Daily Archives: February 6, 2021

"This year's World Cancer Day's theme, 'I Am and I Will', is all about you and your commitment to act. The new state-of-the-art artificial intelligence integrated PET-CT scanner at Yashoda Hospital Somajiguda is one more step towards our commitment to early detection of Cancer. The new scanner is now two times faster than the old generation scanners primarily due to the advanced technology known as 'Time of Flight'. The scanner provides best quality images with reduced scanning duration and lesser radiation dose," said Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao, Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, Government of Telangana.

Yashoda Hospitals Somajiguda is well equipped with a comprehensive Nuclear Medicine set up providing services like PET-CT, Gamma camera imaging and radionuclide therapy under one roof. Apart from the newly upgraded imaging of FDG PET-CT, the department provides advanced and rare imaging like Ga-68 DOTA, Ga-68 PSMA, 18F DOPA PET-CTs, DAT imaging & WBC scans, apart from routine Gamma imaging like bone scan & renal scintigraphy.

"Yashoda Hospitals Somajiguda is one of the busiest and high volume centres of radionuclide therapies for thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumours, and prostate cancer. The Centre also provides rare therapies like radiosynovectomy for inflammatory joint disease. Patients not only from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, but across India, visitus for these rare therapies. NextGen PET-CT is effective in the diagnosis of Cancer, Endocrine Abnormalities and Neurodegenerative Disease," said Dr. Lingaiah Amidayala, Director - Medical Services, Yashoda Hospitals Group, Hyderabad.

The Combined PET-CT Scan at Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda merges PET and CT images and provides detailed information about the size, shape and differentiating cancerous lesions from normal structures with accuracy. It is a diagnostic examination that combines two state-of-the-art imaging modalities and produces 3 dimensional (3D) images of the body based on the detection of radiation from the emission of positrons. It helps in early detection of cancer and any potential health problem that reveals how the tissues and organs are functioning by identifying a variety of conditions.

Dr. Hrushikesh Aurangabadkar and Dr. A Naveen Kumar Reddy, Consultants in Nuclear Medicine while explaining about the PET-CT said, "The cancer cells require a great deal of sugar, or glucose, to have enough energy to grow. PET scanning utilizes a radioactive molecule that is similar to glucose, called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). FDG accumulates within malignant cells because of their high rate of glucose metabolism. Once injected with this agent, the patient is imaged on the whole body PET scanner to reveal cancer growth, which are usually difficult to characterize by conventional CT, X-Ray, or MRI."

With this new technology, motion artifacts caused by respiration can be decreased and accurate diagnosis achieved.

The use of PET scans will also help the doctors to more accurately detect the presence and location of new or recurrent cancers.

Relevant Links: https://www.yashodahospitals.com/location/somajiguda/

Nuclear Medicine: https://www.yashodahospitals.com/specialities/nuclear-medicine-hospital-in-hyderabad/

About Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad

Yashoda Group of Hospitals has been providing quality healthcare for 3 decades for people with diverse medical needs. Under astute leadership and a strong management, Yashoda Group of Hospitals has evolved as a centre of excellence in medicine providing the highest quality standards of medical treatment. Guided by the needs of patients and delivered by perfectly combined revolutionary technology even for rare and complex procedures, the Yashoda Group hosts medical expertise and advanced procedures by offering sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic care in virtually every specialty and subspecialty of medicine and surgery. Currently operating with 3 independent hospitals in Secunderabad, Somajiguda and Malakpet and an upcoming hospital (currently under development) in Hi-Tech city, Telangana which is expected to be one of the largest medical facilities in India and will be spread over 20 lakhs sq. ft. with a capacity of 2000 beds. With a constant and relentless emphasis on quality, excellence in service, empathy, Yashoda Group provides world-class healthcare services at affordable costs.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1433696/AI_PET_CT_Launched_Yashoda.jpg

SOURCE Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad

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'Artificial Intelligence' Integrated PET-CT launched at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad on the occasion of World Cancer Day 2021 - PR Newswire India

Laptop screen webcam view different ethnicity and age people engaged in group videocall. Video ... [+] conference lead by african businessman leader. Modern technology, easy convenient on-line meeting concept

Have you given any thought how the post-pandemic workplace might look and function? Our working practices have changed dramatically since the pandemic struck, undergoing one of the biggest shake-ups since the industrial revolution and bringing the wheel full circle with many of us returning to home working.

Overnight, many of us turned from being office-based commuters to stay-at-home knowledge workers. Now we liaise remotely with colleagues as we work on projects, deliver great customer service or simply manage the work of others. Weve done all this remotely using our webcams and laptops. Its a massive change that would ordinarily have taken a decade to achieve but which has now happened in an instant because of a virus.

Thankfully, effective vaccines are being rolled out and some sort of end is in sight. The pandemic has shown large corporations that remote working is viable and, in many cases, can increase productivity. Many of us prefer this new way of working. As a result, some companies will downsize offices and rely on hot-desking to make best use of available space. Of course, there will still need to be some sort of central hub for workers to meet because some people enjoy office life and face-to-face contact is still essential for some kind of work.

