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Purpose: The incidence of Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorders has seldom been evaluated in Asia. Methods: Using the National Taiwan Insurance Research Database, the annual standardized incidence and prevalence of Tourette syndrome (TS) and chronic tic disorders were estimated from 2007 to 2015. The pre-existing comorbidity at disease diagnosis was also evaluated. Results: From 2007 to 2015, the age- and sex-standardized incidence increased from 5.34 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.06–5.62) per 100,000 person-years to 6.87 (95% CI 6.53–7.21) per 100,000 person-years. In children and adolescents, the age- and sex-standardized incidence increased from 19.58 (95% CI 18.42–20.75) per 100,000 person-years to 31.79 (95% CI 30.09–33.49) per 100,000 person-years. In adults, the age- and sex-standardized incidence decreased from 2.01 (95% CI 1.79–2.23) per 100,000 person-years to 1.24 (95% CI 1.07–1.42) per 100,000 person-years. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) between males and females was 3.74 (95% CI 3.32–4.22). The age- and sex-standardized prevalence increased from 37.51 (95% CI 36.75–38.27) per 100,000 people in 2007 to 84.18 (95% CI 83.02–85.35) per 100,000 people in 2015. The rate risk (RR) between males and females was 3.65 (95% CI 3.53–3.78). Conclusion: The annual incidence rates of TS and chronic tic disorders increased in childhood and adolescence but decreased in adulthood from 2007 to 2015. The prevalence rates increased over the same period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saxifraga L. is the largest genus in Saxifragaceae and a characteristic component of the herbaceous flora of the temperate and alpine mountains in the Northern Hemisphere. Section Irregulares is a small group of 15–20 species, representing one of the early‐diverged lineages in the genus characterized with unique zygomorphic flowers. We used both nuclear internal transcribed spacer and chloroplast DNA regions (psbA‐trnH, trnL‐F, and matK) to reconstruct its species relationships, estimate divergence times, and infer its historical biogeography. Our phylogenetic results corroborate the monophyly of sect. Irregulares and its sister relationship to sect. Heterisia from North America. The section was well resolved into two lineages corresponding to their morphological features and biogeographic distributions. One represents ser. Stoloniferae including S. stolonifera Curtis and S. nipponica Makino with long‐creeping stolons/rhizomes and small petals with spots and the other comprises the remaining taxa (ser. Rufescentes) which lack long‐creeping rhizomes. Spots on leaves (abaxially spotted vs. abaxially without spots) and spots on petals (without spots vs. with spots) are inferred to be phylogenetically informative within ser. Rufescentes. Divergence time estimates and ancestral area analysis suggested a western North American origin of sect. Irregulares with migration into East Asia by way of the Bering land bridge in the Middle Oligocene. The development of drying and desertification belt in the late Miocene could have played an important role in the subsequent restriction and separation of the north and south lineages within eastern Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Genome-wide data of Polygonatum and its close relatives were obtained by Hyb-Seq. • The genome-wide nuclear and chloroplast data support monophyly of Polygonatum with three major clades. • Hybridization and introgression played a minor role in the evolutionary diversification of Polygonatum. Polygonatum is the largest genus of tribe Polygonateae (Asparagaceae) and is widely distributed in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, especially well diversified in southwestern China to northeastern Asia. Phylogenetic relationships of many species are still controversial. Hence it is necessary to clarify their phylogenetic relationships and infer possible reticulate relationships for the genus. In this study, genome-wide data of 43 species from Polygonatum and its closely related taxa were obtained by Hyb-Seq sequencing. The phylogenetic trees constructed from genome-wide nuclear and chloroplast sequences strongly supported the monophyly of Polygonatum with division into three major clades. A high level of incongruence was detected between nuclear and chloroplast trees as well as among gene trees within the genus, but all occurred within each major clade. However, introgression tests and reticulate evolution analyses revealed low level of gene flow and weak introgression events in the genus, suggesting hybridization and introgression were not dominant during the evolutionary diversification of Polygonatum in the Northern Hemisphere. This study provides important insights into reconstructing evolutionary relationships and speciation pattern of taxa from the north temperate flora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Toxicodendron has temperate to tropical distribution in Asia and North America. • A Boreotropical origin in the New World followed with divergences into eastern Asia. • North Atlantic land bridges are important for its post-Boreotopical diversification. • Eastern Asia acted as an important diversification sink for Toxicodendron. The Northern Hemisphere was widely covered by a tropical flora (i.e., the Boretropical flora) in the Eocene and the evaluation of plant diversifications in the post-Boreotropical era has become an important challenge to understanding the modern biogeographic complexity in this vast region. Toxicodendron or the poison ivy genus of the sumac family has a temperate to tropical distribution in Asia and North America and can serve as an excellent model for investigating the evolution of the post-Boreotropical biogeographic complexity. Molecular age estimates were calculated using a Bayesian approach with sampling covering the taxonomic diversity and biogeographic distributions within the genus, and sequence data from three nuclear DNA (ITS, ETS, NIA-i3) and two chloroplast (ndhF , trnL-F) regions, combined with calibrations from three fossil records. Ancestral areas were reconstructed using RASP and BioGeoBears. Toxicodendron is estimated to have a Boreotropical origin in the New World in the late Eocene at 37.68 Ma. It then diversified into a subtropical-temperate and a tropical lineage, followed by migrating into eastern Asia via the North Atlantic land bridges in the Oligocene to early Miocene. Two tropical migration events during the Miocene are identified between continental Asia and SE Asia or New Guinea around 20.91 Ma and 14.33 Ma, respectively. Results from this study highlight the importance of the North Atlantic land bridges and eastern Asia in the post-Boreotopical plant divergences in the Northern Hemisphere, especially when biogeographic exchanges between North and South America were limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaphalis is the largest Asian genus in the tribe Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae) and has its greatest species diversity in the eastern Himalayas. The nuclear internal and external transcribed spacers were sequenced for Anaphalis species, with an emphasis on the eastern Himalayan taxa to examine the monophyly and construct the phylogenetic relationships of and within the genus. The results suggest that all species of Anaphalis are nested with Helichrysum, showing a close relationship with a Mediterranean-Asian group of Helichrysum. Although the monophyly of Anaphalis is only weakly supported, two clades within the genus are well recognized, each consisting of two subgroups. The inferred phylogenetic relationships within Anaphalis correspond to the shape of leaf base, rather than the morphology of the capitula and phyllaries that are usually used for species delimitation and classification in the genus. All four subgroups of Anaphalis are common and diversified in the eastern Himalayas with multiple dispersals out of this region. The sole North American species of Anaphalis is best hypothesized to be the result of long-distance dispersal or overland migration via Bering land bridge from Asia. Our analyses suggest that the extant distribution of Anaphalis has most likely resulted one radiation into the eastern Himalayas followed by repeated independent dispersals and/or radiations mostly into eastern Asia but also into the western Himalayas, North America, and southeast Asia.