Lifeboat Foundation

Reduced stress is linked to changes in the profile of plasma metabolites, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland shows. According to the researchers, the findings can shed light on the associations of psychological well-being with metabolism and the risk of disease. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Psychological stress is known to be associated with obesity, low-grade inflammation and metabolic disorders, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the newly published study, the researchers used metabolite profiling to study whether improved psychological well-being is associated with measurable changes in metabolism. The study is a sub-study of Elixir, a large multi-center lifestyle intervention study conducted by the Universities of Helsinki, Eastern Finland and Jyväskylä, and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

The study participants were obese individuals with perceived psychological stress symptoms at the onset of the study. They were divided into two groups: one group to undergo a psychological lifestyle intervention (60 individuals) and a control group (64 individuals). Both groups managed to lose weight, but reduced stress and improved psychological well-being were reported by the intervention group in particular. Using metabolomics techniques, the researchers performed an extensive analysis of fasting metabolites in all study participants at beginning of the study and again nine months later, after the intervention had ended. Stress and psychological well-being were assessed by surveys and heart rate variability measurements.

Top U.S. public health officials said Tuesday that Americans should prepare for the spread of the coronavirus in communities across the country.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen any more, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing Tuesday.

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The Neolithic revolution, and the corresponding transition to agricultural and pastoralist lifestyles, represents one of the greatest cultural shifts in human history, and it has long been hypothesized that this might have also provided the opportunity for the emergence of human-adapted diseases. A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution led by Felix M. Key, Alexander Herbig, and Johannes Krause of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History studied human remains excavated across Western Eurasia and reconstructed eight ancient Salmonella enterica genomes—all part of a related group within the much larger diversity of modern S. enterica. These results illuminate what was likely a serious health concern in the past and reveal how this bacterial pathogen evolved over a period of 6,500 years.

Searching for ancient pathogens

Most pathogens do not cause any lasting impact on the skeleton, which can make identifying affected archaeological remains difficult for scientists. In order to identify past diseases and reconstruct their histories, researchers have turned to genetic techniques. Using a newly developed bacterial screening pipeline called HOPS, Key and colleagues were able to overcome many of the challenges of finding ancient pathogens in metagenomics data.

French health officials declared an end to the country’s COVID-19 outbreak on Monday.

France had confirmed 12 cases of the coronavirus since it first reached the country on January 24. Unfortunately, one of those patients died from their infection. But the French-language news outlet Le Parisien reports that the remaining 11 have all made complete recoveries — meaning there are no longer any COVID-19 cases in any French hospital.

There are “no longer any hospitalized patients in France,” said Health Minister Olivier Véran, in French. “The last one is cured and is no longer contagious.”

This is a guest post by Mohammed Murad, vice president, global sales and business development, Iris ID.

The world is in the grip of a coronavirus epidemic the impact of which extends well beyond people’s health, including more than 1,300 reported deaths. The fear of this recently identified disease has closed businesses and grounded thousands of flights. The impacts have led to estimates of reduced economic growth in many countries.

While the virus that was first discovered in a Chinese province has killed far fewer people than influenza this year, the fatality rate has people worried. Influenza reportedly kills between 10 to 20 people per 100,000 infections each year. The death rate from the coronavirus tops 2,300 deaths per 100,000 cases. Those latter statistics change virtually daily as more cases of the virus are reported.

A Google AI tool that can recognise and label what’s in an image will no longer attach gender tags like “woman” or “man” to photos of people. Google’s Cloud Vision API is a service for developers that allows them to, among other things, attach labels to photos identifying the contents. The tool can detect faces, landmarks, brand logos, and even explicit content, and has a host of uses from retailers using visual search to researchers identifying animal species.

A new international study confirms an association between a Mediterranean-type diet and better gut and systemic health later in life.

A swallowable capsule that can identify warning signs of colorectal cancer is moving closer to the American market, promising an Israeli-led revolution in colorectal cancer prevention.

“When we ask patients and physicians, we get a clear answer that the device has the potential to change the natural history of colon cancer screening,” said Ovadia. “Since the device is safe, not an intervention and there is no need for preparation, we have resolved most of the barriers preventing any patient of the recommended age from undergoing screening. There is no reason now for a patient not to perform the study.”

According to Prof. Nadir Arber, the principal investigator for C-Scan clinical trials and the head of the Health Promotion Center and Integrated Cancer Prevention Center at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the C-Scan system “can change the landscape of colorectal cancer prevention worldwide.”

Continue reading “Israeli-made x-ray capsule identifies warning signs of colorectal cancer” »

HONG KONG, Feb. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Infectious diseases represent an important portion of global public health concerns¸ in particular with regard to the current global outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The challenge of frontline diagnosis in hospitals, clinics and ports is that infectious diseases could exhibit similar symptoms or can be asymptomatic. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced the development of the world’s most comprehensive automated multiplex diagnostic system (the System) which includes a fully automated machine and a multiplex full-screening panel for the point-of-care genetic testing (POCT) of respiratory infectious disease including the 2019-nCoV.