Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Promising solution for detecting money-laundering and collusion in transaction webs

Boost accuracy and cut false alarms in credit-card, insurance, and supply-chain fraud detection

Higher Education Press

A review by researchers at Tongji University and the University of Technology Sydney highlights the powerful role of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) in exposing financial fraud. By revealing intricate relational patterns in transaction networks, GNNs significantly outperform traditional rule-based and classic machine learning methods. The study presents a unified framework to guide the understanding and application of GNNs across various fraud scenarios, paving the way for both implementation and future breakthroughs.

GNNs Tackle Complex Fraud Tactics by Mapping Transactional Relationships

As financial fraud grows in both scale and sophistication, it continues to erode confidence in global banking, payments, and insurance systems. GNN-based systems, however, are able to unravel the complex web of interactions between accounts, entities, and behaviors—making them adept at detecting money-laundering schemes, collusion networks, and unusual device usage that often evade conventional detection tools. Broad adoption of GNNs could mean tighter security for consumers, fewer losses for businesses, and more robust oversight for regulators—addressing an urgent need for advanced fraud defenses.

Actionable Benefits for Financial Institutions, Policymakers, and Researchers

This comprehensive review offers practical insights for multiple stakeholders. For financial institutions, embedding GNN modules into existing fraud-detection pipelines can sharpen detection accuracy and cut down on false positives, ultimately enhancing both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Policymakers may find value in GNN-driven analytics to shape smarter data-sharing regulations and transparency standards, while balancing privacy with security. Meanwhile, the research community benefits from a clear roadmap that identifies key challenges—like scalability, interpretability, and adaptability—that will shape the next wave of fraud-detection innovation.

In-Depth Analysis of GNN Types and Real-World Performance

The authors examined over 100 top-tier studies, identifying four primary types of GNNs—convolutional, attention-based, temporal, and heterogeneous—and exploring how each contributes to fraud detection. Their analysis shows that GNNs consistently outperform older methods across diverse scenarios, including credit-card fraud, insurance scams, and supply-chain anomalies. Real-world examples, such as the open-source AntiFraud project on GitHub, demonstrate the tangible benefits of GNNs—while also revealing practical challenges, like the high computational costs of processing large graphs, the need for clear model outputs, and the difficulty of keeping pace with ever-evolving fraud tactics.

A Unified Framework Backed by Rigorous Evaluation and Best Practices

To ensure both scientific rigor and real-world relevance, the researchers conducted a systematic literature review and introduced a unified analytical framework. This framework organizes GNN methodologies by architecture and fraud-detection task. The study also includes evaluations of real-world case studies, performance comparisons against traditional methods, and distilled best practices for building financial graphs—including transaction, relationship, behavioral, and information-flow graphs—and for effective feature engineering.

In short, GNNs offer a powerful and adaptable approach to detecting financial fraud, capable of learning subtle patterns that traditional models often overlook. As fraud tactics become more elaborate, the integration of scalable and interpretable GNN solutions will be critical to protecting economic systems and rebuilding public trust. This review provides a solid foundation for future research and deployment, urging collaboration between academia, industry, and regulators to unlock the full promise of graph-based fraud detection. The complete study is accessible via DOI: 10.1007/s11704-024-40474-y.

Journal

Frontiers of Computer Science

DOI

10.1007/s11704-024-40474-y

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Graph neural networks for financial fraud detection: a review

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Scientists find lactose intolerance may link consuming dairy, bad dreams, and poor sleep

Frontiers

Scientists have found that eating too much dairy could ruin your sleep. Researchers questioned more than 1,000 students about the quality of their sleep, their eating habits, and any perceived link between the two, and found a strong association between nightmares and lactose intolerance — potentially because gas or stomach pain during the night affects people’s dreams.

“Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies,” said Dr Tore Nielsen of Université de Montréal, lead author of the article in Frontiers in Psychology. “These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares. They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams!”

Sweet dreams?

Although folk beliefs have long held that what you eat affects how you sleep, there’s very little evidence to prove or disprove them. To investigate, researchers surveyed 1,082 students at MacEwan University. They asked about sleep time and quality, dreams and nightmares, and any perceived association between different kinds of dreams and different foods. They also asked about participants’ mental and physical health and their relationship with food.

