Culture
Some claim that machine learning technology has the potential to transform healthcare systems, but a study published by The BMJ finds that machine learning models have similar performance to traditional statistical models and share similar uncertainty in making risk predictions for individual patients.
The NHS has invested £250m ($323m; €275m) to embed machine learning in healthcare, but researchers say the level of consistency (stability) within and between models should be assessed before they are used to make treatment decisions for individual patients.
November 4, 2020 (ATLANTA) - As wildlife populations decline around the globe, understanding the natural and human-induced factors that influence their growth is critical for determining the risk of population declines and developing effective conservation strategies.
PHILADELPHIA - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder that develops as the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system. Specifically, it attacks the protective layer surrounding nerve cells, called the myelin sheath. Current MS therapies aim to counter this inflammatory response by suppressing the immune system, which can lead to serious side effects like a higher risk of infection, and even cancer.
What The Study Did: Researchers investigated whether loosening of state firearm restrictions in Missouri were associated with changes in rates of suicide by firearms among young people ages 14 to 24.
Authors: Apurva Bhatt, M.D., of the University of Missouri-Kansas City/Center for Behavioral Medicine in Kansas City, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.24303)
What The Study Did: Rates and characteristics of needle stick and other sharps injuries among resident physicians and other staff at a large health care center were examined in this study.
Authors: John G. Zampella, M.D., of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2020.4112)
More than 250 million people suffer from COPD, a progressive inflammatory lung disease. On the list of the most frequent causes of death worldwide, COPD ranks third behind heart attacks and stroke. The primary cause of COPD is exposure to cigarette smoke. Ninety percent of COPD patients are or have been chronic smokers. Other risk factors include exposure to air pollution. Despite intensive research efforts, there is no cure for COPD. Resulting fibrosis and lung epithelial cell death are key features of COPD, preventing patients from breathing effectively.
Two population screen and treat programmes commonly prescribed to prevent older people falling have no impact on reducing fractures, researchers from the University of Warwick and University of Exeter have concluded.
They belong to the bark beetle family, and they are the only animals in nature, along with leaf-cutter ants and some termites, that practice agriculture: ambrosia beetles. These insects, which are about two millimetres in size, carry fungal spores into their nests and sow them in specially created tunnels in the wood. They then care for the growing fungal cultures that serve as food for them.
Bethesda, Maryland (Nov. 4, 2020) - Early identification and removal of cancerous colorectal polyps is critical to preventing the progression of colorectal cancer and improving survival rates. The U.S. Multisociety Task Force on Colorectal Cancer has released new guidance for endoscopists on how to assess colorectal lesions for features associated with cancer, discuss how these factors guide management, and outline when to advise surgery after malignant polyp removal.
Predicting the outcomes of actions in order to make good decisions is a critical role of brain function. This process is thought to work through two fundamentally different mechanisms called "model-free" and "model-based" learning. Though fundamental for flexible and adaptive behaviour, the neurobiology of model-based learning remains poorly understood.
Now, in a study published in the scientific journal Neuron, scientists pin down a brain area crucial for this type of learning and demonstrate how its activity encodes multiple aspects of the decision-making process.
In a small study of adults with major depression, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that two doses of the psychedelic substance psilocybin, given with supportive psychotherapy, produced rapid and large reductions in depressive symptoms, with most participants showing improvement and half of study participants achieving remission through the four-week follow-up.
A recent study has shown that it may be possible to dampen the workings of the subconscious brain to prevent alcohol relapse, the results leading to a world-first trial of a personalised smartphone app called "SWiPE".
Cognitive Bias Modification, a new form of computerised brain-training, is focused on training the brain to automatically avoid alcohol cues, with findings showing that early relapse was reduced by 17 percent after four sessions of CBM, compared to those who received a "control" (placebo) version of the task.
Researchers from Beijing Normal University, Peking University and National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) found that there is weak correlation between fast radio bursts(FRBs) and soft gamma-ray repeater J1935+2154(SGRs). The study was published in Nature on Nov. 4.
The detection of FRB 200428 associated with the galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 provides crucial clues to the generation of FRBs.
In the vast universe, some extremely strong radio waves occasionally blink, with duration of only milliseconds. Such fast radio bursts were discovered by astronomers in 2007. Puzzling questions arise: Who sent them? What information is conveyed by these radio bursts?
The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) has revealed some mystery of the fast radio bursts, according to a study published in Nature on Oct. 28.
Fishermen working on Lake Tanganyika in eastern Congo experience a lack of safety and want better enforcement of existing regulations. They also report a decline in the lake's fish stocks. These are some of the findings of a large international study led by KU Leuven (Belgium) based on 1018 interviews with stakeholders in the area. The study was published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.