Categories
Life Style

CAR T cells can shrink deadly brain tumours — though for how long is unclear

[ad_1]

Coloured FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI) of an axia section through a human brain showing a glioblastoma affecting the frontal lobe.

A glioblastoma (green and blue, artificially coloured) grows in the frontal lobe of a person’s brain.Credit: Pr Michel Brauner, ISM/Science Photo Library

Two preliminary studies suggest that next-generation engineered immune cells show promise against one of the most feared forms of cancer.

A pair of papers published on 13 March, one in Nature Medicine1 and the other in New England Journal of Medicine2, describe the design and deployment of immune cells called chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cells against glioblastoma, an aggressive and difficult-to-treat form of brain cancer. The average length of survival for people with this tumour is eight months.

Both teams found early hints of progress using CAR T cells that target two proteins made by glioblastoma cells, thereby marking those cells for destruction. CAR T cells are currently approved only for treating blood cancers such as leukaemia and are typically engineered to home in on only one target. But the new results add to mounting evidence that CAR T cells could be modified to treat a wider range of cancers.

“It lends credence to the potential power of CAR-T cells to make a difference in solid tumours, especially the brain,” says Bryan Choi, a neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and a lead author of the New England Journal of Medicine study. “It adds to the excitement that we might be able to move the needle.”

A highly lethal tumour

Glioblastomas offer a formidable challenge. Fast-growing glioblastomas can mix with healthy brain cells, forming diffuse tumours that are difficult to remove surgically. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are typically the only treatment options and tend to produce short-lived, partial responses.

In CAR-T therapy, a person’s own T cells are removed from the body and kitted out with proteins that help the cells home in on tumours. The souped-up cells are then reinfused into the body.

In the past few years, researchers have been developing CAR T cells that target specific molecules made by some glioblastomas. The two new papers take this a step farther by designing CAR T cells that target not one type of molecule but two.

In one approach, Choi and his colleagues designed CAR T cells to latch onto a mutated form of a protein called EGFR that is produced by some glioblastomas. The CAR T cells also secreted antibodies that bind to both T cells and the unmutated form of EGFR, which is not typically made by brain cells but is often made by glioblastoma cells. The result is a CAR-T therapy that unleashes the immune system against cells that express either the mutated or the unmutated form of EGFR.

Choi and his team administered these cells to three adults with glioblastoma. Tumours appeared to shrink in all three, but later recurred. One man who received the treatment, however, had a response that lasted for more than six months.

Seven months and counting

The other team, led by Stephen Bagley, a neurooncologist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, used CAR T cells that target both EGFR and another protein found in glioblastomas called interleukin-13 receptor alpha 2. Tumours appeared to shrink in all six of the people they treated. One participant’s glioblastoma began to grow again within a month, but one participant has not shown signs of tumour progression for seven months so far, says Bagley. Of the remaining four participants, one left the trial, and tumours have not rebounded in the remaining three, but they are within six months of treatment.

The results are promising, but the goal is to generate longer-lasting responses, says Bagley. It was exciting, he says, to watch tumours shrink in the first day after CAR-T therapy. “We hadn’t seen that before,” he says. “We were thrilled.”

But the excitement faded as participants relapsed after treatment: “It’s very humbling to go on that roller coaster ride,” he says. “One week you feel like you’ve made a real difference in their lives, and the next week the tumour is back again.”

Versatile T cells

The field will eagerly await additional results, says Sneha Ramakrishna, a paediatric oncologist at Stanford Medicine in California. The size of glioblastomas is notoriously difficult to measure because of their diffuse shape, and apparent changes in tumour size could be affected by inflammation following surgery to administer the CAR T cells directly into the brain.

But the images are impressive, and measures of tumour RNA in Choi’s study suggest that the tumours might have indeed shrunk, says Ramakrishna. And constructing CAR T cells with multiple targets could ultimately yield long lasting therapies, she says, by making it more difficult for cancer cells to develop ways to resist the therapy.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they do over time,” she says. “I hope that as we get more experience, we can learn how to make the right CAR for our patients.”

