bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Statins increase the risk of prostate cancer: A population‐based case–control study
Authors: Chang Chih‐Ching , Ho Shu‐Chen , Chiu Hui‐Fen , Yang Chun‐Yuh
Published: April 2011

BACKGROUND

Experimental studies have shown that statins have potential protective effects against cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of statins was associated with prostate cancer risk.

METHODS

We conducted a population‐based case–control study in Taiwan. Data were retrospectively collected from the Taiwan National health Insurance Research Database. Cases consisted of all patients who were aged 50 years and older and had a first‐time diagnosis of prostate cancer for the period between 2005 and 2008. The controls were matched to cases by age, sex, and index date. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using multiple logistic regression.

RESULTS

We examined 388 prostate cancer cases and 1,552 controls. We found that ever‐use of any statin was associated with a significant increase in prostate cancer risk (OR = 1.55, 95%CI = 1.09–2.19). Compared with no use of statins, the adjusted ORs (95%CI) were 1.17 (0.60–2.28) for the group with cumulative dose ≤29.44 DDD, 1.59 (1.02–2.48) for the group with cumulative dose between 29.44 DDD and 321.33 DDD, and 1.86 (1.03–3.37) for the group with the highest cumulative dose (≥321.33 DDD). Also, there was a significant trend toward increasing prostate cancer risk with increasing cumulative dose (χ2 for linear trend = 7.23, P = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this case–control study suggest that statins may increase the risk of prostate cancer. Prostate 71:1818–1824, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Soyasapogenol B and trans‐22‐dehydrocam‐ pesterol from common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) root exudates stimulate broomrape seed germination
Authors: Evidente Antonio , Cimmino Alessio , Fernández‐Aparicio Mónica , Rubiales Diego , Andolfi Anna , Melck Dominique
Published: April 2011

BACKGROUND: Orobanche and Phelipanche species (the broomrapes) are root parasitic plants, some of which represent serious weed problems causing severe yield losses on important crops. Control strategies have largely focused on agronomic practices, resistant crop varieties and herbicides, albeit with marginal success. An alternative control method is the induction of suicidal seed germination with natural substances isolated from root exudates of host and non‐host plants.

RESULTS: Soyasapogenol B [olean‐12‐ene‐3,22,24‐triol(3β,4β,22β)] and trans‐22‐dehydrocampesterol [(ergosta‐5,22‐dien‐3‐ol, (3β,22E,24S)] were isolated from Vicia sativa root exudates. They were identified by comparing their spectroscopic and optical properties with those reported in the literature. Soyasapogenol B was very specific, stimulating the germination of O. minor seeds only, whereas trans‐22‐dehydrocampesterol stimulated P. aegyptiaca, O. crenata, O. foetida and O. minor.

CONCLUSION: Soyasapogenol B and trans‐22‐deydrocampesterol were isolated for the first time from Vicia sativa root exudates, and their biological activity as stimulants of Orobanche or Phelipanche sp. seed germination was reported. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry
Temporal dynamics of the arthropod community in pear orchards intercropped with aromatic plants
Authors: Beizhou Song , Jie Zhang , Jinghui Hu , Hongying Wu , Yun Kong , Yuncong Yao
Published: April 2011

BACKGROUND: Increasing attention has been paid to enhancing biological control through habitat management in agricultural systems for enhanced pest management. Pest management benefits can be realised by intercropping, which can increase natural enemy abundance and, in turn, reduce pest abundance. In this study, the composition and temporal dynamics of arthropod communities in pear orchards when intercropped with aromatic plants were investigated, and the effectiveness and applicability of aromatic plants as intercrops for enhancing insect control were assessed.

RESULTS: When compared with natural grasses or clean tillage, intercropping significantly reduced pest abundance and increased the ratio of natural enemies to pests. Intercropping also shortened the occurrence duration and depressed the incidence peak in annual dynamics curves of the pest subcommunity and the arthropod community, mainly because of the repellent effects of aromatic plants. Equally important, intercropping significantly reduced the numbers of major pests, such as Psylla chinensis, Aphis citricola and Pseudococcus comstocki, while their incidence period was delayed to varying degrees, and the numbers of their dominant natural enemies (Coccinella septempunctata, Phytoseiulus persimilis and Chrysoperla sinica) increased.

CONCLUSION: Intercropping with aromatic plants led to a considerable improvement in arthropod pest management by enhancing the activity of the beneficial arthropod community within the pear orchard ecosystem. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry
A Combination of Grape Extract, Green Tea Extract and l‐Carnitine Improves High‐fat Diet‐induced Obesity, Hyperlipidemia and Non‐alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Mice
Authors: Kang Jong Soon , Lee Won Kyung , Yoon Won Kee , Kim Nayang , Park Sang‐Ki , Park Hyoung Kook , Ly Sun Yung , Han Sang‐Bae , Yun Jieun , Lee Chang Woo , Lee Kiho , Lee Ki Hoon , Park Song‐Kyu , Kim Hwan Mook
Published: April 2011

