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  • New core dataset advances standardized care and research in systemic lupus erythematosus

    New core dataset advances standardized care and research in systemic lupus erythematosus

    The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology – has published new recommendations on core datasets to be used in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The work defines a set of essential items for the comprehensive care of people with SLE in clinical practice, plus vital elements for translational and observational research.

    SLE is a complex and potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease. Part of the complexity stems from how it can differ from person to person – giving rise to marked heterogeneity in not only manifestations, but also in disease course and treatment response. To support better understanding of the disease, researchers have suggested using “big data”. Traditional data is often structured and stored in databases of tables – making it easy to query and run statistics. This is fine for relatively small volumes of data with predictable formats. With big data, massive and complex datasets can be utilised with advanced tools such as machine learning to uncover patterns and insights. However, big data can cope with massive datasets in structured, semi-structured, and unstructured formats, and this information is stored in different ways, such as in data lakes without predefined schemas. The analyses from such projects could have a number of impacts, such as helping to identify patient subgroups that might be suitable for targeted clinical trials. However, although there are many registries collecting data in SLE, these do not always use the same terms or measures, and this makes it hard to combine datasets to achieve big data. To enhance clinical and multi-centre research outcomes, standardised documentation of patient- and disease-related features is important.

    To address these issues, EULAR put together a taskforce to define a comprehensive core dataset of the essential elements necessary to ensure complete clinical care, as well as to facilitate scientific research for the benefit of people with SLE. In total, 25 stakeholders from 14 different countries took part. A literature search was conducted to collect relevant information, resulting in a list of 99 items to consider. In an anonymous online survey, the expert panel rated the perceived importance of each of these, followed by a Delphi survey.

    The new work, published in the August 2025 issue of the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, includes 73 items for a clinical core dataset, and an additional 8 for research purposes. The core clinical dataset is split into three overarching groups based on timing of data collection: first visit and on-demand, yearly, and regularly. The former includes general demographic items, plus disease history and serology, the second a yearly review of comorbidities and recording of disease damage and progression, and the latter regular review of laboratory parameters, outcomes, treatment, patient-reported outcomes, and disease activity. Within each topic there are specific suggested measures.

    The additional 8 items in the research extension cover fulfilment of classification criteria, haematological damage, vaccinations, achievement of low disease activity, drug adherence, the use of other medications, plus health-related quality of life and work productivity.

    Harnessing big data, especially through standardised datasets, will be pivotal in accelerating research and revealing new insights that can transform how we manage and treat challenging conditions. The development of this core dataset lays a crucial foundation for achieving that standardization”.


    Dr. Johanna Mucke – lead author on the paper and researcher at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

    EULAR believes that this core dataset is feasible for assessment in clinical care – especially since many of the items do not require regular assessment but only yearly or one-off evaluation. The comparability that will result from standardised datasets will facilitate clinical benchmarking, leading to advancements in our understanding and treatment of SLE. Ultimately, this project aims to improve care and quality of life for people living with SLE.

    Source:

    European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, EULAR

    Journal reference:

    Mucke, J., et al. (2025) EULAR recommendations for a core data set to support clinical care and translational and observational research in systemic lupus erythematosus. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. doi.org/10.1016/j.ard.2025.07.001

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  • Physical activity, air pollution, and incident long-term conditions: a prospective cohort study | BMC Medicine

    Physical activity, air pollution, and incident long-term conditions: a prospective cohort study | BMC Medicine

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  • Bangladesh announce squad for Asia Cup 2025, former T20I skipper misses out, two out-of-favour players return – India TV News

    Bangladesh announce squad for Asia Cup 2025, former T20I skipper misses out, two out-of-favour players return – India TV News

    1. Bangladesh announce squad for Asia Cup 2025, former T20I skipper misses out, two out-of-favour players return  India TV News
    2. Bangladesh leave out Mehidy for Asia Cup; Nurul, Saif return to the squad  ESPNcricinfo
    3. Wicketkeeper-batter back as Bangladesh name Asia Cup squad  ICC
    4. Nurul, Saif recalled to Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup  Cricbuzz.com
    5. Selectors chose Saif for flexibility, Jishan to mature further  daily-sun.com

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  • YC-backed Oway raises $4M to build a decentralized ‘Uber for freight’

    YC-backed Oway raises $4M to build a decentralized ‘Uber for freight’

    Thousands of semitrucks that cut across the U.S. highway system each day are harboring a secret: They’re only about half full.

