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This paper discusses key themes of the 15th biennial conference of the Association for Language Awareness (2020), with a focus on increasing digital engagement in language education. The COVID-19 pandemic occasioned an abrupt transition to emergency remote language teaching and learning (ERLTL) worldwide. The ALA 2020 conference was also affected by this transition; originally planned as a located conference in Geelong, Australia, it was eventually held online, a first in ALA's conference history. The current paper engages with contemporary debates of language teaching and learning in two ways. Firstly, it traces recent discussions by presenting key findings from five papers given at the conference, and secondly, via a scoping review of literature focusing on critical lessons from the pandemic regarding language teaching and learning. The review captures recent research from the Australasian region. Key debates identified in the literature include the needs of teachers and learners during the transition to online learning, and how student engagement was affected. The literatures highlight that both educators and students have been developing new practices in teaching and learning resulting from the shift to online and blended modes, which may continue to shape language education and new pedagogies in the future.

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.

The need for a shift in approach to dance education and non-Eurocentric dance forms in postsecondary dance programs is apparent. This paper begins with a fundamental "why" and then offers the frameworks of gnosis (knowledge by perception) and episteme (knowledge by systematic study) and process-based teaching-learning as viable approaches to inclusion. Embracing values such as inquiry, plurality, and reflection is essential to postsecondary dance programs including South Asian dances, whether in formal academic structures or informal spaces of partnership. Simultaneously, South Asian dancer-collaborators take on response and responsibility in this work and reflect deeply on what we know, as we share our knowledge. This paper enumerates possible manifestations of including South Asian dances in postsecondary education, which depend on dance programs fully embracing new approaches in education. Together with South Asian collaborators, programs can perform their work so that all participants relish the "rasa" (profound engagement) of the experience.

Playwork is a recognised profession in the United Kingdom (UK) and is currently a growing area of interest internationally. However, debates about the nature and purpose of playwork have raged in the playwork field since the profession was invented in the early adventure playgrounds. This study is the first to capture data about what the now international playwork workforce understands to be the purpose of playwork. The International Playwork Census (IPC) was an online survey which asked participants from 19 different countries about their knowledge and experience of playwork. This paper reports on one question from the IPC: what is the purpose of playwork? A thematic analysis was undertaken from 193 responses on what was considered "the purpose of playwork" and three themes emerged: Facilitate and Provide for children's play; Support and Advocate. This paper describes how these three themes reflect both the historical change in understandings of the purpose of playwork and how different understandings of playwork are developed through the experience of practitioners working in range of different contexts.

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.

Comparative education research is complicated by the difficulty of identifying comparable units across contexts. This paper considers the advantages and limitations of a functional equivalence approach to comparative education. The functional equivalence approach allows us to meaningfully compare the operations that serve each function in the full curriculum value chain of design, application, and updating. We use a theory-based list of common processes in each phase to develop a survey for experts from nine countries, then code their responses to derive ten key common functions. The functional equivalence approach allows us to aggregate some operations that serve the same functions, so our set of functional equivalents is slightly shorter than the theory-based list of processes. In comparing across contexts, we find easily identifiable functional equivalents, functional equivalents that manifest through very different operations, functional equivalents carried out by a wide variety of actors and institutions, similar operations that are not functionally equivalent, and functional equivalents that are not consistently present in all contexts. The functional equivalence approach helps identify comparable operations despite contextual diversity.

This article aims to unpack global-local dynamics in education drawing on the cases of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and ASEAN Citizenship Education in Cambodia. By analysing recent education strategies and policies, curriculum framework, and textbooks, this paper unveils (a) to what extent have ESD and ASEAN citizenship been incorporated in education plans and policies, as well as curriculum and textbooks, (b) what changes are there in the discourses around each norm over time; and (c) how has the ministry appropriated these two norms similarly and differently to fit its agenda. These two cases highlight the fact that nation-(re)building has been, and still is, the key development agenda in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, and this agenda works as a filter through which transnational norms are interpreted and appropriated. A comparison between the two cases also highlights that the ministry strategically utilises time to achieve their best interests.

