East Asia Review, 1973. To sum up.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Results for “ASIA”
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
A 32-year prospective study of change in body weight and incident dementia: the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study.
BACKGROUND: The course of weight loss associated with dementia is unclear, particularly prior to and around the onset of the clinical syndrome. OBJECTIVE: To compare the natural history of weight change from mid to late life in men with and without dementia in late life. DESIGN AND SETTING: The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, a 32-year, prospective, population-based study of Japanese American men who had been weighed on 6 occasions between 1965 and 1999 and who had been screened for dementia 3 times between 1991 and 1999. PARTICIPANTS: Of 1890 men (aged 77-98 years), 112 with incident dementia were compared with 1778 without dementia at the sixth examination (1997-1999). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Weight change up to and including the sixth examination was treated as the dependent variable and estimated using a repeated measures analysis. RESULTS: Groups with and without dementia did not differ with respect to baseline weight or change in weight from mid to late life (first 26 years' follow-up). In the late-life examinations (final 6 years), mean age- and education-adjusted weight loss was -0.22 kg/y (95% confidence intervals, -0.26 to -0.18) in participants without dementia. Men with incident dementia at the same examination had an additional yearly weight loss of -0.36 kg (95% confidence interval, -0.53 to -0.19). This was not changed substantially with adjustment for risk factors for vascular disease or functional impairment and was significant for both Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: Dementia-associated weight loss begins before the onset of the clinical syndrome and accelerates by the time of diagnosis. The potential impact on prognosis should be considered in the case of elderly persons at risk for dementia.
Age Factors↗
Twenty-six-year change in total cholesterol levels and incident dementia: the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study.
BACKGROUND: The relationship between total cholesterol levels and dementia is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare the natural history of change in total cholesterol across 26 years between men who did and did not develop dementia 3 years after the last measurement. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, 1027 Japanese American men had total cholesterol levels assayed on 5 occasions between 1965 and 1993 and were screened for dementia on 2 occasions between 1991 and 1996. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The slope of 26-year change in serum total cholesterol levels was estimated by a repeated-measures analysis and was compared between men with incident dementia (n = 56) and those without dementia (n = 971) at the end of the follow-up period. RESULTS: Cholesterol levels in men with dementia and, in particular, those with Alzheimer disease had declined at least 15 years before the diagnosis and remained lower than cholesterol levels in men without dementia throughout that period. The difference in slopes was robust to adjustment for potential confounding factors, including vascular risk factors, weight change, alcohol intake, and use of lipid-lowering agents. CONCLUSION: A decline in serum total cholesterol levels may be associated with early stages in the development of dementia.
Aged↗
Alcoholism--North America and Asia. A comparison of population surveys with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule.
The Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) is a highly structured instrument that enables lay examiners to gather the clinical information necessary to generate psychiatric disorders according to the DSM-III, Feighner, and Research Diagnostic Criteria. It was developed originally as the diagnostic interview for the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) survey. Because it adheres to DSM-III and can be used by lay interviewers, thus making it practical for studies involving large samples, it has been used for other population surveys in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. This investigation compares the epidemiology of DSM-III-defined alcohol abuse and addiction in DIS-based population surveys cross-nationally (in St Louis, Mo; Edmonton, Canada; Puerto Rico; Taipei City, Taiwan; and South Korea). We found considerable variation in the lifetime prevalence of alcoholism but a similarity in the age of onset, the symptomatic expression, and the associated risk factors. We also found an inverse correlation between the prevalence of alcoholism and the strength of the association of the risk factors we examined. The work described herein demonstrates the utility of consistent definition and method in cross-cultural psychiatric research. The substantive findings have implications for the definition of alcoholism and for a better understanding of genetic and environmental interactions in its etiology.
Adolescent↗
Earliest Miocene hominoid from Southeast Asia.
