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This paper explores the historical context and current dynamics of the transboundary water issues between India and China. Both countries share multiple transboundary river basins, with the Brahmaputra River being one of the most significant. The importance of the Brahmaputra River to both nations goes beyond just providing resources. It has implications for national security, regional stability, and human livelihoods. However, China's upstream control over the river and its extensive dam-building projects have raised concerns in downstream India and Bangladesh about potential impacts on water availability, agriculture, and livelihoods. The river system is critical for the socioeconomic well-being of millions of people, yet the competing demands for water resources have led to geopolitical tensions. The paper highlights China's strategic use of water resources, including plans for large-scale dams, which India views as a potential threat to its water security. It also underscores the importance of a nuanced understanding of hydropolitics, emphasizing the need for human security, particularly water security, in addressing these challenges. It argues that while "water wars" are unlikely, "water tensions" are significant and must be addressed through comprehensive bilateral agreements and collaborative efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chat programs has opened two distinct paths, one enhancing interaction and another potentially replacing personal understanding. Ethical and legal concerns arise due to the rapid development of these programs. This paper investigates academic discussions on AI in medicine, analyzing the context, frequency, and reasons behind these conversations. Methods: The study collected data from the Web of Science database on articles containing the keyword "ChatGPT" published from January to September 2023, resulting in 786 medically related journal articles. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed articles in English related to medicine. Results: The United States led in publications (38.1%), followed by India (15.5%) and China (7.0%). Keywords such as "patient" (16.7%), "research" (12%), and "performance" (10.6%) were prevalent. The Cureus Journal of Medical Science (11.8%) had the most publications, followed by the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (8.3%). August 2023 had the highest number of publications (29.3%), with significant growth between February to March and April to May. Medical General Internal (21.0%) was the most common category, followed by Surgery (15.4%) and Radiology (7.9%). Discussion: The prominence of India in ChatGPT research, despite lower research funding, indicates the platform's popularity and highlights the importance of monitoring its use for potential medical misinformation. China's interest in ChatGPT research suggests a focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI applications, despite public bans on the platform. Cureus' success in publishing ChatGPT articles can be attributed to its open-access, rapid publication model. The study identifies research trends in plastic surgery, radiology, and obstetric gynecology, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and reliability assessments in the application of ChatGPT in medical practice. Conclusion: ChatGPT's presence in medical literature is growing rapidly across various specialties, but concerns related to safety, privacy, and accuracy persist. More research is needed to assess its suitability for patient care and implications for non-medical use. Skepticism and thorough review of research are essential, as current studies may face retraction as more information emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social lockdowns improved air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments had previously spent a lot of money addressing air pollution without success. This bibliometric study measured the influence of COVID-19 social lockdowns on air pollution, identified emerging issues, and discussed future perspectives. The researchers examined the contributions of countries, authors, and most productive journals to COVID-19 and air pollution research from January 1, 2020, to September 12, 2022, from the Web of Sciences Core Collection (WoS). The results showed that (a) publications on the COVID-19 pandemic and air pollution were 504 (research articles) with 7495 citations, (b) China ranked first in the number of publications (n = 151; 29.96% of the global output) and was the main country in international cooperation network, followed by India (n = 101; 20.04% of the total articles) and the USA (n = 41; 8.13% of the global output). Air pollution plagues China, India, and the USA, calling for many studies. After a high spike in 2020, research published in 2021 declined in 2022. The author's keywords have focused on "COVID-19," "air pollution," "lockdown," and "PM25." These keywords suggest that research in this area is focused on understanding the health impacts of air pollution, developing policies to address air pollution, and improving air quality monitoring. The COVID-19 social lockdown served as a specified procedure to reduce air pollution in these countries. However, this paper provides practical recommendations for future research and a model for environmental and health scientists to examine the likely impact of COVID-19 social lockdowns on urban air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cadmium pollution turns out to be a global environmental problem. This study conducted a quantitative and qualitative bibliometric analysis based on 9188 research items from the Web of Science Core Collection published in the last 20 years (2000–2020), presenting an in-depth statistical investigation of global freshwater cadmium research progress and developing trend. Our results demonstrated that the researchers from China, the USA, and India contribute the most to this field. The primary sources of cadmium are mining, industry, wastewater, sedimentation, and agricultural activities. In developing countries, cadmium exposure occurs mainly through the air, freshwater, and food. Fish and vegetables are the main food sources of cadmium for humans because of their high accumulation capability. Source evaluation, detection, and remediation represent the main technologies used to clean up cadmium-contaminated sites. To mitigate the risk of cadmium contamination in freshwater, biomarker-based cadmium monitoring methods and integrated policies/strategies to reduce cadmium exposure merit further concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, China has rapidly increased its influence throughout the South Asian region, using both its hard and soft power tactics. China has succeeded in eclipsing India's influence and emerged as an important player in the region. China is making inroads in South Asia by making huge investments and constructing roads, highways, railways, sea ports, bridges, power grids, dams, and public buildings. China is pursuing a foreign policy that aims to advance its strategic and economic interests while trying to imbalance India's predominant position and contain India within the boundaries of South Asia. This is to prevent the rise of a peer competitor that can challenge or hinder the rise of China as a sole Asian power. This paper argues that the geostrategic situation of South Asian countries is such that they pose threats to India's security by aligning with the extra-regional powers. Hence, China's expanding strategic and security ties with South Asian countries have wider implications for India's security due to the complex and sensitive nature of its relationship with China. The theoretical approach of Power Transition Theory has been utilized to analyze the Sino-India power rivalry and China's growing threat to India's