Group Of Diverse Businesspeople Looking At Television While Video Conferencing In Boardroom

Remote working has worked well, especially with colleagues who already had a working relationship before the pandemic struck. All they needed to do was continue their working relationships remotely. Unfortunately, itss not so easy for workers joining companies since the pandemic. Many are working alongside team members who already know each other. This is where video conferencing can help and why some companies encourage workers to hold social activities online after-work usingZoomorMicrosoft Teams.

Another change triggered by the pandemic is the shutting down of business travel. We now depend on video conferencingto liaise with overseas colleagues. The days of hopping on a plane to make a presentation halfway around the world are at an end. In my own world of journalism, most trade shows, product launches and interviews are now conducted by video. I havent had to travel this past year and its done wonders for my productivity and carbon footprint.

Eventually, though, the day will come when we return to a more blended way of working with some time will be spent at the office and the rest of our time working from home. How will we adapt to this more mixed way of working when were not in front of our personal webcams? This is a question Logitech thinks it has an answer to. The webcam and mouse manufacturer also makes high-end video conferencing equipment. Its teamed up with Zoom, the developer of one of the most popular video conferencing software being used this past year, to shake up the market.

Logitech is using AI to make video conferencing as a group easier and more personal by tying in ... [+] equipment with software packages like Zoom Rooms and Microsoft Teams Rooms.

Both companies have collaborated to develop a new style of video conferencing. Theyve realized that when we return to our offices, were going to be using video much more because weve become so used to using it at home. We find it a much better way of communicating than a voice call.

Because were now used to making webchats in solo mode instead of being grouped around a conference table, its clear our approach to video conferencing will have to change in the office. In the past, big corporations had video conferencing rooms filled with expensive equipment and reserved for the senior management. Now were all used to being able to see as well as hear the people were calling.

The old exclusive way of video conferencing has its origins in the days of expensive 128kbps ISDN lines and costly international calls. In the past, the video conference room was too expensive for just anyone to use and was largely reserved for senior management. Now the coronavirus has democratized the whole process and that change must be embraced in the post-pandemic office.

To address this challenge, Logitech has been researching artificial intelligence for use in its video conferencing equipment. In future, video conferencing will be less boring and not limited to static and wide-angle views of a meeting room showing people sitting around a table. Were now used to seeing peoples faces close up and we can register facial expressions and hear voices more clearly. The old style of video conferencing simply wont cut it.

New video conferencing using AI will zoom in on speaker's faces and dynamically alter the volume and ... [+] microphone sensitivity for a more enjoyable experience.

There also needs to be changes in the software we use for video conferencing.Zoomssingle-user mode needs to adapt to the office environment of teams. This is where Logitech and Zoom have been working together to create a new experience. Recently,I spoke withScottWharton, LogitechsVice President and General Managerfor video conferencing, and Oded Gal,Chief Product Officerat Zoom. They explained how both companies see the professional end of the video conferencing market changing as we come out of the pandemic and some of us return to the office.

ScottWharton explained: Its no longer good enough to see people sitting around a conference table in a static wide-angle shot. We need to see peoples faces and reactions. We need to see them close up and hear them clearly as well. That can be a challenge in a larger space.

Zooms Oded Gal agreed. The video conference room has to mirror the experience workers have had at home with Zoom calls.

The companies collaborated on a newproduct portfolioof video equipmentcalled Rallyincluding the Rally Bar, Rally Mini andRoomMate. Each of the new products has been purpose-built to work withZoom Rooms. Logitechs native appliance integration forZoom Roomshas been designed to enhance the user experience while still delivering enterprise-grade video and voice quality, as well as the robust security that companies demand.

The latest Logitech Rally videoconferencing products are designed to work with Zoom and Microsoft ... [+] Teams to bring a more personal experience to the video conferencing room.

The idea of the new portfolio ofproducts is to harness AI to identify participants in a meeting if required and to zoom in on the face of the person talking so the experience feels more like using an individual webcam at home. Logitech has also been working on the sound side of things with microphones that can home in on a voice and ensuresthat someone at the back of the room is heard as clearly as someone sitting at the front.

This is a major shift in how we communicate, a practise that has been stuck for so long in a static group-shot mode. The new Rally productscan blend two images on one screen to add context to a video call. Wharton says: Its a bit like having your own TV studio director in the conference room, adjusting the framing shots while altering sound levels dynamically to create a less static and a more enjoyable meeting.

The new products offer video resolutions up to 4K and the cameras have motorized pan-and-tilt heads, as well as optical zoom lenses, enabling crisp images and perfect framing. The lens on the Rally Bar has a 5x optical zoom that can be extended to 15x digital for larger spaces.

Both video bars also feature ultra-low distortion speakers that can fill a room with sound while an adaptive beamforming mic array picks up voices for much clearer audio quality. The microphone array can focus on the active speaker and auto-adjust for louder and softer voices while suppressing any unwanted background noise in a room such as HVAC or any other persistent sounds. Logitech has also included a patented anti-vibration suspension system so speaker vibrations are minimized from being carried through walls, stands or tables.

The new video bars are equipped withLogitech RightSensetechnology and an AI Viewfinder. This viewfinder works like a second camera but is purely dedicated to computer vision for detecting human figures and can process and track where faces are in the room in real-time. This AI technique enhances the precision of the auto-framing feature and the camera control. Participants are always in focus, whether they are late joining the meeting or moving about while making a presentation.

How will we manage the transmission to using video conferencing at home to a more collaborative ... [+] group set up when we are back in the office?

Logitech has worked closely with Zoom and Microsoft to ensure that the software and hardware work seamlessly together.The company hasalso developedRoomMate, a dedicatedAndroidcomputer designedsolelyto work withthe Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini vas well as USB conferencing cameras such as Logitechs older Rally Plus, turning them into an appliance. Alternatively, users can bring their own Mac or PCs to a meeting and plug that into the video bar.

Its interesting to see Logitech partnering with big names in video conferencing software space to improve peoples experience by tying in the hardware more tightly. The use of hardware and AI can anticipate shots and framing as well as adjusting sound levels for a more enjoyable and productive meeting experience.

However, the tech doesnt just address the audio and visual side of things. Both Wharton and Gal say facial recognitioncould eventually bedevelopedto count the participants in a meeting room and then post a notice to an active display screen outside the room indicating if the meeting room is full or being used. Extra participants could be directed to another meeting room where they can join in with the conference. This could be a game-changing feature in an era of social distancing.

Facial recognition also has downsides and both Wharton and Gal were at pains to point out that privacy is at the forefront of their minds and something both companies are determined to protect. My suggestion that facial recognition could be used to conduct a register of attendees or send a reminder to anyone who is late for the meeting was noted but not endorsed. That, they said, would have to be a decision for the companys employing the technology and the employees who are using it.

It was fascinating to get a brief glimpse into the future of video conferencing from these two giants in the field. It looks like AI could change the way we use video conferencing when we get back to our workplaces. The hardware is ready and waiting in the form of the Logitech RallyBar, RallyBarMini and RoomMate. The software integration with Zoom is also ready and waiting to go. Now, all we need is to get our vaccinations and wait for the call to return to the office.

Pricing and Availability: Logitech Rally Bar is the first from the next generation appliance portfolio that will be broadly available at the end of this quarter. Rally Bar also comes with built-in support for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android and Zoom Rooms Appliances, with Zoom available immediately. Rally Bar Mini and Logitech RoomMate availability will follow. Pricing for Rally Bar starts at $3,999; Rally Bar Mini starts at $2,999; and Logitech RoomMate starts at $999. Logitechs portfolio will also work with GoTo, Pexip and RingCentral.

More info:www.logitech.com

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Artificial Intelligence Will Change The Way We Work Once We Get Back To The Office - Forbes

Newswise Oak Brook, IL The February edition of SLAS Technology is a special collection of articles focused on Artificial Intelligence in Process Automation by Guest Editor Cenk ndey, Ph.D. (Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA).

This SLAS Technology special collection targets the use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and technologies as applied specifically to drug discovery, automated gene editing and machine learning. As AI becomes increasingly more prevalent in research, medicine and even everyday life, laboratory automation has gone beyond hardware advancements toward new levels of precision and complexity. Beyond research, AI serves as a powerful tool for clinicians diagnosing and treating patients in a medical setting. The AI advancements presented in this issue highlight the wide spectrum of medical AI breakthroughs.

This months issue of SLAS Technology also celebrates the top 10 most-cited articles within the journals history. Over the past decade, the publications priority has been to provide a platform for researchers to share technological advancements as well as a resource to continually share the impact of technology on life sciences and biomedical research.

The February issue of SLAS Discovery includes nine articles of original research in addition to the cover article.

Articles of Original Research include:

Other articles include:

Access to Februarys SLAS Technology issue is available at http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/jlad/26/1.

For more information about SLAS and its journals, visitwww.slas.org/journals. Access a behind the scenes look at the latest issue with SLAS Technology Authors Talk Tech podcast. Tune into Februarys episode by visiting https://slastechnology.buzzsprout.com/.

*****

SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening) is an international professional society of academic, industry and government life sciences researchers and the developers and providers of laboratory automation technology. The SLAS mission is to bring together researchers in academia, industry and government to advance life sciences discovery and technology via education, knowledge exchange and global community building.

SLAS Discovery: Advancing the Science of Drug Discovery, 2019 Impact Factor 2.195. Editor-in-Chief Robert M. Campbell, Ph.D., Twentyeight-Seven Therapeutics, Boston, MA (USA).

SLAS Technology: Translating Life Sciences Innovation, 2019 Impact Factor 2.174. Editor-in-Chief Edward Kai-Hua Chow, Ph.D., National University of Singapore (Singapore).

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SLAS Technology Special Collection on Artificial Intelligence in Process Automation Available Now - Newswise

In the past few years, researchers have turned increasingly to data science techniques to aid problem-solving in organic synthesis.

