Articles in 2020

Despite the potential of incorporating thermoelectric (TE) fibers into textile electronics for green energy harvesting, existing fabrication methods are not commercially viable. Here, the authors report a scalable gelation extrusion fabrication strategy for realizing alternating p/n-type TE fibers.

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters are an emerging class of precision nanomaterials and hold potential in many applications. Here, the authors devise a [Au₁₃Ag₁₂(PPh₃)₁₀Cl₈]⁺ nanocluster with two conformational isomers that can reversibly convert in response to temperature, and hence acts as a rotary nanomotor.

Alcohols are more naturally abundant than carbonyl compounds, which in turn are well known for their reactivity in Grignard reactions. Here, the authors showcase a distinct Grignard-like reactivity by using alcohols as coupling partners with hydrazones and synthesize more complex alcohols under ruthenium catalysis.

Identifying leukaemia stem cells (LSC) and defining how they drive tumourigenesis might aid in the treatment of disease. Here, the authors show that a reporter Musashi 2 can serve as a platform to effectively identify leukemic stem cells and it is used to define Syndecan-1 as a dependency for these aggressive, therapy resistant cells.

Adenovirus transcripts contain N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification. Here the authors profile m6A modification sites on adenovirus mRNAs using Illumina meRIP-Seq and nanopore direct RNA sequencing, and showcase a role for m6A in splicing of viral late mRNAs.

Leviviruses are phages with ssRNA genomes that encode a protein (Sgl) that induces host autolysis by interfering with bacterial cell wall synthesis. Identification of sgl genes is complicated by their small size and lack of sequence similarity. Here, Chamakura et al. use bioinformatic and experimental approaches to identify sgl genes in 244 leviviral genomes.

Non-fullerene acceptors are crucial for realising efficient charge transport and high power conversion in organic solar cells, yet the relationship of molecular packing and carrier transport is not well-understood. Here, the authors study the effect of side-chain engineering on the backbone assembly and the corresponding charge transport pathway.

Respiratory complex I plays a key role in energy metabolism. Cryo-EM structure of a mutant accessory subunit LYRM6 from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and molecular dynamics simulations reveal conformational changes at the interface between LYRM6 and subunit ND3, propagated further into the complex. These findings offer insight into the mechanism of proton pumping by respiratory complex I.

Monitoring hemodynamics in the brain is important in understanding medical imaging data and mechanisms of disease. Here the authors use high-throughput two-photon microscopy with an axially-extended Bessel focus to measure vessel size and blood flow down to capillary scale in the awake mouse brain.

Precise patterning of functional nanoparticles can provide a powerful tool for next-generation macroscale devices. Here, the authors report a reliable nanoprinting technique that can pattern various functional nanoparticles on the substrate with a 200 nm pitch and 10 nm position accuracy, and above the millimeter scale.

The optical and electronic properties of cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals are dictated by the band-edge exciton, whose physics is not elucidated. Here, the authors unveil its fine structure and demonstrate that the ground dark singlet state promotes the creation of biexcitons at low temperatures and thus correlated photon pairs.

One advantage of van der Waals materials is the ability to combine different materials in layers to form new heterostructures. Here, the authors investigate heterostructures of CrBr₃ and MoSe₂, and find that the ferromagnetism of CrBr₃ enhances the valley dependent optical response of the MoSe₂.

Excessive interferon (IFN) responses often follow viral infection to induce pathology or even death. Here the authors show that a signaling adaptor, β-arrestin 2, enhances the cGAS/STING innate immunity signaling pathway to promote IFN-β production, but may be degraded in infected cells to serve as a target of viral immune evasion.

This study investigates flood hazards of the Brahmaputra River, Bangladesh. Based on a tree ring reconstruction of seasonal river discharge, climate modelling, and historic documentation of flood events, the authors suggest flood hazard risk is underestimated by ~24–38% in the present day compared to the past 700 years.

When data is scant, logical reasoning can lead to knowledge acquisition by disclosing evidence otherwise not available. Here, the authors show that this logical route to knowledge is available to preverbal infants and can help them learn about the social world.

The success of protein evolution is dependent on the sequence context mutations are introduced into. Here the authors present UMIC-seq that allows consensus generation for closely related genes by using unique molecular identifiers linked to gene variants.

Here, the authors investigate associations of vitamin D metabolites with gut microbiome in a cross-sectional analysis of 567 elderly men enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study and find larger alpha-diversity correlates with high 1,25(OH)2D and high 24,25(OH)2D and higher ratios of activation and catabolism.

Replacing diagnostic histopathology with AI-based tools requires large training datasets and robustness to sample variability. Here, the authors present a deep learning platform with high accuracy in large diffuse B-cell lymphoma diagnosis across multiple hospitals, trained on small datasets.

Layered Ruddlesden-Popper structure nickelates R₄Ni₃O₁₀ (R = La,Pr) show an unusual metal-to-metal transition, but its origin has remained elusive for more than two decades. Here, the authors show that this transition results from intertwined density waves that arise from a coupling between charge and spin degrees of freedom