Hygiene Practices and Early Childhood Development in the East Asia-Pacific Region: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Poor hygiene might be a risk factor for early childhood development (ECD). This study investigated the associations of three hygiene practices ('wash hands before a meal,' 'wash hands after going to the toilet,' and 'brush teeth'), separately and combined, with ECD. Six thousand six hundred ninety-seven children (4 [0.8] years) from the East Asia-Pacific Early Child Development Scales validation study were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The hygiene variables were recoded to have comparable values as 'always,' 'sometimes,' and 'never.' These variables were then grouped to create combined categories. The binary outcome variables, poor ECD, were defined as a score < age-specific 25th centile. Modified Poisson regression models were used to analyse the associations. Data collection was performed between 2012 and 2014, and the analyses were conducted in April 2022. Compared with children who 'always' washed their hands before a meal, those who did it 'sometimes' (Prevalence Ratio [PR]: 1.30 [95% CI: 1.16-1.46]) or 'never' (PR: 1.35 [1.18-1.55]) had a higher likelihood of poorer overall development. Comparable results were identified for the other two hygiene practices and the other four domain-specific outcomes (p < 0.05). Compared with children who always followed the three hygiene practices, the likelihood of poor overall ECD increased as the combined hygiene practice decreased among children with poor hygiene practices (PRnever: 1.67 [1.40-2.00]; PRrarely: 1.49 [1.30-1.71]; PRsometimes: 1.30 [1.14-1.49]). Children who did not always follow good hygiene practices had a higher likelihood of poor ECD independently of sociodemographic factors. Considering these findings, future hygiene practice interventions and trials should consider including ECD outcomes.

Evolutionary origins of the eastern North American-Mesoamerican floristic disjunction: Current status and future prospects.

Biogeographic disjunction patterns, where multiple taxa are shared between isolated geographic areas, represent excellent systems for investigating the historical assembly of modern biotas and fundamental biological processes such as speciation, diversification, niche evolution, and evolutionary responses to climate change. Studies on plant genera disjunct across the northern hemisphere, particularly between eastern North America (ENA) and eastern Asia (EAS), have yielded tremendous insight on the geologic history and assembly of rich temperate floras. However, one of the most prevalent disjunction patterns involving ENA forests has been largely overlooked: that of taxa disjunct between ENA and cloud forests of Mesoamerica (MAM), with examples including Acer saccharum, Liquidambar styraciflua, Cercis canadensis, Fagus grandifolia, and Epifagus virginiana. Despite the remarkable nature of this disjunction pattern, which has been recognized for over 75 years, there have been few recent efforts to empirically examine its evolutionary and ecological origins. Here I synthesize previous systematic, paleobotanical, phylogenetic, and phylogeographic studies to establish what is known about this disjunction pattern to provide a roadmap for future research. I argue that this disjunction pattern, and the evolution and fossil record of the Mexican flora more broadly, represents a key missing piece in the broader puzzle of northern hemisphere biogeography. I also suggest that the ENA-MAM disjunction represents an excellent system for examining fundamental questions about how traits and life history strategies mediate plant evolutionary responses to climate change and for predicting how broadleaf temperate forests will respond to the ongoing climatic pressures of the Anthropocene.

State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops.

Crop landraces have unique local agroecological and societal functions and offer important genetic resources for plant breeding. Recognition of the value of landrace diversity and concern about its erosion on farms have led to sustained efforts to establish ex situ collections worldwide. The degree to which these efforts have succeeded in conserving landraces has not been comprehensively assessed. Here we modelled the potential distributions of eco-geographically distinguishable groups of landraces of 25 cereal, pulse and starchy root/tuber/fruit crops within their geographic regions of diversity. We then analysed the extent to which these landrace groups are represented in genebank collections, using geographic and ecological coverage metrics as a proxy for genetic diversity. We find that ex situ conservation of landrace groups is currently moderately comprehensive on average, with substantial variation among crops; a mean of 63% ± 12.6% of distributions is currently represented in genebanks. Breadfruit, bananas and plantains, lentils, common beans, chickpeas, barley and bread wheat landrace groups are among the most fully represented, whereas the largest conservation gaps persist for pearl millet, yams, finger millet, groundnut, potatoes and peas. Geographic regions prioritized for further collection of landrace groups for ex situ conservation include South Asia, the Mediterranean and West Asia, Mesoamerica, sub-Saharan Africa, the Andean mountains of South America and Central to East Asia. With further progress to fill these gaps, a high degree of representation of landrace group diversity in genebanks is feasible globally, thus fulfilling international targets for their ex situ conservation.

