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Study reveals that aspirin helps the body’s immune system detect and target cancer cells. Long-term daily use of aspirin can help to prevent the development and progression of colorectal cancer, but the mechanisms involved have been unclear. New research has revealed that aspirin may exert these protective effects by boosting certain aspects of the body’s immune response against cancer cells. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. To investigate the effects of aspirin (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) on colorectal cancer, investigators in Italy obtained tissue samples from 238 patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in 2015–2019, 12% of whom were aspirin users. Patients were enrolled in the METACCRE section of the IMMUNOlogical microenvironment in the REctal Adenocarcinoma Treatment (IMMUNOREACT multicenter observational study. The study was funded by the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) and was mainly carried out at the University Hospital of Padova. Compared with tissue samples from patients who did not use aspirin, samples from aspirin users showed less cancer spread to the lymph nodes and higher infiltration of immune cells into tumors. In analyses of colorectal cancer cells in the lab, exposing the cells to aspirin caused increased expression of a protein called CD80 on certain immune cells, which enhanced the capacity of the cells to alert other immune cells of the presence of tumor-associated proteins. Supporting this finding, the researchers found that in patients with rectal cancer, aspirin users had higher CD80 expression in healthy rectal tissue, suggesting a pro-immune surveillance effect of aspirin. Our study shows a complementary mechanism of cancer prevention or therapy with aspirin besides its classical drug mechanism involving inhibition of inflammation. Aspirin is absorbed in the colon by passive diffusion to a significant degree. Its absorption is linear and depends on concentration along the bowel, and in the rectum, the concentration of orally administered aspirin can be much lower than in the rest of the colon. Thus, if we want to take advantage of its effects against colorectal cancer, we should think of how to guarantee that aspirin reaches the colorectal tract in adequate doses to be effective.” Marco Scarpa MD, PhD, Principal Investigator, University of Padova Source

Mice given a diet rich in vitamin D had better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers. While the evidence hasn’t been conclusive, previous research has suggested a link between vitamin D deficiency and human cancer risk. The researchers investigated this by analyzing a dataset from 1.5 million Denmark citizens. This revealed a connection between decreased vitamin D levels and an increased risk of cancer. According to a different examination of a patient group with the disease, individuals with greater vitamin D levels2 were also suggested to be more likely to benefit from immune-based cancer treatments. More investigation is required to determine whether vitamin D contributes to some immunological resistance to cancer through the same method, even though Bacteroides fragilis is also present in the human microbiome. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Francis Crick Institute, and Aalborg University in Denmark have discovered that vitamin D promotes the development of a particular kind of gut bacteria in mice that improves their resistance to cancer. According to the researchers, mice fed a diet high in vitamin D showed enhanced immunological resistance against experimentally implanted tumors and increased responses to immunotherapy treatment. The removal of a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood through gene editing also had this impact. The group discovered, rather surprisingly, that vitamin D stimulates intestinal epithelial cells, boosting the population of a bacterium known as Bacteroides fragilis. The transplanted tumors in the mice showed less growth, suggesting that this bacterium improved their resistance to cancer. However, the exact mechanism is yet unknown. Mice on a regular diet were given Bacteroides fragilis to see if the bacterium alone may improve cancer immunity. Additionally, these mice showed greater resistance to tumor formation; however, this did not hold true when the mice were fed a diet low in vitamin D. Caetano Reis e Sousa, head of the Immunobiology Laboratory at the Crick and senior author, said: “What we’ve shown here came as a surprise—vitamin D can regulate the gut microbiome to favor a type of bacteria that gives mice better immunity to cancer. “This could one day be important for cancer treatment in humans, but we don’t know how and why vitamin D has this effect via the microbiome. More work is needed before we can conclusively say that correcting a vitamin D deficiency has benefits for cancer prevention or treatment.” Evangelos Giampazolias, a former postdoctoral researcher at the Crick and now Group Leader of the Cancer Immunosurveillance Group at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, said: “Pinpointing the factors that distinguish a ‘good’ from a ‘bad’ microbiome is a major challenge. We found that vitamin D helps gut bacteria elicit cancer immunity, improving the response to immunotherapy in mice. “A key question we are currently trying to answer is how exactly vitamin D supports a ‘good’ microbiome. If we can answer this, we might uncover new ways in which the microbiome influences the immune system, potentially offering exciting possibilities