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Miocene ocean circulation shifted expansive oxygen deficient zones to the Atlantic
Abstract Contemporary observations indicate that dissolved oxygen concentrations are generally declining as global temperatures rise, which has broad implications for carbon cycling and the habitable ranges of marine animals. Here, we use the foraminiferal iodine redox tracer to evaluate the distributions of oxygen deficient zones (ODZs) and adjacent low oxygen water masses in the oceans during the Miocene Climatic Optimum (‘MCO’, 14.7−17 million years ago)—the last time that atmospheric CO 2 was consistently higher than today. The Pacific lowest oxygen water masses were confined to a narrow latitudinal range of ~10°N-20°S, which is substantially contracted relative to today. In contrast, in the Atlantic, where modern ODZs are minor compared to their Pacific counterparts, our data indicate spatially expansive low oxygen distribution during the MCO. Earth System model simulations provide evidence that the Pacific-Atlantic ODZ seesaw was driven by the very different pattern of ocean circulation and nutrient transport that was induced by an open Central American Seaway. Our findings highlight the key role played by tectonics and ocean circulation, independent of warming, in setting the pattern of ODZs and hence related loci of organic burial and marine habitats.
Homeostatic dendritic neuron based on co-integrated volatile and non-volatile memristors for neuromorphic processing
Population-scale chemical response revealed by a barcoded yeast collection
Transcriptomic and lipidomic analysis of the cryptococcal lung granuloma reveals macrophage boundary programs and sphingolipid remodeling
BNT162b2 LP.8.1 early vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 emergency department, urgent care, and outpatient visits
Secrets of giant ancient jar in Laos unpacked at last
Self-adaptive nanozymes with enhanced multi-enzyme activities for sequential multimodal therapy of drug-resistant bacteria-infected wounds
Abstract Drug-resistant bacterium-infected wounds pose a serious clinical challenge, underscoring the need for therapeutic materials that respond to dynamic healing stages. Herein, we report a sequential multimodal platform embedding a self-adaptive IrPtCu nanozyme into a madecassoside-enriched hyaluronic acid hydrogel (HIPCM) for rapid bacterial eradication and accelerated wound healing. Leveraging trimetallic synergy and pH-adaptive reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulation, IrPtCu nanozyme exhibits strong oxidase, peroxidase, glutathione oxidase, and glutathione peroxidase-like activities, enabling efficient ROS generation and potent antibacterial performance. After disinfection, it switches to ROS scavenging through superoxide dismutase and catalase-like cascades, alleviating oxidative stress and cooperating with madecassoside to promote tissue repair. In a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA )-infected mouse model, HIPCM demonstrates strong antibacterial efficacy, promotes M2 macrophage polarization and angiogenesis, and accelerates high-quality repair. Preclinical studies in Bama mini-pigs further confirm improved collagen deposition, hair follicle regeneration, and functional restoration. This work offers a comprehensive strategy integrating adaptive nanozymes and natural herbal medicines for treating drug-resistant wounds.
Atlantic sediments reveal interacting environmental and physiological controls on coccolithophore calcite production
Abstract Coccolithophores contribute 20-80% of the open ocean’s total calcite production, playing a pivotal role in the marine carbon cycle. Links between environment, coccolithophore physiology and calcite production remain unclear due to challenges in extrapolating culture experiments to sedimentary nannofossil records. Here, we develop a framework to reconstruct physiology and calcite production of dominant coccolithophore species from sedimentary records. Using well-preserved Atlantic surface sediments, this study establishes factors controlling coccolithophore calcite production via measurements of species composition, primary production, growth (μ), and calcification rates. Contrasting μ-calcification relationships of major groups indicate differing carbon requirements. Optimal μ is the primary control on group-specific maximum calcite production, defining a meridional bimodal structure with a boundary at ~40°N, aligned with oceanic physicochemical gradients. Group-specific cellular carbon demand relative to supply show that this boundary separates reaction-limited cells to the north from mass-transport-limited cells to the south, and likely migrates latitudinally with changing ocean carbon.
Multiomics and deep learning dissect regulatory syntax in human development
Abstract Transcription factors establish cell identity during development by binding regulatory DNA in a sequence-specific manner, often promoting local chromatin accessibility and regulating gene expression 1 . Mapping accessible chromatin offers critical insights into transcriptional control, but available datasets for human development are restricted to bulk tissue, single organs or single modalities 2 . Here we present the Human Development Multiomic Atlas, a single-cell atlas of chromatin accessibility and gene expression from 817,740 fetal cells across 12 organs, spanning 203 cell types and more than 1 million candidate cis -regulatory elements, many of which exhibit organ-specific in vivo enhancer activity. Deep learning models trained to predict accessibility from local DNA sequence unravel a comprehensive lexicon of motifs that influence accessibility, including composite motifs exhibiting distinct syntactic constraints that are predicted to mediate transcription factor cooperativity. We identify ‘hard’ syntactic rules requiring precise motif spacing and orientation, ‘soft’ rules allowing flexible motif arrangements, and ubiquitous motifs inhibiting accessibility. Model-based interpretation of genetic variants reveals that disruption of motifs with positive and negative effects is associated with concordant effects on gene expression. Our work delineates how motif syntax governs cell-type-specific chromatin accessibility and provides a foundational resource for decoding cis -regulatory logic and interpreting genetic variation during human development.
