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Scientists have found that lemborexant not only increased restorative sleep in male mice but also reduced levels of toxic tau and brain inflammation. The findings suggest that targeting the brain’s orexin system may help slow Alzheimer’s progression.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells are a promising cancer therapy that are made from the patient’s own T cells, which are reprogrammed to fight their cancer. One of the limitations of CAR-T cell therapy is the ability of these cells to survive long enough to target the entire tumor.

Once injected back into the patient, the CAR-T cells tend to rapidly expand when they become activated by the , but eventually die off due to a natural process called activation-induced cell death.

In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, a research team discovered a way to alter CAR-T cells so they can partially avoid activation-induced cell death, which allows them to live longer and better fight off the tumor.

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death, disability, increased economic burden and decreased quality of life around the world. Current stroke therapies are time-limited and largely focused on restoring blood flow, and there are few which address the secondary wave of inflammation that causes further injury in the hours and days after stroke.

A study by researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), has shown that a class of drugs, HDACi (), protects neurons and limits following stroke by altering the gene expression of microglia, the immune cells of the brain.

HDACi are currently used or being tested as treatments for certain cancers and are also being researched for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 Chinese scientists have developed the Zuchongzhi 3.0 quantum processor, which is significantly faster than the world’s top supercomputers. 🔍 The processor features 105 superconducting qubits and demonstrates unprecedented speed, completing tasks in seconds that would take traditional supercomputers billions of years. 💡 With enhanced coherence time, gate fidelity, and error correction.

SignificanceThe highly scattering nature of near-infrared light in human tissue makes it challenging to collect photons using source-detector separations larger than several centimeters. The limits of detectability of light transmitted through the head remain unknown. Detecting photons in the extreme case through an entire adult head explores the limits of photon transport in the brain. AimWe explore the physical limits of photon transport in the head in the extreme case wherein the source and detector are diametrically opposite. ApproachSimulations uncover possible migration pathways of photons from source to detector. We compare simulations with time-resolved photon counting experiments that measure pulsed light transmitted through the head. ResultsWe observe good agreement between the peak delay time and width of the time-correlated histograms in experiments and simulations. Analysis of the photon migration pathways indicates sensitivity to regions of the brain well beyond accepted limits. Source repositioning can isolate sensitivity to targeted regions of the brain, including under the cerebrum. ConclusionsWe overcome attenuation of ∼1018 and detect photons transmitted through an entire adult human head for a subject with fair skin and no hair. Photons measured in this regime explore regions of the brain currently inaccessible with noninvasive optical brain imaging.