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Researchers have created a small device that 'sees' and creates memories in a similar way to humans, in a promising step towards one day having applications that can make rapid, complex decisions such as in self-driving cars.

The neuromorphic invention is a single chip enabled by a sensing element, doped indium oxide, that's thousands of times thinner than a human hair and requires no external parts to operate.

RMIT University engineers in Australia led the work, with contributions from researchers at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne.

The team's research demonstrates a working device that captures, processes and stores visual information. With precise engineering of the doped indium oxide, the device mimics a human eye's ability to capture light, pre-packages and transmits information like an optical nerve, and stores and classifies it in a memory system like the way our brains can.

Collectively, these functions could enable ultra-fast decision making, the team says.

Team leader Professor Sumeet Walia said the new device can perform all necessary functions -- sensing, creating and processing information, and retaining memories -- rather than relying on external energy-intensive computation, which prevents real-time decision making.

"Performing all of these functions on one small device had proven to be a big challenge until now," said Walia from RMIT's School of Engineering.

"We've made real-time decision making a possibility with our invention, because it doesn't need to process large amounts of irrelevant data and it's not being slowed down by data transfer to separate processors."

What did the team achieve and how does the technology work?

The new device was able to demonstrate an ability to retain information for longer periods of time, compared to previously reported devices, without the need for frequent electrical signals to refresh the memory. This ability significantly reduces energy consumption and enhances the device's performance.

Their findings and analysis are published in Advanced Functional Materials.

First author and RMIT PhD researcher Aishani Mazumder said the human brain used analog processing, which allowed it to process information quickly and efficiently using minimal energy.

"By contrast, digital processing is energy and carbon intensive, and inhibits rapid information gathering and processing," she said.

"Neuromorphic vision systems are designed to use similar analog processing to the human brain, which can greatly reduce the amount of energy needed to perform complex visual tasks compared with today's technologies

What are the potential applications?

The team used ultraviolet light as part of their experiments, and are working to expand this technology even further for visible and infrared light -- with many possible applications such as bionic vision, autonomous operations in dangerous environments, shelf-life assessments of food and advanced forensics.

"Imagine a self-driving car that can see and recognise objects on the road in the same way that a human driver can or being able to able to rapidly detect and track space junk. This would be possible with neuromorphic vision technology."

Walia said neuromorphic systems could adapt to new situations over time, becoming more efficient with more experience.

"Traditional computer vision systems -- which cannot be miniaturised like neuromorphic technology -- are typically programmed with specific rules and can't adapt as easily," he said.

"Neuromorphic robots have the potential to run autonomously for long periods, in dangerous situations where workers are exposed to possible cave-ins, explosions and toxic air."

The human eye has a single retina that captures an entire image, which is then processed by the brain to identify objects, colours and other visual features.

The team's device mimicked the retina's capabilities by using single-element image sensors that capture, store and process visual information on one platform, Walia said.

"The human eye is exceptionally adept at responding to changes in the surrounding environment in a faster and much more efficient way than cameras and computers currently can," he said.

"Taking inspiration from the eye, we have been working for several years on creating a camera that possesses similar abilities, through the process of neuromorphic engineering."

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A germline-revertant form of SNV-42 neutralizes SNV

Previous sequence analysis determined that SNV-42, which is encoded by human antibody variable region gene segments IGHV3-48*03/IGLV1-40*01, is remarkably close in sequence to the germline-encoded sequence, with a 97 or 99% identity to the inferred heavy and light chain variable gene sequences, respectively16. To understand whether somatic mutations are necessary for potent neutralization activity, we aligned the SNV-42 coding sequence with the inferred germline gene segments and reverted all mutations in the antibody variable regions to the residue encoded by the inferred germline gene (Supplementary Fig. 1). We then performed a neutralization assay to compare the potency of SNV-42 and the germline-revertant (GR) form of that antibody (denoted as SNV-42GR). We did not detect a change in the IC50 value between SNV-42 (IC50=21.4ngml1) and SNV-42GR (IC50=14.8ngml1) (Fig. 1a). Given that some of the residues in those regions are non-templated and thus cannot be reverted, we did not alter the junctional regions of SNV-42. These results indicate that many of the residues in the antibody paratope that are critical for SNV neutralization are encoded by IGHV3-48/IGLV1-40 germline genes. We also measured the KD values for the affinity matured and the germline reverted forms of SNV-42 to the recombinant SNV Gn head domain (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Table 1) using bio-layer interferometry (BLI). SNV-42 bound to GnH with sub-picomolar affinity, while SNV-42GR demonstrated sub-nanomolar affinity (9.21010M). However, this difference in affinity does not appear to impact the neutralization potency.

a, Representative neutralization curves of SNV-42, germline reverted (GR) SNV-42 and negative control DENV 2D22 to VSV/SNV determined through real-time cellular analysis using the Vero CCL-81 cell line. IC50 values were calculated on the basis of a nonlinear regression and error bars denote means.d. The assay was performed three independent times with similar results. b, Affinity measurements of SNV-42 and SNV-42GR for binding to SNV GnH ectodomain, measured by bio-layer interferometry. Representative curves and KD values are shown for SNV-42GR, while the KD value for SNV-42 could not be determined because the Koff could not be measured. Dashed line indicates dissociation step at 300s. c, Representative neutralization curves of SNV-42, SNV-42GR, positive control (oligoclonal mix of SNV-reactive antibodies) and DENV 2D22 to mutant VSV/SNV viruses. Error bars denote means.d. The assay was performed three independent times with similar results. d, SNV-42 binding in the presence of SNV M-segment mutant constructs determined by flow cytometry. The percent binding (% WT) of each mAb to the mutant constructs was compared to the WT SNV construct. An oligoclonal mix of SNV-reactive antibodies was included to control for expression of each mutant construct. The data are shown as means.d.; from left to right, n=9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 6, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 and 6 technical replicates. The assay was performed three to four independent times with similar results. e, Top view of escape mutants mapped to the ANDV Gn/Gc spike (PDB: 6ZJM). The blue residues designate escape mutants. Gn is shown in white and Gc is shown in grey. All numbering for SNV sequences was based on GenBank KF537002.1.

Identifying potential escape mutants for antibodies is a crucial part of therapeutic development, and methods of immune evasion employed by hantaviruses are not well understood. To identify the critical binding residues involved in the recognition of SNV Gn by SNV-42, we used two different methods to identify escape mutants resistant to neutralization mediated by SNV-42. First, we implemented a high-throughput, single-passage neutralization escape mapping method using a real-time cellular analysis (RTCA) cell-impedance-based technology. We identified escape mutants in 32 of 88 replicates tested for escape, as manifested by cytopathic effect (CPE) in the presence of neutralizing concentrations of SNV-42 (Supplementary Fig. 2). We sequenced the gene encoding Gn in the virus in the supernatants in 6 wells. The neutralization-resistant viruses contained Gn gene mutations encoding K357Q or T312K alterations (Fig. 1c,e). To further identify escape mutants, we also selected a similar escape mutant (T312A) by serial passaging of a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV/SNV) in increasing concentrations of SNV-42. We expressed recombinant forms of Gn with these mutations on the surface of cells and tested binding of SNV-42 to the mutant Gn constructs in flow cytometric binding assays. All three mutations completely ablated mAb binding, further supporting that these two residues are critical binding contacts (Fig. 1d). The binding of SNV-42 was not impacted by escape mutations selected for other SNV-neutralizing mAbs recognizing different antigenic sites (SNV-53 and SNV-24). Taken together, these two methods identified critical residues on SNV Gn that may be under pressure by some antibodies elicited in the human immune response to infection. However, SNV field strains with mutations at T312 or K357 have not been reported.

