The global water crisis is being exacerbated by climate change, even in the United States. Recycled water is a feasible alternative to alleviate the water shortage, but it is constrained by humans’ perceptions. The current study examines how residents’ water scarcity awareness and climate change belief influence their willingness to use recycled water directly and indirectly. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of 1831 residents in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an arid inland region in the US. We (...) discovered that residents’ willingness to use direct recycled potable water is positively affected by their awareness of water scarcity, but the effect is conditional on their belief in the impacts of climate change on the water cycle. Meanwhile, the willingness to use indirect recycled potable water is influenced by water scarcity awareness, and the belief in climate change further enhances this effect. These findings implicate that fighting climate change denialism and informing the public of the water scarcity situation in the region can contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of long-term water conservation and climate change alleviation efforts. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu này nhằm mục đích tìm hiểu các yếu tố quyết định đến ý định lựa chọn chương trình cử nhân ngành logistics của sinh viên trên địa bàn TP. Hà Nội. Sử dụng thuyết hành động hợp lý (TRA), kết quả nghiên cứu chỉ ra rằng, Thái độ và Chuẩn chủ quan có ảnh hưởng đến ý định lựa chọn chương trình cử nhân ngành logistics của sinh viên. Dựa trên phát hiện này, nghiên cứu đề xuất một (...) số biện pháp tạo động lực và thu hút người học theo đuổi cử nhân ngành logistics. (shrink)

We propose an approach of treating information as an intermediate (or medium). The intermediate can be thought of as an information particle. That particle has three main properties.

Coastal protection is crucial to human development since the ocean has many values associated with the economy, ecosystem, and culture. However, most ocean protecting efforts are currently ineffective due to the burdens of finance, lack of appropriate management, and international cooperation regimes. For aiding bottom-up initiatives for ocean protection support, this study employed the Mindsponge Theory to examine how the public’s perceived economic and cultural values influence their willingness to support actions to protect the ocean. Analyzing the European-Union-Horizon-2020-funded dataset of (...) 709 respondents from 42 countries, we discovered that perceived economic values have negative effects on the tendency of ocean protection supports (i.e., food, transportation, renewable energy, oil and gas, and recreation). In contrast, certain perceived cultural values can help increase the willingness to do so (i.e., mental well-being and sense of identity). However, the effects of perceived cultural values are only moderately reliable. These findings suggest that designing cultural information delivery campaigns can help promote coastal reserve supports, such as fundraisings and preserving the oceans from the community. (shrink)

Starting with the first international publication of Le Van Thiem (Lê Văn Thiêm) in 1947, modern mathematics in Vietnam is a longstanding research field. However, what is known about its development usually comes from discrete essays such as anecdotes or interviews of renowned mathematicians. We introduce SciMath—a database on publications of Vietnamese mathematicians. To ensure this database covers as many publications as possible, data entries are manually collected from scientists’ publication records, journals’ websites, universities, and research institutions. Collected data went (...) through various verification steps to ensure data quality and minimize errors. At the time of this report, the database covered 8372 publications, profiles of 1566 Vietnamese, and 1492 foreign authors since 1947. We found a growing capability in mathematics research in Vietnam in various aspects: scientific output, publications on influential journals, or collaboration. The database and preliminary results were presented to the Scientific Council of Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (VIASM) on November 13th, 2020. (shrink)

Climate change prevention necessitates the communication of transparent and reliable scientific evidence to improve public awareness and support. Felt responsibility is an essential factor influencing human environment-related psychology and behavior. However, the knowledge about the relationship between the felt responsibility and perceived uncertainty of scientific evidence regarding climate change has remained limited. The current study examines factors associated with the perceived uncertainty of scientific evidence (including felt responsibility to act on climate change) among stakeholders of marine and coastal ecosystems in (...) 42 countries. Employing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 709 stakeholders generated by MaCoBioS—a research project funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020, we reveal several main insights. Stakeholders with lower educational levels, being males and not from high-income countries, are more likely to think scientific evidence regarding how to act on climate change is uncertain. Moreover, people with a higher felt responsibility to act on climate change are also more likely to perceive higher uncertainty of scientific evidence. Based on these findings, we discuss how scientific evidence should be communicated to build the eco-surplus culture and, subsequently, the felt responsibility of stakeholders while inoculating them from climate change misinformation and disinformation. (shrink)

Serendipity is defined as the ability to recognize and evaluate unexpected information and generate unintended value from it. The concept has been discussed for centuries. Still, it has only caught the attention of academia quite recently due to its strategic advantage in all aspects of life, such as daily life activities, science and technology, business and entrepreneurship, politics and economics, education administration, career choice and development, etc.

