The third epidemic, which began at the end of the 19th century in China and reached the rest of the world via Hong Kong, is still ongoing. This summer a man died from plague in the city of Yumen in northern China. 30,000 inhabitants were confined to isolation when parts of the city were locked down. There was a plague outbreak in November in Madagascar, both in the provinces and in the capital ...

A previously unknown radiation among flightless spring katydids (Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae: Brinckiella) in Western and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa is described. Seven species are described as new (B. aptera n. sp., B. arboricola n. sp., B. elegans n. sp., B. karooensis n. sp., B. mauerbergerorum n. sp., B. serricauda n. sp., and B. wilsoni n. sp.) and one species (B. viridis C...

Phyllocladus bilobatus, sp. nov., is described from three males taken in mountainous regions of western Hubei and northern Sichuan provinces in central China. All specimens were collected in mid-June at elevations ranging from 1950-2000 meters. Phyllocladus cinnabarus, sp. nov., is described from a single male collected in Jiangkou County, northeastern Guizhou province, south-central China. An ...

Molecular defects responsible for β-thalassemias (thal) were investigated among 254 chromosomes from 127 transfusion-dependent unrelated thalassemic patients from two provinces in Northern Iraq. Among fourteen identified mutations, the seven most common found in 88.2% of the thal chromosomes were: IVS-II-1 (G → A), IVS-I-1 (G → A), codon 8 (-AA), codon 39 (G → T), codon 8/9 (+G), codon 44 (-C),...

Towards understanding the molecular epidemiology of a severe dog rabies epidemic in the KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa, we analyzed a variable 592 nucleotide genome sequence domain of 170 rabies viruses from KwaZulu Natal and surrounding regions. Viruses from the KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape provinces belonged to a unique lineage, circulating as two independent and expanding epidemiol...

Artemisia species, which are medically beneficial, are widespread in temperate regions of both Northern and Southern hemispheres among which Iran is located. About 35 species of Artemisia are indigenous in Iran among them some are widespread in all or most provinces, yet some are restricted to some specific regions. In this review paper, initially, GC-Mass results of some experiments done in di...

A total of 1,136 samples from 289 households in four provinces in northern Laos were subjected to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and dengue virus hemagglutination inhibition (DENV HI). Overall, antibodies to JEV were detected by HI in 620 (54.6%) of 1,136 people; of which 217 (19.1%) had HI activity against JEV only. Antibodies to DENV4 were detected by HI in 526 (46.3%) of 1,136 people; of ...

This paper addresses the effects of economic transition policies on forestry in China. The effects of de-collectivization and market liberalization on the forest land area and timber harvest are studied using panel data from four provinces covering the period 1978]1995. Fixed effects ordinary least squares models for forest land cover and annual harvests per hectare are estimated, allowing for ...

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) has been documented in the Salta and Jujuy provinces of northern Argentina since 1991 and 1997, respectively, accounting for almost 50% of the cases of HPS reported in this country. Andes (AND) virus, specifically the AND virus Nort lineage, was previously associated with human disease in this region. Genetic analysis of viral medium RNA segments obtained fro...