[We present a two part series on Angkor Wat and Asian tourism. See Geoffrey Gunn, “Angkor and Beyond: the Asian tourism phenomenon”]

SIEM REAP, Cambodia–Tourism is becoming the lifeblood of this land that survived the “killing fields” and a civil war. There are many signs of progress in the 13 years since United Nations-sponsored elections brought peace.

Although the relationship between dyslipidaemia (DL) and coronary artery disease (CAD) or between trace minerals intake and CAD is well known separately, the exact nature of this relationship remains unknown. We hypothesize that the relationship between trace mineral intake and CAD may differ depending on whether or not the individual has DL. The present study analysed the relationships among trace mineral intake, DL, and CAD in middle-aged and older adults living in Shika town, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan. This study included 895 residents following the exclusion of those with genetic risk carriers for familial hypercholesterolemia. Trace mineral intake was evaluated using the brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire. Interactions were observed between DL and CAD with zinc (p = 0.004), copper (p = 0.010), and manganese intake (p < 0.001) in a two-way analysis of covariance adjusted for covariates such as sex, age, body mass index, and current smokers and drinkers. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that zinc (odds ratio (OR): 0.752; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.606, 0.934; p = 0.010), copper (OR: 0.175; 95% CI: 0.042, 0.726; p = 0.016), and manganese (OR: 0.494; 95% CI: 0.291, 0.839; p = 0.009) were significant independent variables for CAD in the dyslipidaemic group. The present results suggest that DL with a low trace mineral intake is associated with CAD. Further longitudinal studies are required to confirm this relationship.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major air pollutants that are ubiquitously produced by the combustion of organic materials, and it is extremely important to identify their pollution sources. In this study, molecular fingerprinting and compound class-specific radiocarbon dating (CCSRA) were performed on PAHs from canal sediments and air samples collected in Kolkata, India’s third largest city (population approximately 16 million), where PAHs pollution has been a serious problem. Average PAH (Σ12-parent PAHs) concentrations in air samples were 65.1 ng m–3 in summer and 70.9 ng m–3 in winter and in canal sediments were 32.7 µg g–1, which are classified as “very high-level” pollution. Molecular fingerprinting using methyl-PAH/PAH (MPAHs/PAHs) ratios and isomer pair ratios with molecular weights of 178, 202, 228, and 276 suggested that wood and coal combustion were the dominant sources of PAHs in the sediment, and that atmospheric PAHs were influenced by oil combustion in addition to them. The fraction of contemporary carbon (ƒC) of sedimentary PAHs (0.056–0.100), together with the extremely low MPAHs/PAHs ratio results, lead to the conclusion that the major source of the high concentration of PAHs in the canals is from coal combustion. On the other hand, the ƒC of atmospheric PAHs (0.272–0.369) was close to the share of biomass fuels in India’s domestic fuel consumption in 2011 (about 35%). Furthermore, the observed ƒC-discrepancy between atmospheric and sedimentary PAHs in the same urban environment was interpreted to give an insight into the loading pathway of PAHs to canal sediments in Kolkata.

In order to clarify and visualize the real state of the structural performances of ships in operation and establish a more optimal, data-driven framework for ship design, construction and operation, an industry-academia joint R&D project on the digital twin for ship structures (DTSS) was conducted in Japan. This paper presents the major achievements of the project. The DTSS aims to grasp the stress responses over the whole ship structure in waves by data assimilation that merges hull monitoring and numerical simulation. Three data assimilation methods, namely, the wave spectrum method, Kalman filter method, and inverse finite element method were used, and their effectiveness was examined through model and full-scale ship measurements. Methods for predicting short-term extreme responses and long-term cumulative fatigue damage were developed for navigation and maintenance support using statistical approaches. In comparison with conventional approaches, response predictions were significantly improved by DTSS using real response data in encountered waves. Utilization scenarios for DTSS in the maritime industry were presented from the viewpoints of navigation support, maintenance support, rule improvement, and product value improvement, together with future research needs for implementation in the maritime industry.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in 2019 in China and rapidly spread worldwide, leading to a pandemic. The threat of SARS-CoV-2 is subsiding as most people have acquired sufficient antibodies through vaccination and/or infection to prevent severe COVID-19. After the emergence of the omicron variants, the seroprevalence of antibodies against the N protein elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection ranged from 44.4% to 80.2% in countries other than Japan. Here, we assessed the seroprevalence in Japan before and after the appearance of omicron variants. Serosurveillance of antibodies against N was conducted between December 2021 and March 2023 in Japan. In total, 7604 and 3354 residual serum or plasma samples were collected in the Tokyo metropolitan area and Sapporo, respectively. We found that the seroprevalence in representative regions of Japan increased approximately 3% to 23% after the emergence of the omicron variants. We also found higher seroprevalence among the young compared with the elderly. Our findings indicate that unlike other countries, most of the Japanese population has not been infected, raising the possibility of future SARS-CoV-2 epidemics in Japan.

