BACKGROUND Double-burden of malnutrition (DBM) is an emerging public health concern among the Orang Asli (indigenous peoples) of Peninsular Malaysia. This study aimed to identify the presence of DBM at the community and household levels in Orang Asli population and its associated demographic and socio-economic factors. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 Orang Asli villages...

Bornean orang-utans experienced a major demographic decline and local extirpations during the Pleistocene and Holocene due to climate change, the arrival of modern humans, of farmers and recent commercially-driven habitat loss and fragmentation. The recent loss of habitat and its dramatic fragmentation has affected the patterns of genetic variability and differentiation among the remaining popu...

Because of the difficulties encountered in detecting many large tropical forest-dwelling species in their natural habitat, precise figures concerning the distribution, number and trends of many populations remain deficient. In tropical forests, ground surveys are generally carried out by counting objects along straight lines. These counts require a strict compliance with the line-transect metho...

This article is based on the research results which were intended to identify consumerism trends among the Orang Asli, particularly with regards to purchase of luxury goods and management of their finances. The concept of consumerism refers to the motivation of an individual to identify himself or herself by means of a product or service, especially one which is commercially branded and denotes...

The aboriginal populations of Peninsular Malaysia, also known as Orang Asli (OA), comprise three major groups; Semang, Senoi and Proto-Malays. Here, we analyzed for the first time KIR gene polymorphisms for 167 OA individuals, including those from four smallest OA subgroups (Che Wong, Orang Kanaq, Lanoh and Kensiu) using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) analyses. The...

BACKGROUND Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar/Entamoeba moshkovskii infection is still prevalent in rural Malaysia especially among Orang Asli communities. Currently, information on prevalence of this infection among different ethnic groups of Orang Asli is unavailable in Malaysia. To contribute to a better comprehension of the epidemiology of this infection, a cross-sectional study aimed a...

Orang-utans and chimpanzees can discriminate between two objects on the basis of tactile cues and select the one that matches a visually presented sample.

in this study, application ofweap model (soil moisture method) have been investigated for simulating hydrological behavior in ahar-chai basin. according to the development of pressurized irrigation systems in this basin, since 2005, two models were carried out for two periods, pre-pressurized period (1998-2006) and pressurized period (2006-2013). irrigation method in first model was surface irr...

Studying the genetic history of the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia can provide crucial clues to the peopling of Southeast Asia as a whole. We have analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNAs) control-region and coding-region markers in 447 mtDNAs from the region, including 260 Orang Asli, representative of each of the traditional groupings, the Semang, the Senoi, and the Aboriginal Malays, allowing u...

to a comprehensive database of conventional orang-utan sounds, Adriano Lameira and colleagues from Durham University, UK, concluded that Rocky was able to learn new sounds not normally included in the vocal repertoire of his species. “This indicates that the voice control shown by humans could derive from an evolutionary ancestor with similar voice control capacities as those found in orang-uta...