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

A major hurdle in pediatric formulation development is the lack of safety and toxicity data on some of the commonly used excipients. While the maximum oral safe dose for several kinds of excipients is known in the adult population, the doses in pediatric patients, including preterm neonates, are not established yet due to the lack of evidence-based data. This paper consists of four parts: (1) country-specific perspectives in different parts of the world (current state, challenges in excipients, and ongoing efforts) for ensuring the use of safe excipients, (2) comparing and contrasting the country-specific perspectives, (3) past and ongoing collaborative efforts, and (4) future perspectives on excipients for pediatric formulation. The regulatory process for pharmaceutical excipients has been developed. However, there are gaps between each region where a lack of information and an insufficient regulation process was found. Ongoing efforts include raising issues on excipient exposure, building a region-specific database, and improving excipient regulation; however, there is a lack of evidence-based information on safety for the pediatric population. More progress on clear safety limits, quantitative information on excipients of concern in the pediatric population, and international harmonization of excipients' regulatory processes for the pediatric population are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key strategy for social development and sustainable urban expansion is building sustainable and affordable transport systems. In this study, we aim to test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and reveal the impact of infrastructure investment in transportation systems in China, Turkey, India, and Japan over the period 1995-2020 on environmental degradation. According to dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) method analysis, per capita GDP and per capita GDP 3 have a significant positive impact on per capita CO 2 emission, while per capita GDP 2 has a significant adverse impact on per capita CO 2 emission. These results confirm the validity of the N-shaped EKC assumption, while inconsistent with the results of the FMOLS technique, showing that per capita GDP is significantly positive, while per capita GDP 2 and per capita GDP 3 have a significant negative impact on per capita carbon emissions. Moreover, as clarified by the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and DOLS methods, road infrastructure investment (RO), aviation infrastructure investment, trade openness, and foreign direct investment (FDI) have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment (RA) has a significant negative effect on per capita carbon emission. Country-level estimates of per capita carbon emission-based DOLS strategies in the model show that only China and Japan have N-shaped EKC hypothesis. Road infrastructure investment, aviation infrastructure investment, and trade openness have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment has a significant negative effect on per capita CO 2 emission in selected central and east Asian countries. The latest electrified rail systems are well thought out and less polluting, so the contribution of rail infrastructure investment to the transport mix can support sustainable and safe transport systems at city center and intercity levels and reduce environmental pollution in central and east Asian countries. Moreover, the implementation of the basic environmental settings of trade agreements should be strengthened to condense the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Microplastics (MPs) are non-biodegradable substances that can sustain our environment for up to a century. What is more worrying is the incapability of modern technologies to annihilate MPs from om environment. One ramification of MPs is their impact on every kind of life form on this planet, which has been discussed ahead; that is why these substances are surfacing in everyday discussions of scholars and researchers. This paper discusses the overview of the global occurrence, abundance, analysis, and remediation techniques of MPs in the environment. This paper primarily reviews the event and abundance of MPs in coastal sediments and agricultural soil of three major Asian countries, India, China, and Japan. A significant concentration of MPs has been recorded from these countries, which affirms its strong presence and subsequent environmental impacts. Concentrations such as 73,100 MPs/kg in Indian coastal sediments and 42,960 particles/kg in the agricultural soil of China is a solid testimony to prove their massive outbreak in our environment and require urgent attention towards this issue. Conclusions show that human activities, rivers, and plastic mulching on agricultural fields have majorly acted as carriers of MPs towards coastal and terrestrial soil and sediments. Later, based on recorded concentrations and gaps, future research studies are recommended in the concerned domain; a dearth of studies on MPs influencing Indian agricultural soil make a whole sector and its consumer vulnerable to the adverse effects of this emerging contaminant. [Display omitted] • Film & fibre shaped microplastics (MPs) are more abundant in India, China and Japan. • Plastic mulching is the root cause of major MPs pollution in soil and sediment. • Estuarian soil/sediment are more prone to MPs pollution than terrestrial and coastal. • FT-IR is highly used for MPs identification; mass spectrometry & microscopy are least. • MPs work as a vector for metals, PPCPs, surfactants and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject) has been connecting students across multiple countries through asynchronous forums on a large scale since 2015. However, considering the variety of virtual exchange methods and the advantages they bring to the field of foreign language learning, there is an increased need to explore the pedagogical possibilities of combining asynchronous and synchronous modalities, particularly across multiple institutions and countries. This short article reports on a pedagogical innovation which involved adding synchronous sessions conducted over Zoom to the asynchronous IVEProject forums. The authors arranged eight weekly Zoom meetings in which students from China, India, Japan, Jordan, Palestine, Türkiye and Syria participated in May-July, 2021. After the final session, a survey was administered to participating students and their teachers to explore their experiences. The results show that the majority of students appreciated and benefitted from the opportunity to communicate synchronously with peers from other countries. The paper also reflects on the benefits and challenges of combining synchronous sessions alongside the asynchronous IVEProject forums, aiming to derive lessons learned from this project in the hope that this will aid future EFL instructors in creating engaging virtual exchange projects which involve participants from multiple cultures and countries.