In order to elucidate the process of mineralization of clay minerals in fault gouge and its spatial-temporal relationship with fault-zone evolution and hydrothermal alteration, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and K-Ar dating were performed on clay samples from the Kojaku Granite of central Japan, including fault gouge along an active fault. The area studied is suitable for understanding thermal constraints on clay mineralization because the wall rock is homogeneous and its thermal history well defined. The results from XRD indicated that the clay minerals in the gouge samples are dioctahedral smectite, kaolinite, and 1Md illite, whereas clay fillings in fractures and joints in the intact granite (clay vein) include 2M1 illite in addition to dioctahedral smectite and 1Md illite. The evolution of clay mineralization is reconstructed as follows: (1) high-temperature hydrothermal alteration of feldspar and biotite produced 2M1 illite in clay veins; and (2) alteration accompanied by shearing at a lower temperature resulted in the formation of 1Md illite in the gouges. This scenario is consistent with the cooling history of the granite constrained by fission-track, U-Pb, and K-Ar dating methods. K-Ar dating of the clay samples separated into multiple particle-size fractions indicated that the low-temperature alteration leading to the production of 1Md illite was dated to ~40 Ma. Based on the cooling history of the granite, the 1Md illite formed at temperatures of 60–120°C. This temperature range was at the lower limit of the range reported in previous studies for faults. The spatial and geometrical relation of the faults studied and their K-Ar ages infer evolution which can be described as extensive development of small-scale faults at ~40 Ma followed by coalescence of the small-scale faults to form a larger, recently reactivated, active fault. The K-Ar ages have not been reset by the recent near-surface fault activity.

More than 60 years since it entered into force in 1961, the Antarctic Treaty is experiencing significant challenges. These challenges also affect its associated instruments known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). These are mostly external dynamics that are increasingly challenging the ATS from outside of the Antarctic region. They encompass a spectrum of issues relating to global legal regimes and to what extent they are applicable in the Antarctic context. Climate change appears to be the most significant of these challenges, as the tangible planetary impacts of global warming and the perception of its urgency and seriousness by states have prompted additional challenges to the ATS. The physical changes that continue to be scientifically unveiled in the Antarctic are manifesting severe impacts on a planetary scale, and this fact has underscored the need for broader and more rapid international engagement within the Antarctic governance discourse. Nevertheless, the existing decision-making mechanisms compounded by the adversarial atmosphere within the ATS due to external factors have become challenges of themselves. Such challenges call for the re-contemplation and reassessment of the legal regime of the Antarctic in general, and the ATS in particular, to find ways forward for an otherwise historically effective international legal system. This paper utilizes both scientific and legal lenses to underscore the urgent need to achieve better communication between the ATS generally, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings specifically and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regimes and to overcome the multiple barriers that stand in the way of achieving that objective.

In the 2022–2023 season, more than 104,000 tourists visited Antarctica. This represents an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the 2019–2020 pre-pandemic season. This Current Development discusses this trend and the limits of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, which govern on the basis of consensus, in responding with regulatory action. Options for strengthening regulation in this area are also considered.

Flying foxes are keystone species on islands and are threatened worldwide, particularly by forest degradation, hunting and culling. They are often persecuted if they are perceived as agricultural pests, but the extent of crop damage from flying foxes and the factors triggering their visits to crops are not well established. This study aimed to investigate wildlife-caused damage to tankan oranges Citrus tankan on Okinawa Island, Japan, and interactions between the Ryukyu flying fox Pteropus dasymallus and farmers. We compiled data from three sources: official records of wildlife-caused crop damage, questionnaire surveys of 43 farmers and time-lapse camera surveys conducted at 14 locations during January–February 2018. Official records and the questionnaire survey indicated that the large-billed crow Corvus macrorhynchos caused most damage in a typical year (53–56% of the total damage), followed by P. dasymallus (18–28%). However, time-lapse camera surveys suggested negligible damage caused by P. dasymallus (2.1%) in 2018, a typhoon-free year. Farmers perceived a decline in local population size and stated that at least 2,000 P. dasymallus individuals had died in their orchards during 2008–2018. If this is extrapolated to the whole region, fatalities could have reached 6,500–8,500 individuals during that period. Binomial regression performed on official records demonstrated that damage by P. dasymallus was largely explained by interannual cyclonic activity. Prevalent netting practices could be a serious threat to P. dasymallus: 81% of interviewees reported that flying foxes die from entanglement in their nets. Nevertheless, half of these farmers were satisfied with current crop protection measures. These findings call for prompt remediation with particular focus on implementing more bat-friendly crop protection following strong typhoon seasons.

Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022 was the end of the Arctic cooperation between states and others as we knew it, despite the fact that Russia’s illegal actions are not occurring in the Arctic region. Russia’s attack on Ukraine caused pronounced security fears and responses, particularly from the European and North American countries, including the other Arctic states. This naturally affected Arctic cooperation because it is precisely in the Arctic region that Russia is such a vastly central actor. For example, the region’s pre-eminent inter-governmental forum, the Arctic Council, is struggling to continue its activities in full, as the seven western Arctic states paused participating in meetings held in and activities involving Russia. On the other hand, the first in-person meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) fisheries agreement in late November 2022 successfully adopted its COP Rules of Procedure by consensus, including Russia. The purpose of this article is to investigate how adversely Arctic international cooperation in inter-governmental forums and treaties has suffered due to the Ukraine war, utilising a qualitative research methodology to collect internal and sensitive information from key informants. In particular, the article aims to find an answer to the following question: In which types of Arctic inter-governmental structures have the states been able to continue the cooperation and for what reasons? The hypothesis that will be tested in this article is whether treaty-based cooperation has fared better than cooperation founded on soft law. This article will flesh out the current state of Arctic cooperative frameworks and actual cooperative activities under them, analysing three soft law-based cooperative frameworks, including the Arctic Council and several treaty-based cooperative frameworks, such as the CAO fisheries agreement and Arctic Science Cooperation Agreement. This article is based on the facts as of 22 February 2023.

We have investigated the spectral evolutions of H2O and SiO masers associated with 12 “water fountain” sources in our FLASHING (Finest Legacy Acquisitions of SiO-/H2O-maser Ignitions by Nobeyama Generation) project. Our monitoring observations have been conducted using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope every 2 weeks–2 months since 2018 December except during summer seasons. We have found new extremely high velocity H2O maser components, breaking the records of jet speeds in this type of sources. Systematic line-of-sight velocity drifts of the H2O maser spectral peaks have also been found, indicating acceleration of the entrained material hosting the masers around the jet. Moreover, by comparing with previous spectral data, we can find decadal growths/decays of H2O maser emission. Possible periodic variations of the maser spectra are further being inspected in order to explore the periodicity of the central stellar system (a pulsating star or a binary). Thus we expect to see the real-time evolution/devolutions of the water fountains over decades.

CVD-coated cemented carbides are widely used for various metal cutting applications. It has been established that the textures of the coating materials especially that of the α-Al2O3 greatly affect the cut performance for some applications. The characterization of the coating texture is thus very important. In this paper, inverse pole figures of α-Al2O3 based on XRD with Bragg Brentano geometry were calculated for several metal cutting inserts available in the market. This method is simple, less time-consuming and can be applied to previously collected data and is compared with that of the EBSD. Despite several differences, IPF maps based on XRD powder diffraction represent the texture of metal cutting inserts.

Although chronic pain (CP) is classified as inflammatory or non-inflammatory, the involvement of fatty acid intake in this process has not yet been examined in detail. Therefore, the present study investigated whether the relationship between CP and fatty acid intake differs between high and low C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in middle-aged and elderly individuals in the Shika study. One-thousand and seven males and 1216 females with mean ages of 68⋅78 and 69⋅65 years, respectively, participated in the present study. CRP was quantified by blood sampling from participants who responded to a CP questionnaire. The brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ) was used to assess fatty acid intake. Interactions were observed between CP and CRP on monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and eicosadienoic acid in a two-way analysis of covariance adjusted for sex, age, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, current smoking and drinking status, and BMI. MUFA (OR 1⋅359) and eicosadienoic acid (OR 1⋅072) were identified as significant independent variables for CP in a multiple logistic regression analysis, but only in the low CRP group. Only a high intake of MUFA and eicosadienoic acid was associated with chronic neck/shoulder/upper limb pain without elevated CRP. In psychogenic and neuropathic pain without elevated CRP, an increased intake of MUFA and eicosadienoic acid, a family member of n-6 fatty acids, appears to affect CP. Further longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate this relationship.

We studied the probability distribution function of the column density (N-PDF) of molecular clouds based on a fit with a multi-log-normal function using the Nobeyama 45-m Cygnus X CO survey data. We identified 124 molecular clouds in 13CO data using the DENDROGRAM and SCIMES algorithms. The N-PDF was constructed for 11 extended (≥ 0.4 deg2) molecular clouds of these identified clouds. We found that every N-PDF is well-fitted with one or two log-normal (LN) distributions. We investigated the distributions of the column density, C18O dense cores, and radio continuum source in each cloud and found that the N-PDF was less correlated with the star-forming activity. The LN N-PDF parameters showed two impressive features. First, the LN distribution at the low-density part had the same mean column density (∼1021.5 cm−2 ) for almost all the molecular clouds. Second, the wider LN distribution tended to show the lower mean density of the structures.