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Ethnopharmacological relevance Gastrodia elata Blume ( Orchidaceae ) is commonly called Tian ma in Chinese and mainly distributed in the mountainous areas of eastern Asia, such as China, Korea, Japan and India. It is an extensively used traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine, to treat headache, migraine, dizziness, epilepsy, infantile convulsion, tetany and so on. The present paper reviews the advancements in investigation of botany and ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and quality control of Gastrodia elata Blume. Finally, the possible tendency and perspective for future investigation of this plant are also put forward. Materials and methods The information on Gastrodia elata Blume was collected via piles of resources including classic books about Chinese herbal medicine, and scientific databases including Pubmed, Google Scholar, ACS, Web of science, ScienceDirect databases, CNKI and others. Plant taxonomy was validated by the databases “The Plant List”, and “Mansfeld’s Encyclopedia”. Results Over 81 compounds from this plant have been isolated and identified, phenolics and polysaccharides are generally considered as the characteristic and active constituents of Gastrodia elata Blume. Its active compounds possess wide-reaching biological activities, including sedative, hypnotic, antiepileptic, anticonvulsive, antianxietic, antidepressant, neuroprotective, antipsychotic, anti-vertigo, circulatory system modulating, anti-inflammationary, analgesic, antioxidative, memory-improving and antiaging, antivirus and antitumor effects. Conclusion Despite the publication of various papers on Gastrodia elata Blume, there is still, however, the need for definitive research and clarification of other bioactive compounds using bioactivity-guided isolation strategies, and the possible mechanism of action as well as potential synergistic or antagonistic effects of multi-component mixtures derived from Gastrodia elata Blume need to be evaluated. It is also necessary and important to do more quality control and toxicological study on human subjects in order to maintain its efficacy stable in the body and validate its safety in clinical uses. In addition, more investigations on other parts of this plant beyond the tubers are needed. Further studies on Gastrodia elata Blume will lead to the development of new drugs and therapeutics for various diseases, and how to utilize it better should be paid more attention to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative in-depth investigation of the energy standings, opportunities and the barriers that occur in the expansion of renewable energy in the Asia's two fastest growing economies, i.e. India and China. These two countries contain almost 36% of the world's population and constitute the fastest emerging hub for trade and industries in the energy sector in which different types of energy resources are sought to meet the energy demands. Non-conventional sources of energy are the inevitable alternative for the achievement of economic improvement, ecological balance, nature friendly environment and sustainable development. It is recommended to eliminate the obstacles to achieving the estimated energy targets of the 13th financial year plan (FYP) of both nations and stimulate the enhancement of the rate of green energy resources exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explore the connections between expanding female education and the participation of women in paid employment in Japan, China and India, three of Asia's largest economies. Analysis based on existing data and literature shows that despite the large expansion in educational access in these countries in the last half century, women have lacked egalitarian labour market opportunities. A combination of social discouragement and individual choice largely explains the withdrawal, non-participation or intermittent female presence in the labour force, notwithstanding increased educational access. In taking stock of these issues and debates across these countries, it is argued that the parallel experiences of women in these countries can be traced back to persistent gender norms which, amongst other things, imply the centrality of marriage and non-market unpaid labour for women. The paper argues that there is a need for gender-sensitive public policy in order for increased education to translate to labour market gains for women, leading to sustainable development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports in the British media over the last 4 years have highlighted the schisms and contestations that have accompanied the reports of gender selective abortions amongst British Asian families. The position that sex-selection may be within the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act has particularly sparked controversy amongst abortion campaigners and politicians but equally among medical practitioners and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service who have hitherto tended to stay clear of such debates. In what ways has the controversy around gender-based abortion led to new framings of the entitlement to service provision and new ways of thinking about evidence in the context of reproductive rights? We reflect on these issues drawing on critiques of what constitutes best evidence, contested notions of reproductive rights and reproductive governance, comparative work in India and China as well as our involvement with different groups of campaigners including British South Asian NGOs. The aim of the paper is to situate the medical and legal provision of abortion services in Britain within current discursive practices around gender equality, ethnicity, reproductive autonomy, probable and plausible evidence, and policies of health reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research capacity is scarce in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings. Social determinants of health research (SDH) is an area in which research capacity is lacking, particularly in Asian countries. SDH research can support health decision-makers, inform policy and thereby improve the overall health and wellbeing of the population. In order to continue building this capacity, we need to know to what extent training exists and how challenges could be addressed from the perspective of students and staff. This paper aims to describe the challenges involved in training scholars to undertake research on the SDH in four Asian countries - China, India, Oman and Vietnam.Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with research scholars, research supervisors and principal investigators (n = 13) at ARCADE partner institutions, which included eight universities and research institutes. In addition, structured questionnaires (n = 70) were used to collect quantitative data relating to the courses available, teaching and supervisory capacity, and related issues for students being trained in research on SDH. Simple descriptive statistics were calculated from the quantitative data and thematic analysis applied to the qualitative data.Results: We identified a general lack of training courses focusing on SDH. Added to this, PhD students studying related areas reported inadequate supervision, with limited time allocated to meetings and poor interpersonal communication. Supervisors cited interpersonal communication problems and student lack of skills to perform high quality research as challenges to research training. Further challenges reported included a lack of research funding to include SDH-related topics. Finally, it was suggested that there was a need for institutions to define clear and appropriate standards regarding admission and supervision of students to higher education programs awarding doctoral degrees.Conclusions: There are gaps in training for research on the SDH at the surveyed universities and research institutes, which are likely to also be present in other Asian countries and their higher education institutions. Some of the barriers to high quality research and research training can be addressed by improved training for supervisors, clearly defined standards of supervision, finances for student stipends, and increased use of information and communication technology to increase access to teaching materials. Increased opportunities for online learning could be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experimental studies of the slotted-in dowelled bamboo-to-steel joint with/without infilling grout. • Failure behaviours and load-displacement curves for various specimens were predicted by FEM. • Analytical design models were proposed based on the results from test and FEM for the joints. Bamboo has been widely used for structural and non-structural purpose, for example as scaffolding and cladding for many centuries in South East Asian countries such as China and India, due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, low price and recyclability. In today's trend of sustainable development, there is a renewed interest in the use of bamboo for modern prefabricated structures. In this paper, dowel-type bamboo joints are introduced for prefabricated bamboo structures. An experimental study has been undertaken to investigate the structural behaviour and the failure mechanisms of the dowelled joints with varying configurations. Test results reveal that the ductile failure mode of the bamboo occurred when large end spacing was applied, and the infilling grout can significantly increase the load-carrying capacity of the dowelled joint. Three-dimensional finite element models were established and validated using available experimental data. Extensive parametric studies were carried out based on the simulation approach to investigate the effects of key influencing variables involved, i.e. hole clearance, friction coefficient, bolt strength, bamboo thickness, grout strength and end spacing. Moreover, analytical models for designing the dowelled joints are proposed and compared with the current codified approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research into bioactive natural products originating from medicinal plants, fungi and other organisms has a long history, accumulating abundant and diverse publications. However no quantitative literature analysis has been conducted so far. Here we analyze the bibliometric data of ethnopharmacology literature and relate the semantic content to the publication and citation data so that the major research themes, contributors, and journals of different time periods could be identified and evaluated. Web of Science (WoS) was searched to identify relevant publications. The Analyze function of WoS and bibliometric software (VOSviewer) were utilized to perform the analyses. Until the end of November 2018, 59,576 publications -linked to 'ethnopharmacology' indexed by WoS, published since 1958 in more than 5600 journals, and contributed by over 20,600 institutions located in more than 200 countries/regions, were identified. The papers were published under four dominating WoS categories, namely pharmacology/pharmacy (34.4%), plant sciences (28.6%), medicinal chemistry (25.3%), and integrative complementary medicine (20.6%). India (14.6%) and China (13.2%) were dominating the publication space. The United States and Brazil also had more than 8.0% contribution each. The rest of the top ten countries/regions were mainly from Asia. There were around ten-fold more original articles (84.6%) than reviews (8.4%). Ethnopharmacological research has a consistent focus on food and plant sciences, (bio)chemistry, complementary medicine and pharmacology, with a more limited scientific acceptance in the socio-cultural sciences. Dynamic global contributions have been shifting from developed countries to economically and scientifically emerging countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East. Research on recording medicinal plant species used by traditional medicine continues, but the evaluation of specific properties or treatment effects of extracts and compounds has increased enormously. Moreover increasing attention is paid to some widely distributed natural products, such as curcumin, quercetin, and rutin. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]