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Elevated CO2 (eCO2) is a determinant factor of climate change and is known to alter plant processes such as physiology, growth and resistance to pathogens. Quercus robur, a tree species integrated in most forest regeneration strategies, shows high vulnerability to powdery mildew (PM) disease at the seedling stage. PM is present in most oak forests and it is considered a bottleneck for oak woodland regeneration. Our study aims to decipher the effect of eCO2 on plant responses to PM. Oak seedlings were grown in controlled environment at ambient (aCO2, ~ 400 ppm) and eCO2 (~ 1000 ppm), and infected with Erysiphe alphitoides, the causal agent of oak PM. Plant growth, physiological parameters and disease progression were monitored. In addition, to evaluate the effect of eCO2 on induced resistance (IR), these parameters were assessed after treatments with IR elicitor β-aminobutyric acid (BABA). Our results show that eCO2 increases photosynthetic rates and aerial growth but in contrast reduces root length. Importantly, under eCO2 seedlings were more susceptible to PM. Treatments with BABA protected seedlings against PM, however, this effect was less pronounced under eCO2. Moreover, irrespectively of the concentration of CO2, BABA did not significantly change aerial growth but resulted in longer radicular systems, thus mitigating the effect of eCO2 in root shortening. Our results demonstrate the impact of eCO2 in plant physiology, growth and defence, and warrant further biomolecular studies to unravel the mechanisms by which eCO2 increases oak seedling susceptibility to PM.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

Rising atmospheric CO2 levels are predicted to influence forest health directly and indirectly, yet the long-term effects of elevated CO2 (eCO2) on mature trees in natural ecosystems remain poorly understood. Understanding how eCO2 affects susceptibility to biotic stress and alters leaf metabolism is critical for predicting forest responses to climate change. We examined the effects of eCO2 (+150 ppm) on 180-year-old Quercus robur at the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) facility. From 2016 (pre-treatment) to 2024 (year 8 of enrichment), we monitored natural powdery mildew infection and insect herbivory, alongside targeted and untargeted metabolomic profiling of leaf material collected across the growing season. While seasonal patterns and an overall decline in PM and herbivory were observed, no consistent differences in biotic stress incidence emerged due to eCO2. Metabolomic data revealed subtle but widespread shifts, especially in amino acid, CoenzymeA, and redox pathways. These results suggest that although eCO2 drives extensive metabolic changes, it does not alter biotic stress resistance in mature oaks. Instead, eCO2 appears to promote physiological plasticity that may shape future responses to combined environmental stressors. These insights offer a valuable reference point for interpreting long-term ecosystem dynamics.

The major genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a C9orf72 G 4 C 2 repeat expansion 1 , 2 . Proposed mechanisms by which the expansion causes c9FTD/ALS include toxicity from repeat-containing RNA and from dipeptide repeat proteins translated from these transcripts. To investigate the contribution of poly(GR) dipeptide repeat proteins to c9FTD/ALS pathogenesis in a mammalian in vivo model, we generated mice that expressed GFP–(GR) 100 in the brain. GFP–(GR) 100 mice developed age-dependent neurodegeneration, brain atrophy, and motor and memory deficits through the accumulation of diffuse, cytoplasmic poly(GR). Poly(GR) co-localized with ribosomal subunits and the translation initiation factor eIF3η in GFP–(GR) 100 mice and, of importance, in c9FTD/ALS patients. Combined with the differential expression of ribosome-associated genes in GFP–(GR) 100 mice, these findings demonstrate poly(GR)-mediated ribosomal distress. Indeed, poly(GR) inhibited canonical and non-canonical protein translation in HEK293T cells, and also induced the formation of stress granules and delayed their disassembly. These data suggest that poly(GR) contributes to c9FTD/ALS by impairing protein translation and stress granule dynamics, consequently causing chronic cellular stress and preventing cells from mounting an effective stress response. Decreasing poly(GR) and/or interrupting interactions between poly(GR) and ribosomal and stress granule-associated proteins may thus represent potential therapeutic strategies to restore homeostasis. ALS/FTD-related C9orf72 dipeptide-repeat proteins inhibit protein translation and impair stress granule dynamics, and they cause motor and cognitive deficits in mice.

