Search results for: Asian seabass

Authors: Anupama Sekhar, Preeti Saryan, Vinita Gowda

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Plants, due to their sedentary lifestyle, have evolved mechanisms to synthesize a huge diversity of complex, specialized chemical metabolites, a majority of them being volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These VOCs are heavily involved in their biotic and abiotic interactions. Since chemical composition could be under the same selection processes as other morphological characters, we test if VOCs can be used to taxonomically distinguish species in the well-studied, fragrant ginger genus -Hedychium (Zingiberaceae). We propose that variations in the volatile profiles are suggestive of adaptation to divergent environments, and their presence could be explained by either phylogenetic conservatism or ecological factors. In this study, we investigate the volatile chemistry within Hedychium, which is endemic to Asian palaeotropics. We used an unsupervised clustering approach which clearly distinguished most taxa, and we used ancestral state reconstruction to estimate phylogenetic signals and chemical trait evolution in the genus. We propose that taxonomically, the chemical composition could aid in species identification, especially in species complexes where taxa are not morphologically distinguishable, and extensive, targeted chemical libraries will help in this effort.

Keywords: chemotaxonomy, dynamic headspace sampling, floral fragrance, floral volatile evolution, gingers, Hedychium

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Authors: Kinza Khan, Dad Muhmmad, Asif Saleem, Nadia Mukhtar, Tahir Yaqub

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Ethomedicines are more commonly used in underdeveloped and developing countries. These medicines are sometimes more potent in controlling microbial infections than conventional medicines. Medicinal plants have been common practice to cure many diseases for centuries. Murraya koenigii is one of these plants and is commonly used in South Asian countries as a flavoring agent in food. To evaluate its anti-microbial activity, six different bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus cereus and Klebsiella pneumonia were used. N-hexane extract of Murraya koenigii leaves shows maximum activity against Bacillus cereus. Acetone extract of Murraya koenigii shoots showed more efficient activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Dichloromethane extracts showed maximum activity against Bacillus cereus. Ethanol extract exhibited maximum activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The methanol extract of Murraya koenigii shoots displayed maximum antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus. Antifungal activity Ethanol extract was more effective against Candida albicans.

Keywords: ethnomedicines, bacteria, fungi, murraya koenigii, antimicrobial activity

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Authors: Ahmed Elgadri

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In the last thirty years, studies on cross-cultural pragmatics in general and apology strategies in specific have focused on western and East-Asian societies. A small volume of research has been conducted in investigating speech acts production by Arabic dialect speakers. Therefore, this study investigated the apology strategies used by Libyan Arabic speakers using an online Discourse Completion Task (DCT) questionnaire. The DCT consisted of six situations covering different social contexts. The survey was written in Libyan Arabic dialect to help generate vernacular speech as much as possible. The participants were 25 Libyan nationals, 12 females, and 13 males. Also, to get a deeper understanding of the motivation behind the use of certain strategies, the researcher interviewed four participants using the Libyan Arabic dialect as well. The results revealed a high use of IFID, offer of repair, and explanation. Although this might support the universality claim of speech acts strategies, it was clear that cultural norms and religion determined the choice of apology strategies significantly. This led to the discovery of new culture-specific strategies, as outlined later in this paper. This study gives an insight into politeness strategies in Libyan society, and it is hoped to contribute to the field of cross-cultural pragmatics.

Keywords: apologies, cross-cultural pragmatics, language and culture, Libyan Arabic, politeness, pragmatics, socio-pragmatics, speech acts

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Authors: Kaitlyn Deierlein, Janet Lydecker

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Stereotypes surrounding anorexia nervosa are that the illness is commonly perceived as a self-inflicted disorder influenced by controlling parents, vanity, and cultural pressures. According to the authors' best knowledge minimal research has examined interactions with other factors, including gender and racial stereotypes involving this disorder. A common stereotype of this disease is that it mainly only affects Caucasian women and is very rarely seen in any other ethnicity. Previous literature has failed to investigate how visual body image and ethnic stereotypes affect the mental health of different ethnic groups, how various cultures impact the type of anorexia nervosa in the patient, and the different stereotypes associated with their eating disorder. Participants completed a pre-test questionnaire with vignettes, an image exposure portion, and a post-test questionnaire, which will all be evaluated and analyzed by ANOVA t-test and SPSS. Results showed that participants picked Caucasian females as more likely to have anorexia nervosa than those of Asian, Latin American, or African American descent subjects in both picture identification and vignettes. Future research should be conducted to further the results of this study by examining differences between gender stereotypes with anorexia nervosa as well as how sexuality has a role in perception.

