Browse Articles

Record-high Glass coefficient in the shift current response of a ferroelectric halide perovskite

Ferroelectric halide perovskites provide a fertile platform for optoelectronic functions based on the bulk photovoltaic effect, where broken inversion symmetry couples with quantum geometry of wave functions. The most prominent manifestation is the shift current, second-order nonlinear photocurrent arising from change in the Berry connection during optical transitions. Here we report a gigantic shift current response in epitaxial thin films of a lead-free ferroelectric halide perovskite CsGeI 3 . High-quality films grown by molecular beam epitaxy exhibit clear hallmarks of shift current, including spectral sign reversals, light-polarization dependence, and reversible electric-field modulation associated with switchable ferroelectric polarization. Remarkably, the normalized shift current magnitude surpasses those ever reported for other compounds by more than an order of magnitude, establishing a benchmark for bulk photovoltaic performance. These results identify ferroelectric halide perovskites as a powerful platform for exploring quantum-geometry-driven photoresponses and open a pathway toward next-generation photovoltaic and nonlinear optoelectronic technologies beyond the conventional junction-based architectures.

Retraction Note: Dysregulation of ghrelin in diabetes impairs the vascular reparative response to hindlimb ischemia in a mouse model; clinical relevance to peripheral artery disease

Correction for Magaña et al., Not all gut cellular circadian oscillators are food entrainable

Non-ablative fractional laser 1940-nm treatment modulates epigenetic signatures associated with skin aging in a split-face investigation

Abstract Skin aging is driven by multiple factors, including cumulative environmental damage and epigenetic dysregulation, yet whether energy-based therapies can durably remodel the cutaneous methylome remains unclear. We conducted a split-face, paired longitudinal study in 22 adults treated three times with a 1940-nm non-ablative fractional laser (NAFL). Epidermal samples were collected by tape-stripping from treated and contralateral control sites at baseline, after the first treatment, and after 1, 3, and 6 months. Enzymatic methyl-sequencing profiled ~ 3.8 million CpGs per sample, alongside clinical endpoints: quantitative VISIA measurements and global aesthetic scores. No significant differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were detected immediately post-treatment; however, 635 DMRs emerged 1 month after the final session, expanded through 3 months, and stabilized by 6 months. These loci were enriched for pathways related to epidermal differentiation, collagen organization, wound response, and stem-cell maintenance, with selective modulation at Polycomb-regulated and WNT-signalling genes. NAFL reversed age-associated methylation trajectories at 83.9% of CpGs showing strong differential signal in both the aging reference and NAFL-treatment. Treatment also induced transient, treatment-specific DMRs linked to immune and stress responses. Epigenetic remodelling paralleled significant clinical improvements, indicating that 1940-nm NAFL induces durable methylation changes at loci implicated in skin aging beyond transient wound-repair responses.

Nanoscale regulation of ROS signaling at the plasma membrane tunes the plant response to osmotic stress

The spatiotemporal organization of proteins and lipids within membranes is crucial for ensuring proper cellular signaling. While the segregation of proteins and lipids into membrane nanodomains is well established, it remains unclear whether nanodomains can generate gradients of small diffusible molecules. In plants, reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), act as key signaling molecules in response to environmental stimuli such as osmotic stress. However, how extracellular H 2 O 2 affects intracellular signaling has remained unknown. Here, we show that osmotic stimulation induces the formation of localized, H 2 O 2 -rich nanoenvironments at the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane (PM) in Arabidopsis root cells. Using a PM-tethered H 2 O 2 biosensor, we found that these oxidized nanodomains arise from the clustering of RESPIRATORY BURST OXIDASE HOMOLOGs (RBOHs) and RHO OF PLANTS 6 (ROP6), in coordination with aquaporin-mediated H 2 O 2 transport via the PLASMA MEMBRANE INTRINSIC PROTEIN2;7 (PIP2;7). These local redox hotspots at the PM create a feedforward loop in which H 2 O 2 enhances ROP6 nanoclustering, thereby amplifying ROS signaling. Disruption of H 2 O 2 production or transport dampens both ROP6 clustering and anisotropic cell expansion, indicating a crucial role for spatially confined redox signaling in regulating plant growth under osmotic stress. Our findings propose a model in which ROP6/RBOHD-F/PIP2;7 nanodomains function as discrete redox signaling units, redefining ROS signaling at the PM as a structured, signal-specific, and compartmentalized process.

