SARS-CoV-2 reinfection: What does it mean?
Not only the popular press but even some of my distinguished science colleagues are claiming that the recent report of reinfection of a COVID-19 patient is the end of the world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. First, the facts. The patient is a healthy Hong Kong male who was diagnosed by PCR with […] (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - August 28, 2020 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information antibody common cold coronavirus COVID-19 immunity pandemic reinfection SARS-CoV-2 T cells viral viruses Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 17th 2020
In this study, we sought to elucidate the role of VRK-1 in regulation of adult life span in C. elegans. We found that overexpression of VRK-1::GFP (green fluorescent protein), which was detected in the nuclei of cells in multiple somatic tissues, including the intestine, increased life span. Conversely, genetic inhibition of vrk-1 decreased life span. We further showed that vrk-1 was essential for the increased life span of mitochondrial respiratory mutants. We demonstrated that VRK-1 was responsible for increasing the level of active and phosphorylated form of AMPK, thus promoting longevity.
A Fisetin Variant, C...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 16, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
30% to 40% of Dementia Might be Avoided via Lifestyle Choices
Today's open access research materials present a statistical exercise that uses broad epidemiological data to determine the impact of individual lifestyle choices and environmental factors to the incidence of dementia. The results are not declaring that, say, particulate air pollution is responsible for 2% of dementias. Rather if the statistics point out that particulate air pollution is associated with 2% of cases, smoking with 5%, and hearing loss with 8%, then one starts to see priorities in the choices that people should be making to better manage their health over the long term.
Summing all of the impacts toget...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 10, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Dollarization for Lebanon
ConclusionThe US dollar is not a perfect currency. But it needn ' t be perfect to provide a vast improvement over Lebanon ' s chaotic status quo. Annual inflation of 2 percent is far better than 50 percent. A free currency market is far better than one with price controls and discriminatory rationing. Full dollarization offers the best hope for turning the lights back on in Lebanon._________________[1] This essay contains the gist of my remarks made via Zoom to an audience in Lebanon on Saturday, 18 June 2020. My thanks to Forrest Partovi and Jalal Hasbini respectively for arranging the event and for leading the discussion...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 30, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Lawrence H. White Source Type: blogs
That ’ s okay, tonight – vocal remix
I can’t leave a finished thing alone…the “instrumental” I wrote and recorded and blogged about last week now has a vocal…
Words and Music by David Bradley
Vocals, six-string Taylor acoustic guitar, Fender Telecaster, electric guitar, and Yamaha bass, harmony vocals, and production by dB. Drums by Klaus Tropp. Video derived from a “C0” Creative Commons montage of Hong Kong filmed from the air at night. Annotations by dB.
That’s okay, tonight
Step up to the light, learn you’re not the only dreamer
Find a place for you to shine
Try as you might, you won’t find ano...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - July 11, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
July 9, 2020 Edition. ----- The July 4th celebrations this year have been over shadowed by Trumps increasing white nationalism and the out of control COVID-19 disaster. He now seems very likely to be a one-term president if the Economist is to be believed. In the UK the re-opening is off and rolling. The next two weeks will be very interesting! In OZ we have seen a new and much more forward Defence Policy and issues in cyber-security. Worse we have seen the virus nail Victoria which has put in a 6 week lockdown. We seem to be on a knife edge....
Hong Kong is also looming as a major issue with all 3 countries. We wait and...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - July 8, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Brain health innovators needs to escape from the “efficiency trap”
Fun to (remotely) talk at the Startup Impact Summit in Hong Kong to discuss the latest on brain health and mental fitness and to highlight a key point: in such a rapidly-and-profoundly-evolving field, we need to prioritize effectiveness over efficiency; otherwise we simply keep doing –faster, cheaper– the wrong things time and again.
Think of the many ways we (mis)diagnose and (mis)treat depression and Alzheimer’s Disease for example.
Let’s escape from the “efficiency trap” and promote brain health for all.
Event in Context:
Debate the Future of Mental Health in North America: In ten years, will we see DSM?6 o...
