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Mammogram-based breast cancer risk model could lead to better screening guidelines
2021-01-27
(Press-News.org) A new machine learning algorithm based on mammograms can estimate the risk of breast cancer in women more accurately than current risk models, according to a study from Adam Yala and colleagues. The algorithm, which was tested with datasets from three large hospitals located worldwide, could help clinicians design guidelines for breast cancer screening that meet the need for early detection while reducing false-positives, test costs, and other issues associated with overscreening. Mammograms are the most common method to screen for breast cancer, as more than 39 million procedures are performed in the U.S. annually. However, their widespread adoption has not gone without controversy. Critics charge that aggressive screening results in untenable medical costs, higher anxiety in patients, and a substantial rate of false positives. On the other hand, supporters of frequent testing argue it is necessary to detect tumors as early as possible, and the disagreement has led to inconsistent guidelines for when screening should start and how frequent it should be. Yala et al. theorized that improving the accuracy of the risk models that inform guidelines could lead to better recommendations. They designed and trained a new model named Mirai, which integrates data from mammograms to produce consistent breast cancer risk assessments at multiple time points, such as within 1 year or 5 years. When independently tested with data from 106,615 patients from three hospitals, located in the U.S., Sweden, and Taiwan, Mirai identified 41.5% of patients who would develop cancer within 5 years. In contrast, current approaches such as the Tyrer-Cuzick and Hybrid Deep Learning models only identified 22.9% and 36.1% of patients, respectively. Mirai was also effective across various races and ethnicities, supporting its potential to inform screening guidelines for large and diverse populations.
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'Smart' cartilage cells programmed to release drugs when stressed
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Working to develop new treatments for osteoarthritis, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have genetically engineered cartilage to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug in response to activity similar to the bending of a knee or other motions that put stress on joints.
Among the early symptoms of osteoarthritis is pain in response to such movements -- motions that involve the so-called mechanical loading of a joint. Joint pain that accompanies bending or lifting can make it difficult to perform normal activities. But by altering genes in cartilage cells in the laboratory, the researchers have been able to program them to respond to the mechanical stress associated with movement and weight-bearing ...
In tune with the moon
2021-01-27
The blog "Ladyplanet. Natürlich Frau sein" is quite certain: "Our cycle is linked to that of the moon. The most obvious connection is the length of the two cycles," it says. The newspaper "Berliner Tagesspiegel" comes to the opposite conclusion: "The length of women's menstrual cycles is an average value, for some it lasts longer, for others it is shorter. Even one and the same woman can have cycles of different lengths. If they really were connected to the lunar cycle, all women would have their fertile days at the same time," the paper's knowledge section reads.
So what is true? A team led by Würzburg chronobiologist Charlotte Förster has now used scientific methods to examine the connection between ...
Cell death shines a light on the origins of complex life
2021-01-27
Organelles continue to thrive after the cells within which they exist die, a team of University of Bristol scientists have found, overturning previous assumptions that organelles decay too quickly to be fossilised.
As described in the journal Sciences Advances today [27 January], researchers from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences were able to document the decay process of eukaryotic algal cells, showing that nuclei, chloroplasts and pyrenoids (organelles found within chloroplasts) can persist for weeks and months after cell death in eukaryote cells, long enough to be preserved as fossils.
Emily Carlisle, a PhD student from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences and co-author, was able to characterise the transformation of the organelles into ...
Women's menstrual cycles temporarily synchronize with Moon cycles
2021-01-27
An analysis of long-term menstrual cycle records kept by 22 women for up to 32 years shows that women with cycles lasting longer than 27 days intermittently synchronized with cycles that affect the intensity of moonlight and the moon's gravitational pull. This synchrony was lost as women aged and when they were exposed to artificial light at night. The researchers hypothesized that human reproductive behavior may have been synchronous with the moon during ancient times, but that this changed as modern lifestyles emerged and humans increasingly gained exposure to artificial light ...
New malaria mosquito is emerging in African cities
2021-01-27
Larvae of a new malaria mosquito species are abundantly present in water containers in cities in Ethiopia. The mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is the main malaria mosquito in India but only appeared on the African continent a few years ago. It has now been found in cities and towns in urban settings in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. Researchers from the Radboud university medical center and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia showed that the invading mosquito species is highly susceptible to local malaria strains. Malaria can therefore become an increasing problem for urban areas in ...
Growth of northern Tibet proved the key to East Asian biodiversity
2021-01-27
Pioneering work led by a joint China-UK consortium has revealed the origin of one of the world's most important ecosystems, the East Asian biodiversity "hotspot," thus solving a longstanding riddle as to what prompted its formation and evolution.
In a recent study published in Science Advances, a joint research team led by scientists from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Bristol (UK) and the Open University (UK) has revealed the first direct mechanism explaining how the growth of mountains in Northern Tibet drastically altered climate, vegetation and plant diversity in East Asia.
The researchers used an innovative climate model that simulates ...
Germline whole exome sequencing reveals the potential role of hereditary predisposition and therapeutic implications in small cell lung cancer, a tobacco-related cancer
2021-01-27
(Embargoed for January 28, 2021 3 a.m. SPT; January 27th 2 pm EST, 2021) -- Note: this study is scheduled for publication in the Journal Science Translational Medicine)
A study presented today by Dr. Nobuyuki Takahashi of the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Md. at the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer Singapore demonstrates that small cell lung cancer (SCLC) may have an inherited predisposition and lays the foundation for understanding the interaction between genotype and tobacco exposure in exacerbating SCLC risk as well as potential therapeutic implications. Because tobacco is the dominant carcinogen, secondary causes of lung cancer are often diminished in perceived importance, especially in SCLC, the most lethal ...
Pioneering research unravels hidden origins of Eastern Asia's 'land of milk and honey'
2021-01-27
A study has revealed for the first time the ancient origins of one of the world's most important ecosystems by unlocking the mechanism which determined the evolution of its mountains and how they shaped the weather there as well as its flora and fauna.
It was previously thought Southern Tibet and the Himalaya were instrumental in turning the once barren land of eastern Asia into lush forests and abundant coastal regions which became home to a rich array of plant, animal and marine life, including some of the world's rarest species. But new findings, published today in the journal Science Advances, conversely show Northern Tibet played the more influential role in this transformation which began more than 50 million years ago.
Scientists from a UK-China partnership, ...
Melatonin produced in the lungs prevents infection by novel coronavirus
2021-01-27
By Elton Alisson | Agência FAPESP - Melatonin synthesized in the lungs acts as a barrier against SARS-CoV-2, preventing expression of genes that encode proteins in cells such as resident macrophages in the nose and pulmonary alveoli, and epithelial cells lining the alveoli, all of which are entry points for the virus. The hormone, therefore, prevents infection of these cells by the virus and inhibits the immune response so that the virus remains in the respiratory tract for a few days, eventually leaving to find another host.
The discovery by researchers at the University ...
Study reveals precarious employment on the rise long before COVID-19
2021-01-27
A study led by a University of Illinois Chicago researcher uses a new approach to measure precarious, or low-quality, employment in the United States. And, according to those findings, precarious employment has increased 9% between 1988 and 2016.
Precarious employment, or P.E., is defined as low-quality employment, which is often characterized by low wages, job insecurity and irregular hours, making employment risky and stressful for the worker.
In her study, "Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis," Vanessa Oddo, assistant professor in UIC's School of Applied Health Sciences, sought to create ...