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Through a case study approach, the purposes of this study are to investigate how the teacher's use of Rogerian reflections in a one-on-one writing conference helps improve the participants' research paper, and how the participants respond to the teacher's use of Rogerian reflections in one-on-one writing conferences. The data were obtained from five text-based interviews with two doctoral students working on their research paper to be submitted for publication. The findings indicate that the use of Rogerian reflections helps the participants improve their research paper. Rogerian reflections, including pointing to structure, clarifying, expanding, recalling, and summarizing, facilitate interaction in nonthreatening, one-on-one writing conferences. Through Rogerian reflections, the participants learn to find their own way to respond to their teachers and make use of the comments in the revision of their papers. Moreover, the participants in one-on-one writing conferences are aware of the respect they receive from their teachers, as a sense of ownership develops. Finally, the participants become confident in their writing since the interaction takes place in a supportive atmosphere. However, the participants mention some difficulties in trying to respond to their teachers' statements as their role switches from passive listeners to reflective thinkers.

The study reported in this article compared two different inductive instructional methods implemented in a Business English writing training, including paper-based instruction (PPI) and product-based instruction (PDI). It assessed the effectiveness and examined practical issues of the implementation of each method. A total of 46 Thai students majoring in a Business English program at a Thai university participated in this study. The students were randomly divided into two groups and put into either the PPI or PDI training module. The researcher collected data from direct observations, focused-group discussions, and students' writing scores. Qualitative data from the focused-group discussions and observation field notes were analyzed thematically using the grounded theory, while cross-examination was utilized for students' writing scores. The study results indicate that the fundamental dichotomies between both approaches include tangibility, authenticity, and contextuality. Students' difficulties in formulating grammar and writing rules on their own and students' perception of learning as a burden were found as challenges in both modules. The findings also indicate that both the PPI and PDI modules trigger classroom dynamics and a positive atmosphere; however, PDI resulted in more vigorous dynamics as student movements and interactions were relatively higher. Finally, this study's findings are beneficial for instructors seeking innovative instructional methodology to improve their Business English writing teaching. The study has contributed to the field of teaching Business English writing. The study's findings have helpful implications for lecturers of Business English writing, who are looking for a teaching approach that enables them to create opportunities for students to learn in authentic, professional environments, contexts, and cultures cast in real-life business situations.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of the use of paper-based and weblog-based electronic portfolios on the writing achievement of limited English proficiency students, to survey the students' attitudes towards the use of the portfolio assessment, and to compare the viewpoints of the students in the control and experimental groups. The study was conducted with 60 second-year hotel and tourism students enrolled in the Writing for the Service Industry course. They had limited English proficiency, as their previous English grades were C or below in average. The simple random sampling technique was used for subject selection and group assignment. Google's free weblog website (located at www.blogger.com) was used as a tool for creating and developing the students' personal electronic portfolios. At the beginning of the course, the students in the control group and the experimental group were trained in the concept of portfolios, and the purposes, content, and criteria used for assessment were discussed with the students. A writing achievement test and a closed-ended questionnaire were used for the quantitative data collection, while the qualitative data were gathered from the open-ended questions, interviews, and reflection. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were employed for the data analysis. It was found that the effects of the use of paper-based portfolios and weblog-based electronic portfolios on the writing achievement were not significantly different, but some promising results of the use of weblog-based electronic portfolios for language learning and assessment are indisputable.

Purpose: There are major gaps in our knowledge of hereditary ocular conditions in the Asia-Pacific population, which comprises approximately 60% of the world's population. Therefore, a concerted regional effort is urgently needed to close this critical knowledge gap and apply precision medicine technology to improve the quality of lives of these patients in the Asia-Pacific region., Design: Multi-national, multi-center collaborative network., Methods: The Research Standing Committee of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology and the Asia-Pacific Society of Eye Genetics fostered this research collaboration, which brings together renowned institutions and experts for inherited eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region. The immediate priority of the network will be inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), where there is a lack of detailed characterization of these conditions and in the number of established registries., Results: The network comprises 55 members from 35 centers, spanning 12 countries and regions, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The steering committee comprises ophthalmologists with experience in consortia for eye diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, leading ophthalmologists and vision scientists in the field of IRDs internationally, and ophthalmic geneticists., Conclusions: The Asia Pacific Inherited Eye Disease (APIED) network aims to (1) improve genotyping capabilities and expertise to increase early and accurate genetic diagnosis of IRDs, (2) harmonise deep phenotyping practices and utilization of ontological terms, and (3) establish high-quality, multi-user, federated disease registries that will facilitate patient care, genetic counseling, and research of IRDs regionally and internationally., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The recent pandemic events in Thailand, Covid-19 in 2018, demonstrated the need for an event-based smart monitoring system. While a distributed multi-level architecture has emerged as an architecture of choice for a larger-scale smart event-based system that requires better latency, security, scalability, and reliability, a recently introduced data mesh paradigm can add a few additional benefits. The paradigm enables each district to become an event-based smart monitoring mesh and handle its analytics and monitoring workload. Districts can form a set of domains in a network of event-based smart community monitoring systems and provide data products for others during a crisis. This paper presents a distributed data mesh paradigm