To develop a therapeutic agent for obesity‐related metabolic disorders, a mixture of dietary components was prepared, including grape extract, green tea extract and l‐carnitine (RGTC), and its effects on obesity, hyperlipidemia and non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease examined. The RGTC dramatically inhibited the high‐fat diet (HFD)‐induced increase in body weight and fat in C57BL/6 mice, whereas food consumption was not affected by RGTC treatment. The RGTC also concentration‐dependently suppressed the HFD‐induced increase in plasma lipids, such as low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. In addition, increases in liver weight and liver steatosis were returned to normal by RGTC treatment in HFD‐fed C57BL/6 mice. The plasma levels of glutamic‐oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic‐pyruvic transaminase were also significantly down‐regulated by RGTC treatment. These results suggest that RGTC suppressed HFD‐induced obesity, hyperlipidemia and non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease, suggesting that RGTC supplementation might be a promising adjuvant therapy for the treatment of these metabolic disorders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Immunomodulatory Effects of Saffron: A Randomized Double‐Blind Placebo‐Controlled Clinical Trial
Authors: Kianbakht S. , Ghazavi A.
Published: April 2011

Saffron is the dried stigmata of the flowers of saffron (Crocus sativus L.). Saffron is rich in carotenoids and carotenoids affect immunity. Thus, in this randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled clinical trial with healthy men aged 21.4 ± 0.8 years (mean ± SE), the effects of taking one 100 mg saffron tablet daily for 6 weeks on the blood serum levels of IgG, IgM, IgA, C3 and C4 complements, counts and percentages of white blood cells, platelets, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes and monocytes, levels of some hematological parameters and levels of creatinine, SGOT and SGPT were evaluated in 45 subjects and compared with the placebo group (n = 44). After 3 weeks, saffron increased the IgG level and decreased the IgM level compared with the baseline and placebo (p < 0.01), decreased the percentage of basophils and the count of platelets compared with baseline, but increased the percentage of monocytes compared with placebo (p < 0.05). However, these parameters returned to the baseline levels after 6 weeks. Saffron did not have any significant effects on the other parameters. No adverse effects were reported. The results suggest that the sub‐chronic daily use of 100 mg saffron has temporary immunomodulatory activities without any adverse effects. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The angle of the near‐surface wind‐turning in weakly stable boundary layers
Authors: Grisogono Branko
Published: April 2011

The angle between the near‐surface and geostrophic wind vector, α0, is discussed in the light of existing and improved Ekman theory and, on the other hand, recently obtained numerical results corroborated by some experimental data, both obtained by other researchers. The latter results for weakly stably stratified boundary layers, also based on large‐eddy simulation (LES) data, give an angle that is about α0 ≈︁ 35°. If the Ekman theory is applied slightly above the horizontal surface z > 0, for almost any gradually varying eddy diffusivity K(z), which is more realistic than K = const used at z = 0 in the classic theory, a closer analytic value to α0 can be provided (32° to 37°) than that in the classic Ekman theory (45°). Alternatively, and without deploying the refined Ekman surface layer theory already suggested here, one may a priori use the previously confirmed result, α0 ≈︁ 35°, together with any smooth K(z) in order to find the corresponding surface layer depth. These results, bridging the gap between the existing theory toward fine numerical and limited experimental data, may aid further analyses of weakly stably stratified boundary layers. The information about the angle α0 should be considered in NWP, air‐pollution, wind‐energy and climate models; otherwise, many important boundary‐layer features will remain modelled inadequately. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
THE IMPORTANCE OF VARIABLE LATERAL CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN ARTIFICIAL FLOODPLAIN WATERBODIES AND RIVER CHANNELS
Authors: Bolland J. D. , Nunn A. D. , Lucas M. C. , Cowx I. G.
Published: April 2011

The rehabilitation of lowland rivers subjected to channelization and artificial levee construction should attempt to improve habitat heterogeneity and diversity of floodplain hydrological connectivity. However, rehabilitation efforts rarely consider the importance of variable lateral hydrological connectivity between floodplain waterbodies and main river channels (ranging from those permanently connected to those temporarily connected during river level rises), instead focusing on increasing individual floodplain waterbody connectivity. This study investigated the young‐of‐the‐year (YoY) fish communities in 10 artificial floodplain waterbodies of variable hydrological connectivity with the river Trent, England, between May and November 2006, inclusive. Floodplain waterbody connectivity to the main river was positively correlated with the number of species captured (alpha diversity), Shannon–Wiener diversity, Margalef's species richness index and the relative abundance of rheophilic species and negatively correlated with species turnover (beta diversity). YoY fish communities in poorly connected water bodies were most dissimilar to riverine communities. The results demonstrate the importance of variable lateral connectivity between artificial floodplain waterbodies and main river channels when rehabilitating lowland river fish communities. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
USING AN EXPERIMENTAL IN SITU FISHWAY TO PROVIDE KEY DESIGN CRITERIA FOR LATERAL FISH PASSAGE IN TROPICAL RIVERS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE MEKONG RIVER, CENTRAL LAO PDR
Authors: Baumgartner L. J. , Marsden T. , Singhanouvong D. , Phonekhampheng O. , Stuart I. G. , Thorncraft G.
Published: April 2011

