Firman Sugiharto, Yanny Trisyani, Aan Nur'aeni
et al.
Background Heart failure (HF) is a significant and growing public health challenge in Asia. Effective HF management relies heavily on sustained self-care and education involving not only patients but also family caregivers and healthcare professionals. However, no previous review has systematically mapped the multidimensional learning needs of patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals in this region. Purpose This scoping review aimed to identify, categorize, and synthesize existing evidence on learning needs in HF care from the perspectives of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals across Asian populations. Methods Using the Arksey and O’Malley framework and reported in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, four databases (PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and Taylor & Francis) and the Google Scholar search engine were searched for Asian studies on August 19, 2025. Sixteen eligible studies published between 2010 and 2025 were included. Data were charted and analysed thematically to identify patterns and variations across three stakeholder perspectives. Results A total of 16 studies were included in this review. The thematic analysis identified three perspectives of learning needs. From the patients’ perspective, the key priorities were disease knowledge, medication management, symptom recognition, lifestyle modification, and psychosocial adaptation. Caregivers’ perspective emphasised practical caregiving skills, emotional resilience, and access to guidance and social support. Meanwhile, the healthcare professionals’ perspective highlighted patient-centred communication, consistent educational delivery, and interprofessional coordination. Conclusion This review demonstrates a clear need for an integrated and culturally responsive educational framework that aligns the learning priorities of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Educational interventions should address both clinical and psychosocial dimensions of HF care. Nurses play a crucial role as key educators within multidisciplinary teams and should be empowered to facilitate coherent, continuous, and patient-centered learning across care settings.
Counter‐wildlife crime (CWC) interventions—those that directly protect target wildlife from illegal harvest/persecution, detect and sanction rule‐breakers, and interdict and control illegal wildlife commodities—are widely applied to address biodiversity loss. This systematic map provides an overview of the literature on the effectiveness of CWC interventions for conserving African, Asian and Latin American wildlife directly threatened by exploitation, including human–wildlife conflicts that trigger poaching. Following our systematic map protocol (Rytwinski, Öckerman, et al., 2021), we compiled peer‐reviewed and grey literature and screened articles using pre‐defined inclusion criteria. Included studies were coded for key variables of interest, from which we produced a searchable database, interactive map and structured heatmaps. A total of 530 studies from 477 articles were included in the systematic map. Most studies were from Africa and Asia (81% of studies) and focused on African and Asian elephants (16%), felids (14%) and turtles and tortoises (11%). Most evaluations of CWC interventions targeted wildlife products (rather than species) and the transfer of those products along the wildlife crime continuum (40% of cases). Population/species outcomes were most commonly measured via indicators of threat reduction (65% of cases) and intermediate outcomes (25%). We identified knowledge clusters where studies investigated the links between (1) patrols and other preventative actions to increase detection and population abundance and (2) information analysis and sharing and wildlife crime/trade levels. However, the effectiveness of most interventions was not rigorously evaluated. Most investigations used post‐implementation monitoring only (e.g. lacking a comparator), and no experimental designs were found. We identified several key knowledge gaps including a paucity of studies by geography (Latin America), taxonomy (plants, birds and reptiles), interventions (non‐patrol‐based CWC interventions) and outcomes (biological and the combination of biological and human well‐being outcomes). Our map reveals an opportunity to improve the rigour and documentation of CWC intervention evaluations, which would enable the evidence‐based selection of effective approaches to improve wildlife conservation and national security.
