Portable AI-powered devices that connect directly to a chatbot without the need for apps or a touchscreen are set to hit the market. Are they the emperor’s new clothes or a gamechanger?
Autoimmune diseases pose significant challenges in healthcare, affecting millions worldwide. Recent research has suggested a potential link between gut microbiota and autoimmune conditions, paving the way for innovative therapeutic approaches. A study published in BMC Medicine aimed to systematically review the efficacy of probiotic therapy in managing various autoimmune diseases. The study was conducted by Zeng L. and colleagues.
Autoimmune diseases, including fibromyalgia, psoriasis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), lupus nephritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease, result from dysregulation of the immune system. Genetic, environmental, and microbial factors, particularly gut microbiota, are implicated in their pathogenesis. Probiotics, defined as beneficial microorganisms that colonize the gut and modulate host immunity and metabolism, offer a promising avenue for treatment.
The study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of probiotic therapy in autoimmune diseases. Researchers searched multiple databases for eligible trials up to June 2022 and assessed outcomes such as Disease Activity Score at 28 joints (DAS28), Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Measure (SLEDAI).
The problem with just leaving poop on the highest peak in the world is that the environ’s extremely cold temperatures are not at all conducive to degrading biological matter. In addition, poop runoff is a problem at lower elevations — to the degree that they’ve contaminated the local watershed.
Basically, Mount Everest is covered in human feces. It’s a problem that hikers, sherpas and local officials have been complaining about for years.
But now, according to CNN, new poop rules are in place. If you want to climb Mount Everest from Nepal, the most common entryway, you gotta take your crap back with you instead of leaving it on the mountain.
Very interesting article.
Now a physicist working at the University of Portsmouth in the UK has published research in the AIP Advances journal that he says provides support to the strange theory.
“I don’t want to paraphrase Morpheus from The Matrix but he said ‘what is real?’” the Associate Professor of Physics, Dr Melvin Vopson, said.
Continue reading “Physicist says his study supports computer simulation theory” »
In the not-too-distant future, chatbots and VR could let us interact with lost friends and relatives.
Fanconi anemia is rare genetic disorder that can be caused by changes in the sequence of one of at least 22 different genes. The disease can lead to a variety of symptoms including bone marrow failure, skeletal abnormalities, and increases the risk of cancer in patients. Scientists have long thought that the disease is due to problems with DNA that cause cell death, and disruptions in blood stem cells (also known as hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are crucial for constantly replenishing the body’s supply of blood cells.
When protein-coding genes are expressed, the proteins they encode for start out as strings of amino acids, which have to be properly folded into a three-dimensional shape, or else serious problems can arise. Scientists have now determined that a buildup of miscoded proteins is actually a root cause of Fanconi anemia, and that a bile acid may be useful as a new treatment for the disorder. The research has been reported in Nature Communications.
A National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) research team has developed the world’s first n-channel diamond MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor). The developed n-channel diamond MOSFET provides a key step toward CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor: one of the most popular technologies in the computer chip) integrated circuits for harsh environment applications, as well as the development of diamond power electronics. The research is published in Advanced Science.
Semiconductor diamond has outstanding physical properties such as ultra wide-bandgap energy of 5.5 eV, high carriers mobilities, and high thermal conductivity, which is promising for the applications under extreme environmental conditions with high performance and high reliability, such as the environments with high temperatures and high levels of radiation (e.g., in proximity to nuclear reactor cores).
By using diamond electronics, not only can the thermal management demand for conventional semiconductors be alleviated but these devices are also more energy efficient and can endure much higher breakdown voltages and harsh environments.
Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) identified a key metabolite in cells that helps direct immune responses and explains at a single cell level why immune cells that most efficiently recognize pathogens, vaccines, or diseased cells grow and divide faster than other cells.
The findings also indicate that a better understanding of this metabolite and its role in immune response could improve the design of immunotherapies and create longer-lived responses against different types of cancer as well as enhance vaccine strategies. The findings were published online by the journal Science Immunology in a paper titled “Single-cell NAD(H) levels predict clonal lymphocyte expansion dynamics.”
Antigens are foreign substances that our immune system recognizes and responds to by producing more T and B cells. These cells each have unique receptors that recognize specific antigens and can respond appropriately, and they can “remember” and respond similarly when exposed to the same antigen again.
Neuromorphic chips could reduce energy bills for AI developers as well as emit useful cybersecurity signals in the future of computing.
Artificial Intelligence — yada, yada, yada.
Sometimes the only way to learn how to swim is to be tossed into the deep end. And that is exactly what I have decided to do.
Herewith a very short elementary course. ChatGPT, OpenAI etc. are all based on LLM — large language models. They scraped a couple billion words and images and then using a magic Cuisinart, they mixed and matched until their platform software was able to know what you thought you were thinking before you thought it, or in the alternative gave you information in an elegant format that you could give to your professor while assuring him that you wrote or painted it yourself. Or not.
