Lifeboat Foundation

What if changes in a person’s stress levels could be detected while they sleep using wearable devices? A new study by University of Vermont researchers published in PLOS Digital Health is the first to find changes in perceived stress levels reflected in sleep data—an important step towards identifying biomarkers that may help flag individuals in need of support.

Given how critical sleep is to physical and mental health, the research team suspected signals might exist in sleep data, says Laura Bloomfield, a research assistant professor of mathematics and statistics and lead author of the study. “Changes in stress are visible.”

When parsing baseline sleep data, the researchers found “consistent associations” between people’s perceived stress scores and factors such as total sleep time, resting heart rate and heart rate variability, and respiratory rate.

Nuclear energy has long been regarded as a next-generation energy source, and major countries around the world are competing to secure cutting-edge technologies by leveraging the high economic efficiency and sustainability of nuclear power. However, uranium, which is essential for nuclear power generation, has serious implications for both soil ecosystems and human health.

Despite being a key radioactive material, uranium poses significant health risks due to its chemical toxicity to the kidneys, bones, and cells. As a result, both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization recommend allowing and advocating for uranium concentrations in wastewater to be below 30 μg/L.

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) has conducted research on a nano-material-based adsorption process to efficiently remove uranium wastewater extracted from actual radioactive-contaminated soil. They have also proposed its applicability to prevent secondary environmental pollutions.

Have you ever looked back on a moment and wondered if you made the right choice? Professor Robert Sapolsky has, but he believes that there was no actual choice at that moment. Professor Sapolsky has staked out an extreme stance in the field: we are nothing more than the sum of our biology, over which we had no control, and its interactions with the environment, over which we also had no control. Explore what it looks like to reject the notion of free will and how doing so can be liberating rather than paralyzing and despairing.

About the Speaker.
Professor Robert Sapolsky is the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor and a professor of biology, of neurology, and of neurosurgery. Over the past thirty years, he has divided his time between the lab, where he studies how stress hormones can damage the brain, and in East Africa, where he studies the impact of chronic stress on the health of baboons.

Continue reading “Determined: Life without Free Will with Robert Sapolsky” »

Feb. 1, 2024 – A common condition called polycystic ovary syndrome that causes irregular menstrual cycles has been linked to signs of early cognitive decline.

Known as PCOS, the condition may affect more than 1 in 10 women, and is among the most common causes of infertility. In addition to ovulation problems, PCOS can cause excess hair growth on the face and the other parts of the body, as well as abnormal growths on the ovaries. Women with PCOS are at a particularly heightened risk of getting type 2 diabetes, as well as other serious health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, and sleep apnea, particularly if the women are overweight.

This latest study looked for possible links between PCOS and brain health in women once they were in their late 40s or older.

Recent advancements in our comprehension of human health and disease have been propelled by pioneering research utilizing in vitro 3D cell culture models, including both single-cell spheroids and multicellular organoids.

The refinement of these 3D cell culture models hinges on the capacity to visualize, measure, and track their development and expansion over time. Nonetheless, the methods employed to evaluate and scrutinize these intricate cell models are not without their challenges.

Continue reading “Challenges in Producing and Analyzing Organoids” »

MEDIA ADVISORY: An international team of researchers, led by NCI scientists, has identified 50 new areas across the human genome that are associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer.

In a new analysis of genetic susceptibility to kidney cancer, an international team of researchers has identified 50 new areas across the genome that are associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer. These insights could one day be used to advance our understanding of the molecular basis of kidney cancer, inform screening efforts for those at highest risk, and identify new drug targets. The study was led by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of people of European ancestry identified 13 regions of the genome that are associated with kidney cancer risk. However, the study population was not diverse. To identify additional regions, researchers conducted a GWAS in participants of many different genetic ancestries that included 29,020 people with kidney cancer and 835,670 people without kidney cancer. Analysis of the data, which came from published studies, biobanks, and a new study, resulted in the identification of 50 new regions associated with the risk of developing kidney cancer, bringing the total number of such regions to 63.

Continue reading “New study provides genomic insights into kidney cancer risk” »

Technology views living cancer cell:

This technique could provide valuable insights into how different types of cancer respond to treatments. It might also help doctors understand the impact of irradiation on cells, specifically how some cancer cells resist radiation treatment. This resistance may result in relapse of the cancer.

A deeper understanding of cancer biology may lead to the development of more effective treatments in the future.

Continue reading “In a first, scientists use new tech to see inside cancer cells” »

Scientists champion global genomic surveillance using the latest technologies and a ‘One Health’ approach to protect against novel pathogens like avian influenza and antimicrobial resistance, catching epidemics before they start.

The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. In fighting it, one of our most important weapons was genomic surveillance, based on whole genome sequencing, which collects all the genetic data of a given microorganism. This powerful technology tracked the spread and evolution of the virus, helping to guide public health responses and the development of vaccines and treatments.

But genomic surveillance could do much more to reduce the toll of disease and death worldwide than just protect us from COVID-19. Writing in the journal Frontiers in Science, an international collective of clinical and public health microbiologists from the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) calls for investment in technology, capacity, expertise, and collaboration to put genomic surveillance of pathogens at the forefront of future pandemic preparedness.

The gang, which calls itself RansomHub, published several files on its dark web leak site containing personal information about patients across an array of documents, some of which included internal files related to Change Healthcare. RansomHub said it would sell the stolen data unless Change Healthcare paid a ransom.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, UnitedHealth spokesperson Tyler Mason confirmed the company paid the cybercriminals. “A ransom was paid as part of the company’s commitment to do all it could to protect patient data from disclosure.” The company would not confirm the amount it paid.

RansomHub is the second gang to demand a ransom from Change Healthcare. The health tech giant reportedly paid $22 million to a Russia-based criminal gang called ALPHV in March, which then disappeared, stiffing the affiliate that carried out the data theft out of their portion of the ransom.