Keywords: anorexia nervosa, ethnicity, stereotypes, eating disorders, perception

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Authors: Nur Allisha Othman, Rosnah Shamsudin, Zaulia Othman, Siti Hajar Othman

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Mitigating short storage life of fruit like banana uses minimally process or known as fresh cut can contribute to the growing demand especially in South East Asian countries. The effect of different types of packaging material on fresh-cut Nipah (Musa acuminata balbisiana) were studied. Fresh cut banana cultivar (cv) Nipah are packed in polypropylene plastic (PP), low density polypropylene plastic (LDPE), polymer plastic film (shrink wrap) and polypropylene container as control for 12 days at low temperature (4ᵒC). Quality of physical and chemical evaluation such as colour, texture, pH, TA, TSS, and vitamin C were examined every 2 days interval for 12 days at 4ᵒC. Result shows that the PP is the most suitable packaging for banana cv Nipah because it can reduce respiration and physicochemical quality changes of banana cv Nipah. Different types of packaging significantly affected quality of fresh-cut banana cv Nipah. PP bag was the most suitable packaging to maintain quality and prolong storage life of fresh-cut banana cv Nipah for 12 days at 4ᵒC.

Keywords: physicochemical, PP, LDPE, shrink wrap, browning, respiration

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Authors: Anu S. Krishna

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The paper tries to analyse the UN involvement/intervention in the case of intra-state armed conflict of El Salvador and Nepal comparatively. The peace mission in El Salvador is considered to be the most successful missions of UN ever since it started involving in the peace-building activities. Meanwhile, in the armed conflict of South Asian country, Nepal, the result seemed to be disappointing in comparison with its counterpart. The study on this paper takes three variables as the success or failure of international mediation, i.e., a) signing of the peace agreement, b) disarmament/demobilization and c) constitutional mechanism. A significant amount of scholarship looks at the case of ONUSAL (United Nations Mission in El Salvador). Meanwhile, the armed conflict of Nepal and the role of UNMIN (United Nations Mediation in Nepal) are under researched so far. The paper thus tries to throw light on these cross-regional contexts that share certain similarities and dissimilarities in the nature of conflict. In addition, the international third-party involvement and their way of approaching both the cases differ, which again affected the mediation outcome. The paper tries to argue that, since the approach of the UN led international mediation in theses peace missions were contextual and varied from case to case, thus, finally affected the mediation outcome too.

Keywords: Nepal, UNMIN, El Salvador, ONUSAL, international mediation, armed conflict

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Authors: Md. Shahriar Sabuz

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Bangladesh, a South Asian developing country, has experienced an increasing rate of contraceptive use in the last few decades. But one-third of the pregnancies are still unintended, and the fertility rate surpasses the desired rate of children. It may be because of the discontinuation of the use of contraceptive methods. So, it is necessary to find out the reasons for the discontinuation of the use of contraceptives. Moreover, the rate of contraception discontinuation varies from rural to urban, region to region. In this study, our objectives are to find out the reasons behind the discontinuation of the use of the contraceptive method, and the regional variations of the rate of those reasons. We are using the dataset of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS) 2014 for this study and the ever-married women of Bangladesh who have discontinued the use of contraceptive methods aged 15-49. The data was collected from the seven districts of the country. The finding shows that currently there are 23% of women have stopped using their contraception. The most common reasons for stopping using the method are that either they are pregnant or want to be pregnant. A significant number of people are not using the contraceptive method because of the fear of side effects. Though the rate of non-user is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, reasons for method discontinuation are not significantly different between urban and rural areas. However, reasons for discontinuing contraceptive methods significantly vary from region to region.

Keywords: discontinuation of contraceptive, health, pregnant, fertility

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Authors: Cristina Azocar, Ivana Markova

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A survey of 565 male undergraduates examined the effects of exposure to social networking sites and entertainment media on young men’s body image. Exposure to social and to entertainment media was found to have negative effects on men’s body satisfaction, social comparison, and thin ideal internalization. Findings indicated significant differences in those men who were more exposed to social and to entertainment media than those who were not as exposed. Consistent with past studies, gay men were found to be more dissatisfied with their bodies than straight men. Gay men compared themselves to other better-looking individuals and internalized ideal body types seen in media significantly more than their straight counterparts. Surprisingly, straight men seem to care as much about their physical attractiveness/appearance as gay men do, but only in public settings such as at the beach, at athletic events (including gyms) and social events. Although on average ethnic groups were more similar than different, small but significant differences occurred with Asian men indicating significantly higher body dissatisfaction than White/European men and Middle Eastern/Arab men their counterparts. The study increases our knowledge about SNS and entertainment use and its associated body image, and body satisfaction affects among low-income ethnic minority men.

