Category Archives: Uncategorized
Covid-19 Podcast: Testing Lab Challenges, WHO Funding & Immune System Issues (Nature.com)
Benjamin Thompson, Noah Baker, and Amy Maxmen discuss Trump withholding funds from the WHO, and how COVID-19 kills. We also hear about controlling misinformation while communicating risk.
In this episode:
01:15 Understanding bottlenecks
After listening to last week’s episode of Coronapod, researchers in the USA were inspired to start collecting data about the challenges facing labs carrying out testing. After more than 4,000 responses to their online survey, we discuss their goals.
03:08 A hole in the WHO’s funding
US President Donald Trump has announced plans to withhold funding for the WHO, pending a review of the organization’s handling of the pandemic. We discuss the decision and ask what it means for the global response to COVID-19.
News: Nature‘s rolling coronavirus news blog
05:55 Responding to the immune system
We investigate the role of the immune system in the death of COVID-19 patients and what this could mean for treatments. Could some therapeutics actually be undermining the body’s ability to fight the virus?
News: How does COVID-19 kill? Uncertainty is hampering doctors’ ability to choose treatments
13:54 One good thing this week
Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last 7 days, including seasonal memories from Sierra Leone, a trip to the supermarket, and the 99-year old war veteran who has raised millions for charity.
BBC News: Coronavirus: Capt Tom Moore’s NHS fundraiser hits £17m
18:33 Communicating complex data
Clearly communicating risks and evidence is key for governments and other organisations if they are to best inform the public during the pandemic. But what is the best way to do it? We hear the methods that communications experts and behavioural scientists recommend to keep the public informed, and keep misinformation at bay.
TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (APRIL 17, 2020)
TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (MARCH 27, 2020)
Interview: Scientist And Inventor Mark Kendall – “Nanopatch” Replacement For Vaccination (Podcast)
Rocket scientist-turned-immunology expert Mark Kendall talks about his Nanopatch, which could revolutionise vaccinations and eradicate some diseases.
Mark Kendall (born 1972) is an Australian biomedical engineer and innovator. He is an Entrepreneurial Professor of the Australian National University. His field of research is the delivery of immunotherapeutics to the skin without the use of a needle or syringe.
In 2011, he co-founded the development company Vaxxas with an investor syndicate. The company’s technology, called Nanopatch, is intended to serve as a needle-free vaccine delivery device. In 2011, Kendall and his AIBN team received the Australian Research Council Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research by an Interdisciplinary Team. In 2012, he was awarded the Rolex Awards for Enterprise for his “pioneering efforts to expand knowledge and improve human life”.
Health Studies: Lowering LDL Cholesterol Below 70 MG/DL Markedly Lowers Risk Of Recurrent Strokes
From a Neurology Today online article:
After an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack with evidence of atherosclerosis, patients who had a target LDL cholesterol level of less than 70 mg/dL had a lower risk of subsequent cardiovascular events than those who had a target range of 90 mg to 110 mg/dL.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) currently recommends using statins to lower lipid levels in patients after a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or ischemic stroke of atherosclerotic origin, but offers limited guidance on just how intensive this therapy should be.
Now new findings from the Treat Stroke to Target (TST) trial conducted in France and South Korea offer that guidance. The study, led by Pierre Amarenco, MD, chairman of the department of neurology and Stroke Center at Bichat Hospital in Paris, and colleagues, point to a significant improvement in subsequent cardiovascular events when these patients were treated with statins until they reached target low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels of 70 mg/dL or lower.
New Health Studies: 43% Of Americans Prescribed Antibiotics Improperly
From a British Medical Journal (BMJ) online article:
…primary care providers (general practice, paediatrics, and internal medicine) performed the best, giving a considerably lower percentage of antibiotic prescriptions without a documented indication (12%) than other specialists such as gynaecologists and urologists, who commonly prescribed antibiotics (24%), as well as those in all other specialties (29%).
As many as two in five antibiotic prescriptions (43%) provided in outpatient settings in the US could be inappropriate, a study published by The BMJ has found.1
Researchers from Oregon, USA, looked at prescriptions in ambulatory settings such as primary care and found that a quarter (25%) were deemed to be inappropriate, while a further 18% did not have an indication.
To read more: https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l6961
Health Studies: Poor Sleep Associated With Non-Alzheimer’s Dementia And Impaired Cognition
From a University of Toronto Medicine article:
“There are two important takeaways from this paper. One is that poor sleep is associated with brain immune dysregulation or dysfunction,” says Lim, the corresponding author for the paper.
“The second part is that dysfunction appears to be further associated with impaired cognition.”
The study shows that in adults with fragmented sleep – where people were waking up repeatedly instead of sleeping soundly – there was an effect on microglia, and the cells showed signs of accelerated aging and other abnormalities.
The researchers were then able to identify that these changes in the microglia could be associated with worse cognition in older adults, both with and without Alzheimer’s disease.
To read full study: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/12/eaax7331
To read more: https://medicine.utoronto.ca/news/research-suggests-fragmented-sleep-may-affect-brain-s-immune-cells-impair-cognition
Nostalgia: “1961 Facel Vega Facellia FA Cabriolet” (Classic Driver)
From a Classic Driver online article:
As a contemporary French alternative for the successful Mercedes-Benz SL 190 and popular Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider the Facel Vega Facellia FA is now seen as a rare gem that sits in between, target market-wise. It was almost as luxurious as the Benz, but also nearly as sporty as the Alfa. The Facellia’s reputation among car collectors is steadily improving, especially the first series. Despite being smaller the Facellia FA offers the same fine shapes and details of its larger family members like the Facel Vega FV3 and HK500. And besides being sporty enough for most drivers, it’s also as comfortable as you can expect from a French car. Which makes it a refreshing early 60’s sports car for all kinds of drives.
The larger Facels were more Grand Tourers. That’s why in his brochures the Californian Facel distributor Peter Satori presented the Facellia as the French twin cam 1960 sports convertible. Among Satori’s customers were the rich and famous. This car, with chassis number FAC 171, was ordered by Satori with a batch of other Facellias.
Science Profiles: 97-Year Old Professor John B. Goodenough Becomes Oldest Nobel Prize Winner In Chemistry
From a UChicago News online article:
Three-quarters of a century later, at age 97, Goodenough will become the oldest person to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. At a Dec. 10 ceremony in Sweden, he will be honored for pioneering breakthroughs that led to the widespread use of the lithium-ion battery—and helping spark the wireless revolution. The descendants of his batteries now power modern smartphones and hold the potential to one day sustainably harvest solar and wind power.
John B. Goodenough can still remember, word for word, what a University of Chicago professor told him when he arrived on campus following World War II: “I don’t understand you veterans,” said John A. Simpson, a new UChicago instructor who had just helped achieve the first nuclear reaction. “Don’t you know that anyone who has ever done anything significant in physics had already done it by the time he was your age—and you want to begin?”
Boomers Daily 