The dastan is ornate oral history and an important part of the Turkic literature of Central Asia. Traditionally, dastans have been repositories of ethnic identity and history, and some constitute nearly complete value systems for the peoples they embrace. The primary, or "mother," dastans are those composed to commemorate specific liberation struggles. [1] Set mostly in verse by an ozan, [2] mo...

2. EV71 is an emerging concern in South East Asia and the Western Pacific. Since 1997, several large regional epidemics of EV71 infection have occurred, the first being reported in Malaysia (Sarawak) in 1997, followed by outbreaks in Taiwan, Australia (Perth), and Singapore etc. While EV71 infection often presents with hand-footmouth syndrome, the infection is also associated with neurological ...

– Based on variation in 1094 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene among members of the genus Indotestudo from southern Asia (I. elongata), south-western India (I. travancorica), and eastern Indonesia (I. forstenii), I. travancorica is most similar genetically to I. elongata (3.7% divergence), and strongly divergent from I. forstenii (5.5 to 5.9%). Individuals of I. forstenii with and witho...

Deviacer guangxiensis Chen & Manchester sp. nov. is described based on asymmetric samaras from the Oligocene Ningming Formation in Guangxi, South China, representing the first documentation of Deviacer fossils in Asia. The Oligocene species, with relatively large fruits, represents the youngest record of the genus so far known; all other records are from the Paleocene and Eocene, or late Eocene...

BACKGROUND Although a previous study predicted that Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) originated in the Malaysia/Indonesia region, the virus is known to circulate mainly on the Asian continent. However, there are no reported systematic studies that adequately define how JEV then dispersed throughout Asia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In order to understand the mode of JEV dispersal througho...

The latest available data indicate that 38% of South Asia's children aged 0-59 months are stunted. Such high prevalence combined with the region's large child population explain why South Asia bears about 40% of the global burden of stunting. Recent analyses indicate that the poor diets of children in the first years of life, the poor nutrition of women before and during pregnancy and the preva...