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Brigham and Women’s Hospital study finds AI can streamline detection of common heart disease with ‘much higher sensitivity’

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are revolutionizing the way doctors can detect a common heart disease. Atrial septal defect, or ASD, is a congenital heart disease and could be detected with artificial intelligence.Shinichi Goto, a doctor and researcher, said the symptoms that go along with ASD are typically mild, so the disease often goes undiagnosed. However, if not treated, ASD can cause serious problems.“You get irreversible complications such as atrial fibrillation, stroke, heart failure, and so on,” Goto said. “It’s missed in most of the cases.”Goto said the reason ASD is often undiagnosed is because screening for it is expensive. It could also be inaccurate, Goto said. “The problem of detecting ASD is that the gold standard, or the best way, to detect this atrial septal defect is to use echocardiogram which is a non-invasive modality, but it’s time-consuming and labor-consuming.” In an effort to make screening for the disease more accessible, ...

Real-time updates: Hilary treks north toward San Diego

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Hilary's trek north toward San Diego continues Sunday morning with rain now overspreading Southern California. The National Weather Service says the forecasts for heavy rain and "catastrophic flooding" remains unchanged. MORE: Tracking Hilary California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Saturday evening, and San Diego County officials also proclaimed a local emergency shortly after.As for the center of the storm, it's expected to hit San Diego sometime between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday. That's according to Chris Heiser, the executive director for the City of San Diego Office of Emergency.“This is a large storm with a huge footprint and unlike what we usually see in San Diego,” Heiser said during a news conference.FOX 5 will be providing real-time updates (below) as Hilary makes her way to the region.Blog: Real-time updates on Hilary1:36 a.m. -- Mostly light rainfall spreads into Southern California.5:00 a.m. -- The status of Hilary remains a Categ...

Hurricane Hilary moves very near to Mexico's Baja coast packing deadly rainfall

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Hilary neared landfall on Mexico's Baja California peninsula as a still-dangerous Category 1 hurricane carrying so much rain that forecasters said “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding is likely across a broad region of the southwestern U.S.The National Weather Center in Miami said that as of 5 a.m. the storm was “very near” the Baja coast south of Ensenada, and 285 miles (460 kilometers) from San Diego, California. The maximum sustained wind speed dropped to 80 mph (130 kph) while spreading “heavy rains” northward over the peninsula.Meteorologists warned that despite weakening, the storm remained treacherous.One person drowned Saturday in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia, on the peninsula’s eastern coast, when a vehicle was swept away in an overflowing stream. Rescue workers managed to save four other people, said Edith Aguilar Villavicencio, the mayor of Mulege township.It was not immediately clear whether officials considered the fa...

Serbia will increase supplies of Russian natural gas to Hungary if Ukraine pulls out of transit deal

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Serbia will provide Hungary with increased shipments of Russian natural gas if Ukraine follows through on ending a gas transit agreement with Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said Sunday. Speaking in a taped message, Peter Szijjarto said Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, had met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, and assured him that Serbia would be able to supply more Russian gas to Hungary if Kyiv declines to extend an agreement allowing its transit across Ukrainian territory. “We’ve heard in recent days that Ukraine would like to terminate the previously concluded natural gas transit agreement with Russia,” Szijjarto said. “Today, the Serbian president made it clear that if Hungary would like to increase natural gas shipments through Serbia to Hungary, then Serbia can ensure the necessary shipment capacities.”The deal came after Ukraine’s energy minister, German Galushchenko, indicated Kyiv was unlikely t...

Ecuadorians are choosing a new president amid increasing violence that may scare away voters

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador is holding a special election Sunday to pick a new president, with police and soldiers on guard against unprecedented violence, including the assassination of a candidate this month. Front-runners include an ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa and a millionaire with a security background promising to be tough on crime.Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 police and soldiers to protect the vote against more violence. Voting in Ecuador is mandatory for most voters, but turnout could be affected because of people’s fears of leaving their homes. The country’s top electoral authority, Diana Atamint, on Sunday urged voters to unite against violence. Atamint, president of the National Electoral Council, marked the start of the election telling Ecuadorians that voting “should be a strong democratic message of unity and hope to face the violence that threatens our country, even though pain overwhelms us.” Candidate Fernando Villavicenc...

