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  • Neuroendocrinology and the Genetics of Obesity

    Neuroendocrinology and the Genetics of Obesity

    Rebecca E Ruggiero-Ruff and Djurdjica Coss
    Endocrinology, Volume 166, Issue 9, September 2025, bqaf121
    https://doi.org/10.1210/endocr/bqaf121

    Abstract

    The increase in the incidence of obesity has coincided with changes in lifestyle, diet, and environment. Comorbidities associated with obesity include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, stroke, and thromboembolism, affecting public health. The effect of increased weight has recently become even more obvious, since obesity has been significantly associated with increased severity and higher mortality among COVID-19 patients. The need to decrease rates of obesity prompted a surge in the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist medications. Twin studies, however, determined that increased weight has a large genetic component, estimating the heritability of obesity to be 45% to 70%. Surprisingly, obesity due to known single gene mutation comprises only 5% to 10% of individuals, who mostly exhibit early-onset severe obesity. Genome-wide linkage studies and association studies identified more than 250 genes associated with obesity, but each of these has a relatively small effect size. Further, several genetic syndromes, associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities and congenital malformations, encompass obesity in their constellation of symptoms. This review will summarize several known genetic causes of obesity, focusing specifically on how they relate to the brain circuitry that regulates food intake and energy homeostasis. The review will indicate a need for further studies to integrate the role of diet and environmental contribution with genetic components of this multifactorial condition. Given that genetics of obesity is unlikely to explain the recent dramatic temporal increase in the prevalence of obesity, our review will point to the need to understand interactions between genes and other contributing environmental or sex-dependent factors.

     

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  • New Species of “Living Fossil” Fish Found Hiding in Plain Sight After 150 Years

    New Species of “Living Fossil” Fish Found Hiding in Plain Sight After 150 Years

    Reconstruction of a large mawsoniid coelacanth from the British Rhaetian. Credit: Daniel Phillips

    Researchers found dozens of Triassic coelacanth fossils in UK museums. The fish were once mistaken for reptile bones.

    The coelacanth is often called a “living fossil.” Once believed to have vanished millions of years ago, it was unexpectedly rediscovered in 1938 when one was caught in the Indian Ocean.

    Since then, several more specimens have been documented, yet their fossil record has remained incomplete. In a recent study, Jacob Quinn and his collaborators from the University of Bristol and the University of Uruguay uncovered coelacanth fossils in museum collections that had gone unnoticed for over 150 years.

    Fossils from the Triassic seas

    The newly identified specimens date to the closing stages of the Triassic Period, around 200 million years ago, when the region that is now the UK was positioned in more tropical latitudes.

    “During his Master’s in Palaeobiology at Bristol, Jacob realised that many fossils previously assigned to the small marine reptile Pachystropheus actually came from coelacanth fishes,” said Professor Mike Benton, one of Jacob’s supervisors. “Many of the Pachystropheus and coelacanth fossils have uncanny similarities, but importantly, Jacob then went off to look at collections around the country, and he found the same mistake had been made many times.”

    Comparison Between the Clavicles of the British Triassic and Mawsonia Gigas
    Comparison between clavicles (collar bones) from (A) the British Triassic and (B) the largest known coelacanth, Mawsonia gigas, from the Cretaceous of Brazil. Credit: University of Bristol

    “It is remarkable that some of these specimens had been sat in museum storage facilities, and even on public display, since the late 1800s, and have seemingly been disregarded or identified as bones of lizards, mammals, and everything in-between,” said Jacob. He continued “from just four previous reports of coelacanths from the British Triassic, we now have over fifty.”

    Jacob made X-ray scans of many specimens to confirm the identifications. The specimens mostly belong to an extinct group of coelacanths, the Mawsoniidae, but are closely related to the living fish.

    Insights into ancient ecosystems

    Co-author Pablo Toriño, a world expert on coelacanths, located in Uruguay, added, “Although the material we identify occurs as isolated specimens, we can see that they come from individuals of varying ages, sizes, and species, some of them up to one metre long, and suggesting a complex community at the time.”

