Western Origin Research Articles

Description of Brooksia lacromae sp. nov. (Tunicata, Thaliacea) from the Adriatic Sea

Brooksia lacromae sp. nov. is described from zooplankton material collected at a marine monitoring station in the South Adriatic in the autumn of 2014. The description of both solitary and aggregate forms is given along with 18S rRNA and mitochondrial cox1 sequence data that provides strong evidence that both forms belong to the same species. The described species is morphologically markedly different from B. rostrata (Traustedt, 1893) and B. berneri van Soest, 1975, previously the only two species in the genus Brooksia. Genetic analysis based on 18S rRNA gene confirmed distinctness of B. lacromae sp. nov. from B. rostrata (1.5% uncorrected pairwise distance). The appendicularian Fritillaria helenae Bückmann, 1924, so far known from the Atlantic only, was found in the same samples as B. lacromae sp. nov. Co-occurrence of B. lacromae sp. nov. with an Atlantic appendicularian suggests an Atlantic or Western Mediterranean origin for this new taxon.

Biogeographical history and coalescent species delimitation of Pacific island skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Emoia cyanura species group)

AbstractAimA prevailing hypothesis for how Pacific islands organisms have obtained their extant distributions is that of a stepping‐stone model, in which populations originate from Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific and gradually disperse eastward. Here, we test this model using a spatiotemporal framework for Emoia cyanura and E. impar, two species within the Emoia cyanura species group (ECSG; Family: Scincidae). We further assess species limits within the group, utilizing novel coalescent methods.LocationPacific Islands.MethodsWe obtained DNA sequence data from one mitochondrial and three nuclear markers for 117 individuals, representing seven of the nine species within the ECSG. These data were analysed for concordance with the stepping‐stone model using estimation of population structure, divergence dates, and historical biogeographical range. To assess hypotheses of independent lineages within each widespread species, we also employed the Bayesian Phylogenetics & Phylogeography (BPP) program to define operational taxonomic units in *BEAST.ResultsPopulation structure analyses consistently found individuals from western island groups representing divergent populations, with central and eastern populations demonstrating minimal genetic variation. Phylogenetic hypotheses support a western origin for E. cyanura and E. impar, while biogeographical and divergence time estimations predict a recent and rapid expansion out of the western Pacific. The BPP and *BEAST analyses found evidence for five independent lineages within E. impar and five independent lineages within E. cyanura/E. pseudocyanura.Main conclusionsIn contrast to the expectations of a stepping‐stone model, E. cyanura and E. impar each exhibit the genetic signature of a rapid radiation during the mid to late Pleistocene, with evidence for newly identified lineages, mainly on western islands. Of these recovered lineages, we propose three to be elevated to species status. These findings expand our understanding of endemic Pacific biota, which are subject to conservation threats from human impacts and climate change.

NGO workers’ internalisation of the human rights-based approach in Bangladesh

ABSTRACTThe Western origin of human rights raises the question of how the human rights-based approach to development (HRBA) is understood in non-Western countries. This article explores individual practitioners’ perceptions of the HRBA in an NGO working in Bangladesh, drawing on interviews with its workers. The data suggest that participants accept the universal values of human rights and make sense of the HRBA influenced by their organisational and national contexts. Conceptualising this process as “internalisation”, this article argues that the organisational support and workers’ field experience are critical for incorporating contextual consideration into their interpretation and practice of the HRBA.

