Browse Articles

Dynamics of cooperation in concurrent games

Abstract People frequently encounter situations where individually optimal decisions conflict with group interests. To navigate such social dilemmas, they often employ simple heuristics based on direct reciprocity: cooperate when others do and cease cooperation when partners defect. However, prior research typically assumes that individuals only interact in one game at a time. In reality, people engage in multiple games concurrently, and the outcome of one interaction can influence behavior in another. Here, we introduce a theoretical framework to study the resulting cross-over and spill-over effects. Participants repeatedly engage in two independent stage games, either with the same or different partners, adapting their strategies over time through an evolutionary learning process. Our findings indicate that individuals often link their behavior across games, particularly under cognitive constraints like imperfect recall. A behavioral experiment with 316 UK-based students suggests that concurrent games negatively affect cooperation, highlighting how strategic motives and spillovers impact reciprocity.

The neurobench framework for benchmarking neuromorphic computing algorithms and systems

Abstract Neuromorphic computing shows promise for advancing computing efficiency and capabilities of AI applications using brain-inspired principles. However, the neuromorphic research field currently lacks standardized benchmarks, making it difficult to accurately measure technological advancements, compare performance with conventional methods, and identify promising future research directions. This article presents NeuroBench, a benchmark framework for neuromorphic algorithms and systems, which is collaboratively designed from an open community of researchers across industry and academia. NeuroBench introduces a common set of tools and systematic methodology for inclusive benchmark measurement, delivering an objective reference framework for quantifying neuromorphic approaches in both hardware-independent and hardware-dependent settings. For latest project updates, visit the project website (neurobench.ai).

Emissions leakage and economic losses may undermine deforestation-linked oil crop import restrictions

Ultrahigh piezoelectricity and temperature stability in piezoceramics by synergistic design

CerS6 links ceramide metabolism to innate immune responses in diabetic kidney disease

Author Correction: Brucella abortus impairs T lymphocyte responsiveness by mobilizing IL-1RA-secreting omental neutrophils

A pathogen effector HaRxL10 hijacks the circadian clock component CHE to perturb both plant development and immunity

Abstract The intertwining between the life cycle of plants and their pathogens made the plant circadian clock an integral constituent of the plant immune system. Reciprocally, pathogens were also found to perturb the expression pattern of certain clock genes. However, how pathogens influence clock components remains largely unknown. Here we show that an oomycete effector HaRxL10 directly targets Arabidopsis central clock component CCA1 HIKING EXPEDITION (CHE) to manipulate its function. HaRxL10 stabilises CHE by disrupting E3 ligase ZEITLUPE-mediated CHE protein degradation. Surprisingly, the accumulation of CHE does not enhance but rather suppresses CHE function, inhibiting its binding to the downstream gene promoter. HaRxL10 triggers reprogramming of the transcriptome including expression of genes related to circadian oscillations. Moreover, HaRxL10 hijacks CHE to repress plant immunity and manipulate physiological processes, including hypocotyl growth and flowering. Taken together, our study discovers the first plant pathogen effector that directly targets a plant circadian clock component and elucidates the underlying molecular mechanism.

Lack of harmonisation of greenhouse gases reporting standards and the methane emissions gap

Abstract Monitoring companies’ contributions to climate dynamics and their exposure to transition risks requires accurate measurements of their non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions (non-CO2 GHG). However, carbon accounting standards are not harmonised and allow for some discretion when converting emissions of different GHGs into CO2 equivalent units, the currency in which carbon footprints are expressed. Focusing on methane, we build counterfactual harmonised standards using the latest IPCC Global Warming Potential (GWP) values over 100 years and estimate a cumulative gap in reported methane emissions of 170MtCO2e ( ~6Tg) over a sample of 2864 companies. Changing the counterfactual from GWP100to GWP20, as recently codified in certain jurisdictions and initiatives, increases the cumulative gap to 3300MtCO2e ( ~40Tg). The gap only covers direct emissions and hence understates the extent of potential under-reporting across value chains. Overall, our study underscores the importance of global harmonisation of CO2-equivalence standards to coherently track corporate GHG emissions and their exposure to transition risks.

Accelerated epigenetic aging in Huntington’s disease involves polycomb repressive complex 1

Abstract Loss of epigenetic information during physiological aging compromises cellular identity, leading to de-repression of developmental genes. Here, we assessed the epigenomic landscape of vulnerable neurons in two reference mouse models of Huntington neurodegenerative disease (HD), using cell-type-specific multi-omics, including temporal analysis at three disease stages via FANS-CUT&Tag. We show accelerated de-repression of developmental genes in HD striatal neurons, involving histone re-acetylation and depletion of H2AK119 ubiquitination and H3K27 trimethylation marks, which are catalyzed by polycomb repressive complexes 1 and 2 (PRC1 and PRC2), respectively. We further identify a PRC1-dependent subcluster of bivalent developmental transcription factors that is re-activated in HD striatal neurons. This mechanism likely involves progressive paralog switching between PRC1-CBX genes, which promotes the upregulation of normally low-expressed PRC1-CBX2/4/8 isoforms in striatal neurons, alongside the down-regulation of predominant PRC1-CBX isoforms in these cells (e.g., CBX6/7). Collectively, our data provide evidence for PRC1-dependent accelerated epigenetic aging in HD vulnerable neurons.