Keywords: body dissatisfaction, body image, entertainment media, gay men, race and ethnicity, social economic status, social comparison, social media

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Authors: Yasir Khan, Qiu Bin, Antonio-Mihi Ramirez

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This study determines the inflow of international students to China in recent years and the corresponding internationalization strategies in the higher education sector. China has placed attracting international students on in its plan along with the growing of global impact. Acknowledging the stable economy, growth rate, trade, lower renminbi rate, high wages, employment opportunities, high level income per capita, relative low taxes and political system consolidate to attract more international students. A large number of international students making a vast contribution to the higher education sector of China. Understanding the significance of education mission as well as of financial ‘bottom line’ the Chinese government gave great importance to invite more international students from worldwide. The large number of international students in the China has been particularly notable from Asian countries specifically neighboring countries, Pakistan, Thailand, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Magnolia, Malaysia, and Russia. This study summarizes internationalization of higher education in China and also provides directions for future research in this regard.

Keywords: international student mobility, 2020 Govt Planning, emerging market, internationalization of higher education

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Authors: Yudi Zhao, Ziyun Zhou, Yueting Yao, Shuying Dai, Zhiling Yan, Longyu Yang, Chuanyin Li, Li Shi, Yufeng Yao

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HPV16 E4 gene plays an important role in viral genome amplification and release. Therefore, a variation of the E4 gene nucleic acid sequence may affect the carcinogenicity of HPV16. In order to understand the relationship between the variation of HPV16 E4 gene and cervical cancer, this study was to amplify and sequence the DNA sequences of E4 genes in 118 HPV16-positive cervical cancer patients and 151 HPV16-positive asymptomatic individuals. After obtaining E4 gene sequences, the phylogenetic trees were constructed by the Neighbor-joining method for gene variation analysis. The results showed that: 1) The distribution of HPV16 variants between the case group and the control group differed greatly (P = 0.015)，and the Asian-American（AA）variant was likely to relate to the occurrence of cervical cancer. 2) DNA sequence analysis showed that there were significant differences in the distribution of 8 variants between the case group and the control group (P < 0.05). And 3) In European (EUR) variant, two variations, C3384T (L18L) and A3449G (P39P), were associated with the initiation and development of cervical cancer. The results suggested that the variation of HPV16 E4 gene may be a contributor affecting the occurrence as well as the development of cervical cancer, and different HPV16 variants may have different carcinogenic capability.

Keywords: cervical cancer, HPV16, E4 gene, variations

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Authors: Watchawin Ekphinitphithaya, Patompong Satapornpong

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Introduction: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is one of the most prescribed antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) by neurologists and non-neurologist worldwide. CBZ is usually prescribed along with other drugs, leading to the possibility of severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (SCARs). The HLA-B*15:02 is strongly associated with CBZ-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS–TEN) in the Han Chinese and other Asian populations but not in European populations, while HLA-A*31:01 allele has been reported to be associated with CBZ-induced SCARs in European population and Japanese. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the distribution of pharmacogenetics HLA-A*31:01 marker in a healthy Thai population associated with Carbamazepine-induced SCARs. Materials and Methods: Prospective study, 350 unrelated healthy Thais were recruited in this study. Human leukocyte antigen-A alleles were genotyped using PCR-sequence specific oligonucleotides (PCR-SSOs). Results: The frequency of HLA-A alleles were HLA-A*11:01 (190 alleles, 27.14%), HLA-A*24:02 (82 alleles, 11.71%), HLA-A*02:03 (80 alleles, 11.43%), HLA-A*33:03 (76 alleles, 10.86%), HLA-A*02:07 (58 alleles, 8.29%), HLA-A*02:01 (35 alleles, 5.00%), HLA-A*24:07 (29 alleles, 4.14%), HLA-A*02:06 – HLA-A*30:01 (15 alleles, 2.14%), and HLA-A*01:01 (14 alleles, 2.00%). Particularly, the number of HLA-A*31:01 alleles was 6 of 700 (0.86%) in the healthy Thai population. Many research presented varying distributions of HLA-A*31:01 in Asians, including 2% of Han Chinese, 9% of Japanese and 5% of Koreans. In addition, this allele was found approximately 2-5% in the Caucasian population. Conclusions: Thus, the pharmacogenetics database is vital to support in many populations, especially in Thais, for screening HLA-A*31:01 allele to avoid CBZ-induced SCARs before initiating treatments in each population.

Keywords: Carbamazepine, HLA-A*31:01, Thai population, pharmacogenetics

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Authors: Ya Ting Tang

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Social learning theory has told us that the cognitions of gender roles come from learning. Thus, the images of gender roles which media describes will shape our cognitions. Taiwan and Japan are both in the East Asian cultural Sphere, and more or less influenced by the traditional Chinese culture. But our social structure and changes must be different. Others, the study also concerns that, with the rise of female consciousness in society, whether the female stereotype in drama of Taiwan and Japan are improved. This research first uses content analysis to analyze drama of Taiwan and Japan in 2003 and 2013 on how to shape female roles. Then use text analysis to conduct a qualitative analysis. Result of this study showed that drama on how to depict women indeed have changed, women are no longer just talk about love, but can serve as president or doctor, and show its mettle in the workplace. In Japanese drama, the female roles have diverse occupation than Taiwanese drama, and not just a background character set. But in most Taiwanese drama, female roles are given a career, but it always put emphasis on women emotionally. To include, although the stereotype in the drama of Taiwan and Japan are improved, female will still be derided due to their ages, love or marriage situations. Taiwanese drama must depict the occupation of female more diverse and let the female roles have more space to play, rather than focusing on romance which women of any occupation can have.

Keywords: female images, stereotype, TV drama, gender roles

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Authors: Mobina Sahraee Juybari

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There are around 300 languages spoken in Australia, and more than one-fifth of the population speaks a language other than English at home. The presence of international students in schools raises this number still further. Although the multilingual and multicultural status of Australia has been acknowledged by the government in education policy, the strong focus on English in institutional settings threatens the maintenance and learning of other languages. This is particularly true of universities’ language provisions. To cope with the financial impact of Covid-19, the government has cut funding for a number of Asian languages, such as Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese. This issue threats the maintenance of other languages in Australia and leaves students unprepared for the future job market. By taking account of the current reality of Australia’s diverse cultural and lingual makeup, this research intends to uncover the positioning of languages by having a historical look at Australia’s language policy and examining the value of languages and the probable impact of Covid-19 on the place of languages taught in Australian universities. A qualitative study will be adopted with language program tutors and course coordinators, with semi-structured interviews and government language policy analysis. This research hopes to provide insights into both the maintenance and learning of international language programs in tertiary language education in Australia and more widely.

Keywords: Australia, COVID-19, higher education sector, language maintenance, language and culture diversity

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Authors: Apirada Chinprateep

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The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) shall be the goal of regional economic integration by 2015. Tourism is an activity that is growing important, especially as a source of foreign currency, employment creation and distribution of income bringing to the region. The preparation of members of the countries group, given the complexity of the issues entail to the concept of sustainable tourism, this paper tries to assess tourism sustainability, based on a number of quantitative indicators for all the ten economies, first, Thailand, compared with other nine countries, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, and Brunei. The proposed methodological framework will provide a number of benchmarks of tourism activities in these countries assessed. They include identification of the dimensions, for example, economic, socio-ecologic, infrastructure and indicators, method of scaling, chart representation and evaluation on Asian countries. This specification shows us that a similar level of tourism activity might introduce different sort of implementation in the tourism activity and might have different consequences for the socio-ecological environment and sustainability. The heterogeneity of developing countries exposed briefly here would be useful to detect and prepare for coping with the main problem of each country in their tourism activities, as well as competitiveness and value creation of tourism for ASEAN economic community, and will compare with other parts of the world and the world benchmark.

Keywords: AEC, ASEAN, sustainable, tourism, competitiveness

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Authors: Ihtasham Hamza

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In the contemporary world, where the West is afflicted by the diseases of excess nutrition, much of the rest globe suffers at the hands of hunger. A troubling constituent of hunger is micronutrient deficiency, also called hidden hunger. Major dependence on calorie-rich diets and low diet diversification are responsible for high malnutrition rates, especially in African and Asian countries. But the dilemma isn’t immune to solutions. Highlighting the substantial cause to be sole dependence on staples for food, biofortification has emerged as a novel tool to confront the widely distributed jeopardize of hidden hunger. Biofortification potentials the better nutritional approachability to commonalities overcoming various difficulties and reaching the doorstep. The crops associated with biofortification offer a rural-based involvement that, proposal, primarily reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the malnourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as assembly overages are marketed. Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted biofortified cultivars become widely available in countries across time at low recurrent costs as opposed to supplementation which is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time, which may be imperilled by fluctuating political curiosity.

