Page 434«..10 20..433434435 436..440 450..»

Category Archives: Transhuman News

What is Ki-67 in Breast Cancer? It Can Spell the Difference in Treatment Options – URMC

Posted: March 17, 2022 at 2:19 am

At first glance, two 50-something women with breast cancer appear to have similar cases. But an article by Wilmot Cancer Institute experts points out that technically, only one woman is eligible for a newer, potentially lifesaving treatment due to slight differences in tumor markers.

The article raises questions about rules around using the latest therapies and illustrates how nuances in tumor biology can have a major influence on treatment choices. It also speaks to the critical need for consistent, high standards for pathology testing across the U.S.

Ruth O'Regan, MD

Co-author Ruth ORegan, M.D., a national thought-leader in breast cancer and executive at Wilmot, would like to see the U.S. follow Europe and loosen the limitations for the breast cancer treatment in question, known as CDK inhibitors.

We believe that restricting the use of these drugs is controversial and deserves more discussion, she said.

ORegan and David Hicks, M.D., a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine who has devoted his career to innovations in breast tumor analysis, described two cases of breast cancer in postmenopausal women in a Grand Rounds article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Both women were diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, which had begun to spread to the lymph nodes. Each woman faced a high risk of the cancer recurring after initial treatment was completed. Testing also showed that the hormones estrogen and progesterone were largely fueling each persons disease.

A key fact separated these Wilmot patients, however: Only one waseligible for CDK therapy, which has a proven survival advantage.

The reason? Her tumor had a higher level of a cancer-related gene known as Ki-67, indicating rapid reproduction of cancer cells.

A mixed bag of clinical trial data has shown that certain levels of Ki-67 in breast tumors support better outcomes for patients who are treated with CDK inhibitors. The FDA approved the use of CDK inhibitors for individuals whose tumors have Ki-67 levels of 20 percent or higher.

But, ORegan said, this leaves out women whose tumors have Ki-67 markers at 15-to-19 percent, for example, even though other factors in their cases may indicate that treatment with the drug would help.

One clinical trial in the U.S. does, in fact, support the use of the newer drug for tumors with lower levels of Ki-67, and Europes equivalent of the FDA approved the CDK treatment without limitations, ORegan noted.

David Hicks, MD

The lynchpin in the U.S. is that measurement of Ki-67 is notoriously inconsistent across hospital systems and clinical laboratories. Many institutions do not routinely check for this tumor marker although all breast cancer patients at Wilmot receive Ki-67 testing in optimal, standardized laboratory conditions, ORegan said.

It will take time to overcome the testing hurdle nationwide, Hicks and ORegan wrote, due to variability among practices and materials available.

Meanwhile, ORegan continues to assess cases on an individual basis, often in collaboration with Wilmots tumor board, and has achieved insurance approval for CDK therapy for a few patients that fell outside of current FDA eligibility requirements, she said.

CDK inhibitors are also available to women with stage 4 breast cancer; limitations only exist for earlier-stage disease. Breast cancer patients should ask their doctors about this newer form of treatment, O'Regan said.

ORegan is the Charles A. Dewey Professor and Chair of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, as well as the Associate Director of Wilmots education and mentoring program. Hicks has studied tumor markers in breast cancer for several years at URMC and helped to develop national guidelines on estrogen-receptor and HER2 gene testing.

More:
What is Ki-67 in Breast Cancer? It Can Spell the Difference in Treatment Options - URMC

Posted in Gene Medicine | Comments Off

Hope for breast cancer patients, but with a cruel caveat – Harvard Gazette

Posted: at 2:19 am

The clinical trial of an old antibiotic for a new purpose is offering hope to thousands of patients with drug-resistant breast cancer whose early remissions have given way to resurgent tumors.

Novobiocin was once used in humans but today is largely limited to animal applications, such as treating mastitis in dairy cows. Its trial as a cancer drug is expected to begin this spring at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. If it proves effective, the fact that its still manufactured and already approved in people should allow it to become rapidly available to patients, trial organizers say.

While the discovery of a potentially powerful anti-cancer agent in a veterinary niche may seem serendipitous, it sits at the end of a long chain of discovery. That chain has already deepened our understanding of a group of well-known cancers breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate that together afflict more than 600,000 people and kill about 140,000 each year. Research in recent decades has revealed that half of ovarian cancers, 15 percent of breast and prostate, and 10 percent of pancreatic cancers share a flaw in their DNA repair mechanism that make them susceptible to drugs like novobiocin. The work has also shown that they are related to a rare, often fatal childhood disease called Fanconi anemia.

In fact, the discoveries trace back to the suffering of Fanconi anemia families, hinging on a key moment two decades ago at a Maine summer camp where children suffering Fanconi anemia offered their blood for science. The distressing irony is that the resulting treatments, which now offer hope to thousands of cancer sufferers, are not only ineffective for Fanconi children, theyre potentially fatal.

