It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Research maps the way to reducing tuberculosis cases worldwide
New research from Curtin University and The Kids Research Institute Australia mapping tuberculosis (TB) cases in Africa could help dramatically improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease around the world.
Curtin University
New research from Curtin University and The Kids Research Institute Australia mapping tuberculosis (TB) cases in Africa could help dramatically improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease around the world.
One of the deadliest infectious diseases, TB affected an estimated 10.8 million people in 2023 alone, claiming 1.25 million lives worldwide.
Strategies to combat the disease are often broad and applied in the same way across all regions of a country — however this study may have identified a more efficient approach.
Researchers investigated the disease across Africa, which accounts for nearly a quarter of global TB cases.
Focusing on 14 countries, the team used data from 50 surveys covering more than 1.5 million people examined for TB to estimate how common the disease is at a local level, breaking each country down into 5km2 grids to identify hotspots.
Study lead, PhD candidate Alemneh Liyew from Curtin’s School of Population Health and The Kids Research Institute Australia, said the research uncovered dramatic differences in disease burden between local regions within countries — which could prove vital in reducing the impact of tuberculosis.
“This is the first study to provide local-level TB maps across Africa; until now, we haven’t been able to see where within countries the disease is most concentrated,” Mr Liyew said.
“This study highlights how factors such as higher temperatures, rainfall, altitude and better access to cities can influence the prevalence of TB.
“With this data, health resources can be better targeted towards the communities that need them most.”
Associate Professor Kefyalew Alene, also from The Kids’ Geospatial and Tuberculosis Research Team, said the study’s findings could potentially help fight the disease outside of Africa.
“While some aspects of the study are Africa-specific, using mapping to identify patterns associated with tuberculosis could help battle the disease in a more targeted manner elsewhere,” Associate Professor Alene said.
“One-size-fits-all national strategies aren’t as effective, particularly in regions where resources are limited.
“This level of geographic detail is essential to precisely target disease hotspots and will help governments and health organisations be more efficient in working toward the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing tuberculosis deaths by 95 per cent by 2035.”
Mapping tuberculosis prevalence in Africa using a Bayesian geospatial analysis was published in Communications Medicine.
The role of AI in medical decision-making elicits different reactions in people when compared with human doctors. A new study investigated the situations where the acceptance differs and why with stories that described medical cases.
People accept the euthanasia decisions made by robots and AI less than those made by human doctors, finds a new study. The international study, led by the University of Turku in Finland, investigated people’s moral judgements on the decisions made by AI and robots as well as humans on end-of-life care regarding people in a coma. The research team conducted the study in Finland, Czechia, and Great Britain by telling the research subjects stories that described medical cases.
The project's Principal Investigator, University Lecturer Michael Laakasuo from the University of Turku, explains that the phenomenon where people hold some of the decisions made by AI and robots to a higher standard than similar decisions made by humans is called the Human-Robot moral judgement asymmetry effect.
“However, it is still a scientific mystery in which decisions and situations the moral judgement asymmetry effect emerges. Our team studied various situational factors related to the emergence of this phenomenon and the acceptance of moral decisions," says Laakasuo.
Humans are perceived as more competent decision-makers
According to the research findings, the phenomenon where people were less likely to accept euthanasia decisions made by AI or a robot than by a human doctor occurred regardless of whether the machine was in an advisory role or the actual decision-maker. If the decision was to keep the life-support system on, there was no judgement asymmetry between the decisions made by humans and Ai. However, in general, the research subjects preferred the decisions where life support was turned off rather than kept on.
The difference in acceptance between human and AI decision-makers disappeared in situations where the patient, in the story told to the research subjects, was awake and requested euthanasia themselves, for example, by lethal injection.
The research team also found that the moral judgement asymmetry is at least partly caused by people regarding AI as less competent decision-maker than humans.
“AI's ability to explain and justify its decisions was seen as limited, which may help explain why people accept AI into clinical roles less.”
