Search

To assess the current use of the direct access mammography pathway for breast pain and the rate of breast cancer detection in this patient cohort. A retrospective review of general practitioner (GP)-referred mammograms performed during a 12-month period from January to December 2022 across four tertiary referral centres. With the use of medical records and GP referrals, patient demographics, presenting symptoms, family history, and clinical outcomes were recorded. The present study comprised 2,046 patients of which 21.6% did not report breast pain at the time of referral. Thirty-five per cent had a positive family history with 40% of these patients having no breast pain. Twelve per cent were recalled with 30% of these patients requiring biopsy. An overall cancer detection rate (CDR) of 7 per 1000 was determined for women with mastalgia. A CDR of 0 per 1,000 was determined for women <50 years with mastalgia alone and no additional risk factors for malignancy. Fisher's exact test showed no statistically significant association between breast pain and breast cancer. There was no statistically significant relationship found between breast pain and breast cancer. This review suggests a low cancer detection rate in women <50 years. In women <50 years with mastalgia without additional symptoms or family history, breast imaging is not required. • The CDR for patients with mastalgia alone was 7 per 1000. • The CDR in women under 50 years with mastalgia alone was 0 per 1000. • No significant association between breast cancer and breast pain was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of cone beam computed tomographic (CBCT) imaging in assessing the volume of alveolar cleft defects in patients undergoing secondary cleft repair. Materials and Methods: Fourteen patients with unilateral clefts were analyzed in a retrospective study. Preoperative CBCT imaging of patients preparing to undergo secondary repair of alveolar clefts was reviewed. Using anatomic landmarks, 3 measurements were collected from CBCT images for each patient: facial width (FW), facial height (FH), and facial-palatal length (FL). These values were used to calculate the estimated volume (EV) of the cleft and thus the amount of bone graft material that would be needed to fill the defect. Results: The overall mean values of FW, FH, and FL were 9.7 ± 3.1, 14.07 ± 2.7, and 5.6 ± 0.8 mm, respectively. Mean EV was 489.0 ± 151.6 mm(3). The single (0.879) and average (0.956) measurements of the intraclass correlation coefficient for FH were very good to excellent. Similar data were observed for FH (single, 0.827; average, 0.935). For FL, a decreasing trend in the mean and variability over the 3 measurement times was reflected in low single (0.305) and moderate average (0.569) intraclass correlation coefficients. Conclusions: CBCT imaging can be used to reliably measure FW, FH, and FL and to calculate the EV of the cleft. These data can be used by oral and maxillofacial surgeons to quantitatively assess the volume of an alveolar cleft and aid in preoperative determination of the amount of bone that will be needed to adequately graft the cleft space. This will also aid in appropriate selection of an autogenous graft donor site before surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the heterogeneous nature of the chemical composition of Earth's mantle is now well established, the origin and longevity of the heterogeneities continue to be debated. In order to further study early-Earth heterogeneities, we present a set of Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf, Re-Os, and Hf-W isotope and lithophile and siderophile element abundance data for komatiites and basalts from the ∼3.53 Ga Coonterunah, ∼3.34 Ga Kelly, and ∼3.18 Ga Ruth Well and Regal systems of the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia. The Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf, and Re-Os isotope data yield isochrons consistent with the accepted emplacement ages of the respective komatiite-basalt lavas. The mantle sources evolved with long-term 147Sm/144Nd = 0.200 to 0.214 and 176Lu/177Hf = 0.0355 to 0.0395, spanning the entire range of the time-integrated Sm/Nd and Lu/Hf measured in the Archean and Proterozoic komatiite-basalt systems to-date. Unlike with the other early Archean komatiites and basalts, the coupled 143Nd-176Hf isotope systematics of the Pilbara lavas provide no evidence for the involvement of early magma ocean processes in the evolution of their mantle sources. Episodes of variable degrees of partial mantle melting and melt extraction can account for the observed large variations in the time-integrated Sm/Nd and Lu/Hf ratios in the early Archean mantle domains. In contrast to the highly variable Nd-Hf systematics, the initial γ187Os values vary within a narrow range from +0.9 to −0.4 indicating that the Pilbara mantle sources evolved with chondritic time-integrated Re/Os. The apparent discrepancy between the depletions in incompatible lithophile trace elements and near-chondritic Re/Os observed globally is reconciled via a model whereby early low-degree mantle melting events fractionated Sm from Nd and Lu from Hf, but had little effect on the Re/Os ratio. This in turn would imply early formation and long-term isolation of a basaltic crust highly enriched in incompatible lithophile trace elements. The calculated total HSE abundances in the komatiite mantle sources range from ∼30% in the Coonterunah to ∼70% in the Regal system, of those in the estimates for the modern BSE, indicative of a 2.4× increase in HSE abundances from 3.53 to 3.18 Ga. All four komatiite-basalt systems exhibit positive 182W anomalies ranging between +11.4 and +7.7 ppm. The 182W/184W compositions and calculated HSE abundances in the Pilbara komatiite-basalt sources are inversely correlated and are most consistent with grainy late accretion of large differentiated planetesimals. Regression of the combined 182W-HSE data for the komatiite systems allows an estimate of the W isotopic composition of the pre-late accretion BSE of +17 ± 7. This estimate is similar to that of the Moon of +25 ± 5 and lends further support to the notion regarding an initially common W isotopic composition in the Earth-Moon system. Regression of the available HSE abundance data for komatiite mantle sources worldwide provides an estimate for the time of complete homogenization of late accreted materials within the mantle by 2.5 ± 0.2 Ga. Calculations indicate an average survival time of late accreted planetesimals in the Earth's mantle of 1.9 ± 0.2 Ga, which constrains the