WSU artificial intelligence model aims to help disease detection
An AI model developed at Washington State University is now on the cutting edge of finding signs of illness in humans.
WSU biologist Michael Skinner and other researchers have been looking for tiny clues that would help medical professionals find diseases in animal and human tissue on microscope slides.
Those epigenetic studies, which examine diseases in kidneys, testes, ovaries, and brain tissue, can be very time consuming. But two other computer researchers at the school worked on developing an AI program that could automate that scanning procedure.
Skinner said the new system has revolutionized his analysis. He told SPR News it’s both faster and more accurate than having humans do it.
“We can have the whole thing done in few days once everything is imaged, where it would take us months to a whole year to do a project in the past,” Skinner said.
Skinner said six other labs on WSU’s campus, including the veterinary school, are now gearing up to use the new AI system.
He believes the model will see widespread use in the medical community within the next year.
Memorial planned for former Spokane Co. sheriff
A public memorial service for Larry Erickson is slated for Dec. 6. Erickson, Spokane County’s sheriff from 1979 to 1995, died Nov. 7.
One of his close friends was then-county prosecutor Don Brockett.
“He believed as I do the purpose of the Sheriff and Prosecutor and anyone else in law enforcement is to enforce whatever the citizens have decided should be the law through elected officials in the legislature,” Brockett told SPR News.
While Sheriff, Erickson led deputies at dozens of major events. Among the biggest was the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens and a 1994 shooting at Fairchild Air Force Base when a gunman killed four people and wounded two dozen more.
After retiring, Erickson moved to Olympia and was executive director the Sheriffs’ and Police Chiefs’ Association.
Screening older physician competency could prevent bad patient outcomes
Almost one in four U.S. physicians are aged 65 or older.
Patients who receive care from these doctors have worse outcomes and are more likely to file complaints about their care.
That’s why Dr. Andrew White at UW Medicine studied hospital policies that screen older doctors to make sure they’re still competent to practice medicine.
"It would be better to identify that at a stage where there may still be an opportunity to use that information," Dr. White told KUOW public radio. "If you wait till a patient or many patients are harmed, you’ve waited too long."
He compared these policies to airline pilots who do more regular flight simulator testing as they approach retirement.
But while those policies are standard practice, very few physicians undergo similar testing.
Hospitals that do screen older physicians have found that about 12 to 14% of them were no longer competent to practice.
Idaho retirement investor switchover means blackout for college employees
Beginning Friday, more than 13,000 current and former employees of Idaho’s two and four-year colleges and universities will temporarily lose access to part of their retirement savings, as the state switches the company managing those accounts.
Boise State Public Radio reported about $1.9 billion worth of retirement savings for some state postsecondary workers is moving from investment companies TIAA or Corebridge Financial, to Fidelity Investments. The change affects only the optional retirement accounts, where the state provides matching funds.
Fidelity required a 30-day blackout period, state officials said, to ensure its transition process is accurate and complete. But that means program participants won’t be able to make changes to their accounts between November 22 and December 22, even though their money will remain invested.
Scheduled distributions from those accounts will continue during the blackout period. State officials said the change to Fidelity was made to improve users' experience and reduce investing fees.
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Reporting contributed by Steve Jackson, Tom Lee, Ellis O'Neill and Troy Oppie.