- Gut Problems may be Early Sign of Parkinson's Disease
- People Recovering from Depression Tend to Focus More on Negative Information, New Study Shows
- 'Exceptional Vintage': French Hot Spell to Cut Wine Output but Boost Quality
- Only One Third of Young South Koreans Feel Positively about Marriage, Survey Finds
- Here’s What Lucid Dreamers Might Tell Us about Our Sleeping Minds
- The Other 'Niño' That Fuels the Most Destructive Hurricanes
Gut Problems may be Early Sign of Parkinson's Disease
腸道問題可能是帕金森氏症的早期徵兆
Health
Gut problems including constipation, difficulty swallowing and an irritable bowel may be an early warning sign of Parkinson's disease in some people, a new study suggests. The findings in the journal Gut add more evidence to the idea that brain and bowel health are intimately linked. Understanding why gut issues happen might allow earlier treatment of Parkinson's, say the researchers. Specifically, four gut conditions - constipation, difficulty swallowing, gastroparesis (a condition that slows the movement of food to the small intestine) and irritable bowel - were associated with a higher risk of Parkinson's. Not everyone with gastrointestinal problems will go on to get Parkinson's, the researchers stress, but there appears to be some kind of link between gut and brain health.
--from BBC News
一項新的研究顯示，便秘、吞嚥困難和腸躁症等腸道問題可能是某些人患帕金森氏症的早期預警徵兆。《腸道》雜誌上的研究結果為大腦和腸道健康息息相關的見解提供了更多證據。研究人員表示，了解腸道問題的起因可能有助於帕金森氏症的早期治療。具體而言，四種腸道疾病—便秘、吞嚥困難、胃輕癱（一種減緩食物向小腸移動的疾病）和腸躁症—與帕金森氏症較高風險有關。研究人員強調，並非每個有胃腸道問題的人都會患上帕金森氏症，但腸道和大腦健康之間似乎存在著某種關聯。
--摘錄翻譯自BBC News
People Recovering from Depression Tend to Focus More on Negative Information, New Study Shows
新研究顯示，自抑鬱症中恢復的人往往更關注負面資訊
Health
People recovering from depression spend more time processing negative information over positive information, a new study has found. This puts them at a risk for relapse after recovering from a major depressive episode. The researchers analysed 44 studies involving more than 2,000 people who had a history of major depressive disorder and published their findings in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Compared to healthy individuals, individuals who have had a major depressive episode had less control over the information they process and might have more negative moods and thoughts. They were also slower than healthy individuals at responding to stimuli. The researchers say the findings could help to better treat depressive disorders.
--from Euronews
一項新研究發現，從抑鬱症中恢復的人得花比正面資訊更多的時間處理負面資訊。這使他們在從重度抑鬱症發作中恢復後，仍有復發的風險。研究人員分析了44項涵蓋2000多名有重度抑鬱症病史者的研究，並將研究結果發表在《精神病理學和臨床科學期刊》。相較於健康個體，嚴重抑鬱症患者對自身處理資訊的掌控力較差，且可能有更多的負面情緒和想法。他們對刺激的反應也比健康者慢。研究人員表示，這些發現可能有助於更妥善地治療抑鬱症。
--摘錄翻譯自Euronews
'Exceptional Vintage': French Hot Spell to Cut Wine Output but Boost Quality
「卓越年份」：法國葡萄酒產量減少但品質提升
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Scorching temperatures have hurt vines in southern France so much that output will fall but the hot weather could produce a vintage of "exceptional" quality, winemaker Jerome Volle said as he harvested grapes in the early hours of Wednesday to avoid the heat. A hot spell has hit large parts of France in recent days with temperatures expected to peak at 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in the wine-growing Rhone Valley this week. "This year we are on a late concentration which will raise the quality of the grapes, and therefore the cost of the wine, as the smoothness and aromas which will emerge will make a rather exceptional wine for the 2023 vintage," Volle said in his vineyard in Valvigneres in the Ardeche region. The fall in output was currently expected at between 10% and 20% in the region but with a higher quality, said Volle.
--from Reuters
釀酒師傑羅姆·沃勒(Jerome Volle)在週三凌晨採摘葡萄以避免炎熱時表示，炎熱的氣溫對法國南部的葡萄藤造成了嚴重傷害，導致產量下降，但炎熱的天氣可能會產出「卓越」品質的葡萄酒。 最近幾天，法國大部分地區天氣炎熱，預計本週葡萄酒產區羅訥河谷的氣溫將達到攝氏42度(華氏107.6度)。 沃勒在阿爾代什地區 Valvigneres 的葡萄園中說，「今年我們進行了後期濃縮，這將提高葡萄的品質，也會提高葡萄酒的成本，但順滑度和香氣將為2023 年份釀造出一款相當出色的葡萄酒。」 沃勒表示，目前預計該地區的產量將下降 10% 至 20%，但品質會有所提高。
--摘錄翻譯自Reuters
Only One Third of Young South Koreans Feel Positively About Marriage, Survey Finds
調查發現，只有三分之一的韓國年輕人對婚姻持積極態度
Culture
over the past decade, spelling demographic trouble for the aging nation in the years ahead. The report, which surveys residents between the ages of 19 and 34 every two years, was released Monday by the official Statistics Korea. It found just 36.4% respondents polled last year said they had a positive perception of marriage – down from 56.5% in 2012. The fall reflects the growing pressures on young South Koreans, including economic concerns such as unaffordable housing and rising costs of living. Common reasons cited in the report for young people not getting married include not having enough money for marriage, and the feeling it’s simply not necessary. And among the third of respondents with a positive perception of marriage, results skew heavily toward men – with just 28% of women responding positively.
