Journal articles on the topic 'Hoang Lien Range'

Nguyen, Luan Thanh, Tapley, Benjamin, Kane, Daniel, Tran, Tuyet-Dzung Thi, Cui, Jiaxin, Rowley, Jodi J. L. (2024): A new Oreolalax (Anura: Megophryidae) from the Hoang Lien Range, northwest Vietnam. Zootaxa 5514 (6): 501-524, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5514.6.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5514.6.1

Tapley, Benjamin, Nguyen, Luan Thanh, Cutajar, Timothy, Nguyen, Chung Thanh, Portway, Christopher, Luong, Hao Van, Rowley, Jodi J. L. (2020): The tadpoles of five Megophrys Horned frogs (Amphibia: Megophryidae) from the Hoang Lien Range, Vietnam. Zootaxa 4845 (1): 35-52, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4845.1.3

Megophrys are a group of morphologically conserved, primarily forest-dependent frogs known to harbour cryptic species diversity. In this study, we examined populations of small-sized Megophrys from mid- and high elevation locations in the Hoang Lien Range, northern Vietnam. On the basis of morphological, molecular and bioacoustic data, individuals of these populations differed from all species of Megophrys known from mainland Southeast Asia north of the Isthmus of Kra and from neighbouring provinces in China. Further, the newly collected specimens formed two distinct species-level groups. We herein describe two new species, Megophrys fansipanensis sp. nov. and Megophrys hoanglienensis sp. nov. Both new species are range restricted and likely to be highly threatened by habitat degradation. These discoveries highlight the importance of the Hoang Lien Range for Vietnam’s amphibian diversity.

Kane, Daniel, Tapley, Benjamin, La, Toi Van, Nguyen, Luan Thanh (2023): A new species of the genus Rhabdophis Fitzinger, 1843 (Squamata: Colubridae) from the Hoang Lien range, northwest Vietnam. Zootaxa 5343 (2): 101-125, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5343.2.1, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5343.2.1

The megophryid genus Oreolalax is comprised of 19 species, most of which are endemic to China. A single species, Oreolalax sterlingae, is the only member of the genus known from Vietnam. During fieldwork on Mount Po Ma Lung in the Hoang Lien Range of northwest Vietnam, we encountered individuals of both Oreolalax sterlingae and another, morphologically divergent species of Oreolalax. Analyses of morphological and molecular data reveal that these individuals represent a previously undescribed species of Oreolalax which we describe as new to science. The new species, Oreolalax adelphos sp. nov., is sister to Oreolalax xiangchengensis and can be diagnosed from all other congeneric species by the combination of the following characters: (1) SVL of adult male 38.0 mm, N=1; adult female 46.2 mm, N=1; (2) narrow supratympanic fold; (3) no visible tympanum; (4) head longer than wide; (5) vocal sac absent; (6) absence of subarticular tubercles on hands; (7) basal interdigital webbing on hind feet; (8) ventral surface mottled with grey and creamy white; (9) dorsal surface of head and body covered in rounded, evenly spaced and similar sized tubercles; (10) presence of dark bars on limbs; (11) greyish white and creamy white spots on the flanks, and (12) a bicoloured iris. Oreolalax adelphos sp. nov. is only known from a single site of high elevation bamboo forest, where it is sympatric with Oreolalax sterlingae. Both Oreolalax adelphos sp. nov. and O. sterlingae are almost certain to occur in neighbouring Jinping County in Yunnan Province, China. The new species of Oreolalax likely qualifies for being assessed as Data Deficient in accordance with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categories and criteria.

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) During a short-term survey, fifteen bat species were recorded in the north-east part of Hoang Lien Son mountain range, Tonkin, Vietnam; some of these findings are of particular zoogeographic interest. The first confirmed record of Barbastella from Vietnam was made; the specimens morphologically resemble B. darjelingensis, differing slightly in coloration from Indian and Central Asian forms. The specimen tentatively identified as Hypsugo cf. joffrei may represent the first record of the species outside its terra typica. Harpiola isodon is reported for the second time from Vietnam; its new capture site is situated half-way the between previous known location in Ngoc Linh and terra typica in Taiwan. Records of Murina cf. harpioloides, Hypsugo cadornae and Thainycteris aureocollaris represent Vietnamese range extensions for these species; among them, the collecting site of M. cf. harpioloides is very remote from previously known location. The local bat community seems to be a rich mix of Malayan, Indo-Himalayan and even Palaearctic faunal elements.

Okabe, Shinya, Motokawa, Masaharu, Koizumi, Yuki, Nguyen, Truong Quang, Nguyen, Tao Thien, Bui, Hai Tuan (2024): A new species of the genus Scincella (Squamata: Scincidae) from Mount Fansipan, Hoang Lien Son Range, northwestern Vietnam. Zootaxa 5537 (3): 407-423, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5537.3.7, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5537.3.7

Of the 19 species of Amolops reported from Vietnam, 10 are known to occur in the Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam. During field surveys in the Hoang Lien Range, we collected individuals from a population of Amolops that we could not assign to any known species; morphological and molecular data assign these individuals to the Amolops monticola group and we describe a new species to science, Amolops spicalinea sp. nov, in reference to a line of horny spinules running along the body below the dorsolateral fold in males. The new species is morphologically and molecularly most similar to Amolops bellulus from Yunnan Province, China but is distinguished from A. bellulus and other congeneric species by a combination of the following characters: (1) SVL of adult males 46.6–52.2 mm, N=3; adult females 60.1–63.0 mm, N=3; (2) vomerine teeth in two oblique rows between choanae; (3) tympanic annulus visible; (4) all finger and toe tips expanded to discs with circummarginal grooves present; (5) skin smooth, except for lateral surfaces of head, below the dorsolateral fold, and the area surrounding cloaca where the texture varies from tiny spinules to large tubercles; (6) dorsolateral fold present with horny spinules along the lower half in males; (7) creamy-white lip stripe extending from tip of snout, terminating in a broken, rugose line above axilla; (8) dorsum reddish brown or greenish brown with numerous small black spots; flanks yellowish brown to dark brown; ventral surface of body orange-yellow with small brown spots present on chest and throat; (9) interdigital finger webbing absent; toes fully webbed to discs except on Toes IV where webbing reaches discs as a fringe, webbing formula: I0–0II0–0III0–1+IV1+–0V; (10) outer metatarsal tubercles absent; (11) vocal sac absent in males, and (12) nuptial pad velvety without spines. Our phylogenetic analysis using 16S ribosomal RNA mitochondrial gene and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) genes show that Amolops spicalinea sp. nov. is sister to Amolops bellulus 2 from Yunnan, China. The new species is currently known from only three localities in the Hoang Lien Range between 2288–2493 m asl and is threatened by habitat loss and degradation. This species likely qualifies for being assessed as Endangered in accordance with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categories and criteria (B1ab).

The Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt (<i>Tylototriton sparreboomi</i>) is a recently discovered species of crocodile newts from Vietnam and it is currently known only from Sin Ho District in Lai Chau Province. Due to the limited information available on its population status and distribution, the species has been classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List. As a result of our field surveys in 2021 and 2022 in north-western Vietnam, novel data on distribution and population status of and threats to this poorly-known species were collected. We combined the newly-discovered locations with previous occurrence records and used the data as input for modelling the potential distribution of the Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt. The results showed that the Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt's potential distribution encompasses areas in Lai Chau, Dien Bien and Son La Provinces, Vietnam, as well as a section in Jinping County, Yunnan Province, China. Based on the findings, we suggest that protected areas in the eastern side of Hoang Lien Mountain Range, such as Che Tao, Muong La, Hoang Lien – Van Ban and Bat Xat Nature Reserves and Hoang Lien National Park in Vietnam and Jinping Feishuling Nature Reserve in China be priority sites for the species conservation. Future research and conservation initiatives should prioritise efforts in such areas in an effort to find and protect new populations of the newt.

Lonicera hildebrandiana, a precious genetic resource, belongs to the critically endangered in the Vietnam Red Data Book 2007. It is one of the significant herbal baths of the Red Dao ethnic minority group living in the Sa Pa district, Lao Cai province - where the region’s typical medicinal leaf bath tourism is developed, bringing high income and social benefits to local people. However, this is also the cause of the serious decline in the number of individuals and populations, so it is necessary for research and conservation. A number of biological, ecological characteristics, and vegetation structures in the distribution area of this species have been studied and determined. In details, the ambient temperature ranges from 4.9-25.5oC, humidity about 70-92%, rainfall 26-780 mm, sunshine hours 92-230 hours, soil pH value 3.94±0.02, total K 9411.93±261.25 mg/kg, easily digestible K 88.99±13.76 mg/kg, Ca2+ 5.33±0.397 Cmol+/kg, Fe2+ 30310.61±1956.122 mg/kg, total P 2.07±1.76%, easily digestible P 0.03±0.003%, Mg2+ 1.90±0.11 Cmol+/kg, total N 3.85±0.289%, easily digestible N 0.27±0.015%, easily digestible NO2 0.3±0.034%, and total humus content 4.84±0.27%. L. hildebrandiana is found under the canopy of subtropical broadleaf mixed vegetation from an altitude of 1200-1600 m, with a slope of 12-16%, where the density of plant species is about 1460 trees/ha, which includes species with an importance value index &gt;5% such as Castanopsis sp., Lindera caudata, Lithocarpus fordianus, Schefflera pauciffora, Schima wallichi, and Prunus arborea. These are considered important data on biology, ecology and specific distribution area of L. hildebrandiana, which is the basis for researching, developing and proposing solutions to conserve, exploit and promote this rare genetic resource in Vietnam.

The Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam is known to harbour five species of Leptobrachella, a specious genus of terrestrial frogs. We collected specimens of Leptobrachella from Mount Pu Ta Leng on the second highest peak in the Hoang Lien Range and use morphological and molecular data to show that this population represents a previously undescribed species which we name Leptobrachella graminicola sp. nov. after the abundance of calling males on sedge-like plants. This new species is closely related to L. bourreti but the new species is distinguished from L. bourreti and other congeneric species by a combination of the following characters: (1) a body size range of 23.1–24.6 mm in six adult males and 28.6–32.9 mm in five adult females; (2) skin on dorsum smooth, with many tubercles and lacking dermal ridges; (3) toes with rudimentary webbing and broad lateral fringes; (4) belly white with brown spots; (5) throat dark brown with light grey-brown flecks and spots; (6) a row of large white spots on the outer edge of the tarsus extending from the heel to the inner metatarsal tubercle, sometimes forming a long white stripe; and (7) a bicoloured iris. The new, high-elevation species is likely to be range-restricted and threatened by habitat loss and the activities of tourists.&#x0D;

We describe a new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 from northwestern Vietnam, based on a new collection of ground skinks from Mount Fansipan of the Hoang Lien Son Range in Lao Cai Province. Scincella fansipanensis sp. nov. is distinguished from other Scincella species in the Indochina region and southern China by body size (SVL), separation of prefrontals, number of midbody scale rows, paravertebral scale rows, nuchals and subdigital lamellae on toe IV, separation of toe from finger when limbs are adpressed along the body, and dorsal color pattern. The new species is further distinguished from its congeners by uncorrected genetic distances of 14.60–21.41% (COI gene). The new species is currently known only from high elevation areas of Mt. Fansipan in Vietnam.

We describe a new species of the Natricinae genus Rhabdophis Fitzinger, 1843 from the Hoang Lien range, northwest Vietnam. The new species is distinct from all congeneric species on the grounds of morphometric and molecular data. The new species is most similar to Rhabdophis leonardi in terms of morphology but can be distinguished from it based on differences in maxillary tooth count, scalation, and genetic data. A sequence on GenBank from a Rhabdophis specimen collected in Honghe, Yunnan, China was identical to the species we describe, and it is likely that the new species is not restricted to Vietnam. As a priority, future work should focus on determining the distribution of this species, as well as understanding population and life history traits such as reproductive rate.

The genus Dedalopterus Sabatinelli &amp; Pontuale, 1998 from Laos and Vietnam is reviewed: three species are present of which Dedalopterus lexuanhuei Pham, Ahrens &amp; Sabatinelli, new species from Central Vietnam (Ngoc Linh Mts., Annamite Range) is here described. Dedalopterus malyszi Bunalski, 2001 is present in North Vietnam (Lao Cai, Hoang Lien Son Range), and Dedalopterus pulchellus Sabatinelli &amp; Pontuale, 1998 (= D. bezdekorum Zídek &amp; Krajčík, 2007, new synonymy) is known from Northeast Laos (Mt. Xiangkhouang and Mt. Phou Pan). Additional records, an updated checklist, and an identification key of the genus Dedalopterus are provided. All species treated are abundantly illustrated.

