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Woman sues over allegations that robotic device caused burns to her small intestine during surgery

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A woman who was undergoing surgery for colon cancer has been the victim of a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida this week. The lawsuit alleges that a robotic device caused damage to Sandra Sulzer’s small intestine, which led to her death. This happened after she experienced abdominal pain and fever following the surgery in September 2021. The extra procedures to close her lacerations were not enough to save her life, as she died in February 2022 due to small bowel injuries.

Sandra’s husband, Harvey Salzer, is seeking damages from Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of the device. The lawsuit claims that the company knew about the insulation problems in the robot that could cause internal organ burns, and yet failed to inform the users about the risk nor to disclose it to the public. It also asserts that Intuitive Surgical doesn’t properly train surgeons who use the device, the da Vinci, and that hospitals lack experience with robotic surgery.

According to the complaint, Intuitive has received thousands of reports of da Vinci-related injuries and defects, but “systematically underreports” injuries to the Food and Drug Administration. The company also stated in a 2014 Financial Report that it was a defendant in approximately 93 lawsuits at the time.

Many doctors support robotic surgery as a safe method, but there are discussions about whether it is more effective than traditional surgery. The technology aims to make procedures precise and less invasive, potentially leading to faster, less painful recovery.

Da Vinci Xi Surgical System.Provided by: Intuitive

A 2018 NBC News analysis revealed over 20,000 da Vinci-related adverse events over the past 10 years, as per reports from the FDA’s MAUDE database. More than a dozen patients spoke to NBC News about burns or injuries during procedures using da Vinci.

Intuitive defended the device’s safety, referring to scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness in over 15,000 studies.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Research: How small structures in the wax coating of blue-pigmented fruit contribute to its blue color

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It is perhaps surprising that fruits with blue pigments are less common, since many visually guided fruit eaters have eyes highly adapted to blue sensitivity. However, some fruits do not contain blue pigment. In a new study, scientists from the University of Bristol and elsewhere investigated dark fruits with wax blooms, such as blueberries, plums and juniper cones, and found that structural color mechanisms are involved in their appearance. Did.

The structural color of the wax bloom gives the fruit a blue appearance across a wide range of accessions. (A) Undamaged highbush blueberries growing on the plant. (B) Blueberry (i) unmodified wax, (ii) mechanical wax removal, (iii) chloroform wax removal, (iv) surface application of (approximately) index-matched oil, (v) surface application of water; (vi) peeling off the outer skin to expose the pulp; (vii) the underside of the peeled skin; (C) Transmission light microscopy of a blueberry peel peeled from the inner edge showing red pigmentation of epidermal cells. Scale bar – 200 μm. (D) (i and ii) Plum selection (Plum) Fruits with different cell pigmentation, (i) with wax intact and (ii) with wax removed.Image credit: Middleton other., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk4219.

“You can't 'extract' the blue color from blueberries by crushing them, because blueberries are not present in the highly pigmented juice that can be squeezed from the fruit,” said lead author Dr Rocks Middleton, a researcher at the University of Bristol.

“That's why I knew there had to be something strange about this color.”

“So we removed the wax and recrystallized it on the card. In doing so, we were able to create a completely new blue UV coating.”

This ultra-thin colorant is about 2 microns thick, has a low reflectance, but looks blue and reflects UV well, potentially paving the way for new colorant methods.

“This shows that nature has evolved to use a very neat trick: an extremely thin layer of a vital colorant,” Dr Middleton said.

Most plants are covered with a thin layer of wax, which has multiple functions, many of which are still unknown to scientists.

They know that it is highly effective as a hydrophobic, self-cleaning coating, but only now have they realized how important this structure is for visible coloration.

Now Dr. Middleton and colleagues plan to look at easier ways to recreate and apply the coating.

This could lead to the development of more sustainable, biocompatible, and even edible UV- and blue-reflecting paints.

Additionally, these coatings may have multiple functions similar to natural biological coatings that protect plants.

“It was really interesting to discover that there was an unknown coloration mechanism just beneath the surface of the popular fruit that we grow and eat all the time,” Dr Middleton said.

“It was even more exciting to be able to recreate that color by taking wax and creating a new blue coating that no one had ever seen before.”

“Our dream is to incorporate all the functionality of this natural wax into a man-made material.”

of result It was published in the magazine scientific progress.

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Rocks Middleton other. 2024. Self-organized disordered structural colors from fruit wax blooms. scientific progress 10(6); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk4219

Source: www.sci.news

Confining Atoms in a Small Tube Creates a Strange “Primary Gas”

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A single atom of krypton trapped in a Buckminsterfullerene cage

University of Nottingham

The krypton atoms become stuck in a “traffic jam” inside the carbon nanotube, unable to pass through each other, allowing scientists to more easily observe how the krypton atoms interact. Researchers hope that this “primary energetic body” can shed light on fundamental physical forces.

