Category: Science&Technology

  • Nerve damage from cancer treatment can be predicted

    Many women treated for breast cancer using taxanes, a type of cytostatic drug, often experience side effects in the nervous system. Researchers at LiU have developed a tool that can predict the risk level for each individual. The tool could help doctors adapt treatment to avoid persistent side effects in those at the greatest risk.

    Some people experience severe side effects from cancer treatment, while others manage it without major complications. Henrik Gréen’s research group wants to find ways to predict the risk of serious side effects. Image credit: Magnus Johansson/Linköping University

    More and more people are becoming cancer survivors. But even if they have survived the disease, an increasing number still suffer from the side effects of cancer treatment. In a recent study from Linköping University, researchers studied the side effects of taxanes, a chemotherapy drug used to prevent breast cancer recurrence. The drawback of the treatment is that some patients suffer nerve damage as a side effect.

    “Side effects in the form of nerve damage are very common after treatment with taxanes for breast cancer, and they often persist for several years. For those affected it is extremely stressful, and it has a major impact on quality of life. So it is a major clinical problem, which has received more attention in recent years, but there has been no way to know which individuals are at greatest risk of side effects”, says Kristina Engvall, who recently completed her PhD at Linköping University and is a doctor at the oncology clinic at Ryhov County Hospital in Jönköping.

    Cramps, numbness and tingling

    The researchers began by carefully surveying side effects in patients treated for breast cancer with either docetaxel or paclitaxel, the two most common taxane drugs. Between two and six years had passed since treatment. 337 patients were asked to describe the severity of the nerve damage they experienced, or peripheral neuropathy as it is also called. Most common was cramps in the feet, which more than one in four patients had. Other side effects included difficulty opening a jar, numbness in feet, tingling in feet and difficulty climbing stairs.

    The researchers sequenced the patients’ genes and then built models that link genetic characteristics to various side effects of the taxane treatment. This allows the models to predict the risk of nerve damage. This type of model, known as a prediction model, has not previously existed for taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy. The researchers succeeded in modeling the risk of persistent numbness and tingling in feet.

    A growing patient group

    The two models were able to separate the patients into two clinically relevant groups: one with a high risk of persistent side effects, and one that corresponded to the frequency of peripheral neuropathy in the normal population. The researchers used two-thirds of the data to train the models through machine learning. They were then able to use the remaining third of the patients to validate the models, which was found to work very well. Validating that the models also work in a different group is an important step.

    “This is the first time a prediction model has been developed that can predict the risk of nerve damage from taxane treatment. Women who have been treated with taxanes after breast cancer surgery make up a very large group in healthcare worldwide, so this is a major and clinically relevant problem”, says Henrik Gréen, professor at Linköping University, who led the study published in the journal npj precision oncology.

    Weigh benefit against risk

    “This can be a tool to individualise treatment, and not only to look at the benefits, but also to look at the risks for the individual patient. Today we are so good at treating breast cancer that we need to focus more on the risk of complications and side effects that affect the patient long after treatment”, says Kristina Engvall.

    In the long term, the prediction model could be adopted as routine in healthcare. But first, research is needed in order to find out whether the prediction model also works well in other population groups than the Swedish population.

    “It also emerged that three of the five symptoms we focused on are so biologically complex that we could not model them. These include, for example, difficulty opening cans. Opening a can involves both motor and sensory nerves, which makes it very difficult to predict which individuals are at greatest risk of developing that symptom”, says Henrik Gréen.

    The study was funded with support from, among others, the Swedish Cancer Society, ALF funding, the Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden (FORSS), and Futurum in Region Jönköping.

    The article: Prediction models of persistent taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy among breast cancer survivors using whole-exome sequencing, Kristina Engvall, Hanna Uvdal, Niclas Björn, Elisabeth Åvall-Lundqvist and Henrik Gréen, npj precision oncology, published online 16 May 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41698-024-00594-x

    Written by Karin Söderlund Leifler

    Source: Linköping University

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  • 3 eCommerce Technologies Shaping Online Stores Today

    Technology has always shaped the way the retail sector operates and, in the digital age this has led to the ever-increasing take-up of eCommerce platforms to do business over. Not every online store might boast the same turnover as Amazon or eBay but most brick-and-mortar stores now have an online shop if only to showcase their product ranges. What does the future hold for eCommerce and which are the most important trends to be aware of?

    Online store - illustrative photo.
    Online store – illustrative photo. Image credit: Shoper.pl via Pexels, free license

    1. Voice-Based Searches

    A huge number of households throughout the Western world now use a smart speaker for more than simply turning on their favorite playlists. Voice-based searches are now more and more important to many businesses that rely on getting the attention of would-be consumers. Voice-based technology is only likely to grow from here on, so optimizing websites with content that will pick up on the right sorts of voice-based inquiries, as opposed to traditionally typed-in keywords, is something that is very much shaping the eCommerce sector today.