[ad_2]

Source Article Link

Categories
News

New long range Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid now available to order

Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid

Volkswagen has announced that the new long-range Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid is now available to order in Europe and the car starts at €48,655 Euros on the road. Volskwagen has now started pre-orders of this new model and other new models in the Tiguan range.

Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid

The plug-in hybrid drives of the Tiguan have been completely newly designed by Volkswagen and deliver a system power of 150 kW (204 PS) and 200 kW (272 PS). Thanks to a battery that now offers a capacity of 19.7 kWh (net), the electric range has practically doubled compared with the predecessor. With electric ranges of up to approx. 120 km on a single battery charge, the Tiguan eHybrid models practically become electric cars in everyday life. With the combination of an 85 kW electric drive motor and the new 1.5-litre TSI engine (110 kW or 130 kW), the hybrid model is also impressive on long journeys with low consumption values and combined ranges of more than 900 km. The battery of both models can be charged with up to 11 kW (previously 3.6 kW) at a domestic socket or wall box and with up to 50 kW at DC quick-charging stations when out and about.

Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid

You can find out more details about the new long-range Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid and other new models in the Tiguan range over at the Volkswagen website at the link below.

Filed Under: Auto News





Latest timeswonderful Deals

Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, timeswonderful may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.

Categories
News

Vauxhall Mokka Electric Long Range launched

Vauxhall Mokka Electric

Vauxhall has launched a new longer-range version of their Mokka, the Vauxhall Mokka Electric Long Range and the car will come with a new 54 kWh battery, this gives the car a 20% increase in range to 252 miles.

The new Mokka Electric Long Range is powered by a new, more efficient and quieter 115kW (156hp) electric motor producing 260Nm of torque. The next-generation 54kWh (gross) lithium-ion battery is comprised of 102 cells in 17 modules and features a liquid cooling system. A heat pump and a focus on efficiency helps the Mokka Electric Long Range to achieve 4.0-4.1 miles per kWh (WLTP Combined Low-High), resulting in a range of up to 252 miles (WLTP).

Drivers can choose between three driving modes; Eco, Normal, and Sport, and range can be preserved by activating ‘B’ mode via a button on the gear selector to increase the level of regenerative braking. The new Mokka Electric Long Range accelerates from 0-62mph in 9 seconds (0.2 seconds faster than the 136PS powertrain) and achieves a top-speed of 93mph.

You can find out more information about the new Vauxhall Mokka Electric Long Range model over at the Vauxhall website at the link below, the car will be available to order from March.

Source Vauxhall

Filed Under: Auto News





Latest timeswonderful Deals

Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, timeswonderful may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.

Categories
News

How to use Copilot AI to summarize long content

how to summarise long text using Copilot AI

In the fast-paced realm of business employees face a plethora of challenges, with one of the most prominent being the management of complex and voluminous information. This issue is further compounded by the customer’s expectation for swift and accurate responses. However, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought forth a potential solution to this predicament: AI-powered summarization.

AI-powered summarization operates by providing case summaries to employees, thereby enabling them to comprehend the context of a case and address customer issues more efficiently. This innovative feature leverages large language models and natural language processing to analyze and condense information from various sources into concise summaries. For instance, Dynamic 365 Customer Service Copilot, a leading AI platform for customer service, has successfully integrated this feature to improve their services.

The implementation of summarization in customer service is primarily driven by its potential to significantly improve efficiency and productivity. As an AI-powered feature, summarization automates the extraction of crucial details from the case and provides context and actions already undertaken to address the issue. This immediate impact on efficiency and productivity makes summarization an ideal first use case for generative AI.

AI summarization

Compared to other AI use cases, the implementation of summarization is less complex, making it an excellent starting point for organizations new to generative AI. The success of summarization not only builds confidence in the technology but also lays a solid foundation for more advanced use cases. This can be seen as a gateway to wider generative AI innovation, opening up new possibilities for operational improvements.

Another noteworthy aspect of summarization is its customization options. Administrators can make case summaries available to agents, bringing immediate business value to the organization. Additionally, summarization features allow more customization options, including the format of conversation summaries and the entities and fields used for case summary. This adaptability ensures that the technology can be tailored to meet the unique needs of each organization, further enhancing its value.

Summarizing long content using AI can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity in various domains. To understand how this can be achieved, it’s important to consider the nature of the content and the context in which the summaries are used. AI models like GPT-4 are adept at condensing information while retaining key points, which can be leveraged in multiple ways.

  • Automated Report Summarization: In business or research settings, AI can quickly summarize lengthy reports, research papers, or documents. This allows professionals to grasp essential insights without reading the entire text, saving time and facilitating quicker decision-making.
  • Educational Purposes: AI summarization can distill lengthy academic materials into concise overviews. This aids students and educators in focusing on core concepts, enhancing learning efficiency.
  • Meeting and Conference Summaries: AI tools can transcribe and summarize meetings or conferences in real time. This ensures participants have a clear, concise record of discussions and decisions, aiding in better meeting management and follow-up actions.
  • News Aggregation: For individuals or organizations needing to stay informed about specific topics, AI can summarize news articles or reports from various sources, presenting a coherent overview of current trends or events.
  • Email Management: In corporate settings, AI can summarize long email threads, highlighting the main points and required actions. This improves communication efficiency and reduces the time spent sifting through emails.
  • Legal Document Analysis: AI summarization can help legal professionals by quickly distilling key points from lengthy legal documents, contracts, or case files, thus aiding in legal research and case preparation.
  • Healthcare Documentation: Summarizing patient records, medical studies, and reports can aid healthcare providers in quickly accessing vital information, improving patient care and research efficiency.
  • Content Creation and Editing: AI can assist writers and editors by summarizing research materials or existing content, providing a foundation for creating new articles or reports more efficiently.

In implementing these applications, it’s crucial to ensure the AI’s summarization accuracy and relevance to the specific context. Regular evaluation and fine-tuning of the AI models are necessary to maintain the quality and usefulness of the summaries. Additionally, it’s important to consider the ethical and privacy implications, especially when dealing with sensitive information.

The use of AI-powered summarization in customer service holds immense potential for improving efficiency and productivity. By providing support agents with concise case summaries, this technology allows for quicker and more accurate responses to customer queries. Moreover, its ease of implementation and customization options make it an attractive option for organizations seeking to harness the power of AI. As such, AI-powered summarization serves as a promising solution to the challenges faced by support agents and a stepping stone towards broader generative AI innovation. Here are some other articles you may find of interest on the subject of using artificial intelligence to improve your productivity.

Filed Under: Guides, Top News





Latest timeswonderful Deals

Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, timeswonderful may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.

Categories
News

Men’s Puffer Jackets: A Guide To Staying Warm And Stylish All Winter Long

Stylish men’s jackets come to mind when it comes to styling during winter, but you might think there are not many options available, and this is where you are wrong. You don’t need a trendy jacket with no purpose for saving you in such a chilly season. Also referred to as a down jacket, a puffer jacket is a 90s fashion staple with practical benefits when styling it. These mens puffer jackets provide your body with warmth and a trendy look, which not only hip-hoppers style but even people climbing mountains and polar explorers; this might give you an idea of what they can bring to the table. Not only are these used for benefits purposes, but they also have such popularity that it is not overlooked by fashion designers, who style their models with different puffer jackets on the runway. These puffer jackets come in various shapes and sizes; it doesn’t matter what you are looking for, whether it’s a black puffer jacket, a jacket with 3 different colours, or a reversible jacket, you will get it. 

