- Breast Implants Play a Crucial Role in Innovative Procedure to Save Life of Man with Severe Lung Damage
- Are Some Kids Genetically Predisposed to Poor Sleep? Study Offers Clues
- What Orange Juice Futures Tell Us about the State of Our World
- Disney is in Trouble. Bob Iger Has 5 Big Problems to Solve
- The Rise of Brain-reading Technology
- How AI Could Lead to a Better Understanding of the Brain
Breast Implants Play a Crucial Role in Innovative Procedure to Save Life of Man with Severe Lung Damage
乳房植體在挽救嚴重肺損傷患者生命的創新手術中發揮著至關重要的作用
Health
When 34-year-old Davey Bauer’s lungs stopped working, doctors turned to an unusual tool to help keep him alive: large breast implants. Experts say it was an innovative solution to give Bauer’s body time to fight off a nasty infection so it could accept a lifesaving double lung transplant. It may be the first instance of a potential transplant practice that could save people with infectious disease who probably would not have survived just years ago. Bauer’s case started in April, when he felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. The avid snow- and skateboarder had always been healthy. He kept in good shape and maintained a healthy weight working in landscaping in De Soto, Missouri. But he had long been a smoker, starting a pack-a-day cigarette habit when he was 21. He switched to vaping in 2014. “I thought it was the healthier alternative,” Bauer said. ”But, in all honesty, I found it more addicting than cigarettes.” When people smoke or vape, it can leave lung tissue inflamed, making the organ more susceptible to infection. Additionally, Bauer said, he hadn’t gotten a flu shot, and it was still flu season.
--from CNN
當 34 歲的戴維·鮑爾 (Davey Bauer) 的肺部無法正常作用時，醫生轉向一種不尋常的工具來幫助他維持生命：大型乳房植體。 專家表示，這是一種創新的解決方案，可以讓Bauer的身體有足夠時間抵抗嚴重的感染，進而之後接受挽救生命的雙肺移植手術。 這可能是潛在移植手術的第一個實例，可以拯救幾年前可能無法存活的傳染病患者。 Bauer這樣的助況始於四月份，當時他感覺無法呼吸。 這位狂熱的滑雪和滑板愛好者一直都很健康。 他在De Soto, Missouri從事園林綠化工作，並保持著良好的體形和健康的體重。 但他長期以來一直是煙民，21 歲時就養成了每天一包煙的習慣。2014 年，他開始使用電子煙。 「我以為這是更健康的選擇，」Bauer說。 “但是，說實話，我發現它比香煙更容易上癮。” 當人們吸菸或電子煙時，會使肺組織發炎，使器官更容易受到感染。 此外，Bauer說，他沒有注射流感疫苗，現在仍然是流感季節。
-- 摘錄翻譯自 CNN
Are Some Kids Genetically Predisposed to Poor Sleep? Study Offers Clues
孩子有睡眠不好的遺傳傾向嗎？ 研究提供線索
Health
Establishing healthy bedtime habits for your child early on is vital if at least one parent has chronic sleep difficulties, suggests new research on genetics and children’s sleep disorders. A genetic predisposition for sleep problems such as insomnia has been found repeatedly in studies of adults, leaving scientists wondering whether the same phenomenon occurs among children. It does, say experts behind the first study providing evidence that genetic susceptibility to being a “poor sleeper” can also be found early in life. Children genetically predisposed to insomnia had more insomnia-related sleep issues such as difficulty falling asleep or frequently waking up during the night, according to the study published Wednesday in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The findings may “be surprising for most people,” said senior author Dr. Eus van Someren, head of the department of sleep and cognition at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam, via email. “We tend to think that insomnia develops later in life, but here we clearly show that the earliest signs of the risk of insomnia in adulthood are present already in early childhood.” A genetic predisposition to sleep issues is only part of the puzzle, however, so maintaining your child’s sleep hygiene can still make a difference, experts said.
