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Jul 21, 2021
A new diabetes test can detect blood sugar directly from the saliva
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
Jul 21, 2021
Artificial Heart Successfully Transplanted In the US
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
Jul 21, 2021
Effectively using GPT-J and GPT-Neo, the GPT-3 open-source alternatives, with few-shot learning
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in category: robotics/AI
GPT-J and GPT-Neo, the open-source alternatives to GPT-3, are among the best NLP models as of this writing. But using them effectively can take practice. Few-shot learning is an NLP technique that works very well with these models.
GPT-J and GPT-Neo.
GPT-Neo and GPT-J are both open-source NLP models, created by EleutherAI (a collective of researchers working to open source AI).
Jul 21, 2021
Acid-spraying, scorpion-like insects spotted in Texas
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: food
Vinegaroons shoot “well-aimed” vinegar spray, eat cockroaches for dinner — and emerge from the ground looking for love.
Jul 21, 2021
Dubai is making its own fake rain to beat 122F heat
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: drones, geoengineering
Its cloud seeding operations are part of an ongoing mission to generate precipitation in the Middle East country, which has an average rainfall of just four inches.
The enhanced rain is created using drone technology that unleashes electrical charges into clouds in order for them to clump together and form precipitation.
The National reported the heavy rainfall caused waterfalls to appear in the city of Ail Ain and made driving conditions hazardous.
Continue reading “Dubai is making its own fake rain to beat 122F heat” »
Helion Energy said that its latest fusion generator prototype has exceeded 100 million degrees Celsius. The company has developed a unique pulsed fusion system.
Jul 21, 2021
Brain ‘Noise’ Keeps Nerve Connections Young
Posted by Jason Blain in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, life extension, neuroscience
The findings, published in Nature Communications, could have important implications for human health: minis have been found at every type of synapse studied so far, and defects in miniature neurotransmission have been linked to range of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Figuring out how a reduction in miniature neurotransmission changes the structure of synapses, and how that in turn affects behavior, could help to better understand neurodegenerative disorders and other brain conditions.
Summary: Study reveals how miniature release events help to keep neurons intact and preserve motor neuron function in aging insects.
Source: EPFL
Continue reading “Brain ‘Noise’ Keeps Nerve Connections Young” »
Jul 21, 2021
Pathogenic fungi colonize microplastics in soils
Posted by Jason Blain in category: biotech/medical
Representatives of numerous pathogenic fungal species are finding new habitat on microplastic particles in the soil and could thus be one of the possible causes of an increase in fungal infections. Researchers from Bayreuth, Hannover and Munich demonstrated this in a new study. Using high-throughput methods, the scientists analyzed fungal communities from soil samples taken from sites near human settlements in western Kenya. The findings of this research have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
This study is the first to focus on fungal communities on microplastic particles in the soil. Many of the species detected belong to groups of fungi that are pathogenic to plants, animals and humans. Pathogenic microfungi are able to colonize the otherwise inhospitable surfaces of microplastic particles due to their characteristic adhesive lifestyle. Furthermore, they are able to withstand strong solar radiation and heat to which they are exposed on soil surfaces.
“We were able to observe all stages of fungal biofilm formation on the microplastic particles recovered from the soil samples. In doing so, we were able to demonstrate that fungi not only grow, but also reproduce in the so-called plastisphere. The data we obtained from microscopic examinations and DNA analyses supports the assumption that fungi systematically colonize microplastics in the soil. Moreover, they provide evidence that microplastics in soil accumulate certain pathogenic fungal species: some species dangerous to humans, including black fungi and cryptococcal yeast fungi, are present on the surfaces of microplastic particles in higher concentrations than in the surrounding soil. Our study therefore justifies the presumption that microplastics in soil are a potential source of fungal infections,” says Gerasimos Gkoutselis M.Sc., lead author of the study and doctoral student at the University of Bayreuth’s Department of Mycology.
Jul 21, 2021
In vitro efficacy of artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2
Posted by Omuterema Akhahenda in categories: biotech/medical, materials
Artemisia annua plants grown from a cultivated seed line in Kentucky, USA, were extracted using either absolute ethanol or distilled water at 50 °C for 200 min and analyzed, as described in “Materials and methods” and Supplementary Information (Figures S1 and S2). Solids were removed by filtration and the solvents were evaporated. The extracted materials were dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) (ethanol extract) or a DMSO: water mixture (3:1 for aqueous extract) and filtered (see supporting information for details). Artemisinin (Fig. 1, (1)) was synthesized and purified following a published procedure or purchased17, while artesunate (Fig. 1, (2)) and artemether (Fig. 1, (3)) were only obtained from commercial sources.
Initial experiments were carried out at FU Berlin, Germany. To initially screen whether extracts and pure artemisinin were active against SARS-CoV-2, their antiviral activity was tested by pretreating VeroE6 cells at different time points during 120 min with selected concentrations of the extracts or compounds prior to infection with the first European SARS-CoV-2 isolated in München (SARS-CoV-2/human/Germany/BavPat 1/2020). The virus-drug mixture was then removed and cells were overlaid with medium containing 1.3% carboxymethylcellulose to prevent virus release into the medium. DMSO was used as a negative control. Plaque numbers were determined either by indirect immunofluorescence using a mixture of antibodies to SARS-CoV N protein18 or by staining with crystal violet19. The addition of either ethanolic or aqueous A. annua extracts prior to virus addition resulted in reduced plaque formation in a concentration dependent manner, while artemisinin exhibited little antiviral activity (Supplemental Tables S1 – S8).
Concentration–response experiments were carried out at Copenhagen University Hospital-Hvidovre. In these experiments the Danish SARS-CoV-2 isolate SARS-CoV-2/human/Denmark/DK-AHH1/2020 was used employing a 96-well plate based concentration–response antiviral treatment assay, allowing for multiple replicates per concentration, as described in “Materials and methods” and Supplementary Information (Figures S3 and S4)20,21. Seven replicates were measured at each concentration and a range of concentrations was evaluated to increase data accuracy when compared to the plaque-reduction assay, which was carried out in duplicates. Extracts or compounds were added to VeroE6 cells either 1.5 h prior to (pretreatment (pt)) or 1 h post infection (treatment (t)), respectively, followed by a 2-day incubation of virus with extracts or compounds. Both protocols yielded similar results, with slightly lower median effective concentration (EC50) values observed for treatment assays.
