Category: Imported News

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The Download: perimenopause misinformation and China’s latest AI leap

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

There’s a lot of hype around perimenopause. Don’t buy it.

Perimenopause used to be considered taboo, but not anymore. Thanks at least in part to TV doctors and social media influencers, conversations about the sometimes years-long period before menopause are now more open than ever. But the conversation is increasingly shaped by misinformation.

Despite what some marketers will claim, there is no test for perimenopause. That doesn’t mean women should have to put up with symptoms, but treatment suggestions often lack scientific evidence. And not all the symptoms women experience in midlife can be blamed on hormones.

Read the full story on the hype and misinformation surrounding perimenopause.

—Jessica Hamzelou

This article is from The Spark, our weekly climate tech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 China’s AI gap with the US may have just narrowed
A Chinese startup has released the world’s largest open AI model. (Reuters $)
+ It competes with some Anthropic and OpenAI models. (Gizmodo)
+ The model’s launch sent AI and semiconductor stocks sliding. (Bloomberg $)
+ Chinese Nvidia alternatives are also gaining traction. (SCMP)
+ Xi Jinping pitched China as an AI partner to the developing world. (CNBC)
+ The country is betting big on open-source. (MIT Technology Review)

2 Trump Media is selling instant access to “market-moving’ social posts
It’s developed a new way to monetize the president’s posts. (Quartz)
+ And Trump could profit directly from selling access to his statements. (BBC)
+ Kalshi says it caught Trump’s teleprompter operator insider trading. (Verge)
 
3 Astronomers have found an atmosphere on a nearby Earth-like planet 
It’s the first potentially habitable world known to host an atmosphere. (NYT $)
+ Making it a top contender in the search for aliens. (404 Media)
+ But you need to know how to spot one. (MIT Technology Review)
 
4 A brain implant has restored feeling in a paralysed hand 
The recipient can now feed himself and drink from a cup. (Guardian)  
+ Movement continued when the stimulation was turned off. (New Scientist $)
+ China has approved a world-first brain chip. (MIT Technology Review)
 
5 The EU has told Google to share search data and open up AI on Android
It will be forced to share data with competing search providers. (Ars Technica)
+ And open Android phones to rivals’ AI bots. (WP $)
 
6 Period trackers are hiding privacy problems
New research uncovers how they’re sharing users’ health data. (BBC)
 
7 The Tesla driver in a fatal Texas crash overrode FSD, investigators say
He bypassed the tech by pressing the gas pedal to 100%. (Verge)

8 A new stealth drone spins so fast that it disappears
Though its creators admit it can still be easily heard. (New Scientist $)

9 A space-station study suggests why astronauts’ bodies waste away
Microgravity disrupts mitochondria, reducing protein production. (Nature)

10 “Adversarial clothing” that confuses facial recognition is all the rage
Privacy could be the next big trend. (Guardian)

Quote of the day

“Xi’s message is clear: China is not going to follow anyone on both AI technology and ​standards. Instead, China is going ⁠to lead the world in both aspects.” 

—George Chen, chair in digital practice at The Asia Group consultancy, gives Reuters his take on Xi Jinping’s speech at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai.

One More Thing

""

BRYN NELSON


How poop could feed the planet

A new industrial facility in suburban Seattle is giving off a whiff of futuristic technology. It can safely treat fecal waste from people and livestock while recycling nutrients that are crucial for agriculture but in increasingly short supply across the nation’s farmlands. 

It’s among a range of systems reframing feces, urine, and their ingredients as invaluable natural resources to reuse instead of waste products to burn or bury. Several companies are now showing how to safely scale up the transformation with energy-efficient technologies.

Find out how human waste is being transfomed into agricultural solutions.

—Bryn Nelson

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.)

+ Soccer icons have received the Ghanaian movie poster treatment.
+ A captivating cosmic construction project is July’s Picture of the Month from the James Webb Space Telescope.
+ Sir David Attenborough recently turned 100. Here’s everything he’s ever worked on, all in one place.
+ “Desire paths” are the trails made by people walking contrary to defined routes. This video explains what they mean about psychology and design.

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Altered tryptophan metabolism as a contributor to cognitive impairment in chronic kidney disease: a narrative review

Approximately 40% of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience cognitive impairment (CI), which is strongly associated with increased mortality. CI is driven by multiple factors, including vascular injury, accumulation of uremic toxins, disruption of the blood–brain barrier, and chronic inflammation. Recent evidence suggests that kidney disease and neurocognitive decline are mechanistically linked through dysregulated tryptophan metabolism. Tryptophan is metabolised through three main pathways: the kynurenine, indole, and serotonin pathways, each producing bioactive metabolites with distinct neurophysiological effects. The hallmarks of CKD include chronic inflammation, gut microbial dysbiosis, and impaired renal clearance, all of which alter tryptophan metabolism. Inflammation drives tryptophan metabolism towards the kynurenine pathway, increasing the formation of neurotoxic compounds that promote oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and neuronal injury. However, reduced availability of tryptophan for serotonin synthesis impairs serotonergic signalling and neurotransmission, as well as melatonin biosynthesis, thereby contributing to circadian rhythm disturbances and impaired glymphatic clearance. Concurrently, gut dysbiosis and reduced renal clearance promote the accumulation of indole-derived uremic toxins, leading to endothelial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and disruption of the blood–brain barrier. This review highlights the current evidence of dysregulated tryptophan metabolism in CKD and its impact on the pathogenesis of neurocognitive complications. The review also discusses potential biomarkers and therapeutic strategies, including kynurenine pathway inhibitors, gut microbiota modulation, uremic toxin adsorption, melatonin supplementation and personalised medicine to mitigate cognitive impairment in CKD.
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Physical education performance as a protective pathway: breaking the cycle between learning burnout and gaming disorder in Chinese adolescents

Background and AimsGaming disorder (GD) and learning burnout (LB) are critical issues impacting adolescents, with GD recognized by the World Health Organization as a behavioral addiction and LB contributing to academic disengagement. While prior research has examined bivariate relationships, such as GD’s negative correlation with academic performance and physical education performance, or LB’s association with poor grades, no study has integrated all four variables into one model to explore their dynamic interactions longitudinally.MethodsA cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) model was applied to longitudinal data from 811 Chinese middle school students collected at two time points.ResultsGD and LB showed minimal direct effects on academic performance or physical education performance. Instead, academic performance and physical education performance acted as protective factors, significantly alleviating LB, particularly among boys. These two protective factors were mutually reinforcing. Cognitive exhaustion (a core component of LB) and GD functioned as reciprocal risk factors.ConclusionInterventions for adolescent maladjustment should prioritize addressing learning burnout through academic and physical avenues rather than overemphasizing gaming disorder, with tailored strategies for different genders.
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Pharmacotherapy, acupoint stimulation, and psychotherapy for perimenopausal women with anxiety, depression, and panic disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BackgroundPerimenopausal women frequently experience physiological and psychological symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and panic disorders, mainly due to declining ovarian function and hormonal changes. Current options include pharmacotherapy, acupoint stimulation (AcuStim), and psychotherapy (psych), but their comparative efficacy and safety remain controversial.ObjectiveThis network meta-analysis (NMA) systematically compared pharmacotherapy, AcuStim, and psychotherapy for perimenopausal anxiety, depression, and panic disorder, assessing clinical efficacy, adverse events (AEs), and changes in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Kupperman Index (KI), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and serum hormone levels.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, and SinoMed from inception to June 14, 2026, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A Bayesian NMA was performed, and the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking Curve (SUCRA) was calculated.ResultsThe study included 131 RCTs, encompassing 11457 perimenopausal women diagnosed with emotional disorders. These trials evaluated three distinct treatment strategies. The NMA showed that the highest SUCRA probabilities were observed for drug_psych across HAMD (SUCRA = 92.4%), KI (SUCRA = 97.9%), SDS (SUCRA = 94.5%), PSQI (SUCRA = 98.1%), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (SUCRA = 96.1%) reduction and estradiol (E2) (SUCRA = 0.1%) elevation; for AcuStim_psych (SUCRA = 93.7%) in HAMA reduction; for psych (SUCRA = 98.9%) in SAS reduction; for drug_AcuStim in clinical efficacy (SUCRA = 9.0%) and luteinizing hormone (LH) reduction (SUCRA = 100%); and for control (SUCRA = 65.5%) in safety outcomes. In pharmacotherapy subgroup analyses, antidepressants (ADs)_Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ranked highest for HAMD (SUCRA = 87.2%) and safety (SUCRA = 82%), ADs_antipsychotics (AP) (SUCRA = 97.5%) for HAMA, and ADs_hormone replacement therapy (HRT) (SUCRA = 10.2%) for clinical efficacy.ConclusionPharmacological, acupoint stimulation, and psychological interventions each demonstrated therapeutic benefits for perimenopausal women with emotional disorders. Combination therapies generally showed more favorable efficacy across multiple psychological and endocrine outcomes than single-modality interventions, while no single treatment strategy was consistently superior across all outcomes. These findings may provide evidence to support individualized treatment selection according to patients’ clinical characteristics and therapeutic goals.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD420261340530.
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CD163+ perivascular macrophages in schizophrenia: a research framework for testing macrophage-related mechanisms