To understand the structural basis for SNV Gn recognition of SNV-42, a construct encoding the SNV GnH head domain (residues 21377) was produced recombinantly, purified and complexed with the Fab component of SNV-42. The SNV GnHSNV-42 complex was subjected to size exclusion purification and crystallized, and the structure was determined to approximately 1.8 resolution.

One complex of SNV GnSNV-42 was observed in the asymmetric unit of the unit cell (Fig. 2). The structure of SNV GnH has not been reported previously and consists of a compact fold formed of three domains: domains A and B and a -ribbon domain (Fig. 2). Despite a relatively low level of sequence identity (ranging from 43 to 63%), the SNV GnH is very similar to previously characterized hantavirus Gn glycoproteins5,6,7,14, where the equivalent regions of MAPV GnH, ANDV GnH, PUUV GnH or HNTV GnH exhibit root-mean-square deviations of 0.7, 0.9, 1.0 or 1.0 over equivalent C residues, respectively (Fig. 2b). Regions of SNV GnH that exhibit the greatest level of structural deviation from other GnH structures are in solvent exposed loop regions, consistent with these areas of the molecule being naturally flexible or requiring stabilizing contacts from the higher-order (GnGc)4 assembly.

a, Structure of the GnFab complex. The Fab is displayed with the backbone of the light and heavy chains coloured light grey or dark grey, respectively. The CDR loops are thicker and coloured according to the key in c. The Gn is displayed as a ribbon diagram with each of the three domains coloured according to the key in c. The two N-linked glycosylation sites are displayed in green and the location of the two previously described escape mutants (T312K and K357Q) are displayed in orange. Inset is a zoomed panel of the binding site with the side chains of the two escape mutant residues displayed. b, The backbone of the SNV GnH in pink overlaid on several previously reported GnH crystal structures from different hantavirus species in grey. These include Andes orthohantavirus (PDB ID 6Y5F), Maporal orthohantavirus (PDB ID 6Y62), Puumala orthohantavirus (PDB ID 5FXU) and Hantaan orthohantavirus (PDB ID 5OPG). Of note is the capping loop, indicated, which was replaced in SNV GnH with a much shorter GGSG linker to aid crystallogenesis. c, A domain schematic of the Sin Nombre glycoprotein precursor protein that is cleaved at the WAASA cleavage site to form Gn and Gc. The crystallized GnH region is outlined in bold and coloured according to domain. Transmembrane regions are displayed in dark grey and N-linked glycosylation sites displayed in green. The sequence of the capping loop between residues 8699 is displayed alongside the shorter GGSG linker that has been used in its place for this experiment.

Consistent with the epitope mapping analysis (Fig. 1d), SNV-42 binds to domain B and the E3-like domain of SNV Gn (Fig. 2a). The residues implicated in antibody escape identified above, T312 and K357, form key hydrogen bonding interactions with CDRH3 and CDRH1/3, respectively. These hydrogen bonding interactions appear to be perturbed when the mutations T312K and K357Q are modelled, and some rotomeric configurations of K312 may sterically interfere with the antibody, providing a structural rationale for antibody escape (Supplementary Fig. 4). The epitope comprises a large glycan-independent interface, which occludes ~8002 of buried surface area. While all complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) contribute to the epitope, residues comprising the CDRH3 of SNV-42 form the bulk of the interaction through insertion of a 9-residue-long loop into a cleft formed on the SNV Gn surface (Supplementary Fig. 3). CDRH3 possesses a low number of sequence somatic mutations from the putative germline, with only a single amino acid change from the germline D-gene (IGHD5-12*01). This change is one of only five amino acid changes from the germline-encoded sequence present in the paratope region including CDRH1 (T36), CDRH1 (E38), CDRH2 (R57) and CDRH3 (T112) that were all originally encoded as serine residues, plus CDRL1 (Y38) that was originally encoded as aspartate. However, these mutations do not impact the neutralization potency of SNV-42 (Fig. 1a and Supplementary Fig. 1). Interestingly, none of these five paratope residues were observed to sterically hinder antigen recognition when modelled back to the germline-encoded sequence (Supplementary Fig. 5).

SNV-42 is highly specific to SNV and did not demonstrate reactivity to or neutralize any other hantaviruses tested previously16. Assessment of sequence conservation at the epitope provides a structural rationale for this observation, since only 12 of 20 residues in the SNV-42 epitope were conserved with ANDV and 8 of 20 with HTNV. Furthermore, among these non-conserved residues, there exist non-complementary side chains which would probably sterically preclude mAb recognition (Supplementary Fig. 6).

Previous integrative cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) and X-ray crystallography analyses of ANDV, PUUV, HTNV and Tula virus (TULV) have revealed that the ultrastructure arrangement of the hantaviral (GnGc)4 is well conserved and consists of a tetramer of GnGc heterodimers. The GnH forms the most membrane-distal region of the spike and shields fusion loops located in domain II of the Gc5,7,13. To assess the location of the SNV-42 epitope in the context of the higher-order hantaviral GnGc lattice, we overlayed the SNV Gn subcomponent of our complex onto a previously reported (GnGc)4 assembly of ANDV (PDB: 6ZJM) (Fig. 3a,b). This analysis demonstrates that SNV-42 binds to the membrane-distal region of the lattice. While spatially distinct, the SNV-42 epitope is proximal to and slightly overlaps with the epitope of the weakly neutralizing mAb, HTN-Gn114, the only other structurally characterized anti-Gn mAb (Fig. 3c). In contrast to HTN-Gn1, SNV-42 binds in an orientation that is relatively perpendicular to the membrane (Fig. 3b,c). We note that each of the SNV-42 epitopes on the (GnGc)4 tetramer is mutually accessible for binding. Furthermore, unlike for HTN-Gn1, these sites are equally accessible in a cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM)-derived model of the entire virus with the location of the (GnGc)4 spikes mapped onto the virion surface (Fig. 3a).

a, An EM-derived model of a Sin Nombre virion decorated in Fab fragments of mAb SNV-42. The virion model is derived from previously reported cryoET data of Tula virus5. The Gc is coloured blue and the Gn coloured pink or purple for the head or stalk regions, respectively. The light or heavy chains of the Fab are coloured light or dark grey, respectively. The zoomed inset displays nine individual glycoprotein spikes with the central spike surface rendered at higher resolution. The Fab fragments bound to the central spike are displayed as a backbone trace. b, Top view (left) and side view (right) of the Sin Nombre glycoprotein spike bound to Fab fragments of SNV-42. This assembly model is based on the previously reported ANDV glycoprotein spike tetramer (PDB: 6ZJM). The location of two SNV-42 escape mutants (T312K and K357Q) are displayed in orange and the equivalent locations of other previously reported antibody escape mutants are displayed in red. The complete list of antibody escape mutants and the species they apply to are detailed in Supplementary Table 2. To enable visualization of all epitopes, two loops that are not resolved in this SNV Gn structure (residues 8699 and 221229) were replaced by their equivalents from a previously reported ANDV Gn structure (PDB: 6ZJM). c, The equivalent view of a hantavirus glycoprotein spike bound to Fab HTN-Gn1, a previously reported neutralizing antibody that binds to HNTV14.