Prevalence and genotypic characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) harboring femA and tetM in canine and feline otitis externa

The contingent advantage of photosymbiosis in coral evolution

The ecological success of modern reef-building corals is rooted in photosymbiosis, yet its macroevolutionary benefit remains unclear. Analyzing the Phanerozoic record of inferred zooxanthellate (Z) and azooxanthellate (AZ) corals over geologic time scales using Bayesian methods, we identify a fundamental shift in diversification dynamics and their drivers across the Paleozoic–Mesozoic transition. Although Z corals dominate modern tropical reef ecosystems, their Paleozoic counterparts were outpaced by AZ forms and showed failed recoveries after the Late Devonian mass extinction. We found Z coral diversification was primarily driven by origination, whereas AZ diversification was controlled by extinction. Multivariate birth–death models reveal that Paleozoic coral diversification was governed by abiotic stressors like warming and anoxia, to which Z and AZ corals showed similar vulnerability. The rise of scleractinian corals in the Triassic marked a distinct macroevolutionary regime shift after which photosymbiosis spurred coral diversification. Positive correlations between temperature and Z coral extinction dominated the Paleozoic, while negative correlations prevailed in the Meso-Cenozoic. The long-term reversal of this relationship could be the reduced supersaturation of the oceans with respect to CaCO 3 due to the emergence of calcareous plankton in the Triassic. Our deep-time perspective demonstrates that the advantage of photosymbiosis is not intrinsic but contingent on the broader ecological and environmental context.

Outstanding figure-of-merit in SOI-LDMOSFET by a surface groove technique

People prefer to negotiate with women, even when outcomes are identical and gender is unknown

While gender and economic outcomes in negotiation have been studied for decades, much less is known about gender differences in subjective outcomes, such as trust, rapport, and willingness to negotiate again, despite their importance for long-term success. In a series of studies with over 2,000 participants, we find that people consistently report better subjective outcomes when negotiating with women. This preference persists even in anonymous negotiations where gender is unknown and cannot be inferred from behavior, as well as in conditions where negotiation partner gender is randomly assigned. Importantly, we find no gender difference in economic outcomes. To understand why, we analyzed transcripts of real negotiations for any behavioral differences. These findings reveal an overlooked gender dynamic: While men and women achieve similar economic results, women foster stronger interpersonal relationships, which in turn lead to greater satisfaction and greater desire for future negotiations with women.

Climate-driven spatial patterns of diversity, phenology, and habitat suitability in Pyrenaria (Theaceae) across Northeast India

From molecular motors to chromosome architecture

Austrian mosquito species inventory (diptera: culicidae) with a detailed analysis of the Anopheles maculipennis species complex

Metabolism-weighted brain connectome reveals synaptic integration and vulnerability to neurodegeneration

The brain’s capacity for integration arises from both its structural wiring and energetically demanding electrochemical signaling. Yet current connectome analyses treat network nodes as functionally homogeneous, ignoring that neural communication is constrained by metabolic cost. Here, we introduce a metabolism-weighted connectome, a fully weighted brain graph in which both connections and the metabolic activity of each node describe the network’s capacity for integration. Using three datasets of simultaneous fMRI and [ 18 F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography acquisitions, we define metabolism-weighted centrality (MwC), a biologically grounded index of each region’s signaling dominance that integrates functional connectivity with local energy metabolism. MwC provides a more accurate representation of cortical activity flow than classical edge-based metrics and reveals that metabolically active hubs align with higher-order cognitive networks. Transcriptomic and synaptic imaging data demonstrate that these hubs exhibit increased synaptic energy turnover, linking activity-driven centrality to the molecular architecture of signaling. Notably, the same high-MwC regions show greater susceptibility to neurodegenerative pathology, suggesting that lifelong metabolic demand influences both integrative function and disease vulnerability. By linking neuronal metabolism to network organization, our framework bridges cellular energetics and system-level computation, opening broad avenues for interpreting brain vulnerability and performance.

Prey-predator dynamics with additional food and Holling type-III response: application to Bemisia tabaci

Scalable ampere-level CO2 electroreduction to ethylene enabled by descriptor-guided oxygen affinity engineering

Decarboxylative diversification of amino acids and peptides through metallaphotocatalytic editing of acidic residues

Lysine with a characteristic amino group on its side chain is one of the most abundant amino acids in protein structures, making libraries of lysine-based noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) a valuable resource for expanding the functional and structural diversity of amino acids and peptides, unlocking new opportunities in peptide design and chemical modification. In this study, we report the development of a metallaphotocatalytic decarboxylation strategy that can smoothly transform aspartic acid, glutamic acid, homoglutamic acid, and higher homologs into various N -aryl lysines and analogs, a highly versatile yet underexploited class of functionalized ncAAs. The resulting ncAAs feature a wide array of aromatic and heteroaromatic substituents, as well as structurally tunable aliphatic side chains. Furthermore, this strategy can also be applied to the construction of arylamine-modified peptides, providing modular access to functionalized amino acid and peptide building blocks.