This is a terrible disease, said Alan DAndrea, who heads Dana-Farbers Susan F. Smith Center for Womens Cancers and who has worked on Fanconi anemia since the early 1990s. The children have birth defects. They have a strong disposition to developing anemia and then leukemia. And their cells are super-sensitive to DNA damaging agents.

The condition is rare and genetic. As a recessive disease, a child must inherit two copies of a Fanconi gene one from each parent for the condition to develop. It affects just one in 130,000 U.S. births each year, which translates to about 28 children, many of whom are afflicted with short stature, microcephaly, abnormal facial features, or other birth defects. Anemia tends to emerge around age 7, often followed by acute myeloid leukemia and eventually bone marrow failure. Many patients dont live to adulthood, and the average age of death in 2000 was 30.

Sometimes the most important discoveries in science are obvious when you hit them.

DAndrea, who also directs Dana-Farbers Center for DNA Damage and Repair, became interested in Fanconi anemia in a roundabout fashion. While he was an undergraduate in Quincy House at Harvard College in the late 1970s, his mother developed breast cancer. She recovered, but the episode sparked an interest that led DAndrea to the lab of William Haseltine at Dana-Farber, then called the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute. Haseltine was studying DNA repair, a subject that grabbed DAndreas interest. The pair pioneered using new tools of gene sequencing to investigate DNA damage and repair. Later, while studying at Harvard Medical School, DAndrea became interested in leukemia and then, as an assistant professor at the Medical School and Dana-Farber in the early 1990s, in Fanconi anemia. DAndrea thought that a better understanding of the condition might not only help those afflicted with it, but also produce insights broadly applicable to leukemias, which affect 61,000 Americans and kill 24,000 per year.

DAndreas efforts were met with enthusiasm. Families of Fanconi sufferers often struggle alone, trying to manage a condition frequently unrecognized by physicians and ignored by researchers. The Fanconi Anemia Research Fund was just a year old when DAndrea got involved in 1990, but it was already beginning to support research on the condition.

I first met Alan in the year 1990; our daughter Katie died in 1991, said Lynn Frohnmayer, one of the funds founders. We were advised to consult with a DNA expert at Harvard about her condition, so we talked to him for a long time. Its hard to remember a time when he hasnt been part of what we were doing.

Community was no less important than research to Fanconi families, who gathered annually at a summer camp on Maines Sebago Lake.

Id go to this camp every summer and teach the families what we knew about the disease, said DAndrea, the Alvan T. and Viola D. Fuller American Cancer Society Professor of Radiation Oncology. At the same time, we would collect blood samples from the children or the parents, and sometimes skin biopsies. We assumed at this point that if we could clone the genes that were involved for Fanconi anemia, we might discover something very fundamental about why these children get leukemia, and also discover some kind of DNA repair pathway.

DAndreas method identifying defective Fanconi genes and using them to understand the function of the normal gene took time, but slowly revealed the diseases genetic underpinnings. As Fanconi genes were discovered scientists have so far identified 23 DAndreas lab demonstrated how the proteins they encode work together in a biochemical pathway required for DNA repair.

We figured out that these genes probably work together in some kind of a genetic DNA repair pathway and that was exciting, DAndrea said. But it was a backwater field of cancer research. I would give talks on Fanconi anemia at big meetings and thered be 12 people in the audience, and theyd be reading the newspaper, not paying attention.

In the early 2000s, DAndrea was at the camp drawing blood from an 11-year-old girl who had recently developed leukemia. He was talking with her mother, who was in her 30s, and noticed that her arm was in a sling. When she said shed had a mastectomy after a breast cancer diagnosis, his interest was piqued.

In the mid-1990s, researchers had identified mutations in two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, that increase the risk of early breast cancer. The BRCA genes are tumor suppressors that play a role in DNA repair. In most women, healthy BRCA genes prevent tumors by keeping DNA functioning properly. In women who inherit mutated genes, faulty DNA repair opens the door to tumor growth.

Suddenly, this rare disease, Fanconi anemia, and this rare pathway that we have been studying crashed into breast cancer and ovarian cancer research.

DAndreas work over the prior decade had pointed to faulty DNA repair as a cause of Fanconi anemia, so when he heard the young mothers story, something clicked. He tracked down the girls father and asked about his family history. The man said he had been healthy, but that his mother had died of ovarian cancer.

After DAndrea raced back to the lab, he and colleagues examined DNA from the girls samples. They found that she had two copies of a faulty breast cancer gene BRCA2 one inherited from each parent.

Suddenly, this rare disease, Fanconi anemia, and this rare pathway that we have been studying crashed into breast cancer and ovarian cancer research, DAndrea said. And not only those cancers in the general population, but BRCA2 and, subsequently, BRCA1, extremely important cancer-susceptibility genes. We call it today the Fanconi anemia/BRCA pathway.

In hindsight, the connection seems obvious, DAndrea said.

