23 results
Search Results
2. From bureaucratic administration to effective intervention: Comparing early governmental responses to the COVID-19 virus across East Asian and western health systems.
- Author
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Liu, Yu, Saltman, Richard B, and Yeh, Ming-Jui
- Subjects
COVID-19 ,PUBLIC health ,MEDICAL care ,COMPARATIVE studies ,GOVERNMENT agencies ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,EPIDEMICS ,HEALTH systems agencies ,POLICY sciences ,STAY-at-home orders ,DISEASE management - Abstract
The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 created dangerous public health conditions which pressured governments and health systems to respond in a rapid and effective manner. However, this type of rapid response required many governments to bypass standing; bureaucratic structures of health sector administration and political governance to quickly take; essential measures against a rapidly evolving public health threat. Each government's particular; configuration of governmental and health system decision-making created specific structural and functional challenges to these necessary centrally developed and coordinated strategies. Most East Asian governments (except Japan) succeeded relatively quickly in centralizing essential disease control and treatment initiatives in a timely manner. In contrast, a number of European countries, especially those with predominantly tax-based financing and politically managed health delivery systems, had greater difficulty in escaping bureaucratic governance and management constraints. Drawing on data about these governments' early stage COVID-19 control experiences, this article suggests that structural changes will be necessary if low-performing governments are to better respond to a pandemic. This paper also summarizes other relatively successful strategies. By adopting such strategies, nations can help overcome structural bureaucratic and administrative obstacles in responding to further waves of COVID-19 or similar future pandemic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
- Full Text
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3. Dimensions of ethical business cultures: comparing data from 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
- Author
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Ardichvili, Alexandre, Jondle, Douglas, and Kowske, Brenda
- Subjects
BUSINESS ethics ,PERSONNEL management ,CROSS-cultural differences ,MULTIVARIATE analysis ,CORPORATE culture - Abstract
This paper reports the results of a survey-based study of perceptions of ethical business practices in 13 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Responses from more than 23,000 managers and employees were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons, aimed at identifying homogenous sets of countries. Anglo countries (US, UK, Australia, and Canada) clustered together, and were joined by India in most cases. Japan and Italy formed a homogenous subset significantly different from all other countries. Countries of continental Europe, China, Mexico, and Brazil formed various mid-range groupings. The paper discusses some salient differences between groups of countries and presents implications for human resource management (HRD) practice and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
- Full Text
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4. Considering the State and Status of Internationalization in Western Higher Education Kinesiology
- Author
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Culp, Brian, Lorusso, Jenna, and Viczko, Melody
- Abstract
While internationalization is among the top strategic priorities of universities and colleges globally, research into the expanse of internationalization in the kinesiology discipline is not well researched. Given this gap, critical consideration of the state and status of the phenomenon is needed. Knowing more about what is being done in the name of internationalization within kinesiology and reflecting on how those actions and outcomes are aligned, or not, with key theoretical guidance is necessary in order to plan for improvement accordingly. For these reasons, this paper first provides a primer on internationalization in higher education, including how the phenomenon has come to be defined as well as key contemporary critiques associated with it. In particular, we highlight Beck's (2012) theoretical concept of 'eduscape' to critically consider the influences of globalization on internationalization within higher education kinesiology as well as Khoo, Taylor, and Andreotti's (2016) principles of intelligibility, dissent, and solidarity to consider the ways kinesiology scholars engage critically with internationalization processes. Presented next is a review of the kinesiology literature that is explicitly focused on internationalization. Then, the results of a pilot survey into the views of National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) members and other Western kinesiology scholars on internationalization is reported next. The paper concludes with recommendations as to how NAKHE and the broader community of Western kinesiology scholars might best navigate internationalization moving forward. We recommend the complexity-informed and principle-driven approach of inclusive leadership as a means of pursuing cognitive justice in the 21st century.
