The present study is a summary of the current level of the insecticide resistance to selected organophosphates, pyrethroids, and neonicotinoids in seven Indian field populations of Bemisia tabaci genetic groups Asia-I, Asia-II-1, and Asia-II-7. Susceptibility of these populations was varied with Asia-II-7 being the most susceptible, while Asia-I and Asia-II-1 populations were showing significant resistance to these insecticides. The variability of the LC50 values was 7x for imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, 5x for monocrotophos and 3x for cypermethrin among the Asia-I, while, they were 7x for cypermethrin, 6x for deltamethrin and 5x for imidacloprid within the Asia-II-1 populations. When compared with the most susceptible, PUSA population (Asia-II-7), a substantial increase in resistant ratios was observed in both the populations of Asia-I and Asia-II-1. Comparative analysis during 2010-13 revealed a decline in susceptibility in Asia-I and Asia-II-1 populations of B. tabaci to the tested organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid insecticides. Evidence of potential control failure was detected using probit analysis estimates for cypermethrin, deltamethrin, monocrotophos and imidacloprid. Our results update resistance status of B. tabaci in India. The implications of insecticide resistance management of B. tabaci on Indian subcontinent are discussed.

No abstract available

As a component of the MAP project, the study of the flora in Northeast Asia (comprising Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Northeast China, and Mongolia) convincingly underscores the indispensability of precise and comprehensive diversity data for flora research. Due to variations in the description of flora across different countries in Northeast Asia, it is essential to update our understanding of the region's overall flora using the latest high-quality diversity data. This study employed the most recently published authoritative data from various countries to conduct a statistical analysis of 225 families, 1782 genera, and 10,514 native vascular species and infraspecific taxa in Northeast Asia. Furthermore, species distribution data were incorporated to delineate three gradients in the overall distribution pattern of plant diversity in Northeast Asia. Specifically, Japan (excluding Hokkaido) emerged as the most prolific hotspot for species, followed by the Korean Peninsula and the coastal areas of Northeast China as the second richest hotspots. Conversely, Hokkaido, inland Northeast China, and Mongolia constituted species barren spots. The formation of the diversity gradients is primarily attributed to the effects of latitude and continental gradients, with altitude and topographic factors within the gradients modulating the distribution of species.

A20, encoded by the TNFAIP3 gene, is a negative regulator of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-nuclear factor-κB signaling. It was recently demonstrated that A20 haploinsufficiency (HA20), caused by a heterozygous mutation in the TNFAIP3 gene, can present as an early onset autoinflammatory disease resembling Behçet's disease (BD). In addition to autoinflammatory symptoms, HA20 was also reported to be associated with autoimmune diseases and immunodeficiency. Because the phenotypes associated with HA20 are broad, with different severities observed even among individuals in the same family with identical mutations, it has been assumed that the symptoms of HA20 may depend on genetic background and environmental factors. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of patients with HA20 in East Asia and compare these with patients in other regions, mainly the USA and Europe. Patients with HA20 in East Asia developed recurrent fever more frequently than patients in other regions, but were less likely to develop typical BD symptoms such as skin rashes and genital ulcers. In addition, patients with HA20 in East Asia had low rates of complication with autoimmune diseases and low autoantibody detection rates. While anti-TNF-α agents were the primary treatments for severe HA20 in East Asia, anti-interleukin-1 agents and Janus kinase inhibitors were also administered in other regions. Future studies will need to establish methods for analyzing the pathophysiology of HA20 and determining optimal treatment strategies for each patient.

