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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 26 minutes ago

Study finds sports injuries sustained during a woman's period might be more severe
Injuries sustained by elite female football players during menstruation are more severe and result in over three times more days lost compared to injuries at other times in the menstrual cycle. While menstruation does not increase injury incidence, hormonal and physiological changes may worsen injury severity and prolong recovery. Individual menstrual tracking and tailored training may help reduce injury impact.

Menstruation and injury occurrence; a four season observational study in elite female football players, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1665482

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 29 minutes ago

Biodegradable dishes could transfer gluten to foods, posing health risk to gluten-sensitive individuals
Some biodegradable tableware made from wheat by-products can contain gluten and transfer it to foods and drinks at levels exceeding gluten-free regulatory thresholds, particularly into liquids. This poses a potential health risk for individuals with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, as such products are not required to carry allergen labels.

In 30-minute experiments conducted by researchers, gluten-free foods were placed on the different tableware items at room temperature. The foods' gluten contents were measured and compared against the gluten-free (less than 20 ppm) and low-gluten (less than 100 ppm) regulatory thresholds set by the European Union and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Only the gluten-containing plate passed protein into omelet, rice, milk and vegetable cream samples. Significantly less gluten transferred into the solid foods than into the liquids:

• Rice: up to 17 ppm, below the gluten-free threshold.
• Omelet: up to 30 ppm, below the low-gluten threshold.
• Milk: up to 240 ppm, over the low-gluten threshold.
• Vegetable cream: up to 2,100 ppm, over the low-gluten threshold.

In some cases, microwaving foods in the dish reduced gluten contamination compared to room temperature samples, and the researchers hypothesize it is because heat denatures the protein and disrupts its transfer into foods.

The researchers urge mandatory gluten labeling for materials that contact food.

Carolina Sousa et al, Potential Transfer of Toxic Gluten from Biodegradable Tableware to Gluten-Free Foods: Implications for Individuals with Gluten-Related Disorders, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5c07516

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 52 minutes ago

40% of MRI signals do not correspond to actual brain activity, study suggests
Approximately 40% of fMRI signals do not accurately reflect neuronal activity, as increased signals can correspond to reduced brain activity and vice versa. Oxygen consumption in active brain regions often rises without increased blood flow, indicating more efficient oxygen extraction rather than greater perfusion. These findings challenge standard interpretations of fMRI data, especially in studies of brain disorders.

For almost three decades, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been one of the main tools in brain research. Yet a new study published in Nature Neuroscience fundamentally challenges the way fMRI data have so far been interpreted with regard to neuronal activity.

According to the findings, there is no generally valid coupling between the oxygen content measured by MRI and neuronal activity.

Researchers found that an increased fMRI signal is associated with reduced brain activity in around 40% of cases. At the same time, they observed decreased fMRI signals in regions with elevated activity.

This contradicts the long-standing assumption that increased brain activity is always accompanied by an increased blood flow to meet higher oxygen demand. Since tens of thousands of fMRI studies worldwide are based on this assumption, these new results could lead to opposite interpretations in many of them.

According to the researchers, these insights also affect the interpretation of research findings in brain disorders. Many fMRI studies on psychiatric or neurological diseases—from depression to Alzheimer's—interpret changes in blood flow as a reliable signal of neuronal under- or over-activation.

Given the limited validity of such measurements, this must now be reassessed. Especially in patient groups with vascular changes—for instance, due to aging or vascular disease—the measured values may primarily reflect vascular differences rather than neuronal deficits, say the researchers.

The researchers therefore propose complementing the conventional MRI approach with quantitative measurements. In the long term, this combination could form the basis for energy-based brain models: rather than showing activation maps that depend on assumptions about blood flow, future analyses could display values indicating how much oxygen—and therefore energy—is actually consumed for information processing.

Samira M. Epp et al, BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02132-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 58 minutes ago

A mild brain injury can trigger Alzheimer's

Mild traumatic brain injury disrupts brain lymphatic vessel function, impairing waste clearance and accelerating harmful tau protein accumulation associated with Alzheimer's disease. Early intervention to restore lymphatic drainage in laboratory models prevented tau buildup and brain degeneration, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy to reduce Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative risks after head trauma.

Ana Royo Marco et al, Therapeutic VEGFC treatment provides protection against traumatic-brain-injury-driven tauopathy pathogenesis, Cell Reports (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116521

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

Emerging science: The positive health benefits of microbes

Viruses and bacteria get a bad rap around the world, but now  experts are identifying the positive "upside" of powerful benefits that microbes have on human health.

They  presented a timely reminder of these 'invisible friends' in a new article published in Microbial Biotechnology, underlining the benefits of moving away from a threat-centered view of microbes and biogenic compounds.

The article introduces the "Database of Salutogenic Potential," a world-first prototype open-access repository that catalogs microbes and natural compounds linked to positive health outcomes.

Emerging evidence shows that exposure to diverse environmental microbiomes and natural biochemical products also promotes health and resilience. Rather than viewing biodiversity as something to be eliminated, contemporary approaches recognize the vital role of diverse ecosystems in creating salutogenic, or health-promoting, environments.

By consolidating this data, researchers aim to rebalance the story of microbes—highlighting not only what makes us sick, but also what keeps us well. After all, health is not merely the absence of disease. The implications are far-reaching—from designing healthier cities and schoolyards to guiding ecosystem restoration and rethinking green infrastructure.

Salutogenic microbes—those that promote health—and beneficial biochemical compounds have received comparatively little attention despite their important roles in regulating immune function and metabolic processes, suppressing disease, mitigating stress and supporting ecosystem resilience.

For well over a century,  microbes in the air have mainly been studied as threats—causes of infection, disease and contamination. While this pathogen-centric lens has saved countless lives, it also risks overlooking the invisible biodiversity that actively supports human and planetary health. Just as biodiversity loss threatens our health, restoring microbial and biochemical richness could be a key to healthier futures.

The researchers have identified 124 potentially salutogenic microbial taxa and 14 biochemical compounds (from soil bacteria to plant-derived phytoncides) associated with benefits ranging from immune regulation to stress reduction.

Jake M. Robinson et al, Mapping and Cataloguing Microbial and Biochemical Determinants of Health: Towards a 'Database of Salutogenic Potential', Microbial Biotechnology (2025). DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.70243

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

Living rocks in South Africa rapidly absorb carbon

South Africa is home to some of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, contained in rocky, often layered outcroppings called microbialites. Like coral reefs, these complex "living rocks" are built up by microbes absorbing and precipitating dissolved minerals into solid formations.

A new study suggests that these microbialites aren't just surviving—they're thriving.

A paper  published in Nature Communications, quantifies how microbialites along the South African coast take up carbon and turn it into fresh layers of calcium carbonate. They show how these structures utilize photosynthesis and chemical processes to absorb carbon day and night, relating those rates for the first time to the genetic makeup of the microbial community.

The findings highlight just how efficient these microbial mats are at removing dissolved carbon from their environment and sequestering it into stable mineral deposits.

Researchers found that these systems were precipitating calcium carbonate rapidly, estimating that the structures can grow almost two inches vertically every year.

More surprising was the finding of carbon uptake day and night. These systems have long been assumed to be driven solely by photosynthesis.

After repeating their experiments several times, the researchers confirmed that the microbes are utilizing metabolic processes other than photosynthesis to absorb carbon in the absence of light, similar to how microbes living in deep-sea vents survive.

Based on daily rates of carbon uptake, the team estimates that these microbialites can absorb the equivalent of nine to 16 kilograms of carbon dioxide every year per square meter.

Rachel E. Sipler et al, Integration of multiple metabolic pathways supports high rates of carbon precipitation in living microbialites, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66552-8

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

The North Pole keeps moving. Here's how that affects Santa's holiday travel and yours
Earth has two North Poles: the geographic North Pole, marking the axis of rotation, and the magnetic North Pole, which compasses and navigation devices use. The magnetic North Pole moves due to fluid motion in Earth's outer core, with its speed increasing significantly since 1990. Accurate navigation requires correcting for the difference, known as magnetic declination.