A new species of karst–dwelling bent–toed gecko, Cyrtodactylus martini sp. nov., is described from the isolated karst formations of the Hoang Lien Son Mountain range in northwestern Vietnam. It differs from all other congeners by the presence of symmetrical or subsymmetrical reticulations on top of head; no nuchal loop; four precloacal pores separated medially by one poreless scale; 14–18 enlarged femoral scales beneath thighs continuous with precloacal scales; four to six irregular, narrow, yellowish–white bands on dorsum between limb insertions; and six or seven incomplete white rings on tail.

Frogs in the genus Megophrys are an Asian radiation of stream-breeding frogs. The tadpoles of many Megophrys species are undescribed; those that are described are often dubiously allocated to species by association with post metamorphic specimens at collection sites and without supportive molecular data. We provide detailed descriptions of the larvae of five species of Megophrys from the Hoang Lien Range in northwest Vietnam: Megophrys fansipanensis, M. gigantica, M. hoanglienensis, M. jingdongensis and M. maosonensis. Tadpoles from different subgenera differ from each other via a combination of patternation in life, oral disc shape and tail morphology but given the small sample size, and limited number of species it is unlikely that these differences can be applied more widely to delineate subgenera. Morphological differences between tadpoles from species within the subgenus Panophrys were insufficient to clearly delineate all species. The ability to identify tadpoles is likely to advance our understanding of the frog fauna in mainland southeast Asia.

Ophiorrhiza hoanglienensis, a new species from Hoang Lien mountain range, north-western Vietnam, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterized by oblong-lanceolate stipules, equal or subequal paired leaves, congested-cymose inflorescences with 5–10-flowered, distylous flowers, well-developed bracts, lanceolate, 15–20 mm long, unequally 5-lobed calyx with narrowly lanceolate lobes, longest one 3.2–3.5 mm long, shortest one 1.2–2 mm long, exclusively white corolla with 25–28 mm long tube and ovate to broadly triangular lobes, dorsally ribbed without horn. The information on ecology, conservation status, and comparison with similar species is also provided.

Lophocolea sikkimensis, a little-known Sino-Himalayan species, was collected in North Vietnam and its taxonomic position was identified by molecular genetic techniques. The species is characterized by generally narrowly pointed leaves, which are not seen in other representatives of Lophocoleaceae. We found that it belongs to the recently described genus Cryptolophocolea, although it is clearly morphologically dissimilar to other members of the genus. We propose a corresponding nomenclature combination: Cryptolophocolea sikkimensis comb. nov. This species is the only one in its genus with a predominantly Sino-Himalayan distribution; the vast majority of congeners are distributed in the Southern Hemisphere (mostly in Australasia). Reports of this species in Vietnam further confirm the close phytogeographic relationships of the flora of northern Indochina with those of the Sino-Himalayas and suggest that this species is found in other parts of the Hoang Lien Range and the southern Hengduan Range.

Lophocolea sikkimensis, a little-known Sino-Himalayan species, was collected in North Vietnam and its taxonomic position was identified by molecular genetic techniques. The species is characterized by generally narrowly pointed leaves, which are not seen in other representatives of Lophocoleaceae. We found that it belongs to the recently described genus Cryptolophocolea, although it is clearly morphologically dissimilar to other members of the genus. We propose a corresponding nomenclature combination: Cryptolophocolea sikkimensis comb. nov. This species is the only one in its genus with a predominantly Sino-Himalayan distribution; the vast majority of congeners are distributed in the Southern Hemisphere (mostly in Australasia). Reports of this species in Vietnam further confirm the close phytogeographic relationships of the flora of northern Indochina with those of the Sino-Himalayas and suggest that this species is found in other parts of the Hoang Lien Range and the southern Hengduan Range.

Gymnomitrion vietnamicum sp. nov. is described from the Hoang Lien Son Range (North Vietnam), the southernmost outpost of the Sino-Himalayan flora and vegetation, wedged into the Indochinese floristic region of the Paleotropic Kingdom. The species is morphologically similar to G. blankae recently described from the territorially adjacent region—Yunnan Province of China—but differs in the structure of the stem, shape of apices of the leaf lobes and shoot coloration. At the same time, this morphological similarity contrasts with relatively high genetic differences, which show that each of the species is more closely related to other taxa that are much more morphologically different from them. Thus, the morphological similarity of the two compared taxa (G. vietnamicum and G. blankae) may imply convergence. The described new species again confirms the leading role of the Sino-Himalayas as the taxonomic diversity center of the morphologically well-defined “Apomarsupella” group, phylogenetically deeply nested within Gymnomitrion. Gymnomitrion vietnamicum is one of the most southern representatives of this group.

The Asian frog genus Megophrys is a diverse group of morphologically conserved, forest-dwelling frogs. The genus harbours highly localised species diversification and new species continue to be described on a regular basis. We examined the taxonomic status of a population of Megophrys frogs from the Hoang Lien Range in northern Vietnam and southern China previously identified as M. kuatunensis (subgenus Panophrys). Preliminary phylogenetic analyses using a fragment of 16S rDNA places the species in question within the Megophrys (subgenus Panophrys) species group, a primarily Chinese radiation within the genus. On the basis of morphological, molecular and bioacoustic data, we conclude that this population does not represent M. kuatunensis, or any known species in the genus. We herein describe this species of Megophrys as new. Known only from Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province in Vietnam and Jinping County, Yunnan Province in China, the new species is likely to be threatened by ongoing deforestation in the region. We provide an updated species description of M. kuatunensis based on type specimens, and suggest that M. kuatunensis is likely to be restricted to eastern China.

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Long-eared bats of the genus Plecotus are known to occur predominantly in the Palaearctic Region, and at the margins of the Afrotropical and Indomalayan regions. In 2014, four specimens of the genus Plecotus were collected in a high altitude montane temperate forest in the Hoang Lien National Park, northern Vietnam, representing the first record of Plecotus from the Indochinese subregion, and considerably extending the southern border of the genus' distribution range. Detailed morphological comparisons and phylogenetic reconstructions based on the mitochondrial control region suggest that these specimens can be assigned to P. homochrous, a mountain-dwelling bat from the Himalayas. Moreover, for the first time, we provide information on the species' echolocation call and karyological characteristics. Our results also indicate that the taxonomic status of some Plecotus species recognized by previous studies is doubtful and must be revised. Although rarely encountered, Plecotus is likely to be widely distributed at the higher elevations of the Himalayan chain in southern China and the adjoining northern areas of Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Our findings strongly support the importance of the mountainous areas within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Long-eared bats of the genus Plecotus are known to occur predominantly in the Palaearctic Region, and at the margins of the Afrotropical and Indomalayan regions. In 2014, four specimens of the genus Plecotus were collected in a high altitude montane temperate forest in the Hoang Lien National Park, northern Vietnam, representing the first record of Plecotus from the Indochinese subregion, and considerably extending the southern border of the genus' distribution range. Detailed morphological comparisons and phylogenetic reconstructions based on the mitochondrial control region suggest that these specimens can be assigned to P. homochrous, a mountain-dwelling bat from the Himalayas. Moreover, for the first time, we provide information on the species' echolocation call and karyological characteristics. Our results also indicate that the taxonomic status of some Plecotus species recognized by previous studies is doubtful and must be revised. Although rarely encountered, Plecotus is likely to be widely distributed at the higher elevations of the Himalayan chain in southern China and the adjoining northern areas of Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. Our findings strongly support the importance of the mountainous areas within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are an indispensable source of alleles to improve desired traits in related crops. While knowledge on the genetic diversity of CWR can facilitate breeding and conservation strategies, it has poorly been assessed. Cultivated bananas are a major part of the diet and income of hundreds of millions of people and can be considered as one of the most important fruits worldwide. Here, we assessed the genetic diversity and structure of Musa balbisiana, an important CWR of plantains, dessert and cooking bananas. Musa balbisiana has its origin in subtropical and tropical broadleaf forests of northern Indo-Burma. This includes a large part of northern Vietnam where until now, no populations have been sampled. We screened the genetic variation and structure present within and between 17 Vietnamese populations and six from China using 18 polymorphic SSR markers. Relatively high variation was found in populations from China and central Vietnam. Populations from northern Vietnam showed varying levels of genetic variation, with low variation in populations near the Red River. Low genetic variation was found in populations of southern Vietnam. Analyses of population structure revealed that populations of northern Vietnam formed a distinct genetic cluster from populations sampled in China. Together with populations of central Vietnam, populations from northern Vietnam could be subdivided into five clusters, likely caused by mountain ranges and connected river systems. We propose that populations sampled in central Vietnam and on the western side of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range in northern Vietnam belong to the native distribution area and should be prioritised for conservation. Southern range edge populations in central Vietnam had especially high genetic diversity, with a high number of unique alleles and might be connected with core populations in northern Laos and southwest China. Southern Vietnamese populations are considered imported and not native.

The Muong La–Bac Yen–Cho Bo fault is one of the seismic faults in the northwest region of Vietnam. Neo-tectonic activities and exogenous processes have influenced the drainage system and topographic–geomorphologic features on both walls of the fault. The results of topographic analysis and geomorphological indices have confirmed the active tectonics of the fault during the Neo-tectonic period (Pliocene–Quaternary, about 5 million years). The valley floor width-to-height ratio (Vf) of less than 0.5 indicates the “rejuvenation” of the streams and the obvious influence of tectonic activities on the two walls of the studied fault. The Hypsometric curve (HC) in the study area has a straight–convex shape and the basins on the northeast wall have hypsometric integral index values ranging from 0.46 to 0.481, which are lower and more convex than those of the southwest wall. The Mountain-front sinuosity index (Smf) from 1.92 to 3.28 along the foot slope of the Hoang Lien Son range (the segment from Than Uyen to Bac Yen and Phu Yen) and the highly variable stream-length gradient index (SL) value on the northeast wall signify the relative tectonic uplift on the northeast wall of the fault. The deformed geomorphological indications (steep cliffs, slip surfaces, etc.) in the field confirm the active tectonics of the Muong La–Bac Yen–Cho Bo fault during the Neo-tectonic period.

Vietnam belongs to one of the most well-known global biodiversity hotspots. However, its biodiversity is being threatened by multiple factors such as rapid growth of the human population, habitat destruction, overexploitation, and climate change. To better prioritize conservation measures for Vietnam’s mammal fauna, this study attempts to identify the threat status, level of endemism, and protected area coverage for approximately 329 recognized taxa. In addition, ex situ conservation measures are investigated by analyzing zoo databases. Our results show that as many as 112 mammal species (~34%) in Vietnam are officially listed as threatened, 36 (~11%) are country endemics, and nine (~3%) are micro-endemic. Nearly all threatened species are currently covered by protected areas, except for two species of high conservation importance, i.e., the micro-endemic Murina harpioloides (Chiroptera) and the threatened Lepus sinensis (Lagomorpha). Our results also suggest that such areas as Hoang Lien Range, northeastern Vietnam, and the central and southern Annamite Mountains require more conservation attention, as they harbor a high number of endemic species. Analyses of the Zoological Information Management System reveal that roughly 60% (67 species) of threatened species are currently kept in zoos (ex situ) across the world, while none of the species listed as “Data Deficient” are currently represented in any ex situ program. Up to 66% of 89 species kept in zoos show a good number of breeding successes in the past 12 months. It is recommended that future conservation efforts focus on unprotected threatened mammals and on evaluating the threat status for “Data Deficient” species. Additionally, the existing protected area system's effectiveness should be improved by creating corridors to provide connectivity for highly mobile and widely distributed mammal species.

Vietnam belongs to one of the most well-known global biodiversity hotspots. However, its biodiversity is being threatened by multiple factors such as rapid growth of the human population, habitat destruction, overexploitation, and climate change. To better prioritize conservation measures for Vietnam's mammal fauna, this study attempts to identify the threat status, level of endemism, and protected area coverage for approximately 329 recognized taxa. In addition, <i>ex situ</i> conservation measures are investigated by analyzing zoo databases. Our results show that as many as 112 mammal species (~34%) in Vietnam are officially listed as threatened, 36 (~11%) are country endemics, and nine (~3%) are micro-endemic. Nearly all threatened species are currently covered by protected areas, except for two species of high conservation importance, i.e., the micro-endemic <i>Murina harpioloides</i> (Chiroptera) and the threatened <i>Lepus sinensis</i> (Lagomorpha). Our results also suggest that such areas as Hoang Lien Range, northeastern Vietnam, and the central and southern Annamite Mountains require more conservation attention, as they harbor a high number of endemic species. Analyses of the Zoological Information Management System reveal that roughly 60% (67 species) of threatened species are currently kept in zoos (<i>ex situ</i>) across the world, while none of the species listed as "Data Deficient" are currently represented in any <i>ex situ</i> program. Up to 66% of 89 species kept in zoos show a good number of breeding successes in the past 12 months. It is recommended that future conservation efforts focus on unprotected threatened mammals and on evaluating the threat status for "Data Deficient" species. Additionally, the existing protected area system's effectiveness should be improved by creating corridors to provide connectivity for highly mobile and widely distributed mammal species.