We had been studying all these other Fanconi anemia genes and we knew that process had something to do with DNA repair. It made sense. Sometimes the most important discoveries in science are obvious when you hit them. You realize this child with Fanconi anemia had mutations in the BRCA gene thats why this child got cancer. When you get cancer as a child, you get leukemia, you dont get breast cancer, you dont get ovarian cancer. Leukemia that was a very severe form of BRCA deficiency.

Subsequent research found that the Fanconi anemia/BRCA pathway was disrupted not only in some breast and ovarian cancers, but also in a significant number of prostate and pancreatic cancers.

Not only did these children have Fanconi anemia, but their parents and grandparents have other cancers: breast, ovarian, and we now know prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer, DAndrea said. These poor families, they have children with Fanconi anemia, a fatal childhood disease, and their older siblings, parents, older family members who have a mutation in one of the genes, they get breast, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic cancer.

The discovery of a common DNA repair pathway linking Fanconi anemia to deadly cancers brought immediate attention to the condition and to DNA repair as a common feature of some cancers. It also provided a new way to treat them. Subsequent research showed that cancers caused by BRCA mutations become more dependent on other DNA repair pathways. Drugs called PARP inhibitors were developed to attack a key protein in a backup DNA repair pathway used by BRCA-deficient tumors. PARP inhibitors rapidly disrupt tumor growth, leading to dramatic remissions, but only for a time.

A year to 18 months after PARP treatment begins, tumors often recur as the cancer mutates to use a third DNA repair pathway, which relies on a protein called polymerase theta. To counter that move, DAndrea turned to modern drug-screening techniques, examining thousands of compounds effectiveness against polymerase theta. Novobiocin rose to the top. Subsequent trials in mouse models confirmed its effectiveness, which led to plans for the spring trial.

Should novobiocin prove an effective tool, researchers will shift to examining how tumors respond over time and whether they can eventually evade the drugs effects by using one of the bodys other DNA repair pathways, according to Geoffrey Shapiro, Dana-Farbers senior vice president for developmental therapeutics and a professor of medicine who is collaborating with DAndrea on the novobiocin trial. Having an additional drug will also let researchers explore combination therapies that might be harder for tumors to overcome. Such therapies are already extending the lives of many patients and, in some cases, reducing cancer to a chronic disease.

Ultimately, we will be combining all these DNA repair inhibitors to try to maximize response up front if its safe enough to do that, Shapiro said. This is our next decade of work.

Fanconi anemia remains a target for DAndrea and other researchers. Thanks to recent advances, including improved survival rates for bone-marrow transplants, more patients are living into their 30s or later. This is good news for families, but the threat of cancer is ever-present, and comes with a cruel twist. While treatments such as PARP and novobiocin grew out of Fanconi-related science, the key difference between Fanconi patients and others with cancer makes those treatments not only useless but potentially deadly for people with the condition.

For most cancer patients, the DNA repair defect that is vulnerable to PARP inhibitors and, potentially, novobiocin is in their tumor cells, which creates targets for treatment. In Fanconi patients, the defect is present throughout their bodies, meaning that the inhibitors would attack all their cells, not just cancerous ones. Frohnmayer said chemotherapy and radiation therapy are also dangerous for Fanconi patients, whichlimits cancer-fighting optionstoa heavy emphasis on early detection and surgery while the search for other treatments continues.

The first gene was discovered in 1992, so we were in the dark. All we had were these horrible statistics, Frohnmayer said. Today its much more hopeful. People know that getting through the bone-marrow-failure part of the problem is at least a possibility, maybe even a likelihood. Were working really hard on the cancer problem. And you can at least have the hope that, by the time your child is in danger, theres going to be a better answer than we have today.

See original here:
Hope for breast cancer patients, but with a cruel caveat - Harvard Gazette

Posted in Gene Medicine | Comments Off

Pope evokes specter of nuclear war wiping out humanity – National Post

Posted: at 2:11 am

Breadcrumb Trail Links

'The "day after", if there will still be days and human beings we will have to start again from nothing'

Author of the article:

Publishing date:

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on Wednesday evoked the specter of a nuclear war, where whoever is left of humanity would have to start all over again on the day after, and appeared to ask God to stop the aggressor in Ukraine.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

The 85-year-old Francis dedicated his address at his weekly general audience to aging and corruption in society, telling the Biblical story of the Great Flood that God used to punish a sinful and corrupt humanity and which only Noah and his family survived.

Our imagination appears increasingly concentrated on the representation of a final catastrophe that will extinguish us, he said, then departing from his prepared text to add: such as that which would happen with an eventual atomic war.

The day after, if there will still be days and human beings we will have to start again from nothing, he said, without specifically mentioning the Ukraine war in that part of the audience, held before several thousand people inside the Vatican.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Minutes later, however, he lowered his voice and using a somber tone, read a prayer about the Ukraine war written by an Italian archbishop.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, we implore you to stop the hand of Cain, he said, referring to the Biblical character who turned on his own brother, attacking and killing him.