This paper endeavors to understand the research landscape of finance research in Vietnam during the period 2008 to 2020 and predict the key defining future research directions. Using the comprehensive database of Vietnam’s international publications in social sciences and humanities, we extract a dataset of 314 papers on finance topics in Vietnam from 2008 to 2020. Then, we apply a systematic approach to analyze four important themes: Structural issues, Banking system, Firm issues, and Financial psychology and behavior. Overall, there have (...) been three noticeable trends within finance research in Vietnam: (1) assessment of financial policies or financial regulation, (2) deciphering the correlates of firms’ financial performances, and (3) opportunities and challenges in adopting innovations and ideas from foreign financial market systems. Our analysis identifies several fertile areas for future research, including financial market analysis in the post-COVID-19 eras, fintech, and green finance. (shrink)

Products made from animal fur and skin have been a major part of human civilization. However, in modern society, the unsustainable consumption of these products – often considered luxury goods – has many negative environmental impacts. This study explores how people’s perceptions of biodiversity affect their attitudes and behaviors toward consumption. To investigate the information process deeper, we add the moderation of beliefs about biodiversity loss. Following the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics, we use mindsponge-based reasoning for constructing conceptual models (...) and employ Bayesian analysis aided by Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms on a dataset of 535 Vietnamese urban residents. The results show that people’s preference for using products made from animal skin/fur is negatively associated with perceived consequences of biodiversity loss when they believe biodiversity loss is real and a major problem. In contrast, if urban residents believe biodiversity loss is unreal or not a significant issue, the association between perceived consequences of biodiversity loss and personal preference happens in the opposite direction. The same effects of biodiversity loss perception on people’s possession of skin/fur products was not found, indicating a more complex information process on behaviors compared to attitudes. Nevertheless, in the scenario that people believe biodiversity loss is not a significant issue, the higher the perceived consequences of biodiversity loss are, the greater number of animal-based products they likely own. Our results suggest that policymakers should not neglect the factor of personal belief besides knowledge and awareness in environmental campaigns. (shrink)

In the trust-health relationship, how trusting other people in society may promote good health is a topic often examined. However, the other direction of influence – how health may affect trust – has not been well explored. In order to investigate this possible effect, we employed Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics to go deeper into the information processing mechanisms underlying the expressions of trust. Conducting Bayesian analysis on a dataset of 1237 residents from Cali, Colombia, we found that general health (...) status is positively associated with generalized trust, but recent experiences of illnesses/injuries have a negative moderating effect. Personalized trust is largely unchanged across different general health conditions, but the trust level becomes higher with recent experiences of illnesses/injuries. Psychophysiological mechanisms of increasing information filtering intensity toward unfamiliar sources during a vulnerable state of health is a plausible explanation of found patterns in generalized trust. Because established personal relationships are reinforced information channels, personalized trust is not affected as much. Rather, the results suggest that people may rely even more on loved ones when they are in bad health conditions. This exploratory study shows that the trust-health relationship can be examined from a different angle that may provide new insights. (shrink)

The water scarcity crisis is becoming more severe across the globe and recycled water has been suggested as a feasible solution to the crisis. However, expanding the use of potable and recycled public water has been hindered by public acceptance. Previous studies suggest threat perception and trust of provided information have positive linear relationships with recycled water acceptance. However, given the complex filtering role of trust in the human mental process, we argue that the effects of threat perception and trust (...) may have non-linear relationships with acceptance of recycled water for drinking. To support and validate this argument, we employed Bayesian Mindsponge Framework analytics on 726 Spanish residents. We found that individuals more concerned about water shortage are less likely to accept using recycled water for drinking if their trust in the water quality and safety is low. Meanwhile, people more concerned about water shortage are more likely to accept using recycled water for drinking if they trust the water quality and safety. The findings suggest the non-linear relationships between threat perception, trust, and recycled water acceptance while validating mindsponge-based reasoning. Moreover, the results also highlight the importance of trust in influencing the mental process’s outcome: recycled water acceptance. (shrink)

Machine-based automation has long been a key factor in the modern era. However, lately, many people have been shocked by artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as ChatGPT (OpenAI), that can perform tasks previously thought to be human-exclusive. With recent advances in natural language processing (NLP) technologies, AI can generate written content that is similar to human-made products, and this ability has a variety of applications. As the technology of large language models continues to progress by making use of colossal reservoirs (...) of digital information, AI is becoming more capable of recognizing patterns and associations within given contexts, making it especially helpful in assisting with various professional writing tasks [1]. In this paper, we will discuss several key points regarding the current state and future of AI in academia. Furthermore, since in certain aspects, acts can speak louder than words, we will also present some of our hands-on experiences of working with ChatGPT. (shrink)

Since 2013, Vietnam has implemented a plan to reform the whole education sector. However, there is little understanding on the status of educational research in Vietnam, which may lay the foundation for such plan. Thus, this research aims to analyze the whole picture of educational research from Vietnam, as seen from the Clarivate Web of Science (WOS) database: 215 publications were recorded, ranging from 1991 to 2018. These 215 publications were further analyzed from five perspectives: 1) number of publications by (...) year; 2) research fields and levels of education; 3) top institutions with the highest number of publications; 4) international collaboration; and 5) quality. Some of the most notable results are: 1) the educational sciences in Vietnam have been still under-developed until recently; 2) among different research topics research among educational sciences, some (e.g., Vocational Education and Training or Early Childhood Education) seemed to be overlooked whereas others (e.g., Higher Education and Teaching and Learning) seemed to receive more attention from educational scholars; 3) all the most major education – specialized universities did not appear among the top five institutions with highest number of publications; 4) Australia, Thailand, the USA, New Zealand and China were the countries with the highest number of co-publications with Vietnamese researchers; and 5) The majority of publications belonged to low-ranked journals. Implications would be withdrawn for Vietnamese policymakers, education leaders, educational researchers and teachers in order to adjust their policies and/or action plans; thus, enhancing the performance and impacts of educational research in the future. (shrink)