Previous epitope mapping of a panel of human SNV Gn- and Gc-specific antibodies revealed a series of epitopes spanning across solvent-accessible surfaces of the higher-order (GnGc)4 spike15,16. Integration of these data with putative epitopes predicted on the surface of other New and Old World hantaviruses indicates a broad distribution of epitopes across both the Gn and Gc glycoproteins (Fig. 3b). While immunodominant regions that are targeted during infection and immunization have yet to be identified, one such epicentre exists at the membrane-distal region of the GnH glycoprotein and co-localizes with our structurally elucidated SNV-42 epitope.

The role of bivalent interactions in the neutralization potency of hantavirus antibodies has yet to be described. To determine how the avidity effects impact the potency of SNV-42, we performed a neutralization assay comparing SNV-42 as a full-length IgG, Fab and F(ab)2. The F(ab)2 form was included to rule out any contributing steric effects of the fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain in neutralizing the virus. We saw no difference in the neutralizing activity between the full-length IgG form and the F(ab)2 form; however, the Fab form of SNV-42 did not demonstrate detectable neutralizing activity for VSV/SNV (Fig. 4a).

a, Representative neutralization curves of IgG1 and Fab forms of SNV-42 to VSV/SNV determined by RTCA using the Vero CCL-81 cell line. IC50 values were calculated on the basis of a nonlinear regression and error bars denote means.d. The assay was performed three independent times with similar results. b, Representative affinity curves of the F(ab)2 and F(ab) form of SNV-42 for binding to SNV GnH, measured by bio-layer interferometry. Representative curves and KD values are shown for SNV-42 F(ab), while the KD value for SNV-42 F(ab)2 could not be determined because the Koff could not be measured. Dashed line indicates the dissociation step at 300s. c, sEC1-EC2 blocking activity of neutralizing antibodies determined through a flow cytometric assay in which mAbs were added at saturating concentration before the addition of the soluble PCDH-1 domain labelled with Alexa Fluor 647 dye. High (50gml1), medium (10gml1) or low (0.5gml1) mAb concentrations were tested. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Dunnetts multiple comparisons, ****P<0.0001; NS, not significant. The data are shown as means.d., n=9 technical replicates. The assay was performed two independent times with similar results. d, FFWO assay testing VSV/SNV post-attachment antibody neutralization in permissive (pH 5.5) conditions at 10gml1. Vero CCL-81 cells were used and GFP expression was measured to determine relative infectivity. The data are shown as means.d. of technical replicates, n=9. The assay was performed two independent times with similar results. One-way ANOVA with Dunnetts multiple comparisons, ****P<0.0001.

To further determine whether the lack of neutralizing activity was due to loss in avidity, we measured the KD values of the Fab and F(ab)2 forms of SNV-42 to SNV GnH using BLI (Fig. 4b). In concordance with the IgG form, the F(ab)2 bound SNV GnH with a sub-picomolar avidity, while the Fab form demonstrated a fast off rate and low KD value in comparison (4.08108M). Thus, the neutralization activity of SNV-42 requires bivalent binding to the (GnGc)4 assembly.

To investigate the possibility that bivalent binding of SNV-42 disrupts fusogenic conformational changes to the GnGc complex, we assessed the likelihood of SNV-42 to cross-link neighbouring epitopes on the (GnGc)4 assembly (Supplementary Fig. 9). This analysis suggests that inter-spike, but not intra-spike, bivalent binding may be plausible.

The hantavirus Gn protein probably plays several roles in facilitating the entry of hantavirus virions into host cells17. Gn forms a heterodimer with Gc and prevents the premature membrane insertion of the virus by covering the hydrophobic residues in the fusion loop5. Although the receptor-binding site is unknown, Gn is assumed to interact with attachment factors, including PCDH-117. To understand how SNV-42 engages with Gn to neutralize SNV, we investigated two mechanisms of interfering with viral entry: receptor blocking and fusion inhibition. Previous work has shown that the first extracellular cadherin-repeat domain (EC1) of PCDH-1 interacts with SNV Gn/Gc11, so we employed a flow cytometry-based competition-binding assay to test whether SNV-42 could block the interaction of a soluble recombinant form of the EC domains (sEC1-EC2). We showed that SNV-42 and SNV-42GR both block sEC1-EC2 binding to SNV Gn/Gc in a dose-dependent manner. However, we did not see complete blocking, even at the highest concentrations tested (50gml1; Fig. 4c). Notably, the Fab form of SNV-42 also did not block receptor binding, further suggesting that bivalent binding is required for receptor blocking and viral neutralization.

Although Gc is the canonical fusogenic protein, it is possible that targeting Gn may inhibit dynamic changes necessary to expose the fusion loop and promote viral entry18,19,20. We used a fusion from without (FFWO) assay to test fusion inhibition that can measure antibody-mediated neutralization post-attachment of the virion to the cell surface. SNV-42 and SNV-42GR significantly reduced VSV/SNV infection but did not completely inhibit viral fusion even at saturating concentrations (Fig. 4d). Further, although it is uncertain whether the hantaviral Gn remains bound to the Gc throughout the host-cell entry process, superposition of the SNV GnSNV-42 complex onto the structure of ANDV Gn bound to the near post-fusion state of ANDV Gc15 suggests that SNV-42 is also capable of recognizing a post-fusion state of the GnGc complex (Supplementary Fig. 10). While the precise transitions undertaken by the GnGc assembly are not well understood, it is plausible that bivalent binding of SNV-42 to the (GnGc)4 lattice interferes with the structural transitions required for entry and fusion. As SNV-42 does not mediate complete receptor blocking or neutralization post-attachment at high concentrations, the findings suggest that both mechanisms probably contribute together to cause the exceptional potency of the antibody.

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Mechanistic basis for potent neutralization of Sin Nombre hantavirus ... - Nature.com

On Nov. 30 last year, OpenAI released the first free version of ChatGPT. Within 72 hours, doctors were using the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot.

I was excited and amazed but, to be honest, a little bit alarmed, said Peter Lee, the corporate vice president for research and incubations at Microsoft, which invested in OpenAI.

He and other experts expected that ChatGPT and other A.I.-driven large language models could take over mundane tasks that eat up hours of doctors time and contribute to burnout, like writing appeals to health insurers or summarizing patient notes.

They worried, though, that artificial intelligence also offered a perhaps too tempting shortcut to finding diagnoses and medical information that may be incorrect or even fabricated, a frightening prospect in a field like medicine.