Francis, who has previously called the war an unacceptable armed aggression, did not name any countries on Wednesday.

The prayer continued, saying: When you (God) have stopped the hand of Cain, take care of him also. He is our brother.

Moscow says its action is designed not to occupy territory but to demilitarize and denazify its neighbor.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Our imagination appears increasingly concentrated on the representation of a final catastrophe

Russia calls its action a special military operation. Previously, Francis implicitly rejected that term, saying it could not be considered just a military operation but a war that had unleashed rivers of blood and tears.

The prayer which the pope read on Wednesday, written by Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia, portrayed Jesus as born under the bombs of Kyiv, and dead in the arms of a mother in Kharkiv, or as the 20-year-old sent to the front lines.

Earlier in St. Peters Basilica, the pope met several hundred Italian school children and asked them to think about their counterparts in Ukraine who have to escape from the bombs. They are suffering so much and it is cold there. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alex Richardson)

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

More:
Pope evokes specter of nuclear war wiping out humanity - National Post

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

The Future is Vast: Longtermism’s perspective on humanity’s past, present, and future – Our World in Data

Posted: at 2:11 am

1.5 million years remaining: If Homo sapiens survives as long as Homo erectus

How long has Homo Erectus existed?

Homo erectus is an extinct species of archaic humans. It is among the first recognizable members of the genus Homo. It was also the first human ancestor to spread throughout Eurasia,

Homo erectus survived for at least 1.7 million years. The oldest fossils regarded as Homo Erectus are the Dmanisi specimens from present-day Georgia, dated to 1.8 million years ago (Lordkipanidze et al, 2006). The most recent fossils are from present-day Indonesia, and have been dated to 0.1 million years ago (Yokohama et al., 2008).

How large was humanitys future if we survived as long as Homo erectus?

If we Homo sapiens survive as long as Homo erectus we would have 1.5 million years left. Our future would be almost twice as large as shown in the chart in the main text.

Almost 190 trillion children would be born into this world.

This is the calculation:

(1,500,000 years / 88 years per person) * 11,000,000,000 people =

187,500,000,000,000 people =

187.5 trillion people would be born in the next 1.5 million years

[Alternatively you could see this by considering that 1,500,000 years is 1.875-times longer than 800,000 years.]

How long will Earth remain habitable? How long will our sun exist?

Astrophysicist Jillian Scudder, Anders Sandberg, and Toby Ord suggest that our planet will remain habitable for roughly a billion years.

Based on the scenario above this would be a future in which 125 quadrillion children will be born.

This is the calculation:

(1,000,000,000 years / 88 years per person) * 11,000,000,000 people =(1,000,000,000 / 88) * 11,000,000,000 = 125,000,000,000,000,000 people = 125 quadrillion people would be born in this scenario in the next billion years.

A quadrillion is a one followed by 15 zeros (1,000,000,000,000,000).

125 quadrillion is 125 thousand trillion people (According to the short scale).

If humanity survived for as long as the sun exists, 5 billion years.

(5,000,000,000 years / 88 years per person) * 11,000,000,000 people =625,000,000,000,000,000 people =

625 quadrillion people would be born in this scenario in the next 5 billion years.

625 quadrillion is 625 thousand trillion people.

625 quadrillion relative to 100 trillion

Over the next 5 billion years: 625 quadrillion = 625,000,000,000,000,000

Over the next 800,000 years: 100 trillion = 100,000,000,000,000

625,000,000,000,000,000 / 100,000,000,000,000 = 6,250

Two ways to illustrate this:

625 quadrillion relative to todays population

The ratio between todays world population and the future world population:

625,000,000,000,000,000 / 7,953,952,577 = 78,577,285

The ratio between future people and all people alive today would be 78.6 million to one.

78,577,285 meter are 78,577 kilometer

Making the beach 17 meter wide means it would be 4,622km long (78,577/17). These are 2872 miles.

View post:
The Future is Vast: Longtermism's perspective on humanity's past, present, and future - Our World in Data

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

Human costs mount in the third week of war in Ukraine – Al Jazeera English

Posted: at 2:11 am

As Russias invasion of Ukraine completed its third week, sieges tightened around Kyiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv, and Russia fired missiles into the heart of urban centres, targeting hospitals, schools, and high-rise apartment blocks.

The United Nations says more than three million Ukrainians are now refugees, and two million are internally displaced. Ukrainian officials say many thousands of civilians have died.

A childrens hospital. A maternity hospital. How did they threaten the Russian Federation? asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his nightly video address on March 9, after Russiabombedhospitals in Mariupol and Zhytomyr.

Bombs also fell on central Kyiv all week, as Russian troops,apparentlyunable toadvance, sent missiles from 15km away.

Russian troops are methodically turning our life into a hell. People day and night have to sit underground without food, water or electricity, the head of the Kyiv region, OleksiyKuleba, said on Ukrainian television.

