- WHO Keeping Closer Watch on BA.2.86 Strain as a Dearth of Data Makes Predictions Difficult
- One Identical Twin Went Vegan While the Other didn’t. See What Happened
- The National Zoo’s Panda Program is Ending after more than 50 Years as China Looks elsewhere
- More than 200 Mobsters Jailed in One of Italy’s Biggest Mafia Trials
- Tiny Living Robots Made from Human Cells Surprise Scientists
- ChatGPT One Year on: Who is Using it, How and Why?
WHO Keeping Closer Watch on BA.2.86 Strain as a Dearth of Data Makes Predictions Difficult
世衛組織密切關注 BA.2.86 菌株，因為數據缺乏導致預測困難
Health
The World Health Organization has notched up the status of the coronavirus strain BA.2.86 and its offshoots, naming it a “variant of interest,” although the organization says the current risk from this family of viruses appears to be low. Previously, the organization had been following this lineage as a “variant under monitoring.” WHO also has XBB.1.5, XBB.1.6 and EG.5 classified as variants of interest. There are no current variants of concern, the highest designation. BA.2.86 first turned up in the US in August and is now the third most common variant, causing an estimated 1 in 11 new cases of Covid-19 here, according to the latest update of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s variant tracker. The prevalence appears to have tripled in the past two weeks, although a variant’s growth is often overestimated in the first few weeks after it shows up in the CDC’s monitoring. But if BA.2.86 doesn’t appear to be such big deal, why would WHO upgrade it?
--from CNN
世界衛生組織已經升級了冠狀病毒株 BA.2.86 及其相關分支地位，將其命名為“感興趣的變種”，儘管該組織表示，目前該病毒家族的風險似乎很低。 此前，該組織一直將這一血統視為「受監控的變體」。 WHO 也將 XBB.1.5、XBB.1.6 和 EG.5 列為感興趣的變體。 目前沒有最高指定的受關注的變體，。 根據美國疾病管制與預防中心變異追蹤器的最新更新，BA.2.86 於8 月首次在美國出現，目前是第三大常見變異，估計在美國每11 例新發Covid-19 病例中就有1 例由BA.2.86 引起。 過去兩週，盛行率似乎增加了三倍，儘管變種在疾病預防控制中心監測後的最初幾週內其增長速度往往被高估。 但如果 BA.2.86 看起來沒什麼大不了的，那麼 WHO 為什麼要升級它？
-- 摘錄翻譯自 CNN
One Identical Twin Went Vegan While the Other didn’t. See What Happened
同卵雙胞胎中一個成為素食主義者，而另一個則沒有。 看看發生了什麼
Health
Healthy twins who ate a vegan diet for eight weeks had lower “bad” low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol, better blood sugar levels, and greater weight loss than siblings who ate a diet of meat and vegetables, a new study found. “There was a 10% to 15% drop in LDL cholesterol, a 25% drop in insulin, and a 3% drop in body weight in just eight weeks, all by eating real food without animal products,” said lead study author Christopher Gardner, a research professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center in Palo Alto, California. A vegan diet differs from a vegetarian diet in that it eliminates not only animal flesh but dairy, eggs or any other ingredient derived from animals. A strictly plant-based diet can be higher in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients compared with other dietary patterns, said Gardner, who is also the director of the Nutrition Studies Research Group at Stanford. “The results of this study confirm the benefit of current dietary guidance to reduce cardiovascular disease risk,” Alice Lichtenstein, director and senior scientist at Tufts University’s Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, told CNN in an email. She was not involved in the study.
