BLOOM: A 176B-Parameter Open-Access Multilingual Language Model

Large language models (LLMs) have been shown to be able to perform new tasks based on a few demonstrations or natural language instructions. While these capabilities have led to widespread adoption, most LLMs are developed by resource-rich organizations and are frequently kept from the public. As a step towards democratizing this powerful technology, we present BLOOM, a 176B-parameter open-access language model designed and built thanks to a collaboration of hundreds of researchers. BLOOM is a decoder-only Transformer language model that was trained on the ROOTS corpus, a dataset comprising hundreds of sources in 46 natural and 13 programming languages (59 in total). We find that BLOOM achieves competitive performance on a wide variety of benchmarks, with stronger results after undergoing multitask prompted finetuning. To facilitate future research and applications using LLMs, we publicly release our models and code under the Responsible AI License

Diabetic Retinopathy –Incidence And Risk Factors In A Community Setting- A Longitudinal Study

Aim: To evaluate the natural history of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in diabetic patients and to assess long term risk for other chronic diseases associated with DR. Methods: Retrospective, community-based study. Diabetics who underwent their first fundoscopic examination during 2000–2002, and had at least one follow- up examination by the end of 2007 were included. The primary outcome was the development of DR (proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), non PDR (NPDR) or macular edema. Patients were followed for another 9 years for documentation of new diagnosis of related diseases. Results: 516 patients' (1,032 eyes) records were included and were followed first for an average of 4.15 ± 1.27 years. During follow-up, 28 (2.7%) of the total 1,032 eyes examined were diagnosed with PDR. An additional 194 (18.8%) eyes were diagnosed with new NPDR. The cumulative incidence of NPDR was 310/1,032 (30.0%). All the patients who developed PDR had prior NDPR. By the end of the 9 years extended follow up, patients with NPDR had a greater risk for developing chronic renal failure HR = 1.71 (1.14–2.56), ischemic heart disease HR = 1.57 (1.17–2.09), and had an increased mortality rate HR = 1.26 (1.02–1.57) Conclusion: DR is associated with a higher rate of diabetes complications. Patients with DR should be followed more closely.Key points During a mean follow-up of 4.5 years, the cumulative incidence of diabetic retinopathy in a community cohort was 18.8%. NDPR (non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy) is a predictor of PDR (proliferative diabetic retinopathy). In a real life setting NPDR is a marker of a poorer prognosis. Patients with NDPR should be monitored more closely

The interplay between incipient species and social polymorphism in the desert ant Cataglyphis

In social insects, due to considerable polyphenism as well as high level of hybridization, the delimitation of species can be challenging. The genus Cataglyphis presents a high level of diversification, making it an excellent model with which to study evolutionary paths. Israel appears to be a “hot spot” for recent speciation in this genus. Although previous studies have described multiple species of Cataglyphis in Israel, a recent genetic study has questioned the existence of some of these historically described species. The present study focuses on an apparent species complex, the C. niger species complex which includes C. niger, C. savigyi, and C. drusus that are distinguishable by their mitochondrial DNA (and therefore named mitotypes) but not by their nuclear DNA. Using a multi-method approach (genetics, chemistry and behavior), we show that these mitotypes also differ in their social structures and are readily distinguishable by their cuticular hydrocarbons profiles. While most populations of the different mitotypes are allopatric, at our study site they are sympatric, but nonetheless maintain the observed differences between them. This raises the evolutionary question: Are these incipient species that have diverged with gene flow, or is this a case of social and chemical polymorphism that is maintained within a single species? Unveiling the interplay between social polyphenism and species segregation is at the core of evolutionary biology.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Large-scale proteomics analysis of five brain regions from Parkinson’s disease patients with a GBA1 mutation

Abstract Despite being the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, little is known about Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenesis. A number of genetic factors predispose towards PD, among them mutations in GBA1, which encodes the lysosomal enzyme acid-β-glucosidase. We now perform non-targeted, mass spectrometry based quantitative proteomics on five brain regions from PD patients with a GBA1 mutation (PD-GBA) and compare to age- and sex-matched idiopathic PD patients (IPD) and controls. Two proteins were differentially-expressed in all five brain regions whereas significant differences were detected between the brain regions, with changes consistent with loss of dopaminergic signaling in the substantia nigra, and activation of a number of pathways in the cingulate gyrus, including ceramide synthesis. Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation was inactivated in PD samples in most brain regions and to a larger extent in PD-GBA. This study provides a comprehensive large-scale proteomics dataset for the study of PD-GBA

A supervised learning approach for taxonomic classification of core-photosystem-II genes and transcripts in the marine environment

