Findings spark debate about breast tumors
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. and Norwegian researchers say they hope their findings prompt a debate on whether breast cancer tumors ever go away on their own without treatment.
In their article published Tuesday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers said one type of cancer -- a rare childhood tumor -- found through screening sometimes spontaneously disappears and they want to learn whether the same phenomenon could happen with breast cancers found in mammograms, USA Today reported.
The authors admit their study doesn't provide a definitive answer. Their quest for an answer could be impossible since its unethical for physicians to leave breast cancers untreated, an editorial accompanying the article said.
Researchers compared the number of breast cancers found in more than 100,000 Norwegian women screened every two years with an approximately equal number who received one mammogram after six years.
The two strategies should have found about the same number of cancers, authors hypothesized. Yet doctors actually found 22 percent more breast cancers among the women who got more frequent mammograms.
The finding raises the possibility that mammograms found cancers that eventually went away and never needed to be treated, said co-author Dr. H. Gilbert Welch of the VA Outcomes Group in White River Junction, Vt. Other experts disputed the study's findings and note that mammograms and early detection have been proven to save lives.
Bacteria move between species, study finds
BWINDI, Uganda, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Mountain gorillas in Uganda are at increased risk of getting gastrointestinal bacteria from humans, researchers found.
The study, published in Conservation Biology, examined the exchange of digestive-track bacteria between humans, mountain gorillas and domesticated animals living in overlapping habitats.
The findings indicated the presence of identical, clinically resistant bacteria, in gorillas, implying that antibiotic-resistant bacteria or resistance-conferring genetic elements transfer from humans to gorillas, the researchers said. Gorilla populations subject to research and tourism are particularly vulnerable, they noted.
Mountain gorillas were at a higher risk of a bacteria exchange whether antibiotic consumptions were managed well or carelessly, researchers said, indicating preventing direct contact between people and the gorillas may not be enough to eliminate the possibility of an exchange.
In the article, researchers encouraged hand-washing before and after entering forests, discouraged human defecation in the forest and recommended mandatory wearing of aerosol-limiting face masks for people entering ape habitats.
Please don't litter space, scientists say
BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are looking for a way to clear the clutter in space, which some say is becoming troublesome on the heavenly highways.
Launchspace Training, an organization that trains space professionals in Bethesda, Md., is asking for suggestions on cleaning up the litter, Space.com reported. So far, ideas have fallen into two buckets -- limiting new debris and eliminating existing debris.
The space junk problem is increasing, in part because of collisions between materials in space, rocket stage failures and activities such as anti-satellite testing, the online publication reported.
Bob Russo of Launchspace Training said the facility's staff is looking for long-term solutions to the problem.
"Even though recent efforts have been successful in minimizing the amount of new debris, the number of debris pieces continues to increase," Russo told Space.com. "If space-faring nations continue to ignore this growing space access challenge, we will reach a gridlock situation in which launching satellites is too risky. Thus, a space cleanup is inevitable."
Research: Dolphin's tail a tale of speed
TROY, N.Y., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have finally solved the conundrum of how dolphins swim so fast when their muscles shouldn't support that feat -- tail strength.
A dolphin's tail creates about six times more force than an Olympic swimmer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers said in a release. At peak performance dolphins produce between 300 and 400 pounds of force, compared with human swimmers' peak of about 60 to 70 pounds of force, said Timothy Wei, professor and acting dean of the Troy, N.Y., institution's School of Engineering.
For more than 70 years, scientists were perplexed by dolphins swimming at a clip more than 20 mph while their muscles weren't strong enough to support that kind of speed. The conundrum came to be known as "Gray's Paradox" after British zoologist James Gray who first noted the mystery.
"Sir Gray was certainly on to something, and it took nearly 75 years for technology to bring us to the point where we could get at the heart of his paradox," said Wei, professor and acting dean of Rensselaer's School of Engineering, who led the project. "The short answer is that dolphins are simply much stronger than Gray or many other people ever imagined."
Wei created water-flow diagnostic technology by modifying and combining force measurement tools with a video-based flow measurement technique.
Wei said the team could investigate flow dynamics and force generation of other marine animals, which could offer insight into how species evolved because of their swimming proficiency.