Fish passage through an experimental vertical‐slot fishway was assessed at a floodplain regulator on the Mekong River in Central Laos between April and July 2009. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of fishway floor slope (1v:15h or 1v:7.5h) on fish passage success with a view to developing a series of optimal design criteria for the construction of vertical‐slot fishways at other barriers to fish passage in the Lower Mekong Basin. A total of 14 661 fish from 73 species were captured during the experiments. Catches were dominated by riverine (white) (n = 51; 69% of total) and floodplain (black) species (n = 15; 20%) which represented 19 families in total. The work demonstrated that fish were actively attempting upstream passage from the Mekong River to an adjacent floodplain and displayed strong migratory behaviour during river level rises. Migratory activity was greatest during sharp rises in water level but reduced substantially when river level fell. Fish community composition varied greatly among the two fishway floor slopes and the control group. More fish species were collected from control samples, but the most fish and species were collected when the fishway was configured on a moderate hydraulic slope (1v:15h). A range of size classes were also collected from control and moderate‐slope groups, but steeper‐gradient catches were dominated by larger fish. This study demonstrated that vertical‐slot fishways could provide passage for a biodiverse fish community where fish move laterally onto floodplains. The construction of fishways which consider the local fish ecology and hydrology may therefore represent a valuable management tool to help restore important movement pathways for tropical freshwater fish. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fluorescent nanoparticle probes for imaging of cancer
Authors: Santra Swadeshmukul , Malhotra Astha
Published: April 2011

Fluorescent nanoparticles (FNPs) have received immense popularity in cancer imaging in recent years because of their attractive optical properties. In comparison to traditional organic‐based fluorescent dyes and fluorescent proteins, FNPs offer much improved sensitivity and photostability. FNPs in certain size range have a strong tendency to enter and retain in solid tumor tissue with abnormal (leaky) vasculature—a phenomenon known as Enhanced Permeation and Retention (EPR) effect, advancing their use for in vivo tumor imaging. Furthermore, large surface area of FNPs and their usual core–shell structure offer a platform for designing and fabricating multimodal/multifunctional nanoparticles (MMNPs). For effective cancer imaging, often the optical imaging modality is integrated with other nonoptical‐based imaging modalities such as MRI, X‐ray, and PET, thus creating multimodal nanoparticle (NP)‐based imaging probes. Such multimodal NP probes can be further integrated with therapeutic drug as well as cancer targeting agent leading to multifunctional NPs. Biocompatibility of FNPs is an important criterion that must be seriously considered during FNP design. NP composition, size, and surface chemistry must be carefully selected to minimize potential toxicological consequences both in vitro and in vivo. In this article, we will mainly focus on three different types of FNPs: dye‐loaded NPs, quantum dots (Qdots), and phosphores; briefly highlighting their potential use in translational research. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2011 3 501–510 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.134

This article is categorized under:

Diagnostic Tools > In Vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging
Impact of Minimally Invasive Techniques in Colorectal Surgery
Authors: Young‐Fadok Tonia M.
Published: April 2011

Minimally invasive techniques have had a marked impact on colorectal surgery despite the limited adoption of such techniques. Patients stay in the hospital a shorter time, experience less pain, and have less chance of developing a wound infection, an incisional hernia, a bowel obstruction, or difficulty becoming pregnant. Training courses have undergone metamorphosis from ad hoc animate courses to highly defined educational opportunities, and fellowships have had to respond to the educational demands of trainees demanding to be exposed to minimally invasive techniques.
Frequency of Ectopic and Supernumerary Intrathymic Parathyroid Glands in Patients with Renal Hyperparathyroidism: Analysis of 461 Patients Undergoing Initial Parathyroidectomy with Bilateral Cervical Thymectomy
Authors: Schneider Ralph , Waldmann Jens , Ramaswamy Annette , Fernández Emilio Domínguez , Bartsch Detlef K. , Schlosser Katja
Published: April 2011

Background

The frequency of intrathymic parathyroid glands (IPGs) in patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for renal hyperparathyroidism (rHPT) varies considerably between 14.8% and 45.3%. Total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation and subtotal parathyroidectomy are the most accepted surgical procedures to treat patients with rHPT. However, routine bilateral cervical thymectomy (BCT) is still discussed, although controversially.

Methods

From a prospective database of patients who underwent parathyroid surgery for rHPT between 1975 and 2009, patients with routine BCT at initial PTX were further analyzed regarding the frequency of ectopic and supernumerary IPGs. Duration of hemodialysis and stage of chronic kidney disease were correlated with the frequency of supernumerary IPGs to elucidate a potential role of long‐standing proliferation stimuli to any surplus parathyroid tissue.

Results

Initial parathyroidectomy with BCT was performed in 461 patients. IPGs were resected in 205 of them (44.5%). They were ectopic in 181 (39.3%) and supernumerary in 30 patients (6.5%). The frequency of supernumerary IPGs in patients on permanent hemodialysis was 7.4% (29/392), 3.9% (1/26) in predialysis patients, and 0% (0/43) in patients after successful kidney transplantation. This differences reached no statistical significance.