--from CNN
關於遺傳學和兒童睡眠障礙的新研究表明，如果至少一位父母患有慢性睡眠困難，那麼儘早為孩子建立健康的就寢習慣至關重要。 在成年人的研究中已經多次發現失眠等睡眠問題的遺傳傾向，這讓科學家想知道同樣的現像是否也發生在兒童身上。 在這首次研究的專家表示的確如此，該研究提供的證據表明，「睡眠品質差」的遺傳易感性也可以在人生早期階段發現。 根據週三發表在《兒童心理學和精神病學雜誌》上的這項研究，有失眠遺傳傾向的兒童有更多與失眠相關的睡眠問題，例如入睡困難或經常在夜間醒來。 阿姆斯特丹荷蘭神經科學研究所睡眠和認知系主任、資深作者尤斯·範·薩默倫 (Eus van Someren) 博士透過電子郵件表示，這些發現可能「讓大多數人感到驚訝」。 “我們傾向於認為失眠是在以後的生活中出現的，但在這裡我們清楚地表明，成年期失眠風險的最早跡像已經出現在兒童早期。” 然而，專家表示，睡眠問題的遺傳傾向只是問題的一部分，因此保持孩子的睡眠衛生仍然可以對小孩發揮正向作用。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
What Orange Juice Futures Tell Us about the State of Our World
從橙汁的發展告訴我們世界的現狀
Culture
The quickly changing prices of wheat, oil and even orange juice and cocoa futures contracts are telling a story about the real-life impact of extreme weather and how geopolitical turmoil affects some of the staples of our society. Cocoa and orange juice futures have hit multi-decade highs as climate change and harsh weather takes their toll on crops in warmer climates. Meanwhile, the prices of oil and wheat, two commodities that soared higher on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, are normalizing even as war rages in the Middle East. That doesn’t necessarily mean that consumer prices are changing. At least not yet. While the prices of commodities can impact the prices of goods at the stores and gas at the pump, they take time to trickle down the supply chain. Sometimes companies will keep final prices low even as raw materials rise to keep people buying their goods. That can mean cutting costs elsewhere or squeezing profit margins.
-- from CNN
小麥、石油甚至橙汁和可可期貨合約價格的快速變化，正在闡明極端天氣對現實生活的影響以及地緣政治動盪如何影響我們社會的一些主要產品。 隨著氣候變遷和惡劣天氣對氣候溫暖地區的農作物造成影響，可可和橙汁期貨已創下數十年來的新高。 與此同時，石油和小麥這兩種大宗商品的價格在去年俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭後飆升，儘管中東戰爭正酣，但它們的價格正在趨於正常化。 這並不一定意味著消費者價格正在改變， 至少現在還沒有。 雖然商品價格會影響商店的商品價格和加油站的汽油價格，但它們需要時間才能反映到供應鏈中。 有時，即使原物料價格上漲，公司也會將最終價格保持在較低水平，以吸引人們購買他們的商品。 這可能意味著削減其他地方的成本或擠壓利潤率。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Disney is in Trouble. Bob Iger Has 5 Big Problems to Solve
Disney有麻煩了Bob Iger有 5 個大問題需要解決
Culture
Last month, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary – and there was much to commemorate. Over the last century, the company has grown into one of the largest publicly traded media and entertainment companies in the world, with a market cap of more than $150 billion. But the future of the House of Mouse hangs in the balance as the company contends with a still-unprofitable streaming business, an ongoing actors strike, declining attendance at Disney World Resort in central Florida, legal battles with Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and uncertainty surrounding a CEO succession plan. Disney’s stock, at about $84 per share, is at its lowest level in nearly ten years. It is down 8% since CEO Bob Iger returned as CEO last November, and it’s down 3% since the start of the year. Compare that to some of Disney’s rivals: Comcast’s stock is up more than 18% this year, and Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, is up 22%. Like its competitors, Disney faces an uncertain media environment as viewers increasingly tune out linear TV in favor of entertainment sources Big Media doesn’t control, including TikTok and YouTube. But Disney has been hit particularly hard by some big misses at the box office and questions about how it will replace its fading cash cow, ESPN, among other issues.
--from CNN
上個月，迪士尼公司慶祝了成立 100 週年，有很多值得紀念的事情。 自上個世紀以來，該公司已發展成為全球最大的上市媒體和娛樂公司之一，市值超過 1500 億美元。 但House of Mouse 的未來仍懸而未決，因為該公司面臨著仍然不盈利的串流媒體業務、演員持續罷工、佛羅里達州中部迪士尼世界度假區的遊客人數下降、與共和黨總統候選人佛羅達達州州長Ron DeSantis的法律糾紛。以及執行長繼任計畫的不確定性。 迪士尼股價約為每股 84 美元，處於近十年來的最低水平。 自去年 11 月執行長鮑勃艾格 (Bob Iger) 重新擔任執行長以來，該數字已下降 8%，自今年年初以來已下降 3%。 與迪士尼的一些競爭對手相比：Comcast的股價今年上漲了 18% 以上，而擁有 CNN 的Warner Bros. Discovery頻道則上漲了 22%。 與競爭對手一樣，迪士尼也面臨不確定的媒體環境，因為觀眾越來越放棄線性電視 (liner TV)，轉而觀看大媒體無法控制的娛樂來源，包括 TikTok 和 YouTube。 但迪士尼受到的打擊尤其嚴重，包括票房的一些重大失誤以及如何取代日漸衰落的搖錢樹 ESPN 等議題。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
The Rise of Brain-reading Technology
讀「腦」術的興起
Sciences
In a laboratory in San Francisco, California, a woman named Ann sits in front of a huge screen. On it is an avatar created to look like her. Thanks to a brain–computer interface (BCI), when Ann thinks of talking, the avatar speaks for her — and in her own voice, too. In 2005, a brainstem stroke left Ann almost completely paralysed and unable to speak. Last year, neurosurgeon Edward Chang, at the University of California, San Francisco, placed a grid of more than 250 electrodes on the surface of Ann’s brain, on top of the regions that once controlled her body, face and larynx. As Ann imagined speaking certain words, researchers recorded her neural activity. Then, using machine learning, they established the activity patterns corresponding to each word and to the facial movements Ann would, if she could, use to vocalize them. The system can convert speech to text at 78 words per minute: a huge improvement on previous BCI efforts and now approaching the 150 words per minute considered average for regular speech. Compared with two years ago, Chang says, “it’s like night and day”.