    2. Digital Marketing

    Digital marketing is crucial for the success of eCommerce businesses today but how does technology help? One way is through so-called omnichannel marketing which is about creating a consistent approach so that consumers obtain a unified buying experience. Technology helps simplify how this is achieved so that online stores run by people with little know-how in digital marketing can obtain professional results. Making use of an omnichannel eCommerce platform, for example, will enable users to string their marketing efforts on different channels together, within a single interface, importing products from different types of CMS. This way, ads can be displayed on a wide variety of platforms in one go. This enables companies to create more well-targeted ads with less effort.

    3. Artificial Intelligence

    AI is now widely used in eCommerce, typically making recommendations based on what customers are likely to be most interested in from the available data. Of course, for this reason, AI and data harvesting go hand-in-hand in the eCommerce world because the results are so much stronger when the two are well aligned. AI isn’t just an automated recommender tool, however. It is increasingly being deployed to deal with straightforward customer service questions and even sales inquiries. If someone is looking for a product to solve a particular problem, then an AI chatbot can often be the best way to understand the need and make an appropriate suggestion. There again, since many post-sales questions are similar in nature, using AI to respond to the most typical ones is often preferred to simply referring customers to the FAQs section. This means, like other eCommerce technology trends, it can be a big cost-saver.

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  • European Artificial Intelligence Act comes into force

    Today, the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), the world’s first comprehensive regulation on artificial intelligence, enters into force. The AI Act is designed to ensure that AI developed and used in the EU is trustworthy, with safeguards to protect people’s fundamental rights. The regulation aims to establish a harmonised internal market for AI in the EU, encouraging the uptake of this technology and creating a supportive environment for innovation and investment.

    The AI Act introduces a forward-looking definition of AI, based on a product safety and risk-based approach in the EU:

    • Minimal risk: Most AI systems, such as AI-enabled recommender systems and spam filters, fall into this category. These systems face no obligations under the AI Act due to their minimal risk to citizens’ rights and safety. Companies can voluntarily adopt additional codes of conduct.
    • Specific transparency risk: AI systems like chatbots must clearly disclose to users that they are interacting with a machine. Certain AI-generated content, including deep fakes, must be labelled as such, and users need to be informed when biometric categorisation or emotion recognition systems are being used. In addition, providers will have to design systems in a way that synthetic audio, video, text and images content is marked in a machine-readable format, and detectable as artificially generated or manipulated.
    • High risk: AI systems identified as high-risk will be required to comply with strict requirements, including risk-mitigation systems, high quality of data sets, logging of activity, detailed documentation, clear user information, human oversight, and a high level of robustness, accuracy, and cybersecurity. Regulatory sandboxes will facilitate responsible innovation and the development of compliant AI systems. Such high-risk AI systems include for example AI systems used for recruitment, or to assess whether somebody is entitled to get a loan, or to run autonomous robots.
    • Unacceptable risk: AI systems considered a clear threat to the fundamental rights of people will be banned. This includes AI systems or applications that manipulate human behaviour to circumvent users’ free will, such as toys using voice assistance encouraging dangerous behaviour of minors, systems that allow ‘social scoring’ by governments or companies, and certain applications of predictive policing. In addition, some uses of biometric systems will be prohibited, for example emotion recognition systems used at the workplace and some systems for categorising people or real time remote biometric identification for law enforcement purposes in publicly accessible spaces (with narrow exceptions).

    To complement this system, the AI Act also introduces rules for so-called general-purpose AI models, which are highly capable AI models that are designed to perform a wide variety of tasks like generating human-like text. General-purpose AI models are increasingly used as components of AI applications. The AI Act will ensure transparency along the value chain and addresses possible systemic risks of the most capable models.

    Application and enforcement of the AI rules

    Member States have until 2 August 2025 to designate national competent authorities, who will oversee the application of the rules for AI systems and carry out market surveillance activities. The Commission’s AI Office will be the key implementation body for the AI Act at EU-level, as well as the enforcer for the rules for general-purpose AI models.

    Three advisory bodies will support the implementation of the rules. The European Artificial Intelligence Board will ensure a uniform application of the AI Act across EU Member States and will act as the main body for cooperation between the Commission and the Member States. A scientific panel of independent experts will offer technical advice and input on enforcement. In particular, this panel can issue alerts to the AI Office about risks associated to general-purpose AI models. The AI Office can also receive guidance from an advisory forum, composed of a diverse set of stakeholders.

