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International audience; Vietnamese pottery appears to have been exported by the Indian Ocean Monsoon trade since medieval times. However, the number of identified Vietnamese stoneware/porcelain remains very small by comparison with Chinese productions (< 0.1%) and the question of mis-assignment remains open. In order to evaluate the potential of on-site identification, an assemblage of 13 ceramic shards recently excavated from the medieval port site of Qalhāt (Omani coast) assigned to Vietnamese and/or southern Chinese productions by using stylistic/visual criteria has been qualitatively analysed with a portable X-ray fluorescence instrument and a transportable Raman spectrometer and compared with data recorded on a large variety of reference shards excavated from different kiln places of the Hong River bank, Central Viet Nam, and from the Cù Lao Chàm shipwreck. In the glaze/body, the zirconium, rubidium and titanium contents allow distinguishing between Vietnamese and Chinese ancient/modern productions. The potassium vs. calcium glaze content is also very efficient for the differentiation between the Chinese and Vietnamese origins. Measurements confirm ∼80% of the assignments based on eyes examination. The manganese, Rare Earth and cobalt content also contribute to identify the production places. Comparison of the glaze sections and chemometrics are used for a final comparison of the production technology: slip, overglaze or underglaze décor, etc.

In this study, copy number variation (CNV) of NKG2C gene was investigated in 1129 normal, unrelated individuals representing two southern Chinese Han populations (Hunan Han and Guangdong Han), two northern Chinese populations (Inner Mongolia Han and Inner Mongolia Mongol) and one southeastern Chinese Han population (Fujian Han) using polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific priming (PCR-SSP) method. CNV of NKG2C gene did not vary significantly among the five Chinese populations, with NKG2C gene deletion showing a frequency ranging from 0.2031 to 0.2688. Compared with worldwide ethnic groups, very significant difference was observed between the five Chinese populations and the Mexican mestizos (all P corrected = 0.0025), and between the Fujian Han population and the German population ( P corrected = 0.005). We further examined CNV of NKG2C and HLA-E allelic distribution in 653 patients afflicted with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Hunan province. Neither CNV of NKG2C nor HLA-E was associated with NPC. There was a trend of reduced NPC risk in individuals who were homozygous for both HLA-E ∗ 01:03 and NKG2C deletion (0.46% vs. 2.51%, P = 0.0076, P corrected = 0.0684, OR (95% CI) = 0.1794 (0.0473–0.6809)). Taken together, our results suggest that NKG2C deletion and HLA-E signalling pathway does not play a major role in determining genetic susceptibility to NPC.

Urbanization is one of the important factors leading to the spread of dengue fever. Recently, some studies found that the road network as an urbanization factor affects the distribution and spread of dengue epidemic, but the study of relationship between the distribution of dengue epidemic and road network is limited, especially in highly urbanized areas. This study explores the temporal and spatial spread characteristics of dengue fever in the distribution of road network by observing a dengue epidemic in the southern Chinese cities. Geographic information technology is used to extract the spatial location of cases and explore the temporal and spatial changes of dengue epidemic and its spatial relationship with road network. The results showed that there was a significant "severe" period in the temporal change of dengue epidemic situation, and the cases were mainly concentrated in the vicinity of narrow roads, the spread of the epidemic mainly along the high-density road network area. These results show that high-density road network is an important factor to the direction and scale of dengue epidemic. This information may be helpful to the development of related epidemic prevention and control strategies.

PARP-1 (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1) plays an important role in tumorigenesis. Since its effects on different populations are varied, this study investigated the impact of PARP-1 on primary hepatocellular carcinoma in a Southern Chinese Zhuang population. We assessed the global PARP-1 messenger RNA expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma using The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset. Increased PARP-1 expression, related to alpha-fetoprotein level, was observed. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value was 0.833. Kaplan–Meier survival curves indicated that higher PARP-1 expression was not correlated with poorer overall survival and recurrence-free survival. In a Zhuang population, PARP-1 messenger RNA and protein levels were increased in the hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and its adjacent liver tissues as assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and western blotting. Higher PARP-1 level was associated with a higher tumor stage (p 0.05). Further analysis suggested that H2AX, a PARP-1 protein interaction partner, was coordinated with PARP-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis. Overall, some new characteristics of PARP-1 expression were noted in the Zhuang population. PARP-1 is a novel promising diagnostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma in the Southern Chinese Zhuang population.

Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) are often accompanied with varying degrees of renal diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify rs37369 polymorphism of AGXT2 specific to the renal function of CHF patients. A total of 1012 southern Chinese participants, including 487 CHF patients without history of renal diseases and 525 healthy volunteers, were recruited for this study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to determine the genotypes of AGXT2 rs37369 polymorphism. Levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) were detected to indicate the renal function of the participants. BUN level was significantly higher in CHF patients without history of renal diseases compared with healthy volunteers (p=0.000). And the similar result was also obtained for SCr (p=0.000). Besides, our results indicated that the level of BUN correlated significantly with SCr in both the CHF patients without renal diseases (r=0.4533, p0.0001) and volunteers (r=0.2489, p0.0001). Furthermore, we found that the AGXT2 rs37369 polymorphism could significantly affect the level of BUN in CHF patients without history of renal diseases (p=0.036, AA+AG vs GG). Patients with rs37369 GG genotype showed a significantly reduced level of BUN compared to those with the AA genotype (p=0.024), and the significant difference was still observed in the smokers of CHF patients without renal diseases (p=0.023). In conclusion, we found that CHF might induce the impairment of kidney and cause deterioration of renal function. AGXT2 rs37369 polymorphism might affect the renal function of CHF patients free from renal diseases, especially in patients with cigarette smoking.