Governance and regulation of the use of live animals in research and teaching is examined in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and India. A comparison of the systems in different countries will enable the determination of best practice and fit-forpurpose regulation. The most comprehensive government regulation of animal welfare in institutions covers a broad range of animals and institutions are required to have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, whose membership is specified in guidelines or regulations. The work of the Committees is rigorously overseen by government and facilities that use live animals are audited externally. All countries examined have legislation governing the use of live animals in research, although only Australia and Malaysia have a fully equivalent mandated oversight of teaching. Teaching that uses live animals is partly covered in the Philippines, Japan, Singapore and Thailand This paper thus aims to review the regulation of animal use in different Asian jurisdictions in order to determine best practices that are appropriate to those settings. The most comprehensive oversight is provided in Australia and Malaysia that essentially use the same regulatory framework.

The growing India-Japan engagements are not only focused on economic issues, but also cover a wide range of interests, including regional security, political, and maritime security concerns. Both countries are consolidating strategic partnerships to address the risks and vulnerabilities posed by the evolving regional balance of power. Through their embeddedness with China, both India and Japan form an intrinsic part of the Indo-Pacific geopolitical security architecture. The key transformation of relations between these two states in the region is in response to the geopolitical change brought about by China's rapid ascension. In this regard, the article further explains how both countries are systematically strengthening a strategic partnership and gradually reinforcing economic, political, security, and strategic cooperation against China. This article seeks to address how both states would restrain rising China's strategic maneuvering in the Indo-Pacific region through an analysis of the India-Japan alignment, with the main focus of this study being on analyzing how both India and Japan are now investing in a long-term strategy to balance China's hegemonic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to investigate the impact of environmental entrepreneurship and green innovations on CO2 emissions in highly polluting Asian economies. For empirical estimation, we have applied ARDL and NARDL models. In the short run, the linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are significant in China and India. The short-run non-linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are significant in the case of China, India, and Japan. Similarly, the short-run linear estimates of green innovations are significant in China, India, and Japan, whereas the non-linear estimated coefficients of green innovation appeared to be significant in India, Japan, and Russia. In the long run, the linear estimates of environmental entrepreneurship are negative and significant in three countries, namely China, Japan, and Russia. Similarly, the estimates of green innovations are negative and significant in China, India, Japan, and Russia. In the non-linear model, the estimated coefficients of positive shock in environmental entrepreneurship are significant and negative in the case of China, India, and Japan; while, the estimates of negative shock in environmental entrepreneurship are negative and significant in India only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: it is widely assumed that individuals with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection remain at lifelong risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease. However, there is substantial evidence that self-clearance of Mtb infection can occur. We infer a curve of self-clearance by time since infection and explore its implications for TB epidemiology. Methods and findings: data for self-clearance were inferred using post-mortem and tuberculin-skin-test reversion studies. A cohort model allowing for self-clearance was fitted in a Bayesian framework before estimating the lifetime risk of TB disease and the population infected with Mtb in India, China and Japan in 2019. We estimated that 24.4% (17.8–32.6%, 95% uncertainty interval (UI)) of individuals self-clear within 10 years of infection, and 73.1% (64.6–81.7%) over a lifetime. The lifetime risk of TB disease was 17.0% (10.9–22.5%), compared to 12.6% (10.1–15.0%) assuming lifelong infection. The population at risk of TB disease in India, China and Japan was 35–80% (95% UI) smaller in the self-clearance scenario. Conclusions: the population with a viable Mtb infection may be markedly smaller than generally assumed, with such individuals at greater risk of TB disease. The ability to identify these individuals could dramatically improve the targeting of preventive programmes and inform TB vaccine development, bringing TB elimination within reach of feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study uses both carbon dioxide emission and ecological footprints as proxies for environmental degradation to examine the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the top three emitters from Asia, i.e., China, India, and Japan. To this end, the autoregressive distributed lag model for time series and panel estimation is used for a period spanning over 1980–2016. For carbon dioxide emission, China presents an inverted-U shape of the environmental Kuznets curve, while a U-shape relationship is found for India and Japan. Similarly, when the hypothesis is