Verrucoccum (Dothideomycetes, Dictyosporiaceae), a new genus of lichenicolous fungi on Lobaria s. lat. for the Dothidea hymeniicola species complex.

Two lichenicolous fungi, one growing on the thallus of Lobaria pulmonaria in the United Kingdom (Scotland) and the other in apothecia of Lobaria linita and L. oregana in northwestern North America (Alaska and British Columbia) and northeast Asia (Russian Far East, Khabarovsk Krai), show similarities to the species originally described as Dothidea hymeniicola (later transferred to Polycoccum s. lat and Endococcus) from a Lobaria s. lat. species in Central America. Critical morphological comparison showed that, despite the superficial resemblance between Alaskan, Canadian, Russian, and Scottish collections and the holotype of Dothidea hymeniicola, they can be distinguished by detailed microscopic analyses. Using three molecular markers, sequences of the nuc 18S, 28S, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA regions of the recent Scottish and Alaskan collections were obtained. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed separation of the species and revealed them as a new lineage in Pleosporales, for which the new generic name Verrucoccum is introduced for the three species: V. coppinsii, sp. nov., V. hymeniicola, comb. nov. (syn. Dothidea hymeniicola), and V. spribillei, sp. nov.

The WHO South-East Asia Region Nutrient Profile Model Is Quite Appropriate for India: An Exploration of 31,516 Food Products.

The rapid rise in prevalence of overweight/obesity, as well as high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and other nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases, has led the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to propose a front-of-package labeling (FOPL) regulation. An effective FOPL system applies a nutrient profile model that identifies foods high in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat that would receive a warning label for consumers to effectively discern between more and less healthy foods. Previous Nutrition Alchemy data collected by the food industry (n = 1306 products) estimated that approximately 96% of foods in India would have at least one warning label based on the FSSAI proposed FOPL. This near universal coverage of warning labels may be inaccurate and misleading. To address this, the current study compared two nutrient profile models, the WHO South-East Asia Region Organization (SEARO) and the Chilean Warning Octagon (CWO) Phase 3, applied to food products available in the Indian market from 2015-2020, collected through Mintel Global New Products Database (n = 10,501 products). Results suggest that 68% of foods and beverages would have at least one ' high-in' level warning label. This study highlights the need to include a more comprehensive sample of food products for assessing the value of warning labels.

The Pedosphere as a Sink, Source, and Record of Anthropogenic and Natural Arsenic Atmospheric Deposition.

The Anthropocene has led to global-scale contamination of the biosphere through diffuse atmospheric dispersal of arsenic. This review considers the sources arsenic to soils and its subsequent fate, identifying key knowledge gaps. There is a particular focus on soil classification and stratigraphy, as this is central to the topic under consideration. For Europe and North America, peat core chrono-sequences record massive enhancement of arsenic depositional flux from the onset of the Industrial Revolution to the late 20th century, while modern mitigation efforts have led to a sharp decline in emissions. Recent arsenic wet and dry depositional flux measurements and modern ice core records suggest that it is South America and East Asia that are now primary global-scale polluters. Natural sources of arsenic to the atmosphere are primarily from volcanic emissions, aeolian soil dust entrainment, and microbial biomethylation. However, quantifying these natural inputs to the atmosphere, and subsequent redeposition to soils, is only starting to become better defined. The pedosphere acts as both a sink and source of deposited arsenic. Soil is highly heterogeneous in the natural arsenic already present, in the chemical and biological regulation of its mobility within soil horizons, and in interaction with climatic and geomorphological settings. Mineral soils tend to be an arsenic sink, while organic soils act as both a sink and a source. It is identified here that peatlands hold a considerable amount of Anthropocene released arsenic, and that this store can be potentially remobilized under climate change scenarios. Also, increased ambient temperature seems to cause enhanced arsine release from soils, and potentially also from the oceans, leading to enhanced rates of arsenic biogeochemical cycling through the atmosphere. With respect to agriculture, rice cultivation was identified as a particular concern in Southeast Asia due to the current high arsenic deposition rates to soil, the efficiency of arsenic assimilation by rice grain, and grain yield reduction through toxicity.

