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Dopaminergic circuits are implicated in exploratory motor behaviour and are modulated by acetylcholine. Using transgenic mouse models, Patelet al. find that loss of forebrain acetylcholine results in exaggerated dopamine efflux and hyperactivity, whereas loss of brainstem acetylcholine leads to hypoactivity.
Liquid crystal elastomers can perform mechanical motion triggered by external stimuli, and are light weight, flexible materials that may be integrated into micromechanical systems. Here they are used to fabricate a one-piece temperature-responsive micropump viaa microfluidic double-emulsion process.
Bullet-proof materials made of nanostructured composites outperform conventional materials, yet little is known of their nanoscale response to high-speed impact. Using laser-propelled microscopic projectiles, Lee et al.directly visualize this process in layered nanocomposites.
Quantum digital signatures exploit quantum mechanics to provide verification of messages at the limits of information theory. Clarkeet al.demonstrate a photonic system that provides quantum digital signatures for messages sent to two receivers and is secure against forgery and repudiation.
Solution-processed organic semiconductor devices present a low-cost alternative to their silicon counterparts, yet their performance is usually not as strong. By replacing silicon with an organic photoactive layer, Baierlet al. present a solution-processed hybrid CMOS-imager with a 100% pixel fill factor.
The absence of forward or backward scattered radiation by magnetodielectric spheres was predicted decades ago, yet direct measurements have remained elusive. Geffrin et al. present unambiguous evidence of such scattering effects in the gigahertz range for a sub-wavelength dielectric sphere.
The ras family of oncogenes consists of H-ras, K-ras and N-ras, and usually only one of these genes is mutated in a given tumour type. In this study, K-ras is found to promote the activation of wild-type H-ras and N-ras in a manner dependent on the Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor Son of sevenless.
The formation of structural ripples has been shown to control the local electronic properties in graphene. Okadaet al. use scanning tunnelling microscopy to study the effects of ripples in Bi2Te3topological insulators, and find that buckling modulates the Dirac surface-state dispersion.
Our understanding of the evolutionary sequence of tetrapod characters is hindered by a limited fossil record of primitive finned tetrapods. This study reports a new stem-tetrapod from ~409 million years ago, which displays morphological features shared by tetrapods and lungfishes, and extends the earliest record of tetrapods by ~10 million years.
The Bolwig’s organ of Drosophilalarvae consists of 12 photoreceptors and is assumed to have very limited image-resolving properties. Justice and colleagues report that these larvae can recognize the motion of other larvae and that this can be replicated using a computer screen displaying images of larvae.
Intentional defect creation in graphene is key to engineering its electrical, chemical, magnetic and mechanical properties. Robertsonet al. create defects by electron beam irradiation with sub-knock-on damage threshold, and show control over the defect position at the nanoscale and over the defect complexity.
The integration of volatile renewable energy sources into the electrical power grid will require a significant increase in electrical storage capacity. Here a new type of safe, fast, inexpensive and long-life aqueous electrolyte battery is reported, which may aid the development of increased grid capacity.
Bursting of electrified drops is a fundamental physical process and important for diverse technical applications. Wanget al. find that bursting of electrified drops in polymers is sensitive to the shape of the drops, which in turn is determined by the polymer's elasticity
Metamaterial analogues of electromagnetically-induced transparency provide interesting optical components and applications. By actively tuning the dark mode of a metamaterial, Guet al. optically control its electromagnetically-induced transparency, showing tunable group delay of terahertz light.
The sulfation of protein tyrosine residues is a common post-translational modification in eukaryotes. Here, Han et al.show that the protein RaxST, produced by a plant bacterium, has tyrosine sulfotransferase activity, demonstrating for the first time tyrosine sulfation in prokaryotes.
Granular matter is rigid when jammed, and flows under external loads. Here temperature- and force-unfolding molecular dynamics stimulations are used to demonstrate that proteins display features of jamming, characterized by a force distribution peak on folding and a slowdown of stress relaxation.
miRNAs simultaneously regulate a range of genes, making them potential master players in evolution. Huet al.identify a human-specific miRNA called miR-941, whose copy number remains polymorphic in modern humans, and show that miR-941 is expressed in the brain and could regulate important signalling pathways.
Although horizontal gene transfer is prevalent in microorganisms, such sharing of genetic information is thought to be rare in land plants. Focusing on the sequenced moss species,Physcomitrella patens, these authors report genes acquired from microorganisms, which might have facilitated early evolution of land plants.
Sequence-specific DNA endonucleases have found numerous applications in biology, but similar manipulations of RNA have been limited by the lack of suitable enzymes. These authors combine a cleavage domain with a designable binding domain and demonstrate the resulting RNA endonuclease's utilityin vitroand in cells.
The study of materials at high pressure has been limited by the conditions achievable using single-crystal diamond anvils. The use of anvils that incorporate a second stage consisting of two hemispherical nanocrystalline diamond micro-balls, extends the range of static pressures that can be generated in the lab.