Due to difficult access, the Southern Chinese Altai has so far been understudied, despite being a key region for understanding cultural transfers and the spread of ideas between East and West during the Eurasian Bronze and Iron Age. The Dzungaria Landscape Project in its first campaigns has set out to document the variety of archaeological monuments in the southern Chinese Altai by means of remote sensing and GPS-based intensive survey. It can be shown that the region experienced a peak in anthropogenic activity during the early and middle Iron Age which culturally ties in with the northern Russian Altai (Pazyryk culture) and later shifts towards strong influences from the Semirechye.

We sought to understand the clinical course and molecular defects of infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD) among mainland Chinese patients.Twenty-five Chinese patients with IOPD were enrolled and clinical data were retrospectively reviewed. The entire coding region of the GAA gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and analyzed by direct sequencing.The median age at symptom onset was 3.4 months (range: 1.0-7.1 months) and 4.9 months (range: 2.7-8.3 months) at diagnosis. Only one patient received enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and this child survived beyond the age of 2 years. Of the 24 patients not receiving ERT, all, but one patient, died at a median age of 8.3 months (range: 4.0-12.2 months). Thirteen novel and two common GAA mutations were identified in this study. The allelic frequency of c.2662G T (p.Glu888X) was 23.1% in northern Chinese patients and 4.2% in southern Chinese patients, whereas the allelic frequency of c.1935C A (p.Asp645Glu) was 20.8% in southern and 3.8% in northern Chinese patients.We identified the most common mutations in southern and northern Chinese patients with IOPD.

A growing number of Cambodian children without legal documentary evidence of date of birth are vulnerable to exploitation. This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of southern Chinese reference dataset for dental age estimation on Cambodian children and young adults of different socioeconomic status. Dental panoramic tomographs (DPT) of 371 Cambodian children and young adults belonging to lower and higher socioeconomic status (SES) groups were analyzed. All the left maxillary and mandibular permanent teeth including the third molars were scored based on Demirjian's classification of tooth development stages. Chronological age (CA) was calculated from the date of birth and date of exposure of radiograph. The mean age of attainment for each stage of development was obtained from the southern Chinese reference dataset. Dental age (DA) was calculated by averaging the mean age scores for all the teeth. Paired t-test and correlation analysis were conducted to measure associations between the chronological age and the dental age for males and females in the lower and higher socio-economic status groups. Underestimation of age was observed in both SES groups using the southern Chinese reference dataset. For the higher SES group, the difference between the chronological and dental age (CA-DA) was 0.26 years for females and 0.11 years for males. The difference was statistically significant only in females (p < 0.05). In the low SES group, the results showed a difference of 0.07 years in females and 0.01 years in males; the differences were not statistically significant in both sexes (p > 0.05). A strong correlation was observed between the CA and DA in both sex and SES groups ranging from 0.969 to 0.988 (p < 0.05). The southern Chinese dental reference dataset can be used to estimate the age of undocumented Cambodian male and female children and young adults of both higher and lower SES., Developmental Biology; Public Health; Dentistry; Evidence-Based Medicine; Radiology; Law; Forensics; age estimation; dental development; ethnicity; Cambodia

Eastern and Southern Chinese pigs have been imported to Western countries to improve economic traits including fertility in Western pig breeds by intensive selecting Chinese advantage genes. It was reported that the selected Asian-derived non-synonymous mutations including rs339939442 (G &gt, T) in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) gene could increase litter size in multiple European commercial lines. The objective of this study is to identify whether rs339939442 in the AHR gene is polymorphic and has an influence on the litter size in 10 pig populations including five Chinese indigenous breeds, one cultivated breed, one lean-type breed, two North American lean-type breeds, and one European lean-type breed. We found that rs339939442 had polymorphism in all 10 populations, whereas rs339939442 was associated with litter size only in French Yorkshire (FRA-Y) and Chinese cultivated Suhuai (SH) pigs containing approximately 75% British Yorkshire pigs ancestry. Our results indicated that rs339939442 in the AHR gene was a potential marker to improve litter size in European commercial lines and the pigs containing ancestries of European commercial lines, whereas this locus maybe not a causal mutation affecting the litter size but only in linkage disequilibrium with the causal mutation for litter size.

Droughts and floods are two longstanding and devastating climatic threats to mankind. They are challenging to predict mainly due to the significant spatial and temporal variations of precipitation. Using historical archives back from 1646 CE, here we present a high-resolution catchment level dataset of droughts and floods in the southern Chinese Loess Plateau (hereafter, CLP) within the middle reaches of River Jing. We have analysed the occurrences of floods and droughts based a specially-developed statistics from historical archives, as well as the daily rainfall from present-day observations within the catchment. Overall, our results show that the frequency of droughts and floods in the region is synchronous on decadal timescales with solar activities and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (hereafter, PDO) index, and they are also broadly in phase with changes in both global and regional reconstructed temperatures. At decadal to interannual timescales, PDO and El Nino and Southern Oscillation (hereafter, ENSO) drive an uneven distribution of precipitation in different seasons in the southern CLP, which could be one of the reasons for the strong association of floods and droughts with the PDO and ENSO signals in our catchment. If the global temperature continues to rise in the future, we expect that the risk of both droughts and floods in the study region will also increase.

