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Due to the recent developments in the delivery of teaching-learning processes when COVID-19 hit the world with a health crisis and pandemic, it is crucial to look into the quality of courses delivered via online means or through distance education modality. This paper examines implementation and application of quality assurance (QA) landscape in Distance Education (DE). A documentary review using bibliographic inquiry is used as a methodology approach to gather relevant information to address the study questions. Previous studies on QA in DE are examined and arranged into themes using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that most of the literature on QA in DE in Africa and Asia based on the reviewed Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions are basically dealing with frameworks, outcomes and performance, instructional design, student services and challenges as well as parity in terms of quality with the traditional institutions. Therefore, this paper concludes that more studies are needed for QA in DE to match the post-COVID-19 trends on improving QA. This implies that there is a need to expand research on QA in DE to include areas of artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sugar apple (Annona squamosa) is valued for its taste, nutritional richness, and versatility, making it suitable for fresh consumption and medicinal use with significant commercial potential. Widely found in the tropical Americas and Asia's tropical or subtropical regions, it faces challenges in post-harvest ripeness assessment, predominantly reliant on manual inspection, leading to inefficiency and high labor costs. This paper explores the application of computer vision techniques in detecting ripeness levels of harvested sugar apples and proposes an improved deep learning model (ECD-DeepLabv3+) specifically designed for ripeness detection tasks. Firstly, the proposed model adopts a lightweight backbone (MobileNetV2), reducing complexity while maintaining performance through MobileNetV2′s unique design. Secondly, it incorporates the efficient channel attention (ECA) module to enhance focus on the input image and capture crucial feature information. Additionally, a Dense ASPP module is introduced, which enhances the model's perceptual ability and expands the receptive field by stacking feature maps processed with different dilation rates. Lastly, the proposed model emphasizes the spatial information of sugar apples at different ripeness levels by the coordinate attention (CA) module. Model performance is validated using a self-made dataset of harvested optical images categorized into three ripeness levels. The proposed model (ECD-DeepLabv3+) achieves values of 89.95% for MIoU, 94.58% for MPA, 96.60% for PA, and 94.61% for MF1, respectively. Compared to the original DeepLabv3+, it greatly reduces the number of model parameters (Params) and floating-point operations (Flops) by 89.20% and 69.09%, respectively. Moreover, the proposed method could be directly applied to optical images obtained from the surface of the sugar apple, which provides a potential solution for the detection of post-harvest fruit ripeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare is a fundamental aspect of animal management and conservation. In light of growing public awareness and welfare concerns about captive elephants, there is an urgent need for comprehensive, globally coordinated efforts for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) that participate in religious, logging, or tourist activities in range countries where the majority reside, and where welfare issues have been identified but not addressed. This review provides a comparative analysis of available animal assessment tools. Each offers distinct features for assessment that allow institutions to select criteria for specific needs and available resources. Most are applied to general animal welfare assessments, although some are tailored to particular species, including elephants. The tools span diverse formats, from digital to primarily paper-based assessments. Assessments operate at individual and institutional levels and across multiple welfare domains. Methodologies rely on keeper ratings or expert evaluations, incorporate numerical scoring and Likert scales for welfare grading, and encompass inputs including behaviors, health, and physiological indicators. For tourist camp elephants, one challenge is that the tools were developed in zoos, which may or may not have application to non-zoological settings. Digital tools and assessment methodologies such as keeper ratings face logistical challenges when applied across tourist venues. As with any tool, reliability, validity, and repeatability are essential and must address the unique welfare challenges of diverse captive settings. We propose that a holistic, context-specific, evidence-based, and practical tool be developed to ensure high elephant welfare standards in non-zoological facilities throughout Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The height of the F2 peak electron density (hmF2) is an essential parameter in studying ionospheric electrodynamics and high-frequency wireless communication. Based on ionosphere ray propagation theory, the physical relationship between M3000F2 and hmF2 is derived and visualized. Furthermore, based on the above physical theory and the machine learning method, this paper proposes a new model for determining hmF2 using propagation factor at a distance of 3000 km from the ionospheric F2 layer, time, and season. This proposed model is easy to understand and has the characteristics of clear principles, simple structure, and easy application. Furthermore, we used six stations in east Asia to verify this model and compare it with the other three models of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. The results show that the proposed model (PRO) has minor error and higher accuracy. Specifically the RMSE of the BSE, AMTB, SHU, and the PRO models were 20.35 km, 31.51 km, 13.59 km, and 5.68 km, respectively, and the RRMSE of the BSE, AMTB, SHU, and PRO models were 8.17%, 11.88%, 4.96%, and 2.12%, respectively. In addition, the experimental results show that the PRO model can better predict the trend of the hmF2 inflection point. This method can be further extended to add data sources and provide new ideas for studying the hmF2 over global regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and purpose. Hendra and Nipah are two highly dangerous zoonotic viruses belonging to the group of henipaviruses. Although they have been known for over 20 years, no human drug or vaccine has been invented. This paper aims to to describe the epidemiology of the reported paramyxoviruses, the pandemic potential of henipaviruses, and a standardised action plan to counter their spread. This paper reviews scientific articles from 2012-2023 published in scientific databases such as Pubmed, Researchgate, and Google Scholar. The keywords used were pandemic potential of henipaviruses, Hendra virus, Nipah virus, and henipavirus epidemics. State of knowledge description. The mortality rate of henipaviruses varies between 50 and 100%. The Nipah virus is particularly dangerous, with epidemics recurring virtually every year in Asia since 1998. The Hendra virus situation may be manageable because there is an effective vaccine for horses most vulnerable to infection. Due to human activity, the habitats and climate of the animals serving as virus reservoirs are changing. Because of frequent henipavirus outbreaks in Asia and Australia, extensive efforts are being made to contain and neutralise them rapidly. Conclusions. As henipaviruses pose a high pandemic threat, more research into drugs and vaccines is required. It is also essential to develop effective bio-assurance plans, introduce controls on their operation and educate the population on the issue. Reservoir animals, through anthropogenic environmental changes, are changing habitats and feeding sites, making more and more territories vulnerable to the disease. New species of henipaviruses constantly emerge and pose an epizootic challenge to public health. Hence, an essential action is to increase the amount of research into the virus's epidemic development and conduct it as widely as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to achieve bedrock geologic mapping in the overburden area using big data, distributed computing, and deep learning techniques. First, the satellite Bouguer gravity anomaly with a resolution of 2'x2' in the range of E66°E96°, N40°-N55° and 1:5000000 Asia-European geological map are used to design a dataset for bedrock prediction. Then, starting from the gravity anomaly formula in the spherical coordinate system, we deduce the non-linear functional between rock density ρ and rock