With a long-term aim of empowering researchers everywhere to contribute to work on language development, we organized the First Truly Global /L+/ International Summer/Winter School on Language Acquisition, a free 5-day virtual school for early career researchers. In this paper, we describe the school, our experience organizing it, and lessons learned. The school had a diverse organizer team, composed of 26 researchers (17 from under represented areas: Subsaharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Central and South America); and a diverse volunteer team, with a total of 95 volunteers from 35 different countries, nearly half from under represented areas. This helped world-wide Page 5 of 5 promotion of the school, leading to 958 registrations from 88 different countries, with 300 registrants (based in 63 countries, 80% from under represented areas) selected to participate in the synchronous aspects of the event. The school employed asynchronous (pre-recorded lectures, which were close-captioned) and synchronous elements (e.g., discussions to place the recorded lectures into participants' context; networking events) across three time zones. A post-school questionnaire revealed that 99% of participants enjoyed taking part in the school. Not with standing these positive quantitative outcomes, qualitative comments suggested we fell short in several areas, including the geographic diversity among lecturers and greater customization of contents to the participants' contexts. Although much remains to be done to promote inclusivity in linguistic research, we hope our school will contribute to empowering researchers to investigate and publish on language acquisition in their home languages, to eventually result in more representative theories and empirical generalizations.

Literature presents evidence of the exponential rise of distributed leadership both as a focus of research and as leadership development in education in the twenty first century (Hairon, S., and J. W. Goh. 2015. "Pursuing the Elusive Construct of Distributed Leadership: Is the Search Over?" "Educational Management Administration & Leadership" 43 (5): 693-718; Hall, D. 2013. "The Strange Case of the Emergence of Distributed Leadership in Schools in England." "Educational Review" 65: 467-487), in addition to the growing criticism of the theory's dominance and its 'acquired taken-for-granted status' (Lumby, J. 2016. "Distributed Leadership as Fashion or fad." "Management in Education" 30 (4): 161-167). This paper thus seeks to provide a systematic review of the literature on distributed leadership published between 2010 and 2022 through a methodical collection, documentation, scrutiny, and critical analysis of the research publications. The review seeks to identify trends in distributed leadership knowledge production according to the study type/purpose, topical foci, methodological approach, focus group, and geographic distribution via a narrative synthesis approach (Oplatka, I., and K. Arar. 2017. "The Research on Educational Leadership and Management in the Arab World Since the 1990s: A Systematic Review." "Review of Education" 5 (3): 267-307).

Purpose: This systematic review paper aims to examine extant empirical research involving educational technology during COVID-19 to provide an aggregated analysis of how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. Design/methodology/approach: Using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis systematic review and an integrative review methodology, 50 primary research studies were selected from ten top-ranked educational research journals. These studies were reviewed regarding research purposes, methodologies, instruments, educational level, geographical distribution, and findings of the studies. Findings: The findings reveal four emerging themes--influencing factors, effectiveness, challenges and teachers. The majority of the studies focused on higher education. Quantitative research design based on a questionnaire was the most adopted method of investigation by researchers. Research limitations/implications: Search parameters focused on the top 10 journals in the field of educational technology. Although this provides a level of quality, it narrowed the search. Practical implications: For practitioners and researchers, this study provides a summary of the field to better understand what knowledge we have gained on the use of educational technology to enable a more agile, knowledgeable response to education in future emergencies. Originality/value: This systematic review is unique in examining how the pandemic has influenced educational technology research. It also provides insight into gaps in the research that future researchers can use as a springboard to enable a more knowledge and a more agile approach to future emergencies.

