Mountainous Province Research Articles

Application of GIS in land quality mapping for agricultural planning of Ha Giang Province

In Vietnam, agriculture development is one of the most important tasks to secure food resources and reduce poverty. The north of Vietnam is the high mountain areas which are in the low development stage, agriculture is the main source of income of households. Ha Giang is a typical mountainous province, in which land management is very important in the development of economic. To get good land management, land evaluation is needed. The land quality evaluation is an important step in the land evaluation process. The paper presents the application of a geographical information system (GIS) and establish the land quality map in Ha Giang province in accordance with the Food & Agriculture Organization framework. The evaluation process starts from defining the land quality indicators which are in 4 categories: Climatic, Terrain, Soil, and Hydrological. The indicators are standardized and classify according to the FAO land quality evaluation system, all of data is processes in GIS environment, each indicator is a data layer in GIS database. The result is maps of indicators and the land quality map of Ha Giang province. There are 126 land quality units in which, more than half of them are of Feralsol. The result of the study can be used in various fields of management as agriculture, land use, infrastructure development,…

Evaluation the current specifications for bridge in mountainous area of Vietnam

Vietnam area is more than 320,000 square kilometers and three – forth are mountainous area. The transportation in this mountainous is very hard. Due to the mountainous geography, there is a lack of bridge which allow pedestrian or low – loading vehicle passing through. Besides the technical specification that was officially issued only cover the bridge on Highway and rural road. In this paper, the results of survey of bridge condition at 3 mountainous provinces is introduced and the evaluation of current specification, the basic technical specifications for mountainous bridges are also proposed.

In-situ Fine Basalt Soil Reinforced by Cement Combined with Additive DZ33 to Construct Rural Roads in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam

Today, the use of additives to enhance the load-bearing capacity of the soil has been applied to some rural roads in a number of provinces in Viet Nam, proving the outstanding advantages. This paper presents the results of research work and techno-application to rural road construction with on-spot fine basalt soil combined with adhesives including cement PCB40 and additive DZ33. The experimental results show that additive DZ33 has made it possible to increase the hydration ability with cement when effectively reacting with soil particles to reduce construction costs and environmental harms, improve the intensity of reinforced soil mix such as Elastic modulus of reinforced soil (Es), splitting tensile strength (f’st), compressive strength (f’s) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR). Successful application of additive DZ33 combined with cement in soil reinforcement to build rural transport works not only brings about economic efficiency but also, makes use of in-situ fine basalt soil to create a new material for the construction industry, humbly contributing to the study of rural road development in Gia Lai mountainous province in particular and Vietnamese transport infrastructures in general.

Educating Children's Rights and Responsibilities for Elementary School Students of Tay-Nung Ethnic Groups in the Northern Mountainous Regions – Vietnam

Educating children's rights and responsibilities for Tay and Nung elementary school students is an important educational content contributing to the implementation of comprehensive educational goals for ethnic minority pupils of primary schools who are living in the mountainous areas of Northern Vietnam. The rights and duties of students are mainly carried out in life and are greatly influenced by cultural characteristics of the nation such as customs, ways of life, communication, festivals, beliefs, spirituality, etc. The problem is to clarify the theoretical basis for using local knowledge in educating students' rights and responsibilities, analyzing the reality of exploiting local knowledge in educating Tay and Nung elementary school students. Since then some measures are proposed to educate children's rights and responsibilities through the use of local knowledge in the Northern Upland region. In this paper, the author has used a paper-based survey method and direct interviews with students and teachers in 6 mountainous provinces in Northern Vietnam. The survey was conducted by the support of 618 Tay-Nung ethnic minority students and 245 teachers and administrators. Through the results achieved in this study, we need to integrate the education of children in this mountainous area by incorporating real life. The habits and culture of mountainous children need to be emphasized in education because this combination makes sense for educating students' rights and obligations. Besides, we can preserve the cultural identity of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups. This is of great significance in designing a complete educational program that aims to educate the children.