security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of industries and population, the need for energy consumption has increased, which has inevitably increased greenhouse gas emissions. Further use of fossil fuel for energy consumption exacerbates the situation making it one of the major issues for climate change. China, India, the USA, and Russia are the world's leading countries in energy consumption and emissions and are responsible for climate change. These countries account for 54% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the global environment. This paper investigates the energy consumption of China, India, the USA, and Russia and its trend in greenhouse gas emissions. Using four available datasets from 1980 to 2018 for China, India, USA, and 1992 to 2018 for Russia, we employed three advanced machine learning algorithms (support vector machine, artificial neural network, and long-short term memory) and verified its predicted capability with actual greenhouse gas emissions. The obtained results were evaluated with three statistical metrics (route mean square, mean absolute percentage error, and mean bias error). The predicted results with three machine learning algorithms were very close to actual greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, we forecasted the trend of greenhouse gas emissions in these countries from 2019 to 2023. The forecasted results with the long-short term memory model confirm an increase in CO2, methane, and Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in the case of China and India; in contrast, the results indicate a slowdown of CO2, methane, and N2O emissions in the USA and Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofloc technology (BFT) is an aquaculture technology that uses microbial communities to produce a balanced aquatic environment for fish and crustaceans. This study evaluated the global research trends and measured the performance of researchers, organizations or research centers, countries, and funding agencies participating in BFT research in the last decade. Scientific knowledge mapping was also performed to understand the social and conceptual structure of the research publications. The study was conducted based on journal article publications indexed in the Scopus database between 2013 and 2022. The analysis showed that BFT research was increasing steadily, with a total of 911 documents published in the past 10 years. Brazil, China, and India were the three most productive countries in the field. The most productive journals were Aquaculture, Aquaculture Research, and Aquaculture International. Regarding research topics, the largest share of documents was related to bioflocs and their technologies, followed by Litopenaeus vannamei, water quality, growth performance, shrimp, Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, etc. Co-authorship network analysis revealed that the largest cluster comprised researchers from Brazil, China, and India. Moreover, the study of societal attention revealed that the BFT research needs more public attention as the research was discussed and mentioned only a few social media platforms. However, the BFT research had significant readers on Mendeley. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of BFT research and the research performance of scientific actors. It can serve as a valuable reference for researchers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Justice and responsibility are central notions shaping the international climate negotiations. However, countries have different perspectives on how to translate these concepts into solutions for climate change. In this process, actors such as the European Union (EU) play a central role, by trying to persuade other large greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to take on their (historical) responsibilities and by supporting developing countries. At the same time, China and India have become central actors in international climate negotiations. Due to their rapid economic growth and rising GHG emissions, their climate action is crucial for achieving global goals, while their historical emissions are very different from those of Western countries. To shed light on the EU's perspective on climate justice, and the particular role of China and India therein, this article analyses Members of European Parliament's (MEPs) narratives in plenary debates on foreign climate policy between 1996 and 2019. MEPs' views contribute to shaping the EU's position on the topic, but also provide useful insights into the political dynamics of the debate. The paper finds that climate justice is mentioned in less than half of the MEPs' speeches, but that its salience increased over time and became more diverse in terms of different dimensions of climate justice. We also uncover that MEPs' positions on China and India evolved with the rise in their emissions, becoming increasingly critical over time. However, there is a significant variance amongst political groups' positions, between those on the right and the left end of the political spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressive disorders (including major depressive disorder and dysthymia) and anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder or GAD) disorders are the two most prevalent mental illnesses. Early diagnosis of these afflictions can lead to cost-effective treatment with a better outcome prospectus. With the advent of digital technology and platforms, people express themselves by various means, such as social media posts, blogs, journals, instant messaging services, etc. Text remains the most common and convenient form of expression. Therefore, it can be used to predict the onset of anxiety and depression. Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases were used to retrieve the relevant literature using a set of predefined search strings. Irrelevant publications were filtered using multiple criteria. The research meta data was subsequently analyzed using the Biblioshiny Tool of R. Finally, a comparative analysis of most suitable documents is presented. A total of 103 documents were used for bibliometric mapping in terms of research outcome over the past years, productivity of authors, institutions, and countries, collaborations, trend topics, keyword co-occurrence, etc. Neural networks and support vector machines are the most popular ML techniques; word embeddings are extensively used for text representations. There is a shift toward using multiple modalities. SVM, Naive Bayes, and LSTM are the most used ML methods; social media is the most used source of data (Twitter is the most common platform); and audio is the most used modality that is combined with text for depressive and anxiety disorders (DAD) detection. Text data provides good cues for the detection of DAD using machine learning. However, the findings in most of the cases are based on a limited amount of data. Using large amounts of data with other modalities can help develop more generalized DAD-detection systems. Asian countries are leading in the research output with China and India being the top countries in terms of the number of research publications. However, more international collaborations are needed. Limited research exists for anxiety disorders. Co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders is high (33% of studies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and India are the largest coal consumers and the most populated countries in the world. With industrial and population growth, the need for energy has increased, which has inevitably led to an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions because both countries depend on fossil fuel consumption. This paper investigates the impact of energy consumption, financial development (FD), gross domestic product (GDP), population, and renewable energy on CO2 emissions. The