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With growing internationalism, there is a shift in research patterns in developing countries, especially China and India, generating vital and contemporary research areas that are beginning to challenge the existing Western‐dominated research literature in social sciences. Yet, many of the new ideas within conceptual papers by the social sciences are not empirically validated, let alone operationalized. This is where the group concept mapping method can play a role in bridging the gap between phenomenal conceptualization and having an empirically valid model that can then be operationalized. The group concept mapping process involves five steps: create statements, sort statements, run multidimensional scaling (MDS) of sorted units, run cluster analysis, and label the clusters. This approach allows for the collective thoughts of a pre‐defined group to be collected and organized into a tangible output with academic rigor. This paper offers an overview of the group concept mapping methodology, discussing the processes of the method, how the method can be utilized fully within the business and broader social science context, and the strengths, weaknesses, and practical implications of group concept mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste paper, an essential substitute for wood and other plant-based fibers in paper making, is an indispensable part of the circular economy; yet, the impacts of China's ban on global waste paper cycles have not been well understood. We modeled the evolution of the global waste paper trade network during 1995-2019. We found that the cumulative trade volume of global waste paper reached 1010 million tons in the last 25 years and showed a downward trend since 2015. The global import center of waste paper experienced a transfer from Europe to East Asia and then to Southeast Asia. The ban has stimulated some developed countries to reduce the exports of unsorted waste paper since 2017, but for many major importers their changes in waste paper trade patterns were related to waste paperboard, which was not banned by China, suggesting that this import change trend may be inevitable and irrespective of China's ban. Besides, India has replaced China to become a new import hub of unsorted waste paper. Our results lay a foundation for exploring the evolution of the future global solid waste cycle under the background of zero import of solid waste increasingly implemented by China and many other developing countries.

Our project seeks to analyze the interactions and exchanges between China and India in this age of decolonization through the pages of the Nehru Papers. Although the members of our group have all been engaged in the study of China and India, for many of us, the types of documents that comprise the Nehru Papers vary significantly from the kinds of materials we otherwise work on. Some years ago, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in New Delhi declassified the post-1947 materials within the Jawaharlal Nehru Papers collection. [Extracted from the article]

Academics are expected to publish their research work. Hence, during the past few years, the scientific community has witnessed an ever-increasing growth and output in scientific papers. However, a large number of authors have violated ethical norms of research leading to retractions of their research works as well. The article focuses on the scientific fraud emanating from China and India in Health Sciences for a period of three years i.e. 2015 to 2018. The present data were extracted from a search filter term "Research Articles OR Articles in Press" on the subject category of Health Sciences (HSC). A total of 318 retracted papers were retrieved and the result of the study indicated that majority (268 items) of the retracted papers in Health Science originated from China, whereas just 50 retracted papers originated from India as on 21-02-2019. While analyzing the data, 26 redundant articles from China have been removed that received retraction notices. Further, the results of the study suggest that there are several factors associated with retraction of scientific papers, which include unreliable results, duplication of results, plagiarism, forged authorship, error in the text, error in data and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world tries to grapple with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are concerns about the revivals of economies across the globe. The world is also trying to make sense of global restructuring trade, which is expected in the post-COVID-19 world. This paper attempts to analyze the emerging trade scenario between India and China. Atlas of Economic Complexity theory (ACE) by Ricardo Hausmann, Cesar A. Hidalgo has been taken as a base for this research. This study propagates that the countries with products that require more know-how have more potential to grow. Taking the Atlas map giving details of Indian exports as a base, the researchers have compared the data from the last two years. The purpose is to identify whether the complexity of Indian exports is increasing or not. A particular case study has been done on Indian exports to China. There has been little progress in this field as India is exporting more complex products slightly to China. There is an urgent need to formulate a strategy to enhance the complexity of Indian exports. The policymakers need to give impetus to the industries which have a cross-cultural demand in China and leverage this opportunity. This will open the path for consolidating India's position in the global trade as well as improving its strategic position vis-a-vis China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has sought to evaluate the global sentiment analysis research (14025 records) on quantitative and qualitative metrics to understand the current status of research in the subject at global, national, institutional, and individual author level. The data for the study was sourced from the Scopus database covering the period 2003-2020. The global research in the subject registered an 81.15% annual average growth and averaged 11.91 citations per paper. India, China, and USA lead the global ranking of the top 10 most productive countries, with (18.37%, 17.71%, and 13.36%) respectively as their global publications share. The study identifies the most productive and most impactful research organizations and authors in the subject, profiles the highly cited papers, the share of international collaborative papers and the most productive source journals, and the most productive organizations as well as the leading authors. The study concludes that international collaboration research contributes significantly to the quality of research in sentiment analysis studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The USA, China and India are the top three producers of municipal solid waste. The composition of solid wastes varies with income: low-to-middle-income population generates mainly organic wastes, whereas high-income population produces more waste paper, metals and glasses. Management of municipal solid waste includes recycling, incineration, waste-to-energy conversion, composting or landfilling. Landfilling for solid waste disposal is preferred in many municipalities globally. Landfill sites act as ecological reactors where wastes undergo physical, chemical and biological transformations. Hence, critical factors for sustainable landfilling are landfill liners, the thickness of the soil cover, leachate collection, landfill gas recovery and flaring facilities. Here, we review the impact of landfill conditions such as construction, geometry, weather, temperature, moisture, pH, biodegradable matter and hydrogeological parameters on the generation of landfill gases and leachate. Bioreactor landfills appear as the next-generation sanitary landfills, because they augment solid waste stabilization in a time-efficient manner, as a result of controlled recirculation of leachate and gases. We discuss volume reduction, resource recovery, valorization of dumped wastes, environmental protection and site reclamation toward urban development. We present the classifications and engineered iterations of landfills, operations, mechanisms and mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine Nigeria's dynamic output and output volatility connectedness with USA, China and India using quarterly data from 1981Q1 to 2019Q4. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted the network approach of Diebold and Yilmaz (2014) and used the normalized generalized forecast error variance decomposition from an underlying vector error correction model to build connectedness measures. Findings: The findings show that the global financial crisis (GFC) increased the connectedness index far more than the 2016 Nigeria economic recession. The moderate effect of the 2016 Nigeria economic recession on the connectedness index underscores the fact that Nigeria is a small, open economy with minimal capacity to spread output shock. For both real output and its volatility, the total connectedness index rose smoothly and systematically through time, thereby leaving the economies more connected in the long run. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is among the first to examine Nigeria's dynamic output and output volatility connectedness with the USA, China and India using new empirical insights from the GFC versus 2016 Nigerian recession. The study, therefore, concludes that the Nigerian economy should be diversified immediately as a hedge against future real output shocks, while the USA, China and India should maintain and sustain their current policy frameworks to remain less vulnerable to real output shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to examine the broad trends in research on post-merger customer satisfaction, loyalty, and service quality in the banking sector. It identifies the top contributions to the body of knowledge in the sector in terms of authors, journals, countries, and institutions by examining the relevant literature in this area. The 189 research publications under analysis have a combined 455 authors, with more multiauthor studies than single-author ones. India has the most (111) publications in the dataset, while China has received the most citations overall. Graphic Era (Deemed to be University) from India is the leading research contributor in this area. The network visualization exercise also showed a substantial level of international cooperation in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chat programs has opened two distinct paths, one enhancing interaction and another potentially replacing personal understanding. Ethical and legal concerns arise due to the rapid development of these programs. This paper investigates academic discussions on AI in medicine, analyzing the context, frequency, and reasons behind these conversations. Methods: The study collected data from the Web of Science database on articles containing the keyword "ChatGPT" published from January to September 2023, resulting in 786 medically related journal articles. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed articles in English related to medicine. Results: The United States led in publications (38.1%), followed by India (15.5%) and China (7.0%). Keywords such as "patient" (16.7%), "research" (12%), and "performance" (10.6%) were prevalent. The Cureus Journal of Medical Science (11.8%) had the most publications, followed by the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (8.3%). August 2023 had the highest number of publications (29.3%), with significant growth between February to March and April to May. Medical General Internal (21.0%) was the most common category, followed by Surgery (15.4%) and Radiology (7.9%). Discussion: The prominence of India in ChatGPT research, despite lower research funding, indicates the platform's popularity and highlights the importance of monitoring its use for potential medical misinformation. China's interest in ChatGPT research suggests a focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI applications, despite public bans on the platform. Cureus' success in publishing ChatGPT articles can be attributed to its open-access, rapid publication model. The study identifies research trends in plastic surgery, radiology, and obstetric gynecology, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and reliability assessments in the application of ChatGPT in medical practice. Conclusion: ChatGPT's presence in medical literature is growing rapidly across various specialties, but concerns related to safety, privacy, and accuracy persist. More research is needed to assess its suitability for patient care and implications for non-medical use. Skepticism and thorough review of research are essential, as current studies may face retraction as more information emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study looks at 912 publications from India on supply chain management as covered in Scopus database during 2006-15. The study reported an annual average growth rate of 11.74% for publications and citation impact of 9.34 citations per paper. The global publications on supply change management came from several countries, of which the top 10 accounted for 80.28% of global publication share during 2006-15. A total of 225 organizations and 304 authors participated in Indian research on supply chain management during 2006-15. The top 25 organizations contributed 53.62% publications share and accounted for 56.75% citations share. The top 25 authors contributed 36.69% publications share and accounted for 74.13% citation share. China is the world leader in research output on supply chain management, followed by USA, etc. The top 20 journals accounted for 52.98% share of the journal output. The top 20 highly cited papers varied from 61 to 829 citations per paper, and together these papers accounted for 3058 citations, resulting in the average at 278 citations per paper. Based on existing studies, the authors recommend accelerating the pace of research on this subject. The results of this scientometric analysis has facilitated in identification of the research direction of supply chain management research in India and has thus presented a valuable tool for researchers to access the literature in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the conditions of the spread of globalization processes, growing interdependence, and interconnectedness of countries, a significant intensification of the academic society efforts to ensure national energy security and independence is necessary. The purpose of the paper is to provide a systematic review of the scientific environment aimed at analysing the contents and features of scientific publications dealing with new trends and patterns in sustainable energy consumption. In order to create a semantic and definition basis and research the main trends of scientific