Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men worldwide. However, planning personalized radiotherapy in the advanced stages of the disease still requires more precise tools. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have now tested a novel approach. A combination of two diagnostic imaging techniques could pave the way for personalized radiotherapy. The results of the study, funded by the Wilhelm Sander Foundation, have been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6c00161).

Photoacoustic computed tomography can provide rich optical contrast over extended penetration depth of biological tissues. However, its capability of multi-scale multi-contrast structural and functional imaging is limited by the inherent size-dependent sensitivity, narrow bandwidth and high material rigidity of the state-of-the-art piezoelectric transducer arrays. The team from Jinan University has proposed a novel sheet-like focusing dual-frequency fiber ultrasound transducer, avoiding the use of multiple transducers to simultaneously capture photoacoustic signals of different frequencies. This design enables deep penetration, high resolution, and precise functional imaging at the entire brain scale and also screening for malignant brain tumors.

Researchers review the latest results and understanding of mechanisms behind this new field of research where seeds show higher yields and resilience following flash treatment in low-temperature plasma. 

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) represent a promising class of post-lithium energy storage systems. However, their practical deployment is impeded by critical interfacial instabilities, such as uncontrolled growth of zinc dendrites, adverse parasitic interfacial reactions, and cathode material dissolution. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), renowned for its atomic-scale precision and exceptional conformality, offers a pivotal strategy to mitigate these challenges. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of ALD applications in ZIBs, with a central focus on a critical paradigm shift: from the use of simple passive physical barriers toward multifunctional coatings capable of actively regulating interfacial chemistry and ion transport. It elucidates the mechanisms through which ALD-derived coatings (e.g., Al2O3, ZnO, Fe2O3) regulate Zn2+ flux, suppress hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs), and induce preferential zinc deposition along specific crystallographic orientations (e.g., the Zn (002) plane) to inhibit dendrite formation. Furthermore, it covers ALD strategies for enhancing cathode structural stability against dissolution and collapse, as well as for functionalizing separators to achieve selective ion transport. Finally, it presents critical perspectives on overcoming the cost-scalability trade-off and deepening the mechanistic understanding of structure-property relationships, aiming to guide the rational design of durable and high-performance ZIBs. This paradigm shift represents a fundamental transition in interface design philosophy for high-performance ZIBs.