bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
KASUS HUMAN TRAFFICKING DI ASIA TENGGARA
Authors: Midhol Ahmad Baihaqi
Published: July 2022

This journal wants to show how cases of human trafficking in the Southeast Asia region are still happening today and how ASEAN has taken steps to address the problem of human trafficking. One of the transnational organized crime that has existed since ancient times until now. This evil is difficult to deal with even to eradicate. The Southeast Asian region is a contributor to a fairly high number of human trafficking cases in the world. Along with the development of the times this case has decreased. However, this crime is still happening today. These crimes are difficult to eradicate because ASEAN as a forum for countries in Southeast Asia has not been able to find the right solution to overcome the practice of human trafficking. The arguments in this journal want to show that the reason for human trafficking is still happening today, and the steps and obstacles experienced by ASEAN in dealing with or dealing with cases of human trafficking which have long been a security problem for countries in Southeast Asia. There are several factors that cause this crime. The economy is one of the important factors in the occurrence of human trafficking. The implementation of ASEAN policies is also constrained by several factors such as social, economic and political factors.
Bài tiểu luận cuối kỳ
Authors: Thương Đoàn
Published: July 2022

Tình trạng tự tử ở Việt Nam đang diễn ra bởi các lí do nào, nguyên nhân là gì, cách khắc phục ra sao.
Nonlinear Spillover and Dynamic Connectedness Between International Crude Oil and Dow Jones Islamic Market
Authors: Ali Mariwan
Published: July 2022

This study examines crude oil prices throughout the world, as well as significant stock returns of European oil importers and exporters (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands) (Norway and Russia). Indexes of sustainability stocks have a greater correlation with countries that import oil than with those that export oil. There was a stronger correlation between oil prices and stock prices both during and after the global financial meltdown in 2008. Study findings reveal a strong correlation between worldwide crude oil prices and major indices of countries that purchase or export oil. Our results have the potential to assist socially aware investors in hedging and diversifying their portfolios.
Stress Sources of Hockey Referees and the Emotion-Centered Approaches that they Use to Cope
Authors: Şahin Nurşen , Yıldırım Ali
Published: July 2022

The aim of this study is to examine the stress sources of hockey referees and the emotion-centered approaches that they use to cope with these stress sources according to demographic characteristics. For this purpose, 69 of the 150 hockey referees who were active in the 2021-2022 Indoor Season constituted the sample of the study. The data of the study were collected by adapting the items of the Stress Scale developed by Erdem (2015) for wrestling referees to hockey referees. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used in the analysis. The findings showed that according to averages; hockey referees think “wrong decision” as the most, and as for ranking; “verbal attack by the coach,” “verbal attack by the players,” “verbal attack by the spectators,” “threat of physical attack by others” and “attempt by the referees higher category than you to influence your decisions during the competition” as sources of stress; it points out that they use a “positive cognitive approach” as a coping method. However, stress sources are by gender and referee category; methods of coping with stress also differ according to age, marital status and refereeing category. As a result, it is possible to say that hockey referees use positive cognitive approach to cope with wrong decision-making, the threat of physical and verbal attacks and performance concerns that stress them; the refereeing category is both a source of stress and a determining demographic variable in coping with stress.
Differential expression of SRRT in cancers of the breast.
Authors: Mamoor Shahan
Published: July 2022

Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the level of the transcriptome genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with early-onset breast cancer. We found significant differential expression of the gene encoding serrate, RNA effector molecule, SRRT, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast: in women aged 45 and younger, and women aged 70 and higher. SRRT mRNA was present at significantly higher quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of SRRT in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with overall survival in patients with basal subtype breast cancer, demonstrating a relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by PAM50 molecular subtype. SRRT may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.
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Authors: rawal kamal
Published: July 2022

Wrong data uploaded
Differential expression of TFAP2A in cancers of the breast.
Authors: Mamoor Shahan
Published: July 2022

Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the level of the transcriptome genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with early-onset breast cancer. We found significant differential expression of the gene encoding transcription factor AP-2 alpha, TFAP2A, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast: in women aged 45 and younger, and women aged 70 and higher. TFAP2A mRNA was present at significantly higher quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of TFAP2A in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with overall survival in patients with luminal A subtype breast cancer, demonstrating a relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by PAM50 molecular subtype. TFAP2A may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.
Predicting Household Resilience Before and During Pandemic with Classifier Algorithms
Authors: Surjaningsih Ndari , Werdaningtyas Hesti , Rahman Faizal , Falaqh Romadhon
Published: July 2022

