Lifeboat Foundation

4. Embrace Decentralized Solutions: Start exploring decentralized technologies like blockchain and decentralized storage solutions. Understand how they can empower you as the custodian of your data by reducing reliance on third-party intermediaries. Research and adopt decentralized platforms that align with your data ownership goals.

5. Stay Informed About Tokenization: Familiarize yourself with the concept of tokenization and how it can impact data ownership. Learn about the potential benefits and risks of tokenizing your data, and evaluate whether it aligns with your objectives. Stay updated on emerging tokenization platforms or data marketplaces that offer opportunities to securely monetize or share your data.

The road to personal data ownership is a bold, significant step forward, but it represents a necessary departure from the status quo. As we move toward a future powered by data-driven insights, the empowerment of individuals as the gatekeepers of their digital selves will become increasingly important to balance the scales between privacy and progress.

Brushing twice a day keeps the dentist away—but can we improve on the toothpaste we use to maintain clean teeth, preventing medical issues that spiral from poor dental health? Most toothpastes use fluoride, a powerful tool for oral hygiene. However, fluoride can pose health problems in some cases, especially for children who consume too much fluoride by swallowing most of their toothpaste: children normally use only a tiny dose of toothpaste to avoid these problems, but that reduces toothbrushing efficacy.

In the search for alternatives, a team of international scientists and Polish clinicians have identified a hydroxyapatite toothpaste that works just as well as fluoride toothpaste to protect against cavities.

“Hydroxyapatite is a safe and effective alternative to fluoride in caries prevention for daily use,” said Professor Elzbieta Paszynska of the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, co-principal investigator and corresponding author of the study published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Gum disease and tooth loss are linked to shrinkage of the hippocampus, an area of the brain crucial for memory. The corresponding study was published in Neurology.

Previous studies suggest that tooth loss and periodontitis may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease. However, recent studies have not found a significant link between tooth loss and periodontitis, and hippocampal atrophy. In the current study, researchers sought to understand more about how oral health affects hippocampal volume-and, thus, memory. To do so, they examined the relationship between number of teeth present and hippocampal atrophy in light of periodontitis severity among middle-aged and older adults.

For the study, the researchers included 172 people with an average age of 67 years old who did not have cognitive decline. At the start of the study, each underwent dental exams and memory tests. They also underwent MRI brain scans at the beginning of the study and four years later to assess their hippocampal volume.

With millions of patients under its belt, digital health startup K Health is looking to scale its artificial intelligence technology in hospitals, starting with new strategic investor Cedars-Sinai.

The problem with turning to the internet.

With a new $59 million investment, digital health startup K Health is looking to scale its AI technology in hospitals, starting with new strategic investor Cedars-Sinai.

Continue reading “This AI Chatbot Has Helped Doctors Treat 3 Million People–And May Be Coming To A Hospital Near You” »

Unveiling the memory-enhancing power of isometric handgrip exercise.

Advances in our knowledge of the immune system are uncovering connections between and many different diseases.

Understanding how the immune system is activated and regulated is essential for anyone working to develop treatments for autoimmunity, chronic, and allergy, or to apply these treatments in the clinic.

This online course offers a unique way for professionals to learn from leading Harvard Medical School faculty about cutting-edge therapies to treat chronic and related diseases.

Summary: A new study suggests that ChatGPT’s healthcare-related responses are hard to distinguish from those provided by human healthcare providers.

The study, involving 392 participants, presented a mix of responses from both ChatGPT and humans, finding participants correctly identified the chatbot and provider responses with similar accuracy.

However, the level of trust varied based on the complexity of the health-related task, with administrative tasks and preventive care being more trusted than diagnostic and treatment advice.

To show the capability of the OrganoidChip in enabling higher-resolution imaging, we used confocal microscopy for several organoids immobilized on the chip. Representative images show improved optical segmentation and the ability to resolve single cells within an organoid (Fig. 4 d). The co-localized EthD-1-and Hoechst-stained nuclei are resolvable and can potentially be used to increase the accuracy of viability measurements. Future implementation of 3D-segmentation using AI-assisted algorithms in the analysis pipeline can provide more accurate estimations of cellular viability in larger screens.

Next, we measured the effect of DOX treatment on the beating kinetics of cardiac organoids. To do this, we relied on calcium fluorescence imaging, as it has been shown to be a good approximation of the cardiomyocytes’ action potentials³². Calcium imaging proved beneficial for beating and contraction parameters since smaller beating portions cannot necessarily be detected from brightfield images, particularly when organoids have been compromised as a result of drug treatment.

When assessing drug effects, we observed some degree of variability in the spontaneous contractile behaviour and beating kinetics between cardiac organoids. Such variability often skews any averaged parameter value across organoids and does not reflect the effect of the treatment conditions on organoid health. To address this challenge, we tracked each individual organoid’s beating off-and on-chip. The drug-induced functionality results are therefore reported as averages of fractional changes of each individual organoid’s beating kinetics parameters, measured at 48 h post-treatment, on both the chamber slide and on the chip, relative to its pre-treatment value (Eq. 3).

Prior to school getting under way is an ideal time to review your child’s needs for coping with allergies and asthma.