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Professor Gavin W. Jones dedicated an impressive 58-year career to extensive research on various aspects of population and development in Asia. As a seasoned consultant, he was pivotal in shaping population policies and programs in more than 10 Asian countries, impacting the region’s demographic landscape. Throughout his illustrious career, Gavin has left an indelible mark through his prolific publications, with 30 books, over 180 journal articles, and book chapters. His body of work covered various demographic subjects in the Asia-Pacific region, significantly contributing to our understanding of population dynamics in Southeast, South, and East Asia. His research has been instrumental in informing policy decisions in these regions by providing evidence-based recommendations. In addition to his consultancy and academic achievements, Gavin actively engaged in professional networks, fostering collaborations and facilitating knowledge exchange among fellow demographers and researchers. His commitment to mentorship has been invaluable, nurturing emerging demographers and supporting the next generation of population scholars in population and development. The present paper aims to delve into Professor Gavin W. Jones’s specific contributions to elucidate the intricate relationship between population and development, an area that inevitably intersects with other papers in this festschrift on marriage, fertility, and urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the highly contingent and constrained possibilities for states concerned with gaining and maintaining economic and, relatedly, strategic advantage in East Asia in a world dominated by global value chains (GVCs) owned and controlled by transnational capital. While the reorganisation of production has given rise to new contender states such as China, challenging the economic and strategic positions of others, the ability for states to engage in non-market conforming behaviour designed to reduce technological dependence, accumulate reserves and embolden national positions against competitors is far more constrained than it once was. Prioritising the relative power and leverage of states operating in various contexts over time, three types of state are identified within contemporary East Asia: former developmental states under persistent competitive pressures compelling very different policy agendas to those that underpinned their respective development stories; a somewhat exceptional constrained "aspirant state", attempting mercantilist strategies to achieve strategic upgrading under the spectre of systemic exclusion and formidable domestic challenges; and, finally, relatively vulnerable "eke-out" competition states, attempting to leverage labour cost, geography and regulation to maintain economic relevance within the context of hyper competitiveness while also engaging in forms of quarantining and patronage. Our overarching argument is that the latitude to both pursue and leverage ES strategies common in the past is all but gone, even for the most powerful of contender states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postponement of first births is a key cause of declining fertility rates, especially in East Asia where recovery from delayed childbearing has been weak. This paper investigates achievement of ideal ages at marriage and first birth in Singapore using survey data on 657 married women aged 25–34. Almost 50 per cent marry within one year of their ideal age, but less than 30 per cent have their first child within six months of their ideal interval to first birth, with around 50 per cent waiting longer than ideal. The high proportion of women experiencing a longer-than-ideal first birth interval was observed across all age and educational groups. Regression results show that co-residence with a foreign domestic worker and paid leave entitlements are associated with higher probability of achieving their ideal first birth interval, whereas availability of parents/in-laws, husband's help and unpaid leave do not reduce time to childbearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the larger context of globalisation and internationalization, navigating business operations in a multicultural environment is no easy task. The Far East has always fascinated the West through the uniqueness of its traditions, while at the same time remaining mysterious and rather difficult to assimilate for those who have not experienced culture shock before. Therefore, this paper strives to emphasise the importance of familiarising business students with the key issues related to cultural awareness and communication, focusing on Asian cultures in contrast to the Western world since, in the light of the latest political and economic developments leading to an ever-increasing Chinese dominance, they will undoubtedly be putting that information to good use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to synthesize findings from studies of principal instructional leadership conducted in five East Asian societies. The authors first identify similarities and then differences in approaches to instructional leadership across the societies. Then the findings of the synthesis are compared with broad findings from the global literature on principal instructional leadership.Design/methodology/approach The paper employs a thematic approach to synthesizing findings from the five qualitative studies.Findings The authors identified numerous similarities in practices of instructional leadership across the five societies. These included first, a top-down approach to defining the mission and goals of schools whereby principals worked within a fairly narrow zone of discretion. Second, principals devoted relatively little attention to coordinating the curriculum due to working within strict national curriculum frameworks. Third, principals executed their instructional leadership practices with an ever-present sense of the need to honor hierarchical relations and maintain harmony among staff and other stakeholders. Differences across the five societies centered on the extent to which the instructional leadership role of principals was explicitly defined and the extent to which they received training for the role.Originality/value This synthesis sought to build upon reviews of research published in a special issue of this journal two years ago. The synthesis and this body of research papers have contributed toward moving empirical research on educational leadership broadly, and instructional leadership in particular, forward in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business organizations constantly seek creative innovation as a means to differentiate from competitors in the marketplace. Design Thinking (DT) has emerged in recent years as a methodology that promises organizations a means to innovate products and services. Yet, many East Asian organizations have only begun to consider DT as a method towards generating product and service ideas, and scholars cite cultural factors as barriers to DT adoption. This paper examines how East Asian firms implement DT in light of cultural barriers and explicates a framework that identifies four implementation models based on level of commitment and an internal/external orientation. The four models are the baked-in approach, the "special ops" design lab, outsourcing, and the creative retreat. The findings contribute to the design thinking literature, which focuses on why DT works, but has only produced limited insights into how firms implement DT into organizational culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internal and international migration have increased exponentially in scale, complexity and significance in the last two decades. There are often strong relationships between internal and international migration, but they remain little understood because the two types of movement are conceptualised, measured and studied separately. This paper is divided into two parts. The first summarises the areas of both convergence and divergence in the types, patterns, causes and consequences of internal and international migration in the Asian region. These are considered partially in the context of the complex relationship between migration and development. It is shown that there is more convergence than divergence conceptually and theoretically. The second part of the paper addresses the issue of linkages between internal and international migration. This model argues that on the one hand international migrants usually engage in a different pattern of internal migration than the established population at the destination. It also suggests that in some cases international migration itself may influence the internal migration patterns of the resident population. On the other hand there are also linkages in 'origin' countries where particular patterns of internal migration precede international migration. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to establish conceptual foundations of analyzing the economic dimensions of Brexit. The International Financial-Trade Exchange Leaking Index (TIFTEL-Index) attempts to analyze and compare pre-Brexit versus post-Brexit international trade and international financial transactions between East and Southeast Asia and Europe. TIFTEL-index is based on three main variables, namely (1) international trade exchange marginal rate (∆Τ′), (2) international financial exchange marginal rate (∆σ′), and (3) GDP in real prices growth marginal rate (∆γ). Simulation findings indicate that Brexit will have only a limited negative effect on the world economy. In addition, Brexit will affect East Asia more than Southeast Asia region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hikikomori, which originated in Japan, refers to the condition where youths withdraw into the home and do not participate in society for an extended period of time. Recent updates on hikikomori presentation within the region were exchanged at a Hikikomori Round Table and Regional Symposium (HRTRS) discussion late 2017, leading to this perspective paper. Hikikomori presents as an overall homogeneous construct, while diversity in clinical presentation exists across East Asian countries. We examined the various presentations, risk factors, theoretical frameworks, and classification issues about hikikomori. In particular, specific risk factors have emerged to some degree across the region, while some are more locale specific. We propose that hikikomori youths have differential onset and developmental patterns, potentially resulting in heterogeneous presentation. We briefly summarized existing interventions in the East Asian region. Intervention strategies need to be tailored to different subtypes. A multicomponent approach would address complexity, multifactorial onset, and development of the condition. The HRTRS presented to participating countries the opportunity to collectively work toward a more universal definition of the hikikomori condition and explored innovative ways to shape existing service structures. Opportunities for participating countries described pertain to early detection of cases, adoption of assessment tools, and improved intervention services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the proclamation of a mobility turn in the 2000s, scholars have populated the field with invaluable insights on what it means to move, and what the politics of movement are. One particularly useful thread revolves around the issue of infrastructures, which have generally been taken to mean the manifest forms of moorings and fixities that help order and give shape to mobilities. Yet, while significant inroads have been made in delineating the morphologies of transport infrastructures, mobilities research has been relatively reticent about the organisational structures, orders and arrangements that give rise to another key mobile phenomenon of our time — international migration. In this editorial introduction, we lay down some groundwork on the productive and political nature of infrastructures that likewise affect and inform the way (im)mobilities are contingently created and parsed in migration. Looking through the prism of East and Southeast Asia and its migration infrastructures, we take advantage of the ‘new’ infrastructural configurations in an emerging empirical context to point to some directions by which mobilities researchers can more rigorously interrogate ‘migration’ as another socially meaningful and specific form of mobility that exceeds a mere displacement of people or change in national domicile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the 2nd World War, large numbers of allied military personnel in south-east Asia became prisoners-of-war (POWs) of the Japanese. During their internment of three and a half years, they suffered undernutrition, exposure to tropical diseases and frequently overwork. Perhaps the harshest POW experience was the construction of the railway between Thailand and Burma. This paper explores the medical conditions during Far East imprisonment, and in particular on the Thai-Burma Railway, as well as the long-term health effects in post-war decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This meta-analysis study summarized the available information on the prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli among poultry products in Asia; Methods: Exhaustive literature search was conducted and 30 studies were included. A number of multilevel random-effect meta-analysis models were used to calculate their pooled prevalence and compare each Asian regions; Results: The pooled prevalence for C.jejuni was 34%. On a separate meta-analysis for East Asia (EA), Middle East (ME) and South Asia (SA) and Southeast Asia (SEA), the pooled prevalences for C. jejuni were 33%, 37% and 33%, respectively. Moreover, results showed that there was significant heterogeneity and no significant publication bias. Conversely, the pooled prevalence for C. coli was 13%. On separate analysis by region, the pooled prevalences for EA, ME, and SEA were 10%, 18% and 12.08%, respectively. Significant heterogeneity was observed and there was no publication bias detected in the EA and the SEA; Conclusions: Overall, the high incidence of both C. jejuni and C. coli infections across Asia highlight the public health importance of these pathogens. Moreover, the meta-analysis of C. jejuni and C. coli prevalence across Asia gives crucial insights into the public health concerns connected with these pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The computer game League of Legends is full of characters, so-called champions, who are inspired by various aspects of the traditional or modern culture in many countries around the world. In this paper, I take a closer look at the territory of Ionia, which largely draws inspiration from Asian countries and their rich culture and tradition. I will focus on the characters from these countries and the use of Orientalism in depicting them within the game. It will be necessary to introduce aspects of culture, such as mythology, Japanese anime, East Asian languages, their inspiration, and approach them in general. The corpus will contain a list of specific elements that were used in their creation and assigned to the countries of East Asia. Then they will be generalized. In the analytical part I will focus on their concretization in individual characters and the individual elements will be divided into thematic groups. In the end, the results of the analysis will be summarized. The method of my work is primarily comparison. Its purpose is to evaluate the form of Orientalism in creation of the mentioned above characters, and how they introduce a picture of Asia to the players since a large number of the gaming community knows nothing about their origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 18 new Ancestry informative markers (AIMs) were screened from the 1000 Genomes Project. • A novel panel of 18 AIMs can improve ancestry distinctions among Asian populations. • Our panel could distinguish the GIH (Gujarati Indian in Houston, TX) from other South Asian groups. At present, several mature ancestry informative SNP (AISNP) panels are used to distinguish between continental regions of the world, but a more accurate division within the continent requires a secondary panel to complete. However, many AISNPs for the subgroup ancestry inference are selected from the Kidd Lab panel of 55 AISNPs or other published papers. These panels inevitably lack valuable markers for subgroup ancestry