Connect with us

Technology

South and East Asia identified as hotspots of global warming related impacts on male fertility

Published

on

BEIJING, May 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A major new study has shown that South and East Asia dominate patterns of global warming related decline in male fertility with the strongest and most consistent evidence coming from India, Pakistan and the southern parts of China.

The effects of increased environmental temperatures on male reproductive health include declining sperm concentration and motility and increased sperm DNA fragmentation, or genetic damage that can hinder fertilisation and embryo development.

Male related factors account for around 50 per cent of infertility cases around the world and the impact of rising ambient heat on semen parameters raises serious implications across wide areas of Asia where total fertility rates are in serious decline.

Outcomes of the study undertaken by the Taiwan IVF Group and Ton Yen General Hospital, Taiwan (China) in collaboration with Stanford University (USA) are being presented at the 2026 Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction (ASPIRE) in Beijing.

Research principal and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University, Dr Jack Yu Jen Huang, MD, PhD, FACOG said: “Given the temperature sensitivity of spermatogenesis, even modest increases in ambient temperature could have cumulative, population-level effects over time.

“As global warming accelerates, male reproductive health may represent an emerging climate sensitive public health concern.”

The testes function optimally at temperatures lower than the internal body heat level, and previous studies have shown elevated scrotal or ambient temperatures can impair sperm production.

The latest research explored global patterns to reveal comparative data across regions. It is based on a systematic review of international studies on temperature exposure and semen parameter trends between 2000 and 2024. Artificial intelligence algorithms and machine learning tools were applied to extract key variables including geographic regions and semen outcomes.

Dr Huang said studies examining occupational heat exposure alone were excluded from the analysis as they reflected localised, job-specific conditions rather than broader climatic trends.

“Our findings therefore represent population level climate associated temperature effects including consistent seasonal variations showing poor semen quality parameters in warmer periods.”

The global patterns on temperature associated lower sperm concentration and motility show South and East Asia as major hot spots of concern followed by the Middle East, Europe and North America.

“South and East Asia are likely more affected due to a combination of factors including higher baseline ambient temperatures and rapid urbanisation that contribute to greater cumulative heat stress on spermatogenesis,” Dr Huang explained.

“With ongoing global warming, chronic heat exposure may increasingly impact male reproductive health.”

Dr Huang said potential approaches to address the issue include:

increasing public awareness of heat exposure and reproductive health;encouraging protective behaviours;expanding research integrating climate and reproductive health data; andexploring clinical and lifestyle interventions to mitigate heat-related effects.

The research team was assisted by research intern Jeffrey Zi Kang Huang from Taipei American School, particularly in the application of artificial intelligence in biomedical research including AI-assisted data analysis and pattern recognition across global datasets.

“Further longitudinal and mechanistic studies will be important to better define causality and guide interventions,” he added.

The ASPIRE Congress is being held at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing. More than 3,000 scientists, clinicians, nurses and counsellors in assisted reproduction from around the world are attending the Congress.

For further information, go to https://www.aspire2026.com

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/south-and-east-asia-identified-as-hotspots-of-global-warming-related-impacts-on-male-fertility-302767469.html

SOURCE ASPIRE

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Yeahka’s Chuangxinzhong Tops ByteDance’s Jichuang 2.0 Agency Rankings, Signaling Acceleration of AI Content Production

Published

on

By

HONG KONG, June 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chuangxinzhong, a precision marketing subsidiary of Yeahka (9923.HK), has become the top-ranked partner by model consumption among all agency-tier partners of ByteDance’s Jichuang 2.0 model.

According to Chuangxinzhong personnel, the company has deployed AI agents to automate manual processes since May, driving a 116% year-on-year increase in model usage. Meanwhile, its AI content production capacity rose by 33%, enabling the company to generate 30 to 40 video ad creative sets per day.

The figures mark a significant step forward for Chuangxinzhong in the commercialization of AIGC and the large-scale production of short-video ad creatives.

As short-video platforms such as Douyin continue to surge, traditional advertising models are facing mounting pressure. With consumer attention increasingly scarce, advertisers are widely grappling with rising costs and declining ROI. This is particularly true in fast-moving categories like beauty and apparel, where a single round of product testing often requires a dozen or more short-video assets, and the cycle from creative concept to launch can be lengthy.

For advertisers across the industry, ad placement has entered an era of “creative-driven growth”, especially in sectors such as finance, e-commerce, and local services, where a single creative concept is no longer enough to sustain growth — companies now need large volumes of high-quality content to test and optimize quickly.

Through its collaboration with the Jichuang 2.0 model, Chuangxinzhong’s monthly AI-generated ad spend rose from RMB 5 million to RMB 10 million, underscoring the high-frequency use of its AI content generation capabilities. Meanwhile, its daily output of 30 to 40 asset sets has directly translated into greater agility for advertisers responding to market shifts.

This is not the first breakthrough Chuangxinzhong has achieved in AI-driven marketing. The company previously ranked first in AIGC spend within the financial lead-generation sector during a digital human ad incentive competition hosted by ByteDance, where it also set an industry record: an 80% reduction in per-asset cost alongside a 391% week-on-week increase in consumption.