in preventing or treating cancer.” Romina Goldszmid, Stadtman Investigator in NCI’s Center For Cancer Research, said: “These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on the role of microbiota in cancer immunity and the potential of dietary interventions to fine-tune this relationship for improved patient outcomes. However, further research is warranted to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and how they can be harnessed to develop personalized treatment strategies.” Research Information Manager at Cancer Research UK, Dr Nisharnthi Duggan said: “We know that vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, however, there isn’t enough evidence to link vitamin D levels to cancer risk. This early-stage research in mice, coupled with an analysis of Danish population data, seeks to address the evidence gap. While the findings suggest a possible link between vitamin D and immune responses to cancer, further research is needed to confirm this. “A bit of sunlight can help our bodies make vitamin D, but you don’t need to sunbathe to boost this process. Most people in the UK can make enough vitamin D by spending short periods of time in the summer sun. We can also get vitamin D from our diet and supplements. We know that staying safe in the sun can reduce the risk of cancer, so seek shade, cover up and apply sunscreen when the sun is strong.” Source

Researchers from around the world have linked transportation noise to increased risks of heart and brain vascular diseases. This group of experts, including noise specialists from Denmark, Switzerland, the United States, and Germany, has reviewed extensive data showing how noise from roads, railways, and airports contributes to health issues such as heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Published in Circulation Research, their study emphasizes the need to treat traffic noise as a serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization reports that in Western Europe alone, traffic noise leads to the loss of over 1.6 million healthy years of life annually. The study details how nighttime traffic noise disrupts sleep, raises stress hormone levels, and increases oxidative stress in both the vascular system and brain. These disruptions can lead to the formation of free radicals, which are molecules that may cause significant damage to body cells, including those in the heart and blood vessels. Every increase of 10 decibels in noise exposure can raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 3.2%, according to the research. The experts examined how noise affects gene networks, epigenetic pathways (which involve changes in gene activity without altering the DNA), and circadian rhythms (the body’s internal clock). They also explored how noise influences the neuronal-cardiovascular axis, which links the nervous system and cardiovascular system, and contributes to inflammation and changes in metabolism. The review brings new insights into the indirect effects of transportation noise on cardiovascular health and underlines the importance of noise reduction measures and regulations, especially post-COVID-19, when many people continue to be exposed to high levels of traffic noise. Lead author Prof. Dr. Thomas Münzel of the University Medical Center Mainz stressed the significance of acknowledging traffic noise as a cardiovascular risk factor, given the compelling evidence and its widespread impact on public health. The team’s findings support ongoing efforts to enhance noise control and promote quieter living environments to improve cardiovascular health outcomes. If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and calcium supplements could harm your heart health. For more information about health, please see recent studies that blackcurrants can reduce blood sugar after meal and results showing how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer. The research findings can be found in Circulation Research. Copyright © 2024 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved. Source

Personalized "cocktails" of antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics hold great promise in the treatment of a common form of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to research presented at the ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) in Barcelona, Spain (27–30 April). Post-infection IBS (PI-IBS) is a form of irritable bowel syndrome that occurs after gastroenteritis or food poisoning. Lead researcher Professor Maurizio Sanguinetti, of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy, says, "Estimates vary, but research indicates that approximately 10–30% of individuals who experience acute gastroenteritis develop PI-IBS. Symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, bloating and abdominal pain can persist for months or even years after the initial infection. "Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and improving quality of life. It typically involves a combination of dietary modifications, lifestyle changes, anti-diarrheal drugs, probiotics and other medications and psychological therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. "But symptoms can vary widely among individuals and may not always respond to conventional therapies, which means it can be challenging to treat. Given that gastroenteritis can disrupt the gut microbiota, the restoration of a healthy microbiota is a potential avenue of treatment." To investigate its potential, Professor Sanguinetti and colleagues conducted a pilot study in which 13 PI-IBS patients (eight males and five females; mean age, 31 years) were treated with