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This study aims to determine the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism, consumer cosmopolitanism, imported product judgment, and foreign product purchase intention in Vietnam. This paper tries to present its results empirically, which might be helpful in preparing a strategy for Vietnamese customers’ international purchasing behavior to increase competition at retail companies in Vietnam. It uses a questionnaire with a purposive random sampling of 311 customers in Vietnam. Analysis was conducted through a quantitative descriptive analysis, measurement of variable dimensions on the questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses. This study found that imported product judgment, consumer cosmopolitanism, social influence, and perceived behavioral control positively influence foreign product purchase intention, whereas customer ethnocentrism has a negative impact on that intention. The association between consumer cosmopolitanism and foreign product purchase intention is mediated by imported product evaluation and consumer ethnocentrism. At the same time, national identity does not affect consumer ethnocentrism and foreign product purchase intentions. Besides, this study offers some managerial implications for marketers in decisions linked to Vietnamese customers’ international purchasing behavior to increase competition in the domestic market. AcknowledgmentThe authors express a sincere gratitude to all the participants who generously took part in this research study.

Background and Aims. Age cutoff is an important factor in deciding whether esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is necessary for patients presenting with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. However, the cutoff value is significantly different across populations. We aimed to determine the age cutoff for EGD that assures a low rate of missing upper gastrointestinal malignancy (UGIM) and to assess the yield of prompt EGD in Vietnamese patients presenting with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Methods. All EGDs performed in outpatients during a 6-year period (2014–2019) at a tertiary hospital that provided an open-access endoscopy service were retrospectively reviewed. Repeat or surveillance EGDs were excluded. Different age cutoffs were evaluated in terms of their prediction of the absence of UGIM. The yield of endoscopy to detect one malignancy (YoE) was also calculated. Results. Of 472,744 outpatients presenting with upper gastrointestinal symptoms, there were 2198 (0.4%) patients with UGIM. The median age and male-to-female ratio of patients with UGIMs were 57.9 ± 12.5 years and 2.5 : 1, respectively. The YoEs in patients <40, 40–60, and >60 years of age were <1, 1–10, and >10 per 1000 EGDs, respectively. The age cutoffs of 30 years in females and 35 years in males could detect 98.2% (95% CI: 97.7%–98.8%) of UGIM cases with a YoE of about 1 per 1000 EGDs. Conclusions. The age cutoff for EGD in Vietnamese should be lower than that recommended by current international guidelines. The strategy of prompt EGD showed a low YoE, and its cost-effectiveness requires further investigation.

Precise forest inventory is the key to sustainable forest management. LiDAR technology is widely applied to tree attribute extraction. Therefore, this study compared DBH and tree height derived from Handheld Mobile Laser Scanning (HMLS), Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), and Integrated ALS and HMLS and determined the applicability of integrating HMLS and ALS scanning methods to estimate individual tree attributes such as diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height in pine forests of South Korea. There were strong correlations for DBH at the individual tree level (r > 0.95; p < 0.001). HMLS and Integrated ALS-HMLS achieved high accuracy for DBH estimations, showing Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 1.46 cm (rRMSE 3.7%) and 1.38 cm (rRMSE 3.5%), respectively. In contrast, tree height obtained from HMLS was lower than expected, showing an RMSE of 2.85 m (12.74%) along with a bias of −2.34 m. ALS data enhanced the precision of tree height estimations, achieving a RMSE of 1.81 m and a bias of −1.24 m. However, integrating ALS and HMLS data resulted in the most precise tree height estimations resulted in a reduced RMSE to 1.43 m and biases to −0.3 m. Integrated ALS and HMLS and its advantages are a beneficial solution for accurate forest inventory, which in turn supports forest management and planning.

Gene therapy holds great potential for treating neurological disorders, but its implementation is limited by the challenge of developing a safe and effective delivery method to the central nervous system (CNS). Red blood cell‐derived extracellular vesicles (RBCEVs) have the potential to address these challenges due to their non‐immunogenicity, non‐cytotoxicity, ability to be redosed, and suitability for nucleic acid loading. In this study, we demonstrate the efficacy and safety of RBCEV‐mediated nucleic acid delivery to the CNS. We found that RBCEVs administered through intrathecal injection are widely distributed across the CNS and efficiently taken up by neuronal cells. Delivery of RBCEVs loaded with GFP‐encoding plasmids results in GFP expression in neurons. Our data also highlight the potential of RBCEVs to deliver plasmids encoding secretory proteins, resulting in protein secretion within the cerebrospinal fluid. Furthermore, experiments conducted in both mouse and non‐human primate models indicate that intrathecal injection of plasmid‐loaded RBCEVs do not lead to any systemic or local acute toxicity. In summary, our findings illustrate the potential of the RBCEV‐based platform as a viable and safe approach for nucleic acid delivery to the CNS, facilitating further development of gene therapy for neurological disorders.

The role of environmentally managerial accounting between environmental performance and economic performance has been investigated in the current project. On the one hand, this project tried to re-examine the causal links among environmentally managerial accounting, environmental performance and economic performance that have been discussed in previous research; on the other hand, it also explored the moderation of environmentally managerial accounting between environmental performance and economic performance that has been overlooked. The data was collected from 298 publicly listed enterprises in Vietnam’s three main stock exchanges. To test the causal linkages, multiple regression analyses were employed; whereas to test the moderating effect, hierarchical regression analyses with the interaction were undertaken. The results indicate positive influences of environmentally managerial accounting on economic performance and environmental performance that in turn puts a positive impact on economic performance. The adoption of environmentally managerial accounting in business is revealed as a moderator between economic performance and environmental performance. The causal link from environmental performance to economic performance becomes tougher when enterprises take more environmentally managerial accounting into consideration in business.

Root biomass and distribution are influenced by abiotic factors, such as topography and soil physicochemical properties, determining belowground productivity. Hence, we investigated the variation in root biomass and vertical root distribution based on the topography, soil physicochemical properties, and tree influence index, and their relationships, across soil depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm) and topographical gradients in a warm-temperate forest in Mt. Duryun, Republic of Korea. Two contrasting research sites were established: a lower slope oriented at ≤3° and an upper slope with a slope of 30°. Each site comprised eleven 400 m2 sampling plots from which root samples from various diameter classes (<2 mm, 2–5 mm, 5–10 mm, and >10 mm) were collected. While the bulk density increased with soil depth in the lower slope, the organic matter, available phosphorus, Ca2+, and Mg2+ showed a reversed pattern. Linear mixed-effects models generally revealed significant negative correlations between root biomass and soil pH, total nitrogen, and cation exchange capacity, particularly in small roots (βstd = −1.03 to −1.51) and coarse roots (βstd = −6.30). Root biomass exhibited a 10–15% increase in the upper slope compared to the lower slope, particularly in fine (median = 52.0 g m2–65.64 g m2) and medium roots (median = 56.04 g m2–69.52 g m2) at a 0–20 cm soil depth. While no significant correlation between root biomass and the tree influence index was found on the lower slope, a different pattern was found on the upper slope. Our results indicate that the variation in root biomass and distribution can also be explained by the differences in the soil environment and topographical positions.