- Published
- 2021
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5. The Kuznets Curve of Education: A Global Perspective on Education Inequalities. CEE DP 116
- Author
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London School of Economics & Political Science, Centre for the Economics of Education, Morrison, Christian, and Murtin, Fabrice
- Abstract
Education is recognized to be a key factor of economic development, not only giving access to technological progress as emphasized by the Schumpeterian growth theory, but also entailing numerous social externalities such as the demographic transition (Murtin, 2009) or democratization (Murtin and Wacziarg, 2010). If the evolution of world distributions of income and longevity over the last two centuries have been described by Bourguignon and Morrisson (2002), changes in the world distribution of education have remained unexplored until now, despite their major importance. How has global education inequality evolved over the twentieth century? How should it be measured? Up to now, existing studies on education inequality have had limited spatial and time coverage. For example, Castello and Domenech (2002) and Thomas et al. (2001) provide a descriptive analysis of years of schooling inequality for a broad panel of countries, but their study starts only in 1960. Also, they remain at the country level and do not consider the world distribution of years of schooling, which takes into account educational differences both within and between countries. In contrast, this paper depicts the world distribution of education over 140 years, improving and extending the database recently released by Morrisson and Murtin (2009), which focuses on average years of schooling. The authors provide both average years of schooling and the distribution of education as summarised up by four quantiles in each country. Importantly, this new database is cross-validated by historical data on illiteracy rates. Then, they describe average stocks of primary, secondary and tertiary schooling by region since 1870, and estimate world inequality in years of schooling, which has been dramatically reduced since 1870. Focusing on the measurement of education inequality, this paper raises an important methodological issue. The authors show that a substantial share of inequality in years of schooling can be mechanically explained by a single component of the distribution of education, namely the population that has not attended school, subsequently called the illiterate population. Actually, they find that the observed decrease in inequality in years of schooling over the XXth century is almost entirely explained by the decline in illiteracy. They believe that this result, derived both theoretically and empirically, could help to reconsider an empirical fact discussed in the literature on education inequality (see Berthelemy (2006)), namely the cross-country negative correlation between the average of and the inequality in years of schooling. This correlation mainly reflects the negative and mechanical correlation between average schooling and the illiteracy rate. In line with a recent macroeconomic literature (see for instance Hall and Jones (1999)), the authors then turn to human capital as defined by Mincer (1974), in order to confer a monetary dimension to education. They propose estimates of the world inequality in human capital, examining several definitions for human capital. They focus on one functional form in particular, which accounts for the existence of diminishing returns to schooling. It is the only one that can account for the cross-country negative correlation between Mincer returns to schooling and average years of schooling, as described by Psacharopoulos and Patrinos (2004). At the national level, they find that that human capital inequality within countries has increased then stabilized or even decreased in most regions of the world. When plotted against average years of schooling, human capital inequality within countries has clearly followed an inverted U-shape curve, namely a "Kuznets curve of education". At the global level, they also find that human capital inequality has increased from 1870 to approximatively 1970, then has decreased. They interpret these findings as a consequence of mass education and the existence of diminishing returns to schooling. (Contains 6 tables, 6 figures and 14 footnotes.)
- Published
- 2010
6. Comparison of Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Practices Used Globally
- Author
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Carter, Shani D.
- Abstract
Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.
- Published
- 2019
7. An emerging south-east Asian brand: MK Restaurants.
- Author
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Itthiopassagul, Pannapachr, Patterson, Paul G., and Piyathasanan, Bhuminan
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CHAIN restaurants ,CASE studies ,QUALITY of service ,LEADERSHIP - Abstract
Abstract: This case study examines in detail the factors responsible for the emergence of a highly successful South-east Asian brand – MK Restaurants. MK restaurants is a privately owned company that has grown from humble beginnings to a chain of over 250 restaurants in Thailand and tasted success in expanding into Europe and Japan. Our analysis suggest that MK Restaurants has built the brand from through living a set of brand values, astute positioning that appeals to a wide demographic and the global trend towards healthier eating, and a marketing communications budget that exceeds McDonalds and KFC in Thailand. Furthermore, brand extensions, a genuine customer centric philosophy that is practiced at all levels in the firm, an adherence to the service-profit-chain concept (i.e., happy staff are more likely to deliver better service quality, which in turn drives customer loyalty and repeat patronage), and a state of the art logistic and supply chain system have all driven brand success. Key lessons for other service brands are drawn and explicated in the paper’s final section. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2009
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8. Asia squeezes Europe's lead in science.
- Author
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von Bubnoff, Andreas
- Subjects
- *
RESEARCH , *REPORT writing - Abstract
The article cites a U.S. report that states that Asian nations are catching up with Europe and the United States in terms of scientific output. According to the report, in 2004, countries from the Asia Pacific region including China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and India produced 25 percent of the world's research papers. By comparison, Europe produced 38 percent of the world's scientific papers, and the United States produced 33 percent. Within Asia, China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan grew the most. In China, some institutions even pay researchers extra for publications in indexed journals, especially ones that carry widely cited articles.
- Published
- 2005
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9. Asia's top 100 best managed corporations.
