Tourism and economic growth in the Pacific region: evidence from five small island economies

We present a country-specific analysis on the effect of tourism on the economic growth of five small Pacific Island Countries (PICs) – Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. The results show tourism development is growth-enhancing for all five countries. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is growth-enhancing for Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and in the short run, a delayed negative association for Fiji and Vanuatu is found. Remittances are growth-retarding for Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, with a short-run delayed positive association for Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Financial development is growth-retarding for Solomon Islands and Tonga, with a short-run positive association for Fiji and Samoa. While the results underscore the huge importance of tourism in generating growth and FDI in the Pacific, given the ongoing adverse effects of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, PICs will have to focus on alternative sectors to progress economic activities. Policy suggestions are discussed along these lines. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Clinical characteristics of nucleic acid negative neonates delivered by pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Sanya, Hainan

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics of nucleic acid negative newborns delivered by pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron variant BA. 5.1.3) in Sanya area, and to provide evidence for understanding its clinical characteristics. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 14 neonates with negative nucleic acid delivered by pregnant women who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (Omicron variant BA.5.1.3) in Sanya Central Hospital (the Third People's Hospital of Hainan Province) from June 2022 to September 2022 (observation group, n=14). The corresponding nucleic acid-negative newborns delivered by pregnant women detected negative with SARS-CoV-2 (Omicronon variant strain BA.5.1.3) were set as the control group (n=56), and the general data and clinical characteristics of neonates in the two groups were compared. Results: There was no significant difference between the observation group and the control group in pregnancy diabetes, pregnancy induced hypertension, gestational pre-eclampsia, fetal intrauterine distress, premature rupture of membranes (P > 0.05);there was no significant difference between the observation group and the control group in terms of sex, gestational age, birth weight, age, mode of delivery, birth Apgar score, heart screening, pulmonary disease, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, thalassemia, breast milk jaundice, hemolytic jaundice (P > 0.05). The bilirubin level, blue light irradiation cases and the duration of blue light irradiation of the newborns in the observation group at 7 days after birth were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05);the ratio of blood oxygen saturation 90% in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (21.43% vs 89.29%, P < 0.05), and the ratio of blood oxygen saturation occasionally<90% was higher than that in the control group (57.14% vs 10.71%, P < 0.05). The ratio of blood oxygen saturation<90% had no significant difference compared with that in the control group (7.14% vs 0, P > 0.05), and the ratio of blood oxygen saturation reduced to the required oxygen uptake was higher than that in the control group (14.29% vs 0, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The jaundice manifestation of the nucleic acid-negative newborns delivered by pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Omicronon variant strain BA.5.1.3) in Sanya area is relatively obvious, with blood oxygen saturation easily lower than 90% and even requiring oxygen inhalation in severe cases.

Large-Scale Urban Heating and Pollution Domes over the Indian Subcontinent

The unique geographical diversity and rapid urbanization across the Indian subcontinent give rise to large-scale spatiotemporal variations in urban heating and air emissions. The complex relationship between geophysical parameters and anthropogenic activity is vital in understanding the urban environment. This study analyses the characteristics of heating events using aerosol optical depth (AOD) level variability, across 43 urban agglomerations (UAs) with populations of a million or more, along with 13 industrial districts (IDs), and 14 biosphere reserves (BRs) in the Indian sub-continent. Pre-monsoon average surface heating was highest in the urban areas of the western (42 degrees C), central (41.9 degrees C), and southern parts (40 degrees C) of the Indian subcontinent. High concentration of AOD in the eastern part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain including the megacity: Kolkata (decadal average 0.708) was noted relative to other UAs over time. The statistically significant negative correlation (-0.51) between land surface temperature (LST) and AOD in urban areas during pre-monsoon time illustrates how aerosol loading impacts the surface radiation and has a net effect of reducing surface temperatures. Notable interannual variability was noted with, the pre-monsoon LST dropping in 2020 across most of the selected urban regions (approx. 89% urban clusters) while it was high in 2019 (for approx. 92% urban clusters) in the pre-monsoon season. The results indicate complex variability and correlations between LST and urban aerosol at large scales across the Indian subcontinent. These large-scale observations suggest a need for more in-depth analysis at city scales to understand the interplay and combined variability between physical and anthropogenic atmospheric parameters in mesoscale and microscale climates.

New data show health care spending in Rhode Island rebounded in 2021 after pandemic-driven declines

The article focuses on new data from the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner (OHIC) in Rhode Island, which shows a rebound in overall health care spending in 2021 after declines during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the commercial market and Medicare.

