Ukraine is using AI face recognition to identify victims and vet people at checkpoints

Recommendable!

"The Ukraine defense ministry announced that it is now using facial recognition technology from an American startup to combat misinformation, identify the dead, and expose Russian assailants. ...
After the war broke out, the American-based artificial intelligence company Clearview reached out to Ukraine’s government, offering its services free of charge. This week, the collaboration became official and Clearview’s facial recognition tech is now claimed to be used for security purposes, such as vetting people of interest at checkpoints. ..."

Ukraine is using AI facial recognition to identify victims and vet people at checkpoints High-tech facial recognition AI is now joining the battlefield in Ukraine.

Hypernetwork to predict Parameters for Unseen Deep Architectures

This seems to be an interesting approach! I have not yet had time to read this paper. This is about e.g. better weight initialization for deep neural networks.

"[Researchers] at Facebook developed Graph Hyper Network (GHN-2), a graph neural network that computed weights that enabled arbitrary neural network architectures to perform image recognition tasks. (A neural network that finds weights for another neural network is known as a hypernetwork.) GHN-2 improves on a similar hypernetwork, GHN-1, proposed by a different team. ..."

From the abstract:

"... By leveraging advances in graph neural networks, we propose a hypernetwork that can predict performant parameters in a single forward pass taking a fraction of a second, even on a CPU. The proposed model achieves surprisingly good performance on unseen and diverse networks. For example, it is able to predict all 24 million parameters of a ResNet-50 achieving a 60% accuracy on CIFAR-10. On ImageNet, top-5 accuracy of some of our networks approaches 50%. Our task along with the model and results can potentially lead to a new, more computationally efficient paradigm of training networks. ..."

Andrew Ng's The Batch

[2110.13100] Parameter Prediction for Unseen Deep Architectures

Enzyme ART1 could be new target for cancer immunotherapies

Good news! Cancer is history one step at a time!

"Tumors can use an enzyme called ART1 to thwart antitumor immune cells, making the enzyme a promising new target for immunity-boosting cancer treatments ...
the researchers found strong evidence that ART1, when expressed on tumor cells, can modify a receptor on tumor-fighting immune cells in a way that triggers the death of these immune cells. In animal models of cancer, blocking ART1 increased the presence of the tumor-fighting immune cells within tumors and slowed or stopped tumor growth. ...
“Our main focus in this study was lung cancer, but there is evidence that this immune-evasion mechanism is at work also in other kinds of cancer,”  ...

We then developed a therapeutic antibody that blocks the function of ART1, allows the immune system to fight the cancer and ultimately prolongs survival in tumor models. ...

The mammalian immune system has various safety mechanisms to prevent immune activity from becoming excessive and damaging tissues. Scientists in recent decades have come to appreciate that tumors frequently co-opt these safety mechanisms – also called immune checkpoints – to defeat natural antitumor immune responses. ...

That appreciation has led, in turn, to the development of “immune checkpoint inhibitor” treatments that block these safety mechanisms to enhance antitumor immunity. These treatments are now part of standard care in several types of cancer and help account for some astounding cures. However, a large proportion of individual cancers do not respond to such therapies, which hints that these cancers may make use of other, so-far-unrevealed immune checkpoint systems.

ART1 appears to be part of one such immune-checkpoint exploitation system. ..."

"Most patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) do not achieve durable clinical responses from immune checkpoint inhibitors, suggesting the existence of additional resistance mechanisms. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)–induced cell death (NICD) of P2X7 receptor (P2X7R)–expressing T cells regulates immune homeostasis in inflamed tissues. This process is mediated by mono–adenosine 5′-diphosphate (ADP)–ribosyltransferases (ARTs). We found an association between membranous expression of ART1 on tumor cells and reduced CD8 T cell infiltration. Specifically, we observed a reduction in the P2X7R+ CD8 T cell subset in human lung adenocarcinomas. In vitro, P2X7R+ CD8 T cells were susceptible to ART1-mediated ADP-ribosylation and NICD, which was exacerbated upon blockade of the NAD+-degrading ADP-ribosyl cyclase CD38. Last, in murine NSCLC and melanoma models, we demonstrate that genetic and antibody-mediated ART1 inhibition slowed tumor growth in a CD8 T cell–dependent manner. This was associated with increased infiltration of activated P2X7R+CD8 T cells into tumors. In conclusion, we describe ART1-mediated NICD as a mechanism of immune resistance in NSCLC and provide preclinical evidence that antibody-mediated targeting of ART1 can improve tumor control, supporting pursuit of this approach in clinical studies."

Enzyme could be new target for cancer immunotherapies | Cornell Chronicle

Presumably, this is the underlying research article:

Expression of the mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase ART1 by tumor cells mediates immune resistance in non–small cell lung cancer (no public access)

Ukraine-Krise: "Zeitenwende für Deutschland" | Historiker Professor Dr. Michael Wolffsohn

Sehr empfehlenswert! Ein kluger Kopf! U.a. rechnet er mit der SED Kanzlerin Merkel ab! Israel als Modell für Deutschland! Eine gute Idee!

Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt!

The Living Robots That Reproduce

Very recommendable!

Thomas Sowell: Supreme Court Observations

Very recommendable!

Papadopoulos: Panic is settling in for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats

Very recommendable! Spying on and attempting to overthrow a sitting president in the White House! The crime of the century. Much bigger than Watergate!

It is a huge scandal that after so many years nobody at the top level (e.g. CIA/FBI directors, members of U.S. Congress) has been indicted yet!

Not to mention that also the FISA court was abused with phony surveillance requests by e.g. the FBI!

India's Ukraine Dilemma

Very recommendable! Explains the position of India very well. Exposes the frequent hypocrisy of Western countries.

Charlie Chaplin - The Mirror Maze (The Circus)

Enjoy! One of the greatest movie entertainers of all times!

Unknown-Aware Object Detection

I have have not yet had time to read this latest paper by Microsoft Research on computer vision, but it addresses a very challenging issue: Unknown object detection.

Humans are still much better at unknown object detection and inference than the best current computer vision models. In many circumstances, humans can quickly ascertain with their eyes whether an unknown object is e.g. potentially dangerous, moving in which direction, biological or physical. Sounds matter too.

[2203.03800] Unknown-Aware Object Detection: Learning What You Don't Know from Videos in the Wild

Credits: https://deepai.org

Canadian energy official is 'frustrated' Biden is looking to Venezuela and Iran for oil: 'We're right next door!

