What drives university students to practice social distancing? Evidence from South Korea and Vietnam

As COVID-19 has caused unprecedented social change, governments are implementing several social measures to control transmission. Among them, social distancing is being enforced in almost all countries and is effective in preventing infection. Based on the importance of social distancing, this study identifies factors influencing the intention towards social distancing. The research model was developed by introducing risk perception in the theory of planned behaviour. To examine the proposed model, a survey was conducted with 339 university students from two countries, South Korea and Vietnam. The data were analysed using the partial least squares method. The results show that social distancing attitude and perceived behavioural control significantly influence social distancing intention. The findings indicate that both affective risk perception and cognitive risk perception serve as imperative factors in the formation of social distancing attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. However, subjective norms and nationality do not affect social distancing intention. Based on the results, suggestions are made for policymakers to establish effective social measures.     

What do newspapers make of China in the South Pacific?

The purpose of this research note is to provide an empirical indication of how China's increasing role in the South Pacific has been presented in their own and other nations' media over the last 20 years. What is the tone of coverage? Which issues are salient? How does this vary by nation? What changes are there over time? This research note reports information derived from over 1000 articles published in Australasian, Asian and Pacific newspapers in the last 20 years. The findings demonstrate that nations dealing with ‘China's rise’ in the South Pacific are faced with a range of complex issues, which can produce ambivalent and mixed reactions. For instance, although the tone of Australian and New Zealand newspaper coverage of China's entry into their ‘special patch’ is, overall, more negative than positive, negativity is largely driven by coverage of China's diplomatic efforts in the region and geopolitical considerations. Other aspects of China's expanding role (e.g. economic and cultural aspects) are treated much more positively. Similarly, although the major focus of Pacific newspapers is on Chinese aid and economic impact, which are treated very positively, coverage of other issues can be negative.     

Social dialogue and industrial relations in South Korea: Has the tripartite commission been successful?

This paper analyses the sweeping changes in industrial relations in South Korea that have taken place since democratisation in 1987, which gave workers the right to organise themselves, and critically reviews the development of social dialogue since the financial crisis of 1997. A number of international labour specialists have maintained that social dialogue plays an important role in enhancing economic restructuring and the stability of industrial relations in order to compete in a global economy. Contrary to the positive assessment of social dialogue, the paper argues that the Korean Tripartite Commission has not reduced the antagonism between unions and employer organisations due to the influence of embedded, state‐led economic development. The financial crisis of 1997 merely provided a catalyst to propel the ‘historic compromise’ of February 1998, without creating effective institutional arrangements to maintain social dialogue. It is worth noting that the uncertainty of social dialogue results from the inability of the Korean Tripartite Commission to encourage employers and workers to trade off wage restraint for job security in the context of a lack of social welfare protections. The paralysed Korean Tripartite Commission provides fertile ground for reflecting on the complex relationship between social dialogue and institutional arrangements.     

What does the character of urban technology reveals about convergence versus divergence of innovation in China?—A technical lens to evaluate regional economic development

Regional technology characters (TCs) are studied in this paper to find whether innovation in Chinese cities leads to technology converging, or technology divergence, in both the intra-city and inter-city scales, with which regional economic development strength may be better explained. Based on a literature review on the subject, a two-dimensional research framework and relevant technical lens are designed to clarify TC in cities composed of parameters on Technology Strength (TS) versus Technology Angle (TA). By applying Principle Component Analysis, a technical lens is made possible based on extracted parameters on three integrated technology dimensions for measuring TSs and TAs over 117 Chinese sample cities with invention patent data covering 21 technology field between 2005/2006 and 2015/2016. Technology convergence versus divergence are examined for 28/24 sample cities beyond average score, and the research findings indicate that technology divergence in Chinese cities can be confirmed at the inter-city level, even partially at the intra-city level. This finding holds for most sample cities with fairly large and modest TSs, while intra-city technology converging is significant, especially for larger sized TS samples, however they also differ on different dimensions. This may imply that urban economic development in China is technical based and differentiated.     

How does industrial agglomeration affect regional innovation? A spatial econometric analysis

This study empirically investigates the direct and indirect (spillover) effects of three types of industrial agglomeration with different cognitive distances, namely, industrial specialization, industrial related variety, and industrial unrelated variety, on regional innovation. Accordingly, we applied the concepts of related and unrelated variety and used spatial econometric analysis. Based on panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2004 to 2016, the empirical results reveal that both industrial specialization and industrial related variety significantly improve regional innovation and produce positive spatial spillover effects on the surrounding regions. However, industrial unrelated variety has a significant negative impact on regional innovation and produces a negative spatial spillover effect on the surrounding regions. Moreover, the direct and indirect effects of the three types of industrial agglomeration on regional innovation between China's coastal and inland cities. The findings have important theoretical and policy implications.     

