This work provides a novel class of photoactivable fluorescent probes (photocages) based on a thioketal. In this series of photocages, the thioketal moiety serves as a component for regulating the fluorescence signal switch and enabling light responsiveness. These thioketal-based photocages exhibit unique photoresponsiveness, distinct from traditional thioketal, and can undergo deprotection independently under UV-visible light and in the presence of oxygen. The researchers have constructed a library of thioketal photocage molecules based on various heteroatom-substituted azaindole dyes and applied them for subcellular structure and specific protein imaging in live cells. The fluorescence signal switching demonstrates high selectivity towards external light signals, allowing for precise spatiotemporal control of photocage activation and imaging. This work presents a new photocage design strategy based on thioketal, offering a novel molecular platform for the developing photochemical tools.

In a paper published in National Science Review, Zang's group reports on two atomically precise bimetallic clusters, namely Ag₁₄Pd and Ag₁₃Au₅, both featuring icosahedral cores and similar ligands. Furthermore, the study unveils the influence of charge polarization, induced by hetero-metal doping, on the selectivity of electrocatalytic urea synthesis.

In a paper published in National Science Review, a team of Chinese scientists developed an attention-based deep learning model, CGMformer, pretrained on a well-controlled and diverse corpus of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) data to represent individual’s intrinsic metabolic state and enable clinical applications. It can accurately characterize individual dynamic glycemic behaviors such as maintenance of fasting blood glucose homeostasis and adaptation to postprandial hyperglycemia., It can assist in the diagnosis, disease duration assessment, and complication prediction of type 2 diabetes, subtype classification of non-diabetic populations, predict postprandial glucose responses accurately and provide personalized dietary recommendations for diabetes patients, thereby enabling lifestyle intervention recommendations.

A study documented the comprehensive responses of microbial community characteristics to degradation processes using field-based sampling, and soil microcosm experiments were conducted to simulate effects of global change on microorganisms and explore their relationships to ecosystem functioning across stages of alpine pioneer community degradation.