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Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

How microglia regulate adult hippocampal neurogenesis and cognitive and affective behavior remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that TGF-β-deficient microglia increase adult neurogenesis in the subgranular zone and alter anxiety-like behavior in mice.

Boosting mitochondrial metabolism in neurons in central memory circuits by enhancing Ca²⁺ retention in the mitochondrial matrix is shown to improve long-term memory formation in flies and mice.

From 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused global mass coral bleaching, where the corals lose their symbiotic algae. The authors find, this event exceeded the severity of all prior global bleaching events in recorded history, with approximately half the world’s reefs bleaching and 15% experiencing substantial mortality.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

A geospatial levelized cost model shows that green hydrogen imports from Africa to Europe remain uncompetitive without major policy support. De-risking policies and strategic site selection are key, but major risks remain.

The inability of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells to shift the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus during daytime is caused by light-dependent depolarization block of these cells.

De novo and inherited dominant variants in genes encoding U4 and U6 small nuclear RNAs are identified in individuals with retinitis pigmentosa. The variants cluster at nucleotide positions distinct from those implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Climate change can alter when and how animals grow, breed, and migrate, but it is unclear whether this allows populations to persist. This global study shows that shifts in seasonal timing are key to helping vertebrate species maintain population growth under global warming.

Reliability remains challenging for organic light-emitting diodes used in solid-state lighting. Here, the authors reduce the current density needed for a given brightness by fabricating devices on a high aspect ratio substrate with sub-mm texture, resulting in a 2.7x increase in operating lifetime.

Mechanisms ensuring the maintenance of the nuclear envelope -- a structure with roles in mechanical integrity, chromatin organization, and nucleocytoplasmic transport -- are not fully understood. Here, the authors show that dynamins preserve nuclear envelope homeostasis via their GTPase activity and microtubule interactions.

Trace fossils from the end Ordovician of South Africa suggest a low-diversity meiofaunal benthic community fed by episodic concentrations of phytoplankton (marine snow).

Sabatino and colleagues examine expanded CD8⁺ T cell clonotypes from a small cohort of multiple sclerosis patients. They identified several cognate peptide epitopes that derive from Epstein–Barr virus, suggesting EBV reactivation may drive pathogenesis in these patients.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

High-dimensional immune profiling of a living recipient of a pig-to-human xenotransplant provides insight into the immune landscape of xenotransplantation and directions for improved immunosuppression strategies.

Here, the authors characterize H5N1cross-reactive antibody landscapes and evaluate the effect of pH1N1/AS03 and non-adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccination on H5N1 cross-neutralization and antibody titers targeting influenza-derived antigens.

Here the authors combine microstructural and chemical analysis of building materials collected from an active construction site in Pompeii prior to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Through these analyses, they identify the  key raw materials and processes used in the production of Roman concrete.

Cellular Z-RNAs generated during active virus infections are bona fide ZBP1 ligands, and position ZBP1-activated cell death as a host response to counter viral disruption of the cellular transcriptional machinery.

SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to sustained increased macrophage numbers and formation of enlarged lipid-laden macrophages after viral clearance. This can be prevented with antiviral treatment in mice.

If single molecules are to be used in spintronic devices, it is necessary to interlink molecular spin states and charge transport. Here, the authors approach this goal by directly accessing highly spin-polarized hybrid states of a molecular complex of an early lanthanide on a metal surface.

With rich, multi-layered baseline data and long-term follow-up through linkage, the HELIOS Study provides a resource to investigate the behavioural, environmental, genomic, and molecular factors impacting health in Asian populations.

Gonzalez-Hurtado, Leveau and colleagues characterize adipose resident tissue macrophages across lifespan in mice, finding that nerve-associated macrophages, which mitigate inflammation and control lipolysis and catecholamine resistance, are lost during aging.

A key challenge for compact accelerators is boosting an electron beam’s energy without

sacrificing its brightness. Here, the authors demonstrate the concept of a plasma wakefield

‘dual transformer’, which simultaneously increases both beam energy and brightness of an

electron bunch injected from the plasma at SLAC.

Three-dimensional chiral magnetic tubes created via two-photon lithography and nickel film deposition exhibit chiral spin textures and non-reciprocal magnon transport.