publications on the subject of developing energy efficiency and sustainable consumption, the paper carried out a bibliometric analysis concerning the categories «energy efficient» and «energy consumption» using the Scopus and VOSviewer tools. The main question is, what are the main scientific and research trends and patterns in the field of energy efficiency and sustainable consumption? For this purpose, the quantity and quality tendencies of the scientific articles which are studying issues connected with energy efficiency and sustainable consumer behaviour were determined. A sample of more than 24000 scientific publications on this issue was generated from publications indexed by the Scopus database. The study period covers 2001-2021. On the global level, the analysed investigated area is represented by the countries: China, the USA, and India. VOS viewer tools were used to systemize 5 clusters of scientific articles that analysed sustainable energy consumption from different points of view. Identification of regularities in the developing of scientific approaches to energy-efficient consumption and developing sustainable energy sector was carried out using bibliometric analysis, which has made it possible to describe the dominant retrospective evolutionary and temporal tendencies in the development of this theory concerning the concepts of sustainable development, environmental management, and development of renewables. As a result, one of the most significant trends is a green brand and tendencies connected with developing green marketing and green consumer awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since Beijing has launched its grand transcontinental Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), President Xi's key foreign economic plan has ignited interest of policymakers and academia alike. This paper explores that under the BRI framework, China has invested billions of dollars in infrastructurebuilding in diverse regions across the globe, including South Asia where Beijing has expanded its footprints by implementing projects in various sectors. India, being wary of Chinese ambitions and intentions, has declined to join the venture as it has reservations over Xi's 'project of the century'. In response, India has come up with various initiatives to counter the growing role of Beijing in South Asia and beyond. Key Indian initiatives are examined aimed at rivalling China. For enhancing regional integration and connectivity, India, in partnership with Japan, has launched Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC). International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is another such venture to dwarf the Chinese BRI. In collaboration with the Group of 20 (G20), New Delhi unveiled another connectivity initiative -- India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as an alternative to the BRI. The paper concludes that although India is eager to compete with China, it does not have enough resources to match China's regarding investing and implementing mega infrastructure projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As primary drivers of global growth, China and India as Asian giants are on the path to reforming their higher education systems to drive innovation. This paper based on both primary and secondary data sources investigates how India's democratic political leadership has facilitated higher education reform for fostering innovation while underlining key differences in the policy approach of the Chinese leadership. Findings identify the areas of reform for India and also reveal that epistemic boundaries between India and China are beginning to blur so far as right-wing ideological regimentation is concerned, with possible implications for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With a growing demand for safe, clean and affordable energy, emerging economies (EEs) across the globe are now seeking to create and rapidly develop renewable energy (RE) businesses. The success of these businesses often hinges on their ability to translate RE into sustainable value for energy consumers and the multiple stakeholders in this industry. Such value includes low production costs due to an abundance of natural resources (e.g. wind, water and sunlight) and public health benefits from reduced environmental pollution. With that in mind, this paper aims to gauge RE's potential for sustainable value creation and then develop an effective RE business strategy. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a structural equation model, conducts an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analyses with and without common latent factors and proposes a moderated mediation analysis to identify a host of factors that influence the success of RE businesses. Findings: This paper discovers that RE business performance is significantly affected by integrated vision, intellectual capital and social capital. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is one of the first empirical studies that identify various factors influencing successful RE businesses in EEs such as Asian (e.g. China and India) and Latin American countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first fully homomorphic encryption scheme was published in 2009, many papers have been published on fully homomorphic encryption and its applications. Machine learning is one of the most interesting applications and has drawn a lot of attention from researchers. To better represent and understand the field of Homomorphic Encryption in Machine Learning (HEML), this paper utilizes automated citation and topic analysis to characterize the HEML research literature over the years and provide the bibliometrics assessments for this burgeoning field. This is conducted by using a bibliometric statistical analysis approach. We make use of web-based literature databases and automated tools to present the development of HEML. This allows us to target several popular topics for in-depth discussion. To achieve these goals, we have chosen the well-established Scopus literature database and analyzed them through keyword counts and Scopus relevance searches. The results show a relative increase in the number of papers published each year that involve both homomorphic cryptography and machine learning. Using text mining of articles titles, we have found that cloud computing is a popular topic in this field, which also includes neural networks, big data, and the Internet of Things. The analysis results show that China, the US, and India have generated almost half of all the research contributions in HEML. The citation statistics, keyword statistics, and topic analyses give us a quick overview of the development of the field, which can be of great help to new researchers. It is also possible to apply our methodology to other research areas, and we see great value in this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the agriculture trade dynamic between India and China from 2002–2021. It employed the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) indices and various statistical analyses to assess the trade performance and provide an enhanced comprehension of the specialization pattern. The study has selected 45 agricultural commodities, categorized into seven sections according to the HS Nomenclature 2017. The findings revealed that India boasts a more diversified export portfolio compared to China, with a more significant number of agriculture chapters demonstrating a comparative