for an event-based smart monitoring product in a given community with predefined domains. The paper presents smart monitoring as a data product between domains. Key considerations for designing an event-based smart monitoring data product are given. The author introduces three possible domains necessary for creating a smart monitoring system in each community. Each domain creates a data product for a given domain and shares data between domains. Finally, a three-layer analytics architecture for a smart monitoring product in each domain and a use case is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the low prevalence and light intensity of Strongyloides stercoralis (S. stercoralis, Ss) and hookworm (HW) in Thailand, an increase in the efficacy of detection with the appropriate diagnosis is needed. This cross-sectional survey is aimed at using modified nonnutrient agar plate culture (mNNAPC) to assess the prevalence of S. stercoralis and hookworm infections and to report intestinal parasitic infections in La-Ngu villagers, Satun Province in Southern Thailand. We used wet smear, modified Harada-Mori filter paper culture (mHMFPC), and mNNAPC to investigate 204 villagers (4 villages) between August 2016 and January 2017. The combination of mHMFPC and mNNAPC raised the prevalence of S. stercoralis and hookworm infections among the study population from 3.4% and 1.0% to 6.9% and 2.5%, respectively. There were no significant differences between demographic characteristics and these infections (p < 0.05). Three types of protozoal infections, Blastocystis spp. (2.9%), Entamoeba histolytica-like (0.5%), and Giardia duodenalis (0.5%), and 3 species of helminthic infections, S. stercoralis (6.9%) (14 cases), hookworm 2.5%, and Enterobius vermicularis 0.5%, were demonstrated in this area. The mNNAPC showed the highest efficacy in detecting both parasites (Ss 92.9% and HW 80%), whereas the wet smear detected none. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This white paper recognises that for the decision makers and policy makers implementation of any intervention for changing the existing service delivery model, production model, market or regulatory model that impacts consumers and citizens are the most challenging tasks. Uncertainties about consumers and citizens' responses lead to delays or suboptimality in action. Ten priority actions with major direct SDG links that can reduce uncertainty in decision making in energy, climate change and disaster contexts of Bangladesh are derived from the assessment of research outputs of more than 70 lead subject experts and peer reviewed through blind review process by 50 expert reviewers from all over the world published in two special issue volumes of this Journal and research undertaken under the Bangabandhu Chair endowment at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been recent attempts to revive the traditional production of handmade paper from the bark of the Coi (Streblus asper Lour.) tree in Thailand. A sheet sample of Coi handmade paper, made from the traditional production, was collected and examined microscopically for the first time. Film-like material and cubic calcium particles were found on the sheet sample surface, which is consistent with the results of the authors' previous research. Meanwhile, handsheets derived from Coi pulp fiber, freshly made in the laboratory, demonstrated a low air permeance and brightness with high opacity due to the film-like material and cubic calcium particles. With a high felting power of Coi pulp fiber coupled with a possible strengthening role of the film-like material, both the beaten and unbeaten fibers were used to form handsheets with high strength. Some potential aspects of Coi pulp fiber suitable for creating a unique Thai banknote paper have been demonstrated, for which further studies are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using reporting verbs in research writing seems to be a problem for graduate students (or novice researchers) when writing a research paper. The aim of this paper is to raise the awareness of students in using reporting verbs. The main argument in this paper is based on the comparison of reporting verbs used by two expert researchers and two Thai novice researchers in the field of applied linguistics. The comparison reveals that reporting verbs used by the experts tend to be both factive (i.e., the current researcher portrays the previous researcher as presenting true information or a correct opinion) and non-factive (i.e., the current researcher gives no clear signal as to his/her attitude towards the previous researcher's information/opinion), while those used by the novice tend mainly to be factive. The comparison also shows that the experts tend to use three tenses (present simple tense, present perfect tense, and past simple tense) whereas the Thai novice researchers tend to mainly use present simple tense. The paper ends with a call for students to strive to increase their working reporting verbs, and to understand the differences in different reporting verbs and in the tenses of reporting verbs.

The present study examined 1432 global publications on Andrographis paniculata plant, as indexed in Scopus bibliographical and citation database during 2003-18, with a view to understand their growth rate, global publication share, citation impact, international collaborative papers share, distribution of publications by broad subjects, productivity and citation profile of top organizations and authors, preferred media of communication and bibliographic characteristics of high cited papers. The global publications registered an annual average growth rate of 10.03% and its citation impact averaged to 16.78 citations per paper. Amongst 73 participitating countries on the subject, the top 10 countries contributed 96.93% global publication share and 98.17% global citation share during 2003-18. India alone contributed the global share of 46.13%, followed by China and Malaysia (together 23.39% global share) and other top 7 countries have global share ranged from 1.96% to 6.63% during 2003-18. Four countries among top 10, registered world average of 17.0 citation per paper and 1.01 relative citation index: U.K. (45.89 and 2.73), Taiwan (32.27 and 1.92), USA (30.65 and 1.83) and Thailand (22.87 and 1.36) during 2003-18. Pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutics contributed the largest publications share of 50.98%, followed by medicine biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, agricultural and biological sciences and chemistry (from 13.41% to 33.24%) and immunology and microbiology, environment science and veterinary science (from 2.30% to 7.05%) during 2003-18. Among 301 organizations and 413 authors contributing to global Andrographis paniculata research, the 15 most productive global organizations and authors together contributed 22.07% and 10.75% global publication share and 23.66% and 11.35% global citation share respectively during 2003-18. Universiti Putra Malaysia (55 papers), Mahidol University, Thailand (31 papers) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (28 papers) were the leading contributing organizations. D. Talei and A.Valdiani (17 papers each) and A.E. Nugroho (13 papers) were the leading productive authors. Journal of Ethnopharmacology (with 54 papers), International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (31 papers) and Phytotherapy Research (27 papers), were the three leading journals contributing research on this subject. Amongst 1413 journal papers (in 145 journals) in global Andrographis paniculata research, the top 15 most productive journals contributed 22.36% share of total journal publication output during 2003-18. Thirty Eight publications were found to be high cited, as they registered citations from 102 to 842 during 2003-18 and they together received 6356 citations, which averaged to 164.63 citations per paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides interim results of my PhD dissertation. The research hypothesis is "Firms increase and decrease employment in response to changes in expected demand." The paper seeks to answer the question "What are the determinants of changes in aggregate employment in the United States of America (U.S.)