Epidemiology of bluetongue virus in Australasia

Background: Bluetongue is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) belonging to Reoviridae. So far, 28 serotypes of BTV have been reported, and distribution of various serotypes is not uniform among different geographical areas. The virus is endemic in tropical areas where vector population is abundant and these areas act as source population for virus spread to the neighbouring temperate sink areas. Australasia is one of the stable source-sink episystems with circulation of different serotypes. During this study, genetic relations of the serotypes circulating in the Australasian region were analysed and the serotypes that are unique to this episystem and those which entered this episystem during recent past were identified. Methods & Materials: Data about BTV serotypes circulating and genome sequence were collected from public databases. Phylogenetic analysis was done using MEGA and BEAST. Results: Majority of the BTV serotypes circulating in Australasia are either unique (BTV-20, -21 and -23) to the region or distinct (BTV-1, -2, -3, -4, -9 and 16) from their counterparts in other source-sink episystems and belong to Eastern topotype. Apart from these, serotypes of western origin are also found to be circulating (BTV-2, -5, -7, -10, -12 and -24), and some (BTV-2 and -10) are indistinguishable from the live attenuated vaccines being used in Africa (BTV-2) and USA (BTV-10). However, these two serotypes are not reported outside India. Conclusion: We could conclude that BTV-20, -21 and -23 are unique to Australasian region and eastern topotype viruses of serotypes BTV-1, -2, -3, -4, -9 and -16 have probably diverged from their western counterparts hundreds of years ago and evolved since then. Among the serotypes of western origin, BTV-5, 7, -12 and -24 seem to have entered this area in the recent past and got established in more than one country whereas vaccine strains of BTV-2 and -10 did not. Identification of circulating serotypes of BTV in this region is important for evaluating virus movement and for vaccine design.

Konstruksi perempuan dan gender dalam gerakan Tarbiyah di kampus-kampus universitas negeri di Surabaya: sebuah modalitas pembangunan karakter bangsa

The Tarbiyah (education) movement in Indonesia today is the best known and has the largest number of members amongst groups in the Dakwah (proselytising) movement that mostly work in Indonesian campuses. However, in contrast to other Islamic revivalist organizations, the Tarbiyah movement, is reformist, and relies heavily on modern interpretations of Islam concerned with democracy, civil society, human rights and equality of women, although these values are understood differently from common Western notions. The group has many female activists but unfortunately until today there has never been any study looking at the ways women has involved in this Tarbiyah movement. This paper aims to explore the numerous and varieties of women‟s activities in this movement, especially in relation the ways women see their rights, roles and sexual identities within their notion of piety. Female and male activists of Tarbiyah movement in Airlangga University (UNAIR), Surabaya State University (UNESA) and Institute of Technology Surabaya (ITS) are respondents in this research. Participation observation and in-depth interviews will used as techniques of data collection. Some finding shows that the Tarbiyah movement‟s espousal of women‟s and gender issues in an Islamic setting complicates even more the dissemination of such issues to the Indonesian public. One important finding indicates that the Tarbiyah conceives that male and female are segregated in nature (biological construction) yet in that segregation lies irreplaceable equality in any sphere and any value. Although many female members of the Tarbiyah movement claim to reject feminism, in particular they reject liberation of women‟s (and men‟s) sexuality, as it is believed to be of Western origin, in fact they subscribe to concepts of sexual equality while maintaining sexual segregation. The rise of the Dakwah movement and its various groups has raised concern in Indonesian society that such groups may pose a threat to civil Islam. However, to see all groups in the Dakwah movement as militant, radical or even fundamentalist is wrong, the complexity of Islamic movements requires careful examination as within these movements groups are fragmented in terms of their interpretations of Islam and its application. Teaching of this Dakwah movement can also be an alternative to national character building as its teachings and morale are in accordance to the values of Indonesian national characters such as honesty, religiousness and others.

Appraisal of the Roles of Metropole and Satellite in the Stunted Development of African Nation State Nigeria

Issues relating to government in post -colonial states in Africa are replete with tales of woes when considered within the ambit of development, especially in this era of globalization. Many orthodox views hold the industrialized western nations of the north culpable. On the other hand, the nascent economic theorists of western origin implicate the fragile economic structures and institutions of governance and leadership as being responsible for Africa’s underdevelopment status. While the debate is on, some others view African status as endogenously inherent in her leadership response to the crises of poverty, food security political instability, technological development and other critical malaise. This paper explores the extent to which these views can be relevant explicate the failure of post-colonial states in Africa, with particular reference to Nigeria, in this discourse. The paper implicates the roles played by Nigerian comprador leadership, response to the call for economic political and cultural liberalization as the underlying factors responsible to the failure of the post-colonial Nigerian state.

Southeast Asia. Questioning modernity in Indonesia and Malaysia Edited by Wendy Mee and Joel Kahn Singapore and Kyoto: NUS Press with Kyoto University Press, 2012. Pp. 257. Index.

