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Tailed bacteriophages assemble empty precursor capsids known as procapsids that are subsequently filled with viral DNA by a genome-packaging motor. Here the authors present a structure-based analysis that suggests the signal for termination of genome packaging is achieved through a DNA-dependent symmetrization of portal protein.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is often overlooked in hospitalized patients, despite a strong association with poor clinical outcomes. In this Review, Ricci et al. discuss the advantages and limitations of the RIFLE and AKIN consensus definitions for AKI. The authors also consider the integration of novel biomarkers into these definitions to aid early diagnosis and prediction of the prognosis of AKI.

Language is often thought to be represented through hierarchically structured units. Nielsen and Christiansen find that non-hierarchical structures are present across reaction-time tasks, eye-tracked reading and natural conversation.

SmartEM is a ‘smart’ pipeline for electron microscopy-based data acquisition for connectomics. In order to efficiently image large datasets, the approach involves imaging at short pixel dwell times and identifying problematic regions that are then imaged with longer dwell times and therefore higher quality.

Video games are increasingly exposing young players to randomized in-game reward mechanisms, purchasable for real money — so-called loot boxes. Do loot boxes constitute a form of gambling?

Excessive antimicrobial use can increase the threat of antimicrobial resistance; however, how such use is embedded in global trade is still unclear. Authors here estimate global livestock antimicrobial footprints through global supply chains to better understand and manage antimicrobial use.

Kim, Wang, Clow and colleagues show that long-range chromatin loops bringing distal enhancers or super-enhancers together with promoters are cohesin dependent and cell type specific, whereas most short-range and promoter-centric transcriptional loops are cohesin independent and constitutive.

Large-scale computational and in vitro analyses identify commensal type III secretion systems and substrates in the human gut microbiome that can interact with human proteins to modulate immune pathways.

In this study, Dahmane et al use a method called cryo-electron tomography to uncover new details of how tick-borne flaviviruses transform cells into virus factories.

Polyamides (PAs) or nylons are types of plastics with wide applications, but due to their accumulation in the environment, strategies for their deconstruction are of interest. Here, the authors screen 40 potential nylon-hydrolyzing enzymes (nylonases) using a mass spectrometry-based approach and identify a thermostabilized N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase as the most promising for further development, as well as crucial targets for progressing PA6 enzymatic depolymerization.

Aadvanced computer simulations of three-dimensional turbulence reveal that the ab initio generation of large-scale magnetic fields is driven by shear-flow-induced jets; an analytical model is derived which reproduces the essential features of the flow- and field-generation mechanisms.

The impact of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) on protein function and cancer risk remain unclear. Here, the authors focus on the functional impact of VUS of the PALB2 gene and identify defects in DNA damage repair by homologous recombination associated with increased risk of breast cancer.

The viscosity of tumour cells is shown to govern their ability to disseminate through the bloodstream and extravasate, establishing a key biomechanical factor of metastasis.

Structural, genetic, functional and biochemical analyses of the complex flagellar motor of Campylobacter jejuni reveal structural adaptations with an ancient origin also found more widely across bacterial species, including elements exapted from the type IV pilus machinery.

Zygnematophycean algae are the closest algal relatives of land plants. This study compares the osmatic stress response of two of these species, finding a core set of molecular protective components and providing insights into the toolkit needed for plant terrestrialization.

Short-circuiting during fast charging through lithium dendrite intrusion into electrolytes is a major challenge in solid-state batteries. Here, using thermally annealed 3-nm-thick Ag coatings, lithium penetration into brittle electrolyte Li_6.6La₃Zr_1.6Ta_0.4O₁₂ is inhibited at local current densities of 250 mA cm⁻² due to an increase in surface fracture toughness.

Bohlen and colleagues report that the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL is necessary for the development, tolerance and activation of B cells in humans, unlike in mice where CBL deficiency results in loss of T cells.

The study reports the discovery of a persistent bow shock around a diskless magnetic accreting white dwarf, revealing a powerful energy-loss mechanism that challenges current models of accretion and compact binary evolution.

Vaccines inducing mucosal immunity may provide better protection from respiratory viruses. Here, Ykema et al. demonstrate the utility of a bivalent, mucosally delivered nanostructured lipid carrier-replicon vaccine for induction of mucosal and systemic immunity and protection against morbidity and mortality from H5N1 and H7N9 influenza.

Experiences guide our preferences, particularly when they violate expectations. Here, the authors show that prediction errors also arise endogenously as a consequence of merely imagined events by coopting mechanisms of reinforcement learning.

For pain signaling to be useful, sensory receptors must rapidly detect noxious stimuli and efficiently turn off once the threat has passed. Here, the authors uncover a critical role for the universal calcium sensor calmodulin in properly turning off the TRPA1 pain receptor.

A hand stencil painted on a cave wall on a small island off the coast of Sulawesi more than 67,800 years ago suggests a very early occupation of Wallacea.

Hepatocyte organoids derived directly from human tissue enable long-term hepatocyte expansion and can be combined with portal mesenchyme and cholangiocyte organoids to form a donor-specific periportal liver assembloid system.

Using quantitative brain imaging, the authors show opposite fMRI BOLD signal to metabolic activity due to variable oxygen extraction across the human cortex. This questions the canonical interpretation of fMRI signal in terms of neuronal activity.

