The Cyana bianca (Walker, 1856) species-group is revised. Cyana bianca malayana Bucsek, 2012 is upgraded to the species level. A new species, C. indosinica Volynkin Černý, sp. nov. (China: Yunnan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) and a new subspecies, C. quadripartita vieta Volynkin Černý, ssp. nov. (Vietnam) are described.
The sarawakensis species group of the termitophilous carabid genus Orthogonius MacLeay, 1825 is defined and reviewed. Members of this species group are distributed in Southeast Asia and represented by four species, including two new species: Orthogonius sabahicus sp. n. (Sabah, northern Borneo, Malaysia) and Orthogonius morvanianus sp. n. (southern Thailand). A key to all species of the species group is also provided.
The dragon millipede genus Desmoxytes s.l. is split into five genera, based on morphological characters and preliminary molecular phylogenetic analyses. The present article includes a review of Desmoxytes s.s., while future articles will deal with Hylomus Cook and Loomis, 1924 and three new genera which preliminarily are referred to as the 'acantherpestes', 'gigas', and 'spiny' groups. Diagnostic morphological characters of each group are discussed. Hylomus is resurrected as a valid genus and the following 33 species are assigned to it: H. asper (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H. cattienensis (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H. cervarius (Attems, 1953), comb. n., H. cornutus (Zhang & Li, 1982), comb. n., H. draco Cook & Loomis, 1924, stat. rev., H. enghoffi (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H. eupterygotus (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n., H. getuhensis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H. grandis (Golovatch, VandenSpiegel & Semenyuk, 2016), comb. n., H. hostilis (Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994), comb. n., H. jeekeli (Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994), comb. n., H. lingulatus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H. laticollis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H. longispinus (Loksa, 1960), comb. n., H. lui (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n., H. minutuberculus (Zhang, 1986), comb. n., H. nodulosus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H. parvulus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2014), comb. n., H. phasmoides (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H. pilosus (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H. proximus (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H. rhinoceros (Likhitrakarn, Golovatch & Panha, 2015), comb. n., H. rhinoparvus (Likhitrakarn, Golovatch & Panha, 2015), comb. n., H. scolopendroides (Golovatch, Geoffroy & Mauriès, 2010), comb. n., H. scutigeroides (Golovatch, Geoffroy & Mauriès, 2010), comb. n., H. similis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H. simplex (Golovatch, VandenSpiegel & Semenyuk, 2016), comb. n., H. simplipodus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H. specialis (Nguyen, Golovatch & Anichkin, 2005), comb. n., H. spectabilis (Attems, 1937), comb. n., H. spinitergus (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n., H. spinissimus (Golovatch, Li, Liu & Geoffroy, 2012), comb. n. and H. variabilis (Liu, Golovatch & Tian, 2016), comb. n.Desmoxytes s.s. includes the following species: D. breviverpa Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D. cervina (Pocock,1895); D. delfae (Jeekel, 1964); D. des Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D. pinnasquali Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D. planata (Pocock, 1895); D. purpurosea Enghoff, Sutcharit & Panha, 2007; D. takensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, 2016; D. taurina (Pocock, 1895); D. terae (Jeekel, 1964), all of which are re-described based mainly on type material. Two new synonyms are proposed: Desmoxytes pterygota Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994, syn. n. (= Desmoxytes cervina (Pocock, 1895)), Desmoxytes rubra Golovatch & Enghoff, 1994, syn. n. (= Desmoxytes delfae (Jeekel, 1964)). Six new species are described from Thailand: D. aurata Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D. corythosaurus Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D. euros Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D. flabella Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D. golovatchi Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., D. octoconigera Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., as well as one from Malaysia: D. perakensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and one from Myanmar: D. waepyanensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. The species can mostly be easily distinguished by gonopod structure in combination with other external characters; some cases of particularly similar congeners are discussed. All species of Desmoxytes s.s. seem to be endemic to continental Southeast Asia (except the 'tramp' species D. planata). Some biological observations (relationship with mites, moulting) are recorded for the first time. Complete illustrations of external morphological characters, an identification key, and distribution maps of all species are provided.
Nine new species constituting the 'spiny' group of dragon millipedes are assigned to the new genus Spinaxytes Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, gen. n. Seven new species are described from Thailand: S.biloba Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. and S.palmata Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Surat Thani Province, S.hasta Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Chumphon Province, S.krabiensis Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. (type species) and S.sutchariti Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Krabi Province, S.uncus Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and S.macaca Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. from Phang Nga Province; as well as one from Malaysia, S.tortioverpa Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n., and one from Myanmar, S.efefi Srisonchai, Enghoff & Panha, sp. n. The new genus is endemic to South Myanmar, South Thailand, and Malaysia, and all new species are restricted to limestone habitats. All were exclusively found living on humid rock walls and/or inside small caves. Complete illustrations of external morphological characters, an identification key, and a distribution map are provided.
