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Treatment failure exists in Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA-NPC) patients. Here this group reports a phase 2 randomized trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of adding nimotuzumab, to CCRT on 246 patients with untreated, non-keratinising, stage II–IVA LA-NPC.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe gastrointestinal disease of premature infants with unclear mechanisms. Here, the authors show that CD177⁺ neutrophil–platelet aggregates promote neutrophil extracellular trap (NET)-linked thromboinflammation in NEC and that blocking CD177/NET formation or low-molecular-weight heparin alleviates disease in mouse models.

Neutrophils are known to be important in COPD pathogenesis and calcium signaling is involved in this process. Here the authors examine the function of Na⁺Ca²⁺ exchanger 1 (NCX1) in neutrophil function in mouse models of chronic cigarette smoke exposure and show that inhibition of NCX1 reduces neutrophil accumulation in the lungs and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).

Developing robust anode catalysts that can operate at industrial-level current densities is essential for efficient hydrogen production. Here, the authors report a mesoporous ruthenium–titanium oxide solid solution with an engineered three-phase reaction interface for stable water electrolysis.

Electrochemical conversion of propylene to propylene oxide using seawater is attractive but limited by inefficient use of reactive chlorine species. Here, the authors incorporate lithium into a cobalt catalyst to enhance radical generation, achieving industrial-level yields and high efficiency

Euglenophytes evolved via secondary endosymbiosis, exemplifying plastid evolution. Here, the authors solve Euglena gracilis’ photosystem I structure, revealing specific protein organizations and structural features for far-red light absorption. This work informs the engineering of photosystem.

Emulating biological vision with dual functions of photoreceptors and photosynapses through light-modulated ion transport presents a significant challenge. Here, the authors present a light-regulated nanofluidic iontronic device that can mimic the dual visual functionalities with adjustable polarity-switching behaviour.

Turning industrial lignin waste into useful chemicals is vital for sustainable biorefineries, but processing creates stubborn carbon bonds. A disordered mesoporous zeolite can break these bonds efficiently, releasing many more aromatic products while remaining stable.

By forming an electron reservoir in the centre of a gallium nitride nanowire p–n diode, a single two-terminal device can be created that offers sensing, memory and synaptic functionalities, and arrays of such devices can be used to denoise and identify optical images.

Mower, Wan et al. introduce ROS-LLM, an open-source system that lets non-experts control robots with natural language, learn new skills from demonstrations and feedback, and automatically tune actions for reliable performance in real-world tasks.

Hot climates erode children’s sleep, threatening cognitive development with likely socioeconomic consequences. A global analysis finds potential links between future sleep losses and trillions of dollars in economic costs that disproportionately burden poorer regions.

Human management is vital for ecosystem health, yet its global impact on forest resilience remains unclear. This study shows that while natural forests are generally most resilient, managed forests can be more stable in wet or fertile regions.

cf-EpiTracing enables automated profiling of histone modifications in cell-free DNA from human plasma, allowing identification of the cells of origin and disease diagnosis.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT) is approved for the treatment of transfusion-dependent thalassemia but remains limited to the use of matched sibling donors. In this multi-centre, phase-4 prospective clinical trial, the authors evaluate the use of alloHSCT with matched unrelated donors and haploidentical relatives.

Bilayer CrTe₂ films grown via molecular beam epitaxy are found to host room-temperature multiferroicity and strong magnetoelectric coupling.

Plasmas can unlock unconventional reactivity for established catalytic systems, but understanding the resulting mechanistic changes is a complex endeavour. Here in situ characterization techniques allow us to rationalize the promotional role of non-thermal plasma on the catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol on Cu–Zn systems.

Highly ionically conductive and flexible solid-state composite battery electrolytes are engineered by alternately stacking inorganic Li_xM_yPS₃ (M = Cd or Mn) nanosheets with lithium-containing organic polymers in a perpendicular orientation to the surface of the electrodes.

This step-by-step protocol describes a versatile approach for assessing genome-wide off-target activity of diverse genome editors by tracking replication protein A—a key protein that binds single-stranded DNA intermediates.

Excitons are important excitations in solids with potential applications in quantum and spintronic technologies. The authors achieve bidirectional control of exciton energy in a twodimensional antiferromagnetic semiconductor via interfacial spin-exciton coupling.

Moiré superlattices are a versatile platform for studying emergent electron and quantum phenomena. Here, the authors demonstrate moiré superlattice formation in complex oxide-WS₂ heterostructures across varying twist angles.

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.

An electro-activated dual-affinity membrane with electrostatic and hydrophobic binding sites achieves the effective removal of diverse per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) at environmental concentrations, providing a practical and cost-effective method for addressing the challenge of PFAS contaminants in drinking water.

Isosteric replacement, an important tactic in drug-lead optimization, typically demands bespoke synthesis. Here, the authors report a photochemical skeletal-editing method that converts readily available isoquinolines into otherwise difficult naphthalene derivatives in a single step.

The molecular heterogeneity of brain metastases (BrMs) poses challenges for their treatment. Here, the authors generate a multi-omic, single cell, and spatially resolved atlas of 1,032 pan-cancer BrMs and identify four molecular subtypes with distinct biological and clinical features.

Cardiometabolic disease and depression often co-occur, but their multi-organ basis was unclear. Here, the authors analyse UK Biobank imaging and genetics, identifying abdomen-heart-brain networks and 43 shared loci, improving multimorbidity prediction

Femtosecond X-ray solution scattering reveals how solvent environments direct the outcome of ultrafast roaming reactions in bromoform, determining whether transient hot isomers undergo rapid solvolysis or rearrange into long-lived isomeric products.

Sinus node dysfunction (SND) is a prevalent arrhythmia syndrome characterized by sinoatrial node pacemaker failure. This study engineers stem cell-derived vesicles with platelet membranes for targeted delivery to the ischemic sinoatrial node as a cell-free nanotherapeutic strategy for treatment of SND.

In animals, H3K4me1 marks enhancers. Here the authors show that in land plants H3K4me1 is recognized by a specific reader protein, which interacts with an H3K36 methyltransferase, to direct the establishment of H3K36me2 and H3K36me3.

Self-healing polymer materials based on metal–ligand coordination bonds have been extensively utilized for their advantages of rich metal–ligand species and functionalities but the strength of the metal bonds is not easily tunable. Here, the authors introduce coordination metals into liquid metals leveraging the inherent fluidity of multi-component liquid metals to convert common metal-ligand coordination into reversible interfacial coordination.

Many thermophiles that are abundant in geothermal systems have never been cultivated and are poorly understood. Here, Lai et al. describe the cultivation of one such organism, a deeply branching member of the archaeal phylum Thermoproteota, and provide evidence that it has evolved to specialize in branched-chain amino acid metabolism.

Aerodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in two hospitals in Wuhan indicates that SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to be transmitted through aerosols, although the infectivity of the virus RNA was not established in this study.

The catalytic enantioselective synthesis of sulfinimidate esters remains a formidable challenge in organic chemistry. Here the authors report an enantioselective oxidative esterification of sulfenamides to form sulfinimidate esters by using anionic stereogenic-at-Co(III) complexes as catalysts.

Anti-TSLP biologics have shown promise for the clinical treatment of type 2 respiratory disease. Here the authors present a clinical trial of CM326, a monoclonal antibody against TSLP, and show the clinical effects in patients with eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (ECRSwNP), who present with type 2-dominant inflammation.