A case of haemoglobin Bart's hydrops syndrome was characterised in a Greek family with a history of three other fetuses with hydrops. Family studies showed that both the mother and father carried alpha-thalassaemia genes, and globin-chain synthesis analysis of the present fetus showed a total absence of alpha-chain production. The haemoglobin composition of the fetus was similar to that seen in...

There is a profound ignorance in Australia about Islamic law. One of the major aims of the Australian Journal of Asian Law is to inform and to encourage debate. At a time when the distance between Islamic and secular traditions seems wider than at anytime in living memory, this special issue is our attempt to open serious debate among legal scholars about syarî’ah. We believe the initiative is ...

The clinical features of 23 cases of frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele are described in two South East Asian populations. The clinical, embryological, and epidemiological evidence may support an early teratogenic insult in the aetiology of this congenital defect. Frontoethmoidal meningoencephalocele (FEM) is a congenital abnormality involving the herniation of meninges and cerebral tissue th...

Recent scholarship has documented an alarming increase in the sex ratio at birth in parts of East Asia, South Asia and the South Caucuses. I argue that parents engage in sex selection because of patrilocal norms that dictate elderly coresidence between parents and sons. Sex ratios and coresidence rates are positively correlated when looking across countries, within countries across districts, a...

Most of our 10 countries are members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but some of them are still observers and there is one that is not yet involved in any capacity. The three main players that are members of the WTO and that are at the forefront of the issues of health and trade in the Region happen to be Indonesia, Thailand, and India. They have certain things in common in the health an...

A 29 year old Thai woman presented with non-specific features and examination revealed left upper zone consolidation and hepatosplenomegaly. The initial clinical differential diagnosis included tuberculosis and melioidosis. She died four days after admission, while still under investigation. Postmortem examination revealed antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus, disseminated Penicillium mar...

In 1988, the World Health Assembly resolved to interrupt wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission worldwide. By 2006, the annual number of WPV cases had decreased by more than 99%, and only four remaining countries had never interrupted WPV transmission: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan (1). The last confirmed WPV case in India occurred in January 2011 (2), leading the World Health Organizat...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Wild soybean (Glycine soja), a native species of East Asia, is the closest wild relative of the cultivated soybean (G. max) and supplies valuable genetic resources for cultivar breeding. Analyses of the genetic variation and population structure of wild soybean are fundamental for effective conservation studies and utilization of this valuable genetic resource. METHODS In ...

Asia with over half the population in the world has a thriving agriculture, a large part of which is devoted to pig production. The efficiency of production varies from country to country and is largely the legacy of whether the country relies on backyard farms using native breeds or intensive commercial farms using genetically improved breeds from Europe and North America. Reproductive efficie...