    “The coelacanth fossils all come from the area of Bristol and Mendip Hills, which in the Triassic was an archipelago of small islands in a shallow tropical sea,” said co-supervisor Dr David Whiteside. “Like modern-day coelacanths, these large fishes were likely opportunistic predators, lurking around the seafloor and eating anything they encountered, probably including these small Pachystropheus marine reptiles, which is ironic given their fossils have been confused with those of coelacanths for decades.”

    Reference: “Coelacanthiform fishes of the British Rhaetian” by Jacob G. Quinn, David I. Whiteside, Pablo Toriño, Evangelos R. Matheau-Raven and Michael J. Benton, 7 September 2025, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
    DOI:10.1080/02724634.2025.2520921

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  • Digital Test Boosts Alzheimer’s Detection in Primary Care

    Digital Test Boosts Alzheimer’s Detection in Primary Care

    Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a digital cognitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease that is intended for use in primary care.

    “This digital test, which patients perform on their own with minimal involvement from healthcare personnel, improves the primary care physician’s ability to determine who should be further examined by blood tests for Alzheimer’s pathology early in the investigation phase,” says Professor Oskar Hansson, who led the study alongside Pontus Tideman.

    The study in brief:

    • Clinical memory research // quantitative study, applied research // cross-sectional study // 2 groups with 223 and 403 patients, respectively
    • The researchers have designed a digital cognitive test, BioCog, intended for use in primary care as a first step in the investigation process for Alzheimer’s disease.
    • The test is self-administrated and tests the patient’s cognitive abilities, primarily memory but also attention, and can show whether cognition is impaired. Patients whose tests show impaired cognition continue the assessment process with additional blood tests to determine whether Alzheimer’s pathology is the cause of the impairment.

    Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. As new disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are now becoming available, both early and accurate diagnosis in a resource-efficient assessment process are becoming increasingly important, as not everyone responds to the new drugs. Seeking medical care for cognitive impairment is not necessarily the result of Alzheimer’s disease – it can for example be caused by depression, fatigue or other dementias.

    “Primary care does not have the resources, time or specialist knowledge to investigate possible Alzheimer’s disease in the same way as specialised memory clinics. And this is where a digital cognitive test can make the biggest difference,” says Oskar Hansson, professor of neurology at Lund University.

    Unlike pen-and-paper tests, which are generally used to assess cognitive impairment, digital tests provide a more detailed picture. More aspects and new variables that could not previously be measured as easily are included.

    “The vast majority of people who experience memory loss will first seek treatment at their health centre. Our new digital test provides a first objective picture – at an earlier stage and with greater precision – of which patients have cognitive impairment indicative of Alzheimer’s disease. This indicates who should proceed with the blood test that measures the level of phosphorylated tau and is able to detect Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain with high accuracy,” says Pontus Tideman, doctoral student in the research group, Clinical Memory Research at Lund University and psychologist at the Memory Clinic, Skåne University Hospital.

    At the moment, these blood tests are only available in specialised clinics/memory clinics in hospitals. In the long term, they will also be available in primary care, but doing blood tests on all patients presenting with cognitive problems is not the intention.

    The researchers believe that the digital tool could be of great benefit, as it is currently very challenging to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease during a 15 to 20-minute patient encounter. This is where digital tools, which measure cognitive skills in an objective way, can make a big difference:

    “The unique aspect of our BioCog test is that unlike other digital tests, it has been evaluated in a primary care population, i.e. patients seeking treatment at a health centre because they are experiencing cognitive problems, such as memory problems. Combining the results of the digital test and the blood test increases the accuracy of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. The purpose of the test is to make things easier for primary care doctors,” says Linda Karlsson, MSc in engineering physics and doctoral student in the research group, Clinical Memory Research at Lund University.

