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Inflammasome Molecular Insights in Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) emerge due to an irregular immune response towards self- and non-self-antigens. Inflammation commonly accompanies these conditions, with inflammatory factors and inflammasomes playing pivotal roles in their progression. Key concepts in molecular biology, inflammation, and molecular mimicry are crucial to understanding AID development. Exposure to foreign antigens can cause inflammation, potentially leading to AIDs through molecular mimicry triggered by cross-reactive epitopes. Molecular mimicry emerges as a key mechanism by which infectious or chemical agents trigger autoimmunity. In certain susceptible individuals, autoreactive T or B cells may be activated by a foreign antigen due to resemblances between foreign and self-peptides. Chronic inflammation, typically driven by abnormal immune responses, is strongly associated with AID pathogenesis. Inflammasomes, which are vital cytosolic multiprotein complexes assembled in response to infections and stress, are crucial to activating inflammatory processes in macrophages. Chronic inflammation, characterized by prolonged tissue injury and repair cycles, can significantly damage tissues, thereby increasing the risk of AIDs. Inhibiting inflammasomes, particularly in autoinflammatory disorders, has garnered significant interest, with pharmaceutical advancements targeting cytokines and inflammasomes showing promise in AID management.

New System Lets Multiple Users Share a Single Quantum Computer

PRESS RELEASE — Quantum computers have operated under a significant limitation: they can run only one program at a time. These million-dollar machines demand exclusive use even for the smallest tasks, leaving much of their expensive and fast-running hardware idle and forcing researchers to endure long queues.

Columbia Engineering researchers have developed HyperQ, a novel system that enables multiple users to share a single quantum computer simultaneously through isolated quantum virtual machines (qVMs). This key development brings quantum computing closer to real-world usability—more practical, efficient, and broadly accessible.

“HyperQ brings cloud-style virtualization to quantum computing,” said Jason Nieh, professor of computer science at Columbia Engineering and co-director of the Software Systems Laboratory. “It lets a single machine run multiple programs at once—no interference, no waiting in line.”

Record financing for Proxima Fusion

The Munich-based start-up Proxima Fusion, a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, has raised €130 million in capital. The company plans to use the funds to finance the development of the world’s first stellarator-based fusion power plant, which is scheduled to be built in the 2030s. The investment represents the largest private financing round in the field of fusion energy in Europe to date. Proxima Fusion now has a total of more than €185 million in public and private funding at its disposal.

Next Generation Optical Fibers With 10,000 Times Lower Backscatter

A new instrument has enabled the first measurement of ultra-low backscatter in hollow-core fibers, validating their potential to outperform traditional fiber optics. Researchers from the University of Southampton and Université Laval, Canada, have successfully measured for the first time back-refle