Saudi Science and Engineering Team Gears up for Regeneron ISEF 2024 in Los Angeles

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
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Saudi Science and Engineering Team Gears up for Regeneron ISEF 2024 in Los Angeles

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)
The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition. (SPA)

The Saudi Science and Engineering Team is undergoing an intensive four-day training program in preparation for the upcoming Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2024) competition, the Saudi Press Agency said.
During the program, team members will acquire skills related to showcasing and refining their scientific background. They will also participate in training sessions with experienced former judges familiar with the fair.
Additionally, the team will engage in various training sessions to address questions related to their projects.
A total of 35 male and female students will represent the Kingdom at ISEF 2024, the world's largest pre-college STEM competition, competing against 1,700 students from 70 countries worldwide.
The Kingdom's participation is facilitated by the King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" and the Ministry of Education.
This year marks the 18th consecutive participation of the Kingdom in the fair since 2007, as part of an annual program organized by Mawhiba in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.



Ozempic Hailed as 'Fountain of Youth' that Slows Aging

The is available under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic (Photo by Reuters)
The is available under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic (Photo by Reuters)
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Ozempic Hailed as 'Fountain of Youth' that Slows Aging

The is available under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic (Photo by Reuters)
The is available under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic (Photo by Reuters)

The anti-obesity drug Ozempic could slow down ageing and has “far-reaching benefits” beyond what was imagined, researchers have suggested.

Multiple studies have found semaglutide (available under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic) reduced the risk of death in people who were obese or overweight and had cardiovascular disease without diabetes, The Independent reported.

Responding to research published in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology, Professor Harlan M Krumholz from the Yale School of Medicine, said: “Semaglutide, perhaps by improving cardiometabolic health, has far-reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined.”

He added: “These ground-breaking medications are poised to revolutionise cardiovascular care and could dramatically enhance cardiovascular health.”

Multiple reports also quoted Professor Krumholz saying: “Is it a fountain of youth?”

He said: “I would say if you’re improving someone’s cardiometabolic health substantially, then you are putting them in a position to live longer and better.

“It’s not just avoiding heart attacks. These are health promoters. It wouldn’t surprise me that improving people’s health this way actually slows down the ageing process.”

The studies, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Conference 2024 in London, were produced from the Select trial which studied 17,604 people aged 45 or older who were overweight or obese and had established cardiovascular disease but not diabetes.

They received 2.4 mg of semaglutide or a placebo and were tracked for more than three years.

A total of 833 participants died during the study with 5 percent of the deaths were related to cardiovascular causes and 42 per cent from others.

Infection was the most common cause death beyond cardiovascular, but it occurred at a lower rate in the semaglutide group than the placebo group.

People using the weight-loss drug were just as likely to catch Covid-19, but they were less likely to die from it – 2.6 percent dying among those on semaglutide versus 3.1 per cent on the placebo.

Researchers found women experienced fewer major adverse cardiovascular events, but semaglutide “consistently reduced the risk” of adverse cardiovascular outcomes regardless of sex.

Dr Benjamin Scirica, lead author of one of the studies and a professor of cardiovascular medicine at Harvard Medical School, said: “The robust reduction in non-cardiovascular death, and particularly infections deaths, was surprising and perhaps only detectable because of the Covid-19-related surge in non-cardiovascular deaths.

“These findings reinforce that overweight and obesity increases the risk of death due to many etiologies, which can be modified with potent incretin-based therapies like semaglutide.”

Dr Jeremy Samuel Faust, an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, praised the researchers for adapting the study to look at Covid-19 when the pandemic started.

He said the findings that the weight-loss drug to reduce Covid-19 mortality rates were “akin to a vaccine against the indirect effects of a pathogen.”