It is extremely bothering and embarrassing that the demented and senile 46th President of the U.S. goes begging for fossil fuels from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela!

"Canada has the third-largest oil reserves in the world. Of the 168 billion barrels of Canadian oil that can be recovered economically with today’s technology, 162.5 billion barrels are located in the oil sands.

In 2019, Canada produced 4.7 million barrels of oil per day (b/d), of which 94% came from producing areas in Western Canada. Total production is expected to increase to 5.8 million b/d by 2030. In 2019, Canada exported more than 3.7 million b/d to the U.S. – 99% of Canada’s oil exports go to the U.S. but with improved market access and infrastructure (pipelines) Canada could gain global market share, replacing less sustainably produced oil sources. ...
Canada has vast reserves of natural gas, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta. At current rates of consumption, Canada has enough natural gas to meet the country’s needs for 300 years, with enough remaining for export. The export of natural gas using proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Canada’s West Coast would enable Canada to ship its abundant energy resources to markets in Asia." (Source)

Canadian energy official is 'frustrated' Biden is looking to Venezuela and Iran for oil: 'We're right next door! We're here!' - TheBlaze

Member of U.S. Congress has died at 88 years old, in office since 1973

Can you believe it, he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973 or for 49 years! His political career started in 1964 (at age 31) as mayor of Fort Yukon. Thus, he was a life long career politician.

As I said many times before here in my blog, it was a huge mistake that the U.S. Congress only imposed term limits on the president in 1951, but not members of the U.S. Congress itself! It is long overdue to correct this!

When you serve too long as an elected representative in Washington DC you likely become a member of the swamp and/or you get out of touch with your voters! I am not saying that Mr. Young has fit this description. R.I.P.

I am not sure whether too many life long career politicians in the legislative or executive branch are healthy for liberal democracies in the long term! I doubt it!

Republican Congressman Don Young from Alaska has died at 88 years old - TheBlaze

Familial natural short sleep mutations reduce Alzheimer pathology in mice

"Elite sleep genes allow lucky few to get full night's sleep in just 4 hours" I could use some of these genes! :-) 

The age of human genome editing to improve our health etc. is coming! Nature had billions of years, humans can do it faster and better.

In a previous blog post, I recommended to remove the annoying sneezing gene forever!

"... People who are able to function fully on four to six hours of sleep have what scientists call Familial Natural Short Sleep (FNSS). [researcher] has been studying people with FNSS for over a decade. Previous studies showed that FNSS runs in the family. Five genes have been identified thus far linked to FNSS. ...
research also suggests that people with FNSS, which he calls ‘elite sleepers’, have above-average psychological resilience and resistance to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. ..."

From the abstract:

"Although numerous studies have demonstrated that poor sleep increases the development of AD, direct evidence elucidating the benefits of good sleep on the AD pathogenesis is lacking. Familial Natural Short Sleepers (FNSS) are genetically wired to have lifelong reduction in nightly sleep duration without evident consequence on cognitive demise, implying that they may have better sleep quality. Here we investigated two FNSS mutations, DEC2-P384R and Npsr1-Y206H, on the development of tau and amyloid pathology in AD-like mouse models. We found that the development of tau pathology is attenuated in the hippocampus of tau mice carrying FNSS mutations. We also found that DEC2-P384R;5XFAD and female Npsr1-Y206H;5XFAD mice exhibit significantly less amyloid plaques than control mice at 6 months of age. Together, these results reveal that these two FNSS alleles are strong genetic modifiers of AD pathology and may confer resilience to the progression of tau pathology and amyloid plaque formation in neurodegeneration."

Elite sleep genes allow lucky few to get full night's sleep in just 4 hours These genes could be targeted by drugs that improve the quality of sleep for all.

Familial natural short sleep mutations reduce Alzheimer pathology in mice

There's a tool that can diagnose autism as early as 12 months of age

Good news or not? However, there is possibly already some serious overdiagnosing of Autism Spectrum Disorder going on. Spectrum is a very wide and vague term!

If this diagnostic test is applied to all children as routine checkups like in Victoria, Australia, the number of children diagnosed with ASD will most likely go up significantly. I think, caution should be advised!

Unfortunately, the diagnostic test (SACS-R) featured in this article is largely based on observable behavioral indicators! Whether some odd behavior of a child that may even occur only temporary should lead to a stigmatizing diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is questionable! Once diagnosed a child and its parents may end up in a self reinforcing dynamics aggravating what was possibly a minor, transient oddity into a serious disorder.

"Approximately 2% of individuals around the world are on the autism spectrum, although some studies claim that the rate is closer to 4%. ...
Every child in the Australian state of Victoria must attend a routine health check at 12, 18 and 24 months. As of 2019, SACS-R has been included in those check-ups. A total of 13,511 children underwent these check-ups. The data shows that while not perfect, the method is very effective at detecting autism in infants: by 24 months, autism was detected in 83% of cases and by 42 months, the detection rate increased to 96%. ...

This is why having access to an accurate diagnosis tool can be so important, even if it’s not perfect. In a new study, researchers assessed the effectiveness of one such method called SACS-R [Social Attention and Communication Surveillance–Revised].

The diagnosis tool was developed over 15 years by Professor Barbaro, and it is mostly aimed at identifying behaviors associated with autism, including infrequent or inconsistent use of:

1. gestures, like waving and pointing at objects
2. response to name being called
3. eye contact
4. imitation or copying others’ activities
5. sharing interest with others
6. pretend play

SACS-R has been used in some parts of Australia, and health professionals in ten other countries around the world (including Poland, Japan, New Zealand, China, Bangladesh, and Singapore) have received some training in it. But until now, it wasn’t known exactly how well the method works. ..."

There's a tool that can diagnose autism as early as 12 months of age Research has confirmed that a screening tool for autism developed by researchers in Australia can successfully detect autism in 83% of children aged 12 to 24 months. Coupled with a preschool check, 96% of children on the autism spectrum were identified by 3.5 years old.

I presume, this is the scientific article underlying the article above:

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance–Revised With Preschool Tool for Early Autism Detection in Very Young Children (open access)

Late-Night Diners Mourn the Loss of round the clock Diners

Just a reminder that the extreme government measures during the Covid-19 pandemic have hit small businesses very hard!

"Late-night diners aren’t rebounding as Covid cases decline. Restaurants’ daytime hours are mostly back, but attracting customers and staff to the classic round-the-clock eateries is harder ... Students, late-night shift workers and night owls miss the iconic booths and classic American fare. Since the pandemic began, roughly 8,000 diners closed for good, according to the food-industry market-research firm Datassential."

