Bio-PrecisionAI Health

01/08/2026

ConvBERT

Overview

The ConvBERT model was proposed in ConvBERT: Improving BERT with Span-based Dynamic Convolution by Zihang Jiang, Weihao Yu, Daquan Zhou, Yunpeng Chen, Jiashi Feng, Shuicheng Yan.

The abstract from the paper is the following:

Pre-trained language models like BERT and its variants have recently achieved impressive performance in various natural language understanding tasks. However, BERT heavily relies on the global self-attention block and thus suffers large memory footprint and computation cost. Although all its attention heads query on the whole input sequence for generating the attention map from a global perspective, we observe some heads only need to learn local dependencies, which means the existence of computation redundancy. We therefore propose a novel span-based dynamic convolution to replace these self-attention heads to directly model local dependencies. The novel convolution heads, together with the rest self-attention heads, form a new mixed attention block that is more efficient at both global and local context learning. We equip BERT with this mixed attention design and build a ConvBERT model. Experiments have shown that ConvBERT significantly outperforms BERT and its variants in various downstream tasks, with lower training cost and fewer model parameters. Remarkably, ConvBERTbase model achieves 86.4 GLUE score, 0.7 higher than ELECTRAbase, while using less than 1/4 training cost. Code and pre-trained models will be released.

This model was contributed by abhishek. The original implementation can be found here: https://github.com/yitu-opensource/ConvBert

Usage tips

ConvBERT training tips are similar to those of BERT. For usage tips refer to BERT documentation.

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Contribute to yitu-opensource/ConvBert development by creating an account on GitHub.

01/07/2026

How does Altitude Affect AS Genotype?

The term altitude, in relation to an AS genotype, refers to how the environmental stress of high elevation (specifically the low oxygen levels, or hypoxia) interacts with individuals who carry the gene for sickle cell trait (AS genotype).

The key points regarding altitude and the AS genotype are:

Hypoxia Challenge: High altitude environments (typically defined as above 2,500 meters or ~8,200 feet) present a major physiological challenge due to reduced ambient oxygen. The human body responds to this by acclimatizing, often by producing more red blood cells (erythrocytosis).

Sickle Cell Trait (AS Genotype): People with the AS genotype are heterozygous for the sickle cell allele, meaning they have one copy of the normal hemoglobin gene (A) and one copy of the sickle cell gene (S). Generally, these individuals are healthy and do not experience severe symptoms at sea level.

Maladaptation at Altitude: The unique physiological changes that occur at high altitude, particularly the lower oxygen saturation and changes in blood flow/viscosity, can be problematic for individuals with the AS trait. The lower oxygen tension can trigger the red blood cells to sickle more readily, even in those who are only carriers.

Increased Risk: For people with the AS genotype, exposure to high altitudes can increase the risk of altitude-related illnesses and other health complications, such as:
Vaso-occlusive events: Sickled red blood cells can block small blood vessels, leading to pain and organ damage.

Splenic syndrome: The spleen may become enlarged and painful.
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT): There is an increased risk of blood clots.

Therefore, from a medical and biological perspective, altitude represents an environmental stressor that can turn an otherwise benign AS genotype into a health risk, unlike the high-altitude adaptations seen in indigenous populations (like Tibetans and Andeans) who have evolved distinct genetic mechanisms for coping with chronic hypoxia.

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01/07/2026

What Is Sickle Cell Trait (AS genotype)?

Sickle cell trait is not a disease. Sickle cell trait is the inheritance of one gene for sickle hemoglobin and one for normal hemoglobin. Sickle cell trait will not turn into the disease. Sickle cell trait is a life-long condition that will not change over time.
• During intense exercise, red blood cells containing the sickle hemoglobin can change shape from round to quarter-moon, or “sickle.”
• Sickled red cells may accumulate in the blood stream during intense exercise, blocking normal blood flow to the tissues and muscles.
• During intense exercise, athletes with sickle cell trait have experienced significant physical distress, collapsed and even died.
• Heat, dehydration, altitude and asthma can increase the risk for and worsen complications associated with sickle cell trait, even when exercise is not intense.
• Athletes with sickle cell trait should not be excluded from participation as precautions can be put into place.

How Can I Prevent a Collapse?

• Know your sickle cell trait status.
• Engage in a slow and gradual preseason conditioning regimen.
• Build up your intensity slowly while training.
• Set your own pace. Use adequate rest and recovery between repetitions, especially during “gassers” and intense station or “mat” drills.
• Avoid pushing with all-out exertion longer than two to three minutes without a rest interval or a breather.
• If you experience symptoms such as muscle pain, abnormal weakness, undue fatigue or breathlessness, stop the activity immediately and notify your
athletic trainer and/or coach.
• Stay well hydrated at all times, especially in hot and humid conditions.
• Avoid using high-caffeine energy drinks or supplements, or other stimulants, as they may contribute to dehydration.
• Maintain proper asthma management.
• Refrain from extreme exercise during acute illness, if feeling ill, or while experiencing a fever.
• Beware when adjusting to a change in altitude, e.g., a rise in altitude of as little as 2,000 feet. Modify your training and request that supplemental oxygen be available to you.
• Seek prompt medical care when experiencing unusual physical distress.

For more information and resources, visit ncaa.org/health-safety.

Sickle cell
Healthy red
blood cell

Do You Know If You Have Sickle Cell Trait?

People at high risk for having sickle cell trait are those whose ancestors come from Africa, South or Central America, India, Saudi Arabia and Caribbean and Mediterranean countries.
• Sickle cell trait occurs in about
8% of the U.S. African American
population, and between one in
2,000 and one in 10,000 in the
Caucasian population.
• All NCAA student-athletes
must provide their school with
documented results from a
previous sickle cell solubility test,
or they must undergo testing
during their preparticipation
medical examination.
• Knowledge of sickle cell trait status can be a gateway to education and simple precautions that may prevent collapse among athletes with sickle cell trait, allowing you to thrive in your sport.
• All newborns in the United States
(and newborns in many other
countries) undergo sickle cell
testing at birth.

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The official Health, Safety & Performance page for the NCAA.org

01/06/2026

12/26/2025

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
~ From all of us -PrecisionAI

12/22/2025

Courtesy: Marketstatics

12/15/2025

Featured in the UF Biomedical Engineering CrossLink 2025. Congratulations to Joseph Luper Tsenum for taking AI-driven drug discovery to the global stage!

https://issuu.com/ufbme/docs/crosslink_2025_db75e241a35419

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