mineral composition m, content p, buried depth h, diagenesis time t and other variables. We analyze the feasibility of using deep neural network to approximate the above nonlinear generalization. The problem of solving deep neural network parameters is transformed into a non-convex optimization problem. We give an iterative, gradient descentbased solution algorithm for the non-convex optimization problem. Utilizing neural architecture search (NAS) and human-designed approach, we propose a geological-geophysical mapping network (GGMNet). The dataset for the network consists of both gravity anomaly and a priori geological information. The network has fast convergence speed and stable iteration during the training process. It also has better performance than a single neural network search or human-designed architectures, with the mean pixel accuracy (MAP) = 63.1% and the frequency weighted intersection over union (FWIoU) = 42.88. Finally, the GGMNet is used to predict the rock distribution of the Junggar Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate snow depth estimation is of significant importance, particularly for preventing avalanche disasters and predicting flood seasons. The predominant approaches for such snow depth estimation, based on deep learning methods, typically rely on passive microwave remote sensing data. However, due to the low resolution of passive microwave remote sensing data, it often results in low-accuracy outcomes, posing considerable limitations in application. To further improve the accuracy of snow depth estimation, in this paper, we used active microwave remote sensing data. We fused multi-spectral optical satellite images, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and land cover distribution images to generate a snow remote sensing dataset (SRSD). It is a first-of-its-kind dataset that includes active microwave remote sensing images in high-latitude regions of Asia. Using these novel data, we proposed a multi-scale feature perception and aggregation neural network (MFPANet) that focuses on improving feature extraction from multi-source images. Our systematic analysis reveals that the proposed approach is not only robust but also achieves high accuracy in snow depth estimation compared to existing state-of-the-art methods, with RMSE of 0.360 and with MAE of 0.128. Finally, we selected several representative areas in our study region and applied our method to map snow depth distribution, demonstrating its broad application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan exports sophisticated capital goods. Since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Japanese companies have offshored the production of lower-end goods and parts and components to Asian countries. Because of this, several researchers argued that a weaker yen no longer stimulates machinery exports much because an increase in Japanese exports increases parts and components imports from overseas Asian subsidiaries. This paper finds that, after the GFC, a weaker yen no longer increases Japanese machinery exports to Asia but continues to stimulate exports outside of Asia. Thus, the weaker yen since 2020 does not help Asian firms to import vital Japanese capital goods but does increase the profitability of Japanese manufacturers and their exports to non-Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the most important rice pests in Asia rice regions. BPH has monophagy, migration, rapid reproduction and strong environmental adaptability, and its control is a major problem in pest management. Adult BPH exhibit wing dimorphism, and the symbiotic microbiota enriched in the gut can provide energy for wing flight muscles as a source of nutrition. In order to study the diversity of symbiotic microbiota in different winged BPHs, this paper takes female BPH as the research object. It was found that the number of symbiotic microbiota of different winged BPHs would change at different development stages. Then, based on the 16S rRNA and ITS sequences, a metagenomic library was constructed, combined with fluorescent quantitative PCR and high-throughput sequencing, the dominant symbiotic microbiota flora in the gut of different winged BPHs was found, and the community structure and composition of symbiotic microbiota in different winged BPHs were further determined. Together, our results preliminarily revealed that symbiotic microbiota in the gut of BPHs have certain effects on wing morphology, and understanding the mechanisms underlying wing morph differentiation will clarify how nutritional factors or environmental cues alter or regulate physiological and metabolic pathways. These findings also establish a theoretical basis for subsequent explorations into BPH-symbiont interplay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument, BIOMASS, is scheduled for launch in 2024. This satellite will enhance the estimation of subcanopy topography, owing to its strong penetration and fully polarimetric observation capability. In order to conduct global-scale mapping of the subcanopy topography, it is crucial to calibrate systematic errors of different strips through interferometric SAR (InSAR) DEM (digital elevation model) block adjustment. Furthermore, the BIOMASS mission will operate in repeat-pass interferometric mode, facing the atmospheric delay errors introduced by changes in atmospheric conditions. However, the existing block adjustment methods aim to calibrate systematic errors in bistatic mode, which can avoid possible errors from atmospheric effects through interferometry. Therefore, there is still a lack of systematic error calibration methods under the interference of atmospheric effects. To address this issue, we propose a block adjustment model considering atmospheric effects. Our model begins by employing the sub-aperture decomposition technique to form forward-looking and backward-looking interferograms, then multi-resolution weighted correlation analysis based on sub-aperture interferograms (SA-MRWCA) is utilized to detect atmospheric delay errors. Subsequently, the block adjustment model considering atmospheric effects can be established based on the SA-MRWCA. Finally, we use robust Helmert variance component estimation (RHVCE) to build the posterior stochastic model to improve parameter estimation accuracy. Due to the lack of spaceborne P-band data, this paper utilized L-band Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)-1 PALSAR data, which is also long-wavelength, to emulate systematic error calibration of the BIOMASS mission. We chose climatically diverse inland regions of Asia and the coastal regions of South America to assess the model's effectiveness. The results show that the proposed block adjustment model considering atmospheric effects improved accuracy by 72.2% in the inland test site, with root mean square error (RMSE) decreasing from 10.85 m to 3.02 m. Moreover, the accuracy in the coastal test site improved by 80.2%, with RMSE decreasing from 16.19 m to 3.22 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shuangjianzishan silver polymetallic deposit is located in the copper–tin–lead–zinc–silver polymetallic metallogenic belt in the Southern Great Xing'an Range, with silver resources of more than 18,000 t, which is the largest silver polymetallic deposit in Asia. Early studies concluded that the Shuangjianzishan deposit is typically an epithermal Ag-Pb-Zn deposit that lacks a high-temperature mineralization stage. In recent years, with the deepening of research, a large amount of Cu-Sn mineralization has been found in the deep part of the Shuangjianzishan deposit, but it is less studied. The laser-ablation inductively coupled mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) technique is used to investigate the distribution and substitution of trace elements in chalcopyrite and cassiterite. In this paper, the trace element study of chalcopyrite and cassiterite from the Shuangjianzishan deposit reveals that Sn, In, As, Se, Sb, and Tl mainly exist in chalcopyrite in isomorphic form, while Pb, Bi, and Ni mainly exist in chalcopyrite in the form of mineral inclusions. The enrichment of the high-temperature elements Sn and Se in chalcopyrite, and the deficit of the middle- and low-temperature elements Ga, Sb, etc., reflect that the chalcopyrite in the Shuangjianzishan deposit was formed in a middle- and high-temperature environment, and it also indicates that the early ore-forming hydrothermal solution may be rich in Sn. Fe, In, Co, and Ni mainly exist in cassiterite in isomorphic form, and the content of W in cassiterite is high. There are two main forms, one is isomorphic and the other is wolframite inclusion. Cassiterite has Fe-rich and W-U-poor characteristics, indicating that cassiterite from the Shuangjianzishan deposit was formed under relatively oxidized conditions, and the relative enrichment of