Search

Some researchers equate insight with cognitive restructuring processes that occur when solvers reinterpret the problem, whereas others equate insight with phenomenological Aha! experiences that accompany solutions. In this Review, Wiley and Danek summarize both approaches to insight problem solving and consider the extent to which Aha! experiences co-occur with restructuring.

Linear mathematical models derived from measurements of local field potentials and of whole-brain blood-oxygen-level-dependent neural activity predict resting-state neural dynamics at least as accurately as nonlinear models.

Understanding regulation of genes associated to disease can reveal insights into disease mechanisms. Here, the authors perform an airway epithelial transcriptome-wide association analysis to elucidate genetic determinants of airway dysfunction in asthma, identifying genetic mechanisms of mucus pathobiology.

Snake locomotion comes in many shapes. A mathematical model explains the non-planar S-start, where parts of the snake’s body lift off the ground.

Protocol for fabricating synthetic viscoelastic antigen-presenting cells and their application in T cell engineering. These synthetic cells support robust T cell activation and expansion and improve chimeric antigen receptor transduction efficiency.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

Blood clotting is caused by biopolymer-mediated aggregation of platelets and is enhanced by fast shear flows. Chen et al. find a similar process that arises during the self-assembly of polymer–colloid composites—a process that can be controlled and even reversed by flow rate and interparticle interaction.

An organic electrolytic photocapacitor transducing deep-red light into electrical signals and implanted within a thin cuff around the sciatic nerve of rats allows for wireless electrical stimulation of the nerve for over 100 days.

Cellular signalling networks in the microenvironment of implanted biomaterial scaffolds can be computationally reconstructed from single-cell RNA-sequencing data of cells collected from the implantation site.

Patterned organoids and bioprinted tissues can be generated by simultaneously co-differentiating pluripotent stem cells into distinct cell types via the forced overexpression of transcription factors, independently of culture-media composition.

Mouse skeletal muscle can be regenerated using a small-molecule cocktail that activates resident satellite cells in situ and by myogenic stem cells selectively induced and expanded from dermal or skeletal muscle when the cocktail is used in vitro.

The overexpression of β-catenin and the transcription factor Gata4 in skin fibroblasts induces these cells to secrete reparative exosomes, as shown in mice models of myocardial infarction and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

A retrievable, porous and anti-fibrotic macrodevice for the encapsulation of cells provides long-term protection to human cells expressing therapeutic proteins after device implantation in the intraperitoneal space of immunocompetent mice.

Transplantation of pancreatic islet cells encapsulated in alginate microspheres into the omental bursa of the peritoneal cavity of NHPs significantly reduces FBRs and extends the longevity of the cells.

A magnetic wire for the intravascular recovery of labelled circulating tumour cells improves cell capture in anaesthetized pigs by up to two orders of magnitude with respect to a standard blood draw.

Stress-sensitive neural circuitry affects immunity via the gut microbiome.

Emerging evidence suggests that ESCRT proteins, well characterized in their role in multivesicular body trafficking, contribute to various cellular processes including cytokinesis. Structural and functional analyses indicate that the ESCRT-III protein CHMP1B promotes the midbody localization of spastin, a microtubule-severing protein required for membrane abscission.

A method that uses thin sheets of X-ray radiation to generate emissions of Cherenkov luminescence can image an oxygen-sensitive molecular probe to map oxygenation in tumours in vivo at submillimetre resolution and nanomolar sensitivity.

Arthur Beaudet and colleagues report a recurrent 680-kb deletion within chromosome 15q13.3 associated with a range of neurodevelopmental phenotypes, including developmental delay, mental retardation and seizures. The deletion lies within the previously reported 1.5-Mb 15q13.3 deletion and spans only two genes, CHRNA7 and OTUD7A.

Structural variants in more than 17,000 human genomes are mapped and characterized using whole-genome sequencing, showing how this type of variation contributes to rare deleterious coding and noncoding alleles.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data across 2,658 tumors spanning 38 cancer types shows that chromothripsis is pervasive, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types, contributing to oncogene amplification, gene inactivation and cancer genome evolution.

Analysis of mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) by using whole-genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancer samples across 38 cancer types identifies hypermutated mtDNA cases, frequent somatic nuclear transfer of mtDNA and high variability of mtDNA copy number in many cancers.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

Personalized medicine requires accurate and ethnicity-optimized reference genome panels. Here, the Consortium on Asthma among African-ancestry Populations in the Americas (CAAPA) evaluates typical variant filters and existing genome databases against newly sequenced African-ancestry populations.

Macromolecular telmisartan prodrugs optimized for preferential release in fibrotic liver tissue reduce liver fibrosis in mouse models, and are retained and well tolerated in the liver tissue of rats and dogs.

An injectable hyaluronic acid hydrogel for the sustained delivery of miR-302 mimics to the heart promotes cardiomyocyte proliferation and improves cardiac function in mice after myocardial infarction.

An early step in the autophagy process is the conjugation of the ubiquitin-like proteins (UBLs) Atg8 and Atg12 to their targets. Structural and functional experiments reveal how the autophagy E1 Atg7 uses a trans mechanism to catalyze the charging of the autophagy UBLs onto their respective carrier E2 proteins, Atg3 and Atg10.

Gold nanoparticles carrying Cas9 ribonucleoprotein and donor DNA, and complexed with endosomal disruptive polymers, correct the DNA mutation that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy in mice, with minimal off-target effects.

A diagnostic tool based on blood RNA-seq is shown to identify causal genes and variants linked to clinical phenotypes in individuals with rare diseases for which whole-exome genetic sequencing was uninformative.

Interferon-inducible transmembrane (IFITM) protein 3 is shown to be an innate defence mechanism against viral infection in vivo; furthermore, a subset of the patients hospitalized during the H1N1 2009 pandemic carried a variant form of the IFITM3 gene.

This is one of two papers showing that glioblastoma cells can differentiate into functional endothelial cells as part of the tumour vasculature. These endothelial cells are characterized by the same genetic alterations as the glioblastoma cells. The tumour-derived endothelial cells originate in putative glioblastoma-initiating cells and are functionally important for tumorigenesis.

A non-invasive prenatal test utilizing cell-free DNA simultaneously detects mutations in 30 genes frequently associated with dominant monogenic diseases and demonstrates high accuracy in human clinical samples.

Assembly of a pan-genome from 910 humans of African descent identifies 296.5 Mb of novel DNA mapping to 125,715 distinct contigs. This African pan-genome contains ~10% more DNA than the current human reference genome.