Search

The massive explosive eruption of the Hunga volcano on 15 January 2022 generated atmospheric waves that were recorded around the globe and affected the ionosphere. The paper focuses on observations of atmospheric waves in the troposphere and ionosphere in Europe, however, a comparison with observations in East Asia, South Africa and South America is also provided. Unlike most recent studies of waves in the ionosphere based on the detection of changes in the total electron content, this study builds on detection of ionospheric motions at specific altitudes using continuous Doppler sounding. In addition, much attention is paid to long-period infrasound (periods longer than ∼50 s), which in Europe is observed simultaneously in the troposphere and ionosphere about an hour after the arrival of the first horizontally propagating pressure pulse (Lamb wave). It is shown that the long-period infrasound propagated approximately along the shorter great circle path, similar to the previously detected pressure pulse in the troposphere. It is suggested that the infrasound propagated in the ionosphere probably due to imperfect refraction in the lower thermosphere. The observation of infrasound in the ionosphere at such large distances from the source (over 16 000 km) is rare and differs from ionospheric infrasound detected at large distances from the epicenters of strong earthquakes, because in the latter case the infrasound is generated locally by seismic waves. An unusually large traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) observed in Europe and associated with the pressure pulse from the Hunga eruption is also discussed. Doppler sounders in East Asia, South Africa and South America did not record such a significant TID. However, TIDs were observed in East Asia around times when Lamb waves passed the magnetically conjugate points. A probable observation of wave in the mesopause region in Europe approximately 25 min after the arrival of pressure pulse in the troposphere using a 23.4 kHz signal from a transmitter 557 km away and a coincident pulse in electric field data are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bibliometric analysis was performed to explore the current research status and development trends for missing persons globally and in East Asia and to identify research hotspots and frontiers relating to this topic. A search was conducted to identify relevant literature on missing persons using the Web of Science Core Collection database for the period 2000–2021. Subsequently, a knowledge map was constructed using CiteSpace software to perform a visual analysis of the distribution of authors and institutions, journals, and national/regional distribution; citation frequency; high-frequency keywords; and emerging research hotspots. The results showed firstly that discussions on missing persons and related topics in East Asia are held at the regional scale. There is a paucity of research on this topic, which has been conducted on a limited scale, lacks depth and possibly innovation, and entails limited discussion in this region. Secondly, there is a lack of social science research on missing persons and related topics worldwide. Thirdly, relevant research in East Asia should continue to preserve its own characteristics, effectively addressing current issues and enabling more people to participate in social science-oriented discussions focusing on the topic of missing persons. This approach provides a promising direction for pursuing the sustainable development of the topic of missing persons. Key points The strengths and weaknesses of current research on missing persons in East Asia were identified by comparing the respective literatures on missing persons and related topics in East Asia and worldwide during the period 2000–2021. Bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace visual charts to explore keywords, authorship and co-authorship, intercountry collaboration, and other relevant co-citationities. Insights were obtained on current research breakthroughs relating to the topic of missing persons, and cutting-edge social science research on this topic was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II deficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder that is characterized by the deficiency of MHC class II molecules. The disease is caused by transcription factor mutations including class II transactivator (CIITA), regulatory factor X-5 (RFX5), RFX-associated protein (RFXAP), and RFXAP-containing ankyrin repeat (RFXANK), respectively. Mutations in the RFXANK gene account for >70% of all known patients worldwide. Herein, we reported a 10-month-old boy with MHC II deficiency caused by a novel mutation in the RFXANK gene (c.337 + 1G>C). The boy was admitted to the hospital due to pneumonia and diarrhea at 4 months of age. Genetic analysis revealed a novel homozygous mutation in the RFXANK gene, which derived from the c.337 + 1G>C heterozygous mutations in the RFXANK gene of his parents. The boy died 3 months after diagnosis. More than 200 cases have been reported, and a review of the literature revealed different mutation rates of 4 transcription factors in different countries or regions. This is the first case report of MHC II deficiency from East Asia. We also describe all gene mutations that cause MHC II deficiency and the epidemiology of MHC II deficiency with gene mutations in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era of digitalization, governments often turn to digital solutions for pressing policy issues, and the use of digital contact tracing and quarantine enforcement for COVID-19 is no exception. The longterm impacts of the digital solutions, however, cannot be taken for granted. The development and use of data tools for pandemic control, for example, may have potentially detrimental and irreversible impacts on data governance and, more broadly, society, in the long run. In this paper, we aim to explore the extent to which COVID-19 and digital contact tracing have led to policy change in data governance, if at all, and what the implications of such change would be for a post-COVID world. We compare the use of contact tracing and monitoring applications across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore to illustrate both the enormous benefits and potential risks arising from the design of contact tracing applications and the involvement of stakeholders in the various stages of the policy cycle to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that, while COVID-19 has not changed the nature of issues, such as public trust in data governance, the increasing involvement of big tech in data policies, and data privacy risks, it has exacerbated those issues through the accelerated adoption of data technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of an information society has created new social exclusions and aggravated old ones by creating digital exclusion. Many countries have explicit policies about turning themselves into the leaders of such transformations or about catching up with the changes made in other countries. Nevertheless, little is known about their efforts to bridge the gap between the digital 'haves' and the digital 'have-nots'. Governments in East Asia are good examples of those who work on improving their society's digital capabilities. They top most of the related international comparison tables. It is, however, not clear what they have done to bridge the new digital exclusion gap or what the effects of such efforts have been. This paper reviews the digital inclusion strategies put in place by several East Asian countries and discusses, a framework for tackling the digital divide, and examines pertinent policies, using Hong Kong as an example. This paper argues that while improvement in information communication technology (ICT) accessibility and knowledge is important, the promotion of community-based ICT user networks for certain disadvantaged groups is crucial to enhance their participation in the information society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the main issues of regulating and supervising banks in emerging markets with a view toward evaluating the long-run options, particularly in Latin America and East Asia. These economies face a severe policy commitment problem that leads to excessive bailouts and potential devaluation of claims of foreign investors. The paper reviews the tradeoffs imposed by external discipline and examines various proposed arrangements.

