Nature Communications

Pronounced spatial disparities in heatwave trends are bound up with a diversity of atmospheric signals with complex variations, including different phases and wavenumbers. However, assessing their relationships quantitatively remains a challenging problem. Here, we use a network-searching approach to identify the strengths of heatwave-related atmospheric teleconnections (AT) with ERA5 reanalysis data. This way, we quantify the close links between heatwave intensity and AT in the Northern Hemisphere. Approximately half of the interannual variability of heatwaves is explained and nearly 80% of the zonally asymmetric trend signs are estimated correctly by the AT changes in the mid-latitudes...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Complex sensory information arrives in the brain from an animal's first-person ('egocentric') perspective. However, animals can efficiently navigate as if referencing map-like ('allocentric') representations. The postrhinal (POR) and retrosplenial (RSC) cortices are thought to mediate between sensory input and internal maps, combining egocentric representations of physical cues with allocentric head direction (HD) information. Here we show that neurons in the POR and RSC of female Long-Evans rats are tuned to distinct but complementary aspects of local space...

Large biobanks have dramatically advanced our understanding of genetic influences on human brain anatomy. However, most studies have combined rather than compared male and female participants. Here we screen for sex differences in the common genetic architecture of over 1000 neuroanatomical phenotypes in the UK Biobank and establish a general concordance between male and female participants in heritability estimates, genetic correlations, and variant-level effects. Notable exceptions include higher mean heritability in the female group for regional volume and surface area phenotypes; between-sex genetic correlations that are significantly below 1 in the insula and parietal cortex; and a common variant with stronger effect in male participants mapping to RBFOX1 - a gene linked to multiple neuropsychiatric disorders more common in men...

Adaptive behavior depends on appropriate responses to environmental uncertainty. Incidental sensory events might simply be distracting and increase errors, but alternatively can lead to stereotyped responses despite their irrelevance. To evaluate these possibilities, we test whether task-irrelevant sensory prediction errors influence risky decision making in humans across seven experiments (total n = 1600). Rare auditory sequences preceding option presentation systematically increase risk taking and decrease choice perseveration (i...

Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) affects the fate and storage of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems, but its global importance remains uncertain. Accurately modeling and predicting CUE on a global scale is challenging due to inconsistencies in measurement techniques and the complex interactions of climatic, edaphic, and biological factors across scales. The link between microbial CUE and soil organic carbon relies on the stabilization of microbial necromass within soil aggregates or its association with minerals, necessitating an integration of microbial and stabilization processes in modeling approaches...

Upon stimulation of membrane receptors, nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) is formed as second messenger within seconds and evokes Ca2+ signaling in many different cell types. Here, to directly stimulate NAADP signaling, MASTER-NAADP, a Membrane permeAble, STabilized, bio-rEversibly pRotected precursor of NAADP is synthesized and release of its active NAADP mimetic, benzoic acid C-nucleoside, 2'-phospho-3'F-adenosine-diphosphate, by esterase digestion is confirmed. In the presence of NAADP receptor HN1L/JPT2 (hematological and neurological expressed 1-like protein, HN1L, also known as Jupiter microtubule-associated homolog 2, JPT2), this active NAADP mimetic releases Ca2+ and increases the open probability of type 1 ryanodine receptor...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Chemical modification of DNA is a common strategy to improve the properties of oligonucleotides, particularly for therapeutics and nanotechnology. Existing synthetic methods essentially rely on phosphoramidite chemistry or the polymerization of nucleoside triphosphates but are limited in terms of size, scalability, and sustainability. Herein, we report a robust alternative method for the de novo synthesis of modified oligonucleotides using template-dependent DNA ligation of shortmer fragments. Our approach is based on the fast and scaled accessibility of chemically modified shortmer monophosphates as substrates for the T3 DNA ligase...

The genetic factors of stroke in South Asians are largely unexplored. Exome-wide sequencing and association analysis (ExWAS) in 75 K Pakistanis identified NM_000435.3(NOTCH3):c.3691 C > T, encoding the missense amino acid substitution p.Arg1231Cys, enriched in South Asians (alternate allele frequency = 0.58% compared to 0.019% in Western Europeans), and associated with subcortical hemorrhagic stroke [odds ratio (OR) = 3.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [2...

According to GNSS/INSAR measurements, the Konya Basin in Central Anatolia is undergoing rapid subsidence within an uplifting orogenic plateau. Further, geophysical studies reveal thickened crust under the basin and a fast seismic wave speed anomaly in the underlying mantle, in addition to a localised depression in calculated residual topography (down to 280 m) over the Konya Basin, based on gravity-topography considerations. Using scaled laboratory (analogue) experiments we show that the active formation of the Konya Basin may be accounted for by the descent of a mantle lithospheric drip causing local circular-shaped surface subsidence...