Variations in land surface temperatures in small-scale urban areas in Vietnam during Covid-19 restrictions: Case studies from Da Nang, Hue and Vinh City.

Land surface temperature (LST) is an important variable in urban microclimate research. At the end of 2019, the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world in a manner that forced many countries to impose restrictions in human activities. As a measure to prevent the expansion of Covid-19 infections, most of the major cities have entered a prolonged lockdown period and reduction in human activities between the early 2020 and the late 2021. These restrictions were strict in most of the cities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam. The present study investigated the variations in LST and NDVI observed in three rapidly growing urban areas, namely Da Nang, Hue and Vinh, in Vietnam using Landsat-8 imagery acquired between 2017 and 2022. There has been a slight reduction in LST in the study sites, particularly in Da Nang City, during the lockdown period but not as high as observed in recently conducted studies from big metropolitan cities, including in Vietnam. It is also observed that LST estimated from built-up areas and other impervious surfaces remained relatively stable during the study period which is similar to the results from recent studies.

Efflux-Related Carbapenem Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Is Associated with Two-Component Regulatory Efflux Systems' Alteration and Insertion of ΔAbaR25-Type Island Fragment.

The efflux pumps, beside the class D carbapenem-hydrolysing enzymes (CHLDs), are being increasingly investigated as a mechanism of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii. This study investigates the contribution of efflux mechanism to carbapenem resistance in 61 acquired blaCHDL-genes-carrying A. baumannii clinical strains isolated in Warsaw, Poland. Studies were conducted using phenotypic (susceptibility testing to carbapenems ± efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs)) and molecular (determining expression levels of efflux operon with regulatory-gene and whole genome sequencing (WGS)) methods. EPIs reduced carbapenem resistance of 14/61 isolates. Upregulation (5-67-fold) of adeB was observed together with mutations in the sequences of AdeRS local and of BaeS global regulators in all 15 selected isolates. Long-read WGS of isolate no. AB96 revealed the presence of AbaR25 resistance island and its two disrupted elements: the first contained a duplicate ISAba1-blaOXA-23, and the second was located between adeR and adeA in the efflux operon. This insert was flanked by two copies of ISAba1, and one of them provides a strong promoter for adeABC, elevating the adeB expression levels. Our study for the first time reports the involvement of the insertion of the ΔAbaR25-type resistance island fragment with ISAba1 element upstream the efflux operon in the carbapenem resistance of A. baumannii.

Human activities at night negatively impact Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) numbers and behaviours

The presence of humans within the natural environment is increasing worldwide. Assessing the impact of such activities on wildlife is crucial for declining populations where human disturbance adds to existing pressures. Here, we investigated how human activities at night influenced Little Penguin Eudyptula minor numbers and behaviours (specifically return time, number of vocalizations and time spent in vigilance) on Granite Island, a declining population in South Australia, Australia. We combined data from regular night surveys with continuous video and audio monitoring to assess the impact of human activities on the Little Penguins. The use of white light (i.e. from torches or camera flashes) by people was the most frequent activity recorded at night (recorded on 65% of the monitored nights). Fewer penguins were found on land at night when Dogs Canis lupus familiaris were present, but not when the number of people increased, when concerts occurred, or when white lights were used. Little Penguins were observed more often returning late from sea at night when Dogs were present and when white lights were used, but not when concerts occurred. An increase in penguin vocalizations at night correlated with the presence of Dogs and the occurrence of concerts, whereas penguins vocalized less when white lights were used. The time Little Penguins spent in vigilance did not correlate with any of the disturbances analysed. Our study also highlights the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on wildlife, as the occurrence of human activities increased significantly following the implementation of the COVID-19 health protection measures. These results add to a growing body of literature suggesting that human activities on land, and their consequent disturbance(s), may affect the numbers and behaviours of wildlife and that appropriate measures need to be developed to limit such impacts.

Changes in air pollution, land surface temperature, and urban heat islands during the COVID-19 lockdown in three Chinese urban agglomerations.