elements such as Fe, W, Zr, and Hf indicates that the temperature of cassiterite formation was high. The elemental content and inter-ionic coupling relationships suggest that the cassiterite from the Shuangjianzishan deposit may have an elemental replacement mechanism of W6+ + Fe2+ ↔ 2Sn4+ or Fe3+ + OH− ↔ Sn4+ + O2−. The trace elements in cassiterite of the Shuangjianzishan deposit are rich in Fe and Mn and depleted in Nb and Ta, according to the Fe-W diagram, and the tin mineralization of the Shuangjianzishan deposit belongs to cassiterite–sulfide-type tin mineralization. Chalcopyrite Co/Ni ratios >1 are consistent with the characteristics of chalcopyrite genesis in hydrothermal deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations have revealed that the deadly "hot eastern‐pluvial western" climate pattern in Asia in summer 2022 is by no means an exception. In recent decade this pattern is becoming much more frequent owing to the notable westward extension and enhancement of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH). The anomalously enhanced WPSH fills the gap in geopotential heights between the Arabian Sea‐Iranian Plateau and the western Pacific, produces a heat dome over eastern Asia and intensifies the moisture convergence over western Asia by changing the water vapor transportation path. Projections of 19 CMIP6 models show that both the temperature in eastern Asia and precipitation in western Asia will remarkably increase under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) 2‐4.5, SSP 3‐7.0, and SSP 5‐8.5 scenarios, with temperature anomalies 0.8°C, 1.5°C, and 2.4°C higher and the percentages of precipitation anomaly 6.3%, 9.4%, and 12.5% larger than the reference period in the near, middle, and long terms under the moderate emission scenario (SSP2‐4.5). Therefore, the "hot eastern‐pluvial western" Asia is becoming a new normal and exacerbating the risk of compound disasters. Plain Language Summary: In summer 2022, eastern Asia experienced the most extensive and long‐lasting heatwave since 1951, while exceptional floods hit western Asia during the same period. It is found that this "hot eastern‐pluvial western" pattern has occurred more and more frequently since 1981. This could be attributed to the linear trend of the westward extension and enhancement of the western Pacific subtropical high. In this paper, we assess the expected changes by using the latest generation of global climate model projections. The "hot eastern‐pluvial western" climate pattern and the associated atmospheric circulations are projected to increase from 2020s to the end of the 21st century under different greenhouse gas emission scenarios, suggesting more fatal heatwaves in eastern Asia and floods in western Asia in the future. Key Points: The catastrophic climate pattern of "hot eastern‐pluvial western" Asia occurred frequently in recent decades especially in summer 2022The increasing trend of this pattern could be attributed to the westward extension and enhancement of the western Pacific subtropical highProjections of CMIP6 models show that the "hot eastern‐pluvial western" will occur normally in future [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine potential diversification benefits between Eurozone (i.e. EURO STOXX 50) and key Asia markets: HSI (Hong Kong), KOSPI (South Korea), NIKKEI 225 (Japan) and TSEC (Taiwan). The sample covers the period from 04-01-2008 to 19-10-2023 in daily frequency. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical investigation is based on the wavelet coherence analysis, which is a localized correlation coefficient in the time and frequency domain. Findings: The results provide evidence that long-term diversification benefits exist between EURO STOXX and NIKKEI, EURO STOXX and KOSPI (after 2015) and there are signs for the pair and EURO STOXX-TSEC (after 2014). During the short term, there are signs of diversification benefits during the sample period. However, during the medium term, the diversification benefits seem to diminish. Originality/value: These results have crucial implications for investors regarding the benefits of international portfolio diversification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the recent developments in the delivery of teaching-learning processes when COVID-19 hit the world with a health crisis and pandemic, it is crucial to look into the quality of courses delivered via online means or through distance education modality. This paper examines implementation and application of quality assurance (QA) landscape in Distance Education (DE). A documentary review using bibliographic inquiry is used as a methodology approach to gather relevant information to address the study questions. Previous studies on QA in DE are examined and arranged into themes using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that most of the literature on QA in DE in Africa and Asia based on the reviewed Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions are basically dealing with frameworks, outcomes and performance, instructional design, student services and challenges as well as parity in terms of quality with the traditional institutions. Therefore, this paper concludes that more studies are needed for QA in DE to match the post-COVID-19 trends on improving QA. This implies that there is a need to expand research on QA in DE to include areas of artificial intelligence.

As humanity reaches the 5.0 industrial revolution, education plays a critical role in boosting the quality of human resources. This paper reports bibliometric research on emerging TiP during 1993-2022 in the educational field to analyse its development on any level of education during the last three decades. This study employed a Scopus database. The findings are that the trend of TiP publication in educational fields has tended to increase every year during the past three decades and conference paper became the most published document type, the USA is the country which produces the most publications; "Students" being the most occurrences keyword and total link strength. The publication of the TiP is ranked to the Quartile 1, which implies that a publication with the cited performance is a publication with credibility because the publisher has a good reputation. Researchers can find the topics most relevant to other metadata sources such as Web of Science, Publish, and Perish.

Over the past half a century many countries have witnessed a rapid fall in total fertility rates, particularly in the world's most advanced economies including the industrial powerhouses of Eastern Asia and Europe. Such nations have now passed through the first and second demographic transitions and are currently exhibiting fertility rates well below the replacement threshold of 2.1, with no sign of recovery. This paper examines the factors responsible for driving these demographic transitions and considers their impact on both fertility and fecundity (our fundamental capacity to reproduce). I argue that because the first demographic transition was extremely rapid and largely driven by socioeconomic factors, it has had no lasting impact on the genetic/epigenetic underpinnings of human fecundity. However, the second demographic transition will be different. A series of conditions associated with low fertility societies, including relaxed selection pressure for high-fertility genotypes, the indiscriminate use of assisted reproductive technologies to treat human infertility, and environmental contamination with reproductive toxicants, may impact our genetic constitution in ways that compromise the future fecundity of our species. Since any fundamental change in the genetic foundations of human reproduction will be difficult to reverse, we should actively pursue methods to monitor human fecundity, as sub-replacement fertility levels become established across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilisation of box girders with corrugated steel webs (CSWs) represents an innovative approach to bridge superstructure design that has garnered substantial popularity worldwide, with a notable prevalence in both Asia and Europe. Compared with traditional box girders, they avoid web cracking, improving the prestressing efficiency and bridge spanning ability. As an innovative box girder, a corrugated web can increase the cantilever length and transverse stiffness, and at the same time, it reduces the dead weight of the bridge deck. However, little research has been conducted on the mechanical properties of this novel spine-like box girder with CSWs, especially its transverse performance, although it has been used in many applications. In this paper, the effect of the web form on the behaviour of box girders is introduced. Therefore, three representative three-dimensional (3D) finite-element models (i.e., corrugated web box girder, flat web