Video gaming has been rising rapidly to become one of the primary entertainment media, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Playing video games has been reported to associate with many psychological and behavioral traits. However, little is known about the connections between game players' behaviors in the virtual environment and environmental perceptions. Thus, the current data set offers valuable resources regarding environmental worldviews and behaviors in the virtual world of 640 Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) game players from 29 countries around (...) the globe. The data set consists of six major categories: 1) socio-demographic profile, 2) COVID-19 concern, 3) environmental perception, 4) game-playing habit, 5) in-game behavior, and 6) game-playing feeling. By making this data set open, we aim to provide policymakers, game producers, and researchers with valuable resources for understanding the interactions between behaviors in the virtual world and environmental perceptions, which could help produce video games in compliance with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu xác định và đo lường được các nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến quyết định sử dụng dịch vụ của khách hàng cá nhân tại Ngân hàng Thương mại Cổ phần Phát triển Nhà TP. Hồ Chí Minh (HDBank) - Chi nhánh Đồng Nai. Kết quả của nghiên cứu cho thấy, có 7 nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến quyết định sử dụng dịch vụ của khách hàng cá nhân tại HDBank - Chi nhánh Đồng Nai bao gồm: Phương (...) tiện hữu hình; Sản phẩm/dịch vụ; Chất lượng dịch vụ; Mức phí sử dụng dịch vụ; Chính sách ngân hàng; Sự giới thiệu; Uy tín của thương hiệu. (shrink)

Du lịch và khách sạn là ngành mang lại hiệu quả kinh tế cao, nhưng cũng là ngành có nhiều tác động đến môi trường sinh thái. Trong bối cảnh biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH) đang diễn ra mạnh mẽ, đồng thời với quá trình đô thị hóa tại TP. Hồ Chí Minh, hiện chuyển đổi xanh trong ngành khách sạn và du lịch sẽ góp phần giảm tiêu thụ tài nguyên, ô nhiễm môi trường và thúc đẩy phát (...) triển kinh tế bền vững. Bài viết phân tích thực trạng chuyển đổi xanh ở các doanh nghiệp du lịch và khách sạn trên địa bàn TP. Hồ Chí Minh. Trên cơ sở đó, đề xuất một số giải pháp để giúp các doanh nghiệp này tham gia vào cuộc cách mạng xanh, góp phần vào sự phát triển bền vững của đất nước trong giai đoạn hiện nay. -/- [Tourism and hotels are high economic efficiency industries but at the same time also have various impacts on the ecological environment. In the context that climate change has taken place strongly, with the urbanization process in Ho Chi Minh City, green transition in the hotel and tourism industries will contribute to reducing resource consumption, reducing environmental pollution, and promoting sustainable economic development. This article analyzes the status of green transition in tourism and hotel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City. On that basis, proposes some solutions to help these businesses participate in the green revolution, contributing to the sustainable development of the country in the current period.]. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu nhằm xác định và đánh giá mức độ ảnh hưởng của các yếu tố trong việc đưa ra quyết định chọn trường đại học của học sinh THPT. Phương pháp phỏng vấn trực tuyến (online) kết hợp với bảng hỏi được sử dụng để thu thập dữ liệu từ 200 sinh viên năm nhất của các Trường Đại học ở Hà Nội và ngoài khu vực Hà Nội, trong thời gian tháng 2 và tháng 3 năm 2020. Phương (...) pháp phân tích khám phá nhân tố và phương pháp hồi quy tuyến tính được ứng dụng để phân tích số liệu. Kết quả cho thấy sinh viên khá hài lòng và khá chắc chắn với quyết định lựa chọn trường đại học của mình, trong khi đó có 4 yếu tố quan trọng ảnh hưởng đến việc quyết định chọn trường đại học. Các yếu tố có độ lớn giảm dần theo thứ tự là (1) yếu tố thông tin, quảng cáo, (2) yếu tố thương hiệu và việc làm, (3) yếu tố bản thân học sinh, và (4) yếu tố học phí và cơ sở vật chất. Từ kết quả nghiên cứu, chúng tôi đề xuất một số giải pháp nhằm giúp các em học sinh tìm được trường phù hợp và hỗ trợ các trường đại học cải thiện sự hiệu quả của công tác tuyển sinh trong thời gian đến. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu tập trung phân tích ảnh hưởng của đặc điểm tài chính đến khả năng thanh toán của các công ty lĩnh vực xây dựng và bất động sản niêm yết trên thị trường chứng khoán Việt Nam. Dữ liệu nghiên cứu thu thập từ báo cáo tài chính của tất cả công ty lĩnh vực xây dựng và bất động sản niêm yết trên Sở Giao dịch Chứng khoán TP. Hồ Chí Minh (HOSE) và Sở Giao dịch (...) Chứng khoán Hà Nội (HNX) trong giai đoạn 2016-2022. Nghiên cứu sử dụng phương pháp hồi quy đa biến để phân tích tác động của các nhân tố. Kết quả phân tích cho thấy, Khả năng thanh toán hiện hành của các công ty được phân tích chịu tác động của các nhân tố: Tỷ lệ nợ trên vốn chủ sở hữu; Quy mô tổng tài sản; Lưu chuyển tiền thuần từ hoạt động kinh doanh; Cấu trúc tài sản; Tỷ lệ vốn lưu động. Trong khi, Khả năng thanh toán tức thời chịu tác động của các nhân tố: Tỷ lệ nợ trên vốn chủ sở hữu; Quy mô tổng tài sản; Tốc độ tăng trưởng doanh thu thuần; Lưu chuyển tiền thuần từ hoạt động kinh doanh; Cấu trúc tài sản; Tỷ lệ vốn lưu động. [The study focuses on analyzing the impact of financial characteristics on the solvency of construction and real estate companies listed on Vietnam stock market. Research data is collected from financial statements of all construction and real estate companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange in the period 2016-2022. Employing multivariate regression, the study indicates that solvency of the aforementioned companies is affected by the following factors: Debt-to-equity ratio; Scale Total assets; Net cash flow from operating activities; Asset structure; Working capital ratio. In addition, Immediate liquidity is impacted by the following factors: Debt-to-equity ratio; Total assets; Net revenue growth rate; Net cash flow from operating activities; Asset structure; Working capital ratio.]. (shrink)