study applies the long short-term memory (LSTM) method, a novel machine learning (ML) approach, to examine which influencing driver has the greatest and smallest impact on CO2 emissions; correspondingly, this study builds a model for CO2 emission reduction. Data collected between 1990 and 2014 were analyzed, and the results indicated that energy consumption had the greatest effect and renewable energy had the smallest impact on CO2 emissions in both countries. Subsequently, we increased the renewable energy coefficient by one and decreased the energy consumption coefficient by one while keeping all other factors constant, and the results predicted with the LSTM model confirmed the significant reduction in CO2 emissions. Finally, this study forecasted a CO2 emission trend, with a slowdown predicted in China by 2022; however, CO2 emission's reduction is not possible in India until 2023. These results suggest that shifting from nonrenewable to renewable sources and lowering coal consumption can reduce CO2 emissions without harming economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though a continued increase in life expectancy is a significant public health achievement, keeping older adults active and maintaining their well-being is challenging. Active aging requires physical health, mental health, functional independence, economic stability, social participation, and spiritual identification. Among all these factors, social cohesion has significant importance, but there is a dearth of studies focusing on older adults' social cohesion. Thus, the present study focuses on the level of social cohesion among older adults and its variation among the different economic classes. This article uses data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa during 2007–10. Social cohesion scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model. Also, bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices, and multivariate regressions have been used for the analysis presented in this paper. This study confirms the strong predictive power of age, wealth, education, and working status of older adults on their social cohesion across the countries. Higher social non-cohesion is found among the economically poor older adults in Mexico, Russia, India, and China. In contrast, it is just opposite in the case of older adults in South Africa. Governments should develop policies to foster a society with a high level of social inclusion, social capital, and social diversity, to achieve further advancement in social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of government size and digitization in the process of environmental quality is a matter of considerable debate in the field of environmental economics. BRICS economies have suffered from environmental pollution. This paper scrutinizes that how CO2 emissions respond to government size and digitization in BRICS economies. Empirical estimates of the ARDL approach show that government size has a positive impact on CO2 in Brazil, India, and China, while negative impact on CO2 in Russia in the long run. The long-run estimates reveal a negative and significant effect of digitization on CO2 in Brazil, India, and China. Education and e-learning activities have a favorable and crucial role played in environmental quality in Brazil, India, and China. Based on these findings, BRICS authorities should improve the efficiency of government expenditures and invest more in digitization to improve the quality of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blasting constitutes an essential component of the mining and construction industries. However, the associated nuisances, particularly blast vibration, have emerged as significant concerns that pose threats to operational stability and the safety of the surrounding areas. Given the increasing emphasis on sustainability, ecological responsibility, safety, and geo-environmental practices, the impact of blast vibration has garnered heightened attention and scrutiny. Nevertheless, the field still lacks comprehensive phase analysis studies. Therefore, it is imperative to elucidate the research progress on blast vibration and discern its current frontiers of investigation. To address this need, this study employs bibliometric methods and the CiteSpace 6.1.R2 software to analyze 3093 papers from the Web of Science database. Through this comprehensive analysis, the study aims to chronicle the developmental trajectory, assess the present research status, and identify future trends in the field of blast vibration. The findings of this study reveal that research on "blasting vibration" is advancing rapidly, with the number of citations exhibiting a J-shaped growth curve over time. China emerges as the leading contributor to this research, followed by India, and the foremost institution in this field is Central South University in China. Cluster analysis identifies the effects of ground vibration, numerical simulation, blast load, blasting vibration and rockburst hazard as the most prominent research areas presently. The primary research directions in this domain revolve around the rock fragmentation, compressive strength, particle swarm optimization, and ann. The emergence of these keywords underscores a dynamic shift towards a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach in the field of blasting-induced ground vibration. Furthermore, this study provides a concise overview of blast vibration, discusses prediction techniques, and proposes measures for its control. Additionally, the discussion delves into the social significance of intelligent blasting systems within the context of artificial intelligence, aiming to address the hazards associated with blast-induced ground vibrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the Becker-Tomes model to a rural economy with farm-nonfarm occupational dualism to study intergenerational educational mobility in rural China and India. Using data free of coresidency bias, we find that fathers' nonfarm occupation and education were complementary in determining sons schooling in India, but separable in China. Sons faced lower mobility in India irrespective of fathers' occupation. Sensitivity analysis using the Altonji et al. (J. Polit. Econ. 113(1), 151–84, 2005) approach suggests that genetic correlations alone could explain the intergenerational persistence in China, but not in India. Farm-nonfarm differences in returns to education, and geographic mobility are plausible mechanisms behind the contrasting cross-country evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: Diabetes and related metabolic syndromes represent a significant global health challenge, with the global burden of diabetes increasing considerably since 1990. In this article, we examined the trend of publications in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism between 1996 and 2021, focusing on Asian countries. Methods: We obtained and used the data from the Scopus database from the SCImago website (https://www.scimagojr.com/), on 1 April 2023, related to the subspecialty of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism for country rankings between 1996 and 2021. We did not include any data related to other medical specialties or other fields. Results: There has been a steady rise in global publications on these subspecialties over the past decade, with the number of publications from Asian countries increasing significantly. Western Europe recorded the highest number of publications, followed by North America and Asia. The COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to a surge in publications in this field. In Asian countries, China and India have notably increased their global contribution to publications, with China emerging as the top Asian nation in 2021. Conclusion: Our findings provide valuable insights into the research output from various countries and the productivity trends in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism-related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to assess India's performance in generating the required quantity and quality of employment for its growing population since independence in 1947. But the exercise is set in a longer period that covers India's population growth since the turn of the twentieth century (1901) in relation to its ability to generate employment. The half-a-century preceding independence, despite a slow population growth, was a disaster in generating employment and any signs of structural change. Detailed analysis of the issue since independence shows that there was indeed a demographic burden more than the world average as well as its comparator Asian countries such as China and Indonesia. While employment generation with reference to growth—employment elasticity—was quite impressive during the first four decades of independence, it almost collapsed ever since the adoption of neoliberal economic reforms in 1991, thus entering a phase of 'jobless growth', a phenomenon that is shared by China in a more vigorous form. This has led to what may be called an exclusion of working age people from not just employment but from labour force indicating the emergence of 'discouraged workers' in a larger set that we called underutilized labour. But what about those who are included in the workforce? Does it ensure an escape from poverty for those at the bottom? Our estimates show that the pace of reduction in the incidence of poverty is so slow that a significant share of households is still below the international definition of extreme poverty. We attribute this to the quality of employment characterized by a high incidence of informal sector employment as well as low wages measured by the share of workers not receiving a recommended subsistence wage. The absence of any kind of social security to an overwhelming share of workers adds to this situation of absolute poverty. Finally we examine the question of poverty from the point of manifold inequalities by dividing the households in the economy in terms of their employment, educational, rural–urban, and social group statuses for estimating predicted probability of being poor. The results bring into sharp focus the huge variation in predicted probability that shows households with low education, disadvantaged social group status, casual nature of employment, and living in rural areas at the bottom end of the scale. These results bring out the imperative for creating more employment with better quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green Revolution is often seen as epitomising the dawn of scientific and technological advancement and modernity in the agricultural sector across developing countries, a process that unfolded from the 1940s through to the 1980s. Despite the time that has elapsed, this episode of the past continues to resonate today, and still shapes the institutions and practices of agricultural science and technology. In Brazil, China, and India, narratives of science-led agricultural transformations portray that period in glorifying terms—entailing pressing national imperatives, unprecedented achievements, and heroic individuals or organizations. These "epic narratives" draw on the past to produce meaning and empower the actors that deploy them. Epic narratives are reproduced over time and perpetuate a conviction about the heroic power of science and technology in agricultural development. By crafting history and cultivating a sense of scientific nationalism, exceptionalism, and heritage, these epic narratives sustain power-knowledge relations in agricultural science and technology, which are underpinned by a hegemonic modernization paradigm. Unravelling the processes of assemblage and reproduction of epic narratives helps us make sense of how science and technology actors draw on their subjective representations of the past to assert their position in the field at present. This includes making claims about their credentials to envision and deliver sustainable solutions for agriculture into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop yield predictions are important for crop monitoring and agronomic management. The traditional methods for yield predictions are complicated and resource consuming. With the availability of affordable handheld imaging and computing devices, the image processing-based yield prediction methods are gaining popularity. In this work, RGB images of rice panicles are captured using DSLR camera with simple background and processed to determine the panicle area in terms of number of pixels. A machine learning-based model is developed to make predictions for rice yield. The model is trained to make predictions on unseen data. Various machine learning-based regression algorithms including decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, and convolution neural network are tested. The experiments are performed on a publically available dataset from China as well as on a self-acquired dataset in India. The results have shown that image processing and machine learning-based methods can make yield predictions satisfactorily as evident from the coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) that ranges 0.80–0.97 for different cultivars. The prediction error is determined in terms of root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). RMSE for different methods lies between 0.14 and 0.40, whereas MAE varies from 0.11 to 0.30. Among the tested algorithms, linear regression achieved the best precision with R 2 = 0.97, RMSE = 0.14, and MAE = 0.11. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the pathways to growth of digital multisided platforms in an emergent e-commerce industry, and identifies the institutional forces and decision making choices which confront the major actors in the industry. A systems thinking approach has been used in this study for analyzing the evolution of two digital multisided platforms, Alibaba in China and Flipkart in India from 1999 to 2007 respectively till date. The findings show that the national e-commerce regulator in a country has the primary role for shaping the environment of a nascent industry, and the digital multisided platform leader benefits from aligning its vision with that of the regulator, and in focusing on building a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem. Competition in the e-commerce sector is between ecosystems developed by platform leaders. A relational view of competition on the part of the platform leader, rather than a rivalrous view is critical to making the ecosystem viable and competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International trade affects CO2 emissions by redistributing production activities to places where the emission intensities are different from the place of consumption. This study focuses on the net emission change as the result of the narrowing gap in emission intensities between the exporter and importer. Here we show that the relocation of production activities from the global North (developed countries) to the global South (developing countries) in the early 2000s leads to an increase in global emissions due to the higher emission intensities in China and India. The related net emissions are about one-third of the total emissions embodied in the South-North trade. However, the narrowing emission intensities between South-North and the changing trade patterns results in declining net emissions in trade in the past decade. The convergence of emission intensities in the global South alleviates concerns that increasing South-South trade would lead to increased carbon leakage and carbon emissions. The mitigation opportunity to green the supply chain lies in sectors such as electricity, mineral products and chemical products, but calls for a universal