    That inefficiency represents a multibillion-dollar opportunity. And one that a few companies like Uber Freight and Flock Freight are already chasing as part of broader business models that match truck drivers with companies selling goods. 

    San Francisco-based startup Oway is seeking out a narrower business model that more closely resembles Uber for freight, especially on the most inefficient long-haul routes. But it’s a model that the startup believes can scale big enough to make an impact on the country’s economy.

    Oway, founded in 2023 and backed by Y Combinator and General Catalyst, recently closed a $4 million seed round in pursuit of that goal. Founder Phillip Nadjafov told TechCrunch that investors have bought into Oway’s concept because his company has already developed a way to cut the cost of shipping a pallet across the U.S. by 50%, using a clever mixture of new and somewhat old technologies.

    There’s artificial intelligence, of course, in the form of machine learning that Oway developed to help find and match cargo with empty trailer space and a convenient destination (or a short detour). Oway is also automating a lot of the standard shipping and insurance documentation that goes with freight. 

    But Oway’s ride-share cargo pitch is made possible by what’s known as “electronic logging devices” (ELDs) that are installed on the trucks that traverse our country.

    ELDs became government mandated around a decade ago, part of a push to make trucking safer and more efficient by eliminating paper logbooks. This makes it harder for shippers and drivers to skirt the federal rules on maximum driving time, theoretically cutting down on fatigue.

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    The devices have been a source of contention for many drivers worried about excessive surveillance. And there’s some evidence that the promised safety benefits may be offset by an increase in aggressive driving since drivers can’t fudge their hours as easily.

    But the devices are nonetheless the cornerstone of what Oway is doing, because ELDs also made it possible to keep tabs on the exact location of a truck in real time.

    With this information, Oway can work with shippers to identify destinations close to an already-planned route. When there is empty space on the trailer — which there often is, according to Nadjafov — Oway can help customers place cargo in those trailers at a fraction of the typical cost. 

    The result is Oway claims it can bring the cost of moving a sub-2,000-pound pallet between Los Angeles and Dallas from about $350 down to as low as $140. 

    “You shouldn’t need to … buy a whole 50-something-foot truck to move [something] across the country in order to get good pricing,” he said. “If you have a single box over 100 pounds you want to move across the country, you should be able to, now, with current technology … do that. And this is a huge problem we have in America.”

    That disconnect, Nadjafov argued, creates higher shipping rates and consumer prices, but also leads to more emissions and more idle time for truckers. He believes Oway can solve this and is already working with big companies with thousands of vehicles in their fleets, though he said he can’t disclose who they are because they’ve asked for the relationships to stay private for now.

    The way Nadjafov pitches it, Oway’s business model combines some of the best aspects of the two main ways freight gets shipped by trucks in the U.S.

    One model is known as “full truckload,” which involves truck trailers being packed with goods, often in service of one shipper. These shipments typically go from point A to point B, offering quicker delivery but at a higher price.

    The other model is what’s known as “less-than-truckload” shipping, which typically involves multiple shippers sharing space on a single truck. This lowers the cost, but it takes longer, as the goods often have to bounce between multiple trucks and warehouses before making it to their destination.

    Nadjafov’s promise is that Oway can achieve the speed of full truckload shipping with the cost and dynamism of less-than-truckload shipping. What’s more, by shipping more goods on direct long-haul routes, that freight is less likely to get damaged since it’s not being unloaded and reloaded as it goes from a truck to a warehouse and back again.

    Oway is doing all this in a “decentralized” way, Nadjafov describes, meaning it is not trying to buy out entire trailers’ worth of space and is even working with other brokers in the industry on top of the carriers and shippers.