This paper discusses methodological differences between universalism and particularism in development economics by focusing on the 'East Asian Miracle' debate. It proposes to build development economics as part of hetero-economics, not mono-economics, following Max Weber's methodology of social science, and suggests developing intermediate theories by abstracting directly from given comparative settings. It also discusses the limitations that are inherent in this method, as well as ways to employ the method in actual analyses. This paper argues that the future task of development economics lies in recombining existing theories and developing new, complementing theories that will systematically delineate the diversity of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the economic and political economic conditions for East Asian monetary integration, with a focus on Japan's role in order to explain why East Asia is faltering in forming a regional monetary bloc. My evaluation of economic conditions in terms of self-containment of a regional economy, optimum currency area criteria (micro-economic efficiency and macro-economic stability), and seignorage revenue suggests that East Asian countries seem to be as well suited as EU countries for monetary integration. However, significant political barriers remain in East Asia. Besides rivalry between Japan and China and the lasting influence of the US in the region, Japan's ambiguous and burden-avoiding attitude towards East Asian monetary integration adds a further barrier to the process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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

This article attempts to analyze American public opinion on the Far East. According to the author's research, among American newspapers there is very little interest in news coming from the Far East. This situation accounts for the fact that the American press does not follow developments in the Far East as closely as those in Europe. There have been times, however, when three-inch headlines referring to events in the Far East have aroused a very considerable amount of interest in the U.S. During the Manchurian crisis of 1930-31, when the threat of a great Pacific war with the United States as a party was imminent, the American public necessarily became interested in what was going on. When the crisis downed and the situation became quiet again, the interest waned. Further the research indicates that apart from the general interest of the newspaper reading public there is the special interest of several political or professional groups whose knowledge is fed by special newspapers.

The paper examines the capital structure adjustment dynamics of listed non-financial corporations in seven east Asian countries before, during and after the crisis of 1997–1998. Our methodology allows for speeds of adjustment to vary, not only among firms, but also over time, distinguishing between cases of sudden and smooth adjustment. Whereas, compared with firms in the least affected countries, average leverages were much higher, generalized method-of-moments analysis of the Worldscope panel data suggests that average speeds of adjustment were lower in the worst affected countries. This holds also for the severely financially distressed firms in some worst affected countries, though the trend reversed in the post-crisis period. These findings have important implications for the regulatory environment as well as access to market finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tectonic provinces in South Korea include the Precambrian Gyeonggi Massif, Palaeozoic Okcheon Belt, Precambrian Yeongnam Massif and Cretaceous Gyeongsang Basin, from northwest to southeast. The Cretaceous strata mainly occur in the Gyeongsang Basin as well as in several small basins along the boundaries of the Okcheon Belt and on the Gyeonggi Massif. This paper reviews and analyses previously published palaeomagnetic data from the Cretaceous successions in South Korea. A total of 23 Cretaceous palaeomagnetic poles, from 18 studies, satisfy more than four standard reliability criteria. The palaeomagnetic pole positions, from the Gyeongsang Basin and from small basins in the Gyeonggi Massif and the Okcheon Belt, are consistent with one another, indicating that the Korean Peninsula has been a single terrane since the Cretaceous. However, based on the comparison of the palaeomagnetic pole positions and the palaeolatitudes of blocks in the Gyeongsang Basin, it was observed that the Gyeongsang Basin had experienced tectonic adjustments during the Cretaceous Period. Within the Gyeongsang Basin, the geographically northern area (Yeongyang block) was rotated counterclockwise by with respect to the southern area (Milyang and Uiseong blocks), based on the comparison of palaeomagnetic pole positions between the two areas. This palaeomagnetic result and some geological features in the Gyeongsang Basin collectively indicate that the Yeongyang block underwent counterclockwise rotations, accompanied by northwestward protrusion, into the Yeongnam Massif during the Late Cretaceous. These relative tectonic movements within the Gyeongsang Basin were probably due to the northwestward subduction of the proto-Pacific oceanic plate during the Late Cretaceous. The gradual eastward displacement of the Korea's Cretaceous palaeopoles, from the Eurasian pole, increases with stratigraphic age, indicating that the Korean Peninsula underwent progressive clockwise rotations, with respect to Eurasia, during the Cretaceous Period. The clockwise rotation of Southwest Japan, with respect to Eurasia, is ascribed to the Miocene opening of the East Sea, and has no connection with the Cretaceous clockwise rotations of the Korean Peninsula, indicating that the Korean Peninsula and Southwest Japan may have been independent terranes during the Cretaceous Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies East Asian political economy from a regional perspective. The Asian financial crisis showed that East Asian economies are highly regionalized. However, the linkages among Asian economies, mostly informal in nature, often appear “invisible” to many in the West, who focus more on the states and formal institutions. Drawing on a broad set of literature mostly in Asian languages, this paper provides a systematic study of informal integration in East Asia, which consists of not only regional production networks, but also ethnic Chinese business networks and subregional economic zones. It finds that the three informal mechanisms have formed an interrelated pattern of regional integration in East Asia. The nature of the economic networks is very useful in explaining the Asian crisis and the different performances of East Asian economies in the crisis. The crisis has also resulted in profound changes in informal integration. While the Japanese–led production networks have been greatly weakened, the Chinese Economic Area is rising, driven by the ethnic Chinese business networks and subregional economic zones. As a result, the Japan–dominated “flying geese pattern” has been broken. The connections between Greater China and the United States have also been enhanced and are out–competing the Japanese production networks. Many of the new developments have been ignored in the West but they are key factors that will shape the future of Asian and World political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, GRACE data have provided global mass redistribution measurements due to water cycles, climate change and giant earthquake events. Large earthquakes can yield gravity changes over thousands of kilometres from the epicentre for years to decades, and those solid Earth deformation signals can introduce significant biases in the estimate of regional-scale water and ice mass changes around the epicentres. We suggest a modelling scheme to understand their contribution to the estimates of water and ice mass changes and to remove the earthquake-related solid mass signals from GRACE data. This approach is composed of physics-based earthquake modelling, GRACE data correction and high-resolution surface mass change recovery. In this study, we examined the case of the 2011 Tohoku–Oki earthquake to better estimate the regional sea level and hydrological mass changes in the East Asia. The co- and post-seismic changes from GRACE observations were used to constrain the earthquake model parameters to obtain optimal self-consistent models for the earthquake