Pregnancy
AiVF, a Israeli startup that pairs AI with IVF, is introducing a new AI technology that reveals chromosomal abnormalities in human embryos growing in the IVF lab, without touching the embryo. This breakthrough can help women avoid miscarriage and increase their chances of delivering a healthy baby.
AiVF analyzed an enormous datasetâmore than 2,500 embryos with known chromosomal makeupâusing computer vision and deep neural networks, discovering a completely new perspective on biological development. In this study, time-lapse videos of 1,500 chromosomally normal and 1,000 chromosomally abnormal embryos were evaluated. The non-invasive AI-based algorithm successfully identified abnormal embryos in 73% of cases.
AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, issued the following statement in recognition of the 75th anniversary of academic affiliations with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):
January 27, 2021
When healthcare workers from NorthShore University HealthSystem received the COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December, uptake rates hovered just above 50 percent.
Lakshmi Halasyamani, chief medical officer at NorthShore, said the health system sent out over 11,000 vaccination tickets to get approximately 6,000 workers inoculated.
Participation rates have since risen. But Halasyamani said her team anticipated the initial low turnout, given NorthShoreâs diversity in race, ethnicity and political views.
âOur vaccination efforts within healthcare ecosystems are kind of a microcosm of our communities,â she said. âWeâre seeing those same concerns in our populations.â
Scholars say decades of institutional racism have laid a foundation for legitimate distrust in medicine. As NorthShore and AMITA Health work with the Evanston government to distribute the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, local experts emphasize the need for messaging tailored to resident
Coconut oil continues to be widely touted as a miracle food. Proponents, including a slew of celebrities, claim it promotes weight loss, lowers blood pressure and blood glucose, protects against heart disease, increases energy, reduces inflammation, erases wrinkles and even counters Alzheimer’s disease. Plus it tastes great, so what could be bad? And if you believe all that, I’ll offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
“When I see a product with a long list of things it’s supposed to fix, I know it can’t possibly be true,” said Marion Nestle, a New York University specialist on nutrition and food policy. “Coconut oil has acquired a healthful aura as a superfood and lots of people believe it’s true. They’re guilty of magical thinking and need to stop and think, ‘They’re trying to sell me something.’” Nonetheless, a survey conducted in 2016 found that 72 percent of Americans viewed coconut oil as a healthy food.
When Nancy Foster, a nurse manager for one of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 units, received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 18, a familiar face administered it.
That face belonged to Northwestern Memorial Hospital Education Coordinator Lizzy Murphy an emotional sight, Foster said, because they had been through the pandemic together since it began. Of the 40 different stations Foster estimated were set up, Murphy’s happened to be the available one.
“I literally cried. Somebody took a picture and I sent it to my family,” said Foster, who received her second dose on Jan. 8. “And I’m like, ‘This is one step closer.’ So it was very, very emotional.”