Detecting Endometrial Cancer by Blood Spectroscopy: A Diagnostic Cross-Sectional Study

Endometrial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women, with a rising incidence worldwide. Current approaches for the diagnosis and screening of endometrial cancer are invasive, expensive or of moderate diagnostic accuracy, limiting their clinical utility. There is a need for cost-effective and minimally invasive approaches to facilitate the early detection and timely management of endometrial cancer. We analysed blood plasma samples in a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study of women with endometrial cancer (n = 342), its precursor lesion atypical hyperplasia (n = 68) and healthy controls (n = 242, total n = 652) using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and machine learning algorithms. We show that blood-based infrared spectroscopy has the potential to detect endometrial cancer with 87% sensitivity and 78% specificity. Its accuracy is highest for Type I endometrial cancer, the most common subtype, and for atypical hyperplasia, with sensitivities of 91% and 100%, and specificities of 81% and 88%, respectively. Our large-cohort study shows that a simple blood test could enable the early detection of endometrial cancer of all stages in symptomatic women and provide the basis of a screening tool in high-risk groups. Such a test has the potential not only to differentially diagnose endometrial cancer but also to detect its precursor lesion atypical hyperplasia—the early recognition of which may allow fertility sparing management and cancer prevention

Australian Aboriginal children talking culture: what does ‘seeing’ Country and the ‘child spirit’ mean for health educators?

The purpose of this paper, is to invite health educators to see children as Country–to listen to, learn from and see the child spirit often not observed in academia. We do this by asking, ‘What can we as academics and adults learn from Australian Aboriginal children’s talk about culture?’ To do this, we examine photos taken by Aboriginal children on what culture means to them. We also draw on interview data of the children speaking about their chosen photos. The data reported on in this paper is drawn from a multi-community (co-created) pre-test/post-test feasibility study (ACTRN12619001224112) of the ‘Strong Culture, Healthy Lifestyles’ afterschool cultural activity programme held on Yuin Country. In focusing on the children’s spirit, perspectives, talk and photos about the place of culture in their lives, we aim to look, listen, and see Country [Harrison, M. D., & McConchie, P. (2009). My people’s dreaming: An Aboriginal Elder speaks on life, land, spirit and forgiveness. Finch Publishing; McKnight, A. (2017). Singing up Country in academia: Teacher education academics and preservice teachers’ experience with Yuin Country [PhD thesis]., University of Wollongong.]. In observing the photographs, it seems that care and connection are important dimensions to the place of culture in the lives of the children. For some of the children, there is a sense of pride and wonder in what they already know about the importance of family; what they learnt from the programme led by their own community members, the mentors; and the re-triggering of learning through Country. This demonstrates the power of learning/knowing/living/talking about/engaging with culture and Country through cultural programs such as the ‘Strong Culture, Healthy Lifestyle programme’. It also demonstrates the importance of nourishing the curiosity of spirit in/with the children, through their (and your own) cultural journey with culture and Country

Albumin depletion of human serum to improve quantitative clinical proteomics

International audienceHuman biological fluids are complex matrices containing many elements (ions, lipids, sugars, proteins, etc.). Proteins are essential for biomarker and disease discovery though the most abundant proteins often provide very limited clinically relevant data, as can be the case for albumin or immunoglobulins. In this work, we focused on depleting albumin from human serum samples using an albumin depletion and low abundance protein enrichment kit, which enabled the detection of several low-abundance proteins. By specific software prediction (Ingenuity), enriched proteins known as biomarkers for various diseases were identified. By employing an optimized supplier’s protocol, loss of proteins was decreased and could be revealed by LC-MS/MS protein identification. This depletion method proved to be faster and more cost-effective than antibody-based methods, and could be helpful for biomarker enrichment and detection in medical research

Seafloor classification in a sand wave environment on the Dutch continental shelf using multibeam echosounder backscatter data

