In this Research Perspective, we briefly review the diffusion wake, a distinctive consequence of the Mach-cone wake induced by the supersonic jets in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. The diffusion wake depletes soft hadrons in the direction opposite to the propagating jet. According to coupled transport and hydrodynamic simulations, a valley in the 2-dimensional jet–hadron correlation in azimuthal angle and rapidity arises on the top of the multiple-parton interaction ridge as an unambiguous signal of the diffusion wake induced by \gamma-jets in heavy-ion collisions. In dijet events with a finite rapidity gap, the rapidity asymmetry of the jet–hadron correlation has been shown to be a robust signal of the diffusion wake. The same rapidity asymmetry can also be applied to \gamma-jet events, and both are background-free. Experimental measurements of these signals can provide valuable insights into the properties of the quark–gluon plasma formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions.

Redox imbalance resulting from NAD⁺ [nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (oxidized form)] depletion and NADH (reduced form of NAD⁺) accumulation is a conserved hallmark of both aging and myocardial infarction (MI), promoting cellular senescence and limiting the efficacy of regenerative therapies. Despite several NADH oxidase (NOX)-mimetic nanozymes having been reported, their therapeutic utility in aging and cardiovascular repair remains largely unexplored. Here, we present a vanadium-based nanozyme (MXene-TA) that mimics bacterial NOX activity, catalytically oxidizing NADH to restore NAD⁺ and directly fixing redox imbalance. In aged (24-month-old) mice, systemic MXene-TA administration restored NAD⁺/NADH homeostasis and reduced senescence markers (p16, p21, γH2AX, and SASP) in the heart, liver, and spleen, yet this effect was not observed in the lungs or kidneys, indicating organ-specific redox susceptibility. In a rat MI model, local injection of MXene-TA into the infarcted myocardium reprogrammed metabolism, activated NAD⁺-dependent pathways, attenuated oxidative damage in cardiomyocytes, decreased infarct area, and enhanced myocardial function. To further enhance stem cell retention and function, we embedded MXene-TA and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) into a pH-responsive, conductive hydrogel that mimics cardiac mechanical and electrical properties. This platform extended ADSC survival beyond 4 weeks (versus 1 week in controls) and further improved cardiac repair. Together, these findings uncover the therapeutic potential of NOX-mimetic nanozymes in aging and ischemic heart disease and introduce a redox-regulating hydrogel system that addresses both oxidative stress and stem cell integration for effective myocardial repair.

Panvascular medicine underscores the integration of vascular networks across organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys, and limbs into a unified system. In this system, metabolic aberrations, endothelial dysfunction, and hemodynamic disturbances in one organ can drive synergistic pathologies elsewhere. However, current interventional device development has largely overlooked richly vascularized, high-perfusion organs like the liver and kidneys. Furthermore, the pervasive challenge of “low suitcordance”—a term we introduce to describe suboptimal device performance over its entire life cycle—confronting interventional devices for panvascular full-watershed organs remains unresolved. (Here, the term “full-watershed” metaphorically denotes organs that, like geographical watersheds, receive marked perfusion from the systemic circulation, emphasizing their collective role in panvascular health.) This article introduces “suitcordance” (short-term suitability and long-term concordance) as a novel framework for evaluating device performance that transcends traditional metrics like biocompatibility. We propose that interdisciplinary innovation, fusing materials science, biomechanics, mechanobiology, and artificial intelligence can address this gap. The Xinsorb bioresorbable scaffold illustrates a path toward “high suitcordance” devices, offering a paradigmatic reference for interventions in cerebral, peripheral, hepatic, and renal vasculatures. This approach provides a new paradigm for advancing interventional devices from isolated vascular repair to the synergistic management of multivascular bed lesions and the restoration of systemic functional equilibria.