About a third of respondents reported regular nightmares. Women were more likely to remember their dreams and to report poor sleep and nightmares, and nearly twice as likely as men to report a food intolerance or allergy. About 40% of participants said that they thought eating late at night or specific foods affected their sleep; roughly 25% thought particular foods could make their sleep worse. People who ate less healthily were more likely to have negative dreams and less likely to remember dreams.

“We are routinely asked whether food affects dreaming — especially by journalists on food-centric holidays,” said Nielsen. “Now we have some answers.”

Cheesy culprits

Most participants who blamed their bad sleep on food thought sweets, spicy foods, or dairy were responsible. Only a comparatively small proportion — 5.5% of respondents — felt that what they ate affected the tone of their dreams, but many of these people said they thought sweets or dairy made their dreams more disturbing or bizarre.

When the authors compared reports of food intolerances to reports of bad dreams and poor sleep, they found that lactose intolerance was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, nightmares, and low sleep quality. It’s possible that eating dairy activates gastrointestinal disturbance, and the resulting discomfort affects people’s dreams and the quality of their rest.

“Nightmares are worse for lactose intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted,” said Nielsen. “This makes sense, because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming. Nightmares can be very disruptive, especially if they occur often, because they tend to awaken people from sleep in a dysphoric state. They might also produce sleep avoidance behaviors. Both symptoms can rob you of restful sleep.”

Eat well to sleep well?

This could also explain why fewer participants reported a link between their food and their dreams than in a previous study by Nielsen and his colleague Dr Russell Powell of MacEwan University, conducted eleven years earlier on a similar population. Improved awareness of food intolerances could mean that the students in the present study ate fewer foods likely to activate their intolerances and affect their sleep. If this is the case, then simple dietary interventions could potentially help people improve their sleep and overall health.

However, besides the robust link between lactose intolerance and nightmares, it’s not clear how the relationship between sleep and diet works. It’s possible that people sleep less well because they eat less well, but it’s also possible that people don’t eat well because they don’t sleep well, or that another factor influences both sleep and diet. Further research will be needed to confirm these links and identify the underlying mechanisms.

“We need to study more people of different ages, from different walks of life, and with different dietary habits to determine if our results are truly generalizable to the larger population,” said Nielsen. “Experimental studies are also needed to determine if people can truly detect the effects of specific foods on dreams. We would like to run a study in which we ask people to ingest cheese products versus some control food before sleep to see if this alters their sleep or dreams.”

Journal

Frontiers in Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544475

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

More dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: Food sensitivity and dietary correlates of sleep and dreaming

Article Publication Date

1-Jul-2025

Growing crisis of communicable disease in Canada in tandem with US cuts

Canadian Medical Association JournaLFacebook

Canada must address the growing crisis of communicable diseases that has occurred in tandem with a rise in misinformation that threatens our health systems, argue authors in an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250916.

“A crisis of communicable diseases is unfolding in North America, just as Canada’s health systems’ responses are being hampered by the dismantling of public health and research infrastructure in the United States,” writes family physician Dr. Shannon Charlebois, medical editor, CMAJ, with coauthor Dr. Jasmine Pawa, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario. “Coordinated attacks on US health institutions by the country’s executive office have drastically reduced their capacity to collect, interpret, and share data in the service of public health delivery. This coincides with a concerning spread of novel and existing communicable diseases across the continent, including in Canada.”

The spillover effect of changes in the US will likely affect Canada and other countries around the globe, as programs to track infectious diseases and address potential pandemic threats like avian flu have been cut or cancelled, and specialized staff with the capacity to rapidly develop reliable tests have been fired. Canada and other countries have relied on this work for disease surveillance and public health preparedness.

Now is the time for Canada to act on long-standing calls to strengthen health surveillance systems, improve interoperability and data exchange between electronic medical records and health systems, and better document and report rates of vaccine coverage.

The editorial outlines the threats from several infectious diseases to Canadians — information the public should be made aware of. However, “[p]eople living in Canada are vulnerable to a cross-border bleed of not only microorganisms, but also of attitudes, health misinformation, and exposure to biased US media.” write Charlebois and Pawa.

“Canada does not have control over the situation south of the border, but strengthening national capacity to manage communicable diseases by optimizing data collection and interprovincial sharing of the information required to do this is possible.”