    “We want Oway to be flexible so that one day new businesses and industries could be built on the novel applications of this infrastructure,” he said.

    Nadjafov said Oway has already received interest from companies in other countries, but his startup is focused on the U.S. for now — in part because Oway is only 12 people, and because of how reliant this country is on trucking.

    “Trucking is a trillion-dollar industry and the empty space phenomenon itself is a $100 billion problem,” he said. “It’s going to be, I think, a very transformative movement for the entire commerce and logistics sector of America over the next 10 years, because I believe that this will be basically the de facto way that most businesses are going to move things around.”

    Update: This story has been updated to reflect more current market rates for moving goods between LA and Dallas.

    We’re always looking to evolve, and by providing some insight into your perspective and feedback into TechCrunch and our coverage and events, you can help us! Fill out this survey to let us know how we’re doing and get the chance to win a prize in return!

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  • Could boosting omega-3 intake help lower Alzheimer’s risk in women?

    Could boosting omega-3 intake help lower Alzheimer’s risk in women?

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    Women with Alzheimer’s disease have lower levels of healthy fats, study finds. Image credit: Alina Rudya/Bell Collective/Getty Images
    • Researchers based in the United Kingdom recently published a study that analyzed lipid levels in men and women with and without Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment.
    • Women with the disease had fewer healthy fats and more unhealthy fats.
    • Men with Alzheimer’s did not have a difference in lipid levels compared to men without Alzheimer’s.
    • This led the researchers to believe that increasing omega-3 intake could provide protective benefits to women.
    • While omega-3 is available as a supplement, it is found in foods such as salmon, flax seed, and edamame.

    Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that impacts memory and thinking skills. The disease is progressive and can cause complications that can lead to death.

    Women receive an Alzheimer’s diagnosis more often than men, and researchers are curious about why this happens.

    Scientists in the United Kingdom have recently conducted a study evaluating lipid (fat) biomarkers in men and women to see if there were any differences that could explain the disparity.

    Lipids are essential to the composition of the cell membrane. They are especially important in the brain because they support nerve function and electrical impulse transmission.

    The researchers analyzed samples from 841 participants from the AddNeuroMed cohort and the Dementia Case Register to determine lipid levels. The participant pool included:

    The study included 491 women and 350 men. The researchers did not include any participants who had other psychiatric or neurological disorders.

    To determine lipid levels, the scientists tested plasma using a process called lipidomics to measure hundreds of lipids and chose to focus on 268 lipids that passed quality control.

    They next compared the results to determine if there were any differences associated with Alzheimer’s and biological sex.

    Women displayed the greatest differences when compared with healthy individuals.

    Women with Alzheimer’s had significantly lower levels of highly unsaturated lipids, especially those containing omega-3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA. These women also had higher levels of unhealthy lipids.

    The researchers did not find the same pattern in men with Alzheimer’s when comparing them to men in the control group.

    Overall, the scientists found 32 lipids that were significantly associated with Alzheimer’s in women, and none were significantly linked in men.

    When reviewing cognitive test scores, the researchers found that the changes in unhealthy lipids were linked to worse cognitive test scores in women with Alzheimer’s but not in men with the disease.

    According to the study authors, this may be due to changes in enzymes that process healthy fats or from disruptions to pathways that help maintain brain cells. A group of fats called plasmalogens helps reduce inflammation and protect the brain but in women with Alzheimer’s, their levels appear disrupted.

    Overall, the study demonstrates the importance of not taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach to researching Alzheimer’s in women and men.

    While the authors note the importance of incorporating more omega-3s in the diet, they said further studies and clinical trials are needed to confirm whether dietary changes can influence Alzheimer’s disease.

    Allison B. Reiss, MD, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine and a member of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s (AFA) Medical, Scientific and Memory Screening Advisory Board, spoke with Medical News Today about the study.