Modern society faces major environmental problems, but there are many difficulties in studying the nature–human relationship from an integral psychosocial perspective. We propose the ecomind sponge conceptual framework, based on the mindsponge theory of information processing. We present a systematic method to examine the nature–human relationship with conceptual frameworks of system boundaries, selective exchange, and adaptive optimization. The theoretical mechanisms were constructed based on principles and new evidence in natural sciences. The core mechanism of ecomindsponge is the subjective sphere of (...) influence, which is the limited mental representation of information received from and processed based on the objective sphere of influence–actual interactions in reality. The subjective sphere is the sum of two sub-spheres: influencing (proactive) and being influenced (reactive). Maladaptation in thinking and behavior of the mind as an information collection-cum-processor results from the deviation of the subjective sphere from reality, which includes two main types: “stupidity” and “delusion”. Using Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 535 urban residents, we provide consistent statistical evidence on the proposed properties of subjective spheres. The dynamic framework of ecomindsponge can be used flexibly and practically for environmental research as well as other psychosocial fields. (shrink)

We propose the theory of ecomindsponge to focus on examining the human information processing system in relation to the Earth’s ecosphere. This can help in the quest of knowing where we stand in this Universe and the basic mechanisms of how we interact with the natural environment.

Công bố khoa học được xem là một trong những thước đo trình độ phát triển khoa học công nghệ và sức cạnh tranh của mỗi một quốc gia do đó nó luôn là chủ đề gây chú ý đối với toàn xã hội trong những năm gần đây. Nâng cao số lượng và chất lượng nghiên cứu khoa học, công bố quốc tế được xem là một trong những yếu tố quan trọng quyết định đến sự hình thành và (...) phát triển của các nhóm nghiên cứu cũng như quyết định cho sự thành công của các hoạt động khoa học công nghệ của bất kỳ cơ quan tổ chức nghiên cứu, giáo dục nào. Nghiên cứu này được thực hiện nhằm đánh giá vai trò của các nhóm nghiên cứu đối với việc công bố quốc tế riêng trong lĩnh vực khoa học tự nhiên và kỹ thuật. (shrink)

Art and Culture are very important aspects of humanity. However, due to their abstract nature, attempts to quantify the value of such fields have been the challenges for the scientific community. Recently, a new work of Vuong et al. (2019) presents an approach that sheds light on the possibility of applying Bayesian networks analysis to clarify the connection between architecture, for example, the design of the house façade and cultural evolution in Vietnamese city in the early 20th century.