Educational Technology (EdTech) plays a significant role in enabling learners with disabilities to access learning at school and reduce educational and social exclusion. It also enables them to enjoy the benefits of a full school curriculum and to participate in activities in different educational arrangements. The purpose of this review was to address the existing evidence of how EdTech is being used to support learners with disabilities in order to inform future research and policymaking. It sought to contribute to an evidence base of ways to reduce barriers to learning drawing on a systematic methodology to gather evidence pertaining to access to EdTech for primary school learners with disabilities aged 6-12 years. After a thorough examination of the literature, the final sample comprised 51 published articles (43 peer-review and 8 conference papers). The review revealed examples of positive outcomes of EdTech interventions being used, particularly in special schools; however, the evidence of their efficacy is weak. The use of EdTech for learners with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries requires further, robust and long-term research that considers the involvement of learners, pedagogy and curriculum design in order to understand its impact on improving educational experiences of children with disabilities.

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]

This paper answers calls from the food regime scholarship for a closer analysis of the implicit rules, transitions, and regional scales of food regimes. Drawing on archival materials from the Japanese colonial administration and Sino-American agricultural cooperation, interviews with key actors, and secondary sources, this paper examines instances of agricultural knowledge production and exchange. We suggest that beyond the profound influence of the US in the postwar food regime, the nuances and historical and regional specificity of agricultural scientists' life stories and individual technological imaginaries can 'scale up' through the translation of agrarian knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary internal migration is an important livelihood strategy but there have been inconsistencies in its conceptualisation and measurement which limit understanding of the phenomenon across diverse geographical contexts. This paper explores the ontological category of temporary internal migration and how it is defined and measured in eight Asian countries. We identify three broad approaches to measurement: Place of enumeration; Multilocality and Administrative measures. Using these data, we undertake comparisons of migration intensity, age profiles, and rural- to-urban flows across countries in our sample. Our findings indicate that temporary migration ranges between 0.3 to 2.9 per cent of the population—likely an underestimate of internal temporary mobility. Applying an average intensity of 1.5 per cent to all Asian countries yields an estimate of 71 million temporary internal migrants in any given year. Analysis of age profiles reveals that temporary internal migration peaks not only at young adult ages, but also at older ages in selected countries, pointing to the importance of consumption-related movements in some settings. The geographical patterns are also diverse with rural-to-urban flows matched by significant rural-to-rural and urban-to-rural flows. The paper concludes with recommendations for advancing both the conceptualisation and measurement of temporary internal migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity and inclusion scholarship addresses inequality at work across categories of difference marked with historical disadvantages such as gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and class or categories meaningful for the industrial, organisational or local settings. This scholarship has not considered political ties to be a diversity strand. However, political ties are a considerable source of uneven power relations, unearned privileges, and unjust discrimination in many contexts. Similarly, political ties could be sources of disadvantage, exclusion and discrimination for individuals with weak, absent or oppositional political affiliations. Our paper focuses on the Asian context, where political ties are often a legitimate human and institutional resource that can shape individual choices and chances at work. By defining political ties as a diversity and inclusion strand, we critique the legitimacy of political ties as a dominant and desirable resource and present political tie discrimination as a wicked social problem that entrenches uneven relations of power and authority in workplaces. Highlighting how political affiliation manifests across different national contexts in Asia, we explore the utility of adding political ties to the Asian vernacular to regulate workplace diversity and inclusion. Asia provides an interesting context in which the interplay between political affiliation and workplace relations is often culturally endorsed, remains unregulated and unscrutinised through ethical and anti-discrimination regulations. Thus, Asia provides an ideal setting to explore the emergence of political tie diversity and inclusion at work. We illustrate this through country-specific examples, illustrating the cross-national varieties of political tie diversity in the Asian business context. We also suggest a roadmap to manage political tie diversity and inclusion for this context. [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]

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]

