Strengthening Economic Ties Amidst the Maritime Dispute Between the Philippines and China

The Sino-Philippines relations underwent many challenges and changes for over two decades. It is characterized as a “fighting and cooperating” relationship in various domains, specifically in the context of their long-standing dispute over the South China Sea (SCS). The two countries have established diplomatic ties since 1975, and although the relationship between the Philippines and China has gone a long way in forging economic relations with regard to conducting a more conducive, progressive, and fair-trade partnership, China is still perceived as a significant threat to the national security of the Philippines. The Philippine government has lodged numerous complaints with international bodies about China’s violation of the law of the sea, particularly the UNCLOS. However, the regional environment and China’s phenomenal rise in becoming an economic super power, and in particular the positive outcome resulting from the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), have all aided in developing the economic cooperation between the Philippines and China. Against the backdrop of these developments, the present article has focused on analyzing the two countries’ relations in terms of the financial impacts from the surging waves of disagreements over the two countries’ maritime belt areas in the South China Sea. It is also an empirical review of the literature on the myriad recommendations of international organizations, international courts, experts, jurists, and researchers, which seek to find solutions by providing legal viewpoints and political opinions on the issue of the maritime conflict between the Philippines and China. These are ongoing attempts for a peaceful solution to the maritime disputes between the two countries, as well as for the benefit of the rest of the ASEAN member nations

A modern purification by accelerated solvent extraction and centrifugal partition chromatography and biological evaluation of capsaicin from Capsicum chinense

A special alkaloid compound known as capsaicin, which can only be found in the fruit of the Capsicum plant, was isolated and tested for its anti-inflammatory activity. The purpose of this work is to establish a simple and quick approach for capsaicin purification utilizing centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) as well as an effective method - accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), for extracting capsaicin from Capsicum chinense. After purification, capsaicin was validated by HPLC-DAD at 281 nm to be > 90% purity. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated capsaicin was also investigated, and the IC50 value of the capsaicin was determined to be 57.61 µg/mL. The current work emphasizes how an ASE and CPC system may combine to extract high-purity capsaicin from Capsicum chinense, which have the anti-inflammatory activity, as we evaluated in the experiment

Contradicting effects of subjective economic and cultural values on ocean protection willingness: preliminary evidence of 42 countries

Coastal protection is crucial to human development since the ocean has many values associated with the economy, ecosystem, and culture. However, most ocean protecting efforts are currently ineffective due to the burdens of finance, lack of appropriate management, and international cooperation regimes. For aiding bottom-up initiatives for ocean protection support, this study employed the Mindsponge Theory to examine how the public’s perceived economic and cultural values influence their willingness to support actions to protect the ocean. Analyzing the European-Union-Horizon-2020-funded dataset of 709 respondents from 42 countries, we discovered that perceived economic values have negative effects on the tendency of ocean protection supports (i.e., food, transportation, renewable energy, oil and gas, and recreation). In contrast, certain perceived cultural values can help increase the willingness to do so (i.e., mental well-being and sense of identity). However, the effects of perceived cultural values are only moderately reliable. These findings suggest that designing cultural information delivery campaigns can help promote coastal reserve supports, such as fundraisings and preserving the oceans from the community

Breast-Milk Substitutes: A New Old-Threat for Breastfeeding Policy in Developing Countries. A Case Study in a Traditionally High Breastfeeding Country

Background: Developing countries with traditionally breastfeeding are now experiencing the increasing pressure of formula milk marketing. This may endanger lives and undermine the efforts of national policies in achieving the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals. We examined the use of, and factors for use, of all available breast-milk substitutes (BMS) in a country with a traditionally high rate of breastfeeding. Methods: Randomised multi-stage sampling surveys in 90 villages in 12/17 provinces in Laos. Participants: 1057 mothers with infants under 24 months of age. Tools: 50-query questionnaire and a poster of 22 BMS (8 canned or powdered milk; 6 non-dairy; 6 formulas; 2 non-formulas). Outcome measures included: prevalence of use and age of starting BMS in relation to socio-demographic characteristics and information sources, by univariate and multivariate analyses

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Species Diversity of Rotifers (Rotifera: Monogononta) in Freshwater Psammon with Three New Records to Vietnam

This study aims to evaluate the diversity of rotifers in psammon in the Central Coast of Vietnam. A total of 64 rotifer species belonging to 17 genera and 14 families were recorded in 10 samples collected at hygropsammon zones of freshwater lakes and ponds in Thua Thien Hue province. Lepadella cristata (Rousselet, 1893), Cephalodella tenuior (Gosse, 1886), and Lindia torulosa Dujardin, 1841 were new record to Vietnam rotifers fauna. Species from the families Lecanidae, Lepadellidae, and Trichocercidae are abundant (containing about 44%, 14%, and 12%, respectively) in the total rotifer species recorded. Psammonxenic species accounted for the largest percentage of the psammic rotifer community with 83%, followed by psammonphiles (11%) and psammonbionts (6%). Our study results enrich the data on the diversity and the ecology of rotifers in Vietnam

One-pot fabrication of magnetic biochar by FeCl3-activation of lotus seedpod and its catalytic activity towards degradation of Orange G

An advanced magnetic biochar (MBC) was facilely prepared via one-pot FeCl _3 -activation of lotus seedpod. Simultaneous carbonization, activation, and magnetization formed magnetic Fe _3 O _4 nanoparticles and nanowires over the biochar base. The specific surface area (S _BET ) and the total pore volume (V _total ) of MBC were 349 m ^2 g ^−1 and 0.31 cm ^3 g ^−1 , which were 2.0-fold and 3.9-fold higher than those of biochar, respectively. In addition, the saturation magnetization of MBC reached 6.94 emu g ^−1 , facilitating its magnetic separation and recovery. In heterogeneous Fenton-like catalytic oxidation, 0.40 g l ^−1 MBC decolorized 100% Orange G and reduced 58% COD by 350 ppm H _2 O _2 within 120 min. The degradation kinetics were calculated with different MBC samples and reactions followed pseudo-first-order kinetics with the highest rate constant of 0.034 min ^−1 . Moreover, the catalytic activity dropped by only 6.4% after four reuse cycles, with negligible iron leaching of 1.31–1.44 mg l ^−1 . Based on these results, MBC could be a low-cost, highly effective, and relatively stable catalyst for treating Orange G in wastewater

Main reasons for giving BMS to infants before 6 months of age among users.

£<p>The following question was asked: Why do you feed your baby this product?</p><p>*Of 207 users before 6 months, 203 users ‘responses available.</p><p>**Rich with vitamins, similar to rice, good for children.</p><p>***1.4% of 1057 mothers reported that they could not breastfeed.</p

Factors associated with the use of BMS before 6 months of age in Laos (multivariate analysis).

<p>95% Confidence Interval.</p