    About the test

    The digital test is done by the patient individually on a tablet computer. The test measures:

    • memory (memorising ten words)
    • cognitive processing speed and attention (how quickly or slowly they process information)
    • orientation (what year, day etc.)
    • delayed recall (recalling previously memorised information)
    • recognition (among 30 words, recognise the ten words previously memorised)

    The test measures aspects and variables that could not easily be measured in the past using pen-and-paper tests, such as how long it takes the patient to search among the words or how quickly they tap the screen. The combination of the sub-tests produces a result that is highly likely to indicate whether or not the patient has a cognitive impairment and can help the physician to decide which patients to take a blood test from, and ultimately which patients may benefit from the new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

    Reference: Tideman P, Karlsson L, Strandberg O, et al. Primary care detection of Alzheimer’s disease using a self-administered digital cognitive test and blood biomarkers. Nat Med. 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41591-025-03965-4

    This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.

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  • AI accurately identifies questionable open-access journals by analysing websites and content, matching expert human assessment

    AI accurately identifies questionable open-access journals by analysing websites and content, matching expert human assessment

    Artificial intelligence (AI) could be a useful tool to find ‘questionable’ open-access journals, by analysing features such as website design and content, new research has found.

    The researchers set out to evaluate the extent to which AI techniques could replicate the expertise of human reviewers in identifying questionable journals and determining key predictive factors. ‘Questionable’ journals were defined as journals violating the best practices outlined in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – an index of open access journals managed by the DOAF foundation based in Denmark – and showing indicators of low editorial standards. Legitimate journals were those that followed DOAJ best practice standards and classed as ‘whitelisted’.

    The AI model was designed to transform journal websites into machine-readable information, according to DOAJ criteria, such as editorial board expertise and publication ethics. To train the questionable journal classifier, they compiled a list of around 12,800 whitelisted journals and 2500 unwhitelisted, and then extracted three kinds of features to help distinguish them from each other: website content, website design and bibliometrics-based classifiers.

    The model was then used to predict questionable journals from a list of just over 15,000 open-access journals housed by the open database, Unpaywall. Overall, it flagged 1437 suspect journals of which about 1092 were expected to be genuinely questionable. The researchers said these journals had hundreds of thousands of articles, millions of citations, acknowledged funding from major agencies and attracted authors from developing countries.

    There were around 345 false positives among those identified, which the researchers said shared a few patterns, for example they had sites that were unreachable or had been formally discontinued, or referred to a book series or conference with titles similar to that of a journal. They also said there was likely around 1780 problematic journals that had remained undetected.

    Overall, they concluded that AI could accurately discern questionable journals with high agreement with expert human assessments, although they pointed out that existing AI models would need to be continuously updated to track evolving trends.

    ‘Future work should explore ways to incorporate real-time web crawling and community feedback into AI-driven screening tools to create a dynamic and adaptable system for monitoring research integrity,’ they said.

     

     

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  • Asian shares mostly rise after Wall Street sets new records

    Asian shares mostly rise after Wall Street sets new records

    TOKYO — Asian shares traded mostly higher Tuesday after Wall Street set new records and investor anticipation grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce the first cut of the year on its main interest rate.

    Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 came off a holiday to momentarily reach above 45,000 points a few times during the session, the first ever to happen during regular trading. The benchmark was trading at 44,975.69 in the afternoon, up 0.5% from the previous close. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.3% to 8,875.60. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.2% to 3,448.69.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed earlier declines to gain 0.3% to 26,512.58 and the Shanghai Composite added 0.2% to 3,866.50. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after weekend trade talks in Spain that a framework deal had been reached between China and the U.S. over the ownership of popular social video platform TikTok.

    Bessent said after the latest round of trade talks between the world’s two largest economies concluded in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly finalize the deal. He did not disclose the terms of the deal.

    On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and topped its prior all-time high, which was set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.

    Tesla helped lead the way and rose 3.6% after Elon Musk bought stock worth roughly $1 billion through a trust. The electric vehicle company’s stock price came into the day with a slight loss for the year so far, and the purchase could be a signal of Musk’s faith in it.

    Alphabet was the single strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after gaining 4.5%, which brought the total value for Google’s parent company above $3 trillion. Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple are the only other companies on Wall Street worth that much.

