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Lung cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in many countries around the world, and its histopathological diagnosis is crucial for deciding on optimum treatment strategies. Recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) deep learning models have been widely shown to be useful in various medical fields, particularly image and pathological diagnoses; however, AI models for the pathological diagnosis of pulmonary lesions that have been validated on large-scale test sets are yet to be seen. We trained a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) based on the EfficientNet-B3 architecture, using transfer learning and weakly-supervised learning, to predict carcinoma in Whole Slide Images (WSIs) using a training dataset of 3,554 WSIs. We obtained highly promising results for differentiating between lung carcinoma and non-neoplastic with high Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) area under the curves (AUCs) on four independent test sets (ROC AUCs of 0.975, 0.974, 0.988, and 0.981, respectively). Development and validation of algorithms such as ours are important initial steps in the development of software suites that could be adopted in routine pathological practices and potentially help reduce the burden on pathologists.

A comparative analysis of animal behavior (e.g., male vs. female groups) has been widely used to elucidate behavior specific to one group since pre-Darwinian times. However, big data generated by new sensing technologies, e.g., GPS, makes it difficult for them to contrast group differences manually. This study introduces DeepHL, a deep learning-assisted platform for the comparative analysis of animal movement data, i.e., trajectories. This software uses a deep neural network based on an attention mechanism to automatically detect segments in trajectories that are characteristic of one group. It then highlights these segments in visualized trajectories, enabling biologists to focus on these segments, and helps them reveal the underlying meaning of the highlighted segments to facilitate formulating new hypotheses. We tested the platform on a variety of trajectories of worms, insects, mice, bears, and seabirds across a scale from millimeters to hundreds of kilometers, revealing new movement features of these animals. Comparative analysis of animal behaviour using locomotion data such as GPS data is difficult because the large amount of data makes it difficult to contrast group differences. Here the authors apply deep learning to detect and highlight trajectories characteristic of a group across scales of millimetres to hundreds of kilometres.

Amplified Arctic warming and its relevance to mid-latitude cooling in winter have been intensively studied. Observational evidence has shown strong connections between decreasing sea ice and cooling over the Siberian/East Asian regions. However, the robustness of such connections remains a matter of discussion because modeling studies have shown divergent and controversial results. Here, we report a set of general circulation model experiments specifically designed to extract memory effects of land processes that can amplify sea ice–climate impacts. The results show that sea ice–induced cooling anomalies over the Eurasian continent are memorized in the snow amount and soil temperature fields, and they reemerge in the following winters to enhance negative Arctic Oscillation-like anomalies. The contribution from this memory effect is similar in magnitude to the direct effect of sea ice loss. The results emphasize the essential role of land processes in understanding and evaluating the Arctic–mid-latitude climate linkage. The connection between Arctic sea ice loss and mid-latitude cooling in Eurasia has been widely debated. Here, model experiments reveal that the persistence of sea ice loss-related snow and soil temperature anomalies in Eurasia may lead to further cooling in the following winters.

The differentiation between major histological types of lung cancer, such as adenocarcinoma (ADC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is of crucial importance for determining optimum cancer treatment. Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E)-stained slides of small transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) are one of the primary sources for making a diagnosis; however, a subset of cases present a challenge for pathologists to diagnose from H&E-stained slides alone, and these either require further immunohistochemistry or are deferred to surgical resection for definitive diagnosis. We trained a deep learning model to classify H&E-stained Whole Slide Images of TBLB specimens into ADC, SCC, SCLC, and non-neoplastic using a training set of 579 WSIs. The trained model was capable of classifying an independent test set of 83 challenging indeterminate cases with a receiver operator curve area under the curve (AUC) of 0.99. We further evaluated the model on four independent test sets—one TBLB and three surgical, with combined total of 2407 WSIs—demonstrating highly promising results with AUCs ranging from 0.94 to 0.99.

Summertime temperatures in marginal seas are, in general, colder than on the surrounding continent because of the large contrast in heat capacity between the land and the ocean. The Okhotsk Sea, which is covered by sea ice until early summer, is much colder than the surrounding continent in summer. The Okhotsk Sea is thus located in an area with one of the largest temperature contrasts of all the marginal seas in summertime midlatitudes. Cooled air over the Okhotsk Sea may have an impact on remote summer climates, such as by serving as the source of cold-air advection that results in a poor crop harvest in Japan. Here, we examine the role of the Okhotsk Sea on the early summer climate of the western part of the North Pacific through an ideal numerical experiment by artificially changing the model’s default oceanic condition in the Okhotsk Sea to a condition of land cover. Simulation results reveal that the presence of the Okhotsk Sea increases precipitation of the baiu/mei-yu front through strengthening of the northward moisture flux at the western edge of an intensified North Pacific subtropical high. The Okhotsk influence farther extends toward western North America to which the strengthened jet stream with a storm track extends. This remote influence is achievable through feedback from a transient eddy anomaly that is activated by the surface temperature gradient between the cold Okhotsk Sea and the warm Pacific Ocean. The findings imply that the existence of the Okhotsk Sea strengthens the East Asian summer monsoons.