Late-Night Diners Mourn the Loss of Late-Night Diners - WSJ Restaurants’ daytime hours are mostly back, but many all-night spots never reopened. Night-shift workers, students and night owls are adrift; resorting to gas station snacks.

Clandestine Finance System Helped Iran Withstand Sanctions Crush

How effective are such sanctions imposed by Western countries?

"Iran used a clandestine banking and finance system to circumvent U.S. sanctions. Accounts in foreign commercial banks, proxy companies registered outside the country, firms that coordinate banned trade and a transaction clearinghouse within Iran enabled the country to conduct tens of billions of dollars in annual trade banned by the U.S., according to Western diplomats, intelligence officials and documents. That has helped Tehran withstand U.S. pressure to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal."

Clandestine Finance System Helped Iran Withstand Sanctions Crush, Documents Show - WSJ System set up outside Iran’s borders conducted tens of billions in banned trade, according to documents, intelligence officials

Israeli eVTOL Creator AIR To Deliver First Fleet To Australian Buyers

Flying cars are taking to the air! Ready for takeoff!

"Flying cars are the future and eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) are the next big thing in personal mobility ...

Looking to secure certification for its inaugural all-electric two-seater eVTOL vehicle, AIR ONE, ... US Federation Aviation Authority (FAA) for two years. The company expects certification for the 970kg (2,138 lb) eVTOL by the end of 2023. ...

This week, the Israeli company also announced its partnership with Australian electric aircraft distributor, FlyOnE, to supply AIR’s first eVTOL aviation fleet to Australian consumers. 

FlyOnE will serve as AIR’s local service and maintenance partner and will facilitate the delivery of 25 AIR ONE vehicles worth $150,000 apiece to customers in 2025. With advanced air mobility (AAM) regulations already in motion in Australia, FlyOnE will also be overseeing and tracking AIR’s entry into the Australian market, where Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) regulation is already in motion. The scope of the collaboration between the two companies is estimated at close to $4 million ..."

Israeli eVTOL Creator AIR To Deliver First Fleet To Australian Buyers

Vor unseren Augen entsteht eine neue Weltordnung

Empfehlenswert! Der Artikel übertreibt in einigen Punkten (z.B. die Bedeutung von der SPFS als Konkurrent von SWIFT oder was Indiens Rolle angeht oder die Leidensfähigkeit des russischen Volkes usw.).

Am Ende des Artikels finden sich auch einige vernünftige Vorschläge die Lage zu verbessern.

"... Der Niedergang der westlichen Welt, allen voran Europas, der seinen Grund in der Wirklichkeitsblindheit und Utopieseligkeit oder im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes Weltfremdheit der sogenannten Eliten findet, wird seit mindestens einem Jahrzehnt nur allzu deutlich. ...
Putins Krieg hat die Welt nicht plötzlich verändert, er hat aber die ohnehin stattfindende Veränderung beschleunigt und so allen sichtbar gemacht. Vor unseren Augen zerreißen die Netze der wirtschaftlichen Zusammenarbeit und zerplatzen die Illusionen über unseren Wohlstand, den die Rotgrüngelben durch eine erneute Masseneinwanderung unter dem Vorwand der Hilfe für ukrainische Flüchtlinge mit suizidalen Folgen sowie einer absurden Energiepolitik systematisch zerstören. ...
Wer hätte sich vor zehn Jahren träumen lassen, dass grüne und rote Ideologen realistischer in der Situation des Krieges agieren als Politiker der CDU/CSU, die die Ampel noch links zu überholen versuchen. ...
Wer leichtfüßig die Ausweitung von SWIFT-Sanktionen verlangt, weiß nicht, dass er damit die Abschaffung des SWIFT-Systems, den Sturz des Dollars als Leitwährung und den Aufstieg des chinesischen Yuan zur Leitwährung, letztlich den Anbruch des chinesischen Jahr[hunderts] fordert. ...

Doch inzwischen bildet sich ein Anti-Dollar-Kartell heraus. Als Reaktion der durch die Obama-Regierung verhängten Sanktionen 2014 schufen die Russen als Alternative zu Visa, Mastercard, American Express etc. ein eigenes nationales Zahlungssystem und, was noch wichtiger ist, ein Gegenstück zum Finanznachrichtensystem SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) nämlich das russische SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages).

Man mag darüber lächeln, doch inzwischen nutzen – laut einem Bericht der Foreign Affairs vom 7. März – 399 Institute dieses System, unter ihnen 20 belarussische Banken, die Kyrgyz Bank of Asia und die armenische Arshidbank, außerdem haben die Tochtergesellschaften großer russischer Banken in Deutschland und der Schweiz Zugang zum SPFS. Es existiert also ein alternatives und schließlich konkurrierendes Finanznachrichtensystem, das im Aufwind ist. ... Derzeit verhandeln die Russen mit dem Chinesen über Chinas Beitritt zum SPFS, ...
Parallel dazu arbeiten die Russen als auch die Chinesen eifrig und verstärkt an der Einführung der Kryptowährung. Kryptowährung bedeutet jedoch für den Staat größere Kontroll- und Einflussmöglichkeiten. Es erstaunt deshalb nicht, dass autoritäre Staaten die Kryptowährung lieben. Mithilfe eines Systems der Kryptowährung würde man das Dollar-basierte System vollständig umgehen können. ..."

Vor unseren Augen entsteht eine neue Weltordnung Putins Krieg beschleunigt, was schon vorher stattfand: den Niedergang der westlichen Welt, allen voran Europas. Vor unseren Augen zerreißen die Netze der wirtschaftlichen Zusammenarbeit und zerplatzen die Illusionen über unseren Wohlstand.

Congress considers bill to expose Russian, Chinese funding of American think tanks and non profit organisations

I think such a law is a good idea! Why limit it to Russia and China? There are plenty of other authoritarian/dictatorial regimes (e.g. Cuba, North Korea, Iran) out there who may have tried or pursue to influence public opinion in questionable ways etc. in Western countries.

Open societies can easily and effectively be exploited by its enemies! To sow discord in the enemies camp dates back to Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

I have a strong hunch for many years that e.g. the so called culture wars and more recently environmentalism in Western countries are being fueled and intensified by outside influence since about World War II ended! 

"... require think tanks and nonprofits to reveal whether they have significant funding from governments and political groups in Russia and China ..."