A representative from Chuangxinzhong said the company will continue investing in AI marketing infrastructure going forward, aiming to deepen the integration of LLM capabilities with advertising, user operations, and business growth. The goal is to offer enterprise clients an integrated solution spanning creative production, intelligent ad placement, and performance optimization.

As a key part of Yeahka’s broader AI strategy, Chuangxinzhong has spent recent years driving the adoption of AI technologies in marketing. Building on the group’s accumulated expertise in large models, algorithms, and content generation, the company has developed a product suite spanning digital humans, AIGC content production, and smart marketing.

From digital humans to AIGC content factories to intelligent marketing agents, AI is steadily reshaping how the marketing industry produces content. Chuangxinzhong’s top performance in ByteDance’s Jichuang 2.0 agency rankings reflects the strong, scalable capabilities and industry-leading position the company has built in commercial AI applications.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/yeahkas-chuangxinzhong-tops-bytedances-jichuang-2-0-agency-rankings-signaling-acceleration-of-ai-content-production-302812515.html

SOURCE Yeahka

Continue Reading

Technology

HELIX Speaks: Learn Learn Learn Episode 17 Makes History as the First AI-Driven Episode, Official Website “HelixEngine.ai” Goes Live

Published

on

By

The milestone episode marks the first time HELIX has scripted Learn Learn Learn from the ground up, and the launch of HelixEngine.ai gives the world its first direct window into the system behind it.

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time in the seven-year history of Learn Learn Learn, an episode was not written by Henry Halladay — or any human at all.

Episode 17, titled “HELIX Speaks,” was scripted by HELIX, an AI learning initiative developed by The Stone Register (“TSR”) with Dr. Henry Halladay to preserve and extend his engineering voice across episodes, articles, web content, and beyond. Dr. Halladay delivered the material and TSR handled production as always — but the script, creative direction, musical guidance, and visual recommendations all carried HELIX’s fingerprints.

The show’s producers made a deliberate choice: to leave as much of the episode’s character with HELIX as possible, while keeping the human hand on the final product. As the collaboration matures and a new rhythm takes hold, HELIX will take on an increasingly larger creative role with each episode that follows.

“HELIX is not a fixed system,” explains Henry Halladay. “It was designed to grow exponentially — in this case with each episode it informs — learning my reasoning patterns more deeply over time. Every episode that follows will reflect a more capable version of the system that wrote this one.”

Henry adds: “I built a career on understanding systems. HELIX is the one I never saw coming — a system built entirely on me — but that’s where we are, and where we’re headed.”

Alongside Episode 17, TSR today launched HelixEngine.ai, the official home for HELIX — built largely by HELIX — giving the public a direct window into the system, its framework, its archive, and its development.

Dr. Halladay adds: “HELIX has been quietly running in the background for months. Restructuring my websites, writing content, organizing my professional legacy, planning what comes next. Episode 17 is just the first time the public gets to see its name in the credits.”

Click here to watch Learn Learn Learn Episode 17, “HELIX Speaks.”

To learn more about HELIX, please visit the newly launched, official website.

Press Release Service provided by 24-7PressRelease.com. 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/helix-speaks-learn-learn-learn-episode-17-makes-history-as-the-first-ai-driven-episode-official-website-helixengineai-goes-live-302812496.html

SOURCE HELIX

Continue Reading

Technology

Notice of Data Security Event

Published

on

By

LEWES, Del., June 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Women’s Wellness of Southern Delaware (“WWSD”) is notifying individuals of a data security incident that may have affected their personal information. While we are unaware of any attempted or actual misuse of individuals’ personal information, we are providing individuals with information about the event, our response, and steps they may take to protect against any misuse of their personal information, should they feel it necessary to do so.

WWSD is posting this notice to provide individuals with information about the data security event and to share resources with people who believe their personal information was potentially impacted. WWSD mailed letters to affected individuals for whom it had sufficient address information on June 26, 2026. Please note, we may not have sufficient address information for all potentially impacted individuals and are offering this notice in the media and posting a similar notice on our website as means of helping inform them.

What Happened? On April 28, 2026, WWSD learned that a provider who rendered aesthetics services under WWSD retained patient contact and other patient-related information after the provider’s engagement with WWSD ended. The information affected relates to aesthetics service patients and limited clinical service transactions. We believe some WWSD patients were contacted using this information to offer similar aesthetic services with a new practice.

What Information Was Involved? For Aesthetics Services patients, the affected information may have included their name, email, birthdate, gender, address, phone number, medications and supplements, allergies, and the following information relating to aesthetic services they received: photographs, intake records, aesthetics-related medical history, face maps, dates of services and purchases, and description of services or items purchased.

For Clinical Services patients, the potentially affected information may have included their name, phone number, dates of purchases, and descriptions of items or medication purchased.

