Brain cortical characteristics of lifetime cognitive ageing

Regional cortical brain volume is the product of surface area and thickness. These measures exhibit partially distinct trajectories of change across the brain’s cortex in older age, but it is unclear which cortical characteristics at which loci are sensitive to cognitive ageing differences. We examine associations between change in intelligence from age 11 to 73 years and regional cortical volume, surface area, and thickness measured at age 73 years in 568 community-dwelling older adults, all born in 1936. A relative positive change in intelligence from 11 to 73 was associated with larger volume and surface area in selective frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital regions (r < 0.180, FDR-corrected q < 0.05). There were no significant associations between cognitive ageing and a thinner cortex for any region. Interestingly, thickness and surface area were phenotypically independent across bilateral lateral temporal loci, whose surface area was significantly related to change in intelligence. These findings suggest that associations between regional cortical volume and cognitive ageing differences are predominantly driven by surface area rather than thickness among healthy older adults. Regional brain surface area has been relatively underexplored, and is a potentially informative biomarker for identifying determinants of cognitive ageing differences

State of the world’s plants and fungi 2020

Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi project provides assessments of our current knowledge of the diversity of plants and fungi on Earth, the global threats that they face, and the policies to safeguard them. Produced in conjunction with an international scientific symposium, Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi sets an important international standard from which we can annually track trends in the global status of plant and fungal diversity

First report of invasive scale insects feeding on the threatened plants Calyptranthes kiaerskovii Krug & Urban and Calyptranthes thomasiana O. Berg in the British Virgin Islands

Invasive scale insects are reported for the first time feeding on the threatened endemic Kiaerskov's lidflower Calyptranthes kiaerskovii and Thomas' lidflower Calyptranthes thomasiana (Myrtaceae) in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Ceroplastes floridensis Comstock, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell, Paratachardina pseudolobata Kondo & Gullan and an undetermined diaspidid were found on C. kiaerskovii; and C. rubens, Ceroplastes stellifer (Westwood), P. pseudolobata and an undetermined asterolecaniid on C. thomasiana. The significance of these findings and the on-going threats faced by these plant species in the wild are discussed. C. rubens, C. stellifer, P. howertoni Hodges & Hodgson and P. pseudolobata are recorded here for the first time from BVI