Mount Fansipan, situated in the Hoang Lien Son Range, supports a rich subtropical and temperate flora of over 1700 species, including 25% of Vietnam’s endemic plant taxa (Nguyen &amp; Harder 1996, Sterling et al. 2006). At elevations above 2000 m, Mount Fansipan contains numerous temperate genera including Acer Linnaeus (19 spp., Sapindaceae Jussieu), Alnus Miller (A. nepalensis, Betulaceae Gray), Betula Linnaeus (B. alnoides Buchanan-Hamilton, Betulaceae), Carex Linnaeus (36 spp., Cyperaceae Jussieu), Clematis Linnaeus (9 spp., Ranunculaceae Jussieu), Lithocarpus Blume (13 spp., Fagaceae Dumortier), Quercus Linnaeus (9 spp., Fagaceae), Rhododendron Linnaeus (40 spp., Ericaceae Jussieu), Rubus Linnaeus (36 spp., Rosaceae Jussieu), Tsuga Carrière (T. dumosa Eichler, Pinaceae Sprengel ex F. Rudolphi), Ulmus Linnaeus (U. lancifolia Roxburgh, Ulmaceae Mirbel), Vaccinium Linnaeus (12 spp., Ericaceae), and Viola Linnaeus (12 spp., Violaceae Batsch) (Vietnam Plant Data Center 2015, Nguyen &amp; Harder 1996) with many of these genera being both species-rich and locally common (Nguyen &amp; Harder 1996, pers. obs.). In April 2012, a collection of a specimen, representing the temperate genus Luzula de Candolle (1805: 158), was made while conducting botanical studies on the Carex flora of Mount Fansipan, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, which is about 30 km south of the border with Yunnan Province, China. While the specimen was immediately recognized as a Luzula, a new genus to the flora of Vietnam (Vietnam Plant Data Center 2015), it was not until our collection was identified using the keys in Wu &amp; Clements (2000) and Kirschner (2002) that it was determined to be Luzula effusa Buchenau (1879: 88) (Figs. 1, 2). A Basic Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search of an internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1+5.8S+ITS2) sequence obtained from our specimen (KM612280) showed a 100% match with an existing sequence for L. effusa var. chinensis (Brown 1903: 161) Wu (1992: 92) (AY727778.1, see Drábková &amp; Vlcek 2010) in GenBank (National Center for Biotechnology Information 2014), supporting our identification based on morphology (Table 1). Eighteen other Luzula accessions, representing species placed in two different subgenera and four different sections, were found to have 100% coverage and 99% identity with the sequence from our specimen (National Center for Biotechnology Information 2014) (Table 1). In all cases, these sequences came from taxa that occur in regions that are more geographically disparate from Vietnam than the previously known closest location for L. effusa (see below). These taxa are also morphologically dissimilar to our specimen (see text below and Table 1).

Basalt-related sapphire had been found in Pleistocene diluvial-diluvial deposits at Hong Liem, Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province, Vietnam. The main color of the sapphire ranged from light to extremely dark bluish green to blue, and some are blue-yellow-green, yellow-green, and seldom yellow. Their original habits were barrel-shaped crystal and hexagonal tabula; transparency to opaque; from 2 to 10 mm in diameter, sometimes up to some cm. Some sapphire samples showed a typical trapiche sapphire. Their physical and optical properties belonged to the common sapphire range, inert under the UV lamp. Their common mineral inclusions included zircon, columbite, plagioclase, hercynite, and wüstite typical of mineral inclusions found in alkaline basalt-related sapphires.Their chemical characteristic is high Fe (0.5085–1.1364 wt%), Ti (0.0109 – 0.1042 wt%), with low contents of Cr (0.0037 – 0.0085 % wt). Their color was due to the presence of single Fe3+ at 376, 378 nm, Fe3+/Fe3+ pair at 450 nm and Fe2+/Ti4+ intervalence charge transfers (IVCT) with the maximum at 571, 579 nm, raising the absorption of Fe2+/Fe3+ IVCT towards the near-infrared (maximum approximately 870 to 890 nm). Magmatic sapphire’s source was recognized not only by the Cr2O3/Ga2O3 ratio lower than 1 but also by the structural O-H group at 3309 cm-1. This sapphire was in good quality, suitable for the jewelry of relatively high economic value.

The genus <i>Leptobrachella</i> (Anura, Megophryidae) was originally described, based on the type species from Sarawak (Malaysia), <i>Leptobrachella mjöbergi</i> Smith. The taxa in the group were previously classified into different genera, i.e, <i>Paramegophrys</i> Liu; <i>Leptolalax</i> Dubois; <i>Lalax</i> Delorme, Dubois, Grosjean &amp; Ohler; and <i>Lalos</i> Dubois, Grosjean, Ohler, Adler &amp; Zhao. However, Yuan et al. synonymised <i>Leptolalax</i> with <i>Leptobrachella</i> in 2017. Members of <i>Leptobrachella</i> inhabit the forest floor and rocky streams in hilly evergreen forests. They are widely distributed from southern China and Myanmar through mainland Indochina to Peninsular Malaysia and the island of Borneo. However, the species diversity of the genus was indicated to be underestimated by phylogenetic analyses and a series of new species have been discovered recently. In Vietnam, 34 species of <i>Leptobrachella</i> are currently known and 75% (or 24 species) have been described or newly recorded from the country since 2010.We describe a new species, <i>Leptobrachella huynhi</i> sp. nov., from Sin Ho District, Lai Chau Province. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by genetic divergences ranging from 3.62 to 18.51% (16S rRNA gene) and morphological differences: size medium (SVL 37.8–40.2 mm in adult females); head longer than wide; tympanum distinct; skin on entire dorsum shagreened; toes without webbing and with narrow lateral fringes; supratympanic ridge slightly rough with few nodules; dorsum grey-brown with indistinct dark brown markings; an interorbital region with a stacking double Y-shaped marking; centre of belly creamy-white, outer edges of belly brown with small whitish spots; iris copper. The new species is the 35th species of the genus <i>Leptobrachella</i> known from Vietnam.

This study identified the relationship between Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and Electrical Conductivity (EC) with the TDS = 0.6628*EC = 0.1706 correlation, in which the correlation coefficient is r = 0.984 and the Standard Error (±%) is 2.78%. The TDS content is determined by small relative error and a high correlation coefficient of the conductivity, which applies to calculate the TDS content of other groundwater samples in Bac Lieu Province. Also, the temperature difference in the electrical conductivity measurement affects the TDS content; thus, the study has determined that the temperature compensated constant between the electrical conductivity on the field and those at 25oC is 0.002953. According to the data and the analysis of the TDS content, the fresh-salt water distribution map of the qp2–3 aquifers has been established, and its boundary has been more detailed and standardized than in the previous study. In particular, TDS values range from 0.437 g/L to 2.0 g/L. The areas that contain brackish and salt water are distributed discontinuously, forming the saline zones in Loc Ninh, Phuoc Long communes in Hong Dan district; Phuoc Long, Hung Phu communes in Phuoc Long district; Vinh Hau, Vinh Binh communes in Hoa Binh district, and Thuan Hoa commune in Bac Lieu city. The saltwater area of the qp2–3 aquifers is about 398 km2, accounting for 16% of the study’s total area. The results fresh-salt water distributed mapping provide the environmental management institution with a comprehensive view of the distribution of fresh-salt water to propose effective groundwater exploitation policies.

The reproductive biology of the tarwhine Rhabdosargus sarba has been studied in three very different environments in Western Australia, namely the lower reaches of the Swan River Estuary and marine waters at the same latitude, i.e. ≈32°S, and a large subtropical marine embayment (Shark Bay) approximately 800 km further north. A macroscopic and histological examination of the gonads demonstrated that R. sarba is typically a rudimentary hermaphrodite in Western Australian waters, i.e. the juveniles develop into either a male or female in which the ovarian and testicular zones of the gonads, respectively, are macroscopically undetectable. This contrasts with the situation in the waters off Hong Kong and South Africa where R. sarba is reported to be a protandrous hermaphrodite. Although R. sarba spawns between mid-late winter and late spring in each water body, the onset of spawning in the estuary is delayed until salinities have risen well above their winter minima. Although males and females attain sexual maturity at very similar lengths in the Swan River Estuary and Shark Bay, i.e. each L50 for first maturity lies between 170 and 177 mm total length (TL), they typically reach maturity at an earlier age in the former environment, i.e. 2 vs 3 years old. During the spawning period, only 25 and 12% of the males and females, respectively, that were caught between 180 and 260 mm TL in nearshore marine waters were mature, whereas 94 and 92% of the males and females, respectively, that were collected in this length-range over reefs, were mature. This indicates that R. sarba tends to move offshore when it has become ‘physiologically’ ready to mature. The L50s at first maturity indicate that the minimum legal length in Western Australia (230 mm TL) is appropriate for managing this species.

Abstract Background: In cutaneous melanoma, the burden of chromothripsis is high prior to targeted therapy, and additional chromothripsis appears to be a key evolutionary mechanism by which cancer rapidly generates and accumulates highly dynamic structural variants (SVs). Blocking cancer genomic instability may prevent tumor escape from targeted therapies. Methods: We assembled three cohorts of tissues for WGS-based analysis of SVs. The first cohort consisted of patient-matched normal tissues, BRAF V600MUT melanoma tumors before MAPKi therapy and at disease progression (n=10 normal tissues; n=10 pretreatment tumors; n=17 acquired-resistant tumors; n=10 patients). The second cohort consisted of rapid autopsy melanoma tissues (n=3 normal tissues; n=12 acquired-resistant tumors; n=6 metastatic organ sites). The third cohort consisted of cutaneous PDX tumors. To study acquired MAPKi-resistance at the whole-genome level, we subjected PDXs (n=6 models; 1 BRAF MUT and 5 NRAS MUT models) to MAPKi therapy in NSG mice at doses sufficient to elicit tumor regression, and then generated acquired MAPKi-resistant tumors. In total, we used vehicle-treated tumors (n=6), acquired-resistant tumors (n=12), and patient-matched normal tissues (n=6) to generate WGS data. Results: Analysis of genomic amplicons due to intrachromosomal complex genomic rearrangements (CGRs) and extrachromosomal circular DNAs (ecDNAs) uncovered a significant (unpaired Student’s t-test, p=0.0002) association between acquired-resistant tumors and CGRs and/or ecDNAs harboring bona fide MAPKi-resistance genes and revealed copy number amplification of BRAF (range 4.5-27), NRAS (range 5-13), HRAS (range 13-16), MYC (range 12-15) and EGFR (CN 4.6-5), known to drive acquired MAPKi-resistance. Moreover, we validated a recurrent ecDNA by direct isolation and high-depth sequencing using a new approach referred to as CRISPR-CATCH. This alternative technique confirmed the circularized junctions of a 890 kb, driver ecDNA within this acquired-resistant clinical tumor sample. Additionally, resistance-specific (versus sensitivity-specific) chromothriptic single-base substitutions (SBSs) enriched for signatures of defects in base excision repair (BER) and in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) (Wilcoxon rank sum test, p=0.04 and p=0.005 respectively) in 14 of 31 resistant tumors (10 of 16 patients). Moreover, breakpoint-sequence analysis inferred non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) as critical, and homologous recombination repair (HRR) as adjunctive, to DNA double-stranded break repair underlying CGR and ecDNA formation harboring MAPK-reactivation or MAPKi resistance-driver genes. Inhibition of DNA-PKc or PARP1/2, even only initially during MAPKi treatment, suppressed acquired MAPKi-resistance in melanoma cell lines (BRAF V600MUT n=3 and NRAS Q61MUT n=3) and blunted the expansion of ecDNA + CGR genomic spans. In vivo, DNA-PKi in combination with MAPKi forestalled resistance, reduced ecDNA and CGRs size, and suppressed the contribution of NHEJ in 5 out of 5 cutaneous melanoma PDXs analyzed. Conclusions: Our findings advance the concepts that preventing—instead of reversing—acquired resistant phenotypes may be more clinically impactful and that targeting DNA-PKCS and NHEJ lies at the center of this approach in stabilizing cancer genomes during oncogene-targeted therapies. Citation Format: Prashanthi Dharanipragada, Xiao Zhang, Sixue Liu, Shirley H. Lomeli, Aayoung Hong, Yan Wang, Zhentao Yang, Agustin Vega-Crespo, Antoni Ribas, Stergios J. Moschos, Gatien Moriceau, Roger S. Lo. Blocking genomic instability delays acquired resistance to MAPK inhibitor therapy in melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 2 (Clinical Trials and Late-Breaking Research); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(8_Suppl):Abstract nr LB251.

