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The authors investigate junctions made of two flakes of the cuprate superconductor Bi₂Sr_2-xLa_xCuO_6+y (Bi2201) twisted by 45 degrees. They find evidence for an isotropic pairing component, and call into question theoretical predictions of d+id superconductivity in this system.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Given that the human body is composed of many microbial niches, and there have been few reports on the biogeography of the microbiome, the authors analyse the intra-individual inter-organ and intra-organ microbiome of seven surface organs of deceased individuals.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

Understanding interfacial proton transport in an excited state is crucial for catalytic and diagnostic applications of nanomaterials. Here, the authors combine ultra-low-field NMR relaxometry with a light source to study the light-induced proton dissociation of graphene quantum dots.

We find that 2D–3D perovskitoid passivation applied to perovskite solar cells impedes cation migration and decreases carrier recombination at the interface, providing enhanced operating stability at elevated temperatures and increased power conversion efficiencies.

The local delivery of a calcium channel blocker and a Rho-kinase inhibitor, determined by screening for small molecules that cause ureteral relaxation, significantly reduce ureteral contraction in pigs.

Pyrochlore iridates have been studied for their potential to explore novel phases due to the interplay of correlations, spin-orbit interaction, and more recently dimensionality. Here the authors report a chiral spin-liquid-like state in (111)-oriented Y₂Ir₂O₇ thin films which emerges at a reduced thickness.

CTCF, which is known to play critical role in chromatin structure, undergoes post-translational modifications (PTMs). In this research, O-GlcNAcylation was found to inhibit CTCF binding, impacting 3D chromatin structure, gene expression and cellular development.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

The authors address spin–orbit torques and magnetization switching in MnPd₃/CoFeB hetrostructures.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

Fractional quantum Hall states in 2D electron gases arise due to strong electron-electron interactions, which makes a general theoretical understanding difficult. Fu et al. present data showing the ν = 5/3 quantum Hall state has a 3/2 plateau in the diagonal resistance that has not been captured by existing models.

Heteroepitaxy is used to precisely control the growth of Mn₃O₄ shells on the faces of a Co₃O₄ nanocube crystal, producing uniform grain boundary defects and highly ordered multigrain nanostructures.

RNA conformational heterogeneity is important to diverse functions. Here, the authors use AFM to directly visualize individual RNA molecules that are in various conformational states under near physiological solution conditions for the first time.

Sparse labelling and whole-brain imaging are used to reconstruct and classify brain-wide complete morphologies of 1,741 individual neurons in the mouse brain, revealing a dependence on both brain region and transcriptomic profile.

Bayati et al. discovered that sequential treatment of iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons with α-synuclein fibrils and proinflammatory cytokines leads to the formation of Lewy body–like inclusions, through the downregulation of lysosomal proteins.

Highly stretchable organic electrochemical transistors with stable charge transport under severe tensional strains are demonstrated using a honeycomb semiconducting polymer morphology, thereby enabling controllable signal output for diverse stretchable bioelectronic applications.

The authors study CsV₃Sb₅ by nuclear quadrupole resonance. At ambient pressure, there are two superconducting gaps with line nodes in the smaller one. For pressures above P_c ~ 1.85 GPa, where the charge-density wave phase is completely suppressed, they observe fully-gapped superconductivity with broken rotational symmetry.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Designing an efficient electrocatalyst of hydrogen oxidation reaction is highly critical for anion exchange membrane fuel cells. Here the authors report implanting oxophilic metal atoms in PtRu nanowires to significantly improve the mass activity, stability, and resistance to CO-poisoning for hydrogen oxidation.

Using a spectroscopy streaking technique at LCLS (Linac Coherent Light Source), researchers demonstrate temporal characterization of X-ray pulses with sub-femtosecond resolution.

Adding minute amounts of rhenium to Ni-based single crystal superalloys extends their high temperature performance in engines, but the reasons behind that are still unclear. Here, the authors combine high resolution imaging and modelling to show that rhenium enriches and slows down partial dislocations to improve creep performance.

Self-referenced attosecond streaking enables in situ measurements of Auger emission in atomic neon excited by femtosecond pulses from an X-ray free-electron laser with subfemtosecond time resolution and despite the jitter inherent to X-ray free-electron lasers.