When the regulatory requirements are converged or harmonized, the country-specific variance of countries is often reduced or omitted, and this facilitates the possibility of preparing a core dossier that caters to multiple countries. When such options of a core dossier are acceptable to multiple countries, the resource required to prepare the dossier and the time taken to prepare it is also reduced, thus eliminating resource constraints in supporting dossier planning and preparation and indirectly facilitating earlier submission in countries. In this paper, the authors have illustrated a process applied to standardize the dossier requirements amongst selected countries in Asia, producing an output of a core dossier that applies to four submission types amongst these countries. The core dossier adopts the International Council for Harmonization—Common Technical Dossier format as a reference. Main focus is the standardization of format and requirements within the Module 3 or Chemistry Manufacturing Controls sections of the dossier, which from the authors' organizational experience usually notes a higher variances and country-specific elements. Development of the dossier standardization process is due to an internal hurdle within the authors' organization, where global resource constraints and prioritizations of dossier preparation and compliance review process needed to be improved to facilitate earlier or near-simultaneously submissions in the majority of the Asia countries. The paper demonstrates an assessment of the dossier components and standardization to assemble a fit-for-purpose core dossier termed 'Asia Core Dossier' (ACD). ACD has been successfully implemented within the authors' organization to reduce country-specific requirements and facilitate earlier (fit for strategy) submissions in the selected Asia countries. The paper also discusses the tangible benefits of the authors' experiences from utilizing the ACD. Regulatory professionals in different organizations could reference the ACD as a template for preparing a simplified and efficient dossier and as a relevant component of Good Submission Practice (GSubP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Given the extensive evidence of femvertising's positive effects in Western cultures, this paper aims to investigate how femvertising may influence customers' perceptions and brand-related outcomes in a patriarchal context such as Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative methodology was employed in this study, which was based on in-depth interviews involving 17 consumers (including both male and females). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings: Results indicated that male and female consumers revealed varied and sometimes contradictory perspectives on the perception, understanding and behaviour towards femvertised adverts, which are governed by patriarchal gendered norms. Originality/value: This study contributes to the body of knowledge by exploring the consumer perception towards femvertising in a patriarchal context, where gender disparity is evident. It also draws attention to the underlying cultural elements contributing towards the formation of those perceptions. [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 article surveys the status quo of AI readiness and governance in Asia and identify Asian approaches of doing AI regulation and governance through policy and document analysis. We note that some Asian countries are moving from 'soft regulation' through strategies and guidelines to 'hard regulation' through rule-setting and laws on AI. We argue that their AI governance approaches are greatly influenced by the existing internet governance frameworks and suggest the importance of historical understandings of Internet, telecommunications, and digital technology and governance to identify the connections and influences – and 'path dependency' of past policies upon their current AI strategies and governance. We anticipate that the AI regulatory landscape in Asia will become a diverse and contentious space due to global AI competition among the EU, China and the U.S. as well as the pragmatic paths that many Asian countries may take considering their own histories, economies and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development economics has long focused on growth patterns to explain countries' ability to catch up and forge ahead. We argue, however, that resilience to economic shrinking matters more. Using the examples of Brazil and Indonesia, we propose that a framework consisting of social capabilities—namely structural transformation, autonomy, and inclusion—can explain why Indonesia is more resilient to economic shrinking than Brazil and why the country is more likely to be successful in its catching-up process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community Eye Clinics (CEC) increase accessibility of specialist ophthalmic services in the community, reducing demand for tertiary eye services. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of CEC on first-visit referrals from Hougang Polyclinic (HOU) to Tan Tock Seng Hospital Ophthalmology Specialist Outpatient Clinic (SOC). A retrospective analysis was performed on first-visit referrals from Hougang Polyclinic (HOU) to Tan Tock Seng Hospital Ophthalmology Specialist Outpatient Clinic (SOC) over a similar 3-months period before and after the introduction of CEC in August 2018 (1 January to 31 March in 2018 and 2019, respectively). Data pertaining to patients' presenting complaints, referral reasons, final diagnoses, follow-up plans, and need for ophthalmic intervention were obtained. We included 978 patients in our study. There was a 27.5% reduction in the number of first-visit referrals seen at SOC after the establishment of CEC. Patients were more likely to be referred on to sub-specialty eye clinics (10.8% vs. 12.9%, p= p =.304) and receive more ophthalmic interventions (15% vs. 16.3%, p =.066) than prior to CEC. The CEC provides greater accessibility to eye care within the community. Optometrists are upskilled to manage patients with stable eye conditions, whilst eye specialists can provide timely care to the SOC for patients with more severe eye conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental conditions significantly affected development in the Asian tropics. This paper investigates the relationship between weather risk and agriculture in four regions with distinct climatological features. Using new data, we estimate the scale of crop output sensitivity to rainfall shocks across ecological zones. Output was sensitive to shocks in regions with low levels, concentrated spells and high volatility of rainfall. Canal irrigation protected some districts while unirrigated regions remained vulnerable. Regions with high rainfall levels and long seasons remained protected. Regions with large interruptions deterred investment and were underdeveloped while regions with small interruptions invited investment‐led growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies 10 Asian economies' experiences during two episodes of financial crises in 1997–08 and 2007–09. Our analysis of five crisis‐hit Asian countries shows that overinvestment via credit expansion and foreign financing has an adverse effect on banking sectors while income inequality contributes significantly to financial distress. With five no‐crisis emerging markets included in our Asia analysis, we find that export‐oriented growth backed up by domestic savings is financially less risky than investment‐led growth facilitated by capital inflows. Since such different strategies of output growth to deal with falling demand are related ultimately to the same factor–rising inequality, this distributional problem must be overcome effectively to enhance financial stability and ensure growth sustainability. [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]

