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Induced Hypertension Shows Promise for Managing Early Neurological Deterioration in Stroke Care

In this BloggingStroke post, Romil Singh discusses Stroke article by Kim et al.

Kim H, Kim JT, Lee JS, Kim BJ, Kang J, Kim DY, Lee KJ, Kim CK, Park JM, Kang K, et al. Management Strategies for Early Neurological Deterioration in Noncardioembolic Ischemic Stroke. Stroke. 2025.

Early neurological deterioration (END) remains one of the most challenging and feared complications during the acute phase of ischemic stroke. Affecting up to 40% of patients, END often signals the expansion of infarction, worsening hypoperfusion, or thrombus propagation. Despite its prevalence and its strong association with long-term disability, we lack clear evidence-based guidance on treatment strategies for inducing hypertension to improve perfusion and escalating antithrombotic therapy in hopes of stabilizing the patient.

A new nationwide study from South Korea, published in Stroke, now offers some much-needed clarity. Kim et al. analyzed data for more than 3,000 patients with no cardioembolic ischemic stroke who developed END due to stroke progression. They compared the real-world effectiveness of three treatment approaches: conservative treatment, change in antithrombotic therapy, and iHTN, and looked at associations with early neurological improvement (NI) during hospitalization and functional outcomes at 3 months. Because END was confirmed with imaging and standardized assessments, the cohort offers a clear view of how clinicians manage stroke progression in the absence of hemorrhage or metabolic causes.

What makes a good proton conductor?

A number of advanced energy technologies — including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and an emerging class of low-power electronics — use protons as the key charge carrier. Whether or not these devices will be widely adopted hinges, in part, on how efficiently they can move protons.

One class of materials known as metal oxides has shown promise in conducting protons at temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius. But researchers have struggled to find the best materials to increase the proton conductivity at lower temperatures and improve efficiency.

Now, MIT researchers have developed a physical model to predict proton mobility across a wide range of metal oxides. In a new paper, the researchers ranked the most important features of metal oxides for facilitating proton conduction, and demonstrated for the first time how much the flexibility of the materials’ oxide ions improves their ability to transfer protons.

Spatial profiling of patient-matched HER2 positive gastric cancer reveals resistance mechanisms to targeted therapy

Sheng et al. present “” via https://bit.ly/4spB5XM (Original research, GI cancer section).

Why do targeted therapies stop working? Using spatial transcriptomics, this study reveals how tumour heterogeneity, immune escape and metabolic shifts drive resistance in HER2-positive gastric cancer. A must-read for anyone interested in precision oncology and treatment optimisation.

Background Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2; ERBB2) is overexpressed or amplified in 15–20% of gastric cancers (HER2+ GC). Within individual HER2+ GCs, HER2/ ERBB2 expression is often variable. Although HER2 therapeutic targeting improves outcomes for HER2+ GC patients, acquired resistance is frequent.

Objective To spatially interrogate HER2+ GC interpatient and intrapatient heterogeneity and resistance mechanisms associated with HER2-targeting agents (trastuzumab, trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd)).

Design Spatial transcriptomic analysis (GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler) was applied to 1,500 regions of interest in 30 GCs—these contained 15 HER2+ GCs treated with trastuzumab and T-DXd subsequently. Analysis of patient-matched samples with acquired trastuzumab or T-DXd resistance revealed escape mechanisms.

Symmetry Keeps Fermions Pure in a Noisy World

A theoretical study reveals how to control and drive a quantum system without causing its decoherence.

Quantumness is famously fragile. Decoherence, particle loss, and other dissipative processes typically destroy delicate quantum superpositions, causing open quantum systems to behave classically. This universal, inevitable fate suggests that, even when a system’s constituents are fully quantum, its nonequilibrium critical points could be described by classical universality classes. That is, the system could belong to a group whose behavior near a critical point is identical and scale invariant regardless of microscopic details. In a new theoretical study, Rohan Mittal and his collaborators at the University of Cologne in Germany have overturned this expectation for open systems of fermions [1]. They identified a particular symmetry, which, if present, blocks most of the noise channels that would ordinarily wash out quantum behavior at large scales.

Liquids can fracture like solids—researchers discover the breaking point

In a development that could shift our basic understanding of fluid mechanics, researchers from Drexel University have reported that, given the right circumstances, it is possible to induce a simple liquid to fracture like a solid object. Recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the research shows how viscous liquids can suddenly break if stretched with enough force.