Background Cyanobacteria of the genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus play a key role in marine photosynthesis, which contributes to the global carbon cycle and to the world oxygen supply. Recently, genes encoding the photosystem II reaction center (psbA and psbD) were found in cyanophage genomes. This phenomenon suggested that the horizontal transfer of these genes may be involved in increasing phage fitness. To date, a very small percentage of marine bacteria and phages has been cultured. Thus, mapping genomic data extracted directly from the environment to its taxonomic origin is necessary for a better understanding of phage-host relationships and dynamics. Results To achieve an accurate and rapid taxonomic classification, we employed a computational approach combining a multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a codon usage position specific scoring matrix (cuPSSM). Our method has been applied successfully to classify core-photosystem-II gene fragments, including partial sequences coming directly from the ocean, to seven different taxonomic classes. Applying the method on a large set of DNA and RNA psbA clones from the Mediterranean Sea, we studied the distribution of cyanobacterial psbA genes and transcripts in their natural environment. Using our approach, we were able to simultaneously examine taxonomic and ecological distributions in the marine environment. Conclusion The ability to accurately classify the origin of individual genes and transcripts coming directly from the environment is of great importance in studying marine ecology. The classification method presented in this paper could be applied further to classify other genes amplified from the environment, for which training data is available

Rapid implementation of teledentistry during the Covid-19 lockdown

Introduction: The current corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak set new challenges to nearly all health plans and large health organizations worldwide, including movement restrictions, strict limitations in healthcare services, especially in the dental profession, and patient fears regarding potential infection. Telehealth can serve as an effective platform for remote connection between dental healthcare providers and patients, and can help reduce the risk of infection when social distancing is required. Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the quality of treatment provided via teledentistry, as perceived by patients using the service, as well as their willingness to use online distant medical consultation in the future. Methods: Since March 2020, a new online service was implemented in the Oral Medicine Unit and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department in the Galilee Medical Center, to expand the range of services beyond merely emergency treatments. Results: The current study examined the quality of teledentistry services as perceived by 89 patients participating in at least one teleconsultation, and their acceptance of remote healthcare. Satisfaction rates were high in patients who received both full and partial solution to their chief complaint. Moreover, acceptance of the teledentistry platform was high, even in the older age groups. Conclusions: We propose to implement teledentistry services in current and future pandemics, as well as during routine times, to strengthen our health care system with digital technologies

A chemical signal in human female tears lowers aggression in males.

Rodent tears contain social chemosignals with diverse effects, including blocking male aggression. Human tears also contain a chemosignal that lowers male testosterone, but its behavioral significance was unclear. Because reduced testosterone is associated with reduced aggression, we tested the hypothesis that human tears act like rodent tears to block male aggression. Using a standard behavioral paradigm, we found that sniffing emotional tears with no odor percept reduced human male aggression by 43.7%. To probe the peripheral brain substrates of this effect, we applied tears to 62 human olfactory receptors in vitro. We identified 4 receptors that responded in a dose-dependent manner to this stimulus. Finally, to probe the central brain substrates of this effect, we repeated the experiment concurrent with functional brain imaging. We found that sniffing tears increased functional connectivity between the neural substrates of olfaction and aggression, reducing overall levels of neural activity in the latter. Taken together, our results imply that like in rodents, a human tear-bound chemosignal lowers male aggression, a mechanism that likely relies on the structural and functional overlap in the brain substrates of olfaction and aggression. We suggest that tears are a mammalian-wide mechanism that provides a chemical blanket protecting against aggression

A supervised learning approach for taxonomic classification of core-photosystem-II genes and transcripts in the marine environment

Abstract Background Cyanobacteria of the genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus play a key role in marine photosynthesis, which contributes to the global carbon cycle and to the world oxygen supply. Recently, genes encoding the photosystem II reaction center (psbA and psbD) were found in cyanophage genomes. This phenomenon suggested that the horizontal transfer of these genes may be involved in increasing phage fitness. To date, a very small percentage of marine bacteria and phages has been cultured. Thus, mapping genomic data extracted directly from the environment to its taxonomic origin is necessary for a better understanding of phage-host relationships and dynamics. Results To achieve an accurate and rapid taxonomic classification, we employed a computational approach combining a multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a codon usage position specific scoring matrix (cuPSSM). Our method has been applied successfully to classify core-photosystem-II gene fragments, including partial sequences coming directly from the ocean, to seven different taxonomic classes. Applying the method on a large set of DNA and RNA psbA clones from the Mediterranean Sea, we studied the distribution of cyanobacterial psbA genes and transcripts in their natural environment. Using our approach, we were able to simultaneously examine taxonomic and ecological distributions in the marine environment. Conclusion The ability to accurately classify the origin of individual genes and transcripts coming directly from the environment is of great importance in studying marine ecology. The classification method presented in this paper could be applied further to classify other genes amplified from the environment, for which training data is available.</p