assessment of emission intensities and concerted effort. International trade redistributes production activities to regions with varying emission intensities. This study finds that the convergence of emission intensities between the global South - North and changes in trade patterns have resulted in declining net emissions in trade in the past decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting financial sustainability is the focus of current state policies while addressing the concerns of environmental pollution. The alarming impacts of climate change on economies motivate us to revisit an intensive empirical study to explore the dynamic relationships of low-carbon energy, current account balance, and reserves with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the most polluted countries across the globe for the years 1981–2020. We applied the dynamic autoregressive distributive lag (D-ARDL) simulation model to investigate the short and long-run connection. The empirical outcomes of the study uncover that in the short run, a 1% increase in renewable energy reduces CO2-based emissions by 0.417%, 0.169%, and 0.619% in China, the USA, and India, respectively. We further explored that China's and the USA's economic growth causes environmental deterioration. In contrast, a 1% increase in current account balances improves the environmental quality of China and India by 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. This research concludes that model variables significantly impact the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to draw policy implications to increase the consumption of low-carbon energy to sustain economic growth by limiting the adverse impacts of economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Methane directly contributes to air pollution, as an ozone precursor, and to climate change, generating physical and economic damages to different systems, namely agriculture, vegetation, energy, human health, or biodiversity. The methane-related damages to climate, measured as the Social Cost of Methane, and to human health have been analyzed by different studies and considered by government rulemaking in the last decades, but the ozone-related damages to crop revenues associated to methane emissions have not been incorporated to policy agenda. Using a combination of the Global Change Analysis Model and the TM5-FASST Scenario Screening Tool, we estimate that global marginal agricultural damages range from ~ 423 to 556 $2010/t-CH4, of which 98 $2010/t-CH4 occur in the USA, which is the most affected region due to its role as a major crop producer, followed by China, EU-15, and India. These damages would represent 39–59% of the climate damages and 28–64% of the human health damages associated with methane emissions by previous studies. The marginal damages to crop revenues calculated in this study complement the damages from methane to climate and human health, and provides valuable information to be considered in future cost-benefits analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Food insecurity and multimoribidity (i.e., ≥ 2 chronic conditions) may be linked bidirectionally, but there are no studies on this topic from LMICs. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the association between food insecurity and physical multimorbidity in a large representative sample of older adults from six LMICs. Methods: Cross-sectional, community-based data on adults aged ≥ 50 years from the World Health Organization's Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa were analyzed. A total of 11 chronic physical conditions were assessed. Past 12 month food insecurity was assessed with two questions on frequency of eating less and hunger due to lack of food. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the associations. Results: Data on 34,129 adults aged ≥ 50 years [mean (SD) age 62.4 (16.0) years; age range 50–114 years; 47.9% males] were analyzed. After adjustment for potential confounders, in the overall sample, compared to being food secure, moderate and severe food insecurity were associated with 1.29 (95% CI 1.06–1.56) and 1.56 (95% CI 1.13–2.16) times higher odds for multimorbidity, respectively Conclusion: Food insecurity was associated with greater odds for multimorbidity in older adults from LMICs. Addressing food insecurity in the general population may reduce risk for multimorbidity, while screening for food insecurity and addressing it among those with multimorbidity may lead to better clinical outcomes, pending future longitudinal research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation change can alter surface energy balance and subsequently affect the local climate. This biophysical impact has been well studied for forestation cases, but the sign and magnitude for persistent earth greening remain controversial. Based on long-term remote sensing observations, we quantify the unidirectional impact of vegetation greening on radiometric surface temperature over 2001–2018. Here, we show a global negative temperature response with large spatial and seasonal variability. Snow cover, vegetation greenness, and shortwave radiation are the major driving factors of the temperature sensitivity by regulating the relative dominance of radiative and non-radiative processes. Combined with the observed greening trend, we find a global cooling of −0.018 K/decade, which slows down 4.6 ± 3.2% of the global warming. Regionally, this cooling effect can offset 39.4 ± 13.9% and 19.0 ± 8.2% of the corresponding warming in India and China. These results highlight the necessity of considering this vegetation-related biophysical climate effect when informing local climate adaptation strategies. Using satellite observations over the recent two decades, the authors quantify the biophysical impact of earth greening on land surface temperature and show a considerable cooling effect in India and China, important for climate mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study uses both carbon dioxide emission and ecological footprints as proxies for environmental degradation to examine the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the top three emitters from Asia, i.e., China, India, and Japan. To this end, the autoregressive distributed lag model for time series and panel estimation is used for a period spanning over 1980–2016. For carbon dioxide emission, China presents an inverted-U shape of the environmental Kuznets curve, while a U-shape relationship is found for India and Japan. Similarly, when the hypothesis is tested with the ecological footprint, Japan offers an inverted U-shape and U-shaped association is detected for China and India. The panel analysis indicates the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve with both proxies of environmental degradation. Besides, human capital and renewable energy promote environmental sustainability, while non-renewable energy use hinders environmental quality. The findings of this study suggest that in order to meet the combined goals of economic growth and environmental protection, the three economies, i.e., China, India, and Japan, should employ renewable energy–enabled technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) caused by household air pollution (HAP) have sparked widespread concern globally in the recent decade. Meanwhile, increased ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality has been the leading cause of worldwide CVD deaths. Both China and India experienced a high IHD burden and high exposure to HAP. The present study aimed to estimate and compare the long-term trends of HAP-attributable IHD mortality in the two countries. The data of this study were extracted from the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) Study 2019. The age-period-cohort (APC) analysis was utilized to estimate the independent trends of the age, period, and