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Self-assembly is a strategy for making metal-organic materials but controlling the interior of metal-organic crystals remains challenging. Here, the authors report a sequential self-assembly process for synthesizing various interior morphologies of metal-organic crystal demonstrating evolution of form.
In thermoelectric materials, dislocations at grain boundaries can be used to scatter midfrequency phonons. Here, Chenet al. use vacancy engineering and thermal annealing to generate dislocations homogeneously within the crystalline grains and obtain good figures of merit for PbSe-based thermoelectrics.
The Mon1-Ccz1 (MC1) complex is a Rab guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RabGEF) for Ypt7/Rab7 important for endosomal maturation. Here the authors present the biochemical and structural characterization of MC1, elucidating its catalytic mechanism and showing that MC1 represents novel class of RabGEFs.
Hierarchical, nanoporous graphitic membranes are synthetically challenging yet attractive materials, due to their structural integrity. Here, the authors fabricate freestanding, porous carbon membranes with single-crystal-like graphitic order which serve as water splitting electrocatalysts upon cobalt doping.
Kinesin-14s are commonly considered to be minus end-directed microtubule motor proteins. Here the authors show that KlpA, a fungal kinesin-14 orthologue, relies on its N-terminal nonmotor microtubule-binding tail to achieve context-dependent bidirectional motility.
Low thermal conductivities in nanomeshes have been attributed to both wave-like and particle-like behaviour of phonons. Here, the authors use periodicity-controlled silicon nanomeshes to show that the particle backscattering effect dominates for periodicities above 100 nm and temperatures above 14 K.
The Wnt/β-catenin and YAP signaling pathways have fundamental roles in cancer. Here, the authors show that VGLL4, a known YAP antagonist, also negatively regulates Wnt/β-catenin signaling by targeting TEAD-DNA-TCF4 complex, thereby inhibiting colorectal cancer growth.
Traditional metallic communication elements suffer from substantial losses in the visible and near-infrared. Here, Barredaet al. show in a proof of principle in the microwave regime that a pair of high-index dielectric spheres can operate as a perfect switch in a beam-splitter configuration.
Typical CMOS materials in the telecommunications band suffer from two-photon absorption or possess weak Kerr nonlinearities. Here, Ooiet al. demonstrate 42.5 dB optical parametric amplification in ultra-silicon-rich nitride waveguides, designed to have strong nonlinearities with negligible losses.
The development of materials for energy storage hinges on the design of electrodes with large capacity, flexibility, fast charge–discharge rate and long cycling lifetime. Here, the authors develop electrodes based on nitrogen doped graphene with encapsulated Ge quantum dots with yolk-shell architecture.
A periodically driven system may show a novel type of topologically protected edge modes that has no static analogue. Here, Mukherjeeet al. report the observation of such anomalous chiral edge modes in an ultrafast-laser-inscribed slowly-driven photonic lattice.
Low-dimensional systems exhibit unique optical properties. Yuanet al. demonstrate one-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide perovskites with highly efficient bluish white-light emission due to efficient exciton self-trapping in the quantum-confined structure.
Non-homologous end-joining is the key pathway for repairing double-stranded DNA breaks in mammalian cells. Here the authors show that PAXX promotes the accumulation of KU at DNA breaks and is essential for end-joining in cells lacking XLF.
The functions of the highly reduced mitochondria (mitosomes) of microsporidians are not well-characterized. Here, the authors show that theTrachipleistophora hominismitosome is the site of iron–sulfur cluster assembly and that its retention is likely linked to its role in cytosolic and nuclear iron–sulfur protein maturation.
Plasmonic dark modes are promising candidates for lasing applications. Here, Hakalaet al. show lasing at visible wavelengths in dark and bright modes of an array of silver nanoparticles combined with optically pumped dye molecules, opening up a route to utilization of all modes of plasmonic lattices.
DFNA5 is related to the caspase-dependent pyroptosis inducer gasdermin D. Here the authors find that DFNA5 is cleaved by caspase 3 and show this cleavage skews cells away from apoptosis into secondary necrosis, a form of cell death characterized by membrane ballooning similar to pyroptosis.
Stem cells exert their beneficial effects through secretion of regenerative factors. Here, the authors take the membranes and secreted factors from cardiac stem cells and generate a synthetic cell-mimicking microparticle, which, on injection in a mouse model of myocardial infarction, improves cardiac function.
Solar hydrogen production through photocatalytic water splitting requires active and stable co-catalysts to replace platinum. Here, the authors use DFT to identify Ti3C2nanoparticles as potential co-catalysts, and assess their photocatalytic hydrogen production activity.
Magnetoelectric coupling allows switching of magnetic states via gate voltage pulses. Here the authors propose and demonstrate a purely antiferromagnetic magnetoelectric random access memory based on Cr2O3, reporting 50-fold reduction of writing threshold compared to ferromagnetic counterparts.
There has been disagreement on the properties of the ST12 phase of germanium due to the purity and size scale of samples synthesized so far. Here authors demonstrate a method for making pure, bulk samples and measure properties in agreement with computational predictions.