Research articles

Optically generated microwaves offer exceptionally low noise, crucial for radar and communications. Here, authors demonstrate a compact photonic chip-based interleaver multiplying pulse rates of mode-locked lasers to 14 GHz, significantly enhancing microwave power and reducing phase noise.

Enabled by imprint field, the authors achieve flexoelectric switching in thin ferroelectrics with millisecond low-force pulses. A mechanically gated transistor with nonvolatile, multi-level states shows promise for tactile-sensing applications.

The authors introduce deep learning-optimized diffractive waveguides enabling various capabilities such as spatial and spectral mode filtering, mode splitting, and mode-specific polarization control, presenting their versatility and scalability.

The authors present an efficient hot-electron generation system facilitated by the spin-exchange Auger process in Mn2 + -doped CdS/ZnS quantum dots. These hot electrons can be used in a wide range of organic reactions, such as the Birch reduction and reductive cleavage of C-Cl, C-Br, C-I, C-O, C-C, and N-S bonds.

Traditional nanopore sensors use barrel-shaped protein channels. Here, the authors report on a study into the use of globular protein, ferritin, as a nanopore sensor, demonstrating membrane insertion and sensor application, showing the potential of non-barrel-shaped proteins for nanopore sensing.

Hydrogenolysis of lignin produces a complex mixture of products, including small lignin-derived monomers, dimers, and higher oligomers. Using poplar and lignin model compounds, the authors demonstrate that the sequential demand for surface-bound hydrogen during hydrogenolysis creates temporal windows that allow catalytic oxidation events to take place, even within an overall hydrogen-rich, reductive environment.

Stable microRNAs (miRNAs) can undergo turnover via target-directed miRNA degradation (TDMD). Here, the authors show that TDMD triggers in non-coding regions degrade miRNAs more effectively than those in coding regions, where translation interferes with this process.

Development of T cells in the thymus results in small populations of innate like T cells. Here the authors characterise a population of innate-like T cells in mice engineered to enable MHC class I expression in the double positive stage which allows a population of PLZF expressing PILT innate-like T cells to develop.

Centromedian nucleus neurostimulation targeting low-activity white matter of the internal medullary lamina shows immediate increase in cortical delta power associated with EEG slowing and decrease in epileptic activity.

During partial liver injury in growing zebrafish, cholangiocytes regenerate hepatocytes through transdifferentiation, revealing a stage-specific regeneration mechanism regulated by mTORC1 signaling.

In this work, authors convert fallen leaves into energy harvesters using hygroscopic iron hydrogel, achieving continuous power generation from moisture. The device delivers high current density and power output with potential for lower environmental impact compared to alternative harvesters.

Here the authors show that loss of TANGO2, a gene linked to an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by developmental delay, rhabdomyolysis, cardiac arrhythmias and metabolic disturbances, disrupts mitochondrial and cytoskeletal structure by impairing its interaction with CRYAB, leading to desmin aggregation and desminopathy, causing cardiomyopathy, muscle weakness, and metabolic dysfunction in mice and human cells.

The authors develop a framework for understanding partner similarity with updated definitions of key terms. Social homogamy appears important for partner similarity in education, with consequences for intergenerational transmission.

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is limited by the scaling relationship in the conventional oxygen associative pathway. In this study, single p-block atoms and interstitial H are incorporated into Pd metallenes favoring the direct dissociation mechanism, leading to high alkaline ORR performance.

The role of the striatum in perceptual decision-making remains unclear. Here, using a multisensory paradigm, the authors found different neural state codes in primate neocortices and caudate nucleus, providing evidence for the causal contributions of caudate to perceptual decision.

In a magnetoelectric material, an applied electric field can drive changes in the magnetic order. This feature has profound technology prospects and here, Moody et al demonstrate deterministic control of the direction of magnetic spiral order via an applied electric field in Cu₂OSeO₃.

The authors demonstrate standing ceramic circuit boards (S-CCBs) with high-resolution and high aspect-ratio fabricated via sacrificial coating-assisted micro-3D printing, which have both high-density integration and large current-carrying capacity

The cerebellum is heavily implicated in adult social cognition, but its role in Theory of Mind development remains unclear. Here, the authors show that children’s emerging ToM abilities are linked to posterior cerebellar activation and connectivity with the cerebral cortex.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) regulate protein homeostasis and function. Here, the authors applied mass spectrometry to uncover extensive changes in protein ubiquitylation in the aging mouse brain and show that dietary intervention can alter protein ubiquitylation in old mice.