source and the asthenosphere rheology. The result demonstrated that our earthquake correction model significantly reduced the mass change signals by solid Earth deformation from the time-series of regional surface mass changes on both land and oceans. For example, the apparent climate-related ocean mass increase over the East Sea was 1.59 ± 0.11 mm yr−1 for 2003–2016, significantly lower than the global mean ocean mass trend (2.04 ± 0.10 mm yr−1) due to contamination of the earthquake signals. After accounting for the solid mass changes by the earthquake, the estimate was revised to 1.87 ± 0.11 mm yr−1, that is increased by 20 per cent and insignificantly different from the global estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two of the most interesting facts of the postwar international growth experience are (1) the conditional convergence finding that, after controlling for measures of education and government policies, poor countries tend to grow faster than rich ones; and (2) a small group of export-oriented economies in East Asia have been able to grow at rates that are so high that they defy historical comparisons. This paper shows that it is possible to explain these facts by combining a weak form of the factor-price-equalization theorem of international trade with the Ramsey model of economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine patterns and globalisation-related causes of premature deindustrialisation (PD) in recent decades, using a large panel of advanced, emerging and developing economies (AE, EME and DE). The results verify the existence of PD in EME and DE, except East Asian countries. African countries have been worst affected by PD. Globalisation-related determinants of PD vary across country groups. While trade openness leads to deindustrialisation in DE; it enhances 'dependent' industrialisation in Latin American countries and the 'factory economies' of East Asia, which have stronger linkages to global value chains. Financial openness fosters industrialisation in severely finance-constrained economies, whereas it brings about deindustrialisation in financially stronger ones. It is our contention that development possibilities can be expanded by aiming at more intense linkages to global value chains, but proactive industrial policies at the levels of EME and DE are required to achieve such expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When challenged by similar environmental conditions, phylogenetically distant taxa often independently evolve similar traits (convergent evolution). Meanwhile, adaptation to extreme habitats might lead to divergence between taxa that are otherwise closely related. These processes have long existed in the conceptual sphere, yet molecular evidence, especially for woody perennials, is scarce. The karst endemic Platycarya longipes and its only congeneric species, Platycarya strobilacea , which is widely distributed in the mountains in East Asia, provide an ideal model for examining the molecular basis of both convergent evolution and speciation. Using chromosome-level genome assemblies of both species, and whole-genome resequencing data from 207 individuals spanning their entire distribution range, we demonstrate that P. longipes and P. strobilacea form two species-specific clades, which diverged around 2.09 million years ago. We find an excess of genomic regions exhibiting extreme interspecific differentiation, potentially due to long-term selection in P. longipes , likely contributing to the incipient speciation of the genus Platycarya. Interestingly, our results unveil underlying karst adaptation in both copies of the calcium influx channel gene TPC1 in P. longipes. TPC1 has previously been identified as a selective target in certain karst-endemic herbs, indicating a convergent adaptation to high calcium stress among karst-endemic species. Our study reveals the genic convergence of TPC1 among karst endemics and the driving forces underneath the incipient speciation of the two Platycarya lineages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine wilt disease (caused by the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is extremely harmful to pine forests in East Asia. As a low-resistance pine species, Pinus thunbergii is more vulnerable to pine wood nematode (PWN) than Pinus densiflora and Pinus massoniana. Field inoculation experiments were conducted on PWN-resistant and -susceptible P. thunbergii , and the difference in transcription profiles 24 h after inoculation was analyzed. We identified 2603 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in PWN-susceptible P. thunbergii , while 2559 DEGs were identified in PWN-resistant P. thunbergii. Before inoculation, DEGs between PWN-resistant and PWN-susceptible P. thunbergii were enriched in the REDOX (Oxidation-Reduction) activity pathway (152 DEGs), followed by the oxidoreductase activity pathway (106 DEGs). After inoculation with PWN, however, the opposite was observed; DEGs were enriched in the oxidoreductase activity pathway (119 DEGs), followed by the REDOX activity pathway (84 DEGs). Before inoculation, according to the metabolic pathway analysis results, we found more genes upregulated in phenylpropanoid metabolic pathways and enriched in lignin synthesis pathways; cinnamoyl-CoA reductase-coding genes related to lignin synthesis were upregulated in PWN-resistant P. thunbergii and downregulated in PWN-susceptible P. thunbergii , and the lignin content was always higher in resistant than in susceptible P. thunbergii. These results reveal distinctive strategies of resistant and susceptible P. thunbergii in dealing with PWN infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present new absolute archaeointensity data from six archaeological sites situated in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The materials studied are well-dated fragments from pottery, ceramic coffins and haniwa artefacts. Their ages range from 160 AD to 675 AD, covering the Late Yayoi and Kofun periods. Rock magnetic experiments suggest the presence of magnetite and/or Ti-magnetite as the main carrier of the remanence, with a possible minor contribution of higher coercivity minerals. After thermal demagnetization experiments, the most magnetically stable samples were selected for archaeointensity analysis performed following the double-heating method proposed by Thellier and modified by Coe. Partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) checks and pTRM tail-checks were performed for monitoring possible chemical alterations during heating. All measurements were corrected for both anisotropy and cooling-rate effects. Successful archaeointensity determinations, following rigorous selection criteria, were obtained for samples from all the investigated archaeological sites. Compared with literature data from Japan, the new high-quality data show significantly lower intensity values. They also reveal possible fast secular variation changes during the Late Yayoi period and very weak geomagnetic intensity field around 630 AD. Such values offer evidence of a possible recurrence of weak intensity field in East Asia, suggesting an ancient recurrence of the West Pacific Anomaly. The new data might change the archaeomagnetic field models interpretations in the area, even though more data are still necessary to better understand the secular variation in Japan and the temporal evolution of the geomagnetic field's behaviour in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims The hart's tongue fern (HTF) complex is a monophyletic group composed of five geographically segregated members with divergent abundance patterns across its broad geographic range. We postulated hierarchical systems of environmental controls in which climatic and land-use change drive abundance patterns at the global scale, while various ecological conditions function as finer scale determinants that further increase geographic disparities at regional to local scales. Methods After quantifying the abundance patterns of the HTF complex, we estimated their correlations with global climate and land-use dynamics. Regional determinants were assessed using boosted regression tree models with 18 potential ecological variables. Moreover, we investigated long-term population trends in the USA to understand the interplay of climate change and anthropogenic activities on a temporal scale. Key Results Latitudinal climate shifts drove latitudinal abundance gradients, and regionally