Questioning modernity in Indonesia and Malaysia Edited by WENDY MEE and JOEL KAHN Singapore and Kyoto; NUS Press with Kyoto University Press, 2012. Pp. 257. Index. Modernity as a foundational analytic concept has so far received inadequate attention in Southeast Asian Studies. This collection of essays is a long overdue reiteration of efforts to rethink the concept of modernity, particularly in relation to Indonesia and Malaysia. It offers fascinating case studies that demonstrate the complexity of the notion of the modern. The themes highlighted in this multi-author volume include the deep cultural roots of many contemporary developments; the intercivilisational foundations of modernity (as opposed to being of purely Western origin); the emphasis on the darker side of modernity (as opposed to the tendency to celebrate its progressive aspirations); and the importance of ethnographic and phenomenological views. It is no accident that these themes are germane to co-editor Joel Kahn's earlier works (Constituting the Minangkabau: Peasants, culture, and modernity in colonial Indonesia, 1993; Culture, multiculture, postculture, 1995; Modernity and exclusion, 2001; Other Malays: Nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the modern Malay world, 2006), and that the contributors are his close associates and former students. The introductory chapter is persuasively argued. It is admirable for its clear exposition, cogent argumentation, strong empirical support and theoretical and conceptual sophistication. Echoing the idea popularised by Bruno Latour (We have never been modern, 1993), that even the West did not live up to the conceptual definition and normative expectations of the modern, this chapter suggests that the persistent East/West divide misleads, and the sense of a 'modernity deficit' that unduly pressures many countries to play a catch-up game with the West, often with adverse consequences, is wrong-headed and unnecessary. It insists that contemporary developments in Asia are 'fully modern' (p. 1). The editors also assert that modernity must be understood not as an objective reality, but rather as an 'objectifying story that self-designated moderns tell about themselves and their societies' (p. 7). Kahn's chapter ('Islam and capitalism in the frontiers and borderlands of the modern Malay world') shows the intercultural or intercivilisational roots of modernity and capitalist practices in the Malay world. By highlighting the features of commercial or entrepreneurial practices of 'modernist' Muslims, it argues against the longstanding perception of Islam's incompatibility with or aversion towards capitalism and modernity. The picture that emerges is that of dynamic intermixing or interaction between the old and the new, and Western and Eastern or local elements. Goh Beng Lan's chapter ('Dilemma of progressive politics in Malaysia') offers a penetrating analysis of the manifestations and roots of the dilemma of liberal politics in Malaysia. The exposition effectively conveys the gravity and complexity of the problem as it highlights progressive politics occupying a key position in the ambiguous and problematic nature of modernity. Thung Ju-lan's piece ('Ethnicity, nation-state and citizenship among Chinese Indonesians') extends or applies a number of Kahn's ideas (Culture, multiculture, postculture, 1995) to the case of the Indonesian Chinese, particularly the 'culturalisation of everyday life' (p. 149). As in the chapters by Goh and Kahn, it shows that cultural difference cannot be outside of, or opposite to modernity, but rather it is a constituting element of modernity as clearly manifest in the state-formation process. …

Challenges and Strategies of Teaching Qualitative Research in China

Teaching qualitative research (QR) in China is challenging due to its short and scattered history with a Western origin and complicated domestic sociopolitical context. This article introduces two strategies that have been developed to address these challenges: pedagogy of unity of knowing and doing (zhi xing he yi知行合一), and practical reasoning (shi jian li xing实践理性). These strategies resonate with the Chinese cultural beliefs of learning by doing in real contexts and learning with appropriate adaptation and flexibility. By exploring the meanings of these strategies, the article aims to claim that the Chinese indigenous epistemology and methodology can shed light on the understanding of knowledge and knowledge production in QR, and that Chinese cultural practice can make contributions to the glocal dialogue on QR.

Distribution of Lophodermium needle cast agents in Scots pine stands in Middle Siberia

Geography of the Scots pine disease, caused by Lophodermium fungi, was analyzed in Krasnoyarsk krai and Khakassia in 1997–2010. Most of the loci were located in taiga; less frequently they occurred in mountain taiga and mountain chern altitudinal belts. Rarely the disease was noted in forest-steppe zone of subboreal forests. The disease dynamics is cyclic; in recent years the wide extension of the pathogen across the studied region was detected. Needle cast is a serious danger for pine grown from seeds from the other regions, especially seeds of western or southern origin.

