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The Yao Muslims : religion and social change in southern Malawi
No full textThe African Muslim minority in Malawi has been identified with
one particular linguistic group, the Yao. The dissertation
begins with the problem of their conversion and adherence to
Islam in the face of seemingly adverse circumstances. In
exploring-solutions to this problem the emergence of a Yao
identity is outlined and the politics of conversion are
described. The narrative then moves on to the transformations of
the Yao Muslims in the hundred years since their conversion. A
model of religious change is developed that attempts to account
for both the dynamics of change and the contemporary situation
of Islam in southern Malawi. The Yao Muslims are shown to be
divided into three competing and sometimes hostile factions that
are termed the Sufis, the sukuti or 'quietist' movement and the
new reformists. The appearance of these movements and their
interaction with one another is described in relation to the
questions of identity and religious practice. The model proposes
a three phase scheme of Islamic change (appropriation and
accommodation followed by internal reform and then the new
reformist movement) that is defined in part by the relationship
of the Yao Muslims to writing and the Book. It is suggested that
a certain logic of transformation is endogenous to Islam as a
religion of the Book and that the scripturalist tendencies of
the reformist movement give it an advantage over the followers
of Sufi practices, especially in the context of modern systems
of communication and education. The general approach is that of
an historical anthropology, linking notions of structured change
to anthropological concerns with ritual and practice. The
analysis concludes by raising questions about the nature of
religious change in the context of an increasingly volatile
world system and the place of the anthropology of religion in
the understanding of modernity
On the Yao-Yao partition theorem
No full textInternational audienceThe Yao-Yao partition theorem states that for any probability measure µ on R n having a density which is continuous and bounded away from 0, it is possible to partition R n into 2 n regions of equal measure for µ in such a way that every affine hyperplane of R n avoids at least one of the regions. We give a constructive proof of this result and extend it to slightly more general measures
Villa aquila Yao, Yang & Evenhuis, 2009, sp. nov.
No full textVilla aquila sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 6–11) Diagnosis. Dorsum with dense long yellowish hairs laterally except tergites 5–6 with black hairs and tergite 7 with dense white and black hairs; dorsum with dense black recumbent scales except tergite 4 with white recumbent scales anteriorly and tergites 1, 5, and 6 with white recumbent scales posteriorly. Epiphallus wide clubbed, with an irregular tip in dorsal view; distiphallus rather narrow, long and slightly curved at middle in lateral view. Description. Male. Body length 14–15 mm, wing length 12–14 mm. Head black with grey pollen; ocellar tubercle dark brown. Hairs on head black and yellowish; frons with dense black erect hairs, face with dense yellowish erect hairs; occiput with aparse short black hairs and white scales become denser near eyes, a row of brown erect hairs on edge. Antenna black; scape twice longer than wide, with dense black hairs; pedicel nearly as long as wide, with short sparse black hairs; first flagellomere cone-shaped, bare. Antennal ratio: 8: 1: 5. Proboscis dark brown with yellow and black hairs; palpus dark brown with black hairs. Thorax black with black scales. Hairs on thorax mostly yellow, bristles yellow; postpronotal lobe with long yellow hairs, mesonotum with row of long yellow hairs at anterior margin and three long yellow lateral bristles near base of wing, postalar callus with six yellow bristles; thorax with black scales on back but bare in middle. Scutellum with sparse yellow hairs; scales on scutellum black; scutellum with six bristles each side, with apical scutellar bristles and subapical scutellar bristles black, and basal scutellar bristles yellow. Legs dark brown with black scales except hind femur and tibia with yellowish scales. Hairs on legs mostly black, bristles black. Femora with sparse long black hairs; tibiae and tarsi with short black hairs. Mid femur with four av apically; hind femur with six av apically. Fore tibia with eight ad, 10 pd, and seven pv; mid tibia with eight ad, 12 pd, eight av and 14 pv; hind tibia with 10 pv and with all hairs bristle-like. Wing (Fig. 1) mostly hyaline with metalline reflecting except cells sc, c, and basal half of cell r 1 and base of wing dark brown. Base of vein C with brush-like long black hairs and white scales, tegula with white scales. Wing with basicosta strong; vein r-m nearly 1 / 3 length of discal cell apically. Halteres pale. Abdomen black. Hairs on abdomen mostly yellowish; dorsum with dense long yellowish hairs laterally except tergites 5–6 with black hairs laterally and tergite 7 with dense white and black hairs laterally; dorsum with dense black recumbent scales except tergite 4 with white recumbent scales anteriorly and tergites 1, 5 and 6 with white recumbent scales posteriorly. Sternites with