    The market’s main event for the week will arrive on Wednesday. That’s when the Federal Reserve will announce its latest decision on interest rates. A rate cut could give a kickstart to the job market, which has been slowing.

    Stocks have already run to records on the assumption that a cut is coming on Wednesday, though. Expectations are also high that the Fed will keep lowering rates through the end of this year and into 2026. That creates the possibility for disappointment in the market, which would mean drops for stock prices if the Fed doesn’t end up slashing rates as aggressively as traders expect.

    What’s keeping the Fed on guard is a possible jump in inflation because of Trump’s tariffs. That’s because lower interest rates can give inflation more fuel and send it even higher. And inflation has already proven difficult to get under the Fed’s 2% target.

    Trump, meanwhile, has pushed angrily for cuts to interest rates. He’s often attacked Powell personally, nicknaming him “Too Late,” and is trying to remove one of the Fed’s governors from its board.

    “‘Too Late’ must cut interest rates now, and bigger than he had in mind,” Trump wrote on his social media network on Monday, using his trademark all-caps style.

    Nvidia edged down by less than 0.1% after China accused the chip company of violating its antimonopoly laws. Chinese regulators did not mention a punishment for Nvidia in a one-sentence statement on the matter but did say they would carry out “further investigation.”

    All told, the S&P 500 rose 30.99 points to 6,615.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 49.23 to 45,883.45, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 207.65 to 22,348.75.

    In the bond market Treasury yields eased, continuing their downward run on expectations for cuts to rates by the Fed.

    The next economic update will arrive Tuesday, when the U.S. government will say how much shoppers spent at U.S. retailers last month.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.03% from 4.06% late Friday.

    In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 6 cents to $63.36 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 4 cents to $67.48 a barrel.

    In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged down to 147.03 Japanese yen from 147.33 yen. The euro cost $1.1783, up from $1.1769.

    ___

    AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed.

    Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

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  • Invisible Intelligence: Nokia’s Networks With A Sixth Sense

    Invisible Intelligence: Nokia’s Networks With A Sixth Sense

    What if the same cellular towers and fiber optic cables carrying your phone calls could also predict earthquakes, prevent accidents, or even monitor your health? Far from science fiction, this convergence of networking and sensing is moving rapidly from research labs to real-world deployments. Nokia is pioneering what it calls “networks as a sensor,” infrastructure that doesn’t just connect us, but perceives the world around us, with the potential to save lives, protect the planet, and transform industries.

    During a fascinating conversation with Peter Vetter, President of Bell Labs Core Research at Nokia, I discovered how the telecommunications giant is pioneering what they call “networks as a sensor,” a revolutionary approach that transforms existing infrastructure into a massive, interconnected sensing platform. This isn’t just about adding more sensors to networks; it’s about turning the networks themselves into sensors.

    A Sixth Sense For Networks

    Nokia envisions networks developing a “sixth sense,” able to pick up signals from the environment and, with AI, generate insights. This isn’t just monitoring data traffic but understanding the physical world. The company has trademarked the idea of creating “networks that sense, think and act.”

    The technology leverages advances in 5G and emerging 6G capabilities, particularly the ability to create focused radio beams through large antenna arrays. These same beamforming technologies used to improve cellular connections can scan environments and analyze reflected signals, essentially turning cell towers into sophisticated radar systems.

    From a business strategy perspective, this represents infrastructure convergence, where single systems serve multiple purposes simultaneously. Companies that master this convergence will achieve significant cost advantages while generating new revenue streams from previously untapped data sources.

    From Radio Waves To Radar

    The radio sensing applications are perhaps the most immediately compelling. Vetter demonstrated how Nokia has already built proof-of-concept systems that can detect human movement with half-meter accuracy. “We can detect humans, we can detect objects and machines,” he told me, describing experiments where people could walk through spaces and interact with systems simply through their detected movement.

    The practical applications are striking. In factory environments where privacy concerns prevent camera surveillance, radio sensing offers an alternative approach to worker safety.

