Search

How cortical areas interact via feedforward and feedback signaling remains unclear. Here, the authors recorded from V1 and V2/V4 in macaque visual cortex and found that feedforward and feedback interactions vary with stimulus drive and involve different neuronal population activity patterns.

Analysis of more than 150 Phase 3 oncology clinical trials supports parametric statistical analysis, significantly increasing the precision of small early-phase trials and relating deviations from the Cox proportional hazards model to trial duration.

Plastic pollution severely threatens the resilience of nature. Here, the authors utilize the spore-forming, polymer-degrading bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, as a living filler to develop biocomposite thermoplastic polyurethane with improved mechanical properties and biodegradation.

Barocaloric materials, undergoing thermal changes in response to applied pressure, may provide energy efficient and zero-emission solid-state cooling. Here the authors report a mechanism for achieving large reversible barocaloric effects near ambient temperature, leveraging volume and conformational entropy changes within the organic bilayers of two-dimensional metal–halide perovskites.

The authors report a simple strategy to enable ultrahigh-Q guided-mode resonances by introducing a patterned perturbation layer on top of a multilayer-waveguide system. Such high-Q resonances are experimentally demonstrated with measured Q-factors up to 2.4 × 10⁵.

An apparent redundant role with EZH2 has rendered EZH1 as a secondary player in PRC2-mediated homeostasis regulation. Here, the authors report that gain- and loss-of-function variants in EZH1 cause neurodevelopmental disorders, highlighting its functional relevance.

Metal-organic frameworks constitute a family of glass formers that is distinct from those that are polymeric, metallic, or inorganic. Here the authors show that they can be combined with different inorganic aluminophosphate glasses to produce a composite with mechanical properties intermediate between the two end-members.

Structural studies on the yeast transcription coactivator complex SAGA (Spt–Ada–Gcn5–acetyltransferase) provide insights into the mechanism of initiation of regulated transcription by this multiprotein complex, which is conserved among eukaryotes.

Genome-wide association studies of individuals from an isolated population (data from the Finnish biobank study FinnGen) and consequent meta-analyses facilitate the identification of previously unknown coding variant associations for both rare and common diseases.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are emerging as drug candidates, but the risk of pathogen resistance is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate AMP resistance evolution in E. coli, finding physicochemical features that make AMPs less prone to resistance and no cross- or horizontally-acquired resistance.

Ceramides in peripheral tissues contribute to obesity-related metabolic dysfunction. This study reveals that CerS6-derived ceramides induce hypothalamic lipotoxicity in mice via altered ER/mitochondrial homeostasis.

In a classical Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superconductor, pairing and coherence are established simultaneously below the critical transition temperature (T_c). But in the copper oxide high- T_c superconductors, a pseudogap extends above T_c. Spectral gaps arising from pairing precursors are qualitatively similar to those caused by competing states, rendering a standard approach to their analysis inconclusive. This paper reports that the spectral weight of the superconducting coherent peak increases away from the node following the trend of the superconducting gap, but then starts to decrease in the antinodal region.

Elastic anisotropy of liquid crystals elastomers is typically measured at low frequencies for the applications such as soft robotics, actuators, and origami. Here the authors study the elastic anisotropy of LCE using Brillouin light spectroscopy at gigahertz frequencies such as radio frequencies or 5 G cellular networks.

Here, the authors use cryo-EM, biochemical and yeast assays of the HAT NuA4–Tip60 to reveal its mechanism of acetylating distant nucleosomes through the Epl1 linker establishing long-range chromatin interactions.

Exciton dynamics can be strongly affected by lattice vibrations through electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling. Here, the authors show the presence of strong e-ph coupling in bilayer CrI₃ and observe a Raman feature with periodic broad modes up to the 8th order, attributed to the polaronic character of excitons.

The optical quality of large-area transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers is usually limited by surface defects and inhomogeneities. Here, the authors report a method based on 1-dodecanol encapsulation to improve the optical properties of TMD monolayers over mm-scale, enabling the fabrication of an array of polariton photonic crystal cavities.

The use of a needle-shaped optical beam improves the depth of field for photoacoustic imaging.

Digital measurements of proximity and duration of exposure by the NHS COVID-19 app show a strong relation to actual infections among 7 million contacts notified in England and Wales, with longer durations translating to increased risk of transmission.

Genome-wide association analyses of 41,917 bipolar disorder cases and 371,549 controls of European ancestry provide new insights into the etiology of this disorder and identify novel therapeutic leads and potential opportunities for drug repurposing.

The power of pangenomic graphs to improve genetic mapping is still unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate its value in identification of genetic variants associated with disease resistance traits in melon using PanPipes, a pangenome construction and low-coverage genotype-by-sequencing pipeline.

The level of cellular diversity in the esophageal epithelium has yet to be classified at the single cell level. Here the authors analyze the transcriptome of 44,679 murine esophageal keratinocytes to identify an unexpected level of cellular heterogeneity.

