Miniaturization and weight reduction of medical wearable devices for continuous health monitoring such as heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and sweat component analysis remain major challenges. In particular, optical sensors consume a significant amount of power for LED operation and wireless transmission, requiring heavy and bulky batteries. To overcome these limitations, KAIST researchers have developed a next-generation wearable platform that enables 24-hour continuous measurement by using ambient light as an energy source and optimizing power management according to the power environment.

Researchers from The University of Osaka have used a miniature heater positioned over a nano-sized opening to gently unzip DNA’s double helix into a single strand for quick, efficient analysis. The device enables detection of longer DNA strands than before while using less power and improving accuracy. The technology could be used in handheld medical devices, helping doctors to diagnose disease and tailor treatments based on patients’ genes.

A new contract for transformational research to determine how menopause and modifiable lifestyle factors influence brain aging in women during midlife has been awarded to  Neda Jahanshad, PhD, a researcher at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI), and associate professor of neurology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Jahanshad joins the global CARE (Cutting Alzheimer’s Risk through Endocrinology) program from Wellcome Leap, a leading US-based non-profit organization focused on accelerating and increasing the number of breakthroughs in global health. Together with Claudia Barth, PhD, professor, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, as co-principal investigator, Jahanshad will be part of a team leading a groundbreaking three-year project that could lead to insights on how to reduce the risk of cognitive decline as women age. Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) disproportionately affect women, yet much remains unknown about how the female brain changes during midlife—a critical window that coincides with the menopausal transition. Up to 80% of women experience debilitating symptoms during this period, including hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood shifts, and cognitive decline. Jahanshad’s project seeks to harness advanced brain imaging and large-scale international data to identify early indicators of neurological aging and suggest tailored interventions for brain health.

A new analysis suggests that posts in hate speech communities on the social media website Reddit share speech-pattern similarities with posts in Reddit communities for certain psychiatric disorders. Dr. Andrew William Alexander and Dr. Hongbin Wang of Texas A&M University, U.S., present these findings July 29^th in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health.

In the last two decades, childhood immunization coverage improved significantly across most African countries. However, at least 12 countries are unlikely to achieve global targets for full immunization by 2030, according to a new study publishing July 29th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Phuong The Nguyen of Hitotsubashi University, Japan, and colleagues.

An analysis of data from more than 4.7 million Chinese women showed that those who had low blood sugar levels prior to conception were more likely to have certain adverse pregnancy outcomes—such as their baby being born preterm or with low birth weight. Hanbin Wu of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the National Research Institute for Family Planning, presents these findings on July 29^th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.