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Neural mechanism underlying behavioural flexibility is not fully understood. Here authors study decision-making of macaques in a reversal task. They identify two complementary cognitive processes. Distinct neural patterns link these processes to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus.

A WHO-supported pre−post study shows that implementation of the Y-Check comprehensive health check program is feasible and acceptable for adolescents in Zimbabwe, offering screening for 25 health conditions and behaviors, health promotion, on-site care and referral.

Genetic variants of TREX1, a negative regulator of type I interferon responses, have been linked previously to non-monogenic systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Here the authors analyze UK Biobank multi-omics data to show that, while a derived oligoprotein interferon signature associates with increased SLE risk, TREX1 variants do not.

Examples of materials with non-trivial band topology in the presence of strong electron correlations are rare. Now it is shown that quantum fluctuations near a quantum phase transition can promote topological phases in a heavy-fermion compound.

Donahue et al. show that ageing is associated with changes in ER morphology. ER-phagy drives age-associated ER remodelling through tissue-specific factors.

An integrated optical parametric amplifier on thin-film lithium niobate achieves more than 17 dB gain with less than 200 mW input power.

Electrochemical CO reduction to multi-carbon products offers a carbon-negative approach to produce chemicals, but the intricate reaction pathways lead to a broad spectrum of products. Now it has been shown that alkali cations alter the mechanistic pathways that govern the reaction selectivity involved in the formation of hydrocarbons versus oxygenates.

This study detects Chlamydia pneumoniae in human retina and brain, increasing with AD severity. Retinal pathogen load with Aβ₄₂ may predict AD stage. In models, infection drives Aβ deposition and NLRP3 activation, worsening pathology and cognition.

Using infant fMRI, the authors show that, by 2 months of age, representations in high-level visual cortex encode visual categories that align with deep neural networks, and lateral object-selective regions are later to develop.

Here the authors report that some aspects of clinical heterogeneity in type 2 diabetes vary across populations. Using a deep-learning–based tree model built from over 32,000 patients, they document disease patterns and risks specific for the Chinese population, potentially enabling more precise prediction and personalized care.

A van der Waals heterostructure made from atomic layers of ferroelectric CuCrP₂S₆ and ferromagnetic Fe₃GeTe₂ can offer reversible, non-volatile ferroelectric control of two-dimensional magnetism.

The Ocean Equity Index provides a systematic, twelve-criteria framework to assess and improve equity in ocean initiatives, projects and policies, producing structured data that guide evidence-based decisions and support more equitable outcomes for coastal communities and ecosystems.

Owing to electron localization, two-dimensional materials are not expected to be metallic at low temperatures, but a field-induced quantum metal phase emerges in NbSe₂, whose behaviour is consistent with the Bose-metal model.

A vagal reflex to blood volume changes in the heart involves PIEZO2 and helps to stabilize blood pressure in an upright posture and after blood loss.

Current human tandem repeat catalogs are derived from short-read sequencing data, thus limiting the size range and sequence complexity of captured genotypes. Here the authors generate a comprehensive catalog de novo using long-read sequencing data.

Non-invasive strategies to detect and track activated myeloid cells will facilitate disease diagnosis and monitoring in patients affected by neuroinflammatory disorders. Here, the authors present 18F-FMD, a dendrimer-based PET tracer that detects and monitors activated myeloid cells at different stages (presymptomatic and symptomatic) of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice and in response to disease-modifying therapies.

NiPS₃ is a van der Waals antiferromagnetic semiconductor where the exciton formation is strongly influenced by the magnetic ordering. Previous studies have been limited to magneto-optical approaches, but here, Lebedev, Gish and coauthors succeed in making field effect transistors that operate below the Néel temperature and observe an ultranarrow electroluminescence with a high degree of linear polarization.

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans facilitate the assembly of clusters of glycoRNAs and cell surface RNA-binding proteins, which negatively modulate VEGF-A signalling and angiogenesis.

PCNA–PAF15 has a key role in determining replisome dynamics during genome replication and protecting against genome instability.

Kinematic measurements of the Perseus galaxy cluster reveal two drivers of gas motions: a small-scale driver in the inner core associated with black-hole feedback and a large-scale driver in the outer core powered by mergers.

Ferromagnetic semiconductors that have the critical properties of semiconductors and ferromagnetism at room temperature have so far proven elusive. Here, by doping black phosphorus with Cobalt, Fu, Qu, Hou, Chang and coauthors induce ferromagnetism that persists up to room temperature, all while maintaining black phosphorus’ semiconducting properties.

Nkx2.5+ progenitor cells within the anterior lateral plate mesoderm, defined as the heart field, give rise to distinct cardiopharyngeal lineages and structures. Here, the authors show that the nkx2.5+ progenitor cells are heterogenous in the classic heart field and are spatially patterned based on their future migratory paths.

Radiation reaction (RR) on particles in strong fields is the subject of intense experimental research, but previous efforts lacked statistical significance due to the extreme regimes required. Here, the authors report a 5σ observation of RR and obtain strong, quantitative evidence favouring quantum models over classical, using an all-optical setup where electrons are accelerated by a laser in a gas jet before colliding with a second, intense pulse.