dense yellow erect hairs and dense white recumbent scales except sternites 3, 5, and 6 lack white scales. Male genitalia (Figs. 6–11). Epandrium subquadrate, with dense long black bristles apically, nearly as long as wide; cercus well exposed in lateral view; epandrium a little longer than wide, slightly narrowed from base to tip in dorsal view; gonocoxa with numerous black bristle-like hairs apically, distinctly narrowing apically in ventral view; gonostylus subquadrate, its tip obtuse and slightly curved at middle in lateral view; epiphallus broad, clubbed, with a trifurcate tip in dorsal view, distiphallus narrow, long and slightly curved at middle in lateral view. Female. Body length 16–17 mm, wing length 15–16 mm. Similar to male, but wing with tegula lacks white scales; tergites 1–3 with yellowish recumbent scales anteriorly and tergites 5– 6 with yellowish recumbent scales posteriorly. Type material. Holotype male, CHINA: Ningxia, Longde, Sutai (N 106 ° 14 ’ E 35 ° 62 ’), 24. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; Paratypes 1 male, CHINA: Ningxia, Longde, Sutai (N 106 ° 14 ’ E 35 ° 62 ’), 24. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; 1 male, CHINA: Ningxia, Longde, Fengtai (N 106 ° 14 ’ E 35 ° 62 ’), 27. VI. 2008, Tingting Zhang; 6 males, CHINA: Ningxia, Longde, Fengtai (N 106 ° 14 ’ E 35 ° 62 ’), 28. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; 6 males, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Lingshangudao (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 9. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; 4 males, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Longmenjian (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 8. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; 1 male, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Longmenjian (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 15. VIII. 2007, Gang Yao; 1 male, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Xiaolongmen (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 7. VI. 2008, Gang Yao; 1 male, CHINA: Yunnan, Kunming, Songhuabashuiku (N 103 °00’ E 26 ° 48 ’), 24. VII. 2006, Gang Yao; 1 male, CHINA: Ningxia, Tongxin, Daluoshan (N 106 ° 17 ’ E 37 ° 19 ’), 13. VII. 2007, Gang Yao; 1 female, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Xiaolongmen (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 7. VI. 2008, Gang Yao (CAU); 1 female, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Longmenjian (N 114 ° 40 ’ E 38 ° 47 ’), 15. VIII. 2007, Gang Yao; 1 female, CHINA: Beijing, Changping, Heishanzhai (N 116 ° 23 ’ E 40 ° 21 ’), 5. IX. 2006, Haiqing Wang; 1 female, CHINA: Hebei, Kongjian, Yangjiaping (N 115 °02’ E 39 ° 57 ’), 11. VIII. 2007, Gang Yao; 1 female, CHINA: Beijing, Mentougou, Baihuagu (N 115 ° 36 ’ E 39 ° 52 ’), 2. IX. 2008, Tingting Zhang. Distribution. China (Beijing, Hebei, Ningxia, Yunnan). Etymology. The species epithet derives from the Latin “ aquila ” [= dark-colored]; referring to infuscation on the anterior part of the wing. Remarks. The new species is similar to V. fasciata (Meigen), but it can be separated from the latter by tergite 4 with white recumbent scales anteriorly and tergites 1, 5, and 6 with white recumbent scales posteriorly. In V. fasciata, tergites 2–3 have yellowish recumbent scales antero-laterally, tergite 4 has yellowish recumbent scales anteriorly, and tergites 5–6 have yellowish recumbent scales posteriorly.Published as part of Yao, Gang, Yang, Ding & Evenhuis, Neal L., 2009, Four new species and a new record of Villa Lioy, 1864 from China (Diptera: Bombyliidae), pp. 49-60 in Zootaxa 2055 on pages 51-52, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18668
A nine month progress report on investigation of social network and bibliometric network
No full textCurrent concepts on oxidative/carbonyl stress, inflammation and epigenetics in pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
No full textChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health problem. The current therapies for COPD are poorly effective and the mainstays of pharmacotherapy are bronchodilators. A better understanding of the pathobiology of COPD is critical for the development of novel therapies. In the present review, we have discussed the roles of oxidative/aldehyde stress, inflammation/immunity, and chromatin remodeling in the pathogenesis of COPD. An imbalance of oxidants/antioxidants caused by cigarette smoke and other pollutants/biomass fuels plays an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD by regulating redox-sensitive transcription factors (e.g., NF-κB), autophagy and unfolded protein response leading to chronic lung inflammatory response. Cigarette smoke also activates canonical/alternative NF-κB pathways and their upstream kinases leading to sustained inflammatory response in lungs. Recently, epigenetic regulation has been shown to be critical for the development of COPD because the expression/activity of enzymes that regulate these epigenetic modifications have been reported to be abnormal in airways of COPD patients. Hence, the significant advances made in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD as described herein will identify novel therapeutic targets for intervention in COPD
Belisana tadetuensis Yao & Li, 2013, sp. nov.
