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Here, the authors identify a copy number variation containing three enhancers (PIHEC) that drives bilateral constricted ear by co-ordinately regulating HMX1 expression, revealing how aberrant Hmx1 expression in neural crest-derived fibroblasts disrupts outer ear development.

Two-color lasers often suffer from low coherence at large frequency spacings. Herein, the authors use the Pound-Drever-Hall technique to synchronize two lasers to a common ultra-stable optical cavity, achieving high coherence and generating microwave signals with remarkable phase noise via 2-point frequency division.

Mammary epithelial cells act to continuously renew the mammary tissue and must balance differentiation and self-renewal. Here they show that Mcam, a non-canonical Wnt pathway member, regulates communication between macrophages and mammary epithelial cells, thereby maintaining self-renewal and subsequently promoting mammary ductal morphogenesis.

A wax-aided immersion methodology is developed to yield graphene rolls with tunable chiral angles; these graphene rolls exhibit promising chiral electronic properties beyond those of other carbon allotropes.

Advancements in proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers rely on developing oxygen evolution reaction catalysts with high activity and stability. Here, the authors report a method to enhance the spatiotemporal coordination of oxygen radicals in a Ru-based catalyst for improved performance.

Recent changes in China’s research infrastructure have led to a rapid acceleration of the scientific process and increased pressure on all involved, argues Xiaopeng Li. The number of PhD graduates exceeds positions, and only structural innovations will ensure that PhDs can build careers in new sectors.

Scaling up perovskite film deposition necessitates controlling the film formation dynamics. Here, Deng et al. use amphoteric choline surfactants to blade-coat well-passivated films, reaching module efficiencies of ~15% for aperture areas up to 57 cm².

Coordination-driven supramolecular assembly provides the ability to build molecular architectures of impressive complexity. Here, the authors use a series of linear metal-organic ligands with specific sequences to construct multiple generations of precisely-controlled, 2D fractal polycyclic supramolecules.

The NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) complex is a main reactive oxygen species (ROS) source during inflammation. Here the authors report that NCF4, a subunit of the NOX2 complex, acts a sensor of ROS levels and regulates NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasome activation, associated with attenuated colorectal cancer progression.

In this study, Qin et al. present a murine-adapted SARS-CoV-2 strain, MASCp36, as a model for studying the pathogenicity, evolution and adaptation of the virus to human and animal hosts.

The authors study monolayer FeSe via scanning tunneling microscopy and simultaneous micron-scale-probe-based transport. They observe distinct superconducting phases in domains and on boundaries between domains, with different superconducting gaps and pairing temperatures.

Transposon-associated inverted repeats play a role in drought resistance and yield-related traits in maize.

Topologically associating domains (TADs) are critical structural units in 3D genome organization, and their reorganization between health and disease states is associated with essential genome functions. However, computational methods for identifying reorganized TADs are still in the early stages of development. Here, the authors present an algorithm leveraging random matrix theory to identify reorganized TADs.

Regulating spin state of metal cations in catalysts is recognized as a strategy to improve water oxidation. Herein, the authors constructed high-spin cobalt ions in cobalt oxyhydroxides, experimentally demonstrating accelerated electron transfer ability and thereby superior water oxidation performance.

The carbon flux rearrangement based on PDH bypass enhances the accumulation of acetyl-CoA and promotes the synthesis of lipid compounds downstream in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Ruiheng Sima and colleagues report a space temperature traceability technology, achieving continuous self-calibration through near-site transfer of miniature fixed points. This provides on-orbit traceability for long-term remote sensing precision.

Mosquito salivary-gland extract can modulate the host immune response. Qi and colleagues show that the salivary factor LTRIN from Aedes aegypti facilitates the transmission of Zika virus by interfering with the lymphotoxin-β receptor.

The NLRP3 inflammasome plays a pivotal role in clearing viral respiratory infection, but the molecular mechanism is not fully known. Here authors show that acetate, produced by gut bacteria, may enhance NLRP3-mediated type I interferon production following influenza infection in mice.

Coupled oxygen evolution mechanism provides an optimized electron transfer route during oxygen evolution process, but the underlying structure-activity relationship is still unclear. Here the authors investigate the role of eg* band broadening on the coupled oxygen evolution mechanism-based activities for Fe-doped NiOOH materials.

