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Liu et al. report Chinese normative lifespan brain charts showing later neurodevelopmental milestones than those detected in Western cohorts. Individual deviations from these norms are valuable in assessing clinical risk and outcomes.

Integration of twist-phase-matched van der Waals flakes on optical fibre ends enables efficient nonlinear optical processes, including second-harmonic generation and parametric downconversion, and the fabrication of a frequency-doubling ultrafast laser.

Fanjiang Kong, Zhixi Tian, Xingliang Hou, Baohui Liu and colleagues report the cloning and functional characterization of J, the locus underlying the long-juvenile (LJ) trait that has enabled tropical cultivation of soybean. They show that J, an ortholog of Arabidopsis ELF3, downregulates the expression of E1, thereby promoting flowering under short-day conditions.

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.

The authors show that, by tuning the occupation of moiré-trapped interlayer biexcitons in WS₂/WSe₂ heterostructures, their valley polarization can reach 55% at 120 K, highlighting the potential for valleytronic devices.

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.

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.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Isotropic tissue magnification is integrated with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging to enable untargeted spatial proteomics at micrometre resolution and with high protein identification rates in multiple tissue types.

In this work, the authors introduce parallel symbolic enumeration (PSE), a model that discovers physical laws from data with improved accuracy and speed. By evaluating millions of expressions in parallel and reusing computations, PSE outperforms the state-of-the-art methods.

The authors achieve a high electrocaloric effect in barium titanate ceramics with a defect dipole engineering strategy. As a result, defect dipole engineering enables BaTiO₃ to achieve an electrocaloric effect over a wide temperature range.

Construction of chiral nanostructures is impeded by the entropic barrier of dissymmetric blocks. Here, the authors report a dynamic assembly/disassembly strategy to yield single-unit organometallic helices for enantioselective amyloid inhibition.

Ultrafast electron sources are essential for time-resolved electron microscopy techniques, but they usually suffer from limited stability and short lifetimes. Here, the authors report the fabrication of ultrafast hot-electron sources consisting of graphene films integrated on a single-mode optical fibre, showing enhanced stability and longevity.

The poor conductivity of organic crystals hinders their potential on applications in flexible electronics, wearable devices, and soft robotics. Here, Naumov et al. develop a hybrid organic crystal that shows enhanced electrical conductivity and fast mechanical deformation due to temperature change.

Previous ophthalmic foundation models have struggled to generalize effectively to diverse and rare fundus diseases, restricting their clinical applicability. Here, the authors introduce a vision-language foundation model that demonstrates superior performance in diagnosing both common and rare fundus conditions.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

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.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

The large-area growth of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) requires a precise control of metal and chalcogen precursors. Here, the authors implement a strategy using active chalcogen monomer supply to grow monolayer TMDs and their alloys, showing low defect density and improved optoelectronic properties.

Nanotwinning strategies are widely recognized for their ability to substantially enhance the mechanical properties of materials. Here diamond with both penetrating and interlocked twins was synthesized, yielding a hardness of 276 GPa, which can be explained by diamond models that feature diverse twin configurations and dimensions.

The self-assembly of nanocrystals into checkerboard lattice patterns is difficult to control. Here, the authors investigate the formation of such patterns from hydrophilic/hydrophobic bifunctionalized Ag nanocubes and use multiscale simulations to understand the effects of physical forces.

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.

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.

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.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

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.

A low cost MRI scanner may have the potential to meet clinical needs at point of care or in low and middle income countries. Here the authors describe a low cost 0.055 Tesla MRI scanner that operates using a standard AC power outlet, and demonstrate its preliminary feasibility in diagnosing brain tumor and stroke.

The anomalous photovoltaic effect in polar materials offers a promising alternative to overcome the limits of conventional photovoltaics. Here, the authors report spontaneous photocurrent generation in Janus MoSSe monolayers, showing responsivities up to 3 mA/W and response times down to 50 ps.

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.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

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.

Electrocatalytic urea synthesis is an emerging alternative technology to the traditional urea synthesis protocol. Here, a CuWO₄ catalyst with native bimetallic sites achieves efficient co-reduction of carbon dioxide and nitrate to urea by stabilizing intermediates of *NO₂ and *CO for C–N coupling.

Vat photopolymerization 3D printed flexible polymer foams are applicable to thermal insulation, sound absorption, noise reduction, and biomedicine but the high cross-linking density of the generally used resin prevents their further processing into foam parts. Here, the authors show an additive manufacturing polyurethane foam preparation method to balance fabrication accuracy and expansion ratio.

Zhong et al. show that the protein GP73 stimulates hepatic glucose production and is induced in response to infection with SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in vivo, thus proposing a molecular mechanism underlying hyperglycemia associated with COVID-19.

Geometric frustration arises when lattice structure prevents energetic interactions between neighbouring particles to be minimized, leading to complex phases of matter. This paper reports a simple geometrically frustrated system composed of closely packed colloidal spheres confined between parallel walls. Because the diameter of the spheres is tunable, the system provides a unique means to directly visualize the dynamics of frustration, thermal excitations and defects.

Phospholipase C β (PLCβ) exhibits immuno-modulatory functions but its role in antiviral innate responses is unclear. Here, the authors provide evidence that PLCβ2 down regulates enterovirus-induced pro-inflammatory responses via inhibition of TAK1 activation, and suggest PLC as a potential therapeutic target.