Optic neuritis, which may be a precursor to multiple sclerosis (MS), is an uncommon disease in
Asian patients. The Asian Collaborative Longitudinal Optic Neuritis Epidemiology (ACLONE) is
an observational cohort study that assessed the risk of recurrent optic neuritis and/or progression
of further neurologic events, either MS or neuromyelitis optica (NMO) in Asian patients with firstever
optic neuritis. Secondary aims were to study the presenting characteristics and visual outcome,
and to identify risk factors for development of either MS or NMO. A total of 112 patients (25 men
and 87 women) aged from 12 to 61 years were recruited from Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and
Malaysia. Of these, 94 (84%) had unilateral optic neuritis, with the right eye involved in 45 patients
and the left eye in 49 patients and the remaining 18 (16%) had bilateral optic neuritis. Follow up
data was available for 104 patients, and patients were followed for a median duration of 25.9 months.
Of these patients, 6 patients were adjudicated to have reached the primary endpoint (composite of
MS/NMO and optic neuritis): 3 patients with recurrent optic neuritis also subsequently experienced
neurologic symptoms, and 3 patients without recurrent eye involvement had neurologic symptoms.
Only one patient was considered to have prototypical MS, the other 5 were diagnosed with NMO,
all with subsequent antibody confirmation. Optic neuritis in Asian patients has significantly different
presenting characteristics from the classic description. However, in the majority of the patients it is
usually a benign disease, with good visual outcome and no further events.
The Simulium rufibasis subgroup is one of three subgroups of the Simulium (Simulium) tuberosum species-group; it is characterized by a pair of clustered stout hairs on the ventral surface of female abdominal segment 7. A member of the S. rufibasis subgroup in Taiwan was investigated morphologically and genetically using the universal cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding gene and polytene chromosomal banding pattern. The Taiwanese material is morphologically similar to S. rosliramlii Takaoka & Chen from Vietnam and represents the second species of the S. rufibasis subgroup known from Taiwan. It also represents a novel molecular lineage that is distinct from three other primary lineages identified as S. doipuiense, S. doipuiense/S. rufibasis, and S. weji previously reported from Thailand. The mitochondrial evidence for a distinct lineage in Taiwan is supported by chromosomal analysis, which revealed unique sex chromosomes. For nomenclatural stability, we associate the name S. arisanum Shiraki with the Taiwanese entity. Originally described from females from Taiwan, S. arisanum until now has remained an enigmatic species.
The identity of the tree-spider crab, Parasesarma leptosoma (Hilgendorf, 1869) (family Sesarmidae), which is believed to be widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, is reassessed and shown to be a species-complex with nine species, seven of which are here described as new. Parasesarma leptosoma sensu stricto is now restricted to South and East Africa; and P. limbense (Rathbun, 1914) from Sulawesi, which had been regarded as a junior synonym, is here recognized as a valid species. The following species are described as new: P. gecko n. sp. from Vanuatu, Fiji, Guam and Japan; P. macaco n. sp. from Taiwan and the Philippines; P. kui n. sp. from Taiwan; P. parvulum n. sp. from the Philippines; P. gracilipes n. sp. from Indonesian Papua; P. purpureum n. sp. from Malaysia; and P. tarantula n. sp. from Sulawesi, Indonesia. The nine species of the Parasesarma leptosoma species-complex can be separated by the different shapes of their carapaces, the form of the dactylar tubercles on the male chelipeds, proportions of their ambulatory legs and the structure of the male first gonopod.
