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As one of the remaining species of Caprinae only found in Asia, serows (Capricornis) and their classification and conservation have received increasing attention in recent years. However, their evolutionary history and population dynamics are not yet clear. To shed light on these topics, we report the first near-complete ancient mitochondrial genomes from two serow sub-fossils (CADG839 and CADG946) dating to 8860 ± 30 years and 2450 ± 30 years, and incorporate the newly obtained mitogenomes into the dataset of living serows (18 complete mitochondrial genomes drawn from National Center for Biotechnology Information, NCBI) to investigate their relationships and evolution. Phylogenetic results support four clades of serows that can be further divided into five subclades, indicating higher genetic diversity than previously thought. Notably, our two ancient samples do not form a separate branch but belong to Capricornis sumatraensis clade A together with modern individuals, which suggests genetic continuity between ancient and modern serows. Furthermore, our results suggest that the maternal divergences of serows occurred at the beginning of the Pleistocene. Bayesian estimation indicates that the first divergence among all serows happened approximately 2.37 Ma (95% highest posterior density, HPD: 2.74–2.02 Ma) when Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) appeared, while the last divergence occurred within the Sumatran serow (C. sumatraensis clade A and B) around 0.37–0.25 Ma. Additionally, we found the effective maternal population size of C. sumatraensis increased around 225–160 and 90–50 ka, then remained stable since 50 ka. Overall, our study provides new insights into serow phylogeny and evolutionary history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerated global warming in the late 20th century led to frequent forest-decline events in the Northern Hemisphere and increased the complexity of the relationships between tree growth and climate factors. However, few studies have explored the heterogeneity of responses of tree growth to climate factors in different regions of the Northern Hemisphere before and after accelerated warming. In this study, a total of 229 temperature-sensitive tree-ring width chronologies from nine regions on three continents in the Northern Hemisphere were used in the data analysis performed herein. A bootstrapped correlation analysis method was used to investigate whether the tree growth-climate response changed significantly in different regions between the periods before and after rapid warming. Probability density functions and piecewise linear fitting were used to study the fluctuation characteristics of the tree-ring width indices before and after rapid warming. At the end of the 20th century (from 1977 to 2000), rapid warming significantly promoted the radial growth of trees in different regions of the Northern Hemisphere, but tree radial growth was heterogeneous among the different regions from 1950 to 2000. After 1976, except in central North America and northern Europe, the correlation between tree growth and temperature increased significantly in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Asia. From 1977 to 2000, tree-ring index and temperature divergences were observed in nine regions with a divergence of 2–5 years. From 1950 to 2000, tree growth tracked better average temperature variability in the Northern Hemisphere than regional temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we respond to the calls for context-specific scholarship and research on human resource management (HRM) in Asia. We provide an overview of and key insights into HRM in five Asian countries, representing five key regions: China (East Asia), India (South Asia), Kazakhstan (Central Asia), United Arab Emirates (West Asia), and Vietnam (Southeast Asia). Based on our comprehensive, pan-Asian review, we develop a reflective, comparative, and relational understanding of HRM practices. In doing so, we group the myriad contextual influences on the shaping of HRM practices at three broad levels: macro-, meso-, and microlevel influences. Specifically, we propose that influences from regionalization of economies, national business systems, industry, multinational enterprises, and individual-level predispositions collectively shape and variously influence the nature and extent of HRM practices. By considering the findings of prior research on convergence and divergence, we offer a nuanced perspective wherein each country and region in Asia possesses a distinct amalgam of national business systems, and where HRM practices respond to multilevel influences in varied ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists have long been captivated by biogeographic disjunctions, and disjunctions between East Asia and North America have been particularly well-studied at the genus and family levels. By contrast, disjunctions between eastern and western Asia have received less attention. Euonymus L. is taxonomically divided into two sections based on the number of cells in anthers as follows: E. sect. Uniloculares has