Manganese: The Magical Element?
The element manganese is essential for human life. It’s aptly named after the Greek word for magic, and some mysteries surrounding its role in the body still exist today—like how our bodies absorb it, if very high or low levels can cause illness, or how it might play a role in certain diseases. Manganese is necessary for metabolism, bone formation, antioxidation, and many other important functions in the body. The element is found in strong steel, bones and enzymes, and drink cans. Credit: Compound Interest CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Click to enlarge. Making Much With Manganese Structure of the human manganese s...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - April 26, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Molecular Structures Cellular Processes Proteins Source Type: blogs

Students With Visual Impairments Empowered to Explore Chemistry Through SEPA Project
Dr. Shaw (back left) observes SEPA program students engaging with tactile graphics in his lab. Credit: Jordan Koone Students with blindness and low vision are often excluded from chemistry labs and offered few accessible representations of the subject’s imagery, which can significantly hinder their ability to learn about and participate in chemistry. Bryan Shaw, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, hopes to change that through a program funded by an NIGMS Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA). His inspiration to start the program came from his son, who is visually i...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 10, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology STEM Education Uncategorized Training Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 685
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 685:Raphides, i.e, needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate or calcium carbonate used by several plants such as pineapple, kiwi, and rhubarb as a defense against plant-eating animals. According to Idzi, " The weird feeling you get in your mouth when eating too much pineapple is apparently caused by these crystals. You can find them quite often in stools and they should not be confused with Charcot-Leyden (C-L) crystals! " They can be differentiated from C-L crystals by their long needle-like shape and uniform diameter:As a comparator, Idzi provided 2 nice photographs of C-L cry...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - June 5, 2022 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Supreme Court Narrowly Blocks Law That Would Make Social Media Platforms Unusable for Many
Trevor Burrus andNicole Saad BembridgeTexas passedHB20last September to combat the allegedly “dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.” Yesterday, in a victory for First Amendment rights on the internet, a sharply divided Supreme Court temporarily blocked the law from going into effect. The Supreme Court is likely to consider this controversial law, or another like it, on the merits in future, and the alignment of votes in yesterday ’s decision provides some insight into how the justices would rule in such a case.HB20prohibits social media platforms fro...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - June 1, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Trevor Burrus, Nicole Saad Bembridge Source Type: blogs

Want a More Charismatic Personality? Science Says It ’ s Possible
Be the one that commands attention. When it comes to attraction, charm, and magnetism, what do attractive people have that makes everyone like them without even trying? How many times have you been at a party when someone enters the room and immediately commands everyone’s attention? Have you ever thought, “I wish that was me”? As it turns out, it can be — you just need to embody one specific personality trait. 7 Empowering Personality Traits of Superheroes — and How to Cultivate Them in Yourself So, what makes someone attractive and charming? It all comes down to charisma. And the good news is scien...
Source: World of Psychology - April 16, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Psych Central Guest Author Tags: Personality Publishers YourTango charismatic Meditation Personality Traits Present Source Type: blogs

Pizza Democracy
David BoazSome people actually like pineapple on pizza. Others sensibly do not. B àcaro Pizzeria chain in Montreal decided tolet its customers vote. Now me, I would think customers vote every day in what they order. But inspired by a vision of democracy, chef and co ‐​founder Angelo Mercuri wanted to put the question to an actual vote. And he vowed that if the people rejected the Hawaii 50 pizza, it would be removed from the menu.In the event, 53 percent voted no. “Democracy rules, and pineapple will never again show up on our menu,” Mercuri said. Of course, that means the 47 percent who like pineapple p...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 13, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs

Podcast: Is Creativity Enhanced By Mental Illness?
  Are people with mental illness more creative? Jackie believes there may be a link between the two, while Gabe thinks it’s just a bunch of hoopla. Get ready — they’ve both done their research and are ready to back their claims. Tune in to hear a lively (and friendly) debate on whether the science is valid, the difference between inspiration and creativity, as well as their own opinions and experiences on mental illness and creativity. What’s your take? Join us on this Not Crazy podcast to see whose side you’re on, or if you’re somewhere in the middle. (Transcript Available Below) SUBSCRIBE & R...
Source: World of Psychology - March 9, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Not Crazy Podcast Tags: Bipolar Creativity Disorders General Mental Health and Wellness Not Crazy Podcast Schizophrenia Source Type: blogs