Higham's paper calls for a consensus on the chronology of the Neolithic through to the Bronze period in mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), articulating a series of questions relating to human mobility, subsistence and socio-cultural organisation within this timeframe. Having worked in Vietnam for 20 years, and being very familiar with the ‘Vietnamese’ Neolithic, I must admit to having paid little attention to the so-called LCM (long chronology); this is because the chronology suggested by its (limited number of) proponents is simply inconsistent with what is known of the development of the Neolithic in Vietnam and the later emergence of bronze technology. In terms of the broader chronology of MSEA, my colleagues and I (e.g. Oxenham et al. 2015) have stressed the observation of a virtual eruption of Neolithic sites across the region c. 4000 BP, overlapping with the terminal phase of the southern Chinese Neolithic, which no doubt fuelled (in terms of genes and technology) the major transformations observed among its more southerly neighbours.

Ordovician graptolite-bearing strata in eastern Yunnan were deposited in nearshore, shallow-water environments. Graptolites are systematically described from three sections through the Hungshihyen Formation in eastern Yunnan Province, China: (1) Hongshiya section near Ercun village, Kunming; (2) Liujiang section, Luquan; and (3) Guihuaqing Reservoir section, Luquan. The graptolite fauna, characterized by the predominance of deflexed forms, includes ten species in two genera: Baltograptus turgidus (Lee), B. varicosus (Wang), B. yunnanensis (Li), B. calidus (Ni), B. enshiensis (Ni), Baltograptus sp. cf. B. deflexus (Elles & Wood), Baltograptus sp. cf. B. bolivianus (Finney & Branisa), Baltograptus sp. A, Baltograptus sp. B and Corymbograptus v-fractus minor (Li). A detailed morphological study of these southern Chinese graptolite faunas suggests that Baltograptus wudingensis (Li) is a junior synonym of B. turgidus (Lee); Baltograptus kunmingensis (Ni) is a junior synonym of B. varicosus (Wang); and Baltogra...

Freckle-like blemishes occurring on ripe papaya fruits especially in cold season and it affecting the appearance on fruits leads to lower marketable prices. This study investigated the effect of 2 kinds of bagging materials, Tyvek and 100 g cm-2 base weights non-woven materials, as a whole-cluster bagging to reduce the incidence of skin freckles on ‘Tainung No. 2’ papaya fruits in southern Chinese Taipei. Sixty-one days after bagging, bagging treatments significantly reduced freckle index (FI) on papaya fruits, and it worked well throughout the period of the experiment. In addition, whole-cluster bagging treatments increased lightness and chroma of fruits skin showing a more aesthetic appearance than non-bagging treatment. However, fruits of the non-woven material bagging treatment were lower in soluble solid contents than those of the non-bagging control fruits but there was no significant difference with Tyvek treatment compared to the control. The results indicated that bagging whole-cluster fruit in Tyvek significantly reduced the skin freckles on papaya fruits, and bagging fruit 61 days before harvesting was necessary during the cold season in southern Chinese Taipei.

Aim The aim of the present study was to investigate the success rate of various treatment modalities and complications associated with the occurrence and treatment of impacted mandibular permanent canines. Methods Seventy-four southern Chinese children and adolescents who received treatment for impacted mandibular canines over a 27-year period were included in the analysis. Treatment modalities and complications that had been recorded in the clinical and surgical notes and that could be diagnosed from the available radiographs were noted. Results The most commonly-performed treatment for the correction of an impacted mandibular canine was surgical removal of the impacted tooth (n = 59). In cases where surgical exposure of the impacted canine followed by bonding an attachment was performed (n = 7), the average time required for the canine to erupt postoperatively through the soft tissue was 12.2 months (±10.2 months). Lack of movement of the tooth after traction was the only complication reported in these patients (n = 3). The most frequently-reported postoperative sequela observed for all treatment modalities was swelling of the soft tissues around the surgical site (n = 6), and this was persistent even after 48 h. Conclusions The success rate after surgical intervention and orthodontic traction was 57.1%.

Aim The objective of the present study was to investigate the reliability and the validity of the Cantonese Chinese Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as a brief screening tool of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Southern Chinese older adults. Methods Cognitively normal, aMCI and AD Cantonese-speaking Chinese older adults were recruited from a memory clinic and the community. The English MoCA was translated into Cantonese Chinese and then back-translated. We then evaluated the content validity, reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the Chinese Cantonese MoCA. Results We recruited 115 cognitively normal controls, 87 aMCI and 64 AD patients. Only education was positively correlated with the Cantonese MoCA score (r = 0.46, P

To investigate the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in southern Chinese women.A case-control study was undertaken in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, between 2006 and 2008. Participants were 500 incident ovarian cancer patients and 500 hospital-based controls. Information on habitual fruit and vegetable consumption was obtained by face-to-face interview using a validated and reliable food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association between fruit and vegetable intakes and the ovarian cancer risk.The mean fruit and vegetable daily intakes of ovarian cancer patients (324.2g (SD 161.9) and 582.7 g (SD 250.2)) were significantly lower (p0.001) than those of controls (477.3g (SD 362.1) and 983.3g (SD 739.9)). The adjusted odds ratios were 0.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21 to 0.44) and 0.07 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.12) for more than 490 g of fruits and 970 g of vegetables per day, relative to at most 320 g and 690 g per day, respectively. With the exception of lycopene, substantial risk reductions were evident for a variety of nutrients derived from fruits and vegetables.Consumption of fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with the incidence of epithelial ovarian cancer in southern Chinese women.

