Scientific Reports

Detecting Maternal Diabetes
Current testing for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus misses many women at risk, is limited in sensitivity, and may be completed too late to provide effective intervention. The secondary analysis of glucose and insulin levels in a maternal cohort indicates declining first trimester β-cell function is a better, and earlier, determinant for pre-diabetes prediction. #WorldDiabetesDay
https://go.nature.com/2DCfPZV

Venomous Consequences of Asexual Reproduction
Facultative parthenogenesis (FP) should result in limited genome diversity, affecting phenotypic characteristics like snake venom toxins. However, the comparison of FP and non-FP produced copperhead snake venom demonstrates that despite a loss of allelic diversity through FP, this pitviper’s venom, and prey-capture ability, is unaffected.
https://go.nature.com/2Dx39no

Palaeolithic Cannibalism – was it nutritionally worth it?
Some prehistoric human remains exhibit tell-tale signs of elaborate butchery work. The construction of a proxy calorie count for an entire human being determines it isn’t nutritionally beneficial to actually eat someone (at least compared to our usual meat meals). In fact on average 1kg of human muscle has 1300cal whereas 1kg of bison or cow has 2040cal. #FossilFriday
https://go.nature.com/2AUcnHx

Smartphone Blood Pressure (BP) Monitoring
A developed app, using force transducers and photo-plethysmography embedded in the phone, generate measurements demonstrating that a comparatively accurate, cuff-less BP monitoring method is possible. High BP is a major but modifiable cardiovascular risk, which could be easily identified via an app like this, increasing the awareness and control of the condition.
https://go.nature.com/2D0u7mf

Fog clears on Space Weather forecasting – The authors of a recent Scientific Reports study develop a model that can predict the strength and duration of space weather events up to a few years in advance. Space weather has a large impact on many aspects of human life: power outages caused by solar activity lead to disruption in computer systems, public transport and medical equipment. Recent studies identify seasonality to this solar activity, which includes a ‘bursty’ season... of eruptive events for several months, followed by quiet periods. Building upon this research through exploration of the dynamics of solar magnetic fields, the authors of this Scientific Reports study develop a quantitative physical model for forecasting both the strength and duration of ‘bursty’ seasons. The model allows for prediction of ‘bursty’ seasons up to a few years ahead with accuracy improving closer to the event much like a weather forecast. This will allow us to warn people about dangerous solar bursts before they happen, and minimise the damage they cause. https://go.nature.com/2yKQIjG /?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Soci al_media_organic&utm_content=MatAst- Nature-Scientific_Reports-Multidisciplin ary-Global&utm_campaign=Multidiscipl inary_Usage_driving_facebook_noncfp_cont ent
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Submit your manuscript for a new research collection on extracellular vesicles in cell biology and medicine.
This selection will be curated by guest editor Joana Maria Ramis. Ramis is a Miguel Servet Researcher at the Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of the Balearic Islands, and an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports. This collection is open for submissions through April 2019. https://go.nature.com/2CXnT6r

Dinosaur Immaturity - Not Merely Smaller Versions
Skeletal and phylogenetic analyses of the smallest discovered Diplodocus skull highlights unknown aspects of their extreme developing juvenile anatomy, and calls for caution when diagnosing new taxa based on these smaller, complex specimens. The cranial and dental shape difference suggests a dietary divide from mature Diplodocus, with more selective feeding for juveniles in a less open environment.
https://go.nature.com/2P4yy6s

Life after reproduction – toothed whales
Humans, killer whales, and short-finned pilot whales are currently the only known species with a post-reproductive lifespan. A comparison of published ovarian activity data across a range of ages finds that beluga whales and narwhals also display this trait, with an increased rate of reproductive decline compared to somatic decline.
https://go.nature.com/2CMbDFU

Don't miss our recent collection of #OpenAccess research on endangered species, personally curated by our editor. https://go.nature.com/2yBbT7S #OAWeek

On #OAWeek2018, one of our authors Dr James Cole shares the benefits of publishing open access. His paper received one of the highest Altmetric scores of social science articles published in 2017: http://bit.ly/2CJNorL

Read this selection of #OpenAccess research on 2D materials and heterostructures. https://go.nature.com/2PZgPtP #OAWeek

"Open access allows us, as a scientific community, to make a commitment to minimizing access disparity, and maximizing access to merit based research across subjects.
But open access publishing is only the first step. Opening the front door is not the same as giving someone directions to the house." - Dr. Fournet
https://go.nature.com/2Avh8HD
... #OAWeek
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Access our editor's choice collection on epigenetics. This collection highlights articles spanning DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin structure and its function. https://go.nature.com/2ReTAvZ #OAWeek

A.I. Ash Identification
The use of a convolutional neural network determines different volcanic eruption types using ash particle-shape recognition, with an accuracy of >90%. The quantitative analysis better represents complex particles, and helps us understand eruption mechanisms and mitigate future volcanic hazards. https://go.nature.com/2qc9oUX

Explore our editor's curated collection on planetary and solar system science. This collection brings together research on bodies that span the astronomical size spectrum, from meteors to planetary giants. https://go.nature.com/2AqTfkl #OAWeek

Freely access our editor's choice collection on climate change research. https://go.nature.com/2PPazVi #OAWeek

Enjoy our open access collection on biotechnology, featuring articles curated by our editor. https://go.nature.com/2CAIJIv #OAWeek