Abiotic and historical factors are major determinants of large-scale patterns of species richness, yet facilitative interactions can strongly influence diversity in low-productivity habitats such as alpine ecosystems. Cushion plants often promote the establishment of other species, but the relative roles of climate, species pools, and facilitation remain largely unknown. We analyzed 454 plots (4 × 4 m each) of vascular plants from the subnival belts of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, using generalized linear mixed models and structural equation modeling. Community species richness was shaped by climate, regional species pools, and cushion presence, with cushions exerting the strongest positive effect in the Hengduan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau. In the structural equation model, cushion presence exerted the strongest positive effect on species richness, whereas climate affected species richness mainly through indirect pathways: wetter conditions enlarged species pools, whereas colder conditions increased cushion presence, which in turn enhanced local species richness. Cushions also buffered the negative effects of aridity. In contrast, species richness variation in the relatively wetter regions of the Himalaya was primarily determined by abiotic factors but not by cushion presence, consistent with the dominant assumption that facilitation is not frequent under favorable climatic conditions. Our findings demonstrate that alpine species richness emerges from the combined effects of species pools and facilitation rather than direct climate effects alone, highlighting the need to integrate biotic and abiotic drivers when explaining biodiversity patterns in extreme environments.

Since its initial identification in 2019, lactylation has emerged as a critical posttranslation modification, attracting substantial research interest due to its diverse roles in biological processes. Lysine lactylation represents a recently characterized posttranslational modification wherein lactate moieties are covalently attached to protein lysine residues through both enzymatic and nonenzymatic pathways. Lactate, a primary glycolytic product, suggests a link between cell metabolism and protein function regulation. In neoplastic tissues, the Warburg effect induces preferential glucose-to-lactate metabolism in cancer cells, establishing hypoxic conditions and elevated lactate concentrations as defining characteristics of the tumor microenvironment. Extensive research has demonstrated lactate’s pivotal role in tumor metastasis and patient outcomes, particularly through its influence on tumor immune microenvironment remodeling, although the precise molecular mechanisms remain under investigation. The characterization of lysine lactylation provides a novel framework for understanding these mechanisms and presents innovative opportunities for therapeutic intervention. This review examines the influence of lactylation on the tumor microenvironment and its effect in various malignancies and explores emerging therapeutic strategies, including genetic manipulation, small-molecule inhibitors, clinical pharmaceuticals, and nanoparticle-based approaches, offering new perspectives in cancer treatment.

Large language models (LLMs) have showcased remarkable capabilities in the realm of AI for Science, and chemistry has greatly benefited from the advancement of AI tools. With a strong capacity for learning sequential data like natural language, LLMs offer immense potential. Despite this promise, the application of LLMs in chemistry remains limited, with few models specifically designed for chemical data and tasks. Hence, we propose leveraging LLMs to comprehensively model both chemical sequences and natural language sequences, aiming to tackle diverse chemical tasks. We introduce BatGPT-Chem, a general foundation large-scale model with 15 billion parameters tailored for chemical engineering. Built on a corpus of over 100 million chemical instances, BatGPT-Chem specializes in 5 core tasks: retrosynthesis prediction, molecule design, molecule description, product inference, and yield prediction. BatGPT-Chem comprehensively models the information flow between chemical language and natural language, enabling full-spectrum prediction across chemical tasks. It is one of the largest bilingual chemistry-specific LLMs, supporting both English and Chinese for input and output. BatGPT-Chem is also the first automated retrosynthesis tool capable of explicitly predicting reaction conditions, a critical but often overlooked aspect in previous models. Through rigorous zero-shot evaluations, BatGPT-Chem demonstrates state-of-the-art performance, surpassing both existing chemical LLMs and general-purpose models in accuracy and validity across a diverse range of tasks. Notably, it demonstrates superior ability in predicting both reactants and reaction conditions, as well as strong generalization in low-data settings. These results suggest that BatGPT-Chem is among the most advanced and practical chemical LLMs, with strong potential to support real-world applications in synthesis planning, drug discovery, and materials design.

Ischemic stroke (IS), a common neurological disease, lacks satisfactory treatments worldwide. Neural stem cell (NSC) therapy is a promising strategy for stroke, while microenvironmental disturbance, including but not limited to acidosis, oxidative stress, and excessive neuroinflammation, restricts the therapeutic potential of endogenous and exogenous NSC post-IS. The present study introduces the effect of common disturbance on NSC and the underlying mechanism to screen out feasible methods aiming to potentiate the reparative capacity of NSC following IS.

Microcarriers have demonstrated substantial potential in therapeutic delivery for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. Herein, we propose a novel spatiotemporal ultrasound-responsive microcapsule carrier to reinforce curcumin-based sonodynamic therapy in treating RA. Based on microfluidic technology, microcapsules with a hydrogel shell loaded with curcumin and a perfluorocarbon core enriched with oxygen (CUR/O₂-MCs) can be obtained. Ascribed to the liquid-to-gas transition property of perfluorocarbon and the sonosensitivity of curcumin, ultrasound stimulation can realize controlled oxygen release followed by sonodynamic reactive oxygen species production. We have demonstrated that the ultrasound-activated CUR/O₂-MCs can elevate reactive oxygen species amounts in overproliferating fibroblast-like synoviocytes, subsequently inducing fibroblast-like synoviocyte apoptosis. In addition, the released curcumin and oxygen can bring about macrophage repolarization, antiangiogenesis, and hypoxia alleviation, which are also important in blocking RA progression. Thus, in collagen-induced arthritis rats, our spatiotemporal sonodynamic microcapsules can attenuate symptoms and reduce joint damage. These results indicate that our ultrasound-responsive multifunctional microcapsule is an ideal candidate for sonodynamic therapy enhancement and RA treatment.

In the field of 4-dimensional (4D) printing, magnetically responsive smart materials have attracted much attention due to their advantages such as large deformation rate, fast dynamic response, and remote controllability. Focusing on this field, this review systematically reviews the research progress of magnetically responsive 4D printing technology from 3 dimensions: printing process, material design, and interdisciplinary applications. Firstly, it elaborates on the core principles and key technologies of 4D printing and conducts an in-depth analysis of the design principles, response mechanisms, and performance optimization strategies of magnetic shape memory materials, providing a clear framework for understanding the fundamental principles of this technology. On this basis, it explores the innovative applications of magnetically responsive 4D printing in the fields of biomedical tissue engineering, intelligent robotics, and functional devices, highlighting its substantial advantages in non-contact manipulation, high-precision response, and biocompatibility, and demonstrating the practical application value of the technology. Finally, it proposes a collaborative design framework of “material–process–application” in order to promote the application of magnetically responsive materials in interdisciplinary fields.

Sustainable habitation systems are critical to enabling deep-space exploration on Mars, where challenges such as low gravity, extreme thermal fluctuations, and resource constraints demand advanced structural innovations. This study introduces Zhuque Base, a habitat concept inspired by terrestrial cave-dwelling principles, optimized through finite element analysis via COMSOL Multiphysics. Three arch-based configurations—the eggshell, catenary, and 2-centered arch—were systematically evaluated by parameterizing geometric variables. The study demonstrated that eggshell arches significantly outperformed 2-centered and catenary arches in mechanical properties, reducing vertical displacement of critical points such as sidewalls by 53% and 44%, respectively. In terms of thermal efficiency, the optimal catenary arch showed 5.5% and 6.7% lower heat loss than eggshell and 2-centered arches. Furthermore, the implementation of optimal parameters (span: 3.2 m, height: 1.25 or 1.45 m) limits the peak compressive stress to 195.72 to 203.38 kPa, while the cross-sectional area can be increased by 14% to maximize the available internal space. These findings establish a parameter-driven framework for in situ Mars habitat optimization, emphasizing the trade-off between mechanical robustness and thermal efficiency in extraterrestrial structural design.