    Companies not complying with the rules will be fined. Fines could go up to 7% of the global annual turnover for violations of banned AI applications, up to 3% for violations of other obligations and up to 1.5% for supplying incorrect information.

    Next Steps

    The majority of rules of the AI Act will start applying on 2 August 2026. However, prohibitions of AI systems deemed to present an unacceptable risk will already apply after six months, while the rules for so-called General-Purpose AI models will apply after 12 months.

    To bridge the transitional period before full implementation, the Commission has launched the AI Pact. This initiative invites AI developers to voluntarily adopt key obligations of the AI Act ahead of the legal deadlines. 

    The Commission is also developing guidelines to define and detail how the AI Act should be implemented and facilitating co-regulatory instruments like standards and codes of practice. The Commission opened a call for expression of interest to participate in drawing-up the first general-purpose AI Code of Practice, as well as a multi-stakeholder consultation giving the opportunity to all stakeholders to have their say on the first Code of Practice under the AI Act.

    Background

    On 9 December 2023, the Commission welcomed the political agreement on the AI Act. On 24 January 2024 the Commission has launched a package of measures to support European startups and SMEs in the development of trustworthy AI. On 29 May 2024 the Commission unveiled the AI Office. On 9 July 2024 the amended EuroHPC JU Regulation entered into force, thus allowing the set-up of AI factories. This allows dedicated AI-supercomputers to be used for the training of General Purpose AI (GPAI) models.

    Continued independent, evidence-based research produced by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been fundamental in shaping the EU’s AI policies and ensuring their effective implementation.

  • Do you know why sea water is salty?

    Seawater is salty because it contains a high concentration of dissolved mineral salts deposited in the rivers that flow into the oceans and seas. To be more precise, 1 liter of water contains about 35 g of salt. These mineral salts are the result of the erosion of rocks deposited in the sea over the years, causing it to reach a certain salinity index. This theory was introduced by the English scientist Edmund Halley.

    The process begins when the carbonic acid present in rainwater comes into contact with the rocks. This chemical compound, which results from the mixing of carbon dioxide in the air with water, has the ability to corrode the rocks on which it falls. The resulting ions are deposited in rivers and later end up in seas and oceans, producing their characteristic salinity.

    In addition to this deposition of eroded rock, other secondary phenomena contribute to seawater salinity: water evaporation, volcanic eruptions, ice melting, and hydrothermal vents.

    What is the chemical composition of salt in seawater?

    Seawater salt contains more than 80 of the 118 elements of the periodic table, making it an excellent mineral source for the human body. In it you can find:

    * chlorine, sodium, magnesium, potassium, bromine, calcium, boron, strontium and fluorine

    * trace elements such as iron, manganese, copper, iodine, silicon and phosphorus

    * zooplankton and phytoplankton.

    Are all seas equally salty?

    The degree of salinity of the sea depends on its latitude. In colder areas such as the Arctic Ocean, the salt concentration is lower compared to tropical areas such as the Caribbean Sea, where the salt concentration is higher. This is due to the evaporation of water by solar energy.

    Similarly, in areas where it rains frequently, the salinity level is low, as is the case in the Baltic Sea. There we may find areas where the composition is only 0.6% salinity. On the other hand, areas with lower water flow may have higher salinity, as is the case in the Red Sea.

    What is the salinity of the Dead Sea?

    Despite its name, the Dead Sea is not a sea, but an inland lake, as it has no coastline. Its salinity level is 35%. That is why it is called the sea. It is located on the border between Jordan and Israel and is the fifth saltiest body of water in the world with a depth of over 300 meters.

    Is it possible to desalinate seawater?

    Desalination is the process of making potable water from salt water. The main purpose of seawater desalination is to meet the needs of this resource for the population that does not have easy access to fresh water. While two-thirds of the Earth’s surface is water, only 1% is suitable for human consumption. This is why the desalination process is necessary to secure this vital resource.

    The reverse osmosis method is the most widely used in the world to reduce salt levels in water. This is done by pressurizing salt water to trap the dissolved salt particles in a semi-permeable membrane.

    There are other methods, including:

    * freezing, where water freezes and pulverizes to form ice crystals on brine, which are then separated to produce fresh water

    * distillation, where water is heated to the point of evaporation and then condensed to extract fresh water

    * instantaneous evaporation, in which water enters a chamber as droplets, the saturation pressure of which is low; they turn into steam that condenses to produce desalinated water.

    Illustrative Photo by Asad Photo Maldives: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bird-s-eye-view-of-sea-water-1456291/

  • Researchers discover swath of previously undocumented polar bear dens

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    Scientists from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) have identified several polar bear dens while performing grizzly bear research.