advantage. Conversely, China's export basket is more concentrated, featuring fewer chapters with a comparative advantage but higher values of RCA and RSCA. The paper also identified the prospective areas for agriculture-trade cooperation and collaboration between the two countries and put forward recommendations. This research aims to offer valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and traders to enhance bilateral ties and mutual benefits in the agriculture sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Brand crowdfunding, launched through brands' social media platforms, can provide a myriad of crowdfunding and branding benefits, such as strengthening brands' social networks, validating product launches, generating mass exposure and enabling cocreation. Gamification positions brand crowdfunding as an exciting and joyful activity that more deeply engages prosumers. Anchored on resource-based theory, theory of planned behavior and service-dominant logic, this paper aims to develop a brand crowdfunding framework for established brands with insights from two emerging markets: China and India. Design/methodology/approach: A deductive cross-sectional design is used to gather data from an established brand's (e.g. Xiaomi) social media followers in China (n = 826) and India (n = 358), which is analyzed through PLSc-SEM. Findings: The results reveal that social media brand engagement is an antecedent of brand crowdfunding participation, brand crowdfunding intention is a predictor of brand loyalty and gamification is a significant moderator in technology-oriented societies. Originality/value: The paper develops a brand crowdfunding framework that provides insights on how established brands can leverage crowdfunding to enhance their new product development process. The results contribute to the social media brand engagement, crowdfunding, gamification and emerging markets literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how China's presence in the East African seaports has created a threat to the Indian Ocean's security. In particular, the research empirically analyses whether China's growing activities in the Western Indian Ocean along the East African coast have dismantled the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific. This paper aims to understand the responses of India and her allies in containing China's rise in the region. The paper has taken three East African ports, Dar es Salaam, Lamu, and Doraleh port of Djibouti, as a case study to examine how Chinese presence in these three ports could dismantle the security architecture of Indo-Pacific in the Western Indian Ocean region. The paper demonstrates that the present competition of power projection in the Indian Ocean is a power maximization strategy for the national security of each state. Using primary and secondary data available on China, India, and other states' policies and activities, the study finds that it is a policy failure of the Indo-Pacific, accelerating China's rise in the region. However, the Indo-Pacific partners are revamping their policies to check China's rise in the Indian Ocean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of over-the-top (OTT) services has lately revolutionized the way people consume media content. These services have emerged as a significant disruptor in the media industry in recent years. With the advent of OTT platforms, various concerns have arisen over the censorship and regulation of content on these platforms. Accordingly, this paper has examined the current trends in censorship and regulation of OTT content through the perusal of various legal and regulatory frameworks in the United Kingdom, India, and China. It has probed into cases of censorship and examined various aspects of civil and political liberties. The analysis has revealed a persuasive connection between the degree of freedom of expression and creative freedom dispensed in each region. Lastly, the paper has provided recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders on balancing the need for freedom of expression and access to information with responsible content management and regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing insights provided by the theory of monopolistic markets in economics and Great Power behaviour in the discipline of international relations, this paper aims to provide an alternative understanding of India's refusal to join the BRI beyond the immediate bilateral security, domestic politics, and economic considerations in Sino-Indian relations. We argue that BRI is an effort by China to position itself as the leading firm in the market for international development – a space for long dominated by Western development providers. The paper argues that India's efforts to contest the BRI can be seen as a natural outcome of other rising powers resisting China's efforts to monopolize the development market. In doing so, it provides a template of why rising powers compete with each other in providing developmental aid even when cooperation may create mutual benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sino-Indian rivalry in Sri Lanka's economic turmoil has significant implications for regional security and India's defense cooperation. Following President Xi's announcement of China's grand strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, in 2013, China has utilized its infrastructure investment as a typical example of its implementation of soft power diplomacy on a global dimension. This has raised concerns about China's geopolitical ambitions in the Indian Ocean and the potential security threat it poses to India. Using qualitative research methods, this paper analyzes the geo-strategic importance of Sri Lanka in China's ambitions and the political strategies behind economic crises in South Asian countries. The paper evaluates the impact of China's debt-trap diplomacy on India's national security and defense cooperation with Sri Lanka. The findings suggest that Sri Lanka's economic instability has provided China with an opportunity to encircle and contain India in the region, and that India needs to take proactive steps to mitigate this threat. Overall, the paper highlights the importance of understanding the Sino-Indian rivalry in Sri Lanka's economic turmoil for regional security and India's defense cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mendeley reader count is good evidence of the early impact of scientific output since it appears before citations. This paper aims to scope and compare Mendeley readers of Library and Information Science (LIS) articles published from India and China. Mendeley readership data for the highly cited 1,000 articles in Web of Science are extracted using Webometric Analyst for both countries and are analysed using Excel and SPSS. The findings reveal that LIS articles that are published from China got more readers as compared to LIS articles published from India with an excess of 97 readers per paper on Mendeley. The occupational status of readers tells that PhD students are the top readers for both the countries’ publications, followed by masters students. Discipline-wise readership shows that readers were spread across 29 different fields, with the highest readers from business, management and accounting, followed by computer science for both countries’ publications. Location-wise readership depicts that the top engaged readers are from the United States for both the countries’ publications. Finally, the