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A reinforcement learning-based virtual reality system, implementing a series of sport sessions with coaching, was as effective as standard physical activity in reducing fat mass in adolescents, with positive effects on cognition.

The primary entry route of vanilloid ligands to the vanilloid-binding site in transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is found to be a distinct and targetable hydrophobic pathway at the TRPV1–cell membrane interface rather than through direct membrane penetration.

The authors show that hot-pressing markedly improves high-power performance. In the hot-pressing process, the combined effect of applied pressure and sintering aids reduces the sintering temperature, which not only minimizes lead volatilization but also promotes densification.

The antiferromagnetic moments in the topological insulator/antiferromagnetic insulator bilayer (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃/α-Fe₂O₃ can be reversibly switched using electrical currents at room temperature, and with a critical current density that is one order of magnitude smaller than that required in heavy-metal/magnetic insulator systems.

Despite great success in generation of ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) by suppressing non-radiative transitions through attractive interactions, consideration of repulsive interactions on UOP remains largely unexplored. Here, the authors introduce carboxyl groups into organic phosphors, enabling formation of the intense repulsive interactions between the isolated molecules and the matrix in rigid environment.

A characteristic feature of non-Hermitian systems is an exceptional point at which eigenvalues and eigenstates coalesce. They also support richer degeneracies—a swallowtail catastrophe—that reveals transitions among three different types of singularity.

The death of massive stars has traditionally been discovered by explosive events in the gamma-ray band. Liu et al. show that the sensitive wide-field monitor on board Einstein Probe can reveal a weak soft-X-ray signal much earlier than gamma rays.

Gestational diabetes milletus (GDM) may have impairments on offspring health. Here, the authors suggest that the increase of EZH2 is an important reason for the disrupted DNA methylome in oocytes exposed to GDM, which may be associated with the transgenerational inheritance of the metabolic disorders.

Dissipative many body systems provide quantum-enhanced sensitivity to external near gap-closing points. Here, the authors demonstrate record sensitivity in a Rydberg-atomic platform in correspondence of folded hysteresis trajectories under external microwave driving

A colour correction array featuring red-, green- and blue-sensitive organic transistors integrated within a single pixel enables self-adaptive intensity and colour correction.

The synthesis of carbon dots with efficient solid-state emission is difficult, requiring harsh conditions. Here, the authors develop a mild molten-salt synthesis route and use machine learning to optimize the luminous efficiency of carbon dots.

Chromatin accessibility dynamics causally influence changes in gene expression levels, but these fluctuations may not be directly coupled over time. Here, authors develop computational causal framework HALO, examining epigenetic plasticity and gene regulation dynamics in single-cell multi-omic data.

The NSUN family, comprising seven members, is the primary RNA m5C methyltransferase in higher eukaryotes. Here, the authors demonstrate that NSUN7 is a catalytically inactive RNA m5C protein due to sequence variations in its motif IV. Instead, the authors reveal a noncatalytic, regulatory role of NSUN7 in sperm flagellum assembly.

Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a liver-specific glycoprotein that has been shown to be a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, the authors show that PON1 reduces HCC tumor growth due to regulation of lactic acid production and regulatory T cell-mediated immunosuppression.

Less is known about the entire microbial pathogen profile of small mammals. Here, the authors analyse 2,408 tissue-resolved metatranscriptomes to map the infectome in small mammals, uncovering high viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic diversity and showing how geography, hosts, and seasons shape zoonotic risk.

The study presents a multi-stage sorption-based system coupled with thermal energy storage that efficiently harvests water from air, achieving high yields and cost-effectiveness, offering a scalable, low-carbon path to freshwater.

Whether multimorbidity accelerates brain Aβ deposition in humans remains largely unknown. Here, the authors demonstrate that higher self-reported multimorbidity burden predicts increased brain Aβ accumulation rates in the ADNI cohort.

The performance of π-conjugated polymers films is limited by the short exciton diffusion lengths due to local imperfections or variations in interchain packing. Here, the authors report on large-area submillimeter-scale spherulites achieved by treating a spin-coated polydiarylfluorene film under solvent vapor annealing.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

The semileptonic decay channels of the Λc baryon can give important insights into weak interaction, but decay into a neutron, positron and electron neutrino has not been reported so far, due to difficulties in the final products’ identification. Here, the BESIII Collaboration reports its observation in e+e- collision data, exploiting machine-learning-based identification techniques.

Stable and robust topological edge modes are observed at finite temperatures in an array of 100 programmable superconducting qubits because of emergent symmetries present in the prethermal regime of this system.

Japonica rice generally has greater capacity for low temperatures germination (LTG) than indica rice. Here, the authors report an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme-encoding gene OsUBC12 can increase LTG in japonica rice by negatively regulate ABA signaling via promoting the proteasomal degradation of OsSnRK1.1.

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.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

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.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

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.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

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.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

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.

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.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

The ultrathin oxide nanosheets obtained through previous approaches usually exhibit amorphism or polycrystallinity, which limit their properties towards electronic devices. Here, the authors synthesize ultrathin antimony oxide single crystals with high dielectric constant (~100) and large breakdown voltage (~5.7 GV m⁻¹).

Entanglement was observed in top–antitop quark events by the ATLAS experiment produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN using a proton–proton collision dataset with a centre-of-mass energy of √s  = 13 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 140 fb⁻¹.

Herpes simplex virus 2-infected individuals are shown to have skin-tissue-resident CD8αα⁺ T cells that persist at the portal of virus release in genital skin and mucosa, possess oligoclonal T-cell-receptor-β CDR3 sequences that are stable over time, and express gene signatures of antiviral and cytolytic function indicative of viral-specific immune surveillance.

Peritoneal metastasis remains a major clinical challenge due to the lack of effective therapeutic options. In this study, the authors present intraperitoneal programming of tailored chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-Ms) as a strategy against peritoneal metastasis.

This study identifies 245 genetic loci associated with head-to-body ratios using 38,202 bone density scan images from the UK Biobank, revealing genetic links to skeletal and brain development, disease susceptibility, and human evolutionary adaptation.

Sequencing the genome and microbiome of about 1,500 tick samples from regions across China revealed host–microbe associations in ticks that could have implications for controlling ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Understanding how metabolites modulate longevity is crucial for reducing aging-related disease. Here, the authors demonstrate that α-ketobutyrate exhibits an anti-aging effect by coordinating NAD + -SIRT1 signaling and peroxisome function.

Worldwide, the number of only-child families is increasing. This research examines how growing up without siblings affects adult brain structure, function and connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health.

Numerical modeling combined with a global rock database shows that the Fe³⁺/ΣFe ratio in MORB mantle sources has doubled since the early Archean, suggesting a potential link between mantle redox evolution and Earth’s tectonic activity.

Fullerene cages that break the isolated pentagon rule are rare and often unstable. Now a range of fullerenes that feature three sequentially fused pentagons of carbon have been stabilized by chlorination.