“A team led by Google scientists has developed a machine-learning tool that can help to detect and monitor health conditions by evaluating noises such as coughing and breathing. The artificial intelligence (AI) system, trained on millions of audio clips of human sounds, might one day be used by physicians to diagnose diseases including COVID-19 and tuberculosis and to assess how well a person’s lungs are functioning.”
From Nature.
“Scientific research into people’s perception of AI companions is nascent, and any consensus is far from settled. However, preliminary findings are beginning to coalesce, and AI chatbots seem to help some people feel less alone and better heard.
In one study, lonely college students using Replika reported that the experience ‘decreased anxiety’ and offered ‘a feeling of social support.’ Three percent of the participants even claimed it eased their suicidal thoughts. While that number may seem insignificant, such a percentage — if applicable to the larger population — might have outsized influence when you consider not only the relief offered to users but also the ripple effect suicide has through families, communities, and social networks.
Another study found evidence that AI companions alleviate loneliness on par with interacting with another person and are much better than activities like watching YouTube videos. That same study found that the effects lasted over a week, and users routinely underestimated how much it would help.”
From Freethink.
World Health Organization | Noncommunicable Disease
The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Brazil for having eliminated lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem…
Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a debilitating parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. For centuries, this disease has afflicted millions worldwide, causing pain, chronic, severe swelling, serious disability, and social stigmatization.”
World Health Organization | Communicable Disease
“In a monumental achievement for public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has validated the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Pakistan. Trachoma is a disease caused by infection by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium and can result in irreversible blindness if left untreated.”
“One woman and two men with severe autoimmune conditions have gone into remission after being treated with bioengineered and CRISPR-modified immune cells. The three individuals from China are the first people with autoimmune disorders to be treated with engineered immune cells created from donor cells, rather than ones collected from their own bodies. This advance is the first step towards mass production of such therapies.
One of the recipients, Mr Gong, a 57-year-old man from Shanghai, has systemic sclerosis, which affects connective tissue and can result in skin stiffening and organ damage. He says that three days after receiving the therapy, he felt his skin loosen and he could start moving his fingers and opening his mouth again. Two weeks later, he returned to his office job. ‘I feel very good,’ he says, more than a year after receiving the treatment.”
From Nature.