Promising Potato Cultivars for Industrial Processing in Dagestan

One of the promising areas for the potato business and a potential for increasing its overall profitability is industrial processing. As a result of it, consumers are offered semifinished or ready-to-eat products. The purpose of this work, which was carried out in 2017–2019 at the Kurakhsky mountain test site, was to investigate the productivity and quality indicators of potato cultivars and hybrids in the high mountains of the Republic of Dagestan and to identify cultivars with high dry-matter and starch content as promising for industrial processing. The study was carried out using 22 potato cultivars of domestic and foreign breeding. According to the results of field studies, the following cultivars with high productivity were identified: Zhukovsky Ranny, Impala, Irbitsky, Krepysh, Manifesto, Nevsky, Spiridon, and Udacha, with yields of 33.7–38.0 t/ha. Comparative assessment using the data of the originators of the cultivars and the data of our studies showed that the solids content in tubers increases by 3–6% depending on the cultivar when growing potatoes in the mountainous climatic conditions of the republic. As a result of our study, cultivars with high solids content (more than 25%) were identified: Alena, Vector, Gioconda, Desiree, Matushka, Nart, Primobella, Predgorny, and Rossi. This investigation showed that the mountainous province of the republic is characterized by favorable soil and climatic conditions for the cultivation of potatoes with a wide range of applications, both food-related and processing ones. The most suitable cultivars for industrial processing, taking into account their quality indicators, were identified.

TBE in Italy

Italy is considered a low-incidence country for tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Europe.1 Areas at higher risk for TBE in Italy are geographically clustered in the forested and mountainous regions and provinces in the north east part of the country, as suggested by TBE case series published over the last decade.2-5 A national enhanced surveillance system for TBE has been established since 2017.6 Before this, information on the occurrence of TBE cases at the national level in Italy was lacking. Both incidence rates and the geographical distribution of the disease were mostly inferred from endemic areas where surveillance was already in place, ad hoc studies and international literature.1

Towards mapping large scale soil erodibility by using pedological knowledge

ABSTRACT Soil erodibility is a key parameter to measure soil susceptibility to water erosion and thus to soil erosion modelling, introduced as K factor in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). However, subject to soil spatial heterogeneity and data availability, large-scale K value acquisition has not been properly addressed. In this study, authors aimed to construct a new large-scale soil erodibility mapping technique to provide methodological support for regional soil erosion surveys. Taking the mountainous Yunnan province as a case, 743 soil samples from 252 typical soil series were collected. A ‘GIS-based pedological method’ was developed to construct a large-scale soil erodibility database by linking a soil map with soil properties. K value in Yunnan varied between 0.0004 and 0.0169 t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1, with an average of 0.0065 t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1. Significantly different K values were found among different types of soils and land use (p < 0.05). Redundancy analysis indicated that annual average temperature and latitude were the dominant control factors. The study showed that regional K value estimated by ‘GIS-based pedological method’ manifested an improvement compared to the traditional spatial interpolation method.

Do settlements isolation and land use changes affect poverty? Evidence from a mountainous province of China

Abstract The impact of settlements isolation and land-use changes on poverty is often overlooked. This study explored the spatial pattern and impact of settlements isolation and land use changes on poverty in Guizhou, a mountainous province of China, based on a Pearson correlation analysis and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The results showed that the incidence of high poverty levels in the counties of Guizhou tended to move from the southwest to the southeast over the period of 2005–2015. Both settlements isolation and land use changes had an impact on poverty, and this effect displayed spatial heterogeneity. With other factors unchanged, a 1 m increase in settlements isolation was associated with a statistically significant 0.58% increase in poverty incidence. Changes in the area of crop land, water, and forest land had a significant impact on poverty. The authors suggest that in the process of resettlement, the distance between settlements should be kept less than 5000 m if possible. The government needs to further improve and implement preferential land use policies, with appropriate increases in the area of built-up land.

A study on factors affecting school principals’ competencies in Vietnam’s mountainous provinces

Given principals’ central role in school performance, this study seeks to explore factors that influence school principal competency. The study employed a quantitative research approach. A survey questionnaire was administered to 290 principals across six northwestern mountainous provinces in Vietnam. The questionnaire considered eight areas of principal competency, including self-development and the development of others; school organization and operation; staff development; instructional programme management; education quality assurance management; management of financial resources; engagement with families, community and government; and the school’s strategic planning. Analyses of variance and correlation (Pearson’s r) techniques were used, and the findings demonstrate that principals’ competencies were statistically affected by both internal factors (gender, experience, health, family and IT skills) and external factors (school location, school demographics and school facilities). However, the study found no correlation between principals’ academic qualifications and their competencies.

