 4. Evaluation: the functions of and the techniques for evaluation. A sample of a language unit of the syllabus follows the discussion of constraints. After a general discussion of the teaching of each of the four skills, the study comes to some of the techniques for developing the oral skills of speaking and listening, the main objectives of the first year syllabus. It is intended that this field study will contribute a small part to the growing understanding of the syllabus design which, for a long time, has been so controversal an issue at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College.

At present, there is a great demand for qualified interpreters in Vietnam, but the oral proficiency of the trainee interpreters graduating from the University of Hanoi is far from being satisfactory. This Field Study is an attempt to search for appropriate ways to improve the oral proficiency of final year interpreters at Hanoi University. As any language teacher's work is determined consciously and unconsciously by his/her view of language and language learning, the effective teaching of oral communicative skills requires a good understanding of the nature of language, communication and its process of learning. This field study attempts to review the major theories of language and language learning and their implications for language teaching; and tentatively suggests some guidelines for syllabus design, classroom procedures, and techniques for teaching oral communication skills for final year trainee interpreters at Hanoi University in the light of new developments in these theories of language teaching.

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The study explores the motivations and experiences of young single women migrating to work in the garment and footwear industries in Vietnam and the impact of migration on their lives and future prospects. The key issues investigated were the impact on the young women's working lives, their material and emotional well-being, agency and empowerment and personal life trajectories. Based on a questionnaire survey and interviews with young women factory workers in Hanoi, the research found that young women are motivated by the desire for a stable income and the lack of alternative employment options in rural areas, which are constrained by gendered patterns of vocational training and labour market opportunities. Migration into factory work brings young women increased incomes and opportunities for empowerment through a broadening of their horizons. As a result of migration young women gain confidence and increased capacity to achieve their personal life goals, and as such, are empowered by the experience. Their marriage opportunities, however, are limited by factory employment and this places young women at odds with the expectations of their families and rural tradition. How women negotiate this divergence from traditional work and marriage expectations in Vietnam has mixed implications for young women's well-being and empowerment, and calls for a reconsideration of the nature of women's empowerment as represented in gender and development discourse.

<p>I uppsatsen har jag undersökt hur sambandet mellan handelsliberalisering och barnarbete ser ut. Uppsatsen inleds med en teori om internationell handel för att tydliggöra vad som sker inom ett land vid en liberalisering av handeln. Därefter presenteras tre olika teorier från mikroteoretiskt nivå som beskriver sambandet mellan handelsliberalisering och barnarbete utifrån olika perspektiv. Varje teori följs upp av ett avsnitt där empiriska data från Vietnam analyseras med hjälp av teorin för att koppla samman teorin med verkligheten. Jag har valt att fokusera på Vietnam för att det är ett bra typexempel av ett u-land som öppnat upp landet för handel med andra länder de senaste årtiondet. Slutligen diskuteras hur väl teorierna förklarar sambandet mellan handelsliberalisering och barnarbete samt vilka aspekter som belyses i respektive teori. Jag kommer fram till att det finns samband mellan handelsliberalisering och en minskning av barnarbete under speciella förhållanden.</p>

The Cuu Long and Nam Con Basins, offshore Vietnam, contain sediment dispersal systems, from up-dip fluvial environments to down-dip deep-water slope and basinal environments that operated along the southern continental margin of Vietnam during Pliocene to Recent time. The available data enabled sediment thickness patterns, sequence-stratigraphic relationships, and channel types (fluvial to deep-water channels) within the lower Pliocene to Recent stratigraphic succession in the Cuu Long and Nam Con Son basins of offshore Vietnam to be analyzed. At least nine sequences and their accompanying systems tracts exist in the Pliocene to Recent section. Shelf-edge development in the study area is limited to the Eastern Nam Con Son Sub-Basin. Overall south to southeastward migration of the shelf edge complex during Pliocene to Recent time indicates that the Paleo-Mekong River System was the dominant sediment source for the area.