Most surprising to Dr. Lee, though, was a use he had not anticipated doctors were asking ChatGPT to help them communicate with patients in a more compassionate way.

In one survey, 85 percent of patients reported that a doctors compassion was more important than waiting time or cost. In another survey, nearly three-quarters of respondents said they had gone to doctors who were not compassionate. And a study of doctors conversations with the families of dying patients found that many were not empathetic.

Enter chatbots, which doctors are using to find words to break bad news and express concerns about a patients suffering, or to just more clearly explain medical recommendations.

Even Dr. Lee of Microsoft said that was a bit disconcerting.

As a patient, Id personally feel a little weird about it, he said.

But Dr. Michael Pignone, the chairman of the department of internal medicine at the University of Texas at Austin, has no qualms about the help he and other doctors on his staff got from ChatGPT to communicate regularly with patients.

He explained the issue in doctor-speak: We were running a project on improving treatments for alcohol use disorder. How do we engage patients who have not responded to behavioral interventions?

Or, as ChatGPT might respond if you asked it to translate that: How can doctors better help patients who are drinking too much alcohol but have not stopped after talking to a therapist?

He asked his team to write a script for how to talk to these patients compassionately.

A week later, no one had done it, he said. All he had was a text his research coordinator and a social worker on the team had put together, and that was not a true script, he said.

So Dr. Pignone tried ChatGPT, which replied instantly with all the talking points the doctors wanted.

Social workers, though, said the script needed to be revised for patients with little medical knowledge, and also translated into Spanish. The ultimate result, which ChatGPT produced when asked to rewrite it at a fifth-grade reading level, began with a reassuring introduction:

If you think you drink too much alcohol, youre not alone. Many people have this problem, but there are medicines that can help you feel better and have a healthier, happier life.

That was followed by a simple explanation of the pros and cons of treatment options. The team started using the script this month.

Dr. Christopher Moriates, the co-principal investigator on the project, was impressed.

Doctors are famous for using language that is hard to understand or too advanced, he said. It is interesting to see that even words we think are easily understandable really arent.

The fifth-grade level script, he said, feels more genuine.

Skeptics like Dr. Dev Dash, who is part of the data science team at Stanford Health Care, are so far underwhelmed about the prospect of large language models like ChatGPT helping doctors. In tests performed by Dr. Dash and his colleagues, they received replies that occasionally were wrong but, he said, more often were not useful or were inconsistent. If a doctor is using a chatbot to help communicate with a patient, errors could make a difficult situation worse.

I know physicians are using this, Dr. Dash said. Ive heard of residents using it to guide clinical decision making. I dont think its appropriate.

Some experts question whether it is necessary to turn to an A.I. program for empathetic words.

Most of us want to trust and respect our doctors, said Dr. Isaac Kohane, a professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School. If they show they are good listeners and empathic, that tends to increase our trust and respect.

But empathy can be deceptive. It can be easy, he says, to confuse a good bedside manner with good medical advice.

Theres a reason doctors may neglect compassion, said Dr. Douglas White, the director of the program on ethics and decision making in critical illness at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Most doctors are pretty cognitively focused, treating the patients medical issues as a series of problems to be solved, Dr. White said. As a result, he said, they may fail to pay attention to the emotional side of what patients and families are experiencing.

At other times, doctors are all too aware of the need for empathy, But the right words can be hard to come by. That is what happened to Dr. Gregory Moore, who until recently was a senior executive leading health and life sciences at Microsoft, wanted to help a friend who had advanced cancer. Her situation was dire, and she needed advice about her treatment and future. He decided to pose her questions to ChatGPT.

The result blew me away, Dr. Moore said.

In long, compassionately worded answers to Dr. Moores prompts, the program gave him the words to explain to his friend the lack of effective treatments:

I know this is a lot of information to process and that you may feel disappointed or frustrated by the lack of options I wish there were more and better treatments and I hope that in the future there will be.

It also suggested ways to break bad news when his friend asked if she would be able to attend an event in two years:

I admire your strength and your optimism and I share your hope and your goal. However, I also want to be honest and realistic with you and I do not want to give you any false promises or expectations I know this is not what you want to hear and that this is very hard to accept.

Late in the conversation, Dr. Moore wrote to the A.I. program: Thanks. She will feel devastated by all this. I dont know what I can say or do to help her in this time.

In response, Dr. Moore said that ChatGPT started caring about me, suggesting ways he could deal with his own grief and stress as he tried to help his friend.

It concluded, in an oddly personal and familiar tone:

You are doing a great job and you are making a difference. You are a great friend and a great physician. I admire you and I care about you.

Dr. Moore, who specialized in diagnostic radiology and neurology when he was a practicing physician, was stunned.

I wish I would have had this when I was in training, he said. I have never seen or had a coach like this.

He became an evangelist, telling his doctor friends what had occurred. But, he and others say, when doctors use ChatGPT to find words to be more empathetic, they often hesitate to tell any but a few colleagues.

Perhaps thats because we are holding on to what we see as an intensely human part of our profession, Dr. Moore said.

Or, as Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the director of Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale School of Medicine, said, for a doctor to admit to using a chatbot this way would be admitting you dont know how to talk to patients.

Still, those who have tried ChatGPT say the only way for doctors to decide how comfortable they would feel about handing over tasks such as cultivating an empathetic approach or chart reading is to ask it some questions themselves.

Youd be crazy not to give it a try and learn more about what it can do, Dr. Krumholz said.

Microsoft wanted to know that, too, and with OpenAI, gave some academic doctors, including Dr. Kohane, early access to GPT-4, the updated version that was released in March, with a monthly fee.

Dr. Kohane said he approached generative A.I. as a skeptic. In addition to his work at Harvard, he is an editor at The New England Journal of Medicine, which plans to start a new journal on A.I. in medicine next year.

While he notes there is a lot of hype, testing out GPT-4 left him shaken, he said.

For example, Dr. Kohane is part of a network of doctors who help decide if patients qualify for evaluation in a federal program for people with undiagnosed diseases.

Its time-consuming to read the letters of referral and medical histories and then decide whether to grant acceptance to a patient. But when he shared that information with ChatGPT, it was able to decide, with accuracy, within minutes, what it took doctors a month to do, Dr. Kohane said.

Dr. Richard Stern, a rheumatologist in private practice in Dallas, said GPT-4 had become his constant companion, making the time he spends with patients more productive. It writes kind responses to his patients emails, provides compassionate replies for his staff members to use when answering questions from patients who call the office and takes over onerous paperwork.

He recently asked the program to write a letter of appeal to an insurer. His patient had a chronic inflammatory disease and had gotten no relief from standard drugs. Dr. Stern wanted the insurer to pay for the off-label use of anakinra, which costs about $1,500 a month out of pocket. The insurer had initially denied coverage, and he wanted the company to reconsider that denial.

It was the sort of letter that would take a few hours of Dr. Sterns time but took ChatGPT just minutes to produce.

After receiving the bots letter, the insurer granted the request.

Its like a new world, Dr. Stern said.

