Japan's Policy Stance on East Asian Neo-Regionalism: From Being a “Reluctant”, to Becoming a “Proactive” State

This article is a theoretically grounded empirical contribution aimed at shedding light on Japan's policy stance on East Asian neo-regionalism. It aims to examine the recent region-building process in East Asia. The dynamics in East Asia suggest that regional institutionalization, brought about by norm diffusion based on the idea of neo-regionalism, is likely to follow a progressive and evolutionary trajectory through the institutionalization of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) + 3 (South Korea, Japan and China). It provides a wide spectrum of regional-integrationist perspectives in order to offer as full a picture as possible of Japan's role in promoting regional integration in East Asia. The key finding of this article is that Japan has changed from a being “reluctant”, to becoming a “proactive” state in the context of regional collaboration in East Asia.Japan, EAEC, ASEAN + 3, East Asia, reluctant state, proactive state, neo-regionalism,

Development and evaluation of Cetirizine HCl taste-masked oral disintegrating tablets

The purpose of the current study was to mask the taste of cetirizine HCl and to incorporate the granules produced in oral disintegrating tablets (ODT). The bitter, active substance was coated by fluidized bed coating using Eudragit® RL30-D at levels between 15% and 40% w/w. The ODTs were developed by varying the ratio of superdisintegrants such as sodium croscarmellose, crospovidone grades and low substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose (L-HPC). A direct compression process was used to compress the ODTs under various compaction forces to optimize tablet robustness. The properties of the compressed tablets including porosity, hardness, friability and dissolution profiles were further investigated. The in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the tablet disintegration times showed almost identical rapid disintegration below 10 s at the optimal levels of each superdisintegrant. Finally, the taste and sensory evaluation in human volunteers demonstrated excellence in masking the bitter active and tablet palatability

Empire and Periphery? The Qing Empire’s Relations with Japan and the Ryūkyūs (1644–c. 1800), a Comparison

Analysing Qing China's relations with her neighbours, a distinction between her continental and maritime border space is evident. The Qing emperors were extremely alert towards their continental borders undertaking military intervention when they considered other countries a threat to them. While great parts of formerly non-Chinese territories in Central Asia were integrated into the Chinese empire and their peoples subdued by military force, maritime space was viewed differently, but as we want to show, not simply as a distant periphery nor as frontier as it is often claimed. China's relations with Japan and the Ryky Islands are excellent examples to show how differently the Qing rulers viewed these neighbouring countries. Simultaneously, while the early Qing rulers like Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) and Yongzheng (r. 1723-35) maintained a vivid interest in overseas developments, a shift towards disinterest in maritime space occurred only with the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95)

Silk Roads in the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Development of a National Heritage Inventory

A UNESCO project, Support for the Preparation for the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in South Asia, afforded the opportunity to research evidence for Silk Roads exchange in South Asia. The first part of the paper explores the challenges of archaeology in the Kingdom of Bhutan, located on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas. GIS-based approaches to model earlier settlement patterns and trade routes are considered. This led to a discussion with Bhutanese colleagues, in the Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites (DCHS), regarding the need for a digital national heritage inventory: to help manage and protect heritage resources, and to improve the communication of the rich heritage of the country to its people. The second part of this paper explores some of the issues around that debate, and the steps taken to implement the chosen solution, the Getty Conservation Institute/World Monuments Fund ARCHES heritage inventory system