One of the lessons learned from the global financial crisis in 2008 was raising attention to monitoring and maintaining household vulnerability, particularly household credit risk, by using the default rate as the indicator. The indicator would be worsening at the economic recession, likewise, recently happened caused by the pandemic. The default event has a complex nonlinearity relationship among the determinants. To tackle the complex relationship, this study suggests exploiting machine learning approach in modeling the probability of default, especially the individual and ensemble classifiers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate changes of the Indonesian household financial resilience before and during the pandemic, supported by the individual-level data of the Financial Information Service System. This study finds that the ensemble classifiers, notably extreme gradient boosting, have a more predominant performance than the individual classifiers. The best model, then has the feature importance analysis to identify the variable pattern in explaining the default event periodically which reveals the pattern changes before and during the pandemic. The cost of debt/repayment capability and the policy mix is significant in explaining the default event. At the same time, the project location feature weakens in discriminating the target class.
Differential expression of PHRF1 in cancers of the breast.
Authors: Mamoor Shahan
Published: July 2022

Breast cancer affects women at relatively high frequency (1). We mined published microarray datasets (2, 3) to determine in an unbiased fashion and at the level of the transcriptome genes most differentially expressed in the primary tumors of patients with early-onset breast cancer. We found significant differential expression of the gene encoding PHD and ring finger domains 1, PHRF1, when comparing primary tumors of the breast to the tissue of origin, the normal breast: in women aged 45 and younger, and women aged 70 and higher. PHRF1 was also differentially expressed in the brain metastases of patients with brain metastatic breast cancer. PHRF1 mRNA was present at significantly higher quantities in tumors of the breast as compared to normal breast tissue. Analysis of human survival data revealed that expression of PHRF1 in primary tumors of the breast was correlated with overall survival in patients with luminal A subtype breast cancer, demonstrating a relationship between primary tumor expression of a differentially expressed gene and patient survival outcomes influenced by PAM50 molecular subtype. PHRF1 may be of relevance to initiation, maintenance or progression of cancers of the female breast.
Earlier I2P papers, NSA buildings and X-Files season 11 (historiography V:3 - part two)
Authors: Akmut Camille
Published: July 2022

Computer science and technology : historiography V (3 - part two)
Acculturation - Wikipedia
Authors: Raku Han
Published: July 2022

Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, andcultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultureswhile adapting to the prevailing culture of the society.Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts,acquires and adjusts to a new cultural environment as a resultof being placed into a new culture, or when another culture isbrought to you. ***** For archiving only *****
Recognizing a New Environmental Education Phenomenon with Science Mapping Techniques: Eco-Anxiety
Authors: Karabal Mehmet
Published: July 2022

As awareness of global warming and ecological deterioration increases, the phenomenon of "eco-anxiety," which is a result of the negative effects of ecological crises on human mental health, has begun to take more place in our lives. Ecological problems disproportionately affect children, who are more susceptible to the economic, social, and health problems caused by the environmental crisis. For this reason, environmental educators, who have an active role in coping with eco-anxiety, need to know this phenomenon better. At the same time, research in the field of education on eco-anxiety is very important as it will reveal the points to be considered and the steps to be taken in the environmental education processes. This study aims to present a simple and understandable roadmap to those who want to research the concept of eco-anxiety, which is still very new but still popular. In this direction, books, scientific publications, and internet resources dealing with the concept of eco-anxiety were analyzed, and the findings were presented using visual and scientific mapping methods.
Sociocultural perspective
Authors: AISDL Mindsponge
Published: July 2022

Sociocultural Perspective is a theory used in fields such as psychology and education and is used to describe awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their behaviors are affected specifically by their surrounding, social and cultural factors.
An ant colony is like a neural network
Authors: AISDL Mindsponge
Published: July 2022

The researchers of this study suggested that the way ants process information is similar to the neural network in the brain.
Bài tiểu luận cuối kỳ
Authors: Van Cuong Pham
Published: July 2022

Để tăng cường đẩy mạnh công tác tuyên truyền, phổ biến kiến thức về mục đích nhânđạo, chữa bệnh, giảng dạy, nghiên cứu khoa học và ý nghĩa của việc hiến, lấy, ghép mô, bộphận cơ thể người đến đội ngũ cán bộ Hội Chữ thập đỏ Việt Nam các cấp và các tầng lớpnhân dân, qua đó góp phần nâng cao nhận thức, thay đổi hành vi tiến tới đăng ký và hiếntặng mô, bộ phận cơ thể người khi còn sống hoặc sau khi chết, chết não; Bộ Y tế và Trungương Hội Chữ thập đỏ Việt Nam triển khai xây dựng Chương trình phối hợp Công tác tuyêntruyền, vận động hiến mô, bộ phận cơ thể người và hiến xác giai đoạn 2015 - 2020 tầm nhìnđến 2030 làm cơ sở cho việc triển khai hoạt động truyền thông vận động hiến tặng mô, bộphận cơ thể người nêu trên trong cả nước
RELEVANSI PENGAWASAN ISLAM (HISBAH) TERHADAP PERAN DEWAN PENGAWAS SYARIAH DALAM IMPLEMENTASI SYARIAH COMPLAINCE PERBANKAN SYARIAH
Authors: prastyaningsih ika
Published: July 2022