Researchers in the lab ofAbigail Doyle, Princeton's A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Chemistry,have developed open-source software that provides them with a state-of-the-art optimization algorithm to use in everyday work, folding whats been learned in the machine learning field into synthetic chemistry.

Princeton chemists Benjamin Shields and Abigail Doyle worked with computer scientist Ryan Adams (not pictured) to create machine learning software that can optimize reactions using artificial intelligence to speed through thousands of reactions that chemists used to have to labor through one by one.

Photo by

C. Todd Reichart, Department of Chemistry

The software adapts key principles of Bayesian Optimization (BO) to allow faster and more efficient syntheses of chemicals.

Based on the Bayes Theorem, a mathematical formula for determining conditional probability, BO is a widely used strategy in the sciences. Broadly defined, it allows people and computersuse prior knowledge to inform and optimize future decisions.

The chemists in Doyle's lab, in collaboration withRyanAdams, a professor of computer science,and colleagues at Bristol-Myers Squibb, comparedhuman decision-making capabilities with the software package. They found that the optimization tool yields both greater efficiency over human participants and less bias on a test reaction. Their work appears in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Reaction optimization is ubiquitous in chemical synthesis, both in academia and across the chemical industry, said Doyle.Since chemical space is so large, it is impossible for chemists to evaluate the entirety of a reaction space experimentally. We wanted to develop and assess BO as a tool for synthetic chemistry given its success for related optimization problems in the sciences.

Benjamin Shields, a former postdoctoral fellow in the Doyle lab and the papers lead author, created the Python package.

I come from a synthetic chemistry background, so I definitely appreciate that synthetic chemists are pretty good at tackling these problems on their own, said Shields. Where I think the real strength of Bayesian Optimization comes in is that it allows us to model these high-dimensional problems and capture trends that we may not see in the data ourselves, so it can process the data a lot better.

And two, within a space, it will not be held back by the biases of a human chemist, he added.

The software started as an out-of-field project to fulfill Shields doctoral requirements. Doyle and Shield then formed a team under the Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis (C-CAS), a National Science Foundation initiative launched at five universities to transform how the synthesis of complex organic molecules is planned and executed. Doyle has been a principal investigator with C-CAS since 2019.

Reaction optimization can be an expensive and time-consuming process, said Adams, who is also the director of the Program in Statistics and Machine Learning. This approach not only accelerates it using state-of-the-art techniques, but also finds better solutions than humans would typically identify. I think this is just the beginning of whats possible with Bayesian Optimization in this space.

Users start by defining a search space plausible experiments to consider such as a list of catalysts, reagents, ligands, solvents, temperatures, and concentrations. Once that space is prepared and the user defines how many experiments to run, the software chooses initial experimental conditions to be evaluated. Thenit suggests new experiments to run, iterating through a smaller and smaller cast of choices until the reaction is optimized.

In designing the software, I tried to include ways for people to kind of inject what they know about a reaction, said Shields. No matter how you use this or machine learning in general, theres always going to be a case where human expertise is valuable.

The software and examples for its use can be accessed at this repository. GitHub links are available for the following: software that represents the chemicals under evaluation in a machine-readable format via density-functional theory; software for reaction optimization; and the game that collects chemists decision-making on optimization of the test reaction.

"Bayesian reaction optimization as a tool for chemical synthesis," byBenjamin J. Shields, Jason Stevens, Jun Li, Marvin Parasram, Farhan Damani, Jesus I. Martinez Alvarado, Jacob M. Janey, Ryan P. Adams andAbigail G. Doyle, appears in the Feb. 3 issue of the journal Nature (DOI:10.1038/s41586-021-03213-y). This research was supported by funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, the National Science Foundation under the CCI Center for Computer Assisted Synthesis (CHE-1925607), and the DataX Program at Princeton University through support from the Schmidt Futures Foundation.

Editor's note: You can read the unabridged version of this story on the Department of Chemistry homepage.

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Chemistry and computer science join forces to apply artificial intelligence to chemical reactions - Princeton University

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being explored or adopted by many industries for a wide array of applications. Today it is creating a string of opportunities in space industry use-cases too. As artificial intelligence emerges as a popular theme in space exploration,it is also being deployed for many critical tasks too.

For instance scientists have leveraged artificial intelligence, for charting unmarked galaxies, supernovas, stars, blackholes, and studying cosmic events that would otherwise go unnoticed.One of the recent illustration of this application was when CHIRP (Continuous High-Resolution Image Reconstruction using Patch Priors) Algorithm helped in creating first-ever image of a black hole. CHIRP is a Bayesian algorithm used to perform de-convolution on images created in radio astronomy. It used the image data from the Event Horizon Telescopes to carry further image processing. Even images from the Hubble Space Telescope are used to simulate galaxy formation and further classification using deep learning algorithms.

Artificial intelligence also proves resourceful in classifying heavenly bodies, especially exoplanets. A couple of years ago, a research team developed an artificial neural networks algorithm, to classify planets, based on whether they resemble present-day Earth, early Earth, Mars, Venus or Saturns largest moon, Titan. These five bodies are most potentially habitable objects in our solar system and are therefore associated with acertain probability of life.

In regards to life in outer space, Researchers atNASAs Frontier Development Lab(FDL) employed generative adversarial networks, or GANs, to create 3.5 million possible permutations of alien life based on signals from Kepler and the European Space Agencys Gaia telescope.

Besides, NASA has teamed up with Google to train its artificial intelligence algorithms to sift through the data from the Kepler mission to look for signals from an exoplanet crossing in front of its parent star. With the help of Googles trained model, NASA managed to discover two obscure planets Kepler-90i and Kepler-80g. In 2019, astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin, teamed with Google, to useAI for uncovering two more hidden planets in the Keplerspace telescope archive (Keplers extended mission, called K2).They used an AI algorithm that sifts through Keplers data to ferret out signals that were missed by traditional planet-hunting methods. This helped them discover the planets K2-293b and K2-294b.

Under the Artificial Intelligence Data Analysis (AIDA) project, which is funded under the European Horizons 2020 framework, an intelligent system is being developed that can read and process data from space. The key object of this project is to enable the discovery of new celestial objects, using data from NASA.

AI applications can also found in the field of satellite imagery. Data based on satellite imagery offers insights on several global-scale economic, social and industrial processes, which was previously not possible. Some examples include Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) satellite, SKICAT, ENVISAT. These satellites leverage artificial intelligence to provide actionable insights for agencies, governments and businesses, and help them in making accurate decisions.

While humans are capable ofinterpreting, understanding, and analyzing images collected by satellites, it does cost us time and resources while waiting for a satellite to move back around to the same position to further refine image analysis. Artificial intelligence helps eliminate the necessity for large amounts of communication to and from Earth to analyze photos and helps determine whether a new photo needs to be taken. Moreover, it saves processing power, reduces battery usage, and fast-tracks the image gathering process.

In case of space mining, artificial intelligence will augment mining machinery with intelligence that will empower them to extract minerals and identify any hazards or solve minor issues at hand without the need for immediate support from humans on Earth. Meanwhile, NASA is also developing a companion for astronauts aboard the ISS,called Robonaut, which will work alongside the astronauts or take on tasks that are too risky for them. According to NASAs blog, Robonaut 2 is slowly approaching human dexterity implying tasks like changing out an air filter can be performed without modifications to the existing design.

Artificial intelligence has also helped us develop space humanoids like Kirobo from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Dextre from Canadian Space Agency, and AILA from German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence to help astronauts in space missions. NASAs free-flying robotic system,Astrobee, uses AI to help astronauts reduce their time on routine duties, leaving them to focus more on the things that only humans can do. We also have CIMON or (Crew Interactive Mobile Companion), an AI powered robot that floats through the zero-gravity environment of the space station to research a database of information about the ISS. In addition to the mechanical tasks assigned, CIMON assesses the moods of its human crewmates at the ISS and interacts accordingly with them.

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Beyond the Unknown: Applications of Artificial intelligence In Space - Analytics Insight

1. Automating Tasks

Workplaces have several tasks that are routine and mundane such as scheduling meetings. Usually, employees may send emails back-and-forth to several other employees and enquire about an open slot on their calendar. This process can be increasingly tedious and time-consuming for employees.

Business leaders can adopt AI in the workplace to enhance employee productivity. Organizations can deploy AI-powered personal assistants for scheduling, cancelling, and rescheduling meetings. AI-enabled assistants can analyze an employees schedule and suggest time slots to other employees based on their availability. When a time slot gets decided, an AI assistant will notify all participants of the meeting. Also, AI can be used to automatically transcribe meetings and create a text file. Furthermore, the introduction of AI in the workplace can also automate other tasks such as sorting and categorizing emails.

HR executives usually resolve employee queries related to various workplace policies. Also, HR executives have other core tasks such as managing payroll, recruiting talent, and onboarding new employees. Similarly, IT professionals can be caught up employee queries along with their core tasks. Hence, the productivity of HR and IT department can be severely affected.

The deployment of AI in the workplace can enable organizations to resolve employee queries without interrupting their HR or IT departments.Several organizations are deploying AI-powered chatbotsin the workplace. Similarly, every organization can deploy AI-enabled chatbots that can answer different employee queries accurately. Employees can ask queries using emails, text messages, and online messengers and AI will respond accordingly. If the chatbot is unable to answer a query, then it will assign a request to the concerned personnel who can resolve the query. With this approach, AI-enabled chatbots can also learn how to respond to various queries. Additionally, the deployment of AI in the workplace will allow employees to communicate in various language as AI can translate their queries to English.

The adoption of AI in the workplace can streamline the onboarding process. AI systems can automate various tasks such as generating offer letters, sending documents, and walking new employees through various company-wide policies. Additionally, AI can coach new employees by observing and analyzing how they conduct various tasks. Then, AI tools can suggest ways to improve their efficiency. For instance, AI systems can analyze sales calls of multiple employees and offer tips to improve their performance. For this purpose, AI systems can record sales calls and generate statistics for each employee. Using this approach, AI systems can offer suggestions based on every employees data. Likewise, AI can also train customer service executives to help them deliver better services. With this approach, AI can provide personalized training for each employee.