The geographic North Pole, also called true north, is the point at one end of the Earth’s axis of rotation.

Earth’s magnetic North Pole is different.

Over 1,000 years ago, explorers began using compasses, typically made with a floating cork or piece of wood with a magnetized needle in it, to find their way. The Earth has a magnetic field that acts like a giant magnet, and the compass needle aligns with it.

The magnetic North Pole is used by devices such as smartphones for navigation – and that pole moves around over time.

The movement of the magnetic North Pole is the result of the Earth having an active core. The inner core, starting about 3,200 miles below your feet, is solid and under such immense pressure that it cannot melt. But the outer core is molten, consisting of melted iron and nickel.

Heat from the inner core makes the molten iron and nickel in the outer core move around, much like soup in a pot on a hot stove. The movement of the iron-rich liquid induces a magnetic field that covers the entire Earth.

As the molten iron in the outer core moves around, the magnetic North Pole wanders.

For most of the past 600 years, the pole has been wandering around over northern Canada. It was moving relatively slowly, around 6 to 9 miles per year, until around 1990, when its speed increased dramatically, up to 34 miles per year.

It started moving in the general direction of the geographic North Pole about a century ago. Earth scientists cannot say exactly why other than that it reflects a change in flow within the outer core.

https://theconversation.com/the-north-pole-keeps-moving-heres-how-t...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 1 hour ago

Firefighter gear contains potentially hazardous flame retardants, study shows

Firefighter turnout gear manufactured between 2013 and 2020 contains both PFAS and brominated flame retardants, with newer gear marketed as non-PFAS treated showing low or undetectable PFAS but higher extractable levels of brominated flame retardants, particularly decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE). These chemicals may pose health risks, highlighting the need for transparency in gear composition.

Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2025)

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Climate change can affect human diseases in widespread and varied ways

As the planet edges towards 1.5°C of global warming, a new study has revealed that we still have only a limited understanding of how climate change is reshaping the risk of infectious diseases that pass from animals to humans.

The research shows that a warmer world will alter weather patterns, transform habitats and shift where many animals live, likely bringing people and wildlife into closer proximity and increasing opportunities for zoonotic diseases to "spill over." However, the exact impacts are extremely hard to predict.

By reviewing hundreds of scientific studies, the team was able to extract detailed climate-disease data for 53 zoonotic diseases—around 6% of the 816 known zoonotic diseases that affect humans. Even for these relatively well-studied diseases, responses to climate change are highly variable.
Overall, zoonotic diseases were found to be sensitive to climate, with temperature showing the clearest links. Higher temperatures were almost twice as likely to increase disease risk as to decrease it, particularly for zoonotic infections spread by mosquitoes. But this pattern was far from universal, and for other climate factors, such as rainfall and humidity, the picture was even more mixed.

The study found that zoonotic diseases are generally climate-sensitive but respond in a variety of ways depending on the disease, the animal host and the local environment. The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Temperature showed the strongest and most consistent links. In many cases, warming increases risk for instance, by speeding up the development of mosquitoes or boosting rodent populations. However, even for a single disease, the response to temperature may change depending on how warm it already is, or which species are involved.

Artur Trebski et al, Climate sensitivity is widely but unevenly spread across zoonotic diseases, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422851122

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Typhoons vacuum microplastics from ocean and deposit them on land, study finds
Typhoons and similar storms rapidly transfer microplastics from the ocean to land, with deposition rates increasing by up to an order of magnitude during storm events. Analysis confirms these particles originate from marine sources, not local environments. This process links plastic pollution and climate change, as stronger storms fueled by warming oceans transport more microplastics inland.

Taiseer Hussain Nafea et al, Microplastics from Ocean Depths to Landfall: Typhoon-Induced Microplastic Circulation in a Warming Climate, Environmental Science & Technology (2025). DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5c11101

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