High resolution maps of sandy seafloors are valuable to understand seafloor dynamics, plan engineering projects, and create detailed benthic habitat maps. This paper presents multibeam echosounder backscatter classification results of the Brown Bank area of the North Sea. We apply the Bayesian classification method in a megaripple and sand wave area with significant slopes. Prior to the classification, corrections are implemented to account for the slopes. This includes corrections on the backscatter value and its corresponding incident angle. A trade-off in classification resolutions is found. A higher geo-acoustic resolution is obtained at the price of losing spatial resolution, however, the Bayesian classification method remains robust with respect to these trade-off decisions. The classification results are compared to grab sample particle size analysis and classified video footage. In non-distinctive sedimentary environments, the acoustic classes are not attributed to only the mean grain size of the grab samples but to the full spectrum of the grain sizes. Finally, we show the Bayesian classification results can be used to characterize the sedimentary composition of megaripples. Coarser sediments were found in the troughs and on the crests, finer sediments on the stoss slopes and a mixture of sediments on the lee slopes.Aircraft Noise and Climate Effect

Evaluating the effectiveness of abbreviated breast MRI (abMRI) interpretation training for mammogram readers : a multi-centre study assessing diagnostic performance, using an enriched dataset

Background Abbreviated breast MRI (abMRI) is being introduced in breast screening trials and clinical practice, particularly for women with dense breasts. Upscaling abMRI provision requires the workforce of mammogram readers to learn to effectively interpret abMRI. The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic accuracy of mammogram readers to interpret abMRI after a single day of standardised small-group training and to compare diagnostic performance of mammogram readers experienced in full-protocol breast MRI (fpMRI) interpretation (Group 1) with that of those without fpMRI interpretation experience (Group 2). Methods Mammogram readers were recruited from six NHS Breast Screening Programme sites. Small-group hands-on workstation training was provided, with subsequent prospective, independent, blinded interpretation of an enriched dataset with known outcome. A simplified form of abMRI (first post-contrast subtracted images (FAST MRI), displayed as maximum-intensity projection (MIP) and subtracted slice stack) was used. Per-breast and per-lesion diagnostic accuracy analysis was undertaken, with comparison across groups, and double-reading simulation of a consecutive screening subset. Results 37 readers (Group 1: 17, Group 2: 20) completed the reading task of 125 scans (250 breasts) (total = 9250 reads). Overall sensitivity was 86% (95% confidence interval (CI) 84–87%; 1776/2072) and specificity 86% (95%CI 85–86%; 6140/7178). Group 1 showed significantly higher sensitivity (843/952; 89%; 95%CI 86–91%) and higher specificity (2957/3298; 90%; 95%CI 89–91%) than Group 2 (sensitivity = 83%; 95%CI 81–85% (933/1120) p < 0.0001; specificity = 82%; 95%CI 81–83% (3183/3880) p < 0.0001). Inter-reader agreement was higher for Group 1 (kappa = 0.73; 95%CI 0.68–0.79) than for Group 2 (kappa = 0.51; 95%CI 0.45–0.56). Specificity improved for Group 2, from the first 55 cases (81%) to the remaining 70 (83%) (p = 0.02) but not for Group 1 (90–89% p = 0.44), whereas sensitivity remained consistent for both Group 1 (88–89%) and Group 2 (83–84%). Conclusions Single-day abMRI interpretation training for mammogram readers achieved an overall diagnostic performance within benchmarks published for fpMRI but was insufficient for diagnostic accuracy of mammogram readers new to breast MRI to match that of experienced fpMRI readers. Novice MRI reader performance improved during the reading task, suggesting that additional training could further narrow this performance gap

The scholarship of teaching and learning in public administration: an agenda for future research

Two essential questions for those leading the field of public administration are: What do we teach our students, and how do we train them? As scholars, we pay significant attention to our research, often to the detriment of recognizing the potential for merging our research with teaching through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, given our students’ leadership positions, SoTL-related work is vital to their success. In this article, we have come together to reflect on the state of SoTL’s work in public administration. Through this reflection, we explore the windows of opportunity for research that we see emerging. Included among these opportunities is the need for research on how we can best serve students in and out of the classroom, as well as research the most effective way of managing our programs. We also see the need for research into faculty development, instructional design, and the return on investment for a public administration degree. Lastly, we argue for improved recognition of the value and contribution of SoTL-related work in tenure and promotion standards

Median and interquartile range Anderson-Rubin component scores and proportion of individuals with high scores (above the upper tertile) as a function of clinical ICD diagnostic category.

<p>Diagnoses listed are the largest two-digit subgroups within each broad ICD range (e.g. F06/F00–09). Figures are in the format of Median/Interquartile range/Proportion of individuals with high scores.</p