Comment: Why not include individual agents?

"... require nonprofits and think tanks to disclose foreign donations over $50,000 ..."
Comment: This limit/threshold is way too high!

"... “While institutions of higher learning are required to disclose foreign gifts to the Department of Education pursuant to the Higher Education Act, no such requirement exists for think tanks.” ..."

Congress considers bill to expose Russian, Chinese funding of American groups | Just The News

Steve Turley Parody: Fake News Is SCRIPTED!!!

Indeed fake news and biased journalism is "extremely dangerous to democracy"! 

Maajid Nawaz: The Destruction of Truth

Recommendable!

Victoria in Australia sets gender quotas on construction sites

Gender quotas are horrible and unconstitutional big government interventions! At least here a typical men's domain of sweaty and dirty work is affected. However and curiously higher gender quotas in management than in the other construction professions are imposed. The usual cherry picking in favor of women goes on here too!

President Reagan and Friends: Michael Jackson

What do you know!

The Myth of the Chinese Debt Trap in Africa

Recommendable! More economic progress and prosperity in Africa!

Holi celebration in Vrindavan: India celebrates the festival of colors

It amazes me every time I watch it.

Charlie Chaplin Moonwalk

Enjoy!

Instituts der deutschen Wirtschaft: Nudging für mehr Klimaschutz Diktatur

Mehr Diktatur für den Klimawahn fordert das Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft!

Soweit ist es gekommen in der Bananenrepublik! Unglaublich!

Nudging, klingt geradezu niedlich! Aber auf gut deutsch: Den freien, mündigen Bürger zu Schupsen!

Nudging für mehr Klimaschutz - iwd.de Theoretisch wissen die meisten Menschen in Deutschland um den Klimawandel und wollen ihren Teil dazu beitragen, kommenden Generationen einen halbwegs intakten Planeten Erde zu hinterlassen. In der Praxis ist es mit entsprechendem Handeln aber oft nicht weit her. Dabei gibt es viele Möglichkeiten, das individuelle Verhalten in eine nachhaltigere Richtung zu lenken – zum Beispiel mit dem sogenannten Nudging, einer Strategie aus der Verhaltensökonomie.

UNCTAD: Ukraine war’s impact on trade and development

How the Russian invasion of the Ukraine affects the world!

"... Ukraine and Russia are global players in agri-food markets, representing 53% of global trade in sunflower oil and seeds and 27% in wheat. ...
This rapidly evolving situation is especially alarming for developing nations. As many as 25 African countries, including many least developed countries, import more than one third of their wheat from the two countries at war. For 15 of them, the share is over half. ...
The risk of civil unrest, food shortages and inflation-induced recessions cannot be discounted, the report says, particularly given the fragile state of the global economy and the developing world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

Restrictive measures on airspace, contractor uncertainty and security concerns are complicating all trade routes going through Russia and Ukraine. The two countries are a key geographical component of the Eurasian Land Bridge.

In 2021, 1.5 million containers of cargo were shipped by rail west from China to Europe. If the volumes currently going by container rail were added to the Asia-Europe ocean freight demand, this would mean a 5% to 8% increase in an already congested trade route.

“Due to higher fuel costs, rerouting efforts and zero capacity in maritime logistics, the impact of the war in Ukraine can be expected to lead to even higher freight rates,” the report says. Such increases would have a significant impact on economies and households. ..."

Ukraine war’s impact on trade and development | UNCTAD: An UNCTAD rapid assessment of the war in Ukraine’s impact on trade and development confirms a rapidly worsening outlook for the world economy, underpinned by rising food, fuel and fertilizer prices. The report published on 16 March also shows heightened financial volatility, sustainable development divestment, complex global supply chain reconfigurations and mounting trade costs.

Saudi Foreign Minister arrives in Bangladesh, 2 memoranda of understanding signed

Good news! This could portent positiv change, more prosperity, and better living standards!

"However, the poverty rate has halved since 2011 and the country is expected to become a middle income country in this decade." (Source)

Bangladesh for decades has been one of the poorest countries in the region if not the world!

Ukrainian Tractors Versus Russian Armored vehicles like tanks

Hilarious, if it was not so deadly serious! Bravo!

Can Europe import more natural gas from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan?

Very recommendable! The answer is clearly yes!

Is Nancy Pelosi OK？

Looks like the 81 year old Speaker is perhaps even more demented and senile than the 46th President! Her behavior and speeches have been increasingly more erratic over the last several years!

Four Russian Generals Killed in Three Weeks Show Moscow’s Vulnerabilities in Ukraine

If confirmed, this is incredible! 

Did these generals choose to die with honor instead of going on with this unjustified invasion of the Ukraine thereby also avoiding war crimes tribunals etc.? Perhaps, one day we will find out.

"Four Russian brigadier generals have died in three weeks on the battlefield in Ukraine, Kyiv officials said, showing faults in Moscow’s ability to lead troops into battle. The fallout could shape the outcome of the war, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.

The deaths of Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, Gen. Andrei Kolesnikov, Gen. Oleg Mityaev and Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky were announced by Ukrainian officials and confirmed by some Russian media reports, but not the Kremlin. They were veterans of Russia’s earlier conflicts in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria, where Russia also lost generals. ..."

Four Russian Generals Killed in Three Weeks Show Moscow’s Vulnerabilities in Ukraine - WSJ

Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production

You cannot make this up!

"Neural networks may help farmers make sure their animals are happy.

... Researchers ... developed a system that interprets the moods behind a pig’s grunts and squeals. 

... The authors trained convolutional neural networks to classify porcine expressions using a database of 7,414 vocal sounds made by animals engaged in 19 situations like feeding, fighting, running, or being led to a slaughterhouse.

Experts in animal behavior classified each call’s sentiment as positive or negative using the situations as guides. ... 

The authors trained two ResNet-50s on spectrograms of the calls. One network classified calls as positive or negative while the other labeled the situation.

Results: The models achieved 91.5 percent accuracy classifying the sentiment of calls and 81.5 percent identifying the situation. ..."

From the abstract:

"Vocal expression of emotions has been observed across species and could provide a non-invasive and reliable means to assess animal emotions. We investigated if pig vocal indicators of emotions revealed in previous studies are valid across call types and contexts, and could potentially be used to develop an automated emotion monitoring tool. We performed an analysis of an extensive and unique dataset of low (LF) and high frequency (HF) calls emitted by pigs across numerous commercial contexts from birth to slaughter (7414 calls from 411 pigs). ... These results suggest that an automated recognition system can be developed to monitor pig welfare on-farm."