    “The differences between male and female metabolism in relation to [Alzheimer’s disease] risk are explored here, and the sexes are not lumped together,” said Reiss, who was not involved in this research. “This makes sense because we know that both [Alzheimer’s disease] risk and lipid metabolism differ in men and women and that lipid metabolism is influenced by sex hormones.”

    When asked whether incorporating omega-3s could reduce Alzheimer’s risk, Reiss said, “it is possible, but not proven.”

    “Healthy, balanced, and nutritious diets incorporate omega-3s. A diet where we ‘eat the rainbow’ of many fruits and vegetables will have benefits that cannot be achieved by concentrating on trying to jam into your system a specific type of chemical compound.“

    – Allison B. Reiss, MD

    Timothy Ciesielski, MD, a research scientist in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve’s School of Medicine, also spoke with MNT about the study findings.

    According to Ciesielski, who likewise not involved in the research, this study “provides more evidence that lipid physiology contributes to Alzheimer’s development, and that the impact of lipids on Alzheimer’s development may differ between males and females.”

    Ciesielski explained that women process polyunsaturated fats faster and often have higher levels, partly because omega-3s are needed for fetal brain development during pregnancy. He said this may leave women more vulnerable to omega-3 depletion, which could possibly increase Alzheimer’s risk.

    Additionally, Ciesielski said the study demonstrates that “we should stratify by sex whenever possible in future research.”

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  • President constitutes 11th National Finance Commission – RADIO PAKISTAN

    1. President constitutes 11th National Finance Commission  RADIO PAKISTAN
    2. President Zardari constitutes 11th National Finance Commission to divvy up revenue  Dawn
    3. Centre plans to trim provinces’ NFC share  The Express Tribune
    4. Govt considers changes to NFC formula, linking provincial shares to performance: report  Profit by Pakistan Today
    5. When Provinces Run Surpluses but Islamabad Bleeds (Part I)  Daily Times

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  • Enzyme unique to modern humans may have given us an evolutionary edge, research finds

    Enzyme unique to modern humans may have given us an evolutionary edge, research finds

    Modern humans are evolutionary survivors, thriving generation after generation while our ancient relatives died out. Now, new research into our brain chemistry suggests that an enzyme unique to Homo sapiens may have made us more efficient water seekers than our closest extinct relatives.

    About 600,000 years ago, modern humans genetically diverged from the lineage that produced Neanderthals and Denisovans — our closest cousins in the family tree of human species. At some point after the split, an enzyme called adenylosuccinate lyase, or ADSL, evolved to be different in Homo sapiens. In the enzyme’s chain of 484 amino acids, one amino acid at position 429, called alanine, was replaced with valine. It’s a small change, but it produced a version of ADSL that only modern humans possess.

    The enzyme is a key component in producing purine, a building block of DNA and RNA. When ADSL is absent in modern humans, it can lead to behavioral abnormalities such as hyperactivity and aggressiveness. Scientists investigated how our behavior might be shaped by that change in a single amino acid. Their research was published August 4 in the journal PNAS.

    “Uncovering how tiny genetic changes from our ancient past helped shape brain traits that make us human is exciting,” said lead study author Dr. Xiang-Chun Ju, a postdoctoral scholar in the Human Evolutionary Genomics Unit at Japan’s Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology.

    “Studying our ancient origins is like assembling a giant puzzle, where each genetic change in our ancestors may offer a clue to how our brains and behaviors evolved,” Ju told CNN in an email.

    Earlier research showed that the ADSL variation in modern humans makes the enzyme less stable and less effective in its production of purine. By comparison, the original version of ADSL, carried by Neanderthals and Denisovans, is more efficient at synthesizing certain protein molecules. In Homo sapiens, these molecules accumulate in organs — especially the brain.

    To learn how this could affect behavior, researchers conducted experiments with mice; some were genetically modified to carry the less-efficient version of ADSL, mimicking human ADSL. They tested these “humanized” mice, along with a control group of unaltered mice, by first gradually restricting their access to water over 12 days, and then making water available, signaled by the presence of sound and light. The scientists found that female mice with the human variant of the enzyme visited the water dispensing area more frequently when they were thirsty.

    Perhaps, the scientists hypothesized, this less-efficient version of ADSL had a positive impact on accessing water, increasing Homo sapiens’ competitiveness for this vital resource.

    In a second line of investigation, researchers looked at the modern human genome, focusing on the ADSL gene that produces our unique version of the enzyme. They found a cluster of genetic variants carried by at least 97% of present-day humans, which make ADSL even less efficient at expressing RNA, potentially amplifying its impact on behavior. The gene’s location was in a region of the genome that was evolutionarily favored in humans, hinting that this change in ADSL expression kept being passed along because it likely provided humans with some advantage, the study authors reported.

    “It is really exciting that through such studies, we are moving beyond identifying the genetic changes that make modern humans unique, towards understanding how these changes may have shaped our uniqueness,” said Dr. ​​Maanasa Raghavan, an assistant professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the research.

    “This study raises intriguing possibilities about how our ancestors might have gained an advantage over contemporaries like Neanderthals and Denisovans in unstable environments with limited resources,” Raghavan said in an email.

    The first complete genome of a Neanderthal was sequenced in 2010, and scientists sequenced the first Denisovan genome two years later. By comparing their genetic data with that of modern humans spanning Africa, Asia and Europe, scientists are identifying behaviors that may have helped modern humans succeed while other hominin species died out, the researchers reported.

    “It adds to the picture that many of the changes that happened in modern humans affect how our brains develop and function,” Ju said. “It is a step towards understanding these changes and eventually how they may work together.”

    Of course, humans are not mice, and the new findings alone cannot directly explain human behavior, said Dr. Ingrida Domarkienė, a senior researcher in the department of human and medical genetics at Vilnius University in Lithuania. In addition to ADSL, roughly 80 amino acid variants exist between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, she added.

    “However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that these changes alone defined who we are,” Domarkienė, who studies ancient DNA but was not involved in the research, told CNN in an email. Rather, variations in our amino acids may have created opportunities that combined with other conditions — such as environment, intelligence, disease resistance and social structure — to shape our evolutionary success and leave modern humans as the last surviving hominin species.

    “I believe that the ‘loneliness’ of modern humans, in terms of being the only surviving lineage, was determined by a complex set of factors — and to some extent, chance,” Domarkienė said. “The results of this study bring us closer to understanding how we got here.”

    The findings raise other intriguing questions about the link between ADSL and behavior, according to Ju. Scientists are still unsure about how the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms of ADSL shape its influence on the human brain, and it is unknown why experimental changes to ADSL affected the behaviors of only female mice.

    “Could other behaviors, not examined in this study, also be influenced by this amino acid change?” Ju asked. “Most importantly, what might be the functional consequences in humans? Those are questions that we and others will now try to address.”

    Mindy Weisberger is a science writer and media producer whose work has appeared in Live Science, Scientific American and How It Works magazine. She is the author of “Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control” (Hopkins Press).

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  • Pharmacists Lack Knowledge, Motivation in Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions

    Pharmacists Lack Knowledge, Motivation in Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions

    Significant gaps were uncovered in community pharmacists’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, according to a study published in Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy.1

    “According to the World Health Organization, ADR has been defined as ‘a response which is noxious and unintended, and which occurs at doses normally used in humans for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy of disease, or for the modification of physiological function,’” wrote authors of the study. “The negative impact of ADRs is well-known in the literature; several studies reported its consequences regarding cost, increased hospitalization, and mortality.”

    When it comes to managing a patient’s prescription drug regimen, ADRs are usually ranked high regarding events that patients and pharmacists work diligently to avoid. However, they’re still significantly prominent. In 2022, a total of more than 1.25 million serious ADRs reported resulted in close to 175,000 deaths.2 Aside from increased risk of mortality, ADRs also impact patients’ medical and emergency costs, with 6 emergency department visits for adverse medication events per 1000 patients.