The fracturing behavior suggests that viscosity—a liquid’s resistance to flowing—may play a more prominent role in its mechanical properties than previously understood. It also raises new possibilities for how liquids might be manipulated in everything from hydraulics to 3D printers to blood vessels.

“Our findings show that if pulled apart with enough force per area, a simple liquid—a liquid that flows—will reach what we call a point of ‘critical stress,” when it will actually fracture like a solid. And this is likely true for all simple liquids, including common examples, such as water and oil,” said Thamires Lima, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who helped to lead the research. “This fundamentally changes our understanding of fluid dynamics.”

Legged robot could accelerate resource prospecting on the moon and the search for life on Mars

Planetary surface missions currently operate cautiously. On Mars, communication delays between Earth and rovers (typically between four and 22 minutes), as well as data transfer constraints due to uplink and downlink limitations, force scientists to plan operations in advance. Rovers are designed for energy efficiency and safety, and to move slowly across hazardous terrain.

As a result, exploration is typically limited to only a small portion of the landing site, with rovers typically traveling up to a few hundreds of meters per day, which makes it difficult to collect geologically diverse data.

In a study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies, a team led by Dr. Gabriela Ligeza, former Ph.D. student from the University of Basel and now a postdoctoral researcher at the European Space Agency (ESA), tested a different approach: a semi-autonomous robotic explorer which can investigate multiple targets one-by-one and collect data without constant human intervention.

Quantum twisting microscope reveals electron-electron interactions in graphene at room temperature

An international team of researchers built a highly sensitive quantum microscope and used it to directly observe, for the first time at room temperature, how electrons subtly interact with each other in graphene—confirming a decades-old theoretical prediction with remarkable precision. The research is published in the journal Nano Letters. The team was led by Dmitri Efetov, Professor of Experimental Solid State Physics at LMU München’s Faculty of Physics and MCQST co-coordinator for Research Area Quantum Matter.

In recent years, “moiré materials”—atomically thin, two-dimensional layered structures such as graphene—have emerged as one of the most exciting frontiers in condensed matter physics. By stacking these atomic layers with a slight rotational misalignment, researchers create interference patterns that fundamentally reshape how electrons move. This simple twist can unlock entirely new quantum phases, including superconductivity and correlated insulating states, making moiré systems a powerful platform for exploring emergent physical phenomena.

Studying these systems, however, has traditionally come with significant technical hurdles. Conventional devices must be assembled with extreme precision, relying on fixed twist angles, painstakingly assembled with precision often better than a tenth of a degree. Even then, imperfections such as strain and disorder can obscure the underlying physics.

Pairs of atoms observed existing in two places at once for the first time

Quantum physicists at ANU have observed atoms entangled in motion. “It’s really weird for us to think that this is how the universe works,” says Dr. Sean Hodgman from the ANU Research School of Physics. “You can read about it in a textbook, but it’s really weird to think that a particle can be in two places at once.”

Their experiment using helium atoms represents a major advancement over similar experiments using photons, which are particles of light. Unlike photons, helium atoms have mass and experience gravity. The research is published in Nature Communications.

“Experimentally, it’s extremely hard to demonstrate this,” says lead author and Ph.D. researcher, Yogesh Sridhar. “Several people have tried in the past to show these effects, and they have always come short.”

Silicon quantum computer performs logical operations for the first time

Silicon is ubiquitous in modern electronics, and now it is becoming increasingly useful in quantum computing. In particular, silicon’s compatibility with existing chip technology and its long coherence times in silicon-based spin qubits make it a promising material for scalable quantum computing. A new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, has demonstrated silicon’s use in a logical quantum processor, representing the first of its kind.

Quantum computers are highly sensitive to errors from environmental noise, creating hurdles for practical quantum computation. To help suppress these errors, information can be encoded in logical qubits using fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Prior to this study, silicon had not been used for logical operations in FTQC.

“In silicon-based quantum processors, frequency crowding and cross-talk further exacerbate the errors as the system scales. To address these errors, logical encoding stands as the only viable solution by redundantly storing quantum information across multiple physical qubits. While logical qubits and operations have been successfully demonstrated in platforms such as superconducting circuits, neutral atoms, nitrogen-vacancy centers and trapped ions, their implementation in silicon-based spin qubits poses notable technical challenges,” the study authors write.

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