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The S_N2 reaction is a stereospecific process, normally occurring via back-side inversion or front-side retention. Here, the authors report a global potential energy surface for the reaction between fluoride and CH₃Cl and identify an additional double inversion mechanism.

While biodiversity levels have been studied in many different landscapes, villages have been relatively unexplored in comparison. This study examines biodiversity in Eastern European villages across landscape complexity and proximity to cities in the context of social and economic well-being.

Here the authors reveal triple heterogeneity of H2A.Z containing nucleosomes, attributed to interactions involving the C-terminal tail of the histone variant, and demonstrate modulation of global chromatin architecture using a synthetic tail peptide.

Little is known about how the identity of a leaving group affects the dynamics of a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction. A study of the reaction of F⁻ with CH₃Cl, and comparison to its reaction with CH₃I, now reveals key insights into such effects, with reactant orientation considered a key factor in understanding the behaviour observed.

Ornithopod dinosaurs adapted to be herbivorous. Here, the authors track increased tooth volume, wear, and replacement rates through ornithopod evolution, suggesting that early ornithopods were frugivores or browsers, but later iguanodontians fed on tough, less nutritious plants.

A simple model for receptor number–function relationships dictates a positive correlation between receptor content and ligand effect. Here, the authors demonstrate that the degree of type-1 cannabinoid receptor (CB₁)-modulated GABA release cannot be predicted from CB¹content of axon terminals.

The discovery of rounded pebbles by Curiosity suggests sustained fluvial activity existed on Mars, but interpretations have been qualitative. Here, the authors show that transport distance can be calculated on the basis of pebble shape alone, suggesting they travelled 10 s of km by bed-load transport.

Petzold and colleagues show that serotonergic innervation of the olfactory bulb functions to attenuate odor-evoked transmitter release from olfactory sensory neurons (ORNs). This effect is indirect, as serotonin stimulates 5-HT2C receptors on juxtaglomerular interneurons, whose release of GABA inhibits glutamate release from ORN terminals via GABAB receptors.

The human genome still contains numerous uncharacterized genes. Here, the authors identify a fast evolving Factor associated with Metabolism and Energy (FAME) that is associated with altered body weight, energy expenditure, and metabolism and study its function in knockout mouse models.

Glia are housekeepers of the nervous system that eliminate neuronal debris after injury. Here, the authors show that LC3-associated phagocytosis in Drosophila glia promotes debris clearance after wing nerve injury and recovery after traumatic brain injury.

Whether and how parvalbumin-expressing neural population from Basal forebrain (BFPVNs) nuclei play a role in associative learning are not fully understood. Here authors show that BFPVNs mediate aversive associative learning via playing crucial roles in encoding outcome-related information.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Jablonska et al. find that adult mouse neural progenitors can markedly alter their fate, from olfactory bulb interneurons to oligodendroglia, in response to demyelination. The fate change is triggered by chordin, which is upregulated in the subventricular zone in this pathological condition.

In a phase-I/II trial in healthy adults, the BNT162b2 vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies and poly-specific T cells against SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that are conserved in a wide range of currently circulating variants.

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).

S63845 specifically inhibits MCL1 and induces tumour cell death in vitro and in vivo in diverse cancer-derived cell lines with an acceptable safety margin.

Bálint et al utilized cyclohexenone and cyclopentenone based reversible covalent warheads to produce specific composite c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitors to demonstrate the modular nature of Michael acceptor based cyclic warhead designs.

In a phased prospective rollout, the implementation of AI as an additional reader for mammography screening improved the real-world early detection of breast cancer compared to standard double reading involving two independent radiologists.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from individuals from the Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age documents large-scale movement of people from the European continent between 1300 and 800 bc that was probably responsible for spreading early Celtic languages to Britain.

Recent estimates of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake are generally unavailable. Here the authors show a global SSBs intake of 2.7 servings/week in 2018 in adults (range: 0.7 South Asia, 7.8 Latin America/Caribbean); intakes were higher among males, younger, more educated, and urban adults.

An analysis based on data from the Global Dietary Database shows mean animal-sourced food intakes among children and adolescents increased modestly from 1990 to two portions per day in 2018, but remain low in sub-Saharan Africa, India and Bangladesh.

Dietary quality is reported at the global, regional and national level across 185 countries. Though diet quality increased modestly since 1990 at the global level, in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa it did not improve. In some regions, children’s dietary quality is lower than that of adults.

Modeling analysis from the Global Dietary Database estimated that 70% of new global cases of type 2 diabetes are attributable to suboptimal intake of 11 dietary factors, with substantial differences in dietary risks across world regions and nations.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is widely used as a therapeutic tool yet its effect on inhibitory networks in the brain has not been studied. Here, the authors demonstrate that 10Hz rTMS specifically reduces dendritic inhibition onto pyramidal neurons accompanied by remodeling of postsynaptic gephyrin clusters.

The simultaneous activity of chemorepulsive and chemoattractive gradients is implicated in gamma-aminobutyric acid neuron migration during embryonic development. Won et al.show that preformed vascular networks provide these repulsive and attractive gradients to GABAergic neurons as they migrate through the telencephalon.

A single fear-inducing stimulus increased GluR2 abundance and promoted incorporation of GluR2-containing AMPA glutamate receptors in mouse cerebellar cells, making the receptors impermeable to calcium and altering the activity of this inhibitory neural network. This switch was mediated by noradrenaline and action potential prolongation.