Magnons are elementary quasiparticles describing collective excitations of magnetic materials, however more complex quasiparticles can arise from attractive interactions between magnons. Here the authors report several types of magnetic excitations in a spin-1 magnet FeI2 and uncover new magnon decay paths.

SlyB, a lipoprotein in the PhoPQ stress regulon in Gram-negative bacteria, forms stable stress-induced complexes with the outer membrane proteome.

Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli cause urinary tract and bloodstream infections. Here, the authors show how mutations that disrupt the production of cellulose, a polysaccharide produced by many bacteria, drive enhanced virulence.

Analysis of enhancer–promoter (E–P) interactions during Drosophila embryogenesis suggests that the relationship between E–P proximity and activity depends on the developmental stage. Increased E–P proximity is associated with activity during differentiation but not specification.

Incorporating silicon into organic molecules and materials leads to interesting changes in electronic structure and properties; silabenzenes are attractive species for this purpose, but their high reactivity in solution poses challenges. Now, 1D and 2D covalent organic frameworks featuring disilabenzene rings (C₄Si₂) as linkers have been prepared by reacting silicon atoms and polyaromatic hydrocarbon precursors on a Au(111) surface.

Individually addressable ‘T centre’ photon-spin qubits are integrated in silicon photonic structures and their spin-dependent telecommunications-band optical transitions characterized, creating opportunities to construct silicon-integrated, telecommunications-band quantum information networks.

A study finds that a protease called granzyme K can activate the entire complement cascade, explaining how it can drive destructive inflammation in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

The reliable fabrication of 2D heterostructures with controllable moiré patterns is important for the investigation of their emergent physical properties. Here, the authors report an alignment technique enabling the fabrication of double-aligned hBN/graphene/hBN supermoiré lattice structures with a yield close to 100%.

The degree of ligand ordering on colloidal inorganic nanocrystal surfaces has long been a topic of interest. Here, the authors show that a well-known powder X-ray diffraction feature observed in prior works, frequently assigned to excess ligands, corresponds to bound and ordered capping ligands.

Dietary zinc and plant-derived aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists are involved in maintaining intestinal epithelium integrity. The authors show that combined supplementation with AHR ligands and zinc might be effective in preventing inflammatory gut disorders.

Foreign body response can result in failure of biomaterials in vivo. Solvent-free crystals containing anti-fibrotic drugs now show the potential for long-term inhibition of fibrosis on a number of implantable devices in rodents and non-human primates.

Analysis of sedimentary rocks from the mid-Proterozoic interval reveals traces of protosteroids, suggesting the widespread presence of stem-group eukaryotes that predated and co-existed with the crown-group ancestors of modern eukaryotes.

JWST observations of the planetary nebula NGC 3132 reveal a rich molecular environment containing evidence of multiple stellar interactions on a variety of scales.

Current outcomes are reported from the ongoing National Lung Matrix Trial, an umbrella trial for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer in which patients are triaged according to their tumour genotype and matched with targeted therapeutic agents.

The Photopick platform, which can be used for phenotype-activated cell selection, was used to develop the improved voltage sensors QuasAr6a and QuasAr6b. These GEVIs offer improved signals and are useful for all-optical electrophysiology.

Fibroblasts play critical roles in tissue homeostasis, but in pathologic states they can drive fibrosis, inflammation, and tissue destruction. Here, Faust et al. find that healthy human synovial fibroblasts under the influence of adjacent adipocytes have altered lipid metabolism driven by cortisol signaling. Both adipocytes and these characteristics are lost in inflammatory arthritis.

Rare-earth mono-pnictides antiferromagnets have generated recent interest as hosts to topological states and unconventional magnetic states. Here, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveals a hidden band-structure transition within the higher-temperature antiferromagnetic state of CeBi.

At low concentration, uncharged amphiphilic block copolymers form discrete micelles. Here the authors show that triblock copolyelectrolytes can form phase separated gels at low concentrations, which can be useful in applications, such as, tissue engineering and water purification.

Point defects in 2D semiconductors have potential for quantum computing applications, but their controlled design and synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors identify and fabricate a promising quantum defect in 2D WS₂ via high-throughput computational screening and scanning tunnelling microscopy.

The exploitation of ecosystems has long-lasting consequences for the future provision of natural resources and ecosystem services. Here the author showed that the transition to sustainable harvest after a period of over-harvesting leads to a decline in welfare, economic growth, and in the discount rate.

Antimicrobial peptide resistance genes are found to be widespread in the gut microbiome but are exchanged at lower rates compared to antibiotic resistance genes, with functional compatibility between bacteria being important for gene exchange.

Chemical derivatives of graphene are typically disordered or corrugated, impairing attempts to utilize them in monolayer devices. Here, the authors show that chair-C₂F graphene is a stable material displaying long-range order, with functionalization on only one face in a given domain.

Combined analysis of new genomic data from 116 ancient hunter-gatherer individuals together with previously published data provides insights into the genetic structure and demographic shifts of west Eurasian forager populations over a period of 30,000 years.

Merfin is a computational tool for variant filtering that improves accuracy in genotyping and genome assembly polishing.