    Polar Bear – illustrative photo.Polar Bear – illustrative photo.

    Polar Bear – illustrative photo. Image credit: Pixabay (Free Pixabay license)

    Dr. Doug Clark (PhD) has crawled into many polar bear dens as a graduate student and in a former job as a park warden.

    So many, in fact, that when Clark and his group of researchers identified a large number of previously undocumented dens north of Churchill, Man., – more than 100 kilometres further north than any other documented polar bear dens – he knew they belonged to polar bears.

    “We knew these were polar bear dens for a couple of reasons. One, they were in peat deposits … but more to the point, we found polar bear hair,” Clark said.

    USask has a long tradition of excellence in polar bear research, and Clark said finding these new dens was positive for both researchers and for polar bear populations. The discovery was recently published in a paper in Arctic Science.

    “To me, it’s cause for excitement,” he said. “There is a lot of legitimate concern about this specific population of polar bears in western Hudson Bay.”

    The discovery of the dens was completely by chance. Clark, an associate professor in USask’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS) and the acting executive director of the school, was in northern Manitoba as part of a research project tracking grizzly bear expansion in the area.

    He said they identified what appeared to be a series of polar bear dens during a helicopter flight, which they were able to then confirm along the Caribou River and Seal River.

    “Polar bears have a bigger bag of tricks than we usually give them credit for,” he said. “Even though figuring out what’s going on is complicated, seeing polar bears do something like this, whether we’ve overlooked it or whether it’s new or not, they’re doing something that we – the conventional scientific narrative – did not expect.”

    Polar bears in this population’s main denning area – 120 km south of these newly-described dens – will travel an average of 50 to 80 kilometres inland to build dens in permafrost-underlain river and lake banks. As Clark puts it, pregnant polar bears and female polar bears with cubs will travel so far at least in part to avoid males, because large males will eat cubs.

    While these dens may have been new to the researchers, they weren’t new to the community. Clark said upon their return many Churchill residents confirmed they’d seen the tracks of polar bears with cubs in spring, heading out to the sea ice from inland along those rivers. Thanks to this insight from community members, the researchers believe that some of these dens were maternity dens where females would go to give birth. Other dens may simply have been used temporarily for keeping cool during the area’s brief but hot summers.

    Clark said it’s not yet clear how long the newly identified dens had been there for. Some dens further south have been dated as older than 250 years.

    “This is important regardless of whether the dens are new or not. If they’re new then something’s changing, but if they’re not, then there may be a chunk of this population of bears that have been overlooked in studies so far,” Clark said.

    Many of these “new” dens are located within an Indigenous Protected Area monitored by the Seal River Watershed Alliance (SRWA). Stephanie Thorassie, the executive director of the SRWA, said the connections between researchers and communities play an important role.

    “We are excited by the information the science community is finding. At the end of the day, these partnerships with our communities help to reaffirm the knowledge our land users have been talking about, and this feels good to us,” Thorassie said. “We look forward to continuing these partnerships pairing science with our knowledge to get the best understandings of our traditional lands and home.”

    Clark said the next steps will be to work with colleagues in the alliance to determine the best approach for figuring out how many of these dens are used, how regularly, and by which bears.

    “What I’m hoping is that our work to figure out what’s going on and better understand polar bear denning up in that area can be done with community guidance and leadership,” he said. “I’m really proud of the set of collaborations and relationships that have gone into this research.”

    Written By Matt Olson

    Source: University of Saskatchewan



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  • Startup raises €1 million in one day from European private investors via SeedBlink

    In a remarkable achievement, .lumen, the startup dedicated to enhancing the mobility of the blind and visually impaired, has raised €1 million from private investors in one day. This milestone follows an extraordinary pitch event of the Glasses for the Blind held on July 16 where over 600 investors gathered to hear Cornel Amariei, CEO and founder of .lumen, present the company’s vision and innovative technology.

    The success of this funding round was facilitated by SeedBlink, the all-in-one equity management and investment platform. SeedBlink’s robust European infrastructure and comprehensive suite of services provided the ideal environment for .lumen to attract and secure investments efficiently.

    Cornel Amariei, CEO & Founder of .lumen, stated: “This record round on SeedBlink is a testament to the potential for innovation in Romania. Despite being ranked as the least innovative country in the EU by the official Innovation Scoreboard, we believe Romania can deliver life-changing innovations to the world. Thank you for sharing this belief!”

    Ionut Patrahau, Managing Partner at SeedBlink, emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating, “Supporting startups like .lumen is a powerful act of faith in innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our modern economy. They challenge the status quo, push technological boundaries, and create solutions that improve lives. In the case of .lumen, their work goes beyond business; it touches the very essence of human dignity by empowering blind individuals with mobility and independence. Their impact is clear and immediate, transforming the lives of the blind. But let’s also look beyond the obvious. Your investment helps to build a legacy of progress and inclusivity that will benefit generations to come.”

    The press release and more information below:

    Press Release

    .lumen raises €1 million in one day from European private investors via SeedBlink

    Bucharest, Romania – July 18, 2024 – In a remarkable achievement, .lumen, the startup dedicated to enhancing the mobility of the blind and visually impaired, has raised €1 million from private investors in one day. This milestone follows an extraordinary pitch event held on July 16 where over 600 investors gathered to hear Cornel Amariei, CEO and founder of .lumen, present the company’s vision and innovative technology.

    The high level of interest in .lumen’s investment opportunity was evident from the pitch event. With more than 600 investors attending, Cornel Amariei’s compelling presentation highlighted the transformative potential of .lumen’s Glasses for the Blind, which leverage Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI) technology to replicate the functionalities of a guide dog. This groundbreaking approach to assistive technology has captivated the attention of investors, leading to the rapid achievement of the €1 million target.

    The success of this funding round was facilitated by SeedBlink, the all-in-one equity management and investment platform. SeedBlink’s robust European infrastructure and comprehensive suite of services provided the ideal environment for .lumen to attract and secure investments efficiently. SeedBlink’s platform enables European tech companies to access, manage, and trade equity at all growth stages, streamlining the investment process and supporting companies like .lumen through each phase of their journey.

    Cornel Amariei, CEO & Founder of .lumen, stated: “This record round on SeedBlink is a testament to the potential for innovation in Romania. Despite being ranked as the least innovative country in the EU by the official Innovation Scoreboard, we believe Romania can deliver life-changing innovations to the world. Thank you for sharing this belief!”

    Ionut Patrahau, Managing Partner at SeedBlink, emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating, “Supporting startups like .lumen is a powerful act of faith in innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our modern economy. They challenge the status quo, push technological boundaries, and create solutions that improve lives. In the case of .lumen, their work goes beyond business; it touches the very essence of human dignity by empowering blind individuals with mobility and independence. Their impact is clear and immediate, transforming the lives of the blind. But let’s also look beyond the obvious. Your investment helps to build a legacy of progress and inclusivity that will benefit generations to come.”

    .lumen’s journey is supported by key co-investors, including the European Innovation Council and Venture to Future Fund, which have contributed €4 million to the €5 million funding round. The funds raised will support .lumen’s strategic roadmap, including the limited-series launch in Q4 2024 and the entry into the USA market in Q4 2025. The company aims to sell 10,000 units by the end of 2026, bringing independence and safety to visually impaired individuals worldwide.

    About .lumen

    .lumen is a pioneering Romanian startup dedicated to enhancing pedestrian mobility through innovative technology. Their flagship product, .lumen Glasses, and the underlying PAD AI technology are designed to provide visually impaired individuals with unprecedented levels of independence and safety. Founded by Cornel Amariei, .lumen is committed to creating technology that changes lives. Learn more at www.dotlumen.com.

    About SeedBlink

    SeedBlink is the all-in-one equity and investment platform that provides the infrastructure, financial services, and network coverage for European tech companies and their stakeholders to access, manage, and trade equity at every stage of growth. With a comprehensive suite of products and services, SeedBlink streamlines investment processes and provides robust support throughout the equity lifecycle, from initial funding rounds to mature investment opportunities and secondary markets. More information at www.seedblink.com.

    Photo: Cornel Amariei, CEO & Founder of .lumen

  • Infomaniak bets on AI and launches an Artificial Intelligence as a Trust Service as powerful as ChatGPT

    Infomaniak // Companies handling sensitive data can now integrate a generative AI into their applications, hosted entirely in Switzerland and guaranteeing data control. More competitive than Mistral and OpenAI, Infomaniak’s AI as a Service is currently based on the Mixtral model, the most powerful open-source alternative to ChatGPT. Available on-demand as an API for developers, the AI interprets up to 32,000 tokens per prompt at launch, and can model, classify and analyze complex data, as well as synthesize, reformulate, correct, translate and generate complex texts.

    100% hosted in Switzerland, 100% open source

    Unlike ChatGPT, the language model marketed by Infomaniak is based on Mixtral 8x7B, an open-source technology whose algorithm and operation can be verified by engineers worldwide. This feature also makes it possible to make specific adaptations to design new services and restrict the use of AI for malicious actions such as spam generation.

    The information processed and sent to the AI is not stored by Infomaniak and is used exclusively for the customer’s needs. Exclusively hosted in Switzerland on Infomaniak’s infrastructure, this generative AI guarantees companies total data control and full compliance with Swiss and European legislation.

