Impact of a negative breast biopsy on subsequent breast self-examination practice

Women who practice breast-self examination (BSE) occasionally detect breast lumps that are ultimately biopsied and found to be benign. This research examined the impact of a negative breast biopsy on subsequent BSE practice. A total of 655 women comprised three study groups: 83 women who discovered their breast problem by BSE; 179 women whose lump was identified by an individual/procedure in the health care system; and 393 women with no history of breast problems. Telephone interviews determined BSE practice for 6-month intervals prior to, and after, the benign biopsy experience. Among previously-regular practitioners, 21% of the self-discovered group and 16% of those whose lump was discovered in the health care system reduced their BSE practice below the recommended monthly interval following the benign biopsy. In contrast, among initiallynonregular practitioners, 29% of the self-discovered group, and 25% of the health care system group subsequently became regular BSE practitioners. Possible explanations are offered for these opposite shifts in BSE regularity, and some practical suggestions are provided for health care professionals who counsel women following a benign biopsy experience.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27726/1/0000118.pd

The Ocean Reanalysis Intercomparison project (ORA-IP)

Uncertainty in ocean analysis methods and deficiencies in the observing system are major obstacles for the reliable reconstruction of the past ocean climate. The variety of existing ocean reanalyses is exploited in a multi-reanalysis ensemble to improve the ocean state estimation and to gauge uncertainty levels. The ensemble-based analysis of signal-to-noise ratio allows the identification of ocean characteristics for which the estimation is robust (such as tropical mixed-layer-depth, upper ocean heat content), and where large uncertainty exists (deep ocean, Southern Ocean, sea ice thickness, salinity), providing guidance for future enhancement of the observing and data assimilation systems

The Ocean Reanalyses Intercom parison Project (ORA - IP)

Uncertainty in ocean analysis methods and deficiencies in the observing system are major obstacles for the reliable reconstruction of the past ocean climate. The variety of existing ocean reanalyses is exploited in a multi-reanalysis ensemble to improve the ocean state estimation and to gauge uncertainty levels. The ensemble-based analysis of signal-to-noise ratio allows the identification of ocean characteristics for which the estimation is robust (such as tropical mixed-layer-depth,upper ocean heat content), and where large uncertainty exists (deep ocean, Southern Ocean, sea-ice thickness, salinity), providing guidance for future enhancement of the observing and data assimilation systems

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

An introduction to GODAE OceanView

Real-time operational predictions of the major ocean basins which resolve the ocean mesoscale at mid-latitudes have become established in more than a dozen countries over the last 15 years. These predictions depend on the global ocean observing system (particularly satellite altimeters and the Argo profiling float system), high performance computers and sophisticated ocean models and data assimilation systems. They support an expanding range of information services for operations at sea, weather forecasts and protection of the environment. GODAE Oceanview (GOV) assists the groups developing these predictions. This paper provides an introduction to GOV and the papers in this special issue

GODAE OceanView Part 1

Uncertainty in ocean analysis methods and deficiencies in the observing system are major obstacles for the reliable reconstruction of the past ocean climate. The variety of existing ocean reanalyses is exploited in a multi-reanalysis ensemble to improve the ocean state estimation and to gauge uncertainty levels. The ensemble-based analysis of signal-to-noise ratio allows the identification of ocean characteristics for which the estimation is robust (such as tropical mixedlayer-depth, upper ocean heat content), and where large uncertainty exists (deep ocean, Southern Ocean, sea ice thickness, salinity), providing guidance for future enhancement of the observing and data assimilation systems