Behind the Paper
The real stories behind the latest research papers, from conception to publication, the highs and the lows
Microgravity and bone physiology: Impacts on skeletal stem/progenitors.
Our paper entitled “Transcriptional responses of skeletal stem/progenitor cells to hindlimb unloading and recovery correlate with localized but not systemic multi-systems impacts” just published in npj Microgravity, reveals how simulated microgravity alters bone at the stem/progenitor level.
Activation of a cGAS-STING-mediated immune response predicts response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early breast cancer
In this clinical study, we have validated a 44 gene expression based DDIR signature as a predictor of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer, which can be integrated into clinical workflows, and potentially identifies a subgroup of cancers responsive to anthracycline treatment.
Suppression of common species enables bacterial rarity in dry soils
A chosen few, common species are globally widespread. On the other hand, rare bacterial species display high sensitivity to environmental conditions at low relative abundances. Predictable shifts in soil bacterial rarity occur across biomes primarily driven by soil hydration conditions.
Optical manipulation of electronic dimensionality in a quantum material
Exotic phenomenon can be achieved in quantum materials by confining electronic states into two dimensions. For example, quantized Hall effect can be resulted in a unit cell of a periodic 2D system (Nobel prize in 1988), relativistic fermions are realized in a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice while such electronic state is absent in the bulk graphite (Nobel prize in 2010), superconducting transition temperature can be enhanced by confining materials into 2D, and so on. Ordinarily, the 2D electronic system can be artificially created by exfoliating the layered materials, growing on substrates via molecular beam epitaxy, or building interfaces between two different materials. Searching for new methods to confine electronic states into 2D is important in condensed matter physics.