COVID-19 has notably impacted the world economy and human activities. However, the strict urban lockdown policies implemented in various countries appear to have positively affected pollution and the thermal environment. In this study, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) data were selected, combined with Sentinel-5P images and meteorological elements, to analyze the changes and associations among air pollution, LST, and urban heat islands (UHIs) in three urban agglomerations in mainland China during the COVID-19 lockdown. The results showed that during the COVID-19 lockdown period (February 2020), the levels of the AOD and atmospheric pollutants (fine particles (PM2.5), NO2, and CO) significantly decreased. Among them, PM2.5 and NO2 decreased the most in all urban agglomerations, by >14 %. Notably, the continued improvement in air pollution attributed to China's strict control policies could lead to overestimation of the enhanced air quality during the lockdown. The surface temperature in all three urban agglomerations increased by >1 °C during the lockdown, which was mainly due to climate factors, but we also showed that the lockdown constrained positive LST anomalies. The decrease in the nighttime urban heat island intensity (UHIInight) in the three urban agglomerations was greater than that in the daytime quantity by >25 %. The reduction in surface UHIs at night was mainly due to the reduced human activities and air pollutant emissions. Although strict restrictions on human activities positively affected air pollution and UHIs, these changes were quickly reverted when lockdown policies were relaxed. Moreover, small-scale lockdowns contributed little to environmental improvement. Our results have implications for assessing the environmental benefits of city-scale lockdowns.

Epidemiological characteristics of infected patients aged 60 years and older during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in Sanya, Hainan in 2022

Objective: To analyze the epidemic characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases aged 60 years or older during the outbreak epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant in Sanya City, Hainan Province, August-September 2022, and to provide scientific and effective basis for formulating strategies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in the elderly in the future. Methods: The data of 1 785 COVID-19 cases aged 60 years reported from August 1 to September 8, 2022 in Sanya City, and 537 local COVID-19 inpatients aged 60 years treated in Sanya Central Hospital were collected and analyzed using WPS Office 2018 software for data cleaning, database assistance, and drawing, and SPSS 22.0 software was used to statistically describe and analyze the counting data. Results: A total of 1 785 local COVID-19 cases aged 60 years were reported in China's Disease Prevention and Control Information System, including 1 509 confirmed cases (84.54%) and 276 asymptomatic cases (15.46%). Of the confirmed cases, 1 448 were mild cases (95.96%), 40 were common cases (2.65%), 10 were severe cases (0.66%), and 11 were critical cases (0.73%), and no deaths were reported. The ratio of male to female was 0.88:1. The youngest was 60 years old, the oldest age was 107 years old, with a median age of 67 years old. Most of them (1 559 cases, 87.34%) were non-social employed personnel. Among them, 952 (53.33%) were from Tianya District and 733 (41.06%) from Jiyang District. Among the 537 COVID-19 elderly infected patients hospitalized in Sanya Central Hospital, infected patients with underlying diseases accounted for 287 (53.45%) cases of hypertension, diabetes and other types of basic diseases (chronic kidney disease, hyperlipidemia, chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, etc.), and there were serious infections. Conclusions: Most of the elderly infected with Omicron variants were mild cases with few symptoms, but the elderly infected with Omicron variants were difficult to recover or even worsen the condition due to old age and underlying diseases. Therefore, by analyzing the various aspects of elderly infected cases, scientific and effective basis can be provided to prevent and control the epidemic situation in the future, and reduce the occurrence of severe, critical and death cases of COVID-19 in the elderly.

The influence of nature on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Views from New England island residents

Researchers are beginning to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on island populations, but little is known about the experiences of the residents of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in the Northeast region of the United States. In this study, islanders (N=41) provide insight into how spending time in nature influenced their well-being, especially their mental well-being, during this unprecedented time. For the majority of participants, the influence of nature on their well-being increased during the pandemic. Additionally, participants shared benefits of island living such as isolation from the mainland, as well as challenges such as food and supply shortages. Results from this study indicate that further research is needed around the importance of nature on well-being, especially mental health, for island residents.

Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Small Island: The Isle of Man Case Study

The Isle of Man is a semi-autonomous small island in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. It has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and over the past year, the government has undergone reactive and proactive strategies with the aim of curtailing territorial disease spread. Using government tracking data gathered since March 2020, data analysis shows that island had a slow but steady spread of COVID-19 beginning with an island resident who returned from a trip abroad. Over twelve months, the island has had three infection peaks which saw quick policy reactions with Circuit Breaker lockdowns including strict guidelines of isolation combined with economic support for individuals and business. The island is small and has to receive daily supplies of food, fuel and other goods via ferry from England. Close monitoring of the infection rate has enabled quick reflexive policy actions. The disease has not been eradicated, but each lockdown has resulted in a slowdown of disease progression. A relatively small percentage of individuals have been infected and even smaller percentage have lost their lives. The smallness of the island, circuit breaker lockdowns and the island residents' stoic culture have helped with the control of disease progression. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Residents' attitudes, perceptions and the development of positive tourism behaviours amid COVID -19

