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Fulltext Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN+3 Countries: The Role of Environmental Degradation

Shaari MS, Asbullah MH, Zainol Abidin N, Karim ZA, Nangle B

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2023 Jan 17;20(3).
PMID: 36767086 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20031720

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can boost economic growth and provide job opportunities. FDI inflows in ASEAN+3 countries have dropped markedly, which may affect economic development in the region. Many previous studies have investigated a multitude of factors that can influence FDI, such as market size, inflation, trade openness, corruption, and inflation. Previous studies did not, however, consider environmental degradation as a potential factor. Besides corruption and inflation, imposing stringent environmental regulations, such as carbon pricing and taxes to reduce environmental degradation, might deter foreign investors from the country. This is due to heightened costs for foreign investors, which may cause FDI inflows to drop. To shed some light on the reality of this situation, this study examines whether environmental degradation can significantly affect foreign direct investment in the region. This study includes environmental degradation as a potential factor and employs the panel ARDL approach to analyse data from 1995 to 2019. Results show that environmental degradation, infrastructure, and corruption can affect the inflow of FDI in the long run. In the short run, inflation can affect FDI. The findings of this study can be utilized by policymakers in formulating the right policies to attract more investors. An increase in infrastructure facilities should be considered to attract more foreign investment. It is also vital for governments to reduce corruption and inflation to attract more FDI inflows. Environmental incentives should also be introduced to ensure that attempts to reduce environmental degradation do not affect FDI inflows.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Mapping of health technology assessment in selected countries

Oortwijn W, Broos P, Vondeling H, Banta D, Todorova L

Int J Technol Assess Health Care, 2013 Oct;29(4):424-34.
PMID: 24290336 DOI: 10.1017/S0266462313000469

The aim of this study was to develop and apply an instrument to map the level of health technology assessment (HTA) development at country level in selected countries. We examined middle-income countries (Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and Russia) and countries well-known for their comprehensive HTA programs (Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom).

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext Evaluating the relative environmental impact of countries

Bradshaw CJ, Giam X, Sodhi NS

PLoS One, 2010;5(5):e10440.
PMID: 20454670 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010440

Environmental protection is critical to maintain ecosystem services essential for human well-being. It is important to be able to rank countries by their environmental impact so that poor performers as well as policy 'models' can be identified. We provide novel metrics of country-specific environmental impact ranks - one proportional to total resource availability per country and an absolute (total) measure of impact - that explicitly avoid incorporating confounding human health or economic indicators. Our rankings are based on natural forest loss, habitat conversion, marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions and species threat, although many other variables were excluded due to a lack of country-specific data. Of 228 countries considered, 179 (proportional) and 171 (absolute) had sufficient data for correlations. The proportional index ranked Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands as having the highest proportional environmental impact, whereas Brazil, USA, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, India, Russia, Australia and Peru had the highest absolute impact (i.e., total resource use, emissions and species threatened). Proportional and absolute environmental impact ranks were correlated, with mainly Asian countries having both high proportional and absolute impact. Despite weak concordance among the drivers of environmental impact, countries often perform poorly for different reasons. We found no evidence to support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis of a non-linear relationship between impact and per capita wealth, although there was a weak reduction in environmental impact as per capita wealth increases. Using structural equation models to account for cross-correlation, we found that increasing wealth was the most important driver of environmental impact. Our results show that the global community not only has to encourage better environmental performance in less-developed countries, especially those in Asia, there is also a requirement to focus on the development of environmentally friendly practices in wealthier countries.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext OPTN/SRTR 2011 Annual Data Report: international data

Kasiske BL, Skeans MA, Leighton TR, Ghimire V, Leppke SN, Israni AK

Am J Transplant, 2013 Jan;13 Suppl 1:199-225.
PMID: 23237702 DOI: 10.1111/ajt.12026

For the first time, OPTN/SRTR has undertaken to publish global transplant rates as part of its Annual Data Report. Understanding why rates vary from country to country may lead to a better understanding of how to improve access to transplant everywhere. Availability of information varies substantially from country to country, and how complete and accurate the data are is difficult to ascertain. For Canada, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, data were supplied at SRTR request from well-known registries. For many other countries, SRTR was unable to obtain information, and data from the World Health Organization's Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation were used. Transplant counts and rates vary substantially around the world, likely due to 1) differences in rates of end-organ diseases, 2) economic differences in the ability to provide transplants or other end-organ disease treatment, 3) cultural differences that might support or hinder organ donation and transplant, and 4) reporting differences.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext The presence of microplastics in commercial salts from different countries

Karami A, Golieskardi A, Keong Choo C, Larat V, Galloway TS, Salamatinia B

Sci Rep, 2017 04 06;7:46173.
PMID: 28383020 DOI: 10.1038/srep46173

The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in saltwater bodies is relatively well studied, but nothing is known about their presence in most of the commercial salts that are widely consumed by humans across the globe. Here, we extracted MP-like particles larger than 149 μm from 17 salt brands originating from 8 different countries followed by the identification of their polymer composition using micro-Raman spectroscopy. Microplastics were absent in one brand while others contained between 1 to 10 MPs/Kg of salt. Out of the 72 extracted particles, 41.6% were plastic polymers, 23.6% were pigments, 5.50% were amorphous carbon, and 29.1% remained unidentified. The particle size (mean ± SD) was 515 ± 171 μm. The most common plastic polymers were polypropylene (40.0%) and polyethylene (33.3%). Fragments were the primary form of MPs (63.8%) followed by filaments (25.6%) and films (10.6%). According to our results, the low level of anthropogenic particles intake from the salts (maximum 37 particles per individual per annum) warrants negligible health impacts. However, to better understand the health risks associated with salt consumption, further development in extraction protocols are needed to isolate anthropogenic particles smaller than 149 μm.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Trade-related water scarcity risk under the Belt and Road Initiative

Wang L, Li Y, Liang S, Xu M, Qu S

Sci Total Environ, 2021 Dec 20;801:149781.
PMID: 34467898 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149781

Increasing trade cooperation under the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative has promoted economic development and intensified the water scarcity risk transmission between China and countries along the route (B&R countries). Local water scarcity risk (LWSR, the potential direct production losses induced by local water scarcity) can transcend geographical boundaries through global supply chains and influence production activities in downstream economies. To understand the vulnerability of the Initiative to water scarcity, we investigated the impacts of LWSR in China and B&R countries on each other's economies during 2001-2013, using a global environmentally extended multi-regional input-output model. Results reveal that more than 80% of China's trade-related water scarcity risk imports (TWSR imports, the vulnerability to foreign water scarcity risk through imports) originates from B&R countries. The share of TWSR from China in total imports of B&R countries has steadily increased. In particular, India, Thailand, Iran, Pakistan and Kazakhstan have the largest TWSR exports (LWSR in each nation transmitted to other nations through its exports) to China, while South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia have the largest imports from China. Water scarcity to their Agriculture sectors is responsible for TWSR transmission between them. Our study can contribute to the policy-making of governments and firms involved in mitigating the supply chain wide water scarcity risk. It also reveals the need for nations to collectively manage water resources to achieve sustainable development.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext International Trade Path with Multi-Polarization based on Multidirectional Mutation Genetic Algorithm Enabled Neural Network

Zhang Q, Chong CW, Abdullah AR, Ali MH

Comput Intell Neurosci, 2021;2021:1370180.
PMID: 34691167 DOI: 10.1155/2021/1370180

At present, the development speed of international trade cannot catch up with the economic development speed, and the insufficient development speed of international trade will directly affect the rapid development of national economy. In order to solve the problem of international trade, the overall optimal scheduling of trade vehicles and the optimal planning of trade transportation path are very important to improve enterprise services, reduce enterprise costs, increase enterprise benefits, and enhance enterprise competitiveness. The second development of the program is based on the programming interface provided by Baidu map. This paper proposes a neural network algorithm for genetic optimization of multiple mutations, which overcomes the shortcoming of traditional genetic algorithm population "ten" character distribution by mixing multiple coding methods, and enhances the local search ability of genetic algorithm by introducing a new large-mutation small-range search population. The example application shows that the optimization method can realize the optimization of international trade path under real road conditions and greatly improve the work efficiency of actual trade.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext A Community of Shared Future for Mankind: A study on the news discourse of environmental cooperation in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative

Liu N, Yasin MAI, Alsagoff SA, Ng CF, Li M

PLoS One, 2023;18(10):e0293296.
PMID: 37871035 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293296