This paper highlights Professor Gavin Jones’ seminal work on Asian divorce patterns, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia’s Muslim communities. Beginning in the 1980s, Jones addressed the challenges of fragmented and often unreliable demographic data on divorce. With careful compilation and analysis of aggregate data, paired with firsthand surveys and ethnographic studies, he set a foundation for examining shifting divorce trends in Southeast Asia. His findings challenged prevailing ethnocentric perspectives and questioned the notion that modernisation invariably leads to rising divorce rates. Jones stressed the importance of understanding divorce within the broader social, cultural, and historical contexts of the respective societies. Beyond his individual research, he was instrumental in cultivating a community of scholars studying marriage and divorce in Asia and fostering collaborations. Jones’ insights into Asia’s demographic shifts have been invaluable, and his legacy will continue to influence demographers for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we pay tribute to the late Emeritus Professor Gavin W. Jones and his outstanding contributions to the scholarship on marriage. Following a chronological assessment of his large body of work on marriage, we reflect on Gavin’s general approach to research changing marriage patterns within and across diverse regions of Asia. His approach to studying marriage went beyond the conventional demographic focus on examining shifts in age at first marriage. He showed how examining shifting patterns across different, yet interrelated aspects of marriage offered an important window to understand the broader complexities of economic and socio-political change in the region; showing why there is much more to demography beyond counting births, deaths, and migration. As two generations of demographers, we reflected how his work and approach to research continue to influence our research and engagement with the region. Gavin’s legacy extends beyond demography and Indonesian/Malay studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid internet penetration and technological advancements have facilitated accessibility to internet-enabled devices globally. Since Asia lacks comprehensive data on internet addiction among college students, this review aims to estimate its pooled prevalence. This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and MEDLINE from their inception through August 2022 using terms appropriate to internet addiction and Asian countries/territorial for publications in English peer-reviewed journals. The studies included those done on current college students and provided unambiguous indicators of the threshold of internet addiction. The pooled prevalence was calculated through a random-effects meta-analysis by RStudio software, and I 2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist was used for quality assessment. Overall, between 2007 and 2021, 39 papers comprising 45 effect sizes and totaling 58,058 participants met the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of internet addiction among Asian college students was 24.3% (95% confidence interval: 19.8%–29.5%, Q = 6234, df = 44, τ2 = 0.79, I 2 = 99.29%), and strikingly, this percentage increased over time. A high degree of heterogeneity was seen, and no publication bias was found. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review report on Asian college students, which found that one-fifth suffer from internet addiction. The findings emphasize the significance of multidisciplinary prevention and management strategies to mitigate the harmful effects of internet addiction. Further research is warranted to develop a standardized diagnostic tool for a more precise estimation of internet addiction among this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In more recent years Asia has had the highest level of investment in renewables and the highest level of electricity generation from renewable sources. This paper analyzes the determinants of renewable energy consumption in Asia and the Pacific from 1996 to 2018. It explores the major challenges this region has faced in moving towards a more environmentally friendly generation and use of energy. We find that the renewable electricity output, GDP per capita, merchandise trade, the value added of the manufacturing sector and the income share held by the poorest population boost renewable electricity consumption. On the other hand, energy use per capita, access to electricity, energy imports, broad FDI, population growth and the income share held by the richest population lower consumption of electricity from renewable sources. Trade openness and being an island do not seem to have a statistically significant impact in our sample over the observed period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secularization, expansion of higher education, and urbanization have led to disenchantment with politics and the erosion of political trust in many societies. Religion may continue to be salient, however, how these forces interact with enduring religious influences to shape political trust is unclear. This paper examines the issue using Asian Barometer Survey (2001–2016) data with hierarchical age–period–cohort (HAPC) models. Our results show supportive evidence for the following findings: in East and Southeast Asia, urbanization is associated with less political trust for most religions except Islam; education is associated with less political trust; education's effect is the most salient for the atheists and Buddhists, but it disappears among the Muslims. The findings suggest the power of modernization and secularization significantly differs across cultures and religions. We should not simply perceive religion as a universally conservative force; instead, we need to understand religions through an integrated macro‐micro perspective by situating it in the social contexts. [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]