Andrew Ng's The Batch

Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production | Scientific Reports (open access)

Presidential candidates' computer-generated avatars heat up debate in South Korea and beyond

Was this the first time that the political candidate for a major election in a large country used an avatar in the election campaign?

"A deepfake of South Korea’s new president helped propel him into office.

What’s new: Yoon Suk-yeol, who won the country’s March 9 election, campaigned using videos that featured an AI-generated likeness of himself answering voters’ questions. No deception was involved; viewers were informed that they were watching a computer animation.

How it works: Seoul-based DeepBrain AI created Yoon’s avatar using 20 hours of audio and video of the candidate captured in front of a green screen, totaling around 3,000 spoken sentences, according to France24. ..."

 

Presidential candidates' computer-generated avatars heat up debate

Andrew Ng's The Batch

What have Biden, Harris, and Pelosi in common?

All three currently represent the top political leadership of the United States! All three are members of the Dimocratic Party!

The 46th president and Pelosi share that they are both very old, demented and senile (I blogged here about Pelosi). Pelosi has become increasingly erratic in her public appearances over the years! She is a career politician since 1976. Biden is a life-long career politician since 1973.

Giggling, plenty of platitudes using, and perpetually unprepared Mistress Kamala is a bit of an outlier here, but she is significantly younger than the other too!

From the brilliant and brave superstars of the Founding Fathers and Mothers of the United States to a less than mediocre cabal of political leaders today. They must be spinning in their graves!

Witness the decline of the United States of America!

This is a clarion call! Something has to happen! Perhaps e.g. term limits for all members of the U.S. Congress would help to eliminate lousy politicians early in their career! Or how about an Article V Convention of States?

Newly developed smartwatch measures key stress hormone cortisol

Amazing stuff! Become your own doctor!

"... To date, it has been impractical to [continuously] measure cortisol as a way to potentially identify conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress, in which levels of the hormone are elevated. Cortisol levels traditionally have been evaluated through blood samples by professional labs, and while those measurements can be useful for diagnosing certain diseases, they fail to capture changes in cortisol levels over time. ...
Now, a UCLA research team has developed a device that could be a major step forward: a smartwatch that assesses cortisol levels found in sweat — accurately, noninvasively and in real time. ...
In the new smartwatch, a strip of specialized thin adhesive film collects tiny volumes of sweat, measurable in millionths of a liter. An attached sensor detects cortisol using engineered strands of DNA, called aptamers, which are designed so that a cortisol molecule will fit into each aptamer like a key fits a lock. When cortisol attaches, the aptamer changes shape in a way that alters electric fields at the surface of a transistor. ..."

From the abstract:

"Wearable technologies for personalized monitoring require sensors that track biomarkers often present at low levels. Cortisol—a key stress biomarker—is present in sweat at low nanomolar concentrations. Previous wearable sensing systems are limited to analytes in the micromolar-millimolar ranges. To overcome this and other limitations, we developed a flexible field-effect transistor (FET) biosensor array that exploits a previously unreported cortisol aptamer coupled to nanometer-thin-film In2O3 FETs. Cortisol levels were determined via molecular recognition by aptamers where binding was transduced to electrical signals on FETs. ... the development and on-body validation of an aptamer-FET array–based smartwatch equipped with a custom, multichannel, self-referencing, and autonomous source measurement unit enabling seamless, real-time cortisol sweat sensing."

Sweating the small stuff: Smartwatch developed at UCLA measures key stress hormone | UCLA Device opens new possibilities for personal health monitoring

Wearable aptamer-field-effect transistor sensing system for noninvasive cortisol monitoring (open access)

The building blocks of life can form on space dust, offering clues to the origins of life

Amazing stuff!

"Researchers ... report that peptides — small-scale proteins — can form on particles of dust under conditions present in outer space. Since all life on our planet relies on proteins, this raises the possibility that the building blocks of life didn’t emerge on Earth at all, but were seeded here from outer space. ..."

From the abstract:

"Organic molecules are widely present in the dense interstellar medium, and many have been synthesized in the laboratory on Earth under the conditions typical for an interstellar environment. Until now, however, only relatively small molecules of biological interest have been demonstrated to form experimentally under typical space conditions. Here we prove experimentally that the condensation of carbon atoms on the surface of cold solid particles (cosmic dust) leads to the formation of isomeric polyglycine monomers (aminoketene molecules). Following encounters between aminoketene molecules, they polymerize to produce peptides of different lengths. The chemistry involves three of the most abundant species (CO, C and NH3) present in star-forming molecular clouds, and proceeds via a novel pathway that skips the stage of amino acid formation in protein synthesis. The process is efficient, even at low temperatures, without irradiation or the presence of water. The delivery of biopolymers formed by this chemistry to rocky planets in the habitable zone might be an important element in the origins of life."

The building blocks of life can form on space dust, offering clues to the origins of life While it's not confirmed that life comes from space, this is a sign that it might

A pathway to peptides in space through the condensation of atomic carbon (open access)

Hydrogen Fueled Life’s Origins on earth

Amazing stuff!

"... But the metabolism of the planet’s first organisms may not have required an external source of energy. Under the conditions present in a hydrothermal vent, a core set of metabolic reactions unfolds spontaneously in line with the laws of thermodynamics, according to calculations published December 13 in Frontiers of Microbiology. ..."

"Though all theories for the origin of life require a source of energy to promote primordial chemical reactions, the nature of energy that drove the emergence of metabolism at origins is still debated. We reasoned that evidence for the nature of energy at origins should be preserved in the biochemical reactions of life itself, whereby changes in free energy, ΔG, which determine whether a reaction can go forward or not, should help specify the source. By calculating values of ΔG across the conserved and universal core of 402 individual reactions that synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors from H2, CO2, NH3, H2S and phosphate in modern cells, we find that 95–97% of these reactions are exergonic (ΔG ≤ 0 kJ⋅mol−1) at pH 7-10 and 80-100°C under nonequilibrium conditions with H2 replacing biochemical reductants. While 23% of the core’s reactions involve ATP hydrolysis, 77% are ATP-independent, thermodynamically driven by ΔG of reactions involving carbon bonds. We identified 174 reactions that are exergonic by –20 to –300 kJ⋅mol−1 at pH 9 and 80°C and that fall into ten reaction types: six pterin dependent alkyl or acyl transfers, ten S-adenosylmethionine dependent alkyl transfers, four acyl phosphate hydrolyses, 14 thioester hydrolyses, 30 decarboxylations, 35 ring closure reactions, 31 aromatic ring formations, and 44 carbon reductions by reduced nicotinamide, flavins, ferredoxin, or formate. The 402 reactions of the biosynthetic core trace to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), and reveal that synthesis of LUCA’s chemical constituents required no external energy inputs such as electric discharge, UV-light or phosphide minerals. The biosynthetic reactions of LUCA uncover a natural thermodynamic tendency of metabolism to unfold from energy released by reactions of H2, CO2, NH3, H2S, and phosphate."