The authors investigate junctions made of two flakes of the cuprate superconductor Bi₂Sr_2-xLa_xCuO_6+y (Bi2201) twisted by 45 degrees. They find evidence for an isotropic pairing component, and call into question theoretical predictions of d+id superconductivity in this system.

Energy harvesting by utilizing optical control has emerged as a promising solution to alleviate energy and environmental crisis. However, it is challenging to realise nano-scale energy storage and conversion in the same material. Here the authors report a nonferroelectric molecular [CoGa] crystal that uses light as an external stimulus to exhibit photoenergy conversion and energy storage properties.

Most cases of craniofacial microsomia are sporadic but familial cases have been reported. Here the authors report that variants in FOXI3 can cause a small fraction of cases with different modes of inheritance including autosomal dominant with reduced penetrance.

Pei and colleagues show that introduction of the pluripotency reprogramming factors in sequence (Oct4–Klf4, c-Myc and finally Sox-2), rather than introducing them all together, increases reprogramming efficiency. This sequential delivery activates the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) before the mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET), which was previously reported to occur during reprogramming. The authors also show that addition of EMT modulators influences reprogramming in a similar manner.

Metal coordination of multitopic ligands is a powerful approach to building complex, functional architectures. Here, the authors construct three generations of fluorescent supramolecular rosettes by coordination of aggregation-induced emissive ligands, including a 2nd-generation macrocycle that emits pure white light.

Nested structures are common throughout nature and art, yet remain challenging synthetic targets in supramolecular chemistry. Here, the authors design multitopic terpyridine ligands that coordinate into nested concentric hexagons, and show that these discrete supramolecules display potent antimicrobial activity.

Cereal crops' grain yield and quality are traits that are usually considered to be negatively correlated. Here, the authors show that interaction of G-protein βγ subunits with an alternatively spliced MADS1^lgy3 protein can increase rice grain yield and quality simultaneously in field conditions.

Encoded Library Technology (ELT) has streamlined the identification of chemical ligands for protein targets in drug discovery. Here, the authors optimize the ELT approach to screen multiple proteins in parallel and identify promising targets and antibacterial compounds forS. aureus, A. baumannii and M. tuberculosis.

3D imaging of catalyst nanoparticles during reactions is important but challenging. Here, the authors provide atomic-scale details of compositional and structural changes of 10 nm sized Co-Fe spinel nanoparticles during oxygen evolution reactions.

Metal-mediated self-assembly in solution typically leads to small two- and three-dimensional architectures on scales smaller than 10 nm, but now a series of large, discrete, two-dimensional supramolecular hexagonal grids have been prepared through a combination of intra- and intermolecular coordination interactions. These 20-nm-wide grids have been imaged at submolecular resolution using scanning tunnelling microscopy.

A direct search for effective electromagnetic interactions between dark matter and xenon nuclei that produce a recoil of the latter is carried out and the first constraint on charge radius of dark matter is derived.

Metal halide perovskite (MHP) materials could revolutionize photovoltaic (PV) technology but sustainability issues need to be considered. Here the authors outline how MHP-PV modules could scale a sustainable supply chain.

Barrett’s oesophagus—a metaplasia that can be induced by persistent acid reflux, and predisposes patients to oesophageal cancer—arises from a population of basal cells at the gastro-oesophageal junction.

Mice deficient in the protein NLRC3 are highly prone to colitis and tumour development in the colon as NLRC3 suppresses the activation of mTOR signalling pathways that help drive tumorigenesis.

Interactions between T and B cells in the germinal centre are brief but involve extensive cell-surface contact in an entangled mode; ICOSL promotes T–B entanglement and B-cell acquisition of CD40L, which drives B cells to upregulate ICOSL, thus forming an intercellular feed-forward loop that is required for efficient positive selection and development of the bone marrow plasma cell compartment.

In this study, the authors propose a generic machine-learning-assisted framework to improve the overall performance of quantum sensing application. In the context of an atomic force sensor, this entirely data-driven approach, which involves generating the digital twinning of experimental data, demonstrates an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity compared to conventional protocols.

Direct electrical stimulation of the basal ganglia using implanted SEEG electrodes produced a variety of motor and non-motor effects in human participants, providing insight into the functional architecture of this key brain region.