inference. Therefore, instead of choosing from the published panels, we used the 1000 Genomes Project to screen potentially informational markers in Asian populations, including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels). The allele frequencies of all autosomal SNPs and InDels of the 1000 Genomes Project were compared between 10 populations in Asia to identify markers with the largest pairwise allele frequency differences. Finally, we established a second-tier panel of 18 AIMs in this study, which not only divided the 26 populations of the 1000 Genomes Project into six clusters, but also divided the Asia subgroup into four clusters: Gujarati, East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of boreal winter–peaked La Niña on the following-summer precipitation in East Asia through intermediate sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies playing the role of relay in observation and numerical models. There are widespread dry conditions in both North and South China and wet conditions in coastal areas of central and eastern China. Such a pattern is mainly attributed to an anomalous low pressure over the western tropical Pacific and an anomalous anticyclone over northeast Asia. It is found that the delayed impact of La Niña on the East Asian climate is operated through intermediate SST anomalies—the Z-shape cold SST anomalies in the tropical North Pacific. There might be three ways for the SST anomalies to operate. First, they produce tropical atmospheric perturbations that can penetrate into the subtropical jet through the westerly trough over the northeast subtropical Pacific, the wave train being then excited along the jet. Second, perturbations created through the monsoon trough over the western Pacific can directly stimulate northward-propagating Rossby waves along the East Asian coast, mainly at low level. And third, perturbations over the tropical Atlantic–northwest Africa can also trigger downstream propagating waves along the subtropical jet. The observation effects of the intermediate SST anomalies and their possible impact mechanisms on atmospheric circulation are largely reproduced within numerical simulations performed with the Community Earth System Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study first investigates the interannual variations in spring precipitation intraseasonal variability over southern China (SC). The results show that SC spring precipitation exhibits distinct intraseasonal variations with a period of 7–25 days. The first mode of 7–25-day precipitation intraseasonal variability (PIV) displays a monopole pattern over SC, and the PIV magnitude is largely determined by the upward motion intensity during intraseasonal precipitation events. Further analysis suggests that two atmospheric wave trains are observed during intraseasonal precipitation events, which propagate eastward from the North Atlantic along the northern and southern paths. In strong PIV years, the two wave trains can propagate to East Asia and show coordinated influences. The resultant low pressure to the west of SC causes strong upward motion and PIV over SC by bringing strong zonal vorticity and meridional temperature advection. In weak PIV years, the southern wave train can only propagate to the Bay of Bengal; therefore, the northern wave train plays a major role. The resultant low pressure is now over the upper to middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which causes relatively weak upward motion and PIV over SC by bringing weak meridional vorticity and temperature advection. Further analysis indicates that the sea surface temperature (SST) condition over the tropical Indian Ocean and the South China Sea is essential for southern wave train propagation. The warming SST over the regions can intensify westerlies to its north and consequently favors the propagation of the southern wave train to SC, eventually contributing to strong PIV over SC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) across time scales has been an interesting topic for decades. In this study, we quantitatively investigate the EASM–EAWM relationship at the obliquity time scales using a set of accelerated transient simulations. By comparing different indices defined with different variables, we find that the EASM and EAWM intensities are positively correlated under obliquity forcing. High obliquity leads to warmer summertime and cooler wintertime surface temperatures, with a stronger response observed over land than over the oceans. The warmer summertime and cooler wintertime temperature responses are accompanied by a strengthened Asian low in summer and Siberian high in winter, with enhanced southerlies in summer and northerlies in winter, indicating an enhanced EASM and EAWM. Modulated by ice sheet forcing, however, the evolution of the simulated EAWM shifts toward the ice sheet maximum, such that the circulation-based EASM–EAWM relationship in the realistically forced simulation exhibits a phase shift of approximately 11 kyr, closer to the phase between the composite δ18O and loess grain size in observations. Our results may have implications for better understanding the distinct changes in the proxy-based EASM–EAWM relationship before and after the rapid growth of global ice volume at around 3 Ma. Significance Statement: Studying the relationship between the EASM and EAWM can help us understand the characteristics and mechanisms of the regional climate in response to external forcings at different time scales. By investigating the EASM–EAWM relationship over the past 300 000 years, we find that, forced by obliquity variations, the EASM and EAWM are positively correlated at the obliquity time scales. The ice sheet forcing, meanwhile, also influences the circulation over East Asia and modulates the evolutionary phases between the EASM and EAWM. Our results highlight the importance of the combined impacts of orbital parameters and ice sheets on past climate changes over Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With over one-third of East Asia's 1.7 billion people overweight or obese, mounting demographic pressure and burgeoning healthcare costs are forcing public health officials to grapple with the rising morbidity and mortality associated with obesity. However, the presence of metabolically healthy obesity, in which the short-term disease risks of diabetes and heart disease are low, represents a possible buffer for healthcare planning in East Asia. This narrative review analyzes the health risks from obesity through representative Japan- and China-specific analyses that take into account unique cultural, genetic, and other factors that drive obesity; the potential impact of metabolically healthy obesity on public health; and suggested non-surgical/non-pharmacological interventions to relieve pressure on the nationalized healthcare systems prevalent in the region. Such an emphasis on interventions to both delay obesity as well as potentially reverse metabolic syndrome could save millions of lives and billions of USD equivalents in healthcare throughout East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both South Asia and East Asia are the most polluted regions of the world. Unlike East Asia, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) over South Asia keeps increasing for all recent years, which calls for more attention. This study investigates the impacts of anthropogenic emissions over South Asia on the downstream regional climate during spring with the Community Earth System Model 2 (CESM2). The model results suggest that South Asian pollutants have significant impacts on East Asian spring climate, and the impacts could be even larger than locally emitted aerosols. Two possible dynamical pathways (i.e., the northern and the southern pathways) bridging South Asian aerosol forcing and East Asian climate are proposed, and both ways are associated with the black carbon (BC)-induced climate feedbacks surrounding the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The northern pathway is mainly due to the TP warming induced by the BC snow darkening effect (SDE), which significantly reduces the surface air temperature (SAT) over northern East Asia. BC-induced TP warming increases the meridional thermal gradient and accelerates the midlatitude jet