As a result of the new economic policy, fourteen Economic and Technological Development Zones (ETDZs) were established in twelve coastal cities between 1984 and 1988. The first ETDZs were Dalian, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nantong, Minhang (Shanghai), Hongqiao (Shanghai), Caohejing (Shanghai), Ningbo, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Zhanjiang. Unlike Special Economic Zone (SEZ), an ETDZ is located in the suburban area of a major city. Special policies are adopted within the ETDZ. An administrative committee, normally selected by the local government, oversees economic and social management in the zones on behalf of the local government. The category ‘SEZ’ covers a broad range of more specific zone types, including Free Trade Zones (FTZ), Export Processing Zones (EPZ), Free Zones (FZ), Industrial Estates (IE), Free Ports, Urban Enterprise Zones and others. The second wave of expansion of ETDZs was led by the establishment of Pudong New District in Shanghai in 1990. This decision was aimed at elevating the status of Shanghai, making it the “Dragon Head” of the Yangtze River Delta Region, which comprises of Shanghai and parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Prior to the establishment of this new district, the Pearl River Delta Region – comprising nine cities in Guangdong – was the forerunner of China’s open door policy. However, unlike Guangdong, which lies at the south-eastern coast of China, Shanghai’s economic development will have more impact on China’s vast hinterland. Between 1992 and 1993, a total of eighteen state-level ETDZs were established – Yingkou, Changchun, Shenyang, Harbin, Weihai, Kunshan, Hangzhou, Xiaoshan, Wenzhou, Rongqiao, Dongshan, Guangzhou Nansha, Huizhou Daya Bay, Wuhu, Wuhan, Chongqing, Beijing and Urumchi. Two special projects were added later. Founded in 1993, the Ningbo Daxie Development Zone is an investment by China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC), and comes under its management. The other special project is the Suzhou Industrial Park, which was founded in 1994, and is a joint cooperation between the governments of China and Singapore. After 2000, in an effort to fuel the development of the Central and Western regions, the central government also endorsed the establishment of a further eleven national ETDZs in inland regions. Up till now, China has a total of fifty-four state-level ETDZs – thirty-two in coastal regions, and twenty-two in the hinterland. The region of Hong Kong has a role and status of innovation. The planners in this unique part of East Asia expect that some new concepts can help the former British colony to embrace a new economic model: a model in which design, marketing and branding play the crucial role in economy.

Abstract Inhibition of the repair of radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks (DSB) offers the potential to sensitize tumors to radiation therapy. The dominant role of non-homologous end-joining in the repair of radiation-induced DSBs indicates that DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is an excellent target for the development of radiosensitizers. We report the discovery of a new chemical class of kinase inhibitor based on the imidazo[4,5-c]pyridin-2-one scaffold. The class was developed by scaffold-hopping from the pan phosphoinositide 3-kinsase (PI3K) and PI3K-like kinase (PIKK) inhibitor dactolisib. Iterative development culminated in the identification of SN39536 as a low nM DNA-PK inhibitor with excellent selectivity. Further modification led to the discovery of the more potent and more selective SN40905. Both SN39536 and SN40905 were effective inhibitors of DNA-PK kinase activity in a biochemical assay with substantial selectivity for DNA-PK across the PIKK and PI3K families. Both compounds selectively inhibited growth of HAP1 PRKDC wild-type cells when combined with radiation, but not the corresponding PRKDC-/- cells. SN39536 and SN40905 were effective radiosensitizers of colorectal carcinoma (HCT116), non-small cell lung cancer (H460, H1299, and A549), pancreatic (BxPC-3, PANC-1, and MiaPaCa-2) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (FaDu and UT-SCC-74B) cells determined using a clonogenic survival endpoint. Both SN39536 and SN40905 displayed high oral bioavailability. When administered PO at a range of non-toxic doses, both SN39536 and SN40905 provided significant additional tumor cell killing of HCT116, UT-SCC-74B, and BxPC-3 tumor xenografts in combination with a single (13 Gy) radiation treatment determined by ex vivo clonogenic survival assays. SN39536 also provided substantial tumor growth inhibition of HCT116 tumor xenografts in combination with RAD (10 Gy). SN39536 and SN40905 represent a new, potent, and selective class of DNA-PK inhibitors with significant potential as radiosensitizers for the treatment of human cancers. Citation Format: Michael P. Hay, Cho R. Hong, Lydia P. Liew, Benjamin D. Dickson, Way W. Wong, Sophia F. O'Brien-Gortner, Rebecca Airey, Jagdish Jaiswal, William R. Wilson, Stephen M. Jamieson. Discovery of imidazo [4,5-c]pyridin-2-ones as selective inhibitors of DNA-dependent protein kinase and effective radiosensitizers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: DNA Damage Repair: From Basic Science to Future Clinical Application; 2024 Jan 9-11; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A001.

Abstract Introduction: Homologous Recombination Repair (HRR) pathway repairs DNA double-strand breaks. Loss of HRR capability is known to lead to genomic instability resulting in a phenotype called Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD). The utility of HRD biomarker in cancer treatment lies in its ability to predict response to specific types of therapy such as platinum-based chemotherapy and PARP inhibitors (PARPi). HRD tests evaluating scores of allelic imbalances, such as genomic scar (GS) or loss of heterozygosity (LOH), have been shown to identify a subgroup of BRCA wild-type (wt) tumors showing a HRD phenotype. Currently, HRD status is being used as a biomarker in cancer profiling, helping clinicians determine the best treatment option for their patients. In this perspective, OncoDNA® has developed a pan-cancer tumor profiling solution, the OncoDEEP® kit, facilitating the genomic analysis of both tumor DNA and RNA, and supported with Bio-IT analysis and clinical reporting. This end-to-end solution screens for a very wide range of cancer biomarkers and genomic signatures such as HRD. Hence, the OncoDEEP® kit can aid in reducing the costs of testing and deliver faster results for the selection of appropriate cancer treatment. Methods: OncoDEEP® kit, based on Twist technology, was performed at OncoDNA laboratory facilities on 246 extracted DNA from FFPE ovarian carcinoma of the PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 cohort. Those samples were previously characterized with Myriad Mychoice DX and obtained at Arcagy Gineco®. Sequencing was performed on Illumina Novaseq X. All 638 genes on OncoDEEP® panel, inclusive of BRCA1/2 and other HRR genes, were analyzed via OncoDNA proprietary bioIT pipeline and GS was calculated using Loss of Heterozygosity (LOH), Allelic Disparity on Telomere (ADT) and Large-scale Rearrangements (LR), with a positive threshold of 37. Afterwards, results were matched with PFS and treatment. Results: HRD analysis of OncoDEEP® showed a high correlation with Myriad MyChoice DX, with an overall concordance of 85 %. In addition, OncoDEEP showed to be highly predictive (p-value≤0.001) of tumor response to olaparib+bevacizumab. Tumors harboring a positive HRD phenotype and treated with olaparib+bevacizumab exhibited a median PFS of 36.4 months, while median PFS of placebo-treated tumors was 18.75 months. Finally, OncoDEEP analysis presented a lower failure rate (0.8%) compared to Myriad MyChoice Dx (6.5%). Conclusion: OncoDEEP® kit is an end-to-end solution allowing the detection of variants in 638 genes and the calculation of genomic signatures such as TMB, MSI and HRD. OncoDEEP® HRD analysis showed to be highly predictive of tumor response treated by olaparib+bevacizumab and is therefore applicable to the identification of ovarian cancer patients eligible to PARPi therapy in oncology routine. Citation Format: Marcel Trautmann, Simon Lefèvre, Sébastien Sauvage, Jessie Hong, Maxime Liénard, Karim Ashour Garrido, Jean-François Vanbellinghen, Rapahël Léonard. Clinical validation on the PAOLA-1/ENGOT-ov25 cohort of HRD calculation performed with the OncoDEEP® kit comprehensive genomic panel [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1):Abstract nr 1492.

“The family” has long been a focus of cross-party attention. While family is perceived as foundational to society’s success, how parents rear their children is perhaps the most conservative or persistent part of concern. While Chinese immigrant families and Chinese families in Asia – in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, mainland China, and elsewhere – are struggling with a socialization process that has emphasized support for traditional values, they are also simultaneously being confronted by modern ideologies and technologies. Professionals have a growing interest in addressing the culturally diverse needs and the gender issues of Chinese families. The theme of this issue of The Open Family Studies Journal, then, is “Gender, family and parenting in the Chinese context”. The heart of this special issue lies in a concern for families, in particular for the challenges posed to families and parenting practices in a changing world. The family, like any social group, is a product of history, culture and context. Because of economic and technological changes, and the increasingly pluralistic nature of our society, both gender relations and family structures have undergone tremendous change, and many challenges await elucidation. The seven papers in this special issue thus feature new perspectives on family, gender and parenting issues. The issue opens with a paper on scale validation. Since intimacy is a construct that has received limited attention in the Chinese context, the first paper, “Intimacy as a distinct construct: validating the intimacy scale among older adults of residential care homes in Hong Kong”, aims to develop a valid measurement for the quality of the relationship between older adults and family caregivers in the Hong Kong Chinese context. The study results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the instrument across samples of older adults. Paper 2 and 3 that follow are qualitative studies adopting cultural perspectives to understand Chinese American immigrant adults and older female survivors of intimate partner violence in Taiwan. In paper 2, “Understanding family connections and help-seeking behavior in Chinese parental lives. These findings illustrate how existentialism provides a new frame of reference and new practice directions for conducting parent-education programs. The final paper titled “Internet supervision and parenting in the digital age: The case of Shanghai” echoes the technological advancement and its impact on parenting. In a changing world, and in a society permeated by the Internet and by nearly instantaneous communication, families constantly need to adapt to different and changing ways of parenting. The paper explores the issue of parenting confidence in supervision of children’s Internet use in Shanghai, China. Multiple-regression models are used to identify factors affecting parents’ confidence about their own parenting. The findings suggest that efforts to assist parents should help them review their attitudes towards the Internet. American immigrant adults who attempt suicide”, the authors investigate beliefs, values and norms in the Chinese family culture and examine Chinese cultural influences on attitudes and beliefs about mental health and mental health services in the immigrant context. Paper 3, “Older female survivors of intimate partner violence in the Taiwanese cultural context” examines the needs of older female IPV survivors in another Chinese cultural context. The findings of both studies reflect the importance of family and the influence of Chinese family culture; they make it clear that traditional family beliefs are still highly valued and hold a prominent position in Chinese culture. The authors of these two papers question the efficacy of service-delivery models based on Western cultures, and they call for ethnically sensitive intervention approaches that incorporate cultural premises into developing viable options for service recipients. Paper 4 is titled “The Macau family-in-transition: the perceived impact of casino employment on family relationships among dealer families”. This paper draws on findings from a qualitative study to explore the impacts of casino employment on family life and family relationships. The family, like other social group, is a product of culture and context, and the specific socio-economic context of Macau poses challenges to dealer families and casino workers in performing their parental role. The paper sheds much-needed light on our understanding of Macau dealer families. The final three papers in this special issue all address the issue of parenting. Paper 5, “Reflective inquiry on professionals’ view on parents and about parenting”, examines professionals’ views of parents, their attitudes and beliefs about parenting, and the values underpinning their practice. The study’s findings on the theme of parent blaming provide an impetus for professionals to reflect on the attitudes and assumptions they hold, and their impact on parents. The paper calls for reflection on parenting work to recognize the difficulties and challenges faced by contemporary families. Paper 6, “Reviving parents’ life momentum: A qualitative evaluation of a parent education program adopting an existential approach”, reports the results of a qualitative analysis of the participants’ perceptions of a parent-education program. The findings of this study demonstrate that a program of this nature can make parents aware of the existential dimensions of being a parent and help them understand the significance of creating meaning in their In fact, family, parenting and gender are vastly contested terms which encompass a range of topics. The seven varied papers recommended for publication in this special issue reflect the considerable attention that we have placed on family, parenting and gender, and also the vision of this special issue. These papers add to the growing body of research and literature, and they provide both food for thought and a platform for discussion. In the last, I offer both my sincere thanks to the authors who have contributed to this special issue, and my gratitude to those who have participated as blind peer reviewers. Their thoughtful comments and criticisms have certainly improved the quality of each and every paper in this special issue.