one-celled anthers and occurs mainly in Asia, whereas E. sect. Biloculares has two-celled anthers and is distributed globally. We used Illumina sequencing to investigate the genomes of four species in sect. Uniloculares. The chloroplast (cp) genomes are highly conserved (157,290–158,094 bp). Pseudogenisation of ndh F and intron loss in rps 16 was detected. Based on the cp genomes of the four species of E. sect. Uniloculares , we propose a novel hypothesis of disjunction between eastern and western Asia. Biogeographic reconstruction and molecular dating revealed that sect. Uniloculares separated from its sect. Biloculares forebears 4.0 Mya during the Pliocene era. The radial diversification of sect. Uniloculares from East Asia and the establishment of the western Asian clade during the Pleistocene era (1.9 Mya) were the results of both dispersal and vicariance, making the section the youngest diverged clade conforming to age estimation. The centre of origin of sect. Uniloculares was determined to be in East Asia. Disjunctions and diversification between eastern and western Asia in sect. Uniloculares are thought to have been caused by changes in monsoon patterns, temperature variations, and the emergence of the Gobi Desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the growth and regional disparity scenario that the Asian economies have been facing in the contemporary period. It attempts to investigate whether or not there exists income convergence across Asian economies over the period of 1990 to 2017 and also identifies the potential determinants. It empirically investigates the role of per capita income levels for the Asian countries with the help of β-convergence, σ-convergence and club convergence estimation methods. Using a panel data framework, this article investigates the possible determinants of the conditional convergence by undertaking the problem of endogeneity through different econometric models. The results confirm that the income gap among the countries appears to decline over time and there is a possibility of having unconditional convergence in the long run. The analysis supports the view of trade liberalization and recommends investing in the human capital and infrastructure to narrow down the regional disparity in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For sustaining ecosystem functions and services, environmental conservation strategies increasingly target to maintain the multiple facets of biodiversity, such as functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD), not just taxonomic diversity (TD). However, spatial mismatches among these components of biodiversity can impose challenges for conservation decisions. Hence, understanding the drivers of biodiversity is critical. Here, we investigated the global distribution patterns of TD, FD, and PD of breeding Anatidae. Using null models, we clarified the relative importance of mechanisms that influence Anatidae community. We also developed random forest models to evaluate the effects of environmental variables on the Anatidae TD, FD, and PD. Our results showed that geographical variation in Anatidae diversity is hemispheric rather than latitudinal. In the species‐rich Northern Hemisphere (NH), the three diversity indices decreased with latitude within the tropical zone of the NH, but increased in the temperate zone reaching a peak at 44.5–70.0°N, where functional and phylogenetic clustering was a predominant feature. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH), Anatidae diversity increased poleward and a tendency to overdispersion was common. In NH, productivity seasonality and temperature in the coldest quarter were the most important variables. Productivity seasonality was also the most influential predictor of SH Anatidae diversity, along with peak productivity. These findings suggested that seasonality and productivity, both consistent with the energy‐diversity hypothesis, interact with the varying histories to shape the contrasting hemispheric patterns of Anatidae diversity. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) and FD underdispersion, widespread across the species‐rich, seasonally productive mid‐to‐high latitudes of the NH, reflects a rapid evolutionary radiation and resorting associated with Pleistocene cycles of glaciation. The SH continents (and southern Asia) are characterized by a widespread tendency toward PD and FD overdispersion, with their generally species‐poor communities comprising proportionately more older lineages in thermally more stable but less predictably productive environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous biogeographic studies have suggested that geographic isolations triggered by Quaternary climatic changes could have contributed greatly to the high species diversity of eastern Asia. However, little is known about how speciation proceeded during the evolutionary divergence of sister species in this region. In this study, we examined genomic divergence and investigated the speciation process of the two species in the genus Sinalliaria endemic to eastern China, S. limprichtiana (Pax) X. F. Jin, Y. Y. Zhou & H. W. Zhang and S. grandifolia (Z. X. An) Huan Hu, com. nov. (Basionym: Alliaria grandifolia Z. X. An (Acta Phytotax. Sin. 23: 396, 1985)). We sequenced the transcriptomes of seven and eight S. limprichtiana and S. grandifolia individuals, respectively. Analysis of transcriptome single nucleotide polymorphism data indicated that both species were well‐delineated with strong genetic differentiation (mean FST = 0.31). A total of 4000 genes showed differential expression between the two species. Based on these genome‐scale nucleotide variations, we used the allele frequency spectrum for modeling analysis with fastsimcoal to gain insights into the speciation process. Our results suggested divergence with continuous gene flow between the two species. These findings will add to our knowledge on the origin of species diversity in eastern Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question whether Asian welfare types can be classified as distinctly 'productivist' has remained subject to lively debates: in East Asia, the recent implementation of social rights-based public policy innovations - including working family support - as a response to rising inequalities, welfare expectations and accelerating social change has been well documented; similarly, South East Asian and South Asian economies have featured much more frequently in comparative social policy analysis as policymakers have sought to address persisting chronic poverty, a diminishing demographic dividend and burdensome epidemiological transitions via integrating human capital formation with social protection measures. Yet, far from a unifying convergence of these social policy trends in the post-Millennium Development Goals era, the global perspective we take in this article suggests continued variation and difference, with a multiplicity of forms of globalizations encountered and/or engendered in diverse contexts. As a consequence, variegated and path-dependent patterns of social development continue to persist across Asian economies. These findings, in turn, address major issues of our time, for they speak to the broader question of what analytical bases and research strategies can best reveal the complexities of (and interactions between) national, extra-national and transnational drivers of welfare formation and development under contemporary but diverse conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks what insights the literature provides on divergence versus convergence of innovation paths in Europe and Asia. It contrasts the abundant literature on determinants of innovation paths with the scarcity of studies that are explicitly comparative across countries or continents. Implicit conclusions however emerge from several lines of work including evolutionary perspectives which stress differences in national conditions, and other perspectives which stress latecomer and globalisation effects. This paper distils and draws together the main conclusions on why innovation paths can be expected to diverge or converge. Its contribution lies in spelling out and bringing together implicit and explicit insights from a wide range of literatures. It also provides an analytical backdrop for some of the other papers in this special issue of Science and Public Policy which provide comparative empirical analyses of low carbon innovation paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lilium ledebourii (Baker) Boiss is one of the most endangered lilies, restricted to only a few small and fragmented areas in the Hyrcanian forest. This study aimed at evaluating the taxonomy of this unique Iranian lily and reconstructing divergence time from other species of the genus Lilium to address the role of this region in its diversification. Phylogenetic trees based on nuclear ITS and chloroplastic matK strongly supported the monophyly of the genus Lilium and division into subclades hardly matching prior morphological classifications. Biogeographic analyses using S-DIVA revealed East Asia as the ancestral range from where Lilium presented a multidirectional expansion towards North America, West-Central Asia, North Asia, and Europe. Diverging from ancestral Lilium during the beginning of Eocene (50 Ma; 95% HDP: 68.8–36.8). Specific members of Lilium colonized Iran (Western Asia) separated from the Clade IV (West-Central Asia and Europe lineage), and then yielded the Iranian L.ledebourri. Accordingly, the north of Iran appears to have promoted both long-term persistence and migration of Lily species from Asia to the Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An annual layer-counted and 230Th-dated stalagmite oxygen isotope record from Qingtian Cave in Hubei province, central China, provides an Asian Monsoon (AM) history across the Allerød to Younger Dryas (YD) transition, with an average 2.5-year resolution. Seasonal δ 18O profiles indicate that the calcite δ 18O is a sensitive proxy for AM changes, and the close similarity between the Qingtian and other cave records from eastern China suggests a large-scale regional coherence of monsoonal precipitation δ 18O variations associated with the temperature changes in high-northern latitudes. The annually-resolved chronology with a U–Th