Andrey Klobistov and his colleagues at the University of Nottingham, UK, have discovered that the narrow space restricts movement and makes it easier to observe the inside of carbon nanotubes, which are just 1.5 nanometers thick (one-half millionth the width of a human hair). He spent years studying chemical reactions. They have now developed a way to do the same thing with atoms of the rare gas krypton, creating a so-called one-dimensional gas.

The researchers used a buckminsterfullerene molecule, a spherical cage made of 60 carbon atoms, with a krypton atom trapped inside. These molecules are sucked into the carbon nanotube by van der Waals forces, weak attractive forces caused by fluctuations in the electron cloud surrounding the atomic nucleus. Once filled, the tube is heated to 1200 °C and the cage is destroyed. The carbon atoms are absorbed into the nanotube, leaving behind a string of krypton atoms.

A single atom of krypton confined in a Buckminsterfullerene cage inside a nanotube, observed with an electron microscope

University of Nottingham

Klovistov said the result is like a “traffic jam” in which atoms can be observed slowly, rather than flying around at up to 400 meters per second, as they often do in three-dimensional gases. The group used a transmission electron microscope to image atoms, allowing them to accurately measure the distances between them.

“They fundamentally change their behavior,” Klovistov said. “This is a very interesting system. We can track their trajectories, how they move and how they interact. This is a great toy to play with with noble gases. “We can gain a fundamental understanding of the behavior of atoms under extreme confinement.”

Other researchers have already observed that krypton atoms form pairs held together by van der Waals forces. This phenomenon is difficult to observe in unconstrained atoms and can also occur within nanotubes. Klobistov said future experiments will be “full of surprises.”

Future research will investigate how temperature affects primary gas. If you reduce the temperature of a gas in three-dimensional space, it will condense into a liquid and then solidify, but there is no guarantee that the same rules will apply in his one dimension.

“Maybe there's no such thing as a 1D liquid, it's just a 1D solid. It's a bit of a voyage of discovery,” says Klobistov.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Paleontologists identify Nanotyrannus as a distinct and small tyrannosaurus species

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Tyrannosaurus is one of the most intensively studied and best known dinosaurs. Nevertheless, their relationship and system are highly controversial. The ongoing discussion is Nanotyrannus lansensisinterpreted as either a separate genus of small-bodied tyrannosaurs, or a juvenile tyrannosaurus. tyrannosaurus rex. In a new study, paleontologists from the University of Bath and the University of Chicago examined multiple lines of evidence that Nanotyrannus lansensis as a separate species.

Nanotyrannus attack a boy tyrannosaurus. Image credit: Raul Martin.

first skull Nanotyrannus It was discovered in Montana in 1942, but paleontologists have debated for decades whether it was a separate species or just a juvenile of a much larger species. tyrannosaurus.

In the new study, paleontologist Nick Longlich of the University of Bath and paleontologist Evan Saitta of the University of Chicago reanalyzed the fossil and looked at its growth rings and body structure. Nanotyrannusand hitherto unrecognized fossils of youth tyrannosaurus.

Measuring tree rings Nanotyrannus They found that the bone was more densely packed toward the outside, indicating that bone growth was slowing down. That suggests these animals were nearly life-sized. It is not a young body that grows quickly.

Fossil growth modeling shows that the animal could have weighed between 900 and 1,500 kg and reached a maximum length of 5 meters, about 15% of the size of a giant. . tyrannosaurus8,000 kg and grew to over 9 m.

“I was quite surprised when I saw these results. I didn't expect to see such conclusive results,” said Dr. Longlich.

“If they were young tyrannosaurus They're supposed to grow like crazy and gain hundreds of pounds a year, but we don't see it that way. ”

“We tried modeling the data in different ways, but still got low growth rates. This seems to put an end to the hypothesis that these animals are young.” tyrannosaurus”

Researchers found no fossil evidence that combined both traits to support the existence of different species Nanotyrannus and tyrannosaurus —If one turns into the other, it will exist.

Every fossil they examined could be confidently identified as one or the other species.

The growth patterns of other tyrannosaurs were also inconsistent with the hypothesis that these tyrannosaurs were young. tyrannosaurus.

“If you look at other juvenile tyrannosaurs, you'll see a lot of characteristics that are typical of adults. Very young. tarbosaurus — next of kin of tyrannosaurus — exhibiting unique characteristics of adults,” Dr. Longrich said.