Changes in quality of life and its associated factors among illicit drug users in Vietnamese mountainous provinces: a 12-month follow-up study

BackgroundSustainability of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program involves regularly assessing its impact on health and social outcomes of drug users in different settings, particularly in disadvantaged areas. In this study, we evaluated the change in quality of life (QoL), and identified associated factors amongst drug users over the course of 12-month MMT in Vietnamese mountainous provinces.MethodsWe conducted a longitudinal study among patients from 6 MMT clinics in three mountainous provinces of Vietnam. At baseline, we screened 300 participants and after a 12-month treatment, 244 participants remained to involve in the study. World Health Organization Quality of Life short form instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to measure the QoL of patients. The magnitude of the changes was extrapolated.ResultsThere were significant changes in all four dimensions of quality of life measured by WHOQoL-BREF between baseline and 12 months with the effect size ranged from 0.21 to 0.24. Increased age, being workers compared to unemployment and having health problems or comorbidities were positively related to reduced scores of QoL.ConclusionsTo conclude, we observed a significant increase in the QoL level regarding physical, psychological, social relationships and environmental aspects among people who used drug after 12 months of MMT. Findings from this study emphasize the role of continuously receiving MMT treatment among people using drugs to enhance their QoL.

Integral Assessment of the Soil Cover State in Gas Production Area in the Middle Reaches of the Angara River

Long-term research data have been used to compile a soil map of the most transformed part of the gas-condensate field in the Middle Angara region. The studied area is assigned to the North Baikal mountainous province with podzolic (Podzols), soddy-podzolic (Retisols), peat-podzolic (Histic Podzols), peat-cryozemic (Histic Cryosols), gray-humus (Cambisols), and dark-humus (Phaeozems) soils. The natural diversity of the soil cover and the content of macro- and microelements in soils have been determined. In soils near some gas-condensate field facilities, the contents of oil products, lead, zinc, nickel, and chrome exceed the background values and health and safety standards. The chemical composition of soil water in the area has changed, and chloride soil salinization is recorded. Ecological zoning of the area with respect to its significance for humans and ecosystems and soil susceptibility to anthropogenic loads has been performed. A larger part of the gas field is suitable for the development, except for permafrost taiga areas, valuable virgin landscapes, and vulnerable soils of steep slopes. The zone requiring rehabilitation measures with subsequent extensive use includes the areas with strongly disturbed ground cover and the sod layer.

Hypertension in a mountainous province of Vietnam: prevalence and risk factors

BackgroundHypertension (HTN) significantly contributes to global disease burden, and its prevalence varies amongst different countries and regions. This work is aimed to characterize the hypertensive prevalence and identify risk factors for HTN among the residents in five locations (four communes and one town) of Moc Chau district (Son La province, Vietnam). MethodsA cross-sectional study with a cross-sectional methodology was done in selected places from August 2018 to December 2018. We interviewed 197 participants aged equal to or more than 18 years old and measured their blood pressure (BP). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were applied. ResultsThe overall HTN prevalence of 30.0% was recorded. The differences of HTN prevalence rates were seen by several characters including age groups (p <0.001), accompanying disease (p <0.001) and alcohol drinking (p <0.05). Factors independently associated with hypertension were age (ORs: 3.1 [1.1–9.1]; 6.1 [1.7–22.3]), much salty consumption (OR: 2.6 [1.1–6.6]), alcohol use (OR: 3.1 [1.2–8.1]), HTN familial history (OR: 4.2 [1.3–13.3]) and at least one suffering disease (OR: 5.2 [2.1–12.7]). ConclusionsThus, this study highlighted the high overall HTN prevalence in the Vietnam Northwestern region. Significant differences of HTN rate were observed among several characteristics such as age groups, accompanying disease and alcohol drinking. Age group, much salty consumption, alcohol use, hypertension familial history and at least one suffering disease were risk factors for HTN in study group.

