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New player in cancer’s spread

    When people hear that they might have cancer, perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word. Metastatic disease — in which the tumor has traveled beyond its primary place to other spots in the body — is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths.

    Recently an unexpected player in this process has emerged: a common bacterium. Fusobacterium nucleatum, which normally lives harmlessly in the gums, appears to have a role in the spread of some cancers of the colon, esophagus, pancreas and — possibly — breast. Laboratory studies and evidence in patients indicate that the microbe can travel through the blood and infect tumor cells by attaching to a sugar molecule on their surface. There it provokes a range of signals and immune responses known to cause tumor cells to migrate. If further confirmed, the work with F. nucleatum could add to a growing understanding of how the microbiome influences cancer progression and may even point the way to fresh approaches to treatment.

(Claudia Wallis. Scientific American, outubro de 2020. Adaptado.)

Asia architects use green solutions to cool buildings

    In many subtropical countries across Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, air conditioning is increasingly being considered a necessity. But one architecture firm specializes in “bioclimatic architecture", says it could make air conditioning units redundant. By connecting with the local topography, climate, and vegetation, as well as cleverly manipulating a building's orientation, the firm can naturally create a comfortable indoor climate.

    In cooperation with the World Bank, Charles Gallavardin, director of an architecture firm in Asia, built an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City, which houses 350 families in an impoverished neighborhood. "We try to avoid big glass façades facing east or west, because that would make the building like an oven in a tropical climate," he says. "If you work with the main wind stream and have smart sun protection, you can do it -- you really can design buildings that need no air conditioning in a hot place like Vietnam." Gallavardin explains that a typical bioclimatic building is naturally about 5 Celsius cooler than the outside temperature, with natural ventilation and the ceiling fan doing the rest of the work.

    "It is crucial for all new building designs in cities to encompass bioclimatic architectural features," Myles McCarthy, director of implementation at the Carbon Trust consultancy and research firm, tells CNN. "As demands in Asian cities for buildings -- both domestic and commercial -- increases, and the need for higher density living continues to climb with urban populations, it will be crucial to ensure this growth does not drive energy and water consumptions higher."

(From: http://edition.cnn.com. Access: 31/07/2018. Adapted.)

5 Reasons Why Artificial Intelligence Won’t Replace Physicians

    Although many signs are pointing towards
the fact that A.I. will completely move the world of
medicine, and many other technologies will also have
a transformative effect on the industry, stating that the
[5] majority of medical professionals will disappear, is
fearmongering and irresponsible.
    According to a report by Carl Benedikt Frey and
Michael A. Osborne from the University of Oxford,
medical transcriptionists, medical records and health
[10] information technicians and medical secretaries are
the most likely jobs to be computerized in the future,
but physicians and surgeons have a 0.42 percent
chance for their professions being automated.
    Moreover, A.I. will transform the meaning of what
[15] it means to be a doctor: some tasks will disappear,
while others will be added to the work routine. However,
there will never be a situation where the embodiment
of automation, either a robot or an algorithm will take
the place of a doctor. Let me tell you five reasons why.

[20]     1) We cannot replace empathy
    Even if the array of technologies will offer brilliant
solutions, it would be difficult for them to mimic
empathy. Why? Because at the core of empathy, there
is the process of building trust: listening to the other
[25] person, paying attention to their needs, expressing
the feeling of compassion and responding in a manner
that the other person knows they were understood.
    At present, you would not trust a robot or a
smart algorithm with a life-altering decision or even
[30] with a decision whether or not to take painkillers, for
that matter. But we might never be able to imagine
healthcare without human empathy. We will need
doctors holding our hands while telling us about a
life-changing diagnosis, their guide through therapy
[35] and their overall support. An algorithm cannot replace
that. Ever

    2) Physicians have a non-linear working
method
    There was an episode in House M.D. where
[40] the team couldn’t figure out how a young boy could
have been poisoned. They considered many options:
drugs, food poisoning, pesticide poisoning. For
every possible diagnosis, they suggested a different
treatment option. Each one of them made the patient
[45] worse – until they figured out, by accident, that the
boy picked up phosmet, a type of insecticide from the
jeans that he bought from a street vendor who kept
the trousers in a truck. The boy didn’t wash the piece
of clothing before wearing it, that’s how his skin could
[50] absorb the poison.

