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Modern neutrino experiments require precise tuning of energy response parameters, a task complicated by the parameters’ nonlinear behavior and strong correlations. The authors present neural density estimators using normalizing flows and transformers integrating them with Bayesian nested sampling to achieve near-zero systematic biases and uncertainties limited only by statistics, offering a flexible framework for particle physics applications

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

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.

Liu et al. experimentally demonstrate a terahertz chaos source based on a terahertz quantum cascade laser without any external perturbations. It is found that the chaos generation in the terahertz laser is ascribed to the defect-mediated turbulence.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

This work shows the two independent structures of cardiac amyloids formed by non-native atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) dimers extracted from atrial fibrillation patients. These data point at dimeric ANP forms as the amyloidogenic species in vivo.

Short laser pulses of femtosecond time scales are in high demand in order to explore the fast electron dynamics in light-matter interactions. Here, the authors demonstrated the compression of free electron laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet range by using a chirped pulse amplification technique.

Marine protected areas are proposed to protect elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) but the fishing impact from small-scale fisheries in these areas is unknown. From 1256 fishing operations carried out in partially protected and unprotected areas in six Mediterranean countries, this study shows that catches were higher in partially protected areas than in unprotected areas, indicating poor small-scale fisheries management as a threat for these species.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

A combination of real-world evidence and a reanalysis of phase 3 clinical trial data unveils KRAS codon G12 mutations as a biomarker of resistance to trifluridine/tipiracil in metastatic colorectal cancer.

Polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer’s disease derived from individuals of European ancestry can show improved performance in multiancestry settings after incorporating genome-wide association summary statistics from diverse populations.

In this largest whole-exome sequencing study of epilepsies to date, the Epi25 Collaborative identified extremely rare variants that confer risk for diverse epilepsy subtypes, highlighting roles in synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability.

A genome-wide study by the Long COVID Host Genetics Initiative identifies an association between the FOXP4 locus and long COVID, implicating altered lung function in its pathophysiology.

We report observations of GRB 231115A, positionally coincident with the starburst galaxy M82, that unambiguously qualify this burst as a giant flare from a magnetar, which is a rare explosive event releasing gamma rays.

Sjögren’s syndrome, a disease that primarily affects women, is poorly understood. Here, the authors combine data from a large cohort of patients and healthy controls to identify biomarkers that distinguish patient subgroups to improve our understanding of the disease and facilitate drug development.

By amplifying a soliton in a multistage cascade, few-femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet free-electron laser pulses are achieved.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses identify 26 risk loci for epilepsy, including 19 loci specific to genetic generalized epilepsy. Prioritized candidate genes implicate synaptic processes and overlap with targets of antiseizure medications.

Michael Seldin and colleagues report a genome-wide association study and meta-analyses for primary biliary cirrhosis. They identify three loci newly associated with susceptibility to this autoimmune liver disease.

Two-colour X-ray free electron laser is a powerful tool for pump–probe measurements, but currently constrained by limited tunability. Here, Ferrari et al. develop a configuration that allows tuning both the pump and the probe to specific electronic excitations, providing element selectivity.

Reports from a large, prospective study in paediatric patients suggest that oesophagogastroduodenoscopy is valuable for diagnosis in children with chronic abdominal pain. Nonetheless, the vast majority of children with chronic abdominal pain will have a functional gastrointestinal disorder, and no test is needed to achieve this diagnosis.

The exclusive expression of well-defined antigens renders prostate cancer an attractive target for immunotherapy. Di Lorenzoet al. review clinical results of immunotherapy trials in patients with prostate cancer and discuss methodological issues related to the evaluation of treatment efficacy of immunotherapeutic agents.

Stroke is a multifactorial disease influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Here, the authors apply exome-wide association analysis to find rare coding variants associated with stroke in a Pakistani cohort, finding a significant association of a variant in NOTCH3 that is highly enriched in South Asians.

Marchioretti and colleagues show that in the skeletal muscle of SBMA mice and patients there is an early, but reversible alteration of expression of genes involved in muscle contraction and of mitochondrial respiration, followed by accumulation of calcium inside the mitochondria, which is concomitant with the onset of motor dysfunction, and late alteration of muscle structure.

Testicular germ cell tumors are highly heritable, and the authors present the largest genome association study, identifying 22 novel loci, which account for a third of those identified to date. Implicated pathways include male germ cell development and differentiation, and chromosomal segregation.

The SAVE-MORE phase 3 study demonstrates the efficacy of anakinra, an IL-1α/β inhibitor, in patients with COVID-19 and high serum levels of soluble plasminogen activator receptor.

NCR⁺type 3 innate lymphoid cells display lymphoid tissue-inducing ability. Here the authors show that these cells are increased in early-stage human lung cancer, respond to cancer cells and associated fibroblasts by producing cytokines and are associated to intratumoural ectopic lymphoid structures.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Echo-enabled harmonic generation in a free-electron laser enables 45th harmonic pulses from a 264 nm wavelength seed, yielding 5.9 nm wavelength coherent output.

It has been proposed that the identification of genes regulating senescence in the absence of PTEN might help develop pro-senescence compounds for the treatment of cancer. Here, the authors use a combination of chemical and shRNA functional screen and identify CK2 as a potential target.

Single-cell and spatial gene expression analyses of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma uncover a population of interleukin-1β-expressing macrophages that drive inflammatory reprogramming of neighboring tumour cells leading to disease progression and poor prognosis for patients.

Primary biliary cirrhosis is an autoimmune liver disease with poor therapeutic options. Here Cordell et al. a perform meta-analysis of European genome-wide association studies identifying six novel risk loci and a number of potential therapeutic pathways.