More Choice for Men? Marriage Patterns after World War Ii in Italy

We investigate how changes in the sex ratio induced by World War II affected the bargaining patterns of Italian men in the marriage market after the war. Marriage data from the first wave of the Italian Household Longitudinal Survey (1997) are matched with newly digitized information on war casualties coming from Italian National Bureau of Statistics. We find that men in post-war marriages were better off in terms of their spouse's education, this gain amounting to about half a year of education. By considering heterogeneity across provinces, we find that the effects were more pronounced in more rural provinces, mountainous provinces, and those with a higher share of population employed in agriculture. This suggests that here, the shock provided for a more fundamental change in marriage patterns compared to urban, lower-lying, and less agricultural provinces where marriage markets might have been more flexible to begin with.

Occurrence of Taenia species in pigs in slaughterhouses in Phu Tho province, northern Vietnam.

Pigs act as the intermediate hosts of the zoonotic tapeworms Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica, as well as of the non-zoonotic Taenia hydatigena. In Vietnam, human taeniasis and cysticercosis have been reported throughout the country; however, data on porcine cysticercosis are scarce. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Taenia spp. in slaughtered pigs in two districts in Phu Tho, a mountainous province in northern Vietnam from where neurocysticercosis patients commonly originate. The carcasses of 399 pigs from 51 small-scale abattoirs were checked for cysticerci, while tongue, liver, masseter muscles, diaphragm and heart were sliced and examined. Retrieved cysticerci underwent polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing for species confirmation. Blood was also collected to detect antibodies by lentil lectin-purified glycoprotein enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (LLGP-EITB) and recombinant T24H antigen (rT24H)-EITB and circulating antigens by B158/B60 Ag-ELISA. In two pigs, T. asiatica cysticerci were found, confirming the presence of the parasite in pigs in Vietnam at a low prevalence (0.5%; 95% exact confidence interval (CI): 0-1.19%). Cysticerci of T. solium were found in none of the pigs, although one serum sample was positive for antibodies in both LLGP-EITB and rT24H-EITB. Furthermore, a high prevalence of T. hydatigena cysticercosis was observed (18.0%; 95% Wilson score CI: 14.6-22.1%). In more than half of the T. hydatigena-positive pigs, circulating antigens were detected by Ag-ELISA, confirming that this test cannot be used to diagnose T. solium cysticercosis in this region. Finally, Spirometra erinaceieuropaei was found in one pig liver. It is the first record of this zoonotic cestode species in pigs in Vietnam. Overall, the findings confirmed the complex epidemiology of Taenia spp. in pigs in Vietnam.

More Choice for Men? Marriage Patterns after World War Ii in Italy

We investigate how changes in the sex ratio induced by World War II affected the bargaining patterns of Italian men in the marriage market after the war. Marriage data from the first wave of the Italian Household Longitudinal Survey (1997) are matched with newly digitized information on war casualties coming from Italian National Bureau of Statistics. We find that men in post-war marriages were better off in terms of their spouse’s education, this gain amounting to about half a year of education. By considering heterogeneity across provinces, we find that the effects were more pronounced in more rural provinces, mountainous provinces, and those with a higher share of population employed in agriculture. This suggests that here, the shock provided for a more fundamental change in marriage patterns compared to urban, lower-lying, and less agricultural provinces where marriage markets might have been more flexible to begin with.

Efficiency of growing crossbreed bull-calves of the mountain cattle with Russian polled breed

The article presents the results of cross-breeding of mountain cattle with Russian polled breed. The growth and development of the crossbreed and purebred bull-calves of these breeds in the mountainous province of Dagestan have been studied in a comparative aspect. Efficiency of highland pastures use by crossbreed animals in comparison with pure-bred mountain peers has been established. The young cattle was grown according to the technology of meat cattle breeding “cow — calf”. In ablactation, the crossbred bull-calves had a living weight of 191.3 kg versus 159.3 kg in peers of mountain cattle. This figure was higher by 32.0 kg or 20.1% compared to purebred bull-calves of mountain cattle. At 12 months of age, the crossbred animals were also superior in living weight in comparison of young mountain cattle by 40.1 kg or 18.4%. According to this indicator, the advantage in crossbred animals at 15 months of age remained. The live mass of crossbred bull-calves at 18 months of age equaled to 399.5 kg against 332.6 kg of purebred mountain peers, the difference in favor of the former was 66.9 kg or 20.1%. Average daily growth of crossbreed bull-calves during the growing period was 122 grams or 20.8% higher. Young crossbred cattle had a clear advantage in terms of physique. Heavy carcasses with high slaughter yield were obtained from it. The conducted studies indicate the effectiveness of cross-breeding of mountain cattle with Russian polled breed in the mountainous province of Dagestan.