    The technology goes beyond simple position detection. Through analyzing radio signal reflections, these systems can determine speed, detect vital signs like heartbeat and breathing patterns, and even recognize specific gestures. For businesses, this opens up entirely new categories of human-computer interaction that don’t require wearable devices or specific user actions.

    For drone detection, this opens vital possibilities. As Vetter explained, future drones will need flight corridors and traffic rules and networks that can police and track them. Such capabilities will be essential for smart cities, logistics, and security as autonomous aerial vehicles proliferate.

    Fiber Optics As Seismic Sensors

    Even more surprising is how fiber optic cables can function as distributed sensor networks. Nokia discovered this capability somewhat accidentally when customers reported rodents damaging cables. The mechanical stress on the fiber changes the polarization of light passing through it, creating detectable signals that reveal far more than just cable health.

    “We have been able to make observations of waves in the ocean, tectonic movements, ocean currents,” Vetter shared, describing experiments with submarine cables across the Atlantic. The applications for early warning systems are profound. “We can see tsunamis coming much earlier than how it’s done today. Current tsunami early warnings use buoys floating in the ocean tens of kilometers from shore, but that’s already too late. We can see that much deeper inside the ocean.”

    Quantum: A New Dimension That Includes Sensing

    Quantum technologies mark an extraordinary new frontier, opening possibilities once thought impossible. Among them, quantum sensing stands out as one of the most radical leaps forward in our ability to measure and understand the world. Unlike conventional sensors, quantum devices exploit the extreme sensitivity of particles to the slightest variations in temperature, pressure, gravity, or magnetism.

    The possibilities are extraordinary. In medicine, quantum magnetic sensors could detect the tiny signals of individual neurons, revolutionizing our understanding of brain disorders. In navigation, quantum gravimeters could guide ships or aircraft without GPS. For natural disaster prediction, quantum sensors could identify subtle geological shifts to forecast earthquakes or volcanic eruptions earlier than ever before. And in space exploration, quantum photon detectors could capture signals across vast distances, extending our reach into the cosmos.

    In short, quantum sensing gives humanity entirely new senses. By pioneering this field, Nokia is once again pushing the boundaries of science and technology, ensuring networks don’t just connect us but help us predict, protect, and explore in ways previously unimaginable.

    A Sixth Sense For Humanity

    Taken together, fiber, wireless, and quantum sensing create networks with a true sixth sense. This is not just technology for technology’s sake. It’s about preventing disasters before they happen, enabling safer workplaces, protecting privacy while enhancing security, and driving industries toward predictive, sustainable futures.

    As Peter Vetter of Nokia Bell Labs put it, the aim is to build networks that “sense, think, and act.” For business leaders, the message is clear: sensing will transform operations from reactive to proactive, creating a new “sensing economy” where awareness is the ultimate competitive advantage.

    The Strategic Imperative For Business Leaders

    As I reflected on this conversation, what struck me most was how sensing networks represent a fundamental shift from reactive to proactive infrastructure. Instead of simply responding to problems after they occur, these systems can predict and prevent issues before they impact operations.

    The convergence of ubiquitous connectivity, advanced signal processing, and artificial intelligence creates possibilities that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. We’re moving toward a world where our basic infrastructure becomes inherently intelligent, continuously monitoring and optimizing the physical environments we inhabit.

    Preparing For The Sensing Economy

    The network infrastructure we rely on daily is quietly transforming into something far more powerful: a global sensing system that will reshape how we understand and interact with the physical world. This shift will spark new competitive dynamics across every industry, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and critical infrastructure.

    Business leaders should begin preparing now, auditing existing infrastructure for hidden sensing potential, developing partnerships with pioneers like Nokia, and reimagining operations around the assumption of pervasive environmental awareness.

    Those who embrace this shift early will not only thrive commercially but also help build safer, smarter, and more resilient societies. The future isn’t just connected, it’s comprehensively aware.