Tujuan penelitian untuk menjelaskan konsep pengawasan berdasarkan syariah Islam dan relevansi pengawasan terhadap peran Dewan Pengawas Syariah pada pelaksanaan pengaduan syariah yang sesuai dengan ketentuan DSN-MUI dan peraturan BI. Dalam konteks perbankan, keluhan syariah adalah masalah yang krusial, karena dalam banyak penelitian, masyarakat masih merasa bahwa bank syariah sama dengan bank konvensional yang menggunakan sistem Riba. Di lain pihak, Dewan Pengawas Syariah memegang peranan penting untuk mengawasi Pelaksanaan Pengaduan Syariah dalam operasi perbankan syariah juga sebagai pembeda antara perbankan syariah dan perbankan konvensional. Pengawasan Dewan Pengawas Syariah memainkan peran penting dalam memastikan kualitasnya terhadap prinsip-prinsip syariah. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian ini menjelaskan bahwa peran pengawasan Dewan Pengawas Syariah dalam pelaksanaan kepatuhan syariah telah relevan dengan konsep pengawasan dalam Islam, juga prinsip-prinsip dan metode pengawasan yang berjalan relevan dengan aturan Islam. Serta kriteria penunjukan anggota Dewan Pengawas Syariah memenuhi kriteria muhtasib dalam pengawasan Islam.
Measuring the Effect of Media Framing on Behavior Towards Refugees
Authors: Walentek Dawid , Letki Natalia , Dinesen Peter Thisted , Liebe Ulf
Published: July 2022

Past research demonstrates that media framing of immigrants and refugees affects sentiments towards these groups in the receiving societies; however, no evidence on the media effects on actual behavior towards these groups has been offered. We contribute by testing the effect of media framing on a behavioral outcome through an experiment embedded in a survey carried out in 7 EU countries (N=8,832). We randomly assigned visual treatments corresponding to humanitarian, security, and economic (welfare) burden media frames, and offered the respondents an opportunity to donate half of their survey remuneration to a charity supporting refugees. Exposure to the humanitarian frame increases the probability of a donation by 5 percentage points (p<.001), while there is no statistically significant effect of the security and economic (welfare) frames. Furthermore, we observe a moderating role of ethnocentrism and political ideology on the humanitarian and the security frame, illustrating a polarized response to media framing.
The Impact of Covid 19 on the Obligations of Contractors through the Commercial Contract in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Law Perspective
Authors: Elfakharani Ashraf M. A.
Published: July 2022

With the growing COVID cases internationally, there is a need for a greater focus at both academic and government levels on the disease. The existing studies published in peer review journals are not sufficient in developing policies regarding counteracting the impacts on the contractors’ obligation as per the commercial contracts in Saudi Arabia. The exploratory study will look into the commercial contracts in detail to find out how the obligations of contractors are affected through legislative restrictions regarding COVID.
Registered report: Validation of the PurpleXus sensor for skin temperature measurement
Authors: Bellemin Ronan , IJzerman Hans
Published: July 2022

To understand whether and how temperature regulation contributes to interpersonal relationships, we need to study them on a daily basis. To do so, we need accurate sensors to measure frequently. In this study, we aim to validate the PurpleXus sensor for skin temperature measurement. It’s a newer, potentially more accurate, and less invasive thermal sensor than one we validated before, the ISP131001 (Sarda et al., 2021). We followed the same protocol as Sarda and colleagues (2021) and ran linear mixed models to check whether the PurpleXus sensor is reliably correlated to a wired and previously validated sensor, the MLT422/A probe. In addition, we provided formal comparisons between the PurpleXus sensor and the ISP131001 sensor. In the exploratory and the confirmatory set we found an overall correlation of .56 and [.xx] respectively between the PurpleXus and the MLT422/A probe, while we found a correlation of .42 and [.xx] between the ISP131001 and the MLT422/A probe. [We will add a discussion sentence after running the confirmatory analyses.]
Unidimensional community detection: A Monte Carlo simulation, grid search, and comparison
Authors: Christensen Alexander P.
Published: July 2022