    Researchers of the current study investigated potential gaps and barriers within the pharmacovigilance process. | image credit: Lightning / stock.adobe.com

    READ MORE: Development of AI is Essential to Pharmacy Education

    Despite the potential harms that could stem from ADRs, patients across the country have access to community pharmacies that provide medication management services. Previous studies have shown that pharmacist-led interventions for comprehensive medication management resulted in improved quality of life among patients as well as a significant reduction in ADRs.3

    However, for patients taking any variety of prescription drugs, not everyone has access to or regularly visits their local pharmacist. On top of that, pharmacists may not have the knowledge or understand the proper procedures for reporting and managing ADRs. Amid the lack of research toward community pharmacists’ KAP regarding ADR reporting, researchers of the current study investigated potential gaps and barriers within the pharmacovigilance process.

    “This study aimed to evaluate the KAP of Jordanian community pharmacists regarding ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance,” they continued.1 “It also sought to identify barriers and enablers to guide development of future interventions to enhance pharmacovigilance activities within community pharmacies.”

    Among the community pharmacist pool in Jordan, researchers conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study that was self-administered from July to September of 2023.

    Researchers conducted a literature review on ADRs and pharmacovigilance to assist them in developing questions. The questionnaire was separated into 5 sections with a varying amount of questions in each: demographic and pharmacy-related information; awareness of ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance; knowledge about iatrogenic diseases; attitudes toward ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance, including perceptions of responsibility, confidence in reporting, and satisfaction with training; and practices related to ADR reporting, including the frequency of medication list reviews, ADR documentation, and follow-up on reported incidents.1

    A total of 239 community pharmacists (65.3% women; 23% aged 31-40 years; 92.1% in urban pharmacies) completed questionnaires.

    “The findings of this study highlight the imperative need for effective and proactive strategies to enhance ADR reporting activities among community pharmacists,” wrote the authors. “The optimal use of available pharmacovigilance systems could serve as a cornerstone strategy to systematically improve ADR reporting.”

    First, regarding pharmacists’ knowledge and experience with ADRs, just 62.3% were able to define pharmacovigilance. Furthermore, highlighting pharmacists’ inexperience, 67.5% said they reported ADRs 5 times or less in their entire careers, while 14.2% believed physicians are solely responsible for managing patients’ ADRs.

    A large proportion (113) of pharmacists encountered ADRs and not 1 of them reported, owing to time constraints, a lack of reporting skills, and other barriers that reduced their odds of reporting the ADR.

    “In Jordan, community pharmacists are often the first point of contact for patients, particularly due to the ease of access to community pharmacies compared to hospitals or clinics,” the authors continued.1 “This places community pharmacists in a pivotal role for identifying and reporting ADRs. However, societal expectations and patient-pharmacist dynamics may influence pharmacists’ confidence in reporting ADRs.”

    Similar to the US, pharmacists in Jordan are the most accessible providers for patients in the community and they are authorities on medication management. But when society places pharmacists in a scope with less jurisdiction on medical advice compared with physicians and advanced practice providers, pharmacists’ confidence or ambition to seek further knowledge may be stunted.

    Future research will focus on the policies, education, and systemic infrastructure necessary to improve ADR reporting and overall pharmacovigilance.

    “To overcome these challenges, authorities must establish obvious ADR reporting guidelines, integrate mandatory pharmacovigilance education into undergraduate pharmacy curricula, and provide continuous professional development programs,” they concluded.1 “Future efforts should prioritize policy changes, targeted educational interventions, and improved system infrastructure to strengthen ADR monitoring and promote medication safety in community pharmacy settings.”

    READ MORE: Technology and Data Resource Center

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    REFERENCES
    1. Alwidyan T, Odeh M, Ibrahim AH, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and practice among community pharmacists toward adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance: a nationwide survey. Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2025;18:100578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100578
    2. Kommu S, Whitfield P. Adverse drug reactions. StatPearls Publishing. January 10, 2024. Accessed August 22, 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK599521/
    3. Brajković A, Bićanić LA, Strgačić M, et al. The impact of pharmacist-led medication management services on the quality of life and adverse drug reaction occurrence. Pharmacy (Basel). 2022 Aug 25;10(5):102. doi: 10.3390/pharmacy10050102.