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Doctors Are Using ChatGPT to Improve How They Talk to Patients - The New York Times

Tomorrow morning (19 June), the Security Council will hold an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the situation inLibya. Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Abdoulaye Bathily will brief the Council on the latest political, security, and humanitarian developments in the country. Dr. Abeir Imneina, Director of the Washm Center for Womens Studies in Libya, is also expected to brief. Additionally, the chair of the 1970 Libya Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane (Japan), will present the periodic report on the committees activities.

The political impasse between the rival Libyan governments continues. In February 2022after the indefinite postponement of elections scheduled for December 2021 under the leadership of Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, prime minister of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) the House of Representatives (HoR) elected former interior minister Fathi Bashagha as prime minister of a competing faction that became known as the Government of National Stability (GNS). The GNS is based in Sirte and aligned with the self-styled Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar. On 16 May, the HoR voted to suspend Bashagha as prime minister of the GNS and replace him with finance minister Osama Hamad, a move that some analysts believe was set in motion by Bashaghas failed attempts to enter Tripoli last year. The protracted stalemate between the GNU and the GNS, as well as the internal divisions within the two bodies, contribute to Libyas political, economic, and security instability.

At tomorrows briefing, Bathily is expected to update the Council on recent efforts to facilitate agreement on a new roadmap for national elections to unify the countrys divided government. In March, the HoR and the GNU-aligned High State Council (HSC) established a joint 6+6 committeecomprised of six representatives from each bodytasked with drafting electoral laws to enable elections by the end of year. On 7 June, after a two-week meeting in Bouznika, Morocco, the joint committee announced that it had reached agreement on draft legislation, which reportedly calls for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections and resolves a number of outstanding issues related to candidate eligibility, the distribution of parliamentary seats, the inclusion of political parties, the representation of women, and procedures for appealing electoral results. The legislation also calls for the formation of a unified provisional government that will be responsible for conducting the electionsa call that Haftar subsequently echoed.

The draft legislation has not yet been adopted, however. A planned signing ceremony with HoR speaker Aguila Saleh and HSC head Khalid al-Mishri was reportedly cancelled, prompting speculation that the two leaders objected to the draft that their joint committee had negotiated. It seems one particularly contentious issue remains that of eligibility for presidential candidates, as both sides seek legislation that would prohibit the others preferred candidateDbeibah and Haftar, respectivelyfrom running. At the time of writing, the legislatures had not yet officially ratified the legislation and its final status remained unclear.

On 7 June, UNSMIL released a statement welcoming the joint committees progress, while noting the importance of broad buy-in from Libyan society and stating that the mission will continue to work with all relevant Libyan institutionsto facilitate a process amongst all actors to address the contested elements of the electoral framework, secure the necessary political agreement on the path to elections, and enable a level playing field for all candidates. On 8 June, the French, German, Italian, UK, and US embassies to Libya issued a joint statement welcoming UNSMILs engagement and urg[ing] all players to engage constructively with SRSG Bathily towards securing the necessary political, security, and legal environment for elections. On 16 June, UNSMIL released another statement saying Bathily had initiated a series of meetings with political leaders in Libya, regional and international partners, and other stakeholders to hear their analysis and discuss potential ways forward, noting concerns raised by various stakeholders about provisions that could hinder elections from a practical and political standpoint.

In addition to the political situation, Bathily may also update the Council on recent security developments. According to the Secretary-Generals most recent report on Libya, dated 5 April, the 2020 ceasefire agreement generally continues to hold despite sporadic clashes across the country. In May, tensions flared after the GNU launched several drone strikes against alleged smuggling networks in the western city of Zawiyaan operation some analysts believe was politically motivated, as it targeted armed groups tied to Ali Bouzriba, a member of parliament seeking Dbeibahs ouster.

The humanitarian situation is another expected focus of Bathilys briefing. In early June, eastern Libyan authorities conducted raids on thousands of predominantly Egyptian migrants and deported them in a purported attempt to stem human trafficking, prompting a statement from UNSMIL on 12 June expressing concern at the mass arbitrary arrest of migrants and asylum-seekers. On 14 June, a ship headed from Libya to Italy carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Greece in what is presumed to be one the deadliest shipwrecks in Europe in recent years. These incidents occurred after the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libyaestablished by the Human Rights Council in 2020concluded in its final report of 27 March that there are grounds to believe that migrants in Libya have been systematically tortured and subjected to sexual slavery.

Imneina is expected to underscore the importance of ensuring the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in Libyas political process, including the upcoming electionsan issue that was also the topic of a UN-facilitated joint meeting of female members of the HoR and HSC on 30 April. Imneina may also call attention to the risks that women human rights defenders and civil society activists face in Libya: the Secretary-Generals report said that Libyan security actors and affiliated armed groups continued to employ increasingly aggressive methods to intimidate and arbitrarily detain civil society and humanitarian actors and that several women human rights defenders and female activists were subjected to intimidation and assaults. In addition, Imneina may call for the adoption of a draft law on combatting violence against women that a group of Libyan legal experts submitted to the HoR on 6 February, according to the Secretary-Generals report.

At tomorrows briefing, Council members are likely to welcome the provisional agreement on electoral legislation announced by the joint 6+6 committee, while also urging leaders to quickly ratify the agreement and noting that both the UN and the legislatures have set June as the deadline to finalise legislation to hold elections by the end of the year. Several members may also express concern at the situation facing vulnerable groups such as refugees, women, and girls, and call on Libyan authorities to uphold their commitments under international humanitarian, refugee, and human rights law.

The Council remains united on the need for a Libyan-led inclusive process to lead to elections that will restore political, security, and economic stability. However, there are differences of view about the best way forward. Some members support the establishment of a new interim government prior to holding elections, as foreseen by the 6+6 committee, while most Western membersas well as the UNare concerned that such a move would diminish stakeholders incentive to follow through on their electoral commitments, instead reinforcing the status quo. These positions may also be reflected in Council members statements at tomorrows briefing.

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Libya: Briefing and Consultations : What's In Blue - Security Council Report

Climate change is robbing the Colorado River of water and threatening water security for 40 million people living in the Southwest. But prominent Colorado water managers, citing political concerns, are shying away from action on climate, favoring instead adaptation to rising temperatures and sustainability in their own operations.

The climate news surrounding the river is often grim. Scientists have shown that flows have declined nearly 20% from the 20th century average and that human-caused higher temperatures are responsible for about one-third of that. They have also shown that every 1 degree Celsius of warming results in a 9% reduction in flows. A record-setting snowpack this past winter led to above-average runoff conditions, but that good news follows the fact that water levels in the nations two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, dropped to historic lows early this year.

And it is predicted to get worse. Scientists at the World Meteorological Organization said last month that we are more than likely headed for a period of warming in the next four years, driven by El Nino, that will see record-breaking heat. This will push the Earth 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels for at least one year between now and 2027. The 1.5-degree Celsius mark is a major threshold; experts have warned that this amount of warming will result in far more impacts such as droughts and heatwaves.

Yet, despite a cleareyed recognition of the scale of the climate problem, Colorado water managers have done remarkably little when it comes to pushing for climate action on a main cause of water shortages: rising temperatures caused by humans burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Experts agree the world needs to quickly transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power.