different levels of land-use change resulted in global geographic disparities in population abundance. At a regional scale, population isolation, which accounts for rescue effects, played an important role, particularly in Europe and East Asia where several hot spots occurred. Furthermore, the variables most strongly influencing abundance patterns greatly differed by region: precipitation seasonality in Europe; spatial heterogeneity of temperature and precipitation in East Asia; and magnitudes of past climate change, temperature seasonality and edaphic conditions in North America. In the USA, protected populations showed increasing trends compared with unprotected populations at the same latitude, highlighting the critical role of habitat protection in conservation measures. Conclusions Geographic disparities in the abundance patterns of the HTF complex were determined by hierarchical systems of environmental controls, wherein climatic and land-use dynamics act globally but are modulated by various regional and local determinants operating at increasingly finer scales. We highlighted that fern conservation must be tailored to particular geographic contexts and environmental conditions by incorporating a better understanding of the dynamics acting at different spatiotemporal scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past Asian precipitation δ18O (δ18Op) records from stalagmites and other deposits have shown significant orbital-scale variations, but their climatic implications and regional differences are still not fully understood. This study, as the first attempt of a 300-kyr transient stable isotope-enabled simulation, investigated the characteristics and mechanisms of the orbital-scale δ18Op variations in three representative regions of Asia: arid Central Asia (CA), monsoonal South Asia (SA) and monsoonal East Asia (EA). The modelling results showed that the variations in the CA, SA and EA annual δ18Op exhibited significant but asynchronous 23-kyr precession cycles. Further analyses revealed that although the precession-induced insolation variation was the ultimate cause of the δ18Op variation in all three regions, the dominant mechanisms and the involved physical processes were distinct among them. For the CA region, the rainy-season (November–March) temperature effect and water vapour transport by the westerly circulation were identified as the key precession-scale processes linking the October–February boreal mid-latitude insolation to the rainy-season or annual δ18Op. In the SA region, the rainy-season (June–September) precipitation amount effect and upstream depletion of the monsoonal water vapour δ18O served as the main mechanisms linking the rainy-season or annual δ18Op to the April–July insolation variation at the precession scale. For the EA region, however, the precession-scale annual δ18Op was mainly controlled by the late-monsoon (August–September) and pre-monsoon (April–May) water vapour transport patterns, which were driven by the July–August insolation and the global ice volume, respectively. These results suggest that the climatic implications of the orbital-scale Asia δ18Op variations are sensitive to their geographic locations as determined by the combined effects of insolation and regional circulation patterns associated with the respective rainy seasons. This study provides new insights into understanding the regional differences and formation mechanisms of the Asian orbital-scale δ18Op variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Mesozoic, the South China Block (SCB) has experienced multiple episodes of tectonic magmatism accompanied by metallogenesis. To explore the seismic velocity structure of the crust and its connection with mineralization, we constructed a wide-angle reflection and refraction (WARR) profile by deploying 435 short-period seismometers across the Cathaysia Block in Southeast China. Receiver functions and the H–κ stacking method were applied using a reference 2-D velocity model obtained from the analysis of WARR data. Integration of active- and passive-source seismic data enabled us to obtain an image of the crust and the average Vp/Vs ratio value of the SCB and produce several results: (1) The crustal thickness varies west-to-east from 28 km below the Qinhang metallogenic belt to 32 km below the Wuyishan metallogenic belt, and the average value of the Vp/Vs ratio for the crust is 1.71. Both the thickness of the crust and the average Vp/Vs ratio are lower than the average global values for the continental crust. (2) The relatively low Vp/Vs ratio and thin crust along the profile could be generated by thinning of the lower crust in the SCB as a result of the backarc extension related to westward subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate below East Asia. (3) The Moho depth estimated from H–κ stacking with the help of the background P -wave velocity model modified by the WARR model fits better than using a global seismic velocity model with its common conversion point image, which supports a potential seismic data analysis technique provided with a joint deployment of both active- and passive-source seismic observation system with a shorter period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morinda umbellata L. is a woody climber or liana distributed in south East Asia. It is a traditional medicinal plant with excellent curative effects against diarrhea, dysentery, and other stomach disorders. The present study was aimed to assess the effect of M. umbellata active fraction (MUAF) on various inflammatory mediators using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced in vivo model in Wistar rats. The effect of MUAF on secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were evaluated in LPS-induced experimental animals. The expression of TNF- α , IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS, COX-2 , and nuclear factor NF-κB genes were also evaluated. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of the active fraction was carried out to identify the active compounds present in MUAF. The results of oral acute toxicity suggested the non-toxic nature of MUAF. GC–MS analysis of the MUAF leaves revealed the presence of 8 compounds. The study demonstrated that the proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 were significantly inhibited by MUAF in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, MUAF down-regulated the expression of TNF- α , IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS, COX-2 , and NF-κB genes. Our research findings suggest that the presence of anti-inflammatory compounds in MUAF can effectively inhibit LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-β, and IL-6 in vivo. It also suppressed the over expression of TNF- α, IL-1β , IL-6 , iNOS , and COX-2 possibly via downregulating NF-κB activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Miscanthus is a perennial C4 grass native to eastern Asia and is a promising candidate bioenergy crop for cool temperate areas. Flowering time is a crucial factor governing regional and seasonal adaptation; in addition, it is also a key target trait for extending the vegetative phase to improve biomass potential. Homologues of CONSTANS (CO)/Heading date 1(Hd1) were cloned from Miscanthus sinensis and named MsiHd1. Sequences of MsiHd1 homologues were compared among 24 wild M. sinensis accessions from Japan, 14 from China, and three from South Korea. Two to five MsiHd1 alleles in each accession were identified, suggesting that MsiHd1 consists of at least three loci in the Miscanthus genome. Verifying the open reading frame in MsiHd1, they were classified as putative functional alleles without mutations or non-functional alleles caused by indels. The Neighbor-Joining tree indicated that one of the multiple MsiHd1 loci is a pseudogene locus without any functional alleles. The pseudogene locus was named MsiHd1b, and the other loci were considered to be part of the MsiHd1a multi-locus family. Interestingly, in most Japanese accessions 50% or more of the MsiHd1a alleles were non-functional, whereas accessions from the East Asian mainland harboured only functional alleles. Five novel miniature inverted transposable elements (MITEs) (MsiMITE1-MsiMITE5) were observed in MsiHd1a/b. MsiMITE1, detected in exon 1 of MsiHd1a, was only observed in Japanese accessions and its revertant alleles derived from retransposition were predominantly in Chinese accessions. These differences in MsiHd1a show that the