A new hominoid fossil site, Chiang Muan in northern Thailand, yielded the first finding of a large-bodied Miocene hominoid in Southeast Asia. This specimen (CMu6-1'00) was preliminarily reported by Kunimatsu et al. Later, Chaimanee et al. reported additional hominoid teeth from the same site, but all of them were collected from younger deposits (the Upper Lignite Member, in Nagaoka and Suganuma). The specimen described here (CMu6-1'00) was recovered from the Lower Lignite Member (Nagaoka and Suganuma), which is probably several hundred thousand years older than the Upper Lignite Member (Suganuma et al.). This article provides a detailed description of this hominoid specimen and paleontological/geological data of the fossil site at Chiang Muan. The hominoid specimen (CMu6-1'00) is an isolated upper molar (right M1 or M2), similar in size to modern orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). This upper molar has low and voluminous cusps, relatively thick enamel, and relatively low relief of the dentine/enamel junction, with only a faint remnant of the lingual cingulum. The age of Chiang Muan is estimated to be the latest Middle Miocene (ca. 11-12 Ma), based on the mammalian fossils (Nakaya et al.) and paleomagnetic study (Suganuma et al.). This suggests that the Chiang Muan Hominoid in the present study is an earlier member of Eastern Eurasian Miocene hominoids.
Animals↗
Horse-mounted invaders from the Russo-Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang.
Numerous Bronze Age cemeteries in the oases surrounding the Täklamakan Desert of the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, western China, have yielded both mummified and skeletal human remains. A dearth of local antecedents, coupled with woolen textiles and the apparent Western physical appearance of the population, raised questions as to where these people came from. Two hypotheses have been offered by archaeologists to account for the origins of Bronze Age populations of the Tarim Basin. These are the "steppe hypothesis" and the "Bactrian oasis hypothesis." Eight craniometric variables from 25 Aeneolithic and Bronze Age samples, comprising 1,353 adults from the Tarim Basin, the Russo-Kazakh steppe, southern China, Central Asia, Iran, and the Indus Valley, are compared to test which, if either, of these hypotheses are supported by the pattern of phenetic affinities possessed by Bronze Age inhabitants of the Tarim Basin. Craniometric differences between samples are compared with Mahalanobis generalized distance (d2), and patterns of phenetic affinity are assessed with two types of cluster analysis (the weighted pair average linkage method and the neighbor-joining method), multidimensional scaling, and principal coordinates analysis. Results obtained by this analysis provide little support for either the steppe hypothesis or the Bactrian oasis hypothesis. Rather, the pattern of phenetic affinities manifested by Bronze Age inhabitants of the Tarim Basin suggests the presence of a population of unknown origin within the Tarim Basin during the early Bronze Age. After 1200 B.C., this population experienced significant gene flow from highland populations of the Pamirs and Ferghana Valley. These highland populations may include those who later became known as the Saka and who may have served as "middlemen" facilitating contacts between East (Tarim Basin, China) and West (Bactria, Uzbekistan) along what later became known as the Great Silk Road.
Agriculture↗
Leprosy and tuberculosis in Iron Age Southeast Asia?
The recent excavation of a sample of 120 human skeletons from an Iron Age site in the valley of the Mun River, a tributary of the Mekong River on the Khorat Plateau in northeast Thailand, has provided the largest sample from this period in the region to date. This paper reviews three individuals from the sample with pathological changes for which the differential diagnosis includes systemic infectious disease. In two of these, both males with lesions of the hands and feet, leprosy and psoriatic arthritis are discussed as differential diagnoses, with leprosy the most probable. In the third, a female with lesions of the spine, the differential diagnosis includes tuberculosis and nonspecific osteomyelitis. Tuberculosis is the most probable diagnosis. Although the focus of this paper is a presentation of the evidence for infectious disease at Noen U-Loke, the significance of probable diagnoses of mycobacterial diseases for the history of the diseases and for prehistory in mainland Southeast Asia is also briefly discussed.
Bone and Bones↗
Skull osteology of Parvilacerta parva, a small-sized lacertid lizard from Asia Minor.
