Two communities of Orang Asli (aborigines) in Peninsular Malaysia were observed for evidence of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi infection over periods of 1-8 mo. Sequential sera were examined for antibody by the indirect immunofluorescence test. The incidence of infection in the two self-selected populations in the two communities was calculated to be 3.9% per month and 3.2% per month.
Eleven pairs of schistosomes, indistinguishable from the classical Schistosoma japonicum, were found in a monkey (Macaca fascicularis) taken near Ranau in North Borneo. The new locality is within the recorded range of the species which extends from Japan, China, Taiwan, and Philippines through Southeast Asia to the Celebes.
812 West Malaysian Orang Asli belonging to four ethnic groups were surveyed for adenosine deaminase (ADA; EC 3.5.4.4) using starch gel electrophoresis. Only the common ADA1 and ADA2 alleles were found, with the frequencies of the latter being 0.025, 0.103, 0.115 and 0.028 in the Semai, Semelai, Temuan, and Jakun groups, respectively. A new 'breeding genetic distance' was applied to these gene frequencies and the Semelai and Temuan were found to be more closely related to each other, and to have considerably more evolutionary flexibility on this scale of 'micro-evolution' than the other two groups. The Semai and Jakun were more similar to each other on the basis of these ADA gene frequencies.
Most current models of human population structure view migration solely as a deterministic force reducing the variance in gene frequencies among the local colonies of a subdivided population. By an empirical example and through simulation experiments, it is shown that migration structured along kinship lines (by analogy to the lineal or 'kinship' effect) does not always reduce the variances of gene frequencies arising through intergenerational random genetic drift. Thus populations experiencing high rates of migration may not be genetically homogenous.
The first living patient with a Schistosoma japonicum-type infection who presented with the nephrotic syndrome is reported in detail. It is not clear whether the nephrotic syndrome was due to the schistosome infection or to the deposition of hepatitis B antigen and antibody complexes. This is the tenth case of schistosomiasis reported from aborigines in Malaysia and a sylvatic source of infection is suggested.
Previous reports of melioidosis in Sabah are reviewed and a detailed account of a case, presenting as prostatitis, in a 40-year-old British male is given. The history suggested that the organism, Pseudomonas pseudomallei, was transmitted by a fly which entered the eye. Diagnosis was delayed and treatment presented some difficulty, the organism being relatively insensitive to amplicillin and gentamicin. Co-trimoxazole was the most effective, followed by minocycline. Cure was eventually achieved and after four years the patient was fit and normal, except for sterility.
New data are presented concerning the relationship between NPC and HLA antigens among Chinese. When attention is confined to newly diagnosed cases, it can be shown that, apart from the increased risk associated with the joint occurrence of A2 and B-Sin 2, there is also an increased risk associated with BW17 and a decrease in risk associated with A11. Among long-term survivors, however, BW17 is appreciably decreased, whereas A2 in the absence of B-Sin 2 or BW17 is increased. Among Malays, a non-Chinese group, there is an excess among NPC patients of a locus A blank, a blank which is probably associated with the AW19 complex.
PIP: The goals of the Malaysian Family Planning Program are not only to reduce population growth from 3% to 2% by 1985 and to bring the crude birth rate to 28.2 from 30.3, but to generally improve the health of the family, and to enhance the government's efforts to raise the per capita income. The work program is divided into the Creative Unit, the Media Unit, the Production Unit, and the Field Diffusion Unit. The objectives are to build up strong support from political, community, and opinion leaders, and to run educational campaigns aimed at motivating potential acceptors. The program also runs centers training medical and paramedical personnel. The program is combined with development programs for women, especially useful among the rural population.
MeSH terms: Asia; Asia, Southeastern; Behavior; Community Health Workers*; Developing Countries; Economics*; Education; Family Planning Services; Goals*; Health Planning*; Malaysia; Mass Media; Motivation*; Organization and Administration; Population Control*; Psychology; Public Policy; Rural Population; Sex Education*; Socioeconomic Factors; Women's Rights*
The sequence of events leading up to the establishment of symbiotic nitrogen-fixation were studied in two tropical legumes, Centrosema pubescens Benth, and Vigna unguiculata L. Walp. Parameters measured included fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll and leghaemoglobin contents, as well as the activities of NADH-nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.1), and nitrogenase (nitric-oxide reductase-EC 1.7.99.2) in plants that were inoculated with suitable rhizobia or which were watered with potassium nitrate. Dry weight and photosynthetic activity of both species followed the sigmoidal pattern which is characteristic of most plants. Growth was little different in either a qualitative or quantitative sense whether nitrogen was supplied as nitrate or through dinitrogen fixation. Although the biochemical sequence of events was dependent on the limiting sensitivities of the individual assays used, the data suggest that nitrate reductase is the first measurable enzymatic activity in the nodules (and roots), followed by acetylene reduction and leghaemoglobin in that order. It is possible therefore, that low levels of symbiotic nitrogen fixation occur in the nodules in the absence of leghaemoglobin. Nitrate reductase activity in C. pubescens nodules was negatively exponentially correlated with nitrogenase activity of the same nodules, suggesting a changing metabolism in old nodules. These data are discussed in terms of environmental and physical factors known to control nitrogen fixation.
Three groups of people with different clinical histories and manifestations to house dust were skin tested with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus extracts. The results showed close correlation between positive skin tests and clinical sensitivity to dust. The correlation was not, however, perfect and, although D. pteronyssinus is a major factor in house dust allergy, it does not appear to be the sole antigen involved.
Data from Malaysia on the reproductive goals of husbands and wives are analyzed to determine level of agreement, using new scale measures on preferences for number and sex of children as well as the conventional measure of desired number of children. The level of agreement between husband and wife varies considerably depending on the focus of analysis and the measure of agreement used. Overall aggregate agreement of men and women is high but lower for subgroups of the population, particularly among various ethnic groups. For marital partners, the agreement is much lower, especially on sex preferences. The level observed depends on whether the measure is identity of responses or an index of homogeneity which allows for couple concordance based on chance or common socialization factors. The views about the reproductive goals of one marital partner cannot with confidence be assumed to represent the views of the other.
MeSH terms: Age Factors; Attitude*; Communication; Educational Status; Ethnic Groups; Family Planning Services*; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Marriage*; Occupations; Rural Population; Sex Factors; Urban Population
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Body Height*; Body Weight*; Child; China; Female; Finland; Great Britain; Humans; India; Malaysia; Male; Thailand; Turkey; United States; European Continental Ancestry Group; Asian Continental Ancestry Group*
Systematic surveys of the wild macaques of South Asia by blood culture resulted in the discovery that trypanosomiasis is enzootic in the simians of Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Thailand. The isolates obtained differ in morphology, metabolism, and ability to multiply in arthropods. Following this discovery, interest focused on possible transmissions of these trypanosomiases. Laboratory-reared and wild-caught insects were studied to determine which are satisfactory intermediate hosts and potential natural vectors. Successful results were obtained with insectary-reared reduviids and Indonesian isolates. In Rhodnius prolixus and Triatoma rubrofasciata the Indonesian trypanosomes multiply for periods which can exceed 40 days. The flagellate infections are in the digestive tract, whereas trypanosomes have never been seen in the salivary glands or in the hemolymph. The feces of trypanosome-carrying reduviids are infective, suggesting a stercoreal method of infection of mammals, and infection was produced in experiments in which feeding by the insects was not possible. The relevance of these findings to natural transmission in Indonesia is not known. Experiments with insects and all other trypanosomal isolates have been negative. The natural transmission mechanism(s) of the simian trypanosomiases in South Asia remains an unsolved problem.