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  • Alternative investment fund managers face rulebook update in Ireland

    Alternative investment fund managers face rulebook update in Ireland

    Conor Durkin of Pinsent Masons was commenting after the CBI opened a consultation on a series of proposals to amend its rulebook for alternative investment funds (AIFs).

    One aspect of the proposals concerns loan originating funds – a form of AIF that has become a source of private credit for a growing number of businesses across Europe in recent years.

    To address risks considered to arise from the growth of the less-regulated private credit market, EU policymakers moved to update its AIF Managers Directive (AIFMD) by regulating the activities of managers of loan originating funds. EU member states have until 16 April 2026 to transpose the reforms contained in AIFMD II into domestic legislation. The CBI’s consultation on updates to its AIF Rulebook is designed to affect transposition of AIFMD II in Ireland.

    In its consultation paper, the CBI has set out plans to remove its domestic framework on loan origination funds. If adopted, this would eliminate any ‘gold-plating’ of the EU rules that apply to those funds, in Ireland.

    The CBI has also proposed amendments to its AIF Rulebook that will allow non-EU AIFMs such as those based in the UK or US, to manage Irish-domiciled loan-originating AIFs targeted at professional investors, known as QIAIFs. According to Durkin, loan-originating strategies can be efficiently managed within a QIAIF structure, and a QIAIF managed by a UK or US AIFM may be distributed within the EU under national private placement regimes (NPPRs) made available by individual member states, without the need to obtain an AIFMD marketing passport.

    Durkin said: “The proposed removal of the loan origination chapter is very positive. It means that managers of Irish loan origination AIFs will have greater flexibility in relation to borrower types and asset exposures. This development will introduce a harmonised regime in the EU for loan origination activity which should support the further growth of European loan origination funds and enhance Ireland’s attractiveness as a domicile for loan origination and private credit.”

    Beyond loan originating funds, the CBI has proposed to remove the existing requirements relating to the operation of wholly-owned subsidiaries, such as the requirement that the board of the subsidiary be comprised of a majority of the directors of the QIAIF. In place of those rules, the CBI has proposed to require AIFMs to disclose the use and purpose of wholly owned subsidiaries and intermediary investment vehicles in the QIAIF prospectus, carry out due diligence on the vehicles, and implement policies and procedures for the oversight and monitoring of any such vehicle.

    Durkin said: “The removal of the requirement for directors of the QIAIF to comprise most of the board of the intermediary vehicle will enable intermediary vehicles to be used efficiently for the acquisition and management of private market investments in a way that complies with the governance requirements and commercial needs of the underlying asset.”

    Other reforms proposed impact fund financing. The CBI has proposed to remove the existing general restriction on QIAIFs on granting loans and acting as a guarantor for third parties, which Durkin said caused difficulties for QIAIFs in providing financial support to subsidiary vehicles.

    “These amendments should assist the development of fund financing arrangements, such as the cross collateralisation and the provision of broader and more comprehensive security for lenders, which might reduce the overall financing costs for QIAIFs” Durkin said.

    Rules regarding the equal treatment of shareholders are also to be scrapped.

    Currently, the AIF Rulebook requires that unitholders of the same share class be treated “equally”. This requirement has caused ambiguity in the context of AIFMD preferential treatment requirements, Durkin said. To address this, the CBI has proposed to remove reference to the requirement for equal treatment and instead provide that unitholders may be treated fairly while taking into account AIFMD preferential treatment requirements.

    Durkin said: “The requirement for equal treatment under the AIF Rulebook can be complex to apply in practice, so the proposed amendment is a welcome development. It will enable managers to enter into side letter arrangements tailored to the needs of investors, such as around investor reporting, voting control, or representation on Limited Partner Advisory Committees, which often require investor-specific consideration.”

    A further change proposed would impact arrangements concerning the temporary holding of assets, known as warehousing.

    At present under the AIF Rulebook, a QIAIF is prohibited from paying more than the current market value for a warehoused asset. Under the CBI’s plans, this restriction would be removed, subject to disclosure in the private placement memorandum of the terms of the warehousing arrangements, and the obligation of the AIFM for the proper valuation of assets.