--from CNN
一項新的研究發現，與吃肉和蔬菜的兄弟姐妹相比，吃純素飲食八週的健康雙胞胎的「壞」低密度脂蛋白（LDL）、膽固醇更低，血糖水平更好，體重減輕幅度更大。 主要研究作者加州帕洛阿爾托斯坦福預防研究中心的醫學研究教授Christopher Gardner 表示：「在短短八週內，LDL 膽固醇下降了10% 至15%，胰島素下降了25%，體重下降了3%，這一切都是透過食用不含動物產品的純天然食物實現的。」 純素飲食與素食飲食的不同之處在於，它不僅不吃動物肉，也不吃乳製品、雞蛋或任何其他來自動物的成分。 史丹佛大學營養研究小組主任Gardner說，與其他飲食模式相比，嚴格以植物為基礎的飲食可以含有更高的纖維、維生素、礦物質和植物營養素。 塔夫茨大學心血管營養實驗室主任兼高級科學家Alice Lichtenstein在一封電子郵件中告訴美國有線電視新聞網：「這項研究的結果證實了當前飲食指導對於降低心血管疾病風險的益處。” 她沒有參與這項研究。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
The National Zoo’s Panda Program is Ending after more than 50 Years as China Looks elsewhere
隨著中國把目光投向別處，國家動物園的大熊貓計畫在50多年後結束
Culture
Three giant pandas left their enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC, and departed by plane back to China on Wednesday, marking the end of more than 50 years of Chinese pandas being housed at the zoo. The black and white bears – Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their youngest cub, Xiao Qi Ji – were transported from the zoo in crates and loaded onto a FedEx aircraft at Dulles International Airport, taking off around 1 p.m. The Smithsonian National Zoo was the first US zoo to showcase pandas as part of what’s been called “panda diplomacy.” Zoo staff call it a “hiatus” in their five-decade wildly popular panda program; Chinese officials have yet to say whether it will continue. And with relations between the two superpowers in a constant state of flux, these national treasures may be finding themselves part of the extension of the diplomatic chaos that has taken over the relationship between the two countries. The pandas’ departure from the National Zoo leaves Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas from China, and not for much longer. The contracts for Atlanta’s four bears expire next year, with no word on an extension.
-- from CNN
週三，三隻大熊貓離開華盛頓特區史密森尼國家動物園的圍欄，乘飛機返回中國，標誌著中國大熊貓在該動物園飼養50多年的結束。 黑白熊——Tian Tian, Mei Xiang和它們最小的幼崽Xiao Qi Ji——被裝在板條箱中從動物園運出，裝上杜勒斯國際機場的聯邦快遞飛機，於下午 1 點左右起飛。 史密森尼國家動物園是美國第一個展示大熊貓的動物園，這是所謂「熊貓外交」的一部分。 動物園工作人員稱其為他們五十年來廣受歡迎的大熊貓計畫的「中止期」； 中國官員尚未表示是否會繼續。 隨著兩個超級大國之間的關係不斷變化，這些國寶可能會發現自己成為影響兩國關係的外交混亂的延伸的一部分。 大熊貓離開國家動物園後，亞特蘭大動物園成為美國唯一擁有來自中國的大熊貓的動物園，而且不會持續太久。 亞特蘭大四隻熊的合約明年到期，目前還沒有續約的消息。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
More than 200 Mobsters Jailed in One of Italy’s Biggest Mafia Trials
義大利最大的黑手黨審判之一 200 多名黑幫分子被判入獄
Culture
An Italian court has sentenced more than 200 crime gang members to a total of 2,200 years in prison, following the country’s largest mafia trial in three decades. During the trial, which began in January 2021 and took place in a purpose-built bunker in the southern Italian town of Lamezia Terme, more than 400 lawyers represented the defendants and some 900 witnesses provided testimony. A panel of three judges, who had been deliberating the fate of the 338 accused since the trial ended on October 16, delivered their verdict Monday. It took the court one hour and 40 minutes to hand down its rulings, Italian news outlet Ansa reported. Some 207 mobsters were jailed and more than 100 were acquitted. The total jail time includes five life sentences and three 30-year sentences. Among those tried were 42 women – a record for a mafia trial – of whom 39 were convicted. Many of the defendants had colorful nicknames – including “The Wolf,” “Fatso,” “Sweetie” and “Lamb Thigh” – that were caught on some 24,000 wiretaps, according to the testimonies presented during the trial.