Hydrogen Fueled Life’s Origins: Study | The Scientist Magazine® A thermodynamic analysis of more than 400 chemical reactions that likely took place in the ancestor of all life finds most would spontaneously occur at hydrothermal vents, thanks to the hydrogen these geological formations emit.

Energy at Origins: Favorable Thermodynamics of Biosynthetic Reactions in the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)

Research discovers new type of cellular communication in the brain

Amazing stuff!

"Scientists ... have discovered hundreds of proteins that are constantly transported throughout the healthy brain in small membrane-enclosed sacs, revealing a new form of communication between brain cells. ...

The proteins identified included many with known functions in the brain, including the tau and synuclein seen moving between cells in Alzheimer’s disease.

“This is a confirmation that in the healthy brain, tau and synuclein—and their movement around the brain—is normal,” ... “But with Alzheimer’s disease it’s a toxic form of the protein that is transported between neurons.” ..."

From the abstract:

"Intercellular transfer of toxic proteins between neurons is thought to contribute to neurodegenerative disease, but whether direct interneuronal protein transfer occurs in the healthy brain is not clear. To assess the prevalence and identity of transferred proteins and the cellular specificity of transfer, we biotinylated retinal ganglion cell proteins in vivo and examined biotinylated proteins transported through the rodent visual circuit using microscopy, biochemistry, and mass spectrometry. Electron microscopy demonstrated preferential transfer of biotinylated proteins from retinogeniculate inputs to excitatory lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons compared with GABAergic neurons. An unbiased mass spectrometry-based screen identified ∼200 transneuronally transported proteins (TNTPs) isolated from the visual cortex. The majority of TNTPs are present in neuronal exosomes, and virally expressed TNTPs, including tau and β-synuclein, were detected in isolated exosomes and postsynaptic neurons. Our data demonstrate transfer of diverse endogenous proteins between neurons in the healthy intact brain and suggest that TNTP transport may be mediated by exosomes."

Scripps Research discovers new type of cellular communication in the brain | Scripps Research The finding can reveal how protein transport goes awry in conditions including Alzheimer’s and autism.

Proteomic screen reveals diverse protein transport between connected neurons in the visual system (open access)

New Mechanism for Virus-Triggered Autoimmunity Uncovered

Amazing stuff!

"... Now, a study shows that in mice, infection with a roseolovirus leads to the development of autoimmune gastritis later in life, demonstrating a causal link between roseolovirus infection and autoimmunity. ..."

From the abstract:

"Infections with herpesviruses, including human roseoloviruses, have been proposed to cause autoimmune disease ... Herein we show that neonatal MRV [Murine roseolovirus] infection induced autoimmune gastritis (AIG) in adult mice in the absence of ongoing infection. ... These findings strongly suggest that infection with a roseolovirus early in life results in disruption of central tolerance and development of autoimmune disease."

New Mechanism for Virus-Triggered Autoimmunity Uncovered | The Scientist Magazine®

Disruption of thymic central tolerance by infection with murine roseolovirus induces autoimmune gastritis (open access)

Corona-Politik - Der deutsche Angstmichel will keine Rückkehr zur Normalität

Aufgespießt! Diese heutige Schlagzeile hat mir gut gefallen! 

Der Bundesgesundheitsminister Lauterbach ist ein Zausel!

Die globale Covid-19 Pandemie ist vorüber! Die Rückkehr zu einem weitgehend normalen Leben ist längst überfällig! 

You find my main blog posts regarding the global SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic here.

Corona-Politik - Der deutsche Angstmichel will keine Rückkehr zur Normalität | Cicero Online Der 20. März hätte der Tag sein können, an dem Deutschland seine Angstneurosen weitgehend hinter sich und mündige Bürger [???] endlich wieder freie Bürger sein lässt. Doch solange Karl Lauterbach Gesundheitsminister ist, wird es kein Zurück zur Normalität mehr geben. Das ist seine Kernbotschaft seit Herbst 2021. Verlassen kann er sich dabei auf eine immer noch große Schar an Unterstützern, die sich längst eingerichtet haben in ihrer Feigheit vor dem Leben – und Sinn und Unsinn der Corona-Politik nicht hinterfragen.

Leaders of Poland, Czechia and Slovenia went in person to Kiev to support Ukrainians

Bravo!

Russia goes after Ukraine's Arms Factories

I did not know that the Ukraine was one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and exporters. Most of this industry was left over from the demise of the former Soviet Union.

Sean Hannity: They are a disaster (Biden, Harris, Pelosi)

About 5 minutes into this video, Sean plays about a 1 minute long, disturbing video footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (81 years old) speaking very incoherently!

How pigeons took over the world

Very recommendable!

Ukraine War jeopardizes World’s Food Supply

This is a very serious concern!

"Russia and Ukraine together supply almost one-third of the world’s wheat, a quarter of its barley and nearly three-quarters of its sunflower oil, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. Russian farmers are dealing with economic sanctions, while Ukrainians face closed ports and difficulty harvesting their summer crops amid the fighting."

Ukraine War Stokes Insecurity in the World’s Food Supply - WSJ The agricultural supply chain coped well with the pandemic, but it will struggle with this latest shock at a time of much higher energy prices

Professionals Are Quitting Full-Time Jobs for Contract Work—and Making Six Figures

Good news! Work on your own terms!

"Some consulting, marketing, writing and project-management professionals who quit jobs to hang their own shingles are earning more than $100,000, according to independent consultants and recruiters. This kind of work was once the domain of soon-to-retire execs and people between jobs, but higher pay, flexible hours and locations and more control over the work have made high-end contract gigs hot."

People Are Quitting Full-Time Jobs for Contract Work—and Making Six Figures - WSJ Many professionals who have become independent consultants say they now have more money and control over their lives

Reducing AlphaFold Training Time from 11 Days to under 3 days

Good news! AlphaFold was only introduced in 2020 and AphaFold 2 (using transformer) in 2021. The speed of progress here is breathtaking (see also my blog posts here, here, here, here, here)! 

