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The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

This study explores the dynamics of adolescent depression through the lens of network temperature, a novel concept in psychological symptom networks. Researchers observed a decrease in network temperature across adolescence, indicating increased stability and decreased variability of depressive symptoms as adolescents age and with distinct patterns between sexes. This work emphasizes the importance of understanding network dynamics over static measures, offering new insights into the stability and variability of depression symptoms.

Placing particles at the interface between immiscible fluids usually enhances emulsification. However, now it is shown that if the particles are ferromagnetic, emulsification is suppressed and a non-planar recoverable interfacial shape develops.

In plants, the MMC represents the precursor of the female germline. Here, the authors show that SPL/NZZ, together with ovule-identity MADS-domain transcription factors, controls MMC differentiation by acting on an auxin-dependent downstream network.

Cross-linkable co-SAMs improve hole-selective SAM stability, preventing defects and thermal degredation in perovskite solar cells, enabling 26.92% efficiency with high heat durability, and guiding the design of more efficient and durable solar cells.

Oxidation of halides and subsequent segregation limit the stability of perovskite solar cells. Wu et al. synthesize anthraquinone derivatives to suppress oxidation while also passivating defects, achieving 25.2%-efficiency organic/perovskite tandem solar cells.

In this work, authors use whole genome tracking in a neonatal intensive care unit to reveal a strong link between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and invasive infection, pinpointing critical new targets for infection prevention in high-risk infants.

Commercially viable catalytic CO₂ electroreduction to CO would enable many green technologies, yet it is impeded by the initial hydrogenation step of CO₂. Here, the authors report Ni-Cd dual atom catalysts with complementary properties of favorable adsorption of CO₂ and H to overcome this barrier.

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

A combination of whole-genome NanoSeq with deep whole-exome and targeted NanoSeq is used to accurately characterize mutation rates and genes under positive selection in sperm cells.

Reactive carbanions are typically formed by deprotonating relatively acidic C–H bonds. Here, the authors demonstrate that combining sodium tris(pyrazolyl)borate with mesityllithium in the presence of a donor ligand generates a reactive organometallic mixture that deprotonates benzylic C–H bonds, enabling the isolation of cationic sodium benzyl species.

cellSTAAR advances noncoding rare variant association analysis by integrating single-cell genomics data.

Molecularly thin films are important in material sciences but their use in a wide range of applications requires control over their chemical functionalities, which is difficult to achieve. Here, the authors use decacyclene to form such freestanding and mechanically stable molecular films held together by supramolecular interactions without requiring covalent crosslinking of any kind

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Foutel et. al. identify conformational buffering as a mechanism for functional selection in intrinsically disordered protein regions that allows robust encoding of a tethering function by a hypervariable disordered linker through compensatory changes in sequence length and composition.

The authors report the mutational landscape of 29 cell types from microdissected biopsies from 19 organs and explore the mechanisms underlying mutation rates in normal tissues.

Tuning ionic permeation across nanoscale pores is important for areas ranging from nanofluidic computing to drug delivery. Complex formation between crown ethers and dissolved metal ions is used to demonstrate graphene-based ion channels with high mechanosensitivity.

The identification of antibodies targeting a conserved site of vulnerability in the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein reveals opportunities for passive prevention of malaria in vulnerable individuals and provides insights for rational vaccine design.

The binding of small molecules to the double stranded DNA may significantly alter its stability and functionality, which is the basis for many therapeutic and sensing applications. Here, the authors report that DNA binders can be used to program reaction pathways of a dynamic DNA reaction, where DNA strand displacement can be tuned quantitatively according to the affinity, charge, and concentrations of a given DNA binder.

Lithium-ion intercalation of bilayer graphene is shown to proceed via four distinct stages corresponding to different ordered in-plane arrangements of Li ions, commensurate with the underlying graphene lattices in both AA and AB stacking configurations.

Isolating and studying haematopoietic stem cells in young and aged mice demonstrates evolutionary processes related to blood production and provides a framework for interpreting future work using laboratory mice to study stem cell ageing.

Atmospheric reanalyses combined with ocean observations and model simulations show that the extreme 2023 North Atlantic heatwave was primarily driven by anomalously weak winds leading to strongly shoaling mixed layers, with a smaller contribution from clearer skies.