Glycan-mediated interactions play a crucial role in biology and medicine, influencing signalling, immune responses, and disease pathogenesis. However, the use of glycans in biosensing and diagnostics is limited by cross-reactivity, as certain glycan motifs can be recognised by multiple biologically distinct protein receptors. To address this specificity challenge, we report the enzymatic synthesis of a 150-member library of site-specifically fluorinated Lewisx analogues ('glycofluoroforms') using naturally occurring enzymes and fluorinated monosaccharides...

The large mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region, ranging from 2.5 µm to 25 µm, has remained under-exploited in the electromagnetic spectrum, primarily due to the absence of viable transceiver technologies. Notably, the 8-14 µm long-wave infrared (LWIR) atmospheric transmission window is particularly suitable for free-space optical (FSO) communication, owing to its combination of low atmospheric propagation loss and relatively high resilience to turbulence and other atmospheric disturbances...

Enhancing drought tolerance in crops and understanding the underlying mechanisms have been subject of intense research. The precise function and molecular mechanisms of B-box zinc finger proteins (BBX) remain elusive. Here, we report a natural allele of BBX18 (BBX18TT ) that encodes a C-terminal truncated protein. While most wild tomato germplasms contain the BBX18CC allele and show more drought tolerant, modern cultivated tomatoes mostly carry BBX18TT allele and are more drought sensitive. Knockout of BBX18 leads to improved drought tolerance in transgenic plants of cultivated tomato...

Among the fascinating phenomena observed in two-dimensional (2D) magnets, the magneto-exciton effect stands out as a pivotal link between optics and magnetism. Although the excitonic effect has been revealed and exhibits a considerable correlation with the spin structures in certain 2D magnets, the underlying mechanism of the magneto-exciton effect remains underexplored, especially under high magnetic fields. Here we perform a systematic investigation of the spin-exciton coupling in 2D antiferromagnetic NiPS3 under high magnetic fields...

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disorder responsible for cardiovascular disease. Reactivation of efferocytosis, the phagocytic removal of cells by macrophages, has emerged as a translational target for atherosclerosis. Systemic blockade of the key 'don't-eat-me' molecule, CD47, triggers the engulfment of apoptotic vascular tissue and potently reduces plaque burden. However, it also induces red blood cell clearance, leading to anemia. To overcome this, we previously developed a macrophage-specific nanotherapy loaded with a chemical inhibitor that promotes efferocytosis...

Aquatic foods are highly traded, with nearly 60 million tonnes exported in 2020, representing 11% of global agriculture trade by value. Despite the vast scale, basic characteristics of aquatic food trade, including species, origin, and farmed vs wild sourcing, are largely unknown due to the reporting of trade data. Consequently, we have a coarse picture of aquatic food trade and consumption patterns. Here, we present results from a database on species trade that aligns production, conversion factors, and trade to compute apparent consumption for all farmed and wild aquatic foods from 1996 to 2020...

Shade avoidance helps plants maximize their access to light for growth under crowding. It is unknown, however, whether a priming shade avoidance mechanism exists that allows plants to respond more effectively to successive shade conditions. Here, we show that the shade-intolerant plant Arabidopsis can remember a first experienced shade event and respond more efficiently to the next event on hypocotyl elongation. The transcriptional regulator PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 7 (PIF7) and the histone H3K27-demethylase RELATIVE OF EARLY FLOWERING 6 (REF6) are identified as being required for this shade avoidance memory...

The process by which Palaeolithic Europe was transformed from a Neanderthal-dominated region to one occupied exclusively by Homo sapiens has proven challenging to diagnose. A blurred chronology has made it difficult to determine when Neanderthals disappeared and whether modern humans overlapped with them. Italy is a crucial region because here we can identify not only Late Mousterian industries, assumed to be associated with Neanderthals, but also early Upper Palaeolithic industries linked with the appearance of early H...

The absence of catalytic asymmetric methods for synthesizing chiral (hetero)bicyclo[n.1.1]alkanes has hindered their application in new drug discovery. Here we demonstrate the achievability of an asymmetric polar cycloaddition of bicyclo[1.1.0]butane using a chiral Lewis acid catalyst and a bidentate chelating bicyclo[1.1.0]butane substrate, as exemplified by the current enantioselective formal (3 + 3) cycloaddition of bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes with nitrones. In addition to the diverse bicyclo[1.1...