Answer to Case 674
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 674: Not a human ectoparasite or disease vector; this is one of the Coreidae or " leaf-footed " bugs, most likely the western conifer seed bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis). The nickname comes from the leaf-like expansions on the legs of some species, usually on the hind tibiae. Leptolossus does not bite or sting, but can give off a pungent odor when disturbed. It feeds on sap and has long piercing mouthparts. The importance of this case is that the specimen is a very convincing mimic of the triatomine vector ofTrypanosoma cruzi - commonly called the " ki...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 1, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Hell is other people Handling insecurities and opinions
Opinions- the fundamental right of speech, the instrument of thinkers like the pen and paper; weapons of the powerless like a sharp sword or, perhaps, a double edged sword in my …well… ‘opinion’. The seedDuring my youthful years in the medical college I too carried the weight of other people ’s opinions. Having been brought up and spent my adolescent years in an average run of the mill school, medical college seemed like unknown territory to me. Unaware of the glitz and glamour of the world beyond the rusty school gates I experienced a culture shock when interacting with my seniors. T hey inspected my ...
Source: Sumer's Radiology Site - February 15, 2022 Category: Radiology Authors: Sumer Sethi Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 3rd 2022
In this study, we showed that the iPaD (inducing Plagl2 and anti-Dyrk1a) lentivirus substantially rejuvenated the proliferative and neurogenic potential of NSCs in the aged brain. Clonal analysis by a sparse labeling approach as well as transcriptome analysis indicated that iPaD can rejuvenate aged NSCs (19-21 mo of age) to a level comparable with those at 1 or 2 months of age and successfully improved cognition of aged mice.
Once rejuvenated and activated by iPaD, aged dormant NSCs can generate, on average, 4.9 neurons but very few astrocytes in 3-week tracing. Furthermore, these activated NSCs were maintained for ...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 2, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
A Look Back at 2021: Progress Towards the Treatment of Aging as a Medical Condition
Well, here we are again, at the end of another pandemic year, a year older and - hopefully - a year wiser and more knowledgeable. I said all that really needs to be said on the topic of COVID-19 as an age-related condition at the end of last year. We might hope that, given widespread vaccination, the pandemic will become a topic of diminishing importance as the year ahead progresses, even given the present round of variants, fears, and reintroduction of restrictions.
Advocacy for Aging Research
Have we finally made significant progress in convincing the world that aging is the cause of age-related disease, th...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 31, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs
David Bradley … also a musician
I’m a science journalist by day, a photographer, dog walker and ale drinker most of the time I’m away from my desk, and a musician by night…oh, and there’s usually an ale or a beer then, too…
That is to say, I earn my living writing about science, I tramp around the countryside with my dog, taking lots of photos (mostly of birds, these days), drink a few pints with Mrs Sciencebase and/or friends, and sing and play in a couple of bands, including C5, and a choir (bigMouth). You can hear my latest solo and collaborative recorded music on BandCamp and SoundCloud. Some of my stuff is on Spotify an...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - November 15, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Music Source Type: blogs
“ Just a little scratch ”
Discussion
I haven’t described the second experiment because of space, but go ahead and read it. Essentially they added some more participants, varied the procedure a little to reduce the memory burden on participants, and added a “medium” underprediction element into the process. The results showed similar outcomes – lower ratings of pain in both the “you won’t feel a thing” and the “it’ll hurt but not much” experiments, and yet again, less trust in the experimenter suggesting that it wouldn’t hurt.
Lessons to learn?
Think carefully about inflatin...
Source: HealthSkills Weblog - August 15, 2021 Category: Anesthesiology Authors: BronnieLennoxThompson Tags: Pain Psychology Research Health Therapeutic approaches Source Type: blogs
Joy is our antibiotic. Let not your stings fester.
I had a nightmare last Christmas. I thrashed in bed for at least an hour before slipping into a seat at the start of a medical lecture. Some of my classmates were present, and while standing next to a friend ’s desk, he said, “Wow, your knee is red and throbbing, did you know?” Before acknowledgingRead more …Joy is our antibiotic. Let not your stings fester. originally appeared inKevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 12, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/stephanie-wottrich" rel="tag" > Stephanie Wottrich < /a > < /span > Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs
Another Massive Drug Bust —Will It Make Any Difference?