The skull of the poorly known Asia Minor lacertid lizard Parvilacerta parva is described. In comparison to other palaearctic lacertids, Parvilacerta parva displays several peculiar traits such as a large braincase, a short parietal table, closed post-temporal openings, reduced ossification, or a large lacrimal. Many features are related to the small size of Parvilacerta parva and are of apparently heterochronic nature, as they can also be found in certain ontogenetic stages of other lacertid species. Small size and heterochrony even seem to be factors involved in the less-developed sexual dimorphism of Parvilacerta parva. The described morphology is interpreted to be related to a life history strategy in r-selecting, semiarid environments.
Animals↗
Comparative analysis of reproductive cycles in female Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa subgutturosa) (Central Asia) and sand gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa marica) (Arabian Peninsula).
This study was conducted at the Bukhara breeding centre (Ouzbekistan, Central Asia) on Persian gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa subgutturosa) and at Thumammah (Saudi Arabia) on sand gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa marica). Plasma prolactin (PRL) and progesterone were determined in groups of females. Because these females were under two different photoperiods (20 degrees N in Saudi Arabia and 40 degrees N in Uzbekistan), some Persian females were treated with melatonin implants. Both groups of females living in natural environment in Uzbekistan and in Saudi Arabia exhibited an estrus (autumn and early winter) and an anestrus season (spring and summer). Both groups of females exhibited estrous and anestrous seasons. The estrous season was shorter in females from Uzbekistan. During the anestrous season, progesterone concentrations remained at basal levels in Persian gazelles (Uzbekistan) while in sand gazelles (Saudi Arabia) hormonal concentrations were higher than in Persian gazelles until August and decreased to similar concentrations in September-October. Moreover, the pattern of PRL significantly differed in the two groups. Persian gazelles exhibited a clear seasonal pattern with significantly high levels of PRL in June whereas in the sand gazelle PRL did not rise significantly in summer and fluctuated widely. Melatonin treatment significantly depressed PRL concentrations but did not affect the length of the estrous season in Persian gazelles, suggesting that the reproductive cycle was entrained by an endogenous rhythm.
Anestrus↗
Siamopithecus eocaenus, a late Eocene anthropoid primate from Thailand: its contribution to the evolution of anthropoids in Southeast Asia.
Dental remains of a late Eocene anthropoid primate from Thailand, Siamopithecus eocaenus, have been recently reported; complete description and comparisons of this material are given here. Siamopithecus displays several derived dental features that suggest close phylogenetic affinities among the Thai species, the Burmese Pondaungia, and the North African and Omani propliopithecines Aegyptopithecus and Moeripithecus. The geographic origin of anthropoid primates cannot be securely determined at present, but the available fossil record indicates that faunal exchanges between Africa and Southeast Asia were very probable during the Eocene, and that direct relationships between Asian and African anthropoid primates can be inferred.
Animals↗
Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the grass lizards genus Takydromus (Reptilia: Lacertidae) of East Asia.
Takydromus Daudin is a group of Lacertidae lizards with slender bodies and long tails. Half of the Takydromus spp. are endemic to islands of eastern Asia aligned along the Pacific margin of the East Asian continent. This feature offers a good opportunity to study the effects of glaciations and land connections on the speciation of East Asian fauna. We reconstructed the molecular phylogeny of Takydromus species via the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum-parsimony, neighbor-joining, and maximum-likelihood options do not support a two-subgenera scheme of Takydromus and Platyplacopus proposed earlier. In contrast, the phylogeny of Takydromus species on islands fits the sequential separation of island groups influenced by changes in sea level. The hypothesis in our prediction supports the process of vicariant speciation and multicolonization of grass lizards on eastern Asian islands. At least two obvious colonization events were followed by vicariance events. Because the molecular clock of the 12 rRNA gene was not rejected in our model test, it is possible to estimate times of speciation events. As the most isolated and basal species compared to other temperate and subtropical species of Takydromus, the separation period of T. smaragdinus in the central Ryukyus is the crucial point in estimating the evolutionary rate. Quaternary-origin or Tertiary-origin models are proposed and discussed.
Animals↗
Characterization of the pathogenicity of members of the newly established H9N2 influenza virus lineages in Asia.
The reported transmission of avian H9N2 influenza viruses to humans and the isolation of these viruses from Hong Kong poultry markets lend urgency to studies of their ecology and pathogenicity. We found that H9N2 viruses from North America differ from those of Asia. The North American viruses, which infect primarily domestic turkeys, replicated poorly in inoculated chickens. Phylogenetic analysis of the hemagglutinin and nucleoprotein genes indicated that the Asian H9N2 influenza viruses could be divided into three sublineages. Initial biological characterization of at least one virus from each lineage was done in animals. Early isolates of one lineage (A/Chicken/Beijing/1/94, H9N2) caused as high as 80% mortality rates in inoculated chickens, whereas all other strains were nonpathogenic. Sequence analysis showed that some isolates, including the pathogenic isolate, had one additional basic amino acid (A-R/K-S-S-R-) at the hemagglutinin cleavage site. Later isolates of the same lineage (A/Chicken/Hong Kong/G9/97, H9N2) that contains the PB1 and PB2 genes similar to Hong Kong/97 H5N1 viruses replicated in chickens, ducks, mice, and pigs but were pathogenic only in mice. A/Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (H9N2), from a second lineage that possesses the replicative complex similar to Hong Kong/97 H5N1 virus, replicated in chickens and ducks without producing disease signs, was pathogenic in mice, and spread to the brain without adaptation. Examples of the third Asian H9N2 sublineage (A/Chicken/Korea/323/96, Duck/Hong Kong/Y439/97) replicated in chickens, ducks, and mice without producing disease signs. The available evidence supports the notion of differences in pathogenicity of H9N2 viruses in the different lineages and suggests that viruses possessing genome segments similar to 1997 H5N1-like viruses are potentially pathogenic in mammals.
Animals↗
Indigenous Koro, a genital retraction syndrome of insular Southeast Asia: a critical review.
Koro, a disorder characterized by complaints of genital hyperinvolution and fear of impending death, is found to be indigenous to certain populations of insular Southeast Asia. Koro is similar to, but nevertheless distinct from, the Chinese syndrome which carries its name and serves as the transcultural prototype; the category of genital retraction syndromes is proposed as a substitute for the use of "koro" as the transcultural rubric. In a review of the Koro literature, an exploration of the many possible cultural and biomedical factors is begun; the issues and perspectives are relevant to the wider study of culture specific manifestations of genital retraction.
Adult↗
Human chromosomal polymorphism. VI. Chromosomal Q polymorphism in Turkmen of the Kara-Kum desert of Central Asia.
Chromosomal Q polymorphism was studied in 116 Turkmen, aboriginals of the Kara-Kum desert of Central Asia. Propylquinacrine mustard was used as fluorochrome. Of the 116 subjects aged 16-20 years, 109 (94.0%) were found to have Q-polymorphic variants, while seven (6.0%) showed complete absence of Q bands with fluorescence levels 4 and 5. There was a total of 351 polymorphic Q bands, 0-7 per individual, with a mean of 3.0 in the population. No differences between sexes were observed in the frequency of Q bands. The observed homo- and heteromorph frequencies proved to be in complete agreement with those predicted by the law of Hardy-Weinberg. Chromosome 3 with pericentric inversion of the Q-heterochromatin band was found in two (1.7%) of the 116 subjects. The following questions were examined: (1) the possible selective value of chromosomal Q-heterochromatin material in the adaptation of human populations to extreme environmental factors, in particular to the desert climate; (2) intraracial heterogeneity in Europoids of Eurasia; (3) the taxonomic value of Q polymorphism in ethnic anthropology.
Adolescent↗
Human chromosomal polymorphism. I. Chromosomal Q polymorphism in Mongoloid populations of Central Asia.
A comparative study of frequencies and types of Q-polymorphic variants in seven autosome pairs (3, 4, 13-15, 21, and 22) was performed in three steppe Mongoloid populations of Central Asia (Kazakhs, Dunghans, Mongolians) and three highland Kirghiz populations of Pamir and Tien-Shan. The three steppe Mongoloid populations showed statistically significant homogeneity both in the frequency of Q-polymorphic variants and the distribution of homo- and heteromorphs, with complete agreement of observed frequencies with those theoretically predicted by the law of Hardy-Weinberg. Similar homogeneity was revealed in the three highland Kirghiz populations of Pamir and Tien-Shan. However, comparative analysis of highland and steppe Mongoloids revealed significant differences in the following variables: (1) mean number of Q variants per individual, 2.50 and 3.49 in the highland and steppe populations, respectively; (2) frequency of Q variants in 7 of the 12 autosomes studied; and (3) distribution of homo- and heteromorphs in four autosomal pairs (13-15, 21), with a preponderance of individuals with increased hemomorph (-/-) frequency in highlanders. The following questions are discussed: (1) the possible selective value of chromosomal Q-heterochromatin material in the adaptation of human populations to extreme environmental factors, in particular to the high-altitude environment of Pamir and Tien-Shan; (2) the existence of intraracial heterogeneity in Mongoloids living in different ecological zones; and (3) the possible taxonomic value of Q-variant inversion in chromosome 3.
Adolescent↗
Human chromosomal polymorphism. II. Chromsomal C polymorphism in Mongoloid populations of Central Asia.
C polymorphism of chromosomes 1, 9 and 16 was studied in 447 Mongoloids of Central Asia living under different ecological conditions; two highland (Kirghiz) and three steppe (Kazakh, Mongolian, and Dungan) populations. C band sizes were estimated according to the semiquantitative 5-level method of Patil and Lubs (1977). All the ethnic groups studied showed statistically significant homogeneity in the frequency of C variants. It is suggested that chromosomal C-heterochromatin material has no selective value in the process of human adaptation to extreme high-altitude factors.
Adolescent↗
The attachment of the foot-and-mouth disease virus Asia I Iran 1/73 to BHK suspension cells does not require virus specific cell receptors.
Experiments are described which show that a member of the picornaviridae (FMD virus Asia I Iran 1/73) attaches to BHK suspension cells in a manner which precludes a requirement for virus specific receptors on the cell plasma membrane. While it may be possible to demonstrate the apparent saturation of the cell surface with multiple doses of virus, an increase of the concentration of the dosing suspension results in more virus attachment. Indeed, it was found that with the amounts of virus which were made available it was not possible to saturate the ability of the cell to take up virus particles. This, coupled with the demonstration that the uptake of virus followed the pattern of uptake of gas molecules on to a solid surface (Freundlich adsorption isotherm), drew us to the conclusion that, in contrast to other reported systems with similar viruses and cells, the uptake of the FMD virus we used to BHK suspension cells did not require virus specific cell receptor sites.
Adsorption↗
Hepatolithiasis in East Asia. Retrospective study.
Hepatolithiasis is a major disease in Asia but differences in operative incidence between countries have not been examined. A retrospective study was conducted in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and the results were compared with those in Japan with the aim of defining factors involved in the etiology of the condition. In order to ensure uniformity of the data collected, the same form was used throughout the study and was completed by the same personnel after reviewing the patient's record and radiographs in each case. The years 1976-1980 were chosen for the study, since the newer methods of diagnosis such as ultrasound, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography became available during that period. The most significant finding was the difference in the relative prevalence of hepatolithiasis as a proportion of all gallstone cases in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, where the majority of the population consisted of patients of Chinese descent. The highest prevalence, 53.5%, was found in Taiwan, while in Hong Kong it was 3.1% and in Singapore 1.7%. Environmental rather than ethnic factors are implicated in the cause of hepatolithiasis.
Adult↗