    As powerful as ChatGPT 3.5

    The AI made available by Infomaniak is capable of processing texts in French, German, Spanish, Italian and English to rapidly execute complex programming and data analysis tasks.

    “It’s only a matter of time before open source AI outperforms today’s best proprietary solutions for everyday use. It’s important to bear in mind that cloud computing today is essentially based on open technologies such as OpenStack, Kubernetes and Linux-based operating systems,” explains Marc Oehler, CEO of Infomaniak.

    On the operational side, the documentation provided enables developers to easily integrate AI into corporate work environments to create virtual assistants, answer questions, summarize, classify, correct, generate, translate or perform content sentiment analysis, for example.

    As eco-friendly as possible

    Artificial intelligence consumes a lot of electricity. Infomaniak’s activities are powered exclusively by renewable energy. The energy efficiency ratio (PUE) of Infomaniak’s data centers in production is 1.09 on average, compared with 1.8 in Europe, because they are cooled exclusively with filtered natural air, without air conditioning. Currently undergoing intensive testing, Infomaniak’s new data center, where the most powerful GPUs will be installed, will fully recover the energy it consumes to heat up to 6,000 households in winter and over 100,000 in summer.

    What’s more, Mixtral is more energy-efficient than its proprietary alternatives: its architecture manages a total of 45 billion parameters, but uses only 12 billion per token, considerably reducing energy consumption while delivering results superior to Llama 2 and ChatGPT 3.5, according to the French startup.

    Low-cost pricing with 1 M free tokens

    Users pay only for what they use, on a monthly basis. Billing for the service is based on a token system, which is a unit of measurement corresponding to around 4 characters.

    At launch, Infomaniak’s AI as a service offers a total of 1 million tokens, and rates are lower than those of Mistral or OpenAI:

    Infomaniak LLM API

    Incoming tokens* (CHF): 0.0005/1000 tokens
    Outgoing tokens* (CHF): 0.0015/1000 tokens
    Mistral small

    Incoming tokens* (CHF) : 0.00056/1000 tokens
    Outgoing chips* (CHF) : 0.0017/1000 chips
    GPT-3.5 Turbo

    Incoming chips* (CHF) : 0.0013/1000 chips
    Outgoing chips* (CHF): 0.0018/1000 chips
    After creating an account, the service is available immediately, and a dashboard allows you to track your consumption in real time.

    *Incoming tokens refer to requests made to the AI, and outgoing tokens refer to responses generated by the AI.

    Constantly evolving

    With its AI as a Service, Infomaniak is committed to constantly offering the best open-source AI technology. Initially launched with Falcon LLM, the service is now marketed with Mixtral 8x7B, and will continue to evolve in line with advances in this field.

    Already implemented as an editorial assistant in its Mail Service and as a personal assistant in its kChat instant messaging, Infomaniak is actively deploying AI in its ecosystem.

    “The next step is to enable users to connect our AI as a service with their data to provide 100% personalized responses. Our AI R&D team is currently running successful tests in this direction, and we look forward to offering this to businesses, with the same guarantees of confidentiality.” announces Boris Siegenthaler, strategic director at Infomaniak

    Resources

    Infomaniak is Switzerland’s leading developer of web technologies. With 2023 sales of over CHF 40 million and 21% growth in German-speaking Switzerland, the company employs over 220 people in Geneva and Winterthur.

    Committed to privacy, the local economy and a more sustainable digital future, the company develops a suite of online collaborative tools and solutions for cloud hosting, streaming, marketing and events. As an independent company, it is partly owned by its employees and solely dependent on its customers.

    Infomaniak uses only renewable energy, builds its own data centers and develops its solutions in Switzerland, without relocating. An ICANN-accredited registrar, Infomaniak’s solutions are used by millions of users. The company powers the Belgian Radio and Television (RTBF) website and provides streaming for over 3,000 radio and TV stations in Europe.

    In 2023, Infomaniak won the Prix Suisse de l’Ethique and the Prix du développement durable du canton de Genève for its new data center, which will fully recover the energy it consumes to heat households.

  • Nobel laureates have called on religious leaders to raise their voices to end the bloodshed

    Fifty-one Nobel laureates have signed an open letter calling for an end to hostilities in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. It was published in the French newspaper “Le Monde”.

    The authors call for an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of all prisoners, the release of the hostages and the return of the bodies of the dead to their loved ones, as well as the opening of peace talks.