targeted gut-microbiota therapy. Nine of the patients (69.2%) had diarrhea-dominant IBS (IBS-D) and four (30.8%) constipation-dominant IBS (IBS-C). Bloating and abdominal pain were present in 69.2% (9/13) and 76.9% (10/13) of patients, respectively. First, the patient's gut microbiota was analyzed. Genetic profiling was used to identify the bacteria present in fecal samples and so the gut. The abundance of the different types of bacteria was also measured. Of patients, 23% (3/13) had lower than expected bacterial diversity, while 23% (3/13) had high levels of Proteobacteria. These are pro-inflammatory bacteria and an increase in their numbers could worsen PI-IBS. A total of 61.5% (8/13) had low levels of Akkermansia, a "protective" bacterium, and 69% (9/13) had low levels of Bifidobacterium, another "protective" microbe. Some 38.5% (5/13) of the patients had low levels of Firmicutes and 54% (7/13) had low levels of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, both of which are also protective. Then, a personalized therapy was designed for each patient, based on their results, with the goal of rebalancing their gut microbiota. These consisted of short courses of the antibiotics rifaximin (9/13, 69% of patients) or paromomycin (4/13, 31%) to reduce levels of potentially harmful bacteria, followed by prebiotics and/or postbiotics to enhance the numbers of protective bacteria and compete with the harmful bacteria for space and resources. The prebiotics were inulin and psyllium (9/13; 69%), the probiotics were Bifidobacterium (5/13; 38.5%), Lactobacillus (7/13; 54%), Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (2/13; 15%) and multi-species-based (5/13; 38.5%). Symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, constipation and diarrhea were assessed using the gastrointestinal symptoms rating scale (GSRS). Twelve weeks after the start of treatment, 93% (12/13) of patients experienced an improvement in symptoms and 38.5% (5/13) achieved total remission. Professor Sanguinetti says, "A precision medicine approach, in which testing and careful analysis of the gut microbiota allows the development of personalized treatments holds great promise in the treatment of post-infection IBS. "While rigorous larger-scale studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings, this type of testing will likely soon be widely used in the treatment of post-infection IBS and other similar conditions." Source

A blood test successfully predicted knee osteoarthritis at least eight years before tell-tale signs of the disease appeared on X-rays, Duke Health researchers report. In a study appearing April 26 in the journal Science Advances, the researchers validated the accuracy of the blood test that identifies key biomarkers of osteoarthritis. They showed that it predicted development of the disease, as well as its progression, which was demonstrated in their earlier work. The research advances the utility of a blood test that would be superior to current diagnostic tools that often don't identify the disease until it has caused structural damage to the joint. "Currently, you've got to have an abnormal X-ray to show clear evidence of knee osteoarthritis, and by the time it shows up on X-ray, your disease has been progressing for some time," said senior author Virginia Byers Kraus, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the departments of Medicine, Pathology, and Orthopedic Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine. "What our blood test demonstrates is that it's possible to detect this disease much earlier than our current diagnostics permit." Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, afflicting an estimated 35 million adults in the U.S. and causing significant economic and societal impacts. While there are currently no cures, the success of potential new therapies could hinge on identifying the disease early and slowing its progression before it becomes debilitating. Kraus and colleagues have focused on developing molecular biomarkers that can be used for both clinical diagnostic purposes and as a research tool to aid in the development of effective drugs. In previous studies, the blood biomarker test demonstrated 74% accuracy in predicting knee OA progression and 85% accuracy in diagnosing knee OA. The current study further honed the test's predictive capabilities. Using a large United Kingdom database, the researchers analyzed serum of 200 white women, half diagnosed with OA and the other half without the disease, matched by body mass index and age. They found that a small number of biomarkers in the blood test successfully distinguished the women with knee OA from those without it, catching molecular signals of OA eight years before many of the women were diagnosed with the disease by X-ray. "This is important because it provides more evidence that there are abnormalities in the joint that can be detected by blood biomarkers well before X-rays can detect OA," Kraus said. "Early-stage osteoarthritis could provide a 'window of opportunity' in which to arrest the disease process and restore joint health." Source