Background Understanding the processes underlying carbon storage and balance is critical for equipping the terrestrial biosphere to respond to contemporary climatic challenges. However, ecosystem-level estimates and distribution of net primary productivity (NPP), a metric for evaluating forest carbon cycling patterns and dynamics, remain constrained by uneven empirical observations between above- and belowground fractions. We herein quantified the rate and composition of NPP for four stands characteristic of the cool-temperate deciduous ( Larix kaempferi , LK; Quercus mongolica , QM) and evergreen ( Pinus densiflora , PD; Pinus koraiensis , PK) forests of South Korea over a complete annual cycle (2022–2023). Variations in dynamic NPP compartments, particularly (1) canopy litterfall by stand and season and (2) fine root production by stand, diameter class, and depth interval, were further characterized using litter traps and ingrowth cores, respectively. Results Total NPP varied from 1226 ± 101 to 1796 ± 154 g m −2  yr −1 , with 78–84% allocated aboveground and 16–22% belowground. LK and QM exhibited total NPP up to 46% higher than PD and PK. Both litterfall and fine root production differed considerably across stands, decreasing in the order of QM > PK > PD > LK for litterfall and QM & PD > LK & PK for fine root production. Litterfall peaked in autumn, similar to the leaf phenological rhythm of many temperate deciduous species. In contrast, fine root production showed a negative vertical distribution with depth, which is consistent with decreasing nutrient availability and increasing mechanical impedance along the soil profile. Conclusions By disentangling the contribution levels and dynamic patterns of each NPP compartment, our findings demonstrate a strong inclination toward aboveground NPP investment when belowground resources are not limiting. In other words, an adequate nutrient supply enables plants to modify their priority allocation from fine root maintenance to internal resource transport, leaf production, canopy expansion, reproduction, and other critical aboveground functions. Such information underscores the necessity for forest management strategies that target soil fertility to strengthen not only canopy productivity and CO 2 sequestration but also ecosystem resilience by reinforcing allocation patterns that sustain high NPP and safeguard forests against shifting climate conditions.

Urbanization and associated forest conversions have given rise to a continuum of native (forest fragments) and modified (artificial grasslands and perennial ecosystems) land-use types. However, little is known about how these shifts affect soil and fine-root compartments that are critical to a functioning carbon and nutrient circulation system. In this study, soil physicochemical properties, fine-root mass, and vertical distribution patterns were investigated in four representative urban land-use types: grassland (ZJ), perennial agroecosystem (MP), broadleaf deciduous forest patch (QA), and coniferous evergreen forest patch (PD). We quantified the fine-root mass in the upper 30 cm vertical profile (0–30 cm) and at every 5 cm depth across three diameter classes (<2 mm, 2–5 mm, and <5 mm). Soil physicochemical properties, except for phosphorus, nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and sodium cations, varied significantly across land-use types. The total root biomass (<5 mm) decreased in the order of QA (700.3 g m−2) > PD (487.2 g m−2) > ZJ (440.1 g m−2) > MP (98.3 g m−2). The fine-root mass of ZJ and MP was correlated with soil nutrients, which was attributed to intensive management operations, while the fine-root mass of QA and PD had a significant relationship with soil organic matter due to the high inputs from forest litter. Very fine roots (<2 mm) presented a distinct decremental pattern with depth for all land-use types, except for MP. Very fine roots populated the topmost 5 cm layer in ZJ, QA, and PD at 52.1%, 49.4%, and 39.4%, respectively. Maintaining a woody fine-root system benefits urban landscapes by promoting soil stabilization, improving ground infiltration rates, and increasing carbon sequestration capacity. Our findings underscore the importance of profiling fine-root mass when assessing urban expansion effects on terrestrial ecosystems.

We analyzed atmospheric particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for 19 months. The average concentrations of total PAHs at dry and rainy seasons were 4.28 ± 2.83 and 15.71 ± 8.21 ng m⁻³, respectively. The use of motorcycles without catalytic converters, estimated to be main emission sources of PAHs, would be higher during the dry season. PAH concentrations show a negative correlation with sunshine duration (r = −0.51). Furthermore, the ratio of average PAH concentration in the dry season to that in the rainy season shows a positive correlation with photolytic half-life (r = 0.94). Thus, seasonal changes in PAH concentrations are attributable to their photolytic degradation.

Under the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, people worldwide are returning to core tourism values and finding travel safety. Currently, tourists have been paying more attention to living ethically responsibly with natural resources and creating values.