Lifeboat Foundation

Numerous natural language processing (NLP) applications have benefited greatly from using large language models (LLMs). While LLMs have improved in performance and gained additional capabilities due to being scaled, they still have a problem with “hallucinating” or producing information inconsistent with the real-world facts detected during pre-training. This represents a significant barrier to adoption for high-stakes applications (such as those found in clinical and legal settings), where the generation of trustworthy text is essential.

The maximum likelihood language modeling target, which seeks to minimize the forward KL divergence between the data and model distributions, may be to blame for LMs’ hallucinations. However, this is far from certain. The LM may assign a non-zero probability to phrases that are not fully consistent with the knowledge encoded in the training data if this goal is pursued.

From the perspective of the interpretability of the model, studies have shown that the earlier layers of transformer LMs encode “lower level” information (such as part-of-speech tags). In contrast, the later levels encode more “semantic” information.

Scientists at Université Laval and the University of Lethbridge have succeeded in reversing certain cognitive manifestations associated with Alzheimer’s disease in an animal model of the disease. Their results have been published in the scientific journal Brain.

Although this has yet to be demonstrated in humans, we believe that the mechanism we have uncovered constitutes a very interesting therapeutic target, because it not only slows down the progression of the disease but also partially restores certain cognitive functions.

Many of the bacteria that ravage crops and threaten our food supply employ a shared tactic to induce disease: they inject a cocktail of harmful proteins directly into the plant’s cells.

For 25 years, biologist Sheng-Yang He and his senior research associate Kinya Nomura have been investigating this set of molecules that plant pathogens use to cause diseases in hundreds of crops globally, from rice to apple orchards.

Now, thanks to a team effort between three collaborating research groups, they may finally have an answer to how these molecules make plants sick — and a way to disarm them.

A study published in the journal PLOS Biology looked at the underlying pathways involved in breast cancer recurrence.

Researchers reported that a common chemotherapy treatment encouraged connective tissue cells to produce cytokines that helped reawaken dormant cancer cells.

The researchers say the results offer possible direction on adding other therapies to chemotherapy treatment to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Continue reading “Breast cancer: How chemotherapy may sometimes reactivate dormant cells” »

This year’s RAAD.

Liz has huge news for you.

Continue reading “BioViva’s Amazing 2023 with Liz Parrish” »

The Department of Defense has teamed up with Google to build an AI-powered microscope that can help doctors identify cancer.

The tool is called an Augmented Reality Microscope, and it will usually cost health systems between $90,000 to $100,000.

Experts believe the ARM will help support doctors in smaller labs as they battle with workforce shortages and mounting caseloads.

Continue reading “Google and the Department of Defense are building an AI-powered microscope to help doctors spot cancer” »

New research provides insight about the bedrock scientific principle that mitochondrial DNA -; the distinct genetic code embedded in the organelle that serves as the powerplant of every cell in the body -; is exclusively passed down by the mother.

The study, a collaboration among Oregon Health & Science University and other institutions, published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

Scientists have long recognized the fact that mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, comes exclusively from egg cells in humans, meaning only the mother contributes the genetic code carried by thousands of mitochondria necessary for energy production in every cell in the body.

From the oxygen-carrying corpuscles in our blood to the branching neurons that govern our thoughts, our body is built of a dazzling variety of cells.

Researchers from institutions in Germany, Canada, Spain, and the US have published a comprehensive study of how many individual cells of each type there are in typical bodies.

Based on an exhaustive analysis of over 1,500 published sources, most adult males contain a total of around 36 trillion cells, while adult females tend to have some 28 trillion cells. A 10-year-old child, by comparison, would have in the region of 17 trillion.

A stem cell that contributes to vertebra formation also encourages the growth of tumours that move to the backbone from elsewhere.