--from Nature
在加州舊金山的一個實驗室裡，一位名叫Ann的女士坐在一個巨大的螢幕前。 上面有一個看起來像她的頭像。 借助腦機介面 (brain-computer interface, BCI)，當 Ann 想要說話時，化身會為她說話，而且也用她自己的聲音。 2005年，Ann因腦幹中風幾乎完全癱瘓，無法說話。 去年，舊金山加州大學的神經外科醫生愛德華·張（Edward Chang）在安的大腦表面放置了一個由 250 多個電極組成的網格，位於曾經控制她的身體、面部和喉部的區域的頂部。 當Ann想像說出某些單字時，研究人員記錄了她的神經活動。 然後，利用機器學習，他們建立了與每個單字以及安（如果可以的話）用來發聲的臉部動作相對應的活動模式。 該系統可以以每分鐘 78 個單字的速度將語音轉換為文字：比之前的 BCI 工作有了巨大進步，現在接近常規語音的平均每分鐘 150 個單字。 Chang說，與兩年前相比，「就像白天和黑夜一樣」有明顯差距。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature
How AI Could Lead to a Better Understanding of the Brain
人工智慧如何讓我們更好地理解大腦
Sciences
Can a computer be programmed to simulate a brain? It’s a question mathematicians, theoreticians and experimentalists have long been asking — whether spurred by a desire to create artificial intelligence (AI) or by the idea that a complex system such as the brain can be understood only when mathematics or a computer can reproduce its behaviour. To try to answer it, investigators have been developing simplified models of brain neural networks since the 1940s. In fact, today’s explosion in machine learning can be traced back to early work inspired by biological systems. However, the fruits of these efforts are now enabling investigators to ask a slightly different question: could machine learning be used to build computational models that simulate the activity of brains? At the heart of these developments is a growing body of data on brains. Starting in the 1970s, but more intensively since the mid-2000s, neuroscientists have been producing connectomes — maps of the connectivity and morphology of neurons that capture a static representation of a brain at a particular moment. Alongside such advances have been improvements in researchers’ abilities to make functional recordings, which measure neural activity over time at the resolution of a single cell. Meanwhile the field of transcriptomics is enabling investigators to measure the gene activity in a tissue sample, and even to map when and where that activity is occurring.
--from Nature
電腦可以程式模擬大腦嗎？ 這是數學家、理論家和實驗學家長期以來一直在問的一個問題—無論是出於創造人工智慧(AI) 的願望，還是因為只有當數學或電腦能夠重現其行為時，來理解像大腦這樣的複雜系統。為了嘗試回答這個問題，研究人員自 1940 年代以來一直在開發大腦神經網路的簡化模型。 事實上，當今機器學習的爆炸性增長，可以追溯到早期受到生物系統啟發的工作。 然而，這些努力的成果現在使研究人員能夠提出一個稍微不同的問題：機器學習是否可以用來建立模擬大腦活動的計算模型？ 這些發展的核心是越來越多的大腦數據。 從 1970 年代開始，神經科學家一直在製作連接體學，即神經元連接和形態圖，捕捉大腦在特定時刻的靜態表示，但自 2000 年代中期以來，這種研究更加深入。 除了這些進步之外，研究人員進行功能記錄的能力也得到了提高，這種記錄可以精準到以單一細胞測量神經活動隨時間的變化。 同時，轉錄體學領域使研究人員能夠測量組織樣本中的基因活性，甚至繪製出該活動發生的時間和地點。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature