Search

The 2020 – 2021 eruption of La Soufrière volcano transitioned from an effusive to explosive eruption style. Here the authors show that input from multiple monitoring datasets and an evolving conceptual model were key to anticipating and responding to the eruptive transition at the La Soufrière volcano, St. Vincent, in a resource-constrained setting.

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.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Analysis of snRNA genes in individuals with rare disorders identifies de novo and recurrent variants in RNU5B-1 and RNU5A-1, in addition to previously unreported cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in RNU4-2.

Inventory data from more than 1 million trees across African, Amazonian and Southeast Asian tropical forests suggests that, despite their high diversity, just 1,053 species, representing a consistent ~2.2% of tropical tree species in each region, constitute half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Chameleons rely on strong adhesion to manoeuvre prey with their tongues at high speeds across distances up to twice their body length. A large contact area and high mucus viscosity are shown to engender an efficient capture mechanism.

The vectorial force fields of singly clamped nanowires are imaged by measuring the pertubation of the spectral and geometrical properties of the thermal noise of the nanowires.

The authors identify pathogenic variants in the SMARCA1 gene as the cause of a variable neurodevelopmental disorder. Mouse studies suggest diverse genetic mechanisms related to NURF complex composition mediate the phenotype.

Cyclodipeptide synthases hijack aminoacyl tRNAs to produce various cyclic dipeptides—the biosynthetic precursors of several secondary metabolites. Here, the authors solved the crystal structure of a cyclodipeptide synthase bound to a reaction intermediate analogue and provide novel insights into the mechanism of synthesis.

Formation of urate and calcium pyrophosphate micro-crystals is responsible for painful inflammatory flares in gout and chondrocalcinosis. Here the authors show that the osmo-sensitive LRRC8 anion channel is involved with macrophage inflammasome activation by crystals involving cell volume regulation and ATP release leading to P2Y receptor activation.

Self-intercalated Chromium tellurides consist of CrTe₂ van der Waals layers, with additional Chromium atoms residing in the van der Waals gap. This highly tuneable class of magnetic materials has presented a range of unique magnetic phenomena, and here Bigi, Jego, Polewczyk et al add to this by showing that CrTe₂ (δ = 0.25 − 0.50) hosts orthogonal ferromagnetism.

Simulation of improvements in hypertension care across wealth quintiles in 44 low- and middle-income countries demonstrates that targeted improvements in diagnosis and treatment could considerably reduce within-country, socioeconomic-based inequalites in cardiovascular disease burden.

A region on chromosome 19p13 is associated with the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. Here, the authors genotyped SNPs in this region in thousands of breast and ovarian cancer patients and identified SNPs associated with three genes, which were analysed with functional studies.

It is shown that mice lacking the renal Rhcg factor have impaired ammonium excretion, thereby refuting the long-standing notion that rapid transepithelial transport of non-ionic ammonia occurs solely by lipid phase diffusion. In addition, it is shown that Rhcg is required for epididymal fluid homeostasis with clear consequences for male fertility.

Krisai et al. compare brain structure and cognitive function in elderly patients with and without atrial fibrillation using brain MRI and cognitive testing. They find that atrial fibrillation is associated with more brain lesions and lower cognitive function, but the cognitive impairment occurs primarily through direct effects of the arrhythmia rather than through brain damage.

Cancer associated fibroblasts are known to promote the progression of cancer. Here, the authors show that two particular subsets of cancer associated fibroblasts induce metastasis but work via distinct mechanisms including, chemokine signalling and Notch signalling.

Some cancer cells exhibit high loads of reactive iron in lysosomes, and this feature is exploited by using fentomycin-1, a newly developed small molecule, to induce ferroptosis.

Analysing >1,700 inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network, the authors show that the majority of Amazon tree species can occupy floodplains and that patterns of species turnover are closely linked to regional flood patterns.

Phylogenomic analysis of 7,923 angiosperm species using a standardized set of 353 nuclear genes produced an angiosperm tree of life dated with 200 fossil calibrations, providing key insights into evolutionary relationships and diversification.

Seed formation requires a coordinated development of its three parts: embryo, endosperm and seed coat. The plant hormones brassinosteroids contribute this this coordination by influencing how different seed components perceive each other’s growth.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

Lactic acidosis is a metabolic state that occurs in injured tissues. Here the authors show that macrophages, in order to remain functional in acidosis, reduce their mitochondrial mass by mitophagy and rely on autophagy for survival, with mitochondrial integrity retained using acetoacetate as alternative fuel.