box girder, and ordinary equivalent concrete web box girder) have been established to quantitatively investigate the influence of corrugated web stiffness on transverse stress under the action of gravity and vehicle loads. Generally, significant differences in the mechanical performance of box girders with CSWs have been observed compared with conventional box girders with concrete webs. Additionally, parametric studies to investigate the influences of the corrugation dimensions (in term of the corrugation height, web thickness, panel width, web height and elastic modulus) on the transverse stiffness of such bridges are analyzed. The results show that a new stiffness formula can be put forward to consider the effect of web height, and a high-strength steel web needs to be developed urgently for box girders with CSWs in the near future. Overall, the results of this investigation can be used as a reference for transverse designing and segmental construction of similar projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlations between exchange rates are valuable for illuminating the dynamics of international trade and the financial dynamics of countries. This paper explores the changing interactions of the US foreign exchange market based on detrended cross-correlation analysis. First, we propose an objective way to choose a time scale parameter appropriate for comparing different samples by maximizing the summed magnitude of all DCCA coefficients. We then build weighted signed networks under this optimized time scale, which can clearly display the complex relationships between different exchange rates. Our study shows negative cross-correlations have become pyramidally rare in the past three decades. Both the number and strength of positive cross-correlations have grown, paralleling the increase in global interconnectivity. The balanced strong triads are identified subsequently after the network centrality analysis. Generally, while the strong development links revealed by foreign exchange have begun to spread to Asia since 2010, Europe is still the center of world finance, with the euro and Danish krone consistently maintaining the closest balanced development relationship. Finally, we propose a fluctuation propagation algorithm to investigate the propagation pattern of fluctuations in the inferred exchange rate networks. The results show that, over time, fluctuation propagation patterns have become simpler and more predictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to examine the psychotropic prescription practices in schizophrenia, as it can inform regarding changing treatment choices and related patient profiles. No recent reviews have evaluated the global neuropsychopharmacological prescription patterns in adults with schizophrenia. A systematic search of the literature published from 2002 to 2023 found 88 empirical papers pertinent to the utilization of psychotropic agents. Globally, there were wide inter-country and inter-regional variations in the prescription of psychotropic agents. Overall, over time there was an absolute increase in the prescription rate of second-generation antipsychotics (up to 50%), mood stabilizers (up to 15%), and antidepressants (up to 17%), with an observed absolute decrease in the rate of antipsychotic polypharmacy (up to 15%), use of high dose antipsychotic (up to 12% in Asia), clozapine (up to 9%) and antipsychotic long-acting injectables (up to 10%). Prescription patterns were mainly associated with specific socio-demographic (such as age), illness (such as illness duration), and treatment factors (such as adherence). Further work, including more evidence in adjunctive neuropsychopharmacological treatments, pharmaco-economic considerations, and examination of cohorts in prospective studies, can proffer insights into changing prescription trends relevant to different treatment settings and predictors of such trends for enhancement of clinical management in schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The domestication of vines started in Asia 11,000 years ago, although it was not until the 19th century that oenology was established as a scientific discipline thanks to the research of Louis Pasteur on the role of microorganisms in wine fermentation. At the present time, the progression in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies is helping to facilitate the identification of microbial dynamics during winemaking. These advancements have aided winemakers in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the role of microbiota in the fermentation process, which, in turn, is ultimately responsible for the delivery of provisioning (wine features and its production), regulating (such as carbon storage by vineyards, regulation of soil quality, and biocontrol of pests and diseases) or cultural (such as aesthetic values of vineyard landscapes, scholarly enjoyment of wine, and a sense of belonging in wine-growing regions) ecosystem services. To our knowledge, this is the first review of the state of knowledge on the role of microbiota in the delivery of ecosystem services in the wine sector, as well as the possibility of valuing them in monetary terms by operating logic chains, such as those suggested by the SEEA-EA framework. This paper concludes with a review of management practices that may enhance the value of microbiota ecosystem services and the role of smart farming in this task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exchange rate is a crucial macro indicator for any open economy, whereby any change in the rate would influence, to a certain extent, various socioeconomic facets. One of the significant impacts is revealed in the pass-through of exchange rate variations to price inflation, also known as the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT). This paper explores the effect of ERPT on domestic inflation in Vietnam by comparing with other Asian economies. Specifically, pass-through mechanisms are examined for every single price as well as a distribution chain from import price index (IMP), producer price index (PPI) to consumer price index (CPI). The empirical results show that exchange rate shocks positively influence the price changes in Vietnam as well as in other Asian countries. According to Cholesky decomposition, the exchange rate plays a limited role in regulating CPI movements. Besides, world commodity prices are found to have a significant impact on domestic inflation across the sample-countries. Our findings reveal profound implications for monetary policy management and price stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and investigates the properties of concrete in which a portion of the cement is substituted with non-sintered Hwangto (NSH), a readily available building material in Asia. Given the inactive nature of NSH, this study aimed to determine the optimal cement replacement ratio and quantitative strength of the material. The unit weight, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), and stress–strain of the NSH concrete (NSHC) were evaluated. Additionally, we developed a predictive model for determining compressive strength based on the regression analysis of compressive strength and UPV. The water-to-binder ratio was set to 0.41, 0.33, and 0.28, and the NSH replacement rates in the cement were set to 0%, 15%, 30%, and 45% for evaluating various strength ranges. The mechanical property measurements indicated reductions of 5.35% in unit weight, 35.62% in compressive strength, and 6.34% in UPV as the NSH was replaced. Notably, the smallest deviation from plain concrete was observed at a replacement rate of 15%. The scanning electron microscopy analysis results showed that the plain concrete exhibited a crystalloid structure; however, as the NSH replacement rate increased, the amorphous structure and pores increased while unreacted NSH particles were also observed. The X-ray diffraction analysis results demonstrate that the peak intensities for kaolinite and mullite increased as the NSH replacement rate increased, while those of C–S–H gel and CaO showed low peak intensities. Furthermore, the regression analysis concluded that an exponential function was suitable. Consequently, a compressive strength prediction model was developed, and in the error test, the NSHC model demonstrated an average error of <10%, with fewer errors at the lower compressive strength boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid developm the application of digital ent of the new generation of information and communication technologies (ICT), the state-level governance model has undergone profound changes. It is worth pondering whether this change will have an impact on the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Therefore, we collected data from 51 global economies that have proposed carbon neutrality targets from 2003 