A large intraseasonal variation in geopotential height over the Central Asia region, where the Asian subtropical jet is located, occurs between May and June, and the most dominant variation has a wave-like distribution. This variation in geopotential height influences precipitation across South and Southeast Asia. In this paper, we use composite analysis to determine the causes of this intraseasonal variation over Central Asia. The wave train propagates from the northern Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia over a period of a week, and generates an anomaly in geopotential height over the region. The tropical disturbance, which is similar to the Madden–Julian oscillation, appears a few days before the maximum of the anticyclonic anomaly over Central Asia, and is accompanied by active convection over the Indian Ocean and suppressed convection over Central America. Results of numerical experiments using a linear baroclinic model show that the active convection over the northern Indian Ocean causes the anticyclonic anomaly over Central Asia. The wave train that extends from the northern Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia is generated by negative thermal forcing over Central America, and the phase distribution of this wave train is similar to that observed in the composite analysis. Central Asia is the region where the effects of the tropics and middle latitudes overlap, and it is an important connection point between the Asian monsoon and middle latitudes.

Dental plaque biofilms cause various dental diseases; therefore, inhibiting the growths of the dental plaque bacteria which produce biofilms can be a strategy for preventing dental disease. Certain sulfated polysaccharides from marine algae exert antimicrobial activities against human bacterial pathogens in addition to their physiological benefits. On the basis of these observations, the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of sulfated polysaccharides from different marine algae were evaluated against dental plaque bacteria. Among the sulfated polysaccharides, a fucoidan from Fucus vesiculosus showed notable antimicrobial activities against the selected dental plaque bacteria, including some foodborne pathogenic bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were of 125 to 1000 µg mL−1. Regarding the antibiofilm activity, the fucoidan at the concentrations of above 250 µg mL−1 completely suppressed the biofilm formations and planktonic cell growths of Streptococcus mutans and S. sobrinus. However, no eliminative effect on the completed biofilm was observed. The fucoidan consisted of almost fucose base polysaccharide containing approximately 14.0% sulfate content. The average molecular weight of the fucoidan was changed by heat treatment (121 °C for 15 min) and it affected the antimicrobial activity.

Greenland warming and ice loss have slowed down since the early 2010s, in contrast to the rest of the Arctic region. Both natural variability and anthropogenic forcing contribute to recent Greenland warming by reducing cloud cover and surface albedo, yet most climate models are unable to reasonably simulate the unforced natural variability. Here we show that a simplified atmospheric circulation model successfully simulates an atmospheric teleconnection from the tropics towards Greenland, which accounts for Greenland cooling through an intensified cyclonic circulation. Synthesis from observational analysis and model experiments indicate that over the last decade, more central Pacific El Niño events than canonical El Niño events have generated the atmospheric teleconnection by shifting the tropical rainfall zone poleward, which led to an intensified cyclonic circulation over Greenland. The intensified cyclonic circulation further extends into the Arctic Ocean in observations, whereas the model does not show a direct remote forcing from the tropics, implying the contribution of an indirect atmospheric forcing. We conclude that the frequent occurrence of central Pacific El Niño events has played a key role in the slow-down of Greenland warming and possibly Arctic sea-ice loss.

BackgroundTo examine the effects of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for elderly (≥ 75 years of age) patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we conducted a multi-institutional and prospective observational study.MethodsPatients were recruited between January 2014 and December 2017, and assigned to two cohort groups based on the patients’ choice either to receive postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (Cohort B) or not (Cohort A). All the patients were observed for 2 years after enrollment. The primary endpoint was the postoperative change of Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at 2 years. The secondary endpoints were postoperative recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) at 2 years, and the completion rate of the adjuvant chemotherapy.ResultsTwo hundred and seventy-two patients were enrolled (Cohort A, n = 225; Cohort B, n = 47). At any time point after surgery, no marked difference of KPS was observed between Cohort B and Cohort A. The RFS at 2 years was 70.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 64.3–76.4) in Cohort A and 76.0% (95% CI 60.8–85.9) in Cohort B. The OS at 2 years was 85.9% (95% CI 80.4–89.9) in Cohort A and 89.1% (95% CI 75.8–95.3) in Cohort B. The completion rate of planned chemotherapy was 49.9% (95% CI 34.1–63.9%).ConclusionsThe elderly patients were not likely to choose to receive postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy; however, no significant adverse effect on postoperative KPS was identified.Trial registrationClinical Trial Registration ID: UMIN000020736.

Omnivores are generally opportunistic foragers and have a flexible dietary response to resource abundance and availability. Their populations may consist of individuals that differ from each other in terms of their trophic positions, which implies that the dietary response to resource fluctuations differs within a population. We investigated how changes in the abundance of sika deer (Cervus nippon) affected dietary variation and body condition in the Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus). We used fecal analysis, nitrogen stable isotopes (δ 15N), and body measurements to determine whether the variation in dietary meat content of Asian black bears is positively related to variations in the density of the sika deer population, whether male bears have a higher trophic position compared to females, and whether dietary meat content is positively related with body mass or body condition of bears. We found a positive correlation between the occurrence of deer remains in bear feces and deer density, suggesting that bears change their diet in response to temporal changes in deer density. Male bears had higher δ 15N values than females, and neither values varied when deer density decreased. Males selectively consumed deer after a reduction in deer density, whereas females consistently consumed more plant-based diet. The δ 15N values were positively related with body mass of adult (>4 yr) bears but had no relationship with body condition of bears of either sex or any age class. Deer seem to be an important food source for large adult males, which have an advantage in mating. Thus, increasing herbivore abundance and availability altered the foraging strategy of Asian black bears, but the importance of herbivore on bear diet differs within a population.