David Boaz“Law enforcement officials— some of whom Tuesday could barely contain their glee — announced they had arrested more than 800 people” along with “the seizure of 8 tons of cocaine and more than $48 million. ”Hooray!At last we ’ve turned the corner in the war on drugs. Right? Don ’t bet on it. When Americans read about ever‐larger drug busts, or when we watch television shows about drug enforcement, we get the impression that drug enforcement agents are clever and innovative, always staying one step ahead of the sinister pushers. But in reality the drug distributors are the innovative one...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 9, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Red-belted Clearwing – Synanthedon myopaeformis
Earlier in the year, I bought myself a summer of moths – a pack of pheromone lures with which to entice clearwing moths into the garden, with a view to grabbing a quick photo opportunity and letting them on their way to find a mate etc.
Regular readers will recall I have mentioned pheromone lures before in the context of the Emperor moth. The clearwings are a very different group and I’ve not had time to find out much detail about the chemistry of their pheromone attactants. Regardless, I have been putting out a lure, known as “myo” for the Red-belted Clearwing (,em>Synanthedon myopaeformis).
U...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - June 7, 2021 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Lepidoptera Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, May 17th 2021
This study is consistent with previous evidence showing that inflammaging, or age-related inflammation, is naturally heightened in the nervous system. Moreover, the authors disproved their hypothesis that anti-inflammatory microglia-specific genes are responsible for the elevated inflammatory response in aged brains since the expression of anti-inflammatory mediators was elevated in middle-aged brains following infection. Thus, the cause for the increase in pro-inflammatory genes remains to be elucidated.
Mixed Results in Animal Studies of Gene Therapy Targeting Axonal Regrowth
https://www.fightaging.org/archi...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 16, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Reviewing Recent Work on the Mechanisms of Cellular Senescence
Impressive results have been produced in mice via clearance of senescent cells: rejuvenation, extension of life, and reversal of numerous different age-related conditions. This has provoked an increasing number of research groups to focus on the mechanisms of cellular senescence, in search of novel ways to identify and destroy these cells, or to suppress the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) that they produce. The secreted signal molecules of the SASP alter surrounding cell behavior and rouse the immune system to chronic inflammation. This is the means by which the comparatively small number of lingering sen...
Source: Fight Aging! - May 11, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, April 26th 2021
Fight Aging! publishes news and commentary relevant to the goal of ending all age-related disease, to be achieved by bringing the mechanisms of aging under the control of modern medicine. This weekly newsletter is sent to thousands of interested subscribers. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter,
please visit:
https://www.fightaging.org/newsletter/
Longevity Industry Consulting Services
Reason, the founder of Fight Aging! and Repair Biotechnologies, offers strategic consulting services to investors, entrepreneurs, and others interested in the longevity industry and its complexities. To find out m...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 25, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Adult Children Shouldn ’t be Chastised If Parents’ Choices Aren’t Medically Sound
Photo credit Ashwin Vaswani
Dear Carol: My mom, 79, loved being in her own home even though her physical health was declining. Her mind is exceptionally sharp so there wasn’t much I could change, especially from 800 miles away. I tried to get her to accept in-home help or move to assisted living, but she refused both. I started Meals on Wheels for her, but she canceled it. I even set up a mailed meal delivery service, but she said that the food was “overwhelming.” Last month she fell and broke her wrist, so I flew out to be with her for surgery. During her hospital stay, the doctors and the social worker compl...
Source: Minding Our Elders - April 25, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Targeting the cGAS-STING pathway to Sabotage Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is a major issue in aging. The immune system reacts inappropriately to rising levels of molecular damage, spurred on by the pro-inflammatory signaling of growing numbers of senescent cells, and enters a state of continual overactivation. This broadly disrupts cell and tissue function throughout the body in many ways. Present approaches to reducing inflammation, largely deployed as treatments of autoimmune conditions, involve the brute force sabotage of important inflammatory signaling pathways such as those involving tumor necrosis factors. This can achieve the goal of reducing chronic inflammation, bu...
Source: Fight Aging! - April 22, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
poem
MenarcheShe said I ’m becoming a young ladyWhen I asked her if she understood what was Happening to her body and such.She said it with a mixture of prideAnd embarrassment, a twinkle in her still-a-kid eye,A pink flush in the same cheeksI used to pinch at bath time. Which prompted the unsolicited apprehensionThat I was becoming an older manMyself, which I sort of relished With my own ad hoc mixture Of accomplishment and foreboding. Visions appeared of when I was twelve;Wisps of pubic hairs, scrawny thighsA pimple boring into my back like an awlAnd I envied her relative self possession....
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 11, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