“Just as kittens look like cats and puppies look like dogs, the various juvenile tyrannosaurs are also unique. And Nanotyrannus nothing similar tyrannosaurus”

“It may have grown in a completely different way than other tyrannosaurs or other dinosaurs, but it's more likely that it simply wasn't a dinosaur. tyrannosaurus”

But it poses a mystery. Nanotyrannus not a boy tyrannosaurusSo why didn't anyone find the young man? tyrannosaurus?

“That was always one of the big questions. Well, it turns out we actually found it,” Dr. Longrich said.

“However, this fossil was collected many years ago, put away in a box of unidentified bones in a museum drawer, and then forgotten.”

Nanotyrannus They were lighter in build and had longer limbs than their stouter relatives. It also had larger arms, unlike those known for their short arms. tyrannosaurus.

“Actually, my arms are longer than people's.” tyrannosaurus.Even the biggest one tyrannosaurushave shorter arms and smaller claws than these smaller animals. Nanotyrannus. This was an animal whose arms were actually pretty scary weapons. It's actually a completely different animal, smaller, faster and more agile,” Dr. Longrich said.

“tyrannosaurus While animals relied on size and strength, this animal relied on speed. ”

“The long arms and other features suggest it was only a distant relative.” tyrannosaurus — and may have been sitting outside the family TyrannosauridaeWhich tyrannosaurus Part of the predatory dinosaur family. ”

a paper The survey results were published in a magazine fossil research.

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Nicholas R. Longrich and Evan T. Saitta. 2024. Taxonomic status of Nanotyrannus lansensis (Dinosaur: Tyrannosauridae) – A different taxon of small tyrannosaurs. Phos.stud 2 (1): 1-65; doi: 10.3390/fossils2010001

Source: www.sci.news

Webb finds small, free-floating brown dwarf in star-forming cluster IC 348

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The newly discovered brown dwarf is estimated to have a mass three to four times that of Jupiter, making it a strong candidate for the lowest mass free-floating brown dwarf ever directly imaged.

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument shows the central portion of star cluster IC 348. Image credits: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / K. Luhman, Pennsylvania State University / C. Alves de Oliveira, ESA.

Brown dwarfs are cold, dark objects that are between the size of gas giant planets and Sun-like stars.

These objects, also known as failed stars, have star-like properties even though they are too small to sustain hydrogen fusion reactions in their cores.

Typically, their masses are between 11 and 16 Jupiter (the approximate mass that can sustain deuterium fusion) and 75 and 80 Jupiter (the approximate mass that can sustain hydrogen fusion).

“One of the basic questions you’ll find in any astronomy textbook is: What is the smallest star? That’s what we’re trying to answer,” said Kevin, an astronomer at Penn State University.・Dr. Luman said.

The newly discovered brown dwarf resides in IC 348, a star cluster 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Perseus.

The cluster, also known as Collinder 41, Gingrich 1, and Theia 17, contains nearly 400 stars and is about 5 million years old.

IC 348 is part of the larger Perseus star-forming region, and although it is normally invisible to the naked eye, it shines brightly when viewed at infrared wavelengths.

Dr. Luhmann and his colleagues used the following method to image the center of the star cluster. Webb’s NIRCam device Identify brown dwarf candidates based on their brightness and color.

They followed up on the most promising targets using: Webb’s NIRSpec microshutter array.

This process created three interesting targets with masses between three and eight Jupiters and surface temperatures between 830 and 1,500 degrees Celsius.

Computer models suggest that the smallest of these weighs just three to four times as much as Jupiter.

ESA astronomer Dr Catalina Alves de Oliveira said: “With current models, it is very easy to create a giant planet in a disk around a star.”

“But in this cluster, the object is unlikely to form as a disc, but instead as a star, with three Jupiters having a mass 300 times less than the Sun.”

“Then we have to ask how the star formation process takes place at such a very small mass.”

Two of the brown dwarfs identified by the research team exhibit spectral signatures of unidentified hydrocarbons, molecules that contain both hydrogen and carbon atoms.

The same infrared signature was detected in the atmospheres of Saturn and its moon Titan by NASA’s Cassini mission.

It has also been observed in the interstellar medium, the gas between stars.

“This is the first time this molecule has been detected in the atmosphere of an object outside our solar system,” Dr de Oliveira said.

“Models for brown dwarf atmospheres do not predict their existence. We are observing objects that are younger and have lower masses than ever before, and we are seeing something new and unexpected.” .”

a paper Regarding the survey results, astronomy magazine.

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KL Luman other. 2023. JWST survey of planetary mass brown dwarfs in IC 348. A.J. 167, 19; doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad00b7

Source: www.sci.news

Small businesses fill advertising vacuum left behind by departing blue-chip companies on X site

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Small business owners are trying to capitalize on the shift of big advertisers away from X, betting that this will allow them to reach a wider audience on the platform. a source told On the Money.

Amid controversy over anti-Semitism, big advertisers like Disney, IBM and Comcast are siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars in ad dollars from Elon Musk’s social network, while some small business owners He says he is secretly grateful for this drama and is using it as an opportunity. Buy ads cheap.

“I’m not competing with the big boys anymore,” one executive said of the decision to start buying ads on X. “All the top investors and prominent businessmen I want to reach are still on the platform.”

The decline in advertising is a big problem for the company formerly known as Twitter. Although X is pushing growth in other business areas, 75% of the company’s revenue still comes from advertising, and 80% of advertising revenue comes from advertising for large companies, the source added.


Although X is driving growth in other business areas, 75% of the company’s revenue still comes from advertising. Paola Morongello

Bloomberg reported this week that X is expected to earn $2.5 billion in ad revenue this year, which is lower than the $3 billion advertisers expected it to earn this year, and that X will earn $4 billion in ad revenue in 2022. It is said that it will not reach much. .

But X is leaning toward disaster for lack of a better option, and I added a blog post to that effect this week.

“We want to do more for SMBs. With X, we are positioned to be the single interface for SMBs.”

An X spokesperson highlighted the fact that small and medium-sized businesses can easily buy advertising on the platform without going through an agency, don’t have to sign long-term contracts, and can spend whatever amount they want.

One advertiser said some amount of hate speech on the platform was “inevitable” but said the return of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was enough to make them temporarily reconsider their ad spend. . “I’m furious with Elon…why would he do something like that?”

Last month, Musk told advertisers to “pick themselves up.” Even though he acknowledged that the platform could fail without advertisers.

When it comes to user experience, many people at X say they’ve seen a hodgepodge of random advertisers lately.

“I’ve received the most random ads – Invest Qatar, Investor’s Edge, Next After – and I’ve never heard of any of them,” said one source who started noticing the random ads. “It’s like we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Source: nypost.com

$14 million investment to develop long-lasting cement, robotics, and AI technology for small service industry businesses

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Builders, bakers, and body conditioners may not be the first professions that come to mind when you think of how AI is changing the way we work. But today, growing interest in the company is driving healthy funding for startups building AI-powered business tools, especially for small businesses and the thousands of other categories that make up the service industry world. announced a funding round. product.

durable — Vancouver, Canada-based startup builds an AI website creator and a host of other AI-powered tools to help small business owners plan, create, and run business apps more easily — Series A We have raised $14 million which will be used to continue expanding our platform and customer base.

This round is not the largest Series A, but it comes with an interesting list of investors. Spark Capital led the round, along with Torch Capital, Altman Capital (a VC founded and managed by Jack Altman, brother of OpenAI’s Sam Altman), Dash Fund, South Park Commons, Infinity Ventures, Soma Capital ( All previous supporters) are participating. are also participating. The startup has now raised a total of $20 million.

Durable’s AI-powered website builder is aimed at people with a very novice online presence and has already been used to create more than 6 million websites since its launch a year ago. That’s what it means.

“We have a lot of traditional companies that have been around for a long time but don’t have an online presence. They don’t have the software, they don’t have the systems. That’s a big part of our customer base. ,” founder and CEO James Clift said in an interview. “Plumbers, skilled craftsmen, personal trainers. A lot of businesses with one to six people don’t have the time or resources to actually build an online presence or create marketing materials.”

Durable will continue to build on that momentum and leverage advances in the world of AI to build more tools for users.

The end goal, Clift said, is an omniscient assistant that not only answers users’ questions, but also proactively suggests ways to run their business better.

Clift said in an interview that a beta version of its “automated proactive assistant” will be released “soon,” likely within about three months.

Based on the different needs of a user’s specific profile (a baker may not want or need the same information as a body conditioner or a builder), we can train it in areas such as taxes. ” he said. “You press a button and your business runs in the background. He texts you once a day, and you have work booked on your calendar, so all you have to do is show up to work.”

Other tools Durable has built to complement its flagship website builder include a CRM platform, an invoicing service, a blog builder, and a precursor to Proactive Assistant, an AI bot that allows users to ask questions relevant to their business. there is. Her AI assistant uses LLM’s OpenAI, among other things.

The gap in the market that Durable is filling is actually a well-known one in the technology world.

Small businesses and sole proprietors have been an elusive target for startups developing business tools. Despite accounting for more than 99% of his total business in markets like we and EnglandSmall businesses are more complex users to litigate because they spend less individually than larger businesses (making ROI per customer harder for vendors) and are generally a fragmented population when it comes to their technology needs. This is a group of

Of course, none of the above is new information in the world of technology. There are dozens of startups and large tech companies targeting small and medium-sized businesses, especially those in the service industry and building apps to manage everything from teams, accounting, banking, payroll, and more.

Clift said Durable’s unique selling point is that it applies advances in AI to problems to bring small business owners and employees into the modern era.

In his view, AI has a democratizing role. First, SMBs now have access to more affordable tools that were previously out of reach. For example, Durable works to create a logo and branding builder for its users, but if that service were provided by a consultancy, it would have been beyond most customers’ budgets.

Second, the use of AI means that Durable itself can scale out its services more easily, avoiding the problems of selling and distributing services to a fragmented customer base.

“Advances in software will allow us to start delivering a ton of value that even last year would only have been available to enterprise customers,” he said. “We can now provide an even better level of service to independent stores who previously couldn’t afford something like this. It’s a very long tail, but it’s a huge market opportunity. .”

Durable turned to OpenAI after gaining access thanks to Altman Capital, which led Durable’s seed round.

“OpenAi has been a great partner from day one,” Clift said. Given the trajectory of OpenAI, which is reportedly working to close a new funding round with a valuation of more than $80 billion, the startup is probably one to watch as it is a close partner with ties to the CEO. right.

“One of the ideas I’m most interested in right now is how we can leverage AI to help founders build products from scratch that are 10x better than anything that exists today. in a space that helps you do it cheaper, faster and more accurately,” Jack Altman told me. “When I met James, I was not only very impressed with him as a founder, but also excited about the potential of what this product could do for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Since our initial investment. , seeing how well he and the team have done only increases my expectations for what Durable will be like.”

“At Spark, we have always pursued founders who challenge the status quo. James and the Durable team are not only doing this uniquely, but also helping entrepreneurs do the same with a frictionless user experience powered by AI. We are also creating a global platform for ,” said Natalie Sandman, general partner at Spark Capital. statement.

Source: techcrunch.com

Semiconductor Technology Transforms a Small Power Plant

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In the heat transfer highway, thermal energy travels through quantum particles called phonons. But at the nanoscale in today’s most advanced semiconductors, those phonons don’t remove enough heat. Purdue researchers are therefore focused on opening new nanoscale lanes on the heat transfer highway using hybrid quasiparticles called “polaritons.” Credit: Purdue University Photo/DALL-E


In the heat transfer highway, thermal energy travels through quantum particles called phonons. but,
nanoscale today’s cutting edge
semiconductor, those phonons do not remove enough heat. Purdue researchers are therefore focused on opening new nanoscale lanes on the heat transfer highway using hybrid quasiparticles called “polaritons.”

thomas beachem

really like

heat transfer. He talks about it loudly and proudly, like a preacher in a big tent revival.

“There are several ways to describe energy,” says Beechem, an associate professor of mechanical engineering. “When we talk about light, we describe it in terms of particles called ‘photons.’ Heat also transports energy in a predictable manner. We call these energy waves “phonons.” However, in some materials, photons and phonons can come together to create new objects called “polaritons.” It carries energy in a unique way, different from photons and phonons. ”

Like photons and phonons, polaritons are not physical particles that can be seen or captured. These are similar ways of describing energy exchange.

as if

They were particles.

Still vague? How about another analogy? “Phonons are like an internal combustion engine, and photons are like an electric car,” Beechem says. “Polaritons are Toyota’s Prius. They are a hybrid of light and heat, retaining some of the properties of both. But they are special in their own right.”

Polariton is used in optical applications ranging from stained glass to home health testing. However, their ability to transfer heat has been largely ignored, as the effect becomes noticeable only when the size of the material becomes very small. “We now know that phonons do most of the heat-transferring work,” says Dr. Jacob Minyard. student in Beechem’s lab. “Polariton effects are observable only at the nanoscale. But thanks to semiconductors, we haven’t had to deal with heat transfer at that level until now.”

“Semiconductors have become incredibly small and complex,” he continued. “The people who design and manufacture these chips are starting to realize that phonons do not dissipate heat efficiently at very small scales. Our paper shows that on such length scales polaritons are not very efficient at conducting heat. We have demonstrated that we can contribute to a larger portion of the rate.”

Their research on polaritons was selected as a featured article in a magazine.

applied physics journal
.

DOI: 10.1063/5.0173917

Source: scitechdaily.com