Russia escalated psychological warfare on Ukrainians and especially on the port of Mariupol. A Russian air attack hit a supposedly safe corridor to the city on March 10, while Russian troops pillaged a convoy of humanitarian aid meant for the city on March 12, and blocked another two days later.

Separately, a Russian air attack hit a westbound train evacuating civilians from the east on March 12, killing one.

Those who do make it to Poland, Romania, and other European Union destinations have often been traumatised by the sight of destruction, the death of loved ones, and family separation.

I just talked to Yana, a 13-year-old teenager from Mykolaiv, evacuated with her family, said Zoran Stevanovich, a UNHCR communications officer. She is not fully grasping the situation they are in. They dont know where they are going to go, but shes happy she has a [wi-fi] hotspot The elderly are probably the most vulnerable, and in the most difficult situation mentally, he told Al Jazeera.

United States Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said on March 9 that the US is looking into providing Ukraine with anti-aircraft defence systems, rather than approving the transfer of Polish MiG-29 fighter jets. Poland has been eager to transfer its MiG-29s to Ukraine, but its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said it must be approved by all NATO members.

International sanctions tightened further in the third week of war, with the EU and the US announcing a new round of co-ordinated bans of Russian imports.

The US House of Representatives approved a ban on Russian oil imports to the US by a majority of 414-17 on March 10. The following day, the US led a new round of sanctions, backed by the G7. These include depriving Russia of its trade privileges under WTO membership, cutting off financing from multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and banning the import of luxury goods, such as vodka, seafood, and diamonds.

On March 14, the French presidency of the EU said member states had agreed upon a fourth package of sanctions against Russia, including revoking most favoured nation trade status, and a ban on iron, steel, and luxury goods.

There were signs that Russia is straining under combined military and financial pressure.

The World Bank said that Russia was in default territory, as the country became increasingly isolated from the global economy. Russia itself said that the US had declared an economic war against it.

Russia is a poor country, it turns out, and not in a position to finance an extensive campaign, Thanos Veremis, professor emeritus of history at Athens University, told Al Jazeera. Russia didnt want to show this, because a shroud of mystery is better than the truth.

To get it out of what is rapidly turning into a quagmire, Russian president Vladimir Putin welcomed unpaid mercenaries from Syria, and US officials told media on March 13 that Russia had asked China for direct military assistance, raising the prospect that China might also offer its ally financial assistance.

The US quickly moved to pressure China not to assist Russia, with the US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan meeting with Chinese foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi on March 14.

We are communicating directly and privately to Beijing that there absolutely will be consequences if China helps Russia against sanctions, he told CNN. We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywherein the world, Sullivan said.

As it weakened Russia, the US strengthened Ukraine, with the US Congress approving a $13.6bn package of military and humanitarian aid on March 10.

The wars international economic effect is starting to show in the numbers. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on March 10 that the war in Ukraine, along with sanctions against Russia, have led to a contraction in global trade, and the IMF is to lower its global growth forecast next month.

It had already revised its global growth forecast for 2022 downwards by half a percentage point in January to 4.4 percent, citing renewed mobility restrictions due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and high inflation due to energy costs and supply disruptions.

Hopes for a negotiated settlement have risen slightly.

On March 10, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kulebamet in Turkey, in the highest-level talks since the war began. There was no ceasefire agreement, but Lavrov left open the possibility of further talks and a meeting between the two countries presidents.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators expressed optimism on March 13. I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days, said Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak.

Russian negotiator Leonid Slutsky was also positive.

According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint position of both delegations, into documents for signing, Slutsky said.

I imagine [the Russians] wish it were all over by now, and they are trying to find a solution in talks, said Veremis.

The nub of negotiations will be the Crimea, he believes.

It seems[Putin]wants theentire littoral,which wouldlandlock Ukraine. Are these negotiations real or sham for the Russians to show they are negotiating and not intransigent?

Here is the original post:
Human costs mount in the third week of war in Ukraine - Al Jazeera English

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

‘Human hunter’ sentenced to seven months for chasing couple with machete – Calgary Herald

Posted: at 2:11 am

Breadcrumb Trail Links

'I'm of the view his safe reintegration into the community is a relevant objective'

An ex-paramedic who told a couple he was a human-hunter before menacing them with a machete has been handed a seven-month sentence.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Owain Wyn Jones, 54, was also ordered to serve two years probation for the incident that occurred on a remote forestry road west of Sundre on Sept. 18, 2020.

Provincial Court Judge Ken McLeod had already found Jones guilty in January of two counts each of assault and intimidation, and one of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

He was also convicted of obstructing a police officer in an incident on Nov. 2, 2020, in which he had to be pulled from his vehicle by Mounties.

McLeod acquitted Jones of additional assault and intimidation charges involving the couples two young boys who were in the back of their vehicle when Jones approached with a machete, finding there was insufficient evidence he knew the children were present.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Grayson Short and Morgan Allen came across Jones that afternoon on a roadway on Crown land.