The expanding integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in various aspects of society makes the infosphere around us increasingly complex. Humanity already faces many obstacles trying to have a better understanding of our own minds, but now we have to continue finding ways to make sense of the minds of AI. The issue of AI’s capability to have independent thinking is of special attention. When dealing with such an unfamiliar concept, people may rely on existing human properties, such as survival desire, (...) to make assessments. Employing information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 266 residents in the United States, we found that the more people believe that an AI agent seeks continued functioning, the more they believe in that AI agent’s capability of having a mind of its own. Moreover, we also found that the above association becomes stronger if a person is more familiar with personally interacting with AI. This suggests a directional pattern of value reinforcement in perceptions of AI. As the information processing of AI becomes even more sophisticated in the future, it will be much harder to set clear boundaries about what it means to have an autonomous mind. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu nhằm kiểm định độ tin cậy của thang đo nhân tố thiện cảm tiêu dùng trong ý định mua hàng may mặc Trung Quốc của người tiêu dùng tại Hà Nội. Các tác giả đã sử dụng phương pháp định lượng, với số liệu được thu thập từ khảo sát thực tế 250 khách hàng là người tiêu dùng tại Hà Nội năm 2022 và hệ số Cronbach’s Anpha để xác định độ tin cậy của 19 biến quan (...) sát trong nhân tố thiện cảm tiêu dùng. Kết quả cho thấy, thang đo nhân tố Thiện cảm tiêu dùng trong Ý định mua hàng may mặc Trung Quốc tại Hà Nội đạt độ tin cậy cao. (shrink)

Serendipity is defined as an ability to notice, evaluate, and take advantage of unexpected information for survival purposes (both natural and social). Based on this definition, Nancy K. Napier and Vuong Quan Hoang propose a framework to develop the notion of serendipity as a strategic advantage (or competitive advantage), both in practice and in research.

Space tourism is an emerging field where few people have direct experience. However, considering the potential in the near future, it is beneficial to better understand how related information influences people’s attitudes about this new form of tourism. Employing information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 361 respondents consuming content related to space tourism on Chinese social media, we found that induced happiness and impression are positively associated with willingness to try space tourism. Information authenticity positively moderates (...) these two associations. Our findings emphasize three aspects of information during the processes of reception and filtering: meaning, intensity, and trust. Since promotional materials for space tourism rely heavily on mental simulations rather than objective feedback, creative uses of digital technology are advantageous. However, precautions must be taken to prevent exploitation, such as false advertising, exaggeration, and emotional manipulation. (shrink)

Food security is one of the major concerns in the Philippines. Although livestock and poultry production accounts for a significant proportion of the country’s agricultural output, smallholder households are still vulnerable to food insecurity. The current study aims to examine how livestock production and selling difficulties affect smallholder households’ food-insecure conditions. For this objective, Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Data in Emergencies Monitoring (DIEM) system. We found that production and (...) selling difficulties significantly adversely affect food insecurity in the Philippines. However, their effects vary according to the severity of food insecurity. In particular, production and selling difficulties affect the households’ likelihood of eating less healthy and nutritious food equally. However, the production difficulties have more negligible impacts on the possibility of skipping meals and even ambiguous impacts on the likelihood of not eating for a whole day compared to the effects of selling difficulties. Moreover, we also found that the market plays a crucial role in facilitating not only livestock trading but also livestock production (e.g., purchase of feed and medicines). Based on these findings, we suggest that the livestock market needs to be expanded and regulated to maintain the balancing prices between livestock products and products and services used for livestock production, and facilitate the product-exchanging mechanism. (shrink)

Extant literature suggests a positive correlation between social trust (also called generalized trust) and life satisfaction. However, the psychological pathways underlying this relationship can be complex. Using the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF), we examined the influence of social trust in a high-violence environment. Employing Bayesian analysis on a sample of 1237 adults in Cali, Colombia, we found that in a linear relationship, generalized trust is positively associated with life satisfaction. However, in a model including the interactions between trust and education (...) level as well as between trust and socioeconomic status, generalized trust is found to be negatively associated with life satisfaction. In this non-linear relationship, both education level and socioeconomic status have moderating effects against the negative association between generalized trust and life satisfaction. In other words, less educated people living in worse socioeconomic conditions are more likely to have lower life satisfaction when they have higher levels of social trust. In contrast, highly educated people living in better socioeconomic conditions are more likely to have higher life satisfaction when they have higher levels of social trust. Due to the facilitating function of trust in information processing, lowering the rigor of the filtering system in a high-violence social environment will likely put an individual at risk. Based on our findings, we suggest that policymakers should consider the impacts of social contexts when advocating for increasing social trust. We also recommend that researchers carefully examine the psychological mechanism underlying an observed association before making suggestions for policymaking. (shrink)

Cheating is widely considered a condemnable behavior in society and a big problem in the educational system. In this study, we employ the information-processing-based Bayesian Mindsponge Framework to explore deeper the subjective cost-benefit evaluation involving the perceived value of cheating. Conducting Bayesian analysis on 493 university students from Germany, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, and Japan, we found that students who have more positive attitudes toward cheating are more likely to cheat. However, a higher capability of cognitive reflection acts as a moderator (...) that negates the above effect. Re-evaluation of prior thoughts allows for more accurate assessments of the associated risks and possible costs, which help reduce the probability of carrying out cheating behavior. As rapid technological advancement may introduce new and efficient cheating methods, a better understanding of the psychology of cheating in students can help schools prepare better countermeasures. (shrink)

Food prices are a daily concern in many households’ decision-making, especially when people want to have healthier diets. Employing Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 710 Indonesian citizens, we found that people from wealthier households are less likely to have concerns about food prices. However, the degree of health considerations in food consumption was found to moderate against the above association. In other words, people of higher income-based social classes may worry more about food prices if they (...) care more about the health impacts of their food choices. These findings provide more insights for policymakers on the psychological aspects of promoting the balance between finance and health in food consumption. (shrink)

This study aims to describe the COVID-19 related information searching behaviors and the relationship between those behaviors and the satisfaction with the COVID-19 related information searched on the Internet among university students during first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam.

The nationwide economic reform in 1986 transformed Vietnam from a centrally planned economy to a socialist-oriented market economy. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial spirits within the populace are suggested to fuel the structural changes. Despite the importance of entrepreneurship in Vietnam’s economy, studies in Vietnam mainly pay attention to the practical aspects of entrepreneurial activities and neglect the cognitive and theoretical aspects of entrepreneurship. Thus, the current study employs the information-processing perspective of the Mindsponge Theory to explore how entrepreneurs’ knowledge accumulation can (...) affect their perceived likelihood of business success. Bayesian analysis indicates that business-related experience positively affects entrepreneurs’ business success likelihood. Greater willingness/readiness to transform thinking, acting, and beliefs can improve the business success of entrepreneurs who study others’ failures carefully. However, for entrepreneurs who perceive learning from others’ failures as unnecessary, higher willingness/readiness to transform diminishes their chance of success. Based on these findings, we recommend Vietnamese entrepreneurs accumulate knowledge through experience, learning, and an open mind for better decision-making and innovation creation capabilities. However, the learning process should be selective. (shrink)

Precognition is an anomaly in information transmission and interpretation. Extant literature suggests that paranormal beliefs and gender may have significant influences on this unknown information process. This study examines the effects of these two factors, including their interactions, on precognition performance by employing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics. Using Bayesian analysis on secondary data of 60 participants, we found that men may have higher chances to score a hit in a precognition task compared to women. Interestingly, stronger beliefs in (...) the paranormal may decrease the success probability in performing precognition tasks. Considering the interactions between the two factors, the effect of paranormal beliefs on precognition task performance is stronger in men than women. Using mindsponge-based reasoning, we argue that paranormal beliefs may increase the interference of imagination in the reception of hypothetical precognitive information. Women tend to rely more on intuition, which may lessen the interference effect of imagination on hypothetical psi reception. Based on the findings, we suggest that researchers should be careful when assessing participants’ psi potential for experiments. We also demonstrate some advantages of utilizing the BMF in parapsychological research. (shrink)

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), tremendous efforts have been made by scientists, health professionals, business people, politicians, and laypeople around the world. Covid-19 vaccines are one of the most crucial innovations that help fight against the virus. This paper attempts to revisit the Covid-19 vaccines production process by employing the serendipity-mindsponge-3D creativity management theory. Vaccine production can be considered an information process and classified into three main stages. The first stage involved the processes of absorbing information (...) (e.g., digital data and open science) and rejecting unhelpful information (e.g., misinformation and fake news) for effectively acquiring useful insights. Useful insights were later employed by experts, enterprises, governments, and international organizations through interdisciplinary coordinated efforts for developing vaccines within a short period. Finally, the appearance of multiple types of vaccines enabled more strategic options for vaccine distribution and administration. Findings from this vaccine creativity management process could be used as critical lessons for further improvements of vaccination programs. (shrink)

After employing the mindsponge mechanism and 3D information process of creativity to explain the serendipity process in previous chapters, we realize that it may be helpful to delve into the relations between serendipity and the formulation of new values and information connections through non-linear processes. Thus, this chapter summarizes some preliminary attempts to use non-linear information processes to explain serendipity. We also briefly mention the benefits of information exchange among members of social groups and explain this approach.

Thông qua kết quả phỏng vấn 300 sinh viên Trường Kinh tế, Luật, Trường Đại học Trà Vinh, nghiên cứu phân tích các yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến việc ứng dụng Chat GPT trong học tập của sinh viên khối ngành Kinh tế, Luật. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy, có 4 yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến việc ứng dụng Chat GPT vào học tập của sinh viên, gồm: Kỳ vọng khả năng thực hiện; Ảnh hưởng xã hội; Tính chính (...) xác; Thái độ của sinh viên. Trong đó, yếu tố Thái độ kỳ vọng khả năng thực hiện của sinh viên có tác động mạnh nhất. (shrink)

This short communication piece uses the data sets provided by Baas, Boyack & Ioannidis (2021), released on October 20, 2022 (retrieved on March 28, 2022).

