Science News

[sirAdrian]

HPV screen beats Pap smear

Human papillomavirus test reduces cervical cancer risk in women over age 30 better than a standard test

A test for human papillomavirus infection is better than the standard Pap smear at catching cervical cancer early, researchers report. The study of women age 30 and over makes the case for changing cervical cancer screening practices, particularly in low-income countries, since the screening test for HPV would necessitate fewer doctor visits, scientists report in the April 2 New England Journal of Medicine.
“The implications of the findings of this trial are immediate and global,” declare Mark Schiffman and Sholom Wacholder of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., in the same issue of NEJM. HPV testing should now be widely implemented in poor countries, they say.
Researchers randomly assigned more than 130,000 women age 30 to 59 in rural India to one of four equal-sized groups. Three groups underwent screening for signs of cervical cancer. Of those, some received a test for HPV types known to cause the cancer, others got a Pap smear and the third group received a visual cervical examination. Women in a control group were advised to seek medical care on their own. If any test showed a woman had an HPV infection or abnormal cell growth on her cervix, she was given a full exam and treated further as necessary. Thorough removal of precancerous lesions prevents cervical cancer.
The scientists started performing these initial screen-and-treat sessions in 2000 and assessed the women’s health in 2008 using a medical registry, hospital data and house-to-house surveys, says study coauthor Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, a radiation oncologist at the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.
The three screening tests turned up similar numbers of cervical cancer at the outset of the study. But women getting the HPV screen were less likely to develop any advanced-stage cervical cancer over the course of the study. And by the end of the study, 34 women who got the HPV screening had died of cervical cancer, compared with 54 in the Pap smear group, 56 in the visual exam group and 64 among the controls.
“This study clearly shows that HPV screening is more sensitive to picking up precancerous lesions than the other tests,” Sankaranarayanan says. What’s more, he notes, nearly all women who tested negative for any HPV infection at the outset were free of cancer at the end of the study.
The standard test for cervical cancer is the Papanicolaou test(Pap smear), in which a brushing of the cervix is analyzed to detect any aberrant cell growth. An HPV test uses a similar technique but checks for viral infection.
Pap smears require visits at least every three to five years to catch any new aberrant cell growth. This regimen can be difficult to maintain for women in poor countries, Schiffman says. The HPV screening test requires fewer visits, he says.
The HPV test is less likely to help women under age 30 because they get re-infected more often. But a vaccine called Gardasil can prevent infection by cancer-causing HPV types. Even so, vaccination might come too late for women who have already entered the risk pool for HPV, which is spread by sexual contact.
In industrialized countries, the Pap smear is likely to remain the most common test for the time being, Schiffman says. In low-income countries, he envisions a two-tier approach to wiping out cervical cancer. “Vaccinating the girls and screening their mothers would be ideal,” he says.

[Ivan]

Regula noua: de acum se pune un link sau un txt atasat plus un rezumat facut cu mana.

Adus copy/paste pe forum de pe Physorg sau de aiurea nu e OK.

[oldshooterman]

IBM are o tentativa inedita de a testa nivelul de "Inteligenta Artificiala" implementata intr-un computer la care au ajuns cercetatorii sai. Ultimul lor supercomputer e pregatit sa participe la un concurs/"show" impotriva unor subiecti umani! IBM Supercomputer to Compete on Jeopardy!
DailyTech - IBM Supercomputer to Compete on Jeopardy!

[oldshooterman]

Cercetatorii de la Universitatea Purdue fac progrese semnificative in dezvoltarea de tehnologii pentru camuflajul total ("invizibilitatea obiectelor"). "Scientists Simplify Cloaking Tech, Can Cloak Bigger Objects"
DailyTech - Scientists Simplify Cloaking Tech, Can Cloak Bigger Objects

[meganic]

NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22

[AxA]

Originally Posted by oldshooterman

Cercetatorii de la Universitatea Purdue fac progrese semnificative in dezvoltarea de tehnologii pentru camuflajul total ("invizibilitatea obiectelor"). "Scientists Simplify Cloaking Tech, Can Cloak Bigger Objects"
DailyTech - Scientists Simplify Cloaking Tech, Can Cloak Bigger Objects

Simpatice comentariile de acolo...

[Bogotta]

Se incadreaza la stiinta ? Asa se pare....

O marmota este responsabila de epidemia de ciuma pulmonara din China

Potrivit unui studiu epidemiologic, originea acestei epidemii este o marmotă sălbatică, ce a avut contacte cu câinele primei persoane decedate", a declarat OMS.