Unidimensionality is fundamental to psychometrics. Despite the recent focus on dimensionality assessment in network psychometrics, unidimensionality assessment remains a challenge. Community detection algorithms are the most common approach to estimate dimensionality in networks. Many community detection algorithms optimize an objective criterion called modularity. A limitation of modularity is that it penalizes unidimensional structures in networks, favoring two or more communities (dimensions). In this study, this penalization is discussed and a solution is offered. After, a Monte Carlo simulation using one and two factor models is performed. Key to the simulation was the condition of model error or the misfit of the population factor model to the generated data. Based on previous simulation studies, several community detection algorithms that have performed well with unidimensional structures (Leading Eigenvalue, Leiden, Louvain, and Walktrap) were compared. A grid search was performed on the tunable parameters of these algorithms to determine the optimal trade-off between unidimensional and bidimensional recovery. The best performing parameters for each algorithm were then compared against each other as well as maximum likelihood factor analysis and parallel analysis (PA) with mean and 95th percentile eigenvalues. Overall, the Leiden and Louvain algorithms and PA methods were the most accurate methods to recover unidimensional and bidmensional structures and were the most robust to model error. More nuanced method recommendations for specific unidimensional and bidimensional conditions are provided.
Understanding whether lockdowns lead to increases in the heaviness of gaming using massive-scale data telemetry: An analysis of 251 billion hours of playtime
Authors: Zendle David , Flick Catherine , Hargarth Darel , Ballou Nick , Cutting Joe , Drachen Anders
Published: July 2022

ObjectivesThe primary objective of this study is to determine whether any specific lockdown policy led to meaningful increases in the amount of time that individuals spent playing video gamesCOVID-19 has led governments across the world to enact a variety of containment and closure (‘lockdown’) policies. Significant attention has been directed towards the idea that these public health measures may have unanticipated negative side-effects. A nascent evidence base suggests that individuals played video games for longer during lockdowns and school closures in specific. This increase in playtime per gamer is linked to the potential for lockdowns to induce gaming disorder. However, the evidence base regarding lockdowns and disordered gaming is based on self-report and is susceptible to bias. It is therefore unclear what the true consequences of lockdowns were for gaming behaviour across the world – disordered or otherwise.DesignThis is a longitudinal study, utilising 2 years worth of data. Rather than rely on self-report, we analyse approximately 251 billion hours of raw gameplay telemetry data from 184 separate countries to assess the behavioural correlates of COVID-related policy decisions. A multilevel model estimated the impact of eight containment and closure policies on the amount of time that individual users spend in-game. Similar models estimate the impact of policy on overall playtime and number of users within a country. ResultsWhilst school closures are associated with increases in both playtime (r2=0.048, 95%CI: 0.042 – 0.056, p<0.001) and the number of unique individuals playing games (r2=0.057, 95%CI: 0.050 – 0.065, p<0.001), no lockdown policy can explain substantial variance in playtime per gamer.ConclusionsLockdown policies were not associated with important increases in playtime per user. While there were significant concerns about the public health implications of increased video game playtime during lockdowns, unbiased telemetry data fails to corroborate these concerns.
Using a mobile application to reduce anxiety levels, stress levels, and panic severity in a sample of the general population
Authors: Ferguson Thomas , Krigolson Olave
Published: July 2022

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people are feeling more anxious and stressed than ever. As such, mobile solutions that minimize face-to-face contact and can reduce anxiety and stress in the public are needed. The mobile application “Rootd” could be one such solution and we sought to investigate this mobile health application further. In the present work, we recruited 41 participants from the community and had them use the Rootd app on a regular basis. To assess whether Rootd decreased anxiety levels, stress levels, and panic incidence and severity, we had participants complete assessments before using the application (the pre-application period) and after four to six weeks of using the application (the post-application period). All participants were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that the use of the application led to a decrease in both anxiety and stress levels on two well-validated questionnaires and per the participants’ self-report. As well, we found that Rootd did not decrease panic attack incidence but did decrease panic attack severity. These findings build upon previous investigations that have adopted mobile-health approaches and mindfulness to help treat anxiety, stress, and panic. Moreover, given our generalized sample and the short intervention timeframe, these findings provide evidence that mobile health solutions are invaluable to help people manage anxiety, stress, and panic, during times when face-to-face interaction is reduced – such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other-serving vs Self-serving Instructions in US College Commencement Speeches: A Quantitative Study
Authors: Trzeciak Isabel Grace
Published: July 2022

INTRODUCTION: Research supports that serving others and practicing altruism is beneficial for one’s health, wellbeing, and success compared to solely serving oneself. However, it is unclear if this mindset is effectively communicated to young people, particularly college students. My objective was to perform a quantitative analysis of other-serving versus self-serving instructions in commencement speeches at graduation ceremonies of top-ranked U.S. colleges.METHODS: I analyzed transcripts of commencement speeches at the 20 “Best Colleges” according to U.S. News and World Report rankings. Two trained independent raters coded each sentence of the speeches as either containing instruction (i.e., imperative/command sentence) versus no instruction. Next, the two raters classified each instruction as either (1) other-serving, (2) self-serving, or (3) neutral (serving neither). I tested inter-rater agreement using Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ), and resolved any disagreement by consensus with a third rater. I pooled the data and performed descriptive statistics with sensitivity analyses to ensure that a small proportion of speeches were not skewing results.RESULTS: Inter-rater agreement was very good (κ >0.85). Of 305 total instructions (mean 15/speech, range 2-44/speech), 148 were neutral. Of the 157 non-neutral instructions, 71 (45%) were other-serving and 86 (55%) were self-serving. Within individual speeches, there was wide variation in the proportion of other-serving versus self-serving instructions (range 0-100%); however, sensitivity analyses did not substantially affect results.CONCLUSION: I found that other-serving and self-serving instructions were balanced in commencement speeches at top-ranked U.S. colleges. Additional research is needed to test the impact of these different messages on students.
Bridge builders, world makers: Transcultural Studio Ghibli fan crafting
Authors: Rendell James
Published: July 2022

