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Pollinator shifts are often related to speciation in angiosperms, and the relationship between them has been discussed in several plant taxa. Although limited information on plants pollinated by non‐flying mammals in Central and South America and Africa is available, related research has not been conducted in Asia. Herein, I summarize the available knowledge of pollination in Asian Mucuna (Fabaceae), a genus mainly distributed in the tropics, and discuss the evolution of plants pollinated by non‐flying mammals in Asia. Nineteen pollinator species have been recorded and pollination systems have been categorized into four types. An examination of the relationship between Mucuna species and their pollinators from the lineage perspective revealed that all species in Mucuna, subgenus Macrocarpa, which are distributed in Asia, are pollinated exclusively by non‐flying mammals. Additionally, plants pollinated by non‐flying mammals were found to have diverged from bat‐pollinated and non‐flying mammal‐pollinated plants, while plants pollinated by non‐flying mammals have evolved multiple times. This is a unique example of evolutionary transition. I hypothesize that the diversification of squirrel species in tropical Asia may have led to the speciation and diversification of Mucuna in Asia. Furthermore, the behavioural and ecological characteristics of bats and birds in Asia differ from the characteristics of those in other regions, implying that Asian Mucuna species do not rely on bat or bird pollinators. The adaptation of floral characteristics to pollinators is not well understood in Asia. Mammal‐pollinated plants in Asia may have evolved differently from those in other regions and have unique pollination systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, a large-scale genetic epidemiological study has shown significant association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the protein kinase C η (PRKCH) gene with cerebral infarction, particularly, with lacunar infarction. To extend the findings, we tested association of two SNPs previously reported – rs3783799 and rs2230500 – in PRKCH with silent lacunar infarction (SLI), which has drawn substantial attention in the aging societies. Disease association was tested in the case–control study design. Subjects with and without SLI were recruited from people who underwent a health-screening examination including brain MRI. Two SNPs were genotyped and proven to be in complete linkage disequilibrium (D′=1.00, r 2 =1.00) and thus showed comparable results of disease association, which were reproduced in two panels collected independently. In the entire population involving 295 cases and 497 controls, two SNPs remained to be significantly associated with SLI under a dominant model even after adjustment for confounding factors such as hypertension (e.g., genetic effects of rs2230500, P =0.0026 for AA+AG vs. GG, adjusted odds ratio=1.27; 95% CI, 1.09–1.48). As the two SNPs appear to be common only in Asian people, further replication study is warranted in the other Asian populations as well as the Japanese. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: To delineate characteristics of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) in Asia versus non-Asian regions, and compare radiographic axSpA (r-axSpA) with nr-axSpA within Asia., Methods: Data were collected from the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society-COMOrbidities in SPondyloArthritis database. Categorising patients by region, we compared clinical characteristics between nr-axSpA from Asia vs elsewhere (Europe, the Americas and Africa). Within Asians, we additionally compared patient characteristics of those with nr-axSpA versus r-axSpA., Results: Among 3984 SpA cases, 1094 were from Asian countries. Of 780 axSpA patients in Asia, 112 (14.4%) had nr-axSpA, less than in non-Asian countries (486/1997, 24.3%). Nr-axSpA patients in Asia were predominantly male (75.9% vs 47.1%), younger at onset (22.8 vs 27.8 years) and diagnosis (27.2 vs 34.5 years), and experienced less diagnostic delay (1.9 vs 2.9 years) compared with nr-axSpA in non-Asian countries. Nr-axSpA in Asia exhibited higher human leucocyte antigens-B27 prevalence (90.6% vs 61.9%), fewer peripheral SpA features (53.6% vs 66.3%) and similar extra-articular and comorbid disease rates compared with those with nr-axSpA in non-Asian countries. Disease activity, functional impairment and MRI sacroiliitis were less in nr-axSpA in Asia, with higher rates of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug response and less methotrexate and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs use. Within Asia, r-axSpA showed higher disease activity and structural damage compared with nr-axSpA, with no differences in other features., Conclusion: Among axSpA, lower frequency of nr-axSpA was observed in Asia. Our results offer an opportunity to better understand clinical characteristics and optimise diagnostic strategies, such as ensuring access and availability of MRI resources for accurate diagnosis of nr-axSpA in Asia., Competing Interests: Competing interests: MK: Consulting fees and/or honoraria from AbbVie, Amgen-Astellas BioPharma, Asahi-Kasei Pharma, Astellas, Ayumi Pharma, BMS, Chugai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Kyowa Kirin, Novartis, Ono Pharma, Pfizer, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, Teijin Pharma and UCB Pharma. KY: Consulting fees from OM1. Funding from Corrona. KY was additionally supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation K Bridge Award, Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Medicine Fellowship Award, and the US National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Career Development Award (K23AR076453). YK: Grants or speaking fees from from AbbVie, Astellas, Ayumi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chugai, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Hisamitsu, Jansen, Kissei, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, and UCB. NT: Speaker fees and/or consulting fees from AbbVie, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Kyowa Kirin, Mitsubishi-Tanabe and Novartis. SK: Personal fees from Kyowa Kirin, Novartis Pharma K.K., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Chugai Pharma, Asahi Kasei Pharma, Gilead Sciences and Janssen Pharma K.K. outside the submitted work. CL-M: Speaking fees from Janssen, Abbvie and UCB. AM has received research grants from Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, MSD, Pfizer, Jansen, UCB. DvdH: Consulting fees AbbVie, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Cyxone, Daiichi, Eisai, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead, Glaxo-Smith-Kline, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB Pharma. Director of Imaging Rheumatology bv. TT: Consultancy and speaker fees from AbbVie, Astellas, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Eli Lilly and Company, Janssen, Kyowa Kirin, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Novartis and Pfizer. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The authors performed linkage analysis in 39 families with autosomal recessive early-onset PD (AR-EOPD) negative for parkin and DJ-1 mutations. Eight families including three Japanese, two Taiwanese, one Turkish, one Israeli, and one Philippine showed evidence of linkage with PARK6 with multipoint log of the odds (lod) score of 9.88 at D1S2732. The results indicate worldwide distribution of PARK6-linked parkinsonism.