Developing Food Science Core Competencies in Vietnam: The Role of Experience and Problem Solving in an Industry‐Based Undergraduate Research Course

Although many educators now recognize the value of problem‐based learning and experiential learning, undergraduate‐level food science courses that reflect these pedagogical approaches are still relatively novel, especially in East and Southeast Asia. Leveraging existing partnerships with farmers in Vietnam, a food science course for students at Nong Lam Univ. was designed and taught. The aim was to give students the opportunity to work in small groups and conduct evidence‐based research with farmers, apply food science principles, and develop Success Skills, including the ability to think critically and communicate clearly. Drawing on the experience of 2 student groups, this exploratory study describes what students learned from the process of conducting research. In one group, students learned to work through and resolve the challenge of initial disagreement and misunderstanding with farmers and ultimately carried out a project that aligned with the students’ research interests and farmers’ needs. Another group of students learned to consider the financial limitations of farmers when attempting to develop solutions for problems and ultimately worked with farmers to address a different problem that was less financially taxing. It is important to note the challenges of planning and teaching a course in which instructors are not able to predict exactly what students will learn or experience. This is largely dependent on each student's prior knowledge, experiences, and interests; yet this study demonstrates the transformative potential of teaching a research‐based food science course that gives students authentic opportunities to identify and address real‐world challenges.     

Introducing a tool to gauge curriculum quality under Sustainable Development Goal 4: The case of primary schools in Vietnam

International Review of Education - The purposes of the study presented in this article were twofold. One was to respond to the question: what makes a quality curriculum? within the framework of...     

State–press relations revisited: a case study on how American media portray the post-war Vietnam

This study revisited the state–press relations theory by analyzing the coverage of Vietnam over the 30 years between 1980 and 2009 in two leading American news magazines, Time and Newsweek . A contribution of this research is its context of the long-term and volatile relationship between these two countries. Despite progress in the diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam, the portrayal of Vietnam in US media remained unchanged. This finding indicates that American media do not always support the US government's political stance when covering international news. It suggests a new direction for future research applying this theory.     

Local synthesis of carbon nanotubes for direct integration in Si microsystems - design considerations

The integration of nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes （CNTs） into microsystems is highly desirable, in order to make use of the unique nanomaterial properties in real devices. However, the CNTtomicrosystem integration is challenging to implement in a manufacturable, cost effective industrial process. This paper presents our work towards a process for making complete, integrated CMOS / MEMS systems with integrated CNT. We demonstrate the feasibility of the process, using roomtemperature process ing, lowcost equipment and consumables, and electrical control with automation possibilities. CNTs are directly integrated at the desired positions in the Si microsystem, forming closed Si / CNT / Si circuits. We explore different designs with the aim to obtain uniform and welldefined CNT synthesis conditions, and show that simplified designs can perform comparably to more complex ones. The Si / CNT / Si circuits obtained can show rectifying （Schottky like） or nearohmic behavior. Gas sensing possibilities are demonstrated, indicating the possibility of monitoring aging/ fermenting of food. Functionalization of CNTs is demon strated, using thermal evaporation of Sn and Pd, opening for selective and sensitive sensors for various gases and ana lytes. Detailed microscopic characterization of the obtained CNTs are presented.     

Field tested milliliter-scale blood filtration device for point-of-care applications

In this paper, we present a low cost and equipment-free blood filtration device capable of producing plasma from blood samples with mL-scale capacity and demonstrate its clinical application for hepatitis B diagnosis. We report the results of in-field testing of the device with 0.8–1 ml of undiluted, anticoagulated human whole blood samples from patients at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, Vietnam. Blood cell counts demonstrate that the device is capable of filtering out 99.9% of red and 96.9% of white blood cells, and the plasma collected from the device contains lower red blood cell counts than plasma obtained from a centrifuge. Biochemistry and immunology testing establish the suitability of the device as a sample preparation unit for testing alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), urea, hepatitis B “e” antigen (HBeAg), hepatitis B “e” antibody (HBe Ab), and hepatitis B surface antibody (HBs Ab). The device provides a simple and practical front-end sample processing method for point-of-care microfluidic diagnostics, enabling sufficient volumes for multiplexed downstream tests.     

Contact hours in Dutch and Vietnamese higher education: a comparison

The number of contact hours, one of the important institutional context factors, was examined and compared between Dutch and Vietnamese higher education at institute and student levels in Psychology and Business and/or Economics specializations. The quantity of contact hours per credit point given by institutions was investigated in a number of Dutch and Vietnamese universities. Additionally, 104 students in Groningen, the Netherlands, and 140 students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, participated in the survey with a self-reported and self-assessed questionnaire on their study time allocation. Beside contact hours, other learning process related factors such as study activities, motivation, quality of instruction, and generic skills were examined to provide a better insight into these two systems. Results showed that Vietnamese students had significantly higher number of contact hours than Dutch students while their generic skills, motivation and time spent on independent study were a lot lower.     

A revised model of e-brand equity and its application to high technology products

Given the growing importance of online social media platforms (OSM) in brand management, the authors attempt to extend the relationship between e-brand equity and repurchase intention with two mediator variables, namely visual appeal and e-preference in which willingness to pay a price premium (WPPP) serves as a moderator. Drawing on the perspective of digitalized engagement (PDE), the authors confirm the mediating effects on the e-brand equity-repurchase intention link while evidencing both positive and negative effects of WPPP on the linkage of e-brand equity and mediators. Contributions to theory, practice, and future studies are also provided.     

Sparsely distributed sliding mode control for interconnected systems

This paper proposes a framework for the design of sparsely distributed output feedback discrete-time sliding mode control (ODSMC) for interconnected systems. The major target here is to develop an observer based discrete-time sliding mode controller employing a sparsely distributed control network structure in which local controllers exploit some other sub-systems’ information as well as its own local information. As the local controllers/observers have access to some other sub-systems’ states, the control performance will be improved and the applicability region will be widened compared to the decentralised structure. As the first step, a stability condition is derived for the overall closed-loop system obtained from applying ODSMC to the underlying interconnected system, by assuming a priori known structure for the control/observer network. The developed LMI based controller design scheme provides the possibility to employ different information patterns such as fully distributed, sparsely distributed and decentralised patterns. In the second step, we propose a methodology to identify a sparse control/observer network structure with the least possible number of communication links that satisfies the stability condition given in the first step. The boundedness of the obtained overall closed-loop system is analysed and a bound is derived for the augmented system state which includes the closed-loop system state and the switching function.     

A head in virtual reality: Development of a dynamic head and neck model

Advances in computer and interface technologies have made it possible to create three‐dimensional (3D) computerized models of anatomical structures for visualization, manipulation, and interaction in a virtual 3D environment. In the past few decades, a multitude of digital models have been developed to facilitate complex spatial learning of the human body. However, there is limited empirical evidence to guide the development and integration of effective computer models for teaching and learning. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of a dynamic head and neck model with flexible displays (2D, 3D, and stereoscopic 3D) and interactive control features that can be later used to design and test the efficacy of computer models as a means of improving student learning. The model was created using computer tomography scans of a human cadaver. Anatomical structures captured on the scans were segmented into discreet areas, and then reconstructed in three‐dimensions using specialized software. The final model consists of 70 distinct anatomical structures that can be displayed in 2D, 3D, or stereoscopic 3D. In 3D mode, a mouse can be used to actively and continuously interact with the model by manipulating viewer orientation, altering surface transparency, superimposing 2D scans with 3D reconstructions, removing or adding structures sequentially, and customizing animated scenes to show complex anatomical pathways or relationships. Anat Sci Educ 2: 294–301, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.