Macular edema (ME), a leading cause of central vision loss, is often treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections. 

This study examines how catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic diseases, highlighting the moderating role of family doctor contract services. It finds that patients experiencing CHE had significantly lower HRQoL scores compared to those without, but family doctor services helped mitigate these negative effects. Older age, multiple chronic conditions, and higher healthcare utilization were linked to poorer HRQoL, while higher education and stable employment offered protective benefits. The study suggests that expanding family doctor services for chronic disease patients can help break the "poverty-disease" cycle and improve overall health outcomes.

A new study has identified a set of plasma proteins that can predict whether patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) will respond to immunotherapy. 

The Yangtze River, stretching 4300 kilometers, forms a continuous topographic gradient from alpine gorges to estuarine deltas, creating significant variations in sediment particle size, hydrological dynamics, and nutrient spatial patterns. The research led by Sitong Liu’s team from Peking University reveals the regulatory role of river landforms (determined by geological structures) in microbial mutualistic patterns: bacteria in different landforms adapt to the environment by dynamically adjusting their mutualistic strategies, with a focus on comammox Nitrospira. In mountain-foothill regions, these bacteria maintain their competitive advantage by enhancing the absorption of amino acids and vitamin B6, which explains the difference between the stable abundance of this bacterium and the decline of other ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

Far from being mere cellular building blocks, amino acids have emerged as powerful regulators of cancer growth and immune function.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny particles released by cells that help control egg development. In a recent review, researchers from China explored how EVs influence oocyte health by transferring important molecules between cells. The article discusses how EV function changes under disease conditions and how this affects fertility. It also highlights the growing potential of therapeutic EVs to improve egg quality and treat ovarian disorders, offering new possibilities for advancing reproductive medicine.

Within the next 25 years, China may become the first country in the world to build a nationwide genomic database covering its entire population, as futurist and Wired founding executive editor Kevin Kelly predicts. As one of the main participants in the HGP, China has accelerated the integration of genomics into national proactive health management in the last two decades. This success was driven by advanced genetic technologies, supportive policies, and pressing public health needs.

We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that a cylinder with arbitrary cross section, composed of a homogeneous electromagnetic medium featuring nontrivial second Chern numbers c₂ in a synthetic five-dimensional space, host topologically protected intrinsic Higher-order topological insulators (HOTI) type hinge states. Our work introduces the concept of boundary gauge fields and establishes the link between synthetic-space c₂ and real-space HOTI states.