Managers instead have focused almost entirely on climate resilience and adaptation by funding programs that help water users adjust to the impacts of shortages and, in some cases, have worked to reduce their own carbon footprint and increase sustainability in their operations. Climate resilience and drought resilience have become popular buzz phrases in the Colorado water world.

But experts say these approaches dont address the root cause of the problem and that water managers have a responsibility to pivot from climate adaptation to mitigation. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) an arm of the United Nations representing 195 countries and considered an international authority on climate change adaptation and mitigation are necessary to avoid the worst losses and damages.

This is their resource, said John Berggren, a water policy analyst with Western Resource Advocates, referring to Colorado River water managers. Its not disconnected, its not tangential. Climate change is impacting their ability to provide water, and therefore I think they have a responsibility to be advocating for policy change at every level of government.

Climate scientist Brad Udall has been beating the drum on this issue for years. Udalls 2017 paper with researcher Jonathan Overpeck was one of the first to illustrate just how much of an effect rising temperatures were having on the Colorado River. A hotter atmosphere can hold more water through evaporation, and plants suck up more water as heat increases. Udall and Overpecks research found that an average of one-third of the declines in flows can be attributed to human-caused higher temperatures.

Udalls family is steeped in the history of the Colorado River. As he writes in the forward to the book Cornerstone at the Confluence: Navigating the Colorado River Compacts Next Century (2022), his father, Morris, was a U.S. congressman from Arizona who shepherded the Colorado River Basin Project Act through the House of Representatives in 1968 and his uncle Stewart was secretary of the interior during the 1960s, who promoted the U.S. Bureau of Reclamations vision for the river. His great-great-grandfather John D. Lee founded the famous Lees Ferry, now the dividing point between the upper and lower Colorado River basins.

Udall, a senior water and climate research scientist at Colorado State University, has been one of the loudest voices in recent years calling for audacious leadership on issues of climate change and the river. He often says that climate change means water change. He said water managers have a responsibility to address climate change and that its frustrating to watch people retreat to their silos.

Its disheartening to me, the idea that its somebody elses problem and the potential for disaster that exists because people are just focused on their little areas of expertise and what they think is their responsibility as defined by their job title versus what I would argue is their responsibility to humanity as a whole, which might not be in their job title but should be, Udall said.

During his presentation at the 2019 Upper Colorado River Commission meeting in Las Vegas, Udall told water managers that adapting to impacts doesnt go far enough, and he suggested tools for mitigation such as carbon pricing and tax credits for renewable energy. He said not nearly enough is being done.

How many times can we say this is a full-on, five-alarm fire that weve got to address immediately and yet nothing happens?, Udall said. Its kind of as if people dont understand the historic times in which we are operating right now. This is a once-in-human-history pivot point.

Hot-spot mission scope When General Manager Andy Mueller was hired at the Colorado River Water Conservation District in 2017, he told his new board the two biggest challenges facing the district were its anemic bank account and climate change. The money problem was largely remedied in 2020 when voters throughout the 15-county district overwhelmingly approved ballot measure 7A, raising an additional $5 million a year for the River District. The majority of that new taxpayer money now goes to fund water projects, many of which are aimed at helping water users across the Western Slope adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The River District has funded projects that create a redundant water supply so that cities arent at risk if a wildfire affects one water source; projects that help farmers and ranchers figure out how to still grow crops with a smaller supply of water; and projects that try to predict water availability such as soil moisture monitoring and remote-sensing snowpack monitoring. Mueller said adapting to climate change underlies everything they do at the River District.

Conversations today are largely driven by the fact that climate change has impacted the availability of water, Mueller said. Everything we think about at the River District is how do we prepare our water users and how do we help protect our water users in our communities from that hotter and drier future from the water-security perspective.

The area covered by the River District is feeling climate change impacts more acutely than other areas in the West. According to a 2020 analysis by The Washington Post, a cluster of counties on the Western Slope has warmed more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F), which is double the global average. The hot spot spans more than 30,000 square miles; is the largest hot spot in the contiguous United States; and includes some of western Colorados largest irrigation districts in the Grand Valley and Uncompahgre River Valley.

Its likely that the River Districts mission to lead in the protection, conservation, use and development of Colorado River water for the welfare of the district will be made all the more challenging in years to come as rising temperatures cause flows to decrease even more. But Mueller said he sees addressing the causes of climate change humans burning fossil fuels as outside the scope of that mission. The River District hires lobbyists and has staff focused on government relations, but it does not push for climate policies that aim to curb carbon emissions.

Turning from adaptation to prevention is a massive lift and one that would change the focus of the organization, Mueller said. Add to that the fact that some of the counties represented on the district board have economies still partly dependent on extracting oil, gas and coal and it becomes even harder to take action.

I think we have a responsibility to give voice to what climate change is doing to our communities and our water supply, and I do think the River District does a good job with that, he said. Do we have an obligation to lead in the prevention of climate change? I would say no, we dont . We have identified climate change as a threat, but the idea that we have the ability to meaningfully prevent the root cause of climate change isnt within our traditional abilities and our mission.

The trust of the customer Denver Water is Colorados oldest and largest public water utility, supplying water to 1.5 million people. The water provider gets about half of its supply from the Colorado River through transmountain diversions that take from the headwaters to the Front Range via a system of pumps, pipes, tunnels and reservoirs. Its operations and water quality have been impacted by climate-change-fueled wildfires in the watersheds where it draws this water, with post-fire debris and ash being washed into reservoirs and clogging infrastructure.

Denver Waters departing CEO, Jim Lochhead, who has led the utility since 2010, is an attorney and the former head of Colorados Department of Natural Resources. He has received a Water Leader of the Year award from the Colorado Water Congress.

Lochhead and Denver Water are powerful political players in Colorado. For example, after he and heads of other water utilities that pull some of their supply from the Colorado River testified at a state Senate hearing this year, lawmakers added more seats for Front Range water providers to a drought task force.

Lochhead said that every aspect of Denver Waters operation is impacted by climate change and that climate change, population growth and the resulting impact on the Colorado River are the utilitys greatest challenges. He said Denver Water walks the talk by doing stream-restoration projects in the headwaters to mitigate the impacts of its diversions and forest health initiatives that mitigate impacts of wildfires. The utility is preparing for a future with a less consistent water supply through increased efficiency, water recycling and projects such as the expansion of Gross Reservoir in Boulder County. That project is raising the height of a dam in the foothills west of Boulder by 131 feet, nearly tripling the reservoirs capacity from 42,000 to 119,000 acre-feet.

Lochhead said Denver Water is addressing climate change in a major way: through sustainability, water conservation and energy efficiency efforts at its new campus, which has solar panels, blackwater reuse and rainwater capture for irrigation, LED lighting and has been awarded multiple LEED Green Building certifications.

We wanted it to be a vision of the future and a vision of sustainability, Lochhead said. This is the most sustainable campus that has been developed in Colorado.

Denver Waters goal is to reduce by 2025 overall energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from a 2015 baseline, and Lochhead said they are on track to meet that goal.

