Hasil untuk "Asian. Oriental"

Hameed Byju, Hegde Maitreyi, Raveendran Natarajan et al.

Background Wetlands, globally, face significant threats from human activities, and waterbirds, as key indicators of wetland health, are essential to maintaining ecological balance. Any long-term conservation measures should prioritize coordinated habitat preservation, wetland restoration, and sustainable management practices involving local communities. Monitoring and analyzing waterbird population trends are critical for understanding restoration, conservation, and management practices. Methods The present study was carried out in five bird sanctuaries Chitrangudi, Kanjirankulam (Ramsar sites), Therthangal, Sakkarakottai, and Mel-Kel Selvanoor of Tamil Nadu, Southeast coast of India, over one year (April 2022 to March 2023). Monthly surveys using direct and block methods, with additional fortnightly visits during the breeding season, were conducted from vantage points to record species diversity, nesting activity, and conservation threats. Assessments of the residential status, national status (SOIB), and Convention for Migratory species (CMS) status were done along with the alpha and beta biodiversity profiles, principal component analysis, Pearson correlation and other statistical methods performed to assess breeding waterbirds community structure. Threats to the breeding waterbirds were categorised into high, medium, and low impacts based on degree of severity and irreversibility. Results The avifaunal checklist revealed a diversity of waterbird species utilizing the sanctuaries for breeding. Notable findings include two Near-Threatened species like, Asian Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus, and Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis, where Asian Woolly-necked Stork recorded only in Therthangal Bird Sanctuary. Avifauna of each sanctuary with breeding waterbirds in parenthesis is as follows: Chitragundi 122 (13); Mel-Kel Selvanoor 117 (19); Therthangal 96 (23); Sakkarakottai 116 (17) and Kanjirankulam 123 (14). The breeding activity (incubation in nests) was from November to February except for Glossy Ibis and Oriental Darter whose breeding started in December; Spot-billed Duck and Knob-billed Duck breed only during January and February. Among the 131 species recorded from all the sanctuaries, 78% were resident birds; 27% were breeding waterbirds, and 21% were Winter visitors. The SOIB and CMS statuses underscore the necessity of implementing effective conservation measures to protect breeding habitats amid anthropogenic pressures. Water unavailability and nest tree unavailability in the sanctuaries are found to be the high degree threats to breeding waterbirds than others. This research provides critical baseline data for the forest department’s future wetland management plans.

Zhi-Tong Lyu, Shuo Qi, Jian Wang et al.

The subfamily Megophryinae, as a representative batrachian group of the Oriental Realm and one of the most diverse groups of amphibians, has attracted considerable attention due to continued conjecture regarding its generic classification and failure to reach a satisfactory consensus. China boasts the richest diversity of Asian horned toads, containing some two thirds of the total species cataloged. However, most species have a complicated taxonomic history, resulting in multiple misidentifications. As such, an overall clarification of historical records and regional checklists is required. In the current investigation, we established the phylogeny of the Asian horned toads and performed detailed examinations with redefinitions of several important morphological traits. Based on the phylogenetic relationships and morphological differences, we propose a new ten-genus classification for the Asian horned toad subfamily Megophryinae: i.e., Brachytarsophrys, Atympanophrys, Grillitschia, Sarawakiphrys gen. nov., Jingophrys gen. nov., Xenophrys, Megophrys, Pelobatrachus, Ophryophryne, and Boulenophrys. Revisions on the diagnosability, distribution, and content of each genus are provided. Furthermore, we present a careful review of the taxonomic history of Asian horned toad species from China and provide a monograph of congeners, including six species of Brachytarsophrys, four species of Atympanophrys, five species of Jingophrys gen. nov., 10 species of Xenophrys, two species of Ophryophryne, and 60 species of Boulenophrys. Finally, we discuss the importance of traditional morphological traits based on multiple populations in taxonomic work as well as taxonomic inflation caused by the genetic species delimitation.

K. Kakudo, Chan Kwon Jung, Zhiyan Liu et al.

The Asian Thyroid Working Group was founded in 2017 at the 12th Asia Oceania Thyroid Association (AOTA) Congress in Busan, Korea. This group activity aims to characterize Asian thyroid nodule practice and establish strict diagnostic criteria for thyroid carcinomas, a reporting system for thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology without the aid of gene panel tests, and new clinical guidelines appropriate to conservative Asian thyroid nodule practice based on scientific evidence obtained from Asian patient cohorts. Asian thyroid nodule practice is usually designed for patient-centered clinical practice, which is based on the Hippocratic Oath, “First do not harm patients,” and an oriental filial piety “Do not harm one’s own body because it is a precious gift from parents,” which is remote from defensive medical practice in the West where physicians, including pathologists, suffer from severe malpractice climate. Furthermore, Asian practice emphasizes the importance of resource management in navigating the overdiagnosis of low-risk thyroid carcinomas. This article summarizes the Asian Thyroid Working Group activities in the past 7 years, from 2017 to 2023, highlighting the diversity of thyroid nodule practice between Asia and the West and the background reasons why Asian clinicians and pathologists modified Western systems significantly.

Xue Li Zhu, Jiao Jiao Yuan, Li Yang Zhou et al.

Cyclommatus stag beetles (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) are very interesting insects, because of their striking allometry (mandibles can be longer that the whole body in large males of some species) and sexual dimorphism. They mainly inhabit tropical and subtropical forests in Asia. To date, there has been no molecular phylogenetic research on how these stag beetles evolved and diversified. In this study, we constructed the first phylogenetic relationship for Cyclommatus using multi-locus datasets. Analyses showed that Cyclommatus is monophyletic, being subdivided into two well-supported clades (A and B). The clade A includes the island species from Southeast Asia, and the clade B is formed by the continental species. The divergent time estimates showed these beetles split from the outgroup around 43.10 million years ago (Mya) in the late Eocene, divided during the late Oligocene (around 24.90 Mya) and diversified further during the early and middle Miocene (around 18.19 Mya, around 15.17 Mya). RASP analysis suggested that these beetles likely originated in the Philippine archipelago, then dispersed to the other Southeast Asian archipelagoes, Indochina Peninsula, Southeast Himalayas, and Southern China. Moreover, relatively large genetic distance and stable morphological variations signified that the two clades reach the level of inter-generic differences, i.e., the current Cyclommatus should be separated in two genera: Cyclommatus Parry, 1863 including the clade A species, and Cyclommatinus Didier, 1927 covering the clade B species. In addition, the evidence we generated indicated these beetles’ diversification was promoted probably by both long-distance dispersal and colonization, supporting an “Upstream” colonization hypothesis. Our study provides insights into the classification, genetics and evolution of stag beetles in the Oriental region.

Tim Burger

Natalia N. Nikolaeva, Liudmila S. Dampilova

Introduction. It is urgent enough to reveal original features of epic traditions in certain ethnic environments to draw a general epic picture of Central Asian peoples. As is evident, shamanism has given rise to diverse epic and poetic genres. Shamanic and epic texts of Mongols are characterized by identical mythological patterns of world order, unified heavenly pantheons, coherent and synonymous ideas and concepts. Goals. The article aims to identify the functions of a shaman/shamaness in plots of Buryat epic narratives, determine the former’s position and status in the system of images. So, the paper shall analyze epic texts clustering with different local traditions of Cis-Baikal Buryats, delineate images of shamans and shamanesses to consider them in a comparative perspective with the involvement of ethnographic material. Materials and methods. The study employs comparative-historical and contrastive methods as key tools of analysis. It examines Buryat epic texts — both published ones and those contained in archives of the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (IMBTS SB RAS). Results. The paper suggests that in the Buryat epic tradition shamans and shamanesses can be viewed as traditional characters traced back to most archaic beliefs, though their functions in uligers are essentially limited and monotypic. There is a gender division at different levels of the universe: celestial deities of upper realms are represented by male shamans, while only shamanesses exhibit activity in the Middle World (i.e., on the Earth). The functions of male shaman deities are nominal and not that significant for the plot. The status of a shamaness in variants and versions of the Unga Geseriad is quite high: she serves as mediator between Heaven and Earth, defender, assistant and adviser to the main characters, clairvoyant and soothsayer — and performs the classical role of shamans in society. Narratives recorded from shaman taletellers or individuals with extensive expertise in shamanic traditions tend to entrust shamanesses with larger plot development impacts rather than those delivered by mere narrators. However, in other uligers (not included in Geseriad) the shamaness — though endowed with the same functions of a clairvoyant, soothsayer and adviser — is opposed to the main character and supports his enemies. So, such uligers often contain the motif of her physical elimination. As can be seen from the above, in Buryat uligers male shamans are rather passive and nominal characters, while shamanesses do play most active roles. In general, the status of shamanesses in the epic tradition does not quite correlate with the traditionally high status of shamans and shamanesses among Cis-Baikal Buryats.

Stephen Christopher

This article analyzes the tribal aspirations of Sippis, traditionally a wool shearing caste closely associated with Gaddis. Sippis have different administrative classifications across three districts in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. In most contexts, they self identify as part of the Gaddi tribe. In this regard, they are not alone; four other caste groups, partially integrated into Gaddi life, make similar claims of tribal belonging. They argue that Gaddis are a caste heterogeneous tribal community with entrenched forms of casteism and ritual exclusion. Some identify with the neologism “Scheduled Tribe Dalit” to reflect their intersectionality as both marginalized Dalits and tribal people. Sippis, however, demand tribal inclusion along different ideological lines, often de-emphasizing tribal casteism, and emphasizing status equivalence with Gaddi Rajputs and Brahmins. Sippis generally reject their subordination as landless peasants and unfree clients under patronage exploitation, a narrative central to many other self identifying Gaddi Dalits. In doing so, Sippis separate themselves from other Gaddi identifying caste groups as they appeal for Scheduled Tribe status in Kangra. Based on 22 months of fieldwork, I analyze the ideologies of Sippi exceptionalism in the domains of pilgrimage, ritual practice, vocational lifestyle, and belief. The widespread recognition of Sippis as the highest status group among Scheduled Caste Gaddis, both in terms of self stylization and tribal social acceptance, accounts for villages where lower status groups have legally changed their caste certificates to become Sippi. Attention to how reservation shapes spirituality has broader implications for the anthropology of affirmative action across South Asia.

Ome Aiman, Shafi Ullah, L. Chitimia-Dobler et al.

Nosomma monstrosum Nuttall & Warburton, 1908 is a hard tick infesting mainly Asian water buffaloes, but it has also been recorded from cattle, horses, bears, dogs, wild boar and humans in the Oriental region. This tick species has previously not been recorded from Pakistan. A total of 15 adult N. monstrosum ticks (five females and ten males) were collected from an Asian water buffalo herd grazing in Haripur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Molecular characterization using partial 12S, 16S rRNA, and cytochrome c oxidase 1 (cox1) gene sequences confirmed the identity as N. monstrosum. A phylogenetic analysis showed that N. monstrosum from Pakistan is closely related to specimens reported from Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Sirijit Sunanta, Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot

The interview with Mrs. Chongcharoen Sornkaew Grimsmann, a long-term member and former president of Thai Women Network in Europe (TWNE), was originally conducted in English over email by Sirijit Sunanta and Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot in July 2022. It was supplemented by an online interview (via WebEx) in Thai by Sirijit Sunanta in November 2022. Mrs. Grimsmann served as the President of TWNE from 2019 to 2022. TWNE is well-established and one of the most active organizations of Thai migrant women with individual and organizational members in 16 European countries, the US, and Thailand. TWNE seeks to collaborate with governmental and non-governmental organizations, both in Thailand and the destination countries, to improve the welfare of Thai migrant women. They organize annual general meetings to discuss topics relevant to Thai migrant women’s lives in destination countries and publish an annual newsletter Sarn Satree (สารสตรี) to circulate information. Mrs. Grimsmann has extensive experience of providing community service as a social volunteer and working with international organizations, particularly in the area of women and children’s welfare. She is now based in France and Thailand.

V. Gorin, E. Solovyeva, M. Hasan et al.

Frogs of the genus Microhyla include some of the world’s smallest amphibians and represent the largest radiation of Asian microhylids, currently encompassing 50 species, distributed across the Oriental biogeographic region. The genus Microhyla remains one of the taxonomically most challenging groups of Asian frogs and was found to be paraphyletic with respect to large-sized fossorial Glyphoglossus. In this study we present a time-calibrated phylogeny for frogs in the genus Microhyla, and discuss taxonomy, historical biogeography, and morphological evolution of these frogs. Our updated phylogeny of the genus with nearly complete taxon sampling includes 48 nominal Microhyla species and several undescribed candidate species. Phylogenetic analyses of 3,207 bp of combined mtDNA and nuDNA data recovered three well-supported groups: the Glyphoglossus clade, Southeast Asian Microhyla II clade (includes M. annectens species group), and a diverse Microhyla I clade including all other species. Within the largest major clade of Microhyla are seven well-supported subclades that we identify as the M. achatina, M. fissipes, M. berdmorei, M. superciliaris, M. ornata, M. butleri, and M. palmipes species groups. The phylogenetic position of 12 poorly known Microhyla species is clarified for the first time. These phylogenetic results, along with molecular clock and ancestral area analyses, show the Microhyla—Glyphoglossus assemblage to have originated in Southeast Asia in the middle Eocene just after the first hypothesized land connections between the Indian Plate and the Asian mainland. While Glyphoglossus and Microhyla II remained within their ancestral ranges, Microhyla I expanded its distribution generally east to west, colonizing and diversifying through the Cenozoic. The Indian Subcontinent was colonized by members of five Microhyla species groups independently, starting with the end Oligocene—early Miocene that coincides with an onset of seasonally dry climates in South Asia. Body size evolution modeling suggests that four groups of Microhyla have independently achieved extreme miniaturization with adult body size below 15 mm. Three of the five smallest Microhyla species are obligate phytotelm-breeders and we argue that their peculiar reproductive biology may be a factor involved in miniaturization. Body size increases in Microhyla—Glyphoglossus seem to be associated with a burrowing adaptation to seasonally dry habitats. Species delimitation analyses suggest a vast underestimation of species richness and diversity in Microhyla and reveal 15–33 undescribed species. We revalidate M. nepenthicola, synonymize M. pulverata with M. marmorata, and provide insights on taxonomic statuses of a number of poorly known species. Further integrative studies, combining evidence from phylogeny, morphology, advertisement calls, and behavior will result in a better systematic understanding of this morphologically cryptic radiation of Asian frogs.

Logan Emlet

Rafia Khan, Dakshina Seal, Rosan Adhikari

The Featured Creatures collection provides in-depth profiles of insects, nematodes, arachnids and other organisms relevant to Florida. These profiles are intended for the use of interested laypersons with some knowledge of biology as well as academic audiences.  Megalurothrips usitatus (Bagnall, 1913) is a small sized (3-4 mm) insect in the order Thysanoptera and family Thripidae, commonly known as bean flower thrips, oriental bean thrips, and Asian bean thrips. It is an important economic pest of legumes. Megalurothrips usitatus was first reported in the USA in Florida in 2020 (Soto-Adames, F. N. 2020).

Young-Jae Song, Dong-Gu Kim, Jeonghoon Lee et al.

The various species that comprise the genus <i>Glycyrrhiza</i> (Licorice) have long been used as oriental herbal medicines in Asian countries. Wongam (WG), which is a new variety of <i>Glycyrrhiza</i>, was developed in Korea to overcome the limitations of low productivity, environmental restrictions, and an insufficient presence of glycyrrhizic acid and liquiritigenin. In this study, we evaluated WG extract’s genotoxicity through an in vitro bacterial reverse mutation (AMES) test, an in vitro chromosome aberration test, and an in vivo mouse bone marrow micronucleus test. In the AMES test, WG extract at concentrations of up to 5000 µg/plate showed no genotoxicity regardless of S9 mix. No chromosome aberrations appeared after 6 h in 1400 µg/mL WG extract regardless of S9 mix or in 1100 µg/mL WG extract after 24 h without S9 mix. Nor was there a significant increase in the number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes to total erythrocytes up to 5000 mg/kg/day for 2 days detected in the micronucleus test. These results confirm that WG extract is safe for use as an herbal medicine, as it precipitates no detectable genotoxic effects.

Juliane Ankert, Tanja Groten, Mathias W. Pletz et al.

Abstract Background Migrant women may have an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. This study analyses the occurrence of low birth weight, preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction / fetal growth restriction (IUGR/FGR) in pregnant migrants. Method Cross-sectional study of 82 mother-child pairs of pregnant migrants attending medical care in Germany. Results The Median age was 27 years, 49% of patients were of oriental-asian ethnicity and median year of migration was 2015. At least one previous pregnancy was reported in 76% of patients, in 40% the delivery mode was caesarian section. Median gestational age was 39.7 weeks. Preterm birth occurred in 6.1% of pregnancies. Median gestational age for preterm birth was 32.3 weeks. Low birth weight (< 2500 g) occurred in 6.1%. Birth weights below the 10th percentile of birth weight for gestational age were observed in 8.5% of the total cohort. Conclusions Compared to German data no increased occurrence of low birth weight, preterm birth or IUGR/FGR was found. We note that the rate of caesarian section births was higher than in the general population for reasons yet to be identified. The authors propose stratification according to migration status for the national documentation of birth outcomes in Germany.

Jahnavi Joshi, Praveen Karanth, G. Edgecombe

The Oriental Region has been a focus of biogeographical research for more than two centuries. We examined systematics and biogeography of the centipede genus Rhysida in this region. A robust species hypothesis for the Indian subcontinental and Southeast Asian Rhysida clade uses molecular, morphological and distribution data. Twelve species are recognized in two monophyletic species complexes, eight belonging to the Rhysida immarginata and four to the Rhysida longipes species complex. They include Rhysida aspinosa, Rhysida crassispina, R. immarginata, R. longipes and seven new species, five of which are formally named in this paper: Rhysida ikhalama, Rhysida konda, Rhysida lewisi, Rhysida pazhuthara and Rhysida sada The nine Rhysida species are documented taxonomically and their morphological variation is reviewed. An integrative systematic approach reveals that diversity of Rhysida in the Indian subcontinent has been underestimated. Both species complexes started to diversify in the Early to Late Cretaceous in the Indian subcontinent. The out-of-India hypothesis is supported in both clades, because Southeast Asian species are nested in Indian subcontinental clades. Historical biogeographical analyses suggest two independent post-collision dispersal events, one in the immarginata clade and another where R. longipes expanded its range into Southeast Asia.

Erica Kanesaka Kalnay

ABSTRACT:This essay illuminates the role that Asian girlhood has played in the transpacific circulation of racial affects by reexamining the history of the 1927 U.S.-Japan doll exchange from an Asian American feminist perspective. In 1927, just a few years after the 1924 Immigration Act banned Japanese immigration, hundreds of "friendship dolls" traveled across the Pacific Ocean, bearing messages of peace and goodwill. I contend that although the exchange was designed to alleviate racial tensions, the warm welcome that the dolls received was contingent upon Orientalist notions of Asian femininity and the containment of attendant sexual anxieties through an appeal to girlhood innocence. Challenging the black-white binary through which childhood studies often understands race, I show how Asian girlhood calls for a transpacific framework that attends to histories of imperialism, militarism, and commodity capitalism while elucidating the figure of the doll in recent scholarship on Asian femininity and decorative embodiment.

Artemis Papatheodorou

From its earliest days, photography was linked to material remains of the past. Western pioneers of the medium were attracted to photographing Ottoman lands, especially the land of the Pharaohs, and the Holy Land. The Ottomans also seized upon photography themselves, turning the lens upon monuments and artefacts within their own Empire. The literature on archaeological photography in the region has focused on European travel photography, and on the upper echelons of state officialdom. This article shifts attention to Ottoman bureaucracy, and to the societal level. It discusses the relationship between photography and the daily tasks associated with the Ottoman administration of antiquities. Additionally, it looks at the ways that an important learned society, the Hellenic Literary Society at Constantinople, used photography. The article treats Ottoman archaeological photography in its own right, largely on the basis of primary material in Ottoman Turkish and Greek. The article argues that photography was a new, technologically advanced medium that - in tandem with other visual reproduction techniques - was instrumental in promoting visions of modernisation. Photography, and other visual media, helped the Ottoman state promote state centralisation and modernisation, while enhancing the Hellenic Literary Society’s civilising mission.

Inshah Mehraj Malik, Haley Duschinski

Sarah Kiyanrad

Shortly after the completion of Firdausī’s Šāhnāma, historical epics in modern Persian were being written. While sharing in the tradition of šāhnāma-nivīsī, these epics deal with a more recent past. This paper maps out the characteristics of Persian historical epics by means of three examples (ʿAbdallāh Hātifī: Timurnāma and Šāhnāma-yi Hātifī; Qāsimī Gunābādī: Šāhnāma-yi Ismāʿīl). Not only during the Ilkhanid era, but also during later eras these kinds of works were actively being produced in Iran, even though they are as yet largely unexplored. The three aforementioned epics dating from the late Timurid and early Safavid periods (15th and 16th c.) shall illustrate continuities in form and content that transgress the limits of dynastic history, while at the same time acknowledging the three epics’ characteristics to be understood within their particular historical context. It will become clear then that historical epics tied together poetry and historiography consciously. For centuries, the respective authors sought to follow up on Firdausī’s opus and thus to embed the depicted ruler or dynasty/dynasties in a narrative of Iranian history, which apparently greatly appealed to their envisaged audience.