The alkali volcanics and intrusive rocks, dated at around 35-33Ma, are cut by mineralised northeast and east trending faults showing predominant evidence for strike-slip. Mineralisation includes haematite-Au-Cu and is accompanied by iron-rich alteration of the volcanic rocks. Detailed assessment of the geometry of the fault system at Pu Sam Cap suggests that the faults formed as a Riedel shear system during left-lateral slip within the Song Hong-Song Chay shear zone and the numerous contemporaneous northwest trending faults to the south; the northeast trending faults are interpreted as dextral “book-end’’ faults between major northwest trending faults enclosing the Pu Sam Cap massif. As mineralisation is hosted within these faults and is also associated with lamprohyric dykes it confirms a thermal event younger than the alkaline volcanics and syenitic intrusives at Pu Sam Cap, suggesting a hidden, young porphyry system. 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Exhumation history of the Red River shear zone in northern Vietnam: new insights from zircon and apatite fission-track analysis. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 33, 78-90.Yang Yiseng, Hong Qun, Hu Huan-ting, Hieu Pham Trung, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, Chen Fu-kun, 2013. Geochemical characteristics and genesis of the Cenozoic porphyry in the Laizhou area, northwestern Vietnam. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 29(3), 899-911. (In Chinese with English abstract, full English version through Google Translate).

Perfect vision for the path ahead? As I write this editorial it seems that once again, we stand on the threshold of yet another significant date. The fortieth anniversary of ISCPES and also that of this journal, that has been the voice of the society’s contribution over that period, has been and gone. This time it is 2020 that looms on the near horizon. It is a date that has long been synonymous with perfect vision. Many may perhaps see this as somewhat ironic, given the themes surrounding change and the directions it has taken, that have been addressed previously in these pages. Perfect vision and the clarity it can bring seem a far cry away from the turbulent world to which we seem to be becoming accustomed. So many of the divisions that we are facing today seem to be internal in nature and far different from the largely: nation against nation; system against system strife, we can remember from the cold war era. The US, for example, seems to be a nation perpetually at war with itself. Democrats v Republicans, deplorables v elites - however you want to label the warring sides - we can construct a number of divisions which seem to put 50% of Americans implacably opposed to the other 50%. In the UK, it has been the divide around the referendum to leave the European Union – the so-called Brexit debate. Nationally the division was 52% to 48% in favour of leaving. Yet the data can be reanalysed in, it seems, countless ways to show the splits within a supposedly ‘United’ Kingdom. Scotland v England, London and the South East v the English regions, young v old are just some of the examples. Similar splits seem to be increasing within many societies. Hong Kong has recently been the focus of world interest We have watched this erstwhile model of an apparently successful and dynamic compromise between two ‘diverse’ systems, appear to tear itself apart on our television screens. Iran, Brazil, Venezuela are just three further examples of longstanding national communities where internal divisions have bubbled to the surface in recent times. These internal divisions frequently have no simple and single fault line. In bygone times, social class, poverty, religion and ethnicity were simple universal indicators of division. Today ways of dividing people have become far more complex and often multi-dimensional. Social media has become a means to amplify and repeat messages that have originated from those who have a ‘gripe’ based in identity politics or who wish to signal to all and sundry how extremely ‘virtuous’ and progressive they are. The new technologies have proved effective for the distribution of information but remarkably unsuccessful in the promotion of communication. This has been exemplified by the emergence and exploitation of Greta Thunberg a sixteen-year-old from Sweden as a spokesperson for the ‘Extinction Rebellion’ climate change lobby. It is a movement that has consciously eschewed debate and discussion in favour of action. Consequently, by excluding learning from its operation, it is cutting itself off from the possibility of finding out what beneficial change will look like and therefore finding a way by which to achieve it. Put simply, it has predetermined its desired goal and defined the problem in inflexible terms. It has ignored a basic tenet of effective problem solving, namely that the key lies in the way you actually frame the problem. Unfortunately, the movement has adopted the polarised labelling strategies that place all humans into the category of either ‘believers’ or ‘deniers’. This fails to acknowledge and deal with the depth and complexity of the problem and the range of our possible responses to it. We are all the losers when problems, particularly given their potential significance, become addressed in such a way. How and where can human behaviour learn to rise above the limits of the processes we see being followed all around us? If leadership is to come, it must surely come from and through a process of education. All of us must assume some responsibility here – and certainly not abdicate it to elite and powerful groups. In other words, we all have a moral duty to educate ourselves to the best of our ability. An important part of the process we follow should be to remain sceptical of the limits of human knowledge. In addition, we need to be committed to applying tests of truth and integrity to the information we access and manage. This is why we form and support learned societies such as ISCPES. Their duty is to test, debate and promote ideas and concepts so that truth and understanding might emerge from sharing and exploring information, while at the same time applying the criteria developed by the wisdom and experience of those who have gone before. And so, we come to the processes of change and disruption as we are currently experiencing them at International Sports Studies. Throughout our history we have followed the traditional model of a scholarly journal. That is, our reason for existence is to provide a scholarly forum for colleagues who wish to contribute to and develop understanding within the professional and academic field of Comparative Physical Education and Sport. As the means of doing this, we encourage academics and professionals in our field to submit articles which are blind reviewed by experts. They then advise the editor on their quality and suitability for publication. As part of our responsibility we particularly encourage qualified authors from non-English speaking backgrounds to publish with us, as a means of providing a truly international forum for ideas and development. Where possible the editorial team works with contributors to assist them with this process. We have now taken a step further by publishing the abstracts in Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese on the website, in order to spread the work of our contributors more widely. Consistent with international changes in labelling and focus over the years, the title of the society’s journal was changed from the Journal of Comparative Physical Education and Sport to International Sports Studies in 1989. However, our aim has remained to advance understanding and communication between members of the global community who share a professional, personal or scholarly interest in the state and development of physical education and sport around the world. In line with the traditional model, the services of our editorial and reviewing teams are provided ex gratia and the costs of publication are met by reader and library subscriptions. We have always offered a traditional printed version but have, in recent years, developed an online version - also as a subscription. Over the last few years we have moved to online editorial support. From 2020 will be adopting the practice of making articles available online immediately following their acceptance. This will reduce the wait time experienced by authors in their work becoming generally available to the academic community. Readers will no doubt be aware of the current and recent turbulence within academic publishing generally. There has been a massive increase in the university sector globally. As a result, there has been an increasing number of academics who both want to and need to publish, for the sake of advancement in their careers. A number of organisations have seen this as providing a business opportunity. Consequently, many academics now receive daily emails soliciting their contributions to various journals and books. University libraries are finding their budgets stretched and while they have been, up until now, the major funders of scholarly journals through their subscriptions, they have been forced to limit their lists and become much more selective in their choices. For these reasons, open access has provided a different and attractive funding model. In this model, the costs of publication are effectively transferred to the authors rather than the readers. This works well for those authors who may have the financial support to pursue this option, as well as for readers. However, it does raise a question as to the processes of quality control. The question arises because when the writer becomes the paying customer in the transaction, then the interests of the merchant (the publisher) can become more aligned to ensuring the author gets published rather than guaranteeing the reader some degree of quality control over the product they are receiving. A further confounding factor in the scenario we face, is the issue of how quality is judged. Universities have today become businesses and are being run with philosophies similar to those of any business in the commercial world. Thus, they have ‘bought into’ a series of key performance indicators which are used to compare institutions one with another. These are then added up together to produce summative scores by which universities can be compared and ranked. There are those of us that believe that such a process belittles and diminishes the institutions and the role they play in our societies. Nonetheless it has become a game with which the majority appear to have fallen in line, seeing it as a necessary part of the need to market themselves. As a result, very many institutions now pay their chief executives (formerly Vice-Chancellors) very highly, in order to for them to optimise the chosen metrics. It is a similar process of course with academic journals. So it is, that various measures are used to categorise and rank journals and provide some simplistic measure of ‘quality’. Certain fields and methodologies are inherently privileged in these processes, for example the medical and natural sciences. As far as we are concerned, we address a very significant element in our society – physical education and sport - and we address it from a critical but eclectic perspective. We believe that this provides a significant service to our global community. However, we need to be realistic in acknowledging the limited and restricted nature of that community. Sport Science has become dominated by physiology, data analytics, injury and rehabilitation. Courses and staff studying the phenomenon of sport and physical education through the humanities and social sciences, seem to be rarer and rarer. This is to the great detriment of the wellbeing and development of the phenomenon itself. We would like to believe that we can make an important difference in this space. So how do we address the question of quality? Primarily through following our advertised processes and the integrity and competence of those involved. We believe in these and will stick with them. However, we appreciate that burying our heads in the sand and remaining ‘king of the dinosaurs’ does not provide a viable way forward. Therefore, in our search for continuing strategy and clear vision in 2020, we will be exploring ways of signalling our quality better, while at the same time remaining true to our principles and beliefs. In conclusion we are advising you, as our readers, that changes may be expected as we, of necessity, adapt to our changing environment while seeking sustainability. Exactly what they will be, we are not certain at the time of going to press. We believe that there is a place, even a demand for our contribution and we are committed to both maintaining its standard and improving its accessibility. Comments and advice from within and outside of our community are welcome and we remain appreciative, as always, of the immense contribution of our international review board members and our supportive and innovative publisher. So, to the contributors to our current volume. Once again, we would point with some pride to the range of articles and topics provided. Together, they provide an interesting and relevant overview of some pertinent current issues in sport and physical education, addressed from the perspectives of different areas across the globe. Firstly, Pill and Agnew provide an update to current pedagogical practices in physical education and sport, through their scoping review of findings related to the use of small-sided games in teaching and coaching. They provide an overview of the empirical research, available between 2006 and 2016, and conclude that the strategy provides a useful means of achieving a number of specific objectives. From Belgium, Van Gestel explores the recent development of elite Thai boxing in that country. He draws on Elias’ (1986) notion of ‘sportization’ which describes the processes by which various play like activities have become transformed into modern sport. Thai boxing provides an interesting example as one of a number of high-risk combat sports, which inhabit an ambiguous area between the international sports community and more marginalised combat activities which can be brutal in nature. Van Gestel expertly draws out some of the complexities involved in concluding that the sport has experienced some of the processes of sportization, but in this particular case they have been ‘slight’ in impact rather than full-blown. Abdolmaleki, Heidari, Zakizadeh XXABSTRACT De Bosscher look at a topic of considerable contemporary interest – the management of a high-performance sport system. In this case their example is the Iranian national system and their focus is on the management of some of the resources involved. Given that the key to success in high performance sport systems would appear to lie in the ability to access and implement some of the latest and most effective technological information intellectual capital would seem to be a critical component of the total value of a competitive high performance sport system Using a model developed by a Swedish capital services company Skandia to model intangible assets in a service based organisation, Abdolmaleki and his associates have argued for the contribution of human, relational and structural capital to provide an understanding of the current place of intellectual capital in the operations of the Iranian Ministry of Sport and Youth. An understanding of the factors contributing to the development of these assets, contributes to the successful operation of any organisation in such a highly competitive and fast changing environment. Finally, from Singapore, Chung, Sufri and Wang report on some of the exciting developments in school based physical education that have occurred over the last decade. In particular they identify the increase in the placement of qualified physical education teachers as indicative of the progress that has been made. They draw on Foucault’s strategy of ‘archaeological analysis’ for an explanation of how these developments came to be successfully put in place. Their arguments strongly reinforce the importance of understanding the social and political context in order to achieve successful innovation and development. May I commend the work of our colleagues to you and wish you all the best in the attempt to achieve greater clarity of vision for 2020!

The paper provides updated and thoroughly databases on vascular flora and vegetation types at elevational belt over 2800m of Hoang Lien Son mountain range (Lao Cai province) for plant - diversity conservation and sustainable development planning. The research results show that this flora includes 126 species, 82 genera, 46 families belonging to 3 vascular divisions: Polypodiophyta, Pinophyta and Magnoliophyta. In particular, Magnoliophyta has absolute dominance with 123 species (accounts for 97.6% of the total species of study area). The flora of research area has 6 valuable and rare species (5% of total species) in Vietnam Red Book, Red List of IUCN; 13 endemic species (10.3% of total species) and 37 useful species (29.4% of total species). Among them, there are 7 endemic species only in Hoang Lien Son area, 31 medicinal species, 9 ornamental species and 5 food species. The vegetation of the study area consists of 5 formations. These are typical and unique vegetations of Hoang Lien Son high mountain area that should be prioritized to protect from human impacts, especially overload tourism development.