Conclusions

BCT is essential in patients with fewer than four parathyroid glands identified at typical positions. Because of the low frequency of supernumerary IPGs and a suspected low proliferation stimulus, the relevance of BCT after resection of four glands in predialysis patients and those after successful kidney transplantation must be questioned. Nevertheless, routine BCT seems to be acceptable and can be recommended in patients on permanent hemodialysis not awaiting kidney transplantation until proven otherwise by prospective trials.
Genetic Testing and Parkinson Disease: Assessment of Patient Knowledge, Attitudes, and Interest
Authors: Falcone Dana Clay , Wood Elisabeth McCarty , Xie Sharon X. , Siderowf Andrew , Van Deerlin Vivianna M.
Published: April 2011

The most common genetic contributor to late‐onset Parkinson disease (PD) is the LRRK2 gene. In order to effectively integrate LRRK2 genetic testing into clinical practice, a strategy tailored to the PD population must be developed. We assessed 168 individuals with PD for baseline knowledge of genetics, perceived risk, and interest and opinions regarding genetic counseling and testing. Most participants felt that they were familiar with general genetics terms but overall knowledge levels were low, with an average score of 55%. The majority of participants thought it was likely they inherited a PD gene (72%), believed genetic testing for PD would be useful (86%), and were interested in genetic testing (59%) and genetic counseling (56%). However, only a few participants had heard of any genetic tests for PD (29%) or LRRK2 (10%). There appears to be a significant level of interest in genetics and genetic testing within the PD population, but a considerable deficit in genetics knowledge and an over‐estimation of risk. Genetic education and counseling tools to address these needs were developed to provide patients with the ability to make informed and knowledgeable genetic testing decisions.
Problems and Promises of Pietism Research
Authors: Strom Jonathan
Published: April 2011

Since 1970, when Church History last published a review of Pietist scholarship, there have been significant contributions to almost all areas of the field. Research on Pietism—once the distinct province of German church historians—has become increasingly international as well as interdisciplinary in scope as Germanists, musicologists, social historians, and historians of Christianity explore the influence of this movement in Europe and the New World. The yearbookPietismus und Neuzeit, the magisterial four volume handbookGeschichte des Pietismus, and the first International Pietism Congress in 2001 all testify to the vitality of current scholarship in this field. As much recent scholarship makes clear, Pietist research can contribute significantly to how historians understand the development of Christianity in the last three hundred years.
PREFACE: RELOCATING ARAB NATIONALISM
Authors: Wien Peter
Published: April 2011

“Relocating Arab Nationalism” locates various representations of nationalism in the Arab world in new and hitherto neglected contexts. The project was first conceived in a conversation among some of the contributing authors about the validity of nationalism as a research topic in a seemingly postnationalist period in the Middle East. This conversation turned into a panel at the 2007 MESA conference in Montreal as an attempt to contribute to a further shift of perspective in the study of Arab nationalism away from the realm of theory and politics toward that of cultural history. The articles in this volume therefore trace the contours of multiple imaginary Pan-Arab spaces between the Atlantic Ocean and the Tigris river, inquiring into the movements of people, terms, and ideas between physical locations and in time. The space is imagined but experienced; the people who moved in it were sometimes excited about its promises and sometimes disappointed about its corruption and containment. Such experiences are the focal points of the articles. They ask whether and in what ways a virtual Pan-Arab community transcending the borders of nation–states ever existed. They also present the multitude of national narratives that were at work—and more often than not in conflict—inside the boundaries of nation–states. The authors do not see Arab nationalism as first and foremost a political agenda of unification and cooperation but rather focus on the roots, establishment, and evolution of imaginative, symbolic, or “lived” ties between people(s) who claimed to belong to an Arab national community, or tried to claim space for dissident minorities through counterhegemonic narratives. Case studies from Algerian, Moroccan, Syro-Palestinian, and Iraqi contexts from the interwar to the postindependence periods investigate the ways these ties of community were established beyond the rhetoric of textbooks and political speeches.
Rethinking the Middle East and North Africa in the Cold War
Authors: Chamberlin Paul Thomas
Published: April 2011

The new Cold War history has begun to reshape the ways that international historians approach the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the post-1945 era. Rather than treating the region as exceptional, a number of scholars have sought to focus on the historical continuities and transnational connections between the Middle East and other areas of the Third World. This approach is based on the notion that the MENA region was enmeshed in the transnational webs of communication and exchange that characterized the post-1945 global system. Indeed, the region sat not only at the crossroads between Africa and the Eurasian landmass but also at the convergence of key global historical movements of the second half of the 20th century. Without denying cultural, social, and political elements that are indeed unique to the region, this scholarship has drawn attention to the continuities, connections, and parallels between the Middle Eastern experience and the wider world.
THEEFFENDIYYA: WHERE HAVE ALL THE WOMEN GONE?
Authors: Efrati Noga
Published: April 2011

