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Category: biotech/medical – Page 2,754

Artificial intelligence in healthcare: past, present and future

Artificial intelligence (AI) aims to mimic human cognitive functions. It is bringing a paradigm shift to healthcare, powered by increasing availability of healthcare data and rapid progress of analytics techniques. We survey the current status of AI applications in healthcare and discuss its future. AI can be applied to various types of healthcare data (structured and unstructured). Popular AI techniques include machine learning methods for structured data, such as the classical support vector machine and neural network, and the modern deep learning, as well as natural language processing for unstructured data. Major disease areas that use AI tools include cancer, neurology and cardiology. We then review in more details the AI applications in stroke, in the three major areas of early detection and diagnosis, treatment, as well as outcome prediction and prognosis evaluation. We conclude with discussion about pioneer AI systems, such as IBM Watson, and hurdles for real-life deployment of AI.

A New Drug Might, Possibly, Have Cured the Flu

The only patients to have taken the new drug so far are lab mice. But even when the mice had been exposed to lethal levels of the flu, 100 percent of the ones treated with the new treatment survived.

Promisingly, according to NPR, the new treatment was also effective at treating human lung cells grown in the lab — potentially paving the way to human trials.

“It’s a really interesting study,” Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who wasn’t involved with the research, told NPR. “We need more drugs in the fight against flu, and this approach could provide them.”

Patients experiment with prescription drugs to fight aging

Dr. Alan Green’s patients travel from around the country to his tiny practice in Queens, N.Y., lured by the prospect of longer lives.

Over the past two years, more than 200 patients have flocked to see Green after learning that two drugs he prescribes could possibly stave off aging. One 95-year-old was so intent on keeping her appointment that she asked her son to drive her from Maryland after a snowstorm had closed the schools.

Green is among a small but growing number of doctors who prescribe drugs “off-label” for their possible anti-aging effects. Metformin is typically prescribed for diabetes, and prevents organ rejection after a transplant, but doctors can prescribe drugs off-label for other purposes—in this case, for “aging.”

#IAmTranshuman — Compilation #1 — U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party

Leading transhumanists from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives provide concise, powerful statements as to why they are transhuman. The Transhuman Era has arrived; some of us are aware of this already, whereas others are transhuman but do not know it yet. The #IAmTranshuman campaign helps illustrate how emerging technologies and the accompanying shifts in thinking are already transforming everyday life.

This video was compiled and formatted by Tom Ross, the U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party’s Director of Media Production: http://tomross.com/

The following transhumanists are featured, in order of appearance:

- B.J. Murphy, Director of Social Media, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.
- Ira Pastor, Regeneration Advisor, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.
- Tom Ross, Director of Media Production, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.
- José Luis Cordeiro, Technology Advisor and Ambassador to Spain, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.
- Charlie Kam, Director of Networking, California Transhumanist Party.
- Bill Andrews, Biotechnology Advisor, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.
- Gennady Stolyarov II, Chairman, U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party.

Learn more about the #IAmTranshuman campaign, the Transhuman Present Project (#TranshumanPresent), and how you can readily participate: https://transhumanist-party.org/2018/01/21/concrete-transhumanism/

You can participate in the #IAmTranshuman campaign by submitting still images or video recordings of one minute or less (15 seconds or less for Instagram stories, one minute or less for Instagram-compatible videos). Use the hashtag #IAmTranshuman, and let us know if you would like your video included in a subsequent compilation!

Continue reading “#IAmTranshuman — Compilation #1 — U.S. Transhumanist Party / Transhuman Party” | >

California man learns he’s dying from doctor on robot video

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ernest Quintana’s family knew he was dying of chronic lung disease when he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, unable to breathe.

But they were devastated when a robot machine rolled into his room in the intensive care unit that night and a doctor told the 78-year-old patient by video call he would likely die within days.

“If you’re coming to tell us normal news, that’s fine, but if you’re coming to tell us there’s no lung left and we want to put you on a morphine drip until you die, it should be done by a human being and not a machine,” his daughter Catherine Quintana said Friday.

Another wave of severe flu infections is coming warns CDC

In its most recent weekly US influenza surveillance report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that flu activity remains high across the nation. According to the agency, both the influenza A viruses H1N1 and H3N2, as well as influenza B viruses, are still making rounds through the population, with H3 viruses more frequently reported than H1N1.

Women Who Changed Science: A New Lens On Inspiring Female Nobel Prize Winners

As a passionate supporter of the advancement of women and recognition for their immense contributions to our world, I was thrilled to learn of a fascinating new initiative that launched today, in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. This unique AI-powered web experience called https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/” target=”_blank” rel=” nofollow noopener noreferrer” data-ga-track=” ExternalLink: https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/”>Women Who Changed Science highlights the achievements of female Nobel Prize winners who broke new ground in physics, chemistry and medicine. Raising awareness of their tremendous impact, the initiative aims to empower the next generation of scientists.

Women Who Changed Science is an outgrowth of a new collaboration with Nobel Media and Microsoft and is one of Microsoft’s ongoing initiatives to build female inclusion and diversity in STEM fields. This new endeavor trains a lens on the inspiring journeys and contributions of female Nobel Prize winners who’ve significantly impacted our world for the better.

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