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Tree cover gains in the moist tropics (1982–2015) were 56% naturally regenerated forests and 27% managed tree systems, with forest type influencing carbon recovery. Effective forest restoration requires robust tracking of forest types established by restoration efforts.

Electronic wound bandages have to balance conformability and wound healing properties. Here, the authors develop a smart patch (iSAFE) using biomaterials with bioelectronics to facilitate permeability with waterproofing. This achieves intelligent wound management with real-time wound monitoring and active therapy.

A universal, high-resolution printing technology for metal oxide thin-film transistors is still lacking. A plasmonic printing technology is reported to fabricate high-performance, solution-processed all-metal oxide thin-film electronics under room temperature and ambient conditions.

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 immunomodulatory functions of mast cells (MCs) within the tumor microenvironment are elusive. Here, the authors present a transcriptomic characterization of LUAD-infiltrating MCs and identify a proinflammatory subset that contributes to the activation of cytotoxic MAIT cells by secreting IL-18 via NRLP3 activation and pyroptosis, ultimately boosting anti-tumor immunity.

In a large multinational cohort study, maternal, gestational or pregestational diabetes was associated with only a small-to-moderate risk of ADHD in offspring, contrary to previous estimates that showed stronger effect sizes, attributing the differences in findings to confounding by shared genetic and familial factors.

Nerve fibers relaying pain information from peripheral organs are normally supported by specialized glial cells called nonmyelinating Schwann cells. Here, the authors show that a secreted factor, SEMA3B, promotes nerve fiber-Schwann cell interactions necessary for suppressing pathological pain.

Hong-Xuan Lin, Ji-Ping Gao, Jun-Xiang Shan and colleagues show that natural variation in a proteasome α2 subunit gene contributes to thermotolerance in African rice. Their follow-up studies suggest that the variant allele protects cells from heat stress by enhancing the elimination of cytotoxic denatured proteins and maintaining heat-response processes.

The synthesis of atom-thin amorphous films remains challenging as their thermodynamically favourable grains are neither two dimensional nor layered. Here a droplet-driven nanoribbon-to-film growth strategy is reported to achieve amorphous metal chalcogenides at the single-layer limit.

The authors present a chip-less wearable sensor-processor integrated neuromorphic system that combines multimodal physicochemical sensing with neuromorphic processing for real-time, autonomous physiological monitoring.

For the May Focus issue of Nature Chemical Engineering, we asked seven leading researchers working across automation, control and robotics to share their perspectives on a facet of their field that they believe will drive transformative progress within these interconnected domains.

The authors present a Mn incorporation strategy to enhance the stability of PdH_x metallenes by locking interstitial H atoms via strong electronic interactions in the immiscible alloy, resulting in an improved alkaline oxygen reduction reaction activity and stability at working temperature around 353 K.

The observation of nanocrystal crystallisation has long been a fundamental goal in nanoscience and remains a challenge due to the lack of spatiotemporal characterisation techniques. Here authors monitor the crystallisation of perovskite nanocrystals in polymer matrix at single-particle level using super-resolution florescence microscopy.

R9AP is a key receptor for entry of Epstein–Barr virus into human epithelial and B cells, and interacts directly with the viral glycoprotein gH/gL complex to mediate virus–host membrane fusion.

The authors study the non-centrosymmetric achiral material In_xTaS₂ by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillations. They find that it hosts an “ideal” Kramers nodal line, well isolated at the Fermi level.

Man, Gao and colleagues find that methylphenidate treatment in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is associated with reduced risk of physical abuse.

A memristor is the missing fourth circuit element that remembers its bias history. The storage in established devices today occurs by binary switching between ON and OFF states due to filamentary or interfacial mechanisms. Here, Aoki et al.show an analogue-type, homogeneous switching memristor system based on gallium oxide.

Efficient adenine base editors for mitochondrial DNA are achieved with evolved TadA deaminases.

Treatment selection for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) after hepatectomy remains challenging. Here, the authors develop HEROVision, a Vision Transformer-based model for personalised prognosis prediction and treatment optimisation in rHCC based on clinical and imaging data, outperforming other guideline staging systems and revealing patients who would benefit from changing treatments.

Structural vacancies in crystalline solids have potential in tuning optoelectronic properties. However, the random distribution of vacancies a problem when creating materials with completely reproducible functions. Here authors use vacancy engineering to improve electronic communication between cluster units in 3D orientationally ordered MOF crystals.

HiScanner, a tool for identification of copy number alterations from single cell whole-genome sequencing data, uncovers cell-type-specific somatic mosaicism in human brain and offers a way to track clonal evolution at the single cell resolution.

