Lifeboat Foundation

Exploring pre-trained models for research often poses a challenge in Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL). Visualizing the architecture of these models usually demands setting up the specific framework they were trained on, which can be quite laborious. Without this framework, comprehending the model’s structure becomes cumbersome for AI researchers.

Some solutions enable model visualization but involve setting up the entire framework for training the model. This process can be time-consuming and intricate, deterring quick access to model architectures.

One solution to simplify the visualization of ML/DL models is the open-source tool called Netron. This tool functions as a viewer specifically designed for neural networks, supporting frameworks like TensorFlow Lite, ONNX, Caffe, Keras, etc. Netron bypasses the need to set up individual frameworks by directly presenting the model architecture, making it accessible and convenient for researchers.

The absence, not the presence, of the most important element for life in planets’ atmospheres may be what we should be seeking.

How the brain adjusts connections between #neurons during learning: this new insight may guide further research on learning in brain networks and may inspire faster and more robust learning #algorithms in #artificialintelligence.

Researchers from the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit and Oxford University’s Department of Computer Science have set out a new principle to explain how the brain adjusts connections between neurons during learning. This new insight may guide further research on learning in brain networks and may inspire faster and more robust learning algorithms in artificial intelligence.

The essence of learning is to pinpoint which components in the information-processing pipeline are responsible for an error in output. In artificial intelligence, this is achieved by backpropagation: adjusting a model’s parameters to reduce the error in the output. Many researchers believe that the brain employs a similar learning principle.

Continue reading “New insight into how brain adjusts synaptic connections during learning may inspire more robust AI” »

In a new study published in Cancer Cell, YSM researchers at Yale Cancer Center find immunotherapy could benefit thousands of additional patients with colorectal and endometrial cancers who are not currently being offered it:

A new study shows thousands more patients diagnosed with colorectal and endometrial cancers could benefit from immunotherapy than are currently offered it. Researchers showed the importance of looking at DNA Mismatch Repair Deficiency (MMR-D) as a guiding marker for treatment decisions using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). MMR-D is associated with an increased risk of developing several types of cancer and is the most common cause of hereditary endometrial cancer.

The study, which published in Cancer Cell on December 28, compared two lab testing methods to diagnose cancers— traditional immunohistochemistry (IHC) (a lab technique that uses antibodies to detect antigens in tissues) — and next-generation sequencing (NGS) — a new technology used for DNA sequencing that can detect specific patterns of mutations. The researchers discovered that NGS offers a more accurate assessment of MMR status.

Continue reading “Research Alert: More Colorectal and Endometrial Cancers Could Be Treated with Immunotherapy, Study Shows” »

The ‘Leaksmus’ event on the Dark Web exposed some 50 million records containing sensitive information from people all around the world.

Voyager Therapeutics entered a strategic collaboration and capsid license agreement with Novartis to advance potential gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy, providing Novartis a target-exclusive license to access its TRACER capsids and other intellectual property.

Novartis obtains target-exclusive access to Voyager’s TRACER capsids related to Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy.

“The presence of high degrees of oxygen in the atmosphere is like a bottleneck you have to get through in order to have a technological species,” said Dr. Adam Frank.

What are the criteria for an extraterrestrial civilization to become a technological species? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to figure out as a team of international researchers examine how oxygen plays a role in technological advancement, specifically pertaining to it being a necessary requirement for producing fire. This study was partially funded by a NASA grant and holds the potential to help researchers better understand the criteria for identifying technological signatures of extraterrestrial intelligence, also known as “technosignatures”

Illustration depicting how higher atmospheric oxygen levels could lead to technoligcal advancement for an extraterrestrial species, specifically pertaining to the creation of fire. (Credit: University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw)

Continue reading “Astrobiologists Uncover the Oxygen Bottleneck in the Search for Alien Technosignatures” »

The world’s first partial heart transplant has achieved what researchers have spent more than a year hoping for—functioning valves and arteries that grow along with the young patient, as hypothesized by the pioneering team behind the procedure at Duke Health.

The procedure was performed in the spring of 2022, in an infant who needed heart valve replacement. The previous standard of care—using valves that were non-living—would not grow along with the child, requiring frequent replacement, entailing surgical procedures that carry a 50% mortality rate.

A study led by Duke Health physicians, appearing online Jan. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that the new manner of valve procurement used during the partial heart transplant led to two well-functioning valves and arteries that are growing in concert with the child as if they were native vessels.

Almost 11 million internet-exposed SSH servers are vulnerable to the Terrapin attack that threatens the integrity of some SSH connections.

The Terrapin attack targets the SSH protocol, affecting both clients and servers, and was developed by academic researchers from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany.

It manipulates sequence numbers during the handshake process to compromise the integrity of the SSH channel, particularly when specific encryption modes like ChaCha20-Poly1305 or CBC with Encrypt-then-MAC are used.