Whilst global hits such as Pokémon utilized what Marc Steinberg calls anime’s media mix, implementing a multiple-platform narrative world in an attempt to synergize/converge a franchise, what are we to do when one finds a dearth of official merchandise available to transnational audiences? What are the reasons or politics for such a decision that seems to run counter to a long sociocultural history of such media ecology? Equally as important, what do fans do when their championed fan objects offer a relatively restricted media palette? This article looks at how Studio Ghibli has, to a degree, negotiated and/or rejected the traditional ‘anime media mix’. This is not to say that Ghibli is void of media mixing; rather, via online communities, one has seen a growing presence of fan-crafts whereby audiences are making their own Ghibli objects. In doing so, these transcultural fan-made Ghibli objects extend fan ideologies linked to the studio, expanding on what Susan Napier terms ‘MiyazakiWorld’ (2006: 49, 2007: 193). Much like Miyazaki’s philosophy, this is not entirely rejecting industry, but offering creative alternatives. The fan-as-producer of Ghibli objects is doing so through convivial construction. Thus, the essay offers new insights into global audience practices and affective meaning-making around Ghibli that goes beyond the films themselves.
The Korean Wave celebrity and the birth of the K-drama conglomerate
Authors: Kim Hyun Gyung
Published: July 2022

Existing research on Korean Wave celebrities has focused on their transnational character at the expense of a thorough consideration of the phenomena’s emergence as part of the wider transformation of the Korean broadcasting and entertainment industry. This article draws on the analysis of existing literature and in-depth interviews to demonstrate that Korean Wave celebrity emerges as a result of the flexibilization in the Korean television drama industry’s production process, which in turn is the product of globalization and financialization of the Korean broadcasting industry from the late 1980s and 1990s, respectively. The combined effects of these processes led to the creation of the K-drama conglomerate. Korean Wave celebrity is central to this system, with the celebrity image functioning as fixed capital and rendering invisible the very real labour performed within the K-drama conglomerate. That being so, the K-drama conglomerate and the Korean Wave celebrity are excellent examples of capitalism’s latest manoeuvre: the creation of intangible commodities capable of expanding the channels of profit by attracting attention and rendering related labour invisible.
Agentic cute (^.^): Pastiching East Asian cute in Influencer commerce
Authors: Abidin Crystal
Published: July 2022

There has yet to be a definitive study of cute culture that is organically Singaporean. Drawing on existing work on East Asian cute culture and the regional popularity of commercial social media microcelebrities or ‘Influencers’ in Singapore, this article annotates three modes of agentic cute used to obscure the soft power that Influencers hold. Through the qualitative textual and visual analysis of content from three popular Singaporean Influencers, and their associated blogs and social media, this article examines how three tropes that I term ‘the Doll’, ‘the Darling’ and ‘the Dear’ are enacted as cute femininities among adult woman. It argues that the subversive power of this performative cuteness is obscured by the corresponding sensual delight, romantic docility and homosocial desire that the Influencers develop in tandem with their cute self-presentations. By continually emphasizing stereotypical gendered relationships with their male partners, and relations with their followers, these Influencers are able to position themselves as non-threatening and submissive, when they are in fact quietly subverting these hierarchies for personal gain.
Ringing One Missed Call: Franchising, transnational flows and genre production
Authors: Rawle Steven
Published: July 2022

Eric Valette’s 2008 remake of Miike Takashi’s 2004 J-horror film Chakushin ari / One Missed Call calls into question a simple East/West economic and contextual binary often assumed in cases of transnational remakes, regarding the purity of an original ‘exotic’ Other and the debased, impure ‘corporate’ American remake. One Missed Call cannot be so easily placed into national cinema categories when we explore the production and financial origins of the film however, given the transnational nature of the remake’s content and production. This article explores how transnational remakes engage with transnational flows of production and influence, thinking about how transnational modernity works with what Koichi Iwabuchi terms ‘cultural odor’. The article challenges the presence of an ‘original’ in the transnational franchising of the One Missed Call films, contending that Ring (Nakata Hideo, 1998) and The Ring (Gore Verbinski, 2002) have functioned as metatexts in both Miike’s and Valette’s versions of One Missed Call. In so doing, the article examines the characteristics of transnational media production on an economic and political basis.
Animist influence and immutable corporeality: Repositioning the significance of Japanese cinematic zombies
Authors: Vétu Guillaume
Published: July 2022

