Hasil untuk "Asian. Oriental"

Yanming Sui, Chengjiao Ni, Feng Chen et al.

To address knowledge gaps in urban wetlands’ role in sustaining avian diversity along migration corridors, this study systematically surveyed three Yancheng wetland parks with a distinct habitat gradient. Monthly surveys were conducted from January to December 2024 using fixed-width line transects and point counts, with three 300 m transects set in each park and all birds within 50 m of the transect line recorded, and Shannon–Wiener, Simpson, Pielou’s Evenness, and Margalef Richness indices were employed for quantitative analysis. A total of 83 bird species across 16 orders and 41 families were documented, including the National Class I Protected and Endangered Oriental Stork and three Class II nationally protected species (Black-winged Kite, Crested Goshawk, Common Kestrel). Fengyi Lake Park, with 71 species, served as a critical migratory waterbird hub. Yandu Wetland Park sustained community stability through high habitat heterogeneity, supporting specialized breeders, and Dongfang Wetland Park, with 34 urban adaptor-dominated species, provided key autumn pulsed resources for frugivores and granivores. This study identifies habitat heterogeneity as the primary driver of avian community differentiation and highlights that the ecological functions of urban wetlands are contingent on multi-habitat complementarity. We, therefore, advocate for prioritizing the construction of heterogeneous habitat structures in urban wetland planning, enhancing functional complementarity and connectivity among distinct wetland types, and preserving the continuity of migratory bird habitat corridors along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. These findings furnish robust scientific evidence and actionable guidance for regional green space planning and biodiversity conservation.

Sanggay Tashi

This story describes a snapshot of a Tibetan nomadic woman who later became a construction worker after moving to a settlement town. It highlights some of the challenges her family faces as they move away from herding life and embrace a new way of life.

Veronika Poier

The layers of Arabic and Persian epigraphy in the Green Complex (821–827/1419–1424) in the Western Anatolian town of Bursa, built for Meḥmed I (r. 816–824/1413–1421), are indicative of the literary horizon at this time. I argue that the extensive epigraphic programme is a contemporary source frozen in ‘tile’ and time, connecting the buildings to the concurrent developments in Anatolian literature. For the first time, I discuss the appearance of Persian poetry by the Jalāyirid court poet Salmān Sāvajī (d. 777/1376) on early Ottoman architecture, which ties in with the contemporary works of Tāceddīn Aḥmedī (734–815/1334–1413), poet laureate of Meḥmed I (r. 816–824/1413–1421). The preserved texts in the Green Complex allow us to obtain a new perspective on the transregional connections between the post-Mongol Turkmen world and the Ottoman sphere of influence.

Antje Missbach, Jemma Purdey

Australia is a sought-after destination for international students, including from countries of the Global South such as Indonesia. Prior to the pandemic, the tertiary education of international students was its second largest export. At the onset of the pandemic, Australia’s Prime Minister told international students they should return home immediately, warning them that they would not be supported by the government if they chose to stay. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Australian media outlets offered shocking reports and images of international students who had lost their homes and were queuing at soup kitchens. Experts feared that these images and the overall treatment of international students would do long-lasting damage not only to the education sector but also to Australia’s people-to-people relations overseas. In this article, we explore the destinies of postgraduate students from Indonesia during the pandemic in Australia. As Indonesia’s closest neighbor, Australia is the preferred destination for Indonesian students studying abroad and Australia has targeted Indonesia as a growth market in recent years. Based on qualitative interview data, we offer a picture of how this cohort of international students “muddled through” the pandemic. We ask what damage may have been done by the Australian government’s closure of its international borders and strict pandemic restrictions to its reputation as a welcoming country and center of educational excellence. What consequences might there be for this vital Indonesia–Australia relationship, in particular, and for the future of student and broader university engagement between the two countries? Our findings show a much more optimistic outlook than expected.