This article introduces the special issue “Leisure and older adults in Asia.” Although the study of older adults’ participation in leisure has gained traction over the last decade, there is need to consider in greater depth the central role that leisure activities may play in the construction of identities and lifestyles in later life. The collection of articles in this special issue contributes to the emerging literature on the intersection of leisure and aging by presenting diverse contexts and methodologies to build a comprehensive understanding of leisure participation among older adults in China, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore. They reveal a common thread highlighting the close relationship between leisure participation and various quantitative and qualitative markers of well-being and quality of life in old age, such as health, social participation, and sense of self. The papers also highlight the importance of leisure as a socio-cultural resource through which older adults can negotiate their experiences in later life. Through the different case studies and discussion, the special issue contributes to critical Asian perspective regarding the place of leisure within discourses of ‘productive’/‘successful’/‘active’ aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there is now a growing evidence for a low velocity layer in the deeper parts of the upper mantle, above the 410 km discontinuity (hereafter called LVL-410). The origin of this layer is primarily attributed to interaction of slabs or plumes with a hydrous mantle transition zone (MTZ) that results in dehydration melting induced by water transport upward out of the MTZ. However, the ubiquitous nature of this layer and its causative remain contentious. In this study, we use high quality receiver functions (RFs) sampling diverse tectonic units of the Indian subcontinent to identify Ps conversions from the LVL-410. Bootstrap and differential slowness stacking of RFs migrated to depth using a 3-D velocity model reveal unequivocal presence of a deep low velocity layer at depths varying from 290 to 400 km. This layer appears more pervasive and deeper beneath the Himalaya, where detached subducted slabs in the MTZ have been previously reported. Interestingly, the layer is shallower in plume affected regions like the Deccan Volcanic Province and Southern Granulite Terrane. Even though a common explanation does not appear currently feasible, our observations reaffirm deep low velocity layers in the bottom part of the upper mantle and add to the list of regions that show strong presence of such layers above the 410 km discontinuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The demand for traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM), perceived as natural and safe, among cancer patients has been steadily increasing. However, this trend raises concerns about the potential risks of using these therapies concurrently with conventional treatments and whether patients are fully adhering to their prescribed treatments. In Asia, T&CM is particularly common due to cultural and historical influences. This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first study to investigate the prevalence of T&CM use among cancer patients in Asia, how often they disclose this use to their physicians, and the factors influencing their choices. Understanding these aspects may enhance communication between patients and physicians, ultimately leading to safer and more effective cancer care. Globally, cancer patients frequently use T&CM during their treatment for various reasons. The primary concerns regarding the use of T&CM among cancer patients are the potential risks associated with interactions between pharmaceuticals and T&CM, as well as the risk of noncompliance with conventional cancer treatments. Despite the higher prevalence of T&CM use in Asia, driven by cultural, historical, and resource-related factors, no prior review has tried to estimate the prevalence and influencing factors of T&CM use and disclosure among cancer patients in this region. This study aims to examine the prevalence and disclosure rates of T&CM use among cancer patients in Asia to assess various factors influencing its use across different cancer treatment settings in Asia. Systematic research on T&CM use was conducted using four databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CINAHAL) from inception to January 2023. Quality was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS). A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of T&CM use, and data analysis was performed using Stata Version 16.0. Among the 4849 records retrieved, 41 eligible studies conducted in 14 Asian countries were included, involving a total of 14,976 participants. The pooled prevalence of T&CM use was 49.3%, ranging from 24.0% to 94.8%, and the disclosure rate of T&CM use was 38.2% (11.9% to 82.5%). The most commonly used T&CM modalities were herbal medicines and traditional medicine. Females were 22.0% more likely to use T&CM than males. A subgroup analysis revealed the highest prevalence of T&CM use was found in studies conducted in East Asia (62.4%) and those covered by both national and private insurance (55.8%). The disclosure rate of T&CM use to physicians remains low. Moreover, the factors influencing this disclosure are still insufficiently explored. Since the disclosure of T&CM use is a crucial indicator of patient safety and the quality of cancer treatment prognosis, future research should focus on identifying the determinants of non-disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public–private partnership (PPP) environment in Asia is complex due to the different levels of development. Thus, investigating critical success factors (CSFs) of PPP projects plays an important role for both the public and private sectors to ensure sustainable development. The purpose of this study is: (1) to seek and evaluate CSFs of PPP infrastructure projects in Vietnam; and (2) to compare top CSFs among several countries in Asia. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey with 36 obtained responses. Collected data were analyzed using the mean score technique, factor analysis, and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method. Finally, a comparison among countries in Asia was carried out. Seventeen CSFs were identified and five main groupings were grouped, including favorable investment environment, good partnership management, sound financial package, effective contract management, and ability of the private sector. The comparative result has shown that PPP investment in middle-income countries is more complicated than the high-income countries. This finding not only helps the government and investors to be more understanding of CSFs for implementing PPP procurement in Vietnam, but also offers the overall picture of the PPP market in the Asia region. In addition, it provides practitioners with an evaluation framework regarding CSFs in decision-making for PPP implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Abortions in ruminants lead to economic losses to livestock-owning communities. The major causes of these abortions are infectious agents. Surveillance of the infectious agents that cause abortions is important to the overall improvement of livestock productivity. Most LMICs have scarce or inadequate surveillance platforms for these pathogens. In this review article, we have summarized the current status of the available surveillance platforms in place for the infectious agents that lead to abortions in ruminants, as well as the sero-epidemiology of these pathogens. Ruminant abortion events cause economic losses. Despite the importance of livestock production for food security and the livelihoods of millions of people in the world's poorest communities, very little is known about the scale, magnitude, or causes of these abortions in Africa and Asia. The aim of this review was to determine the current status of surveillance measures adopted for ruminant abortigenic pathogens in Africa and Asia and to explore feasible surveillance technologies. A systematic literature search was conducted using PRISMA guidelines for studies published between 1 January 1990 and 1 May 2024 that reported epidemiological surveys of abortigenic pathogens Africa and Asia. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the species-specific sero-prevalence of the abortigenic agents and the regions where they were detected. In the systematic literature search, 39 full-text manuscripts were included. The most prevalent abortigenic pathogens with sero-prevalence greater than 10% were BHV-1, Brucella, Chlamydia abortus, Neospora caninum, RVFV, and Waddlia chondrophila in cattle, BVDV in sheep, and RVFV and Toxoplasma gondii in goats in Africa. In Asia, Anaplasma, BHV-1, Bluetongue virus, Brucella, and BVDV were prevalent in cattle, whereas Mycoplasma was important in goats and sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Current Sociology is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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]

