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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 12 hours ago

China awards its first ‘practical PhDs’

A cohort of PhD candidates in China have become the first in the country to be assessed on the basis of practical achievements instead of theses. This new class of PhDs is part of the Chinese government’s broader education reforms to cultivate ‘elite engineers’ that can help boost the country’s innovation. As part of their PhD defence, candidates have to make prototypes and prove that their inventions can be used at scale in the real world. Examples so far include the equipment for a new welding technique and a fire-fighting system for a large seaplane.

First ‘practical PhDs’ awarded in China — for products rather than ...

First ‘practical PhDs’ awarded in China — for products rather than papers

The programme is designed to train more elite engineers who can help to boost the country’s innovation.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 13 hours ago

Extreme temperature changes increase number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, model finds
Extreme temperature fluctuations and higher relative humidity are associated with increased out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidence. A machine learning model analyzing over 190,000 cases identified 17 environmental and social risk factors, accurately predicting OHCA patterns up to seven days in advance, even in previously unstudied regions. Social factors may amplify environmental risks.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, or OHCA, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and 90% of cases are fatal. Patients lose cardiac function and circulation, and every minute they remain untreated decreases the likelihood of a good outcome.

In a study published in npj Digital Medicine, a team of researchers developed a machine learning model that identified 17 environmental and social factors that can influence the risk of OHCA.

The researchers used patient data from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, or CARES, the largest national system that tracks OHCA. They built their model using more than 190,000 cases from 2013 to 2017 and identified 17 factors that can predict OHCA risk.

Mean ambient temperature, including both colder days and extremely warm ones, as well as higher relative humidity, influenced the number of OHCA incidents. Social factors, such as including poverty and race, may also amplify their impact.

The risks associated with cardiovascular events were mostly based on the individual risk factors, including hypertension. This new prediction model is the first to show that external environmental factors also influence risk.

In addition to its high prediction accuracy, the model was able to predict OHCA patterns up to seven days in advance.

Takahiro Nakashima et al, Development and evaluation of a machine learning model predicting out-of-hospital cardiac arrest using environmental factors, npj Digital Medicine (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41746-025-02235-4

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 14 hours ago

The researchers believe that the decrease in childbirth has other, more likely explanations. Those who are now in their 30s, an age when it is most common to have children, were born in the second half of the 1990s. This was a time of financial difficulties and declining childbirth rates in Sweden. In other words, the group of current potential parents has become smaller due to declining birthrates 30 years earlier. Also, factors linked to the pandemic may have reduced childbirth, such as health and economic concerns and changed behavior during lockdown.

One of the strengths of the study is that it examines pregnancy outcomes in a large group that is representative of the country's population. The researchers have taken into account that the woman's age is a possible factor that could hide a possible effect of vaccines on childbirth, and they have therefore compensated for age in their analysis.

Dennis Nordvall et al, COVID-19 vaccination carries no association with childbirth rates in Sweden, Communications Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s43856-026-01396-x

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 14 hours ago

Study of nearly 60,000 women finds no association between COVID vaccine and decrease in childbirth

COVID-19 vaccination is not the cause behind a decrease in childbirth, according to a new study. The results, published in the journal Communications Medicine, speak to rumors about vaccination and reduced fertility. "Our conclusion is that it's highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic", say the researchers who conducted this study.

The researchers investigated the issue because, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, unfounded rumors have circulated, especially on social media, alleging that vaccination impairs chances of becoming pregnant. In the later stages of the pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of children born in some countries, including Sweden. This raised the question whether this could be due to the new vaccines.

In the study, the researchers analyzed all women aged 18 to 45 years in Region Jönköping County, a total of almost 60,000 women (of the region's total population of 369,000 people). Of these women, 75% were vaccinated once or more against COVID-19 from 2021 to 2024. The researchers used data on childbirths, vaccination, miscarriages and deaths from health care records.

When the researchers compared childbirths and miscarriages between vaccinated and unvaccinated women, they found no statistically significant difference between the groups. This is in line with several previous studies that have not found any association between the COVID vaccine and fertility.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 14 hours ago

Seeds 'listen' to mom: Study finds mother plants send ABA hormone signals that set seed dormancy
Maternal plants regulate seed dormancy by transferring abscisic acid (ABA) to developing seeds, with ABA levels increasing in maternal tissues under cooler temperatures. This hormonal signaling enables seeds to receive environmental information from the mother, promoting dormancy when conditions are unfavorable. The findings highlight a rapid, non-genetic mechanism for environmental adaptation in plants.

Xiaochao Chen et al, Adaptation of seed dormancy to maternal climate occurs via intergenerational transport of abscisic acid, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2519319122

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

News sites are locking out the internet archive to stop AI crawling. Is the 'open web' closing?
Major news publishers are blocking the Internet Archive to prevent AI companies from accessing their content for training, citing concerns over copyright and paywall circumvention. This shift reflects a broader trend toward monetizing digital archives and restricting public access, raising concerns about the preservation of internet history and the diminishing openness of the web.

News sites are locking out the Internet Archive to stop AI crawling...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

Using comparative genomic data across primates, the researchers found examples of genes associated with burn injury responses which show signs of accelerated evolution in humans. These genes are involved in wound closure, inflammation and immune system response—likely helping to rapidly close wounds and fight infection; a major complication after burn injury, particularly before the widespread use of antibiotics.

These findings support the theory that exposure to burn injuries may have been a notable force on the evolution of humans.

Unlike other wounds from cuts or bites which would have also led to infections, the increased lifetime risk of burns experienced by humans and their hominin ancestors is unique as they are the only species to regularly experience burn injuries and survive them.

Burn Selection: How Fire Injury Shaped Human Evolution, BioEssays (2026).

Part2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa 15 hours ago

Exposure to burn injuries played key role in shaping human evolution, study suggests

Humans' exposure to high temperature burn injuries may have played an important role in our evolutionary development, shaping how our bodies heal, fight infection, and sometimes fail under extreme injury, according to new research.

For more than one million years, the control of fire has powered human success, from cooking and heating to technology and industry, driving genetic and cultural evolution and setting us apart from all other species. But this relationship has also exposed humans to high temperature injuries at a scale unmatched in the natural world.

Humans burn themselves—and survive burns—with a frequency likely much greater than any other animal. Most animals avoid fire completely, while in contrast, humans live alongside fire and most humans will experience minor burns throughout their lives.

A new study published in BioEssays,  suggests that this increased exposure to burn injuries may have driven notable genetic adaptations which differentiated humans from other primates and mammals. This may also explain both beneficial and maladaptive responses to severe burn injury.

Burn injuries exist on a spectrum of severity, with most small injuries healing on their own, while severe burns can lead to lifelong disability or death. Burns damage the skin, the body's main protective barrier against infection, sometimes over large areas of the body. The longer the skin is damaged, the greater the risk that bacteria can enter the body and cause overwhelming infection.

The researchers argue that natural selection would have favored traits that helped humans survive small to moderate burns. These may include faster inflammation, faster wound closure (to prevent infection) and stronger pain signals.

However, while these traits are helpful for less severe injuries, they can become harmful for large burns, which may explain why modern humans can experience extreme inflammation, scarring, and organ failure from major burns.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

Could fecal transplants be the new way to fight cancer?
Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) are being explored as a method to modify gut microbes in cancer patients, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of immunotherapy, especially for those with less diverse gut microbiomes. Early clinical data indicate FMT may improve treatment response rates and outcomes, but safety concerns require that FMT be administered under medical supervision.

Could fecal transplants be the new way to fight cancer?

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa yesterday

High-dose antioxidants linked to offspring birth defects

Antioxidants have been marketed as miracle supplements, touted for preventing chronic diseases and cancers; treating COPD and dementia; and slowing aging.

While antioxidant therapies are widely used to treat male infertility, a new study  found that regularly consuming high doses of antioxidants negatively influences sperm DNA and may lead to offspring born with differences in craniofacial development.
Regular consumption of high doses of antioxidants such as N-acetyl-L-cysteine and selenium in male mice alters sperm DNA and is associated with craniofacial abnormalities in offspring, particularly in females. These effects occur without observable health changes in the fathers, indicating potential reproductive risks of excessive antioxidant supplementation prior to conception.

They found that offspring of male mice exposed to antioxidants for six weeks exhibited skull and facial shape differences, even while the father's health didn't change.

These findings suggest that men should exercise caution when consuming high doses of antioxidants, especially if they're planning to have children in the near future.

Destani D. Derrico et al, Therapy to teratology: chronic paternal antioxidant supplementation alters offspring placental architecture and craniofacial morphogenesis in a mouse model, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1697843

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