Advancing sustainable rice production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta insights from ecological farming systems in An Giang Province.

Rice serves as a crucial staple food crop for half of the world's population. In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), rice production plays a vital role in national food security. However, the majority of the existing intensified rice cultivation schemes in the VMD, which are typically traditional, have rendered many farmers' livelihoods unsustainable due to issues such as land degradation, water pollution, health risks, and low profitability.

Water hyacinths retain river plastics.

Rivers represent one of the main conduits for the delivery of plastics to the sea, while also functioning as reservoirs for plastic retention. In tropical regions, rivers are exposed to both high levels of plastic pollution and invasion of water hyacinths. This aquatic plant forms dense patches at the river surface that drift due to winds and currents.

Charge-Reduced Particles via Self-Propelled Electrohydrodynamic Atomization for Drug Delivery Applications.

Electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) provides unparalleled control over the size and production rate of particles from solution. However, conventional methods produce highly charged particles that are not appropriate for inhalation drug delivery. We present a self-propelled EHDA system to address this challenge, a promising one-step platform for generating and delivering charge-reduced particles.

The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management.

Risk management has reduced vulnerability to floods and droughts globally, yet their impacts are still increasing. An improved understanding of the causes of changing impacts is therefore needed, but has been hampered by a lack of empirical data. On the basis of a global dataset of 45 pairs of events that occurred within the same area, we show that risk management generally reduces the impacts of floods and droughts but faces difficulties in reducing the impacts of unprecedented events of a magnitude not previously experienced.

Multimodal Fibrous Static and Dynamic Tactile Sensor.

A highly versatile, low-cost, and robust tactile sensor capable of acquiring load measurements under static and dynamic modes employing a poly(vinylidene fluoride--trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] micronanofiber element is presented. The sensor is comprised of three essential layers, a fibrous core P(VDF-TrFE) layer and two Ni/Cu conductive fabric electrode layers, with a total thickness of less than 300 μm. Using an electrospinning process, the core fibers are deposited directly to a soft poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) fingertip.

Statistically examining the connection between dike development and human perceptions in the floodplains' socio-hydrology system of Vietnamese Mekong Delta.

Efforts on socio-hydrology science have been promoted to solve challenges faced by contemporary water management. This study aims to better understand the co-evolution of human-water systems in floodplains. Specifically, farmers' opinions on flooding, dike effects, and living conditions in different dike systems in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta floodplain are compared to explore possible connections between human perceptions and dike development processes by employing in-depth interviews of 7 officials and oral surveys of 100 farmers supported by a literature review.

Generation of a Charge Carrier Gradient in a 3C-SiC/Si Heterojunction with Asymmetric Configuration.

It is critical to investigate the charge carrier gradient generation in semiconductor junctions with an asymmetric configuration, which can open a new platform for developing lateral photovoltaic and self-powered devices. This paper reports the generation of a charge carrier gradient in a 3C-SiC/Si heterojunction with an asymmetric electrode configuration. 3C-SiC/Si heterojunction devices with different electrode widths were illuminated by laser beams (wavelengths of 405, 521, and 637 nm) and a halogen bulb.

Groundwater in Southern Vietnam: Understanding geochemical processes to better preserve the critical water resource.

A thorough understanding of groundwater geochemical characteristics and dominant hydro(bio)geochemical processes in the aquifers is valuable for sustainable groundwater protection. With this respect, this study provides a comprehensive assessment of hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater in sedimentary aquifers of the Southern region of Vietnam. The dataset comprised 291 water samples collected in rainy and dry seasons from 155 wells, and their chemical compositions of dissolved ions (Ca, Mg, Na, K, HCO, Cl, SO, NO, NH, Fe, total dissolved solids) and pH.

Toward the Circular Economy of Rare Earth Elements: A Review of Abundance, Extraction, Applications, and Environmental Impacts.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are increasingly critical to the high-technology and low-carbon economy. With a shift to sustainable socioeconomic development that aims to be less fossil fuel dependent, global demand for REEs continues to rise, despite their uncertain supply chain and high environmental impact of production. Here, we review recent research on REEs, including global reserve assessment, REE-based applications, major REE production pathways, environmental impacts, and the potential to leverage circular economies within the REE industry.

New approach of water quantity vulnerability assessment using satellite images and GIS-based model: An application to a case study in Vietnam.

Water deficiency due to climate change and the world's population growth increases the demand for the water industry to carry out vulnerability assessments. Although many studies have been done on climate change vulnerability assessment, a specific framework with sufficient indicators for water vulnerability assessment is still lacking. This highlights the urgent need to devise an effective model framework in order to provide water managers and authorities with the level of water exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity and water vulnerability to formulate their responses in implementing water management strategies.

Sand mining in the Mekong Delta revisited - current scales of local sediment deficits.

The delta of the Mekong River in Vietnam has been heavily impacted by anthropogenic stresses in recent years, such as upstream dam construction and sand mining within the main and distributary channels, leading to riverbank and coastal erosion. Intensive bathymetric surveys, conducted within the Tien River branch during the dry and wet season 2018, reveal a high magnitude of sand mining activities. For the year 2018, an analysis of bathymetric maps and the local refilling processes leads to an estimated sand extraction volume of 4.

Microbial Risk Assessment of Tidal-Induced Urban Flooding in Can Tho City (Mekong Delta, Vietnam).

Public health risks from urban flooding are a global concern. Contaminated floodwater may expose residents living in cities as they are in direct contact with the water. However, the recent literature does not provide much information about this issue, especially for developing countries.

Structure deformation of indium oxide from nanoparticles into nanostructured polycrystalline films by in situ thermal radiation treatment.

A microstructure deformation of indium oxide (In2O3) nanoparticles by an in situ thermal radiation treatment in nitrous oxide plasma was investigated. The In2O3 nanoparticles were completely transformed into nanostructured In2O3 films upon 10 min of treatment time. The treated In2O3 nanoparticle sample showed improvement in crystallinity while maintaining a large surface area of nanostructure morphology.