Association between Self-Rated Health and the Ethnic Composition of the Residential Environment of Six Ethnic Groups in Amsterdam.

Background: Studies on the association between health and neighborhood ethnic composition yielded inconsistent results, possibly due to methodological limitations. We assessed these associations at different spatial scales and for different measures of ethnic composition. Methods: We obtained health survey data of 4673 respondents of Dutch, Surinamese, Moroccan, Turkish other non-Western and other Western origin. Neighborhood ethnic composition was measured for buffers varying from 50–1000 m. Associations with self-rated health were measured using logistic multilevel regression analysis, with control for socioeconomic position at the individual and area level. Results: Overall ethnic heterogeneity was not related to health for any ethnic group. The presence of other Surinamese was associated with poor self-rated health among Surinamese respondents. The presence of Moroccans or Turks was associated with poor health among some groups. The presence of Dutch was associated with better self-rated health among Surinamese and Turks. In most cases, these associations were stronger at lower spatial scales. We found no other associations. Conclusions: In Amsterdam, self-rated health was not associated with ethnic heterogeneity in general, but may be related to the presence of specific ethnic groups. Policies regarding social and ethnic mixing should pay special attention to the co-residence of groups with problematic interrelations.

Free intraperitoneal tumor cells and outcome in gastric cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite continuously improving therapies, gastric cancer still shows poor survival in locally advanced stages with local recurrence rates of up to 50% and peritoneal recurrence rates of 17% after curative surgery. We performed a systematic review with meta-analyses to clarify whether positive intraperitoneal cytology (IPC) indicates a high risk of disease recurrence and poor overall survival in gastric cancer. Multiple databases were searched in December 2014 to identify studies on the prognostic significance of positive intraperitoneal cytology in gastric cancer, including: Medline, Biosis, Science Citation Index, Embase, CCMed and publisher databases. Hazard ratios (HR) and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI) were extracted from the identified studies. A meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model on overall survival, disease-free survival and peritoneal recurrence free survival. A total of 64 studies with a cumulative sample size of 12,883 patients were included. Cytology, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or both were performed in 35; 21 and 8 studies, respectively. Meta analyses revealed free intraperitoneal tumor cells (FITC) to be associated with poor overall survival in univariate (HR 3.27; 95% CI 2.82 - 3.78]) and multivariate (HR 2.45; 95% CI 2.04 - 2.94) analysis and poor peritoneal recurrence free survival in univariate (4.15; 95% CI 3.10 - 5.57) and multivariate (3.09; 95% CI 2.02 - 4.71) analysis. Subgroup analysis showed this effect to be independent of the detection method, Western or Asian origin or the time of publication. FITC oder positive peritoneal cytology is associated with poor survival and increased peritoneal recurrence in gastric cancer.

Use of the life table to compare mortality in ethnic groups in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

BackgroundThe life table is a valid and frequently used instrument to compare the mortality of migrant groups. Most analyses are limited to an overview and give only life expectancy; however, further analysis of the life table can give more insight into differences in patterns of mortality between groups.MethodsA thorough life table analysis was applied to the mortality data of seven ethnic groups by age and gender.ResultsLife expectancy is systematically higher in migrants compared with the Dutch citizens of Amsterdam. However, between birth and the age of 40 the probability of death is higher among non-western migrants compared with citizens of western origin. The number of deaths is small among the young. This results in very small differences in survival between the groups; from birth up to the age of 40 the survival rate is 98.7 % for citizens of western origin and 98.3 % for citizens of non-western origin. In all seven ethnic groups over 90.7 % of babies, male and female, survive up to the age of 60. In all female groups the survival is better than in male groups. Males and females aged 0 to 40 from Antillean origin are the only exception.ConclusionLife expectancy is generally higher in non-western than in western groups. Differences in survival between ethnic groups are small up to middle age.

