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The social relations and biophysical flows that link water, food, and energy systems are said to form a 'nexus'. Efforts to steer or otherwise exert influence on decisions that impact upon these nexus links, including to ignore them, take place at multiple levels, vary in complexity, and have implications for who benefits and who is burdened by those relations and flows. This paper examines how nexus links have been governed, using four medium- to large-scale water infrastructure projects in Laos and Thailand as probes into problematic issues of coordination, anticipation, inclusion, and attribution. Project documents, media reports, and published analyses were coded to extract information about nexus links, narratives, and decisions. Nexus interactions were summarized using a novel symbolic notation and then classified along a scale of increasing structural complexity as pairs, chains, and loops. The key finding from the analysis of the four projects was that nexus governance was fragmented, reactive, exclusive, and opaque. Coordination among ministries was limited with inter-ministerial bodies, and integrated development plans ineffective at guiding project design or operation decisions in the presence of bureaucratic competition. Anticipation of cross-sectoral concerns was rare, despite scope to identify them early in feasibility studies, and assessment activities; instead they were only acknowledged after public pressure. Inclusion of the needs of vulnerable and affected groups was limited, although poverty alleviation, and other social benefits were a significant element in project justification narratives. Attribution of responsibility was difficult as many key decisions took place behind closed doors, while project information was withheld, raising further governance issues of transparency and accountability. Structural complexity in the nexus links made addressing governance problems even more challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously articulated within several regional multilateral frameworks, the "China-Laos Railway" eventually turned into a flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Started in 2016 and planned to be completed in late 2021, this project will provide Laos with unprecedented railway infrastructure, linking its capital Vientiane with China through the northern border town of Boten. This paper critically scrutinizes the underlying geo-economic win-win rhetoric of coupling China's regional BRI ambitions with Laos' national vision of transforming into a land-linked country. Understanding the newest BRI labeling of infrastructural connectivity against the backdrop of Laos' and the region's longer-lasting neoliberal developmental trajectory, I examine the financial mechanism of the railway project and the different temporal and spatial scales of Laos' and China's calculation of potential benefits. These are juxtaposed with the empirical reality of already visible dynamics and impacts of Chinese investment alongside the railway. Together, they tend to paint a future of Chinese profits at the expense of Laos' sustainable long-term development. Contributing to much-needed grounded accounts of local unfoldings of China-backed megaprojects, I pay particular attention to vernacular discourse and experience to fully understand the nature, processes and impacts of BRI financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although hegemony has been understood as the property of nation-states and the ruling classes, this paper explores cultural hegemonies among diasporic peoples by examining the pervasive compliance of Hmong living in Laos and the United States with the principles of their kinship system. Since these kinship rules are inculcated through parental education from an early age and are seen as essential for maintaining the cohesion of their dispersed diasporic community in the absence of a territorial ancestral homeland, they have become culturally engrained and taken-for-granted by Hmong through their voluntary consent and no longer have to be enforced by overt power and coercive means. However, like all hegemonies, the Hmong kinship system may also confront increasing challenges and contestation as it is enacted in the different nation-states where Hmong reside, and may eventually become an ideology that needs to be actively enforced and imposed by the direct use of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undocumented migration from Central Vietnam to Laos stretches Vietnamese families and generates marital tensions and social anxieties around the extramarital relationships that migrant husbands establish with vợ hầu (second wives), an emic term that encompasses mistresses and more stable partners. This paper sheds light on these processes via an ethnographic study on how migration from Central Vietnam to Savannakhet - a town located in Central Laos bordering Thailand - shapes family formation, marital relationships and double standards in gender and sexuality. It argues that husbands and first and second wives manage these issues by preserving family integrity, negotiating extramarital relationships and retreating from marriage. These strategies are shaped by and constitutive of normative double standards that families refer to, reinforce and in some cases transcend to make sense of the marital challenges and disruptions caused by dislocation, translocality and the intrusion of second wives in their marriages. Overall, the study emphasises that families remain committed to a domestic division of labour and to the institutions of marriage and family, albeit with some adjustments. This argument resonates with broader discussions about migration, gender and sexuality in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the evaluation of natural radioactivity and radiological hazards of the terrestrial naturally occurring radionuclides of 226 Ra , 232 Th and 40 K in Savannakhet province, Laos. The activity concentrations of 226 Ra , 232 Th and 40 K are in the range of 6.6–73.6, 3.8–113.8 and 13.6–906.4 Bq kg - 1 , with the average values of 22.4 ± 2.1 , 30.8 ± 2.9 and 211.6 ± 16.5 Bq kg - 1 , respectively. The average radium equivalent activity Ra eq is calculated as 82.8 ± 9.7 Bq kg - 1 , which is smaller than the safety limit of 370 Bq kg - 1 . Radiological hazard indices have also been evaluated in comparison with the world average values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides descriptions and photographic illustrations for two new species and one new variety; Ophiopogon brevicaulis from N. Vietnam, Rohdea subcaudata from central Laos, and O. dracaenoides var. pleianthus from N. Vietnam. Five species are recorded as new to the flora of Vietnam; O. peliosanthoides, O. pingbienensis, O. reversus, O. xylorrhizus, and Peliosanthes pachystachya, two of which, O. peliosanthoides and O. pingbienensis, are illustrated. Data on the distribution and illustrations of O. intermedius in Vietnam are also provided, as the species there has not yet been sufficiently known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various terms are used to characterize fishers' knowledge. Here we use situated fishers' knowledge to refer to knowledge about long-distance fish migrations held by ethnic Lao fishers living in the Mekong River Basin in northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, and northeastern Cambodia. We consider the mobility of knowledge, humans, and fish, and adopt a theoretical framework based on Actor Network Theory (ANT) and political ecology. Based on fisher interviews, we demonstrate why knowledge transfer related to fish migrations is important. Fishers have various ways of knowing when migratory fish pass certain locations, although those are changing due to borders and