to 2020 to build a series of spatial measurement models and explored the impact of e-government construction on carbon emission intensity (CEI). Then, we further considered regional heterogeneity factors, grouped the selected countries into Asian, European, and American countries, and verified the differences between e-government construction and CEI in different regions. Additionally, on the basis of the spatial mediation effect model, this paper analyzed the industrial structure which played an intermediary role in achieving target for reducing CEI through e-government construction. The main findings are as follows. (1) A higher level of e-government construction will result in lower-carbon emissions intensity. (2) Spatial spillover effect regression results showed that the construction of e-government in neighboring countries also significantly inhibits the carbon emission intensity of the host country. (3) There was significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of e-governments on CEI; in Asia, the construction of e-governments significantly reduced CEI, but no significant reductions were observed in Europe and America. (4) E-governments influenced CEI by optimizing the industrial structure. The construction of e-governments was effective in Asia and Europe, while intermediary effect test was failed to pass in the Americas. This study mainly focused on the environmental benefits brought by the construction of e-governments, and the obtained results would provide an important reference for the achievement of the dual-carbon goals in countries worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some comparative analysis between the pattern of economic performances in Asia and Western Europe during 1950s-2020s through political economies perspective. The Asian and Western European economic performances are investigated through some stylized facts in the sense of economic factors. Three analyses are used to explain the general pattern of these regions. First, this study examines the pattern of GDP growth per capita during the 1950s-2020s, focusing on several countries in this region. Second, the analysis captures the pattern of linkages of economic variables in this region related to the principle of Circular and Cumulative causation (CCC) and contradiction. Third, the analysis employs a historical perspective underpinned by the results in the second analysis. This third analysis is crucial to appreciating Asia's global economic performance and also the process of Western deterioration phenomenon through long wave, including the occurrence recession and financial crises. The institutions of globalization and neoliberalism that put the power of capital promoted a financial crisis several times during the decades of 1980s-2020. The financial crisis is depicted by contradictions in the structural linkages among economic factors in Western Europe over the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ties between Latin America and Asia by moving beyond the homogenisation of the two regions through elevating the importance of opposition to a third party, in this case an "imperialist" and developed North. In contrast to normative analyses based on outmoded conceptions of world history, it proposes an intellectual exercise that problematises the interregional bond by placing the emphasis on heterogeneities rather than broad bush approaches that ignore the complex and diverse national and regional realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating a high‐fidelity railroad station model to match the physical details of hundreds of tracks and switches is never a trivial task. The manual modeling approach often costs engineers significant efforts and constrains the generality and extensivity of many advanced methods. Taking advantage that many stations are drawn proportionally into two‐dimensional drawing exchange format (DXF) files via state‐of‐the‐art computer‐aided design (CAD) techniques, this paper proposed an efficient solution to convert DXF files into meaningful station models. The proposed solution consists of two phases (1) converting graphic basic primitives without explicit engineering interpretations into recognizable railroad symbols and (2) modeling undirected railroad station graphs with necessary configurations such as endpoints and routes. The proposed solution is developed into a graphic user interface application with minimal user interactions and subsequently tested at several real‐world passenger stations in Asia for its validity, productivity, and applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat collection plates (HCP) are installed above sprinkler heads in some tall halls in the Asia-Oceania region to give faster thermal actuation. In this study, experiments were thus conducted in a fire chamber to determine thermal activation times of sprinkler heads with and without HCP. Three HCP with different diameters were selected and tested with pendent fast response liquid-in-bulb sprinkler heads. A total of 48 sprinklers heads were studied under different conditions of height and pool fire size. The HCP was found to reduce sprinkler activation time in a fire chamber test by up to 61%. Thermal activation time of sprinkler heads was also investigated by the common plunge test in a wind tunnel. Results indicate that activation was delayed by 5%, 18%, and 221% on average by the three HCP. An HCP of pie plate shape with small diameter would alter the physical scenario of heating up the heat sensing element of sprinkler heads assumed in the plunge test. Therefore, the effect of HCP cannot be appropriately assessed in a wind tunnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: Restaurant review platforms, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, routinely receive large numbers of photos in their review submissions. These photos provide significant value for users who seek to compare restaurants. In this context, the choice of cover images (i.e., representative photos of the restaurants) can greatly influence the level of user engagement on the platform. Unfortunately, selecting these images can be time consuming and often requires human intervention. At the same time, it is challenging to develop a systematic approach to assess the effectiveness of the selected images. Methodology/results: In this paper, we collaborate with a large review platform in Asia to investigate this problem. We discuss two image selection approaches, namely crowd-based and artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems. The AI-based system we use learns complex latent image features, which are further enhanced by transfer learning to overcome the scarcity of labeled data. We collaborate with the platform to deploy our AI-based system through a randomized field experiment to carefully compare both systems. We find that the AI-based system outperforms the crowd-based counterpart and boosts user engagement by 12.43%–16.05% on average. We then conduct empirical analyses on observational data to identify the underlying mechanisms that drive the superior performance of the AI-based system. Managerial implications: Finally, we infer from our findings that the AI-based system outperforms the crowd-based system for restaurants with (i) a longer tenure on the platform, (ii) a limited number of user-generated photos, (iii) a lower star rating, and (iv) lower user engagement during the crowd-based system. Funding: The authors acknowledge financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [Grant 430-2020-00106]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.0531. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem services (ES) approach has been widely applied for assessing nature's values and human-nature links. Over the past two decades, this research approach has experienced remarkable growth, exerting global influence on the sustainability policy agenda. Recent literature indicates that North America, Europe, East Asia, and Australia are major contributors to ES research, while other regions are progressing at a slower pace. Many countries in these regions remain under-represented due to various factors, including but not limited to knowledge transfer gaps, disparities in research capacities, as well as distinct needs and challenges among researchers in the Global North and South. Although the ES literature in Asia is growing in topics, methodologies, quality and quantity, many Asian researchers, especially Early Career Researchers (ECRs), still face problems typical of the Global South while conducting ES research. In this paper, we outline four major challenges from the perspective of ECRs. They include: 1) Inequality in career prospects and capacity-building, 2) Inequality and challenges in data access & knowledge transfer, 3) Circulation of research findings in global scientific publishing, 4) Challenges in funding. This perspective paper draws special attention to the challenges faced by ECRs in ES research in Asia. By presenting recommendations, we strongly advocate that the research community work together to make ES research a level playing field for ECRs like ourselves working in Asia and elsewhere. • We provide an overview of the inequalities in scientific production on Ecosystem Services in Asia. • From an early career perspective we highlight four key categories young researchers face difficulties in. • These include: career prospects & capacity-building, data access & knowledge transfer, access to publishing, and funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation for developing a rehabilitation lower-limb exoskeleton robot was to provide functional robot-assisted therapy for assisting physiotherapists in improving hemiplegic patients' walking recovery. Rehabilitation tasks required robust and precise trajectory-tracking performance, mainly achieved with exoskeleton robots. This paper presents a study on the gait trajectory cycles of a rehabilitation lower-limb exoskeleton robot controlled by an Admittance Swarm Initialized Adaptive (ASIA). The aim of this paper was to develop a robust adaptive controller integrated with admittance model to overcome human–robot interaction forces generated by the wearer. The parameters of the ASIA controller were efficiently initialized using swarm beetle antenna searching. An experiment was conducted on a prototype lower limb exoskeleton with four degrees of freedom, involving a healthy human subject for gait trajectory analysis. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of control performance, steady-state error reduction, and robustness. The statistical analysis revealed that the ASIA performed 63 %, 53 % and 48 % less in average error compared to adaptive conventional controllers used in the same exoskeleton platform. The findings ascertained the potential of the ASIA controller in improving human mobility through lower limb exoskeleton applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer on 392 Scopus database documents published from 2003 to 2022, aiming to understand the global landscape of the e-learning field and to identify the most prominent authors, institutions, countries and reference publications, as well as the research topics that have recently received the most attention in students' readiness for e-learning in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The findings indicate that there has been an upward trend in e-learning readiness among students in HEIs over time. Among the countries studied, the United States, Taiwan, Australia, and Malaysia were found to have the most effective approaches to addressing students' readiness for e-learning. The most highly cited author in this field is M-L. Hung. Based on the citations, the most recognised journal in this field was "Computers and Education" and the universities that were most persuasive were two Taiwan universities in the first position. The data also revealed relatively low levels of collaboration among authors, institutions and nations regarding students' readiness for e-learning.

LINKED CONTENT: This article is linked to Song et al papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17963 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17983 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LINKED CONTENT: This article is linked to Song et al papers. To view these articles, visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17963 and https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17999 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) are growing global health problems associated with considerable cardiovascular (CV) and limb-related morbidity and mortality, poor quality of life and high healthcare resource use and costs. Diabetes is a well-known risk factor for PAD, and the occurrence of PAD in people with T2D further increases the risk of long-term complications. As the available evidence is primarily focused on the overall PAD population, we undertook a systematic review to describe the burden of comorbid PAD in people with T2D. The MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies including people with T2D and comorbid PAD published from 2012 to November 2021, with no restriction on PAD definition, study design or country. Hand searching of conference proceedings, reference lists of included publications and relevant identified reviews and global burden of disease reports complemented the searches. We identified 86 eligible studies, mostly observational and conducted in Asia and Europe, presenting data on the epidemiology (n = 62) and on the clinical (n = 29), humanistic (n = 12) and economic burden (n = 12) of PAD in people with T2D. The most common definition of PAD relied on ankle-brachial index values ≤ 0.9 (alone or with other parameters). Incidence and prevalence varied substantially across studies; nonetheless, four large multinational randomised controlled trials found that 12.5%–22% of people with T2D had comorbid PAD. The presence of PAD in people with T2D was a major cause of lower-limb and CV complications and of all-cause and CV mortality. Overall, PAD was associated with poor quality of life, and with substantial healthcare resource use and costs. To our knowledge, this systematic review provides the most comprehensive overview of the evidence on the burden of PAD in people with T2D to date. In this population, there is an urgent unmet need for disease-modifying agents to improve outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: Diabetes and related metabolic syndromes represent a significant global health challenge, with the global burden of diabetes increasing considerably since 1990. In this article, we examined the trend of publications in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism between 1996 and 2021, focusing on Asian countries. Methods: We obtained and used the data from the Scopus database from the SCImago website (https://www.scimagojr.com/), on 1 April 2023, related to the subspecialty of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism for country rankings between 1996 and 2021. We did not include any data related to other medical specialties or other fields. Results: There has been a steady rise in global publications on these subspecialties over the past decade, with the number of publications from Asian countries increasing significantly. Western Europe recorded the highest number of publications, followed by North America and Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to a surge in publications in this field. In Asian countries, China and India have notably increased their global contribution to publications, with China emerging as the top Asian nation in 2021. Conclusion: Our findings provide valuable insights into the research output from various countries and the productivity trends in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism-related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: The Mediterranean Diet (MD) has been recognized for its benefits for human health and sustainability for the planet, but it has considered not easy to reproduce in other populations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Health Education and Sustainable Development is fostering a research project (Planeterranea), aiming to identify a healthy dietary pattern based on local foods with the same MD features. The aim of our study is to develop a MD-based food pyramid for Asian populations. Methods: Asia was stratified into six areas according to pedo-climatic conditions. For each region a comprehensive scoping review of local crops and typical foods was conducted on several databases such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s database, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) website, and PubMed, focusing on both plant-based and animal-based foods. Narrative review was then conducted on the identified foods to determine their nutritional composition and planetary health impact. Finally, the collected information was used to build up the Asian food pyramid with details for each respective region. Results: We proposed a food pyramid for Asian countries, guaranteeing the same nutritional intake and health benefits as MD, by considering dietary habits and typical foods of this population. From the bottom to the top, Asian fruits and vegetables present similar nutritional profile as those in MD. Whole grains (barley) may represent valid alternative to white rice. Sesame oil represents a source of unsaturated fats and an alternative to olive oil. Legumes (soybean), edible insects, mushrooms and algae, guarantee an adequate intake of plant-based proteins with a complete amino-acid profile and a low environmental impact with respect to animal-based ones. Conclusions: This work is a new insight of healthy and sustainable local food system based on MD principles for the Asian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in ERCC8 or ERCC6. Most pathogenic variants in ERCC8 are single nucleotide substitutions. Structural variants (SVs) have been reported in patients with ERCC8-related CS. However, comprehensive molecular detection, including SVs of ERCC8, in CS patients remains problematic. Herein, we present three Japanese patients with ERCC8-related CS in whom causative SVs were identified using whole-exome-based copy number variation (CNV) detection tools. One patient showed compound heterozygosity for a 259-kb deletion and a deletion of exon 4 which has previously been reported as an Asia-specific variant. The other two patients were homozygous for the same exon 4 deletion. The exon 4 deletion was detected only by the ExomeDepth software. Intrigued by the discrepancy in the detection capability of various tools for the SVs, we evaluated the analytic performance of four whole-exome-based CNV detection tools using an exome data set from 337 healthy individuals. A total of 1,278,141 exons were predicted as being affected by the 4 CNV tools. Interestingly 95.1% of these affected exons were detected by one tool alone. Thus, we expect that the use of multiple tools may improve the detection rate of SVs from aligned exome data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response theory, the present study aims to investigate the mediating role of environmental self-identity on the relationship of collectivism-organizational culture and green empowerment with employee's workplace green behavior. By adopting procedural remedy and purposive sampling approach, data was collected from 207 administrative employees in higher education institutions of China. Response rate in this study is 41.40%. The authors employed partial least square -structural equation modelling to validate the proposed hypotheses. The current empirical findings confirmed the direct effect of collectivism-organizational culture and green empowerment on employee's environmental self-identity. It is also proven that environmental self-identity significantly and positively influence employee's workplace green behavior. This study concludes with significant positive indirect impact of collectivism-organizational culture and green empowerment on the employees WGB through environmental self-identity. This study enriches the literature on sustainable development by examining the integrated relationship of collectivism-organizational culture, green empowerment, self-identity and green behavior. The limitations and implications have been elaborated at the end of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crustal deformation and hydrothermal percolation related to the India‐Asia collision have caused extensive remagnetization of the Tethyan Himalaya Terrane (THT). The present work identified three phases of regional remagnetization during 62.3–50.0 Ma for the east‐central THT. Consequently, a model of three‐stage India‐Asia collision was proposed. The east‐central THT first collided with the southward migrated southern margin of the Lhasa Terrane (LT) at 5.4 ± 0.9°N during 62.3–60.9 Ma. Subsequently, the THT continuously moved northward and pushed the southern margin of the LT back to its original position prior to the initiation of fore‐arc and back‐arc extension on both sides of the Gangdese magmatic arc. Since the final suturing of the THT with Asia at ∼10°N during 59.8–58.0 Ma, the east‐central THT remained stationary until India collided with it at 10.9 ± 5.1°N at ∼50.0 Ma. Plain Language Summary: The collision of India and Asia caused intense tectonic deformation and hydrothermal alteration throughout the Tethyan Himalaya Terrane (THT), which resulted in the large‐scale remagnetization in the THT. The regional remagnetization of the THT can be used to constrain the India‐Asia collision process, on the premise that the time of remagnetization can be determined. Based on this assumption, we measured two representative Paleocene remagnetized components from Early Jurassic limestones in the Gyangze Basin in the east‐central THT. These remagnetized components, combined with non‐remagnetized components and remagnetization events recorded in the adjacent areas, suggest that the east‐central THT experienced three phases of regional remagnetization during 62.3–50.0 Ma. The first and second phases of remagnetization in the north‐central part of the east‐central THT occurred at the paleolatitude of 5.4 ± 0.9°N at 62.3–60.9 Ma and 10.3 ± 1.0°N–9.5 ± 1.1°N at 59.8–58.0 Ma, respectively. The third phase of remagnetization occurred in the southern part of the east‐central THT, at the paleolatitude of 10.9 ± 5.1°N at ∼50.0 Ma. Consequently, a model of three‐stage India‐Asia collision and southward spreading tectonic deformation of the THT was proposed based on these successive remagnetizations. Key Points: The east‐central Tethyan Himalaya Terrane (THT) experienced three phases of large‐scale remagnetization during 62.3–50.0 MaThe collision of THT with the Lhasa Terrane commenced at 62.3–60.9 Ma and finished at 59.8–58.5 MaIndia finally collided with the THT at the paleolatitude of ∼10.9 ± 5.1°N at ∼50.0 Ma [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: We aimed to evaluate the extent to which clinical trials represent countries with different socio-demographic indexes and the availability of tyrosine kinase inhibitors for chronic myeloid leukemia. We found a significant lack of availability for tyrosine kinase inhibitors on the global level, and a lack of equitable distribution of trials across countries is an issue that needs to be addressed. Background: Evaluating clinical trial representation for countries with different socio-demographic index (SDI) and tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) availability for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Methods: CML incidence rates (IRs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (1999–2019) from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation were analyzed. Trials investigating TKI use in CML were obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov. Site data for eligible trials (N = 30) and DALYs were analyzed. TKI approvals, DALYs, and IRs were summarized by SDI. Results: North America (NA) had significant decreases in annual percent change (APC) in DALYs and incidence rates from 1999 to 2004. IRs were highest in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and NA, while DALYs were highest in South Asia (SAsia) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Countries in the high-SDI quintile were likely to have lower DALYs than lower-SDI quintiles. Differences in regional DALYs vs. sites in TKI trials were significant for SAsia, SSA, and ECA. High-SDI countries were included in all 30 trials, and TKI approvals were prominent in high-SDI (142) vs. low-SDI (14) countries. Conclusions: The inclusion of disproportionately affected countries during the design of and recruitment into clinical trials should occur, as should TKI availability. The lack of representation demonstrates healthcare disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: An important blind spot in current aquaculture governance research and practice is recognizing the high dependency of the sector on commons (i.e., shared resources), and their interconnectivity with other sectors such as agriculture. This is particularly evident in Indonesia where there is general lack of social and governance research on aquaculture. The purpose of this study is to: (1) identify the commons that need to be governed in pond aquaculture systems, and (2) identify the arising governance challenges from those commons and potential solutions. Methods: We apply Elinor Ostrom's Socio-Ecological Systems Framework (SESF) to identify variables influencing collective action through semistructuredinterviews with relevant key informant actors in a milkfish aquaculture village in Gresik, Indonesia. Our case study approach allows for a rich description through qualitative data to understand system interactions. We interviewed 22 stakeholders including regional and local government officials, fish farmers (owners and workers), patrons and local academics. Results and discussion: Our findings indicate five governance challenges influencing collective action: (1) limited access to capital and dependence on patrons, (2) lack of govern institutions, (3) continued government program failure, (4) lack of community leadership, and (5) lack of motivation and incentives to collectively act. These imply that governance policies may be more successful if monitoring mechanisms are applied to ensure that government funding is more precisely targeted at improving the livelihoods of traditional fish