Calcifying organisms such as planktonic coccolithophores may be particularly vulnerable to increased ocean acidification. Here, O’Dea et al.show that two fossil coccolithophore species exhibited reduced calcification rates during a global warming acidification event 56 million years ago.

The molecular characterisation of germ cell tumours (GCT) is necessary to understand their development and histological diversification. Here, the authors use whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing of GCTs across distinct histologies to reveal their somatic evolution and clonal diversification, as well as identify several putative biomarkers for treatment stratification.

Clinical tests that rely on next-generation sequencing to evaluate large numbers of cancer genes can be validated using pooled cell lines with known mutations.

Iron-catalysed [2+2] cycloaddition/oligomerization of neat butadiene affords (1,n′-divinyl)oligocyclobutane—a telechelic, crystalline material consisting of 1,3-enchained cyclobutyl units. This oligocyclobutane can be chemically recycled to pure butadiene using the same iron catalyst employed in its synthesis, demonstrating design principles for next-generation plastic materials that can be returned to pristine monomer.

Understanding the severe voltage hysteresis in the first cycle of Li-rich cathodes is essential to realize their full potential in batteries. P. G. Bruce and colleagues report the formation of molecular O₂ on charging rather than other oxidized O species is the cause for the voltage hysteresis.

The synthesis of a tricoordinate antimony cation is reported by the removal of two chlorides from Tp^Me2SbCl₂, where Tp^Me2 is tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate. The multiple binding sites present in [Tp^Me2Sb]²⁺ bring an amine and an olefinic bond in proximity to enable an intermolecular hydroamination reaction.

To fully catalogue rare genetic variation in humans, many samples need to be examined. In this study, Coventryet al. resequenced two genes, KCNJ11 and HHEX, in 13,715 humans, and concluded that most of the sequence variation arose recently and that variation is greater than expected.

Here the authors perform a trans expression quantitative trait locus meta-analysis study of over 3,700 people and link a USP18 variant to expression of 50 inflammation genes and lupus risk, highlighting how genetic regulation of immune responses drives autoimmune disease and informs new therapies.

The use of molecules as fuels to achieve function is largely unexplored. Now it has been shown that fuelled dissipative self-assembly can yield transient droplets that release a surfactant, driving the macroscopic transport of these droplets.

The pluripotency program is maintained by transcription factors from the Sox and POU families. Here they identify SOX and POU factors from unicellular relatives of animals and show that unicellular SOX can replace SOX2 to induce pluripotency, whilst unicellular POU differs from OCT4.

HP1 proteins are rapidly evolving heterochromatin factors that are essential for silencing. Here, the authors identify an interface where subtle amino acid changes can lead to novel epigenetic inheritance phenotypes, acting as an effector toggle switch to regulate the persistence of epigenetic memory.

Martini 3.0 is an updated and reparametrized force field for coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations with new bead types and an expanded ability to model molecular packing and interactions.

A comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the mouse brain between gastrulation and birth identifies hundreds of cellular states and reveals the spatiotemporal organization of brain development.

Xu et al. show that satellite-measured urbanicity (living in a densely populated area) is correlated with brain volume, cortical surface area and brain network connectivity in a sample of 3,867 people from China and Europe.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

In this study, Aggarwal and colleagues perform prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 isolates derived from asymptomatic student screening and symptomatic testing of students and staff at the University of Cambridge. They identify important factors that contributed to within university transmission and onward spread into the wider community.

The circadian clock affects immune responses, but its role in influenza infection is not well understood. Here, Sengupta et al. show that time of infection and the circadian clock have no effect on lung virus titers, but affect inflammation, morbidity and mortality.

The European X-ray free-electron laser (EuXFEL) in Hamburg is the first XFEL with a megahertz repetition rate. Here the authors present the 2.9 Å structure of the large membrane protein complex Photosystem I from T. elongatus that was determined at the EuXFEL.

A global dataset of the satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and fishing fleets show that sharks—and, in particular, commercially important species—have limited spatial refuge from fishing effort.

Analysis of radio science data from the NASA InSight Mars lander reveals details of the rotation of the planet, which have been used to determine fundamental information about its core, mantle and atmosphere.

The process of protein crystallization is poorly understood and difficult to program through the primary sequence. Here the authors develop a computational approach to designing three-dimensional protein crystals with prespecified lattice architectures with high accuracy.