Some activities can be meaningfully dichotomised as 'cognitive' or 'sensorimotor' in nature-but many cannot. This has radical implications for understanding activity limitation in disability. For example, older adults take longer to learn the serial order of a complex sequence but also exhibit slower, more variable and inaccurate motor performance. So is their impaired skill acquisition a cognitive or motor deficit? We modelled sequence learning as a process involving a limited capacity buffer (working memory), where reduced performance restricts the number of elements that can be stored. To test this model, we examined the relationship between motor performance and sequence learning. Experiment 1 established that older adults were worse at learning the serial order of a complex sequence. Experiment 2 found that participants showed impaired sequence learning when the non-preferred hand was used. Experiment 3 confirmed that serial order learning is impaired when motor demands increase (as the model predicted). These results can be captured by reinforcement learning frameworks which suggest sequence learning will be constrained both by an individual's sensorimotor ability and cognitive capacity.

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infect 1.5 billion people and countless animals worldwide. In Australian Indigenous communities, STH infections have largely remained endemic despite control efforts, suggesting reservoirs of infection may exist. Dogs fulfil various important cultural, social and occupational roles in Australian Indigenous communities and are populous in these settings. Dogs may also harbour zoonotic STHs capable of producing morbidity and mortality in dogs and humans. This review provides an overview of human and zoonotic STH infections, identifies the Australian Indigenous locations affected and the parasite species and hosts involved. The meta-analysis provides estimates of individual study and pooled true prevalence of STH infections in Australian Indigenous communities and identifies knowledge gaps for further research on zoonotic or anthroponotic potential. A systematic literature search identified 45 eligible studies documenting the presence of Strongyloides stercoralis , Trichuris trichiura , Ancylostoma caninum , Ancylostoma duodenale , Ancylostoma ceylanicum , undifferentiated hookworm, and Ascaris lumbricoides . Of these studies, 26 were also eligible for inclusion in meta-analysis to establish true prevalence in the light of imperfect diagnostic test sensitivity and specificity by Rogan-Gladen and Bayesian methods. These studies revealed pooled true prevalence estimates of 18.9% (95% CI 15.8–22.1) for human and canine S . stercoralis infections and 77.3% (95% CI 63.7–91.0) for canine A . caninum infections indicating continued endemicity, but considerably more heterogenous pooled estimates for canine A . ceylanicum infections, and A . duodenale , undifferentiated hookworm and T . trichiura in humans. This review suggests that the prevalence of STHs in Australian Indigenous communities has likely been underestimated, principally based on imperfect diagnostic tests. Potential misclassification of hookworm species in humans and dogs due to outdated methodology, also obscures this picture. High-quality contemporary studies are required to establish current true prevalence of parasite species in all relevant hosts to guide future policy development and control decisions under a culturally sound One Health framework.

Tidal marshes are threatened coastal ecosystems known for their capacity to store large amounts of carbon in their water-logged soils. Accurate quantification and mapping of global tidal marshes soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is of considerable value to conservation efforts. Here, we used training data from 3710 unique locations, landscape-level environmental drivers and a global tidal marsh extent map to produce a global, spatially explicit map of SOC storage in tidal marshes at 30 m resolution. Here we show the total global SOC stock to 1 m to be 1.44 Pg C, with a third of this value stored in the United States of America. On average, SOC in tidal marshes’ 0–30 and 30–100 cm soil layers are estimated at 83.1 Mg C ha −1 (average predicted error 44.8 Mg C ha −1 ) and 185.3 Mg C ha −1 (average predicted error 105.7 Mg C ha −1 ), respectively. A new study shows the total global SOC stock of 1 m in the world’s tidal marshes to be 1.44 Pg C. On average, SOC in tidal marshes’ 0–30 cm and 30–100 cm soil layers are estimated at 83.1 Mg C ha −1 and 185.3 Mg C ha −1 , respectively.