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INVESTORS ,STOCKS (Finance) ,SECURITIES ,STOCK exchanges - Abstract
The article informs that investors and stock analysts will be playing a key role in reshaping corporate accountability, as Asian equity markets become more open. Many chief executives in the region are fast realizing this. Much needs to be done. In the emerging markets, there is a broad sweep of companies that still operate very much as if they were privately-held entities. In these markets, investors do not hesitate to use sharply critical language when describing the management. Even in the more developed markets, a handful of corporates are notorious for their constant paper shuffling. The article produces separate rankings for companies which investors and analysts consider as having the most deficient senior management and three of the smaller companies with the brightest outlook for profits growth. Where there is a consensus view, results are also presented in the following pages. A total of 143 returns were received by the authors over a four-week period. Of this total, 98 forms were sent in by institutional investors. About two-thirds of the returns were from Asia-Pacific investors while the balance came from those based in Great Britain, continental Europe and Japan. Equity analysts based in the Asia Pacific region submitted 45 returns. One of the biggest drawbacks of ranking companies in this poll is that it excludes all non-listed companies.
- Published
- 1992
10. Regionalising Higher Education for Repositioning Southeast Asia
- Author
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Dang, Que Anh
- Abstract
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has led the way in constructing the East Asian region with China, Japan, and South Korea, and an inter-regional entity with the European Union (EU)--known as the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The initial aims were security and trade. Recently, however, higher education has been brought into these regionalising processes, largely as a response to the globalising of neoliberalism. The paper argues that regions are social, economic, and political constructions shaped by both material forces and cultural factors. It emphasises the importance of the latter and explains three mechanisms at work: "harmonisation" to build intra-ASEAN higher education cooperation; "socialisation" to create the ASEAN+3 region; and "mutual learning" to engage with the EU in shaping an "ASEM Education Area". These mechanisms influence the ways in which regional actors form new conceptions of self and other, negotiate norms, and (re)construct their identities and interests, thus creating new forms of cooperation and community. Particularly, "mutual learning" generates the outcome of a deeper negotiation for an equal partnership between the "Asia" and the "Europe" in ASEM. Hence, higher education regionalism emerges as a way to reposition Southeast Asia.
- Published
- 2017
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11. A Peace Plan for Asia.
- Author
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Stewart, Maxwell S.
- Subjects
INTERNATIONAL relations ,INTERNATIONAL organization ,IMPERIALISM ,POLITICAL doctrines - Abstract
The author says that Japanese have always insisted that the Western nations do not understand the peculiar ways of the East, and that a system of world organization which might keep the peace in Europe and America would not work in the Orient. All Oriental peoples have suffered sufficiently from the white man's imperialism to distrust a system of world organization that appears to give white men continued domination. Fortunately Japan can be destroyed militarily without imposing fresh burdens on Japanese people.
- Published
- 1943
12. PANdora's box: distance learning technologies in Asia.
- Author
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Baggaley, Jon and Maria Ng Lee Hoon
- Subjects
DISTANCE education ,INTERNET in education ,EDUCATIONAL technology ,EDUCATION research - Abstract
This article provides an international perspective on learning technology developments, with emphasis on the special challenges of designing distance learning technologies (DLT) in the developing countries of Asia. A commentary on the current achievements and problems of DLT designers is provided, based on the authors' recent study tour of distance education (DE) initiatives in 11 Asian countries: Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The authors compare these initiatives with others they observed in their previous visits to DE institutions in North America and Europe, China and Japan. The prospects for collaboration among DLT projects and research initiatives are discussed and the emergence of a 'Pandora's box' of educational possibilities is described--innovative, economical, and occasionally troubling in the challenges it provides to accepted DE practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
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13. Unusually large earthquakes inferred from tsunami deposits along the Kuril trench.