study reports a positive association between citations and Mendeley bookmarks, justifying that Mendeley readership can be used to measure the early research impact of LIS scholarship in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper precisely estimates the looming demand for hydrogen within the transportation sector, spanning 14 pivotal G20 nations from 2022 to 2050, anchored in the global vehicle hydrogen market penetration rate. Employing a robust techno-economic modeling methodology and leveraging Geographic Information System (GIS) for enriched visualization, it unveils distinct environmental dividends across three thoughtfully devised scenarios: Business- as -Usual, Moderate, and Aggressive. Findings herald India and China as pinnacles of hydrogen demand, with South Korea and Japan tailing closely. The study forecasts the energy consumption for solar hydrogen production in G20 countries to oscillate between 3.02 and 2.89 million GWh in 2022, while production costs are anticipated to range from $8.47/kg to $10.01/kg. In an assertive scenario, the paper illuminates a pathway towards achieving a significant CO 2 reduction, unmasking environmental savings of up to a staggering 48%, equivalent to 1.5 million mtCO 2 , by 2050. [Display omitted] • Hydrogen demand of G20 countries is analyzed using GIS and techno-economic models. • The projected adoption rates of hydrogen vary among the G20 countries. • Solar energy is crucial in determining each region's annual energy demand. • China, US, and India have the highest solar potential throughout the year. • The environmental analysis shows 850–1.5 million mtCO2 total emissions by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and ergonomic risk factors are very common in bakery workers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to (1) assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among bakers because they use automated machines or traditional baking, and (2) to determine the strategies to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in bakers. METHODS: A systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted from the beginning to February 4, 2022, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Mesh keywords and phrases were used to execute the search strategy. Information on MSDs and ergonomic risk factors in bakery workers was collected. Two reviewers worked independently on study selection, data extraction, and paper quality ranking. RESULTS: This study identified 14 papers from seven countries. Although the prevalence of MSDs in bakery workers has been studied, only a handful of them have been studied ergonomic risk factors, and the findings have been very limited. The association between different risk factors and MSDs seemed significant compared to many other occupational diseases. The traditional bread-baking system and lack of mechanization may increase the risk of MSDs in bakery workers. CONCLUSION: WRMSDs for bakery workers have been less studied than other occupational diseases. Our systematic review found several significant relations between the factors influencing the prevalence of MSDs. This study also showed the comparison of traditional and modern cooking systems with diseases of the upper limbs, shoulders, and back pain as possible fields for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is thought to have been domesticated many times independently in China and India, and many modern cultivars are available. All rice tissues are rich in specialized metabolites (SPMs). To date, a total of 181 terpenoids, 199 phenolics, 41 alkaloids, and 26 other types of compounds have been detected in rice. Some volatile sesquiterpenoids released by rice are known to attract the natural enemies of rice herbivores, and play an indirect role in defense. Momilactone, phytocassane, and oryzalic acid are the most common diterpenoids found in rice, and are found at all growth stages. Indolamides, including serotonin, tryptamine, and N-benzoylserotonin, are the main rice alkaloids. The SPMs mainly exhibit defense functions with direct roles in resisting herbivory and pathogenic infections. In addition, phenolics are also important in indirect defense, and enhance wax deposition in leaves and promote the lignification of stems. Meanwhile, rice SPMs also have allelopathic effects and are crucial in the regulation of the relationships between different plants or between plants and microorganisms. In this study, we reviewed the various structures and functions of rice SPMs. This paper will provide useful information and methodological resources to inform the improvement of rice resistance and the promotion of the rice industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and quantifying the sources of climate impacts from land use and land cover change (LULCC) is necessary to optimize policies regarding LULCC for climate change mitigation. These climate impacts are typically defined relative to emissions of CO2, or sometimes emissions of other long-lived greenhouse gases. Here we use previously published estimates of the radiative forcing (RF) of LULCC that include the short-lived forcing agents O3 and aerosols, in addition to long-lived greenhouse gases and land albedo change, for six projections of LULCC as a metric for quantifying climate impacts. The LULCC RF is attributed to three categories of LULCC activities: direct modifications to land cover, agriculture, and wildfire response, and sources of the forcing are ascribed to individual grid points for each sector. Results for the year 2010 show substantial positive forcings from the direct modifications and agriculture sectors, particularly from India, China, and southeast Asia, and a smaller magnitude negative forcing response from wildfires. The RF from direct modifications, mainly deforestation activities, exhibits a large range in future outcomes for the standard future scenarios implying that these activities, and not agricultural emissions (which lead to more consistent RFs between scenarios), will drive the LULCC RF in the future. We show that future forest area change can be used as a predictor of the future RF from direct modification activities, especially in the tropics, suggesting that deforestation-prevention policies that 20 value land based on its C-content may be particularly effective at mitigating climate forcing originating in the tropics from this sector. Although, the response of wildfire RF to tropical land cover changes is not as easily scalable and yet imposes a non-trivial feedback onto the total LULCC RF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allelopathy Journal is the official publication of 'Allelopathy Books' that promotes allelopathy research and publish researches related to plant sciences and health sciences. This study aimed to present an insight about the researches published in this journal, to help the Authors, Readers and Editorial team to understand the journal in depth. We analyzed the scholarly publications published in the Allelopathy Journal, their Citations, focussing on other aspects such as Publication output, Citation analysis, Co-authorship patterns, Collaboration networks, Research productivity, Research topics and International collaboration. This study is useful to identify emerging trends and evaluate research impact. The data for the study was extracted from the Scopus Database for the period from 1996 to 2022. The results showed that the journal has published 1209 papers during this period, which