    The letter is addressed to the belligerents, Pope Francis, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the Dalai Lama, the United Nations, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

    It notes that there are now no fewer than 55 armed conflicts in the world, and the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine “have affected various countries, causing an increase in hunger in Africa, a migration crisis in Europe, bringing with the water , the bread and milk on the tables of the inhabitants of all six continents tons of noxious substances emitted by each bombardment”.

    “The number of people killed and injured in central Europe will exceed one million people by the end of this year. This is happening for the first time since World War II,” the address added.

    “During this war, the world’s defense budgets have grown so much that they are comparable to the resources sufficient to slow global climate change.” By killing each other, people are simultaneously killing the planet.”

    “Weapons spending would also be enough to eradicate world hunger for the next eighty years. Imagine for a moment: no one will suffer from hunger anymore, no one will die of hunger, no child will be malnourished. However, instead of working all our lives, we waste our resources sowing death.”

    “Who are the victims of war today? – ask the Nobel laureates. – These are mostly people aged thirty to forty. Each of them therefore lost about forty years of the life they expected to have. So when a hundred thousand people are killed, it represents the loss of four million years of life – with discoveries not made, children not born, orphans suffering.”

    The authors of the letter ask the leaders of the world’s religions to address their followers and all the world’s citizens and governments on behalf of the God Whose they serve, just in time for the Olympic Games.

    “May the billions of people who will be watching join this prayer.” Give our children the opportunity to outlive us. Let’s not kill each other, let’s save the planet.”

    Among the signatories are virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi (Nobel Prize for the discovery of HIV), scientist Emmanuel Charpentier (Nobel Prize for the development of a method of genome editing), Alain Heger (Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of conductive polymers), as well and dozens of other scientists who made discoveries in the fields of chemistry, medicine and physics. In addition, the text was signed by Russian opposition journalist Dmitry Muratov (Nobel Peace Prize, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta) and Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich (Nobel Prize for Literature, living in exile).

    Illustrative Photo: Alfred Nobel – Testament.

  • Boost the Potential of Your Retail Store: Best Ways to Consider

    When it comes to maximizing your retail store’s potential, you need to blend several factors – such as innovation, strategy, and customer-centric techniques. 

    As technological advancement is on the rise, wide-ranging strategies can contribute to enhanced operational efficiency and customer satisfaction to the maximum extent.

    If you own a retail store and want to make the most out of your efforts, look nowhere else. Below in this informative blog post, you can check out some of the best ways that will help you stand out as a successful retail store owner.

    1.      Improve Your In-Store & Online Customer Experiences

    Providing an excellent shopping experience across all channels is highly significant in the present omni-channel retail setting. You need to improve your store’s physical layout and environment to make it more inviting and conducive to browsing.

    Different latest technologies, such as interactive displays or digital signage, provide product details and promotions more effectively.

    When we talk about running a retail business online, make sure your website is user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and supports several features such as live chat or AI-powered customer service bots.

    So, you can accommodate your customers (both existing and new) instantly, resulting in strengthened brand loyalty and encouraging repeat business.

    2.      Leverage the Power of AI Technology

    Taking advantage of AI solutions can transform the way how you manage inventory, analyze customer behavior, and optimize business processes and other retail operations more efficiently.

    Suppose you are using retail ai solutions for demand forecasting purposes. In that case, they can assist in preventing stock-outs and overstocking so that your retail store’s shelves will remain stocked with the right products and goods.

    It not only streamlines business operations but also skyrockets sales and customer loyalty, ensuring promising future success for your retail store.

    3.      Invest Your Time and Efforts in Personalized Marketing

    Personalization not only improves conversion rates but also enhances customer satisfaction by showing that you understand and value their needs.

    Want to deliver targeted promotions and recommendations through email marketing, personalized ads, or loyalty programs? You need to leverage AI-driven analytics that can segment your customer base more effectively.

    Customer data contributes to creating and executing personalized marketing campaigns, resulting in more brand exposure and boosted sales and revenue.

    4.      Optimize Inventory Management with Automation

    Another significant aspect of retail business is optimized inventory management, which can help reduce costs and improve cash flow. Different inventory management tools can analyze historical sales, seasonal trends, and external factors to predict demand accurately.

    If you maintain the correct stock levels, you can reduce stock-outs, minimize excessive inventory, and enhance turnover rates. Numerous automated inventory replenishment processes can help ensure your retail store always has the right products on its shelves. Hence, your customer satisfaction and sales opportunities will be enhanced and skyrocket.

    5.      Prioritize Data-Driven Decision Making

    Data-driven analytics are subject to offer significant information about customer preferences, market trends, and operational efficiencies of your retail business. Once you gather and analyze data from different valuable sources, which involves sales records, social media interactions, and website traffic, you can discover actionable insights.