technological changes. The paper's main contribution is to move beyond simply investigating human mobilities, and to instead consider the relationships between human, fish and knowledge mobilities, something that ANT is particularly well suited for, due to its focus on multispecies interactions, something that mobilities scholars would benefit from paying more attention to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laos is one of the poorest and most ‘rural’ countries in the world. Yet there is evidence of heightened levels of mobility as the country is drawn into the wider mainland southeast Asian region. Mobility is becoming increasingly important in supporting and defining livelihoods for some households and villages. The paper reviews the evidence for growing levels of mobility in Laos and, drawing on the experience of the wider region, reflects upon the implications of this for source communities in terms of economy and society. The paper highlights the shifting nature of the meaning of mobility for migrants and, therefore, for villages of origin and those ‘left behind’. The paper proposes that rather than searching out hard-and-fast views of migration and its impacts, the focus should be on 14 identified questions or lines of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes two innovative and linked approaches to teaching and student learning in the environmental and development geography of the Mekong region, a region remote from students’ normal experiential options. The first approach is field-based learning through Field Schools carried out in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The second approach is a structured role-playing web-based simulation exercise (e-Sim) on Mekong Basin environmental management challenges. This paper discusses the complementarities of these approaches and considers the degree to which these two experiential approaches to teaching and learning have contributed to key competences, namely cross-cultural communication and understanding, multi-disciplinary approaches to environment and development, and regional knowledge of Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Southeast Asian polities, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand share much of their geography, history, culture, religion and language. Not all speakers of more than 100 languages spoken in the area have a sufficient knowledge of the respective national languages, Khmer, Lao and Thai. Yet, for the most part, the national languages are the only languages of literacy or the media of instruction in education. This paper discusses language planning for literacy in these three polities. The focus is on literacy in local minority languages. The paper also compares the similarities and differences in approaches of providing literacy and basic education to ethnic minority populations. It argues that in all three polities literacy is conceptualised as a process tied to the standardised national language. Recently, however, some local level initiatives in Cambodia and Thailand have started changing such conceptualisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the proposition that complementarities exist between information technologies and public health promotion. The results of the cross-country analysis indicate that an increase in the stock of telecommunications infrastructure is positively correlated with an improved health status of the population. To integrate more realism into the macrolevel analysis, the paper utilizes household surveys conducted in two emerging market economies: Bangladesh and Laos. The analysis at the household level shows that a basic telephone service offers opportunities in delivering timely information on health services to households with relatively greater demand for this type of information. Telephone access is also associated with an increased demand for telecommunications infrastructure and medical facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The issue of land-deal taxation featured centrally in early debates about the global land rush, but has since largely disappeared. • This paper uses spatial and non-spatial data from Laos's recent land-concession inventory to model potential taxation revenues from rubber concessions. • Our results imply potential cumulative tax revenues of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on taxation method and rate. • This highlights under-taxation's exacerbation of coercive land grabs' initial injustice, but also implies possible economic restitution after the fact. • Nonetheless, if heightened concession taxation occurs, its rents are likely to be subjected to multiple competing claims. Under-taxation has been a prominent feature of the global land rush, figuring centrally in early concerns that transnational land deals constitute a new round of land grabbing rather than a source of productive investment. In the years since, however, under-taxation has been widely ignored in subsequent literature on state land concessions in the agri-plantation sector across the global South. To address this gap, this paper draws on ongoing research in Laos, where improved concession inventory efforts have helped stimulate a wide-ranging debate (both in and out of government) about the country's still-opaque processes of concession taxation. We use the rubber sector to examine a pair of concession-taxation strategies that have been pursued to varying degrees both in Laos and more broadly: taxing land from the time it is alienated to a concessionaire (a land fee model), and taxing the resource itself – in this case rubber plantations – from the time they become productive (a royalty model). Using a quantitative-geographic approach enabled by Laos's recently updated land concession inventory, we estimate potential tax revenues from rubber plantations under four taxation regimes that were deployed in various parts of the country over the last decade and a half: two of each type, with each type including higher and lower per-unit variants. Our analysis of the space of potential taxation implies significant opportunity costs inherent in the status-quo approach to taxation, which we discuss via the example of unaddressed need for concession-related compensation. Especially at the higher-end range, where taxation potentials total in the tens of millions of dollars per year, we find that Laos's rubber-concession landscape has significant potential to help address this issue. To the degree that under-taxation is addressed in the future, however, new concession-tax revenues will increasingly be subject to spending demands from outside the rubber sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lao People's Democratic Republic's aspirations to become the 'battery' of Southeast Asia has involved plans for a cascade of hydropower dams on the mainstream of the transboundary Mekong River. This has triggered the unprecedented undertaking of public stakeholder consultations under the Mekong River Commission's Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA). This paper focuses on PNPCA stakeholder consultations organized in Thailand and Cambodia, and seeks to understand how these stakeholder consultations, despite their merits in information sharing, have come to be criticized by civil society as a 'rubber stamp' for 'participation' in Lao hydropower development. Building upon the literature on public participation in development, critical hydropolitics, and stakeholder engagement in Mekong water governance, we seek to conceptualize a critical politics of public participation by adopting a relational approach towards identifying the key challenges relating to participation. We suggest that a relational approach must consider how the interrelations between the multiple formal and informal tracks of stakeholder engagement shape one