Nature contents: 21 February 2013

Can't view this email? Click here to view in your browser.     Volume 494 Number 7437      nature •Visit Nature homepage •Subscribe to Nature •View Table of Contents The science that matters. Every week.                       AIMResearch - Highlighting the latest research from the WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Japan Latest highlights: Spin electronics: Mirror, mirror on the wall | Catalysis: Going for gold In the spotlight: Comprehensive support for world-class research Register today for monthly email alerts from the WPI-AIMR!             Jump to the content that matters to you View Table of Contents ▶ ▼ News & Comment   ▼ Biological Sciences   ▼ Chemical Sciences   ▼ Physical Sciences   ▼ Earth & Environmental Sciences   ▼ Careers & Jobs       This week's highlights     Physical Sciences More Physical sciences ▼   Generation of electron Airy beams   Light travels in straight lines. Yet a few years ago it was shown that specially tailored light beams can adopt a curved trajectory. These beams follow a waveform called the Airy function, a phenomenon discovered by the astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy in work on rainbows. Now, with the demonstration of bendy Airy beams consisting of free electrons, new possibilities for manipulating electrons are in prospect. Possible applications include use in high-performance electron microscopes and as a basis for new type of electron interferometer.       Earth & Environmental Sciences More Earth & Environmental sciences ▼   Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions   The early twenty-first century has seen a global increase in drought conditions. This study of plant communities in a global sample of ecosystems compares data from the early twenty-first century with the late twentieth century. The data reveal that ecosystems are resilient to variability in rainfall despite the droughts, but if warm drought conditions persist, increased vegetation death may threaten this ecosystem resilience.       Biological Sciences More Biological sciences ▼   T-helper-1-cell cytokines drive cancer into senescence   Martin Röcken and co-workers show in a mouse model of beta-cell carcinomas that the combined action of these two T-helper-1-cell cytokines mediates adaptive immunity, which can drive tumour cells into senescence. Interferon- and TNF-induced senescence protects even against endogenous cancers that develop through transgenic expression of an oncogene, suggesting that it may be of broad relevance for cancer control.                   Hamamatsu's NanoZoomer-XR delivers faster, worry-free scanning of up to 320 slides. Our new NDP.view2 software allows faster viewing of your slides and features an improved interface. Our new NDP.analyze software, powered by Visiopharm, allows you to extract subcellular morphometric details from brightfield and fluorescent whole slide images either locally or on the Cloud.                 Podcast & Video     In this week's podcast: the debate over how to estimate fish stocks, how our brains stop us getting tongue-tied, and controlling robots using our minds.         News & Comment Read daily news coverage▶ ▲top               THIS WEEK           Editorials                   Vital statistics ▶     That robust data are not collected on births, deaths and causes of death is a scandal. A new drive and greater investment are needed to grow the field of health metrics.             Eyes and ears ▶     Two explosions last week demonstrated the importance of global monitoring.             Net gains ▶     Estimating the scale of the problem may allow us to arrest dangerous levels of overfishing.             World View                   Bees, lies and evidence-based policy ▶     Misinformation forms an inevitable part of public debate, but scientists should always focus on informing the decision-makers, advises Lynn Dicks.             Seven Days                   Seven days: 15–21 February 2013 ▶     The week in science: Massive meteor hits Russia; world's first clinical study to put iPS cells in humans gets green light; and head of Fukushima health survey steps down.             NEWS IN FOCUS           Seed-patent case in Supreme Court ▶     Loss of patent control could rekindle 'terminator' technology.             Gene sequencing leaves the laboratory ▶     Maturing technology speeds medical diagnoses.             Dark-matter hunt gets deep ▶     China launches world's deepest particle-physics experiment — but it joins a crowded field.             Reforms at stake in Italian election ▶     Italy's researchers want change they can believe in.             China slow to tap shale-gas bonanza ▶     Geology and infrastructure could impede development.             Oil money takes US academy into uncharted waters ▶     Venerable government adviser will fund grants with half-billion-dollar windfall.             Features                   Neuroscience: As the worm turns ▶     With the help of a tiny worm, Cornelia Bargmann is unpicking the neural circuits that drive eating, socializing and sex.             