No full textBelisana tadetuensis sp. nov. Figs 19 –21, 41 Type material. Holotype: Male (IZCAS), underside of leaves, Tad Etu [15 ° 11.526 ′N, 106 °06.209′E, alt. 930 m], Champasak, Laos, 17 November 2012, leg. Z. Yao (Yao-LA 012–020). Etymology. The specific name refers to the type locality; adjective. Diagnosis. The species can be easily distinguished from all known congeners by different shape of distal apophyses of male chelicerae (Figs 20 B and 21 C) and different shape of distal sclerites of procursus (Figs 19 A, C and 21 A). Description. Male (holotype): Total length 1.36 (1.45 with clypeus), prosoma 0.53 long, 0.56 wide, opisthosoma 0.83 long, 0.49 wide. Legs I and IV lost, leg II: 7.36 (2.01 + 0.25 + 1.80 + 2.50 + 0.80), leg III: 4.86 (1.40 + 0.21 + 1.20 + 1.55 + 0.50). Habitus as in Figs 20 C–E. Dorsal shield of prosoma and sternum whitish, without marks. Legs II and III yellowish, but dark brown on patellae and tibia-metatarsus joints, without darker rings. Opisthosoma whitish, without spots. Distance PME-PME 0.13, diameter PME 0.06, distance PME-ALE 0.01, AME absent. Ocular area not elevated. Thoracic furrow absent. Sternum about as wide as long (0.40). Chelicerae as in Figs 20 B and 21 C, with a pair of thumb-shaped apophyses proximally and a pair of long, curved apophyses distally (distance between tips: 0.09). Pedipalpi as in Figs 19 A–B and 21 A–B; trochanter with a short retrolatero-ventral apophysis; femur with a ventral apophysis; procursus simple proximally but complex distally, with a membranous flap retrolaterally; bulb with a hooked apophysis and a simple embolus. Legs II and III with short vertical hairs on metatarsi, without spines and curved hairs. Variation: Unknown. Female: Unknown. Distribution. Known only from the type locality (Fig. 41).Published as part of Yao, Zhiyuan & Li, Shuqiang, 2013, New and little known pholcid spiders (Araneae: Pholcidae) from Laos, pp. 1-51 in Zootaxa 3709 (1) on pages 20-27, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3709.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/24883
Efficient Yao Graph Construction
No full textYao graphs are geometric spanners that connect each point of a given point set to its nearest neighbor in each of k cones drawn around it. Yao graphs were introduced to construct minimum spanning trees in d dimensional spaces. Moreover, they are used for instance in topology control in wireless networks. An optimal (n log n)-time algorithm to construct Yao graphs for a given point set has been proposed in the literature but - to the best of our knowledge - never been implemented. Instead, algorithms with a quadratic complexity are used in popular packages to construct these graphs. In this paper we present the first implementation of the optimal Yao graph algorithm. We engineer the data structures required to achieve the (n log n) time bound and detail algorithmic adaptations necessary to take the original algorithm from theory to practice. We propose a priority queue data structure that separates static and dynamic events and might be of independent interest for other sweepline algorithms. Additionally, we propose a new Yao graph algorithm based on a uniform grid data structure that performs well for medium-sized inputs. We evaluate our implementations on a wide variety of synthetic and real-world datasets and show that our implementation outperforms current publicly available implementations by at least an order of magnitude
Efficient Yao Graph Construction
No full textYao graphs are geometric spanners that connect each point of a given point set to its nearest neighbor in each of k cones drawn around it. Yao graphs were introduced to construct minimum spanning trees in d dimensional spaces. Moreover, they are used for instance in topology control in wireless networks. An optimal (n log n)-time algorithm to construct Yao graphs for a given point set has been proposed in the literature but - to the best of our knowledge - never been implemented. Instead, algorithms with a quadratic complexity are used in popular packages to construct these graphs. In this paper we present the first implementation of the optimal Yao graph algorithm. We engineer the data structures required to achieve the (n log n) time bound and detail algorithmic adaptations necessary to take the original algorithm from theory to practice. We propose a priority queue data structure that separates static and dynamic events and might be of independent interest for other sweepline algorithms. Additionally, we propose a new Yao graph algorithm based on a uniform grid data structure that performs well for medium-sized inputs. We evaluate our implementations on a wide variety of synthetic and real-world datasets and show that our implementation outperforms current publicly available implementations by at least an order of magnitude
Cyana (Cornutivulpecula) yao Volynkin & László 2020, sp. n.
No full textCyana (Cornutivulpecula) yao sp. n. (Figs 11–15, 30–32, 41) Type material. Holotype (Figs 11, 30): male, “ Mozambique, 1139m, Zambezia Province, Mt. Namuli, SW slopes near Mucunha village (secondary vegetation/farmland) 15°21’27’’S 37°05’18’’E, 14–15.VIII.2018, MV Light Trap, László, G., Miles, W., Vetina, A. leg. ANHRT:2018.30” / “ANHRTUK 00050582”, gen. slide No.: AV5204 (ANHRT). Paratypes (2 males and 3 females in total). MALAWI: 1 male, 1 female, Nyasaland, Mt. Mlanje, 24.III.1913, S.A. Neave, 1914-171., in cop., NHMUK unique numbers 010914205 (male) and 010914206 (female), gen. slide Nos: NHMUK010315739 (male) and NHMUK010315761 (female) (prepared by Volynkin) (NHMUK); KENYA: 1 male, 56.30 Mt. Kenya, north-east to south-east, VII.[19]30, E. Barns / Joicey Bequest. Brit. Mus. 1934-120., NHMUK unique number 010918069, gen. slide No.: NHMUK010315731 (prepared by Volynkin); 2 females, 56. 30. Mt. Kenya, West to North, 13–30.VI. [19]30, E. Barns / Joicey Bequest. Brit. Mus. 1934-120., NHMUK unique number 010918119, gen. slide No.: NHMUK010315760 (prepared by Volynkin) (NHMUK). Remark. The male exemplar from Mount Kenya has a smaller 1 st medial diverticulum and slightly larger cornuti in the distal diverticulum than the specimens from Mozambique and Malawi. Clarification of the taxonomic status of this population requires examination of further material. Diagnosis. The forewing length is 11–13 mm in males and 12.5–14 mm in females. Cyana yao sp. n. is nearly identical externally with the sympatric C. cornutissima sp. n. The reliable identification of the two species requires the examination of their genitalia morphology. The male genitalia of C. yao sp. n. have a somewhat shorter and broader uncus and fundamentally different configuration of vesica, bearing a conspicuously larger and longer 2 nd medial diverticulum compared to those characters of C. cornutissima sp. n. The vesica structure of C. yao sp. n. resembles that of C. rejecta, but can be easily distinguished by its more heavily granulated 1 st medial diverticulum, the larger, longer and more heavily scobinated 2 nd medial diverticulum (which is short, broad and weakly scobinated in C. rejecta), the presence of the 3 rd medial diverticulum (absent in C. rejecta), the absence of a subdistal diverticulum (present in C. rejecta), and a shorter, narrower, membranous distal diverticulum bearing two short rows of smaller cornuti connected at the apex of diverticulum (whereas in C. rejecta the distal diverticulum is broad, heavily scobinated, bearing two rows of longer and more robust spine-like cornuti which are almost joined at the apex of the diverticulum). The female genitalia of C. yao sp. n. are reminiscent of those of C. rejecta, but differ by the slightly shorter sclerotized wrinkles in the posterior section of the corpus bursae at the connection with the ductus bursae, the absence of a lateral area of rugose sclerotization in the corpus bursae (present in both subspecies of C. rejecta), and the presence of a weak scobination evenly spread in the medial and anterior sections of the corpus bursae (absent in both subspecies of C. rejecta). In addition, the female genitalia of C. yao sp. n. lack a band-like area of heavy scobination, which is present in the corpus bursae of C. rejecta rejecta. Distribution. Northern Mozambique, Malawi and Kenya. Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the Yao people inhabiting northern Mozambique, Malawi and southern Tanzania.Published as part of Volynkin, Anton V. & László, Gyula M., 2020, Review of the Cyana rejecta (Walker, 1854) species-group, with descriptions of three new species from mainland Africa and a new subspecies from Madagascar (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Lithosiini), pp. 330-346 in Zootaxa 4890 (3) on page 336, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4890.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/430619
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