Mango (Mangifera indica L.; family Anacardiaceae) is one of the world's most important fruit crops and is widely grown in tropical and subtropical regions. Since 2001, a leaf spot disease was found in mango orchards of Taiwan. Now, the disease was observed throughout (approximately 21,000 ha) Taiwan in moderate to severe form, thus affecting the general health of mango trees and orchards. Initial symptoms were small, yellow-to-brown spots on leaves. Later, the irregularly shaped spots, ranging from a few millimeters to a few centimeters in diameter, turned white to gray and coalesced to form larger gray patches. Lesions had slightly raised dark margins. On mature lesions, numerous black acervuli, measuring 290 to 328 μm in diameter, developed on the gray necrotic areas. Single conidial isolates of the fungus were identified morphologically as Pestalotiopsis mangiferae (Henn.) Steyaert (2,3) and were consistently isolated from the diseased mango leaves on acidified (0.06% lactic acid) potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium incubated at 25 ± 1°C. Initially, the fungus grew (3 mm per day) on PDA as a white, chalky colony that subsequently turned gray after 2 weeks. Acervuli developed in culture after continuous exposure to light for 9 to 12 days at 20 to 30°C. Abundant conidia oozed from the acervulus as a creamy mass. The conidia (17.6 to 25.4 μm long and 4.8 to 7.1 μm wide) were fusiform and usually straight to slightly curved with four septa. Three median cells were olivaceous and larger than the hyaline apical and basal cells. The apical cells bore three (rarely four) cylindrical appendages. Pathogenicity tests were conducted with either 3-day-old mycelial discs or conidial suspension (105 conidia per ml) obtained from 8- to 10-day-old cultures. Four leaves on each of 10 trees were inoculated. Before inoculation, the leaves were washed with a mild detergent, rinsed with tap water, and then surface sterilized with 70% ethanol. Leaves were wounded with a needle and exposed to either a 5-mm mycelial disc or 0.2 ml of the spore suspension. The inoculated areas were wrapped with cotton pads saturated with sterile water and the leaves were covered with polyethylene bags for 3 days to maintain high relative humidity. Wounded leaves inoculated with PDA discs alone served as controls. The symptoms described above were observed on all inoculated leaves, whereas uninoculated leaves remained completely free from symptoms. Reisolation from the inoculated leaves consistently yielded P. mangiferae, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Gray leaf spot is a common disease of mangos in the tropics and is widely distributed in Africa and Asia (1-3); however, to our knowledge, this is the first report of gray leaf spot disease affecting mango in Taiwan. References: (1) T. K. Lim and K. C. Khoo. Diseases and Disorders of Mango in Malaysia. Tropical Press. Malaysia, 1985. (2) J. E. M. Mordue. No. 676 in: CMI Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria. Surrey, England, 1980. (3) R. C. Ploetz et al. Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1994.
Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (SCYLV) was detected for the first time in 1996 in the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) sugarcane quarantine at Montpellier by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in varieties from Brazil, Florida, Mauritius, and Réunion. Between 1997 and 2000, the virus was found by RT-PCR and/or tissue-blot immunoassay (TBIA) in additional varieties from Barbados, Cuba, Guadeloupe, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan, suggesting a worldwide distribution of the pathogen. An excellent correlation was observed between results obtained for the two diagnostic techniques. However, even though only a few false negative results were obtained by either technique, both are now used to detect SCYLV in CIRAD's sugarcane quarantine in Montpellier. The pathogen was detected by TBIA or RT-PCR in all leaves of sugarcane foliage, but the highest percentage of infected vascular bundles was found in the top leaves. The long hot water treatment (soaking of cuttings in water at 25°C for 2 days and then at 50°C for 3 h) was ineffective in eliminating SCYLV from infected plants. Sugarcane varieties from various origins were grown in vitro by apical bud culture and apical meristem culture, and the latter proved to be the most effective method for producing SCYLV-free plants.