Abstract 1472: Building comprehensive and fully annotated patient tumor derived xenogragft (PDX) library mirroring cancer patient population

Abstract Patient derived xenografts (PDXs) mirrors patients’ pathology and genetic profiles, thus valued as predictive experimental models for studying oncogenesis and personalized treatments. Cancer is not a single disease but diseases of complex genetic components and oncogenic processes. Limited number of PDX models with minimal genetic characterization is insufficient to meet current research needs. For this, we have built the largest and most comprehensive PDX library with full genetic profiles. By far, our PDX library contains over 1,100 models derived from patients of both Asian and Western origins, covering over 20 major cancer types, including large panels (over 100 models each) of NSLCL(1), CRC(2), gastric(3), HCC(4), and pancreatic, and smaller panels (<100) of esophageal, H&N, ovarian, cholangiocarcinoma, breast, brain, etc. Our PDX models come with original patient and pathology diagnosis information, and verified at the level of histopathology and genetic fingerprints. These models have tumor growth and standard of care (SOC) treatment information. They are fully profiled using GeneChip based technology (U219, SNP6.0, miRNA), NGS (RNAseq and WES), and hotspot mutation, etc (HuPrime® 1.0), with HLA typing readily available to enable immuno-oncology research. Comparing our PDXs’ genomic profiles with published patient genomic profiles in literature (4) and TCGA data source (Guo et al., 2015 AACR Annual) revealed high degree of similarity. Subsets of models have been comprehensively characterized for special relevance to specific clinical characteristics and specific drug targeting mechanisms (HuPrime® 2.0). These subsets include all clinically observed EGFR mutated NSCLC(1, 5, 6); c-MET activation diseases(7); FGFR driven diseases; RET-fusion driven CRC(8); FLT3-LTD driven AML (9), IDH mutated AML(9) and CRC; RSPO-fusion driven CRC; BCL-ABL fusion disease, HER driven gastric and breast cancers, and ALK fusion NSCLC, etc. We have also established numeric drug resistant models to various SOCs of both chemotherapy and target therapies. The resistance could be de novo (1) or induced (10). These resistant models can be great tools to investigate drug resistant mechanisms and approaches to overcome them. Many PDXs can also been tested orthotopically, including liver, brain, colon, pancreatic, ovarian, and breast etc. Models have great metastatic potential have also been identified, enabling study metastatic mechanism and identifying agents to block the metastasis. A number of PDXs can grow in humanized mice (HuPrime® 3.0), where human immunity has been reconstituted in the immune-compromised mouse background (11) to facilitate immune-oncology research. Our large library of different disease panels are particularly useful in conducting mouse clinical trial (MCT of HuTrialTM) (2, 5, 12), which can be used to discover predictive biomarker (2, 5, 13) and guide clinical study design. Citation Format: Jie Cai, Dawei Chen, Rajendra Kumari, Sheng Guo, Jie Yang, Mengmeng Yang, Andrew McKenzie, Zhun Wang, Xuesong Huang, Xiaoyu An, Jinping Liu, Jean-Pierre Wery, Henry Li. Building comprehensive and fully annotated patient tumor derived xenogragft (PDX) library mirroring cancer patient population. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1472. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1472

Genetic structure of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) in the Old World reveals a strong differentiation between eastern and western populations

Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae) are of great economic and ecological value to the oasis agriculture of arid and semi-arid areas. However, despite the availability of a large date palm germplasm spreading from the Atlantic shores to Southern Asia, improvement of the species is being hampered by a lack of information on global genetic diversity and population structure. In order to contribute to the varietal improvement of date palms and to provide new insights on the influence of geographic origins and human activity on the genetic structure of the date palm, this study analysed the diversity of the species. Genetic diversity levels and population genetic structure were investigated through the genotyping of a collection of 295 date palm accessions ranging from Mauritania to Pakistan using a set of 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and a plastid minisatellite. Using a Bayesian clustering approach, the date palm genotypes can be structured into two different gene pools: the first, termed the Eastern pool, consists of accessions from Asia and Djibouti, whilst the second, termed the Western pool, consists of accessions from Africa. These results confirm the existence of two ancient gene pools that have contributed to the current date palm diversity. The presence of admixed genotypes is also noted, which points at gene flows between eastern and western origins, mostly from east to west, following a human-mediated diffusion of the species. This study assesses the distribution and level of genetic diversity of accessible date palm resources, provides new insights on the geographic origins and genetic history of the cultivated component of this species, and confirms the existence of at least two domestication origins. Furthermore, the strong genetic structure clearly established here is a prerequisite for any breeding programme exploiting the effective polymorphism related to each gene pool.