In terms of zombie film output, Japan is perhaps the second largest in the world after the United States and above the United Kingdom. Yet only a relatively small number of these films have received academic attention. Having sourced and verified an exhaustive catalogue of over 160 feature-length Japanese zombie films produced between 1959 and 2018, and through recent field work in Japan, including personal interviews with local film, media and folklore scholars and professionals, this article constructs a clearer overview of this uncharted corpus. It presents some of the most predominant cultural specificities of Japanese zombie films and their compelling narrative and stylistic heterogeneity. Previous assertions confined these films to a ‘cult’ sub-genre, restricting the Japanese monsters they feature to mere western imports; however, this article demonstrates that Japanese cinematic zombies defy simple categorization and repeatedly challenge some of the key posits at the centre of zombie studies, especially regarding their defining characteristics. The Japanese folklore and literary tradition in particular provides a new lens through which these popular fictional ‘Others’ can be (re)examined, uncovering new significance and offering new insights into both Japanese and western cultures.
Lapidary craftsmanship in the Antilles during the Ceramic Period, a renewed and updated analysis.
Authors: Queffelec Alain , Fouéré Pierrick , Bellot-Gurlet Ludovic , Bérard Benoît , Caverne Jean-Baptiste , Soutvenot Christian , Bernard Loup
Published: July 2022

Very diverse lapidary artwork, both in style and raw materials, is one of the recognized specialty of Amerindian crafting during the Saladoid period in the Antilles area, and is supposed to be less numerous and diverse in the following periods. These gemstones are very often referred to as exotic since they are not coming from the island where they have been discovered by archaeological excavations. Our recent work updates the previous data by studying newly excavated sites as well as refining outdated mineral characterizations. Exhaustive results for the French islands, combined to a literature-based database, allowed for the creation of an improved and renewed vision of the distribution of these numerous artifacts. Such an important database finally allow us to study the patterns in the lapidary production of the Ceramic Age in the Caribbean, both in terms of chronology and typology. This study lays the foundation for further work in the region, and present online tools developed with the aim of creating new collaborations on this subject.
Kyaraben (character bento): The cutesification of Japanese food in and beyond the lunchbox
Authors: Occhi Debra J.
Published: July 2022

The recent boom in cute characters (kyara) has permeated Japanese popular aesthetics to the extent that character-shaped foods have displaced the former emphasis on recreating natural objects in bento (packed lunches) created for preschoolers. Prior to this development, Anne Allison described bento as an ‘ideological state apparatus’. Under this rubric, learning to make a proper bento was a part of training women to be proper mothers of preschoolers, just as eating it quickly and completely helped train the children as model citizens. Contemporary mothers of small children, having been reared on Hello Kitty and her ilk, are now no longer simply the targets of character merchandizing, but the promulgators. Performing the domestic and educational rituals of kyaraben encourages women’s and children’s production and consumption of ‘character culture’.
Language, identity and unintelligibility: A case study of the rap group Higher Brothers
Authors: Liu Jin
Published: July 2022

The Chengdu-based quartet Higher Brothers recently became the first China-born hip hop group to gain global fame. As rap music – originally a local, ethnic African American culture in the United States – has been continually relocalized all over the world and thus globalized, the Higher Brothers have undergone another process of glocalization. This presents a new case study to further examine the dynamics between the global and the local. Because rap is an intensely verbal art, this article explores how the Higher Brothers construct and negotiate their complicated and multiple (local, national and global) identities from the perspective of language. It analyses the language used in their songs – Sichuan Chengdu Mandarin, Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) and English – before and after they signed with 88rising, the media company that brought the group to the West. Due to the rappers’ distinctive ways of vocal production, many of their trap-style songs prove hard to understand not only for global audiences but also for most Chinese national audiences and even for the quartet’s local audiences. Drawing on recent studies of mumble rap, this article explores the politics and sonic aesthetics of unintelligibility of the Chinese trap music.
Japanese gay men’s attitudes towards ‘gay manga’ and the problem of genre
Authors: Baudinette Thomas
Published: July 2022