?" This is an important research topic because significant increases in unemployment can have a profound effect on an entire society, not just on its unemployed workers. When employment declines, public health declines, crime increases, suicides increase, and public revenues decrease. The paper uses quarterly data from 1948-2021 to estimate the effect of important macroeconomic variables on aggregate employment. The macroeconomic variables include personal consumption expenditures, U.S. federal government expenditures, nominal GNP, international trade (imports plus exports), M3 money stock, the minimum wage level, non-residential fixed investment, nonmanufacturing employment, and U.S. federal tax receipts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of this study are to identify the reasons for the shortage of pilots; the necessity of producing Pilots and the obstacles and problems faced by ASEAN Community in producing pilots. The study is conducted by official documents, observations, in-depth interview from personnel who are working for Airports Authority of Thailand, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd., Civil Aviation Training Center, The Aviation Training Units, Airlines Administrative College and people who have passed in their flight training courses and are waiting for their Pilot Licenses as a whole. Primarily, there are 30 respondents who have given the required information. The study has found that: 1) the shortage of pilots is because of the growth of Low-Cost Carriers, due to the increase of its routes, increase in number of passengers who fly in and out of the country, the increase in aircraft producing process and pilot resignations. 2) There is necessity to produce more pilots, because of few institutions that offer pilot programmes. Besides, there are not too many students who opt to undergo the programme of Multi Crew Pilot License (MPL), usually this program takes at least 1 to 3 years to complete. 3) The obstacles and problems in producing pilots in ASEAN countries are the expensiveness of the teaching equipments, the high tuition fees and the stress encountered by most trainees in clearing tests.

Sustainable pulpwood production from fast-growing tree plantations is needed for pulp and paper industries. To increase the pulpwood production efficiency, the anatomical characteristics and derived-wood properties of 75 trees from 15 half-sib families of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. planted in Thailand were investigated, and then the family was classified by suitability of wood as raw material for pulp and paper products using principal component analysis and clustering. The mean values of vessel diameter, vessel frequency, fibre diameter, fibre lumen diameter, and fibre wall thickness at 2 cm from the cambium were 128 µm, 16 no./mm2, 11.1 µm, 7.1 µm, and 1.88 µm, respectively. In addition, the Runkel ratio, Luce's shape factor, flexibility coefficient, slenderness ratio, solids factor, and wall coverage ratio (i.e., derived-wood properties) were 0.53, 0.42, 0.64, 85.3, 68 × 103 µm3, and 0.34, respectively. Significant differences in fibre diameter, fibre lumen diameter, and Runkel ratio were found among families. Although significant differences among families were not found for other anatomical characteristics and derived-wood properties, the p-values obtained by an analysis of variance test ranged from 0.050 to 0.088. Based on the results of a principal component analysis and cluster analysis, 15 families were classified into four clusters with different expected pulp and paper characteristics. The suitability of wood from E. camaldulensis half-sib families for pulp and paper can be evaluated by principal component analysis using anatomical characteristics and physical properties as variables. Based on the results, desirable pulp and paper quality may be obtained through the selection of families from this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential of the Gamified Metaverse as a platform for promoting library services. The study compares the effectiveness of a traditional library program with a Metaverse- based library program in terms of knowledge acquisition and library anxiety. The research also examines students' perceptions of implementing gamification within the context of the Gamified Metaverse platform. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, including pre- and post-test analysis, statistical analysis, and qualitative data collection. The results indicate that both the traditional and Metaverse-based library programs effectively increased the participants' knowledge, with no significant difference between the two approaches. However, the Metaverse-based program was found to be less effective in facilitating interaction with librarians and reducing library anxiety. Additionally, students expressed positive perceptions of implementing gamification in the Gamified Metaverse platform, finding it engaging and motivating. These findings contribute to the understanding of the effect of the Metaverse as a tool for promoting library services and enhancing knowledge acquisition. However, it is not as effective in reducing library anxiety, particularly in terms of interaction with librarians and staff. It should be noted that the platform may have limitations such as high costs and potential side effects of virtual reality, making it more suitable as an additional tool for promoting library services, taking into account its feasibility and potential benefits for specific student populations and larger libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers conducting fieldwork, especially in comparative social research, face the complex issue of conceptualizing and practicing positionality. How we position ourselves affects the research approach, the interpretation of the data and, therefore, the whole research process. This paper discusses my own in-between or 'in-out-sider' positionality during my fieldwork studying the experience of youths in social movements in Thailand and Myanmar in 2020 and 2021. Drawing on data from a visit to Thailand and interviews with 40 Myanmar and Thai youths who participated in the movements, this article documents my experience of the subtle nuances of multiple positionalities and how I navigated through the fieldwork as an in-out-sider researcher. In this comparative context, especially, I believe that my in-out-sider positionality facilitated the research process, from interviewing participants to conducting the field visit. The discussion of this contextually situated positionality challenges the typical explanations of the insider/outsider dichotomy, suggesting the need for a rethinking of certain aspects of this explanation, such as the background and experience of the researcher, and the context in which the researcher and the