    The CBI has also proposed to remove the existing requirement that the initial offer period of QIAIFs implementing private asset, loan origination, or real estate strategies be no longer than two years and six months.

    Firms have until 5 November 2025 to respond to the CBI’s consultation.

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  • Legend Sherif Osman eyes redemption at home

    Egyptian powerlifting great Sherif Osman marked his 43rd birthday on 15 September in the midst of preparations for the Cairo 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships. 

    The five-time world champion will take centre stage on 13 October in the men’s up to 65kg category – the category in which he has missed the podium at the past two major competitions.

     

    This time, however, Osman is determined to rewrite the script. Cairo 2025 will not only be his chance to compete on home soil, but also the first World Championships ever to be staged in Africa. The Egyptian capital will host the Rookie & Next Gen event on 9 and 10 October, followed by the Elite World Championships from 11 to 18 October.

    For Osman, Cairo 2025 will be his eighth World Championships appearance. Five of his previous seven campaigns ended with gold, with only his debut in Kuala Lumpur 2010 and his most recent outing in Dubai 2023 finishing without a medal.

    Injuries halt an era of dominance

    While 2010 was part of his learning curve, the disappointment of Dubai was harder to bear: an injury, which had troubled him for three years, ultimately derailed his medal hopes and hampered his build-up to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

    “Now I’m starting to increase my numbers (of kilograms lifted), but time is the biggest problem that all people face,” Osman reflected after placing seventh in the men’s up to 65kg at Paris 2024.

    His dip in form began at the Cairo 2022 African Open Championships, where he finished fourth in the men’s up to 59kg class. Compatriot Mohamed Elmenyawy claimed gold that day and went on to claim the bronze at Dubai 2023 and then a Paralympic title in Paris. Osman, meanwhile, finished 10th in Dubai before moving up to the 65kg division for Paris 2024.

     

    Now fit and focused, Osman is relishing the chance of contesting another major championship on home ground. When injury-free, he has long been regarded as one of the dominant forces in Para powerlifting.

    From meteoric rise to enduring legacy

    Over the past two decades, the athlete from Beni Mazar has amassed an extraordinary record: four Paralympic medals – three golds and one silver – alongside five world titles.

    His rise has been meteoric. Just two years after taking up Para powerlifting, Osman struck gold at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics in the men’s up to 56kg class.

    “I love my sport because my sport has changed my life,” he said in the build-up to Paris 2024. “Now my career is 18 years long. I started in 2006. I have taken part in four Paralympic Games and the aim of sport is not about winning. This sport I love, powerlifting, is about competing – and I will keep competing.”

    Osman’s golden era began at London 2012 and stretched to Tokyo 2020, a nine-year spell in which he became the undisputed powerhouse of the men’s up to 59kg division. During that time he captured three world titles and two further Paralympic golds, while also competing at lower categories in London 2012 (56kg) and the Dubai 2014 Worlds (54kg).

    Chasing records, chasing history

    He also etched his name into the record books. At Dubai 2014 he lifted 205kg in the men’s up to 54kg – a world record that still stands. Two years later, at Rio 2016, he raised the bar again with 211kg in the men’s up to 59kg, another record yet to be surpassed.

    Only two other Para powerlifters currently hold active world records in multiple categories: China’s Lingling Guo (women’s up to 41kg and 45kg) and Jordan’s Abdelkareem Khattab (men’s up to 88kg and 97kg), both Paralympic champions at Paris 2024.

    Osman’s dominance was finally broken at Tokyo 2020, where he aimed for a fourth consecutive Paralympic crown but lost out to China’s Yongkai Qi. Both lifted 187kg, but Qi took the title on lighter body weight by just 0.66kg.

     

    “That time in Tokyo I felt that I had more power and higher numbers in me, but I couldn’t do it because two months before the Games I had got injured,” Osman later reflected.

    Despite the setback, he ended 2021 on a high, securing gold at the Tbilisi 2021 WPPO Championships – his most recent major title.

