What is the effect of chocolate on middle-aged women?

A Japanese study reported that chocolate contains compounds that affect the mood of middle-aged women and actually make them happier.

The results of the study found that eating chocolate daily, for eight weeks, reduces negative feelings, depression, and anxiety.

Researchers say that the antioxidant flavanols found in cocoa beans may prevent cell damage, which disrupts hormones and brain signals.

Flavanols are more concentrated in the cocoa varieties used to make dark chocolate.

In the study, 60 healthy women between the ages of 40 and 60 were given either a chocolate drink or a drink with the same taste but did not contain cocoa.

After two months, the women who drank cocoa during the experiment scored better on the mood scale.

They also reported that their friendship and energy had strengthened.

The study's lead researcher, Professor Masakazu Terauchi, from Tokyo Medical and Dental University, said: "Our results indicate that cocoa extract in middle-aged women reduces depression, fatigue and anxiety and improves positive mood. The flavanols found in cocoa may be a beneficial substance that can improve Moods of middle-aged women.

Moscow University develops a method to analyze the composition of kidney stones during surgery

Russian specialists have developed a technology to analyze the composition of kidney stones before breaking them up, without pulling them out of the body, using a laser.

It is a procedure that requires adjusting the operating system of the equipment, which depends on the chemical composition and structural characteristics of the stones. Previously, these factors could not be analyzed unless a sample of stones was extracted from the patient's body.

Specialists from Moscow State University developed a method to analyze the composition of kidney stones during the process of fragmenting them with a laser. The university's press service reported that this method makes it possible to make the choice more accurate when operating the required systems.

A report issued by the press service of the university stated that specialists of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University and students of the Scientific School “Photon Technologies, Quantum Technologies and Digital Medicine” have developed an optical technology that makes it possible to determine the formation of kidney stones directly during the surgical operation, which provides an opportunity to automatically select the optimal system when Laser lithotripsy is a procedure in which stones are crushed using infrared rays and a laser.

The researchers created an experimental system that recreates conditions in the operating room. Analysis of different types of samples (urate, oxalate, and hydroxyapatite stones) using several types of spectroscopic analysis made it possible to determine their diagnostic features, including the dependence of the shape on the composition of the stones.

The data collected formed the basis for creating a classification model capable of distinguishing between three types of gravel with an accuracy of more than 90%. This is an important step towards increasing the efficiency of decision-making during the surgical procedure, as it allows doctors to quickly and accurately determine the composition of stones and choose the most appropriate system for fragmenting them.