In the digital age, running a competitive business without data is almost impossible. Businesses collectdifferent types of datasuch as social media data, customer data, and operational data for various applications. However, the obtained cannot be useful if it is not used for generating analytics. Hence, deployment of AI in the workplace can enable business leaders to generate valuable insights from the acquired data. For this purpose, AI systems will optimize data collected from various sources such as social media and personal information of customers and store it in a centralized location. Then, AI systems will analyze the collected data to offer profound insights that can help business leaders predict industry trends, identify anomalies, and generate detailed reports.

The introduction of IoT in the workplace can benefit organizations in the following manner:

Every employee prefers a different temperature on the thermostat and this disagreement can be atopic of conflict in the workplace.Business leaders can install smart thermostats and temperature sensors in the workplace to automate thermostat settings. Smart thermostats learn from employee temperature preferences and set the temperature accordingly. Similarly, business leaders can install several IoT-powered appliances such as smart lights, smart air conditioners, and coffee machines that can be operated using a smartphone.

Organizations can install IoT sensors in the workplace to notify employees about empty conference rooms. These sensors will monitor all conference rooms and display their status as available or busy in a centralized location. With this approach, employees can effortlessly find empty conference rooms.

Business leaders can introduce effective security measures and access control in the workplace with the help of IoT. Conventional keys, badges, and passes can be easily forgotten or duplicated. Hence, organizations can deploy smart locks that can be effortlessly unlocked using a smartphone. Such locks can also enable access control for certain rooms. For instance, only a few employees will have access to rooms that contain crucial paperwork and confidential data. With the help of IoT, business leaders can offer a granular approach to access control in the workplace. Also, smart locks can integrate with existing security systems in an organization.

The US consumes around23% of the worlds energy.Such statistics can be worrying after knowing about depleting energy reserves, overpopulation, and climate change. Energy in the form of electricity is extensively utilized in the workplace for several business procedures. Also, the cause of excessive energy consumption may be the inability to track energy utilization in the workplace. Hence, business leaders can deploy IoT sensors that can monitor energy usage. IoT sensors can monitor energy consumption in real-time and present the data to concerned parties. Concerned personnel can analyze the acquired data and take necessary steps to reduce energy consumption. Also, IoT sensors and smart appliances can help in controlling energy usage. For instance, smart lights have IoT sensors that can detect people in a room. In case a room is empty, lights would shut off and turn back on when someone enters the room. With this approach, organizations can monitor and control energy consumption and conserve energy.

The introduction of IoT and AI in the workplace will help businesses deliver more efficient operations and workflow, leading to a better ROI. Also, IoT and AI can significantly improve employee experience, which can help organizations in attracting and retaining the best talent. Additionally, AI and IoT can work together to make the existing applications more advanced. Hence, business leaders must invest in these modern technologies to reap their benefits and gain a competitive edge.

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How to Build a Modern Workplace with Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things - BBN Times

Finding an effective balance between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) in defense systems will be the sticking point for any policy promoting the distancing from humans in the loop. Within this balance, we must accept some deviations when considering concepts such as thekill chain.How would a progression of policy look within a defense application? Addressing the political, technological, and legal boundaries of AI integration would allow the benefits of AI, notably speed, to be incorporated into the kill chain. Recently, former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter stated We all accept that bad things can happen with machinery. What we dont accept is when it happens amorally. Certainly, humans will retain the override ability and accountability without exception. Leaders will be forever bound by the actions of AI guided weapon systems, perhaps no differently than they would be responsible for the actions of a service member in combat and upholding ethical standards of which the AI has yet to grasp.

The future of weapon systems will include AI guiding the selection of targets, information gathering and processing, and ultimately, delivering force as necessary. Domination on the battlefield will not be in traditional means, rather conflicts dominated by AI with competing algorithms. The normalcy of a human-dominated decisionmaking process does provide allowances for AI within the process, however, not in a meaningful way. At no point does artificial intelligence play a significant role in making actual decisions towards the determination of lethal actions. Clearly, the capability and technology supporting integration havefar surpassed the tolerance of our elected officials. We must build confidence with them and the general public with a couple of fundamental steps.

First, information gathering and processing can be controlled primarily by the AI with little to no friction from officials. This integration, although not significant by way of added capability in a research and development (R&D) perspective, will aid in building confidence and can be completed quickly. Developing elementary protocols for the AI to follow for individual systems such as turrets, easy at first then slowly increasing in difficulty, would allow the progression of technology from an R&D standpoint while incrementally building confidence and trust. The inclusion of recognition software into the weapon system would allow specific target selections, be it civilians or terrorists, of which could be presented, prioritized, and then given to the commander for action. Once functioning within a set of defined perimeters confidently, you can increase the number of systems for overlapping coverage. A human can be at the intersection of all the data via a command center supervising these systems with a battlement management system; effectively being a human on the loop with the ability to stop any engagements as required or limiting AI roles based on individual or mission tolerance.