Cameron David Warner

This is an ethnographic portrait of Tsering, a Tibetan refugee who is seeking asylum in France under a false name, age, and marriage. The portrait is assembled and disassembled through employing three successive perspectives: first, second, and third persons. In sum, this multiple portrait challenges the notions of the relationship between selfhood and authenticity as Tsering asserts that her truest self is an inauthentic one, that comes into view when three factors emerge in dependence upon each other: being Tibetan, being a refugee, and being mutable. Tsering's articulation of her selfhood is compared to Buddhist notions of dependent origination in order to question when and how anthropologists of Tibet and the Himalayas utilize culturally derived explanatory frameworks such as “near concepts.” Finally, Tsering and her daughters' concerns for the ethics of their inauthenticity are viewed in light of Buddhist arguments for the relationship between dependent origination and compassion. Note: To have Tibetan script correctly displayed, please download the PDF file and open it in a desktop application.

Aniruddh Sheth, Vasant Saberwal

In this essay we focus on what appears to be an evolving transition among Gaddi and other pastoralist communities in Himachal Pradesh, India. Contrary to predictions of the demise of pastoralism, we argue that while there is evidence of sedentarisation among Himachali pastoralists, there is also an emerging trend of households managing smaller herds over a more limited part of the pastoral landscape. We use material from research conducted three decades ago, in combination with ongoing research studying the pastoral economy to understand the drivers of this transition. The essay explores shifts in labour dynamics, where increasingly pastoralist labour prefer cash payments and temporary work opportunities, indicating a reduced commitment to herding. There is an increasing trend of hiring labour from non-traditional herder households, such as Bihari and Nepalese workers, to manage pastoralist herds. Moreover, transitions to smaller herds enables easier management during the winter months when forage availability is limited. Himachali pastoralism remains profitable, but contemporary logics of herd composition, pastoral routes, and market dynamics no longer align with previous models. The essay concludes by pointing to emerging areas of research that might help in better understanding the nature of the ongoing transition in Himachali pastoralism, suggesting that sedentarisation may not be the appropriate term to describe the current trends and that these transitions and their implications must be further assessed before prescribing the eventual demise of pastoralism.

Galen Murton

Yue Zhang, Shanlin Liu, Marc De Meyer et al.

Introduction: The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis is one of the most destructive agricultural pests worldwide, with highly debated species delimitation, origin, and global spread routes. Objectives: Our study intended to (i) resolve the taxonomic uncertainties between B. dorsalis and B. carambolae, (ii) reveal the population structure and global invasion routes of B. dorsalis across Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and (iii) identify genomic regions that are responsible for the thermal adaptation of B. dorsalis. Methods: Based on a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome assembly, we explored the population relationship using a genome-scale single nucleotide polymorphism dataset generated from the resequencing data of 487 B. dorsalis genomes and 25 B. carambolae genomes. Genome-wide association studies and silencing using RNA interference were used to identify and verify the candidate genes associated with extreme thermal stress. Results: We showed that B. dorsalis originates from the Southern India region with three independent invasion and spread routes worldwide: (i) from Northern India to Northern Southeast Asia, then to Southern Southeast Asia; (ii) from Northern India to Northern Southeast Asian, then to China and Hawaii; and (iii) from Southern India toward the African mainland, then to Madagascar, which is mainly facilitated by human activities including trade and immigration. Twenty-seven genes were identified by a genome-wide association study to be associated with 11 temperature bioclimatic variables. The Cyp6a9 gene may enhance the thermal adaptation of B. dorsalis and thus boost its invasion, which tended to be upregulated at a hardening temperature of 38 °C. Functional verification using RNA interference silencing against Cyp6a9, led to the specific decrease in Cyp6a9 expression, reducing the survival rate of dsRNA-feeding larvae exposed to extreme thermal stress of 45 °C after heat hardening treatments in B. dorsalis. Conclusion: This study provides insights into the evolutionary history and genetic basis of temperature adaptation in B. dorsalis.