Cross-linking mass spectrometry can provide insights into protein structures and interactions but its scope depends on the reactivity of the cross-linker. Here, the authors develop Arg-Arg and Lys-Arg cross-linkers, which provide structural information elusive to the widely used Lys-Lys cross-linkers.

A study identifies TMEFF1 as a neuron-specific restriction factor essential for prevention of replication of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the central nervous system.

Sensitive, biocompatible and stable contrast agents for MRI are in demand. Here, the authors combine gadolinium ions with amorphous calcium carbonate to make stable paramagnetic amorphous carbonate nanoclusters with high MRI contrast and significantly improved biocompatibility over commercial gadolinium-based agents.

Enhancing the intrinsic activity and space time yield of Cu based heterogeneous methanol synthesis catalysts is one of the major topics in CO₂ hydrogenation. Here the authors develop a highly active inverse catalyst composed of fine ZrO₂ islands dispersed on metallic Cu nanoparticles.

A new type of fermion, corresponding to a three-fold degeneracy in the electronic band structure of crystalline molybdenum phosphide, is observed, which lies conceptually between Dirac and Weyl fermions.

Modules of foldable crystalline silicon solar cells retain their power-conversion efficiency after being subjected to bending stress or exposure to air-flow simulations of a violent storm.

This work shows that by designing appropriate alloying elements in a body-centred-cubic high-entropy alloy, local chemical order and lattice distortion can be tuned, which influences the evolution of planar-slip bands, realizing pure-metal-like tensile ductility at gigapascal yield strength.

SET domain–containing 2 (SETD2) is reported as an immunosuppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Here the authors show that SETD2 loss enhances de novo sphingomyelin biosynthesis during the transition from polycystic kidney disease to ccRCC.

GWAS have identified more than 500 genetic loci associated with blood lipid levels. Here, the authors report a genome-wide analysis of interactions between genetic markers and physical activity, and find that physical activity modifies the effects of four genetic loci on HDL or LDL cholesterol.

A stable tokamak plasma has been demonstrated with a high plasma density and a high energy confinement quality, both of which are simultaneously important for fusion reactors.

Analysis of interactions between the wheels of the Zhurong rover and the terrain along the rover’s traverse reveals soils with high bearing strength and cohesion.

Measurements of the inelastic cross section of anti-³He allow the estimation of the transparency of the Milky Way to the propagation of these light antinuclei produced in either cosmic-ray collisions or annihilation of dark-matter particles.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates of W bosons to τ leptons and muons, in agreement with universal lepton couplings as postulated in the standard model of particle physics.

Triggering and sustaining fusion reactions — with the goal of overall energy production — in a tokamak plasma requires efficient heating. Radio-frequency heating of a three-ion plasma is now experimentally shown to be a potentially viable technique.

Zinc batteries are receiving growing attention due to their sustainability merits not shared by lithium-ion technologies. Here the aqueous electrolyte design features unique solvation structures that render Zn–air pouch cell excellent cycling stability in a wide temperature range from −60 to 80 °C.

Experiments realizing the indirect-drive fast ignition scheme for inertial confinement fusion are reported. Enabled by a tightly compressed target, an increase of neutron yield is observed.

Time-resolved crystallography (TRX) is used for monitoring only small conformational changes of biomacromolecules within the same lattice. Here, the authors report the interplay between synchronous molecular rearrangements and lattice phase transitions in RNA crystals, providing the basis for the investigation of large conformational changes using TRX.

Treg cells can be functionally altered by epigenetic modulators. Here the authors show that the histone H3K36 methyltransferase Setd2 is important for the survival of Treg cells and for the regulation of IL-33 mediated Th2 responses in mice and SETD2 expression is increased in Treg cells from human colorectal cancer tissue.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reports a search for charged-lepton-flavour violation in decays of Z bosons into a τ lepton and an electron or muon of opposite charge.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the observation of the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair. This process is related to vector-boson scattering and allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed.

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental energy release mechanism in space and laboratory plasmas. Here, the authors show persistent magnetic null-point reconnection in the solar corona at a scale of about 390 km.

Analysis of copy number alterations in 1,451 patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) and matched patient tumor samples shows strong conservation from patient tumors through late-passage PDXs and a lack of systematic copy number evolution driven by the mouse host.