Fossil evidence indicates that the globally distributed brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) originated in northern China and Mongolia. Historical records report the human-mediated invasion of rats into Europe in the 1500s, followed by global spread because of European imperialist activity during the 1600s-1800s. We analyzed 14 genomes representing seven previously identified evolutionary clusters, and tested alternative demographic models to infer patterns of range expansion, divergence times, and changes in effective population (N e) size for this globally important pest species. We observed three range expansions from the ancestral population that produced the Pacific (diverged ∼16.1 kya), eastern China (∼17.5 kya), and Southeast (SE) Asia (∼0.86 kya) lineages. Our model shows a rapid range expansion from SE Asia into the Middle East and then continued expansion into central Europe 788 yr ago (1227 AD). We observed declining N e within all brown rat lineages from 150-1 kya, reflecting population contractions during glacial cycles. N e increased since 1 kya in Asian and European, but not in Pacific, evolutionary clusters. Our results support the hypothesis that northern Asia was the ancestral range for brown rats. We suggest that southward human migration across China between the 800s-1550s AD resulted in the introduction of rats to SE Asia, from which they rapidly expanded via existing maritime trade routes. Finally, we discovered that North America was colonized separately on both the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, by evolutionary clusters of vastly different ages and genomic diversity levels. Our results should stimulate discussions among historians and zooarcheologists regarding the relationship between humans and rats.

South Asia, which is composed of eight countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is an important global biodiversity hotspot. As a part of the Mapping Asia Plants (MAP) project, we reviewed the history of botanical investigations, floristic works, and publications in this region, as well as the key floras, checklists, and online databases in South Asia. The botanical survey of this region, which began during the 17th century, has two distinct phases: surveys conducted during the British India period and those conducted in the post-British period. The seven volumes of The Flora of British India are the most important contributions to flora research in South Asia because of their wider geographical coverage, which was performed by British botanists. Following on from this, different countries have launched independent floristic surveys. At the country level, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have completed, or partially completed, their flora surveys at the country level, while Maldives has not yet published its national flora survey. According to currently available information, the approximated numbers of plant taxa for each country in South Asia are as follows: Afghanistan, 5261 (vascular plants); Bangladesh, 3470 (vascular plants); Bhutan, 5985 (flowering plants); India, 21,558 (flowering plants); Maldives, 270 (common plants); Nepal, 6500 (flowering plants); Pakistan, 6000+ (vascular plants); and Sri Lanka, 4143 (flowering plants). Additionally, there are 151 books devoted to the key floras and checklists in South Asia. A total of 1.1 million digital records of specimens from this region can be found on the website of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). However, there are still major gaps and limitations-such as out-of-date publications, national floras that are mainly detailed only in local languages, massive non-digitized specimens, and the lack of a comprehensive online database or platform-which should be addressed in terms of their global applications.

No abstract available

The EPICOR Asia (long-tErm follow-uP of antithrombotic management patterns In acute CORonary syndrome patients in Asia) study (NCT01361386) was an observational study of patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) enrolled in 218 hospitals in eight countries/regions in Asia. This study examined costs, length of stay and the predictors of high costs during an ACS hospitalization.

Tissue specimen quality assurance is a major issue of precision medicine for rare cancers. However, the laboratory standards and quality of pathological specimens prepared in Asian hospitals remain unknown. To understand the methods in Southeast Asian oncology hospitals and to clarify how pre-analytics affect the quality of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens, a questionnaire surveying pre-analytical procedures (Part I) was administered, quality assessment of immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining and DNA/RNA extracted from the representative FFPE specimens from each hospital (Part II) was conducted, and the quality of DNA/RNA extracted from FFPE of rare-cancer patients for genomic sequencing (Part III) was examined. Quality measurements for DNA/RNA included ΔΔCt, DV200, and cDNA yield. Six major cancer hospitals from Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam participated. One hospital showed unacceptable quality for the DNA/RNA assessment, but improved by revising laboratory procedures. Only 57% (n = 73) of the 128 rare-cancer patients' specimens met both DNA and RNA quality criteria for next-generation sequencing. Median DV200 was 80.7% and 64.3% for qualified and failed RNA, respectively. Median ΔΔCt was 1.25 for qualified and 4.89 for failed DNA. Longer storage period was significantly associated with poor DNA (fail to qualify ratio = 1579:321 days, p < 0.001) and RNA (fail to qualify ratio = 1070:280 days, p < 0.001). After improvement of pre-analytical factors, the qualification rate increased for hospitals A and E from 41.5% to 70.5% and 62.5% to 86%, respectively. This is the first report to elucidate the pre-analytical laboratory procedures of main Southeast Asian oncology hospitals. An external quality assessment program may improve factors associated with tumor FFPE specimen quality.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has emerged as a major threat to TB control, particularly in the former Soviet Union. To determine levels of drug resistance within a directly observed treatment strategy (DOTS) program supported by Médecins Sans Frontières in two regions in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Central Asia, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of smear-positive TB patients in selected districts of Karakalpakstan (Uzbekistan) and Dashoguz (Turkmenistan). High levels of MDR-TB were found in both regions. In Karakalpakstan, 14 (13%) of 106 new patients were infected with MDR-TB; 43 (40%) of 107 previously treated patients were similarly infected. The proportions for Dashoguz were 4% (4/105 patients) and 18% (18/98 patients), respectively. Overall, 27% of patients with positive smear results whose infections were treated through the DOTS program in Karakalpakstan and 11% of similar patients in Dashoguz were infected with multidrug-resistant strains of TB on admission. These results show the need for concerted action by the international community to contain transmission and reduce the effects of MDR-TB.