'The Belt and Road Initiative' (B&R) was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and October 2013 and is now actively supported and participated by more than 100 countries and international organizations. B&R has become a hot topic all over the world since its inception. However, the environmental issues arising from this Initiative should not be underestimated. The concept of 'A Community of Shared Future for Mankind' is being promoted under the context of globalization, and there has been a lot of coverage in the mainstream media from various countries on the topic of environmental cooperation along B&R. This study takes a sample of reports on the 'Belt and Road Environmental Cooperation' from July 2021 to August 2022 and uses Van Dijk's theory of news discourse analysis to analyze 20 articles in depth. This study attempts to explore the kind of thematic structure and lexical style that the mainstream newspapers from different countries use to report the environmental cooperation among the countries along B&R, also the implications of such a thematic structure and lexical style, and the characteristics of the discourse construction of mainstream newspapers in different countries. The research has found that B&R countries are used to holding a positive attitude to make a report and seek international cooperation. The headlines are mostly made up of nouns, and both direct and indirect quotations are used. Besides, to enhance the truth of the report, different number types are also involved; the theme structures are often made up of a two-level hierarchy.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
The asymmetric effect of tourism, financial development, and globalization on ecological footprint in Turkey

Godil DI, Sharif A, Rafique S, Jermsittiparsert K

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 Nov;27(32):40109-40120.
PMID: 32656759 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-09937-0

With the growing interest among researchers in analyzing the ecological footprint of any country, this study focuses on new dimensions to analyze the long-run and short-run asymmetric impact of tourism, financial development, and globalization on ecological footprint in Turkey by using Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag model for the period from 1986 to 2018. Further, the EKC hypothesis was also tested. The results show that tourism, globalization, and financial development are positively and significantly associated with the EFP. This means that the increase in these variables will further increase the ecological footprint in Turkey. The U-shaped EKC curve was found to be valid in Turkey. The results also depict nonlinear and asymmetric association among most of the variables. Hence, based on the results, further research directions and practical implications can be suggested.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
An International Perspective on Preceding Infections in Guillain-Barré Syndrome: The IGOS-1000 Cohort

Leonhard SE, van der Eijk AA, Andersen H, Antonini G, Arends S, Attarian S, et al.

Neurology, 2022 Sep 20;99(12):e1299-e1313.
PMID: 35981895 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200885

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Infections play a key role in the development of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and have been associated with specific clinical features and disease severity. The clinical variation of GBS across geographical regions has been suggested to be related to differences in the distribution of preceding infections, but this has not been studied on a large scale.
METHODS: We analyzed the first 1,000 patients included in the International GBS Outcome Study with available biosamples (n = 768) for the presence of a recent infection with Campylobacter jejuni, hepatitis E virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus.
RESULTS: Serologic evidence of a recent infection with C. jejuni was found in 228 (30%), M. pneumoniae in 77 (10%), hepatitis E virus in 23 (3%), cytomegalovirus in 30 (4%), and Epstein-Barr virus in 7 (1%) patients. Evidence of more than 1 recent infection was found in 49 (6%) of these patients. Symptoms of antecedent infections were reported in 556 patients (72%), and this proportion did not significantly differ between those testing positive or negative for a recent infection. The proportions of infections were similar across continents. The sensorimotor variant and the demyelinating electrophysiologic subtype were most frequent across all infection groups, although proportions were significantly higher in patients with a cytomegalovirus and significantly lower in those with a C. jejuni infection. C. jejuni-positive patients were more severely affected, indicated by a lower Medical Research Council sum score at nadir (p = 0.004) and a longer time to regain the ability to walk independently (p = 0.005). The pure motor variant and axonal electrophysiologic subtype were more frequent in Asian compared with American or European C. jejuni-positive patients (p < 0.001, resp. p = 0.001). Time to nadir was longer in the cytomegalovirus-positive patients (p = 0.004).
DISCUSSION: Across geographical regions, the distribution of infections was similar, but the association between infection and clinical phenotype differed. A mismatch between symptom reporting and serologic results and the high frequency of coinfections demonstrate the importance of broad serologic testing in identifying the most likely infectious trigger. The association between infections and outcome indicates their value for future prognostic models.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of avian influenza H3N8 virus isolated from imported waterfowl in Malaysia