The southeastward extrusion of Indochina along the Ailao Shan-Red River shear zone (ARSZ) is one of two of the most prominent consequences of the India-Asia collision. This plate-scale extrusion has greatly changed Southeast Asian topography and drainage patterns and effected regional climate and biotic evolution. However, little is known about how Indochina was extruded toward the southeast over time. Here, we sampled 42 plant and animal clades (together encompassing 1,721 species) that are distributed across the ARSZ and are not expected to disperse across long distances. We first assess the possible role of climate on driving the phylogenetic separations observed across the ARSZ. We then investigate the temporal dynamics of the extrusion of Indochina through a multitaxon analysis. We show that the lineage divergences across the ARSZ were most likely associated with the Indochinese extrusion rather than climatic events. The lineage divergences began at ~53 Ma and increased sharply ~35 Ma, with two peaks at ~19 Ma and ~7 Ma, and one valley at ~13 Ma. Our results suggest a two-phase model for the extrusion of Indochina, and in each phase, the extrusion was subject to periods of acceleration and decrease, in agreement with the changes of the India-Asia convergence rate and angle from the early Eocene to the late Miocene. This study highlights that a multitaxon analysis can illuminate the timing of subtle historical events that may be difficult for geological data to pinpoint and can be used to explore other tectonic events. [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]

