Nature Communications - 5 June 2013

Weekly Content Alert 05 June 2013  Featured image: Ness et al. identify the protein lymphoid cell kinase as a critical regulator of axon myelination in the peripheral nervous system. Latest content: Articles Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement Nature Outlook: Sleep Researchers are defining the various functions of sleep, from how we learn to the regulation of metabolism and immunity. New ways to treat troubled sleeping are being developed, and better sleep practice can help people with mood disorders. Access the Outlook free online for six months. Produced with support from: ResMed     Latest Articles View all Articles     Stac3 is a component of the excitation–contraction coupling machinery and mutated in Native American myopathy Eric J. Horstick, Jeremy W. Linsley, James J. Dowling, Michael A. Hauser, Kristin K. McDonald, Allison Ashley-Koch, Louis Saint-Amant, Akhila Satish, Wilson W. Cui, Weibin Zhou, Shawn M. Sprague, Demetra S. Stamm, Cynthia M. Powell, Marcy C. Speer, Clara Franzini-Armstrong, Hiromi Hirata and John Y. Kuwada Skeletal muscle contractions are regulated by a process known as excitation–contraction coupling (ECC), defects in which can cause myopathies. Here Horstick et al. show that the protein STAC3 is a component of the ECC machinery and identify mutations in STAC3 as the cause of Native American Myopathy. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2952 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Genetics  Medical research  The rediscovered Hula painted frog is a living fossil Rebecca Biton, Eli Geffen, Miguel Vences, Orly Cohen, Salvador Bailon, Rivka Rabinovich, Yoram Malka, Talya Oron, Renaud Boistel, Vlad Brumfeld and Sarig Gafny The Hula painted frog was the first amphibian to be declared extinct, and it has survived undetected for almost 60 years. Here Gafny and colleagues report a surviving Hula painted frog and provide evidence that it belongs to the otherwise extinct genus Latonia. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2959 Biological Sciences  Palaeontology  Zoology  Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation Wei Pan, Gourab Ghoshal, Coco Krumme, Manuel Cebrian and Alex Pentland An enduring paradox of urban economics is why cities support levels of enterprise, such as patents and inventions, higher than the countryside. Here Pentland et al. suggest that the density of social ties provides a greater flow of ideas, resulting in increased productivity and innovation. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2961 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Human deforestation outweighs future climate change impacts of sedimentation on coral reefs OPEN Joseph Maina, Hans de Moel, Jens Zinke, Joshua Madin, Tim McClanahan and Jan E. Vermaat Forest cover up-river influences the sediments reaching coral reefs, but how this relationship is affected by future climate change is not clear. In a study of the Malagasy coral reefs, Maina et al. find that regional land-use management is more important than mediating climate change for reducing reef sedimentation. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2986 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Ecology  Oceanography  Aerosol transmission is an important mode of influenza A virus spread Benjamin J. Cowling, Dennis K. M. Ip, Vicky J. Fang, Piyarat Suntarattiwong, Sonja J. Olsen, Jens Levy, Timothy M. Uyeki, Gabriel M. Leung, J. S. Malik Peiris, Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, Hiroshi Nishiura and James Mark Simmerman Influenza A viruses spread through contact, large and small respiratory droplets (aerosols), but the relative importance of these modes of transmission is unclear. Cowling et al. model data from community trials of face masks and hand hygiene and find that aerosol transmission accounts for half of influenza occurrences. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2922 Biological Sciences  Virology  Ultrafast charge and discharge biscrolled yarn supercapacitors for textiles and microdevices Jae Ah Lee, Min Kyoon Shin, Shi Hyeong Kim, Hyun U. Cho, Geoffrey M. Spinks, Gordon G. Wallace, Má¡rcio D. Lima, Xavier Lepró, Mikhail E. Kozlov, Ray H. Baughman and Seon Jeong Kim Strong, flexible supercapacitors are desirable for miniaturized electronic devices, but realizing a combination of high energy and power density is challenging. Lee et al. address this with a demonstration of high-performance supercapacitor yarns that could be useful for electronic textiles. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2970 Chemical Sciences  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  Restricted perinatal retinal degeneration induces retina reshaping and correlated structural rearrangement of the retinotopic map OPEN Nicola A. Maiorano and Robert Hindges Development of the visual system involves remodelling of retinal ganglion cell axons. Maiorano and Hindges create a mouse model where specific retinal portions are genetically eliminated, and find that both the retina and its projections reorganize to maintain uniform visual space coverage. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2926 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Neuroscience  Observation and theory of X-ray mirages OPEN Sergey Magnitskiy, Nikolay Nagorskiy, Anatoly Faenov, Tatiana Pikuz, Mamoko Tanaka, Masahiko Ishino, Masaharu Nishikino, Yuji Fukuda, Masaki Kando, Tetsuya Kawachi and Yoshiaki Kato X-ray lasers are of interest to study various properties of materials down to the atomic scale. The discovery by Magnitskiy et al. of a mirage interference effect in X-ray plasma lasers could lead to new possibilities to control the output of such lasers. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2923 Physical Sciences  Fluids and plasma physics  Optical physics  Stable Li-ion battery anodes by in-situ polymerization of conducting hydrogel to conformally coat silicon nanoparticles Hui Wu, Guihua Yu, Lijia Pan, Nian Liu, Matthew T. McDowell, Zhenan Bao and Yi Cui Nanostructured silicon is a promising anode material for lithium ion batteries but needs to tolerate large volume increase upon lithiation. Wu et al. solve this problem by binding silicon nanoparticles to a conducting polymer hydrogel via in-situ polymerization, which also improves cycling stability. 04 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2941 Chemical Sciences  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  A mouse model of adult-onset anaemia due to erythropoietin deficiency Shun Yamazaki, Tomokazu Souma, Ikuo Hirano, Xiaoqing Pan, Naoko Minegishi, Norio Suzuki and Masayuki Yamamoto Kidney diseases often cause anaemia due to damage of renal erythropoietin-producing cells. Yamazaki et al. identify a new population of erythropoietin-producing cells in the renal cortex and outer medulla by establishing a mouse model for adult-onset erythropoietin-deficient anaemia. 03 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2950 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Photocurrent in graphene harnessed by tunable intrinsic plasmons Marcus Freitag, Tony Low, Wenjuan Zhu, Hugen Yan, Fengnian Xia and Phaedon Avouris By patterning graphene with sub-wavelength features to introduce plasmonic modes, its optical properties can be tailored. Freitag et al. show how tunable plasmons in graphene nanoribbons can be exploited to form polarization-sensitive graphene photodetectors in the mid-infrared spectral region. 03 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2951 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  Capture and conversion of CO2 at ambient conditions by a conjugated microporous polymer OPEN Yong Xie, Ting-Ting Wang, Xiao-Huan Liu, Kun Zou and Wei-Qiao Deng Conjugated microporous polymers are highly flexible materials that may be used for gas storage and catalysis applications. Here, the authors report metal-functionalized conjugated microporous polymers capable of both capturing CO2 and functioning as a heterogeneous catalyst in its conversion to propylene carbonate. 03 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2960 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Physical chemistry  The antiparasitic drug ivermectin is a novel FXR ligand that regulates metabolism Lihua Jin, Xuhui Feng, Hui Rong, Zhifu Pan, Yuka Inaba, Lin Qiu, Weili Zheng, Shengchen Lin, Rui Wang, Zhao Wang, Shanshan Wang, Hongyan Liu, Song Li, Wen Xie and Yong Li The nuclear Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) regulates bile acid and cholesterol production. Here Jin et al. identify the clinically approved antiparasitic drug ivermectin as a novel FXR ligand and show that it has antidiabetic effects in mice. 03 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2924 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Picornavirus uncoating intermediate captured in atomic detail OPEN Jingshan Ren, Xiangxi Wang, Zhongyu Hu, Qiang Gao, Yao Sun, Xuemei Li, Claudine Porta, Thomas S. Walter, Robert J. Gilbert, Yuguang Zhao, Danny Axford, Mark Williams, Katherine McAuley, David J. Rowlands, Weidong Yin, Junzhi Wang, David I. Stuart, Zihe Rao and Elizabeth E. Fry The detailed mechanism of how non-enveloped viruses initiate infection remains obscure. Ren et al. present the atomic structure of an uncoating intermediate for the human picornavirus CAV16, revealing a major capsid protein partly extruded from the capsid and suggesting a model for RNA release. 03 June 2013 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms2889 Biological Sciences  Virology    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Reading Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Physiology King's College London Pharmacology and Toxicology University of Toronto Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Postdoctoral Researcher / Senior Postdoctoral Researcher Louisiana State University (LSU) Professor in Synthetic / Polymer Chemistry University of Wolverhampton PhD position in Atomic Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy Empa Dübendorf / Switzerland Chair of the Department of Dermatology UC Davis School of Medicine Technical Officer in Microbiology University College Cork Academic Surgical Pathologist GI / Liver Pathology Medical College of Wisconsin Post-Doc in brain imaging and computational morphometry - University of Geneva University of Geneva (UNIGE) Medical Faculty More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT qPCR & Digital PCR Congress 09.-10.09.13 Lyon, France More science events from       Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. 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