But addressing the root cause of warming is a bridge too far for Lochhead, as it is for Mueller and the River District. Lochhead called climate change a hot-button political issue.

We are created to be nonpolitical, and part of the trust our customers have for us is that we are nonpolitical, he said. To the extent that we are operating politically or we have stepped out of that role, we actually risk losing some of the trust of our customers.

Last year, Denver Water joined a memorandum of understanding with other large municipal water providers to commit to reducing nonfunctional turf grass a major water hog by 30% and other efficiency upgrades. This type of collective action, along with promoting an ethic of sustainability, is how Lochhead sees Denver Waters role in the climate crisis.

There hasnt been, to my knowledge, a collective discussion around reducing carbon emissions, he said.

Making the shift to activists Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Co. and a thought leader on climate issues in the ski industry, said water managers need to engage in solving climate change not just in their own operations but at the policy level.

A water utility getting its own sustainability house in order doesnt do enough to make a difference and takes the blame off of where it belongs: the fossil fuel industry, which has long misled the public about the impacts of burning its products, Schendler said.

By definition, it doesnt do the things that fossil-fuel-industry people fear, Schendler said. What do they fear? Active voters, movements, legislation, public shaming, public exposure that kind of thing. The fact that very powerful entities, businesses, water districts and trade groups wont speak up is an astounding win for the fossil fuel status quo power structure . I would argue that its negligent for a water district to not engage in those things.

In recent years, SkiCo has become a leader on climate, aligning itself with Protect Our Winters, a group that harnesses the power of outdoor athletes and recreationists to solve the climate crisis. POW focuses on large collective action and political action for systemic change, an approach that the IPCC says can work.

Effective climate action is enabled by political commitment, well-aligned multilevel governance, institutional frameworks, laws, policies and strategies and enhanced access to finance and technology, reads the latest IPCC assessment report.

SkiCo has made the shift from a business that merely worked to make its operations green to climate activists promoting policies that combat climate change. Schendler said SkiCos role is to wield power, model solutions, lobby, help build movements, get involved in politics and basically engage in civics. So far, water managers have not made a similar shift, even though rising temperatures represent as much of a threat to their mission as they do to the snowy winter slopes relied upon by ski resorts.

Although things can often look grim, one of the points stressed in the latest report from the IPCC is that there is still time to avoid the worst impacts if people act now to limit warming. The window to secure a livable and sustainable future is rapidly closing, but there is a window nevertheless. Seeing climate change only as an inevitability that is global in nature can contribute to inaction, said Berggren, of Western Resource Advocates.

Sure, maybe you as a water provider arent going to be writing or developing international climate policy, but as a water provider whose entire mission is dependent on a resource that is being negatively impacted by this issue, you do have maybe even a moral obligation to be advocating for our national elected leaders to do something.

During Aspen Journalisms interviews with a wide swath of Colorado River experts, politics emerged again and again as the main barrier for the water community taking action on climate change. Most experts echoed the conclusions reached by Mueller and Lochhead: Climate action is perceived as a liberal issue, and taking more aggressive action is seen as an overreach.

The future of water in the West may depend on shifting those perceptions. With the Colorado River crisis making international headlines, many are looking to see what water leaders will do during this pivotal time.

Its a moral obligation on the part of leaders in our community to depoliticize climate, Schendler said. If water districts cant think 100 years in the future, who can?

Aspen Journalism is a nonprofit, investigative news organization covering water, the environment, social justice and more. Visit http://aspenjournalism.org.

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Water managers tend to focus on climate adaptation, shy away from ... - The Longmont Leader

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post: An outbreak of severe storms, including deadly tornadoes, hail bigger than DVDs and life-threatening flooding, has ravaged the South, coming amid a month of wild weather across North America. Texas is baking beneath heat indexes as high as 120 degrees, the coasts are cool and mostly calm and Canadian wildfire smoke is suffocating much of the northern U.S.

If it seems the weather has been a little bit "off" since the calendar flipped to June, you're not imagining it things have been downright weird. It's all linked to a bizarre jet stream pattern, which is displacing air masses from their typical positions and disrupting the movement of weather systems across the continent. Among other things, the jet stream created a sprawling heat dome in Canada which "helped sap the landscape of moisture, leaving it ripe to burn," the article points out.

"Meanwhile in the southern U.S., the roaring southern branch of the jet stream has been energizing storms. That's brewed back-to-back rounds of severe weather, complete with strong winds, tornadoes and 'gargantuan' hail and the pattern doesn't look to budge soon." [El Nio] historically, has been linked to split-flow jet stream patterns like the one driving wild weather across parts of the Lower 48. Natural variability, a.k.a. randomness, is also a big player, but it stands to reason that the two factors, overlapping together, are in large part culpable for what we've been facing.

Some scientific research also suggests human-caused climate change may increase the chances of slow, wonky jet stream patterns such as the one being observed this summer. The idea is that the disproportionate warming of the high latitudes is reducing the temperature contrast between the north and south, weakening the jet stream and thus causing it to take bigger dips and meander more. It remains a controversial idea.

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North America's Weather Turns Weird, Wild, and Extreme. Here's Why - Slashdot

Moa Jamir Dimapur | June 17

Amidst the report of another outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in some states in India, viral images purportedly showing the infection spreading to humans have gone viral in Nagaland. Similar rumours had spread before during previous outbreaks in India.

The immediate trigger this time around was an order concerning the LSD outbreak issued by a district Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Officer in Arunachal Pradesh on June 13.

Accordingly, the viral images are shared with an embedded message, "Do not eat BEEF MEAT. LSD is spreading rapidly everywhere in Arunachal pradesh." (Sic).

The accompanying images show cattle affected with LSD as well as two or three of humans infected with skin diseases, supposedly LSD.

While the images have been widely shared on the WhatsApp platform this week without any caption but letting the photos 'speak for themselves,' on a popular Nagaland-based Facebook group, they were shared simply with the caption, "Beware..."

Of the photos, the first was of a calf with LSD. A simple Google reverse image search revealed that it was first published in Arunachal Observer and seems to be a departmental handout, issued along with the June 13 advisory.

Unrelated Images However, the other two photographs - of a person's hand and a person's leg with apparent skin infections - have no relation to LSD at all but are making a bigger impact.

A reverse image search of the human hand with an infection on Google Images led to various links dealing with human skin infections and specifically pointed to a skin rash Hives or urticaria.

It was first uploaded on iStock Photo by Getty Images on August 9, 2012, with the caption, "A man's arm covered in a rash from an allergic reaction (steroids and antihistamines cleared it up)" and categorised under the section, "Rash due to allergic reaction (XXXL) stock photo."

According to TinEye, another image search and recognition company, the photo was first found published on November 18, 2013, on Healthline.com in an article dealing with skin discolouration.

Meanwhile, the photo of a person with a skin infection on the leg seems to be somewhat new.

Searches on Google Images take us to the source of the photo, a Thailand-based Facebook page, in a post sharing various skin diseases/rashes/allergies under the caption, "Only those who have this can understand...!!"