received 9826 citations with an average of 8.13 citations per paper. F.Z. Wu was the most prolific author with 22 papers receiving 127 citations and Prof. S.S. Narwal, with second highest papers in the journal, received the highest number of citations (242). China was the most productive country with 425 papers in the journal, followed by India (243 papers). The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most productive institute in the journal and published 67 papers with 678 citations. A total of 4870 authors have appeared in 1209 papers with 0.91 degree of collaboration and a collaboration index of 4.03. Thematic maps indicated that the topics represented by keywords such as "Distribution", "Habitat", "Essential Oil", "Lettuce", "Morphology," have potential importance for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses cointegrated error-correction modeling to investigate the nature of Granger causality between corruption and foreign direct investment (FDI) in two rapidly emerging economic superpowers; namely, China and India. The results for China and India indicate that short-run Granger causality unidirectionally runs from FDI to corruption without feedback. These empirical findings (along with supporting theoretical arguments) dispute prior correlational-based studies which claim that corruption instigates changes in FDI. However, our results further support significant long-run causality running from corruption to FDI inflows, but only in India (not in China). This finding reinforces theoretical propositions of lower corruption arbitrariness in China as compared to India. Furthermore, short- and long-run causality between corruption and FDI in India appear dynamic in nature and time-sensitive implying some difficulties for policymakers in their fight against corruption. The paper discusses possible underlying reasons for the empirical results and draws several policy and Asian business implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green supplier management (GSM) gained significant importance in addressing environmental concerns, promoting resource efficiency, and enhancing eco-efficiency within the green supply chain system. This study presents a systematic review to provide insights into the current research status and prospects in GSM literature. Results indicate that the research about GSM is gaining consistently growing attention over the past decades. However, there exists a regional imbalance in academic research, with a substantial portion of the authors originating from developing countries in China and India. The topics of green supplier selection and evaluation have received considerable attention in academia. In addition, the multi-attribute decision-making methods, such as TOPSIS, VIKOR, and AHP, and some mathematical modeling approaches have played a crucial role in the methodology employed for GSM research. As a fundamental algorithm in the artificial intelligence area, fuzzy sets theory has also been extensively employed in supplier selection and evaluation studies, whereas other big data analysis approaches have received little attention. Considering the inherent risks and uncertainties in the business strategy environment and developing more big data and artificial intelligence techniques represent promising avenues for future research in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is a unique global natural geographical unit with a high altitude and fragile ecology, where land cover change has been affecting its regional ecological security and sustainable development. The plateau covers nine countries with different variations in climate change and human activities, which cause significant spatial variations in its land cover change. This paper uses land cover data to reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics and multi-country differences in land cover change on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau from 1992 to 2020 by applying spatiotemporal characteristic analysis and mapping methods. The results show that grassland (65.70%), bare land (15.56%), and woodland (10.25%) are the main types of land cover on the plateau, accounting for 91.51% of the total area. The interconversion of bare land and grassland was dominant in 1992–2020, with an area share of 67.83%. The turning point year of grassland change occurred in 2015. The grassland area increased by 6312 km2 in 1992–2015, while it decreased by 14,646 km2 in the plateau in 2015–2020. The areas of woodland, cropland, and water increased by 2.77%, 5.85%, and 7.57%, respectively, and the area of built-up land increased from 299.17 km2 to 1206.29 km2. Overall, a warming and wetting trend of the climate in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has driven the expansion of natural vegetation and water in the central plateau within China, with its natural vegetation area increasing by 0.11%. However, the development of regional warming and drying caused local grassland degradation, where Kyrgyzstan and India within the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau experienced the most prominent vegetation degradation. Human activities are relatively frequent in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau within China and India, causing higher growth rates of built-up land and cropland than in other countries. The establishment of reserves and effective forest management policies have led to significant increases in woodland areas in China and Nepal within the plateau, while weak forest management and limited investment in forest conservation have led to high rates of deforestation in India and Myanmar. Accelerated temperature rises and regional differences in precipitation are the main drivers of large-scale land cover change on the plateau and differences in human activities and land use policies are responsible for the dramatic and diverse localized land cover change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a predictive relationship between financial vulnerability and volatility in emerging stock markets. Focusing on China and India and utilizing GARCH-MIDAS models, we show that incorporating financial vulnerability can substantially improve the forecasting power of standard macroeconomic fundamentals (output growth, inflation and monetary policy interest rate) for stock market volatility. The findings have significant implications for investors to improve the accuracy of volatility forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many instruments have been developed to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands, but one of the most frequently used scales is the "brand luxury index" (BLI) from Vigneron and Johnson (2004) that distinguishes between high- and low-luxury brands. Despite its popularity and widespread use in academic research, the scale's psychometric properties and equivalence across cultures have been questioned. Recently, modified versions of the scale have been developed to strengthen the quality of the measurement. However, the performance and the measurement invariance of the modified version have not yet been investigated. The current paper aims to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale and the measurement invariance across gender, age and country groups using nine datasets from a total of three different countries. Design/methodology/approach: This paper conducts a multi-group CFA to examine the measurement invariance of the BLI scale. Nine datasets were used in this