Local people's pro-tourism behavioural intention plays an important role in determining the sustainability and success of a tourism destination. A semi-structured questionnaire was randomly administered to residents aged 18 years and above of Botswana's two premier tourism centres (Maun and Kasane). These two exotic tourism areas were chosen in this study to ensure enrichment of the literature through sharing of lived experiences and critical decision-making by people in the face of an impending disaster (i.e. COVID-19) threatening their existence. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used to provide a better understanding in linking residents' attitudes in supporting or opposing tourism development in the face of COVID-19. Overall, majority (67.5%, p = 0.015) of the respondents indicated that they are willing to accept some inconvenience as long as they benefit from tourism industry. Also, most (84.4% (p = 0.034)) residents indicated that they were willing to welcome tourists because of the contribution tourists bring to the economy of their area. Thus, a positive attitude towards tourism development and tourists from locals will likely lead to a more positive behaviour supporting tourism in host communities. The study recommends that, of utmost importance, key stakeholders in the tourism industry including policymakers and planners should devise and implement strategies geared towards positively influencing attitudes of local communities towards tourism development. The results from this study will assist government and other tourism stakeholders as they devise mitigating strategies to sustain and guide future tourism operations following socioeconomic devastations from COVID-19 pandemic.

Responses for COVID-19 in the Pacific Small Island Countries

Pacific Small Island Countries (PSICs) could have been heavily affected by COVID-19 in terms of human security due to their healthcare limited capacity, reliance on food imports, and tourism industry, but because of their rapid response, the spread of the virus in their territories was prevented. The chapter will make a review of the region responses to the pandemic by examining the recommendations of the UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19. Since the region is one of the major international aid recipients, the study will review international aid through multilateral and bilateral channels in addition to national and community level responses on public health and socio-economic areas. The sources of the analysis are the database of global governmental measures to combat COVID-19 (ACAPS), governmental websites, international organizations regional reports on COVID-19 and scientific articles. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer 2022.

Heat vs. Health: Home Office under a Changing Climate

Stressors are especially widespread in urban agglomerations. Common themes of built environment interventions that support health and well-being are blue and green infrastructure, indoor and outdoor air quality, thermal comfort, access to natural lighting, and acoustics. Given the current megatrends of increasing summer temperatures and the high popularity of home offices, we aimed at modeling thermal comfort changes of people working at home in three Austrian cities (Vienna, Innsbruck, and Graz) during the next decades until 2090. We present findings based on (I) an inter-disciplinary literature search and (II) indoor and outdoor climate simulations for actual and future climate scenarios. Based on the results, we discuss the potential impacts for work and human health and well-being, and we suggest a framework for the home office in "post-COVID-19 Austria” that integrates social, ecological, and economic aspects. The results of our study indicate that, in future climate scenarios, overheating of the interior can no longer be prevented without active cooling measures and nature-based solutions. Recommendations on the adjustment of behavior under climate change, including greening, adequate ventilation, and cooling techniques, are thus urgently needed for employees who are working from home in order to maintain physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Containing an Island: Coronavirus (Covid-19) Outbreak in Perhentian Islands, Terengganu State of Malaysia, in 2021

Background: The spread of COVID-19 was inevitable and has not spared small and isolated communities, including the community on Perhentian Island in Besut District, Terengganu. Managing clusters in small islands can be difficult, given the limited resources. This study explores the characteristics of COVID-19 cases and the experience of outbreak containment at Perhentian Island. Methodology: A retrospective study involving record review of COVID-19 cases and at-risk individuals registered under the Perhentian Cluster were retrieved from the Besut District Health Office COVID-19 online registry from the 16th August 2021 until 6th October 2021. All notified cases and close contacts who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were extracted and analysed using descriptive statistics. Result(s): A total of 1,093 out of 2,500 community members of Perhentian Island were screened of which 170 (15.5%) tested positive for COVID-19, while 923 (84.5%) tested negative. Among individuals who tested positive, the majority were adults (52.4%), males (51.8%), Malays (98.8%), and villagers (96.5%). Clinical characteristics were categorized into: asymptomatic (55.9%), had no known medical comorbidities (90.6%), low-risk groups (87.1%), vaccinated (57.6%), and admitted to PKRC (97.1%) for treatment. Multiple agencies were involved in the outbreak containment of the Perhentian Cluster, working collectively and in good coordination. Conclusion(s): The outbreak was attributed to community gatherings and close interactions among villagers. Prompt actions, targeted planning, and inter-agency collaboration were the key factors in successful containment of further spread of COVID-19 in Perhentian Island.Copyright © 2023, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.