Examining drivers of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient in a global database of local tree species richness, the authors show that co-limitation by multiple environmental and anthropogenic factors causes steeper increases in richness with latitude in tropical versus temperate and boreal zones.

Over 170 susceptibility loci have been identified by genome-wide association studies in breast cancer. Here, the authors interrogated the role of risk-associated variants from non-breast tissue, and using expression quantitative trait loci, identify potential target genes of known breast cancer susceptibility variants, as well as 11 regions not previously known to be associated with breast cancer risk.

Encephalitis is a rare and severe complication of Herpes Simplex type 1 infection. Here, Bibert et al describe a genetic variant in a 2-year-old affected child that impairs interferon production in neuronal cells and enhances viral replication.

Programmable quantum simulation of two-dimensional antiferromagnets is achieved with up to 196 neutral atoms, and the capability of the platform is demonstrated on square and triangular arrays.

A transcriptome-wide association study identifies associations of genetically predicted gene expression with breast cancer risk. This analysis finds 48 candidate genes implicated in breast cancer susceptibility, including 14 at novel loci.

Observations of strongly positive nitrogen isotopic compositions of sedimentary rocks in the 2.68-Gyr-old shallow to deep marine sedimentary deposit of the Serra Sul Formation suggest that oxygenic photosynthesis predated the Great Oxidation Event.

High-speed, high-resolution optics-based printing typically requires femtosecond pulsed lasers. We demonstrate optical printing using indigo-blue laser diodes and a red continuous-wave laser, achieving a peak printing rate of 7 × 10⁶ voxels s^–1 at a voxel volume of 0.55 µm³.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

Polarization parameters of the high harmonics driven by bichromatic circularly polarized pulses are usually assumed near perfect. Here the authors use polarimetry measurement to show that depolarization and ellipticity can arise from symmetry breaking in the ionization of a medium by the ultrashort driving fields.

Anaerobic digesters play an important role in biodegradation. In the MiDAS 5 project, the authors use global 16S rRNA sequencing to expand the microbial reference database, improving taxonomic classification and revealing how environmental factors and geography shape microbial communities in anaerobic digesters.

Immune cells contribute to adverse remodeling following myocardial infarction. Here the authors show in mice and pigs that CD8⁺ lymphocytes release Granzyme B in the infarcted heart leading to cardiomyocyte death, enhanced inflammation and deterioration of cardiac function.

Chapeau et al. develop a nonallosteric inhibitor of the interaction between YAP and all four TEAD proteins. Treatment with the inhibitor, either as monotherapy or in combination with other treatment modalities, leads to induction of cell death in several in vivo cancer models.

Studying RNA function is constrained by limitations of traditional methods. This Roadmap discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance the study of how non-coding regions of mRNA regulate its function, and suggests how to use AI to harness publicly available data towards that goal.

By combining the use of a small anti-CRISPR protein, AcrIIA23, with direct integration into the host cell’s CRISPR locus, the lysogenic phage ΦAP1.1 neutralizes CRISPR-mediated anti-phage immunity in Streptococcus pyogenes.

Most Amazon tree species are rare but a small proportion are common across the region. The authors show that different species are hyperdominant in different size classes and that hyperdominance is more phylogenetically restricted for larger canopy trees than for smaller understory ones.

In this immunological ancillary study of the PREVAC trial, the authors show that approved Ebola virus vaccines induce memory T-cell responses that persist during the five year follow-up after initial vaccination.

NiFe-based oxo-hydroxides are active for the oxygen evolution reaction but suffer from complex synthesis and durability when deposited. Easily processable Fe–Ni alloys with a highly active oxo-hydroxide surface are now shown to pave the way for oxygen-evolving electrodes for alkaline water electrolysers.

Unlike Amazonian forests, African forests have maintained their carbon sink until recently but by 2030 the African carbon sink will have shrunk by 14 per cent and the Amazonian sink will reach almost zero.

Bacteroidetes genomes contain polysaccharide utilization loci (PULs), each of which encodes enzymes for the breakdown of one particular glycan. By analyzing the enzyme composition of 13,537 PULs, the authors suggest that the natural glycan diversity is orders of magnitude lower than previously proposed.

p–n junctions are formed in heterostructures made of pristine and nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons.

The Amazon rainforest is dominated by relatively few tree species, yet the degree to which this hyperdominance influences carbon cycling remains unknown. Here, the authors analyse 530 forest plots and show that ∼1% of species are responsible for 50% of the aboveground carbon storage and productivity.