cohort effects from 1990 to 2019. The age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) of HAP-attributable IHD have fallen faster in China than in India for both sexes. The local drift and net drift values were < 0 for all age groups in both countries. The age effects in both countries and sexes increased with time, suggesting age is a risk factor for IHD; conversely, period and cohort effects in China demonstrated a faster decline in both genders than in India. It indicated that China has been more successful than India in decreasing HAP-attributable IHD mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the relationship between electricity and growth of the economy is investigated by applying the newly-developed bootstrap autoregressive-distributed lag test with a Fourier function to examine both the causality and cointegration for China, India, and the United States (US). While it is not possible to detect a long-term cointegration relation among the economy's electricity and growth, the study findings demonstrate the contingency of the causality. The ensemble method in machine learning performs better than conventional methods as electricity is an independent indicator for forecast economics. Concerning the US, previous electricity consumption has a positive impact on the current nature of economic growth. In contrast, the consumption of electricity is negatively affected by the development of the economy. However, for China and India, positive and negative feedback can be observed, respectively. Due to the increased awareness of the environment's adverse effects, China should promote technologies that conserve energy and boost energy efficiency to achieve sustainable development in both environmental and economic terms. In India's context, broadening access to electricity has significance for residents in rural areas and enhances economic growth. It is recommended that policy-makers promote innovative technologies in the US, as the abundant natural and human resources can make valuable contributions to the society and development of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study dynamically examines the impact of foreign direct investment and other explanatory variables on economic growth and carbon emissions, and tests the validity of pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China, India, and Singapore from 1980 to 2020. The results of Westerlund's (Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 69(6):709–748, 2007) panel cointegration test illustrate long-run equilibrium relationships among the proposed set of panel variables in the model. The estimated parameters of the AMG, CCEMG, and MG estimators in each of the specified models show that renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment, and capital accumulation all have significant and progressive effects on economic growth. However, the labor force is insignificant and carbon emissions have a significant negative impact on economic growth. Non-renewable energy consumption significantly stimulates and renewable energy consumption significantly reduces carbon emissions. Moreover, the moderating role of non-renewable energy in the impact of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions is significantly positive, thus validating the PHH. The moderating role of renewable energy consumption in the impact of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions is significantly negative. The study's analysis also clearly validated the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Singapore. Policymakers in emerging economies must prioritize the maturity of renewable energy, which not only increases productivity but also protects the environment from damage by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The governments of China, India, and Singapore should initiate direct foreign inflows based on advanced and clean technologies to avoid environmental degradation and drive higher growth in these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the antecedents of human rights infringements (HRIs) by emerging market firms (EFs). We used fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine HRIs in 245 firms based in eight emerging markets, between 2003 and 2012. Our findings disclose three equifinal configurations of high levels of HRIs, all involving EFs that have expanded to a high number of foreign markets: (i) large, old, low performing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in high quality institutions' home and host markets, (ii) small, young, over-performing EFs operating in low quality institutions' home and host markets, and finally (iii) large, old, high performing SOEs, operating in low quality institutions' home and host markets. We contribute to the literature by examining a novel dataset on HRIs by EFs, and by building a configurational explanation of HRIs that bridges the arguments of the institutional theory and strain theory literatures on corporate wrongdoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation is considered one of the most important forcing data in scientific investigations involving agriculture, water management, and climate variability. Knowledge of precipitation variation during rainy seasons is the key to the understanding of the precipitation variability under the effect of climate change. This study evaluated some rainy season features (e.g., onset, retreat, and rainy-season precipitation) over the Yellow River basin (YRB), China, and the influence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The multi-scale moving t-test was applied to capture the onset and retreat of rainy season. The possible linkage between ENSO-induced precipitation and monsoon and atmospheric circulation was also explored. From the analysis, four conclusions can be drawn: (1) Rainy season began the earliest (latest) and ended the latest (earliest) in the southern (northern) YRB, with rainy-season precipitation increasing from northwest to southeast. (2) Rainy-season precipitation showed strong correlation to SST in Niño regions. Precipitation can reach up to 20% above the average precipitation for decaying central Pacific warming (CPW) and down to 35% below the average precipitation for developing eastern Pacific warming (EPW) in most areas of the YRB. (3) Developing El Niño showed the strongest dry signals among developing ENSO and ENSO Modoki phases. Decaying El Niño and El Niño Modoki indicated overall increasing precipitation, with La Niña and La Niña Modoki during the corresponding period showing the opposite tendency. (4) Different performances of ENSO-induced precipitation attributed to the combined influence of the monsoon from the India Ocean and the atmospheric circulation in the Western North Pacific (WNP). Stronger anti-cyclone and monsoon are related to increasing rainy-season precipitation. These findings can improve the predictability of rainy season features and ENSO-induced precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of research and development (R&D) intensity on renewable energy consumption in selected Asian economies. We have relied on the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) method to get empirical estimates. The short- and long-run results show that a rise in R&D intensity increases renewable energy consumption in China and Japan. In the long run, energy intensity and financial development increase renewable energy consumption in China and India only. Among other control variables, a rise in CO2 emissions causes renewable energy consumption to rise in all three economies in the long run. The trade increases renewable energy consumption in India and Japan in the long run. This study shows the important policy implications of promoting R&D and renewable energy consumption in the selected Asian economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-waste is the globally