This article critically analyses the concept of ‘gay manga’ to ascertain how fan ‘produsers’ and casual consumers understand both geikomi (also known as bara) and Boys Love (BL) manga. Drawing upon interviews with four Japanese gay men, one Japanese Korean man and one Japanese Brazilian man, I investigate how ‘gay manga’ is understood as a locus for the construction of gay subjectivity. I argue that the informants understand BL and geikomi as two aspects of the same meta-genre, revealing how attitudes to the term ‘gay’ have evolved in Japan. For the informants, geikomi and BL are interconnected and they are both understood as legitimate expressions of gay subjectivity that play a crucial role in their understandings of gay desire. Importantly, by focusing upon readers’ subjective relationships with texts, this article demonstrates how ‘gay manga’ is understood through an affective lens, with consumers locating their understandings of ‘gay manga’ within their overall patterns of ‘gay media’ consumption. Throughout the article, I reflect upon the necessity for scholars to engage with genre in a more nuanced fashion in order to better understand how individual consumers engage with media texts in their everyday lives.
Democracy in female fast-fashion: A case study in Taiwan
Authors: Lin Shih-Ying
Published: July 2022

This article investigates the influences of fast-fashion on the dynamic performance of dressed bodies of female consumers aged 18–45 in Taiwan, the demographic that most enjoys buying fast-fashion clothing. It analyses the types of fashion democracy that fast-fashions provide Taiwanese female consumers. This article also proposes an alternative qualitative research method and concept that allows researchers to investigate the intricate relationships between clothing, the body and society by reviewing the interactive relationship between clothing patterns and wearers’ bodies. Findings show that Uniqlo is the most popular fast-fashion brand in Taiwan exhibiting fashion democracy for Taiwanese female consumers.
Crazy Rich Asians and pan-Asian screen cosmopolitanism
Authors: Gallagher Mark
Published: July 2022

Crazy Rich Asians (2018), a box-office hit in North America, provoked celebration particularly from Asian American commentators and actors. Shot in Singapore and Malaysia with an Asian and Asian American cast, it was a success too in Singapore itself and in territories such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia but not in East Asia’s largest markets, those of China, Japan and South Korea. Focusing on the phenomenon of Crazy Rich Asians’ release, particularly its engagement with and circulation in East and Southeast Asia and its polarized reception among different Asian American and Asian communities, this article traces a series of discursive flashpoints to understand the film’s position in Asian and Asian American film culture. Arguing that the fortunes of US releases with Asian and Asian American casts reveal cosmopolitanism’s invisible borders, the article proposes a model of pan-Asian screen cosmopolitanism. This model recognizes that even globally hybrid screen texts such as Crazy Rich Asians bear cultural markers that may inhibit their appeal in territories with shared ethnic heritages but discrete social histories.
A heteropatriarchy in moderation: Reading family in a Thai Boys Love lakhon
Authors: Chan Ying-kit
Published: July 2022

A subgenre of popular culture, Thai Boys Love (BL) series is increasingly significant within Asia, but it remains under-researched in the light of new series that push the parameters of viewer acceptance of homoerotic romance in Thai society. Drawing upon a close reading of the BL lakhon Love by Chance, this article explicates how Thai cultural concepts surrounding the family are reflected in the series. While acknowledging the impact of East Asian popular culture on Thai understandings of gender and sexuality, the article highlights how the themes of familial dynamics and parental acceptance in Love by Chance represent a glocalization of the BL genre, or BL with Thai characteristics. By introducing the concept of ‘moderated heteropatriarchy’ and sketching the role of family in Thai queer lives, the article suggests that there is still space for subtle challenges or changes to the heteronormative structure as plotted in Love by Chance, even as the lakhon continues to uphold national and patriarchal principles that deny overt expressions of homoerotic romance.
Foreign places as Korean spaces: Representations of national trauma in the South Korean dramas Ireland and Descendants of the Sun
Authors: Mercier Faye
Published: July 2022

The study of Korean media, and K-Dramas specifically, has been dominated largely by discourses surrounding the ‘Korean Wave’ and the increased popularity of South Korean popular culture abroad. More specifically, many English-language analyses have tended to focus their attention on the Korean Wave as an analytical framework, thus failing to acknowledge the ways in which these texts address domestic audiences and societal issues specific to South Korea. Thus, little attention has been paid to more implicit representations of the nation and its past in these K-Dramas, a particularly noteworthy oversight when we consider that melodrama, a distinctly reflexive genre, is the governing mode of many contemporary K-Dramas. Thus, this article aims to demonstrate the multiplicity of meanings that can exist within these media texts, paying particular attention to the reflexive capacities of the melodramatic mode. Through the examination of two case studies, Ireland and Descendants of the Sun, this article will discuss the ways in which shifting inter-Korean relations have been articulated in both dramas through sociopolitical contextualization and narrative analysis. This article will examine the use of foreign places and foreign crises in these dramas, and demonstrate their capacity to function as arenas for the expression and exploration of national trauma relating to the Korean war and the division of the Korean peninsula. This article aims to demonstrate that despite the increasing hybridization of Asian media, it remains important to analyse the relationship between K-Dramas and domestic audiences in order to better understand the ways in which they address and work through significant social and political concerns for South Korean audiences.
Can Faithfulness to the original text betray the target public? The adaptations of Mononokehime (Princess Mononoke) in Italy
Authors: Pizzuto Daniela
Published: July 2022