average mantle stirring rates for the HSE in the Hadean and Archean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Water scarce countries such as South Africa are subject to various hydrological constraints which can often be attributed to poor rainfall partitioning, particularly within resource poor farming communities that are reliant on rainfed agriculture. Recent initiatives to address this have shifted focus to explore more efficient alternatives to water supply and the recognition of numerous opportunities to implement runoff harvesting as a means to supplement water availability. However, increasing the implementation of runoff harvesting, without encountering unintended impacts on downstream hydrological and ecological systems, requires better understanding of the hydrologic and environmental impacts at catchment scale. In this paper the representation of spatial variations in landscape characteristics such as soil, land use, rainfall and slope information is shown to be an important step in identifying potential runoff harvesting sites, after which modelling the hydrological response in catchments where extensive runoff harvesting is being considered can be performed and likely impacts assessed. Geographic information systems (GIS) was utilised as an integrating tool to store, analyse and manage spatial information and when linked to hydrological response models, provided a rational means to facilitate decision making by providing catchment level identification, planning and assessment of runoff harvesting sites as illustrated by a case study at the Potshini catchment, a small sub-catchment in the Thukela River basin, South Africa. Through the linked GIS, potential runoff harvesting sites are identified relative to areas that concentrate runoff and where the stored water will be appropriately distributed. Based on GIS analysis it was found that 17% percent of the Potshini catchment area has a high potential for generating surface runoff, whereas an analysis of all factors which influence the location of such systems, shows that 18% is highly suitable for runoff harvesting. Details of the spatially explicit method that was adopted in this paper are provided and output from the integrated GIS modelling system is presented using suitability maps. It is concluded that providing an accurate spatial representation of the runoff generation potential within a catchment is an important step in developing a strategic runoff harvesting plan for any catchment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two themes are emerging regarding the molecular genetic aetiology of intelligence. The first is that intelligence is influenced by many variants and those that are tagged by common single nucleotide polymorphisms account for around 30% of the phenotypic variation. The second, in line with other polygenic traits such as height and schizophrenia, is that these variants are not randomly distributed across the genome but cluster in genes that work together. Less clear is whether the very low range of cognitive ability (intellectual disability) is simply one end of the normal distribution describing individual differences in cognitive ability across a population. Here, we examined 40 genes with a known association with non-syndromic autosomal recessive intellectual disability (NS-ARID) to determine if they are enriched for common variants associated with the normal range of intelligence differences. The current study used the 3511 individuals of the Cognitive Ageing Genetics in England and Scotland (CAGES) consortium. In addition, a text mining analysis was used to identify gene sets biologically related to the NS-ARID set. Gene-based tests indicated that genes implicated in NS-ARID were not significantly enriched for quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with intelligence. These findings suggest that genes in which mutations can have a large and deleterious effect on intelligence are not associated with variation across the range of intelligence differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In healthy old age biomarkers such as Balance robustly correlate with measures of mental abilities such as scores on tests of intelligence, reaction times and memory. A plausible explanation is that balance reflects general physiological fitness and so also neurophysiological integrity, but direct evidence is lacking. Brain scans measured age-associated loss of brain volume and cerebro-arterial blood flow (CBf) in 69 volunteers aged from 62 to 81 years who also took the Tinetti Balance test battery, 3 tests of fluid intelligence, 3 tests of decision speed and a memory test. Balance, but not atrophy or CBf, predicted intelligence test scores. Balance, atrophy, and CBf all independently predicted speed and memory scores but, after variance in atrophy and CBf had been considered, predictions from Balance were no longer significant. It appears that in these tests Balance marks cognitive performance in old age because it reflects gross age-related neurophysiological changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Translocase of Outer Mitochondrial Membrane 40 Homolog and Apolipoprotein E (TOMM40-APOE) locus has been associated with a number of age-related phenotypes in humans including nonpathologic cognitive aging, late-onset Alzheimer's disease, and longevity. Here, we investigate the influence of the TOMM40 intron 6 poly-T variant (rs10524523) on TOMM40 gene expression and cognitive abilities and decline in a cohort of 1613 community-dwelling elderly volunteers who had been followed for changes in cognitive functioning over a period of 14 years (range = 12–18 years). We showed that the shorter length poly-T variants were found to act as a repressor of luciferase gene expression in reporter gene constructs. Expression was reduced to approximately half of that observed for the very long variant. We further observed that the shorter poly-T variant was significantly associated with reduced vocabulary ability and a slower rate of vocabulary decline with age compared to the very long poly-T variants. No significant associations were observed for memory, fluid intelligence or processing speed, although the direction of effect, where the short variant was correlated with reduced ability and slower rate of decline was observed for all tests. Our results indicate that the poly-T variant has the ability to interact with transcription machinery and differentially modulate reporter gene expression and influence vocabulary ability and decline with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]