stream, which favors the cold-air advection over northern East Asia. The southern pathway is associated with the BC "elevated heat pump" hypothesis, which mainly affects the precipitation in southern East Asia. BC from South Asia accumulates near the south slope of TP, inducing an abnormal ascending motion near the Bay of Bengal. A compensating anomalous sinking motion is then forced in South China, which suppresses the precipitation there. A primary observational analysis is also performed to verify both dynamical pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupled climate models project robust wintertime wetting trend over midlatitude East Asia under global warming scenarios, but the projected change in precipitation shows large intermodel uncertainty over subtropical East Asia from southern China to southwestern Japan. Based on an ensemble of climate models participating in CMIP6, this study shows that the weakened southern branch westerly jet (SWJ) on the southern side of Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a key role in suppressing subtropical East Asian precipitation. The SWJ is deflected into southwesterly wind on the southeastern side of TP, bringing ascent and precipitation to subtropical East Asia primarily through isentropic gliding. As a result of the poleward and upward shift of the planetary-scale westerly jet under global warming, the SWJ becomes weaker and it acts to suppress subtropical East Asian precipitation by weakening the southwesterly wind and ascent. The SWJ-precipitation linkage also exists on interannual time scales, but the sensitivity of precipitation to interannual SWJ variability is systematically underestimated by the models compared with observation. The combined effects of the change in SWJ strength and the sensitivity of precipitation to SWJ explain about 40% of the intermodel spread of the projected precipitation changes. Observational constraint on the SWJ--precipitation relationship amplifies the projected drying trend and narrows the intermodel spread. It shows that the regional-averaged precipitation over subtropical East Asia decreases by 3.3% per degree of warming, and the amplitude of precipitation reduction over subtropical East Asia (southern China) is about 1.4 (3.4) times the raw projection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing interest in the social-emotional development of children. However, the social-emotional development of children in Asia remains a knowledge gap. This systematic review identifies and summarizes existing studies on children's social-emotional development in Asia. We conducted a systematic review using the Guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA). We reviewed 45 studies that met the inclusion criteria, and they were from 12 Asian countries, primarily the East Asia region (China and Hong Kong). Most of the studies were cross-sectional in design (n = 28, 62.2%). Six themes emerged, including (a) social-emotional development (overall) (n = 24, 53.3%); (b) social competence (n = 7, 15.6%); (c) emotional development (n = 5, 11.1%); (d) social-emotional learning (n = 3, 6.7%); (e) problem behavior (n = 3, 6.7%); (f) self-regulation (n = 2, 4.4%); and (g) both social-emotional learning and problem behavior (n = 1, 2.2%). The findings highlighted the paucity of studies, the need for examining more diverse variables in a similar population, and the low quality of intervention studies in social-emotional research in Asia. Research gaps indicate the need for more social-emotional and ethnocultural studies in other Asian regions. Parent and teacher knowledge of children's social-emotional functioning should be examined more closely in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve a sustainable society and solve the problems caused by climate change and socioeconomic activities, it is necessary to monitor the spatial and temporal variability of ecosystem functions, services, and biodiversity at both regional and global scales. During the last decade, we have seen rapid and significant improvement in satellite and near‐surface remote‐sensing technologies. In this review, we describe how remote‐sensing observations are being used to effectively evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of land use and cover types and of plant phenology in East Asia. We discuss the current status, uncertainties, problems, and future perspectives for terrestrial ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring, and we address the multidisciplinary research by incorporating in situ and satellite observations for East Asia. Recent satellites with advanced optical sensors, such as MultiSpectral Instrument/Sentinel‐2A/2B, Advanced Himawari Imager/Himawari‐8, and PlanetScope, and satellites with synthetic aperture radar, such as Advanced Land Observing Satellite‐2, allow detailed monitoring of land use and cover type changes and plant phenology. These satellite sensors can provide images with high spatial (3–10 m) and high temporal (10 min to 5 days) resolution, at both large (≥1 km2) and small (<1 km2) scales. In particular, researchers are expected to develop discrimination techniques that will enable these advanced satellite technologies to detect evergreen broadleaf trees and ways to estimate the geographic distribution of leaf traits. We encourage more collaborations among ecologists, engineers, and remote‐sensing scientists to share their abundant knowledge and experience and thereby improve the monitoring capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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During the winter and subsequent spring of an El Niño year, the East Asian marginal sea (EAMS) exhibits positive sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) and fewer low clouds, while the western North Pacific experiences negative SSTAs. In this study, we suggest that the positive SSTAs in EAMS are maintained by a positive low cloud–SST feedback. In neutral winters and springs, the EAMS is covered by low clouds, which have a cooling effect on surface temperatures. During an El Niño year, a western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone is established, and along its northwestern flank, there are favorable conditions for convergence of moisture and weaker surface latent heat flux over the EAMS. Once a positive SSTA has been established, a further reduction of turbulent mixing results in less low cloud and enhanced solar heating of the ocean mixed layer; this reinforces and maintains both the positive SSTA and the lack of low cloud via a positive feedback mechanism. The concurrent increase of low cloud–SST feedback and anticyclone circulation strengths is evident in the coupled-model simulations from phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Furthermore, sensitivity experiments, performed with the atmospheric components of Community Earth System Model (CESM2), reveal that a positive SSTA helps to maintain the western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone. Four pacemaker-coupled experiments by CESM2, with sea surface temperature in the equatorial Pacific restored to the observational anomalies plus the model climatology and altered low cloud feedback over EAMS, suggest that the low cloud–SST feedback results in more than the maintenance of a positive SSTA over the EAMS: the positive feedback is also a previously overlooked mechanism for the maintenance of the western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone. Significance Statement: The East Asian marginal sea (EAMS) and western North Pacific are important areas that bridge El Niño and the climate of East Asia. Unlike the cold sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) over the western North Pacific during El Niño, the positive SSTA over EAMS, which is covered by winter low cloud, has received less attention. We suggest that a "low cloud–SST" feedback—namely, one in which decreasing low-level clouds allows more sunlight to strike the ocean surface and favors higher SST—maintains the positive SSTA over EAMS. We also configure a widely used atmospheric model with a set of preset SSTA patterns that mimic different climate patterns. Our experiments with different climate patterns and CMIP6 historical runs show that the low cloud–SST feedback (through the positive SSTA) is a possible supplementary mechanism for reinforcing the WNP anomalous anticyclone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occult Hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) is of great significance to the transmission of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the evolution of the patient's clinical outcome. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of OBI in Asia. Literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library database, Web of Science and Embase with the keywords of 'Hepatitis B virus', 'occult infection', 'prevalence'. 70 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of OBI and 95% confidence interval (CI). The data were analyzed in R 4.1.2. The overall prevalence of OBI was 4% (95%CI: 0.03–0.06) in Asia. Subgroup analysis based on geographic region showed a prevalence of 3% (95%CI 0.02–0.06) in East Asia, 9% (95%CI 0.05–0.15) in West Asia, 3% (95%CI 0.01–0.11) in Southern Asia and 9% (95%CI 0.05–0.15) in Southeast Asia. Subgroup analysis demonstrated a prevalence of 1% (95%CI 0.00–0.02) in general population, 5% (95%CI: 0.03–0.08) in high-risk population, 9% (95%CI: 0.03–0.22) in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patient, 18% (95%CI: 0.09–0.32) in the hepatopathy patients. Based on the meta-analysis of the prevalence of OBI in different populations, we concluded that the prevalence of OBI in the high-risk population, hepatopathy patients, and HIV-infected patients was higher than that in the general population. A systematic review showed that OBI was associated with disease progression and prognosis. Therefore, these populations should be routinely screened for OBI and promptly intervened to avoid promoting disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistent with the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 (implement policies to promote sustainable tourism), 9 (provide infrastructure for universal and affordable access to the Internet), and 17 (promote international trade), this study interrogates the services trade-ICT nexus on sustainable tourism in Asia. Using an unbalanced panel data on 44 East Asia and Pacific and South Asian countries from 2010 to 2019 it probes the discourse using tourism receipts, trade in services, and four ICT indicators (mobile phones, Internet users, fixed broadband, and secured internet servers). In broader terms, this study addresses two questions: whether ICT usage and services trade individually impact tourism and if the interaction of ICT influences or erodes the impact of services trade on tourism? Deploying the PSCC-LSDV and MM-QR robustness techniques, findings reveal that (1) services trade and ICT individually promote tourism; (2) the negative interaction effect of services trade and ICT is not sufficient to erode the enhancing-impact of services trade; (3) effect of services trade and ICT usage and their interaction significantly differ across the sub-regions; and (4) effect of services trade and ICT usage is heterogeneous across the quantiles. Policy recommendations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the causal relationship between the Internet and economic factors in Asian economies between 1997 and 2017. The economic factors consist of gross domestic product (GDP), foreign direct investment (FDI), imports, and exports. A comparative analysis of East, South, and Western Asia was conducted using a panel vector autoregressive model. The findings show bidirectional causality between FDI and Internet use in South Asia, unidirectional causality from Internet use to FDI in East Asia, and unidirectional causality from FDI to Internet use in Western Asia. Moreover, the findings indicate unidirectional causality from exports to Internet use in East Asia and unidirectional causality from Internet use to exports in South Asia, but no impact in Western Asia. Finally, the results show unidirectional causality from Internet use to GDP in Western Asia. As these results suggest that Internet use has boosted economic performance in Asia, policy makers in the region should improve Internet use with a focus on economic growth, improving transaction efficiency, and facilitating foreign investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The why and the how of knowledge production are examined in the case of the transnational cooperation between the directors of observatories in the Far East who drew up unified typhoon-warning codes in the period 1900–1939. The why is prompted by the socioeconomic interests of the local chambers of commerce and international telegraphic companies, although this urge has the favourable wind of Far Eastern meteorologists' ideology of voluntarist internationalism. The how entails the persistent pursuit of consensus (on ends rather than means) in international meetings where non-binding resolutions on codes and procedures are adopted. The outcome is the co-production of standardised knowledge, that is, the development of a series of processes and practices that co-produce both knowledge and ideas about the social order in a force field characterised by negotiations and power struggles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the flow of knowledge from and within Asia has a long history and continues to gain momentum, more attention has been paid to how western knowledge travels to Asia. Furthermore, the scholarship around knowledge transfer tends to focus on its historical and cultural patterns, leaving the role of translation largely unexplored. Thus, the essays in this issue aim to explore the less studied reverse direction of knowledge flow from East Asia to Anglophone cultures and within Asia. Focusing on the mediating role translation plays in this process, the authors contributing to this special issue explore a number of relevant issues across a range of cultural contexts through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. Together, they demonstrate that a translator plays an active and agentive role in confronting and transplanting imported knowledge into local environments and is a key mediator in the exchange, de/reconstruction, and (re)production of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic epidemics of pertussis (whooping cough) have been observed globally over the past twenty years despite high infant vaccine coverage. The resurgence of pertussis in high-income countries is partly due to waning vaccine immunity in older children and adults, as well as better surveillance and diagnostics. Moreover, in adolescents and adults, pertussis symptoms are mild and similar to common cough syndromes, meaning that it is under-diagnosed in older populations. A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and BIOSIS was undertaken to identify studies published between 1 January 1990 and 17 June 2019, with information on pertussis epidemiology, burden of illness, and mortality in school-aged children, adolescents, and adults in Asia. Studies identified for inclusion were reviewed narratively because a statistical comparison was not possible due to the mix of methodologies used. The results showed that in East Asia, including Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan, pertussis is circulating in older children and adults. Diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP4) coverage is high in East Asia, yet outbreaks observed in Japan and South Korea suggest that vaccine-acquired immunity had waned in adolescents and adults. Several school outbreaks in China show that pertussis is circulating in young children, with continued circulation in adolescents and adults. There was a lack of information from Southeast/South Asian countries, although pan-Asian serosurveys showed that recent pertussis infection was common in adolescents and in adults with persistent cough. To conclude, the circulation of pertussis in Asian countries with high DTP4 coverage supports the expansion of routine vaccination to include booster doses for children at school entry and adolescents. However, surveillance is weak or absent in many countries, meaning that the true burden of pertussis, particularly among older populations, is unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in South‐East Asia and East Asia shows distinct clinical, environmental, physiological and likely genetic differences compared with the West. A male predominance is present, which may be due to differences in smoking habits. Involvement of the buttocks is common in East Asian patients, while the axillae are most commonly affected in South‐East Asian patients. Metabolic comorbidities are prevalent in South‐East Asian and East Asian HS patients. A family history of HS is less common than noted in Western populations. Asian ethnic subgroups deserve further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synoptic low pressure systems (LPSs) formed over the downwind side of the Tibetan Plateau explain a substantial portion of summer rainfall extremes along their paths. Recent studies have found that the total extreme rainfall trend over the East Asian landmass, which features the “south flood–north drought” pattern, can be understood to a great extent by the changes in terrestrial LPSs. Yet, the energy sources fueling these storms and the environmental drivers of their long-term trends remain unclear. Utilizing a probabilistic clustering method, three clusters of terrestrial LPS tracks for the period 1979–2018 are identified. Besides the differences in trajectories that distinguish the clusters into northeastward-migrating and quasi-stationary types, prominent intercluster differences are found in the LPS evolution, energetics, and trends. The Lorenz energetics suggest that while condensational heating is indispensable for all three clusters, the migratory type, which has greater intensity and faster development, is more closely tied to baroclinicity. Nonetheless, the summer baroclinicity alone is not enough to sustain these LPSs as these storms dissipate quickly after propagating out of the humid monsoon region and into the drier extratropics. Over time, occurrences of migratory LPSs decrease, and those of quasi-stationary LPSs increase. Using a Poisson model that links the LPS genesis to local environmental conditions, the decreasing occurrence of migratory LPSs is shown to result from the weakened baroclinicity, whereas the increasing occurrence of quasi-stationary LPSs is primarily driven by enhanced relative humidity and reduced steering flow in the mid-to-lower troposphere over East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the climate effects of black carbon (BC) in East Asia are not abundant and the effects remain uncertain. Using the Community Earth System Model version 1 (CESM1) with Peking University's emissions data, the fast response of the atmospheric water cycle to anthropogenic BC during summer in East Asia is investigated in this study. Results show that the CESM1-simulated BC concentration and its direct effective radiative forcing are comparable to observations. With the combination of aerosol–radiation interaction (ARI) and non-aerosol–radiation interaction (including aerosol–cloud interaction and surface albedo effects), anthropogenic BC induces a "wetter south and drier north" pattern over East Asia during summer. Also, anthropogenic BC affects the summer precipitation primarily through changing moisture transport rather than altering local evaporation over East Asia. Using the self-developed atmospheric water tracer method, the responses of dominant moisture sources [the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) and northwest Pacific] to anthropogenic BC are investigated. Results show that the moisture originating from southwest monsoon-related sources (especially the TIO) is more responsive to anthropogenic BC effects over East Asia. In particular, differing from total precipitation, TIO-supplied precipitation shows a significant response to the ARI of anthropogenic BC over East Asia. Process analyses show that anthropogenic BC affects the southwest monsoon-related moisture supplies primarily via advection, deep convection, and cloud macrophysics. Interestingly, the anthropogenic BC-induced changes of TIO-supplied water vapor in these three processes are all dominated by the ARI over East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because spring precipitation in East Asia is critical for recharging water resources after dry winters, its spatiotemporal variations and related mechanisms need in-depth research. This study analyzed a leading spatiotemporal variability of precipitation over East Asia for boreal spring (March-May) during 1979 to 2017. We found that a dipole mode dominates the anomalous spring precipitation between southern China and Southeast Asia with significant interannual and decadal variations. The interannual dipole mode is attributable to the eastern Pacific (EP)-type El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) while the decadal dipole mode is related to the decadal variation of the central Pacific (CP)-type ENSO. In the El Niño phases of both time scales, the anticyclonic anomaly over the South China Sea and Philippines causes moisture convergence (divergence) over southern China (Southeast Asia), resulting in positive (negative) precipitation anomalies therein; the opposite occurs in the La Niña phases. The ensemble experiments using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5.1 confirmed that the tropical sea surface temperature (SST) in the EP- and CP-type ENSO can be the major drivers of the interannual and decadal dipole modes, respectively. About half of 15 climate models participating in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) showed that the El Niño phase of dipole mode will become dominant in the future. The individual models' future projections however considerably vary, implying that there is still large uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) play an important role in modulating the global water cycle and energy balance and frequently generate high-impact weather events. The majority of existing literature studying MCS activity over East Asia is based on specific case studies and more climatological investigations revealing the precipitation characteristics of MCSs over eastern China are keenly needed. In this study, we use an iterative rain cell tracking method to identify and track MCS precipitation during 2008-16 to investigate regional differences and seasonal variations of MCS precipitation characteristics. Our results show that the middle-to-lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin (YRB-ML) receive the largest amount and exhibit the most pronounced seasonal cycle of MCS precipitation in eastern China. MCS precipitation over YRB-ML can exceed 2.6mmday-1 in June, contributing over 30.0% of April-July total rainfall. Particularly long-lived MCSs occur over the eastern periphery of the Tibetan Plateau (ETP), with 25% of MCSs over the ETP persisting for more than 18 h in spring. In addition, spring MCSs feature larger rainfall areas, longer durations, and faster propagation speeds. Summer MCSs have a higher precipitation intensity and a more pronounced diurnal cycle except for southeastern China, where MCSs have similar precipitation intensity in spring and summer. There is less MCS precipitation in autumn, but an MCSprecipitation center over the ETP still persists. MCSs reach peak hourly rainfall intensities during the time of maximum growth (a few hours after genesis), reach their maximum size around 5 h after genesis, and start decaying thereafter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given their high carbon uptake, the terrestrial ecosystems in the East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) region play an irreplaceable role in the global carbon cycle. Because the rich vegetation growth over East Asia benefits mainly from the sufficient water supply brought by the EASM, which is characterized by a strong intraseasonal oscillation (ISO), the intraseasonal spatiotemporal variations and underlying drivers of photosynthesis activity over East Asia have been comprehensively investigated using the daily gross primary productivity (GPP) and meteorological data. Strong intraseasonal fluctuations of GPP have been identified over the area between the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers (YYR) with a magnitude of 0.4 gC m−2 day−1. The mean power spectrum suggests that 20–50-day variation is the major component of the intraseasonal GPP anomalies over the YYR during the summers of 1980–2013. The 20–50-day