Keywords: biofortified crops, hunger, malnutrition, agricultural practices

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Authors: Marvin R. Tenecio

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The analysis of "religious resistance" has been prevalent in Asian and Philippine studies. Discussions on religious resistance from a variety of perspectives are deemed as crucial turning points in the concept's ongoing development and expansion. By broadening the backdrop of religious protest between the early 1960s and the late 1980s, the researchers contend that a study examining the role carried by the Catholic Church in the upheavals against dictatorships in South Korea and the Philippines would be beneficial to the body of knowledge. This study examines a variety of historical writings about the activities occurring at that time. The researchers also compare and contrast the Catholic Church's contributions to the Korean and Philippine resistance against Park Chung-Hee and Ferdinand Marcos Sr., respectively, during the early 1960s until the late 1980s, using the lens of history from below, particularly the Pasyon and Revolution. The Catholic Church stood out against human rights abuses, promoted social justice, and mobilized the public for political reform in response to the dictatorships in South Korea and the Philippines. Even though the specific circumstances and personalities may have changed, the Church's position in both countries was vital in opposing authoritarian governments and supporting democratic movements.

Keywords: resistance, movements, catholic, church, dictatorship

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Authors: Anyia Nduka, Aslan Bin Amad Senin

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Taking a behavioral perspective of Organization Culture, Strategic Leadership, and performance (OC, SLP). We examine the role of Strategic Leadership as key vicious mechanism linking OC,SLP to the organizational capacities. Given the increasing degree of dependence of modern businesses on the use and scientific discovery of relevant data, research efforts around the entire globe have been accelerated. In today's corporate world, Strategic Leadership is still the most sustainable option of performance and competitive advantage. This is why it is critical to gain a deep understanding of research area and to strengthen new collaborative networks in efforts to support research transition towards these integrative efforts. This bibliometric analysis is aimed to examine global trends in OC,SLP research based on publication output, author co-authorships, and co-occurrences of author keywords among authors and affiliated countries. 2829 journal articles were retrieved from the Scopus database Between 1974 and 2021. From the research findings, there is a significant increase in number of publications with strong global collaboration (e.g., USA & UK). We also discovered that while most countries/territories without affiliations were centered in developing countries, the outstanding performance of Asian countries and the volume of their collaborations should be emulated.

Keywords: organizational culture, strategic leadership, organizational resilience, performance

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Authors: Farzaneh Farrokhfar, Mohammad Khazaie

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The 16th and 17th centuries coincide with the classical age of Ottoman art history. Simultaneously with this age and in the eastern neighborhood of the Ottoman state, the Safavid Shiite state emerged, which, despite political and religious differences with the Ottomans, played an important role in cultural and artistic exchanges with Anatolia. The harmony of arts, including architecture, is one of the most important manifestations of cultural exchange between the two regions, which shows the intellectual commonalities of the two regions. In parallel with the production of works of art, the registration of information and identities of Ottoman and Safavid artists and craftsmen has been done by many historians and biographers, some of whom, fortunately, are available to us today and can be evaluated. This research first intends to read historical documents and reports related to the architects of the two Ottoman states in Anatolia and Safavid states in Iran in the 16th and 17th centuries and then examines the status of architects' information records and their location in the two regions. The results reveal the names and identities of some Ottoman and Safavid architects in the 16th and 17th centuries and show the method of recording information in the documents of the two regions. This research is done in a comparative historical method, and the method of collecting its resources is a documentary library.

Keywords: classical era, Ottoman architecture, Safavid architecture, Central Asian historical documents

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Authors: Shazia Shinwari

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In the 21st century, South Asia is becoming one of the rising sub-regions of the world. In the whole of Asia, South Asia is going to be the center part of opportunities, development, and challenges. The increasing economy and its geopolitical importance are changing the landscape of South Asia. Despite intensifying the opportunities and development, the region is also facing the challenges of security, poverty, and conflicts. It is one of the most populated sub-regions and has many internal conflicts because of which the region remains for a long time a least developed region in the world. But now South Asia is transforming into the developing process and trying to utilize its potentials and to remove the hurdles in the way of development. South Asia is one of the distinctive regions of the world and could play an important role at the global level if the potentials of the region are properly utilized. South Asia is one of the most important regions of the world and assumed more importance after the British withdrawal from the region. Now South Asia is playing an important role in world politics due to its strategic and geographical location. That is why the importance of this region in the international political systems cannot be ignored. Day by day, changes have been taking place in the structure of the global economy, and South Asia could take advantage of these changes to advance as an economic region. For this, South Asia will need to look at its history, and that changes, particularly in the India and Pakistan relations, are necessary for the development of the South Asian region. Despite having challenges in the region, South Asia is also rising as the land of opportunities and development if the potentials of the region are properly utilized and smoothen the way for regional integration.