Over the past few years audio-visual translation in ‘dubbing countries’ has been experiencing a significant shift from the traditional domesticating approach to a foreignizing approach that focuses more on faithfulness towards the source text rather than to the target readership. The Italian rendition of anime is a case in point: while appreciated by an increasing number of viewers, both serial and stand-alone anime, have either suffered a limited distribution or a highly homogenizing adaptation, in many cases through the employment of English as vehicular language. The first Italian dubbed version of the popular Studio Ghibli masterpiece Mononokehime (Princess Mononoke) (Miyazaki, 1996) is a clear example of the latter. The version distributed by Buena Vista International in 2000 as Princess Mononoke was adapted from the North American version, which included radical modifications aimed at providing a context with which the spectators would be more familiar. A second version, distributed by Lucky Red in 2014 under the title Principessa Mononoke, was re-adapted from the original Japanese script in order to improve fidelity to the original and was re-dubbed with a new voice cast. However, numerous viewers have criticized the unintelligibility of most of the dialogue. This article analyses the differences between the two versions and investigates whether the visibility of the translator can be seen as an obstacle for the understanding and enjoyment of films for the target viewership.
Tokyo subcultural street styles: Japanese subcultural street style as a uniform
Authors: Winge Therèsa M.
Published: July 2022

Japanese subcultural groups create safe and inventive spaces for youth to explore new identities, styles and globalization that are not available to them in other areas of their dominant culture. Japanese youth often join subcultures in the process of rejecting their parents’ generational values and the workforce uniforms commonly associated with adulthood and socio-economic failures of past generations. Accordingly, the Japanese subcultural street styles visually communicate a desire for prolonged childhood and deferred responsibilities of adulthood, while drawing significantly from global stimuli. Using ethnographic methods, it is revealed how many of the elements from Japanese subcultural dress are culturally authenticated from western styles and aesthetics, and their public display communicating the subculture member’s understanding of conspicuous consumption of perceived global ideals wealth, diversity, authenticity and individuality. While these subcultural street styles function as alternatives to the standard Japanese uniforms (e.g., the business suit or occupational uniform), this dress style also communicates a new and modern identity for Japanese youth. Japanese subcultural street styles are so prescribed that they are, in fact, uniforms.
The controversial flag dress: Collective memory, cyberspace and civil society in a rising China
Authors: Li En
Published: July 2022

A 2001 magazine photo in China turned into a political drama on the Internet: Zhao Wei, one of the country’s best-known actresses, posed in a dress imprinted with a Japanese navy flag. The image caused a furor among Chinese netizens, forcing Zhao to make a public apology. By analysing Zhao’s online responses and the public discourse surrounding her lack of historical sensitivity, this article investigates the relations between state-sanctioned education and individual responses, the expanding Internet as a new way for people to hear different voices and form opinions, and the state’s behind-the-scenes manipulation. Furthermore, an investigation of the dynamic relationship between civic engagement and the manipulative state explains how nationalism is represented and perceived in the context of China’s rise.
A Comment on Maria Paganelli's Mistaken Treatment of Adam Smith's "Four Stages" Theory of Economic Development
Authors: Ahiakpor James C.W.
Published: July 2022

Paganelli (2022) casts doubt on whether Adam Smith argues a “Four Stages” theory or a “stadial model” of socio-economic development; she dismisses the usefulness of cross-section data to evaluate Smith’s theory of the evolution of economies; and she misinterprets several texts in the Wealth of Nations. Disregarding more accurate interpreters of Smith, she invites us to inquire again into the causes of the wealth of nations since Smith, in her judgment, has failed in that effort. But Smith’s Wealth of Nations, carefully read, is an essential guide to policy formulation to promote the efficient development of economies. My comment clarifies.
Marketing anime to a global audience: A paratextual analysis of promotional materials from Spirited Away
Authors: Carter Laz
Published: July 2022

This article will focus specifically on the marketing materials utilized in the Japanese and American markets for Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (Miyazaki, 2001). That is to say, it takes a more in-depth look at the paratextual deployment of film posters and theatrical trailers. Building on the work of Rayna Denison, Keith Johnston and Eriko Ogihara-Schuck, this study delves deeper into the specific paratextual elements present within Spirited Away’s promotional ephemera. Focusing on two primary factors – branding and linguistics – the following campaign analysis examines the meaning behind the addition and elision of certain signifiers. By comparing the different versions of both posters and trailers, this article highlights areas of cultural difference, postulating that the anglophonic paratexts have undergone a process of Disneyfication. Finally, the author extrapolates the key selling points that are accentuated for both the domestic and global markets of Studio Ghibli films and then muses on the resulting hierarchy of brand networks that appear to have formed.