Generation of spatially and temporally fine-resolution imagery using STF algorithms and CACAO post-processing

Select microbial metabolites promote tau aggregation in a murine tauopathy model

Abstract The gut microbiome is emerging as a modifier of risk for neurodegenerative diseases, but underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the hTau.P301S mouse model for progressive tauopathy develops alterations in the composition and function of the gut microbiome that are not recapitulated in amyloid-based 5xFAD or 3xTg models for Alzheimer’s disease. Disrupting the gut microbiome via chronic antibiotic treatment exacerbates cognitive deficits and tau pathology in hTau.P301S mice, demonstrating a causal influence of the microbiome on tau-driven disease progression. This corresponds with widespread alterations in microbiome-dependent metabolites in the sera and brains of hTau.P301S mice, including subsets that correlate with the severity of tau pathology. By screening against tau biosensor cells, we identify select microbial metabolites—trimethylamine-N-oxide, 3-indoxyl sulfate, phenol sulfate, thymidine, and 2’deoxyuridine—that promote tau seeding and aggregation. Systemic administration of these metabolites worsens cognitive impairment and tau pathology in hTau.P301S mice. These findings establish a mechanistic link between the gut microbiome, serum and brain metabolites, as well as tau aggregation, suggesting that select microbial metabolites could potentially serve as therapeutic targets for tau-driven diseases.

Hypoxia-mediated epicardial signaling coordinates coronary angiogenesis and myocardial expansion during zebrafish ventricle maturation

During cardiac development, the myocardium expands in response to physiological demands to achieve proper cardiac morphology and functional contractility, while simultaneously integrating with the developing coronary vasculature. However, the mechanisms governing this ordered expansion remain poorly understood. Here, we found that regional hypoxia drives local tissue thickening, which in turn exacerbates a hypoxic microenvironment. We demonstrate that epicardial hypoxia serves as a central regulatory mechanism, coordinating both coronary angiogenesis and myocardial expansion during juvenile zebrafish heart development. This mechanism activates discrete spatial patterns of epicardial gene expression, including vegfaa , loxl2a , and col12a1b . Through live and fixed imaging, we find that cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells exhibit coordinated expansion patterns through third-party epicardial signals that are required for both coronary development and myocardial expansion. Using cxcr4a um20 mutants lacking functional coronary vessels, we show that coronary vessels provide negative feedback on epicardial hypoxia, while positively responding to the same hypoxic cues that drive myocardial expansion. Disruption of this negative feedback leads to increased myocardial stiffness through dysregulated extracellular matrix crosslinking as observed in pathological conditions such as cardiomyopathies. These findings establish the role of regional epicardial hypoxia within a fundamental regulatory network that drives appropriate regional tissue growth with integrated vascular supply during cardiac morphogenesis.

Design and performance analysis of Cs2AgBiBr6-based double perovskite solar cells with different inorganic charge transport layers: a numerical modeling study

Abstract Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 , a lead-free double perovskite, has garnered significant research interest due to its high stability, non-toxicity, and superior optoelectronic properties. Specifically, among the double perovskite solar cells (DPSCs), hydrogenated Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based solar cells exhibited the highest efficiency. However, unoptimized energy-band alignment with the charge-transport layers (CTLs) and unoptimized absorber thickness hinder the hydrogenated Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based DPSC from attaining its full photovoltaic (PV) performance. In this work, we design and optimize a lead-free, complete inorganic hydrogenated Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based DPSC using SCAPS-1D based numerical simulations. We explore various inorganic hole-transport layers (CuSCN, NiO x , CuGaO 2 , MoO 3 , CBTS) and electron-transport layers (SrTiO 3 , In 2 S 3 , Zn 2 SnO 4 , Cr 2 O 3 , ZnO 0.3 S 0.7 ) to achieve ideal energy alignment in the DPSC heterostructure. To explore the full PV potential, we perform a step-by-step optimization of various parameters, including the absorber layer thickness and bulk defect density, the CTL materials, defect densities at the interfaces, the parasitic resistances, and the back contact material of the hydrogenated Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based DPSC. Results indicate that CBTS is the best hole-transport layer (HTL) when used with all electron-transport layers (ETLs) investigated in this work, resulting in power conversion efficiencies of 26.65%, 22.73%, 20.9%, 24.43%, and 23.38% with ZnO 0.3 S 0.7 , Cr 2 O 3 , Zn 2 SnO 4 , SrTiO 3 , and In 2 S 3 , respectively. Overall, this work provides an insightful strategy for further optimization and fabrication of high-performance hydrogenated Cs 2 AgBiBr 6 -based DPSCs.