GIS-ASSISTED RAIN-INDUCED LANDSLIDE SUSCEPTIBILITY MAPPING OF BENGUET USING A LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODEL

Abstract. Landslides are a major concern in disaster risk reduction and management in Southeast Asia due to the region’s geographic location and setting. These are massive downward movement of rock, soil and/or debris under the influence of gravity. Benguet, lying within the Cordilleran mountains of the Philippines, is landslide prone. The increasing demand for sustainable development and expansion of human settlements and infrastructures deems landslides as a problem for the mountainous province. More than half of Benguet’s land area is highly susceptible to landslides. Hence, landslide potential identification and assessment, associated with topography, is vital in ensuring efficiency while minimizing collateral damage and unwanted casualties. This study developed a logistic regression model to map susceptibility to rainfall-induced landslides. Causative factors for the analysis in this study include rock types, soil types, land use, elevation, slope, aspect, precipitation, topographic wetness index (TWI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and leaf area index (LAI). These layers were prepared using GIS. Based on the logistic regression, the most statistically significant variables were aspect, elevation, and leaf area index (LAI). The model considered with the combination of the causative variables resulted with an R squared value of 86% which indicates good variability for the conditioning factors used for the mapping procedure. Results indicate that 69% of Benguet is highly susceptible to landslides, 7% area is moderately susceptible to landslides, and 24% area is low susceptible to landslides.

Broadening ‘Media’ for Development Communication: Alternative Channels Employed in Loja, Ecuador

When communicators use media and communication to address problems of development, we seek to assess whether those interventions are grounded in current development challenges and in patterns of media use. Additional challenges emerge, however, from patterns in media use between those used by development communication professionals and those that are accessible to communities. Electronic media, such as radio and television, or digital media platforms, including computer-based and mobile technologies, are available in urbanized areas of the global south, but are not accessible to all communities. Our study group has engaged three rural communities located in the mountainous province of Loja, Ecuador for over a decade through development communication efforts. Since these communities experience low access to electronic and digital media, our study group and the communities had to re-think what ‘media’ means in these communities. Drawing on our experiences of co-creating graffiti walls, songs and plays, we argue that development communicators must be open to channels of media that are neither electronic nor digital, but are accessible to communities in which we work.

Health Status and Health Service Utilization among Vietnamese Farmers in a Mountainous Province.

Problems of poor health status and low health service use among farmers in mountainous areas have not been fully investigated. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Son La, a mountainous province in Vietnam, to assess the self-rated health and health care service utilization among farmers. Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure the self-rated health. Multivariate Tobit, Poisson, and logistic regression were employed to identify related factors. Among 197 farmers, the mean VAS score was 67.8 (SD = 15.5). Approximately 40% of participants reported health problems, and the most popular morbidity was hypertension—56.4%. There were 28.9% and 50.3% of farmers using inpatient and outpatient treatments in the last 12 months, respectively. Age, educational level, family income, marital status, alcohol use, and source of information have been identified as associated factors with self-rated health status and morbidities, while age, gender, education, and morbidities were related to health service utilization. Data indicated a high proportion of health issues and a high rate of health care service use among farmers in a mountainous area of Vietnam. Adaptable health policies and prevention programs or preventive health services should be implemented regularly in mountainous regions to protect farmers from the onset of morbidities and to enhance their health.

CONSANGUINEOUS MARRIAGE IN ETHNIC MINORITIES AREA - SITUATION AND ISSUES

Consanguineous marriage has left many consequences for many families and society, which directly affecting the next generation of the married people. Consanguineous marriage has seriously affected the mothers and children’s health, reducing the quality of the lineage, the quality of population and human resources of ethnic minorities erea. Now, consanguineous marriage has been taking place in ethnic minorities area of our country, especially in remote and isolated areas bordering the Northern Midland and mountainous provinces, North Central and Central Coast areas, Central Highlands.The consequences of consanguineous marriage for the family and society aren't small requiring us to have appropriate and practical solutions and policies to minimize this situation.