What shapes the ways in which citizens participate in politics? This article investigates the association between private homeownership and the forms of citizens’ political behaviors using a Chinese nationwide social survey. Exploiting the abolishment of the welfare housing system in the late 1990s as a quasi-natural experiment, I find that owning a home and experiencing home value appreciation increases citizens’ willingness for political engagement as well as participatory behaviors through formal channels, but reduces their confrontational behaviors towards government such as participation in protests. Further evidence on political attitudes suggests that homeowners are more critical of government performance, yet they report higher political trust in the state and a stronger preference for maintaining the status quo. These findings highlight the critical role of asset ownership in preventing conflict and promoting stability by shaping the political behaviors and beliefs of citizens.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Social Sciences
Elisabeta Lusso, Lapo Casetti, Marco Romoli
et al.
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are known to be variable sources across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, in particular at optical/ultraviolet and X-ray energies. Over the past decades, a growing number of AGN have displayed type transitions: from type 1 to type 2 or viceversa within a few years or even several months. These galaxies have been commonly referred to as changing-look AGN (CLAGN). Here we report on a new CLAGN, NGC 4614, which transitioned from a type 1.9 to a type 2 state. NGC 4614 is a nearly face-on barred galaxy at redshift $z = 0.016$, classified as a low-luminosity AGN. Its central black hole has a mass of about $1.6\times 10^7 M_\odot$ and an Eddington ratio around 1 percent. We recently acquired optical spectra of NGC 4614 at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and the data clearly suggest that the broad H$α$ component has strongly dimmed, if not disappeared. A very recent Swift observation confirmed our current optical data, with the AGN weakened by almost a factor of 10 with respect to previous X-ray observations. Indeed, NGC 4614 had been also observed by Swift/XRT 6 times in 2011, when the source was clearly detected in all observations. By fitting the stack of the 2011 Swift observations we obtain a photon index of $Γ=1.3\pm0.3$ and an equivalent hydrogen column density of $N_{\rm H}$=$1.2\pm0.3$ $\times$10$^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$, indicating that NGC 4614 can be moderately absorbed in the X-rays. Although a significant change in the foreground gas absorption that may have obscured the broad line region cannot be entirely ruled out, the most likely explanation for our optical and X-ray data is that NGC 4614 is experiencing a change in the accretion state that reduces the radiative efficiency of the X-ray corona.
Eli A. Gendreau-Distler, Kate B. Bostow, Kishore C. Patra
et al.
We present new transit timing measurements for the white dwarf-cold Jupiter system WD 1856+534, extending the baseline of observations from 311 epochs to 1498 epochs. The planet is unlikely to have survived the host star's red-giant phase at its present location and is likely too small for common-envelope evolution to take place. As such, a plausible explanation for the short semimajor axis is that the exoplanet started out on a much larger orbit and then spiraled inward through high-eccentricity tidal migration (HETM). A past transit-timing analysis found tentative evidence for orbital growth, which could have been interpreted as a residual effect of HETM, but we find the data are consistent with a constant-period model after adding 18 new transit measurements. We use the estimated period derivative $\dot{P} = 0.04\pm0.43$ ms yr$^{-1}$ to place a lower limit on the planetary tidal quality factor of $Q_p' \gtrsim 3.1 \times 10^6$, consistent with that of Jupiter in our own Solar System. We also test for the presence of companion planets in the system, which could have excited WD 1856 b onto an eccentric orbit via the Kozai-Lidov process, and ultimately rule out the presence of an additional planet with a mass greater than $4.1\,M_J$ and a period shorter than 1500 days. We find no evidence for nonzero eccentricity, with an upper limit of $e\lesssim10^{-2}$. If the planet indeed reached its current orbit through HETM, the low present-day eccentricity indicates that the migration process has now ceased, and any further orbital evolution will be governed solely by weak planetary tides.