Some studies have shown that manual asymmetries decrease in older age. These results have often been explained with reference to models of reduced hemispheric specialisation. An alternative explanation, however, is that hand differences are subtle, and capturing them requires tasks that yield optimal performance with both hands. Whereas the hemispheric specialisation account implies that reduced manual asymmetries should be reliably observed in older adults, the 'measurement difficulty' account suggests that manual asymmetries will be hard to detect unless a task has just the right level of difficulty--i.e. within the 'Goldilocks Zone', where it is not too easy or too hard, but just right. Experiment One tested this hypothesis and found that manual asymmetries were only detected when participants performed in this zone; specifically, performance on a tracing task was only superior in the preferred hand when task constraints were high (i.e. fast speed tracing). Experiment Two used three different tasks to examine age differences in manual asymmetries; one task produced no asymmetries, whilst two tasks revealed asymmetries in both younger and older groups (with poorer overall performance in the old group across all tasks). Experiment Three revealed task-dependent asymmetries in both age groups, but highlighted further detection difficulties linked with the metric of performance and compensatory strategies used by participants. Results are discussed with reference to structural learning theory, whereby we suggest that the processes of inter-manual transfer lead to relatively small performance differences between the hands (despite a strong phenomenological sense of performance disparities).

EIGHTEEN months ago, Scottie Pippen walked off the parquet at the United Centre in Chicago with his long-time comrade-in-arms, Michael Jordan, the basketball duo afflicted by a rare off-night. That game was the fifth in the 1998 NBA Finals against Utah Jazz, which the visitors had stolen by two points. But it postponed the Bulls' coronation by just two days, as a 45-point blast from the peerless Jordan in Utah carried his side to a sixth NBA championship in eight years, an achievement which secured a lasting place for them in the sport's pantheon of fame. Last Monday night, Pippen stepped on to the same court for the first time since his departure from the Windy City. He was wearing the uniform of the Portland Trailblazers, the team he joined in the summer after a disruptive spell at Houston. The crowd cheered the prodigal to the roof, his pre-game ovation lasting several minutes. It continued throughout a video tribute screened by the Bulls to celebrate multiple achievements during Pippen's 11-year career in Chicago.

Pain is a common non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease. We investigated the analgesic efficacy of prolonged-release oxycodone–naloxone (OXN PR) in patients with Parkinson's disease and chronic, severe pain. We did this phase 2 study in 47 secondary care centres in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the UK. We enrolled patients with Hoehn and Yahr Stage II–IV Parkinson's disease, at least one type of severe pain, and an average 24-h pain score of at least 6 (assessed on an 11-point rating scale from 0=no pain to 10=pain as bad as you can imagine). Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) with a validated automated system (block size four) to either oral OXN PR or placebo for 16 weeks (starting dose oxycodone 5 mg, naloxone 2·5 mg, twice daily). Patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was average 24-h pain score at 16 weeks in the full analysis population. This study is registered with EudraCT (2011-002901-31) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01439100). We enrolled 202 patients; 93 were assigned to OXN PR and 109 to placebo; the full analysis population consisted of 88 patients versus 106 patients. Least squares mean average 24-h pain score at 16 weeks in the full analysis population was 5·0 (95% CI 4·5 to 5·5) in the OXN PR group versus 5·6 (5·1 to 6·0) in the placebo group (difference −0·6, 95% CI −1·3 to 0·0; p=0·058). Similar proportions of patients in each group had adverse events (60/92 [65%] vs 76/109 [70%]), treatment-related adverse events (52/92 [57%] vs 62/109 [57%]), and serious adverse events (5/92 [5%] vs 7/109 [6%]). Treatment-related nausea was more common in the OXN PR group than in the placebo group (16/92 [17%] vs 10/109 [9%]), as was treatment-related constipation (16/92 [17%] vs 6/109 [6%]). The primary endpoint, based on the full analysis population at week 16, was not significant. Nonetheless, the results of this study highlight the potential efficacy of OXN PR for patients with Parkinson's disease-related pain and might warrant further research on OXN PR in this setting. Mundipharma Research.

Tidal marshes store large amounts of organic carbon in their soils. Field data quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks provide an important resource for researchers, natural resource managers, and policy-makers working towards the protection, restoration, and valuation of these ecosystems. We collated a global dataset of tidal marsh soil organic carbon (MarSOC) from 99 studies that includes location, soil depth, site name, dry bulk density, SOC, and/or soil organic matter (SOM). The MarSOC dataset includes 17,454 data points from 2,329 unique locations, and 29 countries. We generated a general transfer function for the conversion of SOM to SOC. Using this data we estimated a median (± median absolute deviation) value of 79.2±38.1 Mg SOC ha?1 in the top 30cm and 231±134 Mg SOC ha?1 in the top 1m of tidal marsh soils globally. This data can serve as a basis for future work, and may contribute to incorporation of tidal marsh ecosystems into climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and policies.