The taste of kokumi works outside the five basic tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami to enhance the perceived texture and flavor complexity of food. Researchers recently wrote a review article summarizing advances in the field of kokumi research, limitations of current kokumi peptides, proposed mechanisms of action and future directions.

Fatigue is physical and mental exhaustion that can often be an early sign of severe health conditions. Current treatments for fatigue are mostly behavioral, including light physical activity, improved diet, stress reduction, and rest. Researchers are studying additional ways to manage fatigue, including supplements and enriched foods.

C-terminal truncated HBx (Ct-HBx) upregulates plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression by increasing chromatin accessibility. The rs2227631-GG and the rs11178-TT of PAI-1 that facilitate PAI-1 expression and their interactions with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-risk hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutations promote HBV-HCC. Serum concentration of PAI-1 increased progressively during HBV-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. rs2227631-GG and rs11178-TT genotypes, along with higher PAI-1 expression, were risk factors for poor postoperative prognosis in HBV-HCC.PAI-1 is a novel prognostic and predictive factor for HBV-HCC.

A research team found that dietary Radix isatidis herbal residue (RIHR), a traditional Chinese medicine by-product, may improve growth, mucosal immunity, gut microbiota, and lipid metabolism in broilers. 

Wearable sweat sensors represent a revolutionary shift in ICU monitoring, transitioning from invasive, intermittent blood tests to non-invasive, continuous real-time biochemical tracking. By analyzing electrolytes, metabolites, and hormones, these sensors provide high-resolution physiological data crucial for early sepsis warning and precise metabolic management. Despite challenges like biofouling and complex blood-sweat correlations, integration with digital health systems and AI-driven predictive models promises a future of highly personalized, proactive, and automated critical care.

A team led by Professor Jianping Jia from Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University published significant findings in the Chinese Medical Journal. They developed a novel blood test using ultrasonic protein misfolding cyclic amplification technology. By detecting plasma amyloid beta aggregation seeding activity, this method accurately diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Achieving over 90 percent diagnostic accuracy, it provides an important minimally invasive tool for early and differential diagnosis of the disease.

An international collaborative team led by researchers from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Columbia University has delivered a comprehensive microscopic portrait of magnetic ordering and spin dynamics in Li(Zn,Mn)As, a landmark bulk diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) promising to overcome longstanding limitations of classic (Ga,Mn)As thin-film systems. Published in Materials Futures, the study leverages multi-geometry muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance (µSR) to resolve three core unresolved puzzles surrounding the material’s ferromagnetism, offering quantitative benchmarks for bound magnetic polaron (BMP) percolation theories widely applied to DMS research.

Research teams from The University of Hong Kong, led by Professor Chunyi Zhi, have provided a focused review of aqueous Zn-based flow batteries for long-duration energy storage. The review identifies Zn anode reversibility loss and active-species crossover/shuttle as two coupled bottlenecks, and summarizes design strategies that integrate electrolyte regulation, interfacial engineering, electrode architecture, species chemistry, and membrane design.