Leow BL, Shohaimi SA, Mohd Yusop FF, Sidik MR, Mohd Saeid FH

Trop Biomed, 2023 Jun 01;40(2):220-235.
PMID: 37650410 DOI: 10.47665/tb.40.2.014

Wild aquatic birds are natural reservoirs of influenza A viruses and H3 subtype is one of the most prevalent subtypes in waterfowl. Two H3N8 viruses of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) were isolated via egg inoculation technique from the fecal swab specimens from imported barnacle goose and paradise shelduck in Veterinary Research Institute Ipoh, Malaysia. The full length of eight gene segments of the two viruses were amplified and sequenced with specific primers. The sequences were molecularly characterized, and the sequence identity were assessed with other published sequences. The two viruses are identical and they possess the same amino acid sequences for all the eight gene segments. The viruses were highly similar to the H3 virus from Netherlands and N8 virus from Belgium respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all the eight gene segments were grouped in the Eurasian lineage, and genetic reassortment may occur between the internal genes of the H3 viruses and other AI subtypes. Though four amino acid substitutions were identified in the hemagglutinin gene, the viruses retained most of the avian-type receptor binding preference. Few amino acid substitutions were observed in all internal genes. Most of the neuraminidase inhibitors and adamantine resistance related mutation were not seen in the viruses. The replicative capacity, cross species transmissibility, and potential zoonotic risk of the viruses are worth further investigation. As H3 virus poses potential threats to both human and animals, and with the increase in the international trade of birds; strict quarantine practice at the entry point and good laboratory diagnostic capabilities is crucial to prevent the introduction of new AI virus into our country.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
An unidentified foreign body in the chest wall

MCDOUGALL C

Med J Malaya, 1955 Jun;9(4):276-80.
PMID: 13253127
Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext Pandemic response requires early and robust verification

Lehtimaki S, Allotey P, Schwalbe N

Lancet, 2021 Jul 10;398(10295):115.
PMID: 34181879 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01223-X
Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
The role of tourism, transportation and globalization in testing environmental Kuznets curve in Malaysia: new insights from quantile ARDL approach

Sharif A, Afshan S, Chrea S, Amel A, Khan SAR

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2020 Jul;27(20):25494-25509.
PMID: 32350832 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08782-5

This paper uses the quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model to analyze the impact of economic growth, tourism, transportation, and globalization on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Malaysian economy. The QARDL model is employed utilizing quarterly data from 1995Q1 to 2018Q4. The results demonstrate that economic growth is significantly positive with CO2 emissions at lower to upper quantiles. Interestingly, tourism has a negative effect on CO2 emissions at higher quantiles. Moreover, globalization and transportation services are positive, with CO2 emissions at upper-middle to higher quantiles. Furthermore, we tested the environmental Kuznets curve, and the outcomes confirm the presence of the inverted U-shaped curve in the Malaysian economy. The results of this study suggest that ecotourism is beneficial for economic growth in underdeveloped areas; it increases employment opportunities and, thus, achieves a win-win situation for protection and development. The government should encourage the low-carbon development of ecotourism and achieve green development of both tourism and the economy.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext An analysis of trade cooperation: Central region in China and ASEAN

Bhowmik R, Zhu Y, Gao K

PLoS One, 2021;16(12):e0261270.
PMID: 34936662 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261270

China-ASEAN are the two huge markets in trade world, they can bring out greater dynamism from within their economies and contribute to regional economic development. This study explores the present situation on the trade between the Central region of China and ASEAN through empirical assessment and try to find the potential effects and trade flows between them. Firstly, we analysis the trade integration index, HM index, explicit comparative advantage index, and trade complementarity index. Finally, we use the gravity model of international trade and data on 2006-2018. The bilateral trade relations between the central region and ASEAN are getting closer, but the central region has not yet become the major trade area of ASEAN countries in the Chinese market. The bilateral economic development level plays a positive role in promoting the export trade between the Central region and ASEAN, while the bilateral distance plays a negative role in difficulty. The empirical results show that trade potential between the Central region and Indonesia and the Philippines is huge, and there is still opportunity for the development of the trade potential with Thailand. The trade prospective with Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam is limited, and new approaches need to be developed to achieve further trade cooperation.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Does globalization increase the ecological footprint? Empirical evidence from Malaysia

Ahmed Z, Wang Z, Mahmood F, Hafeez M, Ali N

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2019 Jun;26(18):18565-18582.
PMID: 31054053 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05224-9

