A collaborative team from Tsinghua University, UCAS, and University of Macau has published a comprehensive review on electroactive materials for bioelectronics and regenerative medicine. The article outlines mechanisms, interfaces, and applications of conductive, piezoelectric, triboelectric, thermoelectric, and photoelectric materials, and proposes a framework guiding next‑generation bioelectronic system design.

Background

Climate change may expand dengue transmission in space and season across Central America. In Costa Rica, complex topography and very small districts mean coarse global climate models can miss local conditions that drive outbreaks, creating a need for district-level, high-resolution climate–dengue assessments. This study aims to: (1) model the climate–dengue relationship at the district level using high-resolution data; (2) identify the best climate predictors for dengue incidence; and (3) provide mid-century (2035–2065) dengue cases projections under a pessimistic scenario (SSP5-8.5) with seasonal windows actionable by region.

Methods

Precipitation and temperature indices derived from the Climate Hazards group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPs) and Climate Hazards Center Infrared Temperature with Stations (CHIRTs) were related to dengue diagnoses from Costa Rica’s public health centers using a linear model. An objective algorithm selected parsimonious climate–dengue predictors, with cross-validation to prevent overfitting. The resulting quasi-optimal models combined with downscaled projections from an ensemble of eight General Circulation Models (GCMs) to estimate future dengue incidence changes at the district level, Costa Rica’s smallest administrative division.

Results

Temperature and precipitation data are significantly related to dengue counts. Temperature dominates most district models during the dry season (December to June), while precipitation dominates during the rainy season (July–October). Mid-century projections indicate increases of up to 42 additional cases in some districts compared to the historical baseline, with the location of the most pronounced changes varying by month.

Conclusions

The projected dengue increases presented here are driven solely by climate change under the most pessimistic greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration scenario, and thus represent a potential upper bound on future risk. These findings offer actionable guidance on where and when dengue incidence may rise, and should inform adaptive health policies aimed at reducing the impacts of climate change in high-risk areas.

MIT researchers developed a new approach to ultrasound imaging that allows the user to visualize a 3D, augmented-reality image of the object being scanned. This technique could be deployed in hospitals or used to assist training technicians in ultrasound interpretation.

Xabi Martinez-Mendia, a researcher at the EHU-University of the Basque Country, has analysed how adolescent psychotropic drug consumption is linked to gender inequality and economic factors in 32 European countries. The results indicate that the overall consumption of psychotropic drugs is on the rise in countries with greater gender and economic parity, whereas in countries with lower parity, these drugs are consumed proportionally more by girls, and the gender gap is wider.

Gestational diabetes is commonly viewed as a temporary complication of pregnancy. However, growing evidence suggests that its effects may extend far beyond pregnancy itself, influencing a child’s metabolic health before birth and increasing the risk of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes later in life.

A review published in Frontiers in Endocrinology by researchers from Wroclaw Medical University and Wrocław University of Science and Technology examines how adipokines—hormones produced by adipose tissue—shape the metabolic environment of both mother and fetus during gestational diabetes.

The authors focus on leptin, adiponectin and markers of leptin resistance, including the Free Leptin Index (FLI) and Leptin-to-Adiponectin Ratio (LAR). These biomarkers may help identify metabolic disturbances associated with gestational diabetes and could eventually support early detection of children at increased risk of future metabolic disorders.

The review highlights the concept of metabolic programming, which proposes that conditions experienced during fetal development can have long-lasting effects on metabolism and disease susceptibility. According to the authors, the first 1,000 days of life—from conception to approximately two years of age—represent a critical window during which biological mechanisms linked to obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases may be established.

The researchers emphasize that effective prevention begins with proper diagnosis and management of gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Improved monitoring, healthy nutrition, physical activity and multidisciplinary care may help reduce long-term metabolic risks for both mothers and their children.

The findings contribute to growing evidence that the origins of many metabolic diseases may be traced back to fetal life and support the development of earlier and more personalized prevention strategies.