Keywords: challenges, development, opportunities, South Asia

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Authors: Nawreen Sobhan, Abeer Hassan, Dina Nziku

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There has been a dramatic rise in the percentage of female entrepreneurship in both developed and developing countries as it is now considering as an important source of economic growth. Therefore, there has been a growing research interest in female entrepreneurship as they represent an unrecognized engine for economic growth especially in transition economy. This study will determine the role of cultural influence on female entrepreneurship in the growth of economic development which will add new dimensions to the field of female entrepreneurial studies in informal sector of Bangladesh. A systematic literature review has been conducted on female entrepreneurship and cultural studies in both developed and developing country in this research study. There is lack of research on this field as most of the cultural studies on female entrepreneurship have been conducted globally and most of them are either comparative or based on single developed country. This study addresses this gap by using North’s institutional theory to investigate the influence of socio cultural factors on the development of businesses run by female entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The study, therefore, has practical implications for policy makers and enhancing micro business performance by female entrepreneurs and contributes to the on-going theoretical understanding of cultural influence in female entrepreneurship in an Asian context.

Keywords: culture, socio cultural factors, female entrepreneurship, informal sectors, formal and informal institution and sustainable economic development

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Authors: A. Aguezzoul

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The Logistics Services Providers (LSPs) selection and performance is a strategic decision that affects the overall performance of any company as well as its supply chain. It is a complex process, which takes into account various conflicting quantitative and qualitative factors, as well as outsourced logistics activities. This article focuses on the evolution of the weights associated to these factors over the last years in order to better understand the change in the importance that logistics professionals place on them criteria when choosing their LSPs. For that, an analysis of 17 main studies published during 2014-2017 period was carried out and the results are compared to those of a previous literature review on this subject. Our analysis allowed us to deduce the following observations: 1) the LSPs selection is a multi-criteria process; 2) the empirical character of the majority of studies, conducted particularly in Asian countries; 3) the criteria importance has undergone significant changes following the emergence of information technologies that have favored the work in close collaboration and in partnership between the LSPs and their customers, even on a worldwide scale; 4) the cost criterion is relatively less important than in the past; and finally 5) with the development of sustainable supply chains, the factors associated with the logistic activities of return and waste processing (reverse logistics) are becoming increasingly important in this multi-criteria process of selection and evaluation of LSPs performance.

Keywords: logistics outsourcing, logistics providers, multi-criteria decision making, performance

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Authors: Chih-Hung Liang, Jung-Jung Chen, Shen-Shih Chiang

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Obesity is defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health, which are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Cordyceps militaris (CM) is a well-known traditional medicine in Asian countries and a rich source of biologically active components. Black rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a special cultivar of rice that contains rich anthocyanins and regarded as a health-promoting food in China and other Eastern. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-obesity effect of Cordyceps militaris fermented black rice (CB) on HFD-induced BALB/c mice model. The results indicated that administration of low and high dosage of CB powder significantly reduced the body weights (7.38% and 7.78%), body fat ratio (2.37% and 2.78%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels compared to the HF group (p<0.05). Histopathological analysis showed that the score of fatty liver in HF group (5.0) was significantly higher than CB groups (2.1 and 3.6) (p<0.05). In conclusion, Cordyceps militaris fermented black rice can reduce the body weight via inhibition of the fat accumulation in liver and body and possess the anti-obesity potency.

Keywords: Cordyceps militaris, black rice, obesity, HFD-induced mice

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Authors: Urarat Nanna, Jarinyaporn Naowaboot

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Tiliacora triandra (T. triandra) is traditional Southeast Asian medicine and widely used in the cuisines of northeast Thailand and Laos. It has been used as antipyretic, detoxication agent, antiinflammation. But the activity of T. triandra leaf water extract (TTW) in the regulation of metabolic syndrome is still little known. In this study, we evaluated the effects of TTW in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. Male ICR mice were induced to be obese by HFD feeding (45 kcal% lard fat) for 12 weeks. During the last 6 weeks of diet feeding, the obese mice were treated with TTW at 250 and 500 mg/kg/day. The biochemical parameters and histology analysis were measured at the end of treatment period. After 6 weeks of TTW treatment, the hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and hyperlipidemia were significantly decreased. Hepatic lipid accumulation and adipocyte hypertrophy were also reduced. Serum adiponectin was increased in TTW-treated obese mice. TTW treatment could reduce the malondialdehyde in serum and liver tissue. Furthermore, the elevated serum inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 were reduced (MCP-1) by TTW. These results suggest that T. triandra leaf is a beneficial plant in alleviating hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress and inflammation in the obese condition induced by HFD.