We describe the first reported transmission to a human of simian foamy virus (SFV) from a free-ranging population of nonhuman primates in Asia. The transmission of an exogenous retrovirus, SFV, from macaques (Macaca fascicularis) to a human at a monkey temple in Bali, Indonesia, was investigated with molecular and serologic techniques. Antibodies to SFV were detected by Western blotting of serum from 1 of 82 humans tested. SFV DNA was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from the blood of the same person. Cloning and sequencing of PCR products confirmed the virus's close phylogenetic relationship to SFV isolated from macaques at the same temple. This study raises concerns that persons who work at or live around monkey temples are at risk for infection with SFV.

Molecular anthropological studies of the populations in and around East Asia have resulted in the discovery that most of the Y-chromosome lineages of East Asians came from Southeast Asia. However, very few Southeast Asian populations had been investigated, and therefore, little was known about the purported migrations from Southeast Asia into East Asia and their roles in shaping the genetic structure of East Asian populations. Here, we present the Y-chromosome data from 1,652 individuals belonging to 47 Mon-Khmer (MK) and Hmong-Mien (HM) speaking populations that are distributed primarily across Southeast Asia and extend into East Asia. Haplogroup O3a3b-M7, which appears mainly in MK and HM, indicates a strong tie between the two groups. The short tandem repeat network of O3a3b-M7 displayed a hierarchical expansion structure (annual ring shape), with MK haplotypes being located at the original point, and the HM and the Tibeto-Burman haplotypes distributed further away from core of the network. Moreover, the East Asian dominant haplogroup O3a3c1-M117 shows a network structure similar to that of O3a3b-M7. These patterns indicate an early unidirectional diffusion from Southeast Asia into East Asia, which might have resulted from the genetic drift of East Asian ancestors carrying these two haplogroups through many small bottle-necks formed by the complicated landscape between Southeast Asia and East Asia. The ages of O3a3b-M7 and O3a3c1-M117 were estimated to be approximately 19 thousand years, followed by the emergence of the ancestors of HM lineages out of MK and the unidirectional northward migrations into East Asia.

Recent research has shown that the prevalence of stroke incidents and the number of survivors in developing countries surpass those from developed countries. This study aimed to enumerate the prevalence of post-stroke psychiatric and cognitive symptoms among stroke survivors from West and South Asia and Africa through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Data from each country was systematically acquired from five major databases (PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/Medline, and Google Scholar (for any missing articles and grey literature)). Meta-analytic techniques were then used to estimate the prevalence of various post-stoke psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. A total of 36 articles were accrued from 11 countries, of which 25 were evaluated as part of the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of post-stroke depression as per the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN), Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale ranged from 28.00 to 50.24%. Pooled prevalence of post-stroke anxiety based on the HADS and SCAN was 44.19% and 10.96%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of post-stroke cognitive impairment as per the Mini-Mental Status Examination was 16.76%. This present review has suggested that both psychiatric and cognitive symptoms are common among stroke survivors. Concerted efforts are needed to institute robust studies using culturally sensitive measures to contemplate mechanisms that address the unmet needs of this vulnerable population.

Globally, suicide is an important cause of mortality. In low- and middle income settings, it is difficult to find unequivocal data to establish suicide rates. The objective of this review is to synthesize the reporting of suicide incidence in six south Asian countries.

