Some alkaline mineral and medicinal waters may weaken the enteric coating of medications within just a few minutes, potentially reducing their effectiveness, according to a new study by Semmelweis University. The study, published in Pharmaceutics, found that if the active ingredient is released too early in the stomach rather than in the intestinal tract, it may reduce – and, in extreme cases, even eliminate – the effectiveness of certain anti-reflux, gastroprotective, psychiatric, or anti-inflammatory pain-relief medications. 

Lifestyle-induced loss of visceral fat (and not liver fat, pancreatic fat or subcutaneous fats) may have lasting health benefits years after the end of an intervention, even when body weight is fully regained, according to researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and their international collaborators. The findings suggest that a reduction in visceral (intra-abdominal) fat, the harmful fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, may be partially preserved long term and is associated with better cardiometabolic health and lower future risk of type 2 diabetes.

The University of Bath (UK) has recruited leading psychiatric geneticist Professor Laura Huckins from Yale University as Chair of Population Health, as part of a £54 million UKRI Global Talent Fund to bring top researchers to the UK.

Fear learning is a key adaptive mechanism, but its links to the immune system remain unclear, especially in people with childhood maltreatment. This study examined whether the type and timing of childhood abuse and neglect influence the relationship between brain function during fear learning and inflammation. Data were collected from 128 adults, including inflammatory markers (IL-8, IL-17) and fMRI brain scans during a fear conditioning task. Results revealed that the type and timing of childhood maltreatment differentially moderate associations between fear-related brain activity, functional connectivity, and inflammatory levels. These findings help explain how early adversity increases long-term health risks by altering neural-immune interactions.

Psittacosis caused by Chlamydia psittaci has re-emerged in China as sporadic cases and localized outbreaks. However, current knowledge remains fragmented across the clinical, veterinary, epidemiological, and public health fields. This scoping review mapped studies on psittacosis in China, identified major knowledge gaps, and defined priorities for research, clinical management, and prevention and control. Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for studies published between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2025 and synthesized eligible studies with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. A total of 424 studies were included. Research interest showed recent sharp increases and was concentrated in Eastern and Central China. Case reports and series dominated the literature, whereas analytic epidemiology, standardized surveillance, and high-resolution molecular studies remained limited. Reported cases were most often documented in middle-aged and older adults with avian exposure, including pet birds and poultry, and the reported occurrence showed a winter–spring pattern. Pneumonia was the predominant clinical presentation, and severe cases could progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ dysfunction. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was the most frequently reported diagnostic method in recent studies, while PCR and serology remained important complementary tools. Overall, the literature is growing rapidly, but remains uneven in geographic coverage, study design, and integration across human, animal, and environmental sectors. These findings support broader One Health surveillance, stronger analytic and molecular epidemiology, and more standardized approaches to diagnosis, source investigation, and prevention in China.

A collaborative team from Tsinghua University, UCAS, and University of Macau has published a comprehensive review on electroactive materials for bioelectronics and regenerative medicine. The article outlines mechanisms, interfaces, and applications of conductive, piezoelectric, triboelectric, thermoelectric, and photoelectric materials, and proposes a framework guiding next‑generation bioelectronic system design.

Background

Climate change may expand dengue transmission in space and season across Central America. In Costa Rica, complex topography and very small districts mean coarse global climate models can miss local conditions that drive outbreaks, creating a need for district-level, high-resolution climate–dengue assessments. This study aims to: (1) model the climate–dengue relationship at the district level using high-resolution data; (2) identify the best climate predictors for dengue incidence; and (3) provide mid-century (2035–2065) dengue cases projections under a pessimistic scenario (SSP5-8.5) with seasonal windows actionable by region.

Methods

Precipitation and temperature indices derived from the Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPs) and Climate Hazards Center Infrared Temperature with Stations (CHIRTs) were related to dengue diagnoses from Costa Rica’s public health centers using a linear model. An objective algorithm selected parsimonious climate–dengue predictors, with cross-validation to prevent overfitting. The resulting quasi-optimal models combined with downscaled projections from an ensemble of eight General Circulation Models (GCMs) to estimate future dengue incidence changes at the district level, Costa Rica’s smallest administrative division.

Results

Temperature and precipitation data are significantly related to dengue counts. Temperature dominates most district models during the dry season (December to June), while precipitation dominates during the rainy season (July–October). Mid-century projections indicate increases of up to 42 additional cases in some districts compared to the historical baseline, with the location of the most pronounced changes varying by month.

Conclusions

The projected dengue increases presented here are driven solely by climate change under the most pessimistic greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration scenario, and thus represent a potential upper bound on future risk. These findings offer actionable guidance on where and when dengue incidence may rise, and should inform adaptive health policies aimed at reducing the impacts of climate change in high-risk areas.