This article will look at different mens puffer jacket and what styles you should consider: 

Different Types of Puffer Jacket

There are mainly two types of insulations that mens puffer jackets use. We will look into both and their benefits: 

  • Down Puffer Jacket:  A down puffer jacket is an item that uses insulation through the feathers. This is an excellent choice for chilly winters as the fluffiness or loft creates numerous small air pockets that easily trap warm air, keep it there, and heat the insides. The benefits of the Down mens puffer jacket are its great heat retention and flexible temperature range, making it suitable for cold and warm temperatures and easier to pack as it can get compressed. 
  • Synthetic Puffer Jacket:  These puffer jackets use insulation made of man-produced fibres instead of feathers. They can be a great choice for people who don’t want to style an item made from animal products. The main benefits of these Puffer jackets are that they are less expensive, do not lose their insulating property if wet, and are easier to clean. 

Features of Puffer Jackets

While choosing mens puffer jacket, there are a few features you could look for to decide on which one is better for you: 

  • Hoods: A hood can stand out as essential for you if you live in a very cold area, as they would help to provide extra warmth. They might also be helpful for you if you get caught in the rain, but remember that only a few puffer jackets have durable water-repellent coating hoods that are mostly functional for drizzles. 
  • Pockets: This feature would help you keep your important stuff with you when you are outside but also help you keep your hands warm when you place them inside it.
  • Cuffed Sleeves:  The cuffed sleeves are when elastic is used to keep the puffer jacket as close to your body as possible while the fabric on your sleeves is hemmed. Such cuffed sleeves ensure the heat is trapped inside your mens puffer jacket. 

Different Ways to Style Puffer Jackets

The mens puffer jacket is versatile and fashionable. It is a great piece for any type of wardrobe. If you’re going to the mountains, going out on a cold day in town, or just want to look trendy yet comfy, there are many stylish ways to wear a puffer jacket.

Begin with a heavy-duty, thick-panel puffer jacket. Layer the jacket with a flanneled button-up shirt on the inside with your choice of another shirt, for example, a T-shirt on the outside to fight the icy winds. For your bottom half, denim or cargo trousers are advisable. Footwear is a definite. Opt for premium hikers or work boots. Accessorise with a fisherman beanie for warmth on your head.

The use of puffer jacket are not only limited to outdoor recreation; they can be easily integrated into your urban wardrobe. To give the jacket a more city-ready feel, choose a puffer free of a hood and kept sleek in easy-to-wear shades of black, grey or navy. By choosing a nicely neutral-coloured puffer, you ensure maximum wear across the whole season spectrum. Add to this a knitted roll neck layered under it and wear with a pair of wool trousers and a pair of premium leather sneakers. 

Travelling to and from work in the cold is difficult. How do you keep comfortable yet look professional? One solution is mens puffer jacket. Wear a puffer jacket over your work clothes for a warm core with arm ventilation. Wear it with a woollen shirt and trousers. Team with smart leather hiking boots (check they meet your office dress code).

Streetwear fans have had a thing for mens puffer jacket, so this one has been expected. While the time-honoured favourite was made popular in the ’90s when it came out as people started flocking to the US, where cold cities like New York and Chicago meant you needed a warm puffer jacket, it was in the 30s that the puffer jacket first came into existence. Replacing a few generic brands with just a simple, timeless puffer jacket. Which every streetwear enthusiast should have in their arsenal, and the timeless streetwear look is all that matters here. You approach this by gathering essential urban wear items, statement pieces, and an air of ever-changing street-based confidence.

Conclusion

Mens puffer jacket is a must for your winter wardrobe, which protects you from the chilly winds and gives a fashionable look. You can style it with a dozen pieces of clothing and stand out from your friends, colleagues, and relatives. This article has provided all the information you need about puffer jackets, from different types to how to style them for this winter. Now, you can look like a model down the runway without seeking too much clothing advice from people.