This process must not be encapsulated solely within an R&D environment. Rather, transparency to the public and elected officials alike, must know and be accepting. Yes, these steps seem elementary, however, they are not being done. Focus has been concentrated on capability development without a similar concern for associated policy development when both must progress together. Small concrete steps with sound policy and oversight are crucial. Without such an understanding, decisionmakers cannot in their conscience approve, rather defaulting to the safe and easy answer, no. Waiting to act on AI integration into our weapons systems puts us behind the technological curve required to effectively compete with our foes. It would be foolish to believe our adversaries and their R&D programs are being held up on AI integration due to moral and public support requirements; the Chinese call it intelligentized war and have invested heavily. Having humans on the loop during successful testing and fielding will be the bridge to additionalAIauthorities and public support necessary for the United States to continue to develop these technologies as future warfare will dictate.

John Austerman is an experienced advisor to senior military and civilian leaders focusing on armaments policy primarily within research and development. Experience with 50+ countries and the Levant to include hostile-fire areas and war zones.

Image: Reuters.

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Morality Poses the Biggest Risk to Military Integration of Artificial Intelligence - The National Interest

Nijeer Parks was bewildered when he was arrested and taken into custody in February 2019. Apparently, hed been accused of shoplifting and attempting to hit a police officer with a car at a Hampton Inn, as the New York Times reported. But Woodbridge, New Jersey, where the crime had taken place, was 30 miles from his home, and Parks had neither a car nor a drivers license at the time, according to NBC News. Court documents indicated that he had no idea how hed been implicated in a crime he knew he didnt commit until he discovered that the case against him was based solely on a flawed facial-recognition match. According to a December report by the Times, this was the third-known instance of a wrongful arrest caused by facial recognition in the U.S. All three of those victims were Black men.

Algorithms failed Parks twice: First, he was mistakenly identified as the suspect; then, he was robbed of due process and jailed for 10 days at the recommendation of a risk assessment tool used to assist pretrial release decisions. These tools have been adopted by courts across the country despite evidence of racial bias and a 2018 letter signed by groups like the ACLU and NAACP cautioning against their use. At one point, Parks told the Times, he even considered pleading guilty. The case was ultimately dropped, but hes now suing the Woodbridge Police Department, the city of Woodbridge, and the prosecutors involved in his wrongful arrest.

These are the costs of algorithmic injustice. Were approaching a new reality, one in which machines are weaponized to undermine liberty and automate oppression with a pseudoscientific rubber stamp; in which opaque technology has the power to surveil, detain, and sentence, but no one seems to be held accountable for its miscalculations.

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U.S. law enforcement agencies have embraced facial recognition as an investigative aid in spite of a 2018 study from MIT that discovered software error rates ranging from 0.8% for light-skinned men to 34.7% for dark-skinned women. In majority-Black Detroit, the police chief approximated a 96% error rate in his departments software last year (though the company behind the software told Vice they dont keep statistics on the accuracy of its real-world use), but he still refuses a ban.

Artificial intelligence (AI) works by supplying a computer program with historical data so it can deduce patterns and extrapolate from those patterns to make predictions independently. But this often creates a feedback loop of discrimination. For example, so-called predictive policing tools are purported to identify future crime hot spots and optimize law enforcement resource allocation, but because training data can reflect racially disparate levels of police presence, they may merely flag Black neighborhoods irrespective of a true crime rate. This is exactly what Minority Report warned us about.

Princeton University sociologist Ruha Benjamin has sounded the alarm about a new Jim Code, a reference to the Jim Crow laws that once enforced segregation in the U.S. Others have alluded to a tech-to-prison pipeline, making it crystal clear that mass incarceration isnt going away its just being warped by a sophisticated, high-tech touch.

Thats not to say that AI cant be a force for good. It has revolutionized disease diagnosis, helped forecast natural disasters, and uncovered fake news. But the misconception that algorithms are some sort of infallible silver bullet for all our problems technochauvinism, as data journalist Meredith Broussard put it in her 2018 book has brought us to a place where AI is making high-stakes decisions that are better left to humans. And in the words of Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), the technological illiteracy of most members of Congress is embarrassing, precluding effective governance.

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Artificial Intelligence in Policing Is the Focus of Encode Justice - Teen Vogue

Canon Medical is expanding the clinical reach of its artificial intelligence programs designed to improve MRI image quality, saying it can now be used in 96% of all scanning procedures.

The companys Advanced intelligent Clear-IQ Engine, or AiCE, aims to sharpen scans taken by lower-dose, 1.5 Tesla MRIs, to bring their image quality up to par with 3.0 Tesla machines.

The system was previously cleared by the FDA for certain brain- and knee-focused indications, using Canon Medicals Vantage Orian 1.5 Tesla system. Now its applications span all joints, as well as cardiac, abdomen, spine and pelvic scans.

