700 resultados para Asia Pacific Studies


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Mode of access: Internet.

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Over the past 6 years, a number of zoonotic and vectorborne viral diseases have emerged in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Vectorborne disease agents discussed in this article include Japanese encephalitis, Barmah Forest, Ross River, and Chikungunya viruses. However, most emerging viruses have been zoonotic, with fruit bats, including flying fox species as the probable wildlife hosts, and these will be discussed as well. The first of these disease agents to emerge was Hendra virus, formerly called equine morbillivirus. This was followed by outbreaks caused by a rabies-related virus, Australian bat lyssavirus, and a virus associated with porcine stillbirths and malformations, Menangle virus. Nipah virus caused an outbreak of fatal pneumonia in pigs and encephalitis in humans in the Malay Peninsula. Most recently, Tioman virus has been isolated from flying foxes, but it has not yet been associated with animal or human disease. Of nonzoonotic viruses, the most important regionally have been enterovirus 71 and HIV.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

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Germanium (Ge) and Silicon (Si) exhibit similar geochemical behaviour in marine environments but are variably enriched in seafloor hydrothermal fluids relative to seawater. In this study, Ge isotope and Ge/Si ratio systematics were investigated in low temperature hydrothermal vents from Loihi Seamount (Pacific Ocean, 18°54’N, 155°15’W) and results were compared to high-temperature vents from the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 9°50’N. Loihi offers the opportunity to understand contrasting Ge and Si behaviour in low temperature seafloor hydrothermal systems characterized by abundant Fe oxyhydroxide deposition at the seafloor. The results show that both Ge/Si and δ74/70Ge in hydrothermal fluids are fractionated relative to the basaltic host rocks. The enrichment in Ge vs. Si relative to fresh basalts, together with Ge isotope fractionation (Δ74/70Ge fluid-basalt up to 1.15 ‰ at EPR 9°50’N and 1.64 ‰ at Loihi) are best explained by the precipitation of minerals (e.g. quartz and Fe-sulfides) during higher temperature seawater-rock reactions in the subsurface. The study of Fe-rich hydrothermal deposits at Loihi, largely composed of Fe-oxyhydroxides, shows that Ge isotopes are also fractionated upon mineral precipitation at the seafloor. We obtained an average Ge isotope fractionation factor between Fe-oxyhydroxide (ferrihydrite) and dissolved Ge in the fluid of -2.0 ± 0.6 ‰ (2sd), and a maximum value of -3.6 ± 0.6 ‰ (2sd), which is consistent with recent theoretical and experimental studies. The study of a hydrothermal chimney at Bio 9 vent at EPR 9°50’N also demonstrates that Ge isotopes are fractionated by approximately -5.6 ± 0.6 ‰ (2sd) during precipitation of metal sulfides under hydrothermal conditions. Using combined Ge/Si and estimated Ge isotope signatures of Ge sinks and sources in seawater, we propose a preliminary oceanic budget of Ge which reveals that an important sink, referred as the “missing Ge sink”, may correspond to Ge sequestration into authigenic Fe-oxyhydroxides in marine sediments. This study shows that combining Ge/Si and δ74/70Ge systematics provides a useful tool to trace hydrothermal Ge and Si sources in marine environments and to understand formation processes of seafloor hydrothermal deposits.

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The East Asian Monsoon (EAM) is an active component of the global climate system and has a profound social and economic impact in East Asia and its surrounding countries. Its impact on regional hydrological processes may influence society through industrial water supplies, food productivity and energy use. In order to predict future rates of climate change, reliable and accurate reconstructions of regional temperature and rainfall are required from all over the world to test climate models and better predict future climate variability. Hokkaido is a region which has limited palaeo-climate data and is sensitive to climate change. Instrumental data show that the climate in Hokkaido is influenced by the East Asian Monsoon (EAM), however, instrumental data is limited to the past ~150 years. Therefore down-core climate reconstructions, prior to instrumental records, are required to provide a better understanding of the long-term behaviour of the climate drivers (e.g. the EAM, Westerlies, and teleconnections) in this region. The present study develops multi-proxy reconstructions to determine past climatic and hydrologic variability in Japan over the past 1000 years and aid in understanding the effects of the EAM and the Westerlies independently and interactively. A 250-cm long sediment core from Lake Toyoni, Hokkaido was retrieved to investigate terrestrial and aquatic input, lake temperature and hydrological changes over the past 1000-years within Lake Toyoni and its catchment using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) data, alkenone palaeothermometry, the molecular and hydrogen isotopic composition of higher plant waxes (δD(HPW)). Here, we conducted the first survey for alkenone biomarkers in eight lakes in the Hokkaido, Japan. We detected the occurrence of alkenones within the sediments of Lake Toyoni. We present the first lacustrine alkenone record from Japan, including genetic analysis of the alkenone producer. C37 alkenone concentrations in surface sediments are 18µg C37 g−1 of dry sediment and the dominant alkenone is C37:4. 18S rDNA analysis revealed the presence of a single alkenone producer in Lake Toyoni and thus a single calibration is used for reconstructing lake temperature based on alkenone unsaturation patterns. Temperature reconstructions over the past 1000 years suggest that lake water temperatures varies between 8 and 19°C which is in line with water temperature changes observed in the modern Lake Toyoni. The alkenone-based temperature reconstruction provides evidence for the variability of the EAM over the past 1000 years. The δD(HPW) suggest that the large fluctuations (∼40‰) represent changes in temperature and source precipitation in this region, which is ultimately controlled by the EAM system and therefore a proxy for the EAM system. In order to complement the biomarker reconstructions, the XRF data strengthen the lake temperature and hydrological reconstructions by providing information on past productivity, which is controlled by the East Asian Summer monsoon (EASM) and wind input into Lake Toyoni, which is controlled by the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and the Westerlies. By combining the data generated from XRF, alkenone palaeothermometry and the δD(HPW) reconstructions, we provide valuable information on the EAM and the Westerlies, including; the timing of intensification and weakening, the teleconnections influencing them and the relationship between them. During the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), we find that the EASM dominated and the EAWM was suppressed, whereas, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), the influence of the EAWM dominated with time periods of increased EASM and Westerlies intensification. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) significantly influenced the EAM; a strong EASM occurred during El Niño conditions and a strong EAWM occurred during La Niña. The North Atlantic Oscillation, on the other hand, was a key driver of the Westerlies intensification; strengthening of the Westerlies during a positive NAO phase and weakening of the Westerlies during a negative NAO phase. A key finding from this study is that our data support an anti-phase relationship between the EASM and the EAWM (e.g. the intensification of the EASM and weakening of the EAWM and vice versa) and that the EAWM and the Westerlies vary independently from each other, rather than coincide as previously suggested in other studies.

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Leukemia incidence in children has increased worldwide in recent decades, particularly due to the rise in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Studies have associated exposure to non-ionizing radiation generated by low frequency magnetic fields with childhood leukemia. The current article reviews the case-control studies published on this subject. Of 152 articles tracked in different databases, ten studies from North America, Asia, and Europe met the defined selection criteria, with patients diagnosed from 1960 to 2004. Methodological limitations were observed in these articles, including difficulties with the procedures for assessing exposure. An association may exist between exposure to low frequency magnetic fields and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children, but this association is weak, preventing the observation of consistency in the findings. Future studies from a wider range of geographic regions should focus on the analysis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is the subtype with the greatest impact on the increasing overall incidence of childhood leukemia.