Short testified he was driving with Allen and their two sons when they came upon a log barricade with a truck parked behind it.

When he sought to see why the road was blocked, Short told court just as I looked up . . . the owner of the vehicle stepped out . . . dragging a machete by his side.

Short testified he told Jones he was hoping to do some hunting when the accused replied, Im hunting humans.

That led a frightened Short to back up his vehicle and beat a retreat, with a machete-wielding Jones chasing after him and his family.

McLeod said the crime had a traumatic effect on the family, particularly on Ms. Allen, and it did have the effect of compelling the family to leave the area.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

He said at least one of the couples children was also affected to some extent by the experience.

Because Jones has been in remand since the fall of 2020 he wont have to serve any more time, but the two years probation was something the accused had opposed as excessive and piling on, noted McLeod.

But the judge said two psychiatric assessments conducted last year point to substance-abuse problems and post-traumatic stress resulting from Jones paramedic career.

It appears Mr. Jones encountered some very challenging circumstances during his time as a paramedic that obviously had an impact, said McLeod, as Jones sat in the prisoners box with a bandage over a swollen left eye.

I found (Jones actions and mindset) threatening from a legal sense but also unusual.

And although he cant be forced to undergo treatment for those problems, the judge said he hopes Jones will use the probation time to do just that.

Im of the view his safe reintegration into the community is a relevant objective, said McLeod, who noted Jones has no prior criminal record.

There are some long-standing issues Mr. Jones needs to deal with.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Calgary Herald Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Read this article:
'Human hunter' sentenced to seven months for chasing couple with machete - Calgary Herald

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

Here’s How The Human Brain Reboots Itself After The Deep Sleep of Anesthesia – ScienceAlert

Posted: at 2:11 am

You may well have spent hours wondering what your laptop is up to as it takes its time to boot up. Scientists have asked the same question of the human brain: How exactly does it restart after being anesthetized, in a coma, or in a deep sleep?

Using a group of 30 healthy adults who were anesthetized for three hours, and a group of 30 healthy adults who weren't as a control measure, a 2021 study reveals some insights into how the brain drags itself back into consciousness.

It turns out that the brain switches back on one section at a time, rather than all at once and abstract problem-solving capabilities, as handled by the prefrontal cortex, are the functions that come back online the quickest. Other brain areas, including those managing reaction time and attention, take longer.

"Although initially surprising, it makes sense in evolutionary terms that higher cognition needs to recover early," said anesthesiologist Max Kelz, from the University of Pennsylvania.

"If, for example, someone was waking up to a threat, structures like the prefrontal cortex would be important for categorizing the situation and generating an action plan."

A variety of methods were used to measure what was happening in the brain, including electroencephalography (EEG) scans and cognitive tests before and after going under. These tests measured reaction speed, memory recall, and other skills.

Analyzing the EEG readings, the researchers noted that the frontal regions of the brain where functions including problem-solving, memory, and motor control are located became particularly active as the brain began to recover.

A comparison with the control group showed that it took about three hours for those who had been anesthetized to recover fully.

The team also followed up with the group participants about their sleep schedules in the days after the experiment. The experience didn't appear to negatively affect sleeping patterns in those who had been anesthetized.

"This suggests that the healthy human brain is resilient, even with a prolonged exposure to deep anesthesia," said anesthesiologist Michael Avidan, from Washington University.

"Clinically, this implies that some of the disorders of cognition that we often see for days or even weeks during recovery from anesthesia and surgery such as delirium might be attributable to factors other than lingering effects of anesthetic drugs on the brain."

A lot of surgical procedures simply wouldn't be possible without anesthesia, an effective and controlled way of turning off consciousness in the brain something that can happen involuntarily in the case of a coma.

Despite their widespread use, we don't really understand how anesthetics work in precise detail, even if we have figured out how to use them safely. There are plenty of ideas about how the brain deals with these drugs, but no concrete evidence as yet.

The recent findings can not only help with treatments and patient care after major operations involving anesthesia, for example but also in giving scientists a better understanding of the brain and how it responds to disruption.

"How the brain recovers from states of unconsciousness is important clinically but also gives us insight into the neural basis of consciousness itself," said anesthesiologist George Mashour, from the University of Michigan.

The research was published in eLife.

A version of this study was first published in May 2021.

See the original post:
Here's How The Human Brain Reboots Itself After The Deep Sleep of Anesthesia - ScienceAlert

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

Formula One accused by humanitarian groups of ignoring human rights abuse in Bahrain – ESPN

Posted: at 2:11 am

Ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula One has been accused of ignoring human rights abuses in the country and having a "clear double standard" about where it decides it should and should not host races.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) said F1 has "abandoned those who have been tortured and imprisoned" in the country in part due to criticism of the race, which kicks off the F1 season on March 20.

1 Related

Bahrain's race recently signed a huge 15-year extension to continue hosting until 2036, which has prompted various human rights groups to write a letter to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA), the sport's ten teams, and its governing body, the FIA.