Christmas Glitches: Turn Them Into Family Treasures
Photo image Annie Spratt No matter how well we plan, most of us have some loose ends to tie up Christmas Eve day, just before going to church or having the family gather at our home. The present that was ordered early and then delayed remains in question. Will it arrive in time? The fruit tray reserved at the grocery store. Will it be there when we arrive to pick it up? Probably more worrisome for caregivers is how their aging loved ones will make it through the family events. Will Dad be sleepy from his medications or agitated from all of the excitement? Will Mom’s touchy stomach allow her to eat her favorite foods or w...
Source: Minding Our Elders - December 23, 2019 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs

My Testimony Today Regarding the Massachusetts Emergency Ban on the Sale of Electronic Cigarettes
Testimony of Michael Siegel, MD, MPHProfessor, Boston University School of Public HealthNovember 22, 2019The Department of Public Health justified its emergency order by arguing that removing vaping products from the market would protect the public – and especially youth – from the vaping-associated respiratory disease outbreak that has now affected more than 2,000 people and caused 47 deaths.However, unbeknownst to many, this emergency order wasnot successfulin removing all vaping products from the market. In fact, the Department ’s emergency order exempted – and therefore failed to remove from the market - a larg...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 22, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Massachusetts State Senate Votes to Ban Almost All E-Cigarettes, But to Leave the Real Deadly Ones on the Shelves
In a move that defies public health logic, the Massachusetts Senate today voted for a bill that would ban the sale of virtually all e-cigarettes, but would allow non-mentholated real cigarette brands to remain on the shelves of all stores, including convenience stores and gas stations where youth have easy access to these products.There is simply no public health justification for taking e-cigarettes off the market but allowing youth to continue to have unfettered access to real tobacco products. The average annual death toll of these products is starkly different:Flavored e-cigarettes: 0Real cigarettes: 480,000Given the m...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 21, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Policy Makers are Deceiving Themselves if They Believe Banning Flavored E-Cigarettes is Going to End Youth Vaping of Flavored Products
Major Exemption in Proposed Flavor Ban Leaves Most Kid-Friendly Flavors on the MarketThe most basic premise of the proposal to ban flavored e-cigarettes is that it will protect youth by preventing them from vaping flavored e-liquids. The flavors are the problem, so if we ban the flavors, we ' ll take care of the problem.Or so the thinking goes.The Rest of the StoryThe problem is that politicians are deceiving themselves if they think that a ban on flavored e-cigarettes is going to prevent youth from accessing flavored e-liquids. The truth is that all of the following flavors are exempt from the ban and will remain on the m...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - November 7, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

The “Other” Youth Vaping Epidemic: Why Has It Been Ignored?
While the CDC and many health groups have been obsessed with youth e-cigarette use, an even more troubling epidemic has been spreading among our nation ’s youth. In contrast to the e-cigarette use explosion, which has not caused any significant disease or deaths, this other, ignored epidemic has caused hundreds of youth to develop life-threatening respiratory failure and has been responsible for 13 deaths.What is this “other” vaping epidemic?It ’s not vaping of e-cigarettes. It’s the vaping of marijuana.In my analysis of data from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, I found that the majority of youth who curr...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 1, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

To Protect Youth from Progression to Cigarette Smoking, Truth Initiative Wants to Ban the Fake Ones But Let Real Cigarettes Remain on the Shelves
In anop-ed piece published byCNN last Friday, the president of the Truth Initiative bemoaned the " epidemic " of vaping among our nation ' s youth, arguing that electronic cigarette use leads to smoking. She citedresearch which shows " that young people who vape are more likely than their peers who don ' t vape to smoke traditional cigarettes in the future. "And what does the Truth Initiative propose should be done to prevent a massive youth migration to cigarette smoking?A. Ban or severely restrict the sale of cigarettes.B. Ban or severely restrict the sale of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.C. Neither of the above.The a...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - September 30, 2019 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

The Hot Summer of Benjy
As published inTeen Cancer America's Calling Out CancerMy older brother JD burst through the front door at 11 p.m. carrying three cardboard boxes, the exterior shells to heaven on my tongue. He said the large one held a 14-inch Domino ’s Hawaiian pizza, and the elongated ones held cheesy bread and hot wings.Perfect timing. I ’d tired of watching fireflies and playingDonkey Kong 64 on this summer night in 2000, between my sophomore and junior years of high school. I ’d even felt ready for bed, but stayed up extra minute after extra minute in hopes my delivery-driver brother would make my wish come true.Late-night pizz...
Source: cancerslayerblog - August 20, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: family food Source Type: blogs