Experiences with AI play an important role
According to Laakasuo, the findings suggest that patient autonomy is key when it comes to the application of AI in healthcare.
“Our research highlights the complex nature of moral judgements when considering AI decision-making in medical care. People perceive AI’s involvement in decision-making very differently compared to when a human is in charge," he says.
“The implications of this research are significant as the role of AI in our society and medical care expands every day. It is important to understand the experiences and reactions of ordinary people so that future systems can be perceived as morally acceptable.”
Uppsala University’s Main Building is one of the few well-preserved intact milieus from the 1880s and has a unique position in Swedish architecture. This applies to both the façade and the entire interior, where the colour scheme, decoration, artworks and furniture have largely remained exactly as they were when the building was inaugurated. This is shown in a new thesis on the University Main Building in Uppsala, in which curator Anna Hamberg explores and presents everything associated with the building.
“It’s exciting to see the way everything was conceived to begin with, and how much didn’t turn out as originally planned. One example is the monumental mural that was planned for the wall above the entrance to the auditorium. It was intended to show scenes from the University’s history, but there it is today, completely bare,” says Anna Hamberg, who recently defended her thesis on the University Main Building in Uppsala.
The University Main Building in Uppsala was inaugurated on 17 May 1887. In a new thesis, Hamberg, a curator at the University’s Gustavianum museum, has studied the architecture and design of the building. What did the plans for the University Main Building look like? What were the prevailing ideals at the time of its construction? When the edifice was completed, it differed in many ways from the architect’s original intentions. How did this happen?
The light of knowledge a clear theme
To understand why the building was designed and decorated in the way it was, Hamberg traces its inspiration back to antiquity.
“The quest for the light of knowledge is the overarching symbolic theme of the building – the decorative painting of the dragon in the large chancellor’s room is a clear example. In the centre we see a dragon and a faun. They symbolise ignorance being driven off by a youth with a spear. What the youth is protecting is the light of knowledge in the form of a star on a standard. The University also has a large collection of plaster casts of statues from antiquity. Today we can see parts of the collection upstairs in the grand hall,” says Hamberg.
“To think freely is great, but to think rightly is greater”
The façade is familiar to many, with its four allegorical female figures symbolising the four faculties that existed when the building was new: theology, law, medicine and philosophy. The interior is perhaps best known for the famous quote by the 18th century lawyer Thomas Thorild: “To think freely is great, but to think rightly is greater”.
“This can also be interpreted as a call to the viewer to seek the light of knowledge.”
The entire stair hall is dominated by a floor of English-made tiles, which together with the height of the ceiling and the domes create a special space. In her thesis, Hamberg describes how, at the time of construction, new technical solutions were emerging that helped make it possible to create this type of fascinating milieu.
Furnitures specially designed by architect
One piece of furniture she singles out in particular is one of the lecterns in the auditorium, which is still used as a ceremonial piece of furniture once a year at the inauguration of professors. Like many of the other pieces of furniture in the building, it was specially designed by the building’s architect Herman Teodor Holmgren. During his three-year study tour of Europe, he stayed in Paris where he spent much of his time in the great Louvre Museum. Then, as now, the marble ‘Throne of Ceres’, brought there as a spoil of war by the French Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821), was on display there. It can be assumed that Holmgren used the throne in the Louvre as a model, as the similarities with his furniture designs for the University Main Building are striking.
In her thesis, Hamberg describes how the architect embedded the academic hierarchy in the building’s design. The rooms differed in their placement and degree of decoration, depending on whether they were for students or professors. The lecture halls were kept spartan, with no decoration or art on the walls, while rooms intended for professors or the vice-chancellor were more lavishly fitted out.
Unique architectural drawings better preserved
One important and tangible result of the thesis has been that fragile and unique architectural drawings held in the University’s archives have been conserved and better preserved for posterity. They have also been published on the Alvin digital platform, making them available to the public and for further research. Some of this material is on temporary display at the Carolina Rediviva University Library.
