Engineers at the US Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) are employing a novel, cost-effective strategy to prepare for the assembly of a critical component in their cutting-edge fusion energy device. By creating detailed 3D-printed replicas of complex magnet systems, the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) team is ensuring a smoother, faster, and … Read more
Imagine trying to carve a tiny, complex sculpture into a block the size of your fingernail again and again, billions of times, with nearly no room for error. That’s what chipmakers do when they etch complex patterns on silicon to make the semiconductors that power most of the gadgets and technology around us. As we … Read more
TOPLINE: Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) measurements of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) identify patients with stage III melanoma who are at high risk for early recurrence during adjuvant targeted therapy. The blood-based biomarker outperforms traditional prognostic indicators including tumor mutational burden and interferon gamma gene expression. METHODOLOGY: Cell-free ctDNA is an established measure of … Read more
Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Researchers at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) have now reported on a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of some common cancers. In a proof-of-concept study, the team used machine learning to … Read more
A novel blood test that detects a key biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could help physicians more accurately determine the presence and track disease progression. The test measures levels of the protein MTBR-tau243 — microtubule-binding region of tau containing the residue 243 — a biomarker of tau tangles in the brain that may be a … Read more
Solar Orbiter captures Helical Plasma Flow After Coronal Mass Ejection Table of Contents Solar Orbiter captures Helical Plasma Flow After Coronal Mass Ejection Helical Flow Observed Observing the Corona Unprecedented Detail Tracking the Flow’s Origin Magnetic Field Dynamics Twisted Flux Ropes Magnetic Switchbacks Unlocking Solar Mysteries Examining Helical Plasma Flows from the Sun: Insights from … Read more
Knopman DS, Roberts RO. Estimating the number of persons with frontotemporal lobar degeneration in the US population. J Mol Neurosci. 2011;45(3):330–5. Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Boeve BF, Boxer AL, Kumfor F, Pijnenburg Y, Rohrer JD. Advances and controversies in frontotemporal dementia: diagnosis, biomarkers, and therapeutic considerations. Lancet Neurol. 2022;21(3):258–72. Article PubMed Google Scholar … Read more
In the first instalment of a series to mark the 10th anniversary of the Future Science Prize, Holly Chik and Shen Xinmei look at Professor Dennis Lo’s groundbreaking discovery of fetal DNA in maternal plasma, which earned him the inaugural award in the Life Sciences category in 2016. The blood tests of the future can … Read more
Scientists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have achieved a significant milestone in laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) technology. They have generated fast, bright proton beams by using the power of a simple water stream. This breakthrough addresses long-standing challenges and brings LPA technology closer to real-world applications. “These exciting results pave the way for new applications of … Read more
A blood test conducted in a prehospital setting may rapidly distinguish between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, potentially facilitating more rapid, targeted treatment. The test measures the levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a protein specific to the brain which is released into the bloodstream when brain cells are damaged or destroyed. It is already … Read more