Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at UCLA have developed a new AI model that can expertly analyze 3D medical images of diseases in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take a human clinical specialist.

The deep-learning framework, named SLIViT (SLice Integration by Vision Transformer), analyzes images from different imagery modalities, including retinal scans, ultrasound videos, CTs, MRIs, and others, identifying potential disease-risk biomarkers.

Dr. Eran Halperin, a computational medicine expert and professor at UCLA who led the study, said the model is highly accurate across a wide variety of diseases, outperforming many existing, disease-specific foundation models. It uses a novel pre-training and fine-tuning method that relies on large, accessible public data sets. As a result, Halperin believes that the model can be deployed—at relatively low costs—to identify different disease biomarkers, democratizing expert-level medical imaging analysis.

Summary: SUMO proteins play a key role in activating dormant neural stem cells, vital for brain repair and regeneration. This finding, centered on a process called SUMOylation, reveals how neural stem cells can be “woken up” to aid in brain recovery, offering potential treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

SUMO proteins regulate neural stem cell reactivation by modifying the Hippo pathway, crucial for cell growth and repair. The study’s insights lay foundational groundwork for developing regenerative therapies to combat conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

3,000-year-old clay tablets show that some associations between emotion and parts of the body have remained the same for millennia.

Surviving Neanderthal genes in the modern genome tell a story of thousands of years of interactions.

Recent DNA studies have refined the period when Neanderthals and modern humans interbred to a span of about 7,000 years, leaving Eurasians with significant Neanderthal genetic contributions. These findings also help clarify the timeline and routes of ancient human migrations from Africa.

Genetic Insights into Ancient Human-Neanderthal Interactions.

Far from being an edgier sequel to the sitcom starring Jim Parsons, the ‘dark big bang’ – also known as the ‘second’ big bang – is believed by scientists to potentially be the event which brought about dark matter in our universe.

Such an idea was floated by University of Texas researchers Katherine Freese and Martin Wolfgang Winkler in a paper published in Physical Review Dback in April 2023.

The abstract to the research notes the “hot big bang” is considered to be the origin story behind “all matter and radiation in the universe”, and that there is “strong evidence” that the early universe “contained a hot plasma of photons and baryons with a temperature”

A new quantum processor design features a modular router that allows enhanced qubit connectivity, breaking away from traditional 2D grid constraints.

This approach aims for scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computing that could transform industries by solving problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

Quantum Processor Innovation

Engineers share progress in the latest CNT transistor designs at IEDM.

The world’s first human trial of a drug that can regenerate teeth will begin in a few months, less than a year on from news of its success in animals. This paves the way for the medicine to be commercially available as early as 2030.

The trial, which will take place at Kyoto University Hospital from September to August 2025, will treat 30 males aged 30–64 who are missing at least one molar. The intravenous treatment will be tested for its efficacy on human dentition, after it successfully grew new teeth in ferret and mouse models with no significant side effects.

Continue reading “World-first tooth-regrowing drug will be given to humans in September” »

Brain edema can accompany large ischemic strokes and can increase stroke-related morbidity and mortality. The past few decades have seen no advances in pharmacologic treatment of brain edema. These investigators conducted a manufacturer-funded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of glibenclamide, a sulfonylurea 1–receptor inhibitor that can decrease brain edema. (Glibenclamide is approved to treat type 2 diabetes.) In a previous study, it was associated with fewer deaths from neurologic causes, but its use in patients with stroke is not widespread.

Eligible patients had large ischemic strokes that could be treated within 10 hours of onset. A large hemispheric infarct in at least the middle cerebral artery territory was defined as either an Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score of 1 to 5 or lesion volumes of 80 mL to 300 mL on computed-tomography perfusion or diffusion-weighted imaging. Glibenclamide (8.6 mg) was given to half the study participants intravenously over 72 hours.

The study was halted early due to underenrollment. Of 535 enrolled patients, 431 were in the intended age range (18–70) and had complete data (mean age, 58; 33% women; median NIH Stroke Scale [NIHSS] score, 19). Treatment began at an average of 9 hours after symptom onset. No favorable shift with glibenclamide occurred on the primary outcome, the 90-day modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Mortality was similar in the two groups (glibenclamide, 32%; placebo, 29%). Hypoglycemia was seen in 6% of glibenclamide recipients and 2% of placebo recipients. Subgroup analysis revealed a signal of potential benefit with glibenclamide in patients with NIHSS scores of 20 or less.