Latest Articles

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  Section: Forest & Wood Sciences ; Topics: Applied biological sciences, Environmental sciences, Plant biology

  Comparative responses of legume vs. non-legume tropical trees to biochar additions

  Thomas, Sean C.;   Halim, M. A.;   Ali, Syed Tuhin  

  10.24072/pcjournal.668 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e5

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  Nitrogen-fixing plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) may show particularly large positive responses to biochar additions due to their capacity to potentially compensate for reduced N in biochar-amended soils. Prior studies also suggest that biochar may have specific developmental effects on legumes, including increased root nodulation and altered morphology. We examined the growth and morphometric responses of legume and non-legume tropical trees to biochar additions in a common garden pot trial experiment. Four legume species (Acacia auriculiformis, A. mangium, Delonix regia, and Pterocarpus santalinus) and four non-legumes (Eucalyptus alba, Melia azedarach, Swietenia macrophylla, and Syzygium cumini) were compared in terms of sapling responses to additions of a wood-feedstock biochar applied at 10 and 20 t/ha. Overall, strong positive effects of biochar additions on sapling performance were observed, with an average increase of 30% in total biomass and a notable increase in height relative to diameter growth. Species showed pronounced differences in responses, with strong interactive effects of species and biochar treatments on growth metrics. Legume species showed an average increase somewhat greater than non-legumes; however, responses were variable among species, with the two Acacia species showing the largest responses, resulting in a non-significant pattern. A literature-based meta-analysis of tropical and subtropical trees likewise suggests greater biochar responses in legumes, but the analysis also falls short of statistical significance. In addition, experimental results indicate large interactive effects of species and biochar on soil pH and other soil properties. Large growth responses of certain taxa of legumes (and other taxa) to biochar, and pronounced species-specific effects on soil properties, may reflect evolved responses to fire disturbance that can be leveraged in the context of forest restoration and enhanced carbon sequestration in degraded tropical landscapes.

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  Section: Health & Movement Sciences ; Topics: Psychological and cognitive sciences, Health sciences, Neuroscience

  Comparison of two exergame-based motor-cognitive trainings: protocol for a pilot study on cognitive, motor, and psychiatric symptoms in patients with Huntington’s disease (CARE-MH)

  Godard, Julien;   Chartier, Coline;   Besnard, Jérémy;   Allain, Philippe;   Humeau-Heurtier, Anne;   Durand, Sylvain  

  10.24072/pcjournal.676 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e4

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  Background: Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare, hereditary neurodegenerative disorder. Symptoms manifest around the age of 40 and encompass a range of physical, cognitive, and psychiatric impairments. Motor and cognitive exercises have been shown to slow the progression of symptoms. Particular attention has been given to motor-cognitive training, which may combine the benefits and contribute to delaying the progression of the disease. However, studies investigating the efficacy of such training in HD remain limited. At the same time, the use of exergaming has shown promise in improving participant engagement in training, which may in turn enhance both physical and cognitive functioning. The aim of our pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility and effects of two home-based motor-cognitive trainings via an exergame on motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptomatology in HD patients. Methods: Patients, from stages 1 and 2, will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups: sequential exercises (separate motor and cognitive exercises) or synergical exercises (simultaneous motor and cognitive exercises). Training sessions will be conducted individually over a 12-week period (3 sessions/week ; 60 minutes/session). Linear mixed-effects models will be used to assess training’s effects on balance, walking capacity, lower-extremity strength, disease-related motor impairments, global cognition, executive functions, depression, anxiety, disease-specific psychiatric symptoms, and quality of life. Discussion: Our pilot study will be the first one to compare two exergame-based motor-cognitive trainings in HD patients. It is expected to be feasible, with improvements in motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms in both groups. However, greater improvements are expected in the synergical group compared to the sequential group.

