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We provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of island frugivory and seed dispersal and identify knowledge gaps that are important for fundamental research on—and applied conservation of—island ecosystems. We conducted a systematic literature search of frugivory and seed dispersal on islands, omitting large, continental islands. This revealed a total of 448 studies, most (75%) published during the last two decades, especially after 2010. Nearly 65% of them were focused on eight archipelagos. There is a paucity of studies in Pacific archipelagos near Asia and Australia, and in the Indian Ocean. Data on island frugivory and seed dispersal are diverse but highly uneven in geographic and conceptual coverage. Despite their limited biodiversity, islands are essential reservoirs of endemic plants and animals and their interactions. Due to the simplicity of insular ecosystems, we can assess the importance of seed dispersal theory and mechanisms at species and community levels. These include the ecological and biogeographical meaning and prevalence of non-standard mechanisms of seed dispersal on islands; the seed dispersal effectiveness and the relative roles of different frugivore guilds (birds and reptiles being the most important); and patterns of community organization and their drivers as revealed by interaction networks. Island systems are characterized by the extinction of many natives and endemics, and high rates of species introductions. Therefore, understanding how these losses and additions alter seed dispersal processes has been a prevailing goal of island studies and an essential foundation for the effective restoration and conservation of islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: We aimed to investigate potential prognostic markers for enfortumab vedotin therapy in Asian patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. We retrospectively enrolled 61 Japanese patients treated with enfortumab vedotin therapy and analyzed overall survival, adverse events, and potential prognostic markers. Enrolled patients (38 men, 23 women; median age 74 [IQR: 68–79] years) had bladder cancer (26 patients) or upper-tract urothelial carcinoma (35 patients). Our study provides real-world data showing that enfortumab vedotin prolonged survival in Asian patients similar to the EV-301 trial. Additionally, the C-reactive protein level might be considered a prognostic marker of enfortumab vedotin therapy in such patients. Background: In the EV-301 trial, enfortumab vedotin prolonged survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma previously treated with platinum-based therapy and programmed cell death 1/programmed death-ligand 1 inhibitor. However, real-world Asian data are limited, and potential prognostic markers are non-existent. We aimed to investigate potential prognostic markers for enfortumab vedotin therapy in Asian patients. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 61 Japanese patients treated with enfortumab vedotin therapy at our hospital and affiliated hospitals between January 2019 and September 2023. Results: Enrolled patients (38 men, 23 women; median age 74 [IQR: 68–79] years) had bladder cancer (26 patients) or upper-tract urothelial carcinoma (35 patients). Fifty-four patients reported adverse events (grade >3 in 12). Skin disorders, pruritus, and neuropathy were common adverse effects. The median overall survival was 17.1 months (95% confidence interval: 10.0–not applicable). In multivariate analysis, the C-reactive protein level was an independent marker predicting favorable overall survival with enfortumab vedotin. Patient characteristics did not differ between C-reactive protein-high and -low groups. Conclusions: Our study provides real-world data showing that enfortumab vedotin prolonged survival in Asian patients similar to the EV-301 trial. Additionally, the C-reactive protein level might be considered a prognostic marker of enfortumab vedotin therapy in such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding climate variability and stability under extremely warm 'greenhouse' conditions in the past is essential for future climate predictions. However, information on millennial-scale (and shorter) climate variability during such periods is scarce, owing to a lack of suitable high-resolution, deep-time archives. Here we present a continuous record of decadal- to orbital-scale continental climate variability from annually laminated lacustrine deposits formed during the late Early Cretaceous (123–120 Ma: late Barremian–early Aptian) in southeastern Mongolia. Inter-annual changes in lake algal productivity for a 1091-year interval reveal a pronounced solar influence on decadal- to centennial-scale climatic variations (including the ~ 11-year Schwabe cycle). Decadally-resolved Ca/Ti ratios (proxy for evaporation/precipitation changes) for a ~ 355-kyr long interval further indicate millennial-scale (~ 1000–2000-yr) extreme drought events in inner-continental areas of mid-latitude palaeo-Asia during the Cretaceous. Millennial-scale oscillations in Ca/Ti ratio show distinct amplitude modulation (AM) induced by the precession, obliquity and short eccentricity cycles. Similar millennial-scale AM by Milankovitch cycle band was also previously observed in the abrupt climatic oscillations (known as Dansgaard–Oeschger events) in the 'intermediate glacial' state of the late Pleistocene, and in their potential analogues in the Jurassic 'greenhouse'. Our findings indicate that external solar activity forcing was effective on decadal–centennial timescales, whilst the