Eastern Subregions Research Articles

Cancer Control in the Asia Pacific Region: Current Status and Concerns

Cancer is becoming an increasingly important health problem in the low- and middle-income countries in the Asia Pacific region, as well as in high-income countries because of ageing populations and changes in lifestyle associated with economic development and epidemiologic transition. This paper reviews the cancer burden and control in the Asia Pacific region (limited to East Asia, South Eastern Asia and Pacific Islands countries, territories and other areas), with relevant information primarily extracted from the GLOBOCAN 2008, Cancer Incidence in Five Continents series and WHO websites. Most low- and middle-income countries have a cancer control strategy and/or an action plan; however, coverage of cancer registration is still very low and does not meet the international standard in terms of quality. Therefore, only limited data were available for the recent global estimation of cancer burden. Large variations, in both cancer incidence and mortality, were observed in the populations in the different sub-regions of Asia. The most common cancer in males is lung cancer in the Eastern and South Eastern sub-regions, while prostate cancer comes close to lung cancer in the Pacific Island countries. In females, breast cancer is the most common in all three regions. The predominance of lung, stomach, colorectal, prostate, breast and cervical cancers makes cancer control more amenable in the Asia Pacific region. Up-to-date statistics on cancer occurrence and outcome are essential for the planning and evaluation of cancer control programmes. Priority can be given to population-based cancer registration, risk reduction, especially tobacco control, and primary health care based enhancement of health care systems to diagnose and manage cancer specifically in low- and middle-income countries.

Avaliação do impacto de eventos climáticos extremos nos oceanos pacífico e atlântico sobre a estação chuvosa no nordeste do Brasil

O impacto dos eventos climáticos extremos na região dos Oceanos Pacífico (El Nino - EN; La Nina - LN) e Atlântico (Gradiente meridional - GRADM) sobre a precipitação de três sub-regiões distintas do Nordeste do Brasil (NEB), é avaliado durante o período 1948 a 1997. A análise baseou-se em dados de precipitação observada e simulada pelo Modelo de Circulação Geral da Atmosfera ARPEGE. Os resultados mostram que a precipitação sobre as três sub-regiões apresenta uma grande variabilidade independente dos episódios EN ou LN, com uma predominância de anos secos (chuvosos) nas sub-regiões leste e norte do NEB antes (depois) de 1976, isto é, quando os episódios de LN (EN) foram mais numerosos. A resposta interanual da precipitação é mais forte quando o GRADM é positivo (induzindo secas) ou negativo (períodos chuvosos) sobre a região NEB, demonstrando uma forte influência climática do Atlântico versus o Pacífico. Combinando as influências simuladas no Pacífico e Atlântico, bem como os dados da precipitação observada no período verificou-se que, durante os anos de EN o oceano tropical é responsável pela variabilidade das chuvas sobre o NEB (especialmente as sub-regiões Norte e Leste). Por outro lado, durante episódios de LN o Oceano Atlântico tropical é a principal contribuição e a influência do Oceano Pacífico é relativamente modesta.

Tentative list of endemic vascular plants of the Zeravshan Mts in Tajikistan: distribution, habitat preferences and conservation status of species

Tentative list of endemic vascular plants of the Zeravshan Mts in Tajikistan: distribution, habitat preferences and conservation status of species Based on literature data and own fieldwork in the Zeravshan Mts in Tajikistan (Middle Asia), the taxonomic structure, distribution, habitat preferences as well as conservation status of a group of 86 species of vascular plants of endemic character are presented. The tentative list of exclusive endemic plants for the Zeravshan Mts was compiled. They belong to 25 families. The richest is the genus Astragalus with 11 species followed by Cousinia (8), Allium (5) and Scutellaria (3). The study has shown that the eastern subregions of the range are richest in endemics, especially, the Mogien-Daria, Seven Lakes, Pastrud-Daria, Ksztut and Yagnob valleys and Kuli-Kalon Plateau. The endemics studied are stenochoric species with very small number of known locations, mainly between one and two. The mean value of the range of the studied endemics is ca. 1140 km2. The most numerous endemic groups have been recorded at altitudes of around 1,800-2,100 and 2,700-3000 m a. s. l. The habitats harboring the richest group of endemics are rock screes, alpine forests, steppes and semi-savannas, alpine meadows, solid rocks, xerothermophilous shrubs and pastures. Almost half of the endemics have narrow ecological amplitude occurring in only one habitat type. The most important threats to Tajik endemics are intensive grazing and erosion of soils, as well as denudation. Most vulnerable types of vegetation to the human impact are forest and scrub communities. For effective protection of endemics in the Zeravshan Mts, a national park and a net of nature reserves has to be funded.