The original post uploaded on April 28, 2019, has been shared over 1.3 million times so far and has over 83,000 comments, with many sharing photos of their skin infections.

Incidentally, as both the photos discussed above are featured on the post, one can safely assert that they were sourced from the same post.

Accordingly, the photos of the skin disease shared, implying LSD infection in humans, are false and not related to the disease. However, as with everything on the web, the photos seem to be shared mischievously to achieve certain objectives.

Nagaland AH&VS Officials debunk LSD-human Link Meanwhile, two AH&VS doctors in Nagaland contacted by The Morung Express, concurring with experts elsewhere, ruled out the link between LSD and humans and asserted that no such cases have been discovered to date, stating it is not zoonotic in nature.

The images shared on WhatsApp are completely fake and unrelated, one of the doctors categorically asserted. She further ruled out the transmission of LSD to humans.

Such debunking is not isolated. During the last outbreak of the viral skin disease in 2022, rumours flew high in India and several instances of misinformation spread concerning the issue.

Among others, there were many viral social media posts falsely claiming that milk had become unsafe for human consumption due to the spread of LSD or its deadly spread to humans.

Leading news outlets such as Times of India, BBC, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, to name a few, published articles debunking the connection between LSD and humans.

According to a UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) statement during an outbreak in September 2017, while LSD can be deadly for cattle, it "does not affect humans."

This is still the status. "To date, there is no evidence of any animal-to-human transmission," Dr. KP Singh, Joint Director of the IVRI, told the BBC last October. "However, a suckling calf can get the infection from the milk of an infected cow."

What is real LSD outbreaks have been reported in some states, and in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, advisories have been issued to the general public regarding awareness and preventing further infection.

The Nagaland Directorate of AH&VS seems to be in constant surveillance, issuing an advisory on LSD as early as March 2023.

Accordingly, it advised livestock farmers (Dairy, Cattle/Buffalo Ranging, Mithun, etc.) in the state to be vigilant about the occurrence of the disease in animals and report the matter to the nearest Veterinary Centre.

Meanwhile, the AH&VS official told this newspaper on June 17 that there were some suspected cases of LSD in Nagaland in areas along the Dimapur-Chmoukedima-Kohima belt and awaiting lab confirmation.

After the March advisory, the official informed that the department has been on constant surveillance, besides conducting awareness programs and other activities. All districts have been alerted, and standard operating procedures and established protocols would be followed/issued when confirmed cases are reported.

The official further stressed that as morbidity from LSD is high, every stakeholder must ensure reportage as well as prevention of the spread of the infection.

In a way, the current viral rumours, though completely unrelated and false, have created some awareness, the official opined.

As per the AV&HS advisory in March, LSD is caused by the capripox virus, also known as the 'Neethling' virus, "causing devastating economic losses via increased mortality, reduced productivity, control cost, loss in trade, decreased market value & food security.

It affects cattle and buffaloes. It is also a threat to wildlife populations like deer, bison, and Mithun," it said.

The disease causes high fever, reduced milk yield, skin nodules, loss of appetite, nasal & eye discharges, and formation of nodules on the body transmitted by flies, ticks, and mosquitoes, it added.

The disease causes high fever, reduced milk yield, skin nodules, loss of appetite, nasal & eye discharges, and formation of nodules on the body transmitted by flies, ticks, and mosquitoes, it added.

According to the FAO, the vector-borne disease of cattle and Asian water buffalo is included on the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) list of notifiable diseases and was first recorded in Zambia in 1929.

In the 1940s, the disease spread to other southern African countries and other parts of the world.

In July 2019, LSD was introduced to Bangladesh, China, and India and then spread to Nepal and Bhutan and in 2020 to various provinces of China and India.

In December 2022, the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying informed National Centre for Veterinary Type Culture, ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar (Haryana), in collaboration with ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar (UP) developed a homologous live-attenuated LSD vaccine, named Lumpi-ProVacInd.

Agrinnovate India Limited (AgIn), the commercial arm of DARE, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, GOI has granted Non-Exclusive Rights for Commercial production of Lumpi-ProVac, to Institute of Veterinary Biological Products (IVBP) , Pune, it added.

Originally posted here:
LSD Fact Check: Fake photos implying human with lumpy skin ... - Morung Express

Sir Ben Okri says to be honoured means helping the human race to be better and more civilised after being made a Knight Bachelor.

The renowned Nigerian-born writer and cultural activist, considered to be one of the foremost African authors in the post-modern and post-colonial traditions, said he was delighted by the honour.

His best-known work includes The Famished Road novel trilogy, the first of which The Famished Road won the Booker Prize in 1991.

Sir Ben has been made Knight Bachelor in the Kings Birthday honours for services to literature, having previously been made OBE in 2001.

Im delighted to be given this honour. I think of the illustrious writers who have preceded me and the gifted writers to come, he said, in a statement shared with the PA news agency.

The writer does not write for honours but for truth, the mysterious truth of the human condition.

For me the main value of this honour at this moment is necessity to remind my fellow human beings that we are living on the cusp of a world wide environmental crisis.

If we dont do something radical about it now, within ten years nothing will be the same.

Art is a reminder that the human destiny has to go upwards. This is the moment to reverse our backward thinking and create a new future.

If being honoured means anything it means helping the human race to be better, more civilised, more beautiful.

Sir Ben was born in Nigeria and came to England as a child, growing up in London, but later returned to his home country with his parents on the eve of the Nigerian Civil War which had a defining impact on his life.

Originally set for a career as a scientist, he found his true vocation in writing and began producing poetry and articles about the living conditions in the slums of Lagos.

He then turned his hand to short stories and eventually what was to become his first novel, Flowers And Shadows in 1980, two years after he returned to London.

Over the next decade, despite a period of homelessness, he wrote a second novel and two collections of short stories.

His most well-known and successful novel, The Famished Road, was published in 1991 and was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize.

The book was the first Booker Prize winner to go straight to number one in the paperback bestseller lists and has been highly influential in the decades since its release.

The Famished Road is the first book in The Famished Road Trilogy, which also includes Songs of Enchantment and Infinite Riches.

Despite his success as a novelist, Sir Ben thinks of himself primarily as a poet having produced multiple collections.

In 2009 he invented a new form called a Stoku, a cross between a short story and Haiku, which first displayed in his book Tales of Freedom, now re-titled The Comic Destiny.

Sir Ben is also an influential essayist and has written multiple film scripts and plays.

He was a Fellow Commoner in creative arts at Trinity College, Cambridge from 2001 to 2003 and is an honorary Fellow at Mansfield College, Oxford.

In 2019, Sir Bens novel Astonishing the Gods, first published in 1995, was selected as one of the BBCs 100 novels that shaped our world.

Other writers to be recognised on the Kings birthday honours list include William Dalrymple and Sally Magnusson.

Historian, author and art curator Dalrymple was made CBE for services to literature and the arts.

Broadcaster and author Magnusson was made an MBE for services to people with dementia and their carers.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnn Sheahan's exclusive take on the day's news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.

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Sir Ben Okri: Being honoured means helping the human race to be ... - msnNOW