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  • UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal Rules Against Rider Franck Bonnamour

    UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal Rules Against Rider Franck Bonnamour

    The Tribunal found that the rider committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for the use of a prohibited substance or method, following an unexplained abnormality detected in his Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) in 2022.

    As a consequence, the Tribunal has imposed a four-year period of ineligibility, starting on 5 February 2024 and running until 4 February 2028, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.

    In line with the Procedural Rules of the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal, the full decision will be published on the UCI website. The decision may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within one month.

    The ITA manages the Athlete Biological Passport programme on behalf of the UCI, in collaboration with the Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) of Lausanne, which is associated with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited Laboratory of Lausanne. While the UCI has delegated its anti-doping programme to the ITA, it retains responsibility for results management and the prosecution of anti-doping rule violations.

    The ITA will not further comment on the matter.

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  • Chinese scientists achieve breakthrough in deep-brain imaging-Xinhua

    BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — Chinese scientists have, for the first time in the world, achieved high-resolution deep-brain multicolor two-photon imaging in freely moving mice using a newly developed miniature two-photon microscope.

    The study, which provides a new tool for decoding complex brain function mechanisms, was published online in the journal Nature Methods on Thursday.

    The brain operates through the coordinated efforts of tens of billions of neurons and hundreds of trillions of synapses. Accurately capturing the dynamic changes in neuronal and synaptic activity has long been a major challenge in brain science research.

    Two-photon microscopic imaging, a nonlinear optical imaging technique based on two-photon absorption and fluorescence excitation, offers high resolution and deep imaging capabilities.

    In 2017, a research team led by Cheng Heping, director of the National Biomedical Imaging Center at Peking University (PKU), successfully developed China’s first-generation miniature two-photon microscope, achieving for the first time clear and stable functional imaging of synapses in freely moving mice.

    One of the key components of the miniature two-photon microscope is a hollow-core fiber. Previously, hollow-core fiber could only transmit ultrafast laser pulses at a single wavelength, limiting its multicolor imaging capabilities.

    A PKU research team led by Cheng and Wang Aimin, in collaboration with a research team led by Wu Runlong from Beijing Information Science and Technology University, developed a novel ultra-broadband hollow-core fiber.

    This fiber, characterized by low loss and low dispersion, allows the transmission of femtosecond pulsed lasers at multiple wavelengths ranging from 700 to 1,060 nanometers. This innovation led to the creation of the multicolor miniature two-photon microscope weighing only 2.6 grams.

    By placing this microscope on the heads of mice with Alzheimer’s disease, researchers simultaneously captured dynamic three-color images — red, green and blue — of neuronal calcium signals, mitochondrial calcium signals and plaque deposits. They observed abnormal cellular and mitochondrial activities near plaques even in the early stages of the disease.

    “This is like a live color broadcast of the dynamic activities of neurons and organelles in the brain,” Wu said. In the past, due to the limitations of hollow-core fiber, microscopes could only observe single cell types. Now, with different cell types labeled with fluorescent markers of different colors, researchers can clearly observe complex interactions among multiple cell types and study how they coordinate and interact.

    The researchers also obtained neuronal calcium signals and structural imaging in the mouse cerebral cortex at depths exceeding 820 micrometers, the deepest imaging currently known, achieved through a miniature two-photon microscope without damaging brain tissue.

    Additionally, the microscope lens enables seamless switching between large-field observation and high-resolution fine imaging. With just a 30-second adjustment, the on-screen image can transition from a “micro close-up” to a “wide-angle panoramic view.”

    The researchers overcame the challenge of multicolor excitation imaging in miniature two-photon microscopes, marking a breakthrough in the study of complex brain networks, Cheng said.

    The new-generation microscope successfully achieves multicolor, deep-brain and cross-scale neural imaging in freely moving mice, with broad application prospects in understanding brain cognition principles, studying brain disease mechanisms, evaluating neuropharmaceuticals and developing brain-computer interfaces, he added. ■

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