Coevolutionary patterns in theLinum marginale-Melampsora liniassociation at a continental scale

Patterns in the distribution of virulence and resistance in the Linum marginale A. Cunn. ex. Planch – Melampsora lini (Ehrenb.) Lev. host–pathogen interaction that is endemic to Australia were examined in a 3500-km pancontinental comparison. Pathogen isolates derived from Western Australia were virulent on a much greater proportion of hosts from Western Australia than they were on a broad range of L. marginale lines collected throughout eastern Australia. In contrast, the physical isolation of Western Australia had no discernible effect on the distribution of the mean resistance of host lines. Within eastern Australia, isolates collected from Tasmania (isolated by 100 km of sea), southern New South Wales, and South Australia showed varying levels of response in terms of their virulence on host lines originating from the same or other eastern subregions. Finally, across the entire distribution of the pathogen, there was a significant effect of distance such that more distant pathogen isolates were generally less well adapted to host lines than more locally derived ones.Key words: coevolution, pathogen, resistance, rust, speciation, virulence.

Dynamical adjustment of quasi-synoptic data sets in the Eastern Mediterranean: testing a full basin coastal methodology

The availability of nearly synoptic basin-wide data sets, has provided the basis for the extension of a regional coastal methodology to full basin. The kinematic boundary conditions for a quasi-geostrophic model in an arbitrary domain, (partially) open or closed and simply- or multiply-connected, are briefly reviewed. A method for the implementation of these conditions with real ocean data is presented for the full Eastern Mediterranean and subregions, and the sensitivities are discussed. Objectively analyzed maps are produced for model initialization. Simulations of two-week duration are carried out in the Levantine and the full Eastern Mediterranean basins to determine the best domain-average amplitude for the barotropic mode and the best treatment of coastal constraint.

Tropical Cyclones in the Southwest Pacific: Spatial Patterns and Relationships to Southern Oscillation and Sea Surface Temperature

An analysis of a 20-yr dataset of tropical cyclones in the southwest Pacific has been made to determine the spatial patterns of cyclone occurrence and how these depend on the Southern Oscillation (SO) and sea surface temperature. A local measure of cyclone incidence is defined as the number of cyclones that enter into a 2° lat-long square during some period (eg., within one season) and this quantity is mapped for four Southern Oscillation index (SOI) categories. The maps show that the geographical distribution of cyclone incidence shifts eastward and northward during negative SOI phases and vice versa. The mean annual incidence for the whole region is 28% higher than average for our strongly negative SO category and 16% below average for our near-zero category. To explore the roles of the SO and local SST, correlation analysis was applied to mean values of cyclone incidence for four subregions of 20° longitude width between 10° and 22°S. Markedly different SOI/SST responses were found on either side of 170°E. In the Coral Sea subregion (150°–170°E), seasons with a relatively high tropical cyclone incidence were preceded by significant positive anomalies in SST and weak positive anomalies of the SOI. The behaviors of the three eastern subregions (lying between 170°E and 130°W) were similar to each other, but were very different to that of the Coral Sea subregion. Their seasons of higher cyclone incidence were preceded by significant negative anomalies of SOI and Tahiti pressure, which continued into the cyclone season, but with only weak or nil SST relationships. Analysis of variance was used to determine the relative contributions of the main variables for each subregion. Altogether, SOI/SST variables before the cyclone season can explain from 20% to 50% of the variance for the individual subregions. Concurrent variables can explain 70% of the variance for the three eastern subregions taken as a single unit. On the basis of these statistical results, the authors proposed that the primary influence on tropical cyclone incidence west of 170°E is the local oceanic conditions, as represented by SST, while to the east of 170°E it is the eastward extent of favorable atmospheric conditions, as indicated by the SOI or Tahiti pressure. The results have application to seasonal cyclone forecasting and natural hazard assessment and mitigation activities within the region.