Bài viết sử dụng phương pháp hồi quy bình phương nhỏ nhất và phương pháp phương sai sai số thay đổi có điều kiện tự hồi quy nhằm mục đích xem xét tác động của nợ công đến tăng trưởng kinh tế khu vực châu Á trong giai đoạn 1998-2021. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy, Tỷ lệ nợ công, Mức độ tăng trưởng kinh tế tại thời điểm năm trước và Mức độ lạm phát sẽ có ảnh hưởng tiêu (...) cực đến Tăng trưởng kinh tế. Ngược lại, các biến Tăng trưởng chi tiêu chính phủ, Tỷ lệ tổng vốn cố định hình thành và Tăng trưởng xuất khẩu sẽ có ảnh hưởng tích cực đến Tăng trưởng kinh tế ở mức ý nghĩa cao. (shrink)

Rapid urbanization in Vietnam significantly impacts the environment and human well-being. Public parks are crucial for enhancing social and environmental sustainability in urban areas, yet their establishment and expansion require substantial funding. This study investigates the factors influencing Vietnamese urban residents’ willingness to donate to planting projects in public parks, utilizing the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF), which combines Mindsponge Theory’s informational entropy-based notion of value with Bayesian analysis. Analyzing data from 535 residents in major Vietnamese cities, we found that while (...) men visit public parks more frequently, they are less willing to donate to planting projects. Older residents visit parks more often and are more willing to donate, while higher-income individuals show greater willingness to donate. Most motivations—such as relaxation, physical activities, nature enjoyment, socializing, and family time—are positively linked to park visit frequency and indirectly to donation willingness. However, only relaxation and enjoyment of nature are directly associated with willingness to donate. Interestingly, higher education levels and visiting parks for children’s educational activities are associated with lower donation willingness. These findings hint at the possible existence of the free-riding problem, gender inequality, ineffective environmental education, and lack of awareness of public parks’ natural value, as well as opportunities to cultivate an eco-surplus culture through nature interactions in public parks. (shrink)

Patients with serious illnesses or injuries may decide to quit their medical treatment if they think paying the fees will put their families into destitution. Without treatment, it is likely that fatal outcomes will soon follow. We call this phenomenon “near-suicide”. This study attempted to explore this phenomenon by examining how the seriousness of the patient’s illness or injury and the subjective evaluation of the patient’s and family’s financial situation after paying treatment fees affect the final decision on the treatment (...) process. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics were employed to analyze a dataset of 1042 Vietnamese patients. We found that the more serious the illnesses or injuries of patients were, the more likely they were to choose to quit treatment if they perceived that paying the treatment fees heavily affected their families’ financial status. Particularly, only one in four patients with the most serious health issues who thought that continuing the treatment would push themselves and their families into destitution would decide to continue the treatment. Considering the information-filtering mechanism using subjective cost–benefit judgments, these patients likely chose the financial well-being and future of their family members over their individual suffering and inevitable death. Our study also demonstrates that mindsponge-based reasoning and BMF analytics can be effective in designing and processing health data for studying extreme psychosocial phenomena. Moreover, we suggest that policymakers implement and adjust their policies (e.g., health insurance) following scientific evidence to mitigate patients’ likelihood of making “near-suicide” decisions and improve social equality in the healthcare system. (shrink)

Nghiên cứu đánh giá hiệu quả của các mô hình học máy trong việc dự đoán biến động của chỉ số VNIndex. Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy, phương pháp mạng tích chập thời gian (Temporal Convolutional Networks - TCN) và mạng bộ nhớ dài ngắn (Long Short - Term Memory - LSTM) có khả năng dự báo biến động chỉ số VNIndex với độ chính xác cao, trong đó LSTM thể hiện có hiệu quả dự báo tốt hơn. Phát (...) hiện từ nghiên cứu này không chỉ góp phần vào lý thuyết dự báo tài chính mà còn cung cấp công cụ hữu ích cho các nhà đầu tư và các nhà quản lý quỹ trong việc ra quyết định đầu tư trên thị trường chứng khoán Việt Nam. [This research evaluates the effectiveness of machine learning models in predicting VNIndex fluctuations. Research results show that the method of temporal convolutional networks (TCN) and long short–term memory networks (LSTM) are capable of predicting VNIndex fluctuations with high accuracy, in which LSTM shows better forecasting performance. Findings from this study not only contribute to financial forecasting theory but also provide useful tools for investors and fund managers in making investment decisions in the Vietnamese stock market.]. (shrink)

This document represents some preliminary and unpublished content of a chapter in the edited book titled A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism, which will soon be published and distributed by De Gruyter Poland (Sciendo Imprint; part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin, Germany). A proper referencing should be like: Quan-Hoang Vuong, Tam-Tri Le, Quy Khuc, Minh-Hoang Nguyen. (2022). A new theory of serendipity. In: QH Vuong. (Ed.) A New Theory of Serendipity: Nature, Emergence and Mechanism (pp. (...) 91-108). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. (shrink)

