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Li-In alloys are widely used as reference materials in the research field of solid-state lithium-based batteries. Here, the authors report and discuss the instability of Li-In electrodes towards sulfide solid electrolytes in all-solid-state batteries.

Ligand-protected metal nanoclusters provide an ideal platform for investigating the balance of stability and activity in photoredox catalysis. Here, the authors apply a photochemical reduction–oxidation cascade method to synthesize an Au₈Cu₆ nanocluster with a robust structure and active surface.

Here, in a longitudinal case study, Weigang et al. demonstrate that evolution of SARS-CoV-2 within a persistently infected immunosuppressed patient can result in the emergence of novel variants with reduced sensitivity to antibody neutralization.

Cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) of C-H bonds is an ideal approach for C-C bond construction but suffers from low selectivity of similar C-H bonds. Here, the authors describe a highly selective paired electrocatalysis strategy towards CDC combining hydrogen evolution reaction catalysis with hydride transfer catalysis.

Sulfonyl fluorides have potential application in chemical biology, materials science, and drug discovery, but their preparation remains challenging. Here, the authors report an air-stable fluorosulfonylating reagent that enables the radical fluorosulfonylation, hydrofluorosulfonylation and migratory SO₂F-difunctionalization of unsaturated hydrocarbons to construct a variety of sulfonyl fluoride compounds.

Metallaphotocatalysis enables cross-couplings under mild conditions but homogeneous dual metallaphotocatalysts often suffer from low catalyst stability or high metal loading. Here, the authors report nickel-incorporated pyridyl-quinoline-linked covalent organic frameworks serving as robust and efficient heterogeneous metallaphotocatalysts for C(sp²) cross coupling reactions.

Long-term restoration of desertified ecosystems reveals distinct assembly processes and multifunctionality contributions of abundant and rare soil bacteria.

The synthesis of sulfinate esters and sulfinamides has garnered significant interest owing to their potential for applications. Here, the authors report the reductive sulfinylation of diverse nucleophiles with sulfonylpyridinium salts through nucleophilic chain substitution, which involves S(VI) to S(IV) nucleophilic chain isomerization process.

Long-term observations show that a rising fraction of ammonium nitrate in PM_2.5 reduces aerosol acidity, suppressing the heterogeneous conversion from NO₂ to HONO. This weakens its contribution to the HONO source and atmospheric oxidation capacity.

Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships may vary with climate. Here, the authors study relationships of plant and soil microbial diversity with soil nutrient multifunctionality in 130 dryland sites in China, finding a shift towards greater importance of soil microbial diversity in arid conditions.

Sulfate aerosols are an important component of wintertime haze events in China, but their production mechanisms are not well known. Here, the authors show that transition metal-catalyzed oxidation of SO₂ on aerosol surfaces could be the dominant sulfate formation pathway in Northern China.

Authors propose an entropy engineering strategy to realize the carrier-phonon decoupling in SrTiO₃-based perovskite thermoelectrics, reducing the lattice thermal conductivity nearly to the amorphous limit and improving the weighted mobility.

De novo syntheses of 1,2-arylheteroaryl ethanes, key scaffolds in drug discovery, are challenging, typically relying on pre-functionalized synthons, harsh conditions and multi-step processes. Now a modular assembly of arenes, ethylene and heteroarenes yields diverse drug-like 1,2-arylheteroaryl ethanes, highlighting the importance of radical polarity matching in selective multi-component couplings.

Aligned 2D assembled fibres have been developed by drawing like 1D polymers, yet with disorders in cross-section. Here, the authors bidirectionally promote assembly order of graphene fibres, achieving high modulus and highly thermal conductivity.

The synthesis of porous materials designed with specific applications in mind is fundamentally challenging. Here, the authors fabricate single-molecule trap cavities designed for complimentary interactions with CO₂ and show that these traps can be assembled into materials with high CO₂selectivity.

