A research team at the Faculty of Engineering of The University of Hong Kong (HKU), led by Professor Ruibang Luo from the School of Computing and Data Science and Professor Can Li from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has developed Gungnir, a novel blockchain-inspired DNA data storage codec. The breakthrough framework significantly improves digital information recovery from severely damaged DNA sequences, extending the practical lifespan of DNA data archives from under a decade to centuries.

A research team from the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has found that long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics provide better treatment outcomes than oral antipsychotic medications for patients aged 65 and above with schizophrenia. Among this group, LAI antipsychotics were found to reduce relapse-related hospital admissions by 29% and all-cause mortality by 77% compared to oral antipsychotics. In people with bipolar disorder, relapse-related hospital admissions were reduced by 33%. Both studies highlight the potential value of LAI antipsychotics, particularly second-generation formulations, in improving long‑term stability, especially in patients with poor medication adherence. Benefits were optimised when LAI antipsychotics were used in the earlier stage of the illness. The findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry and The American Journal of Psychiatry respectively. 

Nitric oxide (NO) regulates hepatic and systemic vascular tone. Abnormal NO distribution is a hallmark of portal hypertension. Under normal portal pressure, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) produce NO, promoting vasodilation and hepatic stellate cell (HSC) relaxation. In portal hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) imbalance, and superoxide impair intrahepatic NO availability, causing HSC activation and worsening portal hypertension. Excess splanchnic NO causes systemic vasodilation, hyperdynamic circulation, and collateral formation. Abnormal NO clearance contributes to hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) and hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS). Statins, PDE‑5 inhibitors, and midodrine restore NO homeostasis with partial success.

A Concordia University survey of over 15,000 people in 81 countries reveals why single-use plastic water bottles remain popular despite known health risks. Researchers identified three consumer types—driven by convenience, advertising, or limited access to safe drinking water—shaped by age, education, and infrastructure. The findings, published in Journal of Cleaner Production, could help policymakers craft more targeted strategies to curb plastic bottle reliance.

Researchers have developed a key-decoupled circuit-model blind quantum computation protocol that enhances privacy protection in delegated quantum computing while reducing the operational burden on the client. By independently generating encryption and decryption keys, the protocol avoids gate-by-gate propagation of decryption information and conceals the target operation within its Pauli equivalence class. A low-overhead statistical verification strategy based on randomly sampled Pauli observables is further introduced to detect deviations by the quantum server. Proof-of-principle experiments on an IBM superconducting quantum processor, together with multi-qubit numerical simulations, demonstrate the feasibility and scalability of the approach for privacy-preserving quantum cloud computing.

In a paper published in Science China Chemistry, a research team led by Professors Atsuhiro Osuka and Jianxin Song at Hunan Normal University developed a concise synthetic method for the single, double, triple, and quadruple installations of directly fused hemiporphycenes at the periphery of Ni(II) porphyrin. They subjected the Ni(II) complexes to demetallation under acidic conditions, which furnished the corresponding free-base compounds, and efficiently converted these to the corresponding Zn(II) congeners. The resulting hemiporphycene-fused porphyrins displayed nonplanar distorted structures, panchromatic absorptions with red-shifted and enhanced Q bands, and multiple reversible redox waves.

In shale reservoirs, total oil content does not necessarily show where oil is stored or how mobile it may be. Researchers led by Bo Liu at Northeast Petroleum University developed a multiscale workflow that combines swelling-extraction experiments, SEM/AFM pore characterization and molecular dynamics simulations. The study separates shale oil into five occurrence types: kerogen-swelling oil, adsorbed oil in organic pores, free oil in organic pores, adsorbed oil in inorganic pores and free oil in inorganic pores. The framework offers a tool with strong applicability across study areas for understanding oil-rock interactions and evaluating shale-oil mobility in continental shale systems.