dependency on functional MsiHd1a alleles is different between accessions from the East Asian mainland and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The effects of the sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor empagliflozin on renal and cardiovascular disease have not been tested in a dedicated population of people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods The EMPA-KIDNEY trial is an international randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessing whether empagliflozin 10 mg daily decreases the risk of kidney disease progression or cardiovascular death in people with CKD. People with or without diabetes mellitus (DM) were eligible provided they had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥20 but <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 or an eGFR ≥45 but <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 with a urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (uACR) ≥200 mg/g. The trial design is streamlined, as extra work for collaborating sites is kept to a minimum and only essential information is collected. Results Between 15 May 2019 and 16 April 2021, 6609 people from eight countries in Europe, North America and East Asia were randomized. The mean age at randomization was 63.8 years [standard deviation (SD) 13.9)], 2192 (33%) were female and 3570 (54%) had no prior history of DM. The mean eGFR was 37.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 (SD 14.8), including 5185 (78%) with an eGFR <45 mL/min/1.73 m2. The median uACR was 412 mg/g) (quartile 1–quartile 3 94–1190), with a uACR <300 mg/g in 3194 (48%). The causes of kidney disease included diabetic kidney disease [ n  = 2057 (31%)], glomerular disease [ n  = 1669 (25%)], hypertensive/renovascular disease [ n  = 1445 (22%)], other [ n  = 808 (12%)] and unknown causes [n = 630 (10%)]. Conclusions EMPA-KIDNEY will evaluate the efficacy and safety of empagliflozin in a widely generalizable population of people with CKD at risk of kidney disease progression. Results are anticipated in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generation, diffusion, absorption, and application of new technology, knowledge, or ideas are crucial drivers of development. The authors examine the exceptionally fast growth in domestic innovation efforts in Korea, Taiwan (China), Singapore, and China, drawing on information about R&D as well as patent and patent citations data. They also use the World Bank Investment Climate Surveys to investigate sources of technological innovation in the other middle- and low-income East Asian economies. They then evaluate the role of three main channels for knowledge flows to East Asia—international trade, acquisition of disembodied knowledge, and foreign direct investment. Results from estimating an international knowledge diffusion model using patent citations data show that, while East Asian innovations continue to draw heavily on knowledge flows from the US and Japan, citations to the same or to other East Asian economies are quickly rising, indicating the emergence of national and regional knowledge stocks as a foundation for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fossil eudicot, Gansufructus saligna gen. et sp. nov. is reported from the Early Cretaceous (late Aptian–early Albian) of the Gansu Province, Northwest China, based on numerous well-preserved axes with attached leaves and infructescences. The leaves are alternate, short petiolate and linear-lanceolate with low rank pinnate to reticulate venation. The infructescences are loose panicles bearing fruits in different stages of maturity, each containing four partly free carpels borne in a whorled arrangement. Each carpel has three to five seeds borne along its ventral margin. The nature of the leaves and axes indicates a terrestrial, herbaceous habit. In general organization, Gansufructus is closely similar to the fruit-bearing axes of Sinocarpus decussatus from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota, as well as other more or less contemporaneous angiosperms from the Far East, which together provide evidence of diverse eudicot angiosperms of low stature colonizing areas close to environments of deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the growth and financing patterns of East Asian corporations with other countries before the 1997 financial crisis. Influence of a weak financial structure on company performance; Differences in the rate of return on assets among East Asian corporations; Maturity of debt structures of East Asian companies compared with European and Latin American countries.

Focuses on the elements of financial crisis in East Asia. Brief background details on the Asian crisis; Analytical framework of the model of credit cycles; Discussion on how wholesale financial collapse can be averted by coordinated loan roll-overs in the form of a general financial freeze.

Recent studies on paleogenomics have reported some Paleolithic and Neolithic genomes that have provided new insights into the human population history in East and Northeast Asia. However, there remain some cases where more recent migration events need to be examined to elucidate the detailed formation process of local populations. Although the area around northern Japan is one of the regions archaeologically suggested to have been affected by migration waves after the Neolithic period, the genetic source of these migrations are still unclear. Thus, genomic data from such past migrant populations would be highly informative to clarify the detailed formation process of local populations in this region. Here, we report the genome sequence of a 900-year-old adult female (NAT002) belonging to the prehistoric Okhotsk people, who have been considered to be the past migrants to northern Japan after the Neolithic period. We found a close relationship between NAT002 and modern Lower Amur populations and past admixture events between the Amur, Jomon, and Kamchatka ancestries. The admixture dating suggested migration of Amur-related ancestry at approximately 1,600 BP, which is compatible with the archaeological evidence regarding the settlement of the Okhotsk people. Our results also imply migration of Kamchatka-related ancestry at approximately 2,000 BP. In addition, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing detected the HLA-B*40 allele, which is reported to increase the risk of arthritis, suggesting the genetic vulnerability of NAT002 to hyperostosis, which was observed around her chest clavicle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic resistance (ABR) has been identified as a critical threat to global health at the highest policy fora. A leading cause of ABR is the inappropriate use of antibiotics by both patients and healthcare providers. Although countries around the world have committed to developing and implementing national action plans to tackle ABR, there is a considerable gap in evidence about effective behaviour change interventions addressing inappropriate use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where ABR is growing at an alarming rate. We conducted a systematic review to synthesize evidence about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of behaviour change interventions to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics in LMICs. Three databases were searched using a set of predefined search terms and exclusion criteria. The search identified 43 relevant articles. A narrative synthesis of results was conducted using the Behaviour Change Wheel framework to categorize intervention components. The majority of the reviewed studies were set in lower-middle-income or low-income countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia and the Pacific. Twenty-four articles evaluated multi-faceted interventions over a period of 12 months or less. Despite the widespread use of antibiotics in the community, interventions were primarily implemented in public health facilities, targeting health professionals such as doctors, nurses, and other allied medical staff. Although education for providers was the most widely used strategy for influencing antibiotic use, it was shown to be most effective when used in conjunction with training or other enabling and supportive measures to nudge behaviour. Six articles included an evaluation of costs of interventions and found a reduction in costs in inpatient and outpatient settings, and one article found a training and guidelines implementation-based intervention to be highly cost-effective. However, the small number of articles conducting an economic evaluation highlights the need for such analyses to be conducted more frequently to support priority setting in resource-constrained environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that scale is the central problem in ecology (Levin, 1992). Studies on carbon cycles and global climate change, the current major themes in modern ecology, require the interfacing of phenomena that occur on different scales of space, time, and ecological organization. For several decades, tremendous efforts have been made to reveal the general patterns of, and the mechanisms for the global carbon cycles. However, many uncertainties remain, particularly on local to regional scales. To reduce these uncertainties, regional collaborations across the board of nations are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the fundamental role played by factor accumulation in explaining the extraordinary postwar growth of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Participation rates, educational levels, and (excepting Hong Kong) investment rates have risen rapidly in all four economies. In addition, in most cases there has been a large intersectoral transfer of labor into manufacturing, which has helped fuel growth in that sector. Once one accounts for the dramatic rise in factor inputs, one arrives at estimated total factor productivity growth rates that are closely approximated by the historical performance of many of the OECD and Latin American economies. While the growth of output and manufacturing exports in the newly industrializing countries of East Asia is virtually unprecedented, the growth of total factor productivity in these economies is not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasive freshwater hydromedusa Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester, 1880 (phylum Cnidaria, class Hydrozoa, family Olindiidae) is native from East Asia but for more than 20 years, reports of this species have been increasing in Europe, North America, and Australia. Due to the sporadic presence of the medusa stage and difficulties in the sample polyp stage, there is a lack of data on the physiological parameters of C. sowerbii and its potential impact. We present data on growth and ingestion rates of the medusa stage measured at 29°C, temperature at which polyps are maintained in the Cinéaqua Aquarium (Paris). Medusa growth increased from 0.60 ± 0.08 to 9.0 ± 2.1 mm (mean: 0.28 ± 0.26 mm d−1), and gonads appeared after 11.5 ± 3.0 days. Ingestion rates increased significantly from 28 ± 16 prey ind−1 d−1 (<1 mm) to 442 ± 170 prey ind−1 d−1 (>7 mm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Accurate estimates of bamboo biomass and net primary productivity (NPP) are required to evaluate the carbon sequestration potential of bamboo forests. However, relevant data that are important for climate change mitigation, have rarely been collected in regions outside of East Asia and India. Information on seasonal patterns of NPP and its components will enable the quantification of factors that influence the carbon balance in bamboo forests. In this study, we quantified the aboveground biomass (AGB) and aboveground NPP of five major bamboo species in northern Laos using monthly data collected over a 12-month period. Methods All live culms in 10, 2 m × 2 m plots (for one monopodial bamboo species: Indosasa sinica) and 30 clumps per species (for four sympodial bamboo species: Bambusa tulda , Cephalostachyum virgatum , Dendrocalamus membranaceus and Gigantochloa sp.) were numbered and measured at breast height. We set 10 or 20 litter traps per species to collect litterfall. Censuses of dead and recruited culms and litterfall collection were performed once per month for 12 months. Important Findings The AGB was highest in I. sinica (59.87 Mg ha−1) and lowest in C. virgatum (11.54 Mg ha−1), and was mostly below the plausible global range for bamboos (32–256 Mg ha−1). The sympatric distribution of multiple bamboo species at the study sites may have suppressed the AGB in four of the five studied species. The aboveground NPP estimates were between 3.43 and 14.25 Mg ha−1 yr−1; those for D. membranaceus (8.20 Mg ha−1 yr−1) and I. sinica (14.25 Mg ha−1 yr−1) were comparable to mean global estimates for temperate evergreen forests (8.78 Mg ha−1 yr−1) and tropical moist forests (10.56 Mg ha−1 yr−1). High culm recruitment rates (15.20–23.39% yr−1) were major contributors to aboveground NPP estimates. Seasonal patterns of aboveground NPP were largely influenced by the phenology of the new culms. In the four sympodial bamboo species, new culms began to emerge following the onset of persistent rainfall, mainly in July and August. However, the sprouting of new culms in the monopodial species I. sinica followed a trend of increasing temperatures, mainly in March and April. Thus, our results indicate that bamboos have considerable potential for sequestering carbon in northern Laos, but that this potential may be affected by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims The inverse correlation between atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (p CO2) and stomatal frequency in many plants has been widely used to estimate palaeo-CO2 levels. However, apparent discrepancies exist among the obtained estimates. This study attempts to find a potential proxy for palaeo-CO2 concentrations by analysing the stomatal frequency of Quercus glauca (section Cyclobalanopsis , Fagaceae), a dominant species in East Asian sub-tropical forests with abundant fossil relatives. Methods Stomatal frequencies of Q. glauca from three material sources were analysed: seedlings grown in four climatic chambers with elevated CO2 ranging from 400 to 1300 ppm; extant samples collected from 14 field sites at altitudes ranging from 142 to 1555 m; and 18 herbarium specimens collected between 1930 and 2011. Stomatal frequency– p CO2 correlations were determined using samples from these three sources. Key Results An inverse correlation between stomatal frequency and p CO2 was found for Q. glauca through cross-validation of the three material sources. The combined calibration curves integrating data of extant altitudinal samples and historical herbarium specimens improved the reliability and accuracy of the curves. However, materials in the climatic chambers exhibited a weak response and relatively high stomatal frequency possibly due to insufficient treatment time. Conclusions A new inverse stomatal frequency– p CO2 correlation for Q. glauca was determined using samples from three sources. These three material types show the same response, indicating that Q. glauca is sensitive to atmospheric p CO2 and is an ideal proxy for palaeo-CO2 levels. Quercus glauca is a nearest living relative (NLR) of section Cyclobalanopsis fossils, which are widely distributed in the strata of East Asia ranging from the Eocene to Pliocene, thereby providing excellent materials to reconstruct the atmospheric CO2 concentration history of the Cenozoic. Quercus glauca will add to the variety of proxies that can be widely used in addition to Ginkgo and Metasequoia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural change is a vital element of successful development. Between 1985 and 2015, however, falling barriers to trade and transfer of technology shifted sectoral structures in different directions in different countries by intensifying endowment-related specialization. In skill-abundant developed countries, manufacturing became more skill-intensive and employed fewer workers. In land-scarce developing East Asia, labor-intensive manufacturing expanded, especially and hugely in China. In land-abundant Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, by contrast, manufacturing shares fell, while in land-scarce South Asia labor-intensive manufacturing was constrained by low literacy and inadequate infrastructure. This pattern of structural change contributed to higher average growth rates during this period in land-scarce than in land-abundant developing countries. Future changes in sectoral structures and growth rates will continue to be shaped by differences among countries in land abundance and skill supplies that matter for development policy choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health professionals often undertake private work whilst also employed by government. Such dual practice (DP) is found in both high-income and lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC) around the world, with varying degrees of tolerance. This review focuses on DP in South and East Asia in the context of the rapidly expanding mixed health systems in this region. Although good data are lacking, health service uptake in South and East Asia is increasing, particularly in the private sector. Appropriately regulated, DP can improve health service access, the range of services offered and doctors’ satisfaction. By contrast, weakly regulated DP can negatively affect public health service access, quality, efficiency and equity, as doctors often pursue the balance of public and private work that maximizes their income and other benefits. The environment for regulation of DP is changing rapidly, with improved communications opportunities, increasing literacy and rising civil society, particularly in this region. Currently, the options for regulating DP include (1) those which restrict the opportunities for dual practitioners to prioritize income and other benefits over their responsibility to the public; these require a level of regulatory capacity often missing in LMIC governments; and (2) those which not only tolerate public-sector doctors’ private work but also encourage adequate health services for the general public. Growth of the private sector and weak regulation in South and East Asia increases the risk that dual practitioners will ignore the poor. Responsive and decentred regulation of doctors involving professional associations, civil society and other stakeholders is increasingly recommended. Moreover, as governments in LMIC strive for universal health coverage, market and financing opportunities for regulation of DP may arise, particularly involving insurers. This may also help to improve the current imbalance in the urban–rural distribution of doctors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of intraplate volcanoes in Northeast Asia is considered to be associated with upwelling of hot and wet asthenospheric materials in the big mantle wedge above the stagnant Pacific slab in the mantle transition zone. Among these intraplate volcanoes, Changbai is the largest and most active one, and very deep earthquakes (500–650 km depths) in the Pacific slab under East Asia occur ∼300 km to the east of the Changbai volcano. Integrating the findings of geophysical, geochemical and petrologic studies so far, we suggest a link between Changbai volcanism and the deep earthquakes in the Pacific slab. Many large shallow earthquakes occurred in the Pacific Plate in the outer-rise areas close to the oceanic trench, and sea water may enter down to a deep portion of the oceanic lithosphere through the active normal faults which generated the large outer-rise earthquakes. Sea water or fluids may be preserved in the active faults even after the Pacific Plate subducts into the mantle. Many large deep earthquakes are observed that took place in the subducting Pacific slab under the Japan Sea and the East Asian margin. At least some of the large deep earthquakes are caused by the reactivation of faults preserved in the subducting slab, and the fluids preserved in the faults within the slab may cause the observed non-double-couple components of the deep earthquake faulting. Fluids preserved in the slab may be released to the overlying mantle wedge through large deep earthquakes. Because large deep earthquakes occur frequently in the vicinity of the Changbai volcano, many more fluids could be supplied to this volcano than in other areas in Northeast Asia, making Changbai the largest and most active intraplate volcano in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expertise recognition is challenging in teamwork, particularly in intercultural collaboration. This research seeks to investigate how cultural differences in communication styles may affect expertise recognition and influence in face-to-face ( FtF) versus text-based computer-mediated communication ( CMC). Using experimental intercultural groups, we found that in FtF groups East Asian experts had a lower participation rate, and were perceived as less competent, less confident, and less influential than experts from Western culture. No such differences occurred in CMC. The results support mediated moderation effect of perceived confidence on expert influence such that changes in perceptions of Chinese and American experts' confidence accounted for their different levels of influence in CMC versus FtF. No such effect was found with participation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explain financial contagion between two stock markets with uncorrelated fundamentals using fluctuations in international investors' attention allocation. We also show that the degree of (non)anticipation of a crisis is crucial for the existence of contagion. Using daily data on stock market prices and news stories in the Financial Times, we find evidence supporting the attention reallocation mechanism of financial contagion: The higher the price volatility of the Asian market, the more absolute and relative attention allocated to the Asian market, and the more relative attention allocated to the Asian market, the higher the price volatility of Latin American markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working as both lecturers and researchers within the theory and practice of international law, we are regularly confronted with materials and issues that raise the question of the relationship between this form of legal regulation and the political exercise of sovereign power. In turn, this persistent confrontation raises the question of which type (or types) of analytical perspective is most likely to illuminate how this relationship appears within the East Asian and other geopolitical contexts? For example, have we, as the German law professor Carl Schmitt suggested in the mid-20th century, been entering a new global order comprising multiple and co-existing regional hegemonic bodies, each possessing its own spheres of influence and located at an intermediary level between the United Nations and the traditional individual nation State? In this order of large political spaces, will China's growing status as a regional superpower, projecting its sovereign power and influence well beyond its own national borders, require legal recognition by a modified and realist form of international law and, if so, then in which particular ways? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information on dietary supplements, medications, and other xenobiotics in epidemiologic surveys is usually obtained from questionnaires and is subject to recall and reporting biases. The authors used metabolite data obtained from hydrogen-1 (or proton) nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) analysis of human urine specimens from the International Study of Macro-/Micro-Nutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP Study) to validate self-reported analgesic use. Metabolic profiling of two 24-hour urine specimens per individual was carried out for 4,630 participants aged 40–59 years from 17 population samples in Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States (data collection, 1996–1999). 1H NMR-detected acetaminophen and ibuprofen use was low (∼4%) among East Asian population samples and higher (>16%) in Western population samples. In a comparison of self-reported acetaminophen and ibuprofen use with 1H NMR-detected acetaminophen and ibuprofen metabolites among 496 participants from Chicago, Illinois, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, the overall rate of concordance was 81%–84%; the rate of underreporting was 15%–17%; and the rate of underdetection was approximately 1%. Comparison of self-reported unspecified analgesic use with 1H NMR-detected acetaminophen and ibuprofen metabolites among 2,660 Western INTERMAP participants revealed similar levels of concordance and underreporting. Screening for urinary metabolites of acetaminophen and ibuprofen improved the accuracy of exposure information. This approach has the potential to reduce recall bias and other biases in epidemiologic studies for a range of substances, including pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, and foods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of commentators have claimed that the strategic relevance of extended nuclear deterrence is declining in the twenty-first century. This claim is based on three key arguments. First, that the