    What’s more, AI and machine learning algorithms have the potential to identify patterns and predict upcoming trends. Therefore, you can make well-informed, strategic decisions in terms of inventory management, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns.

    Be sure that this data-driven approach can minimize the chances of risks and elevate new opportunities, resulting in your retail store’s continuous growth.

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  • More effective cancer treatment with iontronic pump

    When low doses of cancer drugs are administered continuously near malignant brain tumours using so-called iontronic technology, cancer cell growth drastically decreases.

    Researchers at Linköping University and the Medical University of Graz demonstrated this in experiments with bird embryos. The results is one step closer to new types of effective treatments for severe cancer forms.

    Malignant brain tumours often recur despite surgery and post-treatment with chemotherapy and radiation. This is because cancer cells can “hide” deep within tissue and then regrow. The most effective drugs cannot pass through the so-called blood-brain barrier – a tight network surrounding blood vessels in the brain that prevents many substances in the blood from entering it. Consequently, there are very few available options for treating aggressive brain tumours.

    In 2021, a research group from Linköping University and the Medical University of Graz demonstrated how an iontronic pump could be used to locally administer drugs and inhibit cell growth for a particularly malignant and aggressive form of brain cancer – glioblastoma. At that time, experiments were conducted on tumour cells in a petri dish.

    Proven concept

    Now, the same research group has taken the next step towards using this technology in clinical cancer treatment. By allowing glioblastoma cells to grow using undeveloped bird embryos, new treatment methods can be tested on living tumours. The researchers showed that the growth of cancer cells decreased when low doses of strong drugs (gemcitabine) were continuously administered using an iontronic pump directly adjacent to the brain tumour.

    “We have previously shown that the concept works. Now we use a model with a living tumour, and we can see that the pump administers the drug very effectively. So even though it is a simplified model of a human, we can say with greater certainty that it works,” says Daniel Simon, professor of organic electronics at Linköping University.

    The concept behind a future treatment for glioblastoma involves surgically implanting an iontronic device directly into the brain, close to the tumour. This approach allows for the use of low doses of potent drugs while bypassing the blood-brain barrier. Precise dosing, both in terms of location and timing, is crucial for effective treatment. Additionally, this method can minimize side effects since the chemotherapy doesn’t need to circulate throughout the entire body.

    Treatment for various cancer forms

    Beyond brain tumours, researchers hope that iontronics can be applied to many types of difficult-to-treat cancer forms.

    “It becomes a very persistent treatment that the tumour cannot hide from. Even though the tumour and surrounding tissue try remove the drug, the materials and control systems we use in iontronics can continuously deliver a locally high concentration of medication to the tissue adjacent to the tumour,” explains Theresia Arbring Sjöström, a researcher at the Laboratory for Organic Electronics at Linköping University.

    The researchers compared the continuous drug delivery of the pump with once-daily dosing, which more closely resembles how chemotherapy is administered to patients today. They observed that tumour growth decreased with the ionic treatment but not with the daily-dose approach, even though the latter was twice as strong.

    More research required

    These experiments were conducted using bird embryos at an early developmental stage. According to Linda Waldherr, a researcher at the Medical University of Graz and a guest researcher at LiU, this model serves as a good bridge to larger animal experiments:

    “In bird embryos, certain biological systems function similarly to those in living animals, such as the formation of blood vessels. However, we don’t need to surgically implant any devices in them yet. This demonstrates that the concept works, although there are still many challenges to address,” she says.

    The researchers believe that human trials could be feasible within the next five to ten years. The next steps involve further developing materials to allow for the surgical implantation of iontronic pumps. Subsequent experiments will also be conducted on rats and larger animals to further evaluate this treatment method.

    The study was mainly funded by the Austrian Science Fund, the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the European Research Council. Theresia Arbring Sjöström, Tobias Abrahamsson, Magnus Berggren and Daniel Simon are shareholders in the company OBOE IPR AB which owns the patents related to the iontronic technology.

    Article: Continuous Iontronic Chemotherapy Reduces Brain Tumor Growth in Embryonic Avian in vivo Models, Verena Handl, Linda Waldherr, Theresia Arbring Sjöström, Tobias Abrahamsson, Maria Seitanidou, Sabine Erschen, Astrid Gorischek, Iwona Bernacka Wojcik, Helena Saarela, Tamara Tomin, Sophie Elisabeth Honeder, Joachim Distl, Waltraud Huber, Martin Asslaber, Ruth Birner-Grünberger, Ute Schäfer, Magnus Berggren, Rainer Schindl, Silke Patz, Daniel T. Simon, Nassim Ghaffari-Tabrizi-Wizsy; Journal of Controlled Release; published online 11 April 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.03.044

    Written by Anders Törneholm