Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Jurors can be influenced by mitigating circumstances when deciding on sentences for committed crimes. Yamadaet al. show that feelings of sympathy created by mitigating circumstances activate moral conflict regions of the brain that predict individual differences in the severity of the sentence.
Stochastic processes play an important role in a broad range of scientific problems. This study demonstrates that a large class of such processes are most efficiently simulated by quantum mechanical models, thus reducing the complexity required to simulate them using classical models.
A record of the daily light cycle in tropical regions is difficult to extract from biogenic marine carbonates such as shells. Here, the precise analysis of Sr/Ca ratios is shown in a cultivated giant clam shell, revealing variations that reflect the daily light cycle and the potential for future development of a proxy.
Graphene is characterized by unique physical properties that offer substantial promise, most notably for electronic applications. Mannooret al. present a wireless graphene-based sensor for detecting bacteria on a range of biological tissues.
The singular properties of topological insulators are defined by the topological nature of their metallic surface states. This study shows that by doping Bi2Se3nanoribbons with antimony, the transport properties of these surface states are measurable and can be distinguished from the contributions due to the bulk of the samples.
Endosomes contain hydrolytic enzymes, and recent reports have suggested that the endosomal membrane can be damaged by wear particles, resulting in the release of their contents and an inflammatory response. In this study, a role for annexin II in the repair of the damaged endosome membrane is reported.
Kinesin-1 is a motor protein that transports cargo along microtubules and defects in this process can result in neurodegeneration. In this study, a role for casein kinase 2 in regulating the activity of Kinesin-1 is reported, suggesting that signalling molecules can modulate this transport process.
Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) removes methyl groups from mono-methylated and dimethylated lysine 4 of histone H3 and represses transcription. In this study, a role for LSD1 in the regulation of genes involved in energy expenditure in adipocytes is reportedin vitroand in mice fed on a high-fat diet.
Drosophilagermline stem cells are anchored to their niche via DE-cadherin. In this study, poly(ADP-ribose) is shown to regulate the expression of DE-cadherin via the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein, hnRNPA1, and defects in poly(ADP-ribose) catabolism or hnRNPA1 deficiency lead to the loss of germline stem cells.
The spin-dependent thermal and electrical transport properties of nanostructures are central for future applications of spintronic devices. Here, Linet al. report an enhanced spin-dependent thermoelectric effect in an Al2O3-based magnetic tunnel junction.
The piezoelectric materials most commonly used for technological applications contain lead, a toxic element. Slukaet al. identify a mechanism that leads to an enhancement of the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of non-toxic ferroelectrics, due to the presence of charged domain walls.
Explosive energy releases in plasmas, such as in solar eruptions like flares and coronal mass ejections, are thought to be caused by magnetic reconnection in thin current sheets. Zhanget al. observed a magnetic flux rope during a solar eruption, highlighting its role in driving explosive energy releases.
Cyan variants of green fluorescent protein (CFPs) are widely used as donors in FRET experiments. Here, a new CFP, mTurquoise2, is developed, which displays a high-fluorescence quantum yield and a long mono-exponential fluorescence lifetime.
FAT-10 targets proteins for degradation in a ubiquitin-independent manner and NUB1L accelerates this process. In this study, both FAT-10 and NUB1L are shown to interact with the VWA domain of the Rpn10 subunit of the 26S proteasome, suggesting that this is a receptor site for ubiquitin-like modifiers.
MONOCULM1 is a transcriptional regulator that controls rice tillering and therefore grain yield. In this study the authors demonstrate that MONOCULM1 interacts with TAD1, forming a complex which activates APC and targets MONOCULM1 for degradation.
An important goal in optics is to image objects hidden by turbid media, although line-of-sight techniques fail when the obscuring medium becomes opaque. Veltenet al. use ultrafast imaging techniques to recover three-dimensional shapes of non-line-of-sight objects after reflection from diffuse surfaces.
The ability to spatially and temporally control excitation of neuronsin vivo is an invaluable tool. By expressing the TRPV1 receptor in specific neuronal populations, Güler et al. have developed a rapid and noninvasive method to stimulate neuronal activity by the simple administration of capsaicin.
The protein complex APC/C is an E3 ubiquitin ligase and its subunit Cdh1 determines substrate recognition. Linet al. show that the transcriptional regulator MONOCULM1 is a substrate of the rice homologue of Cdh1 and that APC/C-mediated degradation of MONOCULM1 controls rice tillering, a determinant of grain yield.
The treatment ofMycobacterium tuberculosis with drugs such as isoniazid often results in drug resistance, but the mechanisms leading to the resistance are not fully known. In this study, an M. tuberculosisstrain lacking the sigma factor I is shown to be resistant to isoniazid.
A factor limiting the mobility of charge carriers in graphene, and therefore its use in electronic applications, is the Coulomb scattering due to charged impurities. By exposing graphene devices to a range of non-polar liquids, Newazet al. observe an enhancement of the mobility due to screening.