Journal

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.250916

Method of Research

Commentary/editorial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Tackling communicable disease surveillance and misinformation in Canada

Article Publication Date

2-Jul-2025

Women get better at managing their anger as they age

New analysis suggests that chronologic and reproductive age both have a significant effect on a women's level of anger and her ability to manage it

The Menopause Society

CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 2, 2025)—There has been a lot of research focused on understanding women’s experiences with depression during the menopause transition and early menopause, but there are few studies on perimenopausal women’s experiences with emotional arousal, such as anger. A new study shows that women’s anger traits significantly decrease with age starting at midlife. Results of the study are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.

Anger is defined as antagonism toward someone or something, often accompanied by a propensity to experience and express it indiscriminately. This is different from hostility, which refers to a fear-eliciting emotion. Some describe hostility as constantly being ready for a fight.

Studies of anger and its health implications in midlife women date back to 1980 but have predominantly focused on heart disease, including hypertension and coronary artery disease. Further study of women and heart disease revealed that increasing trait anger (anger proneness) was associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure over a 3-year period.

Subsequent studies of the relationship of anger and hostility to carotid atherosclerosis revealed that women with higher anger scores had high intima-media thickness 10 years later. There have also been studies associating anger with depression. Women with anger issues are more likely to develop more severe depressive symptoms during the menopause transition. This effect was strongest in women using hormone therapy for menopause symptoms.

To date, however, no study has accounted for the progression of anger traits through the menopause transition. The objective of this new analysis involving more than 500 women aged 35 to 55 years was to examine the influence of aging and reproductive-aging stages on women’s reports of anger.

Based on the results, the researchers concluded that chronologic age is significantly related to most anger measures, including anger temperament, anger reaction, anger expressed aggressively, and hostility. Specifically, these forms of anger decreased significantly with age. Only anger suppressed was not related to age. Similarly, reproductive-aging stages significantly affected anger, resulting in a decrease after the late-reproductive stages. These results suggest better emotion regulation may occur during midlife.

Additional study of women’s anger in context of everyday life is recommended to effectively inform emotion regulation and anger management strategies and their consequences for midlife and older women.

Study results are published in the article “Anger, aging, and reproductive aging: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study.”

“The mental health side of the menopause transition can have a significant effect on a woman’s personal and professional life. This aspect of perimenopause has not always been acknowledged and managed. It is well recognized that fluctuations in serum hormone concentrations during the postpartum period, as well as monthly fluctuations in reproductive-aged women corresponding with their menstrual cycles and during perimenopause, can result in severe mood swings associated with anger and hostility. Educating women about the possibility of mood changes during these vulnerable windows and actively managing symptoms can have a profound effect on overall quality of life and health,” says Dr. Monica Christmas, associate medical director for The Menopause Society.

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.

The Menopause Society is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.

Journal

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000000002587

Method of Research

Survey

Article Title

Anger, aging, and reproductive aging: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study

Article Publication Date

2-Jul-2025

What about tritiated water release from Fukushima? Ocean model simulations provide an objective scientific knowledge on the long-term tritium distribution

Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan – Operators have pumped water to cool the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) since the accident in 2011 and treated this cooling water with the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), which is a state-of-the-art purification system that removes radioactive materials, except tritium. As part of the water molecule, tritium radionuclide, with a half-life of 12.32 years, is very costly and difficult to remove. The ALPS-treated water was accumulating and stored at the FDNPP site and there is limited space to store this water. Therefore, in 2021, the Government of Japan announced a policy that included discharging the ALPS-treated water via approximately one kilometre long tunnel into the ocean. Planned releases of the ALPS-treated water diluted with ocean water began in August 2023 and will be completed by 2050.

In a new numerical modeling study, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, in collaboration with the Fukushima University have revealed that the simulated increase in tritium concentration in the Pacific Ocean due to the tritium originating from the ALPS-treated water is about 0.1 % or less of than the tritium background concentration of 0.03-0.2 Bq/L in the vicinity of the discharge site (within 25 km) and beyond, which is below detection limits (i.e., so small that the difference due to the presence or absence of ALPS-treated water added to the original seawater cannot be measured). This is far below the WHO international safety standard of 10,000 Bq/L and consistent with results of tritium concentration monitoring in seawater conducted in conjunction with the discharge of ALPS-treated water.

“Since the government’s announcement in 2021 to discharge the ALPS-treated water, several studies have investigated the radiological impact of ALPS-treated water discharge on tritium concentration in seawater and marine biota, but there were no global ocean simulations with anthropogenic tritium concentration using a realistic discharge scenario and for a period long enough to consider long-term impacts such as global warming” explains lead author of the study Alexandre Cauquoin. “In our global ocean simulations, we could investigate how ocean circulation changes due to the global warming and representation of fine-scale ocean eddies influence the temporal and spatial distribution of tritium originating from these treated-water releases.”

Climate change and eddies in the water currents speed up the tritium movement through the ocean. However, the researchers found that the concentrations of tritium from ALPS-treated water discharge remain similar and very low. “Our simulations show that the anthropogenic tritium from the discharge of ALPS-treated water would have negligible impact on the tritium concentration in the ocean, both in the short and long term” says Maksym Gusyev from the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University.

This study may help in building models to understand how tritium, as tritiated water molecule, moves through water vapor and ocean water. Tritium is useful to trace the dynamics of the water cycle, so climate models able to simulate tritiated water can help studies of precipitation patterns, atmospheric and oceanic circulation, moisture sources, river catchments, and groundwater flow in the future.

###

The article, “Ocean general circulation model simulations of anthropogenic tritium releases from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site,” was published in Marine Pollution Bulletin at DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118294.

About Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS) is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan. UTokyo-IIS is comprised of over 120 research laboratories—each headed by a faculty member—and has over 1,200 members (approximately 400 staff and 800 students) actively engaged in education and research. Its activities cover almost all areas of engineering. Since its foundation in 1949, UTokyo-IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.

Journal

Marine Pollution Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.118294

Article Title

Ocean general circulation model simulations of anthropogenic tritium releases from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant site

Article Publication Date

2-Jul-2025

Cellulose instead of crude oil: team with participation of Graz University of Technology develops sustainable foams

An international research team has developed certified biodegradable and recyclable multi-purpose foams

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Graz University of Technology

image:
A skateboard made from biodegradable foam.
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Credit: Wolf - TU Graz

Foams have numerous possible potential applications, for example ranging from the automotive, household and mechanical engineering sectors to leisure and sports applications. Until now, it has been common practice to produce these materials from crude oil, which negatively impacts their ecological footprint. In the EU project BreadCell, an international consortium has developed cellulose-based foams that are produced using a process similar to baking bread. These foams are completely biodegradable and recyclable. Two Institutes at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology and the Vehicle Safety Institute, played a crucial role in developing the technology.

Many potential areas of application

“It is important to implement sustainability efforts in as many areas as possible,” says Stefan Spirk from the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology at TU Graz. “Cellulose is plant-based and available in large quantities. Replacing oil-based products with those made from cellulose materials is the goal and the foams developed in the BreadCell project have a wide range of potential applications.” The researchers identified the following application areas, among others, as highly suitable for the environmentally friendly foams: the automotive sector for crash impact energy management, the construction sector as an insulating material, and the sports industry for the manufacture of sports equipment and shoe soles. The material also offers potential benefits in terms of moisture management and acoustics.

Fibre design and simulation models

A key aspect of the project was to establish correlations between the foam strength and the fibre design using advanced simulations models. In order to obtain the material input data required for these simulations, the material was comprehensively characterised. This included tests under a wide variety of loads, for which a dedicated test rig at TU Graz was used, that characterises the behaviour of materials under dynamic and rapid loads. Based on the data and developed models, foams with different densities and mechanical properties were produced and applied in various demonstrators.

For example, the researchers have produced and tested a skateboard, a bodyboard, a bicycle helmet and shoe insoles. “The development of the foam also revealed an interesting property: it was a challenge to keep the density perfectly homogeneous over the entire thickness of the foam,” says Florian Feist from the Institute of Vehicle Safety at TU Graz. “But this inhomogeneity proved to be advantageous in one specific application: bicycle helmets. A softer centre layer enables a kind of shearing between the outer and inner helmet layers. This reduces the rotational load on the brain when there is an impact, similar to the principle of modern safety systems such as the MIPS system.”

First project spin-off produces shoe insoles

In addition to Chalmers University (project coordinator) and TU Graz, three other institutions were involved in BreadCell: The University of Vienna worked on sandwich constructions for lightweight components, while Tecnalia in Spain tested the feasibility of industrial implementation and BioNanoNet (BNN) in Graz assessed the biodegradability and life cycle performance. The project has also given rise to a spin-off company, FOAMO, which manufactures lightweight and cushioning insoles based on the developed foams.