researched interact. This paper therefore contributes to knowledge around this subject and its application, particularly in the context of comparative social research which studies specific groups of youth activists or protestors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refuse derived fuel (RDF) from municipal solid waste (MSW) has been widely used in energy plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of RDF components from the MSW generated in Bangkok, Thailand. The MSW generated profile was observed from 2015 - 2020 to analyze the composition, proximate, ultimate, and heating values. The combustible categories of MSW were considered as RDF components, namely paper, plastics, food waste, wood/yard waste, textiles, and rubber. The average MSW generated in Bangkok was approximately 13.5% of the total MSW generated in Thailand. The combustible category represented 86.5% of total MSW. The predominant combustible category was food waste (43.1%), followed by plastics (16.6%), and paper (13%). Moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash contents ranged from 0.2 - 57.5, 74.5 - 95.2, 3.3 - 19.4, and 1.5 - 8.6 wt.%, respectively, depending on the materials. Lower heating values of RDF components ranged from 13.70 - 32.63 MJ/kg, of which plastics exhibited the highest value. The potential energy produced from RDF components was 513,123.4 x 102 GJ/yr, with approximately 1,847,757,371 kWh/yr converted into electricity. The findings from the research on characteristics of MSW from Bangkok city reveal that it has the potential to be used as an RDF resource in energy plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early 2017, a manuscript was submitted to a special issue of Walailak Journal of Science and Technology (WJST), a free (platinum) open access (OA) journal published in Thailand. Prior to submission, WJST was checked for most obvious signs of predatory OA publishers and being covered by SCOPUS and listed at Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), it was determined to be a non-predatory OA journal. An editor-created account that entered incorrect data and without the implicit permission of the corresponding author raised an immediate red flag. WJST immediately corrected that error. After submission, the article was peer-reviewed, and the steps between editorial revision and final proof processing and publication were fairly quick, and professionally handled. No DOI was assigned. An unrelated article published in WJST with an apparent error in a figure was discovered. The authors of that paper were contacted about the query, and the journal and editors were copied. After a week of silence, the editor contacted the corresponding author (CA). After one more week, and with the threat of retraction by the editor-inchief if no suitable explanation was provided, the CA responded. No explanation was provided for the figure irregularities, and it was discovered that the CA had submitted the paper without the knowledge of at least one of the authors, with whom he had not been in contact since 2004. In clear breach of the ethical and submission policies of the journal, WJST decided to swiftly retract the paper, the first-ever such retraction for WJST. WJST was caught by surprise and was very apologetic for editorial oversight. This case represents a rarely documented and witnessed birth of a potential black swan event - a highly unlikely or improbable event - in an OA journal. Future perspectives and cautious advice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how organic pork (OP) production, marketing and consumption in Thailand contributes to global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that affect food agri-food system sustainability. The paper discusses technical debates and academic literature sources about OP, socioeconomic and environmental impacts of organic agriculture (OA), food security and SDGs. It reflects on theoretical, practical, policy and empirical issues utilizing Thai case study data on willingness to pay (WTP) for OP to illustrate SDG linkages. The study raises broader questions, complications and contradictions about universal access to safe, healthy and affordable organic food. It suggests that WTP as a niche strategy supporting OP producers has responded to consumer demand and has potential for increased farmer incomes. But WTP for OP is an inadequate, problematic priority if it does not better address ecological, social and economic sustainability concerns, cross-cutting SDGs and national policies including inequities among richer and poorer consumers and farmers. It shows how OP may modestly contribute to SDG2 achievement or help realize other interlinked SDGs in Thailand but can also hinder some SDGs. We conclude that the OA movement and governments must better address difficult challenges affecting livestock systems sustainability, meat production, consumption, value chains and socioeconomic equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste represents an economic, environmental, and social threat, which makes it an important subject of investigation. Food waste behavior has a crucial effect on everyone's food security, food safety, economic growth, and the environment; hence, it requires further analysis. The article's objective is to study the food waste reduction behavior of individual consumers and to examine factors which can explain the intention to reduce food waste. The study's conceptual foundation is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which aims to explain the relationship between an individual's attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The paper extends the TPB by including new factors such as environmental concern, perceived ascription of responsibility, marketing addiction, moral norm, and waste preventing behavior. The data were collected via quota sampling and examined using the structural equation modeling (SEM). The study employed a sample of 369 people in Thailand. The results show that waste preventing behavior, attitude, and perceived behavioral control significantly impact the intention to reduce food waste. The subjective norm and environmental concern positively affects the attitude, which subsequently impacts the intention to reduce food waste. Marketing addiction negatively impacts perceived behavioral control and, hence, increases food waste. This research paper enlarges the understanding of the intention to minimize food waste. Moreover, it points out the implications on how consumers and the government may improve the desire to decrease food waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This research paper aims to investigate the impediments faced by innovation-driven enterprises in Thailand and to explore the current measures, policies, and mechanisms related to innovation-driven enterprises (IDEs)' development both domestically and internationally. The study encompasses a comprehensive approach, including an analysis of an innovation entrepreneur database comprising 320 investors and 883 IDEs. Moreover, semi-structure in-depth interviews were conducted with three investors, twenty-two IDEs' founders, eight executives, and experts from various sectors, including government, university incubators, and the private sector in Thailand. Through this multifaceted investigation, this paper sheds light on the key factors that hinder the success of IDEs in Thailand, which primarily revolve around the quality of entrepreneurs (Team), Product and Market Fit, and Support. These factors collectively impact the