Unprecedented extreme heat represents a critical climate challenge, resulting in approximately 490,000 heat-related deaths globally each year, with 45% of these fatalities occurring in Asia.A study by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has revealed that some existing heatwave indices are unable to accurately capture heatwave severity in diverse geographical regions and climate conditions. It is suggested to include humidity and indoor environmental conditions in identifying a dangerous heatwave. The development of a global heat risk framework and early warning systems are also recommended to alleviate the impact of heatwaves on human health. The research findings have been published in the international journal Nexus.

A cheap and high-power liquid thermoelectric converter could be produced thanks to a new strategy pioneered and tested by Japan-based researchers.

Preterm infants are vulnerable to pulmonary dysfunction and other respiratory disorders. While impulse oscillometry (IOS) is a non-invasive method to assess lung health, it has been scarcely utilized in clinical studies involving large pediatric populations of former preterm infants. Researchers in the USA have now developed and implemented a study design capable of producing research-quality IOS data in children born as extremely low gestational age neonates.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a prevalent inherited cardiac disease marked by left ventricular hypertrophy, often due to sarcomere gene mutations. Using transcriptomic, DNA methylomic, and chromatin accessibility analyses, this study offers a high-resolution multi-omics map of HCM cardiac tissues. The findings highlight a fetal-like gene reprogramming in HCM hearts, particularly involving sarcomeric and metabolic gene suppression and extracellular matrix gene activation. Furthermore, the study identifies SP1 and EGR1 transcription factors as potential therapeutic targets, validated through experimental inhibition in an HCM mouse model, which mitigated pathological features.

With the successive release of the CONSORT extensions for acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, and Tuina/massage, this review aims to assess the reporting characteristics and quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on these specific guidelines. A comprehensive review was conducted by searching multiple databases, including Embase, Ovid MEDLINE(R), All EBM Reviews, AMED, CNKI, VIP Chinese Medical Journal Database, and Wanfang Data, for publications from January 1 to December 31, 2022. Two reviewers independently evaluated the eligibility of the records, extracted predetermined information, and assessed the reporting based on the STRICTA, STRICTOM, STRICTOC, and STRICTOTM checklists. Among the included 387 studies (acupuncture, 213; Tuina/massage, 85; moxibustion, 73; cupping, 16), the overall reporting compliance averaged 56.0%, with acupuncture leading at 62.6%, followed by cupping (60.2%), moxibustion (53.1%), and Tuina/massage (47.9%). About half of the evaluated items showed poor reporting (compliance rate < 65%). Notably, international journals demonstrated significantly higher reporting quality than Chinese journals (P < 0.05). Although acupuncture trials had relatively higher compliance rates, deficiencies persist in reporting non-pharmacological therapies of Chinese medicine, particularly in areas like treatment environment details and provider background information.

Researchers from Xiangtan University and the China Institute of Atomic Energy have developed hybrid plastic scintillators with enhanced optical clarity, mechanical strength, and cost-efficiency, offering a safer, more durable alternative for radiation detection in industries like nuclear safety, border security, and medical imaging.

The team proposed a sequential recommendation framework named TailRec that enables contextual information of tail item well leveraged and greatly improves its corresponding representation. In contrast to previous works, this approach allows for the mining of contextual information from cross sequence behaviors to boost the performance of sequential recommendations. Such a light contextual filtering component is plug-and-play for a series of SRS models.

A research team from the Southern University of Science and Technology has developed an electrochemically stable and ultrathin polymer-based solid electrolytes. Enhancing interfacial contact with lithium metal anode and constructing lithium-ion pathways, this innovative approach exhibits over 2100 hours of stable battery cycling in Li-symmetric cells. The study may offer a new approach for fabricating ultrathin solid electrolytes and provide insights into the mechanisms of dendrite-free formation, guiding the development of high-performance solid electrolytes.

Craniopharyngioma has long been a daunting challenge for neurosurgeons and endocrinologists alike. Chinese researchers recently revealed new insights on the growth of craniopharyngioma and identified a potential therapeutic treatment. Understanding this complex tumor’s growth mechanism and identifying a potentially effective, non-invasive medication to treat it mark a significant step forward.

In a paper published in the National Science Review, a team of Artificial Intelligence (AI) scholars comprehensively reviews the latest advancements of one the most cutting-edge research realms, Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs). The paper not only summarizes the essential components of MLLMs, including architecture, training, data, and evaluation, but also provides an in-depth discussion of relevant research topics, such as Multimodal Hallucinations, Multimodal In-context Learning, Multimodal Chain-of-Thought, and LLM-Aided Visual Reasoning.