Redefining human thermal perception for the Mediterranean climates

SARS-COV-2 focuses on the comfort of outdoor spaces in large cities. Creating comfortable spaces for children and improving the habitability of cities are essential today. Climate change is real, and its main adverse effects are already being felt: Urban Heat Island and recurring heat waves. Numerous comfort models predict the state of the occupants of space. However, these comfort indices need to be validated in Mediterranean climates. This study tests the COMFA comfort model in a real case in Seville. Thermal monitoring campaigns are carried out during the intermediate seasons of warm weather in a primary school. The main objective is to know the effect of the urban heat island and the climatic conditions to which the person is subjected. For this purpose, fixed, semi-mobile, and mobile sensors were used to carry out surveys. Theoretical predictions provided by the COMFA thermal comfort model were compared with the subjective responses of the occupants. 65% of the model's results predict what people feel and tend to overestimate the real thermal perception, especially in warm climates such as Seville. These results can be helpful to redefine thermal comfort for climate change mitigation solutions assessment in public spaces.

Effect of vegetation and land surface temperature on NO2 concentration: A Google Earth Engine-based remote sensing approach

With the increasing tension on the global sustainable environment in the urban areas, it is essential to monitor the airborne pollutants and understand the underlying factors that can trigger the situation in a worst-case scenario. Because of its cramped living conditions, excessive coal and fuel usage, and rapid deforestation, the southeast Asian region has historically had worse air quality than the rest of the world. The economic hubs of India and Bangladesh, in particular, have drawn so much attention away from rural regions that unrestrained urbanization is becoming controversial for planners, engineers, and stakeholders in sustainable development. This research combines the two main Asian capital regions, Delhi and Dhaka. It analyzes the change in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration, land surface temperature (LST), and vegetation dynamics across three years (2019-2021) for summer and winter. The NO2 concentration data from Sentinel-5P has been extracted using Google Earth Engine (GEE), and Landsat-8 imagery was utilized for LST, Normalizer Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Enhance Vegetation Index (EVI). The statistical analysis has been carried out by dividing the research regions into one sq. km grid (1512 grids for Delhi and 1485 grids for Dhaka). According to descriptive research, Dhaka's condition is worse than Delhi's, with significant vegetation loss with LST and NO2 concentrations rising. In both research regions, the NO2 concentration is high throughout the winter. The Pearson correlation value demonstrates a negative association between total NO2 concentration and mean NDVI and EVI values and a positive relationship between total NO2 concentration and mean LST. The data have been further assessed using linear regression, which overlaps the correlation result with a maximum R-squared value of 0.2998 for NO2 and EVI in winter 2019.

Governing during the COVID-19 pandemic

We present a new perspective on government reactions to COVID-19 in terms of the stringency of their regulations to control it. Using the Government Stringency Index from the University of Oxford's Coronavirus Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) with a sample of 36 democracies, we determined that the governments' regulations were less stringent when a woman was the head of the country, an oversized coalition was in office, and the country was not an island. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in urban national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: Covid-19 and outdoor recreation.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the mobility, accessibility, and behaviors of visitors dramatically. Under the impact of COVID-19, the social carrying capacity and emotion dynamics in parks and recreation areas are expected to change due to the uncertainty of health risks associated with visitors' behaviors. This study conducted an on-site visitor survey at Leiqiong Global Geological Park, a national park located in urban-proximate areas in Haikou, China. This study aims to examine factors impacting visitors' perceived crowding and emotions under varying levels of visitor use in urban national parks in the context of COVID-19. Study results suggest that visitors have the highest level of motivation for scenery and culture viewing and are generally satisfied with the environmental quality and design and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation efforts within the park. Moreover, this study suggests that the level of crowding and COVID-19 prevention strategies and implementation can affect visitors' emotions in urban natioanl parks significantly. These findings highlight the importance of enforcing the social carrying capacity limits and COVID-19 prevention strategies for urban parks and protected areas to mitigate physical and mental health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Climate Change Learning at Junior and Senior High Schools on the Outer Islands of Indonesia: The Case on Sebatik Island

Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is currently under threat due to climate change. Based on the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), since 1850 there has been an increase in temperature and sea level so that small islands, especially those that are located at the outermost boundaries of Indonesia, will sink. If this happens, Indonesia's territorial boundaries must be redefined since the outermost islands are marker of its boundaries. The awareness of the people living in the outer islands on environment and climate change is very much needed to cope with the impacts of climate change. Learning on climate change in schools is an important issue. This study analyses the learning process on climate change at junior and senior high school in Sebatik Island, an outer island in North Kalimantan Province which borders with Malaysia. This study was conducted through a qualitative descriptive approach while the data were obtained through interviews and document research. This study found that material on climate change is taught in Social Science subjects in grade VII (junior high school) and grade X (senior high school).