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into the moon, ending its bid to reach the lunar south pole

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, the country’s Roscosmos space agency said Sunday. The pilotless spacecraft was aiming to be the first ever to land on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe there could be important reserves of frozen water and precious elements. It had been expected to land Monday. However, Roscosmos said it lost contact with the Luna-25 on Saturday after the spacecraft ran into difficulties and reported an “abnormal situation ”.“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” read a statement from the agency.The Luna-25 was in a race with an Indian spacecraft launched on July 14 to be the first to reach the south pole. Both were expected to reach the moon between Aug. 21 and 23.The lunar mission was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three governmen...

The Netherlands and Denmark will give F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Dutch prime minister says

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands and Denmark announced Sunday that they will give F-16 warplanes to Ukraine, in a long-awaited announcement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an important motivation for Ukraine’s forces, which are embroiled in a difficult counteroffensive.The timeline depends on how soon Ukrainian crews and infrastructure are ready for the powerful U.S.-made jets, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Zelenskyy as the two visited a Dutch air base.Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery. Zelenskyy welcomed the ‘’historic” announcement and praised Rutte for making the Netherlands the first country to offer the planes. The announcement came minutes after the two leaders inspected two gray F-16 jets parked in a hangar at ...

A bus hits a van and catches fire in Pakistan, killing 20 people and injuring 11 others

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A bus in Pakistan caught fire after hitting a van parked on the shoulder of an intercity highway in eastern Punjab province, killing at least 20 people and injuring 11 others, police and rescue officials said Sunday. The accident occurred early Sunday near Pindi Bhattian, where the Islamabad-bound bus hit a van parked on the shoulder of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, senior police officer Fahad Ahmed said. The van was carrying fuel drums, which caused an inferno that engulfed the bus, Ahmed said.There were more than 40 passengers on the bus, Ahmed said. Those who were rescued were badly burned, including several in critical condition. Other passengers were slightly injured with burns after escaping through the windows. The drivers of both vehicles died, police said. Mohammad Jawed, a medical officer at a hospital in nearby Faisalabad district, said two of the seriously burned injured died in the hospital, taking the death toll to 20 with 11 hospitalized. Ehsa...

Gunmen kill at least 23 in an attack on a village in central Mali

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Armed gunment killed at least 23 people and wounded 12 in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Sunday.Sidi Mohamed El Bechir, governor of the Bandiagara region where the attack took place, said unidentified men killed dozens of people and set fire to several homes in the village of Yarou on Friday.“The assailants stayed in the village until 7 p.m. and burned down part of the village, smashed stores and took away the villagers’ cattle,” said Amadou Lougué, president of the regional youth organization, on Sunday. The attack has not been claimed.Communities across central and northern Mali have been in the grips of protracted armed violence since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in the West African nation’s northern cities the following year, with the help of a French-led military operation. But they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies.Friday’s attack in the central Mopti region took pl...

Potential holy wars in Big 12 with BYU becoming league’s 3rd private Christian school

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:17:52 GMT

There could be some new holy wars brewing in the evolving Big 12 Conference. With BYU coming in this season, the Big 12 has three private Christian schools from different denominations. The Cougars, the 1984 national champions who played the past 12 seasons as an independent, are now in the same league with Baylor and TCU — whose 118-game “Revivalry” in Texas dates to a scoreless tie in 1899. “I think that will be really intriguing to see … is there more of a long-term interest amongst TCU and Baylor fans in BYU as an opponent compared to some of the other Big 12 teams that are coming in,” said Northern Kentucky professor Joe Cobbs, an expert in sports rivalries. BYU was founded by and still supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church. Baylor is the world’s largest Baptist university, and TCU partners with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). All three schools were founded in the 1800s. There can be commonality a...