The rat prefrontal cortex has been implicated in cued food-seeking behaviour. Here, the authors identify two parallel prefrontal pathways: one that suppresses food seeking during potential threats, and another that drives pleasure-based eating even when animals are satiated.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Vidmar et al. use cryo-EM to reveal how bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) and topoisomerase I (TopoI) cooperate. TopoI switches conformation, senses DNA supercoils near RNAP and relaxes them. Mutations disrupting this process alter bacterial motility and operon polarity.

Both environmental factors and genetic factors influence human immunity. Albert and colleagues leverage data from the Milieu Intérieur Consortium to comprehensively describe the effects of lifestyle, environment and genetics on human innate and adaptive immunity.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

The dogma is that limb muscle cells originate from somite, while connective tissue fibroblasts derive from lateral plate mesoderm. Here the authors identify a fibroblast population that undergoes myoblast conversion in response to BMP and contributes nuclei to myotubes at the myotendinous junction.

Here authors reveal that placental hormone insufficiency can cause sex-linked brain inflammatory responses in mice. Altered microglial and prostaglandin signalling drive male-biased impairments, highlighting therapeutic targets for neurodevelopmental disorders.

The combined role of cellular junctions and actomyosin networks in tissues remains unclear. Here, the authors identify a tissue-scale star-shaped network of actomyosin that preserves cell shape, limits migration, and coordinates the intestinal epithelium.

Intracellular pathogens hijack host gene expression to subvert cellular processes. Here, the authors show that Legionella pneumophila’s PieF effector inhibits the human CCR4-NOT deadenylation machinery, impacting mRNA poly(A) tail shortening and impairing cell division.

Here, using samples from ~1,100 individuals, the authors define the nasal microbiome linked to Staphylococcus aureus colonization, identifying seven communities- either S. aureus-dominated or dominated by other bacteria.

Sandhoff disease (SD) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficiency in the β subunit of the β-hexosaminidase enzyme. Here, the authors show via bone marrow-based microglial replacement in a SD mouse model that myeloid-derived β-hexosaminidase is necessary for maintaining neuronal health.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading global cause of death, highlighting the need for better imaging of myocardial injury. Here, the authors show that SPOT, an AI powered dual bright- and black-blood imaging approach, improves myocardial scar detection and measurement for more accurate diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

Mechanisms of clonal evolution in myeloid neoplasms remain incompletely understood. Darwinian theory predicts that the (micro)environment of clone-propagating stem cells may contribute to clonal selection. Here, authors provide data fitting this model, establishing a relationship between stromal niche inflammation, inflammatory stress in HSPCs, clonal resistance and leukemic evolution in human myelodysplastic syndrome.

There are stable relationships between diet and microbiome in humans and lab animals. A study on African buffalo finds that diet influences microbiome variation and enterotype formation. Three pathogens may associate with microbiome depending on host diet, suggesting nutrition impacts relationships between gut microbiome and host health.

Exploiting the polariton-enhanced Purcell effect in tandem organic light-emitting diodes enables deep-blue-emitting devices with an external quantum efficiency of 36.8% and an LT90 lifetime of 830 h at an initial luminance of 500 cd m⁻². These metrics are increased to 56% and 1,800 h with substrate light outcoupling.

Amorphous phases in alkali-activated slag cement are explored using spatially resolved synchrotron X-ray techniques. Local atomic structures of individual phases show the impact of magnesium content on resistance to CO₂-induced degradation.

Characterization of the genetic architecture underlying the 7 pairs of contrasting traits studied by Mendel and the over 70 additional agronomic traits in pea (Pisum sativum) reveals their molecular details and provides tools for further studies in pea genetics, functional genomics and crop improvement.

Superfluidity of light enables movement without friction or, in optical terms, diffraction. Here, Michel et al. report the detection of the transition to superfluidity in the flow of a fluid of light past an obstacle in a bulk nonlinear crystal and extract the drag force exerted by the fluid of light.

The microbial metabolite trimethylamine (TMA), the precursor of TMAO, which is associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, is shown to have beneficial metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects in the host in the context of obesity.