“Uppsala University Main Building has a continuity value that is rare in Sweden and well worth preserving. It is also inspiring that the building is still used for its original purpose –everyday academic life, ceremonies and celebrations,” Hamberg concludes.
Participants first consumed pizza, followed by two test conditions involving hamburger steak bento meals—eaten with vegetables first (after 4 weeks) and vegetables last (after 8 weeks). All meals were closely matched for calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates to assess the impact of meal type and sequence on eating behavior.
Credit: Professor Katsumi Iizuka from Fujita Health University Hospital, Japan Image Source Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17091576
In a society facing rising obesity rates, it is more important than ever to find simple and practical ways to encourage healthier eating habits. One common suggestion for supporting digestion and weight control is to eat slowly. However, many people still find it challenging to incorporate this practice into their daily lives. To overcome this struggle, a team of researchers led by Professor Katsumi Iizuka from Fujita Health University, Japan, offered a clear and simple answer, stating that the type of meal we choose may matter more than the order in which we eat it. This study was published in Volume 17, Issue 9 of the journal Nutrients on May 3, 2025. “Eating slowly is widely recommended for obesity prevention,” said Prof. Iizuka. “But people often don’t know how to implement this advice. Our study shows that simply choosing the right type of meal—such as a bento instead of fast food—can naturally extend meal duration and encourage more mindful eating.” The research was also actively supported by Kanako Deguchi from the Department of Clinical Nutrition, Fujita Health University.
The team studied 41 adults (18 males and 23 females, aged 20 to 65) who consumed three test meals over several weeks: pizza, a hamburger steak bento eaten with vegetables first, and the same bento eaten with vegetables last. Researchers used a wearable chewing sensor and video analysis to measure each participant's meal duration, number of chews and bites, and chewing tempo. The findings were striking. Participants ate pizza significantly faster than bento, with shorter meal durations and fewer chews, regardless of whether vegetables were eaten first or last. In contrast, the bento meals—consumed with chopsticks and consisting of individual components like rice, vegetables, and meat—promoted longermeal times and more chewing. Surprisingly, the number of bites remained consistent across meal types, and chewing tempo showed only slight but statistically significant differences.
The study also looked at differences between men and women and found that men generally ate faster and chewed less than women. However, the overall trend was the same in both groups—bento meals took longer to eat and required more chewing. Older participants tended to eat faster than younger ones, which could be due to changes in dental health or chewing ability. One might expect that individuals with a higher body mass index (BMI) would eat faster, but the study found no association between BMI and meal duration, challenging common stereotypes. Instead, the researchers suggest that people with obesity may gravitate toward ultra-processed, easy-to-eat foods like pizza, which could lead to faster meals and overeating.
Prof. Iizuka explains, “One key factor affecting meal speed is how the food is served and eaten. Bento meals are served in small portions that need to be picked up with chopsticks, which slows down the process. In contrast, pizza is eaten by hand and is often designed to be eaten quickly. This difference in serving style plays a big role in how fast people eat.”
Scientists also point out that chewing tempo, or how fast people chew, is controlled by the brain’s natural rhythm and is less likely to change. However, the number of chews and the time spent chewing can vary based on the meal type. Eating slowly by taking more chews and smaller bites helps extend the meal duration, which is linked to better digestion and weight control. “If we want to help people eat more slowly, we should focus less on telling them how to chew and more on helping them choose meals that require slower, more deliberate eating; this could be a simple yet powerful tool in our fight against obesity and related diseases,” says Prof. Iizuka.
In conclusion, this study highlights that making simple meal choices—like opting for traditional bento-style meals over fast food—can naturally slow down eating, increase chewing, and support healthier habits. As obesity rates continue to rise, focusing on what we eat, rather than just how we eat, may be a practical and effective step toward better nutrition and long-term well-being. Simple habits like these could make a big difference in promoting healthy eating behaviors.