Keywords: Tiliacora triandra, insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress

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Authors: Da Jiang, Helene H. Fung, Jennifer C. Lay, Maureen C. Ashe, Peter Graf, Christiane A. Hoppmann

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Being alone is often equated with loneliness. Yet, recent findings suggest that the objective state of being alone (i.e., solitude) can have both positive and negative connotations. The present research aimed to examine (1) affective experience in daily solitude; and (2) the association between everyday affect in solitude and well-being. We examined the distinct roles of culture and immigration in moderating these associations. Using up to 35 daily life assessments of momentary affect, solitude, and emotional well-being in two samples (Vancouver, Canada, and China), the study compared older adults who aged in place (local Caucasians in Vancouver Canada and local Hong Kong Chinese in Hong Kong, China) and older adults of different cultural heritages who immigrated to Canada (immigrated Caucasians and immigrated East Asians). We found that older adults of East Asian heritage experienced more positive and less negative affect when alone than did Caucasians. Reporting positive affect in solitude was more positively associated with well-being in older adults who had immigrated to Canada as compared to those who had aged in place. These findings speak to the unique effects of culture and immigration on the affective correlates of solitude and their associations with well-being in old age.

Keywords: solitude, emotion, age, immigration, culture

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Authors: Jin Koo

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The main purpose of this study is to investigate the comparability of student scores obtained from Test Center (TC) vs. Online-Proctored (OP) Delivery in the three subject areas of Verbal, Reading, and Mathematics for each level (Middle and Upper). Also, this study examines whether there is an interaction effect between test deliveries (TC vs. OP) and gender/ethnicity/ability level in each subject area. The test used in this study is a multiple-choice standardized test for students in grades 5-11. For this study, data were collected during the 2022-23 test administration. This research used a one-factor between-subjects ANOVA and Cohen’s d to compare the TC and OP groups’ test means for each level and each subject area. Also, 2-factor between-subjects ANOVAs were conducted to investigate examinee characteristics: gender (male and female), ethnicity (African-American, Asian, Hispanic, Multi-racial, and White), and ability level (low, average, and high-ability groups). The author found that students’ test scores in some subject areas varied between TC and OP test deliveries by gender, ethnicity, and ability level, meaning that gender, ethnicity, and ability level were related to the score difference. These results will be discussed according to the current testing systems.

Keywords: ability level, ethnicity, gender, online-proctored delivery, standardized test, test center

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Authors: Jing Yu Pan, Dahai Liu

Abstract:

Airlines in the US have taken protective measures to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, with a mask mandate being the most important one, especially in the aircraft cabin. As the industry is recovering from the pandemic, mask-wearing will eventually become a personal choice during flight. Nevertheless, COVID-19 will continue to create uncertainty for a long time into the future, making it necessary to understand the attitude and voluntary use of masks by air travelers on airplanes even after masks are no longer mandatory. This study aimed to understand the relationship between demographic characteristics and mask-wearing intention in the US. For age, gender, income, educational, and ethnicity groups, this study examined three factors – subjective norms, risk avoidance, and information seeking and their influence on the mask-wearing intention onboard airplanes during COVID-19 and whether or not attitude toward masks was an important mediator. The results show that all demographic factors except gender could help to explain the group variations in factor impact and the mediating effect in mask-wearing intentions. In particular, Asian travelers had mask-wearing intentions that were not affected by attitude either directly or indirectly. These findings provide useful implications to enhance the health and safety of air travelers, especially in the US, where opposing views toward mask-wearing still widely exist.

Keywords: COVID-19, passenger demographics, aircraft cabin, mask-wearing intention, attitude as mediator

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Authors: Kesya Terinda Natalie, Marcellina Natasha, Rosinta Ria Panggabean

Abstract:

Purpose: Over the last few years, the company has been implementing sustainability practices to ensure business continuity. However, there are pros and cons regarding the impact of financial reports if companies provide non-financial reports. So this paper aims to prove what the effect of Sustainability Reporting (SR) has on company profitability, as well as things that can be considered as the decision-making of SR disclosure. Methodology: This paper uses the literature review method to describe the results of published articles concerning Sustainability Reporting and Profitability. This study links and analyzes the essence of 50 previous studies related to SR on company profitability, most of which were conducted in Asia. Therefore this research is limited to only 23 studies in Asia. Findings: Sustainability Reporting does not have a significant impact on company profitability because the SR quality of each company varies based on Agency & Legitimacy Theory considerations. Stakeholders are required to focus not only on profitability but also on the long-term of the company. Thus, it is found that SR is used by companies as a sustainable investment, which can improve overall company performance by reducing capital costs and generating positive company value in increasing reputation capital. Value: This paper focuses on how sustainability reporting affects company profitability, as well as things that can be considered as the decision-making of SR disclosure.