positive effects of extended nuclear deterrence have been exaggerated by its proponents; second, that the rational actor logic underpinning extended nuclear deterrence is increasingly redundant; and third, that extended deterrence using conventional weapons is equally, if not more, effective as extended nuclear deterrence. This article applies these arguments to East Asia, a region where nuclear weapons continue to loom large in states' security equations. In applying each of the above arguments to the East Asian context, the analysis finds that not only is extended nuclear deterrence alive and kicking in the region, but also that in the coming decades it is likely to become more central to the strategic policies of the United States and its key allies, Japan and South Korea. Despite predictions of its demise, US extended nuclear deterrence remains a critical element in East Asia's security order and will remain so for the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticipating future political transitions in East Asia, many scholars worry that Chinese democratization and Korean unification will fuel regional instability. To inform this debate, this article examines theories that make competing claims about the stability of these potential transitions: theories within the 'democratization and war' school and economic interdependence theory. I compare the predictions of these theories in the cases of previous East Asian transitions in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Process-tracing evidence shows that (i) xenophobic nationalism or logrolling by political coalitions were not present and that none of these countries pursued bellicose foreign policies during their democratic transitions. Evidence from these cases undermines the broad formulation of democratization and war theory and is consistent with a more recent, narrower version of this theory. Second, (ii) process tracing reveals the stabilizing processes of economic interdependence in all of these cases. Third and finally, contrary to prevailing views that warn of instability during future transitions, (iii) both the narrow version of democratization and war theory and economic interdependence theory forecast stability during the upcoming political transitions in China and Korea. These findings support foreign policy strategies of economic and institutional engagement toward China and the Korean peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many temperate plant species, prolonged cold treatment, known as vernalization, is one of the most critical steps in the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive stage. In contrast to recent advances in understanding the molecular basis of vernalization in Arabidopsis non-vernalization mutants or the spring growth habits of cereal crops such as wheat and barley, natural variations in winter growth habits and their geographic distribution are poorly understood. We analyzed varietal variation and the geographic distribution of the degree of vernalization requirements in germplasms of domesticated barley and wild barley collections. We found a biased geographic distribution of vernalization requirements in domesticated barley: Western regions were strongly associated with a higher degree of spring growth habits, and the extreme winter growth habits were localized to Far Eastern regions including China, Korea and Japan. Both wild accessions and domesticated landraces, the regions of distribution of which overlapped each other, mainly belonged to the moderate class of winter growth habit. As a result of quantitative evaluations performed in this study, we provide evidence that the variation in the degree of winter growth habit in recombinant inbred lines was controlled by quantitative trait loci including three vernalization genes (VRN1, VRN2 and VRN3) that account for 37.9% of the variation in vernalization requirements, with unknown gene(s) explaining the remaining two-thirds of the variation. This evidence implied that the Far Eastern accessions might be a genetically differentiated group derived for an evolutionary reason, resulting in their greater tendency towards a winter growth habit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the Loochoo Naval Mission established by the Royal Navy of Great Britain in the mid-19th century on the Ryukyu Islands (later Okinawa) off the coast of Japan. The mission sent the first Protestant missionaries to modern Japan, and was meant to serve a variety of ends: to counter Catholic influence and to facilitate British evangelical, commercial, and colonial expansion in East Asia. The history of the mission is seen as a study in the relationship between Christian missionary activity and Western imperialism in East Asia.

A substantial body of literature purports to document the growth of scientific misconduct in Northeast Asia. This article traces the apparent growth of research fraud and falsification to two distinct features of the national innovation systems common to the region: liberal research regimes adopted by developmental states and marked by freedom from government oversight, and illiberal laboratory cultures imported from Germany and marked by all-powerful lab directors and their vulnerable underlings. Based on comparative, qualitative case studies of pioneering countries in bio-medical research, as well as cross-national quantitative analyses of the permissiveness of national stem-cell research policies, we argue that Asia's scientific pathologies are the products of two institutional factors: funding and freedom offered to scientists by developmental states, and the lack of informal control prevalent in the German model of higher education. We conclude that, while Northeast Asian officials offer their biomedical researchers funding and freedom to take advantage of opportunities that rarely exist in the West, their scientists stifle open debate and criticism, and thereby hinder the growth of informal as well as formal control mechanisms that are critical for deterring and detecting scientific fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phylogenetic relationships among 33 Synechococcus strains isolated from the East China Sea (ECS) and the East Sea (ES) were studied based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and 16S–23S rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Pigment patterns of the culture strains were also examined. Based on 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequence phylogenies, the Synechococcus isolates were clustered into 10 clades, among which eight were previously identified and two were novel. Half of the culture strains belonged to clade V or VI. All strains that clustered into novel clades exhibited both phycoerythrobilin and phycourobilin. Interestingly, the pigment compositions of isolates belonging to clades V and VI differed from those reported for other oceanic regions. None of the isolates in clade V showed phycourobilin, whereas strains in clade VI exhibited both phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin, which is in contrast to previous studies. The presence of novel lineages and the different pigment patterns in the ECS and the ES suggests the possibility that some Synechococcus lineages are distributed only in geographically restricted areas and have evolved in these regions. Therefore, further elucidation of the physiological, ecological, and genetic characteristics of the diverse Synechococcus strains is required to understand their spatial and geographical distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study trends in educational homogamy at six boundaries in the educational structure of 10 East-Asian societies and explain its variation using explanatory variables at the country, cohort and boundary level. Educational homogamy was higher at the higher boundaries in the educational structure. Since the 1950s it decreased at all but the lowest boundaries, indicating convergence to a relatively low level of homogamy. Educational homogamy is lower in societies that are more modern, have higher female employment and experienced less Confucian influence. Results support the general openness and the exclusivity hypothesis, which predict educational homogamy to decrease in modernizing societies and to be higher when the group of more highly educated is smaller. Findings suggest that the trend towards less educational homogamy is related to educational expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]