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Reference
Title of original paper: The Meal Type Rather than the Meal Sequence Affects the Meal Duration, Number of Chews, and Chewing Tempo
Fujita Health University is a private university situated in Toyoake, Aichi, Japan. It was founded in 1964 and houses one of the largest teaching university hospitals in Japan in terms of the number of beds. With over 900 faculty members, the university is committed to providing various academic opportunities to students internationally. Fujita Health University has been ranked eighth among all universities and second among all private universities in Japan in the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. THE University Impact Rankings 2019 visualized university initiatives for sustainable development goals (SDGs). For the “good health and well-being” SDG, Fujita Health University was ranked second among all universities and number one among private universities in Japan. The university became the first Japanese university to host the "THE Asia Universities Summit" in June 2021. The university’s founding philosophy is “Our creativity for the people (DOKUSOU-ICHIRI),” which reflects the belief that, as with the university’s alumni and alumnae, current students also unlock their future by leveraging their creativity.
About Professor Katsumi Iizuka from Fujita Health University
Professor Katsumi Iizuka is a leading expert in clinical nutrition at Fujita Health University in Japan. He earned his medical degree from Osaka University in 1993 and completed his Ph.D. in 2000. His research focuses on metabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance, with a particular interest in the role of carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) in nutrition-related disorders. With over 95 publications and more than 3,000 citations, Professor Iizuka's work significantly contributes to understanding the nutritional factors influencing metabolic health and disease prevention.
Funding information
This research received funding from the Suzuken Memorial Foundation (23--003).
The Meal Type Rather than the Meal Sequence Affects the Meal Duration, Number of Chews, and Chewing Tempo
Brain differences seen in children with conduct disorder depend on abuse history
Young people who are diagnosed with conduct disorder show significant differences in their brain structure depending on whether there has been childhood maltreatment.
Green lines show white matter pathways. Red/yellow zones show where differences appear between the non-maltreated CD group and healthy controls. These differences are found in the main pathway connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. No differences are seen between the abused CD group and healthy controls.
Study finds significant differences in ‘white matter’ in the brains of young people with conduct disorder (CD) who have been abused and those who have not.
This study is the first to look at differences in white matter between youth with CD who have a history of childhood abuse and those who do not, and to compare both groups to healthy controls.
The white matter of abused youth with CD did not differ from healthy controls, but white matter of non-abused youth was significantly altered in key pathways within the brain.
The study’s authors speculate that for some individuals there may be a genetic basis for CD, while for others the disorder may result from childhood abuse. If so, different treatments may be appropriate depending on the origin of the disorder.
CD is a psychiatric condition, usually diagnosed in children and adolescents, related to severe antisocial behaviour (e.g. fighting, bullying, truancy and theft).
Body text:
Young people who are diagnosed with conduct disorder show significant differences in their brain structure depending on whether or not they have also suffered childhood abuse, according to new research led by the University of Bath in the UK. This finding suggests the combined effects of childhood maltreatment and conduct disorder impact the architecture of the brain.
The study’s authors believe there may be implications for the way children and adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) should be diagnosed and treated.
Until now, no diagnostic distinction has been made between young people with CD who have been abused and those who have not. However, if future research corroborates the findings of the new study, there may be good reason for clinicians to distinguish between people with CD who have suffered maltreatment in their early years from those who have not.
Dr Sophie Townend, a researcher in the Psychology Department at the University of Bath and lead author of the study, said: “Our findings suggest there are differences in brain structure between youth with conduct disorder depending on their abuse histories, which may suggest there’s a distinct pathway from abuse to developing this disorder.
“If this is true, we now need to consider whether there are clinical and neuropsychological differences between those with and those without a history of childhood abuse, and whether their treatment responsiveness differs. It may be that differentiating between these two groups allows us to develop more effective treatments.”
Conduct disorder
CD is associated with the highest burden of any mental disorder in childhood and is found in an estimated 3% of children and adolescents worldwide, yet its neurobiology remains unclear. Neurobiology is the branch of biology concerned with the brain and the central nervous system, and how these influence thought and behaviour.