- Author
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Nanayama, Futoshi, Satake, Kenji, Furukawa, Ryuta, Shimokawa, Koichi, Atwater, Brian F., Shigeno, Kiyoyuki, and Yamaki, Shigeru
- Subjects
EARTHQUAKES ,TSUNAMIS ,SEISMOLOGY - Abstract
The Pacific plate converges with northeastern Eurasia at a rate of 8-9 m per century along the Kamchatka, Kuril and Japan trenches[SUP1]. Along the southern Kuril trench, which faces the Japanese island of Hokkaido, this fast subduction has recurrently generated earthquakes with magnitudes of up to ∼8 over the past two centuries[SUP2-6]. These historical events, on rupture segments 100-200 km long, have been considered characteristic of Hokkai-do's plate-boundary earthquakes[SUP7,8]. But here we use deposits of prehistoric tsunamis to infer the infrequent occurrence of larger earthquakes generated from longer ruptures. Many of these tsunami deposits form sheets of sand that extend kilometres inland from the deposits of historical tsunamis. Stratigraphic series of extensive sand sheets, intercalated with dated volcanic-ash layers, show that such unusually large tsunamis occurred about every 500 years on average over the past 2,000-7,000 years, most recently ∼350 years ago. Numerical simulations of these tsunamis are best explained by earthquakes that individually rupture multiple segments along the southern Kuril trench. We infer that such multi-segment earthquakes persistently recur among a larger number of single-segment events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2003
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14. [An analysis of population reproduction structure with special reference to its regional difference].
- Author
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Okazaki Y
- Subjects
- Asia, Birth Rate, Developed Countries, Europe, Europe, Eastern, Asia, Eastern, Fertility, Germany, East, Japan, Marriage, Population, Population Characteristics, Population Dynamics, Social Sciences, Demography, Marital Status, Maternal Age, Rural Population, Urban Population
- Published
- 1978
15. Shrinking societies favor procreation.
- Author
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Kent MM
- Subjects
- Asia, Demography, Developed Countries, Europe, Europe, Eastern, Asia, Eastern, Fertility, Health Planning, Hungary, Japan, Organization and Administration, Population, Population Dynamics, Scandinavian and Nordic Countries, Sweden, Birth Rate, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Policy Making, Public Policy
- Published
- 1999
16. [A general review of the discussion at the Beijing International Symposium on Population and Development].
- Author
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Ren Y
- Subjects
- Asia, China, Developed Countries, Developing Countries, Education, Europe, Europe, Eastern, Asia, Eastern, Fertility, Geography, Hungary, Japan, Population, Population Characteristics, Research, Rural Population, USSR, Urban Population, Birth Rate, Demography, Economics, Emigration and Immigration, Employment, Politics, Population Dynamics, Population Growth, Public Policy, Research Design, Social Class, Social Planning, Social Problems, Socioeconomic Factors, Unemployment, Urbanization, Women's Rights
- Published
- 1985
17. [The effectiveness of pronatalist policies].
- Author
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Kojima H
- Subjects
- Asia, Birth Rate, Demography, Developed Countries, Economics, Europe, Asia, Eastern, Fertility, Japan, Population, Population Dynamics, Public Policy, Socioeconomic Factors, Family Characteristics, Family Planning Policy, Geography, Income, Marriage, Parity
- Published
- 1989
18. World Biocide Demand to Reach $6.9 Billion in 2009.
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CHEMICALS ,CHEMICAL industry ,BUSINESS forecasting ,SUPPLY & demand - Abstract
Deals with the projected world demand for biocides in 2009. Forecast on the increase in world demand by 2009; Outlook on growth in demand in the Asia/Pacific region; Projection on the growth in demand in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan.
- Published
- 2005
19. Development of a global index measuring national policy commitments to HIV prevention and treatment among people who inject drugs.
- Author
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Sevigny EL, Meylakhs P, Feizollahi MJ, and Amini MR
- Subjects
- Asia, Europe, Humans, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Policy, Spain, Switzerland, United States, HIV Infections epidemiology, HIV Infections prevention & control, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Substance Abuse, Intravenous complications, Substance Abuse, Intravenous epidemiology
- Abstract
Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) around the world are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. National policy responses to the epidemic heavily influence risk factors for HIV acquisition among this key group. Prior efforts to monitor national policy responses to HIV/AIDS among PWID were limited both in scope and coverage. In this paper we develop and validate the HIV-PWID Policy Index (HPPI) to benchmark and monitor national commitments to HIV prevention and treatment among PWID., Methods: Composite indicator was constructed employing fuzzy multilayer data envelopment analysis (FMLDEA). Model inputs based on data from 105 countries included 27 variables measured across six conceptual domains, including needle and syringe programs, opioid substitution treatment, testing and counseling, information and education, monitoring and evaluation, and legal and policy climate., Results: According to the HPPI, which ranges from 0 to 1, the top performing countries in policy commitments to HIV prevention and treatment among PWID were Spain (0.988), Switzerland (0.982), Luxembourg (0.970), Moldova (0.970), and Kyrgyzstan (0.945), whereas the poorest performing included Nicaragua (0.094), Japan, (0.094), Cape Verde (0.097), Syria (0.174), and Benin (0.185). Regionally, commitment to HIV services targeting PWID was highest among European countries (0.81) and lowest among African countries (0.50), with Oceania (0.76), Asia (0.66), and the Americas (0.56) in the mid-range. Subregional differences were even more prominent, with West and Central European nations (0.84) and Central American nations (0.22) earning the highest and lowest HPPI scores, respectively., Conclusions: The HPPI documented substantial national and regional variation in policy responses to the HIV epidemic among PWID. Our analysis also revealed that many countries have limited HIV/AIDS data collection and monitoring capabilities. Continued enhancement and standardization of global HIV/AIDS monitoring efforts are therefore vital to articulated national and international benchmarking and performance assessment goals., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2020
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20. The changing PM2.5 dynamics of global megacities based on long-term remotely sensed observations.