In his “Note about the TermEffendiyyain the History of the Middle East” (International Journal of Middle East Studies41 [2009]: 535–39), Michael Eppel clarifies his own use ofeffendiyyain an article he wrote forIJMESin 1998. In the 1998 article, Eppel emphasized the value of studying theeffendiyya, or what he called the “Westernized middle stratum,” and its dominance in political life to better understand Hashimite Iraq (1921–58). Members of this group, he argued, benefited from modern education and donned Western dress. They were young state employees (officials, teachers, health workers, engineers, and, later, military officers) who adopted Arab nationalism and Pan-Arab ideology as a means to cope with their socioeconomic and political discontent. From the 1930s, Eppel noted, theeffendiyyacreated the radical political atmosphere that lent backing to the “militant-authoritarian trends” that led to the pro-German Rashid ʿAli coup and the war with Britain in 1941. After World War II, they joined with other nationalist forces to lead the 1948 Wathba (uprising) against prolonging the Anglo–Iraqi treaty. In 1958, the army officers among them overthrew the monarchy. This “middle stratum” differed from the Western concept of the “new middle class,” and the indigenous Arabic termeffendiyya, as employed by Eppel, endeavored to grasp the essence of this difference. It reflected a common experience that was the result of its members’ similar education, culture, and concerns rather than their economic status, social origins, and type of employment.
The Arian Context of Athanasius of Alexandria'sTomus ad AntiochenosVII
Authors: Pettersen Alvyn
Published: April 2011

In the last decade of the reign of Emperor Constantius (351–61), Christians in Antioch in Syria were still in a state of turmoil. This turmoil had ecclesiastical overtones, but was essentially doctrinal in origin. The doctrinal issues were of two kinds, one theological and the other Christological, the former centring around the relationship of the Son to the divine Father and the latter around the nature of Christ's humanity. Regarding the first there was a contest for supremacy between the theologies of the hard-line Nicene party, the successors of Bishop Eustathius, who supported the Nicene assertion of consubstantiality of Father and Son, the Meletians, who to all intents were Nicene, and the Arians under their bishop Eudoxius, who resisted the Nicene thinking. The Christological issue, a concern of Eustathius for some time, was given new impetus in Antioch by Eudoxius when he denied Christ's human soul. Meanwhile, in Laodicea, not far south of Antioch, Apollinarius was active. He was an orthodox Nicene trinitarian in his fight against the Arian theology of George of Laodicea.
The View from the Province. A Dilemma for Protestants in Germany, 1648–1918
Authors: Hope Nicholas
Published: April 2011

Uber dem Berg gibst auch Leute. This ultramontane remark made in 1742 by Christoph Matthäus Pfaff, professor of theology and chancellor of Tübingen University between 1720 and 1756, was intended to shake students out of their cosy, provincial and exclusive Lutheran theology. It was time, so Pfaff argued, they opened windows, put aside their arrogant hair-splitting about correct Lutheran doctrine, and looked at the wider Protestant world beyond Württemberg. Knowledge of the sources of the Christian Church, and of the customs and legal shape of Protestantism in Germany as it had developed since the Reformation, provided the only sure defence of the Protestant Church in an age when autocratic behaviour was fashionable with princes, and the temporal authority of Popes Clement xi and Clement XII was still an inescapable fact.
Recent and Prospective Population Trends in Malaysia
Authors: Jones Gavin W. , Tan P. C.
Published: April 2011

For many years now, the Malaysian government's population policy has included both a growth component and a distribution component. The growth component, adopted in the Second Malaysia Plan (1971–75) and still in force, was the goal of reducing the rate of population growth from 3 per cent to 2 per cent by 1985. The distribution component, first enunciated in a coherent way in the Mid-Term Review of the Second Malaysia Plan, is a strategy for regional development with direct population redistribution consequences. The Third Malaysia Plan (1976–80) elaborated the population situation and goals in greater detail but their broad thrust remained essentially unchanged. The Fourth Plan (1981–85), while maintaining the target of lowered growth rates, emphasized the quality of human resources and was sanguine about the prospects for economic development far outstripping the rate of population growth. Indeed, earlier concern with unemployment had been replaced by worries about the emergence of labour shortages.
Advocate and Partner: Missionaries and Modernization in Nan Province, Siam, 1895–1934
Authors: Swanson Herbert R.
Published: April 2011

John Fairbank wrote of China that “the missionary movement … was a profound stimulus to China's modernization”, and he cited missionary medical, educational, and humanitarian work, including extensive rural contacts, as the basis for his conclusion. And George Antonius in his classic study of Arab nationalism noted that in the Arab revival of the last century, the American Presbyterian Mission in Syria played an important role in the rebirth of Arab literature and education. The Presbyterian missionaries were one important source of the emergence of the Arabs into the modern world. A reading of Thai history suggests that the missionaries in Siam might well have had a similarly important impact. However, the role of the missionaries after the decades of the 1830s to the 1850s has been little studied and is hardly understood. This has been especially true because the historical study of Thai modernization has focused primarily on national policies and strategies where the missionaries had less influence after the reign of King Mongkut (1851–68).
The Development of Metallurgy in Southeast Asia: Another Reply to Loofs-Wissowa
Authors: Solheim Wilhelm G.
Published: April 2011