Source: SharpBrains - July 8, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Alvaro Fernandez Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Technology brain health effectiveness efficiency mental-fitness Startup Impact Summit startups Source Type: blogs
“We Stand with the People of Hong Kong”
Ian V ásquezOur friends at the Fraser Institute in Canada have released thisopen letter in which they express their solidarity with “the people of Hong Kong as their rights and freedoms are threatened by the actions of the Communist Party of China.” The letter, signed by think tank leaders from around the world, notes Hong Kong’s astonishing progress under its market‐liberal system and rightly denounces the new securi ty law that mainland China is imposing on the territory as an attempt to “crush” Hong Kong’s freedoms. Read the whole letterhere.The sentiment of the letter is shared by millions of people a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 3, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez Source Type: blogs
Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act Offers Escape to Persecuted Hong Kongers
David J. BierA bipartisan group of senators and congressmen have introducednew legislation to facilitate the protection of persecuted residents of Hong Kong. The bill responds toChina ’s new “national security” law that allows mainland China ’s national security agencies to operate in Hong Kong and target proponents of Hong Kong independence with up to life in prison. This is similar to what my colleagues at the Cato Institutehave recommended.The Hong Kong Safe Harbor Act would directly support protesters by telling them that they can risk their lives in Hong Kong knowing that they have a backup plan in case t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 2, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
The Costs and Consequences of the Hong Kong National Security Law
Eric GomezTheHong Kong national security law deals a serious blow to the territory ’s unique political freedoms and autonomy. The law is the culmination of Beijing’s efforts to assert greater control over Hong Kong, which has seen both a steady erosion of civil liberties andgrowing protests against Beijing ’s control in recent years.The national security law achieves the objective of further cementing China ’s control over Hong Kong, but this move will have multiple negative consequences for Beijing’s relationships with Hong Kong, the United States, and other countries in Asia. China’s willingness to ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 30, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Eric Gomez Source Type: blogs
The United Kingdom Shows How to Combat China ’s Oppression of Hong Kong
Jeffrey Miron andErin PartinAs China prepares to take overHong Kong—effectively ending the era of “one country, two systems”—other countries are struggling with how to respond.One of the best responses has come from Great Britain. In a column forThe Times, Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a path to British citizenship for nearly 3 million Hong Kong residents. Johnson writes:Many people in Hong Kong fear that their way of life — which China pledged to uphold — is under threat. If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and wal...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 8, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey Miron, Erin Partin Source Type: blogs
Even Covid-19 May Not Be Causing Your Doctor To Wash His Hands
This article originally appeared on Forbes here. (Source: The Health Care Blog)
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 1, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Medical Practice Physicians handwashing Michael Millenson Source Type: blogs
We Should “Confront” China by Liberalizing Chinese Immigration
Alex NowrastehThe Chinese government ’s crackdown on dissidents in Hong Kong is just another indication of that government ’s rising totalitarianism. Vox’s Matt Yglesiaswrote that the United States should let in any Hongkonger who wishes to leave – a proposal I agree with. However, the U.S. government is moving in the opposite direction. Not only has it virtually ended all immigration, including for those seeking refuge and asylum, but it will soon go further to limit the migration of Chinese students.Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) recently introduced theSecure Campus Act that...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 29, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Alex Nowrasteh Source Type: blogs
Regarding a “Strategic Approach” to China
Christopher A. PrebleOn any given day, my inbox is filled with opinion pieces on U.S.-China relations. A number warn “the U.S. doesn ’t need a cold war” or that “a cold war with China would be a mistake. ” Others seem to have concluded thatwe ’re already in one, so we ’d better get serious about fighting it.After reading the Trump administration ’s “United States Strategic Approach to the People ’s Republic of China” – a 16 ‐page document issued before the currentcrackdown on Hong Kong, and apparently drafted even before the COVID-19 outbreak (as it is barely mentioned) – ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - May 28, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Christopher A. Preble Source Type: blogs
Staying Home Doesn ’ t Have to Mean Being Alone
While things appear to be slowly opening up again in many parts of the world, many people continue to feel hesitant to leave their homes, fearful of exposure to COVID-19. The resulting sense of isolation, depression, and anxiety are keeping mental health hotlines busy.
Without sounding too rosy, is there the possibility of extracting something positive from the turn inward that circumstances are now offering? A telephone survey of 818 Hong Kong residents of age 18-60 during the SARS epidemic in 2003 offers glimmers of hope.
Researchers have reported in the Journal of Infection (August, 2006) that over 60% of respondents...
Source: World of Psychology - May 28, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: John Amodeo, PhD Tags: Communication Depression Friends Happiness Inspiration & Hope Mindfulness Psychology Relationships Self-Help Friendship Optimism social distancing Social Isolation Source Type: blogs