--from CNN
韓國年輕人越來越迴避婚姻和生育，這已經不是什麼秘密了—該國急劇下降的出生率就是明證。 但一份新的政府報告強調，這趨勢在過去十年中急劇加速，預告了這個高齡化國家在未來幾年的將面臨人口問題。 韓國官方統計局於週一公布了一份報告，該報告每兩年針對19歲至34歲的居民進行調查。 調查發現，去年接受調查的受訪者中只有36.4%表示他們對婚姻持積極態度，低於2012年的 56.5%。 此下降反映出韓國年輕人面臨的壓力越來越大，包括負擔不起的住宿支出和生活費上升等經濟問題。 報告中提到的年輕人不結婚的常見原因包括沒有足夠的錢結婚，以及覺得根本沒有必要結婚。 在三分之一對婚姻持積極態度的受訪者中，結果嚴重偏向男性—只有 28% 的女性持積極態度。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Here’s What Lucid Dreamers Might Tell Us About Our Sleeping Minds
清醒夢境者可能可以透過夢境告訴我們睡眠相關的資訊
Sciences
Dream research has traditionally relied on reports collected after someone wakes up. But people often wake with only spotty, distorted memories of what they dreamed. The dreamers can’t say exactly when events occurred, and they certainly can’t tailor their dreams to specific scientific studies. “The special thing about lucid dreaming is that you can get even closer to dream content and in a much more controlled and systematic fashion,” says Martin Dresler, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Lucid dreamers who can perform assigned tasks and communicate with researchers during a dream open up tantalizing opportunities to study an otherwise untouchable realm. They are like the astronauts of the dream world, serving as envoys to the mysterious inner spaces created by slumbering minds.
--from Science News
傳統夢境研究的資料蒐集，仰賴的是實驗者甦醒後所給的報告。但人們醒來後，對夢境的記憶往往是模糊扭曲、斷斷續續的。做夢者無法準確說出事件發生的時間，而他們當然也無法根據特定科學研究的要求來調整他們所做的夢。荷蘭奈梅亨Donders Institute的認知神經科學家Martin Dresler表示：「清醒夢境的特別之處，在於你可以更加接近夢的實際內容，且是在更系統化、可操縱的程度更穩定的情況下去達到這樣的效果。」可以在夢中執行任務、並與研究人員交流的清醒夢境者將可為此學界開啟一個原本遙不可及、引人注目的嶄新研究領域。他們就像夢境世界的太空人，作為使節帶領我們進入沉睡時的大腦所創造的神秘空間。
--節錄翻譯自Science News
The Other 'Niño' That Fuels The Most Destructive Hurricanes
會助長最具破壞性颶風的另一種「尼諾」現象
Sciences
Record ocean temperatures and unusual wind patterns in the atmosphere are contributing to a complex push-and-pull effect that governs the emergence of hurricanes. Researchers have also recently drawn attention to an under-studied phenomenon that may represent another key factor in determining a hurricane season's outlook. A vast patch of water stretching out from the west coast of equatorial Africa undergoes periodic temperature fluctuations known as Atlantic Niño, or "El Niño's little brother". New research suggests this cycle of changing Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperatures can fuel some of the most powerful hurricanes that strike the Caribbean and the US. There are many factors, however, that determine whether a hurricane forms, how powerful it becomes, how long it lasts, and where it makes landfall. And the Atlantic Niño's bigger sibling in the Pacific will play a major role in determining what happens in this year's hurricane season.
--from BBC Future
創紀錄的海洋溫度及大氣中異常的風正在助長複雜的推拉效應。而推拉效應正是掌管著颶風是否形成的重要因素之一。研究人員近期更是將焦點放在另一個過去尚未被深入探討過的現象上。此現象可能是預測颶風季節狀況的另一個決定性因素。從赤道非洲的西岸延伸出來、有周期性溫度波動的一大片水域被稱作「大西洋尼諾現象」，或稱「聖嬰現象的弟弟」。 新研究顯示，大西洋海面溫度的這種週期性變化可能會助長強大颶風的形成，進而襲擊加勒比海區域及美國。然而，有很多因素左右著颶風的生成。包含是否會形成、強度多強、持續時間以及登陸地點等都會受到各種因素的影響。大西洋尼諾現象在太平洋的長兄將是決定今年的颶風季節情勢的重要元素。
--節錄翻譯自 BBC Future