A technique called condense-seq has been developed to measure nucleosome condensability and used to show that mononucleosomes contain sufficient information to condense into large-scale compartments without requiring any external factors.

Agricultural irrigation is energy intensive and a key source of carbon emissions. This study shows that aligning irrigation schedules with renewable energy availability can cut emissions, ease grid load and use surplus clean power. Using China as a case study, it demonstrates a scalable, low-carbon strategy that maintains crop productivity while supporting the energy transition.

Proxy records from Lake Baikal show that rapid cooling coincided with Northern Hemisphere ice sheet expansion 2.7 million years ago, a change accompanied by a transition to open steppe ecosystems.

This research integrates leaf physiology, anatomy, and cell wall composition to understand species habitat specialization. The findings suggest that wet forest species vary in hydraulic function via contrasting palisade tissue investment, whereas dry forest species do so via contrasting pectin concentration.

A short peptide derived from a commensal-fungal-secreted protein promotes repair in models of colon epithelial damage when delivered directly or via probiotic microbes.

Taveneau et al. leverage artificial-intelligence-driven protein design to create inhibitors that control RNA-targeting enzymes in cells, revealing a strategy to rapidly design off-switches for RNA-editing systems.

MedHELM, an extensible evaluation framework including a new taxonomy for classifying medical tasks and a benchmark of many datasets across these categories, enables the evaluation of large language models on real-world clinical tasks.

Hole spin qubits in germanium have seen significant advancements, though improving control and noise resilience remains a key challenge. Here, the authors realize a dressed singlet-triplet qubit in germanium, achieving frequency-modulated high-fidelity control and a tenfold increase in coherence time.

Population-scale WGS reveals genetic determinants of persistent EBV DNA, linking immune regulation—especially antigen processing and MHC class II variation—to EBV persistence and heterogeneous disease associations.

Color center magnetometry enables spin-wave imaging in complex magnetic textures. This work overcomes key limitations of current approaches by decoupling sensor spins from control fields and using diamond and hBN color centers for complementary frequency operation, achieving isofrequency imaging of field-controlled spin waves.

Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

This study finds that native tree extinctions and alien naturalizations are pushing forests towards fast-growing, resource-demanding species. This global shift could affect carbon storage and ecosystem stability, highlighting the need to protect slow-growing trees.

Microbial mutualists could affect plant population persistence under climate change. Here the authors show that fungal endophytes contribute to the population persistence of a grass species by ameliorating drought stress but are more likely to disappear locally under climate variability.

The success of photocatalytic coupling of CH₄ has been limited by the low solar absorption of wide-bandgap semiconductors and the uncontrolled oxidation caused by radical oxygen species. Here a Pd/Co₃O₄ heterojunction derived from a metal–organic framework demonstrates the selective conversion of CH₄ to C₂H₆ by less reactive oxygen species under full-solar-spectrum irradiation.

Applications of optical laser-based techniques are limited by the long wavelengths of the lasers. Now, observations of phonons and thermal transport at nanometre length scales are reported with an all-hard X-ray transient-grating spectroscopy technique.

The R21/Matrix-M vaccine, but not the ME-TRAP vaccine, was protective against intradermal challenge with Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, while neither was protective against direct venous inoculation, potentially explaining previously observed differences in protection.

A non-coplanar axially chiral molecular contact favours the crystalline growth of perovskite film and improves interfacial stability in perovskite solar cells. Small-area devices yield a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.44% and maintain 98% of it after 2,000 hours of operation.

The authors report the discovery of charge order with onset temperature of 800 K in the kagome superconductor YRu₃Si₂. In addition, they observe time-reversal symmetry breaking below 25 K, field-induced magnetism below 90 K and bulk multi-gap superconductivity below 3.4 K.

An amorphous–crystalline silicon nitride nanocomposite at the buried interface of perovskite solar cells enables small-area devices with a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.37%. Modules with an area of 1,252 cm² maintain stable output for 6 months of outdoor operation.

Hepatocyte-specific GPR110 mediates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis progression by regulating hepatic oestrogen sensitivity in a sex-specific manner, specifically in female mice.

Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) are a workhorse for laser cooling of atoms and were recently extended to molecules. Yet, new mechanisms for molecular trapping and cooling are still an open area of exploration. Here, the authors show a blue-detuned MOT based on a conveyor-belt effect for CaF molecules, yielding higher number densities, comparable with some atomic MOTs.

Selecting for varieties of commercial crops with enhanced nutritional quality is important in agriculture. Here, the authors identify alleles of a gene in tomatoes that give rise to increased levels of vitamin E and find that the promoter of the gene is differentially methylated.

Topological metamaterial clothing based on metallic conductive textiles can be used to create robust biosensing networks on the human body that can monitor vital signs during exercise.

N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) is an N⁴‐acetylcytidine (ac⁴C) writer, which catalyzes RNA acetylation at cytidine N⁴ position on RNAs. Here, the authors show that NAT10 catalyzes ac⁴C addition to a long non-coding RNA encoded by the oncogenic DNA virus Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), triggering viral lytic reactivation from latency, which promotes NAT10 recruitment of IFI16 mRNA, resulting in inflammasome activation.