depth of knowledge, business incubation, acceleration programs, and the effectiveness of laws, measures, and policies in supporting innovation capability development within IDEs. In addition, this paper presents a framework for Thailand's IDEs hub, facilitating the connection between the university's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem with public and private stakeholders. This framework serves as a mechanism to address the identified hindrances and foster a conducive environment for IDEs development. To address the obstacles, this paper proposes three crucial strategies, namely, (1) talent management, (2) ease of doing scaleup, and (3) availability of funding. These strategies are envisioned to counteract the identified challenges and can be effectively implemented through an operating model and practical working procedures tailored to suit the specific context of Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pythiosis is a rare disease with high mortality, with over 94% of cases reported from Thailand and India. Prompt diagnosis and surgery improves patient outcomes. Therefore, continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for early recognition. However, a needs assessment related to a pythiosis CPD program has not been performed. Objectives: We conducted a needs assessment to develop a pythiosis CPD program. Patients/Methods: We conducted a survey study with 267 King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital residents (141 internal medicine (IM) residents and 126 surgery residents). A 30-item survey consisting of a knowledge assessment, demographic section, and an attitudes portion was distributed both electronically and via paper. The data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Sixty-seven percent completed the survey (110/141 IM residents, 70/126 surgery residents). The mean score [95% confidence interval] on the knowledge assessment was 41.67% [39.64%-43.69%] across all objectives. The three domains with the highest scores were pythiosis risk factors (67.22% correct), microbiologic characteristics (50.83%), and radiographic interpretation (50.56%). The three domains with the lowest scores were laboratory investigation (15.00%), epidemiology (29.17%), and symptomatology (30.83%). Most participants noted that the program should be online with both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, with a preferred length of 60–90 minutes per session. Conclusion: The pythiosis CPD program should emphasize education regarding symptomatology, laboratory investigation, and epidemiology, all of which are critical for the early detection of pythiosis to decrease mortality from this devastating disease. Most respondents felt this program was necessary and should be implemented in a virtual blended format. Author summary: Researchers conducted a needs assessment to develop a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program on pythiosis, a rare and often fatal disease prevalent in Thailand and India. The study surveyed 267 residents at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, revealing a 67% completion rate. The residents exhibited a mean knowledge score of 41.67%, with the highest proficiency in pythiosis risk factors (67.22%), microbiologic characteristics (50.83%), and radiographic interpretation (50.56%). Conversely, lower scores were observed in laboratory investigation (15.00%), epidemiology (29.17%), and symptomatology (30.83%). Participants expressed a preference for an online CPD program with both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, each lasting 60–90 minutes. The study emphasizes the need for education on symptomatology, laboratory investigation, and epidemiology to enhance early pythiosis detection and reduce mortality. Respondents widely supported the implementation of the proposed virtual blended CPD program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing recognition of the potential of migration to contribute to climate-change adaptation. Yet, there is limited evidence to what degree, under what conditions, for whom, and with which limitations this is effectively the case. We argue that this results from a lack of recognition and systematic incorporation of sociospatiality--the nested, networked, and intersectional nature of migration-as-adaptation. Our central objective is to utilize the translocal social-resilience approach to overcome these gaps, to identify processes and structures that shape the social resilience of translocal livelihood systems, and to illustrate the mechanisms behind the multiplicity of possible resilience outcomes. Translocal livelihood constellations anchored in rural Thailand as well as in domestic and international destinations of Thai migrants serve as illustrative empirical cases. Data were gathered through a multisited and mixed-methods research design. This paper highlights the role of the distinct but interlinked situations and operational logics at places of origin and destination, as well as the different positionalities and resulting vulnerabilities, roles, commitments, and practices of individuals and households with regard to resilience. Based on the empirical results, the paper distills a generalized typology of five broad categories of resilience outcomes, which explicitly considers sociospatiality. Our approach helps to grasp the complexity of migration-as-adaptation and to avoid simplistic conclusions about the benefits and costs of migration for adaptation--both of which are necessary for sound, evidence-based, migration-as-adaptation policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid ever-growing global value chains (GVCs). a major controversial topic relates to the extent to which developing economies benefit from participating in such value chains. To measure these gains, this paper examines data pertaining to value-added in exports from three Southeast Asian economies-Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The study estimates the sectoral income elasticities of the export demand of each country over the period 1980-2017, revealing that the highest income elasticities are observed in low value-adding sectors such as primary products, resource-based goods and low-tech industries. This implies that the three countries have been involved in simple and not high-skill tasks within GVCs. The paper also examines the sectoral domestic share of value-added (DVA) and foreign share of value-added (FVA) of exports of the three economies using the OECD Trade in Value-added (TiVA) database over the period 2005-15. We find that DVA in the medium- and high-tech industries that add greater value is smaller than FVA in atl three countries. Overall, these results suggest that developing nations need to step up their participation in GVCs through process and/or function upgrading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing need for robust wildlife health programs that provide surveillance and management for diseases in wildlife and wild aquatic populations to manage associated risks. This paper illustrates the value of a systematic method to enhancing wildlife health programs. The U.S. Geological Survey and Mahidol University, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Thailand National Wildlife Health Center formally twinned under the auspices of the World Organisation for Animal Health to enhance wildlife health capacity in Thailand and the Southeast Asia Region. We used a system-wide approach to holistically and interdependently enhance capacity. The project commenced