--from CNN
義大利一家法院在該國三十年來最大規模的黑手黨審判之後，判處 200 多名犯罪團夥成員總計 2,200 年監禁。 審判於 2021 年 1 月開始，在義大利南部小鎮拉默齊亞泰爾梅的一個專門建造的掩體中進行，期間有 400 多名律師代表被告，約 900 名證人提供了證詞。 自 10 月 16 日審判結束以來，由三名法官組成的小組一直在審議 338 名被告的命運，並於週一做出了裁決。 根據義大利新聞媒體 Ansa 報道，法院花了 1 小時 40 分鐘才做出裁決。 大約 207 名暴徒被監禁，100 多人被無罪釋放。 總監禁時間包括 5 名無期徒刑和 3 名 30 年徒刑。 受審者中有 42 名女性，創下了黑手黨審判的記錄，其中 39 人被定罪。 根據審判期間提供的證詞，許多被告都有豐富多彩的綽號，包括“狼”、“胖子”、“甜心”和“羊腿”，這些綽號被大約 24,000 次竊聽發現。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
Tiny Living Robots Made from Human Cells Surprise Scientists
由人體細胞製成的微型活機器人讓科學家大吃一驚
Sciences
Scientists have created tiny living robots from human cells that can move around in a lab dish and may one day be able to help heal wounds or damaged tissue, according to a new study. A team at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have dubbed these creations anthrobots. The research builds on earlier work from some of the same scientists, who made the first living robots, or xenobots, from stem cells sourced from embryos of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). “Some people thought that the features of the xenobots relied a lot on the fact that they are embryonic and amphibian,” said study author Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush professor of biology at Tufts’ School of Arts & Sciences. “I don’t think this has anything to do with being an embryo. This has nothing to do with being a frog. I think this is a much more general property of living things,” he said. “We don’t realize all the competencies that our own body cells have.” While alive, the anthrobots were not full-fledged organisms because they didn’t have a full life cycle, Levin said.
--from CNN
一項新的研究表明，科學家們用人類細胞創造了微型活體機器人，它們可以在實驗室培養皿中移動，有一天可能能夠幫助治癒傷口或受損組織。 Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss研究所的團隊將這些創造物稱為「人類機器人」。 這項研究建立在一些科學家的早期工作基礎上，他們利用非洲爪蛙（Xenopus laevis）胚胎幹細胞製造了第一批活體機器人（xenobots）。 「有些人認為異種機器人的特徵在很大程度上取決於它們是胚胎和兩棲動物，」研究作者、Tufts University藝術與科學學院Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush說。 「我不認為這與胚胎有什麼關係。 這與青蛙的身份無關。 我認為這是生物的一個更普遍的屬性，」他說。 “我們沒有意識到我們自己的身體細胞所具有的所有能力。” Levinh說，人類機器人在活著的時候並不是成熟的有機體，因為它們沒有完整的生命週期。
--摘錄翻譯自CNN
ChatGPT One Year on: Who is Using it, How and Why?
ChatGPT 一週年：誰在使用它、如何使用以及為什麼？
Sciences
There is no denying the technical accomplishments of the generative language and image models that have emerged in artificial intelligence (AI). In my case, I use ChatGPT mostly to help rewrite content in a different style — for example, to make a scientific abstract more suitable for a general audience, or to summarize my research for a financial officer. I’ve also used it to suggest introductory language at the start of an article, e-mail or paper. I do have concerns about these generative AI tools being used for content creation, whether by students, academics, companies or the public. Generative models are known, for example, to ‘hallucinate’ content (that is, give incorrect or fictional outputs). More pressingly, text and image generation are prone to societal biases that cannot be easily fixed. In health care, this was illustrated by Tessa, a rule-based chatbot designed to help people with eating disorders, run by a US non-profit organization. After it was augmented with generative AI, the now-suspended bot gave detrimental advice. In some US hospitals, generative models are being used to manage and generate portions of electronic medical records. However, the large language models (LLMs) that underpin these systems are not giving medical advice and so do not require clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration. This means that it’s effectively up to the hospitals to ensure that LLM use is fair and accurate. This is a huge concern.
--from Nature
不可否認，生成語言和圖像模型的技術成就成就人工智慧（AI）。 就我而言，我使用 ChatGPT 主要是為了幫助以不同的風格重寫內容 - 例如，使科學摘要更適合一般民眾，或為財務官員總結我的研究。 我還用它來 建議文章、電子郵件或論文開頭的介紹語言。我確實擔心這些生成式人工智慧工具被用於內容創建，無論是學生、學者、公司還是公眾。 例如，眾所周知，生成模型會「產生幻覺」內容（即給出不正確或虛構的輸出）。 更迫切的是，文字和圖像生成容易產生無法輕易修復的社會偏見。 在醫療保健領域，Tessa 就體現了這一點，Tessa 是一個基於規則的聊天機器人，旨在幫助患有飲食失調的人，由美國非營利組織運作。 在利用生成式人工智慧增強後，這個現已被暫停的機器人給出了有害的建議。 在美國的一些醫院，生成模型被用來管理和產生部分電子病歷。 然而，支撐這些系統的大型語言模型（LLM）並未提供醫療建議，因此不需要美國食品藥物管理局的許可。 這意味著醫院實際上有責任確保LLL公平和準確地被使用，然而這是一個巨大的擔憂。
--摘錄翻譯自Nature