- Author
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Zhang L, Wilson JP, MacDonald B, Zhang W, and Yu T
- Subjects
- Asia, China, Cities, Environmental Monitoring, Europe, Humans, India, Japan, New York, Particulate Matter analysis, Air Pollutants analysis, Air Pollution analysis
- Abstract
Satellite observations show that the rapid urbanization and emergence of megacities with 10 million or more residents have raised PM2.5 concentrations across the globe during the past few decades. This study examines PM2.5 dynamics for the 33 cities included on the UN list of megacities published in 2018. These megacities were classified into densely (>1500 residents per km
2 ), moderately (300-1500 residents per km2 ) and sparsely (<300 residents per km2 ) populated areas to examine the effect of human population density on PM2.5 concentrations in these areas during the period 1998-2016. We found that: (1) the higher population density areas experienced higher PM2.5 concentrations; and (2) the megacities with high PM2.5 concentrations in these areas had higher concentrations than those in the moderately and sparsely populated areas of other megacities as well. The numbers of residents experiencing poor air quality is substantial: approximately 452 and 163 million experienced average annual PM2.5 levels exceeding 10 and 35 μg/m3 , respectively in 2016. We also examined PM2.5 trends during the past 18 years and predict that high PM2.5 levels will likely continue in many of these megacities in the future without substantial changes in their economies and/or pollution abatement practices. There will be more megacities in the highest PM2.5 pollution class and the number of megacities in the lowest PM2.5 pollution class will likely not change. Finally, we analyzed how the PM2.5 pollution burden varies geographically and ranked the 33 megacities in terms of PM2.5 pollution in 2016. The most polluted regions are China, India, and South Asia and the least polluted regions are Europe and Japan. None of the 33 megacities currently fall in the WHO's PM2.5 attainment class (<10 μg/m3 ) while 9 megacities fall into the PM2.5 non-attainment class (>35 μg/m3 ). In 2016, the least polluted megacity was New York and most polluted megacity was Delhi whose average annual PM2.5 concentration of 110 μg/m3 is nearly three times the WHO's non-attainment threshold., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2020
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21. Antigenic changes among the predominantly circulating C/Sao Paulo lineage strains of influenza C virus in Yamagata, Japan, between 2015 and 2018.
- Author
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Matsuzaki Y, Shimotai Y, Kadowaki Y, Sugawara K, Hongo S, Mizuta K, and Nishimura H
- Subjects
- Amino Acid Sequence, Asia, Australia, Disease Outbreaks, Europe, Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests methods, Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus genetics, Hemagglutinins, Viral genetics, Humans, Japan, Phylogeny, Sequence Analysis, DNA methods, Viral Fusion Proteins genetics, Antigenic Variation genetics, Antigens, Viral genetics, Influenza, Human virology, Gammainfluenzavirus genetics
- Abstract
Influenza C virus is a pathogen that causes acute respiratory illness in children and results in the hospitalization of infants. The antigenicity of the hemagglutinin esterase (HE) glycoprotein is highly stable, and it is not yet known whether antigenic changes contribute to the worldwide transmission and the occurrence of outbreaks of influenza C virus. Here, we performed antigenic analysis of 84 influenza C viruses isolated in Yamagata, Japan, during a 4-year period from 2015 to 2018 and analyzed sequence data for strains of the virus from Japan and many other parts of the world. Antigenic and phylogenetic analyses revealed that 83 strains belonged to the C/Sao Paulo lineage, and two sublineage strains, the Aichi99 sublineage and Victoria2012 sublineage, cocirculated between 2016 and 2018. Aichi99 sublineage strains exhibiting decreased reactivity with the monoclonal antibody YA3 became predominant after 2016, and these strains possessed the K190N mutation. Residue 190 is located in the 190-loop on the top side of the HE protein within a region that is known to show variation that does not impair the biological activity of the protein. The Aichi99 sublineage strains possessing the K190N mutation were detected after 2012 in Europe, Australia, the USA, and Asia as well as Japan. These observations suggest that antigenic variants with K190N mutations have circulated extensively around the world and caused outbreaks in Japan between 2016 and 2018. Our study indicated that the 190-loop is an important antigenic region, and the results suggested that changes in the 190-loop have contributed to the extensive transmission of the virus., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The following are the supplementary data related to this article. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104269., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2020
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22. Biologically active compounds from Aphyllophorales (polypore) fungi.