Alexander S. Starshinov, Natalya N. Kim

The article examines features of Park Chung-hee’s project of modernization and identifies socio-economic and cultural influence of such state-led modernization on the creation and development of South Korean “youth culture” of the 1970s. The authors highlight several specific policies and socio-economic trends that led the emergence of “youth culture”: rapid urbanization and drastic increase in urban population; increase in urban families’ incomes and consumption; changes in the division of labor; expansion of both school and university education and dissemination of mass media. Along with that, the article analyzes the influence of the policies of managed westernization and developmentalist discourse of the 1960s on the formation of values of this “youth culture”. The paper explains how these state-led policies paved the way for the creation of “youth culture” that paradoxically contained drastically different values compared to both official discourse of the Yusin government and values of parental generation. The new generation born after the Korean War, the so-called Hangeul generation, became the main driving force behind it, but faced repetitive misunderstanding and condemnation from both the older generation and the state. Eventually, due to state’s pressure, this “youth culture” experienced decline in the second half of the 1970s.

Catherine Hartmann

“Why do you ask questions of roots and branches instead of the necessary questions of chö (Tib. chos)?” asks a character in Tibetan author Dondrup Gyel’s (don rgrub rgyal) controversial 1980 short story, “Tulku” (sprul sku). The Tibetan term chö can be translated in many ways, including to mean ‘the Buddhist teachings,’ ‘religion’ more generally, or even ‘the nature of reality.’ In “Tulku,” however, what chö means is not at all clear, and the various characters claim authority to determine what is legitimate chö. In the story, a Tibetan village is visited by a mysterious stranger claiming to be a tulku—a reincarnated religious leader— but who is actually a fraud. Most scholars have interpreted “Tulku” as a critique of traditional Tibetan religious devotion, and as a call by Gyel for Tibetans to modernize. This paper, however, proposes a new reading of “Tulku.” It suggests that Gyel pairs overt criticism of the corrupt tulku with a subtler critique of the Chinese government’s policy towards Tibetan Buddhism. It argues for such a reading by tracking how the word chö is used in “Tulku.” It shows that Gyel places the word not in the mouths of the Tibetan villagers, but rather in the mouths of the fraudulent tulku and the representatives of the Communist Party. Both thus use chö in order to appeal to the Tibetan villagers, claim power for themselves, and exclude the opposing party. “Tulku” thereby creates parallels between the ways in which the Tulku and the Party use chö to appeal to and manipulate the Tibetan villagers. On this reading, “Tulku” highlights the way chö can be weaponized by both traditional religious authorities and Communist party ideology, and suggests that in this modern period, any claimant to chö must be treated with caution and skepticism.

Štěpán Janeček, Kryštof Chmel, Guillermo Uceda Gómez et al.

Abstract Plant–bird pollination interactions evolved independently on different continents. Specific adaptations can lead to their restriction when potential partners from distant evolutionary trajectories come into contact. Alternatively, these interactions can be enabled by convergent evolution and subsequent ecological fitting. We studied the interactions between New World plants from the genus Heliconia, Asian plants of genus Etlingera and African sunbirds on a local farm in Cameroon. Heliconia spp. evolved together with hummingbirds and Etlingera spp. with spiderhunters —an oriental subgroup of the sunbird family. Sunbirds fed on all studied plants and individual plant species were visited by a different sunbird spectrum. We experimentally documented a higher number of germinated pollen grains in sunbird‐visited flowers of Etlingera spp. For Heliconia spp., this experiment was not successful and pollen tubes were rarely observed, even in hand‐pollinated flowers, where enough pollen was deposited. The analyses of contacts with plant reproductive organs nevertheless confirmed that sunbirds are good pollen vectors for both Heliconia and Etlingera species. Our study demonstrated a high ecological fit between actors of distinct evolutionary history and the general validity of bird‐pollination syndrome. We moreover show that trait matching and niche differentiation are important ecological processes also in semi‐artificial plant‐pollinator systems.