Hoang Lien Son is a high, rugged mountain range in the northwest region of Vietnam where many ethnic minorities gather, and due to socioeconomic characteristics, the life of the people here still faces many difficulties. Artichoke is a medicinal plant with high economic value and favorable growth in temperate climates and is one of the options for sustainable economic development for people in mountainous areas. The study used a multicriteria analysis method on AHP to analyze the influence of ecological factors of the Hoang Lien Son area (Lao Cai Province) on the growth and development of artichokes. The weights from the AHP model are used to establish ecological adaptation maps through geographic information system (GIS) software. The research results show that the most suitable areas (S1 and S2) for the development of artichokes have an area of 125,642.72 hectares, accounting for 34.41% of the study area. However, the area with the highest adaptability (S1) for growing artichokes is not large, located at an altitude of over 1000 m, mainly at 1700 m in the territory of Sapa town and some communes in Bat Xat district. The results provide the scientific basis for planning potential planting areas and exploiting and developing artichokes to improve livelihoods and people's lives, contributing to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

The Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt (Tylototriton sparreboomi) is a recently discovered species of crocodile newts from Vietnam and it is currently known only from Sin Ho District in Lai Chau Province. Due to the limited information available on its population status and distribution, the species has been classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List. As a result of our field surveys in 2021 and 2022 in north-western Vietnam, novel data on distribution and population status of and threats to this poorly-known species were collected. We combined the newly-discovered locations with previous occurrence records and used the data as input for modelling the potential distribution of the Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt. The results showed that the Sparreboom's Crocodile Newt’s potential distribution encompasses areas in Lai Chau, Dien Bien and Son La Provinces, Vietnam, as well as a section in Jinping County, Yunnan Province, China. Based on the findings, we suggest that protected areas in the eastern side of Hoang Lien Mountain Range, such as Che Tao, Muong La, Hoang Lien – Van Ban and Bat Xat Nature Reserves and Hoang Lien National Park in Vietnam and Jinping Feishuling Nature Reserve in China be priority sites for the species conservation. Future research and conservation initiatives should prioritise efforts in such areas in an effort to find and protect new populations of the newt.

Panax stipuleanatus, a precious genetic resource, is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) in the Vietnam Red Data Book 2007 and in group IIa of Decree 32-CP. It is a species of high economic value that is being severely reduced in many individuals and mangrove plant communities and needs to be studied and preserved. A number of biological and ecological characteristics and vegetation structures in the distribution area of this species have been studied and determined. Specifically, the ambient temperature ranges from 4.9-25.5oC; humidity about 70-92%, rainfall 26-780 mm and sunshine hours 92-230 hours, soil with pH value 3.97; Total K2O 9.10(g/kg), Fe+2 27.24 (g/kg), total P 0.33%; Total N 0.28% and total organic carbon 4.97%. Panax stipuleanatus is discovered under the canopy of mixed vegetation of subtropical broadleaf trees from an altitude of 1.300-1.800m, with a slope of 12-16%, where the density of plant species is about 1.460 trees/ha, including species of importance index &gt; 5%, such as Castanopsissp, LinderacaudataHook.f., Lithocarpusfordianus (Hemsl.) Chun, Schefflerapauciffora R. Vig., Schimawallichi (DC.) Korth and Prunusarborea Blume. These are considered important data on ecological biology and the specific distribution area of Panaxstipuleanatus, which is the foundation for researching, developing, and proposing preservation solutions, exploiting, and promoting this rare genetic resource in Vietnam.

Abstract In the northern part of the South China Sea lies a tectonic belt with frequent seismic activity, which is known as the Littoral Fault Zone (LFZ). The middle part of this fault zone is adjacent to the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The LFZ comprises three main fault segments characterized by complex tectonic features and high seismicity. Using the curvilinear grid finite-difference method, we first conducted a 3D spontaneous dynamic rupture simulation of potential earthquakes on a multifault model of the LFZ. Under a reasonable range of physical parameter constraints, we explored a reference dynamic model and a critical dynamic model. Then, based on the critical dynamic model that could trigger extreme earthquake scenarios, we performed dynamic rupture simulations by setting six hypocenters in areas with high static stress drops on the three main fault segments. The simulation results indicated that the easternmost fault segment (F3) which is closer to Shenzhen and Hong Kong could generate the largest possible earthquake with a magnitude up to Mw 7.47. Considering a ± 10° uncertainty in stress orientation, the potential maximum magnitude can reach Mw 7.59. Furthermore, the results suggested a low likelihood of cascading rupture across the three fault segments, due to generally low stress drops at the boundaries between faults, which hinder the rupture jumping. Thus, we concluded that the probability of the LFZ generating an extreme earthquake (Mw≥7.6) affecting the GBA is relatively low. Given these results, future efforts to mitigate seismic disasters in the GBA should especially focus on areas near the easternmost fault segment, F3.

Sea slug (Subclass Heterobranchia) biodiversity is an important element of marine coral reef communities. However, due to their small size and cryptic behavior, few studies have examined their spatiotemporal variation. Taiwan is in the middle of East Asia Island Arcs, where it is one of the hotspots of sea slug diversity. Meanwhile, the northeast coast of this island lies within the subtropical monsoon region, where the climate shifts from a warm southwest monsoon (SW: May to Sep) to a cold northeast monsoon (NE: Oct to Apr). Between the monsoons, distinct temperatures and currents result in different community structures. To understand how those environmental factors (i.e., monsoon season, diel period and water depth) influence sea slug species richness and assemblages, we surveyed these invertebrates monthly at both night and day by diving in a marine protection area (CJ) and at a nearby non-protected site (MR) from May 2020 to Apr 2021. We showed that the species composition in our sampling area was highly consistent with what was found in Okinawa and Pescadores island, but less similar to those in southern Taiwan or Hong Kong. On the northeast coast of Taiwan, sea slug number and abundance were both higher in CJ than MR, but biodiversity (H’) and the species evenness index J’ was lower in CJ than MR. Additionally, cluster analysis indicated that the sea slug assemblages differed between the two sites. Monsoon season significantly influenced both species richness and species assemblages, with species richness during SW being significantly higher than in the NE monsoon and species assemblages also being distinct between these two seasons. Moreover, species richness increased with water depth (within the surveyed range of 0-25 m). Diel period did not exert a strong impact on sea slug biodiversity, except for species richness at CJ, where it was higher during the day than at night. Our study suggested that changing currents between the monsoon seasons could transport individuals originating from either the north or south of these island arcs. Furthermore, temperature and food sources may differ between seasons and depths, thereby influencing sea slug assemblages in this region.

Air pollution has been a growing concern for decades, which has a serious toxicological impact on human health and the environment. It has a number of different emission sources, but motor vehicles and industrial processes contribute the major part of air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, six major air pollutants include particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Air pollution is considered as the major environmental risk factor in the incidence and progression of some diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, ventricular hypertrophy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, psychological complications, autism, retinopathy, fetal growth, and low birth weight. This article aims to discuss toxicology of major air pollutants, sources of emission, and their impact on human health. We have also proposed practical measures to reduce air pollution in VietNam.&#x0D; Keywords: Air pollution, cardiovascular diseases, environment, human health, Vietnam.&#x0D; References:&#x0D; [1] http://www.healthdata.org/infograp hic/global-burden-air-pollution.[2] http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/pdf/108141-REVISED-Cost-of-PollutionWebCORRECTEDfile.pdf.[3] https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-topline.[4] https://thanhnien.vn/thoi-su/khong-khi-ha-noi-lai-vuon-len-muc-o-nhiem-nhat-the-gioi-1185769.html.[5] Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (adopted 13 November 1979, entered into force 16 March 1983).[6] United States Environmental Protection Agency (2007), “Terms of Environment: Glossary, Abbreviations and Acronyms.[7] Trường Đại học Luật Hà Nội, Giáo trình luật môi trường, NXB. Công an Nhân dân, Hà Nội, 2014, tr.165.[8] WHO, ‘A Global Assessment of Exposure and Burden of Disease: FAQs’ http://www. who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/global-exposure-assessment-faq/en.[9] https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/what-causes-air-pollution#agriculture.[10] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health.[11] WHO, “Household Air Pollution and Health” (February 2016).http://www.who.int/ mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/.[12] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health.[13] M. Sand et al, “Response of Arctic Temperature to Changes in Emissions of Short-Lived Climate Forcers” (2016) 6 Nature Climate Change 286.[14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6862654/#B2-ijerph-16-04296.[15] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114000062.[16] Kết luận số 56-KL/TW, ngày 23/8/2019 của Bộ Chính trị về tiếp tục thực hiện Nghị quyết Trung ương 7 khoá XI về chủ động ứng phó với biến đổi khí hậu, tăng cường quản lí tài nguyên và bảo vệ môi trường.[17] Quyết định số 79/QĐ-BTNMT, ngày 09/01/2020 của Bộ trưởng Bộ Tài nguyên và Môi trường về việc công bố 10 sự kiện ngành tài nguyên và môi trường năm 2019.[18] https://www.thiennhien.net/2020/02/25/chat-luong-khong-khi-do-thi-dien-bien-xau-trong-2-thang-dau-nam/.[19] https://vietnamnet.vn/vn/thoi-su/moi-truong/khong-khi-ha-noi-o-nguong-rat-co-hai-ngay-thu-7-lien-tiep-599095.html.[20] https://thanhnien.vn/thoi-su/khong-khi-ha-noi-lai-vuon-len-muc-o-nhiem-nhat-the-gioi-1185769.html.[21] Shannon N. Koplitz và cộng sự, Burden of Disease from Rising Coal-Fired Power Plant Emissions in Southeast Asia (2017), https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.6b03731. [22] Nguyễn Quang Dy, Câu chuyện đầu năm: Nguy cơ khủng hoảng môi trường, http://www.viet-studies.net/kinhte/NQuangDy_KhungHoangMoiTruong.html.&#x0D; &#x0D;

We present a summary of the geographic distribution data of all 3,341 species of the jewel-beetle genus Agrilus taxonomically valid at the end of 2022. Our work is richly illustrated with maps and diagrams. The genus Agrilus is the most speciose in the Americas (1,292 species) and Asia (1,187 species). The Americas have the best-delimited fauna at the regional level, with 100% of Agrilus species unique to the region, followed by those of Africa (95.8%) and Asia (93.4%). Europe has the lowest percentage of unique Agrilus species on all levels (regional, subregional and country). Among the subregions, the genus Agrilus is the most speciose in South-Eastern Asia (784 species), South America (769), Central America (427) and Eastern Asia (342); on the other hand, Micronesia has a single species, Polynesia has six species and the Caribbean has 18 species. New Zealand has no Agrilus. Brazil (477 species), Mexico (317) and Laos (265) are the three countries with the highest number of Agrilus species. Among 3,341 Agrilus species, 2,924 (87.5%) are unique to one biogeographic realm or transitional zone, and 417 species (12.5%) are shared by two or more biogeographical realms or transitional zones. Three widely distributed Agrilus species found in four biogeographic realms or transitional zones (A. acutus, A. auriventris and A. occipitalis) are pests of cultivated plants Citrus, Abelmoschus, Corchorus, Hibiscus, Malachra, Urena, are likely native to Southeastern Asia and were dispersed by humans. The number of Agrilus species by biogeographic realm varies between 12 (Oceanic) and 1,115 (Neotropical). The genus Agrilus is most speciose in the following realms: Neotropical (1,115 species, 33.4%), Indomalayan (810, 24.2%) and Afrotropical (694, 20.8%). The percentage of unique Agrilus species by biogeographic realm or transitional zone varies between 15.2% (Nearctic–Neotropical transitional zone) to 95.7% (Afrotropical realm). The range of 2,803 Agrilus species (83.9%) lies within a single biogeographic realm: Neotropical (974 species), Afrotropical (665), Indomalayan (662), Palearctic (234) Australasian (174), Nearctic (86) and Oceanic (8). Agrilus species reported from the largest number of countries are A. viridis, A. cuprescens, A. pratensis, A. angustulus, A. biguttatus, A. subauratus, A. cyanescens, A. suvorovi, A. hyperici and A. graminis; they are all native to the Palearctic realm. French Guiana (1.81), Laos (1.12), Vietnam (0.54) and Malaysia (0.53) are the countries with the highest number of Agrilus species per thousand square kilometers. On the sub-country level, the Laotian provinces Houaphan (7.09) and Bolikhamxai (5.52), as well as the Thai province Mae Hong Son (6.55) have the highest number of Agrilus species per thousand square kilometers. Indochina, French Guiana and Mexico are the global hotspots of Agrilus diversity. Our estimates suggest that the true number of Agrilus species in subtropical and tropical zones is at least twice higher than is currently known.

