HBsAg loss is the preferred endpoint for functional cure in chronic hepatitis B (CHB), but remains uncommon with finite treatment. Peg‑IFNα‑2b may increase HBsAg decline in selected patients, but small real‑world cohorts have limited HBsAg loss events. Binary endpoints do not capture on‑treatment qHBsAg dynamics, which are measured irregularly. This study characterised qHBsAg trajectories using LOESS in NA‑experienced patients receiving Peg‑IFNα‑2b add‑on therapy versus NAs alone.

HBV genotype C is common in East Asia and linked to cirrhosis and HCC. It features persistent replication, delayed HBeAg seroconversion, active inflammation, and high HCC risk. Key drivers include BCP A1762T/G1764A, preC G1896A, abnormal HBx, and viral integration. This review summarises the molecular features, pathogenic mechanisms, and clinical implications, and discusses genotype‑informed risk stratification.

With the increasing threat posed by space debris to the safe operation of on-orbit spacecraft, the Whipple shield, as a critical means of defending spacecraft against hypervelocity impacts, has evolved from conventional single-layer configurations to advanced architectures employing high-performance materials such as fiber-reinforced composites. Advanced shields such as carbon fiber–reinforced composite laminates involve additional energy dissipation through failure modes including fiber fracture, delamination, and melting, resulting in shielding mechanisms that differ significantly from those of traditional Whipple shields. However, the currently predominant ballistic limit equations lack accuracy and generalizability for different advanced configurations, making them unsuitable for direct comparison of shielding performance. Hypervelocity impact experiments are costly and cannot be performed for every configuration, while existing numerical studies have mostly focused on the macroscopic morphology of debris clouds, with insufficient quantitative analysis of the hazardous fragments within them. Therefore, how to establish a method capable of quantitatively evaluating and comparing the shielding performance of different advanced Whipple shields has become a critical technical issue urgently to be addressed in the field of spacecraft space debris protection.

The 2026 ESC Guidelines on Cardiac Rehabilitation redefine cardiac rehabilitation as an integral part of cardiovascular treatment and long-term secondary prevention, rather than simply a period of exercise after a heart attack or procedure. Rehabilitation can begin during hospitalization and continue in specialized centers, at home, through telerehabilitation, or in hybrid models.

The guidelines emphasize a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach combining individualized physical training with risk factor management, medication optimization, nutritional counseling, patient education, smoking cessation support and psychosocial care. Programs should be tailored to each patient, including older people and those with frailty or multiple chronic conditions.

Cardiac rehabilitation can improve physical functioning, quality of life and psychological well-being while reducing rehospitalizations and, in selected patient groups, the risk of cardiovascular events. The recommendations now cover a broad range of cardiovascular conditions, including coronary syndromes, heart failure, valvular disease, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathies.

A major focus of the guidelines is also improving access to rehabilitation. Home-based programs and telerehabilitation may help reach patients who live far from rehabilitation centers or face other barriers to participation.

The guidelines were published in the European Heart Journal in August 2026. Associate Professor Michał Czapla from Wroclaw Medical University is one of their co-authors.

A large three-year newborn screening program found that more than half of babies with congenital CMV would have been missed by standard targeted screening because many appeared healthy at birth. The findings suggest that routine saliva-based screening could help identify affected infants earlier, allowing for closer monitoring and, when needed, timely treatment, while pooled testing may make large-scale screening more practical.

Solid electrolytes are promising materials for safer, more compact all-solid-state batteries, but producing smooth thin films with high ionic conductivity remains challenging. In a recent study, researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, developed a multilayer method using lithium borohydride and lithium iodide to create high-iodine thin films. Their approach improved iodine incorporation, maintained relatively smooth surfaces, and produced good room-temperature ionic conductivity, opening new possibilities for thin-film solid electrolytes.

Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂, LCO) stands as one of the most representative cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. The improvement in energy density of LiCoO₂ is essentially achieved by increasing the charge cut-off voltage. However, under high-voltage conditions, the electrolyte solvent molecules undergo severe oxidative decomposition at the cathode interface. Moreover, a series of issues including transition metal dissolution, oxygen release, and deteriorated thermal stability, have become bottlenecks that severely restrict its practical application.

To address this challenge, Prof. Yang Sun (Sun Yat-sen University), Associate Researcher Maolin Yang (Xiamen University), Professors Qiaobao Zhang (Xiamen University), Yu Qiao (Xiamen University), and Academician Shi-gang Sun (Xiamen University) have proposed a novel strategy to stabilize high-voltage LiCoO₂ cathodes by coating them with a conformal zeolite layer using a scalable high-speed solid-phase mechanofusion technique. The sub-nano channels of zeolite enable complete Li⁺ desolvation, creating a locally supersaturated electrolyte that suppresses solvent decomposition. The Zeolite@LCO cathode achieves ~83% capacity retention after 300 cycles at 4.8 V and stable operation at 5.0 V, with significantly enhanced thermal safety. This work provides a translatable paradigm for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. This work was recently published online in Science Bulletin.

The development of efficient, durable, and cost-effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is essential for advancing renewable energy technologies. Herein, a novel strategy is reported that spatially confines a nanoscale localized high-entropy oxide (LHEO) consisting of Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, and Mn within α-Fe2O3, forming a unique α-Fe2O3@LHEO nanoarchitecture. The catalyst exhibits outstanding OER performance for alkaline water splitting, achieving a current density of 10 mA/cm2 at a low overpotential of 229 mV with a small Tafel slope of 34.4 mV/dec, significantly outperforming commercial RuO2 (326 mV, 118.8 mV/dec). It also shows excellent long-term stability over 1000 h at 100 mA/cm2 without notable activity degradation. Applied in rechargeable zinc–air batteries with natural seawater, the α-Fe2O3@LHEO cathode delivers a high power density of 88.3 mW/cm2 and stable operation over 600 cycles, substantially surpassing the benchmark Ru-Pt electrocatalyst (74.7 mW/cm2, 170 cycles). Combined experimental and theoretical studies reveal that LHEO induces lattice strain in α-Fe2O3, modulates its electronic structure, and lowers the crystal field splitting energy to stabilize high-spin Fe3+. These effects enhance metallic character for efficient charge transfer and optimize the adsorption/desorption of key oxygen reaction intermediates, thus shifting the OER pathway from the conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) to the more energetically favorable lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) with the energy barrier reduced from 1.85 to 1.71 eV. Overall, this work proposes a novel localized high-entropy engineering approach that overcomes key bottlenecks in designing efficient and durable OER electrocatalysts based on earth-abundant materials.