The Republic of Korea is characterized by its north-to-south stretch and high mountain ranges along the eastern coast, resulting in terrain with higher elevation in the east and lower in the west. These geographical features typically lead to regional climate differences, either based on latitude or from east to west. In the present study, for effectiveness, the entire Korean peninsula was divided into four regions based on the geographical features: The Northeast Coast (NEC), Central Inland (MI), Southeast Coast (SEC), and South Coast (SC). Two test sites were chosen from each region, except for the SC. The linear relationship between the altitude of sites and the mean oxygen isotope ratio (δ18O) revealed a negative correlation; the highest (1,447 m a.s.l.) and the lowest altitude (86 m a.s.l.) sites had a mean δ18O of 27.03‰ and 29.67‰, respectively. The sites selected from the same region exhibited stronger correlation coefficients (0.75–0.79) and Glk (Gleichläufigkeit) (74–83%) between the tree-ring oxygen isotope chronologies (δ18OTR chronologies) than those from different regions (0.60–0.69/70–79%). However, subtle variations in pattern were observed in the comparison period during a few selected intervals (approximately 10 years). All the regional δ18OTR chronologies exhibited positive correlations with either June or July temperatures over Korea, whereas negative correlations with regional summer precipitation and SPEI-3. Moreover, the chronologies showed notable negative correlations with the water condition of western Japan. The findings of this study can be used as a scientific reference for the study of variations of rainfall in East Asia using δ18OTR chronology.
The article describes the state of the modern port industry on the sea coast of the People's Republic of China, highlighting its features and characteristics. The author analyzes the form ation and development of large-scale, intensive and modern groups of seaports in China, whose economic structure, volume, cargo flows and turnover are significantly differentiated. The article discusses the strategic role of the government in developing the modern transport and logistics systems of the PRC, creating an effective institutional system and improving the regulatory framework. The author comes to the conclusion that Chinese seaports are developing in the direction of increasing scale, intensif ication and modernization, enhancing the efficiency of transportation and creating a modern logistics system that meets the requirements of sustainable and rapid development.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
This paper attempts to estimate Pakistan’s trade potential, using the gravity model of trade. Panel data for the period 1981-2005 across 42 countries is employed in the analysis. The coefficients obtained from the model are then used to predict the country’s trade potential worldwide as well as within specific trading regions. The results reveal that Pakistan’s trade potential is highest with countries in the Asia-Pacific region (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN]), the European Union (EU), the Middle East, Latin America, and North America. Specifically, the maximum potential exists with Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Italy, and Denmark. Therefore, Pakistan should explore ways and means to further improve its trade relations with the countries concerned, and also concentrate on ASEAN, the Middle East, and the EU to increase its market share as far as possible. The volume of trade between Pakistan and other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is very low, despite the existence of significant potential. The main obstacles to this end are the political and social tensions among neighboring countries, particularly between Pakistan and India, which are the main players of SAARC. The same obstacles exist in the case of the EU and NAFTA, where Pakistani exports are adversely affected by political considerations.
With 252 species, Pseudopoda Jäger, 2000, is the largest genus in the family Sparassidae and is widely distributed in South (49 species in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan), East (158 species in China and Japan) and Southeast Asia (51 species in Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam). Few species have been found in more than one region. In this paper, three new species of Pseudopoda are described from East and Southeast Asia. Among them, one from China: P. fengtongzhaiensis Jäger & Liu, sp. nov. (♀); one from Laos: P. baimai Jäger & Liu, sp. nov. (♀); and one from Thailand: P. inthanonensis Jäger & Liu, sp. nov. (♀). Additionally, the female of P. kavanaughi Zhang, Jäger & Liu, 2023 is described for the first time. Photos of the habitus and genitalia, as well as a distribution map of all four species, are provided.
Global events of recent years indicate that it is the turn of the Developing World to take the lead in international relations. China, which positions itself as the «largest developing country», a «member of the Global South», but at the same time a «responsible world power», cannot stay away from this trend.
The article examines the reasons for the recent rise of the Developing World to the forefront of international life, which include: the cumulative economic growth of the South, the increase in its political importance in the balance of power on the world stage, the growth of self-esteem of the South, whose stance, being consonant with the interests of the East, contributes to the loss of the West's ability in dictating conditions to the world majority, etc.
In addition, the author considers important to determine the semantic content of the terms «Global South», «third world», «developing world» for a better understanding of the essence of the great global phenomenon that these definitions have denoted at different times. It seems that these definitions not only reflect the realities of the times that gave birth to them, but also undergo internal upgrade, becoming not just a «signboard», but also a characteristic of the phenomenon they designate.