Towards new regionalism? Case study of changing regional governance in the Yangtze River Delta

This paper draws on a series of interviews with urban planners and government officials to examine the changing regional governance in the Yangtze River Delta. It finds that integration and collaboration are emerging and the growing economic benefits of intercity cooperation serves as a driver for local government to change from hostile competition to collaboration. Nevertheless, regional governance is far from established. Instead, regional transformations reflect the local politics of economic devolution and urban entrepreneurialism. Currently, there is no formal regional institution or coalition and the regional agenda is economic oriented and project based. Policies are formulated by individual cities rather than through multilateral negotiation between cities. The primary motive underlying the initiatives for cooperation is regional economic competitiveness rather than regional integration. Hence, the paper argues that emerging collaboration is far from being a substantial departure from inter‐jurisdiction competition in the earlier phase of regional governance.     

NIMBY or NIABY? Who defines a policy problem and why: Analysis of framing in radioactive waste disposal facility placement in South Korea

This paper applies discourse analysis to policies surrounding the siting of radioactive waste disposal facilities in South Korea. We question the premises of previous studies that define the radioactive waste disposal facilities decision outcomes in Korea as ‘repeated failures’. Instead, we suggest that underlying ideas and value systems surrounding the policy problem differ between supporting and opposing parties. In particular, our focus is on the ‘framing’ strategies manifest in policy discourse. Our analysis of newspaper articles shows that participants define and frame the policy issue in distinctive ways. Framing strategies include selective attention to, and naming of, the policy issues in the processes of frame articulation, amplification, extension and transformation. Overall, our analysis shows that framing analysis is a useful tool for understanding the policy decision‐making process from a different perspective than traditional policy analysis.     

“Prototype”Analysis of Waterfront Spaces in Ancient Towns in South of the Yangtze River

On the basis of architecture typology theory, this paper explored the waterfront building layout and space in Prototype, conducted a fi eld trip research on Ancient Fengjing Town, with empirical analysis on the impact of Prototype due to natural conditions in South of Yangtze River. This study also analyzed and verified the continuous space section presented as the main features of waterfront space by using visualized approaches.     

ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour: A space for civil society in migration governance at the regional level?

The aim of this article is to discuss and substantiate new spaces for the political participation of migrant civil society at the regional level in Southeast Asia through the lens of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Forum on Migrant Labour (AFML). The AFML process is shaped by the International Labour Organisation and mirrors its tripartite format, essentially bringing together governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations. Crucially, migrant support and self‐organisations also have access, even if somewhat restricted, to regularly held deliberations. In light of the ASEAN consensus on migration that was agreed upon at the end of 2017, the article situates the AFML within the ongoing process of migration governance in the region and focusses especially on the role of migrant civil society as an important stakeholder. Based on the specific experience of civil society organisations (CSOs) from Malaysia, the article discusses which spaces the forum provides for civil society actors and how the latter use them for their advocacy. The major argument of the article is that the development of migration policies at the regional level can benefit from the inclusion of migrant civil society in the process. The governance of migrants could thus be complemented by governance for and by migrants.     

Climate change education in the South Pacific: Resilience for whom?

Climate change education (CCE) can be an important tool to increase local community resilience. In 2017, the Pacific Community ratified the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP) aiming to equip local communities with skills needed to become more climate change resilient. In 2018, Fiji implemented the Climate Change Resilience Programme (CCRP) at the University of the South Pacific (USP), the first of its kind in the South Pacific. This paper evaluates (i) the orientation and aim of the programme and (ii) how different stakeholders influenced the curriculum development process. Tribe's concept of curriculum space is used to highlight the overall aim of the CCRP. Freeman's stakeholder theory allows to identify key stakeholders and their influence on the curriculum. Results indicate that the programme seems to foster climate resilience in the workplace rather than the local community. Unfortunately, current and future community leaders, the notional targets of this course, were almost completely unrepresented in the process to accredit the course, with the body responsible for accreditation being dominated by industry representatives. This study helps to inform the current review of the Regional Certificate Programme to realign it with its initially envisioned community focus.     

What determines the densities of feeding birds on tidal flats? A case study on dunlin,Calidris alpina,in the Wadden Sea

The tidal and seasonal pattern of habitat utilization by dunlin was studied in a tidal-flat area in a shallow bay called Königshafen, island of Sylt, by counting the number of dunlins on marked plots at 10-min intervals over whole tidal cycles. Sediment type, tidal elevation, and seasonal changes in food choice were found to influence the feeding densities of dunlin irrespective of total numbers present in the area. Densities of dunlin were generally highest on low muddy substrates. A preference for high sandy substrates was found in late summer. The tidal pattern of habitat utilization differed between areas. In preferred areas dunlin stayed during the whole emersion period. Other areas were only used by following the moving tide line. Seasonal changes in habitat utilization were apparently triggered by changes in food choice. In spring dunlin fed almost exclusively on polychaetes. In late summer a relatively high proportion of shrimps, Crangon crangon, was found in the diet of dunlins. The preference for shrimps may force the birds to stay away from the tide line, where the shrimps can escape into deeper waters. It is recommended that studies on habitat utilization on tidal flats should consider the tidal behaviour of the target species, as single low-tide counts may not give valid results.     

Heritability of thrips resistance in the ‘IPA-3’ onion cultivar in South Texas

A two season study was conducted to compare the onion cultivars TG1015Y and IPA-3 for resistance to thrips in South Texas. Narrow and broad sense heritabilities were estimated from populations developed from the cross, ‘IPA-3’ × ‘TG1015Y’. Parents, F1, F2, and the respective backcross populations were evaluated for thrips numbers at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Weslaco, TX. ‘IPA-3’ had significantly fewer thrips than ‘TG1015Y’ in both seasons. Yield was significantly different only in the 1996–97 season. The heritability of thrips resistance in this study was very low. Depending on the methods of estimation h ² was 5.3% and 4.0%, and H ² was 4.1% and 8.0%. These results suggest that greater genetic gains for thrips resistance in onion can be achieved by selection on a family basis rather than using single plant selection. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

What can the experiences of rural women in Solomon Islands teach us about innovation in aquatic food systems?

In Solomon Islands, women's groups play an important role in promoting socially inclusive development and women's empowerment. In this paper, we summarise the experiences of a 5-year participatory action research partnership to enhance rural livelihood activities based on aquatic foods. The women's savings groups that participated in this research identified solar-powered freezers as an innovation suitable to their skills and environment. The 12 freezers we used in our partnership to pilot this innovation had tangible benefits. More than 700 unique users accessed the freezers, 3900 kg of fish was stored and over USD6,000 was saved in total; however, accumulation of savings varied greatly between groups. The women's groups demonstrated that operating solar-powered freezers can be financially viable, and the innovation integrated well with their livelihood activities. This conclusion provides an alternative to dominant development narratives, which tend to focus on building large-scale infrastructure, and often exclude women. Existing marketing skills and cooperation were strengths on which the women built. Poor-quality technology was the biggest impediment to success. Solving this basic problem should be a priority for any future cold-storage initiative.     

Application of GC FTIR technology in the analysis of SF6 decomposition products

The composition of SF6 decomposition products is directly associated with the safe operation of equipment. Through GC FTIR coupling technique,the SF6 decomposition products are divided, the qualitative analysis is made with FTIR to the outlier,and spectrogram was processed with subtract and searched the analogous one. Above data is used to generate the tridimensional atlas of infrared spectrum absorbance GC holding time. Single gas analysis is compared with local measurement, the foregoing method can make the qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis for the decomposition products, the fault features detected by gas composition and chroma is anastomotic with the actual fault, the result indicates that this method can be used in GIS fault diagnosis.     

Regularity of the saturation lines’ change and stability analysis oftailings dam in the condition of flood

Yangtianqing tailings dam is a new dam planned for a copper mine. At the design period, test in laboratory is carried out to simulate the process of dam pile based on the design information of Yangtianqing tailings dam. And the regularity of the saturation lines’ change at the condition of flood and normal is studied, when the dam have been heaped to the about 2/3 of the total height (120 m). Based on the test data, the stability coefficients of the dam at this height in different conditions are obtained with the Slide software, and they could be served for the following test and the mine’s future safety production. It is shown that the dam is safe in the normal condition, while in the condition of flood, the stability coefficient is less than the benchmark in national standard. Thus, it is necessary to rectify the preliminary design or to take other measures to ensure the safety of the tailings dam.     

The use of the „studentized range” in connection with an analysis of variance

Summary A numerical example is given of the analysis of variance applied on yields per cabbage.After having concluded from a F-test, that the varieties show significant differences, a discussion is given of a new method to decidewhich varieties are different.The t-test though in frequent use, gives wrong conclusions. The method indicated in this article diverges from those discussed byNewman andTukey and is I suppose the more plausible.Samenvatting Het gebruik van de studentized range in verband met de variatieanalyse Een rekenvoorbeeld wordt gegeven van de variatieanalyse toegepast op spitskoolopbrengstcijfers.Na op grond van een F-test te hebben geconcludeerd dat de rassen duidelijke verschillen tonen, wordt een nieuwe methode besproken om uit te makenwelke rassen verschillen. Hoewel de t-test hiertoe geregeld gebruikt wordt geeft deze verkeerde uitkomsten. De aangegeven methode wijkt af van die welke doorNewman enTukey worden besproken en lijkt mij de meest voor de hand liggende van de drie.     

Ethnic or Political Fractionalisation? A District Level Analysis of the Provision of Public Goods in Sri Lanka

This study investigates the influence of ethnic and political fractionalisation on the provision of public goods at a district level in Sri Lanka. Evidence shows that political fractionalisation has a greater negative impact on the provision of public goods compared with ethnic fractionalisation. Similarly, political polarisation has a greater negative effect on the provision of public goods compared with ethnic polarisation. The interaction between ethnic and political measures suggests that political fractionalisation (political polarisation) exacerbates the negative effects of ethnic fractionalisation (ethnic polarisation) on the provision of public goods. The ethnolinguistic fractionalisation (ELF) index assumes greater statistical significance under fixed effects estimation suggesting greater within district effects in the relationship between ELF and public good provision.