Existing insights into the history of southeast Asian contacts with northern Australia prior to British colonization in 1788 are limited to Macassan visitors and the trepang industry beginning in the early 18th century and perhaps 16th century. Neither historical nor archaeological evidence indicate extension of such contacts to Torres Strait of northeast Australia. To shed further light on this issue, a collection of 16 Asian ceramic sherds surface collected and excavated recently from the islands of Pulu and Mabuyag in Torres Strait were compared to a large database of Southeast and East Asian stoneware jars that are well characterised, elementally, typologically and chronologically. This comparison matched a number of sherds with two jar types with likely production origins in Thailand and southern China. While the surface collected sherds from Pulu sourced to Thailand date probably to the 19th century, the small glazed sherd from Mabuyag island is typical of a southern Chinese decorated jar type dating to c. 1500–1600 C.E. This Chinese sherd is the earliest known Asian artefact in Australia and parallels recent archaeological evidence on the antiquity of contacts between Macassan trepangers and Aboriginal Australians. It is unknown if the Chinese sherd came ashore to Mabuyag through direct contact with Asian traders or from a nearby shipwreck through salvage.

Multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) is caused by the recessive mutations in any of ETFA, ETFB and ETFDH, respectively, encoding electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF)-α, ETF-β and ETF-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO), resulting in defects in the transfer of high-energy electrons from acyl-CoA dehydrogenases in mitochondria and leading to dysfunction of all ETF-dependent acyl-CoA dehydrogenases. MADD seems to be very rare, at least in the Japanese population, but not among the southern Chinese population because of the presence of the common c.250G>A (p.Ala84Thr) mutation in ETFDH, with an estimated carrier frequency of approximately 1%. This mutation was originally identified in MADD patients in Taiwan; but later, several reports of the same mutation, including those from southern China, ensued this. So far, this mutation has not been identified in any other population, except for only a few patients in northern China, probably as a result of migration. High-dose riboflavin supplementation therapy has been shown to be efficacious in MADD patients with certain ETFDH mutations, including p.Ala84Thr, suggesting that MADD in most southern Chinese patients might be treatable. Therefore, the possibility of MADD should be highly suspected in southern Chinese patients with relevant clinical manifestations.

A self-developed sewer health assessment system using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and analytical hierarchy process was applied to give a comprehensive health condition evaluation on part of the local sewers in a southern Chinese city based on the sewer video data collected by a sewer inspection closed circuit television (CCTV) robot. Aside from the overall condition evaluation, the structure, function, and stability status of the sewer were also analyzed using the method. A comprehensive index H was proposed to give the overall health condition of pipes with different defects, and H t , H s , and H f were used to quantify the defects affecting the tightness, stability, and function of the pipe, respectively. Results show that 48% of the inspected pipes were in good condition (0 0.5), although most of the pipes were installed only within five years. Frequent sedimentation affects the function of the sewer, and deformation and joint damage affect the structure of the sewer.

Estimation of stature from body parts plays a vital role in identifying the dead. This study focused on dimensions of the foramen magnum region and examined the relationship between stature and the dimensions of the foramen magnum region in northern and southern Chinese populations. Measurements were taken on the skulls of 276 individuals (all male). Data on 48 individuals from northern China and 140 from southern China were used for further stature reconstruction of the above two populations in China. Statistical analyses indicate that bilateral variation is insignificant for all measurements except maximum length of condyle in the southern Chinese population (p

Objectives This investigation aimed to evaluate the secular trend exhibited by developing permanent teeth in 5 to 6 years old southern Chinese children. Methods Four hundred radiographs of children born in the years 1981 (n=200) and 2001 (n=200) were randomly selected, and then age and gender matched. Maxillary and mandibular teeth on the left side were scored. The number of tooth developmental stages (n-tds) for each stage of development and total n-tds in crown and root development was calculated. Logistic regression, X2 test for occurrence of trend and Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate the variations in n-tds between crown and root maturation and also maturation among different teeth. Dental maturation between boys and girls was also compared. Results In the maxillary dentition, children born in 2001 showed advanced dental maturation (odds ratio, 1.29; P=0.001), and girls exhibited earlier maturation than boys (odds ratio, 1.43; P=0.001). In the mandibular dentition, no significant difference between the years was observed (odds ratio, 0.97; P=0.761), however, girls showed accelerated development than boys (odds ratio, 1.26; P=0.002). Variations in maturation were also observed between individual tooth in the same arch and between the arches. Conclusions Children born in 2001 demonstrated accelerated dental development only in the maxillary dentition. Girls born in 1981 and 2001 exhibited advanced maturation than boys. Variations in development among different teeth in the year groups indicate the need for inclusion of all developing teeth to establish a secular change. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 25:329–334, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Few studies on population-specific health effects of extreme temperature on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) deaths have been conducted in the subtropical and tropical climates of China. We examined the association between extreme temperature and CVD across four cities in China. We performed a two-stage analysis; we generated city-specific estimates using a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) and estimated the overall effects by conducting a meta-analysis. Heat thresholds of 29 °C, 29 °C, 29 °C, and 30 °C and cold thresholds of 6 °C, 10 °C, 14 °C, and 15 °C were observed in Hefei, Changsha, Nanning, and Haikou, respectively. The lag periods for heat-related CVD mortality were observed only for 0–2 days, while those of cold-related CVD mortality were observed for 10–15 days. The meta-analysis showed that a 1 °C increase above the city-specific heat threshold was associated with average overall CVD mortality increases of 4.6% (3.0%–6.2%), 6.4% (3.4%–9.4%), and 0.2% (−4.8%–5.2%) for all ages, ≥65 years, and

In this study, eight perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) and five thyroid hormones (TSH, FT4, FT3, TGAb, and TMAb) were determined in 202 human serum samples of the general population of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces in southern China. Σ8PFASs concentrations ranged from 0.85 to 24.3 ng/mL with a mean value of 4.66 ng/mL. The PFASs composition profiles of human serum samples nearly make no difference at different locations. A significant increase was observed for ∑8PFASs, PFOS, and PFHxS concentrations with age (p 8PFASs was 1.5 times greater in males (6.02 ng/mL) than in females (4.15 ng/mL). PFOS and ∑8PFASs were significantly negatively correlated with FT3 and FT4 and positively correlated with TSH while PFPeA and PFHxA were significantly positively correlated with TGAb and TMAb in all the samples. The opposite associations between FT3, TSH and PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS levels in hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism group indicate that the PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS enhance the negative feedback mechanisms of the thyroid gland.