Introduction Many destinations promote culinary encounters. Foods and beverages, and especially how these will taste in situ, are being marketed as niche travel motivators and used in destination brand building across the globe. While initial usage of the term culinary tourism focused on experiencing exotic cultures of foreign destinations by sampling unfamiliar food and drinks, the term has expanded to embrace a range of leisure travel experiences where the aim is to locate and taste local specialities as part of a pleasurable, and hopefully notable, culinary encounter (Wolf). Long’s foundational work was central in developing the idea of culinary tourism as an active endeavor, suggesting that via consumption, individuals construct unique experiences. Ignatov and Smith’s literature review-inspired definition confirms the nature of activity as participatory, and adds consuming food production skills—from observing agriculture and local processors to visiting food markets and attending cooking schools—to culinary purchases. Despite importing almost all of its foodstuffs and beverages, including some of its water, Singapore is an acknowledged global leader in culinary tourism. Horng and Tsai note that culinary tourism conceptually implies that a transferal of “local or special knowledge and information that represent local culture and identities” (41) occurs via these experiences. This article adds the act of reading to these participatory activities and suggests that, because food writing forms an important component of Singapore’s suite of culinary tourism offerings, taste contributes to the cultural experience offered to both visitors and locals. While Singapore foodways have attracted significant scholarship (see, for instance, work by Bishop; Duruz; Huat &amp; Rajah; Tarulevicz, Eating), Singapore food writing, like many artefacts of popular culture, has attracted less notice. Yet, this writing is an increasingly visible component of cultural production of, and about, Singapore, and performs a range of functions for locals, tourists and visitors before they arrive. Although many languages are spoken in Singapore, English is the national language (Alsagoff) and this study focuses on food writing in English. Background Tourism comprises a major part of Singapore’s economy, with recent figures detailing that food and beverage sales contribute over 10 per cent of this revenue, with spend on culinary tours and cookery classes, home wares such as tea-sets and cookbooks, food magazines and food memoirs additional to this (Singapore Government). This may be related to the fact that Singapore not only promotes food as a tourist attraction, but also actively promotes itself as an exceptional culinary destination. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) includes food in its general information brochures and websites, and its print, television and cinema commercials (Huat and Rajah). It also mounts information-rich campaigns both abroad and inside Singapore. The 2007 ‘Singapore Seasons’ campaign, for instance, promoted Singaporean cuisine alongside films, design, books and other cultural products in London, New York and Beijing. Touring cities identified as key tourist markets in 2011, the ‘Singapore Takeout’ pop-up restaurant brought the taste of Singaporean foods into closer focus. Singaporean chefs worked with high profile locals in its kitchen in a custom-fabricated shipping container to create and demonstrate Singaporean dishes, attracting public and media interest. In country, the STB similarly actively promotes the tastes of Singaporean foods, hosting the annual World Gourmet Summit (Chaney and Ryan) and Pacific Food Expo, both attracting international culinary professionals to work alongside local leaders. The Singapore Food Festival each July is marketed to both locals and visitors. In these ways, the STB, as well as providing events for visitors, is actively urging Singaporeans to proud of their food culture and heritage, so that each Singaporean becomes a proactive ambassador of their cuisine. Singapore Food Writing Popular print guidebooks and online guides to Singapore pay significantly more attention to Singaporean food than they do for many other destinations. Sections on food in such publications discuss at relative length the taste of Singaporean food (always delicious) as well as how varied, authentic, hygienic and suited-to-all-budgets it is. These texts also recommend hawker stalls and food courts alongside cafés and restaurants (Henderson et al.), and a range of other culinary experiences such as city and farm food tours and cookery classes. This writing describes not only what can be seen or learned during these experiences, but also what foods can be sampled, and how these might taste. This focus on taste is reflected in the printed materials that greet the in-bound tourist at the airport. On a visit in October 2013, arrival banners featuring mouth-watering images of local specialities such as chicken rice and chilli crab marked the route from arrival to immigration and baggage collection. Even advertising for a bank was illustrated with photographs of luscious-looking fruits. The free maps and guidebooks available featured food-focused tours and restaurant locations, and there were also substantial free booklets dedicated solely to discussing local delicacies and their flavours, plus recommended locations to sample them. A website and free mobile app were available that contain practical information about dishes, ingredients, cookery methods, and places to eat, as well as historical and cultural information. These resources are also freely distributed to many hotels and popular tourist destinations. Alongside organising food walks, bus tours and cookery classes, the STB also recommends the work of a number of Singaporean food writers—principally prominent Singapore food bloggers, reviewers and a number of memoirists—as authentic guides to what are described as unique Singaporean flavours. The strategies at the heart of this promotion are linking advertising to useful information. At a number of food centres, for instance, STB information panels provide details about both specific dishes and Singapore’s food culture more generally (Henderson et al.). This focus is apparent at many tourist destinations, many of which are also popular local attractions. In historic Fort Canning Park, for instance, there is a recreation of Raffles’ experimental garden, established in 1822, where he grew the nutmeg, clove and other plants that were intended to form the foundation for spice plantations but were largely unsuccessful (Reisz). Today, information panels not only indicate the food plants’ names and how to grow them, but also their culinary and medicinal uses, recipes featuring them and the related food memories of famous Singaporeans. The Singapore Botanic Gardens similarly houses the Ginger Garden displaying several hundred species of ginger and information, and an Eco(-nomic/logical) Garden featuring many food plants and their stories. In Chinatown, panels mounted outside prominent heritage brands (often still quite small shops) add content to the shopping experience. A number of museums profile Singapore’s food culture in more depth. The National Museum of Singapore has a permanent Living History gallery that focuses on Singapore’s street food from the 1950s to 1970s. This display includes food-related artefacts, interactive aromatic displays of spices, films of dishes being made and eaten, and oral histories about food vendors, all supported by text panels and booklets. Here food is used to convey messages about the value of Singapore’s ethnic diversity and cross-cultural exchanges. Versions of some of these dishes can then be sampled in the museum café (Time Out Singapore). The Peranakan Museum—which profiles the unique hybrid culture of the descendants of the Chinese and South Indian traders who married local Malay women—shares this focus, with reconstructed kitchens and dining rooms, exhibits of cooking and eating utensils and displays on food’s ceremonial role in weddings and funerals all supported with significant textual information. The Chinatown Heritage Centre not only recreates food preparation areas as a vivid indicator of poor Chinese immigrants’ living conditions, but also houses The National Restaurant of Singapore, which translates this research directly into meals that recreate the heritage kopi tiam (traditional coffee shop) cuisine of Singapore in the 1930s, purposefully bringing taste into the service of education, as its descriptive menu states, “educationally delighting the palate” (Chinatown Heritage Centre). These museums recognise that shopping is a core tourist activity in Singapore (Chang; Yeung et al.). Their gift- and bookshops cater to the culinary tourist by featuring quality culinary products for sale (including, for instance, teapots and cups, teas, spices and traditional sweets, and other foods) many of which are accompanied by informative tags or brochures. At the centre of these curated, purchasable collections are a range written materials: culinary magazines, cookbooks, food histories and memoirs, as well as postcards and stationery printed with recipes. Food Magazines Locally produced food magazines cater to a range of readerships and serve to extend the culinary experience both in, and outside, Singapore. These include high-end gourmet, luxury lifestyle publications like venerable monthly Wine &amp; Dine: The Art of Good Living, which, in in print for almost thirty years, targets an affluent readership (Wine &amp; Dine). The magazine runs features on local dining, gourmet products and trends, as well as international epicurean locations and products. Beautifully illustrated recipes also feature, as the magazine declares, “we’ve recognised that sharing more recipes should be in the DNA of Wine &amp; Dine’s editorial” (Wine &amp; Dine). Appetite magazine, launched in 2006, targets the “new and emerging generation of gourmets—foodies with a discerning and cosmopolitan outlook, broad horizons and a insatiable appetite” (Edipresse Asia) and is reminiscent in much of its styling of New Zealand’s award-winning Cuisine magazine. Its focus is to present a fresh approach to both cooking at home and dining out, as readers are invited to “Whip up the perfect soufflé or feast with us at the finest restaurants in Singapore and around the region” (Edipresse Asia). Chefs from leading local restaurants are interviewed, and the voices of “fellow foodies and industry watchers” offer an “insider track” on food-related news: “what’s good and what’s new” (Edipresse Asia). In between these publications sits Epicure: Life’s Refinements, which features local dishes, chefs, and restaurants as well as an overseas travel section and a food memories column by a featured author. Locally available ingredients are also highlighted, such as abalone (Cheng) and an interesting range of mushrooms (Epicure). While there is a focus on an epicurean experience, this is presented slightly more casually than in Wine &amp; Dine. Food &amp; Travel focuses more on home cookery, but each issue also includes reviews of Singapore restaurants. The bimonthly bilingual (Chinese and English) Gourmet Living features recipes alongside a notable focus on food culture—with food history columns, restaurant reviews and profiles of celebrated chefs. An extensive range of imported international food magazines are also available, with those from nearby Malaysia and Indonesia regularly including articles on Singapore. Cookbooks These magazines all include reviews of cookery books including Singaporean examples – and some feature other food writing such as food histories, memoirs and blogs. These reviews draw attention to how many Singaporean cookbooks include a focus on food history alongside recipes. Cookery teacher Yee Soo Leong’s 1976 Singaporean Cooking was an early example of cookbook as heritage preservation. This 1976 book takes an unusual view of ‘Singaporean’ flavours. Beginning with sweet foods—Nonya/Singaporean and western cakes, biscuits, pies, pastries, bread, desserts and icings—it also focuses on both Singaporean and Western dishes. This text is also unusual as there are only 6 lines of direct authorial address in the author’s acknowledgements section. Expatriate food writer Wendy Hutton’s Singapore Food, first published in 1979, reprinted many times after and revised in 2007, has long been recognised as one of the most authoritative titles on Singapore’s food heritage. Providing an socio-historical map of Singapore’s culinary traditions, some one third of the first edition was devoted to information about Singaporean multi-cultural food history, including detailed profiles of a number of home cooks alongside its recipes. Published in 1980, Kenneth Mitchell’s A Taste of Singapore is clearly aimed at a foreign readership, noting the variety of foods available due to the racial origins of its inhabitants. The more modest, but equally educational in intent, Hawkers Flavour: A Guide to Hawkers Gourmet in Malaysia and Singapore (in its fourth printing in 1998) contains a detailed introductory essay outlining local food culture, favourite foods and drinks and times these might be served, festivals and festive foods, Indian, Indian Muslim, Chinese, Nyonya (Chinese-Malay), Malay and Halal foods and customs, followed with a selection of recipes from each. More contemporary examples of such information-rich cookbooks, such as those published in the frequently reprinted Periplus Mini Cookbook series, are sold at tourist attractions. Each of these modestly priced, 64-page, mouthwateringly illustrated booklets offer framing information, such as about a specific food culture as in the Nonya kitchen in Nonya Favourites (Boi), and explanatory glossaries of ingredients, as in Homestyle Malay Cooking (Jelani). Most recipes include a boxed paragraph detailing cookery or ingredient information that adds cultural nuance, as well as trying to describe tastes that the (obviously foreign) intended reader may not have encountered. Malaysian-born Violet Oon, who has been called the Julia Child of Singapore (Bergman), writes for both local and visiting readers. The FOOD Paper, published monthly for a decade from January 1987 was, she has stated, then “Singapore’s only monthly publication dedicated to the CSF—Certified Singapore Foodie” (Oon, Violet Oon Cooks 7). Under its auspices, Oon promoted her version of Singaporean cuisine to both locals and visitors, as well as running cookery classes and culinary events, hosting her own television cooking series on the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, and touring internationally for the STB as a ‘Singapore Food Ambassador’ (Ahmad; Kraal). Taking this representation of flavor further, Oon has also produced a branded range of curry powders, spices, and biscuits, and set up a number of food outlets. Her first cookbook, World Peranakan Cookbook, was published in 1978. Her Singapore: 101 Meals of 1986 was commissioned by the STB, then known as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. Violet Oon Cooks, a compilation of recipes from The FOOD Paper, published in 1992, attracted a range of major international as well as Singaporean food sponsors, and her Timeless Recipes, published in 1997, similarly aimed to show how manufactured products could be incorporated into classic Singaporean dishes cooked at home. In 1998, Oon produced A Singapore Family Cookbook featuring 100 dishes. Many were from Nonya cuisine and her following books continued to focus on preserving heritage Singaporean recipes, as do a number of other nationally-cuisine focused collections such as Joyceline Tully and Christopher Tan’s Heritage Feasts: A Collection of Singapore Family Recipes. Sylvia Tan’s Singapore Heritage Food: Yesterday’s Recipes for Today’s Cooks, published in 2004, provides “a tentative account of Singapore’s food history” (5). It does this by mapping the various taste profiles of six thematically-arranged chronologically-overlapping sections, from the heritage of British colonialism, to the uptake of American and Russia foods in the Snackbar era of the 1960s and the use of convenience flavoring ingredients such as curry pastes, sauces, dried and frozen supermarket products from the 1970s. Other Volumes Other food-themed volumes focus on specific historical periods. Cecilia Leong-Salobir’s Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire discusses the “unique hybrid” (1) cuisine of British expatriates in Singapore from 1858 to 1963. In 2009, the National Museum of Singapore produced the moving Wong Hong Suen’s Wartime Kitchen: Food and Eating in Singapore 1942–1950. This details the resilience and adaptability of both diners and cooks during the Japanese Occupation and in post-war Singapore, when shortages stimulated creativity. There is a centenary history of the Cold Storage company which shipped frozen foods all over south east Asia (Boon) and location-based studies such as Annette Tan’s Savour Chinatown: Stories Memories &amp; Recipes. Tan interviewed hawkers, chefs and restaurant owners, working from this information to write both the book’s recipes and reflect on Chinatown’s culinary history. Food culture also features in (although it is not the main focus) more general book-length studies such as educational texts such as Chew Yen Fook’s The Magic of Singapore and Melanie Guile’s Culture in Singapore (2000). Works that navigate both spaces (of Singaporean culture more generally and its foodways) such Lily Kong’s Singapore Hawker Centres: People, Places, Food, provide an consistent narrative of food in Singapore, stressing its multicultural flavours that can be enjoyed from eateries ranging from hawker stalls to high-end restaurants that, interestingly, that agrees with that promulgated in the food writing discussed above. Food Memoirs and Blogs Many of these narratives include personal material, drawing on the author’s own food experiences and taste memories. This approach is fully developed in the food memoir, a growing sub-genre of Singapore food writing. While memoirs by expatriate Singaporeans such as Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan’s A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family, produced by major publisher Hyperion in New York, has attracted considerable international attention, it presents a story of Singapore cuisine that agrees with such locally produced texts as television chef and food writer Terry Tan’s Stir-fried and Not Shaken: A Nostalgic Trip Down Singapore’s Memory Lane and the food memoir of the Singaporean chef credited with introducing fine Malay dining to Singapore, Aziza Ali’s Sambal Days, Kampong Cuisine, published in Singapore in 2013 with the support of the National Heritage Board. All these memoirs are currently available in Singapore in both bookshops and a number of museums and other attractions. While underscoring the historical and cultural value of these foods, all describe the unique flavours of Singaporean cuisine and its deliciousness. A number of prominent Singapore food bloggers are featured in general guidebooks and promoted by the STB as useful resources to dining out in Singapore. One of the most prominent of these is Leslie Tay, a medical doctor and “passionate foodie” (Knipp) whose awardwinning ieatŸishootŸipost is currently attracting some 90,000 unique visitors every month and has had over 20,000 million hits since its launch in 2006. An online diary of Tay’s visits to hundreds of Singaporean hawker stalls, it includes descriptions and photographs of meals consumed, creating accumulative oral culinary histories of these dishes and those who prepared them. These narratives have been reorganised and reshaped in Tay’s first book The End of Char Kway Teow and Other Hawker Mysteries, where each chapter tells the story of one particular dish, including recommended hawker stalls where it can be enjoyed. Ladyironchef.com is a popular food and travel site that began as a blog in 2007. An edited collection of reviews of eateries and travel information, many by the editor himself, the site features lists of, for example, the best cafes (LadyIronChef “Best Cafes”), eateries at the airport (LadyIronChef “Guide to Dining”), and hawker stalls (Lim). While attesting to the cultural value of these foods, many articles also discuss flavour, as in Lim’s musings on: ‘how good can chicken on rice taste? … The glistening grains of rice perfumed by fresh chicken stock and a whiff of ginger is so good you can even eat it on its own’. Conclusion Recent Singapore food publishing reflects this focus on taste. Tay’s publisher, Epigram, growing Singaporean food list includes the recently released Heritage Cookbooks Series. This highlights specialist Singaporean recipes and cookery techniques, with the stated aim of preserving tastes and foodways that continue to influence Singaporean food culture today. Volumes published to date on Peranakan, South Indian, Cantonese, Eurasian, and Teochew (from the Chaoshan region in the east of China’s Guangdong province) cuisines offer both cultural and practical guides to the quintessential dishes and flavours of each cuisine, featuring simple family dishes alongside more elaborate special occasion meals. In common with the food writing discussed above, the books in this series, although dealing with very different styles of cookery, contribute to an overall impression of the taste of Singapore food that is highly consistent and extremely persuasive. This food writing narrates that Singapore has a delicious as well as distinctive and interesting food culture that plays a significant role in Singaporean life both currently and historically. It also posits that this food culture is, at the same time, easily accessible and also worthy of detailed consideration and discussion. 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Singapore: Eastern Universities P, c.1976. Yeung, Sylvester, James Wong, and Edmond Ko. “Preferred Shopping Destination: Hong Kong Versus Singapore.” International Journal of Tourism Research 6.2 (2004): 85–96. Acknowledgements Research to complete this article was supported by Central Queensland University, Australia, under its Outside Studies Program (OSPRO) and Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre (LTERC). An earlier version of part of this article was presented at the 2nd Australasian Regional Food Networks and Cultures Conference, in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, Australia, 11–14 November 2012. The delegates of that conference and expert reviewers of this article offered some excellent suggestions regarding strengthening this article and their advice was much appreciated. All errors are, of course, my own.

