Natural killer (NK) cells are frontline immune defenders against cancer, but their behavior inside tumors is far more complex than previously understood.

Mr BMT, a most commonly utilized microglia replacement technique, improves microglia engraftment in the central nervous system (CNS) by combining depleting resident microglia and macrophages prior and transplanting bone marrow cells. A recent study assesses the engraftment of peripheral macrophages into recipient mouse models, the gene expression of replaced macrophages and the innate immune response in peripheral organs to establish the safety and durability of the Mr BMT technique.

Pleural infection, encompassing empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusion, represents a serious infectious condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality, yet comprehensive data distinguishing between hospital-acquired (HAPI) and community-acquired (CAPI) forms remain limited. This large retrospective study conducted over 11 years at a major Chinese tertiary-care hospital analyzed 832 patients with pleural infection, providing one of the largest cohorts reported to date. The study revealed that HAPI accounted for the vast majority of cases (84.9%), with important differences in etiology, predisposing factors, microbiology, and antimicrobial resistance patterns compared with CAPI. The most common cause of CAPI was pneumonia and pleurisy, whereas trauma or chest surgery predominated in HAPI. Significant differences in predisposing factors were identified, including abdominal indwelling catheter use, prolonged thoracic cavity drainage, and broad-spectrum antibiotic use, all more prevalent in HAPI. Microbiological analysis revealed distinct pathogen profiles, with Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus species predominating in HAPI and CAPI respectively, while Acinetobacter baumannii and Escherichia coli were the most common Gram-negative pathogens. Alarmingly, high rates of antimicrobial resistance were observed, particularly among Gram-negative organisms. The overall 30-day mortality was 13.1%, with no significant difference between HAPI and CAPI.

 

A new review in Medicine Plus traces a century of deep brain stimulation (DBS), explaining how the therapy alters pathological activity from local circuits to whole-brain networks, and mapping targets and clinical evidence across 16 neurological and psychiatric disorders. It also examines adaptive stimulation, directional leads, and biomarker-guided approaches that could make treatment more precise and personalized.

A new review in Medicine Plus outlines a transformative paradigm for luminal cancers using engineered microbe-based micro/nanorobots. Deployed via oral, suppository, or intracavitary routes, these living platforms bypass physiological barriers, colonize tumor niches, continuously synthesize therapeutics, and remodel the tumor microenvironment. Merging microbial adaptability with synthetic biology, they usher in an era of persistent, spatially controlled intervention.

A new review in Medicine Plus traces the evolution of mRNA lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNPs) from prophylactic vaccine vehicles to programmable therapeutic platforms. The authors detail clinical and preclinical progress across infectious disease, cancer, autoimmunity, rare genetic disease and tissue repair, while identifying key translational hurdles including extrahepatic targeting, repeat-dose immunogenicity, off-target editing risks, and scalable manufacturing.

This study analyzes 30 surface-water metagenomes from four functionally distinct waterbody types in Beijing, revealing starkly differentiated antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) landscapes. Urban rivers sustained the highest ARG burden, while relatively isolated urban lakes exhibited the lowest. Notably, receiving waters linked to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project maintained an intermediate load yet displayed the strongest coupling between ARGs and mobile genetic elements (R²=0.965), signaling elevated mobilization potential at these hydrological interfaces. The findings provide a foundational ecological framework for tracking resistance transport and informing risk-oriented management of megacity aquatic networks.

Seventy years after a small group of scientists gathered at Dartmouth College and helped launch artificial intelligence as an academic discipline, AI has evolved from an ambitious idea into a powerful force reshaping science, medicine, industry, and environmental protection.

The BESIII Collaboration, led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has achieved the world's most precise measurement of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the Lambda (Λ) hyperon using quantum-entangled Λ–anti-Λ pairs produced in J/ψ decays. The result improves the experimental sensitivity by about three orders of magnitude compared with the previous measurement, providing a new way to probe charge-parity (CP) violation in particles containing strange quarks.