First things first. There really is such a thing as a numbat. It's a pocket-sized marsupial anteater (see above). And now, it's also the mascot for Canonical's latest Linux distro, Ubuntu 24.04. I've been running Noble Numbat on my 2020 vintage Dell Precision 3451. This PC originally came with Ubuntu 20.04 and is powered by an Intel 8-core 3GHz i7-9700 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. You don't need anywhere near that much hardware to run the latest Ubuntu. You can install and run Ubuntu 24.04 on any system with a 2GHz, 2-core 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM, and 25GB storage. Any Windows 7 PC can run it. Heck, it will run just fine on a Raspberry Pi 5. Like installing any modern Linux, installing Ubuntu 24.04 is simple. The short version: Download Ubuntu 24.04, burn it to a USB stick, boot it from the stick, run it to see if it likes your hardware, and -- if it does -- press the install button. That's it. Oh, it's a little fancier than that. The installer now has an accessibility page where you can customize Ubuntu to meet your particular needs. You can also choose between a Default or Full installation. The Default installation includes only the bare essentials, while the Full installation includes all the usual programs you expect from a desktop Linux distribution. Technically, behind the scenes, the new installer is using the Subiquity back-end. The brand-new front end was written with Flutter. Not a developer or a system administrator? Don't worry about it. You'll never need to know. If you are an IT professional, you'll be glad to know that you can now build customized Ubuntu Linux installations. With autoinstall, you can create a repeatable, automated installation flow using an autoinstall YAML file with Subiquity to set up specialized desktops over your network. Both versions use GNOME 46 for their default desktop and Firefox 125.0.1 for the web browser. If GNOME isn't to your taste, you can also get Ubuntu 24.04 with Budgie, Ubuntu Budgie, KDE, Kubuntu, MATE, Ubuntu MATE, Cinnamon, Ubuntu Cinnamon -- and on and on. If there's a Linux desktop environment, there's a customized Ubuntu release for it. In the Full version, you'll also find desktop applications such as LibreOffice 24.4.2 for the office suite, Thunderbird 115 for e-mail, Rhythmbox 3.4.7 to play music, and Snapshot for your webcam. Programmers will find that Ubuntu 24.04 LTS now comes with Python 3.12, Ruby 3.2, PHP 8.3, and Go 1.22. It also includes .NET, Java, and Rust. Looking ahead, .NET 8 will be fully supported on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS for the entire lifecycle of both releases. That means developers can upgrade their applications to newer .NET versions without upgrading their Ubuntu release. When Canonical says the "entire" lifecycle, that's longer than any other company supports their operating systems. Canonical will support Ubuntu 24.04 until 2036. Yes, that's right. Unlike some operating systems I could name -- cough, Windows 10, cough -- Ubuntu Long-Term Support (LTS) releases now come with 12 years of support. If you need more programs, the new Ubuntu App Center offers a wide variety. While it defaults to Snap-based applications, it still offers traditional DEB installs. The heart of this release is performance, bolstered by the inclusion of the Linux 6.8 kernel. Oliver Smith, Ubuntu product manager, says this isn't just an incremental update. The kernel brings with it numerous performance enhancements that are optimized further by Canonical's low-latency tweaks. This commitment to speed and efficiency signals that Ubuntu is built for those who need a robust, high-performance operating system. While I didn't benchmark this edition, it did feel faster than its predecessor, Ubuntu 22.04, on the same PC. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS isn't just fast; it's also a fortress. Canonical has layered this release with a slate of security upgrades that harden the system against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. The operating system now employs more stringent controls on unprivileged user namespaces -- a common attack vector -- significantly reducing vulnerabilities. Are you running both Linux and Windows? Ubuntu's Active Directory (AD) Group Policy client, available via Ubuntu Pro, now supports enterprise proxy configuration, privilege management, and remote script execution. It also continues to support AD Group Policy Objects. Ubuntu 24.04 is also available on Windows via Windows Subsystem for Linux. While I'm sticking with Linux Mint 21.3 for my default desktop, there's a lot to like about Ubuntu 24.04. If you're looking for a solid, secure, and fast Linux desktop, the newest Ubuntu is well worth your time. Source

The past year has seen record renewable power production nationwide. One year ago, Germany took its last three nuclear power stations offline. When it comes to energy, few events have baffled outsiders more. In the face of climate change, calls to expedite the transition away from fossil fuels, and an energy crisis precipitated by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Berlin’s move to quit nuclear before carbon-intensive energy sources like coal has attracted significant criticism. (Greta Thunberg prominently labeled it “a mistake.”) This decision can only be understood in the context of post-war socio-political developments in Germany, where anti-nuclearism predated the public climate discourse. From a 1971 West German bestseller evocatively titled Peaceably into Catastrophe: A Documentation of Nuclear Power Plants, to huge protests of hundreds of thousands—including the largest-ever demonstration seen in the West German capital Bonn—the anti-nuclear movement attracted national attention and widespread sympathy. It became a major political force well before even the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Its motivations included: a distrust of technocracy; ecological, environmental, and safety fears; suspicions that nuclear energy could engender nuclear proliferation; and general opposition to concentrated power (especially after its extreme