- Author
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Zjawiony JK
- Subjects
- Adjuvants, Immunologic chemistry, Adjuvants, Immunologic pharmacology, Africa, Antifungal Agents chemistry, Antifungal Agents pharmacology, Antineoplastic Agents chemistry, Antineoplastic Agents pharmacology, Asia, Europe, Japan, Molecular Structure, North America, Biological Factors, Polyporales chemistry
- Abstract
This review describes biologically active natural products isolated from Aphyllophorales, many of which are known as polypores. Polypores are a large group of terrestrial fungi of the phylum Basdiomycota (basidiomycetes), and they along with certain Ascomycota are a major source of pharmacologically active substances. There are about 25 000 species of basidiomycetes, of which about 500 are members of the Aphyllophorales, a polyphyletic group that contains the polypores. Many of these fungi have circumboreal distributions in North America, Europe, and Asia and broad distributions on all inhabited continents and Africa; only a small number of the most common species with the most obvious fruiting bodies (basidiocarps) have been evaluated for biological activity. An estimated 75% of polypore fungi that have been tested show strong antimicrobial activity, and these may constitute a good source for developing new antibiotics. Numerous compounds from these fungi also display antiviral, cytotoxic, and/or antineoplastic activities. Additional important components of this vast arsenal of compounds are polysaccharides derived from the fungal cell walls. These compounds have attracted significant attention in recent years because of their immunomodulatory activities, resulting in antitumor effects. These high molecular weight compounds, often called biological response modifiers (BRM), or immunopotentiators, prevent carcinogenesis, show direct anticancer effects, and prevent tumor metastasis. Some of the protein-bound polysaccharides from polypores and other basidiomycetes have found their way to the market in Japan as anticancer drugs. Finally, numerous compounds with cardiovascular, phytotoxic, immunomodulatory, analgesic, antidiabetic, antioxidant, insecticidal, and nematocidal activities, isolated from polypores, are also presented. In fact many of the fungi mentioned in this paper have long been used in herbal medicine, including polypores such as Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi or Ling Zhi), Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken-of-the-Woods), Trametes versicolor (Yun Zhi), Grifola umbellata (Zhu Lin), Inonotus obliquus (Chaga), and Wolfiporia cocos (Hoelen).
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
23. Population structure.
- Author
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Kono S
- Subjects
- Africa, Americas, Asia, Demography, Developing Countries, Economics, Europe, Asia, Eastern, International Agencies, Japan, Latin America, Longevity, Mortality, North America, Organizations, Pacific Islands, Population, Population Characteristics, Research, Statistics as Topic, Age Factors, Dependency, Psychological, Developed Countries, Forecasting, Life Expectancy, Population Dynamics, Time Factors, United Nations
- Abstract
This paper reviews recent new trends in population structure in the world and its major regions in order to access the determinants of those trends and explore issues regarding the recent and projected changes in the age structure of population and the relationships of those changes to social and economic development. In particular, the paper compares the change in age structure projected by the Population Division of the UN Secretariat in its most recent 3 series--namely, those completed in 1984, 1986, and 1988. By and large, the most recent UN assessment projects that a larger proportion of the world population will be aged 60 and over in 2000 and 2025 than was previously estimated. Those changes in projections can be observed for the world and for the more developed countries as a whole, and for the regions of Africa, Latin America, Northern America, East Asia, Europe, and Oceania. While the recommendations of the International Conference on Population called attention to the importance of changes in population structure, this paper recommends urgent government action in planning social programs for the aged because of the greater eminence of population aging in many settings. The case of Japan is used to illustrate the growing importance of increases in life expectancy as a determinant of age structure changes (in relation to fertility decline), a point that is reinforced through a cruder decomposition of UN estimates and projections for several European countries.
- Published
- 1989
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