millennial-scale variations were likely amplified by internal process such as changes in deep-water formation strength, even during the Cretaceous 'greenhouse' period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There are limited reports on outcomes of three-dimensional image-guided brachytherapy (3D-IGBT) for cervical adenocarcinoma in Asia. In a multi-institutional retrospective study, we assessed the clinical outcomes of three-dimensional image-guided brachytherapy for cervical adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma (CA/CAC) in Asian countries. Material and methods: Patients who had undergone definitive radiation therapy/concurrent chemoradiotherapy for untreated cervical cancer between 2000 and 2016 were registered. Those who had undergone 3D-IGBT for histologically proven CA/CAC were included. Data on patients' characteristics and treatment were collected, including tumor reduction rate (defined as a percentage of reduction in tumor size before brachytherapy compared with that at diagnosis) and high-risk clinical target volume D90. Overall survival (OS), local control (LC), and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method. Late toxicities were assessed using common terminology criteria for adverse events version 4.0. Results: Anonymized data of 498 patients were collected. Of the 498 patients, 36 patients met inclusion criteria. The median follow-up period was 39 months. The 3-year OS, LC, and PFS rates were 68.4%, 68.5%, and 44.4%, respectively. After treatment, five patients had tumor re-growth without complete disappearance of the tumor. Two patients developed grade 3 vaginal toxicity or grade 4 rectal toxicity; none developed other severe late toxicities. A tumor reduction rate of > 26.3% was the only significant factor in multivariate analyses, and was associated with significantly better OS (p = 0.018), LC (p = 0.022), and PFS (p = 0.013). There were no significant trends in local control or dose to high-risk clinical target volume D90. Conclusions: LC rate of CA/CAC was insufficient despite 3D-IGBT. Meanwhile, tumor reduction rate was associated with LC, OS, and PFS rates. Therefore, CA/CAC may require a different treatment strategy than that applied in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides empirical evidence that supports the continuing importance of machinery international production networks (IPNs) in East Asia. We first confirm their robustness and resilience, even during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the significance of East Asian countries as suppliers of machinery final products and parts and components for the world. Then, we demonstrate how deeply East Asian countries are committed to machinery IPNs by applying a gravity equation to pre-pandemic bilateral machinery trade and comparing actual values with fitted values of the estimated equation. The gravity estimation exercise indicates that machinery trade is basically regional—within Factory Asia, Factory North America, and Factory Europe—but Factory Asia also has strong inter-regional linkages. It also verifies that ASEAN has played an important role in Factory Asia, going far beyond the gravity prediction, for the development of machinery IPNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mortality and risk factors of severe disease and death due to arterial and venous thromboembolism (ATE and VTE, respectively) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain unclear, especially in Asia. Aims: This study aimed to reveal the mortality and risk factors of TE in IBD patients in Japan. Methods: In the primary surveillance, responses to questionnaires regarding the number of cases of severe TE and TE-associated death in IBD patients in a span of over the past 10 years were obtained from 32 institutions in Japan. In the secondary surveillance, detailed data about IBD patients with TE were collected. The characteristics, laboratory data, therapy status, and situation at the time of TE development were retrospectively collected, and the data were compared between the patients with and without severe TE and TE-associated death. Results: The incidence of TE was 1.89% among 31,940 IBD patients. The frequencies of severe TE and TE-associated mortality were 10.7% and 1.0% among the total IBD and TE with IBD patients, respectively. The only risk factor for severe ATE and ATE-associated death was ischemic heart disease. The independent risk factors for severe VTE and VTE-associated death were age (≤ 45 years old), the site of VTE, and disease severity, with anti-TNF therapy as a potential negative risk factor. Patients with severe VTE had a high risk of developing persistent VTE and sequelae. Conclusion: Unlike ATE, the incidence of VTE was comparable in Asian and Western countries. Therapeutic and prophylactic strategies for managing IBD-associated TE in Asia are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive systems with two or three rice (Oryza sativa L.) crops per year account for about 50% of the harvested area for irrigated rice in Asia. Any reduction in productivity or sustainability of these systems has serious implications for global food security. Rice yield trends in the world’s longest-running long-term continuous cropping experiment (LTCCE) were evaluated to investigate consequences of intensive cropping and to draw lessons for sustaining production in Asia. Annual production was sustained at a steady level over the 50-y period in the LTCCE through continuous adjustment of management practices and regular cultivar replacement. Within each of the three annual cropping seasons (dry, early wet, and late