Author Correction: Northern Scandinavian mountains supported by a low-grade eclogitic crustal keel

A comprehensive metabolomic study of three Egyptian Salsola species revealed their potential anti-inflammatory activity

Abstract Salsola plants are halophytic crops that are distributed worldwide, with more than 100 species figured out in Asia, the Mediterranean region and North Africa. Different Salsola species were reported to exert marked anti-inflammatory activities, whereas the potential anti-inflammatory activities of the three species, S. tetrandra, S. tetragona and S. vermiculata, have not been evaluated. This study provides a comprehensive metabolic study of the shoots and roots of those three species to identify potential anti-inflammatory candidates. An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass-mass spectrometry (UHPLC MS/MS) method in conjunction with multivariate analysis principles was utilized in an attempt to decipher their bio-active metabolites and their relevant anti-inflammatory activities. Eighty metabolites were identified in the tested extracts, where nitrogenous compounds and phenolics were highly detected in S. tetragona samples, meanwhile, saponins and phenolic acids were highly dominant in S. tetrendra sample and S. vermiculata samples have a similar chemical profile as S. tetrandra. Concerning the anti-inflammatory activity of the tested extracts, the safety margin of all the tested extracts was higher than that of the standard drug piroxicam. The shoots of the three species demonstrated more potent anti-inflammatory activities compared to the roots. The shoot extract of S. tetrandra was the most biologically active fraction. The obtained results revealed the shoots of the three Salosla species to be promising anti-inflammatory drug candidates of high safety and efficacy that could be used in the pharmaceutical industry.

Burst-like swarms in the Campi Flegrei caldera accelerating unrest from 2021 to 2024

Global burden and risk factors of male cancers from 1990 to 2021, with forecasts to 2040

Integrating protein language models and automatic biofoundry for enhanced protein evolution

A promising AI based super resolution image reconstruction technique for early diagnosis of skin cancer

Liquid-like spin dynamics in a hybrid Heisenberg-Ising antiferromagnet

Author Correction: Relationship between risk of oral frailty and awareness of oral frailty among community-dwelling adults: a cross-sectional study

Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies discovers 67 new loci associated with chronic back pain

Abstract This multi-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) investigated the genetic factors underlying chronic back pain (CBP) in a sample from the Million Veteran Program comprised of 553,601 Veterans of African (19.2%), European (72.6%), and Hispanic (8.2%) ancestry. The results revealed novel (N = 67) and known (N = 20) genome-wide significant loci associated with CBP, with 43 independent variants replicating in a non-overlapping contemporary meta-GWAS of the spinal pain dorsalgia phenotype. The most significant novel variant was rs12533005 (chr7:114416000, p = 1.61 × 10−20, OR = 0.96 (95% CI: 0.95–0.97), EA = C, EAF = 0.39), in an intron of the FOXP2 gene. In silico functional characterization revealed enrichment in brain and pituitary tissues. Mendelian randomization analysis of 62 variants for CBP-MVP revealed 48 with causal links to dorsalgia. Notably, four genes (INPP5B, DRD2, HTT, SLC30A6) associated with these variants are targets of existing drugs. Our findings more than double the number of previously reported genetic predictors across all spinal pain phenotypes.

Author Correction: Network structures and mitigation potential of trade linked global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

Holographic tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing

Abstract Several 3D light-based printing technologies have been developed that rely on the photopolymerization of liquid resins. A recent method, so-called Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing, allows the fabrication of microscale objects within tens of seconds without the need for support structures. This method works by projecting intensity patterns, computed via a reverse tomography algorithm, into a photocurable resin from different angles to produce a desired 3D shape when the resin reaches the polymerization threshold. Printing using incoherent light patterning has been previously demonstrated. In this work, we show that a light engine with holographic phase modulation unlocks new potential for volumetric printing. The light projection efficiency is improved by at least a factor 20 over amplitude coding with diffraction-limited resolution and its flexibility allows precise light control across the entire printing volume. We show that computer-generated holograms implemented with tiled holograms and point-spread-function shaping mitigates the speckle noise which enables the fabrication of millimetric 3D objects exhibiting negative features of 31 μm in less than a minute with a 40 mW light source in acrylates and scattering materials, such as soft cell-laden hydrogels, with a concentration of 0.5 million cells per mL.