The neutral theory has been used as a null model for interpreting nature and produced the Recent Out of Africa model of anatomically modern humans. Recent studies, however, have established that genetic diversities are mostly at maximum saturation levels maintained by selection, therefore challenging the explanatory power of the neutral theory and rendering the present molecular model of human origins untenable. Using improved methods and public data, we have revisited human evolution and found sharing of genetic variations among racial groups to be largely a result of parallel mutations rather than recent common ancestry and admixture as commonly assumed. We derived an age of 1.86-1.92 million years for the first split in modern human populations based on autosomal diversity data. We found evidence of modern Y and mtDNA originating in East Asia and dispersing via hybridization with archaic humans. Analyses of autosomes, Y and mtDNA all suggest that Denisovan and Neanderthal were archaic Africans with Eurasian admixtures and ancestors of South Asia Negritos and Aboriginal Australians. Verifying our model, we found more ancestry of Southern Chinese from Hunan in Africans relative to other East Asian groups examined. These results suggest multiregional evolution of autosomes and replacements of archaic Y and mtDNA by modern ones originating in East Asia, thereby leading to a coherent account of modern human origins.

Objective: To evaluate the severity of the dental arch relationships and the treatment outcomes of reverse headgear (RHG) in southern Chinese patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Design: A retrospective study. Setting: Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong. Patients: Thirty-eight UCLP patients with complete records. Among them, 14 were later treated with RHG (RHG group) and 24 were under review (non-RHG group) before definitive orthodontic or in conjunction with orthognathic surgery. Interventions: Study models at T1 (aged 9.4 ± 0.4 years old), prebone grafting and before any orthodontic treatment started; T2 (aged 11.3 ± 0.6 years old), after bone grafting, and RHG treatment (RHG group) or under review (non-RHG group); and T3 (aged 15.3 ± 3.2 years old), pretreatment of definitive orthodontic or in conjunction with orthognathic surgery. Main Outcome Measures: With satisfactory intra- and interexaminer agreement proven by the kappa value, the dental arch relationships of the study models at T1, T2, and T3 were assessed by a solo calibrated examiner using the GOSLON Yardstick. Results: The median GOSLON score for southern Chinese patients with UCLP at T1 was 4.0. Sixty percent of the patients were categorized as “poor” at T1. RHG significantly improved dental arch relationships from T1 to T2, and the improvement was maintained until T3 assessed by the GOSLON Yardstick. Conclusions: The dental arch relationships in southern Chinese UCLP patients at 8 to 10 years old are unfavorable. RHG treatment shows positive effects in improving the dental arch relationships in UCLP patients, as assessed by the GOSLON Yardstick.

KIR2DL1*030 differs from KIR2DL1*00302 by a single non-synonymous mutation in exon 4.

Hb Constant Spring [Hb CS, α142, Term→Gln, TAA>CAA (α2)] is a nondeletional form of α-thalassemia (α-thal) that is most prevalent in Southern Chinese and Southeast Asian populations. We previously found that Hb CS trait could efficiently be screened using Sebia Capillarys2. In this study, we report that Hb CS heterozygotes combined with β-thal could not be detected by the Sebia Capillarys2 method due to the very small amount of Hb CS.

Aim The incidence of impacted maxillary canines in Caucasians reportedly ranges from 1% to 3%. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and determine the characteristics of impacted maxillary canines in southern Chinese children and adolescents. Methods This retrospective audit involved 533 subjects with impacted maxillary canines that had been treated between February 1982 and February 2009. A customized data entry form was prepared to record and evaluate the status of impacted canines. Results The 533 subjects (327 females and 206 males) with impacted maxillary canines, who were identified from the population of 26 039 subjects, represented a prevalence of 2.1%. Four hundred and forty-two (82.9%) of these subjects had unilaterally impacted canines, while 91 (17.1%) of them had bilateral impactions. In 442 subjects with unilateral canine impactions, 220 (49.8%) were buccally placed, 194 (43.9%) were palatally placed, and 28 (6.3%) of the canines were found to lie within the arch. Conclusions The overall prevalence of impacted maxillary canines in this study of 2.1% was similar to the figures quoted for Caucasian populations. In subjects with unilateral impactions, buccally impacted canines demonstrated a slightly higher incidence (49.8%) compared to palatally impacted canines (43.9%).

While northern and southern Chinese are genetically correlated, there exists notable environmental differences in their living conditions. This study aimed to evaluate validity of the southern Chinese reference dataset for dental age estimation applied to northern Chinese. Dental panoramic tomographs of 437 northern Chinese aged 3 to 21 years were analysed. All the left maxillary and mandibular permanent teeth plus the 2 third molars on the right side were scored based on Demirjian’s classification of tooth development stages. Mean and standard error of dental age were obtained for each tooth development stage, followed by random effect meta-analysis for mean dental age estimation. Validity of the method was examined through measures of agreement (95% limits of agreement, standard error of measurement, and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient) and measure of reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient). On average, the estimated dental age overestimated chronological age by only around 1 month in both females and males. The Intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.99 for both sexes, suggesting excellent reliability of the method. Reference dataset for dental age estimation developed on the basis of southern Chinese was applicable for use among the northern Chinese.