wet), yield decline was observed during the first phase, from 1968 to 1990. Agronomic improvements in 1991 to 1995 helped to reverse this yield decline, but yield increases did not continue thereafter from 1996 to 2017. Regular genetic and agronomic improvements were sufficient to maintain yields at steady levels in dry and early wet seasons despite a reduction in the yield potential due to changing climate. Yield declines resumed in the late wet season. Slower growth in genetic gain after the first 20 y was associated with slower breeding cycle advancement as indicated by pedigree depth. Our findings demonstrate that through adjustment of management practices and regular cultivar replacement, it is possible to sustain a high level of annual production in irrigated systems under a changing climate. However, the system was unable to achieve further increases in yield required to keep pace with the growing global rice demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the novel development of machinery trade pattern in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and analyzes the extent and depth of production networks in Europe from the perspective of their links with East Asia during the past 15 years, 1995~2010. Our descriptive analysis based on the total value of trade and the extensive margin demonstrates further production fragmentation in Europe, shifting from Western Europe (CEE production sharing to a regional network with more active transactions among CEE countries) to a global link with East Asia via CEE, particularly in the electric machinery sector. Our quantitative analysis verifies the evolution of production networks in Europe, from regional to global. These results partially reflect the reduction in services link costs, the evolution of industrial clustering among CEE countries particularly after the EU enlargement, and the strengthening competence of production networks in East Asia.JEL Classifications: F14, F15, F23, L23 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To dissect the genetic factors controlling naturally occurring variation of heading date in Asian rice cultivars, we performed QTL analyses using F populations derived from crosses between a japonica cultivar, Koshihikari, and each of 12 cultivars originating from various regions in Asia. These 12 diverse cultivars varied in heading date under natural field conditions in Tsukuba, Japan. Transgressive segregation was observed in 10 F combinations. QTL analyses using multiple crosses revealed a comprehensive series of loci involved in natural variation in flowering time. One to four QTLs were detected in each cross combination, and some QTLs were shared among combinations. The chromosomal locations of these QTLs corresponded well with those detected in other studies. The allelic effects of the QTLs varied among the cross combinations. Sequence analysis of several previously cloned genes controlling heading date, including Hd1, Hd3a, Hd6, RFT1, and Ghd7, identified several functional polymorphisms, indicating that allelic variation at these loci probably contributes to variation in heading date. Taken together, the QTL and sequencing results indicate that a large portion of the phenotypic variation in heading date in Asian rice cultivars could be generated by combinations of different alleles (possibly both loss- and gain-of-function) of the QTLs detected in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Western countries, the epidemiology of esophageal cancer has changed considerably over the past decades with a rise in the ratio of adenocarcinoma to squamous cell carcinoma. Although the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux is increasing in Asia, the prevalences of Barrett's esophagus (BE) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) have remained low in most Asian countries. The Asian Barrett's Consortium recently conducted a review of published studies on BE from Asia to assess the current status of BE research in Asia, and to recommend potential areas for future BE research in the region. Differences in study design, enrolled population, and endoscopic biopsy protocols used have led to substantial variability in the reported BE prevalence (0.06% to 19.9%) across Asia. In particular, some Japanese studies used diagnostic criteria that differed considerably from what was used in most Asian studies. As in Western countries, increased age, male sex, tobacco smoking, reflux symptoms, and erosive esophagitis have been found to be risk factors for BE in several case-control studies from Asia. The Prague C and M criteria, developed to provide better interobserver reliability in diagnosis and grading of BE, are currently under extensive evaluation in the Asian population. There is a need for standardized protocols for endoscopic and histopathologic diagnosis before initiating collaborative projects to identify etiologic determinants of BE and its ensuing malignant transformation. At present, data regarding the management and long-term outcome of BE are extremely limited in Asia. More studies of BE in this geographic area are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims The rate of photosynthesis in paddy rice often decreases at noon on sunny days because of water stress, even under submerged conditions. Maintenance of higher rates of photosynthesis during the day might improve both yield and dry matter production in paddy rice. A high-yielding indica variety, ‘Habataki’, maintains a high rate of leaf photosynthesis during the daytime because of the higher hydraulic conductance from roots to leaves than in the standard japonica variety ‘Sasanishiki’. This research was conducted to characterize the trait responsible for the higher hydraulic conductance in ‘Habataki’ and identified a chromosome region for the high hydraulic conductance. Methods Hydraulic conductance to passive water transport and to osmotic water transport was determined for plants under intense transpiration and for plants without transpiration, respectively. The varietal difference in hydraulic conductance was examined with respect to root surface area and hydraulic conductivity (hydraulic conductance per root surface area, Lp). To identify the chromosome region responsible for higher hydraulic conductance, chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) derived from a cross between ‘Sasanishiki’ and ‘Habataki’ were used. Key Results The significantly higher hydraulic conductance resulted from the larger root surface area not from Lp in ‘Habataki’. A chromosome region associated with the elevated hydraulic conductance was detected between RM3916 and RM2431 on the long arm of chromosome 4. The CSSL, in which this region was substituted with the ‘Habataki’ chromosome segment in the ‘Sasanishiki’ background, had a larger root mass than ‘Sasanishiki’. Conclusions The trait for increasing plant hydraulic conductance and, therefore, maintaining the higher rate of leaf photosynthesis under the conditions of intense transpiration in ‘Habataki’ was identified, and it was estimated that there is at least one chromosome region for the trait located on chromosome 4. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Accumulation of Cd in rice grain is a serious concern of food safety since rice as a staple food is a major source of Cd intake in Asian countries. However, the mechanisms controlling Cd accumulation in rice are still poorly understood. Herein, we report both physiological and genetic analysis of two rice cultivars contrasting in Cd accumulation, which were screened from a core collection of rice cultivars. The cultivar Anjana Dhan (Indica) accumulated much higher levels of Cd than Nipponbare (Japonica) in the shoots and grains when grown in both soil and solution culture. A short-term uptake experiment (20 min) showed that Cd uptake by Nipponbare was higher than that by Anjana Dhan. However, the concentration of Cd in the shoot and xylem sap was much higher in Anjana Dhan than in Nipponbare. Of the Cd taken up by the roots, <4% was translocated to the shoots in Nipponbare, compared with 10–25% in Anjana Dhan, indicating a higher root-to-shoot translocation of Cd in the latter. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis for Cd accumulation was performed using an F2 population derived from Anjana Dhan and Nipponbare. A QTL with large effect for Cd accumulation was detected on the short arm of chromosome 7, explaining 85.6% of the phenotypic variance in the shoot Cd concentration of the F2 population. High accumulation is likely to be controlled by a single recessive gene. A candidate genomic region was defined to <1.9 Mb by means of substitution mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We developed a specific and rapid detection system for Rickettsia japonica and R. heilongjiangensis, the causative agents of spotted fever, using a TaqMan minor groove binder probe for a particular open reading frame (ORF) identified by the R. japonica genome project. The target ORF was present only in R. japonica-related strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is nationwide retrospective multi-center study to investigate the incidence and characteristics of blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) in elderly Japanese patients with traumatic cervical spine injuries (CSI) including spinal cord injury (SCI) without major bone injury. The study enrolled 1512 patients (average age: 75.8 ± 6.9 years; 1007 males, 505 females) from 33 nationwide institutions, and 391 (26%) of the participants had digital subtraction angiography and/or computed tomography angiography. Fifty-three patients were diagnosed as having BCVI by angiography. We assessed neurological evaluation, comorbidities and classification of CSI in the elderly patients with/without BCVI and collected 6-month follow-up data on treatment, complications, and patient outcome. We also statistically analyzed the relative risk (RR) and relationship between BCVI and other factors. Significant differences were identified between BCVI (+) (n = 53) and (–) (n = 1459) patients with American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (ASIA) A, C, D, cervical fracture, C3-7 injury level (AO type F and/or C), cervical dislocation, spinal surgery for CSI, tetraplegia type of SCI, and/or head injury. Fifty-three (3.5%) elderly patients had CSI complicated by BCVI including 10 (19%) cases of Denver grade I, four (7%) of grade II, 1 (2%) of grade III, 29 (55%) of grade IV, and nine (17%) of grade V. Sixteen cases were treated by interventional radiology. Rates of mortality and brain infarction from BCVI were 0.13% and 0.40%, respectively. RR of BCVI was significantly higher in the elderly cervical injury patients with head injury, severe neurological deficit, ASIA A (RR: 4.33), cervical fracture at the C3-7 level (RR: 7.39), and cervical dislocation at the C1-6 level (RR: 3.06-7.18). In conclusion, 53 (3.5%) elderly patients were complicated with BCVI. BCVI more frequently complicated head injury, severe neurological deficit (ASIA A or tetraplegia), AO type F, and/or C fractures and cervical dislocation in these patients. Six patients (11%) suffered brain infarction and two patients died from BCVI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]