Symptomatic Atlas Hypoplasia in a Latin-American Patient: Case Report and Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Atlas hypoplasia is an infrequent cause of upper cervical stenosis. Only 24 cases in nonsyndromic adult population have been published. We are not aware of previous reports describing isolated fully formed atlas hypoplasia in a Latin-American patient. The purpose of this work was to report a case of an 80-year-old Argentinian woman with cervical myelopathy because of atlas hypoplasia and a literature review about this subject. METHODS: A clinical case and an extended review of the literature are presented. We assessed from each case: age, sex, posterior atlanto-dens interval, surgical treatment, outcomes, and follow-up period. RESULTS: Neurologic symptoms markedly improved after posterior decompression from severe to moderate in the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scoring System and from four to three on the Nurick scale. Twenty-five patients were analyzed (mean 58.4 years, 32% female). The mean posterior atlanto-dens interval was 8.8 mm. Twenty-three patients underwent decompression alone, and two needed posterior fusion. All patients reported clinical improvement at an average follow-up of 13 months. CONCLUSION: Cervical myelopathy caused by fully formed atlas hypoplasia is not an exclusive pathology of far east population, and it may present in nonsyndromic patients. Surgical treatment by C1 laminectomy improved neurologic impairment. STUDY DESIGN: Case report and literature review.

Incidence and prevalence of systemic sclerosis globally: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the incidence and prevalence of SSc covering the entire literature. METHODS: This study followed the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement of 2009. We conducted a systematic search in MEDLINE, Web of Science and Embase to identify articles reporting incidence and/or prevalence of SSc. Two authors conducted the search, reviewed articles for inclusion and extracted relevant data. We used random-effects models to estimate the pooled prevalence and incidence of SSc and performed subgroup analyses by sex, case definition and region to investigate heterogeneity. We explored the association between calendar period and reported estimates using meta-regression. RESULTS: Among 6983 unique records identified, we included 61 studies of prevalence and 39 studies of incidence in the systematic review. The overall pooled prevalence of SSc was 17.6 (95% CI 15.1, 20.5) per 100 000 and the overall pooled incidence rate of SSc was 1.4 (95% CI 1.1, 1.9) per 100 000 person-years. We observed significant regional variations in reported estimates; studies conducted in North America reported considerably higher estimates than other regions. The pooled incidence and prevalence in women were five times higher than in men. More recent studies reported higher estimates than older ones. CONCLUSION: In this comprehensive review of the incidence and prevalence of SSc across the world, there was large heterogeneity among estimates, which should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results.

Vaccine coverage in children born to migrant mothers in Australia: A population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Overall, infant immunisation coverage is currently >90% in Australia, but there are pockets of under-immunised children including children from migrant backgrounds. This study aimed to examine whether on-time vaccination coverage of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis dose 3 (DTP3) for children born in Australia differed by mother's region of birth and if so, what factors were associated with these differences. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study using linked data on perinatal, immunisation and birth records for 2 million children born in Western Australia and New South Wales between 1996 and 2012. We assessed on-time coverage of DTP3 (vaccination from 2 weeks prior to, and up until 30 days after, the due date) in children with mothers born overseas. Logistic regression models were developed to determine factors associated with on-time coverage for each maternal region of birth and all regions combined, adjusting for a range of demographic factors. Adjusted estimates of coverage were calculated for the different regions of birth. RESULTS: On-time DTP3 coverage was 76.2% in children of Australian born mothers, lower in children of mothers from Oceania (66.7%) and North America (68%), and higher in children born to mothers from South-East Asia (79.9%) and Southern Asia (79.3%). While most variables were consistently associated with lower coverage in all regions of birth, higher socioeconomic status and jurisdiction of birth showed varied results. Adjusted estimates of DTP3 coverage increased in children born to mothers from Australia (78.3%), Oceania (70.5%), Northern Africa (81.5%) and the Middle East (79.6%). DTP3 coverage decreased in children born to mothers from Europe and former USSR (74.6%), North-east Asia (75.2%), Southern Asia (76.7%), North America (65.5) and South/Central America and the Caribbean (73.2%). CONCLUSIONS: On-time vaccination rates differed by mother's region of birth. More research is needed to determine the main reasons for these remaining differences to improve vaccine uptake and also help guide policy and practice.

Phylogeny and biogeography of Sagittaria (Alismataceae) revisited: evidence for cryptic diversity and colonization out of South America.

Sagittaria is a genus of ca. 40 species in the aquatic plant family Alismataceae with a nearly global distribution, and a center of diversity in the New World. Two thirds of the known species are native to the Americas, while only a few species are distributed in Africa, Asia and Europe. A previous biogeographic analysis of the genus suggested an African origin for the genus with subsequent dispersal to North America and then to East Asia. Here we expanded the taxon sampling with a focus on the New World taxa and applied species delimitation and biogeographic analyses to revise the knowledge of the phylogeny and evolution of the genus. We obtained largely similar topologies from the chloroplast DNA and nuclear DNA (ITS) data sets. The 74 accessions sampled for our analyses were delimited into 29 species and several cryptic taxa were revealed in widely distributed species. Biogeographic analysis supported basal diversification in South America and subsequent colonization to North America and Asia.

Two remarkable new species of Argyrophorus Blanchard from the Peruvian high Andes (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

Two new species of butterflies of the genus Argyrophorus Blanchard (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)-A. idealis n. sp. and A. rubrostriata n. sp.-are described from the Cordillera Negra in north-central Peru. Both, as indicated by colour patterns, male and female genitalia, are related to Argyrophorus lamna (Thieme) which occurs further east and southwards. The new species occur in open puna grassland at approximately 4000 m. One of them is exceptional because both fore and hindwings are uniform shining silvery, in this respect similar only to the Chilean A. argenteus Blanchard.

Global incidence comparisons and trends in ovarian germ cell tumors by geographic region in girls, adolescents and young women: 1988-2012.

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian germ cell tumors (OGCT) are the primary ovarian malignancy affecting girls and young women. Globally, incidence rates and trends for OGCTs have not been compared in the literature and their etiology is not well described. Comparisons of incidence globally could inform etiologic hypotheses. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate geographic variation in OGCT incidence and to identify trends in incidence rates. METHODS: Data were extracted from Cancer Incidence in 5 Continents (CI5) from 1988 to 2012. Rates of OGCT in women and girls were calculated for ages 0-9, 10-19, and 20-39 years and standardized to the 2000-2025 average world population. Data were aggregated within subregions corresponding to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) geoscheme. Incidence rates were compared in subregions and average annual percent change (AAPC) was estimated using Poisson regression. RESULTS: Overall, the highest incidence rates were observed in 10-19-year-olds. Incidence was generally the highest in Eastern Asia, Central America and North America. While incidence was variable by geographic region, less variation was observed in 0-9-year-olds as compared to adolescents and young adults. Significant increases in incidence were seen in some regions (Eastern Asia, Oceania, Western Europe, Southern Europe, and North America) and in countries with a high or very high human development index for one or more age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating 25 years of OGCT incidence data, the highest incidence rates and largest increases in incidence were seen in Eastern Asia. Future studies should focus on etiologic features that may account for geographic variation and increases in incidence of OGCT.

Porcine cysticercosis (Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica): mapping occurrence and areas potentially at risk in East and Southeast Asia.

BACKGROUND: Due to the relative short life span and the limited spatial movement, porcine cysticercosis is an excellent indicator of current local active transmission. The aim of this study was to map at province-level, the occurrence of T. solium and T. asiatica in pigs and areas at risk of transmission to pigs in East and Southeast Asia, based on the density of extensive pig production systems and confirmed reports of porcine cysticercosis. METHODS: This study covered East and Southeast Asia, which consist of the following countries: Brunei, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Literature searches were carried out to identify current epidemiological data on the occurrence of porcine cysticercosis caused by T. solium and T. asiatica infections. Modelled densities of pigs in extensive production systems were mapped and compared to available data on porcine cysticercosis. RESULTS: Porcine cysticercosis was confirmed to be present during the period 2000 to 2018 in eight out of the 16 countries included in this study. Taenia solium porcine cysticercosis was confirmed from all eight countries, whereas only one country (Laos) could confirm the presence of T. asiatica porcine cysticercosis. Province-level occurrence was identified in five countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) across 19 provinces. Smallholder pig keeping is believed to be widely distributed throughout the region, with greater densities predicted to occur in areas of China, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam. CONCLUSIONS: The discrepancies between countries reporting taeniosis and the occurrence of porcine cysticercosis, both for T. solium and T. asiatica, suggests that both parasites are underreported. More epidemiological surveys are needed to determine the societal burden of both parasites. This study highlights a straightforward approach to determine areas at risk of porcine cysticercosis in the absence of prevalence data.

Early human dispersals within the Americas.

Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct "Paleoamericans." We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.

An assessment of nutrients and sedimentation in the St. Thomas East End Reserves, US Virgin Islands.

Nutrients and sedimentation were monitored for approximately 2 years at six sites in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER), St. Thomas, USVI, as part of a NOAA project to develop an integrated environmental assessment. Concentrations of ammonium (NH4+) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were higher in Mangrove Lagoon and Benner Bay in the western portion of STEER than in the other sites further east (i.e., Cowpet Bay, Rotto Cay, St. James, and Little St. James). There was no correlation between rainfall and nutrient concentrations. Using a set of suggested nutrient thresholds that have been developed to indicate the potential for the overgrowth of algae on reefs, approximately 60% of the samples collected in STEER were above the threshold for orthophosphate (HPO4=), while 55% of samples were above the DIN threshold. Benner Bay had the highest sedimentation rate of any site monitored in STEER, including Mangrove Lagoon. There was also an east to west and a north to south gradient in sedimentation, indicative of higher sedimentation rates in the western, more populated areas surrounding STEER, and sites closer to the shore of the main island of St. Thomas. Although none of the sites had a mean or average sedimentation rate above a suggested sedimentation threshold, the mean sedimentation rate in Benner Bay was just below the threshold.

Loboplusia coreana sp. nov. from South Korea, only the second species of a genus originally described from Costa Rica (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae, Winnertziinae).

The genus Loboplusia was recently introduced for a remarkable species of Diallactiini from the cloud forest of Costa Rica (Jaschhof 2016). Males of that species, Loboplusia zurqui Jaschhof, 2016, were found to differ fundamentally from other Diallactiini, with the following traits defining the genus. The scutum is provided with a bright membranous patch called the prescutellar window; setae on the legs, especially the tarsi, are fringed; the gonostylus consists of two lobes (not a single lobe as is the basic pattern in Diallactiini); and the bridge connecting the gonocoxites ventrobasally is markedly shortened (Jaschhof 2016: fig. 15). A diallactiine collected recently by one of us (YJB) in South Korea shows exactly the same characters and is no doubt congeneric with L. zurqui. At the same time there are clear distinctions in the genitalia indicating that the South Korean species is discrete, so it is described and named here L. coreana Jaschhof Ham sp. nov. With a single species each in Central America and Eastern Asia, the genus Loboplusia has a distinctly odd distribution, a circumstance that is briefly discussed.

Exploring the East-West Divide in Prevalence of Affective Disorder: A Case for Cultural Differences in Coping With Negative Emotion.

Lifetime rates of clinical depression and anxiety in the West tend to be approximately 4 to 10 times greater than rates in Asia. In this review, we explore one possible reason for this cross-cultural difference, that Asian cultures think differently about emotion than do Western cultures and that these different systems of thought help explain why negative affect does not escalate into clinical disorder at the same rate. We review research from multiple disciplines-including cross-cultural psychology, social cognition, clinical psychology, and psychiatry-to make the case that the Eastern holistic principles of contradiction (each experience is associated with its opposite), change (the world exists in a state of constant flux), and context (the interconnectedness of all things) fundamentally shape people's experience of emotions in different cultures. We then review evidence for how these cultural differences influence how successfully people use common emotion regulation strategies such as rumination and suppression.

Helicobacter pylori with East Asian-type cagPAI genes is more virulent than strains with Western-type in some cagPAI genes

A gravidade da Helicobacter pylori relacionados com a doença está relacionada com a presença e a integridade de uma cag ilha de patogenicidade ( cag PAI). O genótipo de cag PAI pode ter um efeito modificador sobre o potencial patogênico da cepa infectante. Depois de analisar as seqüências de genes de cag PAI, algumas cepas com os genes PAI de cag do tipo do Leste Oriental foram selecionadas para análise posterior para examinar a associação entre a diversidade dos genes PAI cag e a virulência de H. pylori . Os resultados mostraram que a infiltração de células inflamatórias da mucosa gástrica foi significativamente maior em pacientes com genes PAI cag do leste asiáticoH. pylori estirpe em comparação com mosaicismo cag genes PAI H. pylori estirpe ( p <0,05). As cepas de H. pylori com os genes PAI do cag do tipo do Leste Asiático foram intimamente associadas à secreção de IL-8 in vitro e in vivo em comparação com cepas de H. pylori com os genes PAI do mosaicism cag ( p <0,01). As cepas de H. pylori com genes PAI cag do leste asiático são capazes de translocar fortemente CagA para células hospedeiras. Estes resultados sugerem que as cepas de H. pylori com cag do tipo East AsianOs genes PAI são mais virulentos do que as cepas do gene / genes PAI de CAG que são de tipo ocidental.(AU)