Identification of the notothenioid sister lineage illuminates the biogeographic history of an Antarctic adaptive radiation.

BackgroundAntarctic notothenioids are an impressive adaptive radiation. While they share recent common ancestry with several species-depauperate lineages that exhibit a relictual distribution in areas peripheral to the Southern Ocean, an understanding of their evolutionary origins and biogeographic history is limited as the sister lineage of notothenioids remains unidentified. The phylogenetic placement of notothenioids among major lineages of perciform fishes, which include sculpins, rockfishes, sticklebacks, eelpouts, scorpionfishes, perches, groupers and soapfishes, remains unresolved. We investigate the phylogenetic position of notothenioids using DNA sequences of 10 protein coding nuclear genes sampled from more than 650 percomorph species. The biogeographic history of notothenioids is reconstructed using a maximum likelihood method that integrates phylogenetic relationships, estimated divergence times, geographic distributions and paleogeographic history.ResultsPercophis brasiliensis is resolved, with strong node support, as the notothenioid sister lineage. The species is endemic to the subtropical and temperate Atlantic coast of southern South America. Biogeographic reconstructions imply the initial diversification of notothenioids involved the western portion of the East Gondwanan Weddellian Province. The geographic disjunctions among the major lineages of notothenioids show biogeographic and temporal correspondence with the fragmentation of East Gondwana.ConclusionsThe phylogenetic resolution of Percophis requires a change in the classification of percomorph fishes and provides evidence for a western Weddellian origin of notothenioids. The biogeographic reconstruction highlights the importance of the geographic and climatic isolation of Antarctica in driving the radiation of cold-adapted notothenioids.

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF CULTURAL PROCESSES IN THE FOREST-STEPPE OB BASIN DURING THE EARLY IRON AGE, BASED ON THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BYSTROVKA CEMETERY

In the last third of the 1st millennium BC, contacts between populations of northern and southern origin in the forest-steppe Ob Basin were quite intense. Over several decades, science-based dating methods such as dendrochronology and radiocarbon analysis have been used to reconstruct these processes. As a result, several key cemeteries (Kamenny Mys, Bystrovka-1–3) were shown to be rather early, implying that contacts of native tribes of the forest-steppe Ob with populations of western (Sargat) and northern (Kulai) origin during the Berezovka stage lasted longer than previously believed. They began no later than the early 3rd or even the late 4th century BC.

Genome-wide association analyses for meat quality traits in Chinese Erhualian pigs and a Western Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire) commercial population.

BackgroundUnderstanding the genetic mechanisms that underlie meat quality traits is essential to improve pork quality. To date, most quantitative trait loci (QTL) analyses have been performed on F2 crosses between outbred pig strains and have led to the identification of numerous QTL. However, because linkage disequilibrium is high in such crosses, QTL mapping precision is unsatisfactory and only a few QTL have been found to segregate within outbred strains, which limits their use to improve animal performance. To detect QTL in outbred pig populations of Chinese and Western origins, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for meat quality traits in Chinese purebred Erhualian pigs and a Western Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire) (DLY) commercial population.MethodsThree hundred and thirty six Chinese Erhualian and 610 DLY pigs were genotyped using the Illumina PorcineSNP60K Beadchip and evaluated for 20 meat quality traits. After quality control, 35 985 and 56 216 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were available for the Chinese Erhualian and DLY datasets, respectively, and were used to perform two separate GWAS. We also performed a meta-analysis that combined P-values and effects of 29 516 SNPs that were common to Erhualian, DLY, F2 and Sutai pig populations.ResultsWe detected 28 and nine suggestive SNPs that surpassed the significance level for meat quality in Erhualian and DLY pigs, respectively. Among these SNPs, ss131261254 on pig chromosome 4 (SSC4) was the most significant (P = 7.97E-09) and was associated with drip loss in Erhualian pigs. Our results suggested that at least two QTL on SSC12 and on SSC15 may have pleiotropic effects on several related traits. All the QTL that were detected by GWAS were population-specific, including 12 novel regions. However, the meta-analysis revealed seven novel QTL for meat characteristics, which suggests the existence of common underlying variants that may differ in frequency across populations. These QTL regions contain several relevant candidate genes.ConclusionsThese findings provide valuable insights into the molecular basis of convergent evolution of meat quality traits in Chinese and Western breeds that show divergent phenotypes. They may contribute to genetic improvement of purebreds for crossbred performance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12711-015-0120-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The universality of human rights and the UN human rights agenda: the impact of the shift of power to the East and the resurgence of the BRICS