This study focuses to investigate the relationship between globalization and the ecological footprint for Malaysia from 1971 to 2014. The results of the Bayer and Hanck cointegration test and the ARDL bound test show the existence of cointegration among variables. The findings disclose that globalization is not a significant determinant of the ecological footprint; however, it significantly increases the ecological carbon footprint. Energy consumption and economic growth stimulate the ecological footprint and carbon footprint in Malaysia. Population density reduces the ecological footprint and carbon footprint. Further, financial development mitigates the ecological footprint. The causality results disclose the feedback hypothesis between energy consumption and economic growth in the long run and short run.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality*
Fulltext Importance and globalization status of good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements for pharmaceutical excipients

Abdellah A, Noordin MI, Wan Ismail WA

Saudi Pharm J, 2015 Jan;23(1):9-13.
PMID: 25685037 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2013.06.003

Pharmaceutical excipients are no longer inert materials but it is effective and able to improve the characteristics of the products' quality, stability, functionality, safety, solubility and acceptance of patients. It can interact with the active ingredients and alter the medicament characteristics. The globalization of medicines' supply enhances the importance of globalized good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements for pharmaceutical excipients. This review was intended to assess the globalization status of good manufacturing practice (GMP) requirements for pharmaceutical excipients. The review outcomes demonstrate that there is a lack of accurately defined methods to evaluate and measure excipients' safety. Furthermore good manufacturing practice requirements for excipients are not effectively globalized.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
Hotel fire safety for international travellers

Flaherty G, Hession M, Cuggy C

Travel Med Infect Dis, 2016 Sep-Oct;14(5):529-530.
PMID: 27238904 DOI: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2016.05.011
Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
Fulltext EFFECT OF ECONOMIC RECESSION ON DEVELOPMENT EXPENDITURE, DOMESTIC INVESTMENT AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN MALAYSIA

AAINAA IZZATI AZMAN, NOR ERMAWATI HUSSAIN, JAHARUDIN PADLI

UMT Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2019;1(2):83-91.
MyJurnal

Malaysia is also affected by the economic crisis as it applies the door-to-door policy economy even though the crisis has started on a global platform. Therefore, the objective of this study is to see how far economic recession affects development expenditure, domestic investment, and foreign direct investment in Malaysia. Using secondary data from 1980 to 2015, unit root tests, Johansen co-integration test, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), and Granger-causality test were carried out. The findings showed that there was a long run relationship between the economic recession and at least one independent variable while there was no short run relationship between the variables. For causal relationships, the economic recession was the cause of domestic development and investment expenditure while foreign direct investment was the cause of the recession, domestic development, and investment spending. Hence, the government must ensure economic stability by implementing various policies.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality
An exploratory study of a potential framework for mutual recognition agreement (MRA)

Subramaniam, Selva Ranee, Raja Suzana Raja Kasim, Ramlee Ismail

CREAM : Current Research in Malaysia (Penyelidikan Terkini di Malaysia), 2012;1(1):89-124.
MyJurnal

The pursuit for higher degrees is accelerating in the country. With mushrooming foreign and local graduates from non-university and university status institutions, it is critical to explore the types of qualification awarded and the existing platform for recognition and accreditation purposes. The objectives of this study are: (i) to gather information with regard to current policies and practices pertaining to recognition and accreditation systems of the higher education sector, with specific reference to Malaysia and china (ii) to review the existing policy between accreditation and recognition agencies/providers and (iii) to recommend best practices, guidelines and strategies for practical implementation in Malaysia. The methodology pursuit in Malaysia and china involved inspection of documents and purposive interviews. The research was implemented from May 2009 to november 2009. The results of the research revealed that though the worldview of mutual recognition agreement is to liberalise the education sector, the authentic situations prevailing in the country requires the purposive liberalization of the education sector, with periodic reviews for its appropriateness and relevance for the needs of the country (provisional and conditional), thereby ensuring regulatory, review and quality sustainability. The customized regulatory framework would be a prerequisite (conditional), with due attention be given to either implicit or explicit conditions in the recognition of academic degrees. In deliberating the mutual recognition agreement with jurisdiction including those which are more educationally advanced, selective emerging 'niche' areas and/or supportive (conditional) have been proposed. Finally, to strengthen the existing regulatory frame work, innovative provision in this legal framework is recommended.

Matched MeSH terms: Internationality

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