East Asian summer monsoon precipitation is projected to increase under greenhouse warming with strong intraseasonal variation. Using a 35-member CESM Large Ensemble and 30 CMIP6 models, this study reveals that in July and August, maximum rainfall changes in East Asia take place in the midlatitudes, influencing regions encompassing North and Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. The intensified precipitation is attributed to the combined effect of the thermodynamic and dynamic components. The former stems from the enriched low-level moisture, which peaks in continental East Asia in July and August, under global warming. The dynamic effect is due to the enhanced upward motion, associated with the enhanced southerlies throughout the troposphere over midlatitude East Asia. The southerlies also act to intensify the low-level monsoonal circulation, strengthening moisture transport from the tropical ocean to the midlatitudes. In addition to the mean-state changes, the precipitation interannual variability in this region also intensifies, partly due to the enhanced low-level moisture and partly associated with enhanced large-scale circulation anomalies, such as the northwestern Pacific anticyclone. The enhanced background precipitation, along with the intensified interannual variability, may lead to more rainy summers in a warmer climate, with instances where historically extreme precipitation events become more frequent, posing challenges for water resource management and agriculture in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summer drought over northern Asia (NA) seriously threatens the local fragile ecological environment and social economy development. In this study, using the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), we first identify the dominant modes of interannual variability in summer drought condition over NA and then explore the atmospheric patterns responsible for the formation of the modes. The results show that the first empirical orthogonal function (EOF1) mode of summer SPEI over NA exhibits a meridional dipole pattern, which is influenced primarily by the polar–Eurasian teleconnection (POL) and circumglobal teleconnection (CGT) patterns. Under the influence of negative POL and positive CGT patterns, there is an anomalous anticyclone (cyclone) over northwestern Siberia (Lake Baikal to Northeast China). Such atmospheric circulations lead to meridional dipole patterns in air temperature, moisture condition, vertical motion, and cloud cover over NA, favoring decreased (increased) precipitation and increased (decreased) potential evapotranspiration over northern (southern) NA, finally contributing to the formation of EOF1. The second EOF (EOF2) shows an approximate zonal dipole pattern, which is influenced by the British–Baikal Corridor (BBC) and Scandinavia (SCA) teleconnection patterns. The positive BBC and SCA patterns can lead to an anomalous anticyclone over the Ural Mountains and a cyclone over Lake Baikal. Such atmospheric circulations result in a zonal dipole pattern in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration over NA through changing the local moisture condition, air temperature, and radiation, consequently favoring the formation of EOF2. Fitting analysis indicates that the aforementioned atmospheric factors can explain 76% (55%) of the interannual variability of EOF1 (EOF2). [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]