another and overall opportunities for participation, and how power relations within these spaces impact on perceptions towards public participation. Distrust towards state-organized participatory spaces can be traced from the state-organized participatory spaces to another key interrelation: the power relations between state and nonstate actors in the multi-scalar political spaces that extend beyond participatory spaces. This paper examines how anti-participatory forces pose a challenge to the emergence of both state and nonstate participatory spaces, providing additional insights into the state-society dynamics that influence environmental outcomes around large-scale infrastructural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, currently peak-to-peak oscillatory shear stress-strain data is used in the asphalt binder characterization protocols. This practice necessitates the measurement, usage, and reporting of only peak responses for material characterization and specification even though a sinusoidal waveform is applied. However, in this paper it is argued that with the proliferation of modified binding systems, it is critical to capture and examine the complete waveform data when subjected to both small and large strains. This approach will help properly differentiating between materials. In this study, four modified binders were tested at small and large strain levels while recording the complete response waveform. The recorded waveform data was then used to examine the linear and nonlinear viscoelastic characteristics of these binders. The orthogonal stress decomposition technique was used to delineate elastic and viscous contributions in the nonlinear regime. This study examined the time-temperature dependency under both linear and nonlinear regimes. The time-temperature shift factors obtained from linear regime were effectively applied in the nonlinear regime. Further, all the tested binders showed strain stiffening and shear thinning behavior under most of the testing conditions. This study provides useful insights about the material behavior under nonlinear regime and can serve as a benchmark for further investigation of nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of asphalt binders. • Complete response waveform under oscillatory shear used to characterize the asphalt binder response. • Stress decomposition technique used to delineate elastic and viscous contributions in the nonlinear regime. • Application of linear viscoelastic time-temperature shift factors in the nonlinear regime. • Construction of master curves for elastic and viscous Chebyshev coefficients for asphalt binder systems. • Unification of linear and nonlinear characterization of asphalt binder response using complete response waveform and time-temperature superposition principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, bigels systems were prepared by using 20 wt% palm stearin (POs) structured soybean oil oleogels and 80 wt% xanthan gum hydrogels in different ratios of polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR). The proportion of PGPR in bigels was changed to explore the phase inversion and stabilization mechanism of bigels by multiple microscopy techniques, and the mechanical properties have been evaluated by the rheology analysis and 3D printability. When the PGPR content was less than 0.4 wt%, bigels presented as the O/W type. As the PGPR content was 1.0 wt% and 1.2 wt%, the bigel presented as the W/O type with a high internal phase, and a high level of droplets dispersed closely within an oil phase. The increase in PGPR content slowed down the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior under large strains. In terms of 3D printing capability, bigels (oleogels containing 20 wt% POs) showed an unsatisfactory 3D printing capability. However, with the increase of POs and PGPR content, more plastic and printable W/O high internal phase bigels were obtained due to the formation of a more stable, homogeneous, and strong ink. In addition, the bigels systems were investigated for the preparation of 3D biscuit printing, and it was found that the K′ value of W/O bigels batter (1511.39) was larger than that of O/W bigels batter (1394.82), showing greater hardness and better 3D printing performance. These findings could facilitate the broadening of bigels systems that could be applied for 3D biscuit printing. [Display omitted] • Phase inversion from O/W to W/O high internal phase bigel by adjusting PGPR content. • Two types of bigels showed significant differences in LAOS experiments. • The increase of PGPR decreased the fluidization of W/O bigels in LAOS. • The increase of POs and PGPR content improved the printing formability of W/O bigels. • There was some potential for using bigels in 3D food printing as a solid fat substitute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

REDD+ aims to mitigate climate change by reducing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries while ensuring social and environmental benefits through the involvement of diverse stakeholders. While several studies evaluate stakeholder participation in various aspects of REDD+, such as the level and type of stakeholder participation at both the project and national context level, there is a lack of research on how the government conducted the consultation meetings across all administrative levels. The objective of this study is to evaluate the participation of different stakeholders in REDD+ in Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), or Laos, funded by the World Bank, with a focus on analyzing government consultation processes to identify drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. The study applied both a literature review and online interviews, conducted with government officials and representatives of CSOs, which took place from March to April 2020. The results indicate significant involvement from cross-sectoral stakeholders. However, central government agencies and development partners dominated stakeholder participation, potentially influenced by government ownership. Non-state stakeholders, though invited to the consultations, had limited participation, highlighting the need for greater emphasis on their roles to ensure the integration of diverse interests and views in the REDD+ initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research project explored the factors affecting the adoption of an innovative and active English language teaching (ELT) strategy by Lao teachers. It also investigated why many teachers found it difficult to adopt the strategy and how an understanding of this difficulty resulted in the creation of an in-service teacher training program. Qualitative data were collected in two time ranges, the first in 2009-2013 obtained from 84 Lao English language teachers, and the second in Summer 2023 consisting of an audio interview with the first author which was an update on what had occurred 10 years after the original data collection. Findings from the first dataset indicated that teachers' internal realities, specifically socio-economic standing, locus of control, self-efficacy, and problem-solving bent, mediated their responses to external realities, namely poverty and limitations in teacher training, student attainment, testing and resources, and the culture-infused school code. These internal and external realities functioned as barriers to the adoption of innovative ELT strategies. Applications of these findings resulted in the creation of a culturally relevant in-service teacher training program, one that incorporated an awareness of these internal and external realities, which then enabled Lao teachers to implement innovative ELT strategies. This paper aims to demonstrate what successful culturally relevant in-service teacher training looks like in rural Laos.