Keywords: sustainability reporting, profitability, agency theory, legitimacy theory

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Authors: Jinhyun Ryu, Chengliang Xie, Nal Ae Yoon, Dong Hoon Lee, Gu Seob Roh, Hyun Joon Kim, Gyeong Jae Cho, Wan Sung Choi, Sang Soo Kang

Abstract:

Type 2 diabetes is a heterogeneous group of metabolic disorders featured by a deficit in or loss of insulin activity to maintain normal glucose homeostasis. Mainly, it results from the compromised insulin secretion and/or reduced insulin activity. The frequency of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been increased rapidly in recent decades with the increase in the trend of obesity due to life style and food habit. Obesity is considered to be the primary risk factor for the development of insulin resistance and thereby developing T2D. Traditionally naturally occurring fruits, vegetables etc. are being used to treat many pathogenic conditions. In this study, we tried to find out the effect of a popularly used vegetable in Bangladesh and several other Asian countries, ‘bitter melon’ on high fat diet induced T2D. To investigate the effect, we used 70% ethanol extract of bitter melon (BME) as dietary supplement with chow. BME was found to attenuate the high fat diet (HFD) induced body weight and total fat mass significantly. We also observed that BME reduced the insulin resistance induced by HFD effectively. Furthermore, dietary supplementation of BME was highly effective in increasing insulin sensitivity, and reducing the hepatic fat and obesity. These results indicate that BME could be effective to attenuate T2D and could be a preventive measure against T2D.

Keywords: bitter melon, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high fat diet

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Authors: Chander Shekhar Kohli

Abstract:

In the field of international relations, countries have been experiencing distinct nature of conflicts. But, in the case of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a long time, the members have witnessed conflicts, small and large. These conflicts, as a result, have given catastrophic outcomes, such as killings and destroying properties. For the resolution of such conflicts, nonetheless, efforts likewise have been made, simultaneously, in terms of establishing peace and security. In this background, the ASEAN presents a significant example as before it had faced several wars, like Vietnam War, Cambodia conflicts, and so on. This research paper, therefore, strives to examine the ASEAN as a case with the help of both primary and secondary sources. It likewise will be dealt with how changing norms and identity building facilitate the ASEAN countries to deal with their conflicts both internal and external. This paper also will discuss how internal developments within countries affect conflict resolution process as each member of ASEAN is guided by its national interest. It is then argued that conflict resolution in the ASEAN is moving from its existing power-based solution to norms and identity-based solution as member countries have become more dependent on other countries. The research, therefore, is concluded by saying that the conflicts could only be resolved through building norms and common identities, which of course are recognized crucial mechanisms among the ASEAN countries with some exceptions.

Keywords: ASEAN, conflict resolution, norms and identities, peace and security

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Authors: N. P. Tien, S. Songsermpong, T. H. Quan

Abstract:

Mung bean vermicelli is a popular food in Asian countries and is made from mung bean starch. The preparation process involves several steps, including drying, which affects the structure and quality of the vermicelli. This study aims to examine the effects of different drying technologies on the rehydration time and quality of mung bean vermicelli. Three drying technologies, namely hot air drying, microwave continuous drying, and microwave vacuum drying, were used for the drying process. The vermicelli strands were dried at 45°C for 12h in a hot air dryer, at 70 Hz of conveyor belt speed inverter in a microwave continuous dryer, and at 30 W.g⁻¹ of microwave power density in a microwave vacuum dryer. The results showed that mung bean vermicelli dried using hot air drying had the longest rehydration time of 12.69 minutes. On the other hand, vermicelli dried through microwave continuous drying and microwave vacuum drying had shorter rehydration times of 2.79 minutes and 2.14 minutes, respectively. Microwave vacuum drying also resulted in larger porosity, higher water absorption, and cooking loss. The tensile strength and elasticity of vermicelli dried using hot air drying were higher compared to microwave drying technologies. The sensory evaluation did not reveal significant differences in most attributes among the vermicelli treatments. Overall, microwave drying technology proved to be effective in reducing rehydration time and producing good-quality mung bean vermicelli.

Keywords: mung bean vermicelli, drying, hot air, microwave continuous, microwave vacuum

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