The main burden of the article falls on the analysis of the Chinese factor in the modern evolution of the Global South. It is characterized through the prism of why the importance of the South for China is growing and how Beijing is trying to provide relations with «southern» countries with additional qualitative support. The article also attempts to identify new challenges facing China in the processes of its further «rooting» in the Developing World.
The article ends with a number of conclusions, among which is the author's opinion on whether the reformatting of relations between China and the Global South is taking place as a reaction to an increase in its global weight, or whether they are «simply» undergoing a stage of timely optimization.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
Jonathan Dunn, Benjamin Adams, Harish Tayyar Madabushi
This paper measures the skew in how well two families of LLMs represent diverse geographic populations. A spatial probing task is used with geo-referenced corpora to measure the degree to which pre-trained language models from the OPT and BLOOM series represent diverse populations around the world. Results show that these models perform much better for some populations than others. In particular, populations across the US and the UK are represented quite well while those in South and Southeast Asia are poorly represented. Analysis shows that both families of models largely share the same skew across populations. At the same time, this skew cannot be fully explained by sociolinguistic factors, economic factors, or geographic factors. The basic conclusion from this analysis is that pre-trained models do not equally represent the world's population: there is a strong skew towards specific geographic populations. This finding challenges the idea that a single model can be used for all populations.
The article is devoted to the state of Russian-Japanese relations at the level of civil diplomacy for the period of 2022 – the first half of 2023. Special attention is paid to the activities of Japanese public figures and scientists, holding events, publishing printed materials and interviews. Examples are given both from open sources, including Japanese ones, and from resources not accessible from Russia due to the restrictions or because of absence of electronic versions, as well as from the author's personal material. Some names and titles are mentioned and described in works of the Russian researchers for the first time. The analysis of publications and work of Japanese organizations allows us to conclude that despite the extreme aggravation of Japanese-Russian relations, there is a stratum of people in Japan who want to understand Russia's position, develop further ties with it, convey ideas unavailable in Japan due to the one-sided presentation of information related to Russia's special military operation.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
The article examines the views of Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio (2009–2010) on Japan’s foreign policy and its role in the international community. Hatoyama’s views and rhetoric are analysed within the context of Japan’s political elites’ longstanding search for alternatives to the Yoshida doctrine, which underpinned Japan’s grand strategy throughout the Cold War. While Hatoyama’s attempts to modify Japan’s diplomatic approach have often been considered incoherent or naive, the article argues that, drawing partially from the concepts regarding Japan’s role on the international stage that were introduced in the 1990s, Prime Minister consistently advocated development of a new strategy. Its parameters were different from both the Yoshida doctrine and the emerging course towards a more robust security policy, which was fully implemented under the second administration of Abe Shinzo (2012–2020). This strategy was based on Japan’s proactive role in upholding global stability through non- military means, reducing its dependence on the US, deepening integration in East Asia, and achieving friendly ties with China.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
Eosinophilic meningitis due to rat lungworm, <i>Angiostrongylus cantonensis</i>, is a global public health concern. Human cases and outbreaks have occurred in the new endemic areas, including South America and Spain. The growing genetic data of <i>A. cantonensis</i> provides a unique opportunity to explore the global spread pattern of the parasite. Eight more mitochondrial (mt) genomes were sequenced by the present study. The phylogeny of <i>A. cantonensis</i> by Bayesian inference showed six clades (I–VI) determined by network analysis. A total of 554 mt genomes or fragments, which represented 1472 specimens of rat lungworms globally, were used in the present study. We characterized the gene types by mapping a variety of mt gene fragments to the known complete mt genomes. Six more clades (I2, II2, III2, V2, VII and VIII) were determined by network analysis in the phylogenies of <i>cox</i>1 and <i>cyt</i>b genes. The global distribution of gene types was visualized. It was found that the haplotype diversity of <i>A. cantonensis</i> in Southeast and East Asia was significantly higher than that in other regions. The majority (78/81) of samples beyond Southeast and East Asia belongs to Clade II. The new world showed a higher diversity of Clade II in contrast with the Pacific. We speculate that rat lungworm was introduced from Southeast Asia rather than the Pacific. Therefore, systematic research should be conducted on rat lungworm at a global level in order to reveal the scenarios of spread.