    No algorithm could have made that diagnosis.
Although data, measurements and quantitative
analytics are a crucial part of a doctor’s work, setting
up a diagnosis and treating a patient are not linear

[55] processes. It requires creativity and problem-solving
skills that algorithms and robots will never have.
    3) Complex digital technologies require
competent professionals
    More and more sophisticated digital health
[60] solutions will require the competence of qualified
medical professionals, no matter whether it’s
about robotics or A.I. Take the example of the most
commonly known surgical robot, the da Vinci Surgical
System. It features a magnified 3D high-definition
[65] vision system and tiny wristed instruments that bend
and rotate far greater than the human hand. However,
surgeons have to learn how to operate it, and it takes
practice to master it.
    Likewise, look at IBM Watson. Its unique program
[70] for oncologists provides clinicians evidence-based
treatment options. Nonetheless, it’s only doctors
together with their patients who can choose the
treatment, and only physicians can evaluate whether
the smart algorithm came up with potentially useful
[75] suggestions. No robot or algorithm could clearly
interpret complex, multi-layered challenges —
involving the psyche. While they will provide the data,
interpretation will always remain a human territory

    4) There will always be tasks algorithms and
[80] robots can never complete
    Physicians, nurses and other members of the
medical staff have plenty of cumbersome monotonous
and repetitive tasks to complete every single day.
However, there are responsibilities and duties which
[85] technologies cannot perform. While IBM Watson can
sift through millions of pages of documents in seconds,
it will never be able to do the Heimlich maneuver.
There will always be tasks where humans will be
faster, more reliable — or cheaper than technology.
[90]     5) It has never been tech vs. human
    The consistent and constant enemy image
building should stop once and for all. It has never
been technology versus humans since technological
innovations always serve the purpose to help people.
[95] We are playing on the same team. No matter whether
it’s A.I., robotics, augmented or virtual reality, we
should accept that they have a massive influence on
the way healthcare operates, and then start utilizing
their power.
[100]     Collaboration between humans and technology is
the ultimate response. The Medical Futurist believes
that this is the perfect example for the coming decades.
Technology will help bring medical professionals
towards a more efficient, less error-prone and more
[105] seamless healthcare. Our team insists on the usage
of digital tools as we are confident that if utilized in
the right way — ethical and legal concerns NOT set
aside — the physician will have more time for the
patient, the doctor can enjoy his work and healthcare
[110] will move into an overall positive direction.

Available at: http://medicalfuturist.com/5-reasons-artifi cial- -intelligence-wont-replace-physicians. Retrieved on: June 30, 2018. Adapted

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Homeless crack addict revitalizes small square in downtown São Paulo 
[1]  A homeless man has chosen to occupy his free time
revitalizing a small square on the corner of avenues São João
and Duque de Caxias, in downtown São Paulo. He planted
pau-brasil, palm, banana and avocado trees. He also planted
[5] boldo, sweet potatoes, beans, peppers and ornamental plants,
such as snake plants. Residents noticed the square’s gradual
changes and congratulated the author for the modifications.
Fonte: Folha de São Paulo Internacional – 21/03/2017

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Disponível em: http://teachinandlearnin.blogspot.com.br/. Acesso em: 09/05/2015.

Alzheimer’s breakthrough: ultrasound successfully treats disease in mice

Rodents found to have improved memories after ultrasound treatment, without any apparent damage to brain tissue

Scientists believe they may have found a new weapon in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease
– not in the form of a drug, but in focused beams of ultrasound.
While the approach has only been tested in mice, researchers said on Wednesday it proved
surprisingly good at clearing tangles of plaques linked to Alzheimer’s in the animals’ brains and
[5] improving their memory, as measured by tests such as navigating a maze.
In the past, high-energy ultrasound has been combined with injected microbubbles, which
vibrate in response to sound waves, to get drugs across the so-called blood brain barrier.
But the new research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, is the first
demonstration that ultrasound alone might have a beneficial effect on the memory-robbing
[10] condition. “Our research was very exploratory and we really didn’t expect to see such a massive
effect”, Juergen Goetz of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, one of the study authors,
said. “I’m really excited by this.”
After several weeks of treating mice that had been genetically altered to produce amyloid
plaques, the scientists found the ultrasound almost completely cleared the plaques in 75% of
[15] the animals, without apparent damage to brain tissue.
While there is still some debate as to whether plaques are a cause or a symptom of Alzheimer’s,
the experiment did find that the treated mice had improved memory, as measured by three
different tests, compared with untreated ones.
Goetz stressed that his research was at a very early stage and it would be several years before it
[20] could be tested in people. Several hurdles must be overcome first, including long-term checks
for side effects in animals and much more research into whether the approach will work with
thicker skulls and larger brains. While mice studies can give us an indication of how a treatment
may affect humans, they are only indications, as there are inherent differences between the
species, and between the model and the actual human disease.
[25] Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s is the most common form, affects close to 50 milion people
worldwide and that number is set to reach 135 milion by 2050, according to Alzheimer’s Disease
International, a non-profit campaign group.

theguardian.com