Elevated densities of CD163+ perivascular macrophages have been reported in schizophrenia post-mortem brain tissue, particularly in regions involved in neurodevelopment, dopaminergic signaling, and blood–brain barrier (BBB) regulation. However, the biological significance and developmental lineage of these findings remain unclear. While CD163 is linked to regulatory and scavenging functions, macrophage activation states form a continuum and cannot be inferred from any single marker. This Perspective outlines a structured, testable research framework to determine whether this accumulation reflects altered responsiveness to persistent intracellular, inflammatory, systemic, or treatment-related signals. To test this, we propose sequential methodological aims, including defining CD163+ cell localization and phenotypes in predefined brain regions, and assessing viral and non-viral molecular signals using spatial transcriptomic and cell-specific methods. This framework also involves comparing macrophage activation states across schizophrenia and other psychiatric and non-psychiatric control groups, using single-cell and single-nucleus sequencing. By not presuming a specific infectious aetiology, this approach will provide a general methodology to investigate macrophage-related mechanisms across diverse potential triggers. Within this model, HSV-1 is evaluated strictly as an illustrative proof-of-concept candidate for testing intracellular pathogen responses, rather than an exclusive cause, as epidemiological associations have been inconsistent and localization of viral materials within these cells has not been demonstrated. Similarly, Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG)-associated trained immunity is introduced strictly as a preliminary, ex vivo/in vitro approach to probe macrophage reprogramming and plasticity. Ultimately, this framework provides a systematic approach for investigating macrophage-related mechanisms and their potential drivers in schizophrenia without presupposing a specific underlying aetiology.
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Circadian dimensions in insomnia disorder: mechanistic evidence, candidate phenotypes, and a phenotype-stratified research framework

Insomnia disorder is one of the most common sleep disorders and is traditionally conceptualized in terms of hyperarousal, altered sleep homeostasis, and cognitive-behavioral perpetuating factors. The two-process model of sleep regulation indicates that sleep initiation and maintenance depend not only on homeostatic sleep pressure but also on circadian phase, amplitude, and stability. Evidence suggests that some patients presenting with insomnia complaints have misalignment between endogenous circadian phase and the intended sleep window, whereas others show reduced rest-activity amplitude, increased sleep-timing variability, or abnormal light exposure patterns. This narrative review integrates clinical, measurement, mechanistic, and intervention evidence on circadian dimensions in insomnia disorder and proposes a candidate circadian phenotyping framework for future validation. The framework combines sleep diaries, actigraphy, light exposure assessment, dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO), and core body temperature rhythms to distinguish circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder (CRSWD)-dominant insomnia complaints, insomnia disorder with circadian modifiers, and comorbid insomnia disorder and CRSWD. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) remains first-line treatment. Fixed wake time, morning light, evening light restriction, timed low-dose melatonin, scheduled activity, and multicomponent approaches are positioned as candidate adjunctive modules to be tested in phenotype-stratified trials. These phenotypes are not diagnostic categories, clinical decision algorithms, or treatment guidelines. The review instead translates circadian evidence in insomnia into testable propositions, including provisional phenotype definitions, recommended measurement strategies, falsifiable predictions, and future trial designs. Operational thresholds, reproducibility, predictive validity, incremental treatment benefit, optimal parameters, safety, implementation feasibility, and cost-effectiveness require prospective phenotype-stratified randomized trials and long-term follow-up.
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Associations between childhood threat and deprivation experiences, self- and other-mentalizing, and adult psychopathology: evidence from a community sample

IntroductionChildhood adversity is a well-established transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, yet the mechanisms linking specific adversity types to mental health remain unclear. The Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP) distinguishes deprivation, defined as the absence of expected social and cognitive inputs, from threat, defined as exposure to violence or danger, and links them to impairments in cognitive and socio-emotional development. These forms of adversity may critically impact socio-cognitive mechanisms such as mentalization, the capacity to interpret one’s own and others’ behavior in terms of mental states. Mentalization may thus represent a key pathway through which adversity dimensions confer risk or protection for psychopathological expression.MethodsA community sample of 302 adults (53% female; M = 37.1, SD = 12.3) completed validated self-report measures of childhood trauma (CTQ), self- and other-mentalizing (MentS), and psychological symptoms (Global Severity Index, SCL-90-R). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) examined direct and indirect pathways linking deprivation and threat to psychological symptoms, associated with self- and other-mentalizing. Supplementary analyses tested age and gender moderation.ResultsThe measurement model showed good reliability and validity. The structural model explained 36.8% of the variance in psychopathological expression. Deprivation was negatively associated with other-mentalizing. Threat was positively associated with other-mentalizing and negatively with self-mentalizing. Self-mentalizing was strongly and negatively related to psychopathology, whereas other-mentalizing showed positive associations with symptomatology and self-mentalizing. A significant indirect path emerged from threat to other-mentalizing through self-mentalizing to psychopathology. Age moderated the self-mentalizingpsychopathology link.Conclusion/discussionFindings support DMAP and mentalization-based frameworks, indicating that threat and deprivation exert distinct effects on mentalization and psychopathology. Self-mentalizing functions as a protective factor, whereas difficulties in understanding others reflect compensatory but maladaptive adaptations to adversity. Together, these results identify mentalization as a transdiagnostic mechanism linking early adversity with adult psychological functioning.
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Gene Therapy Partners Aim to Enhance Protein Expression

Circio Holding and Avenue Biosciences agreed to a research collaboration designed to combine their synergistic technologies to improve long-term expression of secreted proteins, relevant for treatment of a broad range of diseases.

Secreting proteins from cells into surrounding tissue, or into circulation, opens new treatment opportunities beyond classical gene therapy for monogenic disease, say scientists from both companies. Circio maintains that its circVec platform drives higher and more durable protein expression, and a spokesperson from Avenue Biosciences explains that its protein engineering technology improves protein secretion from cells by screening thousands of signal peptide-protein combinations.

Circio and Avenue will jointly explore whether the two technologies in combination can act synergistically to improve the production and secretion of proteins, including antibodies, for the treatment of genetic and chronic diseases.

“Many gene therapies are limited by insufficient protein expression, driving high doses, manufacturing complexity, and cost. The secretory pathway—the cellular machinery that produces and exports proteins—is a largely underutilized engineering opportunity. By combining Circio’s durable circular RNA expression with our technology, we aim to increase protein output per dose and ultimately help more patients benefit from life-changing genetic medicines,” says Avenue Biosciences CEO Tero-Pekka Alastalo, MD, PhD.

In the collaboration, Avenue Biosciences will deploy its protein engineering platform to identify signal peptides that enable improved secretion of therapeutic proteins expressed by circVec. The initial screening will be performed by Avenue Biosciences, followed by further in vitro and in vivo testing by Circio.

“A significant proportion of therapeutically relevant payloads for circVec are secreted proteins,” adds Victor Levitsky, PhD, CSO of Circio. “With the Avenue platform, we will test how signal peptide optimization can enhance secretion of proteins and thereby open novel opportunities for the circVec platform in genetic and chronic disease. This collaboration is an important addition to our pre-clinical development strategy of testing circVec in multiple settings through R&D partnerships to broadly explore the range of therapeutic options available for our unique circular RNA expression technology.”

The post Gene Therapy Partners Aim to Enhance Protein Expression appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.