Lifeboat Foundation

Newspaper headlines from the U.S. to the U.K. and most places in between highlight the surge in sick patients suffering from respiratory viruses. The so-called “tripledemic” of lung infections including respiratory synclinal virus (RSV), influenza (flu) and COVID-19 (coronavirus) is likely to last throughout the winter season. This explosion of infections requires more treatment options to support overloaded hospitals and overworked medics as they restore people’s health.

It has been known for a long time that intubation of an infant with any lung condition, or even an adult with severe COVID-19 using either ventilation or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), comes with risks and side effects that could cause permanent damage not limited to the lungs. However, hypoxia, which means oxygen deficiency, is a medical emergency that is a common complication of severe lung infections. If not treated, it can lead to severe disability and even death.

A type of freshwater plankton has become the first organism seen thriving on a diet of viruses, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the US.

Viruses are often consumed incidentally by a range wide of organisms, and may even season the diets of certain marine protists. But to qualify as a true step in the food chain – described as virovory – viruses ought to contribute a significant amount of energy or nutrients to their consumer.

The microbe Halteria is a common genus of protist known to flit about as its hair-like cilia propel it through the water. Not only did laboratory samples of the ciliate consume chloroviruses added to its environment, the giant virus fueled Halteria’s growth and increased its population size.

Point-of-care diagnoses occur when a doctor can quickly diagnose a patient during an examination without sending biological samples to a laboratory or consulting with other specialists. The stress and anxiety that can come with waiting for the results of medical testing, and the cost associated with in-depth laboratory testing, make point-of-care testing a gold standard. However, point-of-care diagnostics remain rare in oncology.

Research shows that women suspected of endometrial cancer experience stress and anxiety while waiting for a confirmed diagnosis. While the procedures and waiting time associated with endometrial cancer diagnoses vary, endometrial biopsies can take weeks to return results. Of added concern, since most endometrial cancers require surgical intervention, usually a hysterectomy, delays in diagnosis lead to delays in treatment. Indeed, these surgical delays can negatively impact survival. Thus, rapid endometrial cancer diagnostic strategies would significantly improve patient care.

Continue reading “IKnife Helps Find Endometrial Cancer” »

“De novo” genes may have paved the way for humans’ big brains.

The transport of mercury ions across intestinal epithelial cells can be studied for toxicology assessments by using animal models and static cell cultures. However, the concepts do not reliably replicate conditions of the human gut microenvironment to monitor in situ cell physiology. As a result, the mechanism of mercury transport in the human intestine is still unknown.

In a new report now published in Nature Microsystems and Nanoengineering, Li Wang and a research team in mechanical engineering and regenerative medicine in China developed a gut-on-a-chip instrument integrated with transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) sensors and electrochemical sensors.

They proposed to explore the dynamic concept to simulate the physical intestinal barrier and mirror biological transport and adsorption mechanisms of mercury ions. The scientists recreated the cellular microenvironment by applying fluid shear stress and cyclic mechanical strain.

A new miniscule nitrogen dioxide sensor could help protect the environment from vehicle pollutants that cause lung disease and acid rain.

Researchers from TMOS, the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems have developed a sensor made from an array of nanowires, in a square one fifth of a millimeter per side, which means it could be easily incorporated into a silicon chip.

In research published in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, Ph.D. scholar at the Center’s Australian National University team and lead author Shiyu Wei describes the sensor as requiring no power source, as it runs on its own solar powered generator.

In light of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina being found unconscious, there have been many headlines that said she in “a coma” or a “vegetative state” or even “brain dead”. First things first, patients who suffer brain death are not in coma. And patients who are in coma may or may not progress to brain death.

The brain has a number of vast jobs to complete every second and is a very complex organ. The brain controls not only an individual’s thought process and voluntary movements, but it controls involuntary movements and other vital body functions. These functions include auditory, olfactory, visual and tactile senses, regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate (although the heart can continue to beat without the brain in “autotonic response”). The brain also produces hormones to control individual organ function. A good example is the brain’s production of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). This hormone is produced to concentrate the urine in the kidneys, thus protecting against life-threatening dehydration.

MUST READ: “Brain Dead” Child Showing Signs Of Life

In the 46th episode, Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque discusses the future of AI. From being only years out from generating entire movies in real-time to how it’s revolutionizing the healthcare industry and could help identify cancer. Plus its benefits in education, charities, the potential regulations, and societal impact, and Stable Diffusion becoming the most popular open-source software in the world.

(0:00) Intro.
(1:03) Introducing Emad Mostaque.
(1:27) Generative AI
(9:52) Computing power and AI
(12:23) How Emad got into AI
(14:49) Open-source AI
(20:19) Growth of Stable Diffusion.
(21:57) Lensa.
(25:39) Power of Creativity.
(30:00) Ramifications of AI
(34:09) State of the industry.
(37:32) Business model for AI
(43:28) AI use cases.
(48:11) Societal impact.
(51:39) Becoming a public figure.
(55:41) Outro.

Continue reading “Stability AI’s Emad Mostaque, The Future of Generative AI, Real-Time Movies, Societal Impact” »

Year 2021 This also another use for air pollution into diamonds.

Mining diamonds is a notoriously destructive and exploitative process, both socially and environmentally. On a mission to produce diamonds sustainably and ethically, one company discovered a way to—quite literally—pull diamonds out of thin air.

According to the International Gem Society, 250 tons of soil are moved for each carat of mined diamond, wreaking havoc on ecosystems, wildlife, and the water table. Nearly 20 years have passed since the United Nations established the Kimberley Process, a certification to address human rights abuses in the mining industry and eradicate conflict diamonds from the global market. Also known as “blood diamonds,” conflict diamonds are mined in rebel-controlled areas and sold to help finance armed conflicts. The Human Rights Watch says that rebel rule, forced labor, and violence are still rampant in the industry.

Continue reading “How to Turn Air Pollution into Gleaming Diamonds” »