Humankind is facing many existential global problems that require international and transgenerational efforts to be solved. Preparing our next generation with sufficient knowledge and skills to deal with such problems is imperative. Fortunately, the digital environment provides foundational conditions for children’s and adolescents’ exploration and self-learning, which might help them cultivate the necessary knowledge and skills for future survival. We conducted the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 2069 students from 54 Vietnamese elementary, secondary, and high schools (...) to test this presumption. The results showed that students with higher digital literacy are more curious and have better knowledge regarding global issues (i.e., climate change, disease, overpopulation, aging, etc.). Students’ curiosity also mediates the relationship between digital literacy and global issues knowledge. Based on these findings, we argue that digital explorative space is essential for digital natives’ education for survival, individually (i.e., for future employment requirements) and socially (i.e., for making informed decisions and creating innovations that can be helpful to society). Children’s and adolescents’ exposure to digital explorative space should be promoted to improve their digital literacy rather than prohibition. During the exploration, emotional intelligence is critical in mitigating existential risks, or threats, to digital natives to navigate and overcome chaotic processes occurring in unchartered waters in the virtual world. (shrink)

To validate the new theory of serendipity that we have presented, the case of “floppy-eared-rabbit” with Dr. Lewis Thomas and Dr. Aaron Kellner was used as an example. We go through each important stage in the story and explain the events in terms of serendipity’s conditionality, survival motives, and information process. The characteristics of serendipity gain and loss phenomena are also interpreted in a similar manner.

We review the progress of the Mindsponge concept and the bayesvl R package in scientific research from 2018 to 2021.

Many previous studies evaluated factors influencing entrepreneurial intention including psychological factors, social economic factors, family circumstance, etc. In contrast, there are very few studies examine the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intention. Thus, this paper aim to identify the list of competencies that impact entrepreneurial intention among Southeast Asian students who influenced by Confucianism. The conceptual model was established based on the list of previous studies in this field with a sample size of 1000 students who study in University (...) of Economics-The University of Danang. The main finding indicated that (i) from eleven independent variables listed from previous studies, only six independent variables remain; (ii) there are no evidences to prove that risk management and tenacity/ perseverance were associated with entrepreneurship intention. These results have important values in developing entrepreneurship training programs to promote students' entrepreneurial intention among Southeast Asian Countries. (shrink)

Air pollution is a considerable environmental stressor for urban residents in developing countries. Perceived health risks of air pollution might induce migration intention among inhabitants. The current study employed the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) to investigate the rationale behind the domestic and international migration intentions among 475 inhabitants in Hanoi, Vietnam – one of the most polluted capital cities worldwide. We found that people perceiving more impacts of air pollution in their daily life are more likely to have migration intention. (...) The effect of perceived air pollution impact on international migration intention is stronger than that of domestic migration. Acknowledging a family member’s air pollution-induced sickness moderated the association between perceived air pollution impact and domestic migration intention, while the personal experience of air pollution-induced sickness did not. In contrast, the moderation effect of personal experience of sickness became significant in the international migration circumstance, but the effect of information about a family member’s sickness was trivial. The findings suggest that urban inhabitants’ consideration of air pollution averting strategies reflects some characteristics of Homo Oeconomicus. Additionally, the individual’s socio-economic decision is seemingly insignificant on a social scale. Still, through environmental stressors as catalysts, such decisions might result in considerable social outcomes (e.g., internal migration and emigration). (shrink)

Suicidal ideation mechanism is the psychological process of how thoughts of killing oneself emerge and persist in the mind. From the Mindsponge-based suicidal ideation mechanism perspective, there are two conditions for suicidal ideation to happen: (1) the existence of accessible suicide-related information in the environment, and (2) the subjective perception that suicide being a beneficial option. Psychosocial factors (e.g. social connectedness or burdensomeness) can affect these two conditions and, in turn, influence the probability of suicidal ideation.

The psycho-religious mechanism of suicide is an information processing mechanism of how the mind perceives the idea of self-killing, with a focus on the factor of trust as well as mortality-related information from religious sources. It can be considered an expansion of the new Mindsponge-based suicidal ideation mechanism.

This paper is aimed at analyzing the effects of banking relationship on performance of Vietnamese firms in Food and Beverage (F&B), one of the highest potential sectors. Panel data of 170 observations covers 34 F&B firms listed in the Vietnam stock exchanges in the period 2014-2018. The fixed effect model (FEM) is applied. The key findings are: First, short-term loan financing, leverage, and fixed asset ratios all negatively impacted on F&B firm performance, while firm size and net profit margin had (...) positive impacts. These findings were consistent with previous studies. Second, the opposite results with previous studies were: (i) negative corelation of ROE and number of banks firms working with, as F&B firms were inefficient in selecting bank partners; (ii) positive relation of short-term liabilities ratio and ROA/ROE, as F&B firms utilize other non-bank liabilities shortly; (iii) foreign ownership had negative relationship with ROA& ROE. Foreign investors did not have significant roles in most F&B firms. Third, long-term borrowing from banks, state ownership and ages all insignificantly correlated with firm performance. Recommendations to F&B firms include: (1) Reduce the short- term loans and fixed assets investment, while increase the cheap equity funding sources via shareholders (2) Be selective in working with banks to have better fees and interest saved with banks. (3) Utilize other short-term liabilities, including payables and advances – the low-cost funding sources. F&B firms have good bargaining powers in requesting advances from their clients. (4) Have smart buy-in strategies on foreign ownership. (shrink)