China a informat OMS la 1 august că un focar de ciumă pulmonară a fost depistat în oraşul Ziketan dintr-una dintre "prefecturile autonome tibetane".

Prima victimă, proprietarul câinelui, avea 32 de ani. Socrul său, în vârstă de 64 de ani, şi unul dintre vecini, în vârstă de 37 de ani, au murit ulterior tot din cauza ciumei pulmonare. Decesele se explică "mai ales prin întârzierea administrării tratamentelor", potrivit OMS.

Alte nouă persoane - care au asistat la funeraliile primei victime - sunt încă în spital. Starea uneia este critică.

Nedepistând niciun nou caz de o săptămână, autorităţile chineze au ridicat carantina impusă asupra oraşului cu 10.000 de locuitori.

Ciuma pulmonară este forma cea mai virulentă a bolii, dar şi cea mai rară. Tratamentul cu antibiotice este eficient, dacă diagnosticul este pus la timp.

Link

[oldshooterman]

Noi progrese in tehnologii pentru camuflaj. ("Cloaking") DailyTech - Researcher Discovers New Cloaking Method

[ixtl]

NASA scientists have discovered glycine, a fundamental building block of life, in samples of comet Wild 2 returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft.

The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare," said Dr. Carl Pilcher, Director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute which co-funded the research.

[ixtl]

IBM Takes First 3D Image of Atomic Bonds

What this discovery does do however is advance our primitive understanding of the Way Things Are. It's a small, nanometer-sized piece in a puzzle that doesn't even have all the pieces on the table yet. Hell, we don't even know where all the pieces are yet. From the looks of these images though, we will someday soon.

[Lord Raptor]

De ce imaginea postata nu are nici o scara?
Ce e un nanometru?
O biluta din aia, sau toata imaginea?
In cazul in care e imaginea, ce e, lungimea, sau inaltimea?

[ixtl]

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

Productive stupidity means being ignorant by choice. Focusing on important questions puts us in the awkward position of being ignorant. One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time. No doubt, this can be difficult for students who are accustomed to getting the answers right. No doubt, reasonable levels of confidence and emotional resilience help, but I think scientific education might do more to ease what is a very big transition: from learning what other people once discovered to making your own discoveries. The more comfortable we become with being stupid, the deeper we will wade into the unknown and the more likely we are to make big discoveries.

[Lord Raptor]

Eu as rezuma ceea ce spui tu ixtl altfel:

The popular stereotype of the researcher is that of a skeptic and a pessimist. Nothing could be further from the truth! Scientists must be optimists at heart, in order to block out the incessant chorus of those who say "It cannot be done."

Si nu are nimic de-a face cu "stupidity" ci mai degraba cu notiunea de perseverenta.

[meganic]

Originally Posted by Lord Raptor

De ce imaginea postata nu are nici o scara?
Ce e un nanometru?
O biluta din aia, sau toata imaginea?
In cazul in care e imaginea, ce e, lungimea, sau inaltimea?

Nu are cum sa fie fiecare cerculet/biluta un nanometru pentru ca ar insemna ca tot lantul sa fie o molecula.Datorita modului in care hibridizeaza atomii nu exista molecule cu mai mult de 2 atomi cu geometrie liniala-dreapta .Toata imaginea incepand de la chestiile alea 2 albe ,care sunt 2 atomi de acelasi fel , e un nanometru.Lungimea dintre legaturi e de ordinul 10^-12 m , in cazul asta distanta totala dintre atomi e mai mare.Nu stiu ce molecula e dar presupun ca chestiile alea 3 din mijloc sunt un orbital sigma.


LE: M-am inselat , nu era o molecula diatomica , in link o arata.Trebuia sa ma fi uitat mai atent la forma hexagonala a bilutelor.

http://gizmodo.com/5346964/ibm-takes...f-atomic-bonds

[ixtl]

This is a shocking new result

For years, researchers have known that the solar system is surrounded by a vast bubble of magnetism. Called the "heliosphere," it springs from the sun and extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto, providing a first line of defense against cosmic rays and interstellar clouds that try to enter our local space. Although the heliosphere is huge and literally fills the sky, it emits no light and no one has actually seen it.
NASA's IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) spacecraft has made the first all-sky maps of the heliosphere and the results have taken researchers by surprise. The maps are bisected by a bright, winding ribbon of unknown origin.

[oldshooterman]

NASA a confirmat existenta apei pe Luna in cantitati "semnificative", ceea ce va usura cu mult instalarea unei colonii de cercetare pe Luna.
DailyTech - Mission Success: NASA Announces "Significant" Amount of Moon Water Discovered