Background Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure of children due to parental tobacco use is a particularly prevalent health issue and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Following the US Clinical Practice guidelines, pediatricians in the United States deliver 5A’s (ask, advise, assess, assist, and arrange) counseling to smoking parents which has proven to be effective. We examined Chinese pediatricians’ adherence to the clinical practice guidelines for smoking cessation (i.e. 5A’s counseling practices) with smoking parents, and identified factors associated with these practices. Methods A cross-sectional paper-and-pencil survey of pediatricians was conducted in twelve conveniently selected southern Chinese hospitals. Factors associated with any of the 5A’s smoking cessation counseling practices were identified by logistic regression. Results Of respondents (504/550), only 26 % routinely provided 5A’s smoking cessation counseling to smoking parents. More than 80 % of pediatricians didn’t receive formal training in smoking cessation and had not read China smoking cessation guidelines; 24 % reported being “very confident” in discussing smoking or SHS reduction with parents. Pediatricians who had never smoked (OR: 2.29, CI:1.02-5.12), received training in smoking cessation (OR: 2.50, CI:1.40-4.48), had read China smoking cessation guidelines (OR: 2.17, CI:1.10-4.26), and felt very (OR: 7.12, CI:2.45-20.70) or somewhat (OR: 3.05, CI:1.11-8.37) confident in delivering cessation counseling were more likely to practice 5A’s. Pediatricians who reported “it is hard to find a time to talk with parents” (OR: 0.32, CI: 0.11-0.92) or “lack of a standard of care requiring pediatricians to provide smoking cessation or SHS exposure reduction intervention” (OR: 0.45, CI: 0.21-0.98) as a barrier were less likely to follow the 5A’s guidelines. Conclusions Smoking cessation counseling to address parental smoking is infrequent among Chinese pediatricians. There is a need to develop and test intervention strategies to improve the delivery of 5A’s smoking cessation counseling to parental smokers.

The mausoleum complex of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC), is one of the most famous and important archaeological sites in China, yet questions remain as to how it was constructed and by whom. Here we present isotopic results of individuals from the Liyi (n = 146) and Shanren sites (n = 14), both associated with the mausoleum complex. Those buried at Liyi represent the local workers/inhabitants of the Qin population, and the δ13C (−8.7 ± 1.5%) and δ15N (10.3 ± 0.7%) values indicate that they consumed predominately millet and/or domestic animals fed millet. In contrast, the Shanren individuals were prisoners forced to construct the mausoleum (found buried haphazardly in a mass grave and some in iron leg shackles), and their δ13C (−15.4 ± 2.9%) and δ15N (8.0 ± 0.6%) results indicate a more mixed C3/C4 diet, with possibly less domestic animals and more wild game protein consumed. This pattern of decreased millet consumption is also characteristic of archaeological sites from southern China, and possible evidence the Shanren prisoners originated from this region (possibly the ancient Chu state located in modern day Hubei Province and parts of Hunan and Anhui Provinces). Further, this finding is in agreement with historical sources and is supported by previous ancient DNA evidence that the mausoleum workers had diverse origins, with many genetically related to southern Chinese groups.

The Indochinese to southern Chinese millipede genus Tylopus currently comprises 62 species, including eight new ones: T. flavolineatus sp. nov., T. hongkhraiensis sp. nov. from central and northern Thailand, respectively, T. moniliformis sp. nov., T. retusus sp. nov., T. acuminatus sp. nov., T. dorsalis sp. nov., T. thunghaihin sp. nov., all from Laos, and T. punctus sp. nov. from northern Myanmar. A new record of T. baenzigeri Golovatch & Enghoff, 1993, from northern Thailand is given. All these species are richly illustrated, and a modified key to all known species of the genus is also provided.

The X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) Thr241Met polymorphism (rs861539, C > T) has drawn wide attentions as its association with cancer risk and its involvement in DNA repair. Several studies have attempted to link rs861539 to nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) risk; however, the sample sizes of these studies are small and the results are controversial. To investigate the relationship of rs861539 and NPC susceptibility, we conducted a large-scale case-control study involving 4001 NPC cases and 2967 controls of southern Chinese. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant association for rs861539 and NPC risk under the recessive model (TT vs. CT + CC) with adjustment of age and gender (odds ratio, OR = 2.72; 95 % CI 1.10–6.72; P = 0.03). Further, meta-analysis involving 4457 NPC cases and 4132 controls from four studies showed consistent association of TT carriers and NPC risk (OR = 3.12; 95 % CI 1.58–6.13; P = 0.001). Taken together, our findings based on large-scale sample size suggested rs861539 at XRCC3 to be associated with NPC risk through recessive model.

The novel KIR2DL4*039 allele differs from the closest allele 2DL4*00602 by a single non-synonymous mutation.

The novel 2DL4*040 allele differs from the closest allele 2DL4*00102 by a missense mutation.

Dupuytren's contracture is a fibroproliferative disease of the palmar fascia producing fascial fibrosis in nodular or cord form, and results in flexion contracture of the involved fingers. In contrast to Western populations, Dupuytren's contracture, especially the severe form of the disease, is not common in Southern Chinese patients: there have been only scant reports from the Southern Chinese region. In addition, the natural history and surgical outcome may be different from those of Western patients. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of Southern Chinese patients with Dupuytren's contracture treated with partial fasciectomy through a Bruner's incision. Twenty-nine Chinese patients (45 fingers) with Dupuytren's contracture were reviewed retrospectively from 1999 to 2008. All patients underwent partial fasciectomy performed under general anaesthesia. The ranges of movement of the metacarpophalangeal (MCPJ) and proximal interphalangeal (PIPJ) joints were measured preoperatively and during follow-up to assess the degree of correction after surgery. A total of 34 out of 45 fingers (75.6%) and 30 out of 45 fingers (66.7%) had regained a full range of movement of the MCPJs and PIPJs, respectively. In addition, 26 out of 29 patients (89.6%) had an improvement in extension of their MCPJs, and 20 out of 29 patients (68.9%) showed a gain in extension of their PIPJs. One in 29 patients (3.4%) developed a wound infection and needed further surgery for debridement. One patient had recurrent PIPJ contracture after partial fasciectomy (3.4%). None of our patients had a neurovascular injury or wound healing problem. We conclude that partial fasciectomy with a Bruner's incision yields satisfactory results in Southern Chinese patients that are comparable to results from Western studies.

Background and Aims: Germline mutations in the two breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for a significant portion of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer. Most of the BRCA mutations reported in Southern Chinese patients were point mutations, small deletions, and insertions. The spectrum of large genomic rearrangement (LGR) is largely unknown. Here we perform the first study on the LGR of BRCA genes in a Hong Kong Chinese population. We aimed to determine the spectrum of BRCA LGRs in Southern Chinese patients with breast cancer. Methods: A total of 555 clinically high-risk breast and/or ovarian cancer patients were recruited from the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, diagnosed from March 2007 to November 2011. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) for detecting BRCA LGRs together with comprehensive BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene sequencing of all coding exons were performed. cDNA sequencing of the LGRs was performed to locate the breakpoint of the deletions. Results: Overall BRCA1/2 mutation prevalence among this cohort was 12.4% (69/555). Among the 69 mutations identified, 4 novel LGRs (2 in BRCA1 and 2 in BRCA2) were detected only by MLPA but not full gene sequencing. Overall the LGR genes accounted for 5.8% (4/69) of all BRCA mutations in our cohort, 6.9% (2/29) of all BRCA1 mutations and 5% (2/40) of all BRCA2 mutations. Conclusions: These findings highlight the LGR spectrum of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in Southern Chinese breast cancer patients. LGR testing together with BRCA1/2 full gene sequencing is superior to other methods for comprehensive BRCA1/2 analysis in clinical settings. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-11-02.

The assumption of rural industrialization is that as long as people can find a job with a reasonable pay in rural area, they will not immigrate into city. However, the labor market of rural industry is not competitive compared with urban labor market. What’s more, the regional discrimination has always been existed. Due to the vast rural population in China, it’s a good idea to urbanize rural area itself, however, it won’t be actual feasible without attracting people to live in. In China the situation is quite different from north to south. In northern China rural industries are seldom as competitive as southern Chinese rural industries. Southern China is the most developed region of China, Therefore its experience in rural industrialization may set up example for southern counties. This paper will discuss both the advantage and disadvantage of rural urbanization in China, by studying a specific case: Jiangyin, which is a fast developing rural area in Jiangsu Province.

It is generally perceived that patients with palatally impacted canines experience a delay in dental development, while patients with buccally impacted canines do not. Nevertheless, there is little scientific data on the subject, and no data at all on Chinese populations. The objectives of this study were, thus, to determine whether patients with impacted canines would demonstrate delayed dental development. Retrospective radiographic study. Dental hospital. Our study enrolled southern Chinese children and adolescents with unilaterally impacted maxillary canines. A total of 281 panoramic radiographs were available to assess dental age. Demirjian’s method was utilized to determine the dental age. The discrepancy between dental and chronologic ages was then calculated, revealing a mean difference of 0.4 years (± 0.2 years), indicating advanced dental development. The cumulative difference between dental age and chronologic age showed that 42.2% of the patients with a buccally impacted canine and 30% with a palatally impacted canine experienced a delay in dental development, or coincided with their chronologic age. Less than half of the patients with both buccally and palatally impacted canines showed delayed dental development. Their dental maturity was on average slightly but clinically insignificantly advanced.

In this study, we investigated the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I chain-related gene B (MICB) allelic variation by sequence-based typing (SBT) in 201 healthy, unrelated Han subjects from Hunan province, southern China. Eleven MICB alleles were observed, among which MICB ∗ 005:02 predominated with a frequency of 64.93%. Significant linkage disequilibrium (LD) was observed for 5 HLA-B-MICB and 6 MICA-MICB haplotypes. Compared with a northern Chinese Han population, several MICB-containing haplotypes appeared to be highly specific to this southern Chinese Han population. Two new MICB alleles, MICB ∗ 005:06 and MICB ∗ 026, were identified. Aligned with MICB ∗ 005:02, MICB ∗ 005:06 has a synonymous T replacement at nucleotide 762 in exon 4; MICB ∗ 026 has probably arisen from MICB ∗ 004:01 through a single nucleotide substitution from G to A at position 826 in exon 4, leading to an amino acid change from glutamic acid to lysine at codon 253. HLA-A ∗ 02-C ∗ 01-B ∗ 46-MICA ∗ 010-MICB ∗ 005:02-DRB1 ∗ 09 was the most prevalent six-locus haplotype with a frequency of 8.49%. HLA-A ∗ 30-C ∗ 06-B ∗ 13:02-MICA ∗ 008:01-MICB ∗ 005:02-DRB1 ∗ 07 appeared to be a conserved extended haplotype. Our results provide new information about MICB genetic polymorphism in Chinese Han populations, and will inform future studies of the potential role of MICB in allogeneic organ transplantation and disease susceptibility in related ethnic groups.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 11 loci that influence the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Given that these studies were conducted in European Caucasian populations, it is not clear whether the results are relevant for populations with different ethnicities. The aim of this study was to examine these associations in a southern Chinese population.Eleven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs12701937, rs16892766, rs7014346, rs6983267, rs719725, rs10795668, rs3802842, rs4444235, rs9929218, rs10411210, and rs961253, were genotyped in 229 CRC patients and 267 controls using the MassArray SNP genotyping system.Evidence of an association with CRC was found for four of the 11 loci. The strongest associations were with rs4444235 and rs961253, with significant odds ratios close to those reported in previous GWAS. Among these four loci, rs719725 and rs4444235 were significantly associated with female gender, rs3802842, rs961253, and rs4444235 with early disease onset, and rs3802842 with later disease onset. However, no associations with CRC risk were detected for six other loci (rs9929218, rs10411210, rs12701937, rs7014346, rs6983267, and rs10795668), and one SNP, rs16892766, was not polymorphic in any of the study participants.The rs4444235 and rs961253 loci are strongly associated with the risk of CRC in southern Chinese.