Oxide-based thin film transistors (TFTs) hold promise for low-power electronics, but their fabrication usually requires high temperatures. Here, the authors report a low-temperature pressure-assisted liquid-metal printing method to fabricate high-performance β-Ga₂O₃ TFTs and logic inverters.

Existing methods to analyse spatially-resolved transcriptomics (SRT) data often fail to accurately capture cell boundaries. The authors propose STP, a method that integrates subcellular SRT data with nuclei-stained images to partition individual cells. STP demonstrates effective cell partitioning when applied to SRT data from fly and mouse embryos.

2D hexagonal boron arsenide (h-BAs) is predicted to show interesting electronic and thermal properties, but its synthesis has so far remained elusive. Here, the authors report a method to synthesize 2D crystalline h-BAs nanosheets, showing their application for the realization of rigid and flexible low-power memristors.

Neural mechanisms underlying strengthening of escape behaviors are not fully understood. Here authors show that mPFC (medial prefrontal cortex)/VTg (ventral tegmental nucleus of gudden) to cholecystokinin expressing neurons in PMd (dorsal premammillary nucleus) neural pathway controls the threat memory-driven strengthening of escape. Furthermore, authors demonstrate a heterosynaptic role of eCB (endocannabinoid) signaling as the underlying molecular mechanism.

Hot carrier transport in organic systems has remained elusive due to rapid energy relaxation and limited transport properties. Here highly mobile hot carriers and their relaxation dynamics are reported in a crystalline two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymer, revealing two distinct transport regimes.

Human NPCs show promise for stroke treatment, but challenges remain in neuron diversity and maturation time. Here, the authors describe the generation of FOXG1 progenitors from iPSCs that quickly mature into functional cortical neurons, enhancing stroke recovery in rats.

This is a Protocol extension describing the establishment of human expanded potential stem cell lines from preimplantation embryos or by reprogramming somatic cells and their validation and characterization.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy experiments uncover a primary pair density wave at the reconstructed surface of the kagome metal CsV₃Sb₅, and tip-assisted, atomically precise manipulation of the reconstruction provides control over the emergent quasi-two-dimensional superconductivity.

Song et al. report stochastic edge detection enabled by integrating memristor-based stochastic number encoders with logic gates to perform bitwise logic operations with statistical probabilities. A hardware Roberts cross operator achieves 95% less computational cost while withstands up to 50% bit-flip errors.

Developing electronic skins for sensing the spatial ___location of objects beyond two-dimensional space is difficult. The authors present a flexible, lightweight, and transparent electronic skin for non-contact accurate 3D motion sensing. This achieves micron-level precision, reducing complexity and power consumption.

Using more than 300 serum samples from individuals with an age range of 1-88 years old, the authors here show that older adults possess higher breadth of antibody reactivity to avian influenza virus (AIV) neuraminidases, potentially explaining the age-specific risks of AIV human infections.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is a prevalent and complex disorder in older adults. Guo et al. identify human antigen R as a regulator of ARHL in aged mice and demonstrate that cochlear human antigen R overexpression alleviates ARHL, highlighting it as a therapeutic target for the condition.

CNS injuries cause persistent deficits. Here, the authors show that regenerated axons in an optic tract injury model form functional synapses, restoring the pupillary light reflex, and highlight neuronal types and presynaptic activity in recovery.

The microglia–neuron interactions contributing to neuronal hyperexcitability are unclear. Here, the authors show how GABA and C3 signaling coordinate microglial engulfment of inhibitory synapses, driving excitatory–inhibitory imbalance and neuronal hyperexcitability in epilepsy.

A mitochondrial disease is modeled using engineered base editors in rats.

Tao et al. study the role of TRMT6 in colorectal cancer, where it is upregulated and show that TRMT6 supports histone biosynthesis by stabilizing tRNA-Lys-TTT-1-1. Targeting TRMT6 reduced histone mRNA translation in a codon-biased manner.

The time-varying effective reproductive number (Rt) is useful for monitoring transmission of infections such as COVID-19, but reporting delays impact case count-based estimation methods. Here, the authors demonstrate and validate a method for estimation of Rt based on viral load data from Hong Kong that does not require accurate daily counts.

A mechanical exfoliation method for producing freestanding metal oxide ultrathin flakes is reported. The flakes can be transferred and integrated with 2D materials, providing a platform to investigate the fundamental properties of ultrathin metal oxides.

The pluripotency program is maintained by transcription factors from the Sox and POU families. Here they identify SOX and POU factors from unicellular relatives of animals and show that unicellular SOX can replace SOX2 to induce pluripotency, whilst unicellular POU differs from OCT4.