ISO of YYR GPP anomalies is modulated by the local 20–50-day precipitation variation via soil moisture, with precipitation (soil moisture) leading GPP by 10 (7) days. The 20–50-day YYR precipitation anomalies are in turn controlled by tropical ISO signals, particularly the convective activity over the western North Pacific. This leading relationship between the 20–50-day atmospheric ISO and GPP suggests a potential for extended-range predictability of vegetation growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the mechanisms by which the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) changes in response to non–East Asian (NEA) anthropogenic aerosol forcing by distinguishing the fast direct atmospheric response and slow ocean-mediated response to forcing using a global aerosol–climate coupled model. The results show that NEA aerosol forcing significantly exacerbates the weakening of the EASM due to local aerosol forcing. The fast response is dominant in the weakening of the EASM and an anomalous precipitation pattern over eastern China resembling the "southern flood and northern drought" pattern in the total response to NEA aerosol forcing. Changes in upper-tropospheric temperature caused by the fast response play a major role in the impact of NEA aerosol forcing on the EASM. Anomalous cooling occurs during summer in the upper troposphere (at ~40°N) over East Asia caused by the fast response. This is due to the combined effects of strong eastward cold advection in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes caused by increased aerosol loading in Europe and the resulting change in local meridional heat transport in East Asia. Subsequently, the zonal wind speed changes on either side of the anomalous cooling, and the East Asian subtropical jet shifts equatorward, thereby weakening the EASM. The changes in atmospheric temperature and the local Hadley cell caused by the slow response to NEA aerosol forcing are conducive to strengthening the southwesterly winds over eastern China. Our study suggests the importance of NEA aerosol forcing in driving changes in the EASM on a fast time scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heat wave in East Asia is examined by using empirical orthogonal function analysis to isolate dominant heat-wave patterns in the ground-based temperature observations over the Korean Peninsula and China and related large-scale atmospheric circulations obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research Reanalysis 1 during 1973–2012. This study focuses particularly on the interannual variability of heat waves and its decadal change. The analysis identifies two major atmospheric teleconnection patterns playing an important role in developing typical heat-wave patterns in East Asia—the Scandinavian (SCAND) and the circumglobal teleconnection (CGT) patterns, which exhibit a significant decadal change in the interannual variability in the mid-1990s. Before the mid-1990s, heat-wave occurrence was closely related to the CGT pattern, whereas the SCAND pattern is more crucial to explain heat-wave variability in the recent period. The stationary wave model experiments suggest an intensification of the SCAND pattern in the recent period driven by an increase in land–atmosphere interaction over Eurasia and decadal change in the dominant heat-wave patterns in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Legal recognition of same-sex partnerships and marriages has been at the forefront of media attention in East Asian societies. For our comparative study, we carried out qualitative in-depth interviews with 31 gay men and lesbians to investigate the nuanced understanding of marriage, family and sexual citizenship within the context of debates on marriage equality across Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. Expanding on the theoretical concepts in Chen's 'Asia as method', Iwabuchi's 'inter-Asian referencing' and Yue and Leung's 'queer Asia as method', we aim to understand how the act of marriage is defined, conducted and rationalized amidst a web of social relations within each research locale. We argue that despite the variations in the structure and practice of kin relations, same-sex unions cannot be detached from the kinship institution in the three research sites. Our study points to a different perspective on same-sex marriage that goes beyond the binary of assimilation to/dismantling of the heterosexual marriage institution by attending to the structural and symbolic significance of the family and community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asia is a heterogeneous region including countries with distinct features in quite a few facets. This study is designed to unravel the motivations of Chinese FDI in 30 Asian countries (For list of countries see Appendix 1.) during 2003–2016. For estimation, we utilised the Random effect (RE), Fixed effect (FE) and System-GMM (SGMM) methodologies. We transpired that both market and natural resource (mineral richness) seeking motives of Chinese FDI in the whole sample analysis. With respect to income group, we confirmed the market seeking FDI in both high and middle-income countries whereas, mineral richness is priority for Chinese FDI in middle-income group. Thus, Chinese firms targeted middle income developing economies to acquire non-fuel natural resources. Analogously, on the regional basis, the results show that in all regression models, GDP is positive and significant predictor, characterising market seeking FDI by Chinese firms in West, East and South East Asia. In resource seeking motive, among the two types of natural resources, mineral richness affect Chinese FDI positively in East & South East Asia. In a nutshell, seeking market is the common motive for Chinese FDI in the entire sample, whereas the resource seeking motive varies across the income groups and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dibamid reptiles have a known current distribution on two continents (Asia and North America). Although this clade represents an early-diverging group in the Squamata and thus should have a long evolutionary history, no fossil record of these peculiar burrowing squamate reptiles has been documented so far. The fossil material described here comes from the early Oligocene of the Valley of Lakes in Central Mongolia. This material consists of jaws and is placed in the clade Dibamidae on the basis of its morphology, which is further confirmed by phylogenetic analyses. In spite of the fragmentary nature of this material, it thus forms the first, but putative, fossil evidence of this clade. If correctly interpreted, this material demonstrates the occurrence of Dibamidae in East Asia in the Palaeogene, indicating its distribution in higher latitudes than today. The preserved elements possess a unique combination of character states, and a new taxon name is therefore erected: Hoeckosaurus mongoliensis sp. nov. The dentary of Hoeckosaurus exhibits some characters of the two extant dibamid taxa. However, the open Meckel's groove, together with other characters, show that this group was morphologically much more diverse in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Historically, the distribution of Sandhill Cranes included much of North America and extending in summer into northeast Russia. In recent years, observations of sandhill cranes in Asia during the non-breeding period have been frequently reported. However, the distribution and abundance of sandhill cranes during the non-breeding period in Asia have rarely been summarized and studied. Our study aimed to analyze the status of sandhill cranes that have spread south into East Asia during the non-breeding period and to assess the possible impacts of their potential spread. Methods. Based on opportunistic data collected in the field and occurrence data collected online over the past half century, we used Geographic Information System to visualize the spatial distribution changes and regression analysis to analyze and visualize the changes in the amount of individuals over time. Results. In the last 50 years, the distribution of sandhill cranes during the non-breeding season in Asia spanned 31 degrees in longitude to the west and 15 degrees in latitude to the south. Their distribution in Asia has expanded to 17 provinces and municipalities in China, Japan and South Korea. The amount of cranes in the non-breeding period in Asia increased significantly from 1963 to 2017. According to the historical records in East Asia, sandhill cranes were mixed with five other species of crane groups. Main conclusions. These results indicate that the range and amount of sandhill cranes have expanded. Sandhill cranes were mixed with five other crane species, which indicate their adaptability to a range of habitat types and food resources. The implications of these trends in sandhill cranes in East Asia for this and other crane species warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior global climate model (GCM) experiments have shown that the Tibetan Plateau and related orography play a significant role in enhancing the Indian Monsoon, particularly during its onset, and the East Asian monsoon. However, these experiments have been largely performed with atmosphere-only, lower-resolution GCMs that neglect the influence of atmosphere–ocean coupling, and do not resolve tropical cyclones (TCs). Here we explore the influence of Asian orography on tropical circulations in a Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory GCM at two different atmosphere/land resolutions (∼ 50 and 200 km), and with or without atmosphere–ocean coupling. Atmosphere–ocean coupling is found to play a significant role in the precipitation response due to the Asian orography, enhancing the precipitation increase over the Western North Pacific (hereafter WNP), and drying the Arabian Sea. In these same regions, the higher resolution model, which resolves TCs up to category 3, suggests that Asian orography has a significant influence on TCs, increasing TC frequency in the WNP, and decreasing it in the Arabian Sea. However, in contrast to precipitation, this TC response does not appear to be strongly affected by the atmosphere–ocean coupling. Connections between the direct atmospheric circulation response to Asian orography, ocean circulation changes, and these various effects on precipitation and tropical cyclones are analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through extensive modeling efforts, it has been established that the ongoing global warming will increase the overall precipitation associated with the East Asian summer monsoon, but the future change of its spatial distribution has not reached a consensus. In this study, meridional shifts of the mei-yu–baiu rainband are studied in association with the subtropical jet by using outputs from atmosphere–ocean coupled climate models provided by CMIP5. The models reproduce observed associations between the jet and precipitation over wide time scales from synoptic to interannual. The same relation is found in intermodel differences in simulated climatology, so that the meridional locations of the jet and baiu precipitation are positively correlated. The multimodel-mean projection suggests that the both are shifted southward by the late twenty-first century. This shift is not inconsistent with the projected tropical expansion, not only because the change is local but also because the projected tropical expansion occurs mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. No significant future change in the continental mei-yu precipitation location is identified, which might be because the jet change is weak there. For comparison, the summertime Atlantic jet position, which shifts northward, is investigated briefly. This study suggests that the future change of the subtropical jet is an important aspect to investigate possible future changes of the baiu rainband, and it prompts further studies including the role of the ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study examined the relationship between family functioning and individual's well-being across seven East Asian cities. 3,834 participants recruited through convenience sampling completed a family survey. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVAs, and hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Results showed that, among the survey respondents, overall 31.1% of families were diagnosed as dysfunctional, 11.3% were scored as low functioning, and 50.7% were classified as high functioning. In various cities, 21.2% to 40.6% of the families were diagnosed as dysfunctional, 6.5% to 16.6% were scored as low functioning, and 33.2% to 68% were classified as high functioning. Income per head and divorce predicted low family functioning. After controlling demographic variables, family functioning significantly predicted subjective happiness (ΔR2 =.17), depression (ΔR2 =.11), mental health (ΔR2 =.05) and physical health (ΔR2 =.02). More cross-cultural studies on Asian families were recommended for improving our understanding of family dynamics and functioning of Eastern families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quasi-stationary front, called the baiu front, often appears during the early-summer rainy season in East Asia (baiu in Japan). The present study examines how precipitation characteristics during the baiu season are determined by the large-scale environment, using satellite observation three-dimensional precipitation data. Emphasis is placed on the effect of subtropical jet (STJ) and lower-tropospheric convective instability (LCI). A rainband appears together with a deep moisture convergence to the south of the STJ. Two types of mesoscale rainfall events (REs; contiguous rainfall areas), which are grouped by the stratiform precipitation ratio (SPR; stratiform precipitation over total precipitation), are identified: moderately stratiform REs (SPR of 0%-80%) representing tropical organized precipitation systems and highly stratiform REs (SPR of 80%-100%) representing midlatitude precipitation systems associated with extratropical cyclones. As the STJ becomes strong, rainfall from both types of mesoscale precipitation systems increases, with a distinct eastward extension of a midtropospheric moist region. In contrast, small systems appear regardless of the STJ, with high dependency on the LCI. The results indicate that the STJ plays a role in moistening the midtroposphere owing to ascent associated with secondary circulation to the south of the STJ, producing environments favorable for organized precipitation systems in the southern part of the rainband. The horizontal moisture flux convergence may also contribute to precipitation just along the STJ. On the other hand, the LCI plays a role in generating shallow convection. In high-LCI conditions, deep convection can occur without the aid of mesoscale organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) is mainly distributed in East Asia. The phylogeography, population genetic structure and historical demography of this species in the East Asia were examined by using partial sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA in mitochondrial DNA. Ten populations that included 239 individuals were collected from Taiwan (Shihmen Reservoir, SMR, Mingte Reservoir, MTR and Chengching Lake Reservoir, CLR), mainland China (Taihu Lake, TLC, Min River, MRC, Jiulong River, JRC and Shenzhen Reservoir, SRC), Japan (Biwa Lake, BLJ and Kasumigaura Lake, KLJ) and Korea (Han River, HRK). The nucleotide diversity (π) of all individuals was 0.01134, with values ranging from 0.0089 (BLJ, Japan) to 0.01425 (MTR, Taiwan). A total of 83 haplotypes were obtained, and the haplotypes were divided into 2 main lineages: lineage A included the specimens from BLJ, KLJ, CLR, MTR, TLC, MRC and JRC, and lineage B comprised the ones from HRK, SRC, SMR, MTR, TLC, MRC and JRC. Lineage A could be further divided two sub-lineages (A1 and A2). Individuals of lineage A2 were only from TLC. Demographic expansion was observed in each lineage, starting within the second-to-latest interglacial period for lineage A and within the last glacial period for lineage B. All FST values among the ten populations were significantly different, except for the values between MRC and JRC, and SMR and SRC. The phylogeography and genetic structure of M. nipponense in East Asia might be influenced by Pleistocene glacial cycles, lake isolation and human introduction. The possible dispersal routes of M. nipponense in the East Asia were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]