study. The data were collected across three countries, the United States (5 datasets), China (2 datasets) and India (2 datasets) from 2016 to 2018. Findings: The results of this analysis suggest that the modified BLI scale has an acceptable model fit and can be interpreted equivalently across gender and age groups. Metric invariance was found among the US, China and India. However, scalar measurement invariance was established only across two countries: the US and India. A follow-up analysis shows that partial scalar invariance can be established across the US, China and India when removing constraints on the parameters of three items: exclusive, precious and sophisticated. Originality/value: This study is the first study to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale. The findings of this paper contribute to both the academia and industry. The authors recommend scholars and marketers to use a modified 19-item BLI scale to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands in future research. First, the modified BLI scale tested in the current study offers very good performance with model fit values of a quality that has rarely been seen in prior research. The original scale of Vigneron and Johnson (2004) has been criticized for its poor model fit (Christodoulides et al., 2009). The modified scale of Doss and Robinson (2013) also has problems with the fit value. Second, the modified 19-item scale also shows adequate measurement invariance across different gender, age and countries. For scholars and marketers, the establishment of the metric invariance of the modified 19-item BLI scale implies that the scale can be used across gender, age and countries (the US, China and India) if the purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between some variables and perceived luxuriousness of a brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to quantify the growth and development of food and nutrition research in India and China in terms of publication output as reflected from SCOPUS database. This study covered in India has 1,321 records and China has 1,045 records during the period of 1983 - 2012. It also analyzed the Relative Growth Rate, Doubling Time, Authorship Pattern, degree of Collaboration, Co-Authorship Index, Length of Papers, Mostly Cited Journals and Active Institutions in India and China. The study displayed the ranking list of most cited journals in India-Journal of Nutrition had 599 (10.48 percent)- followed by China-Nutrition Journal had 699 (12.83 percent)- and China had contributed more number of multi authored papers when compared to India (86.79 percent vs. 60.71 percent), followed by two authored papers which were mostly presented in India as compared to China (23.62 percent vs. 9.19 percent). This study also examined the active research institutions in this field in both the countries. This study used various scientometric indicators and related statistical tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID‐19) has impacted everyday lives globally. The number of positive cases is growing and India is now one of the most affected countries. This paper builds predictive models that can predict the number of positive cases with higher accuracy. Regression‐based, Decision tree‐based, and Random forest‐based models have been built on the data from China and are validated on India's sample. The model is found to be effective and will be able to predict the positive number of cases in the future with minimal error. The developed machine learning model can work in real‐time and can effectively predict the number of positive cases. Key measures and suggestions have been put forward considering the effect of lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has a broad, varied, and multifaceted technical and higher education system and is behind China and the United States in terms of the world's largest system of higher education. Accreditation is a mechanism intended to assess whether an educational institution or program satisfies the specified academic standards. While in the US the accreditation body is Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET), in India, it is the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). NBA accreditation model is linked to ABET via Washington Accord. The task in front of these authorities is introducing the policies to ensure that students receive the type of education they require in today's complicated and volatile world. This paper demonstrates a case-study on how the Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering Department of Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Technology (FCRIT) leveraged the policies and models adapted by NBA for Outcome Based Education (OBE) for raising the quality of the Bachelor of Engineering Program. It reviews the history and role played by ABET and NBA in continuously evolving the criteria for the accreditation of engineering courses. It presents the systems and processes established by the Department as per the NBA-OBE model for enhancing students' Course Outcome (CO) and Program Outcome (PO) attainments. There has been increase of 4.1% and 5% in averaged CO and PO attainments, respectively, for the 2016-20 passed out batch compared to 2014-18 batch. In conclusion, the NBA-OBE model can be leveraged further for enhancement in outcomes in the proposed autonomy model at FCRIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the hypothesis that there is an association between increased levels of trade liberalisation and economic growth through a comparative analysis of two giant emerging economies of the world - India and China. For this purpose the paper examines trends in GDP growth and various trade openness measures via empirical analysis of time-series data of the last 43 years, based on eight key indicators to compare the experiences of the two countries. These indicate that rapid and gradual trade liberalisation of both the countries, coupled with supporting economic, institutional, and infrastructural reforms, and advancement in technology led to the linking of these giants with the global markets, which has significantly contributed towards their economic growth, thereby supporting the phenomena that there is a significant positive relationship between liberalisation and economic growth. While China was seen to be experiencing growth, India was also on the right track. Indicators of both liberalisation and growth reveal that both the countries enhanced their economy significantly as they embraced international trade through trade reforms and economic liberalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste foundry sand (WFS) is the by-product of the foundry industry, which is produced about 0.6 tons per 1 ton of foundry industry production. While it cannot be recycled or reused, it will be disposed of in landfills. Today, with increasing attention to environmental issues, the reuse and recycle of materials because of limited resources have been considered. Due to the desirable properties of WFS, many studies have been done on the properties and performance of its use in various industries, especially in concrete technology. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of foundry sand research during the years 1971-2020. Various aspects, such as document types, languages, major journals, key countries, authors, and keywords, have been examined. The collaborations among authors and countries were constructed, visualized, and evaluated through the application of the social network analysis method based on co-authorship relations. Also, keyword cluster analysis has been performed using co-occurrence relations to discover the most prominent issues related to WFS. The results showed that the number of publications (TP) has improved significantly in recent years, especially in 2018-2020. It has increased from 1 in 1971 to 38 in 2020. The engineering subdivision with 33% has had the highest number of papers. Also, India, China, and the USA have the highest number of publications, respectively. Statistical data from the author keyword study showed that in general, papers can be classified into three categories in terms of subject: first, characteristics of WFS and its importance; second, the use of WFS in concrete and the study of mechanical and physical properties as one of its applications; and the third, investigation on environmental effects and damage caused by disposal and landfill of WFS and efforts to find solutions for recycling and reuse. The keywords "Waste Foundry Sand," "Foundry Sand," and "Compressive Strength" with a growth rate of 2700%, 1900%, and 1100%, respectively, are important topics in the field of WFS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-cast coal mining is one of the most often-debated industries in the world. Due to the significant environmental and health issues it causes, many of these sites have been reclaimed over the years, and many scientific publications and research has followed. In this paper, we have tried to assess the trends in recent research performed on reclaimed coal mining sites (RMS) by analyzing the publications visible on Web of Science (WoS) between 2015 and 2020 and dividing the research into six categories. The results show that there is a trend of rapid increase in research that deals with carbon and its pooling, nutrients, vegetation, and microbiology, and a significant decline in research on RMS soil physical properties, whereas other categories have shown an increasing but relatively steady trend. The application of modern technologies is also discussed. China, the USA, and India are the countries that quantitatively take the lead in coal RMS research, with India slowly overtaking the US in more recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores hedging in a theoretical thinking and applies it to the foreign policy of India in an era of growing USA–China power rivalry. In this regard, hedging is defined as insurance seeking strategy under situations with high uncertainty, where rational actors (both middle and small states) will try to avoid taking sides and to pursue room for autonomy in decision-making. While Washington and Beijing dislike middle and small countries' hedging, they both overlook that it is the uncertainties stemming from their own behaviors that push middle and small states to hedge. As uncertainties deepen, most countries in Indo-Pacific region will prefer to use hedging policies to reduce their possible losses. For India, unless USA–China rivalry escalates into a direct military conflict, or unless Washington retreats its commitment to regional security in Indo-Pacific, then India will stop hedging and moving to bandwagoning with China; or if Beijing's actions directly undermine India's vital interests in security, then India's hedging will be replaced by balancing against China. In short, hedging is a passive response, not an active choice; India's hedging strategy is very likely to persist on making ambiguities in the USA–China–India strategic triangle and entanglement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium pollution turns out to be a global environmental problem. This study conducted a quantitative and qualitative bibliometric analysis based on 9188 research items from the Web of Science Core Collection published in the last 20 years (2000–2020), presenting an in-depth statistical investigation of global freshwater cadmium research progress and developing trend. Our results demonstrated that the researchers from China, the USA, and India contribute the most to this field. The primary sources of cadmium are mining, industry, wastewater, sedimentation, and agricultural activities. In developing countries, cadmium exposure occurs mainly through the air, freshwater, and food. Fish and vegetables are the main food sources of cadmium for humans because of their high accumulation capability. Source evaluation, detection, and remediation represent the main technologies used to clean up cadmium-contaminated sites. To mitigate the risk of cadmium contamination in freshwater, biomarker-based cadmium monitoring methods and integrated policies/strategies to reduce cadmium exposure merit further concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, China has rapidly increased its influence throughout the South Asian region, using both its hard and soft power tactics. China has succeeded in eclipsing India's influence and emerged as an important player in the region. China is making inroads in South Asia by making huge investments and constructing roads, highways, railways, sea ports, bridges, power grids, dams, and public buildings. China is pursuing a foreign policy that aims to advance its strategic and economic interests while trying to imbalance India's predominant position and contain India within the boundaries of South Asia. This is to prevent the rise of a peer competitor that can challenge or hinder the rise of China as a sole Asian power. This paper argues that the geostrategic situation of South Asian countries is such that they pose threats to India's security by aligning with the extra-regional powers. Hence, China's expanding strategic and security ties with South Asian countries have wider implications for India's security due to the complex and sensitive nature of its relationship with China. The theoretical approach of Power Transition Theory has been utilized to analyze the Sino-India power rivalry and China's growing threat to India's security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper investigates the evolving defense cooperation between India and Japan in the context of the strategic landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly considering China's rise. The existing literature recognizes China's increasing influence as a significant factor in India-Japanese security cooperation, but tends to overlook the dynamics behind India's shifting stance. The study reveals that India initially hesitated to actively engage in anti-China security cooperation with Japan until the mid-2010s, but later adopted a more proactive partnership. An analysis of policy documents, political speeches, and government records attributes India's initial reluctance to its commitment to non-alignment and strategic autonomy, its desire to balance relations with both China and Japan, and its domestic political priorities favoring economic development over military expansion or strategic alliances. However, growing concerns over China's assertiveness, military modernization, a change in political leadership, and the Quad's development as a regional security platform have prompted India's attitude shift. The research's recommendations not only offer a roadmap for India, Japan, and other Indo-Pacific countries with deep economic ties to China, but also help combat China's military threats to contribute to regional stability and security, address common challenges, and foster a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]