Stephen Christopher

Robert E. Beazley

Dagmar Wujastyk

Around the eleventh century CE, Sanskrit medical texts began to record profound changes in the methods used for drug manufacture. New substances, especially metallic and non-metallic minerals, were added to the ayurvedic pharmacopoeia or were given new prominence. More significantly, however, new ways of processing raw materials were introduced that were thought to make them fit for medical use. Most of the new, but also many of the traditional substances were now put through a series of complicated, multistage processes before they were used as components of compound medicines. In this article, I will use the example of recipes for iron-based medicines, which describe the processing of iron and other substances to trace the evolution of these changes and to query whether the changes in drug production flow from earlier developments, or whether they represent a more fundamental shift in the theory and practice of medicine. I also consider whether the introduction of new substances and the new methods of drug production can be related to notions concerning the potency of substances and formulations.

Israt Jahan, Sajeda Begum, Mohammad Mostafa Feeroz et al.

Based on a study on nesting behavior conducted in Jahangirnagar University Campus between 2009 and 2011 brief descriptions are given of nest site preferences in a diverse habitat, variation in nest shape against height above ground, and materials used for constructing nests in different tree species.  The study found that April is the peak time for nesting due to food availability.  High competition for tree holes as nest sites forced some species to build nests in unusual sites, for example Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, Asian Pied Starling Sturnus contra, Common Myna Acridotheres tristis, and Jungle Myna A. fuscus, Oriental Magpie-robin Copsychus saularis showed better adaptation to the campus environment than other birds.  Predation risk was found to be higher for non-hole nests than for hole nests.  To minimize predation pressure, birds were seen to adopt passive protection by making false nests and constructing well-camouflaged nests.  Besides predation, human disturbance was observed on low height nests in roadside vegetation resulting in breeding failure. Reducing human disturbance is needed if birds are to achieve better reproductive success in the campus.  The most commonly used trees were Albizia spp. (native or long naturalized species) whereas no nest was found in Eucalyptus spp. and only a few nests were found in Acacia moniliformes, both are exotic trees which have been planted in huge numbers in the campus, indicating that birds do not prefer exotic tree species for nesting.  It is recommended to plant more native tree species, which may also help birds to nest in usual sites rather than unusual sites (such as electrical pillars, electrical boxes, air conditioner boxes, and building holes).  Regular monitoring in support of native tree planting and raising awareness to reduce disturbance, could enhance the successful reproduction of birds in Jahangirnagar University Campus.  Finally, an update to the avifauna of the campus is presented, with 17 species added in this study or from other recent reports, bringing the total to 195 species, including one globally ‘Near Threatened’ species, the Brown-winged Kingfisher Pelargopsis amauroptera.

Jonathan P Bestwick, Wayne J Huttly, Joan K Morris et al.

<h4>Background</h4>Taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy to reduce the risk of a neural tube defect (NTD) is especially important in countries without universal folic acid fortification. The extent of folic acid supplementation among women who had antenatal screening for Down's syndrome and NTDs at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, London between 1999 and 2012 was assessed.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>466,860 women screened provided details on folic acid supplementation. The proportion of women who took folic acid supplements before pregnancy was determined according to year and characteristics of the women. The proportion of women taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy declined from 35% (95% CI 34%-35%) in 1999-2001 to 31% (30%-31%) in 2011-2012. 6% (5%-6%) of women aged under 20 took folic acid supplements before pregnancy compared with 40% of women aged between 35 and 39. Non-Caucasian women were less likely to take folic acid supplements before pregnancy than Caucasian women; Afro-Caribbean 17% (16%-17%), Oriental 25% (24%-25%) and South Asian 20% (20%-21%) compared with 35% (35%-35%) for Caucasian women. 51% (48%-55%) of women who previously had an NTD pregnancy took folic acid supplements before the current pregnancy.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The policy of folic acid supplementation is failing and has led to health inequalities. This study demonstrates the need to fortify flour and other cereal grain with folic acid in all countries of the world.