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  Section: Ecology ; Topics: Ecology, Environmental sciences, Population biology

  The dynamic nature of carbon and oxygen benthic fluxes in seagrass habitats

  Lacoste, Elise;   Desroy, Nicolas;   Blanchet-Aurigny, Aline;   Bernard, Guillaume; Bajjouk, Touria; de Casamajor, Marie-Noelle ;   Cimiterra, Nicolas; Curd, Amelia;   Derrien, Lauriane; Dubois, Stanislas, F;   Foucault, Elodie; Messiaen, Gregory; Rigouin, Loïc; Soissons, Laura;   Tancray, Aurélien; Ouisse, Vincent  

  10.24072/pcjournal.662 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e3

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  Seagrass meadows are among the most dominant vegetated ecosystems in temperate areas and contribute greatly to the carbon and oxygen cycles in coastal regions. However, their seasonal metabolism and how it varies along environmental gradients is rarely assessed and documented. Benthic chambers were used to measure carbon and oxygen fluxes during immersion in Zostera marina and Zostera noltii habitats and adjacent uncolonised sediments across part of their distribution range and at different times of year. Compared to bare sediments, seagrass increased both gross primary production through photosynthesis and oxygen consumption, probably by providing a complex habitat structure for the associated heterotrophic community. A seasonal trend was observed for all sites, with maximum benthic fluxes during warmer months (16.4 mmol h^-1 m^-2 for oxygen consumption and 28.4 mmol h^-1 m^-2 for dissolved inorganic carbon gross production). Using an extensive dataset combining oxygen and carbon flux assessments with the concomitant collection of habitat features (seagrass characteristics and environmental data), we showed that water temperature explained most of the variation in metabolism. We also provided quantitative estimates of Community Respiration Quotient (CRQ, between 0.63 and 1.49) and Community Photosynthetic Quotient (CPQ, between 0.88 and 1.43), two metrics characterizing benthic ecosystem functions, encompassing a wide range of environmental conditions and seagrass habitat features, making this study the first of such comprehensive and extensive coverage.

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  Section: Neuroscience ; Topics: Neuroscience

  Comparing electromyography, accelerometry, and visual inspection to assess the resting motor threshold for transcranial magnetic stimulation

  Hamoline, Gautier;   Lunardi, Antoine E; Moreno-Verdú, Marcos;   Waltzing, Baptiste M;   Van Caenegem, Elise E; MacAteer, Siobhan; Hardwick, Robert M  

  10.24072/pcjournal.659 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e2

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  Introduction: Electromyography (EMG) remains the gold standard for estimating the Resting Motor Threshold (RMT) in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) studies, but its cost and limited accessibility often lead researchers to use visual inspection (VIS). However, VIS may introduce variability and systematic bias. Accelerometry (ACC) offers a cost-effective, objective alternative to capture TMS-evoked responses.  Objective: To compare the RMT as estimated using EMG, ACC, and VIS.  Methods: Five participants underwent TMS while EMG, ACC, and video recordings were collected. Separately, 64 observers judged hand movement in videos to estimate RMT via VIS. RMTs were compared across the three methods using Bayesian model comparison, Bland-Altman analyses, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs).  Results: RMTs estimated via EMG were lower than those obtained using either ACC or VIS.  Compared to EMG, VIS tended to overestimate RMT (mean bias = 5.23%, 95%CI = [1.00–11.00]), while ACC and VIS estimates were more closely aligned (mean bias = 0.43%, 95%CI = [–4.00 – 5.00]). ICC (2,1) values indicated moderate reliability for VIS vs EMG (mean = 0.580, 95%CI = [0.389 – 0.748]), and good-to-excellent reliability for VIS vs ACC (mean = 0.845). However, bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals identified significant variability in the estimates provided by visual inspection, ranging from +1 to +11 for VIS vs EMG, but as low as -4 to +5 for VIS vs ACC.  Conclusions: EMG remains the most sensitive technique for estimating the RMT, but when EMG is not feasible, accelerometery provides a quantifiable, more objective, and less variable alternative than visual inspection.