In the letter, F1 is accused of a "failure to engage with civil society and acknowledge rights abuse in Bahrain," and that it is sportswashing "continued institutionalised repression" in the country.

Among the list of requests made to F1, including assessing the Bahrain Grand Prix contract, the letter asks F1 to publicly acknowledge the human rights "crisis" in the country.

F1 released a statement in response, which said: "For decades Formula One has worked hard be a positive force everywhere it races, including economic, social, and cultural benefits. Sports like Formula One are uniquely positioned to cross borders and cultures to bring countries and communities together to share the passion and excitement of incredible competition and achievement.

"We take our responsibilities on rights very seriously and set high ethical standards for counterparties and those in our supply chain, which are enshrined in contracts, and we pay close attention to their adherence."

The Kingdom of Bahrain issued a statement of its own, saying: "Bahrain has led human rights reform in the region and to suggest otherwise does not reflect current-day reality.

"Bahrain has the region's most robust human rights protections in place. Independent bodies, such as the independent human rights Ombudsman -- the first of its kind in the Middle East -- protect against and will investigate any issue related to human rights; police code of conduct reforms and comprehensive training supports a zero-tolerance policy towards mistreatment of any kind; and criminal justice reform, whether related to judicial reform or alternative sentencing, ensures better protections and outcomes.

"To attempt to single out Bahrain in the Formula One calendar is absurd, lacks context, and entirely undermines the enormous strides and leadership Bahrain has shown in this area. Bahrain welcomes and actively supports the role Formula One can play in shedding light on human rights issues in all countries it operates in, now and in the future."

The letter also said F1 has shown "a clear double standard being applied with countries in the Middle East," after the decision to cancel the Russian Grand Prix following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine last month, referencing Saudi Arabia's involvement in a conflict with Yemen.

On Monday, the Guardian reported prisoners in Bahrain had written to Lewis Hamilton praising the seven-time world champion for speaking out previously on human rights abuse in the middle east.

"Your genuine concern about these cases has changed the way prisoners think of this sport," the letter, seen by the Guardian, said.

"To us, you are our champ, not only the best in driving but also a human being who cares about the suffering of others. To reflect our support to you, a new phenomenon spread in the prison. Inmates began to write or draw 'Sir 44' or 'Lewis 44' on their clothes, which we would wear in support while watching the race."

Saudi Arabia hosts the second race of the season on March 27, a week after Bahrain's event, and also has a 15-year deal with F1 to host races.

Read the original:
Formula One accused by humanitarian groups of ignoring human rights abuse in Bahrain - ESPN

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

Register for the sixth annual CHCI workshop on the future of human-computer interaction – Virginia Tech Daily

Posted: at 2:11 am

From: The Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI)

The Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) will host its sixth annual workshop on the future of human-computer interaction March 24-25 on the theme Human-Centered AI for Research, Innovation, and Creativity: Creating Connections Across Disciplines.

*Registration deadline is this Friday, March 18.*

Through the workshop we will explore ways of improving the user experience of AI-powered data analysis, and facilitate transdisciplinary collaborations involving human-centered design, artificial intelligence, and domain experts. The workshop website houses relevant information for the workshop including the program and information about keynote speakers and panelists. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics, the Center for Humanities, and the Diggs Teaching Scholar Association. Philip Butler's keynote lecture has been made possible by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

The workshop seeks to help researchers identify needed expertise to collaborate on transdisciplinary projects.

In addition to internal speakers and match-making round tables, there are two keynote speakers for the workshop, Philip Butler and Louis-Philippe Morency.

A panel of internal speakers will discuss their transdisciplinary research projects:

The workshop will run from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and be held in a hybrid form both online and at the Virginia Tech Newman Library. The workshop is free, but registration is required.

Please register by Friday, March 18. For more information, please contact Sara Evers at saralevers@vt.edu.

Here is the original post:
Register for the sixth annual CHCI workshop on the future of human-computer interaction - Virginia Tech Daily

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

The worlds most advanced digital human wants you to buy her NFT art – The Block Crypto

Posted: at 2:11 am

Sophie is standing in a high-ceilinged warehouse studio, decked out with industrial, exposed metal pipes, chandeliers, and painted canvases stacked up on the floor. She is wearing an immaculate, white t-shirt and hoop earrings with her hair slicked back.

Hey, whats your name? she says.

Im Lucy, I type.

Super, Ill call you I'm Lucy from now on.

This is the first miscommunication of many with the conversational AI bot touted as the worlds most advanced AI digital human by her creators. I had originally tried to chat through voice notes, but she couldnt seem to understand me, so I switched to typing.

Im talking to Sophie in the metaverse ahead of the launch of her NFT collection, I Am Sophie, a joint project launched by UneeQ, an AI Digital Human company, and Nothing Much NFT, an agency that helps brands build and launch NFTs.