Green cement: Concrete solutions ▶     Cement manufacturing is a major source of greenhouse gases. But cutting emissions means mastering one of the most complex materials known.             COMMENT           Fisheries: Does catch reflect abundance? ▶     Researchers are divided over the wisdom of using estimates of the amount of fish hauled in each year to assess the health of fisheries.             Energy: A reality check on the shale revolution ▶     The production of shale gas and oil in the United States is overhyped and the costs are underestimated, says J. David Hughes.             Books and Arts                   Anthropology: Tribal warfare ▶     Douglas William Hume assesses a first-hand account of controversial work with the Yanomami people.             Physics: Rebel without a pause ▶     Robert P. Crease delves into a life of Freeman Dyson, a theoretical physicist who chose a non-conformist path.             Meteorology: On the twister trail ▶     Chuck Doswell enjoys a history of the passionate pioneers behind tornado science.             Arts: Feel the photons ▶     Joanne Baker revels in a show that celebrates the sensory power of light.             Correspondence                   Behaviour: Scientists' rituals are ripe for investigation Denis R. Alexander | Conservation: Inertia is speeding fish-stock declines Kelly Swing | AIDS epidemic: Iran needs global support to fight HIV Kayvon Modjarrad, Minoo Mohraz, Navid Madani | Drug development: Educate physicians about investor types Justin Chakma | Potato blight: Fungus did not cause potato famine U. Kutschera             Corrections                   Corrections ▶             Correction ▶                         The NYSCF - Robertson Innovator Awards for Early Career Investigators in Translational Stem Cell Research The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) supports translational stem cell research through grants to scientists working on stem cell research. NYSCF requests applications for Innovator Awards for early career investigators in translational stem cell research that will advance the use of stem cells to study and treat human disease. The awards provide up to $1.5 million USD over 5 years. Application details available online at www.nyscf.org/stemcell. Due: March 22, 2013               Biological Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Cell biology: A fable of too much too fast ▶     Jennifer M. Hurley, Jay C. Dunlap             Parasitology: Rejuvenation through stem cells ▶     Edward J. Pearce             Crystal structure of the entire respiratory complex I ▶     Rozbeh Baradaran, John M. Berrisford, Gurdeep S. Minhas et al.     The atomic-resolution structure of the entire respiratory complex I is reported, with the resolution high enough to map out the locations and orientations of nearly all amino-acid side chains—some of which link to human neurodegenerative diseases—and reveals which amino-acid interactions take place at the hydrophilic domain–membrane domain interface.             Functional organization of human sensorimotor cortex for speech articulation ▶     Kristofer E. Bouchard, Nima Mesgarani, Keith Johnson et al.     Multi-electrode cortical recordings during the production of different consonant-vowel syllables reveal distinct speech-articulator representations that are arranged somatotopically, with temporal and spatial patterns of activity across the neural population corresponding to phonetic features and dynamics.             Non-optimal codon usage affects expression, structure and function of clock protein FRQ ▶     Mian Zhou, Jinhu Guo, Joonseok Cha et al.     The frq gene, essential for circadian clock function, is shown to differ from most other genes in Neurospora by exhibiting non-optimal codon usage; by contrast, optimization of codon usage is unexpectedly found to affect the structure and function of the coded protein, subsequently impairing circadian feedback loops.             Activating RNAs associate with Mediator to enhance chromatin architecture and transcription ▶     Fan Lai, Ulf A. Orom, Matteo Cesaroni et al.     A class of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) with enhancer-like activity is found to associate with the co-activator complex Mediator and promote its genomic association and enzymatic activity; together with Mediator, the lncRNAs also help to maintain the chromosomal architecture of active regulatory elements.             Amphibious flies and paedomorphism in the Jurassic period ▶     Diying Huang, André Nel, Chenyang Cai et al.     New strashilid fossils from the Middle Jurassic epoch of Daohugou, China, show that they are highly specialized flies, and suggest that larval abdominal respiratory gills were retained in adult males, indicating that adult strashilids were probably aquatic or amphibious, with mating occurring in water.             MicroRNA-34a regulates cardiac ageing and function ▶     Reinier A. Boon, Kazuma Iekushi, Stefanie Lechner et al.     A role is demonstrated for miR-34a, a microRNA that is upregulated in the ageing heart; miR-34a downregulates PNUTS, a protein that protects cardiomyocytes and telomeres, silencing of miR-34a is therefore a promising therapeutic target.             Adult somatic stem cells in the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni  ▶     James J. Collins III, Bo Wang, Bramwell G. Lambrus et al.     This study reports the identification of adult stem cells in the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni (blood fluke); the cells proliferate and differentiate into derivatives of multiple germ layers, and their maintenance requires a fibroblast growth factor receptor orthologue.             Non-optimal codon usage is a mechanism to achieve circadian clock conditionality ▶     Yao Xu, Peijun Ma, Premal Shah et al.     Central circadian proteins in cyanobacteria unexpectedly use non-optimal codons, and optimizing their codes is shown to cause a change in an adaptive response to environmental conditions.             Articles and Letters                   FOXO3A directs a protective autophagy program in haematopoietic stem cells ▶     Matthew R. Warr, Mikhail Binnewies, Johanna Flach et al.     Autophagy is shown to be an essential mechanism that protects haematopoietic stem cells from metabolic stress; the transcription factor FOXO3A maintains a pro-autophagy gene expression program that poises haematopoietic stem cells to rapidly mount a protective autophagic response upon metabolic stress.             Behavioural and genetic analyses of Nasonia shed light on the evolution of sex pheromones ▶     Oliver Niehuis, Jan Buellesbach, Joshua D. Gibson et al.     A genetic and behavioural study in related species of Nasonia wasps reveals how pheromone changes relevant to speciation could evolve through genes creating a new pheromone component by changing the stereochemistry of an existing pheromone molecule.             Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions ▶     Guillermo E. Ponce Campos, M. Susan Moran, Alfredo Huete et al.     The resilience of a global sample of ecosystems to an increase in drought conditions is assessed, comparing data from the early twenty-first with the late twentieth century; results indicate a cross-ecosystem capacity for tolerating low precipitation and responding to high precipitation during recent warm drought and yet suggest a threshold to resilience with prolonged warm drought.             Stabilization of cooperative virulence by the expression of an avirulent phenotype ▶     Médéric Diard, Victor Garcia, Lisa Maier et al.     A phenotypically avirulent subpopulation of the intestinal pathogen Salmonella typhimurium promotes evolutionary stability of virulence.             Abundant SAR11 viruses in the ocean ▶     Yanlin Zhao, Ben Temperton, J. Cameron Thrash et al.     Viruses are isolated from the SAR11 bacterial clade, the most abundant group of bacteria in the ocean, that were thought to be resistant to viral infection; because of the essential role of SAR11 in carbon cycling these viruses are also an important factor in biogeochemical cycling.             T-helper-1-cell cytokines drive cancer into senescence ▶     Heidi Braumüller, Thomas Wieder, Ellen Brenner et al.     T-helper-1-cell cytokines tumour necrosis factor and interferon-γ are shown to drive tumour cells into senescence in a mouse model of β-cell carcinoma and human carcinoma cells.             APOBEC3B is an enzymatic source of mutation in breast cancer ▶     Michael B. Burns, Lela Lackey, Michael A. Carpenter et al.     The DNA cytosine deaminase APOBEC3B is shown to be overexpressed and highly active in most breast cancers; deamination by APOBEC3B could serve as an endogenous, continual source of DNA damage leading to mutations, including C-to-T transitions and other aberrations seen in many breast tumours.             OTUD7B controls non-canonical NF-κB activation through deubiquitination of TRAF3 ▶     Hongbo Hu, George C. Brittain, Jae-Hoon Chang et al.     The deubiquitinase OTUD7B is shown to regulate the non-canonical NF-κB pathway by inhibiting TRAF3 proteolysis.             Central role of E3 ubiquitin ligase MG53 in insulin resistance and metabolic disorders ▶     Ruisheng Song, Wei Peng, Yan Zhang et al.     MG53 acts as an E3 ligase that targets the insulin receptor and IRS1 for ubiquitin-dependent degradation; when MG53 is upregulated, metabolic syndrome ensues.             Control of substrate access to the active site in methane monooxygenase ▶     Seung Jae Lee, Michael S. McCormick, Stephen J. Lippard et al.     The crystal structure of the complex between the hydroxylase and regulatory component of soluble methane monooxygenase is presented, revealing how the latter component controls substrate access to the hydroxylase active site.             High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of the Trypanosoma brucei ribosome ▶     Yaser Hashem, Amedee des Georges, Jie Fu et al.     High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy shows that the Trypanosoma brucei kinetoplastid ribosome is characterized by the presence of large expansion segments, ribosomal-protein extensions and additional rRNA insertions, which may have implications for the protein-translation regulation process.             News & Views                   Palaeoanthropology: Of humans, dogs and tiny tools ▶     Peter Brown             Ageing: Stem cells on a stress-busting diet ▶     Teresa V. Bowman & Leonard I. Zon             50 & 100 Years Ago ▶             Infection biology: Cheats never prosper ▶     David T. Mulder, Brian K. Coombes             Cell biology: A fable of too much too fast ▶     Jennifer M. Hurley, Jay C. Dunlap             Parasitology: Rejuvenation through stem cells ▶     Edward J. Pearce             Brief Communications Arising                   Is Strudiella a Devonian insect? ▶     Thomas Hörnschemeyer, Joachim T. Haug, Olivier Bethoux et al.             Garrouste et al. reply ▶     Romain Garrouste, Gaël Clément, Patricia Nel et al.             Corrigenda                   Corrigendum: The deubiquitinase USP9X suppresses pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma ▶     Pedro A. Pérez-Mancera, Alistair G. Rust, Louise van der Weyden, Glen Kristiansen, Allen Li et al.             Corrigendum: Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests ▶     D. V. Spracklen, S. R. Arnold & C. M. Taylor             Corrigendum: Mesoangioblast stem cells ameliorate muscle function in dystrophic dogs ▶     Maurilio Sampaolesi, Stephane Blot, Giuseppe D'Antona et al.             Research Highlights                   Molecular evolution: Genetic traces of selection | Reproductive biology: Broken DNA in ageing eggs | Zoology: Bright nights speed birds' lives | Neuroscience: Protein makes she sound like he | Molecular biology: Dance of DNA-binding proteins | Medicine: Microbes make melamine toxic | Evolution: Predictable bacterial diversity | Ecology: Tough life in the tropics         NEWS & COMMENT           Net gains | Bees, lies and evidence-based policy | Oil money takes US academy into uncharted waters | Neuroscience: As the worm turns | Conservation: Inertia is speeding fish-stock declines | AIDS epidemic: Iran needs global support to fight HIV | Drug development: Educate physicians about investor types | Potato blight: Fungus did not cause potato famine | Vital statistics | Seed-patent case in Supreme Court | Gene sequencing leaves the laboratory             More Biological Sciences ▶                         EMD Millipore Muse™ Cell Analyzer – Discover your own muse. Cell analysis reinvented: simplified, miniaturized, optimized We’ve miniaturized flow cytometry and packed 3-parameter analysis into a compact, affordable instrument, making quantitative cell analysis accessible to everyone. The system delivers high-performance cell analysis using a microcapillary and miniaturized optics which occupy one-tenth the space of a typical cytometers.               Chemical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Articles and Letters                   Dicalcium nitride as a two-dimensional electride with an anionic electron layer ▶     Kimoon Lee, Sung Wng Kim, Yoshitake Toda et al.     The ionic crystal Ca2N is shown to be an electride in terms of [Ca2N]+·e−, with diffusive two-dimensional transport in dense electron layers.             News & Views                   50 & 100 Years Ago ▶             Research Highlights                   Chemistry: Hydrogen on demand           More Chemical Sciences ▶               Physical Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   A sub-Mercury-sized exoplanet ▶     Thomas Barclay, Jason F. Rowe, Jack J. Lissauer et al.     Stellar data from the Kepler spacecraft are used to infer the existence of a sub-Mercury-sized exoplanet, the smallest yet discovered, in orbit around a Sun-like star.             Articles and Letters                   A black-hole mass measurement from molecular gas kinematics in NGC4526 ▶     Timothy A. Davis, Martin Bureau, Michele Cappellari et al.     In this study a supermassive black-hole mass is measured by tracing the motions of molecular gas clouds swirling around it, a technique that promises to allow measurements of black-hole mass in many more galaxies of all types than previously possible.             Generation of electron Airy beams ▶     Noa Voloch-Bloch, Yossi Lereah, Yigal Lilach et al.     The diffraction of electrons through a nanoscale hologram that imprints a certain phase modulation on the electrons' wavefunction produces a non-spreading electron Airy beam that follows a parabolic trajectory and can reconstruct its original shape after passing an obstacle.             Dicalcium nitride as a two-dimensional electride with an anionic electron layer ▶     Kimoon Lee, Sung Wng Kim, Yoshitake Toda et al.     