Linear α-olefins (LAOs) such as 1-heptene and 1-octene are in high demand in the petrochemical industry. The increasing concerns about the environment and resource depletion have raised the importance of new technologies for producing LAOs from sustainable resources. We report for the first time the direct production of 1-octene from biomass-derived octanoic acid using a dual-bed catalyst system of RuSn/SiO2 and Al2O3. In this new catalyst system, the catalyst bed configuration and reaction temperature profile were found to be critical factors in controlling the 1-octene yield and purity. We obtained an unprecedented high 1-octene yield of 69.4% with 83.9% purity after optimization of the dual-bed catalyst system. Based on the experimental results, simulation models were developed to analyze the mass flow and energy efficiency of the new catalytic process that can convert 283 t per d of octanoic acid into 152 t per d of 1-octene. Life cycle assessment results proved that the newly-developed dual-bed catalyst system for 1-octene production from bio-based octanoic acid could be a key technology for producing environmentally sustainable LAOs with 56% lower CO2 emissions than conventional petroleum-based LAOs (6.51 vs. 14.95 kg CO2 eq.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical flow and small amplitude oscillation shear (SAOS) often do not meet the emerging needs of food research in practical scenarios to provide food texture information for processing in similar mechanical deformation range. Large amplitude oscillation shear (LAOS) has been developing rapidly in the last decade, but is yet to be widely used in food rheology due to the uncertainty of which LAOS analytical tools are most suitable for particular types of foods. This review aims to provide a significant update on the recent application of LAOS for different types of foods. While a brief summary of common analytical tools used in food LAOS rheology is given, the focus of this paper is on the use of LAOS for different food macro components (proteins, polysaccharides, fats), food formats (emulsion, foam), and categories (dough, cheese, confectionery). The applicable LAOS analytical tools and typical results in each category are presented. The common tools in food LAOS rheology include strain curve shape analysis (strain/amplitude sweep), Lissajous curve analysis (raw/elastic/viscous/3D Lissajous curves and Pipkin diagram), and nonlinear viscoelastic parameters (higher harmonic intensities, strain-stiffening/thickening ratios, large/minimum strain modulus/viscosities, etc.). Different tools were found to suit the analysis of different food components or categories. LAOS rheological analysis of foods can provide a richer dimension than the traditional SAOS analysis, particularly in understanding the phase change processes of food ingredients and the effects of food processing on food structure. • LAOS is a promising method for food processing and formulation. • LAOS data are summarised based on food ingredients and categories. • Strain/Lissajous curves are predominant analytical tools to visualise LAOS behaviour. • Higher harmonics and nonlinear viscoelasticity can quantify food mechanical response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mine the battery's health factors more comprehensively and accurately identify the lithium battery's State of Health (SOH), an Improved Douglas–Peucker feature extraction algorithm is proposed, and the LAOS-XGboost model is proposed to be used to predict the SOH of the battery. Firstly, to solve the problem that the traditional Douglas–Peucker algorithm has difficulties extracting curve features in a fixed dimension, the Douglas–Peucker algorithm is improved by de-thresholding. Then, the Wrapper method combined with the Improved Douglas–Peucker algorithm is used to construct the feature engineering of battery life prediction, and the optimal feature subset is obtained. Then, LAOS-XGboost is used to establish a battery SOH prediction model; finally, this model is used to predict the SOH of different batteries and the same battery, and the robustness of the model is analyzed. The experimental results show that the R2 of all XGboost models is higher than 0.97 in the prediction experiments of different batteries. The AE of the LAOS-XGboost model is 0, and the TIC index is less than 3% under 10 dB SNR. In the same battery prediction experiment, the TIC index of the model is less than 0.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gelation procedure and the gelation time of gelatin gels may lead to apparently similar materials, however, with different rheological fingerprints under small and large oscillatory shear deformations. Here, in the first paper of this series, gelation of 3 and 5% w/w gelatin solutions at 5 °C was performed in situ on the rheometer plate and in custom-made casting modules to obtain individual gel layers. Large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) tests were performed. The nonlinear deformation regime was qualitatively analyzed using normalized Lissajous-Bowditch curves. The MITlaos software was employed to decompose the total intracycle stress response and to calculate the Chebyshev coefficients ratios. The dynamic moduli of the fresh gels were measured directly after the in situ preparation and within a time frame until 1.5 h. In the strain sweeps, we observed intense stiffening followed by yielding above 200% strain. However, the individual gel layers aged for 24 and 48 h show different LAOS fingerprints. The extensive loops in the viscous Lissajous-Bowditch curves indicate an elastoplastic material response. Based on the overall nonlinear rheological response, we propose a structural formation that describes the behavior of the gels for the conditions studied here. In the second paper of this series, we give the impact of hard micro-fillers (glass beads) and we describe the nonlinear characteristics of the filled gels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to help teachers to design teaching plan for raising student's competency at secondary school in Laos is now of great concern. On the other hand, teachers teach sciences almost by lecturing theoretical only. They rarely explain the problems based on actual phenomena that occur in pupils' daily life nor do experiment during the class. Thus, one of the vital concerns for Lao's science education is that the summative and formative assessment for science learning are both only focused on evaluating the pupils' knowledge. To develop experimental competence, we developed and evaluated a practical science course "Heat and temperature" with hands on activities and realistic application, using action research approach. For measuring experimental competence, the framework for practical assessment from some previous researchers was adapted and used. In this paper, we describe the process and experiences of how to develop the course with comprehensive worksheets and hands on equipment. We also interpret the way to gather evidence of experimental competence during the course. As a result, the course with handson activities and realistic application can significantly develop the following indicators of experimental competence: "Make logical reasoning to find out what to investigate", "Identify which physics quantity should be measured or which phenomena should be observed", "Describe experimental design", "Collect experimental data", "Interpret experimental data". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grant Evans' body of work on Laos consistently sought to understand how peasant society responded to political, social and economic change. As the Lao peasantry became ever more integrated both nationally and within the wider Southeast Asian region, and relations of market exchange came to dominate rural life, Evans maintained the need to reflect on Laos' peasant roots to understand resulting pathways of agrarian change. This paper reconnects with this discussion in the contemporary Lao context, focusing on three dimensions of mobility: the widening spatial and sectoral 'footprints' of rural livelihoods; physical movement within and beyond rural settings in Laos; and reflections on issues of differentiation. We first track the political and policy changes that have most strongly influenced rural life since Evans' early research on collectivisation, before exploring ways in which spatial integration, subsistence‐to‐commercial transition and migration have situated the remnants of Lao peasant society in a world of flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new species were described and illustrated from South Laos in this paper, two of them, Phetehaburus caricaesp. nov. infesting Carica papaya L. (Caricaceae) and Phyllocoptruta tabernaemontanasp. nov. infesting Tabernaemontana divaricata L. (Apocynaceae) belong to subfamily Phyllocoptinae (Eriophyidae) and another species, Diptilomiopus careyussp. nov. infesting Careya arborea Roxb. (Lecythidaceae) belongs to Diptilomiopinae (Diptilomiopidae). All the new species described herein are vagrants on the host plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new calanoid copepod, Allodiaptomus nongensis n. sp., is herein described based on samples collected from the Xe Lanong River (a tributary of the Mekong River), and 13 other localities in Central Laos. This is the sixth species of the genus Allodiaptomus Kiefer, 1936. The other five members in the genus were recorded from India, South China, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The features that stand out in the new species are in the male: the right caudal ramus has a large, biacuminate, conical process proximally, and the Exp-2 of the right P5 has a hook-shaped principal spine proximally. The new species is abundant in both temporary and permanent waters, but is restricted to Savannakhet Province. This Laotian endemic copepod is referred to by local people as "Pa Khayong", which means tiny fish. Since high densities of this copepod can be found in the dry season (December until May), several man-made copepod traps are placed by local people along the river banks in Muang Nong District. Interestingly, large concentrations of individuals (body length: ~1 mm) belonging to the new species are harvested and consumed by these villagers. Additional information about this species and the copepod fisheries by local people in this area is provided herein. In this paper, the reassignment of Allodiaptomus rarus to the genus Mongolodiaptomus is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper stems from data collected during fieldwork in the Laotian provinces of Xieng Khouang and Luang Prabang and in Malaysia's Sabah province. It compares and contrasts the stone jars of Laos and the menhirs of Sabah, with particular focus on the supernatural qualities ascribed to stone. Jars and menhirs are expressions of a wider megalithic art, the former sculpted from a single boulder and the latter generally set vertically into the ground, plain and undecorated. Shape does not impact the stone's perceived unearthly powers, whose spirit can manifest itself as easily from a jar as from a menhir. The relatively young age of the Sabah menhirs, estimated at 300 years, has been instrumental in assembling testimonies about their functions and ways in which communities interact with, and react to, their perceived paranormal qualities. The date of the Laotian jars is Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a time series perspective to examine the determinants and stability of the money demand function in the case of Laos PDR. An autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach to cointegration in the presence of structural breaks and Granger causality in a vector error correction method framework are applied to data covering the period 1992:Q1 to 2013:Q4. The results indicate that the money demand function is stable when exchange rate fluctuations are incorporated, and the causality analysis reveals that there is a feedback effect between money demand and the exchange rate in the long run. This implies that the exchange rate plays an important role in influencing money demand in the case of a dollarized economy such as that of Laos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper demonstrates the need for collaboration and coordination between the water and energy sectors in urban wastewater management in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The realisation of this need for collaboration alone is not enough. It needs the individual champions to turn this realisation into action. Using qualitative research methodology, this paper provides emerging leaders in Lao PDR with strategies they could use in moving from the 'information and ideas' stage to 'implementation and action' stage. Out of the six strategies, most relevant to help emerging leaders in Lao PDR achieve water and energy sectors collaboration and coordination in managing urban wastewater; the top three key strategies are strategic networking, communicating, and taking action. Having technical capabilities is important but does not make a complete leader. For change to be achieved, a combination of technical and persuasion skills is required. In Lao PDR, the interviews highlight that a leader with good interpersonal skills has persuasive power and that the context is crucial in the process of influence. Context determines which strategies to use and when and how to use them. The paper has shown that even though the strategic framework developed was drawn from western case studies, its practicality is relevant in the non-western context. The findings contributed to an identification of relevant strategies for emerging leaders who wish to advance integrated and more sustainable forms of wastewater management in Lao PDR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural households in developing countries face difficulty in no small part in managing emergent expenditures on various events. It is commonly observed that rural households put up money for each other and swap small amounts of rice or other food stuffs with neighbors to cope with idiosyncratic shocks. This network finance plays an important role in supporting rural households facing an emergency with little or no administrative cost, especially in the society where formal safety-net mechanisms are de facto absent. As network finance is likely to function within a narrow range of blood and geographical proximity, the households tend to form a network in similar economic circumstances. Then, it can be assumed that the effectiveness of network finance will be vulnerable for the poor households whose network members belong to a similar stratum. This paper examines the accessibility of the poor to network finance, using household data collected in the hinterlands of Luang Prabang, Laos. We found that the poor can resort feebly to network finance. Therefore, the role of savings groups to mitigate shocks is more important for the poorer households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Highlands have a strategical role to play in Vietnam's socioeconomic and cultural development. Not just forming a natural corridor along the borders with Southern Laos, Northeastern Cambodia, and the Central Coastal Vietnam, the region is also home to distinctive cultural values of indigenous ethnic minorities. Therefore, formulating comprehensive policies for the Central Highlands to serve multiple purposes, like narrowing the development gap with other regions and improving people's living standards while preserving traditional cultural values, has been of great significance. The paper provides clarification of some achievements in preserving the Central Highlands culture over time, presenting current challenges as well as some suggestions for preserving and promoting traditional culture of ethnic minorities in the coming time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A FERM was established to integrate the risk of various dimensional conflict sources. • Different dimensional conflicts show diverse changed trends in the MRB. • The water conflict risk will remain at a medium degree in the MRB. • Stakeholders having a shared future is necessary to solve water conflicts. Improving the reliability of conflict evaluation and risk prediction methods used in transboundary water-sharing problems is an important research gap that needs to be addressed. This paper constructed a novel and comprehensive water conflict risk assessment framework that takes into account the multi-dimensional attributes of water resources. The reliability of each evaluation index is represented based on the triangular fuzzy number which can address the ambiguity and uncertainty. The fuzzy evidence reasoning model (FERM) was constructed to comprehensively calculate the risk level of water conflict in the transboundary river basin. The GM (1,1) model was used to predict the indicators for dynamic forecasting of the water conflict risk, and the water sharing problem in the Mekong River Basin (MRB) was selected as the case study to validate the method proposed in this paper. The results showed: (1) Except for Myanmar, the risk of water conflicts in other countries has decreased and will continue to decrease in the future. (2) The water quantity conflict risk in Laos and Thailand is increasing. (3) There is little change in the risk of water ecological conflict in riparian countries. (4) The risk of socio-economic conflict in Cambodia rises from high grade to very high grade, while the risk of economic and social conflict in other countries will decline. (5) From 1992 to 2027, water conflict in riparian countries have been on the decline. The comparison of the TWAP's (Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme) assessment and prediction of water conflict risk shows that the research results of the two are close to each other. Therefore, the proposed model could help to assess and forecast the water conflict risk in transboundary rivers. This assists riparian countries to take effective preventive measures to avoid water conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instituting effective groundwater governance is highly challenging in a least developed country such as the Lao PDR where groundwater resources need to be developed for a variety of reasons but the levels of understanding, awareness and technical capacity are extremely limited. This paper discusses the current state of knowledge and management of groundwater and suggests some pathways forward. Whilst the level of governance remains very low, there is growing interest in tackling the entrenched technical and non-technical issues and constraints. Various initiatives have recently emerged, resulting in positive institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being a low-income, agriculture-based country with a subsistence orientation, Laos is in the early stages of a major economic transformation whereby rural households have been experiencing rapid change in their farming and livelihood systems. Some households have begun to engage in semi-commercial farming while others have adopted labour-oriented or migration-oriented livelihood strategies. This paper explores how rural households in six villages in the lowlands of Champasak Province in southern Laos make a living. These villages vary in their access to irrigation and to markets. Nevertheless, in all villages, long-term migration of younger household members to neighbouring Thailand has come to play a large role in household livelihood strategies. In some cases this is necessary to meet the household's consumption requirements; in most, it is part of a diversified strategy in which rice farming still plays a significant role, though still largely for subsistence. The paper examines some of the issues involved in attempting to promote intensive, market-oriented rice farming in a context of an emerging on-farm labour shortage combined with an increasing flow of remittances from migrant family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper demonstrates complexity surrounding cross-language research involving an interpreter and illustrates how the author attempted to ensure methodological rigor through modifying and applying Squires' criteria to the design and conduct of her education research. Design/methodology/approach: This research employed Squires' recommendations for cross-language research as methodological guidelines for designing and conducting cross-language research. The research involved focus group discussions with teachers working in an ethnic minority boarding school in Laos and an interpreter who helped translating/transcribing interviews in Lao to English and data analysis. Findings: From applying Squires' criteria, this paper introduces a reflexive set of recommendations for researchers conducting a wide range of qualitative cross-language research. Originality/value: Most meta-criteria for cross-language research are developed to evaluate the quality of cross-language research. However, the soundness of a set of meta-criteria as one tool to evaluate all cross-language research might be questionable due to qualitative studies' diverse epistemological grounds. This paper argues that meta-criteria can serve as a critical and reflexive guide for cross-language researchers when used from the research design and on. The paper also suggests a new set of recommendations which may facilitate more reflexive approaches to cross-language research.