The regulation of genetic diversity resulting from polyploidization and its impact on environmental adaptability remain unclear. Here, the authors show that LHP1-mediated epigenetic buffering of subgenome diversity and defense responses confers genome plasticity and adaptability in allopolyploid wheat.

It is challenging to separate middle-sized molecules from complex mixtures using traditional molecular sieves. Here a metal–organic framework has been developed with dynamic molecular pockets that can adjust and accommodate alkynes preferentially, realizing efficient production of high-purity ethylene from its mixtures with alkynes regardless of their molecular sizes.

DeepPrep is a preprocessing pipeline for functional and structural MRI data from humans. Deep learning-based modules and an efficient workflow allow DeepPrep to handle large datasets.

Generating continuous power by ionic thermoelectric material modules remains challenging. Here, the authors find the ionic thermoelectric material exhibiting bipolar thermopower property by manipulating the interactions between ions and electrodes.

Though high ionic thermopower and p-n conversion has been realized in liquid ionic thermoelectric materials, achieving similar performance in solid-state polymer materials remains a challenge. Here, the authors report all-solid-state thermoelectric polymer composites with tunable ionic thermopower.

Zhou and colleagues identify SNX4–SNX5–SNX17 as a multiunit complex that mediates the recycling of autophagosomal components from autolysosomes.

The direct impacts of transposable element dynamics on polyploid regulation and developmental specificity remain unclear. Here, the authors show that a large proportion of enhancer-like elements (ELEs) are mainly originated from RLG_famc7.3 specifically expanded in subgenome A, producing active nascent transcripts and influencing wheat spike development.

A dynamic molecular sieve made from a metal–organic framework with orthogonally arrayed pockets is capable of separating propylene (C₃H₆) from a propylene (C₃H₆)/propane (C₃H₈) gas mixture.

IRE1 and PERK, both important mediators of the unfold protein response pathway, are differentially regulated during plasma cell differentiation. Here the authors show that an ufmylation target, Ufbp1, suppresses PERK to stimulate plasma cell development and is induced by the IRE1/XBP1 pathway to promote ER expansion .

Salicylate is a regulator of innate immunity to infection in plants. Here, Liu et al.show that two plant pathogens secrete enzymes that disrupt salicylate biosynthesis and plant immunity, and reveal that these effectors are secreted via an unconventional mechanism.

How subgenome-divergent and -convergent transcription is mediated and harmonized in hexaploid common wheat genome remains unclear. Here, via characterizing the cistrome maps, the authors reveal that transposon elements with transcription factor binding ability have the potential to make the contribution.

Outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) have seriously affected pig farms around the world. Here, Li et al. show that PEDV can cause disease in piglets when inoculated by nasal spray, and provide insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying PEDV dissemination within the host.

Low-frequency sinusoidal electromagnetic fields enhance osteogenesis in mice by regulating the miR34b-5p/STAC2 axis, providing insights into potential osteoporosis treatments.

The evolution of social behaviour is usually explained by kin selection. Here, the authors show that mutual host exploitation by a parasitoid wasp maximizes the average reproductive success of individual females, which suggests that cooperative brood care does not rely on kin selection in these wasps.

Identification of glycosylation patterns is complicated by the lack of sensitive analytical techniques that can distinguish between epimeric carbohydrates. It has now been shown that ion-mobility tandem mass spectrometry of ions derived from glycopeptides and oligosaccharides enables glycan stereochemistry to be determined, highlighting the potential of this technique for sequencing complex carbohydrates on cell surfaces.

Xiaowu Wang, Jian Wu, Guusje Bonnema and colleagues report resequencing and subgenome selection analysis of 199 Brassica rapa and 119 Brassica oleracea accessions representing diverse morphotypes. They identify 4 subgenome loci with evidence of parallel selection among subgenomes and 15 subgenome loci with evidence of parallel selection between species.

Removal of thiamin (vitamin B₁), a compound previously considered essential to all living organisms, does not impact the growth or survival of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi.