The study was presented by Dr Anne Vejen Hansen from the department of respiratory medicine at Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.

She said: “Asthma is common in women of reproductive age. Previous studies have shown that it takes women with asthma longer to get pregnant than those without asthma when undergoing fertility treatment, and that asthmatic women who succeed in getting pregnant have more often had fertility treatment than non-asthmatic women. But most existing studies are on women who have actually got pregnant, so we wanted to examine fertility outcomes on a national scale, to also include those that might not become pregnant at all.”

The team analysed reproductive outcomes for all Danish women born from 1976 to 1999, following them from 1994 to 2017. In total, 769,880 women were included and followed; anyone who took anti-asthma medication on a regular basis was classified as asthmatic.

They found that women with asthma experienced a higher degree of foetal loss compared to women without asthma (17.0% vs. 15.7%) and more use of fertility treatment (5.6% vs. 5.0%). However, the proportion who subsequently gave birth was 77% in women with and without asthma, suggesting that asthma does not seem to affect the number of live births.

Dr Vejen Hansen said: “We found that women fulfilling the definition of asthma had a higher rate of foetal loss and an increased use of fertility treatment. The more severe the asthma and the more flare ups the women experienced, the more likely they were to need fertility treatment. Why this is, is not clear. It might be related to systemic inflammation throughout the body, including women’s reproductive organs.

“But the numbers also show that these same women who redeem asthma medication still have as many live births in the end as women who don’t. This suggests that most women with asthma probably do manage to become pregnant and have babies in the end.

“We also plan to investigate the possible effect of male asthma on fertility, and, therefore, have another similar registry-based study in the pipeline.”

Professor Lena Uller is Chair of the ERS group on Airway Pharmacology and Treatment and Head of the Respiratory Immunopharmacology research group at Lund University, Sweden, and was not involved in the research. She said: “It’s reassuring that women seem to have the same live birth rate regardless of their asthma. However, the results also indicate that women with asthma should take into consideration potential reproductive challenges in their family planning. If women with asthma are worried about their fertility, they should speak to their doctor.

“The results of this study also underscore the importance of managing asthma in reproductive-aged women. The fact that the more severe the asthma, the more the problems with fertility, suggests that uncontrolled asthma is the problem and we should be helping women to get their asthma under control.”

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have become more common in both humans and animals. IBD is now a fairly common disease also in horses, causing serious welfare challenges such as weight loss, decreased performance, and pain-related behaviors. Symptoms can lead to premature retirement and even euthanasia of the horse. IBD is usually diagnosed by observing general symptoms and ultimately by endoscopy and examining a biopsy taken from the intestinal wall.

“Diagnosing IBD is also expensive for the owner and stressful for the horse, as it requires fasting, endoscopy and usually transportation to a horse hospital,” explains Academy Research Fellow Silva Uusi-Heikkilä from the University of Jyväskylä. Furthermore, endoscopy is challenging because an adult horse has a long gastrointestinal tract and most of it remains unexplored during endoscopy for practical reasons.

Microbiota Composition Studied from Horse Fecal Samples

Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä explored the opportunities to use the composition of the bacterial community, or microbiota, in horse fecal samples as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for IBD. Studies in other species, such as humans, have shown that the gut microbiota composition can be used to detect IBD and the progression of the disease. Based on this knowledge, researchers analyzed the microbiota composition of horse fecal samples to determine if that can indicate the presence of IBD.

“We observed differences in the composition of the gut microbiota between horses with IBD and healthy horses, explains Uusi-Heikkilä. The relative abundances of certain bacterial groups were found to either increase or decrease in horses with IBD,” she adds.

Artificial Intelligence Utilized in the Research

Using microbiota composition assessments, the researchers developed a machine learning model to predict IBD based on the microbiota species composition in fecal samples.

“This AI-based neural network model predicted IBD in the test samples with 100% accuracy,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Tiina Sävilammifrom the University of Jyväskylä. The next step is to further test the model and to improve its performance with more samples, she adds.

Benefits of the New Diagnostic Method for Humans and Animals

The researchers’ promising results suggest that in the future, analyzing the species composition of microbiota in fecal samples could become an accurate, cost-effective, and non-invasive method to support screening IBD in horses. This advancement could reduce the stress and financial burden associated with current diagnostic methods, benefiting both horses and their owners.

Acinetobacter baumannii (or A. baumannii) is a bacterial species commonly found in environmental settings such as water and soil. It is a known opportunistic pathogen that can cause serious infections, particularly in the bloodstream, urinary tract, lungs (resulting in pneumonia), or open wounds, especially in hospitalized or immunocompromised patients.

A. baumannii has been named as one of the top priority pathogens by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is the cause of most prevalent multi-drug resistant infections in healthcare settings. A. baumannii persists in hostile environments by readily forming biofilms — clusters of microorganisms that stick to non-biological surfaces — and utilising multiple resistance mechanisms to overcome exposure to antimicrobial agents and other environmental toxins. These properties have facilitated the global emergence of multiple drug-resistant and extremely drug-resistant phenotypes.

Described in a new study published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the researchers have created the mutant strains using molecular engineering to insert various resistance motifs into A. baumannii bacteria.