    As Cairo 2025 approaches, Osman insists that his ambitions are far from over. Rather than a swansong, he perceives the home World Championships as the launchpad for another Paralympic cycle.

    “I will be back. Los Angeles (2028) is waiting for me,” he declared.

    Beyond his own career, Osman is already preparing for life after competition. He serves as Chair of the WPPO Athletes’ Committee, elected multiple times by his peers, and envisions a future in coaching – guiding the next generation of lifters with the same passion that has defined his extraordinary journey.
     


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  • Christina Barbash named CCO at PrimeXM

    Christina Barbash named CCO at PrimeXM

    FNG has learned that FX broker tech and connectivity solutions provider PrimeXM has promoted Christina Barbash to the position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

    Christina Barbash joined PrimeXM early last year, as was exclusively reported at the time here at FNG, as the company’s new Regional Sales Manager. Based in Cyprus, Christina served as Sales Director at capital adequacy and AML solutions company FINKIT Solutions before joining PrimeXM. She has also previously worked at trade processing and reporting solutions provider Point Nine, as well as at brokers FXPrimus, Stock.com, and UFX Markets.

    PrimeXM offers aggregation software, ultra low-latency connectivity, institutional grade hosting solutions and high-end MT4/MT5 bridging and white label solutions for brokers.

    Christina posted the following note on social media regarding her promotion.

    I’m excited to share that I’ve taken on the role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at PrimeXM – Financial Technology .

    Over my time here, I’ve been lucky to work with an amazing team and great clients whose trust and collaboration mean a lot to me. As PrimeXM and our team continue to grow, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to shape our commercial strategy further, build even stronger client relationships, and support our global growth.

    A big thank you to both my colleagues and our clients — I really appreciate the support and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.

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  • New drug could be first to stop deadly fatty liver disease

    New drug could be first to stop deadly fatty liver disease

    Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified a new investigational drug that shows promise in treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a serious form of fatty liver disease linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes that can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and even liver cancer.

    The study, published in the August 23, 2025 online edition of The Lancet, found that the medication, ION224, targets a liver enzyme called DGAT2, which plays a key role in how the liver produces and stores fat. By blocking this enzyme, the drug helps reduce fat buildup and inflammation, two major drivers of liver damage in MASH.

    “This study marks a pivotal advance in the fight against MASH,” said Rohit Loomba, MD, principal investigator of the study and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “By blocking DGAT2, we’re interrupting the disease process at its root cause, stopping fat accumulation and inflammation right in the liver.”

    The multicenter, Phase IIb clinical trial involved 160 adults with MASH and early to moderate fibrosis across the United States. Participants received monthly injections of the drug at different doses or a placebo over the course of one year. At the highest dose, 60% showed notable improvements in their liver health compared to the placebo group. These benefits occurred regardless of weight change, suggesting the drug could be used alongside other therapies. The medicine showed no serious side effects linked to the treatment.

    MASH, formally known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), affects people with metabolic conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is often called a “silent” disease because it can progress for years without symptoms.

    More than 100 million people have some form of fatty liver disease in the U.S. and as many as 1 in 4 adults worldwide may be affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left untreated, MASH can progress to liver failure and often may require a transplant.

    “This is the first drug of its kind to show real biological impact in MASH,” Loomba said. “If these findings are confirmed in Phase III trials, we may finally be able to offer patients a targeted therapy that halts and potentially reverses liver damage before it progresses to life-threatening stages.”

    Loomba, who is also director of the metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) research center at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at UC San Diego Health, adds that for patients and families affected by this serious condition, these results bring new hope for better care and outcomes. He emphasizes that early intervention and targeted therapies may also help reduce the burden on health care systems by preventing costly and complex liver disease down the line.

    Next steps include a larger clinical trial to move closer to making this treatment widely available.

    Co-authors of the study include Erin Morgan, Keyvan Yousefi, Dan Li, Richard Geary, Sanjay Bhanot, all from Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and Naim Alkhouri, Arizona Liver Health.

    Funding for this research came from Ionis Pharmaceuticals (ION224-CS2).

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