consolidation under the Nazi dictatorship). Instead, activists championed what they regarded as safer, greener, and more accessible renewable alternatives like solar and wind, embracing their promise of greater self-sufficiency, community participation, and citizen empowerment (“energy democracy”). This support for renewables was less about CO₂ and more aimed at resetting power relations (through decentralised, bottom-up generation rather than top-down production and distribution), protecting local ecosystems, and promoting peace in the context of the Cold War. Germany’s Energiewende The contrast here with Thunberg’s latter-day Fridays for Future movement and its “listen to the experts” slogan is striking. The older activist generation deliberately rejected the mainstream expertise of the time, which then regarded centralised nuclear power as the future and mass deployment of distributed renewables as a pipe dream. This earlier movement was instrumental in creating Germany’s Green Party—today the world’s most influential—which emerged in 1980 and first entered national government from 1998 to 2005 as junior partner to the Social Democrats. This “red-green” coalition banned new reactors, announced a shutdown of existing ones by 2022, and passed a raft of legislation supporting renewable energy. That, in turn, turbocharged the national deployment of renewables, which ballooned from 6.3 percent of gross domestic electricity consumption in 2000 to 51.8 percent in 2023. These figures are all the more remarkable given the contributions of ordinary citizens. In 2019, they owned fully 40.4 percent (and over 50 percent in the early 2010s) of Germany’s total installed renewable power generation capacity, whether through community wind energy cooperatives, farm-based biogas installations, or household rooftop solar. Most other countries’ more recent energy transitions have been attempts to achieve net-zero targets using whatever low-carbon technologies are available. Germany’s now-famous “Energiewende” (translated as “energy transition” or even “energy revolution”), however, has from its earlier inception sought to shift away from both carbon-intensive as well as nuclear energy to predominantly renewable alternatives. Indeed, the very book credited with coining the term Energiewende in 1980 was, significantly, titled Energie-Wende: Growth and Prosperity Without Oil and Uranium and published by a think tank founded by anti-nuclear activists. Consecutive German governments have, over the past two and a half decades, more or less hewed to this line. Angela Merkel’s pro-nuclear second cabinet (2009–13) was an initial exception. That lasted until the 2011 Fukushima disaster, after which mass protests of 250,000 and a shock state election loss to the Greens forced that administration, too, to revert to the 2022 phaseout plan. Small wonder that so many politicians today are reluctant to reopen that particular Pandora’s box. Another ongoing political headache is where to store the country’s nuclear waste, an issue Germany has never managed to solve. No community has consented to host such a facility, and those designated for this purpose have seen large-scale protests. Instead, radioactive waste has been stored in temporary facilities close to existing reactors—no long-term solution. Nuclear remains unpopular National polls underscore the Teutonic aversion to nuclear. Even in 2022, at the height of the recent energy crisis, a survey found that 52 percent opposed constructing new reactors, though 78 percent supported a temporary extension of existing plants until summer 2023. The three-way Social Democratic-Green-Liberal coalition government ultimately compromised on mid-April 2023. Today, 51.6 percent of Germans believe this was premature. However, a further deferral was deemed politically unfeasible given the trenchant anti-nuclearism of the Greens and sizeable cross sections of the population. Despite some public protestations to the contrary (the main opposition CDU party declared in January that Germany “cannot do without the nuclear power option at present”), in private, few political leaders think the country will, or even realistically can, reverse course. As an industry insider told me, talk of reintroducing nuclear to Germany is “delusional” because investors were “burnt … too many times” in the past and now “would rather put their money into safer investments.” Moreover, “it would take decades to build new [nuclear] power stations” and electricity is no longer the sector of concern, given the rapid buildout of renewables, with attention having shifted to heating and transport. German nuclear power (purple) has largely been replaced by renewables (yellow), not coal (black and brown). Predictions that the nuclear exit would leave Germany forced to use more coal and facing rising prices and supply problems, meanwhile, have not transpired. In March 2023—the month before the phaseout—the distribution of German electricity generation was 53 percent renewable, 25 percent coal, 17 percent gas, and 5 percent nuclear. In March 2024, it was 60 percent renewable, 24 percent coal, and 16 percent gas. Overall, the past year has seen record renewable power production nationwide, a 60-year low in coal use, sizeable emissions cuts, and decreasing energy prices. The country’s energy sector, it seems, has already moved on. In the words of one industry observer: “Once you switch off these nuclear power stations, they’re out.” And there’s no easy way back. For better or worse, this technology—in its present form at least—is dead in the water here. For many Germans, it will not be missed. Source