tested with the ecological footprint, Japan offers an inverted U-shape and U-shaped association is detected for China and India. The panel analysis indicates the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve with both proxies of environmental degradation. Besides, human capital and renewable energy promote environmental sustainability, while non-renewable energy use hinders environmental quality. The findings of this study suggest that in order to meet the combined goals of economic growth and environmental protection, the three economies, i.e., China, India, and Japan, should employ renewable energy–enabled technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negotiation process of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has been challenging for its participating countries, who have sought to find a balanced compromise and consensus in spite of their many different interests. While some scholars have studied the RCEP negotiation, there has been no detailed study exploring how domestic interests influence leaders' positions on the RCEP deal. The objective of this study is to explore the interests of major countries – China, India, and Japan – in the negotiation of the RCEP. China and Japan decided to stay within the RCEP formation, while India opted to stay out of the RCEP formation. This study argues that domestic interests have influenced leaders' decisions in the RCEP negotiations. The existence of major countries shows hegemonic rivalry/game in the development of the RCEP. The neoliberal institutionalism theory has emphasised the importance of common interests for international cooperation. The existence of common interests has become a fundamental element for the conclusion of the RCEP to achieve its objective, namely economic integration, economic development, and strengthening economic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Social engagement is an important active aging strategy to promote older adults' mental health. The purposes of this study were to compare social engagement in older populations around the world and explore associations with mental health outcomes. Materials and methods: An international cross‐sectional survey was conducted from 2017 to 2019. Data were retrieved from The International Social Survey Programme for a secondary data analysis across 30 countries. This study applied the Taxonomy of Social Activities and its six levels as operational definitions for a consistent concept of social engagement for international comparisons. Results: In total, 9403 older adults with a mean age of 72.85 ± 6.40 years responded. The highest levels of older adults' social engagement were found in Switzerland, Thailand, and New Zealand. Older adults of a higher age, with a lower educational level, who were permanently sick or disabled, who had no partner, who were widowed or whose civil partner had died, who lived alone, and who had lower self‐placement in society had significantly lower social engagement than did their counterparts. In the regression model, older adults' social engagement positively predicted general health, self‐accomplishment, and life satisfaction, but negatively predicted loneliness and depression. Conclusions: In aging societies worldwide, encouraging older adults' social engagement would be beneficial to promote mental health. Implications for nursing practice and health policies: Community professional nurses can develop strategies of social engagement based on the needs and sociodemographic factors of older adults to improve their mental health. Developing efficient strategies and local policies by learning from successful experiences in other countries is important to promote social engagement in aging societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of research and development (R&D) intensity on renewable energy consumption in selected Asian economies. We have relied on the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) method to get empirical estimates. The short- and long-run results show that a rise in R&D intensity increases renewable energy consumption in China and Japan. In the long run, energy intensity and financial development increase renewable energy consumption in China and India only. Among other control variables, a rise in CO2 emissions causes renewable energy consumption to rise in all three economies in the long run. The trade increases renewable energy consumption in India and Japan in the long run. This study shows the important policy implications of promoting R&D and renewable energy consumption in the selected Asian economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the new century, the strategic interaction between Japan and India has heated up gradually, which is manifested in the increasing frequency, deepening and extending of the strategic interaction. The goal of strategic interaction between Japan and India is certain to enhance their international influence through historical exchanges, to boost their respective geographical advantages to boost the economy, and to take advantage of changes in the international system to try to jointly suppress the rise of China. The investment environment of India is difficult to improve in the short term, the military budget of the Indian navy is insufficient, the countermeasures from China, the prevention of Japan and India by the United States and the attention of international public opinion bring uncertainty to the effectiveness of the strategic interaction between Japan and India. However, the frequent strategic interaction between Japan and India after the new century will still affect China's economic construction, the settlement of China's disputes and internal affairs and the maintenance of China's oil road safety to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, United