This paper reports on an ethnographic exploration of the culture of institutional governance at one of the five public universities in Laos. Drawing on documentary materials, on-site observations made over an extended period, and semi-structured interviews conducted with 31 academic managers from across all management levels at the site institution, the paper seeks to throw light on the institution's embedded practices of internal governance, as well as on the beliefs, values and aspirations associated with those practices. A constructivist and interpretive methodology was employed to generate data. The picture to emerge is one of a university hemmed in by State controls and ideology, in which there is an overwhelmingly bureaucratic and managerial culture, and in which a governance structure that could potentially support institutional and academic autonomy does not do so. Resource constraints also contribute to the institution's limited capacity to exercise autonomy.

Objectives: There is currently no booster diphtheria or tetanus vaccine for Lao children before adolescence, despite international recommendations. We investigated seroprotection against diphtheria and tetanus among Lao adolescents., Methods: Seven hundred seventy-nine serum samples were tested for anti-diphtheria and anti-tetanus antibodies., Results: Overall, 25.8% of the adolescents had antibody titers corresponding to protection against diphtheria and 30.9% to sufficient immunity against tetanus. Female participants >16 years were more likely to be protected against diphtheria (p < 0.001) and tetanus (p < 0.029)., Conclusion: Low protection against diphtheria and tetanus, possibly due to low vaccination coverage or antibody waning, suggests booster doses are warranted before adolescence., (© 2023 The Authors Tropical Medicine & International Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The government of (post)socialist Laos has conceded more than 1 million hectares of land—5 percent of the national territory—to resource investors, threatening rural community access to customary lands and forests. However, investors have not been able to use all of the land granted to them, and their projects have generated geographically uneven dispossession due to local resistance. Based on twenty months of ethnographic fieldwork, this article compares how dispossession materialized in eight villages targeted by a Vietnamese rubber plantation and a Chinese pulpwood plantation in southern Laos. I contribute to a nascent literature on the political contingencies of dispossession by showing how extraeconomic forces of expropriation are governed relationally. Developing a Gramscian relational environmental governance framework, I demonstrate how such contingencies are shaped by social and political relations among and internal to state, capital, and community actors, leading to either the extension and solidification or contraction and fragmentation of dispossession as a hegemonic mode of development. In the case at hand, I focus on four sets of decisive relations: (1) corporate-state relations that mediate the capacity of investors to mobilize state powers of land expropriation; (2) the state's discursive framing of socioenvironmental relations between communities and their rural environments, which affects how amenable village territories are to acquisition; (3) community-government relations built on kinship, ethnic, or historical links that villagers can use to lodge effective grievances with the state; and (4) coherent and democratic internal village relations that build community solidarity against plantation development. Key Words: dispossession, environmental governance, land grabbing, Laos, resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian story of miraculous growth and poverty reduction has reinforced mainstream views of development that equate high and sustained economic growth with progress in human wellbeing. But understanding development only in terms of economic growth is not sufficient. This paper offers a different perspective on possible effects of Laos’s transition from a subsistence-oriented economy to a market-oriented economy. We used a multidimensional poverty approach with panel data for the years between 2003 and 2013. Findings suggest that benefits were not equally distributed: 50 per cent of people moved in and out of poverty, and the other half was either non-poor (37%) or always poor (13%). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the relationship between donor agencies and government during the development of Lao basic education policy in the post-Cold War period, 1991-2000. We argue that Laos had only recently been 're- born' from colonial regimes, and was thus unable to resist or mediate donor policy agendas and donors who acted on behalf of economically developed nations. The nature of the power relationship between donor and government is explored through an analysis of policy developed at that time as well as the perceptions of aid conditionalities, as recalled by government officials and those working in the aid sector at that time. These perceptions were gathered through interviews conducted by one of the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Covid 19 impacted many healthcare logistics systems. An enormous number of people suffer from the effect of a pandemic, infection diseases can spread rapidly within and between countries. People from the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic are most likely to cross-border into Thailand for diagnosis and special treatment. In this situation, international referral cannot predict the volume of patients and their destination. Therefore, the aim of the research is to use deep learning to construct a model that predicts the travel demand of patients at the border. Methods: Based on previous emergency medical services, the prediction demand used the gravity model or the regression model. The novelty element in this research paper uses the neural network technique. In this study, a two-stage survey is used to collect data. The first phase interviews experts from the strategic group level of