We analyzed the dynamics of cumulative severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Beijing using the Richards model. The predicted total SARS incidence was close to the actual number of cases; the predicted cessation date was close to the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval.

Snake bite is one of the most neglected public health issues in poor rural communities living in the tropics. Because of serious misreporting, the true worldwide burden of snake bite is not known. South Asia is the world's most heavily affected region, due to its high population density, widespread agricultural activities, numerous venomous snake species and lack of functional snake bite control programs. Despite increasing knowledge of snake venoms' composition and mode of action, good understanding of clinical features of envenoming and sufficient production of antivenom by Indian manufacturers, snake bite management remains unsatisfactory in this region. Field diagnostic tests for snake species identification do not exist and treatment mainly relies on the administration of antivenoms that do not cover all of the important venomous snakes of the region. Care-givers need better training and supervision, and national guidelines should be fed by evidence-based data generated by well-designed research studies. Poorly informed rural populations often apply inappropriate first-aid measures and vital time is lost before the victim is transported to a treatment centre, where cost of treatment can constitute an additional hurdle. The deficiency of snake bite management in South Asia is multi-causal and requires joint collaborative efforts from researchers, antivenom manufacturers, policy makers, public health authorities and international funders.

The incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) within Asian population used to be much lower than in the Western population; however, in recent years the incidence and mortality rate of PCa in some Asian countries have grown rapidly. This collaborative report summarized the latest epidemiology information, risk factors, and racial differences in PCa diagnosis, current status and new trends in surgery management and novel agents for castration-resistant prostate cancer. We believe such information would be helpful in clinical decision making for urologists and oncologists, health-care ministries and medical researchers.

In recent years, remote sensing, morphometric analysis, and other computational concepts and tools have invigorated the field of geomorphological mapping. Automated interpretation of digital terrain data based on impartial rules holds substantial promise for large dataset processing and objective landscape classification. However, the geomorphological realm presents tremendous complexity and challenges in the translation of qualitative descriptions into geomorphometric semantics. Here, the simple, conventional distinction of V-shaped fluvial and U-shaped glacial valleys was analyzed quantitatively using multi-scale curvature and a novel morphometric variable termed Difference of Minimum Curvature (DMC). We used this automated terrain analysis approach to produce a raster map at a scale of 1:6,000,000 showing the distribution of glaciated valleys across Europe and western Asia. The data set has a cell size of 3 arc seconds and consists of more than 40 billion grid cells. Glaciated U-shaped valleys commonly associated with erosion by warm-based glaciers are abundant in the alpine regions of mid Europe and western Asia but also occur at the margins of mountain ice sheets in Scandinavia. The high-level correspondence with field mapping and the fully transferable semantics validate this approach for automated analysis of yet unexplored terrain around the globe and qualify for potential applications on other planetary bodies like Mars.

Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) was first colonized by modern humans at least 45,000 years ago, but the extent to which the modern inhabitants trace their ancestry to the first settlers is a matter of debate. It is widely held, in both archaeology and linguistics, that they are largely descended from a second wave of dispersal, proto-Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists who originated in China and spread to Taiwan approximately 5,500 years ago. From there, they are thought to have dispersed into ISEA approximately 4,000 years ago, assimilating the indigenous populations. Here, we demonstrate that mitochondrial DNA diversity in the region is extremely high and includes a large number of indigenous clades. Only a fraction of these date back to the time of first settlement, and the majority appear to mark dispersals in the late-Pleistocene or early-Holocene epoch most likely triggered by postglacial flooding. There are much closer genetic links to Taiwan than to the mainland, but most of these probably predated the mid-Holocene "Out of Taiwan" event as traditionally envisioned. Only approximately 20% at most of modern mitochondrial DNAs in ISEA could be linked to such an event, suggesting that, if an agriculturalist migration did take place, it was demographically minor, at least with regard to the involvement of women.

During autumn 2005, we conducted 3,436 interviews in European and Asian countries. We found risk perceptions of avian influenza to be at an intermediate level and beliefs of efficacy to be slightly lower. Risk perceptions were higher in Europe than in Asia; efficacy [corrected] beliefs were lower in Europe than in Asia.