Austro-Asiatic Tribes of Northeast India Provide Hitherto Missing Genetic Link between South and Southeast Asia

Northeast India, the only region which currently forms a land bridge between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, has been proposed as an important corridor for the initial peopling of East Asia. Given that the Austro-Asiatic linguistic family is considered to be the oldest and spoken by certain tribes in India, Northeast India and entire Southeast Asia, we expect that populations of this family from Northeast India should provide the signatures of genetic link between Indian and Southeast Asian populations. In order to test this hypothesis, we analyzed mtDNA and Y-Chromosome SNP and STR data of the eight groups of the Austro-Asiatic Khasi from Northeast India and the neighboring Garo and compared with that of other relevant Asian populations. The results suggest that the Austro-Asiatic Khasi tribes of Northeast India represent a genetic continuity between the populations of South and Southeast Asia, thereby advocating that northeast India could have been a major corridor for the movement of populations from India to East/Southeast Asia

Recent insights into targeting the IL-6 cytokine family in inflammatory diseases and cancer

The IL-6 family of cytokines consists of IL-6, IL-11, IL-27, IL-31, oncostatin M (OSM), leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophin 1 (CT-1) and cardiotrophin-like cytokine factor 1 (CLCF1). Membership of this cytokine family is defined by usage of common β-receptor signalling subunits, which activate various intracellular signalling pathways. Each IL-6 family member elicits responses essential to the physiological control of immune homeostasis, haematopoiesis, inflammation, development and metabolism. Accordingly, distortion of these cytokine activities often promotes chronic disease and cancer; the pathological importance of this is exemplified by the successful treatment of certain autoimmune conditions with drugs that target the IL-6 pathway. Here, we discuss the emerging roles for IL-6 family members in infection, chronic inflammation, autoimmunity and cancer and review therapeutic strategies designed to manipulate these cytokines in disease

Prevalence of Ingested Fish Hooks in Freshwater Turtles from Five Rivers in the Southeastern United States

<div><p>Freshwater turtles may ingest baited fish hooks because many are opportunistic scavengers. Although the ingestion of fish hooks is known to be a source of mortality in multiple vertebrate groups, the prevalence of hook ingestion by freshwater turtles has not been well studied. We trapped turtles from five rivers in the southeastern United States and used radiographs to examine over 600 individuals of four species. Depending on the species, sex, and age class, 0–33% of turtles contained ingested fish hooks. For some species, larger turtles were more likely to contain a fish hook than smaller individuals. Freshwater turtle demography suggests that even small increases in adult mortality may lead to population declines. If our study areas are representative of other aquatic systems that receive fishing pressure, this work likely identifies a potential conflict between a widespread, common recreational activity (i.e., fishing) and an imperiled taxonomic group.</p></div