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Extensive research has been conducted on the in vitro mass propagation of pear (Pyrus spp.) trees through vegetative propagation, demonstrating high efficiency in shoot multiplication across various pear species. However, the low in vitro rooting rates remain a significant barrier to the practical application and commercialization of mass propagation. This study aims to determine the favorable conditions for inducing root formation in the in vitro microshoots of Pyrus genotypes. The base of the microshoots was exposed to a high concentration (2 mg L−1) of auxins (a combination of IBA and NAA) for initial root induction at the moment when callus formation begins. The microshoots were then transferred to an R1 medium (1/2 MS with 30 g L−1 sucrose without PGRs) to promote root development. This method successfully induced rooting in three European pear varieties, one Asian pear variety, and a European–Asian hybrid, resulting in rooting rates of 66.7%, 87.2%, and 100% for the European pear (P. communis), 60% for the Asian pear (P. pyrifolia), and 83.3% for the hybrid pear (P. pyrifolia × P. communis) with an average of 25 days. In contrast, the control group (MS medium) exhibited rooting rates of 0–13.3% after 60 days of culture. These findings will enhance in vitro root induction for various pear varieties and support the mass propagation and acclimatization of pear. The in vitro root induction method developed in this study has the potential for global commercial application in pear cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Abnormal new bone formation can occur not only in the vertebral body but also can occur in facet, costovertebral, and costotransverse joints in radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) patients. Little is known about the association between syndesmophyte progression and paravertebral joint ankylosis in r-axSpA. Objectives: Costotransverse joint ankylosis in r-axSpA patients was measured. Furthermore, the association between syndesmophyte progression for 2 years assessed by computed tomography syndesmophyte score (CTSS) and facet, costovertebral, and costotransverse joints ankylosis were evaluated. Design: Single-center, prospective, cohort study. Methods: Whole spine CT images taken at baseline and 2-year follow-up were used to calculate the CTSS of the vertebral body. In addition, ankylosis of the facet/costovertebral/costotransverse joints was scored. CTSS (range, 0–552) and facet joint ankylosis (range, 0–46) were assessed at 23 vertebral units. Costovertebral joints at T1–T12 (range, 0–48) and costotransverse joints at T1–T10 (range, 0–20) were also assessed by independent two readers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine inter-reader reliability. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to identify the associations between syndesmophyte progression and the baseline status of facet, costovertebral, and costotransverse joints. Results: In all, 50 patients with r-axSpA were included. Readers 1 and 2 identified C7–T3 (facet joints), T5–T7 and T12 (costovertebral joints), and T8–T9 (costotransverse joints), as common sites of ankylosis at baseline and at 2-year follow-up. The ICCs for the facet, costovertebral, and costotransverse joints at baseline were 0.876, 0.952, and 0.753, respectively. OR of baseline costovertebral and costotransverse joint ankylosis for predicting syndesmophyte progression of the vertebral body was 4.644 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.295–9.398] and 1.524 (95% CI, 1.036–2.244), respectively. Conclusion: Costotransverse joint ankylosis in r-axSpA patients can be measured semi-quantitatively on whole spine CT, and ankylosis of the costotransverse and costovertebral joints predicts the progression of syndesmophytes. Trial registration: Not applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to identify common genes and recurrent causative variants in a large group of Asian patients with different epilepsy syndromes and subgroups. Methods: Patients with unexplained pediatric‐onset epilepsy were identified from the in‐house Severance Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Epilepsy Database. All patients underwent either exome sequencing or multigene panels from January 2017 to December 2019, at Severance Children's Hospital in Korea. Clinical data were extracted from the medical records. Results: Of the 957 patients studied, 947 (99.0%) were Korean and 570 were male (59.6%). The median age at testing was 4.91 years (interquartile range, 1.53–9.39). The overall diagnostic yield was 32.4% (310/957). Clinical exome sequencing yielded a diagnostic rate of 36.9% (134/363), whereas the epilepsy panel yielded a diagnostic rate of 29.9% (170/569). Diagnostic yield differed across epilepsy syndromes. It was high in Dravet syndrome (87.2%, 41/47) and early infantile developmental epileptic encephalopathy (60.7%, 17/28), but low in West syndrome (21.8%, 34/156) and myoclonic‐atonic epilepsy (4.8%, 1/21). The most frequently implicated genes were SCN1A (n = 49), STXBP1 (n = 15), SCN2A (n = 14), KCNQ2 (n = 13), CDKL5 (n = 11), CHD2 (n = 9), SLC2A1 (n = 9), PCDH19 (n = 8), MECP2 (n = 6), SCN8A (n = 6), and PRRT2 (n = 5). The recurrent genetic abnormalities included 15q11.2 deletion/duplication (n = 9), Xq28 duplication (n = 5), PRRT2 deletion (n = 4), MECP2 duplication (n = 3), SCN1A, c.2556+3A>T (n = 3), and 2q24.3 deletion (n = 3). Significance: Here we present the results of a large‐scale study conducted in East Asia, where we identified several common genes and recurrent variants that varied depending on specific epilepsy syndromes. The overall genetic landscape of the Asian population aligns with findings from other populations of varying ethnicities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]