Efficacy of seaweed-based carbon dioxide removal reduced by iron limitation and nutrient competition with phytoplankton
Inverse-designed silicon nitride nanophotonics
Abstract Silicon nitride photonics has enabled integration of a variety of components for applications in linear and nonlinear optics, including telecommunications, optical clocks, astrocombs, bio-sensing, and LiDAR. With the advent of inverse design – where desired device performance is specified and closely achieved through iterative, gradient-based optimisation – and the increasing availability of silicon nitride photonics via foundries, it is now feasible to expand the photonic design library beyond the limits of traditional approaches and unlock new functionalities. In this work, we present inverse-designed photonics on a silicon nitride platform and demonstrate both the design capabilities and experimental verification by realising precisely tailored wavelength-division multiplexers, mode-division multiplexers, and high- Q resonators with controllable wavelength range and dispersion. This demonstrates inverse-designed enhanced manipulation of orthogonal bases of light. Furthermore, we use these inverse-designed structures to form optical cavities that hold promise for on-chip nonlinear and quantum optics experiments.
Race begins to trial Ebola drugs amid current outbreak
Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma oncofusions share a common interactome
Abstract Fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma (FP-RMS) arises from at least seven distinct oncofusions sharing a common PAX3/7 N-terminal DNA-binding domain fused to divergent C-terminal partners. How different oncofusions produce the same cancer was unknown. Here we show they are functionally interchangeable, associate with a shared protein network we term the common interactome, bind overlapping target genes, and drive a similar core transcriptional program. The common interactome contains the C-terminal partners of known oncofusions and a newly identified translocation, suggesting oncofusions arise by PAX3/7 DNA-binding domain fusing to interactome members. As loss of common interactome proteins impaired oncogenic activity we screened the interactome for shared vulnerabilities. This identified thymidylate synthase as preferentially required for FP-RMS growth. Accordingly, the antifolate pralatrexate suppressed growth across all seven oncofusions, in multiple human FP-RMS cell lines, and a patient-derived xenograft. These findings demonstrate that divergent FP-RMS oncofusions are functionally fungible through a shared interactome that defines common vulnerabilities.
Invariance under quantum permutations rules out parastatistics
Abstract Quantum systems invariant under particle exchange are either Bosons or Fermions, even though quantum theory in principle admits more general behavior under permutations. But why do we not observe such paraparticles in nature? The analysis of this question was previously limited primarily to specific quantum field theory models. Here we give two distinct model-independent arguments that rule out parastatistics, i.e. fundamentally indistinguishable quantum systems transforming under higher-dimensional representations of the symmetric group, which draw on quantum information theory and recent research on internal quantum reference frames. First, we introduce a notion of complete invariance: quantum systems should not only preserve their local state under permutations, but also the quantum information they carry about other systems, in analogy to the notion of complete positivity in quantum information theory. Second, we demand that quantum systems are invariant under quantum permutations, i.e. permutations conditioned on values of permutation-invariant observables. For both, we show that the respective principle is fulfilled if and only if the particle is a Boson or Fermion. Our results show how quantum reference frames can shed light on a longstanding problem of quantum physics, they underline the crucial role played by the compositional structure of quantum information, and demonstrate the explanatory power but also subtle limitations of recently proposed quantum covariance principles.
Photonic-integrated quantum sensor array for microscale magnetic localisation
Abstract Nitrogen-vacancy centres (NVs) are promising solid-state nanoscale quantum sensors for applications ranging from material science to biotechnology. Using multiple sensors simultaneously offers advantages for probing spatiotemporal correlations of fluctuating fields or the dynamics of point defects. In this work, by integrating NVs with foundry silicon-nitride photonic integrated circuits, we realise the scalable operation of eight localised NV-ensemble sensors in an array, with simultaneous, distinct readout of the individual sensors. Using the eight NV sensors and machine-learning methods for multi-point magnetic field reconstruction, we demonstrate microscale magnetic localisation of a 30 μ m-sized needle tip. Experimentally, the needle tip can be localised with an error below its dimension and tracked dynamically with high fidelity. We use simulations of microrobot-relevant magnetic profiles as an application-motivated case study to quantify the operating bounds and requirements for translation and rotation tracking. By moving multi-NV localisation from bulk-optical addressing to a fibre-addressed, guided-wave, multi-channel architecture with simultaneous distinct readout, this work provides a scalable architecture towards magnetic localisation in optically inaccessible environments.
A persistent germylyne radical enabling reversible σ-dimerization and diverse bond activation
Revealing ultrafast proton-transfer-mediated autoionization as a source of low-energy electrons in hydrogen-bonded systems
Non-diffusive slow heat dissipation induces high local temperature in living cells
Abstract Recently, intracellular thermometry has revealed temperature variations within cells. Although the biological significance of intracellular temperature change is recognized, the physical principles of intracellular temperature change remain a mystery. Here, we investigate intracellular heat transfer through intracellular temperature mapping using a fluorescent polymeric thermometer and high-speed fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. Through infrared laser irradiation-assisted heating, we track changes in temperature distribution to examine the mechanism of intracellular heat dissipation in comparison with heat conduction. Continuous heating induces the significantly slower relaxation of the average temperature of single cells compared with that of liposomes containing homogeneous aqueous solutions of comparable size; to the scale of seconds. We additionally elucidate that these phenomena are impacted by intracellular structures and molecules. Finally, we discover that this slow intracellular temperature relaxation originates from non-diffusive heat dissipation distinct from the conventional heat conduction model. Our results provide insights into the mechanisms of temperature variation in cells that are unresolved based on our current understanding, establishing a framework for understanding intracellular thermodynamics under non-equilibrium conditions.