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The new health objective: caring for capacities

A new approach in medicine is changing the way we assess health, moving away from focusing solely on diseases and risk factors to analyzing the physical and mental capacities that allow people to maintain their autonomy and participate in daily life. Recent research, including a study published in the Journals of Gerontology, demonstrates that evaluating capacities such as locomotion, cognition, psychological health, senses, and vitality together is more effective at predicting future loss of functionality than considering only traditional factors such as age and chronic diseases, revealing that the presence or absence of disease does not tell the whole story about an individual's health.

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Most new mammal species discovered in the Global South in the last 35 years are in museums in wealthy countries

A study revealed that between 1990 and 2025, more than a thousand new mammal species were scientifically described in 105 countries, with 95% discovered in Global South countries, mainly in tropical regions. However, 60% of the holotypes – reference specimens for scientific description – are stored in collections of institutions in the Global North, raising concerns about the concentration of scientific heritage and the difficulties faced by researchers from origin countries in accessing these essential materials for their research.

SAPO27/08/26, 16:03

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West Nile virus causes 75 new cases, 232 infections and 19 deaths in Greece in one week

The West Nile virus continues to spread in Greece, with 75 new cases recorded in one week, bringing the total number of infections to 232 since the outbreak began. As of August 26, 19 deaths had been confirmed, all relating to patients over 65 years of age, highlighting the vulnerability of the elderly to this mosquito-borne disease.

Euronews Portugal27/08/26, 15:57

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Researcher Rafaela Aleixo presents project on memory and basketry in Gonçalo

Researcher Rafaela Aleixo, winner of the Research, Innovation and Territory Award (CEI-IIT'25), will present on Sunday, August 30, at 5:00 PM, at the Centro Cultural de Gonçalo, the project "Biographical Baskets: An Ethnography of Memory, Resistance and Patrimonialization in Gonçalo". The project aims to analyze the basket-making tradition in the region, exploring issues of memory, resistance and cultural patrimonialization.

SAPO Notícias27/08/26, 15:35

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II Yakult International Symposium opens registrations on the 3rd

Yakult do Brasil announced the dates for the II Yakult International Symposium, which will be held in partnership with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (FCF-USP) on September 2nd and 3rd, 2027, in São Paulo city. Registrations will open from September 3rd on the official website. The symposium will have as its central theme "Health promoting microorganisms for global wellbeing" and will address the universe of applied microbiology, including probiotics and emerging categories of beneficial microorganisms for the wellbeing of humans and animals. According to Professor Doctor Svetoslav Todorov, president of the Scientific Committee of the event, the meeting will be a celebration of almost a century of scientific progress.

🗺️ Coimbra

oglobo27/08/26, 15:28