Considering the importance of the early dates for bronze working technology in Southeast Asia that several of us have been presenting in preliminary reports over the last fifteen years, it is somewhat surprising that there have not been more critical articles published concerning our evidence and interpretation thereof. The primary reason for this is no doubt because final reports of the pertinent sites presenting the relevant data in context have not yet appeared. The great majority of the interested archaeologists are simply awaiting the final site reports before they decide whether our interpretation is reasonable. We are sorry for the great delay in completing the final reports. Speaking of Non Nok Tha, the first site from which excavated data produced early dates for bronze working, the descriptive portion of the research has been completed, the analysis of the data has almost been completed (primarily by Donn Bayard), and it is hoped that the first volume of a two volume final report can be submitted to the press by the end of 1982. The second volume will be totally a data volume, probably published in microfiche.
The Development of Metallurgy in Southeast Asia: Reply to Bayard, Pisit, and Solheim
Authors: Loofs-Wissowa H.H.E.
Published: April 2011

When asking the Editor's approval for responding to the replies to my article it was only with the intention to rectify possible misunderstandings; little did I imagine what unpleasant an exercise this would have to be. For, the first impression I derived from reading these replies was that their impetuosity appears to be out of proportion with the relative mildness of my remarks, which are seen as “a most curious attack” by Bayard & Pisit and as “criticisms” by Solheim. In actual fact they were meant to be neither; but merely an exhortation to ask some questions, albeit maybe slightly embarrassing ones. Contrary to what my three colleagues seem to think, I have no axe to grind and no alternative model to propose, be it my own or that evolved by somebody else; this, I thought, was clearly apparent from my text.
Urban Development and Landownership in Butterworth, Malaysia
Authors: Lee Goh Ban , Evers Hans-Dieter
Published: April 2011

Butterworth in the state of Penang is becoming an important urban centre in Peninsular Malaysia. The rapid industrialization taking place within and just outside the city limits, the opening of its military airport to civilian traffic, and the extension of its harbour facilities for ocean-going vessels have all served to encourage further urban development. The considerably increased frequency of the car ferry service to Penang island (since 1975) is further evidence of the growing economic importance of the region and has led to a certain suburbanization of Butterworth in relation to Georgetown, where possibilities of areal extension are limited by lack of space on the mountainous island of Penang.
The Indonesian Army and Functional Groups, 1957–59
Authors: Cheong Yong Mun
Published: April 2011

After the abortive coup of 1965, the army-based government of General Suharto became firmly established in Indonesia. From that year till 1971, a marked feature of the “New Order” government of Suharto was the rapid growth of the Golkar, an army-controlled confederation of anti-communist organizations which was founded in 1964. The name “Golkar” is actually an acronym for Golongan Karya which can be translated as “functional groups”. In the 1971 general election, Golkar won 236 out of 360 seats in Parliament and 64-5 per cent of the popular vote. The huge gains made by Golkar gave the impression then that functional groups had come to stay as a major factor in Indonesian politics. Supported and sponsored by the army, with financial means, transportation and communications facilities at its disposal, the power of the functional groups seemed to overshadow the influence of the other political parties (e.g. Nahdatul Ulama, Partai Nasional Indonesia) that had until recently been the major organizations that dominated Indonesian politics.
The “Classical” in Southeast Asia: The Present in the Past
Authors: Aung-Thwin Michael
Published: April 2011

When historians refer to the “classical” period in Southeast Asia, they usually mean the era roughly between the ninth and fourteenth centuriesA.d.When they speak of the “classical” states, they are referring most often to the region's first great kingdoms — Pagan, Sukhothai, Angkor, Dai Viet, Srivijaya, and Majapahit — the civilizations that gave birth to many of the nations in Southeast Asia today. Yet, the very idea of a “classical” Southeast Asia has not been debated sufficiently in the literature.
Japan and Vietnam's Caodaists: A Wartime Relationship (1939–45)
Authors: My-Van Tran
Published: April 2011

The study describes an asymmetric relationship between Vietnamese Caodaists, followers of the Cao Dai religion, and the Japanese during World War Two. The Caodaists maintained a pro-Japanese stance throughout the occupation, based on their judgement that they could in this way advance the nationalist cause and achieve independence from French rule. The position of the Caodaists immediately after the end of World War Two was adversely affected as a result of their wartime collaboration.
Art Critics, Connoisseurs, and Collectors in the Southeast Asian Rain Forest: A Study in Cross-Cultural Art Theory
Authors: O'Connor Stanley J.
Published: April 2011

When Joseph Conrad sailed on theVidarfrom Singapore harbour tothe small coastal trading stations on the eastern coast of Borneo, the round trip took three weeks. The most difficult part of the journey occurred at the estuary of the Berau River where theVidarwould have run in, past the shifting bar and mud flats, and followed slowly up the mangrove-lined banks of the main branch to a settlement almost forty miles inland. It was here in 1887 that Conrad encountered the trader Charles Olmeyer whose existence in this remote place provided such an enduring focus for Conrad's imagination. In his first novel,Almayer's Folly, Conrad drew a portrait of Almayer (Olmeyer) as an exile, living on the banks of the Berau River in a sullen recoil both from the wilderness that gripped the settlement in its green immensity, and from the customs and values of those with whom he shared almost the entire course of his adult existence. Drawn to the outermost reaches of the earth by greed, Almayer's life, as conceived by Conrad, was the very symbol of rootlessness and alienation.
Towards the History of Malayan Society: Kuala Lumpur District, 1885–1912
Authors: Butcher J. G.
Published: April 2011

Colonial Malaya is one of the classic examples of a plural society. In Furnivall's memorable words, it was a society in which “each group holds its own religion, its own culture and language, its own ideas and ways”, a society made up of different groups “living side by side, but separately, within the same political unit”. It is perhaps because of this all-important characteristic that social historians have tended to focus on one or another of the groups in Malayan society. There have been excellent studies of the Malays, the Chinese, and the Indians, and more recently historians have begun to look at smaller groups such as the Europeans. These studies have tended to emphasize the political history of the various groups, the effects of British policies, the history of immigration, and (for the Chinese) the workings of secret societies, but some attention has also been paid to important social changes such as the emergence of new organizations and elites. A very rewarding field has been the history of Malay education, which has revealed the ways in which the different forms of education were responsible both for reinforcing traditional Malay social structure and for introducing change. Clearly, the study of particular ethnic groups has been extremely fruitful. And a great deal more remains to be done.
The Canning Mission to Burma of 1809/10
Authors: Ramachandra G.P.
Published: April 2011

The Canning mission of 1809/10 lacks a clearly defined central theme. John Canning was sent to Burma by the British Indian Government to secure Burmese acquiescence in the British blockade of the French Isles of Mauritius and Bourbon, the centres of French privateer activity in the Indian Ocean. While in Burma, however, Canning entered, without authority from his government, into an understanding with the Ein-gyi Paya, or Heir Apparent to the throne of Burma, by which the latter could appeal to the British upon the death of the King for military help against rivals who were expected to contend for the throne themselves. Two further issues arose: King Bodawpaya, Canning discovered, claimed the eastern portion of Bengal on the ground that in the past the area had been subject to Arakan, which still had a right over it that the Burmese had inherited after their conquest of that state in 1785. He also wanted direct relations with the King of England, on the ground that the Governor-General, having only delegated and not sovereign authority, was his inferior in rank. The King was also by this time very capricious and impulsive at times; he was capable of issuing rash, imperious orders, which would have serious consequences if as sometimes happened they were actually carried out. Traces of rashness and imperiousness seem to be present in his behaviour in 1810 even though his viewpoint on eastern Bengal and on sovereignty had nothing to do with peculiarities of temperament.
Cosmology and Ecology as Factors in Interpreting Early Thai Social Organization
Authors: Kirsch A. Thomas
Published: April 2011

Cosmology and ecology are two factors anthropologists have found valuable in investigating the social organization of historic and contemporary Southeast Asian societies. Although neither factor is explicitly prominent in the text examined here, I hope to show in my concluding remarks that both provide important contexts in which the text can be read. However, my initial task is to look at the “Judgments of King Mangrai” to see what clues it contains about early northern Thai social organization.
Toward a Paradigm for Paradox: Observations on the Study of Social Organization in Southeast Asia
Authors: Jamieson Neil L.
Published: April 2011

It is curious and probably quite significant that the nature of social organization in Southeast Asia has proven to be so elusive a quarry for several generations of academicians. Hundreds of thoughtful and scholarly books and articles have addressed this issue or some portion of it in one way or another, and yet our work remains on the whole strangely cautious. A sense of uneasiness hovers over our discussions. We reveal some discontent with both the textual and the conceptual underpinnings of our endeavors. To a greater or lesser extent we all appear to share David Wyatt's misgivings that we may “have it all wrong”. One might well ask why this should be so after all these years of effort.
The First Indian National Army, 1941–42
Authors: Toye Hugh
Published: April 2011

The impact of the conquering Japanese upon the Indian communities of Southeast Asia and upon the Indian soldiers captured there led, within a few months, to the formation of an Indian National Army intended to fight for the Independence of India alongside the Japanese, and to the establishment of an Indian Independence League embracing the civilian population of the whole area. The Japanese impact was harsh; the requirement from the conquered populations was total quiescence; military operations must not be hampered, Japanese needs for supplies and labour must be met without hesitation. Where this could be secured through an existing colonial administration as in Indochina, by enforcing the collaboration of a national government as in Thailand, or by playing on latent nationalism as in Burma, so much the better. Otherwise the method was terror: massacre, random execution, torture. It is the method of invading armies; it was the German method, the Russian method, the method of Genghiz Khan. That it wasemployed by the Japanese in the countries of Southeast Asia is basic to the history of the period.
Nineteenth-Century Vietnamese Confucianization in Historical Perspective: Evidence from the Palace Examinations (1463–1883)
Authors: Cooke Nola
Published: April 2011

This essay examines the common perception that the nineteenth century was the apogee of Neo-Confucianism in Vietnam by a comparative analysis of high examination passes from 1463 to 1883. Analysing the data generated reveals the nineteenth century as the historic nadir of the traditional examination system. The essay then relates this result to the politics of the time, and especially to the southern nature of the new regime.
The Russian Consulate in Singapore and British Expansion in Southeast Asia (1890–1905)
Authors: Snow Karen A.
Published: April 2011

The appointment of a Russian General-Consul, V. Vyvodtsev to Singapore in 1890 was reflective of the “Asiatic Mission” of the last Tsar of Imperial Russia, Nicholas II, and the direction of Russian imperialism in the Far East and its link to Russia's diplomatic presence in Southeast Asia. This article utilizes consulate materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy, Moscow as well as published primary materials, to discuss the specific nature of Russia's interests in Southeast Asia during this period.
The “Indianization” of Funan: An Economic History of Southeast Asia's First State
Authors: Hall Kenneth R.
Published: April 2011

Southeast Asia's strategic position in the major pre-modern international maritime route connecting East and West brought inevitable interaction between Southeast Asian peoples and foreign merchants. Initially, foreign merchants were concerned only with passing through Southeast Asia on their way to China or India. Southeast Asian coastal centres (entrepôts) facilitated this trade by providing suitable stopping places for sailors and traders; available to them were food, water, and shelter as well as storage facilities and market places for exchange. Soon, however, Southeast Asian merchants began to supplement demand for Eastern and Western products by substituting the products of the jungles of the Indonesian archipelago for those from other sources, and then built upon this initial incursion to market other indigenous forest products. Foreign demand for Southeast Asian products reached a peak when spices from Indonesia's eastern archipelago began to flow out of the Java Sea region to the international ports in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.
The Malayan Overseas Chinese and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1941
Authors: Leong Stephen
Published: April 2011

The origins of political consciousness and nationalism among the hua-ch'iao or overseas Chinese in Malaya occurred during the period 1895–1911, between the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Revolution. The major defeat suffered by China at the hands of Japan and the subsequent Reform Movement which arose in China awakened the overseas Chinese to the political situation in their homeland. The presence of reformist leader K'ang Yu-wei and revolutionary advocate Sun Yatsen and their colleagues in Malaya served to enhance hua-ch'iao concern for China. By the Revolution of 1911, nationalism among the Malayan Chinese had emerged.
Rice Exports: A New Dimension in China's Economic Relations with Southeast Asia
Authors: Wong John
Published: April 2011

China has long been the world's largest producer of rice, with an annual output regularly accounting for a third of the world's total rice production. In recent years, China has also risen to become the world's largest rice exporter, with a volume coming close to a third of the world's total exported rice. The bulk of the Chinese rice exports are destined for the rice-consuming Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. Among the five Southeast Asian countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, which today constitute the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), only Thailand produces a food surplus while the others have to import rice in amounts which, with the exception of the city-state Singapore, vary each year according to their domestic rice harvests.
The Holy Man in the History of Thailand and Laos
Authors: Wilson Constance M.
Published: April 2011

Holy men were respected leaders in early Thai and Lao society. As Thai society became more complex, traditional holy men disappeared, to be replaced by modern charismatic monks. But, in Southern Laos and the Khorat Plateau, holy men found a new role as leaders of protest movements.
“International Orphans” — The Chinese in Thailand During World War II
Authors: Reynolds E. Bruce
Published: April 2011

An examination of Japanese efforts to gain the cooperation of the intrinsically hostile, but economically vital Overseas Chinese community in Thailand, this article also focuses on the impact of the Japanese wartime presence on the troubled relationship between the Chinese and the Thai authorities, and the success of Chinese entrepreneurs in turning adversity to advantage.
Agricultural Expansion as a Tool of Population Redistribution in Southeast Asia
Authors: Koninck Rodolphe De , Déry Steve
Published: April 2011

Throughout history and throughout most major regions of the world, the expansion of agricultural land has served as a tool of population redistribution and has also played a key role in the formation and consolidation of States. This appears particularly true in twentieth-century Southeast Asia, as can be observed from case studies of the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand developed in this article, and may contribute to the originality and dynamism of State formation in the region.
The ‘Indianization’ of Southeast Asia: Reflections on the Prehistoric Sources
Authors: Mabbett I. W.
Published: April 2011

How did Indian influence spread in Southeast Asia during the opening centuries of our era? The following quotations give some idea of the extent to which authorities are agreed:

It seems almost to be a universal law, that when an inferior civilization comes into contact with a superior one, it gradually tends to be merged into the latter, the rate and extent of this process being determined solely by the capacity of the one to assimilate, and of the other to absorb. When the Hindus first settled in Suvarnabhumi and came into close association with her peoples, this process immediately set in, and produced the inevitable result.