Articles in 2024

Rhombohedral-stacked (R-stacked) transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers exhibit remarkable properties, but their large-area epitaxial growth remains challenging. Here, the authors report the remote epitaxy of centimetre-scale single-crystal R-stacked WS₂ bilayer films on sapphire substrates.

Contact patterns influence the spread of infectious diseases, but mathematical models of epidemics typically only account for age differences in contacts. Here, the authors investigate the importance of other sociodemographic characteristics in shaping contact patterns and vaccine uptake using survey data from Hungary.

The microbiota of the intestinal tract is considered a large biofilm formed by myriads bacteria that have a considerable impact in health and disease. Here, the authors show that biofilm-associated proteins from intestinal microbiota form amyloid-like structures that exacerbate alpha-synuclein pathologies.

Standard ways of characterising quantum states incur exponential overhead. Here, the authors consider the task of reconstructing density matrices of multimode continuous variable systems, and demonstrate a method which scales polynomially with the system size, provided the state lies in a polynomial dimensional subspace.

The authors demonstrated an unprecedented level of polarization squeezing of light generated by an atomic ensemble, and a new regime of continuous quantum measurements on a macroscopic material oscillator.

Cell plasticity underlies development and regeneration. Here, the authors show that mouse lung alveolar type 2 cells undergo maturation postnatally and their plasticity is restricted by CEBPA and increases upon viral infection.

Mixed Sn-Pb perovskites have emerged as promising photovoltaic materials for both single- and multi-junction solar cells. Here, authors reveal the thermal degradation mechanism and incorporate carboranes for thermal regulation, resulting in stable all-perovskite tandems with efficiency of over 27%.

How heterogeneously distributed SNARE complexes synchronize fusion pore assemblies during vesicular secretion is unknown. Here, the authors demonstrate a role for SNARE chaperones in coordinating differential release of chemical messengers.

Carbon pricing policies are adopted in many countries around the world to mitigate climate change. This systematic review shows that significant emission reductions of between 5 and 21% are achieved by at least 17 out of 21 reviewed policy schemes.

Electrochemical uranium extraction from real nuclear wastewater is appealing but challenging. Herein, Lin et al develop a strategy of ion pair site for enhanced binding of dominant uranium fluoride species in real wastewater, achieving efficient recycling of uranium as powder product.

Head-fixation system is widely used in neuroscience research but has limitations in application due to restraint. Here the authors developed a magnetic voluntary head-fixation system that allows stable rat hippocampal imaging during complex behaviors.

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is a major source of serotonergic projections to brain-wide targets. Here the authors use optogenetics and fMRI to investigate brain-wide responses to activation of the DRN serotonergic pathway.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are known to promote the development of drug resistance. Here, the authors investigate the chromatin remodeling and associated changes in gene expression in the multiple myeloma (MM) cells following their interactions with BMSCs, which are also observed in extramedullary disease (EMD).

Mice lacking A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 9 (ADAM9) do not mount Type 1 interferon responses against encephalomyocarditis infection. Here, Bazzone et al show that ADAM9 regulates innate immune responses via by MDA5.

Atmospheric methane-oxidizing bacteria constitute the sole biological sink for atmospheric methane. Here, Schmider et al. assess the ability and strategies of seven methanotrophic species to grow with air as sole energy, carbon, and nitrogen source, showing that these bacteria can grow on the trace concentrations of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen present in air.

Infarted myocardium hampers the synchronous electroactivity of the cardiac tissue. Here, the authors showcase a battery-free conductive cardiac patch made of reduced graphene and its therapeutic efficacy for cardiac repair.

This study demonstrates that soil BEF relationships diminish during long-term pedogenesis, highlighting the importance of soil biodiversity in sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in younger, drier soils.

Here, the authors use spot array illumination to enable mechanical-scan-free super-resolution microscopy with adjustable resolution and good effective field of view, demonstrating a platform for studying molecular interactions at the nanoscale.

Determining the different cell types that contribute to a mixture of DNA is key for research and diagnostic applications. Here, authors comprehensively benchmark DNA methylation-based deconvolution methods, evaluating their performance and robustness to technical bias.

The use of orthogonal genetic code can help to prevent the escape of hazardous genes through horizontal gene transfer. Here, the authors develop a cell-free translation system with the Ser/Leu-swapped genetic code using a hybrid tRNA set and show its application in enhancing the production of superfolder GFP.