The strains will facilitate the study of the pharmacodynamics and efficacy of anti-Acinetobacter compounds. This experimental platform is potentially useful for global preparedness to combat the ever-evolving threat of multi-and extremely drug-resistant A. baumannii infections.

Corresponding author Dr Vineet Dubey, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Liverpool said: “This innovative approach offers a powerful tool to study the pharmacodynamics of novel therapeutics against A. baumannii. Our molecular constructs have demonstrated both stability and virulence in experimental models, ensuring robust and reliable data. The modularity of our system enables the exploration of emerging resistance mechanisms, including the ability to express multiple resistance genes, thereby facilitating the study of complex resistance networks in A. baumannii.”

The fascinating work from UVA’s Marina Weiler, PhD, and colleagues not only explores the complex relationship between altered states of consciousness and empathy but could lead to new ways to foster empathy during a particularly fractured time for American society — and the world.

“Empathy is a fundamental aspect of human interaction that allows individuals to connect deeply with others, fostering trust and understanding,” said Weiler, a neuroscientist with UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies. “The exploration, refinement and application of methods to enhance empathy in individuals — whether through OBE [out-of-body experience]-related ego dissolution or other approaches — is an exciting avenue with potentially profound implications for individuals and society at large.”

How Out-of-Body Experiences Affect Empathy

Weiler’s paper examines the possibility that the dramatic increases in empathy seen in people who undergo out-of-body experiences may result from what is known as “ego dissolution” — the loss of the sense of self. In these instances, people feel they have been severed from their physical form and have connected with the universe at a deeper level. Sometimes known as “ego death” or “ego loss,” this state can be brought on by near-death experiences, hallucinogenic drugs and other causes. But people who undergo it often report that their viewpoint on the world, and their place in it, is radically changed.

“The detachment from the physical body often leads to a sense of interconnectedness with all life and a deepened emotional connection with others,” the researchers write. “These sensations of interconnectedness can persist beyond the experience itself, reshaping the individual’s perception and fostering increased empathy, thereby influencing personal relationships and societal harmony.”

Out-of-body experiences can seem more real than reality itself, the researchers note, and this sense of transcendental connectedness can translate into “prosocial” behaviors afterward. Experiencers often become more compassionate, more patient, more understanding. More than half in one study described their relationships with others as more peaceful and harmonious. Many become more spiritual and more convinced of the possibility of life after death.

In their paper, Weiler and her co-authors explore potential explanations for what is happening within the brain to cause these changes. But while that remains unclear, the lasting effects of OBEs are not. And by understanding how these life-changing experiences can enhance empathy, researchers may be able to develop ways to help foster it for society’s benefit during a conflicted age.

“Interest in cultivating empathy and other prosocial emotions and behaviors is widespread worldwide,” the researchers conclude. “Understanding how virtues related to consideration for others can be nurtured is a goal with personal, societal and potentially global implications.”

Led by scientists from the CICERO Center for International Climate Research and supported by the University of Reading, the research shows that 20 per cent of the population could face extreme weather risks if emissions are cut enough to reach the aims of the Paris Agreement, compared to 70% if limited action is taken.

The new paper, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, shows how global warming can combine with normal variations in the weather, to produce decade-long periods of very rapid changes in both extreme temperatures and rainfall.

Few studies have explored the impact extreme weather will have on different countries. Dr Carley Iles, lead author of the research at CICERO, said: “We focus on regional changes, due to their increased relevance to the experience of people and ecosystems compared with the global mean, and identify regions projected to experience substantial changes in rates of one or more extreme event indices over the coming decades.”

Unprecedented conditions

Large climate model simulations were used in the study to show that large parts of the tropics and subtropics, encompassing 70 percent of current population, are expected to experience strong joint rates of change in temperature and precipitation extremes combined over the next 20 years, under a high-emissions scenario. With strong emissions mitigation, the number is expected to drop to 20 percent, or around 1.5 billion people.

Rapid changes increase the risk of unprecedented conditions and extreme events that currently account for a disproportionate share of the realised impacts of climate change. For example, heatwaves may cause heat stress and excess mortality of both people and livestock, stress to ecosystems, reduced agricultural yields, difficulties in cooling power plants, and transport disruption. Similarly, precipitation extremes can lead to flooding and damage to settlements, infrastructure, crops and ecosystems, increased erosion and reduced water quality. Thus, society seems particularly vulnerable to high rates of change of extremes, especially when multiple hazards increase at once.

Clean-up risks

Dr Laura Wilcox, co-author at the University of Reading, said: “We also find that rapid clean-up of air pollution, mostly over Asia, leads to accelerated co-located increases in warm extremes and influences the Asian summer monsoons. While cleaning the air is critical for health reasons, air pollution has also masked some of the effects of global warming. Now, the necessary cleanup may combine with global warming and give very strong changes in extreme conditions over the coming decades.”

While the new paper focuses on the likelihood of rapid change, the authors emphasise that the results have important implications for climate adaptation. “In the best case, we calculate that rapid changes will affect 1.5 billion people. The only way to deal with this is to prepare for a situation with a much higher likelihood of unprecedented extreme events, already in the next 1-2 decades”, says Dr. Bjørn H. Samset at CICERO Center for International Climate Research. Samset has contributed to the newly published study.