News from Science China Press

How much load can a crumpled sheet bear, and does size matter? A new study of two-dimensional macromolecules, a class of ultrathin sheet-like materials, shows that at equal packing density smaller sheets carry higher compressive loads than larger ones. Coarse-grained simulations and compression tests on paper, aluminum foil, PDMS, and silicone rubber reveal a universal “smaller is stronger” rule rooted in denser internal ridge networks, offering a new design principle for lightweight, high-strength structural metamaterials.

A new Perspective in Science Bulletin argues that AI tools for intracranial aneurysm detection should be evaluated beyond test-set accuracy. The authors propose a four-stage pathway covering lesion-level validation, reader performance, prospective implementation and post-deployment surveillance to assess whether AI can deliver real clinical benefit.

Monitoring COVID-19 NAbs dynamics remains dissolved as the lack of analytical strategies deployable in most practice, as stably remaining protein activity seems particularly difficult. We engineer selenium nanoparticles for LFIA that preserves protein activity and enhances stability. NAbs levels decrease with age and over time after infection, and they drop sharply with neurological and hematological diseases according to 1,328 samples. Our work provides a reliable and universally platform for next-generation point-of-care immunity monitoring and vaccine evaluation.

Anti-angiogenic therapies targeting VEGF signaling have limited clinical efficacy due to inevitable resistance. Researchers constructed a pancancer single-cell atlas of 1.24 million cells across 13 cancer types, revealing that pericytes (PCs) and PC-derived PGF/ANGPT2 are more prominent pro-angiogenic regulators than the classical VEGFA-centric model. Tumor-educated MCAM+ immature PCs (imPCs) were identified as the primary source of PGF/ANGPT2, driving alternative angiogenesis and anti-VEGFR resistance. Combining anti-VEGFR with MCAM-targeting antibody-drug conjugates achieved superior tumor control through dual EC/PC inhibition.

Type 2 diabetes affects far more than glucose metabolism. Researchers have reported that a 16-week personalized exercise delivered broad health benefits for people with type 2 diabetes and abdominal obesity. Beyond reducing body fat, the intervention increased skeletal muscle mass, improved glycemic regulation and physical fitness, and enhanced cognitive performance. The findings suggest that personalized exercise should be viewed as a comprehensive therapeutic strategy rather than simply a weight-loss tool.

A new review in Science Bulletin proposes a "virulence phenotype-first" framework to assess the clinical risk of carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-hvKP). It argues that functional virulence expression—not just genetic markers—should guide real-time risk stratification for this emerging superbug.

Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University and UNSW Sydney have developed a dual-side electrosynthesis system that simultaneously converts plastic waste and biowaste into Succinic Acid, a key building block for biodegradable plastics, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals. By directing both the anodic and cathodic reactions toward the same target product, the system achieves an unprecedented succinic acid yield of 169.1%, surpassing the conventional single-electrode limit. The process combines the electrooxidation of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)-derived 1,4-butanediol and the electroreduction of biomass-derived maleic acid, demonstrating a profitable and scalable pathway for circular chemical manufacturing.