States, India, Russia, and Japan are regarded as the top five carbon dioxide-emitting nations in the world. These countries altogether account for more than half of the global annual discharges of carbon dioxide. Consequently, impeding the carbon emission-led environmental adversities in these countries is of critical emphasis for establishing environmental sustainability worldwide. In this regard, this study checks how economic progress, energy use intensification, and renewable energy use affect the annual growth rates of per capita carbon dioxide emission in these highly-polluted economies considering the study period from 1990 to 2021. Besides, for analytical purposes, advanced panel data estimation techniques have been utilized for detecting and neutralizing the impacts of cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity-related problems in the data. Overall, the findings endorse that economic progress deteriorates environmental quality both in the short and long run. However, since the long-run unfavorable environmental impacts of economic growth are relatively lower compared with the short-run impacts, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis can be deemed valid. Besides, more intensive use of energy resources is witnessed to impose negative long-run environmental consequences while the adoption of renewable energy instead of fossil fuels is found to improve environmental well-being, both in the short and long run. Furthermore, the results affirm that economic progress and energy use intensification jointly degrade environmental conditions. By contrast, economic progress alongside greater adoption of renewable energy is observed to inflict an environmental quality-improving effect. Considering these findings, a couple of carbon dioxide mitigating policies are suggested to the concerned highly polluted developed and developing nations., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: It is still unclear how Asian universities incorporate the theory or practice of sustainable development (SD) in their research and education programmes. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to report on a study that has examined how universities in Asian countries handle and address matters related to SD. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a bibliometric analysis and an online survey-method. The online survey data were analysed through descriptive analysis and one-sample student's "t"-test. Findings: The study indicates that there is considerable variation among the Asian countries regarding sustainability practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The HEIs in far eastern countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are perceived to demonstrate more sustainability practices. Research limitations/implications: Even though a substantial number of participants participated in the survey, it did not cover all Asian countries. The online survey was carried out over a limited period of time, and not all HEIs in the field may have received information about the study. Practical implications: Asia is the largest continent facing a number of sustainability challenges. In this context, the contribution of HEIs is very important. The findings of the current study may serve as a baseline for Asian HEIs to take more initiatives towards SD goals, as HEIs are responsible for the education and training of hundreds of thousands of students who will be occupying key positions in industry, government or education in the coming years. Originality/value: The study contributes to the existing literature in two distinct ways. First, it was possible to develop a comprehensive instrument to measure sustainability practices in HEIs. Second, this study has filled the gap of the scarcity of studies regarding sustainability practices in HEIs in Asia.

The current research aimed to examine the reasons people are single, that is, not in an intimate relationship, across eight different countries—Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, and the UK. We asked a large cross-cultural sample of single participants (N = 6,822) to rate 92 different possible reasons for being single. These reasons were classified into 12 factors, including one's perceived inability to find the right partner, the perception that one is not good at flirting, and the desire to focus on one's career. Significant sex and age effects were found for most factors. The extracted factors were further classified into three separate domains: Perceived poor capacity to attract mates, desiring the freedom of choice, and currently being in between relationships. The domain structure, the relative importance of each factor and domain, as well as sex and age effects were relatively consistent across countries. There were also important differences however, including the differing effect sizes of sex and age effects between countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key factor in social development and sustainable urban expansion is the establishment of sustainable and affordable transport systems. This study aims to investigate the impact of transport infrastructure investment on environmental degradation and economic growth and to test the validity of the EKC hypothesis in China, India, Russia, and Japan over the period 1995-2020. The results show that GDP has a significant positive effect, and GDP 2 and GDP 3 have significant adverse effects on environmental degradation, respectively. These results confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in selected emerging Asian economies. Rail infrastructure investment has significant adverse effects, while road infrastructure investment and aviation infrastructure investment have significant positive