D. V. Streltsov

The Department for the "administration of affairs with Asian nations" at College of Foreign Affairs was established on February 26, 1796 by the imperial decree and the school for Chinese, Manchu, Persian and Turkish languages translators was opened one year later. However, special training of the Russian diplomatic corps, dealing with the relations with Asian nations, was established only in the XIX century. In 1815 Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages was founded. In 1823 Training Department of Oriental Languages at the Asian Department of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Empire was established. The tradition was continued by the Soviet Russian Institute of Oriental Studies, which become a leading center for the training of specialists, necessary for most important public institutions and social organizations. Moscow Institute for Oriental Studies inherited traditions and rich library from Lazarev Institute. At the confluence of MGIMO and Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies in 1954 the library holdings were transferred to the MGIMO, they now form the basis of the rare fund of the university research library. Development of Oriental School MGIMO historically was influenced by the specifics of the traditional conglomerate of Oriental Sciences and ever increasing needs in the practical application of knowledge about the East. Of course, in addition to the Lazarev Institute other leading centers of domestic study of the East made a considerable impact on the development of Oriental Studies at MGIMO. St. Petersburg (Leningrad) University and the University of Kazan are the most prominent ones, where the Oriental Studies tradition is rooted in the XIX century. Evacuation of many prominent representatives of the Moscow and Leningrad school of Oriental Studies during the Great Patriotic War to Kazan and Central Asia gave new impetus to oriental studies at universities in these regions.

Kay Van Damme, Supiyanit Maiphae

Until now, a single endemic cladoceran genus was known from the Oriental region. We propose the region’s second endemic lineage of generic rank, <em>Salinalona</em> gen. nov., to accomodate the South East Asian <em>Alona sarasinorum </em>Stingelin, 1900 and the Indian <em>A. taraporevalae</em> Shirgur and Naik, 1977. Morphological revision shows that the external similarities with <em>Alona</em> Baird, 1843 or <em>Leberis</em> Smirnov, 1969 and <em>Celsinotum</em> Frey, 1991 that have been proposed in the past, are the result of convergence. The small lineage is euryhaline, even halophylic, an unusual adaptation in the order Anomopoda and particularly in the family Chydoridae. We discuss the position and adaptation of <em>Salinalona</em> gen. nov., such as a strongly modified hook on the first limb, based on a detailed study of populations from Maikhao peat swamp, Phuket island, Thailand. We include comparative notes on the circumtropical genus <em>Euryalona </em>Sars, 1901, with detailed morphology of the Asian <em>E. orientalis </em>(Daday, 1898). A key to all species of both genera is included.

Eugene Oteng-Ntim, Julia Kopeika, Paul Seed et al.

<h4>Objectives</h4>To quantify the proportion of adverse pregnancy outcome attributable to maternal obesity.<h4>Design</h4>Cross sectional analysis of routine obstetric dataset.<h4>Setting</h4>Guy's and St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT).<h4>Population</h4>23,668 women who had singleton deliveries at GSTFT between 2004 and 2008.<h4>Methods</h4>Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between BMI and outcome in different ethnic groups. Adjusted odds ratios, and the proportions of obese women, were used to calculate population attributable risk fractions (PAFs).<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>(I) MATERNAL OUTCOMES: diabetes, type of delivery, post-partum haemorrhage, and preterm delivery. (ii) Perinatal outcomes: macrosomia, low birth weight, admission to neonatal intensive care/special care baby unit, and perinatal death.<h4>Results</h4>The prevalence of maternal obesity was 14%. Increasing BMI was independently associated with increasing risk of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcome. At the individual level, the effect of obesity on diabetes was highest in Asian women compared to white women (p for interaction = 0.03). Calculation of population attributable risk fractions demonstrated that one third of diabetes cases and one in six Caesarean sections could be avoided in this population if all obese women were of normal BMI. At the population level, the contribution of obesity to diabetes was highest for Black women (42%), and lowest for oriental women (8%). Seven percent of neonatal macrosomia in all the population, and 13% in Black mothers, were attributable to obesity.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Preventing obesity prior to pregnancy will substantially reduce the burden of obstetric and neonatal morbidity in this population. This reduction will be higher in Black women.