MRI Detects Bone Marrow Cancer

Bone marrow cancer can be diagnosed effectively with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), according to new study. Bone marrow cancer (myelofibrosis) is a slowly evolving condition hallmarked by increased myeloid cells, and, in the case of primary myelofibrosis, an excessive number of large cells called megakaryocytes. The pathology is also characterized by structural abnormality of the bone marrow matrix, which at end-stage manifests in excessive deposition of reticulin fibers and cross linked collagen in the bone marrow, suppression of normal blood cell development and bone marrow failure. Currently, the diagnosis is made through an invasive biopsy and histopathology. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in the US tested an approach using a T2-weighted MRI, one of the basic pulse sequences in MRI, through which they could detect a pre-fibrotic state of the disease. It is intriguing to speculate that future pre-biopsy MRI of the human pathology might guide, in some cases, decisions on if and where to biopsy.

Soon, Your Body Heat May Power Wearable Devices

You could soon power wearable devices using just your body heat, without any external power supply or battery replacement. Researchers have developed a new concept of electrical energy storage- thermally changeable solid- state Super capacitor. This is the first time that it has been discovered that a solid-state polymer electrolyte can produce large thermally induced voltage. The voltage can then be used to initiate an electrochemical reaction in electrodes for charging. The super capacitor works by converting thermal energy into electrical energy and then storing it in the device. For example, human body heat, or any heat dissipating objects that create temperature differences from their surroundings can be used to charge the capacitor. The super capacitor is also flexible in that it can be used as a power supply for wearable electronics and can be integrated into wireless data transmission systems to operate internet of things (IoT) sensors. IoT is a concept of connecting various devices and sensors for data communication and exchange. Researcher employed a physical phenomenon known as the Soret effect – using a solid state polymer electrolyte, in which a temperature gradient along the super capacitor moves the ions from the hot side to the cold side  generating high thermally induced voltage.

A 10-Digit Code To Your Life: Your Phone Number

The next time someone asks you for your cellphone number, you may want to think twice about giving it. The phone number is more than just a bunch of digits. It is increasingly being used as a link to private information maintained by all sorts of companies, including money lenders and social networks. It can be used to monitor and predict what you buy, look for online or even watch on television. It has become kind of a key into the room of your life and information about you. However, the phone number is not a legally regulated piece of information like a Social Security number, which companies are required to keep private. That is a growing issue for young people, since two sets of digits may well be with them for life: their Social Security number and their phone number. Nearly half of all American households have given up their landlines and have only wireless phone service – a figure that has risen more than 10 percentage points in just three years. Among people of ages 25 to 29, the share of homes that have only wireless phone service stands at 73%. In fact, investigators find that a phone number is often even more useful than a Social Security number because it is tied to so many databases and is connected to a device you almost always have with you. The use of the phone number in new, unanticipated ways has echoes in the history fo the Social Security number, which was created in 1936. Its original purpose was to enable the nation’s nascent social insurance system to maintain accurate records of workers covered under the programme. Gradually, the simplicity of using a unique number to identify people encouraged the widespread use by other government agencies in the 1960s. That Social Security numbers are so broadly used and often so poorly protected is a major cause of the current epidemic of identity theft. The total losses in the US from stolen identities used in crimes like credit card and loan fraud were $15 billion last year. And 11% of Americans say they lost money last year in a telephone swindle. To combat fraud prevention, Affirm, a start-up that offers an alternative to credit cards for online purchases, mines data sources and approves or rejects a loan within a minute or so. Affirm asks borrowers for a few pieces of personal information, including their names and dates of birth. But the strongest identifier and conduit to useful information in the number. When a customer wants to get an installment loan to buy something the firm sends the person a temporary personal identification number. The ID numbers remain valid for only 30 seconds to 180 seconds, increasing the odds that the person trying to borrow or buy is indeed the same person who owns the phone with that number. It’s not foolproof, but if a cellphone is lost or stolen, it is typically locked. But a cellphone-only life presents problems for many professionals and workers at start ups and small businesses, who make business calls on their personal cell phones.

Way To Create Stronger Heart Cells Is Found

Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have identified two chemicals which can improve speed, quantity and quality of direct cardiac reprogramming, bringing the technology to regenerate damaged hearts one step closer. The new discovery advances efforts to find effective treatments for heart failure. Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes in the US are exploring cellular reprogramming in the heart as a way to regenerate muscle cells in the hopes of curing, heart failure. It takes only three transcription factors – proteins that turn genes on or off in a cell – to reprogramme connective tissue cells into heart muscle cells in a mouse. After a heart attack, connective tissue forms scar tissue at the site of the injury, contributing to heart failure. The three factors, Gata4, Mef2c, and Tbx5 (GMT), work together to turn heart genes on in these cells and turn other genes off, effectively regenerating a damaged heart with its own cells. However, the method is not foolproof. In the new study, scientists tested 5500 chemicals to try to improve this process. They identified two chemicals that increased the number of heart cells created by eightfold.

Browsing History Can Aid Cancer Detection

Microsoft Corp. researchers want to give patients and doctor a new tool in the quest to find cancers earlier: web searchers. Lung cancer can be detected a year prior than it is using current methods of diagnosis in more than one-third of cases by analyzing a patient’s internet searches for symptoms and demographic data that put them at higher risk, according to research from Microsoft published on 10 November in the journal JAMA Oncology. The study shows it’s possible to use search data to give patients or doctors enough reason to seek cancer screenings earlier, improving the prospects for treatment for lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. To train their algorithms, researchers scanned anonymous queries in Bing. They took searchers who had asked something that indicated a recent lung cancer diagnosis. Then they went back over the user’s previous searches. They looked for searches such as those related to symptoms, including bronchitis, chest pain and blood in sputum. The researchers reviewed other risk factors such as gender, age, race and whether searchers lived in areas with high levels of asbestos and radon, both of which increase the risk of lung cancer.

Strange Mars Funnel May Harbour Microbial Life

A strangely shaped depression on Mars could be a new place to look for signs of life on the red planet, according to a new study. The depression was probably formed by a volcano beneath a glacier and could have been a warm, chemical rich environment well suited for microbial life. Researchers were drawn to this site because it looked like it could host some of the key ingredients for habitability – water, heat and nutrients. The depression is inside a crater perched on the rim of the Hellas basin on Mars and surrounded by ancient glacial deposits. In 2009, researcher noticed crack-like features on pictures of depressions taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that looked similar to “ice cauldrons” on Earth, formations found in Iceland and Greenland made by volcanoes erupting under an ice sheet. Another depression in the Galaxias Fossae region of mars had a similar appearance. These landforms caught researchers eye because they’re weird looking. They’re concentrically fractured so they look like a bulls-eye. That can be a very diagnostic pattern we see in Earth materials. The interaction of Lava and ice to form a depression would be an exciting find because it could create an environment with liquid water and chemical nutrients, both ingredients required for life on Earth.

A Breathalyzer To Diagnose Diabetes

Oxford researchers have developed a new, portable breath analyzer that could someday help doctors diagnose diabetes without painful pinpricks, needles or other unpleasant methods. Many studies examining the hallmarks of diabetes in exhaled breath have shown that elevated levels of acetone are strongly linked to diabetes. Detecting the concentrations of any given substance in breath in a simple way, however, is a major challenge. Breath contains a complex mix of compounds, including water, carbon dioxide and methane that can throw results off. Mass spectrometry can do the job, but it is not very practical for point of care testing. Researchers wanted to fill that void. Researchers from University of Oxford in the UK created a hand held device with an adsorbent polymer that can trap acetone from exhaled breath, then release it into a cavity where a laser probes its concentration. They tested the accuracy of the device on the breath of healthy subjects under different conditions, such as after overnight fasting or exercising, and compared results with mass spectrometry readings. The measurements were a close match and covered a wide range of concentrations, including those that would suggest a patient has undiagnosed type-1 diabetes, or have problems controlling their blood glucose. As well as being used several times before a replacement is needed, the device could be used in any setting, be it at home or in a clinician’s office. Earlier this year, reports were carried about a different breathalyzer that can monitor blood sugar levels, developed by Teesside and Middlesex technology firms, that could one day replace finger pricking for people with diabetes. Adding to the practicality of the device, the researchers said it could be re-used many times.