CD is a psychiatric disorder characterised by severe and persistent aggressive and antisocial behaviour, such as fighting, rule-breaking and bullying. The disorder puts a young person at risk of future delinquency, substance abuse and mental illness. It often leads to antisocial personality disorder and criminality in adulthood.
White matter vs grey matter
The new study found differences in ‘white matter’ between individuals with conduct disorder (CD) who have been abused and those who have not. White matter represents the neural pathways along which electrical signals pass as one brain area communicates with another.
Earlier work, also led by the University of Bath, has shown key differences in ‘grey matter’ (the nerve cell-rich regions of the brain) between individuals with CD and those without the disorder. The areas of grey matter most impacted were found to be those involved in emotion processing, decision-making and reinforcement learning (the sort of learning that teaches healthy individuals to avoid behaviours that receive negative feedback).
The same study into grey matter also found that individuals with CD who had experienced abuse showed more pronounced changes in the physical structure of their brains than those with CD who had not been abused, when both groups were compared to typically-developing children without CD.
The new study is the first to look specifically at differences in white matter between youth with CD who have a history of childhood abuse and those who do not, and to compare individuals in these two sub-groups to healthy controls.
The researchers found that, unlike with grey matter, the white matter of abused individuals with CD does not differ from that of healthy controls. By contrast, youth with CD who have not been abused show significant alterations in their white matter.
Although the reasons for these changes in non-maltreated individuals remain unclear, the study’s authors speculate that a genetic basis for CD in some people may be responsible for these structural differences.
Dr Townend said: “In other words, people may end up at the same clinical end-point but their condition may have a different origin or cause.
“Some may have conduct disorder because they were born predisposed to have altered white matter development, which ultimately leads to behaviours that manifest as conduct disorder, and others may have it because they experienced maltreatment while their brains were still forming, leading to structural grey matter changes, and the development of the same disorder.”
The new study’s international team of researchers found a second difference between the brains of people with CD: those who have been maltreated exhibit changes in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (a white-matter pathway involved in emotion processing, learning and social cognition) when compared to their non-maltreated counterparts.
“This appears to support our hypothesis that abuse can lead to key changes in the brain, and suggests that even though the maltreated and non-maltreated subgroups share the same diagnosis, they differ from one another in white matter,” said Dr Townend.
Professor Graeme Fairchild, also in the Department of Psychology at Bath and senior author of the study, said: “This study provides more evidence that maltreatment of children matters and that even the biology of the brain is different according to whether you have experienced maltreatment or not.
“We haven't established a causal link between maltreatment and CD in this study, but this is an interesting piece of the puzzle and supports our hypothesis that there are key differences between those with and those without a history of abuse. This could suggest that there are different pathways to the same condition – one that is more environmental and one more genetic.
"The implications of this study for differentiating between maltreated and non-maltreated kids with conduct disorder are some way off, but we are now able to present a clear case for future research to consider the impact of abuse and maltreatment on their findings, which may ultimately lead to a better understanding of the disorder.”
Brain scans
For the new study, the brains of 100 children and adolescents with CD, 39 of whom had a history of abuse, and 169 typically-developing youth, were scanned in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Maltreatment was assessed by asking parents whether their child had ever experienced physical or sexual abuse, and allowing for other disclosures of adverse experiences and maltreatment.
The scans looked at white matter by using a technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. This technique allows researchers and clinicians to measure white matter by measuring how water molecules move in the brain.
The authors of this study emphasise that childhood maltreatment can increase a person’s risk of developing mental health outcomes beyond conditions such as PTSD, and they call for more research in this field.
“It’s vital for us to extend our understanding of the effects of abuse at the brain level, as many studies show that experiencing abuse or maltreatment can increase the child’s risk of developing mental health problems including CD.” said Dr Townend.
This study also involved researchers from the Universities of Birmingham (UK), Basel (Switzerland), Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany), and RWTH Aachen University (Germany), among others.
Testing the Ecophenotype Hypothesis: Differences in White Matter Microstructure in Youth with Conduct Disorder With Versus Without a History of Childhood Abuse