[2203.00854] FastFold: Reducing AlphaFold Training Time from 11 Days to 67 Hours

Credits: Gradient Update #20

U.S. eliminates human controls requirement for fully automated vehicles

Good news! Eliminating government regulations does not mean that car makers can still include human controls if customers asks for it.

Probably, it was high time to rewrite these outdated standards/rules!

Can you imagine driving in a car from point A to point B and you don't have anything to do with driving the car. You can spend your time sitting in the car with something else than driving! Wonderful!

Autonomous driving vehicles will have a lot of benefits, e.g. probably reduce car accidents, waste of gas and much more!

"U.S. regulators on [3/10/2022] issued final rules eliminating the need for automated vehicle manufacturers to equip fully autonomous vehicles with manual driving controls to meet crash standards.

Automakers and tech companies have faced significant hurdles to deploying automated driving system (ADS) vehicles without human controls because of safety standards written decades ago that assume people are in control. ..."

U.S. eliminates human controls requirement for fully automated vehicles | Reuters

Credits: Gradient Update #20

Ten Years On, the second ever CAR T Cell Recipient is Still Cancer-Free

Good news! What a successful treatment! What a milestone!

"The second-ever leukemia patient to receive an infusion of CAR T cells—which had been harvested from his blood and modified to produce receptors that recognize cancer cells—is still cancer free more than 10 years later. Tumor-fighting immune cells are still circulating in his body, according to a study published yesterday (February 2) in Nature. The first patient to receive the treatment also went into remission and stayed cancer-free until the time of his death in January 2021, when he passed away from COVID-19. ..."

From the abstract:

"The adoptive transfer of T lymphocytes reprogrammed to target tumour cells has demonstrated potential for treatment of various cancers. However, little is known about the long-term potential and clonal stability of the infused cells. Here we studied long-lasting CD19-redirected chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in two patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia1 who achieved a complete remission in 2010. CAR T cells remained detectable more than ten years after infusion, with sustained remission in both patients. Notably, a highly activated CD4+ population emerged in both patients, dominating the CAR T cell population at the later time points. ..."

Ten Years On, CAR T Cell Recipient Is Still Cancer-Free | The Scientist Magazine® First, the genetically engineered cells became CD8+ killer T cells that wiped out his leukemia. Then they transformed into a stable population of CD4+ helper T cells that continue to circulate in his body.

Decade-long leukaemia remissions with persistence of CD4+ CAR T cells (no public access, but article above offers link to PDF file)

Nature Journal: Antarctic sea ice hits lowest minimum on record demagoguery

Judging from the headline, the world is soon coming to an end! Lot's of pseudoscience underlies the Global Warming Hoax and the Climate Change Religion!

Available data go only back to 1979!

"... Unlike in the Arctic, where sea ice has declined rapidly since satellite measurements began in 1979, Antarctic sea ice has seen a lot of year-to-year variability (see ‘Lowest on record’) — contradicting expectations from some climate models that predicted it should decline in response to increased greenhouse-gas emissions. ..."

Antarctic sea ice hits lowest minimum on record Natural variability is probably the cause, although global warming could have a role.

European Union and gender quotas on company boards

Absolutely horrible! Outrageous! This is authoritarian! What is next?

Why companies do not more fiercely oppose this is incredible!

Brexit was a great move by the British citizens!

"A majority of 18 of the 27 EU countries support the directive, but that is not enough for the super majority needed for approval. 

Eight countries - Denmark, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Slovakia - have opposed the proposal, arguing the issue should be regulated at a national level. ...

Eight EU countries have adopted national mandatory gender quotas for listed companies (Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands).

Ten have taken a softer approach, using a range of measures and initiatives (Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden).

Nine countries have not taken substantial action (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia). ..."

Factbox: Women's quotas on company boards: The EU's frontrunners and laggards | Reuters

Marina Ovsyannikova: No War in the Ukraine

Will courageous Russian citizens defeat/oust the warmongering Putin the Terrible? Let's hope so!

""Don't be afraid of anything. They can't imprison us all," she said."

Marina Ovsyannikova: Russian journalist fined after TV protest A Russian journalist has been fined and released after she protested against the war in Ukraine on a live TV news programme and made an anti-war video.

Marina Ovsyannikova - Wikipedia

Rita Hayworth & Fred Astaire dance to Led Zeppelin

Enjoy!

µTransfer: A technique for hyperparameter tuning of enormous neural networks

Appears to be very recommendable (but I have not read the paper yet)! Perhaps a breakthrough in large neural network optimization!

This new approach could accelerate the training of larger and larger models! Perhaps, resources constrained researchers in business and academia may benefit from it as well. 

"... Before this work, the larger a model was, the less well-tuned we expected it to be due to the high cost of tuning. ..."

From the abstract:

"... We show that, in the recently discovered Maximal Update Parametrization (μP), many optimal HPs [Hyperparameters] remain stable even as model size changes. This leads to a new HP tuning paradigm we call *μTransfer*: parametrize the target model in μP, tune the HP indirectly on a smaller model, and *zero-shot transfer* them to the full-sized model, i.e., without directly tuning the latter at all. ..."

µTransfer: A technique for hyperparameter tuning of enormous neural networks - Microsoft Research

Tensor Programs V: Tuning Large Neural Networks via Zero-Shot Hyperparameter Transfer

Credits: Last Week in AI #158

Magnetic crystals found in the noses of salmon could aid navigation

Amazing stuff!

"... Salmon hatch in rivers, where they spend a year or so before migrating to the sea – returning as adults to their riverbed of birth to spawn. This migration can extend over thousands of kilometres ... 
The team discovered that magnetite within the salmon [nose] cells exists in compact, egg-shaped clusters. Each of these clusters measures around 200–300 nm in diameter, and contains roughly 100–200 individual crystals.

The growth of crystals inside living cells is called biomineralization, which is used by magnetotactic bacteria to grow chains of magnetite crystals. The bacteria use these tiny “compass needles” to orient themselves with respect to Earth’s magnetic field, possibly to move to regions of optimal oxygen content.
Through subsequent genetic analysis, ... team discovered that the biomineralization genes expressed in salmon receptor cells were like those found in bacteria containing magnetite. This ... suggests that several billion years ago a magnetite-containing bacteria may have been incorporated into a more complex organism in a process called endosymbiosis – creating a distant ancestor of the salmon. ..."