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In todays environment, making images easy to read and acquire is more important than ever, and this is the latest demonstration of our commitment to offering accessible AI that clinicians can use to make the greatest impact on patient care, said Jonathan Furuyama, managing director of Canon Medicals MR business unit.

RELATED: Canon gets FDA nod for high-resolution CT system

The expansion follows two recent FDA clearances for Canon Medical in December and January, including an AI-equipped, large-bore CT scanner and software designed to boost 3D MRI imaging times.

The companys Speeder software, also for its Vantage Orian 1.5 Tesla system, was cleared to help accelerate surgical planning and orthopedic applicationsby reconstructing full resolution images from under-sampled data. This allows technicians to perform a scan at least twice as fast, the company said. The software also includes an application to help clinicians quantify fatty liver disease.

The companys Aquilion Exceed large-bore CT system, meanwhile, uses AiCE technology to provide more distinct images with an opening nearly one meter wide, with an extended field-of-view of 90 centimeters.

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Canon Medical expands reach of its MRI artificial intelligence programs - FierceBiotech

TORONTO, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skinopathy, a Canadian medical company founded in 2020, has filed a provisional patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) technology that will help guide surgeons when performing skin cancer excisions.

Healthcare practitioners will be able to use the AI technology which determines, pixel by pixel, the boundaries of cancerous skin tissue by simply taking a picture with their smartphones. The AR technology will then provide surgeons with an overlay of those boundaries through the screen.

Next level healthcare Cancerous skin tissue can sometimes extend beyond the measurable lesion and is typically unseen to even the most eagle-eyed surgeon.

That is why some surgeons choose to be overly cautious and remove more skin than might be necessary to prevent the need for further surgery, which can lead to visible scarring and other disfigurements. Conversely, it is possible that cancerous tissue remains following an excision due to the vagaries of the human body, quality-of-life considerations, or experience of the surgeon. This can potentially lead to continued growth and additional excisions in the future.

Once ready, surgeons will have access to cutting-edge technology that will lead to more informed medical decisions and significantly reduce the hardships felt by the patient and the strain levied on the healthcare system.

This will revolutionize skin cancer treatment, says Alexander Shevchenko, Lead Engineer at Skinopathy. We are providing surgeons with an additional skin cancer fighting tool they can carry in their pockets every day.

Preventing advanced stages of skin cancer Skin cancer is more prevalent than colon, lung, breast, and prostate cancers combined and typically present in very unspectacular ways.

Moles, skin tags, and rashes are rarely viewed as causes for concern and are often dismissed until the discomfort becomes greater than the hassle of seeing a doctor. But it is during that time of latency where dangerous conditions can fester and become deadly. When people finally take action, they are often subject to long wait times or need to travel hundreds (if not thousands) of kilometres to access physicians in a major urban centre.

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Using this technology, people will be able to take pictures of their skin lesion and get an immediate and accurate analysis that will advise on the severity of their condition and provide online access to healthcare practitioners in a matter of days, sometimes even hours.

This is a tremendous milestone for skin cancer, says Dr. Colin Hong, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Skinopathy. We are using technology to streamline the medical bureaucracy to ensure no one slips through the cracks.

It now takes weeks, sometimes months, to see a skin cancer specialist, and during that time cancerous tissue can grow rapidly and spread to other organs. Making matters worse is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has added more delays and obstacles.

Geographically agnostic technologySkinopathy is using the same kind of technology used for the Re-Captcha security feature found on many websites. However, instead of using AI to determine the difference between a fire hydrant and a bus, Skinopathy is using it to determine the miniscule differences between a mole and a cancerous lesion.

Using real-world images taken by physicians and beta users using their smartphones, the Skinopathy prototypes have yielded 87% accuracy for nine different skin conditions, such as keratosis, and performed even more impressively for basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma with accuracy rates ranging from 87% to 96%.

We are very excited about these results, says Dr. Rakesh Joshi, Lead Data Scientist at Skinopathy. There are very subtle nuances on how skin lesions present on the skin, and our models are able to detect the smallest of variances.

Since the technology being developed is geographically agnostic, it can be deployed anywhere in the world and bring needed medical care to under-serviced regions. You can learn more about the technology here.

Skin cancer facts and statsThe Canadian Skin Cancer Foundation states that 1 in 3 cancers diagnosed worldwide is skin cancer and that they outnumber lung, breast, prostate, and colon cancers combined.

Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada suggests the costs associated with skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases was over 2 Billion Dollars in 2010.

Research suggests there is a skin cancer epidemic in the elderly.

About Skinopathy Founded in 2020, Skinopathy is a medical company creating Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), and automation technology that will ensure people and healthcare practitioners receive convenient, reliable, and State-Of-The-Art skin cancer mitigation tools. Its first service, GetSkinHelp.com, is already helping patients connect with specialists through its virtual platform.

ContactKeith LooCo-Founder & Chief Executive Officer(833) 272-7546 x700keith@skinopathy.com

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Skinopathy Files Provisional Patent for Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality Powered Technology that will Guide Skin Cancer Surgeries - Yahoo...