farmers. Furthermore, attempts to support social capital, network structures, and improve trust-reciprocity among relevant stakeholders (i.e., farmers, extension officers, private business actors) in the form of capacity building is likely more effective than other monetary incentives or the enforcement of top-down rules that don't fit local needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the widespread recognition of the significance of long-term sustainability, there is as yet a relative paucity of evidence on what factors account for sustainability performance. In an effort to close the apparent gap in knowledge, this study contributes new empirical evidence to this discussion by considering the role of economic policy uncertainty. Inconsistent economic policy may undermine sustainability efforts as it creates a more complex and volatile operating environment, which, in turn, affects the behaviour of economic entities in the system. Drawing primarily on environmental management literature, this study aims to investigate the relationship between economic policy uncertainty and sustainability performance in the Asian regions between 2012 and 2020. With country-level annual data, this study estimates the model using a system generalised method of moments approach to address the possible biases resulting from serial correlation of random errors, simultaneity, and unobserved heterogeneity. Therefore, the estimates of this study will be consistent and asymptotically unbiased. The empirical analysis reveals that sustainability performance in Asia is adversely affected by economic policy uncertainty. The sustainability sub-components results are broadly in line with the main results that a higher economic policy uncertainty index is detrimental to the protection of natural capital and the development of social capital. This study concludes that ongoing economic policy uncertainty and disturbance could have serious repercussions for local economies, thereby hindering sustainability development. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the establishment of sustainability development frameworks in areas of climate goals, social justice, and good governance would need to pay close attention to uncertainty in economic policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grid-based precipitation dataset is an important source for studying precipitation change in the high mountains of Asia due to where precipitation stations are sparse. It is essential to evaluate the accuracy of grid-based precipitation datasets in the high mountains of Asia before selecting an appropriate grid-based dataset. Therefore, this study comprehensively evaluated the precipitation errors of four commonly utilized precipitation datasets (multi-source weighted-ensemble precipitation (MSWEP), global precipitation climatology centre (GPCC), global precipitation measurement (GPM), and soil moisture to rain-advanced scatterometer (SM2RAIN-ASCAT)) in the high mountains of Asia from temporal and spatial perspectives. It then decomposed the precipitation errors to reveal their sources. The results showed that MSWEP, GPCC, GPM, and SM2RAIN-ASCAT overestimated precipitation amount and probability compared with station observations. Meanwhile, all precipitation data sets except MSWEP data underestimated precipitation in the dry season. In terms of the average values of the error metrics, GPCC performed the best. There was an evident annual periodicity in the error assessment metrics for the four precipitation data sets. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that four precipitation-related factors (false alarm precipitation, missed amount of precipitation, precipitation detected presented, and precipitation detected event) explained the root mean square error values for four precipitation data sets, with precipitation detected presented having the largest weight. The root mean square error of each product exhibits periodic fluctuations with changes in precipitation quantity, attributed to the occurrences of precipitation detected presented and precipitation detected events. These findings provide useful reference information for correcting biases in precipitation data sets for high mountains of Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies indicate that future global carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR) efforts could largely be concentrated in Asia. However, there is limited understanding of how individual Asian countries and regions will respond to varying and uncertain scales of future CDR concerning their energy-land-water system. We address this gap by modeling various levels of CDR-reliant pathways under climate change ambitions in Asia. We find that high CDR reliance leads to residual fossil fuel and industry emissions of about 8 Gigatonnes CO2yr−1 (GtCO2yr−1) by 2050, compared to less than 1 GtCO2yr−1 under moderate-to-low CDR reliance. Moreover, expectations of multi-gigatonne CDR could delay the achievement of domestic net zero CO2 emissions for several Asian countries and regions, and lead to higher land allocation and fertilizer demand for bioenergy crop cultivation. Here, we show that Asian countries and regions should prioritize emission reduction strategies while capitalizing on the advantages of carbon removal when it is most viable. Global future carbon removal efforts could largely be concentrated in Asia. Here, this study shows that multi-gigatonnes expectation of carbon removal could have adverse impact on the energy-land-water system of countries and regions within the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation necessitates increased investment in green sectors. This study proposes a methodology to predict green finance growth across various countries, aiming to encourage such investments. Our approach leverages time-series Conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (CT-GANs) for data augmentation and Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NARNNs) for prediction. The green finance growth predicting model was applied to datasets collected from forty countries across five continents. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test confirmed the non-stationary nature of the data, supporting the use of Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NARNNs). CT-GANs were then employed to augment the data for improved prediction accuracy. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. NARNNs trained with CT-GAN augmented data achieved superior performance across all regions, with R-squared (R2) values of 98.8%, 96.6%, and 99% for Europe, Asia, and other countries respectively. While the RMSE for Europe, Asia, and other countries are 1.26e+2, 2.16e+2, and 1.16e+2 respectively. Compared to a baseline NARNN model without augmentation, CT-GAN augmentation significantly improved both R2 and RMSE. The R2 values for the Europe, Asia, and other countries models are 96%, 73%, and 97.2%, respectively. The RMSE values for the Europe, Asia, and various countries models are 2.24e+2, 7e+2, and 2.07e+2, respectively. The Nonlinear Autoregressive Exogenous Neural Network (NARX-NN) exhibited significantly lower performance across Europe, Asia, and other countries with R2 values of 74%, 52%, and 86%, and RMSE values of 1.11e+2, 3.63e+2, and 1.8e+2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions of environmental, geographic, socio-demographic, and epidemiological factors in shaping mosquito-borne disease transmission dynamics are complex and changeable, influencing the abundance and distribution of vectors and the pathogens they transmit. In this study, 27 years of cross-sectional malaria survey data (1990–2017) were used to examine the effects of these factors on Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria presence at the community level in Africa and Asia. Monthly long-term, open-source data for each factor were compiled and analyzed using generalized linear models and classification and regression trees. Both temperature and precipitation exhibited unimodal relationships with malaria, with a positive effect up to a point after which a negative effect was observed as temperature and precipitation increased. Overall decline in malaria from 2000 to 2012 was well captured by the models, as was the resurgence after that. The models also indicated higher malaria in regions with lower economic and development indicators. Malaria is driven by a combination of environmental, geographic, socioeconomic, and epidemiological factors, and in this study, we demonstrated two approaches to capturing this complexity of drivers within models. Identifying these key drivers, and describing their associations with malaria, provides key information to inform planning and prevention strategies and interventions to reduce malaria burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]