Six Oriental species of Evaza Walker, 1856 were described by J.C.H. de Meijere in the period between 1911 and 1924. The type specimens are now deposited in the Museum Naturalis (Leiden). All species were redescribed, photographed and their diagnostic characters were defined. Male terminalia of five species with known males were illustrated in detail. The revised species were compared with recently described new species from Oriental China. Additional material belonging to the revised species was recorded for the first time from the following countries: Evaza demeijerei Brunetti, 1923 (= E. pallipes de Meijere, 1916a) and E. discolor de Meijere, 1916a were found in Malaysia, E. javanensis de Meijere 1911 in Singapore, E. kerteszi de Meijere, 1914 in Laos and Malaysia and E. maculifera de Meijere, 1914 in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Lepidocephalus has been assumed to include only two species and confined to peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia. However, based on records and collections reported herein, the genus contains five species and is most common in the Chao Phraya basin of Thailand. Large rivers seem to be the preferred habitat, and difficulty in collecting these rivers may account for the paucity of specimens in collections. The known range of these five species includes western and southern Borneo, Java, Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia, and central Thailand.
BACKGROUND: Streptococcus suis (S.suis) is an emerging zoonosis disease with a high prevalence in Southeast Asia. There are over 1,500 cases reported globally in which majority of cases are from Thailand followed by Vietnam. The disease leads to meningitis in human with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) as the most common complication suffered by the patients. Early diagnosis and treatment is important to prevent severe neurological complication. In this study, we aim to develop an easy-to-use risk score to promote early diagnosis and detection of S.suis in patients who potentially develop hearing loss.
METHODS: Data from a retrospective review of 13-year S.suis patient records in a tertiary hospital in Chiang Mai, Northern, Thailand was obtained. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were employed to develop a predictive model. The clinical risk score was constructed from the coefficients of significant predictors. Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AuROC) was identified to verify the model discriminative performance. Bootstrap technique with 1000-fold bootstrapping was used for internal validation.
KEY RESULTS: Among 133 patients, the incidence of hearing loss was 31.6% (n = 42). Significant predictors for S. suis hearing loss were meningitis, raw pork consumption, and vertigo. The predictive score ranged from 0-4 and correctly classified 81.95% patients as being at risk of S.suis hearing loss. The model showed good power of prediction (AuROC: 0.859; 95%CI 0.785-0.933) and calibration (AuROC: 0.860; 95%CI 0.716-0.953).
CONCLUSIONS: To our best knowledge, this is the first risk scoring system development for S.suis hearing loss. We identified meningitis, raw pork consumption and vertigo as the main risk factors of S.suis hearing loss. Future studies are needed to optimize the developed scoring system and investigate its external validity before recommendation for use in clinical practice.
A new species of the rarely collected ant genus Platythyrea Roger, 1863 closely related to Platythyrea clypeata Forel, 1911 is described and illustrated based on the worker caste under the name Platythyrea janyaisp. n. This species is distributed in southern Thailand and western Malaysia, while P. clypeata is distributed in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand in the areas north of the Isthmus of Kra. Platythyrea clypeata is newly recorded from Thailand from dead wood on the forest floor. The type series of P. janyai was also collected from rotten wood on the forest floor.
This study is based on a survey conducted in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand on occupational injuries during the years 1975-1980. The number of work accidents have risen rapidly during this period in all of the 8 countries studied. In the case of Thailand, the total number of work injuries increased four fold from 1975-1978, whereas, in Singapore it has almost doubled in 6 years. The number of permanent disablement nearly trebled in Korea, and the Philippines for the year 1967-1980. The largest percentage of accidents are lost-time injuries in all of the 8 countries. Thailand had a three fold increase in lost-time injuries whilst in Hong Kong the figure doubled. Six out of the 8 countries indicated that the building construction industry had the largest number of fatal accidents, followed by the manufacturing industry.
A study on the distribution of malaria in Hulu Perak district, Peninsular Malaysia was carried out between January and December 1993. The study encompassed the distribution of malaria cases according to sex, age and profession. A total of 332 cases were recorded, with 182 cases occurring in males. The highest infection was observed in the above 15 years old age group. Forest workers (loggers, rattan collectors and forest product gatherers) were the group most exposed to the disease (32.8%), followed by both plantantion workers (32.2%) and aboriginal communities (32.2%). Army and police personnels (2.1%) were also infected. Plasmodium falciparum was the most common species of malaria in the area.
This review focuses on the studies and opinions around issues of transition from the BPharm to the PharmD degree in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and Thailand. The transition to the clinically orientated PharmD degree in many countries was seen to be a means of developing the profession. However, some countries have both clinically-oriented and pharmaceutical sciences-oriented PharmD programme that are designed to meet the needs of their countries. Each country created a different process to handle the transition to an all-PharmD programme, but mostly had the process of school accreditation mandated by the regulatory bodies. The main barrier to the transition in most of the countries was the issue of educational quality. A set of indicators is needed to measure and monitor the impact/outcome of the PharmD degree. Each country has different needs due to the different contexts of health care systems and the scope of pharmacy practice. In order to increase their chances of benefiting from the new programme, academic leaders should critically assess their countries' needs before deciding to adopt a PharmD programme.