The Public Health Office. The second phase examines the patient's behavior regarding route selection using a survey. The methodology uses deep learning training using the Sigmoid function and Identity function. The statistics of precision include the average percent relative error (APRE), the root mean square error (RMSE), the standard deviation (SD), and the correlation coefficient (R). Results: Deep learning is suitable for complex problems as a network. The model allows the different data sets to forecast the demand for the cross-border patient for each hospital. Equations are applied to forecast demand, in which the different hospitals require a total of 58,000 patients per year to be diagnosed by the different hospitals. The predictor performs better than the RBF and regression model. Conclusions: The novelty element of this research uses the deep learning technique as an efficient nonlinear model; moreover, it is suitable for dynamic prediction. The main advantage is to apply this model to predict the number of patients, which is the key to determining the supply chain of treatment; additionally, the ability to formulate guidelines with healthcare logistics effectively in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxidative cracking of n-decane, n-dodecane, n-tetradecane and n-hexadecane was assessed at millisecond contact times on a platinum catalyst at a C/O molar ratio of 1.8. The thermal mapping of the reactor showed the similar thermal behaviour of the millisecond reactor at the steady-state for all reactants, corresponding to the autothermal operation of the combustion catalyst in the range of 440–550 °C. The heat provided led to a thermal gradient in the post-catalytic gas-phase and sustained the endothermic formation of valuable linear α-olefins (LAOs). The LAO yields increased with the carbon chain length of the reactant from 11.4 wt% starting from n-decane to 20.2 wt% starting from n-hexadecane. Furthermore, the LAO carbon chain length tends to be higher when feeding the MSR with larger n-alkanes. Two mathematical models are able to predict the distributions of organic products: (i) the Anderson-Schultz-Flory law for cracking products, i.e. LAO and n-aldehydes and (ii) a model based on the hydrogen atom abstraction probability for oxygenated compounds, the formation of which does not involve carbon–carbon bond cleavage, i.e. tetrahydrofurans, oxiranes and ketones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Xi Jinping era, China is actively implementing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) around the globe. Under the BRI, infrastructure development has become the main agenda for China to create connectivity. One of the infrastructure projects in the energy sector is the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project. The Nam Ou River is a tributary of the Mekong River located in Laos and borders China. For Laos, this project is part of their vision to be "The battery of Southeast Asia." Therefore, this article attempts to explain that Nam Ou Hydropower has implications for China's dominance in the Mekong region. The circle hydro-hegemony is used as the conceptual framework for analyzing the phenomenon. This article also applies a qualitative method with secondary data. The article shows that the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project in Laos elevates China's influence in the Mekong region. By actively pulling and pushing its neighbors into cooperation, China exercises its power as an upstream country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on isolating tannin-tolerant yeasts from Miang, a fermented tea leaf product collected from northern Laos PDR, and investigating related food applications. From 43 Miang samples, six yeast isolates capable of ethanol production were obtained, with five isolates showing growth on YPD agar containing 4% (w/v) tannic acid. Molecular identification revealed three isolates as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (B5-1, B5-2, and C6-3), along with Candida tropicalis and Kazachstania humilis. Due to safety considerations, only Saccharomyces spp. were selected for further tannic acid tolerance study to advance food applications. Tannic acid at 1% (w/v) significantly influenced ethanol fermentation in all S. cerevisiae isolates. Notably, B5-2 and C6-3 showed high ethanol fermentation efficiency (2.5% w/v), while others were strongly inhibited. The application of tannin-tolerant yeasts in longan fruit wine (LFW) fermentation with longan seed extract (LSE) supplementation as a source of tannin revealed that C6-3 had the best efficacy for LFW fermentation. C6-3 showed promising efficacy, particularly with LSE supplementation, enhancing phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and inhibiting α-glucosidase activity, indicating potential antidiabetic properties. These findings underscore the potential of tannin-tolerant S. cerevisiae C6-3 for fermenting beverages from tannin-rich substrates like LSE, with implications for functional foods and nutraceuticals promoting health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating development is occurring in three of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. These countries share a history of being former colonies of France and then experienced traumatic and tragic histories of war and devastation after the end of colonialism. Though two of the three countries remain Communist, they have begun to embrace capitalism and are opening their economies to market forces, tourism and foreign corporations. This paper explores how these countries embrace the dynamics of 'market socialism' and the expansion of capitalism through the perspective of advertising and the expansion of consumerism. Advertising links culture and the economy, it is an agent of change as well as reflecting social and cultural change. One of the major stimuli for change is an increasing cultural preoccupation with the consumption of products, many of them of foreign origin, and advertising plays a key role in stimulating the desire for those products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]