The ionic crystal Ca2N is shown to be an electride in terms of [Ca2N]+·e−, with diffusive two-dimensional transport in dense electron layers.             News & Views                   50 & 100 Years Ago ▶             Research Highlights                   Chemistry: Hydrogen on demand         NEWS & COMMENT           Dark-matter hunt gets deep | Green cement: Concrete solutions | Physics: Rebel without a pause | Arts: Feel the photons | Correction | Eyes and ears             More Physical Sciences ▶               Earth & Environmental Sciences ▲top             RESEARCH           Latest Online                   Environmental science: The shape of nitrogen to come ▶     Mark A. Sutton, Albert Bleeker             Enhanced nitrogen deposition over China ▶     Xuejun Liu, Ying Zhang, Wenxuan Han et al.     Data on bulk nitrogen deposition, plant foliar nitrogen and crop nitrogen uptake in China between ad 1980 and ad 2010 show that the average annual bulk deposition of nitrogen increased by approximately 8 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare during that period and that nitrogen deposition rates in the industrialized and agriculturally intensified regions of China are as high as the peak levels of deposition in northwestern Europe in the 1980s.             Articles and Letters                   Sensitivity of tropical carbon to climate change constrained by carbon dioxide variability ▶     Peter M. Cox, David Pearson, Ben B. Booth et al.     A linear relationship between the sensitivity of tropical land carbon storage to warming and the sensitivity of the annual growth rate of atmospheric CO2 to tropical temperature anomalies provides a tight constraint on the sensitivity of tropical land carbon to climate change.             Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions ▶     Guillermo E. Ponce Campos, M. Susan Moran, Alfredo Huete et al.     The resilience of a global sample of ecosystems to an increase in drought conditions is assessed, comparing data from the early twenty-first with the late twentieth century; results indicate a cross-ecosystem capacity for tolerating low precipitation and responding to high precipitation during recent warm drought and yet suggest a threshold to resilience with prolonged warm drought.             News & Views                   Climate science: Global warming and tropical carbon ▶     James T. Randerson             Microbial oceanography: Killers of the winners ▶     David L. Kirchman             Environmental science: The shape of nitrogen to come ▶     Mark A. Sutton, Albert Bleeker             Corrigenda                   Corrigendum: Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests ▶     D. V. Spracklen, S. R. Arnold & C. M. Taylor             Corrigendum: Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water management ▶     Nathaniel D. Mueller, James S. Gerber, Matt Johnston, Deepak K. Ray, Navin Ramankutty et al.             Research Highlights                   Atmospheric science: Harder rains in a hotter climate | Zoology: Bright nights speed birds' lives         NEWS & COMMENT           Oil money takes US academy into uncharted waters | China slow to tap shale-gas bonanza | Fisheries: Does catch reflect abundance? | Energy: A reality check on the shale revolution | Meteorology: On the twister trail | Eyes and ears             More Earth & Environmental Sciences ▶                         Epigenetics: Why histone modifications matter in health and disease February 26 10am EST | 3pm GMT Histones are an integral part of chromatin as they make up the 'protein spools' DNA is wound around. Two prominent speakers will explore one of the key questions in chromatin biology: how the language of post translational modifications on histones influences gene expression. Register for FREE               Careers & Jobs ▲top               Presentations: Pressure to perform ▶     Talks offer scientists a chance to show off their work, but it is difficult to make an impact.                   Ticket to everywhere ▶     The fossilization of the PhD harms students, employers and science in general, argues Peter Fiske.             Careers related news & comment                   Seven days: 15–21 February 2013 | Dark-matter hunt gets deep Eugenie Samuel Reich | Reforms at stake in Italian election Alison Abbott | Drug development: Educate physicians about investor types Justin Chakma | Vital statistics | Seed-patent case in Supreme Court Heidi Ledford | Gene sequencing leaves the laboratory Erika Check Hayden               naturejobs.com Science jobs of the week       Postdoctoral Fellow     California Institute for Biomedical Research             Research Associate     Imperial College London            Postdoctoral fellow     Karolinska Institutet            Laboratory Technicial     Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona)          No matter what your career stage, student, postdoc or senior scientist, you will find articles on naturejobs.com to help guide you in your science career. 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