Large benthic oxygen isotope fluctuations in the Oligocene Southern Ocean primarily represent deep water temperature changes, suggesting the Antarctic ice sheet volume was relatively stable, according to a clumped isotope record.

Distinguishing treatment failure from reinfection is crucial for assessing antimalarial efficacy in endemic regions. Here the authors introduce the probabilistic classifier PfRecur, a software utilizing Bayesian analysis to improve accuracy in identifying treatment failures in polyclonal infections, and apply it to data from Angola.

The Atlantic Ocean is having an increasing influence on the Arctic but the drivers of this are unclear. By combining ocean modelling and deep learning methods, the authors show that the increased flow through the Barents Sea Opening is driven by spectral changes of atmospheric variability.

Commercially available bionic hands can replicate many movements, but controlling a multiarticulate bionic hand is not an intuitive task. Here, the authors describe the integration of proximity and pressure sensors into a commercial prosthesis to enable autonomous grasping

PMTs are fungal O-mannosyltransferases embedded in the ER membrane. Here, structures of the Pmt4 homodimer reveal distinct features of this PMT family and uncover an additional cytosolic binding site for the Dol-P-Man substrate lipid.

Optical neuromorphic systems promise significant advantages in terms of bandwidth, power efficiency, and speed. Here, authors demonstrate how networks of spiking photonic crystal nanolasers can be trained to perform Bayesian inference through sampling from multivariate probability distributions.

Single- or few-cycle helical pulses have been experimentally elusive. Here, the authors demonstrate their first generation using complementary methods for optics and microwaves.

Resistance to combination therapies has been reported in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). Here, the authors discover that PIK3CA/AKT pathway regulation of multidrug-resistant ABC transporters is involved in the resistance to therapies in RMS, and use of the PI3Kα inhibitor alpelisib re-sensitizes RMS to therapy.

Off-target activation of nerve fibers is an ongoing problem in bioelectronic medicines such as vagus nerve stimulation. Here, the authors show that high-frequency stimulation can selectively block nerve fibers in the vagus nerve in swine models.

While quantum computers have strong potential for quantum-many-body simulations, demonstrating an advantage for systems of practical relevance is still a challenge. Here, the authors show that quantum computers can efficiently sample thermal states of weakly and strongly interacting fermions – which is notoriously hard for classical Monte Carlo methods due to the fermionic sign problem.

Plants utilize anion channels to adapt to environmental stresses. Here, authors elucidate the coordinated regulatory mechanisms within the SLAH family and demonstrate that tRNA molecules directly bind to and inhibit the SLAH1 anion channel.

Growth factor signalling has been shown to alleviate tissue fibrosis and promote repair. Here, the authors use fibroblast growth factor 7 (FGF7) knockout mice and an FGF7-loaded hydrogel to show that this factor can promote functional regeneration of tendon.

The authors report a new species of theropod dinosaur from the Triassic Period of Argentina. Despite being one of the earliest theropods, Anteavis crurilongus has derived features more in line with Neotheropoda.

As the military alliance created to counter the Soviet Union expands, it is prioritizing studies on how climate change affects security, cyberattacks and election interference.

Experimental systems in which non-trivial topology is driven by spontaneous symmetry breaking are rare. Now, topological gaps resulting from two excitonic condensates have been demonstrated in a three-dimensional material.

Exciton propagation in CrSBr is strongly influenced by magnetic properties, particularly peaking at the Néel temperature. Its transport is not governed by classical diffusion but rather by an interaction with the spin degree of freedom, specifically through a magnon–exciton drag effect.

People often form beliefs and reason about evidence as members of social groups. Here, the authors show that group membership biases even young children’s evaluation of evidence, leading them to adopt inaccurate group beliefs.

Clb2 is a B-type cyclin essential for mitotic progression. Here, the authors found that the CLB2 mRNA localizes to the yeast bud via a cis-acting ZIP-code and She2/She3 transport machinery. This spatial regulation ensures proper cyclin protein levels, whereas its mislocalization perturbs division timing and bud size control.

Active lifestyle has considerable cardiac health benefits, but the metabolic and immunological background need further investigation. Here the authors show that a cardiac macrophage population, characterised by simultaneous pro-inflammatory and reparative properties, accumulate upon exercise, and these cells restore cardiac health upon transfer in a mouse model of sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy.

Jang and colleagues demonstrate that GDF3 reshapes the chromatin landscape of inflammatory adipose tissue macrophages and drives endotoxic inflammation with age. Pharmacological inhibition of the GDF3–SMAD2/3 axis alleviates endotoxemia lethality in old mice.

Extrachromosomal circular DNAs (ecDNAs) are prevalent in human cancers and are thought to drive tumor evolution and drug resistance by amplifying oncogenes. Here, authors develop ec3D to reconstruct three-dimensional ecDNA structures, revealing how their spatial organization rewires regulatory circuits.

The authors present DNA-Diffusion, a generative AI framework that designs synthetic regulatory elements with tunable cell-type specificity. Experimental validation demonstrates their ability to reactivate AXIN2 expression, a leukemia-protective gene, in its native genomic context.