The HLA-A*02 subtyping in Thais was conducted and included in the 12th International Histocompatibility Workshop (12WS). A total of 81 randomized individuals previously serologically or DNA typed as A2 were studied for A2 subtypings. The subjects consisted of 32 Southern Thai-Muslims (STM) and 49 Central Thais (CT). The 12WS HLA-A*02 subtyping DNA typing kit was employed. The most common A*02 subtypes in STM were A*0203,*0201 and *0207 while they were A*0203, *0207 and *0201 in CT. A*0202, *0204, *0208, *0209, *0212, *0213, *0214, *0215, *0216 and *0217 were not found in both STM and CT. The 12WS data indicated that A*0201 was also the most frequent allele of A*2 among North-East Asians. A2 subtype study in 32 STM revealed that 2 in 8 of A*0201 showed the absence of bands at 813 bp and 705 bp with primer mix number 03A and 517A and weak reaction band with primer mix number 33A. In addition, 3 subjects with A*0201 variations have one nucleotide difference in exon 2 by sequence base typing (by MGJ. Tilanus) which will be reported separately.
This study was undertaken to assess the levels of trace metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in two common species of cockles (Anadara granosa and Anadara inaequivalvis) from two coastal areas in Thailand (Pattani Bay) and Malaysia (the Setiu Wetlands). A total of 350 cockles were collected in February and September 2014. Trace metals were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. We observed that cockles in both areas had a higher accumulation of metals in September. Notably, the biota-sediment accumulation (BSAF) of Cd was highest in both areas. A strong positive correlation of Cd with the length of the cockles at Pattani Bay (r(2) = 0.597) and the Setiu Wetlands (r(2) = 0.675) was noted. It was suggested that As could be a limiting element (BSAF < 1) of cockles obtained from Pattani Bay. In comparison with the permissible limits set by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health and the Malaysia Food Regulations, mean values of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn were within acceptable limits, but the maximum values of Cd and Pb exceeded the limits for both areas. Regular monitoring of trace metals in cockles from both areas is suggested for more definitive contamination determination.
Two Gram-stain-negative, non-fermentative bacterial strains, designated 11-0202(T) and 11-0607, were isolated from soil in South Korea, and four others, LUH 13522, LUH 8638, LUH 10268 and LUH 10288, were isolated from a beet field in Germany, soil in the Netherlands, and sediment of integrated fish farms in Malaysia and Thailand, respectively. Based on 16S rRNA, rpoB and gyrB gene sequences, they are considered to represent a novel species of the genus Acinetobacter. Their 16S rRNA gene sequences showed greatest pairwise similarity to Acinetobacter beijerinckii NIPH 838(T) (97.9-98.4 %). They shared highest rpoB and gyrB gene sequence similarity with Acinetobacter johnsonii DSM 6963(T) and Acinetobacter bouvetii 4B02(T) (85.4-87.6 and 78.1-82.7 %, respectively). Strain 11-0202(T) displayed low DNA-DNA reassociation values (<40 %) with the most closely related species of the genus Acinetobacter. The six strains utilized azelate, 2,3-butanediol, ethanol and dl-lactate as sole carbon sources. Cellular fatty acid analyses showed similarities to profiles of related species of the genus Acinetobacter: summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c, C16 : 1ω6c; 24.3-27.2 %), C18 : 1ω9c (19.9-22.1 %), C16 : 0 (15.2-22.0 %) and C12 : 0 (9.2-14.2 %). On the basis of the current findings, it is concluded that the six strains represent a novel species, for which the name Acinetobacter kookii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 11-0202(T) ( = KCTC 32033(T) = JCM 18512(T)).
A 20-year-old, previously healthy woman, presented with high fever, headache and myalgia 3 days after her return from a holiday in Southeast Asia. Laboratory data on admission demonstrated a pronounced increase in plasma creatinine, marked thrombocytopenia and moderately elevated liver aminotransferases. After having ruled out malaria, dengue fever was primarily suspected and supportive intravenous fluid therapy was initiated. Still, 1 day after admission, platelet counts dropped even further and she became anuric although she did not appear hypovolemic. On day 2 after admission, urine production commenced spontaneously and the patient slowly recovered. All laboratory test results had returned to normal approximately 2 months later. Serological analysis for dengue fever was negative. It turned out that the patient had been trekking in the jungle while in Thailand and we, therefore, analyzed serology for Leptospira spirochetes which was clearly positive. The patient was diagnosed with leptospirosis which is a serious condition associated with a high mortality when complicated by acute renal failure. Differential diagnoses in patients with acute renal failure and tropical infections are reviewed. The importance of early recognition of leptospirosis, and prompt treatment with antibiotics in suspected cases, is emphasized.