with a wildlife health program needs assessment, and capacity enhancement focused on strengthening the general wildlife health surveillance network and improving wildlife health information management. Activities included partner surveys, interactive and didactic workshops, and individual personnel training. Topics included development of wildlife health information management systems, analysis of the current surveillance network, development of a Theory of Change for a strengthened surveillance network, planning workshops to create a wildlife health network, training on wildlife disease outbreak investigation and field sample collection, leading networks, and individual training on bioinformatics and laboratory techniques. Engagement of stakeholders at all levels, continuous communication throughout the project, use of both strategic planning tools and pedagogical methods, and using iterative and adaptive approaches, were key factors to the success of this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While foreign migrants contribute to economic development, they may impact public health by transmitting communicable diseases to the local population. With its geopolitical position, Thailand has been a primary destination for migrants from neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. This positioning makes it a focal point for examining the complexities of migration dynamics and its implications for public health. Through a quantitative analysis, this paper investigates the influence of foreign migrants on physical health issues in Thailand, exploring their impact on various types of communicable diseases. The utilization of provincial-level data from Thailand offers insights into the localized effects of migrant populations on public health within the country. These insights can serve as a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers who conduct comparative analyses, facilitating a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between international migration and public health worldwide. Methods: A spatial panel autoregressive model (SAR) is applied on the provincial level communicable diseases and socio-economic data in Thailand from the period 2016 to 2021. Results: The results indicate that the influence of foreign migrants on communicable diseases in Thailand varies depending on the type of disease. While an increase in migrants correlates with a higher prevalence of respiratory and other communicable diseases, it conversely reduces the prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Additionally, we found that migrants do not significantly impact the prevalence of food- and water-borne diseases, insect-borne diseases, animal-borne diseases, or sexually transmitted diseases in Thailand. Additionally, other factors, such as GPP per capita, unemployment, poverty, and technology access, strongly correlate with most types of communicable diseases. Conclusion: As revealed by this study, the increase in migrants leads to a rise in respiratory and other communicable diseases, as well as a decrease in vaccine-preventable diseases, which carries significant policy implications. These results urge policymakers, the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Public Health to implement tailored policies and measures to enhance public health and effectively mitigate the risk of communicable diseases transmitted by migrants in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Grounded in the transformational leadership theory, conservation of resource theory and job demands-resources model, this paper aims to examine the effect of transformational leadership on psychological empowerment and employee engagement of faculty members in Bangladesh and Thailand. This study also integrates Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory to justify whether transformational leadership could affect psychological empowerment of faculty members in these two countries differently. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from a total of 457 faculty members from two universities in Bangladesh (n = 243) and two universities in Thailand (n = 241). This study used partial least squares structural equation modeling for analyzing the proposed model. Findings: The evidence shows that faculty members who worked for department heads and who exhibited transformational leadership demonstrated high level of psychological empowerment and employee engagement. Psychological empowerment also mediates the effect of transformational leadership on employee engagement. Moreover, the degree to which transformational leadership positively affects psychological empowerment is stronger for faculty members in a higher power distance culture (Thailand) than for those faculty members in a lower power distance culture (Bangladesh). Practical implications: Because human capital plays a crucial role in determining the potential of universities to achieve superior performance, universities should provide leadership training to help department heads understand the key elements of transformational leadership and apply them in their management practices to promote empowerment and engagement of their faculty members. Originality/value: The finding provides new evidence that broadens the knowledge from existing research about the cross-cultural effectiveness of transformational leadership, which has not been explored in the area of psychological empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Franchising occurred in Vietnam during the implementation of government policy for economic reform and openness in the mid-1990s. The Vietnam-specific franchise law was passed in January 2006 to create a stable growth in the franchise sector in Vietnam. The legal framework in Vietnam generally follows international legal frameworks. However, the legal framework of franchising businesses is still uncertain. This paper explores Vietnam's franchising law and displays a comparison to the legal framework of Thai franchising law and the Republic of Korea franchising law. The paper concludes that while Vietnam's franchising law generally conforms to international standards, some legal issues should be addressed for further development of the Vietnamese franchising sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection of traditional high‐voltage capacitor banks relies on an unbalance relay which operates when an internal fuse is blown. However, the unbalance relay cannot indicate the cause of the fault. Thus, an operator wastes time and human resources investigating the fault issues. In this paper, a fault which occurred in a 230‐kV power system of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand was observed by performing simulations using the Power Systems Computer Aided Design (PSCAD) program. The study system based on the double bus station and 72 MVAR capacitor banks was installed in the form of a back‐to‐back topology. Three scenarios were considered: normal condition, fault occurrence in one capacitor bank and fault occurrence in both capacitor banks. Current characteristics such as the current phase and difference in unbalance current were considered. In addition, discrete wavelet transform was applied to solve the ambiguity of current generated from the PSCAD. The authors' results suggest that identifying fault events using a coefficient of wavelet is more efficient than relying on the current amplitude. The findings mentioned in this paper can be applied in a traditional power system protection scheme to enhance a system's reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how employee voice in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is shaped by national culture. Specifically, the paper explores the relationship between national culture and organisational norms and signals. Furthermore, it explores the impact of such norms on employee voice behaviours. The paper chooses to address these issues in the SME context, in three countries with divergent cultural dimensions. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use Kwon and Farndale's (2020) typology as our "a priori" framework to explore the influence of national cultural values and cultural tightness on SME organisation norms, signals and employee voice behaviours. Our study uses qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews with SME employees in England, Nigeria and Thailand. Findings: The results from our interviews are presented thematically. The data illustrates how the cultural dimensions identified by Kwon and Farndale (2020) can have an influence on organisational voice norms. The dimensions are power distance, uncertainty avoidance, in-group collectivism, performance orientation, assertiveness and cultural tightness. Originality/value: Historically, the impact of national culture as a macro factor on voice has been largely ignored by academic research. Studies in non-western contexts are especially rare. This paper derives its originality by offering unique insights into the culture–voice relationship from both western and non-western perspectives. This provides an international, cross-cultural, comparative dimension to our study. This research includes findings from under-researched settings in Nigeria and Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impacts of electricity generation from solar energy on the Thai electricity industry. In this paper, three scenarios (REF, Solar2015 and Solar2018) are developed to represent an increased levels of electricity produced from solar energy. A Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) model is employed, in this paper, to assess the impacts for the period 2019-2037. This paper assesses and analyses the scenario impacts in terms of diversification of electricity generation, fossil fuel requirement and emissions of CO2 and SO2. The analysis reveals that increased electricity generation from solar energy would help diversify energy supply for electricity generation, reduce fossil fuel imports, and therefore help improve energy security of the country. Furthermore, it would help mitigating CO2 and SO2 emissions - an issue of environmental significance. Despite several benefits, there are a number of emerging barriers for promoting electricity generation from solar energy in Thailand. These include the intermittency of solar energy, high-capital cost, unsupportable grid infrastructure and unfavourable regulatory framework. This paper, therefore, suggests that the implementation of energy storage system, provision of financial incentives to potential investors, improvement of grid flexibility and the revision of the regulations to support solar energy business could be effective strategies in order to address the barriers facing the Thai electricity industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the design and implementation of age-related human resource (HR) practices across organizations located in the institutional contexts of the under-researched emerging market economy of Thailand. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-case analysis of five organizations is conducted across industries. The empirical evidence in this paper draws on semistructured interviews and focus groups with older workers of each organization, semistructured interviews with top managers and/or HR managers of each organization, field visits to each organization located in Bangkok and other provinces in Thailand and a review of archival documents and Web-based resources. Findings: This paper proposes that firms design and implement various age-related HR practices, including the extension of the retirement age, financial planning facilitation, the bundling of maintenance and the bundling of utilization, to ensure that older workers in their firms maintain their current level of functioning to cope with the problem of skill shortage in the Thai labor market, have sufficient savings after retirement to respond to the "productivist informal security" welfare state regime and return to previous levels of functioning after facing losses in their careers. Research limitations/implications: Due to the fact that this research is based on case studies of age-related HR practices in five firms across industries in Thailand, the findings may not be generalizable to all other firms across countries. Rather, the aim of this paper is to enrich the discussion regarding the design and implementation of age-related HR practices in organizations. Another limitation of this research is that it does not include firms located in several industries, such as the financial services industry and the education industry. Future research may explore age-related HR practices in organizations located in these industries. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of firms across industries might also be useful for fostering an in-depth understanding of the design and implementation of age-related HR practices in organizations. Practical implications: This paper provides practical implications for top managers and/or HR managers of firms in Thailand and other emerging market economies. That said, these top managers and/or HR managers can implement age-related HR practices to respond to the problem of skill shortage in the labor market, ensure that older workers have sufficient savings after retirement and help older workers return to previous levels of functioning after facing deterioration in health conditions and/or losses in their careers. Social implications: This paper provides policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies of Thailand and other emerging market economies that still face a severe skill shortage problem. Older workers who possess tacit knowledge and valuable experience and are still healthy can be considered excellent alternates for firms to help alleviate the skill shortage problem in the labor market. However, firms should implement age-related HR practices to retain this group of employees overtime. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature on comparative institutionalism and human resource management, specifically regarding age-related HR practices, in the following ways. First, this paper examines how firms design and implement age-related HR practices to respond to the country's macro-level institutions. Additionally, in this paper, the author triangulates the findings from older workers with those from employers to ensure that actual HR practices perceived by older workers are in line with HR practices perceived by top managers and/or HR managers. Moreover, the literature on age-related HR practices has likely overlooked emerging market economies, including the under-researched country of Thailand, because most studies in this area have focused on developed economies. Therefore, the findings in this paper provide an in-depth analysis of the design and implementation of age-related HR practices across firms located in the emerging market economy of Thailand to respond to the national institutional context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Thailand, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) regularly performs visual larval surveys throughout the country to monitor dengue fever outbreaks. Since 2016, the DDC switched from a paper-based to a digital-based larval survey process. The significant amount of larval survey data collected digitally presents a valuable opportunity to precisely identify the villages and breeding habitats that are vulnerable to dengue transmission. Methods: The study used digitally collected larval survey data from 2017 to 2019. It employed larval indices to evaluate the risk of dengue transmission in villages based on seasonal, regional, and categorical perspectives. Furthermore, the study comprehensively scrutinized each container category by employing different measures to determine its breeding preference ratio. Results: The result showed that villages with a very high-risk of dengue transmission were present year-round in all regions, with the highest proportion during the rainy season. The Southern region had more high-risk villages during the winter season due to rainfall. Slums and residential communities were more vulnerable to dengue than commercial areas. All container categories could potentially serve as breeding habitats for dengue-carrying mosquitoes, with abandoned containers being the most significant breeding sites. Conclusions: The risk of dengue transmission was present year-round throughout Thailand. This underscores the importance of community and government initiatives, along with sustained public awareness campaigns and active community engagement, to efficiently and permanently eradicate mosquito breeding habitats. It should be noted that larval indices may not strongly correlate with dengue cases, as indicated by the preliminary analysis. However, they offer valuable insights into potential breeding sites for targeted preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuberculosis (TB) causes an economic impact on the patients and their households. Although Thailand has expanded the national health benefit package for TB treatment, there was no data on out-of-pocket payments and income losses due to TB from patients and their household perspectives. This national TB patient cost survey was conducted to examine the TB-related economic burden, and assess the proportion of TB patients and their households facing catastrophic total costs because of TB disease. A cross-sectional TB patient cost survey was employed following WHO methods. Structured interviews with a paper-based questionnaire were conducted from October 2019 to July 2021. Both direct and indirect costs incurred from the patient and their household perspective were valued in 2021 and estimated throughout pre- and post-TB diagnosis episodes. We assessed the proportion of TB-affected households facing costs > 20% of household expenditure due to TB. We analyzed 1400 patients including 1382 TB (first-line treatment) and 18 drug-resistant TB patients (DR-TB). The mean total costs per TB episode for all study participants were 903 USD (95% confident interval; CI 771–1034 USD). Of these, total direct non-medical costs were the highest costs (mean, 402 USD, and 95%CI 334–470 USD) incurred per TB-affected household followed by total indirect costs (mean, 393 USD, and 95%CI 315–472 USD) and total direct medical costs (mean, 107 USD, and 95%CI 81–133 USD, respectively. The proportion of TB-affected households facing catastrophic costs was 29.5% (95%CI 25.1–34.0%) for TB (first-line), 61.1% (95%CI 29.6–88.1%) for DR-TB and 29.9% (95%CI 25.6–34.4%) overall. This first national survey highlighted the economic burden on TB-affected households. Travel, food/nutritional supplementation, and indirect costs contribute to a high proportion of catastrophic total costs. These suggest the need to enhance financial and social protection mechanisms to mitigate the financial burden of TB-affected households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate electricity demand forecasting serves as a vital planning tool, enhancing the reliability of management decisions. Apart from that, achieving these aims, particularly in managing peak demand, faces challenges due to the industry's volatility and the ongoing increase in residential energy use. Our research suggests that employing deep learning algorithms, such as recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and gated recurrent units (GRU), holds promise for the accurate forecasting of electrical energy demand in time series data. This paper presents the construction and testing of three deep learning models across three separate scenarios. Scenario 1 involves utilizing data from all-day demand. In Scenario 2, only weekday data are considered. Scenario 3 uses data from non-working days (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). The models underwent training and testing across a wide range of alternative hyperparameters to determine the optimal configuration. The proposed model's validation involved utilizing a dataset comprising half-hourly electrical energy demand data spanning seven years from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). In terms of model performance, we determined that the RNN-GRU model performed better when the dataset was substantial, especially in scenarios 1 and 2. On the other hand, the RNN-LSTM model is excellent in Scenario 3. Specifically, the RNN-GRU model achieved an MAE (mean absolute error) of 214.79 MW and an MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) of 2.08% for Scenario 1, and an MAE of 181.63 MW and MAPE of 1.89% for Scenario 2. Conversely, the RNN-LSTM model obtained an MAE of 226.76 MW and an MAPE of 2.13% for Scenario 3. Furthermore, given the expanded dataset in Scenario 3, we can anticipate even higher precision in the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the integration of magnetic susceptibility measurements and whole-rock geochemical compositional and Nd–Sr isotopic ratio analyses for granite samples collected from the Ranong, Lam Pi, Ban Lam Ru, and Phuket granite bodies in the Western Granitoid Belt of Thailand. In addition, U–Pb dating was performed on zircons extracted from the samples. All samples are proper granites based on their mineralogical and geochemical characteristics. Two samples collected from the Lam Pi granite body were classified as magnetite-series and I-type. The remaining granite samples were classified as ilmenite-series and S- or A-type. Furthermore, all granites were classified as syn-collision granites. Excluding the magnetite-series samples from the Lam Pi granite body, the other samples exhibit enrichment in incompatible elements, such as Nb, Sn, Ta, Pb, Bi, Th, U, Ce, Rb, and Cs. Zircon U–Pb dating yielded ages of ca. 60 Ma for the magnetite-series granites from the Lam Pi granite body, whereas ages of 88–84 Ma were obtained for the other granite bodies. Initial Nd–Sr isotopic ratios indicate a higher contribution of mantle material in the Lam Pi magnetite-series granites and a higher contribution of continental crust material in the other granites. Based on these compositional and zircon U–Pb age data, it is inferred that the 88–84 Ma granites formed as a result of the thickening of the continental crust owing to the collision between the Sibumasu and the West Burma blocks. In contrast, the ca. 60 Ma Lam Pi magnetite-series granites are thought to have been generated via partial melting of the mantle wedge associated with the subduction of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust beneath the West Burma Block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]