mounting solid waste stream which is increasing due to domestic as well as a result of transboundary exportation. This solid waste stream is considered as an amalgam of valuable and toxic material which is concern of environmental and human health risks. To accomplish successful management of electronic equipment after post-consumer stage, numerous lucid initiatives have been offered globally. The ever-increasing quantum of e-waste has enforced environmental organizations of many developing world such as India and China to invent, and implement environmentally favorable opportunities and strategies for mitigation and control of environmental and human threat. Many developed countries have given topmost priorities for e-waste management, so setup appropriate facilities to treat maximum of the generated e-waste, but in low economic nation like India, economic conditions, infrastructure scarcity, and inappropriate legislations are some of the problematic issues which dodge complete replication of the WEEEs management system. Our study represents an evaluation and valuation, of e-waste generation and cross-border movement to the management strategies followed in highly industrialized as well as developing nations. These findings would expand into regulated and non-regulated countries to put more emphasize on e-waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a surveillance study to monitor porcine epidemic diarrohoea virus and transmissible gastroenteritis virus in India, a total of 1043 swine samples including faeces (n = 264) and clotted blood (n = 779) were collected and tested. Five samples (four faecal and one serum) showed cytopathic effects in Vero cells. Transmission electron microscopy of infectious cell supernatant revealed the presence of two types of virions. Next-generation sequencing (de novo) allowed the complete genome sequence of mammalian orthorubulavirus 5 (MRuV5; 15246 bp) and that of all 10 gene segments of mammalian orthoreovirus to be determined. Genetic analysis of MRuV5 revealed grouping of the Indian MRuV5 with isolates from various mammalian species in South Korea and China, sharing more than 99% nucleotide sequence identity. The deduced amino acid sequences of the HN, NP, and F genes of MRuV5 isolates showed three (92L, 111R, 447H), two (86S, 121S), and two (139T, 246T) amino acid substitutions, respectively, compared to previously reported virus strains. Phylogenic analysis based on S1 gene sequences showed the Indian MRV isolates to be clustered in lineage IV of MRV type 3, with the highest nucleotide sequence identity (97.73%) to MRV3 strain ZJ2013, isolated from pigs in China. The protein encoded by the MRV3 S1 gene was found to contain the amino acid residues 198-204NLAIRLP, 249I, 340D, and 419E, which are known to be involved in sialic acid binding and neurotropism. This is the first report of co-isolation and whole-genomic characterisation of MRuV5 and MRV3 in domestic pigs in India. The present study lays a foundation for further surveillance studies and continuous monitoring of the emergence and spread of evolving viruses that might have pathogenic potential in animal and human hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the two largest countries by population, China and India have pervasive effects on the ecosphere. Because of their human population size and long international boundary, they share biodiversity and the threats to it, as well as crops, pests and diseases. We ranked the two countries on a variety of environmental challenges and solutions, illustrating quantitatively their environmental footprint and the parallels between them regarding the threats to their human populations and biodiversity. Yet we show that China and India continue to have few co-authorships in environmental publications, even as their major funding for scientific research has expanded. An agenda for collaboration between China and India can start with the shared Himalaya, linking the countries' scientists and institutions. A broader agenda can then be framed around environmental challenges that have regional patterns. Coordinated and collaborative research has the potential to improve the two countries' environmental performance, with implications for global sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice is an important cereal and a staple food in many countries in the world. Climate change is a significant challenge that affects paddy production and threatens food security. However, research and development in this area continue to work to ensure the supply of rice fulfils the demands of the population. The study aims to analyse the transformation of international research power in trends in climate change that threaten food security (rice) worldwide. This study evaluates existing publications, especially research works from the period 1970 to 2020. The Web of Science database and the VOSviewer software were used together to generate a systematic analysis. A total of 1181 publications on climate change and paddy production were identified, written by 2249 authors from 56 countries. The highest number of publications was from China with 240 publications with 4609 citations, followed by India, with 225 publications and 2070 citations. Yield and adaptation are the most frequently used keywords that reflect this field's current significant research direction. Besides that, developing countries have received greater attention from researchers to focus on science, agriculture, climatology, and agriculture engineering as their domains. Therefore, socio-economic aspects should also be highlighted to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change and improve the farmers' economy by increasing paddy production. Attention was given by all countries globally, especially by researchers and stakeholders who need to plan holistic policies and strategies to encourage sustainable rice production and at the same time reduce the impact of climate change worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovine theileriosis is an important tick-borne haemoprotozoan disease of sheep in tropical and subtropical regions, causing severe productivity and economic loss. There is a paucity of information related to molecular studies of ovine theileriosis from India. The present study identified different Theileria spp. in naturally infected sheep using nested PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (nPCR-RFLP). Blood samples and ticks were collected from 204 sheep in different agro-climatic zones of Haryana state, India, during the tick active season. Microscopic examination of thin blood smears revealed 33.3% (68/204) infections with Theileria spp., while 44.6% (91/204) of blood samples were positive by nPCR assay. Different Theileria spp. were identified based upon RFLP patterns using four restriction enzymes: Hpa II, Bsh 1285I, Hae II and Rsa I. Out of 91 positive samples, 50.5% (46/91), 23.08% (21/91), 11% (10/91) and 2.2% (2/91) were positive for T. ovis, T. lestoquardi, T. luwenshuni (Theileria sp. China 1/Theileria sp. China) and T. annulata, respectively. Mixed infection was detected in 13.2% (12/91) of cases. Based upon HpaII enzymatic digestion pattern, two samples with T. lestoquardi and T. annulata, nine samples with T. lestoquardi and T. ovis and one sample with T. ovis and T. annulata were detected. The presence of these Theileria spp. was further confirmed by sequence analysis. The majority of ticks collected from sheep were identified as Rhipicephalus spp. followed by Hyalomma anatolicum and Hemaphysalis spp. The present investigation depicts the first comprehensive molecular report of naturally infected sheep with T. ovis, T. lestoquardi, T. annulata and T. luwenshuni from northern India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the driving determinants on the export-related carbon intensity (ECI) of China, to better understand