Integrity is fundamental to everyone involved in education – students, parents, teachers, lecturers, administrators and future employers, as well as the general public. It is hardly surprising therefore, that research on educational integrity continues to gather momentum, as evidenced by the growing number of conferences and seminars on this subject around the world. I am very pleased to report that while student cheating and plagiarism continue to be topics of interest, practitioners and researchers are also exploring the broader, social context and the changing, globalised and increasingly commercialised nature of education itself.&#x0D; &#x0D; The current issue of the International Journal for Educational Integrity is introduced by William Astore's Plenary Address from the Annual International Center for Academic Integrity Conference, held at Washington University in St Louis, Illinois in October this year. Astore spoke boldly to conference delegates of the 'wider dimensions of academic integrity', using anecdotes from his own experience as a military instructor at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and as a history professor at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He convincingly argued that systemic breaches of integrity are far more harmful than individual lapses such as student cheating because they compromise the institution as a whole. In his Address, Astore was&#x0D; openly critical of the marketisation of higher education, a topic which was also explored at the 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity: Creating an Inclusive Approach, held in September at the University of Wollongong in NSW, Australia.&#x0D; &#x0D; The four best refereed papers from the Asia-Pacific Conference are included in this issue of the IJEI. Kim awyer from the University of Melbourne, and Jackie Johnson and Mark Holub from the University of Western ustralia, provide a candid analysis of the decline in academic standards and integrity in Australian higher education. This paper provides a thorough overview of recent changes in Australian higher education. &#x0D; As Richard Davis commented in his review, "Critics of the modern university face an uphill task. Accused of advocating old, inefficient ways and lamenting a decadent past, they are easily silenced by self-satisfied colleagues enjoying their large research grants and consultancies. Some critics can do little more than condemn local personalities. All would be well if the vice-chancellor was less authoritarian or the university council less mean in its refusal of salary increases. The strength of the current paper lies in its remorseless analysis of the system which developed inexorably from the government's determination to educate more students while cutting its higher education costs. The 'new' corporate market-based university replaced the 'old' university dedicated to the ideals of free enquiry and education as an end in itself".&#x0D; &#x0D; Moving from the broad educational context to specific practices, the next four papers in this issue investigate issues of learning, teaching, assessment and adjudication. Clair Hughes from the University of Queensland addresses an apparent shortfall in Australian universities' implementation of 'Graduate Attributes' (GA), including the GA relating to ethical conduct. Hughes maintains that to authentically operationalise GAs, much more is needed than simply mapping specific attributes against existing programs and courses. Hughes argues for a whole of programme approach, the explicit inclusion of ethics in course teaching and assessment plans, and provides specific examples of how this may be achieved.&#x0D; &#x0D; Jon Yorke, Kathryn Lawson and Graham McMahon from Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, ask how those who adjudicate breaches of academic integrity can reliably determine 'intent' in cases of plagiarism. The authors draw on a desktop study of institutional policies and procedures in 20 universities from Australia, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and the UK to analyse the way that 'intent' is defined and determined. Their findings indicate that despite the espoused significance of 'intent' in determining outcomes for alleged academic misconduct in many policies, there is inconsistency in the way that it is treated. The authors provide a preliminary series of 'probability factors' which might be used to determine 'intent' and call for further research in this little explored aspect of academic integrity.&#x0D; &#x0D; Grace McCarthy and Ann Rogerson from the University of Wollongong in NSW, Australia, share the results of a trial at the Sydney Business School where 61 international students were encouraged to use 'originality reports' provided by the software program Turnitin to assess the originality of their own work and thus avoid inadvertent plagiarism. In conjunction with hands-on support from teaching staff, students were permitted to submit as many drafts as necessary to Turnitin, with the result that all final submissions had a text match of 5% or less. As a consequence of the positive results of the trial, the use of Turnitin as a drafting mechanism, coupled with an extensive program of embedded support and supplementary workshops, has now been mandated for all subjects. The authors share further qualitative and quantitative data to support their thesis that "the use of text-matching software can be a powerful aid to help students improve their writing and to help academic staff identify potential plagiarism".&#x0D; &#x0D; The final paper in this issue is the only one not previously presented at one of the international conferences on academic integrity held during 2009. Mary Davis and Jude Carroll from Oxford Brookes University, using data collected over three years from cohorts of international students in the UK, also explore the role of text-matching software in plagiarism education, with a focus on the importance of formative feedback through tutorial intervention. As one part of an overall educative approach, students worked hand in hand with their tutors to read and interpret the Originality Reports of ungraded drafts of assignments prior to final submission. Students were also surveyed at the end of the module to ascertain their perceptions of the value of using Turnitin in this way. The data indicated that the approach taken at Oxford Brookes University resulted in reductions in the amount of plagiarism, over-reliance on sources, citations errors and insufficient paraphrasing. This study provides an example of best practice in the educational use of text-matching software and provides a potential counter to those who are concerned that the sole function of such software is to police and punish students.&#x0D; &#x0D; I hope that you enjoy this issue of the International Journal for Educational Integrity, and invite you to submit a paper for review directly to me at tracey.bretag@unisa.edu.au or respond to the Call for Papers for Volume 6(2) below.&#x0D; &#x0D; Tracey Bretag, IJEI Editor&#x0D; December 2009&#x0D; &#x0D; Call for papers, Volume 6(2) 2010&#x0D; &#x0D; Special issue of IJEI on 'digital technologies and educational integrity'&#x0D; Edited by Chris Moore and Ruth Walker&#x0D; &#x0D; This special issue seeks articles that address the impact of digital technologies on educational integrity. Many different terms have emerged in an attempt to capture the shifting terrain of media and users in various networked environments: 'social', 'participatory', 'user-generated' or simply 'new' media. Common to the online and interactive spaces of Web2.0 is the challenge of technologies and practices that are capable of changing the way we teach, learn, and share knowledge. How can we best engage and support students and colleagues coming to terms with the dynamics of these technologies and the development of new literacies?&#x0D; &#x0D; We are particularly interested in innovative research from scholars in cultural and media studies and/or the scholarship of teaching and learning, and welcome interest from the other disciplinary researchers, who might consider a broad range of questions about digital technologies that critically unpack the conversation about education integrity that goes beyond preoccupation with plagiarism and research ethics. Critical voices of concern, examples of best practice and consideration of the perceived impact of digital technology on institutional boundaries are keenly sought as is research exploring the collaborative approaches to social and participatory media that challenge conceptions about authorial identity and scholarly writing practices. Research examining the development of new literacies that celebrate the appropriation, adaptation and transformation of source material would fit well within the scope of this special issue.&#x0D; &#x0D; Abstract due date: 31 March 2010&#x0D; Full paper deadline: 1 July 2010&#x0D; Special issue release date: December 2010&#x0D; Send all enquiries and 500 word abstract to the guest editors at&#x0D; ruth_walker@uow.edu.au&#x0D; &#x0D; With thanks to our reviewers in 2009:&#x0D; Kate Andre, University of South Australia&#x0D; Peter Bowden, University of Sydney&#x0D; Kylie Brass, University of Western Sydney&#x0D; Deborah Churchman, University of South Australia&#x0D; Geoffrey Crisp, University of Adelaide&#x0D; Richard Davis, University of Tasmania&#x0D; John Dearn, Australian National University&#x0D; Fiona Duggan&#x0D; Lawrence B. Ebert&#x0D; Teddi Fishman, Clemson University&#x0D; Neera Handa, University of Western Sydney&#x0D; Beverley Kokkin, University of South Australia&#x0D; Margaret Lightbody, University of Adelaide&#x0D; Nancy Matchett, University of Colorado&#x0D; Paul Moore, University of Wollongong&#x0D; Gerry Mullins, University of Adelaide&#x0D; Nicholas Proctor, University of South Australia&#x0D; Wendy Sutherland-Smith, Monash University&#x0D; Daniel Wueste, Clemson University