Nanometre-thin films can be deposited using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). This example shows the ALD chemistry for producing HfO2 from gaseous precursors HfCl4 (Cl=green) and H2O (O=red). ALD allows a uniform coating to be applied to complex objects — such as the inside of the fibre optic cable shown here.
Photodynamic therapy uses a drug that is activated by light, called a photosensitizer or photosensitizing agent, to kill cancer cells. The light can come from a laser or other source, such as LEDs. Photodynamic therapy is also called PDT.
Photodynamic therapy is most often used as a local treatment, which means it treats a specific part of the body.
BANGKOK (AP) — China’s energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps.
BYD, China’s largest EV maker, said Monday that its flash-chargers can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, similar to the amount of time needed to fill a fuel tank. It plans to build more than 4,000 of the new charging stations across China.
Charging times and limited ranges have been a major factor constraining the switch from gas and diesel vehicles to EVs, though Chinese drivers have embraced that change, with sales of battery powered and hybrid vehicles jumping 40% last year.
It could be very informative to observe the pixels on your phone under a microscope, but not if your goal is to understand what a whole video on the screen shows. Cognition is much the same kind of emergent property in the brain. It can only be understood by observing how millions of cells act in coordination, argues a trio of MIT neuroscientists. In a new article, they lay out a framework for understanding how thought arises from the coordination of neural activity driven by oscillating electric fields — also known as brain “waves” or “rhythms.”
Historically dismissed solely as byproducts of neural activity, brain rhythms are actually critical for organizing it, write Picower Professor Earl Miller and research scientists Scott Brincat and Jefferson Roy in Current Opinion in Behavioral Science. And while neuroscientists have gained tremendous knowledge from studying how individual brain cells connect and how and when they emit “spikes” to send impulses through specific circuits, there is also a need to appreciate and apply new concepts at the brain rhythm scale, which can span individual, or even multiple, brain regions.
“Spiking and anatomy are important, but there is more going on in the brain above and beyond that,” says senior author Miller, a faculty member in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. “There’s a whole lot of functionality taking place at a higher level, especially cognition.”
Since the general AI agent Manus was launched last week, it has spread online like wildfire. And not just in China, where it was developed by the Wuhan-based startup Butterfly Effect. It’s made its way into the global conversation, with influential voices in tech, including Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and Hugging Face product lead Victor Mustar, praising its performance. Some have even dubbed it “the second DeepSeek,” comparing it to the earlier AI model that took the industry by surprise for its unexpected capabilities as well as its origin.
S first general AI agent, using multiple AI models (such as Anthropic.
The new general AI agent from China had some system crashes and server overload—but it’s highly intuitive and shows real promise for the future of AI helpers.
The study, “Endothelial TDP-43 Depletion Disrupts Core Blood-Brain Barrier Pathways in Neurodegeneration,” was published on March 14, 2025. The lead author, Omar Moustafa Fathy, an MD/Ph. D. candidate at the Center for Vascular Biology at UConn School of Medicine, conducted the research in the laboratory of senior author Dr. Patrick A. Murphy, associate professor and newly appointed interim director of the Center for Vascular Biology. The study was carried out in collaboration with Dr. Riqiang Yan, a leading expert in Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration research.
This work provides a novel and significant exploration of how vascular dysfunction contributes to neurodegenerative diseases, exemplifying the powerful collaboration between the Center for Vascular Biology and the Department of Neuroscience. While clinical evidence has long suggested that blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction plays a role in neurodegeneration, the specific contribution of endothelial cells remained unclear. The BBB serves as a critical protective barrier, shielding the brain from circulating factors that could cause inflammation and dysfunction. Though multiple cell types contribute to its function, endothelial cells—the inner lining of blood vessels—are its principal component.
“It is often said in the field that ‘we are only as old as our arteries’. Across diseases we are learning the importance of the endothelium. I had no doubt the same would be true in neurodegeneration, but seeing what these cells were doing was a critical first step,” says Murphy.
Omar, Murphy, and their team tackled a key challenge: endothelial cells are rare and difficult to isolate from tissues, making it even harder to analyze the molecular pathways involved in neurodegeneration.
To overcome this, they developed an innovative approach to enrich these cells from frozen tissues stored in a large NIH-sponsored biobank. They then applied inCITE-seq, a cutting-edge method that enables direct measurement of protein-level signaling responses in single cells—marking its first-ever use in human tissues.
This breakthrough led to a striking discovery: endothelial cells from three different neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)—shared fundamental similarities that set them apart from the endothelium in healthy aging. A key finding was the depletion of TDP-43, an RNA-binding protein genetically linked to ALS-FTD and commonly disrupted in AD. Until now, research has focused primarily on neurons, but this study highlights a previously unrecognized dysfunction in endothelial cells.
“It’s easy to think of blood vessels as passive pipelines, but our findings challenge that view,” says Omar. “Across multiple neurodegenerative diseases, we see strikingly similar vascular changes, suggesting that the vasculature isn’t just collateral damage—it’s actively shaping disease progression. Recognizing these commonalities opens the door to new therapeutic possibilities that target the vasculature itself.”
A new video demonstrates the Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot using the HoST framework to stand up from seemingly impossible positions. Whether lying flat on its back, slumped against a wall, reclining in a chair, or sprawled out on a sofa, the robot methodically adjusts itself before rising with unsettling precision. It’s very reminiscent of someone rising from the dead, a comparison I’m not really that excited to make when it comes to robots.
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Apeptic ulcer is a break in the lining of the lower esophagus, stomach, or upper small intestine. This JAMA Patient Page describes peptic ulcers and their causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options.
Atopic dermatitis is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease globally, affecting over 200 million individuals worldwide.
A Seminar discusses the updated pathophysiological understanding & the evolving therapeutic landscape of the disease:
👇 Figure: Common triggers and drivers of atopic dermatitis skin inflammation and barrier disruption.
Northwestern Medicine investigators have identified novel mechanisms regulating the development of the spinal column during embryonic development, findings that could inform new treatments for congenital scoliosis and other related birth defects, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.
The spinal column of all vertebrate species, including humans, is divided into segments (vertebral discs), which give the spine both flexibility and mobility.
During early embryonic development, these discs develop from specialized cells called somites and are sequentially “sliced” into separate discs, a process driven by a biological clock called the vertebrate segmentation clock.
