A new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis estimates that approximately 171 million illnesses worldwide were attributable to foodborne transmission of invasive parasites, highlighting the significant burden these often-overlooked diseases continue to place on global health.

This research, which includes contributions from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) professor Dr. Christine Budke, updates global estimates for 14 foodborne parasitic diseases. Although progress has been made over the past decade in decreasing their prevalence, the findings show these illnesses continue to disproportionately affect vulnerable populations around the world.   

A study in Chinese Medical Journal reports that SLC38A7, a lysosomal glutamine transporter, is overexpressed in gastric cancer and associated with poor prognosis. Using patient tissues, cell models, mutational analyses, and mouse xenografts, the researchers show that SLC38A7 binds MYH9, promotes GSK-3β ubiquitination and degradation, and activates Wnt/β-catenin signaling. The findings identify a metabolically linked oncogenic pathway, clarify a previously unrecognized disease mechanism, and suggest a potential therapeutic target for gastric cancer.

For dogs with heart disease, a fraction of a centimeter can make a life-changing difference.

Veterinarians often rely on chest radiographs to monitor subtle changes in heart size that help determine when treatment should begin. But those measurements can vary from one doctor to the next, making it difficult to know whether a dog’s condition is truly changing or whether the difference is simply the result of human interpretation.

Now, researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) have shown that an artificial intelligence-powered tool can measure canine heart size on radiographs with accuracy comparable to trained clinicians, potentially helping veterinarians identify disease progression with greater consistency and confidence.

The study, recently published in PLOS ONE, evaluated RadAnalyzer, a web- and smartphone-based application that automatically measures vertebral heart size (VHS) and vertebral left atrial size (VLAS) — two metrics veterinarians use to assess heart enlargement and monitor disease progression.

Long-term diabetes management requires continuous blood glucose monitoring to detect abnormalities early and intervene in time. However, conventional fingertip blood sampling is both painful and inconvenient, while most continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) products currently available on the market rely on biological enzymes — requiring regular replacement, incurring higher costs, and demanding stringent storage conditions. A research team at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed an enzyme-free, wearable, acoustically readable microneedle patch “ARMPatch”. Once applied to the skin, it can be read by a standard ultrasound probe to continuously reflect changes in blood glucose levels.

Osaka Metropolitan University assessed computed tomography findings of peritoneal tumors in the absence of primary lesions to identify primary characteristics.