Background Asia consists of diverse nations with extremely variable health care systems. Integrated real-world data (RWD) research warehouses provide vast interconnected data sets that uphold statistical rigor. Yet, their intricate details remain underexplored, restricting their broader applications. Objective Building on our previous research that analyzed integrated RWD warehouses in India, Thailand, and Taiwan, this study extends the research to 7 distinct health care systems: Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. We aimed to map the evolving landscape of RWD, preferences for methodologies, and database use and archetype the health systems based on existing intrinsic capability for RWD generation. Methods A systematic scoping review methodology was used, centering on contemporary English literature on PubMed (search date: May 9, 2023). Rigorous screening as defined by eligibility criteria identified RWD studies from multiple health care facilities in at least 1 of the 7 target Asian nations. Point estimates and their associated errors were determined for the data collected from eligible studies. Results Of the 1483 real-world evidence citations identified on May 9, 2023, a total of 369 (24.9%) fulfilled the requirements for data extraction and subsequent analysis. Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia contributed to ≥100 publications, with each country marked by a higher proportion of single-country studies at 51% (80/157), 66.2% (86/130), and 50% (50/100), respectively, and were classified as solo scholars. Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines had fewer publications and a higher proportion of cross-country collaboration studies (CCCSs) at 79% (26/33), 58% (18/31), 74% (20/27), and 86% (19/22), respectively, and were classified as global collaborators. Collaboration with countries outside the 7 target nations appeared in 84.2% to 97.7% of the CCCSs of each nation. Among target nations, Singapore and Malaysia emerged as preferred research partners for other nations. From 2018 to 2023, most nations showed an increasing trend in study numbers, with Vietnam (24.5%) and Pakistan (21.2%) leading the growth; the only exception was the Philippines, which declined by –14.5%. Clinical registry databases were predominant across all CCCSs from every target nation. For single-country studies, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines favored clinical registries; Singapore had a balanced use of clinical registries and electronic medical or health records, whereas Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Vietnam leaned toward electronic medical or health records. Overall, 89.9% (310/345) of the studies took >2 years from completion to publication. Conclusions The observed variations in contemporary RWD publications across the 7 nations in Asia exemplify distinct research landscapes across nations that are partially explained by their diverse economic, clinical, and research settings. Nevertheless, recognizing these variations is pivotal for fostering tailored, synergistic strategies that amplify RWD’s potential in guiding future health care research and policy decisions. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/43741
This study categorizes and analyzes the characteristics of maps depicting Korea published during the Meiji era, focusing on the representation of borders. Approximately 100 such maps were published during this period, with publication peaks coinciding with significant events in Japan-Korea relations, such as the Unyō Incident, the Imo Mutiny, the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. The maps of Korea published in Japan during this era can be classified into five types based on their border representations. Type A maps, which include the Manchurian region south of the Heilong (Amur) River, were only published before the Unyō Incident. Type B maps, incorporating neutral zones on the opposite shores of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers, were published only until the Sino-Japanese War. Both A and B type maps reflect an extended territorial perception of Korea north of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers. Type C maps, depicting the Yalu River, Mount Baekdu, and the Tumen River as borders, became the predominant representation of Korea during the Meiji era. These maps reflected more accurate topographical information from late Joseon period maps adopted by Japan. Type D maps, which exclude Mount Baekdu, were published from immediately after the Imo Mutiny until shortly after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. They were frequently used in Northeast Asian maps to represent Korea. Type E maps, including Gando 間島 as Korean territory, began to appear in 1894 and were published intensively during the Russo-Japanese War period, continuing until 1910. The concentrated publication of these maps around the Russo-Japanese War reflects Japan’s growing interest in Gando as it aimed to advance into Manchuria. The surge in demand for maps of Korea followed the rise of Seikanron (the “Conquest of Korea” debates) after the Meiji Restoration. Initially, due to insufficient geographical data from direct surveys, Japan had to rely on re-edited versions of previously collected historical Korean maps. As Japan conducted more direct surveys of Korea, their understanding of Korean borders became clearer, particularly around the time of the Sino-Japanese War.
The development of the Russian periphery was characterized by the flexibility of the imperial strategy of power in the Early Modern period. Cartographic materials were important in influencing the formation of a spatial model of the region. In the frontier and border zones of Siberia and the north of Central Asia, roads and pathways, as well as their graphical representation on maps, served not only a utilitarian function by providing information about movement routes and trajectories, but also influenced the general concept of the territory by acting as markers for political and economic structures and their borders. This article focuses on the characteristics of the traffic system description of the south of Western Siberia and the cross-border region in Russian cartographic materials from the first half and middle of the 18th century. The territorial scope of the study is limited to the space of the southern regions of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve area, the regions of the Upper Ob and Upper Irtysh, including parts of the Central Asian territories. The authors concluded that among the directions represented in the maps, the Irtysh meridional road stood out during the first third of the 18th century. Since the late 1720s, the north-eastern and northern roads linking the Altai metallurgical complex with the Kuznetsk, Berdsk, and Moscow tract dominated. Special maps appeared by the middle of the 18th century as a result of the increased importance of the Altai road system, recording the development of transport communication in the region.
The state of knowledge production and circulation – or what is framed as “relevant” knowledge within academic cultures of learning and teaching – is intimately tied to the global concept of what is “marketable”. Closely associated with this are opportunities for teaching and research funding, graduate scholarship awards, the employment of research and teaching staff and curriculum design. In Asia, the corporatisation of universities and their departments intensified in the 1990s and early 2000s. This stemmed from a complex interplay of historical and structural conditions and pressures, including the colonial legacy of cultural, intellectual and economic dependency. In this paper, the author argues that what is necessary in these contexts in Asia, in line with the call for what are now broadly termed “alternative discourses” from scholars such as Syed Farid Alatas and Vineeta Sinha, is the teaching of a social science tradition created and expanded by scholars who are guided by the selection of problems and relevance from within. In broad contours, alternative discourses refer to the theorising and conceptualisation of social science in Asia and elsewhere that emerged from dissatisfaction with mainstream Euro-American-oriented models, research agendas and priorities. More specifically, the article interrogates the focus on teaching and pedagogy, which has, among other things, resulted in a displacement of attention from issues that should be of crucial consideration to Asian societies.
History of Asia, Unlocalized maps (Asian studies only)
Singaporean female employers subject their Filipina domestic workers to strict rules governing their dress and behaviour, in the name of de-sexualising them and maintaining their status as invisible servants at the employers’ beck and call. This paper suggests that the fashionable attire that Filipina domestic workers don for their day off is also a symbol of rebellion and a rejection of their employers’ desires to render them plain and unattractive. In this sense, fashion is more than just a coping strategy: it is a way of expressing a sexual self, a beautiful and feminine self that is not allowed to be exhibited during workdays. Although these fashion makeovers only last less than 24 hours, in their leisure time Filipina domestic workers transgress the weekday restrictions of their employers while marking their own personal self-transformation as ultra-modern, independent women with consumer power and cosmopolitan tastes.
History of Asia, Unlocalized maps (Asian studies only)
The consequences of threat constructions and security-dominated politics in many Asian states and regions have been all too apparent recently. Whether the escalating language between China and the US over the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the violence against opposition movements in Hong Kong, the fate of minorities in Myanmar or the ongoing violence in Afghanistan – the invocation of “security” and the often violent practices of security agents constitute a powerful “key mode of governing”. Security drives international and domestic politics and, at the same time, shapes livelihoods of citizens and the fate of individuals in often worrisome ways. In offering various empirical studies guided by the pragmatic frameworks of securitisation and Critical Security Studies, this Special Issue aims at deconstructing security as a governing mode in the Asian context, with articles ranging from the local and national levels to international relations.
History of Asia, Unlocalized maps (Asian studies only)
Based on the fourth wave of the Asian Barometer Survey, I examine the contours and determinants of East Asians’ role model choices. The results show that pro-authoritarianism rule, recognition of China’s regional hegemon status, perception of China’s soft-power image, admiration for good governance, or inward-looking nationalism make East Asians more likely to choose an alternative role model rather than the USA. If the USA should loom out of East Asians’ vision for their country role model, the alternative role models would carry consequences in a potential shift in the democratic regime paradigm and a possible change in the political landscape in East Asia.