A dominant common perception is that the UN agenda of human rights is of Western origin and that such Western countries deploy their intellectual capital and financial power to support human rights worldwide. There is fear that the perceived economic and corresponding potential political decline of the West will have a detrimental impact on the international human rights agenda. This article examines whether the UN human rights agenda is still a Western agenda. What do we mean by the ‘West’? What is the basis of the claim of the universality of human rights? What are the challenges and opportunities offered to the UN human rights agenda by the rise of multi-polarism or the resurgence of the BRICS countries in general and China and India in particular? This article argues that the rise of the BRICS countries in general and China in particular is likely to diminish the policing role of the West, but not undermine the essence of the ethos that lay behind the UN human rights agenda. The impetus to continue to promote the value of human rights everywhere is in principle secure, but making the protection of human rights a reality for hundreds of millions of people depends on the reform of the UN’s human rights system.

Narrative Structure of the Painted Cycle of a Hungarian Holy Ruler: The Legend of St. Ladislas

During the reign of Charles Robert, the first Angevin king of Hungary, the painted cycle of St. Ladislas (1077-1095) appeared in many parts of the Kingdom of Hungary. Recent research has brought to light a considerable number of previously unknown examples of wall paintings depicting the story of St. Ladislas, especially from the first half of the 14th century. As a result, some of our previous assumptions about the distribution of the cycle in Hungary as well as the date of key monuments have to be revised. The quick spread of the cycle throughout Hungary is likely due to the influence of the royal court, where the original painted story was most likely formed. The cycle is a continuous narrative, which is either reduced to the three central scenes of the story, or is presented in a fuller version of six or more scenes. Some other examples from the end of the 14th century present yet another type: a cycle more clearly divided into scenes with the introduction of frames. The paper analyzes the narrative structure of the painted cycles, focusing on the murals we can identify as the earliest surviving examples, from the first third of the 14th century. The western origins of the scenes and the entire narrative - especially mid-13th century models created in a Crusader spirit - are also demonstrated, and the role of the Neapolitan Angevin dynasty in the creation and spread of the cycle is proposed.

Epidemiology of Carbapenem Resistance among Multi-drug Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Uganda.

BackgroundMulti-drug resistant (MDR) Enterobacteriaceae are on the increase worldwide and their spread has become a global challenge. Escalating the challenge is the possibility that many of these are Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE). This further complicates patient management. The magnitude of MDR-CPE in many developed settings has been reported, however, there is paucity of data from resource limited settings. We evaluated the epidemiology of MDR-CPE of clinical origin in South Western Uganda.MethodsFrom September 2013 to June 2014, all Enterobacteriaceae isolated from diverse specimens obtained from patients attending Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, South-western Uganda, were screened for MDR in a laboratory-based cross sectional study. Isolates found to be MDR were screened for carbapenem susceptibility/resistance phenotypically by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method following CLSI guidelines and genetically using the multiplex real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).ResultsOf the 658 strains isolated, 183 (27.8%) were MDR and 68 (37.15%) of those MDR exhibited at least one form of carbapenem resistance with 23 (12.57%) and 56 (30.60%) isolates expressing phenotypic and genetic resistance, respectively. Eleven MDR-CPE (6.01%) isolates exhibited both phenotypic and genotypic resistance to carbapenems. Only blaVIM and blaOXA-48 genes were detected among the genetically resistant isolates.ConclusionThe high prevalence of MDR-CPE calls for aggressive infection control and prevention strategies, including reinforcement of hand hygiene, using contact precautions and early detection of CPE through use of targeted surveillance and molecular techniques in resource limited settings.