Phalaenopsis orchids, originally from tropical Asia, are mainly planted in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan and have gained popularity from consumers all over the world. The cultivation area of Phalaenopsis orchids has been rising and large-scale bases have been established in mainland China, especially South China because of suitable environmental conditions. In September 2011, a soft rot of Phalaenopsis aphrodita was found in a Phalaenopsis planting base in Guangzhou with an incidence of ~15%. Infected plants initially showed water-soaked, pale-to-dark brown pinpoint spots on leaves that were sometimes surrounded by a yellow halo. Spots expanded rapidly with rising humidity and temperatures, and in a few days, severely extended over the blade with a light tan color and darker brown border. Lesions decayed with odorous fumes and tissues collapsed with inclusions exuding. The bacterium advanced to the stem and pedicle. Finally, leaves became papery dry and the pedicles lodged. Six diseased samples were collected, and bacteria were isolated from the edge of symptomatic tissues after sterilization in 0.3% NaOCl for 10 min, rinsing in sterile water three times, and placing on nutrient agar for culture. Twelve representative isolates were selected for further characterization. All strains were gram negative, grew at 37°C, were positive for indole production, and utilized malonate, glucose, and sucrose but not glucopyranoside, trehalose, or palatinose. Biolog identification (version 4.20.05, Hayward, CA) was performed and Pectobacterium chrysanthemi (SIM 0.868) was confirmed for the tested isolates (transfer to genus Dickeya). PCR was used to amplify the 16S rDNAgene with primers 27f and 1492r, dnaX gene with primers dnaXf and dnaXr (3), and gyrB gene with primers gyrBf (5'-GAAGGYAAAVTKCATCGTCAGG-3') and gyrB-r1 (5'-TCARATATCRATATTCGCYGCTTTC-3') designed on the basis of the published gyrB gene sequences of genus Dickeya. BLASTn was performed online, and phylogeny trees (100% bootstrap values) were created by means of MEGA 5.05 for these gene sequences, respectively. Results commonly showed that the representative tested strain, PA1, was most homologous to Dickeya dieffenbachiae with 98% identity for 16S rDNA(JN940859), 97% for dnaX (JN989971), and 96% for gyrB (JN971031). Thus, we recommend calling this isolate D. dieffenbachiae PA1. Pathogenicity tests were conducted by injecting 10 P. aphrodita seedlings with 100 μl of the bacterial suspension (1 × 108 CFU/ml) and another 10 were injected with 100 μl of sterile water as controls. Plants were inoculated in a greenhouse at 28 to 32°C and 90% relative humidity. Soft rot symptoms were observed after 2 days on the inoculated plants, but not on the control ones. The bacterium was isolated from the lesions and demonstrated identity to the inoculated plant by the 16S rDNA sequence comparison. Previously, similar diseases of P. amabilis were reported in Tangshan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Wuhan and causal agents were identified as Erwinia spp. (2), Pseudomonas grimontii (1), E. chrysanthemi, and E. carotovora subsp. carovora (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. dieffenbachiae causing soft rot disease on P. aphrodita in China. References: (1) X. L. Chu and B. Yang. Acta Phytopathol. Sin. 40:90, 2010. (2) Y. M. Li et al. J. Beijing Agric. Coll. 19:41, 2004. (3) M. Sławiak et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 125:245, 2009. (4) Z. Y. Wu et al. J. Zhejiang For. Coll. 27:635, 2010.
During March 2007, a fruit rot disease was observed in several loquat (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunberg) Lindley) fields located in Taichung, Nantou, and Miaoli counties. Loquat is a valuable fruit crop grown predominantly in central Taiwan, and hence, even a minor yield loss by this new disease is economically significant. Symptoms on fruits initially appeared as small lesions (<1 mm) that later developed into light-to-dark brown, circular, larger (7 mm), sunken lesions, indicating invasion of a pathogen into the fruit. Pieces of rotted fruit tissue (1 × 1 × 1 mm) were immersed for 1 min in 3% commercial bleach, followed by 70% ethanol, cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated under constant fluorescent light (185 ± 35 μE·m-2·s-1) at 24°C for 2 days. Three single conidial isolates (AS1 to AS3) were selected and used in morphological and pathogenicity studies. All three isolates were identified as an Alternaria sp. (1-3) and formed abundant, dark brown mycelium when cultured on PDA with light at 24°C. Conidiophores were 60 to 89 × 3 to 5 μm, densely fasciculate, cylindrical, simple or branched, and had distinct conidial scars. Conidia were 12 to 74 × 6 to 14 μm, golden brown, straight or curved, obclavate with beaks measuring half the length of the conidium, and observed in chains of 10 or more spores with four to seven transverse septa and several longitudinal septa. Pathogenicity tests were conducted twice by inoculating eight surface-sterilized wounded or unwounded fruits with each of the three isolates in each experiment. Two cuts (1 × 1 × 1 mm) were made on each fruit 3 cm apart with a sterile scalpel, and a 300-μl spore suspension (2 × 105 conidia per ml) was placed on each wound. Similarly, a 300-μl spore suspension was placed on unwounded fruits and air dried for 5 min. Control fruits were similarly treated with sterile water. Inoculated fruits were enclosed in a plastic bag and kept at 24 ± 1°C. Symptoms of soft rot were observed on 60% (unwounded) and 100% (wounded) of inoculated fruits 5 days after inoculation, while control fruits did not develop disease symptoms. Reisolation from the symptomatic fruits consistently yielded an Alternaria sp. This fungus previously has been reported as the causal agent of fruit rot or black spot of papaya, mango, kiwifruit, pear, and carambola from Australia, India, Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States (1-3). To our knowledge, this is the first report of fruit rot of loquat caused by an Alternaria sp. in Taiwan. To manage this disease, growers may resort to fungicidal sprays followed by bagging of fruits to reduce pre- and postharvest losses. References: (1) A. L. Jones and H. S. Aldwinckle. Compendium of Apple and Pear Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1990. (2) R. C. Ploetz. Diseases of Tropical Fruit Crops. CABI Publishing. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK, 2003. (3) R. C. Ploetz et al. Compendium of Tropical Fruit Diseases. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul, MN, 1994.
Background: Many tilapia species or varieties have been widely introduced and have become an economically important food fish in China. Information on the genetic backgrounds of these populations is deficient and requires more research, especially for red tilapia strains.
Methods: In the present study, displacement loop (D-loop) sequences were used to evaluate the genetic relationship and diversity of seven tilapia populations that are widely cultured in China; this was done specifically to speculate on the maternal ancestry of red tilapia strains. Three red tilapia varieties of Oreochromis ssp., Taiwan (TW), Israel (IL), and Malaysia (MY) strains and other populations, including O. aureus (AR), O. niloticus (NL), O. mossambicus (MS), and the GIFT strain of O. niloticus, were collected and analyzed in this study.
Results: A total of 146 polymorphic sites and 32 haplotypes of D-loop sequences were detected among 332 fish and four major haplotypes were shared among the populations. The TW and NL populations had a greater number of haplotypes (20 and 8, respectively). The haplotype diversity (Hd) and nucleotide diversity (π) of each population ranged from 0.234 to 0.826, and 0 to 0.060, respectively. The significant positive Tajima's D value of neutral test were detected in the NL, IL, and MY populations (P 0.05). The nearest K2P genetic distance (D = 0.014) was detected between the MS and TW populations, whereas, the farthest (D = 0.101) was found between the GIFT and AR populations. The results from the molecular variance analysis (AMOVA) showed that there was an extremely significant genetic variation observed among the populations (P
Background: The intrinsic motivation behind the "need to complete" is more influential than external incentives. We introduced a novel progress-bar tool to motivate the completion of programs designed to treat stimulant and cannabis use disorders. We further examined the effectiveness of the progress bar's scoring approach in forecasting consistently negative urine tests. Methods: This study's participants included 568 patients with stimulant, amphetamine-type, and cannabis use disorders who were undergoing 12-month mandatory treatment programs at Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan. Patients were given scores of 1, -1, or 0 depending on whether they received negative, positive, or missing urinalysis reports, respectively. The autonomic progress bar generated weekly score totals. At the group level, scorei donated scores from all patients for a given week (i denoted the week). Scorei was standardized to adjusted scorei. We then conducted Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model of time-series analyses for the adjusted scorei. Results: A total of 312 patients maintained treatment progress over the 12-month program. The autonomic score calculator totaled the shared achievements of these patients. The coefficients of the lag variables for mean (p), lag variables for residual error term (q), and number of orders for ensuring stationary (d) were estimated at p = 3, d = 4, and q = 7 for the first half of the treatment program, and were estimated at p = 2, d = 2, and q = 3 for the second half. Both models were stationary and tested as fit for prediction (p < 0.05). Sharply raised adjusted scores were predicted during the high-demand treatment phase. Discussion: This study's novel progress-bar tool effectively motivated treatment completion. It was also effective in forecasting continually negative urine tests. The tool's free open-source code makes it easy to implement among many substance-treatment services.
Carotenoids serve as one of the most important group of naturally-occurring lipid-soluble pigments which exhibit great biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and provitamin A activities. Owing to their advantageous health effects, carotenoids are widely applied in various industries. Microbial carotenoids synthesis therefore has attracted increasing attention in recent years. In the present study, a marine microorganism originally isolated from seawater in northern Taiwan was determined to be a strain of Gordonia terrae based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The strain G. terrae TWRH01 has the ability to synthesize and accumulate the intracellular pigments was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The biochemical production characteristics of this strain were studied by employing different fermentation strategies. Findings suggested that G. terrae TWRH01 can actively grow and efficiently synthesize carotenoids in medium adjusted to pH 7 containing 16 g L-1 sucrose as the carbon source, 16 g L-1 yeast extract as the nitrogen source, 0.6 M NaCl concentration, and supplemented with 0.45% (v/v) 1 M CaCl2. Results revealed that the optimization of fermentation yielded 15.29 g L-1 dry biomass and 10.58 μmol L-1 relative β-carotene concentration. According to GC-MS analysis, the orange-red colored pigments produced were identified as carotenoid derivatives, mainly echinenone and adonixanthin 3'-β-d-glucoside. Therefore, the new bacterial strain showed a highly potential bioresource for the commercial production of natural carotenoids.
The recent research and technology development in medical genomics has raised new issues that are profoundly different from those encountered in traditional clinical research for which informed consent was developed. Global initiatives for international collaboration and public participation in genomics research now face an increasing demand for new forms of informed consent which reflect local contexts. This article analyzes informed consent forms (ICFs) for genomic research formulated by four selected research programs and institutes in East Asia - the Medical Genome Science Program in Japan, Universiti Sains Malaysia Human Research Ethics Committee in Malaysia, and the Taiwan Biobank and the Taipei Medical University- Joint Institutional Review Board in Taiwan. The comparative text analysis highlights East Asian contexts as distinct from other regions by identifying communicative and social functions of consent forms. The communicative functions include re-contact options and offering interactive support for research participants, and setting opportunities for family or community engagement in the consent process. This implies that informed consent cannot be validated solely with the completion of a consent form at the initial stage of the research, and informed consent templates can facilitate interactions between researchers and participants through (even before and after) the research process. The social functions consist of informing participants of possible social risks that include genetic discrimination, sample and data sharing, and highlighting the role of ethics committees. Although international ethics harmonization and the subsequent coordination of consent forms may be necessary to maintain the quality and consistency of consent process for data-intensive international research, it is also worth paying more attention to the local values and different settings that exist where research participants are situated for research in medical genomics. More than simply tools to gain consent from research participants, ICFs function rather as a device of social communication between research communities and civic communities in liaison with intermediary agents like ethics committees, genetic counselors, and public biobanks and databases.
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are substances of abuse that easily evade existing controlled drug regulations. This study conducted a systematic review on controlled drug regulations and analyzed the numbers of new psychoactive substances (NPS) reported in six East and Southeast Asian countries in comparison to US and UK from 2009 to 2020. Generally, more NPS were reported in the US (551) and UK (400), compared to Japan (379), China (221), Singapore (142), South Korea (99), Malaysia (41), and Taiwan (35). Legislative mechanisms including the specific listing of individual substances, generic control of a family of substances, analogue control of similar substances, temporary bans of new substances were evaluated. In this review, countries that have adopted a combination of legislative mechanisms were able to identify higher numbers of NPS for regulatory control, such as the US, UK, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. These findings can provide references to countries like Malaysia and Taiwan, to strengthen NPS-related regulations nationally. Countries in the East and Southeast Asian region should be encouraged to collaborate more closely and to implement additional legislative approaches most relevant to the regional NPS trends to bridge the regulatory gap and to prevent the spread of emerging NPS.
Advances in perinatal care have led to the increased survival of preterm infants with subsequent neonatal morbidities, such as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This study aims to compare the differences of neonatal healthcare systems, resources, and clinical practice concerning ROP in Asia with review of current literature. An on-line survey at the institutional level was sent to the directors of 336 neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in 8 collaborating national neonatal networks through the Asian Neonatal Network Collaboration (AsianNeo). ROP screening was performed in infants born at Taiwan, most screened for ROP in infants born at
Glycidyl esters (GEs) and 3-monochloropropanediol esters (3-MCPDEs) are process contaminants commonly found in refined edible oils which are often added to infant formulas. The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) launched regulations for GEs in infant formulas that went into effect on 1 July 2021. To investigate levels of GEs and 3-MCPDEs in infant formula powder, 45 products were sampled and analysed during 2020-2021. The contents of GEs and 3-MCPDEs in formulas of different brands significantly varied, but their concentrations in all of the formulas complied with European Union (EU) regulations. Infant formulas containing palm oil had significantly higher 3-MCPDE levels in both extracted oils and milk powder than those without palm oil. Concentrations of GEs and 3-MCPDEs in infant formula powder and extracted oils were significantly lower in products from Europe than those from Australia and New Zealand. Infants aged 0-1 years in Taiwan who consumed only infant formula showed a margin of exposure (MoE) exceeding 25,000. Mean consumer exposures to 3-MCPDEs stayed below the tolerable daily intake (TDI), while high exposures at the 95th percentile (P95) exceeded the TDI by 1.7-fold. Herein, we present the changing trends in the risk assessment results of infant formula across various countries in the decade. Implementation of regulations and mitigation strategy effectively reduced the risk of infants being exposed to GEs and 3-MCPDEs through infant formula.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer endemic in Asia, including Malaysia, Southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Treatment resistance, particularly in recurring cases, remains a challenge. Thus, studies to develop novel therapeutic agents are important. Potential therapeutic compounds may be effectively examined using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models, three-dimensional (3D) spheroid models or in vivo animal models. The majority of drug assessments for cancers, including for NPC, are currently performed with 2D cell culture models. This model offers economical and high-throughput screening advantages. However, 2D cell culture models cannot recapitulate the architecture and the microenvironment of a tumor. In vivo models may recapitulate certain architectural and microenvironmental conditions of a tumor, however, these are not feasible for the screening of large numbers of compounds. By contrast, 3D spheroid models may be able to recapitulate a physiological microenvironment not observed in 2D cell culture models, in addition to avoiding the impediments of in vivo animal models. Thus, the 3D spheroid model offers a more representative model for the study of NPC growth, invasion and drug response, which may be cost-effective without forgoing quality.
Anthracnose of chili (Capsicum spp.) causes major production losses throughout Asia where chili plants are grown. A total of 260 Colletotrichum isolates, associated with necrotic lesions of chili leaves and fruit were collected from chili producing areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Taiwan. Colletotrichum truncatum was the most commonly isolated species from infected chili fruit and was readily identified by its falcate spores and abundant setae in the necrotic lesions. The other isolates consisted of straight conidia (cylindrical and fusiform) which were difficult to differentiate to species based on morphological characters. Taxonomic analysis of these straight conidia isolates based on multi-gene phylogenetic analyses (ITS, gapdh, chs-1, act, tub2, his3, ApMat, gs) revealed a further seven known Colletotrichum species, C. endophyticum, C. fructicola, C. karsti, C. plurivorum, C. scovillei, C. siamense and C. tropicale. In addition, three novel species are also described as C. javanense, C. makassarense and C. tainanense, associated with anthracnose of chili fruit in West Java (Indonesia); Makassar, South Sulawesi (Indonesia); and Tainan (Taiwan), respectively. Colletotrichum siamense is reported for the first time causing anthracnose of Capsicum annuum in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. This is also the first report of C. fructicola causing anthracnose of chili in Taiwan and Thailand and C. plurivorum in Malaysia and Thailand. Of the species with straight conidia, C. scovillei (acutatum complex), was the most prevalent throughout the surveyed countries, except for Sri Lanka from where this species was not isolated. Colletotrichum siamense (gloeosporioides complex) was also common in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Pathogenicity tests on chili fruit showed that C. javanense and C. scovillei were highly aggressive, especially when inoculated on non-wounded fruit, compared to all other species. The existence of new, highly aggressive exotic species, such as C. javanense, poses a biosecurity risk to production in countries which do not have adequate quarantine regulations to restrict the entry of exotic pathogens.
Antrodia camphorata is a parasitic fungus from Taiwan, it has been documented to possess a variety of pharmacological and biological activities. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of Antrodia camphorata ethanol extract to accelerate the rate of wound healing closure and histology of wound area in experimental rats. The safety of Antrodia camphorata was determined in vivo by the acute toxicity test and in vitro by fibroblast cell proliferation assay. The scratch assay was used to evaluate the in vitro wound healing in fibroblast cells and the excision model of wound healing was tested in vivo using four groups of adult Sprague Dawley rats. Our results showed that wound treated with Antrodia camphorata extract and intrasite gel significantly accelerates the rate of wound healing closure than those treated with the vehicle. Wounds dressed with Antrodia camphorata extract showed remarkably less scar width at wound closure and granulation tissue contained less inflammatory cell and more fibroblast compared to wounds treated with the vehicle. Masson's trichrom stain showed granulation tissue containing more collagen and less inflammatory cell in Antrodia camphorata treated wounds. In conclusion, Antrodia camphorata extract significantly enhanced the rate of the wound enclosure in rats and promotes the in vitro healing through fibroblast cell proliferation.
We examined how different types of communication influence people's responses to health advice. We tested whether presenting COVID-19 prevention advice (e.g., washing hands/distancing) as either originating from a government or scientific source would affect people's trust in and intentions to comply with the advice. We also manipulated uncertainty in communicating the advice effectiveness. To achieve this, we conducted an experiment using large samples of participants (N = 4,561) from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Across countries, participants found messages more trustworthy when the purported source was science rather than the government. This effect was moderated by political orientation in all countries except for Canada, while religiosity moderated the source effect in the United States. Although source did not directly affect intentions to act upon the advice, we found an indirect effect via trust, such that a more trusted source (i.e., science) was predictive of higher intentions to comply. However, the uncertainty manipulation was not effective. Together, our findings suggest that despite prominence of science skepticism in public discourse, people trust scientists more than governments when it comes to practical health advice. It is therefore beneficial to communicate health messages by stressing their scientific bases. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
The Philippines are central to understanding the expansion of the Austronesian language family from its homeland in Taiwan. It remains unknown to what extent the distribution of Malayo-Polynesian languages has been shaped by back migrations and language leveling events following the initial Out-of-Taiwan expansion. Other aspects of language history, including the effect of language switching from non-Austronesian languages, also remain poorly understood. Here we apply Bayesian phylogenetic methods to a core-vocabulary dataset of Philippine languages. Our analysis strongly supports a sister group relationship between the Sangiric and Minahasan groups of northern Sulawesi on one hand, and the rest of the Philippine languages on the other, which is incompatible with a simple North-to-South dispersal from Taiwan. We find a pervasive geographical signal in our results, suggesting a dominant role for cultural diffusion in the evolution of Philippine languages. However, we do find some support for a later migration of Gorontalo-Mongondow languages to northern Sulawesi from the Philippines. Subsequent diffusion processes between languages in Sulawesi appear to have led to conflicting data and a highly unstable phylogenetic position for Gorontalo-Mongondow. In the Philippines, language switching to Austronesian in 'Negrito' groups appears to have occurred at different time-points throughout the Philippines, and based on our analysis, there is no discernible effect of language switching on the basic vocabulary.
A group of Taiwan aborigines, the Toroko, was typed for 21 classical genetic loci. This is part of an ongoing program aimed at a comprehensive study of Taiwan aborigines. In this first paper a short summary of historical, archeological, and anthropological data in the literature is made, and results of the present survey are compared with older results from other aborigine tribes. An analysis of other neighboring populations from southeast Asia has also been carried out in order to give a preliminary answer to the question of origin of Taiwanese aborigines. Fifteen populations were studied for 13 loci by tree analysis, principal components, and isolation by distance. Tree analysis and principal component analysis gave results in fairly good agreement and indicate three major population clusters: a northeast cluster (Ainu, Korea, Japan, and Ryukyu); a southeast cluster (south China, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, and Toroko); and a third cluster including Malaya and Borneo. The positions of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia are somewhat peripheral. Analysis of the tree shows some potential cases of convergence, perhaps owing to admixture, and of divergence. The analysis of isolation by distance shows that geographic propinquity is a reasonably good predictor of general similarity in this area.