effects on environmental degradation. Likewise, the impact of investment in transport infrastructure system (roads, rail, and aviation) on economic growth is positive and statistically significant. Country-level estimates confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Russia, while the N-shaped EKC is only valid in Japan. Investments in rail infrastructure based on modern rail systems that run on electricity are believed to be less polluting in the transport mix, help create sustainable and safe transport systems, and reduce emissions at the urban and intercity levels in emerging Asian countries. In addition, the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution should be strengthened to harmonize the strict enforcement of environmental conditions dominated by trade agreements., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The current study projects the increase in surface temperature and CO 2 emissions using the EGM (1,1, α, θ) grey model for the six most significant CO 2 contributing countries, namely China, the USA, India, Russia, Japan, and Germany. The study uses time series data for surface temperature (in degree celsius) from 2010 to 2020, and CO 2 emission (metric tons per capita) data from 2009 to 2019. The empirical results show a downward trend in CO 2 emissions from Japan, Germany, the USA, and Russia by 2028. However, in the same time period, CO 2 emissions are expected to increase for India and remain nearly constant for China. This study indicates an increase in surface temperature at a significant rate in all the 6 countries: by 6.70 °C for China, 7.52 °C for Germany, 2.95 °C for India, 2.66 °C for Japan, 3.61 °C for Russia, and 13.48 °C for the USA by the end of 2028. The study compares the EGM (1,1, α, θ) grey model with the general EGM (1,1) grey model and finds that the EGM (1,1, α, θ) model performs better in both in-sample and out-of-sample forecasting. The paper also puts forward policy suggestions to mitigate, manage, and reduce increases in surface temperature as well as CO 2 emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Non-syndromic rod-cone dystrophy (RCD) is the most common condition in inherited retinal diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the research output and productivity related to RCD genetics per countries as classified by the human development index (HDI), by analyzing publication frequency and citations, the choice of journals and publishers, since 2000 to date. We have also analyzed the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in publications originating from countries with different HDIs. One thousand four hundred articles focusing on non-syndromic RCD were downloaded and analyzed. Citations and published articles were adjusted per one million individuals. The research output is significantly higher in very high HDI countries (86% of the total publications and 95% of the citations) than countries with lower HDIs in all aspects. High and medium HDI countries published together 13.6% of the total articles worldwide and received 4.6% of the citations. On the publication level, the USA (26%), United Kingdom (10%), and Japan (7%) were the top 3 among very high HDI countries, while China (6%) and India (2%) ranked first in high and medium HDI countries respectively. On the citation level, similar profiles were found. Following adjustment for population size, Switzerland (~14%), Jordan (~ 1%) and Morocco (<0.2%) showed the highest rates of publications in very high, high and medium HDI countries respectively. Very high HDI countries published 71% of their papers in first quartile journals (first quartile in Scimago journal rank; Q1), and 23% in Q2 journals. High and medium HDI countries showed a similar profile in quartiles with ~ 40% of their papers published in Q1 journals and ~ 30% in Q2 journals. The first publication using NGS was issued in 2009 in very high HDI countries, while it appeared in 2012 in high HDI countries, and in 2017 in medium HDI countries, with a respective lag of 3 to 8 years compared to very high HDI countries. A profound gap exists between very high HDI countries and the rest of the world. To fill it in, we propose implementing NGS, supporting international collaborations, building capacities and infrastructures, improving accessibility of patients to services, and increasing national and international funding., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The development of globalization has separated the production and consumption of products spatially, and the international trade of products has become a carrier of embodied carbon trade. This paper adopted the perspective of value-added trade to calculate the amount of embodied carbon trade of China from 2006 to 2015 and perform a structural decomposition analysis of the changes in China's embodied carbon trade. This study found that: (1) China's embodied carbon exports are much larger than its embodied carbon imports, and there are differences between countries. China imported the largest amount of embodied carbon from South Korea, and it exported the largest amount of embodied carbon to the United States. (2) The structural decomposition analysis shows that changes in the value-added carbon emission coefficient during the study period would have caused China's embodied carbon trade to decrease, and changes in value-added trade would have caused China's embodied carbon trade to increase. Therefore, countries trading with China need to strengthen their cooperation with China in energy conservation, emission reduction, and product trade. In order to accurately reflect China's embodied carbon trade, it is necessary to calculate embodied carbon trade from the perspective of value-added trade., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.