Since China is a leading market for a number of types of seafood, and much of this seafood is imported from other countries, Chinese consumption of seafood is an issue of vital importance to many of the world's fisheries. Focusing on luxury seafood, in particular bêche-de-mer, shark fin and live reef food fish, this paper firstly examines the links between Chinese consumption and species population trends in source countries. After a discussion of current efforts at conservation and management of these fisheries, the paper shows how the consumption of luxury seafood in contemporary China is intertwined with broader historical trends, including the expansion of Southern Chinese cuisine; cultural beliefs and traditions, in particular surrounding elements of traditional Chinese medicine; and most importantly, notions of social status and conspicuous consumption linked to the development of the Chinese economy and social stratification. The paper points to the role of the historical, cultural and social processes that underlie Chinese luxury seafood consumption, and to the need for greater levels of action among various actors to address this consumption if sustainability is to be achieved. © 2011 Foundation for Environmental Conservation.

We aimed at evaluating the relationship between lean mass and fat mass with age, menopausal age (MA) and years since menopause (YSM) and their effects on bone mineral density (BMD) at segmental regions in postmenopausal elderly women with and without osteoporosis. After using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) methodology to measure body composition and BMD at posteroanterior spine and hip in 244 postmenopausal elderly non-osteoporotic (Non-OP) women (65.5 ± 4.3 years) and 298 postmenopausal elderly osteoporotic (OP) women (67.1 ± 4.4 years), we found that in postmenopausal elderly Non-OP women, there was no correlation between lean mass with age, MA, and YSM, as well as no correlation between fat mass with age (all, p0.05); leg fat (LF) mass (r = 0.187; p0.01), whole body fat (WF) mass (r = 0.151; p0.05), and trunk fat (TRF) mass (r = 0.141; p0.05) were positively correlated with MA; LF (r = -0.131; p0.05) and WF (r = -0.127; p0.05) were negatively associated with YSM; WF and whole body lean (WL) mass were the most important body composition components influencing BMD at the third lumbar spine (L3), total first to fourth lumbar spine (L1-4) and hip, respectively; TRF was the most significant determinant of BMD at both L2 and L4. In postmenopausal elderly OP women, there was no relationship between body composition with MA (p0.05); Trunk lean (TRL) mass (r = -0.183; p0.05), leg lean (LL) mass (r = -0.136; p0.01), and WL mass (r = -0.162; p0.01) were negatively correlated with age; TRL mass (r = -0.132; p0.05), LL mass (r = -0.152; p0.01), WL mass (r = -0.170; p0.01) were also negative with YSM; WF was the most important factor influencing BMD at lumbar spine and hip. These data suggest in postmenopausal elderly Non-OP women, fat mass (TRF, LF, and WF) was more related with MA; WF and WL mass were the most important body composition components influencing BMD at L1-4 and hip, respectively; in postmenopausal elderly OP women, body composition was not correlated with MA; lean mass (TRL, LL, and WL) was more age-related negatively; WF mass was the most significant factor affecting BMD at lumbar spine and hip.

Preliminary results were determined for a database on 3-dimensional (3D) cephalometrics using McNamara's analysis in an adult southern Chinese population based on cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT). 3D dentoskeletal morphology was assessed from CBCTs from 80 (39 males; 41 females; 21-30 years) consecutive adult southern Chinese without gross craniofacial deformity or asymmetry, adopting 16 variables from McNamara's cephalometric method. For variables in relation to maxilla to cranial base, mandible to cranial base and dentition, there were no significant differences between males and females. For variables in relation to mandible to maxilla, 8 of 11 showed significant differences between males and females: Cd(L)-Gn (male: 127.65 mm; female: 119.56 mm, P < 0.01), Cd(R)-Gn (male: 127.85 mm; female: 119.94 mm, P < 0.01), Cd(L)-A (male: 99.38 mm; female: 94.18 mm, P < 0.01), Cd(R)-A (male: 93.93 mm; female: 94.99 mm, P < 0.01), MxMD-DF(L) (male: 28.26 min; female: 25.40 mm, P < 0.05), MxMD-DF(R) (male: 27.74 mm; female: 24.02 mm, P < 0.05), ANS-Me (male: 71.09 mm; female: 65.84 mm, P < 0.01), and MD-P(L) (male: 22.85 degrees; female: 25.25 degrees, P < 0.05). The method errors did not exceed 0.5 mm for any variables. A preliminary CBCT cephalometric database of the population was created. The significant sexual differences in the 3D McNamara's analysis indicate that gender specific data should be made available. The sample size should be increased to create a more representative database. Refereed/Peer-reviewed