This article examines the history of Russian colonization in Kazakhstan, focusing on identity, resistance, and independence within Russia’s neo-imperial ambitions. It addresses the socio-political barriers in postcolonial Kazakhstan due to ties with Russia and explores how the Soviet migration policies shaped Kazakhstan’s demographic and political landscape. The study outlines the phases of Russian colonization, contrasting Russian narratives of a civilizing mission with Kazakh perspectives on exploitation and cultural erasure. Using postcolonial theory, it deconstructs these narratives and reveals power dynamics. Kazakh literature and poetry are analyzed as mediums of resistance, emphasizing the horse as a symbol of cultural identity. The article concludes by discussing the post-Soviet cultural transformations and the role of literature in nation-building, highlighting the importance of reclaiming cultural symbols and myths for understanding Kazakhstan’s colonial history and postcolonial transformation.

The aim of this study was to make a quantitative contribution to the impact of COVID-19 and Mental on consumer behavior. For this purpose, the data in the Scopus and WoS databases until 5 February 2024 were examined using bibliometric analysis. The data obtained within the scope of this study were classified and analyzed using the VOSviewer program developed for scientific mapping analysis. In the evaluations, 180 studies in the Web of Science database and 371 documents in the Scopus database were identified, and when duplicate studies were combined, 426 studies were included in the analysis. According to the results of the analysis, the journal with the highest number of publications is “Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services”; the organization with the highest number of publications is “Department of management sciences, University of Okara” and “North-West University”; the authors with the highest number of publications and citations are “Wang, Xueqin” and “Yuen, Kum Fai”; and the most cited studies are “Laato et al.” and “Goolsbee and Syverson”. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the studies on the impact of COVID-19 and mental factors on consumer behavior and makes a qualified contribution to the literature with an important opening.

This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial orientation and green innovation on the performance of SMEs. This research explores the wood waste industry in Ngawi, an area that has never been studied before, thus providing a new perspective and unique local relevance. These findings underscore the critical role of entrepreneurial orientation and green innovation in driving sustainable business growth and improving SME performance. The results show that both entrepreneurial orientation and green innovation having a positive and significant link with SMEs performance. Further, the study reveals that the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and green innovation having a positive and significant link with SMEs performance mediated by knowledge-sahring. The study also highlights the importance of larger sample sizes, and external factors to provide more comprehensive insights for practitioners and policymakers.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and poses a severe public health problem. Nigeria has the highest number of global cases. Geospatial technology has been widely used to study the risks and factors associated with malaria hazards. The present study is conducted in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The objective of this study is to map out areas that are at high risk of the prevalence of malaria by considering a good number of factors as criteria that determine the spread of malaria within Ibadan using open-source and Landsat remote sensing data and further analysis in GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation (MCE). This study considered factors like climate, environmental, socio-economic, and proximity to health centers as criteria for mapping malaria risk. The MCE used a weighted overlay of the factors to produce an element at-risk map, a malaria hazard map, and a vulnerability map. These maps were overlaid to produce the final malaria risk map, which showed that 72% of Ibadan has a risk of malaria prevalence. Identification and delineation of risk areas in Ibadan would help policymakers and decision-makers mitigate the hazards and improve the health status of the state.

Intra-regional trade serves as a key growth engine for East Asian economies. Accompanying the rapid growth of bilateral and intra-regional trade ties, the East Asian economies are becoming increasingly connected and interdependent. Infrastructure connectivity plays a crucial role in bridging different areas of the East Asian region and enabling them to reap the full socioeconomic benefits of economic cooperation and integration. Nevertheless, further improvement of infrastructure in the region faces major challenges due to the lack of effective mechanisms for coordination and dialogue on regional integration through funding infrastructure projects, as well as the serious trust deficit among member states that has arisen from the on-going territorial and historical disputes.