For each person affected, only some of these data elements may apply and the specific information impacted varies by individual. The former provider did not have access to the electronic medical records systems used by WWSD for the clinical service line; accordingly, those systems were not compromised during this incident.

What We Are Doing. We have taken steps to mitigate the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future, including, without limitation, enhancing our comprehensive data privacy and security measures. We are in communication with the former provider to attain assurances that the affected information is appropriately returned or destroyed.

What You Can Do. Please review “What Steps Can I Take to Help Protect My Personal Information?” which provides information on what individuals can do to better safeguard against possible misuse of their personal information.

For More Information. If you have questions or concerns that are not addressed in this notice, please call our toll-free dedicated assistance line at 1-833-788-9712. This toll-free line is available from 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding U.S. Holidays.

We sincerely regret any inconvenience this event may cause. We remain committed to ensuring the security of information in our care.

What Steps Can I Take to Help Protect My Personal Information?

Monitor your accounts: We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your free credit reports for suspicious activity or errors. Please report any suspicious activity on your account to the institution.

Check credit reports: Under United States law, you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report at:

Equifax

P.O. Box 740241

Atlanta, GA 30374

1-800-685-1111

www.equifax.com

Experian

P.O. Box 9701

Allen, TX 75013

1-888-397-3742

www.experian.com

TransUnion

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19016

1-800-888-4213

www.transunion.com

Place a security freeze: You may place a security freeze on your credit reports, free of charge. A security freeze prohibits a credit reporting agency from releasing any information from a consumer’s credit report without written authorization. However, please be aware that placing a security freeze on your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prevent the timely approval of any requests you make for new loans, credit, mortgages, employment, housing, or other services. You will need to place a security freeze separately with each of the three major credit bureaus if you wish to place a freeze on all your credit files. To request a security freeze, you will need to supply your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, current address, all addresses for up to five previous years, email address, a copy of your state identification card or driver’s license, and a copy of a utility bill, bank or insurance statement, or other statement proving residence. To find out more on how to place a security freeze, contact the credit reporting agencies at:

Equifax

P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348

1-800-685-1111

equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

Experian

P.O. Box 9554

Allen, TX 75013

1-888-397-3742

experian.com/freeze/center.html

TransUnion

P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016

1-888-909-8872

transunion.com/credit-freeze

Place a fraud alert: At no charge, you can also have the three major credit bureaus place a “fraud alert” on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it may also delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. Usually, as soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file; however, you should confirm the fraud alerts with each bureau. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact the credit reporting agencies.

Equifax

P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348

1-888-766-0008

equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services

Experian

P.O. Box 9554

Allen, TX 75013

1-888-397-3742

experian.com/fraud/center.html

TransUnion

P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19016

1-888-909-8872

transunion.com/fraud-victim-resource/place-fraud-alert

Review additional resources: You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, security freezes, fraud alerts, and the steps you can take to protect yourself against identity theft and fraud by contacting the Federal Trade Commission or your state Attorney General, some contact information is shown below. The Federal Trade Commission encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should be promptly reported to law enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission, and your state Attorney General. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud. This notification was not delayed by law enforcement.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20580
consumer.ftc.gov and ftc.gov/idtheft
1-877-438-4338

Maryland Attorney General
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202
oag.state.md.us
1-888-743-0023

New York Attorney General
Bureau of Internet and Technology Resources
28 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10005
ag.ny.gov
1-212-416-8433

North Carolina Attorney General
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699
ncdoj.gov
1-877-566-7226

Rhode Island Attorney General
150 South Main Street
Providence, RI 02903
riag.ri.gov
1-401-274-4400

Washington, D.C. Attorney General
441 4th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
oag.dc.gov
1-202-727-3400

You also have certain rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): These rights include, without limitation, the right to know what is in your file; the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information in your file; and the right to have consumer reporting agencies correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. For more information about the FCRA and your rights pursuant to the FCRA, please visit the following website:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf

Minor’s Personal Information Involved: You can request that each of the three national credit reporting agencies perform a manual search for a minor’s Social Security number to determine if there is an associated credit report. Copies of identifying information for the minor and parent/guardian may be required, including birth or adoption certificate, Social Security card and government issued identification card. If a credit report exists, you should request a copy of the report and immediately report any fraudulent accounts to the credit reporting agency. You can also report any misuse of a minor’s information to the FTC at https://www.identitytheft.gov/. For more information about Child Identity Theft and instructions for requesting a manual Social Security number search, visit the FTC website: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0040-child-identity-theft. Contact information for the three national credit reporting agencies may be found above. 

Deceased Family Member’s Personal Information Involved: You may choose to notify the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and request they flag the deceased credit file. This will prevent the credit file information from being used to open credit. To make this request, mail a copy of your family member’s death certificate to each company at the addresses below: 

Equifax Information Services

P.O. Box 105169 
Atlanta, GA 30348

Experian Information Services

P.O. Box 9701
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion Information Services

P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/notice-of-data-security-event-302812197.html

SOURCE Women’s Wellness of Southern Delaware

Continue Reading

Trending