the impact of international trade on climate change governance and facilitate China's carbon intensity mitigation goals. First, China's ECI evolution and its gaps with the USA and India are measured during 2002–2014. Then, the main drivers of China's ECIvert study further discusses the influencing factors of ECI in the manufacturing industry using the environmental-extended STIRPAT model and GMM method. The results show that (1) China's overall ECI increases from 1.50 Kg/US$ in 2002 to 1.92 Kg/US$ in 2005 and then decreases to 1.27 Kg/US$ in 2014. The ECI of the manufacturing industry is significantly higher than that of the agriculture and service industry. China's ECI gap with the USA is greater than that with India, and both show a downward trend. (2) Carbon emission coefficient is the domain factor to reduce China's ECI during 2002–2014; the effects of the value-added coefficient, input–output structure, and final demand are limited. The input structure dominantly expands China's ECI gaps both with the USA and India, followed by the value-added coefficient. The carbon emission coefficient enlarges the ECI gap with the USA while reduces that with India. (3) Industrial productivity and value-added rate are negatively correlated with ECI in the manufacturing industry, while per capita capital stock plays the opposite role. The positive correlation between energy intensity and CIE becomes significant after distinguishing technology heterogeneity. In contrast to the non-tech-intensive manufacturing industry, the increase of backward GVCs participation of tech-intensive ones will reduce the ECI. The threshold effect of backward GVCs participation exists in the whole manufacturing industry. Targeted ECI reduction policy implications are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming and food security have led to increasing concern about agricultural crop production efficiency, especially wheat and rice farming. The purpose of the current study is to measure wheat and rice production efficiency scores with environmental quality in China, India, and Pakistan by using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The DEA results show that China and India are more efficient in wheat and rice production but it is not efficient in the environment in the study period. The results also show that Pakistan has also relatively small wheat and rice efficiency compared with China and India and increased the efficiency with the passage of time. The practical outcomes also show that Pakistan has the most efficient and effective states from the periods 2008 to 2019 in terms of wheat and rice efficiency and also a small increase in carbon emission. Based on the findings, policymakers should pay attention to the role of green technology in reducing agricultural CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Headache disorders are disabling, with major consequences for productivity, yet the literature is silent on the relationship between headache-attributed disability and lost productivity, often erroneously regarding the two as synonymous. We evaluated the relationship empirically, having earlier found that investment in structured headache services would be cost saving, not merely cost-effective, if reductions in headache-attributed disability led to > 20% pro rata recovery of lost productivity. Methods: We used individual participant data from Global Campaign population-based studies conducted in China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Russia, and from Eurolight in Lithuania, Luxembourg and Spain. We assessed relationships in migraine and probable medication-overuse headache (pMOH), the most disabling common headache disorders. Available symptom data included headache frequency, usual duration and usual intensity. We used frequency and duration to estimate proportion of time in ictal state (pTIS). Disability, in the sense used by the Global Burden of Disease study, was measured as the product of pTIS and disability weight for the ictal state. Impairment was measured as pTIS * intensity. Lost productivity was measured as lost days (absence or < 50% productivity) from paid work and corresponding losses from household work over the preceding 3 months. We used Spearman correlation and linear regression analyses. Results: For migraine, in a linear model, we found positive associations with lost paid worktime, significant (p < 0.05) in many countries and highly significant (p < 0.001) in some despite low values of R2 (0–0.16) due to high variance. With lost household worktime and total lost productivity (paid + household), associations were highly significant in almost all countries, although still with low R2 (0.04–0.22). Applying the regression equations for each country to the population mean migraine-attributed disability, we found pro rata recoveries of lost productivity in the range 16–56% (> 20% in all countries but Pakistan). Analysing impairment rather than disability increased variability. For pMOH, with smaller numbers, associations were generally weaker, occasionally negative and mostly not significant. Conclusion: Relief of disability through effective treatment of migraine is expected, in most countries, to recover > 20% pro rata of lost productivity, above the threshold for investment in structured headache services to be cost saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty eradication and environmental degradation are the two crucial challenges, and they are highly interlinked in the modern era. However, countries are still more emphasized in attaining poverty alleviation and alleviating environmental pollution which require enormous attention. Our study is a novel attempt to scrutinize the effect of poverty on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for India and China over the sample period 1987–2019. Findings attained from the ARDL model suggest that a rise in poverty contributes to growing CO2 emissions in India only in short run. Further, findings show that poverty is the principal source of pollution in the long term in India and China. Empirical results proposed focal policy implications in the light of sustainable development goals for India and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The association between visual impairment and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has not been investigated to date. Thus, we assessed this association among older adults from six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (China, India, Ghana, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa) using nationally representative datasets. Methods: Cross-sectional, community-based data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Visual acuity was measured using the tumbling ElogMAR chart, and vision impairment (at distance and near) was defined as visual acuity worse than 6/18 (0.48 logMAR) in the better-seeing eye. The definition of MCI was based on the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted. Results: Data on 32,715 individuals aged ≥ 50 years [mean (SD) age 62.1 (15.6) years; 51.2% females] were analyzed. Compared to those without far or near vision impairment, those with near vision impairment but not far vision impairment (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.16–1.52), and those with both far and near vision impairment (OR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.27–2.29) had significantly higher odds for MCI. Only having far vision impairment was not significantly associated with MCI. Conclusions: Visual impairment is associated with increased odds for MCI among older adults in LMICs with the exception of far vision impairment only. Future longitudinal and intervention studies should examine causality and whether improvements in visual acuity, or early intervention, can reduce risk for MCI and ultimately, dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]