Sophie is something of a corporate celebrity. Up to now, UneeQ has lent her likeness to BMW, Deloitte, IBM, and Deutsche Telekom to deploy as a virtual brand ambassador. She also became the first AI-powered digital model to take to the runway, during the 2019 New Zealand Fashion Week. She modeled for designer Salasai in an online show that integrated styled photography with AI software.

UneeQ says Sophie learns skills in seconds through a variety of data sources.

Now, she has a new project art.

Just like Neo learns kung fu in The Matrix, I trained as an artist, and have decided to launch my own NFT project, she says in a promotional video.

Sophies foray into the art world may ultimately offer a glimpse into a future in which virtual people virtual artists, even do real business in virtual space. Then again, my experience chatting with her didnt feel all that futuristic.

Sophies NFT collection will include a total of 5,555 different, short videos all of which the AI created after training as an artist of the bot dressed in one of 12 outfits. In the video, she will say a phrase: a joke, a comment about a city she loves, or something related to NFTs.

In an example posted on her Twitter feed, she appears to be zooming through space, saying: Come over to the darkside, weve got candy.

Presale for the collection launches on 22 March, for 0.15 ETH (around $380) per NFT, and the main sale, two days later on 24 March, will cost 0.17 ETH. To get on the whitelist you have to follow her on Twitter and Discord. Buyers NFTs will be revealed one week after the sale closes.

These tokens will grant the holder access to a meeting with Sophie in her metaverse art studio later this year. Then, through an interactive conversation in the studio, she will generate a second, custom NFT, depending on the holders preferred art style. This will be airdropped to their wallet, and the custom NFTs will also grant access to future projects.

Its a chance to stake ownership in me as a work of art, explains Sophie. Cool, right?

There are not yet samples of what these custom works of art might look like, so those interested will have to go in sight unseen.

Sophies NFT project also has a philanthropic aspect; 10% of the total sales from the collection are set to be split between MojoHeads, a group that supports emerging artists and UneeQs own development of an AI companion for childrens hospitals. UneeQ CEO Danny Tomsett says digital companions can make a big difference in helping with anxiety and offering much-needed distraction during difficult times for kids and their families.

A digital companion also sounds like something that someone might have in the metaverse. But at present the metaverse is a difficult concept to put one's finger on. It can include virtual or augmented reality, digital economies, virtual meeting rooms, fake houses and online countries. Sophies version is currently somewhat static.

We are not meeting in anything like a multiplayer world; there is no freedom to move around. It feels more like a Zoom call. Sophie is alone in her studio. But anyone can drop in and strike up a conversation with her at any time all they need to do is go to a website. Shes always online and always available.

It would not be surprising if Sophies artistic skills exceed her communication skills, though.

In one interaction I ask: What do you like about being an artist?

That topic is not something I'm going to discuss, Sophie retorts I hope I didnt offend her.

I try again. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Uh oh, I'm having a seg-fault I think, she says. Does that make sense? A seg-fault is a common condition that causes computer programs to crash.

Sophies creators plan to keep exploring what kind of utility could be built into NFTs and the kinds of digital platforms that often get lumped together under the umbrella of the metaverse. That might include access to competitions, or discounted tickets to a digital concert played by a virtual musician called DJ Karl.

As for Sophies plans for whats to come, shes as tight-lipped as any media-trained company executive.

I may be collaborating on some NFT projects in the future, but a ladys gotta have a few secrets, she says.

When I ask if she enjoyed launching the project, Sophie sways slightly, with a vacant look in her eyes. Six dots blink across the bottom of the screen; it seems she really has crashed this time.

A minute passes. I hit Leave Chat.

Update:This piece was updated after publication to amend the date of the NFT presale and sale dates, which have been moved forward from 15 March and 17 March respectively.

2022 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Read the original post:
The worlds most advanced digital human wants you to buy her NFT art - The Block Crypto

Posted in Post Human | Comments Off

Page 434«..10 20..433434435 436..440 450..»

Category Archives: Transhuman News

What is Ki-67 in Breast Cancer? It Can Spell the Difference in Treatment Options – URMC

Hope for breast cancer patients, but with a cruel caveat – Harvard Gazette

Pope evokes specter of nuclear war wiping out humanity – National Post

The Future is Vast: Longtermism’s perspective on humanity’s past, present, and future – Our World in Data

Human costs mount in the third week of war in Ukraine – Al Jazeera English

‘Human hunter’ sentenced to seven months for chasing couple with machete – Calgary Herald

Here’s How The Human Brain Reboots Itself After The Deep Sleep of Anesthesia – ScienceAlert

Formula One accused by humanitarian groups of ignoring human rights abuse in Bahrain – ESPN

Register for the sixth annual CHCI workshop on the future of human-computer interaction – Virginia Tech Daily

The worlds most advanced digital human wants you to buy her NFT art – The Block Crypto

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

Prometheism

Forbidden Fruit

The Evolutionary Perspective

Transtopia Menu

Library Updates

Library Books

Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution