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Sometimes there are slightly different versions, or sequences of genes. There are several versions of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, for example. One of them, called APOE4, has been linked to a much higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and carriers often have worse forms of the disease compared to carriers of other forms like APOE3. There are immune cells in the brain called microglia that help protect the brain from damage and harm. But when APOE4 is expressed, microglia seem to start to cause inflammation, and misfolded proteins to form in the brain, which can lead to serious problems. The findings have been reported in Cell Stem Cell.

In this work, the researchers developed a mouse model that could generate the human APOE4 protein in their brains. Next, the investigators eliminated microglia from these mouse brains. The formation of two misfolded proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s diseases: amyloid and tau, was halted.

Originally published on Towards AI.

When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), opinions run the gamut. Some see AI as a miraculous tool that could revolutionize every aspect of our lives, while others fear it as a force that could upend society and replace human ingenuity. Among these diverse perspectives lies a growing fascination with the cognitive abilities of AI: Can machines truly “understand” us? Recent research suggests that advanced language models like ChatGPT-4 may be more socially perceptive than we imagined.

A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reveals that advanced language models can now match a six-year-old child’s performance in theory of mind (ToM) tasks, challenging our assumptions about machine intelligence.

There are many processes and proteins that help the body fight a flu infection. One of them is known as IFITM3. Researchers have now shown that this protein can help prevent viruses from mutating after they have infected a new host. But some people are deficient in IFITM3, which can raise their risk of a severe flu infection. That deficiency is not unusual in some groups. For example, around twenty percent of Chinese people and four percent of people with European ancestry carry variants in IFITM3 that can interfere with the protein’s expression. This study has shown that these genetic variants can allow flu viruses to establish infections even when the virus is present at very low levels that would not usually cause infection. The findings have been reported in Nature Communications.

The IFITM3 (interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3) protein is part of the innate immune system, and is generated at high levels after the detection of a flu infection. It can sequester viral particles so that they are not able to replicate, which reduces the severity of flu infections. Mouse models that are IFITM3 deficient are extremely vulnerable to the flu.

Synchron CEO Tom Oxley spoke about his company’s work with Forbes senior editor Alex Knapp at the 2024 #ForbesCIO Summit in New York City.

Discover Forbes’ 2024 CIO Next list, featuring top Chief Information Officers and tech leaders driving transformation and digital strategy in today’s tech landscape.

As our collective nervousness over AI grows each day, “The Wild Robot” emerges from the woods with a completely different take on a man-made being with the ability to learn.

“I love the messaging of the story, the idea that kindness is a survival tactic,” says star Lupita Nyong’o. “It’s just so pure and sweet and needed.”

In the DreamWorks animated feature, a domestic helper robot, a ROZZUM 7,134 (Nyong’o), is lost on a wooded island and activated without human guidance. As the ingeniously designed “Roz” searches for a mission in a vernal bower that looks designed by an Impressionist painter, she learns to communicate with the animal residents and finds purpose in raising an orphaned gosling, Brightbill.

During ritual ceremonies, the ancient Aztec civilization used a “death whistle” — a haunting instrument shaped like a human skull.

Its eerie, high-pitched scream is not just a product of its unique design, but a deliberate attempt to manipulate the human mind.

Continue reading “Aztec ‘death whistle’ produced spine-chilling screams of sacrifice” »

Summary: AI models trained on MRI data can now distinguish brain tumors from healthy tissue with high accuracy, nearing human performance. Using convolutional neural networks and transfer learning from tasks like camouflage detection, researchers improved the models’ ability to recognize tumors.

This study emphasizes explainability, enabling AI to highlight the areas it identifies as cancerous, fostering trust among radiologists and patients. While slightly less accurate than human detection, this method demonstrates promise for AI as a transparent tool in clinical radiology.

A big day of output for the Human Cell Atlas, a global collaborative project with 100 countries to understand our ~37 trillion cells A Wikipedia of our cells, a “remarkable achievement” https://nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03754-y

In a collection of research articles and related content, the Human Cell Atlas consortium presents tools, data and ideas towards the generation of their first draft atlas of cells in the human body.

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Continue reading “Sunlight Deficiency As A Contributor To Poor Health: Roger Seheult, M.D. (‪@Medcram‬)” »