P. J. Roldán-Gómez, J. F. González-Rouco, J. E. Smerdon
et al.
<p>The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; ca. 950–1250 CE) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; ca. 1450–1850 CE) were periods generally characterized by respectively higher and lower temperatures in many regions. However, they have also been associated with drier and wetter conditions in areas around the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the Asian Monsoon region and in areas impacted by large-scale climatic modes like the Northern Annular Mode and Southern Annular Mode (NAM and SAM respectively). To analyze coordinated changes in large-scale hydroclimate patterns and whether similar changes also extend to other periods of the Last Millennium (LM) outside the MCA and the LIA, reconstruction-based products have been analyzed. This includes the collection of tree-ring-based drought atlases (DAs), the Paleo Hydrodynamics Data Assimilation product (PHYDA) and the Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR). These analyses have shown coherent changes in the hydroclimate of tropical and extratropical regions, such as northern and central South America, East Africa, western North America, western Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Indo-Pacific, during the MCA, the LIA and other periods of the LM. Comparisons with model simulations from the Community Earth System Model – Last Millennium Ensemble (CESM-LME) and phases 5 and 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5 and CMIP6) show that both external forcing and internal variability contributed to these changes, with the contribution of internal variability being particularly important in the Indo-Pacific basin and that of external forcing in the Atlantic basin. These results may help to identify not only those areas showing coordinated changes, but also those regions more impacted by the internal variability, where forced model simulations would not be expected to successfully reproduce the evolution of past actual hydroclimate changes.</p>
This study assesses the impact of COVID-19 vaccines through an epidemiological model that quantifies their role in pandemic control. We analyze an SIR-based model incorporating vaccination effects and calculate the basic reproduction number, $\mathcal{R}_0$. Our findings indicate that under conditions of imperfect vaccination and non-permanent immunity from recovery, a backward bifurcation may occur when $\mathcal{R}_0<1$. Conversely, with full immunity from vaccination and lasting immunity post-recovery, the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable for $\mathcal{R}_0<1$. Numerical simulations support these theoretical results. The model is calibrated using South African data from Johns Hopkins University, covering the period from February 17 to August 5, 2021. Results show that vaccine effectiveness in preventing infection was below 50\%, consistent with the CDC's February 2024 report indicating an improved infection-protection rate of 54\% for newly produced vaccines. Additionally, our findings demonstrate that vaccines significantly enhanced recovery rates and reduced both mortality and recovery time, aligning with CDC reports. A sensitivity analysis highlights key parameters affecting $\mathcal{R}_0$, offering insights for policymakers on optimizing vaccination strategies.
This paper analyzes the excessive risk perception of Korea as one of the causes of the international dispute over the import of Fukushima food between Korea and Japan. To do this, it compares the perception of Fukushima food among Koreans and people from other countries through a survey and identifies the factors that affect the perception through a linear regression analysis. As a result, it finds that Koreans have a higher negative perception of Fukushima food than people from other countries and that this is related to the level of knowledge about radiation and the evaluation of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident response. It also presents the subjective opinion of the author that political conflicts between Korea and Japan may affect the perception gap and international disputes. This paper proposes a model of risk perception and decision-making process for Fukushima food and emphasizes the need to improve the risk perception of Koreans through public education and publicity campaigns.
As the European maritime powers expanded their reach beyond north Atlantic coastal waters to distant lands as far away as the East Indies, access to a practical means of maritime navigation in the southern hemisphere became imperative. The first few voyages undertaken by the Dutch East India Company and its predecessor explicitly aimed at compiling star charts and constellations that were only visible south of the Equator, as practical navigation aids. The oldest known star atlas of southern constellations was published in 1603 by Frederick de Houtman. Controversies have plagued de Houtman's astronomical credentials from their inception, however, with contemporaries variously attributing the early southern star charts to Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser, de Houtman, or even to their tutor Petrus Plancius. The balance of available evidence suggests that Keyser initially led the astronomical observing campaign, ably assisted by de Houtman. Upon Keyser's untimely death, de Houtman embraced a leading role in compiling astronomical observations for maritime navigation purposes, whereas Plancius most probably led the delineation of the 12 new southern constellations that soon became part and parcel of the nautical consciousness.
Salvatore G.P. Virdis, Wenchao Xue, Ekbordin Winijkul
et al.
Monitoring the water quality as well as assessing its ecological status, both in coastal and inland environments, are essential tasks and pose serious environmental challenges. Although both field measurements and observations from permanent measuring stations may be available, the advent of modern remote sensors, such as MSI (MultiSpectral Instrument), on board the Sentinel-2 satellite, has made it possible to obtain inland biogeochemical products at high spatial (10 m) and temporal (5-days) resolutions. However, validating Sentinel-2 derived water quality estimations in tropical riverine and costal water is an ongoing effort.This study presents one of the first attempts to locally adapt and validate the C2RCC atmospheric processor for the inversion of IOPs to water quality parameters of productive tropical riverine waters in South East Asia using a time series of 65 Sentinel-2 MSI images from 2018 to 2021. We developed locally adapted relationships between C2X-Nets-derived inherent optical properties (IOPs) and surface reflectances with field observations of chl-a concentration, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), turbidity, transparency, and in situ reflectance spectra. Results have been validated against 3-years long time series of observations collected at six monitoring stations of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA) of Thailand covering approximately 130 km-long stretch of the Chao Phraya river.Locally adapted C2X-Net processor showed good performances in predicting the chl-a concentrations, turbidity and Secchi disk depth. However, relatively low performance was noted for C2X-Nets processor in predicting CDOM absorption. During the period 2018–2021, the temporal trends of chl-a concentration and turbidity showed a clear seasonal pattern with peak turbidity values in the wet seasons. Spatial pattern of retrieved water quality products showed a noticeable change in correspondence with the built-up area of Bangkok. Even if elevated chl-a concentrations have been generally observed all year around, highest peaks have been observed in the dry and at beginning of the wet seasons.To the best knowledge of the authors, our findings firstly demonstrated the integration potential of C2RCC and satellite-retrieved water quality estimations into existing national water quality monitoring network in the context of water resources management and decision-making in the tropical Southeast Asian countries.
The countries along the “Belt and Road” are important cooperation regions for China's agricultural trade. The examination of agricultural trade competitiveness and its influencing elements between China and nations along the “Belt and Road” serves as a guide for China's international agricultural cooperation with these countries. The competitiveness of agricultural goods trade between China and nations along the “Belt and Road” was estimated using the MS index, RSCA index, CA index, and TC index from 2001 to 2019, and the variables influencing agricultural trade competitiveness were experimentally studied. The findings reveal considerable disparities in agricultural product trade competitiveness between China and the areas and countries along the route. Central and Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe are competitive, but China, Central Asia, Mongolia, Russia, and West Asia and the Middle East are weak. Twelve countires, including Thailand and Myanmar, are competitive, while China, Russia, and Kazakhstan are weak. Due to the presence of more common land in China and countries along the route, the scale of the agricultural economy, farm households' agricultural input, labor productivity, land productivity, and trade openness have a positive and significant impact on trade competitiveness, but the conditions of land resources and government agricultural input have a negative and significant impact. The lack of integration of resources and financial resources into competitiveness has resulted from a mismatch of resources and government agriculture investment. The main focus of policy should be on strengthening economic and trade exchanges with regions that have high agricultural trade competitiveness, actively pursuing international agricultural production capacity cooperation, and promoting multilateral and regional trade and investment preferential systems.
Noor Dzuhaidah Osman, Norman Zakiyy Chow Jen-T'chiang
A plethora of legal instruments and agencies currently control and enforce various biosafety, biosecurity and public health issues. This article proposes a regional ASEAN model of biosecurity regulations that include viruses, diseases, and biological agents as potentially dangerous organisms to protect human health, animals, plants and the environment. This work analyses and defines alternative methods of biosecurity governance through doctrinal legal research. This biosecurity paradigm will enable these bodies and organisations to better integrate with the various instruments charged with controlling biosafety, biosecurity, pandemics, and bioweapons. All actors involved in regulating should have some common ground or perhaps a new different body to coordinate all the various threats in the future. It is proposed to develop an integrated ASEAN approach to biosecurity, covering biosafety, pandemic and biological weapons issues. Despite pandemics and other potential threats, a common standard protocol in ASEAN region will allow unrestricted movement of people, trade, tourism, and other services.
South Asia. Southeast Asia. East Asia, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources