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Involving the global issues as listed in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education is necessarily done in the education process, especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning. Exposure to global issues is known to improve students' understanding, awareness, and ability to solve urgent issues faced by global society. This paper aims to find out the trend of research on the coverage of SDGs in students' learning process. This systematic literature analysis was done by applying Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Method. A total of 25 studies were recognized through a systematic search by using Sustainability, SDGs, and EFL as keywords. The result shows that the trend of associating SDGs with EFL settings was done mostly in Indonesia. In the recent year 2022, it reached the highest number of studies in the particular matter with 7 total of research. It was also found that the study involving SDGs on EFL learning was mostly done in the tertiary setting, compared with K-12, junior high school, secondary, high school, and other educational institutions. It was also discovered that the specific area of study enhances EFL students' learning achievement, environmental awareness, global citizen values, as well as students' levels of self-norms, beliefs, and self-value.

The aim of this study is to identify the most prolific countries in the field of special education and to discuss the widespread impact of their papers by taking into account the country's h-index. Through a bibliometric analysis, the data were collected in the Web of Science Core Collection category "Education, Special" in the Social Science Citation Index during 2011-2020. The 25 most prolific countries in the field of special education were determined in terms of paper productivity, and it was seen that the leading country was undisputedly the USA (54.42%). Meanwhile, a strong positive correlation was found between the h-index and the number of papers published by the countries (r=0.864). On the other hand, when the ranking in terms of the number of papers was reconfigured by the h-index, it was relatively changed. The possible reasons for this change for the countries with the most changing rankings were discussed by considering some definitive criteria such as the journal quartiles, the percentage of international and domestic, and the percentage of open access papers. This study reports a positive correlation between the quality and quantity in the field of special education for the publications of countries. It has been shown that where the positive correlation deviates, then especially, the journal quartiles, the percentage of international collaboration and the percentage of open access papers have a significant effect. The bibliometric findings may be useful to enrich the discussion about the widespread impact of papers and debate whether the use of h-index is acceptable for cross-national comparisons.

The International Virtual Exchange Project (IVEProject) has been connecting students across multiple countries through asynchronous forums on a large scale since 2015. However, considering the variety of virtual exchange methods and the advantages they bring to the field of foreign language learning, there is an increased need to explore the pedagogical possibilities of combining asynchronous and synchronous modalities, particularly across multiple institutions and countries. This short article reports on a pedagogical innovation which involved adding synchronous sessions conducted over Zoom to the asynchronous IVEProject forums. The authors arranged eight weekly Zoom meetings in which students from China, India, Japan, Jordan, Palestine, Türkiye and Syria participated in May-July, 2021. After the final session, a survey was administered to participating students and their teachers to explore their experiences. The results show that the majority of students appreciated and benefitted from the opportunity to communicate synchronously with peers from other countries. The paper also reflects on the benefits and challenges of combining synchronous sessions alongside the asynchronous IVEProject forums, aiming to derive lessons learned from this project in the hope that this will aid future EFL instructors in creating engaging virtual exchange projects which involve participants from multiple cultures and countries.

Governance and regulation of the use of live animals in research and teaching is examined in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and India. A comparison of the systems in different countries will enable the determination of best practice and fit-forpurpose regulation. The most comprehensive government regulation of animal welfare in institutions covers a broad range of animals and institutions are required to have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, whose membership is specified in guidelines or regulations. The work of the Committees is rigorously overseen by government and facilities that use live animals are audited externally. All countries examined have legislation governing the use of live animals in research, although only Australia and Malaysia have a fully equivalent mandated oversight of teaching. Teaching that uses live animals is partly covered in the Philippines, Japan, Singapore and Thailand This paper thus aims to review the regulation of animal use in different Asian jurisdictions in order to determine best practices that are appropriate to those settings. The most comprehensive oversight is provided in Australia and Malaysia that essentially use the same regulatory framework.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the legal issues of simultaneous Internet transmission of broadcasting programs of the Open University of Japan (OUJ) and to take legal measures to promote the mutual utilization of open university courses in Japan, the UK, China and Korea. Design/methodology/approach: The author examines the legal relationship regarding Internet simultaneous distribution of broadcast courses at the OUJ. The author then considers the legal relationship between the UK, China and South Korea regarding the simultaneous transmission of broadcast courses over the internet. Based on that consideration, this paper clarifies legal measures to promote its utilization. Findings: Internet transmission of broadcasting courses will be webcasting. Arguably, it can be assumed to be streaming and on-demand, albeit controversial. Webcasting will be publicly transmitted, but there is only an on-demand provision for Internet transmission. As webcasting is streaming and on-demand, it involves reproduction of broadcasting courses. Therefore, webcasting needs to provide streaming provision for public transmission rights and associate them with reproduction right. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in clarifying the legal response of the object, subject and rights of webcasting from the perspective of the OUJ, in order to dispel legal problems that may arise in the future against this unexplored phenomenon. Additionally, this paper is valuable in that it presents legal consistency from the point of view of the comparative laws of Japan, the UK, China and South Korea, based on an examination of the legal response in Japan.

The unprecedented social disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in rapid change within the family and home. This paper uses semi-structured interviews with parents around the globe to examine the following research questions: 1. How have the spatial and temporal organizations of learning and working in the home been altered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? 2. What are the alterations in the educational processes and the role of the family in response to the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? We found that typical boundaries, those between the roles of family members, between work or school and home, and between leisure time and work time have been fundamentally blurred. While some of these boundaries are more porous than others, families report fundamental shifts, temporary and permanent in the way they organize their home and family, spatially and temporally, and the roles they take on within the family.

Effective syllabus document design hinges on an alignment between learning objectives, teaching principles and curricular policy. Much of the work on syllabus design in the English Language Teaching (ELT) context focuses on the implementation of language teaching principles, such as those from the Communication Language Teaching (CLT) approach. Limited attention has been paid to this alignment, which is pivotal for ensuring the coherence and consistency between the intended outcomes, content selection and organisation, and assessment tasks. Employing qualitative document analysis (QDA), this study identifies the core syllabus elements and their alignment with current teaching approaches in twelve, localised ELT syllabuses. Utilising elements from Richards and Rodgers' (2014) methods analysis and Nunan's (1988) syllabus design, the analysis demonstrates that while CLT principles have been incorporated into the syllabuses, misalignments remain, such as those between intended objectives and assessment tasks. This paper offers an analytic framework to guide teachers in designing a more closely aligned syllabus and making visible its connections.

Interpretive frameworks may be helpful to understand narratives, yet they also risk displacing unique information of the research context. In this paper, we argue that such is the case in narrative inquiry studies of English language teaching set in the Asian context, perhaps due to the pressure to use familiar interpretive frameworks that are sanctioned by scholars. Through meta-ethnography, we examined recent narrative inquiry studies set in Asia. It was observed that the research findings do not offer any critical insights about the context of the study; instead, they add to the prevalence of broad constructs of English language education, such as the components of identity. For future narrative inquiry research, we recommend researchers to consider utilizing local meanings pertinent to the study context as an analytical lens, as a means to Asianize the field.

This paper explores faculty's perspectives and use of open educational resources (OER) and their repositories across different countries by conducting a multiple case study to find similarities and differences between academics' awareness, perceptions and use of OER, as well as examining related aspects of institutional policy and quality that may influence individual views. Data were collected through nine expert reports on each country studied (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey) and were analyzed through qualitative content analysis using thematic coding. Findings show the impact on individual OER adoption with regard to the individual control of diverse factors by faculty members; of institutional policies and quality measures on the externally determined factors (by the institution); and of institutional professional development and provision of incentives in more internally determined factors (by the faculty members themselves). These findings carry implications for higher education institutions around the world in their attempt to boost OER adoption by faculty members.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the impact of exchange rate changes on the trade balance of China and its major trading partners. In the past, many studies have been focussed on the linear effect of exchange rate change, but in this paper, a non-linear Autoregressive Distribution Lag (NARDL) model is proposed. Empirical results show that there are nonlinear and asymmetric effects on the trade balance of exchange rate. In particular, the effect of exchange rate appreciation on Sino-US trade balance is more significant than that of depreciation. A genuine devaluation of the domestic currency would improve the balance of the domestic trade. However, the opposite effect is found in the case of Sino-Japan and the Euro, and the depreciation of the currency will make the trade balance worse. These results provide a solid basis for understanding the relation of exchange rate variation and trade balance. In terms of economic reality, it is also a useful reference for adjusting exchange rate and commercial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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For Japan's former prime minister Abe Shinzō, security cooperation with Southeast Asia was central to preventing the South China Sea from turning into a "Lake Beijing" - completely under Chinese control. This paper explains why Abe's security engagement in the region focused mainly on providing Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) to Southeast Asian coast guards agencies to counter China's maritime assertiveness. Answers are provided by looking at not only international but also domestic factors. Based on key variables of post-Cold War Japan's foreign policy, namely the US-Japan alliance, the dominance of economic tools, and normative and institutional constraints on the use of force, the analysis concludes that CBA was an ideal response to the complex demands and restrictions of Japan's security policy. In particular, the economic benefits of providing CBA are an important finding of the analysis and one that has not yet received much scholarly focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since in the early seventies after the Japanese economy had been rebuilt from the destruction of WWII and had become competitive based on preeminent manufacturing and infrastructure, high technological advancement, networked production and distribution networks, Japan has been considered the leading power base in Asia from the early 1970’s. After an initial competitive phase with the US, Japan and the U.S. have maintained a long standing economic and political relationship. However, the continued outsourcing of US manufacturing to low cost countries, specifically to China, an evolving balance of power can be clearly observed since China’s opening up to foreign trade and investment and implementing free-market reforms in 1979. This article examines the economic developments over the last two decades (2000-2019), coincident with China’s joining the World Trade Organization (as well as the dot.com bubble and the 2008 Recession) and its rise in economic and political might to determine how Japan’s role may develop in the future. The article begins with an examination of political power theory and moves to specific economic indicators over the time period in question (2000-2019) as well as drawing on current political and economic developments from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the lackluster Japanese economic growth and development and increase in debt/GDP. The text contrasts the US theoretical model (Kindleberger, Krasner & Gilpin), which represents a field balanced by hegemonic stability, as opposed to the UK model (Cohen, Strange) which is based more on a framework of cooperation and a more theoretical examination of power. It is posited that national power has increasingly ceded to global corporate power (Stopford, Henley, Strange). Against this theoretical background the economic indicators of the region are examined from 2000-2019. The analysis carried out in the study is based on several research methods: a critical analysis of the literature, a descriptive method, and a method of inference based on statistical data. Trade and FDI flows in the region are presented and examined to make assumptions on the waxing or waning influence of the players. It was found that there is neither specific evidence that Japan will recede in relative importance nor garner increased relevance. Finally, there is an ensuing discussion of geopolitical factor which are analyzed within the current developmental context, which have the potential to greatly influence future economic and political power in the region, and beyond. Specific policy measures are beyond the scope of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uUTIs) are one of the most common community-acquired infections, particularly among women. Common symptoms of UTI include dysuria, urinary urgency and increased frequency, and lower abdominal pain. With appropriate treatment, symptoms may resolve in a few days. However, there is a lack of research on the emotional impact of this disease. We conducted a qualitative, interview-based study to gain a greater understanding of the emotional impact of uUTIs in women in China and Japan. Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, in-depth, interview-based study was conducted between 19 November 2020 and 25 February 2021. Women aged ≥ 18 years who experienced ≥ 1 uUTI and received antibiotic treatment in the past year were eligible for inclusion. Participants must have experienced ≥ 1 of the following symptoms during a uUTI episode: urinary urgency, frequency, dysuria, or lower abdominal/suprapubic pain. Participants who reported back pain or fever (indicative of complicated UTI) were excluded. Participants with recurrent or sporadic UTIs were included, with specific screening criteria used to ensure capture of both groups. Following a screening call, a structured, in-depth telephone interview (~ 30 min in duration) was conducted by three female external moderators trained in qualitative interviewing, assisted by an interview guide. Interviews were analysed individually and thematically, with the results presented within the identified themes. Results: A total of 65 women with uUTI completed the in-depth telephone interview: 40 (62%) from China and 25 (38%) from Japan. Participants reported that the symptoms of uUTI affected multiple aspects of their lives, and described feelings of embarrassment, frustration, guilt, dread, and loneliness associated with symptoms that interfered with relationships, work and daily activities, and sleep. Participants reported seeking healthcare from several different points of contact, from local pharmacies to hospitals. Conclusions: Our analysis highlights the profound emotional impact of uUTIs in women in China and Japan, and the journey these participants take before their initial interaction with a healthcare professional. These insights emphasise the need to better understand the full impact of uUTI, and the role of healthcare professionals in improved patient education and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In much of Western legal historical scholarship, legal fictions are understood to be devices for maintaining the integrity of text-based legal codes in the face of social change. However, while legal fictions as such were not a topic of scholarly inquiry in East Asia prior to the introduction of the concept from the West, East Asia is nevertheless rich in examples of another kind of legal fiction: jurisprudential legal fictions, or legal fictions effected by judges and rooted in culture (often including religion). The mythical, moral xiezhi beast in ancient China, and judge-centered moral reasoning in pre-modern Japan, point to legal fictions beyond the traditional categories of such in much of Western scholarship, as well as to legal fictions within the West now largely forgotten after the advent of Enlightenment thinking on textual law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay starts from the hypothesis that we are entering a new bipolar world, dominated by the US and China. Time will prove its sustainability in front of other scenarios, like the unipolar world, the multipolar world or the emergence of new superpowers. Based on this hypothesis we discuss Japan's possible role as a credible facilitator between the US and China. According to its history, traditions, culture and geography, Japan belongs to the Far East and according its system of government, economy and civil liberties, it belongs to the Euro-Atlantic value system. Through this equidistance, in a world where China seeks to assert its hegemon role on various global levels, Japanese diplomacy and good practices can represent a point of balance. In the US-China-Japan triangle, relations are like a traffic light (three "co"): green-cooperation, yellow-competition, and red-confrontation. Currently, yellow dominates China's relations with the other two actors, while green prevails between the US and Japan. Japan's diplomatic skills could reduce the risk of red colour (confrontation) on either side of the triangle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstracts, two pain physicians independently reviewed and classified them as acute or chronic pain. Quantitative data on countries, institutions, journals, and research categories were analyzed. VOSviewer software was used for keyword mapping and clustering.Results: We analyzed 808 VR-related articles on pain medicine. Over the past three decades, the number of publications in this field has increased steadily. The United States of America (n = 259) had the highest number of publications. Moreover, China (n = 42), Japan (n = 18), and South Korea (n = 24) also contributed continuously. Acute and chronic pain research accounted for 44.2% and 37.9% of the articles, respectively. The most common acute pain topic was procedure-related (n = 129, 16.0%), whereas the most common chronic pain topic was neuropathic (n = 104, 12.9%). Keywords clustered around neuroscience, pediatric pain management, and chronic pain management.Conclusion: Our study revealed academic achievements and growing interest in VR-related research in pain medicine. Researchers worldwide have shown balanced interest in applying VR technology to acute and chronic pain, with specific contributions from China, Japan, and South Korea. Harnessing VR technology is promising for improving pain management and enhancing patients' quality of life in the field of pain medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global surge in migration has led to diversification in immigrant populations and their migration patterns, even towards countries like Japan, China, and South Korea with traditionally low immigration rates. This study examines the forces driving migration among professional Hispano-Americans. It introduces an analytical framework, inspired by Archer and Bourdieu, that unravels the interplay between agency and structure, utilizing the concept of migratory trajectories to investigates dynamic shifts and subjective dimensions inherent in migration. Using grounded theory, in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey involving 236 professionals reveal four distinct migration profiles. The data highlights the intricate nature of participants' migration expectations, shaped by tensions like the education-occupation gap, corruption, nepotism, and security concerns in their home countries. These aspirations are influenced by a convergence of economic, socio-cultural, and political factors, emphasizing professional growth, enhanced quality of life, and enriching socio-cultural experiences. Importantly, these expectations lead to a tendency to deviate from conventional migration routes, driven by a highly positive perception of destination countries. The findings shed light on the complex interplay of socio-structural tensions, migration expectations, and resulting trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the history of machine-readable data encoding standards and argues that the QR code has become an infrastructural gateway. Through the analysis of patents, corporate documents and advertising, ethnographic observations, and interviews with professionals, I describe the global making of the QR code and argue that the convergence of data encoding standards, mobile computing, machine vision algorithms, and platform ecosystems has led to the emergence of a new component of computational infrastructures which functions as a gateway between different actors, systems, and practices. The central section of the article covers seven decades of machine-readable data encoding history across different national and regional contexts: from the invention and popularization of the barcode in the United States, through the QR code's invention in Japan and its success in East Asia, to its platformization in China. By revisiting this history through concepts drawn from the field of infrastructure studies, I argue that QR codes have become infrastructural gateways and conclude that this concept is useful not only to understand the current role of QR codes but also to identify and follow the emergence and change of other gateways in infrastructures to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Japanese expatriates living in China. The survey period was from March 30 to July 31, 2021; responses were received via an online survey. An online survey gathered responses from 236 participants about the impact of COVID-19 on their work and life. While 80% of the participants responded that COVID-19 had impacted their work and life, 60% said that it had a physical or mental impact. Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test were conducted to compare the effects of COVID-19 on job performance, including personal attributes. The impact of COVID-19 was associated with gender (p =.007), age (p =.010), occupation (p =.005), job title (p =.009), and living arrangements with or without a partner (p =.005). The impact was also correlated with age (p =.030), job position (p =.014), number of times the respondent had lived in Japan (p =.003), and number of years in Japan (p =.015). The most significant effect on mental and physical health was correlated with job position (p =.016). Thus, Japanese expatriates living in China were substantially affected by the COVID-19 epidemic; although, 60% of them said their region was easy to live in. Further, despite the Chinese government's strict isolation orders, they found the thorough testing and use of the coronavirus tracking app reassuring. This suggests the importance of providing not only mental care for expatriates during the COVID-19 epidemic but also prompt decision-making based on an accurate understanding of the local situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and Japan have enjoyed significant economic boosts due to technological progress. However, these are accompanied by serious environmental pollution, which has brought China and Japan's commitments to climate treaties into question. Therefore, this study attempts to contribute to the literature on green finance, energy, and the environmental sustainability nexus. We investigate the role of green finance and energy in the environmental performance of Asia (China and Japan) between 2010 and 2020. The empirical results show that green finance promotes environmental sustainability, suggesting that green finance reduces environmental pollution. Similarly, green energy positively affects environmental performance; this validates the theory that green energy technology is environmentally friendly. Therefore, we recommend promoting the green energy system through subsidies and grants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alustath is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With the frequent coastal activities of human beings, tens of thousands of tons of floating marine plastics pose a serious threat to marine ecosystems and human survival. This paper studies the feasibility of regional marine plastic garbage management, taking the Northwest Pacific as the research object. According to the Cobb-Douglas utility function of the costs and benefits of plastic processing in China, Japan and South Korea, the Shapley value method was used to analyze it. The study found that the data were substituted into the Shapley value model of cooperative game for calculation, and the results showed that any country joining the triple alliance U would create greater benefits, and obtain higher benefits than the sub alliance. It is a triple win situation for China, Japan and the South Korea to jointly manage marine plastic in the Northwest Pacific. The results of the model confirm that the three countries are willing to maintain long-term cooperation on marine plastic governance, this method can be used to solve the trans-national marine governance innovatively and promote regional ocean cooperation governance. At the same time, by comparing the Northwest Pacific Plan with other action plans, China, Japan and South Korea should abandon political controversy, seeking common ground while putting aside differences, to cooperate fully to curb the growing trend of plastic waste problem in the Northwest Pacific, and contribute to the sustainable development of regional marine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the history of state intervention in East Asia's varieties of capitalism through a case study of the electric power industry. The reasons for state intervention in China and Japan, their similarities and differences, and their relative importance are described and analysed. The origin and evolution of the different national models of state–business relations in the two countries are influenced by domestic factors such as national defence and internal unification, as well as external circumstances such as colonialism, occupation, and war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate the causal relationship between economic stability and political stability for Japanese and Chinese markets. Based on the study's aims, time domain causality tests - Granger causality, Toda-Yamamoto causality, and nonlinear Diks-Panchenko causality - and a frequency domain causality test - spectral Breitung and Candelon causality - are employed. The outcomes of the time domain causality tests reveal that there is feedback causality between political stability and economic stability in both countries, indicating that political stability is an important predictor for economic stability in both countries and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]