From the abstract:

"Animals use geomagnetic fields for navigational cues, yet the sensory mechanism underlying magnetic perception remains poorly understood. ... Here, we discover that salmonid olfactory epithelium contains magnetite crystals arranged in compact clusters and determine that genes differentially expressed in magnetic olfactory cells, contrasted to nonmagnetic olfactory cells, share ancestry with an ancient prokaryote magnetite biomineralization system, consistent with exaptation for use in eukaryotic magnetoreception. We also show that 11 prokaryote biomineralization genes are universally present among a diverse set of eukaryote taxa and that nine of those genes are present within the Asgard clade of archaea Lokiarchaeota that affiliates with eukaryotes in phylogenomic analysis.  ..."

Magnetic crystals found in the noses of salmon could aid navigation – Physics World

Conservation of magnetite biomineralization genes in all domains of life and implications for magnetic sensing (open access)

Amazon relocates 1,800 employees ​from downtown Seattle office over rampant violent crime

Sign or our times! An Inner City Blues! Soft on crime and its consequences!

When so called progressives see victims of crimes as criminals, criminals as victims, and law enforcement as murderers this is what you get!

"... The sustained increase in violent crime reached a new apex on Mar. 2, when a 15-year-old boy, Michael Del Bianco, was shot and killed on 3rd Ave. and Pine St., not far from the location of Amazon's office building. The location where Del Bianco was killed had already been the site of numerous crimes, including several deadly shootings, KSTU-TV reported. ...

According to Newsweek, several other companies with downtown offices have continued to allow employees to work remotely amid the crime spike. ..."

Amazon relocates employees ​from downtown Seattle office over rampant violent crime - TheBlaze

John Lennon: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE (in the Ukraine)

Dedicated to the war in the Ukraine!

10 minutes of fascinating deep-sea animals

Amazing creatures!

How China Spies on Countries Throughout Western Hemisphere

Recommendable! The following article probably only scratches the surface of this serious issue!

"A federal court in Virginia recently granted Microsoft the authority to seize websites used by a Chinese state-linked hacking group.

Known as Nickel, the group has successfully committed cyberattacks in up to 29 countries, including the United States,and 16 Latin American and Caribbean nations. ...
Much of Latin America and the Caribbean is seen as a recurring target, given prolonged vulnerabilities in cyber infrastructure and a shortage of cybersecurity professionals. ...
The report also highlights repeated accusations against Chinese government entities of cyberespionage in the region favoring Chinese companies, often state-owned or state affiliated. Cyber-intelligence enables access to critical market information, coercion of local officials, intellectual-property theft against competitors, and influence operations aimed at decreasing local resistance to China. ..."

How China Spies on Countries Throughout Western Hemisphere

Cold temperature, reproduction link holds promise for insect control

Good news!

"Scientists have uncovered a set of neurons in fruit flies that shut down in cold temperatures and slow reproduction, a system conserved in many insects, including mosquitoes, which could provide a target for pest control. ...
In the study, the researchers conducted genetic screens and identified a subset of circadian neurons in the fly brain. These circadian neurons are important for sensing and responding to such environmental cues as light and cold and for keeping time in the brain, but they are not well understood. ...

Their investigation revealed  an insect neuropeptide (signaling protein) called Allotostatin (AstC) is expressed specifically in these circadian neurons. Experiments showed that both injecting AstC or over-expressing the neuropeptide from the dorsal neurons stimulated egg production. Furthermore, AstC gene expression was also regulated by temperature, levels of AstC was low at cold temperatures and increased in in warm temperatures. “It looks like both the dorsal neuron activity and the neuropeptide expression decrease in the cold,” ...

The researchers also discovered the receptor that the AstC neuropeptide binds with to activate egg production. ..."

From the abstract:

"... Similar to other insects, the fly, Drosophila melanogaster, responds to sustained cold by reducing its metabolic rate and arresting its reproduction. Here, we show that a subset of dorsal neurons (DN3s) that express the neuropeptide allatostatin C (AstC) facilitates recovery from cold-induced reproductive dormancy. The activity of AstC-expressing DN3s, as well as AstC peptide levels, are suppressed by cold. Cold temperature also impacts AstC levels in other Drosophila species and mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, and Anopheles stephensi. T... AstC/AstC-R2 is conserved across many insect species and their role in regulating female reproductive capacity makes them an ideal target for controlling the population of agricultural pests and human disease vectors."

Temperature, reproduction link holds promise for insect control | Cornell Chronicle

Recovery from cold-induced reproductive dormancy is regulated by temperature-dependent AstC signaling (no public access, but article above contains link to PDF file)

Vascular macrophages can sense octanal, triggering dangerous inflammation and atherosclerosis

Amazing stuff! If you can smell it, you can treat it?

"... The new study, published in Science, shows that this inflammation can lead to cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis in mice. The researchers reversed this inflammation by blocking immune cells called macrophages from sensing a compound called octanal. ...
Everyone has a small amount of octanal in their blood, but LJI scientists have shown that people with markers of cardiovascular disease, such as high LDL cholesterol, also have higher levels of octanal. This extra octanal can end up in blood due to diet or a phenomenon in cells called oxidative stress. ..."

"... vascular macrophages involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis express multiple subtypes of olfactory receptors. ..."

From the abstract:

"Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the artery walls and involves immune cells such as macrophages. Olfactory receptors (OLFRs) are G protein–coupled chemoreceptors that have a central role in detecting odorants and the sense of smell. We found that mouse vascular macrophages express the olfactory receptor Olfr2 and all associated trafficking and signaling molecules. Olfr2 detects the compound octanal, which activates the NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and induces interleukin-1β secretion in human and mouse macrophages. We found that human and mouse blood plasma contains octanal, a product of lipid peroxidation, at concentrations sufficient to activate Olfr2 and the human ortholog olfactory receptor 6A2 (OR6A2). Boosting octanal levels exacerbated atherosclerosis, whereas genetic targeting of Olfr2 in mice significantly reduced atherosclerotic plaques. Our findings suggest that inhibiting OR6A2 may provide a promising strategy to prevent and treat atherosclerosis."

» Macrophages in the artery wall ‘smell’ their surroundings Immune cells can sniff out octanal in blood, triggering dangerous inflammation and atherosclerosis

Olfactory receptor 2 in vascular macrophages drives atherosclerosis by NLRP3-dependent IL-1 production