age uncertainty of less than 100 yr defines the timing, duration and transition of the early Allerød, the intra-Allerød cold period (IACP), the late Allerød, and the start of the YD. The 160-yr-long IACP, with two brief reversals, is clearly shown in both δ 18O and lamina thickness records. The early and late Allerød, separated by the IACP, are characterized by several decadal to centennial cycles of δ 18O variations, each punctuated by sub-cycles. These decadal to centennial monsoon variations correlate with the Greenland temperature changes, supporting a model simulation that the decadal North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) are coupled via atmospheric circulation under glacial boundary conditions, perhaps affecting tropical/subtropical monsoon changes. However, the monsoon transition between the late Allerød and YD lasted 380 yr, longer than the analogous Greenland temperature shift by at least 130 yr [Stuiver, M., Grootes, P.M., GISP2 oxygen isotope ratios. Quat. Res. 53 (2000) 277–284]. This implicates other links besides the direct link between Greenland and the AM, which is now well documented. One possibility is the influence by Southern Hemisphere climate via cross-equatorial air flow [An, Z.S., The history and variability of the East Asian paleomonsoon climate. Quat. Sci. Rev. 19 (2000) 171–187]. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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This article argues that the impact of globalization on labour markets and human resources on the Asia-Pacific economies may be recognizable but is as yet relatively limited. The sheer variation of geography, population, economies, labour markets, IR and HRM systems there, as well as of values and the like, makes it difficult to talk of 'hard convergence'. We thus emphasize the notion of 'soft convergence'. The article develops a number of empirical propositions regarding the uneven impact of globalization on economies in the region. It concludes that any generalization on this theme should be greatly qualified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a symposium which 'revisits' the Asia-Pacific HRM model, much discussed in recent literature. It argues that, while the IR/HRM systems of the countries in the region are prima facie heterogeneous, there is both commonality and diversity. It posits the four logical cases of 'hard convergence', 'soft convergence', 'soft divergence' and 'hard divergence'. It argues that the most probable outcomes are likely to be the middle options. 'Soft convergence' may have occurred as a result of broader responses to broad economic trends such as globalization; 'soft divergence' may still be de rigueur, as the devil is always 'in the details'. Institutional and legal changes may also take place more slowly than enterprise-level or organizational ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available evidence suggests that Trichinella spiralis first originated in Asia and subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Notably limited genetic diversity in European T. spiralis isolates indicates that the parasite went through a dramatic genetic bottleneck at some point in its history. Did this genetic bottleneck result from the transport of a limited number of T. spiralis infected pigs from Asian centers of domestication, or was the parasite resident in Europe far earlier than the domestication of pigs there? In order to explore this hypothesis, we generated complete mitochondrial genomes and ribosomal DNAs from seventeen European T. spiralis isolates, six North American isolates and seven Asian isolates using next generation sequencing. A total of 13,858 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA and 7431 nucleotides of the nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence from each isolate were aligned and subjected to phylogenetic analysis using T. nelsoni as an outgroup. We confirmed that North American and European isolates were tightly clustered within a single "western clade" and all Chinese T. spiralis isolates were placed within a well-supported sister clade. These results indicate that European T. spiralis did not directly descend from extant Chinese parasite populations. Furthermore, the amount of nucleotide divergence between the two clades suggests that they diverged before pigs were domesticated. Over evolutionary time periods, Chinese and European T. spiralis were likely maintained as separate populations. The data presented here indicates the genetic bottleneck observed in European T. spiralis did not result from a small number of founders introduced with Chinese pigs in the recent past, but derives from an earlier bottleneck in host populations associated with the end of the last glacial maximum. • The intraspecific history of Trichinella spiralis was examined using phylogenetics. • Complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear ribosomal RNA cassettes were sequenced. • Asian and European T. spiralis isolates were divided into sister clades. • European populations of T. spiralis have a long independent history from Asian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]