Penn’s – and the syringe’s – point | Bad Astronomy

Sure, you know Penn Jillette — the larger, louder half of Penn & Teller. Penn’s an interesting character — a vocal skeptic, to say the least, in that what’s on his mind is on his lips. He and I don’t always agree, but when we do, we do.

Such is the case with antivaxxer Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the long-discredited and now disbarred guy who started the whole modern craze of getting preventable diseases to resurge. I’ve been pretty clear about what I think of Dr. Wakefield, and now you can see what Penn thinks, too, on his new online show Penn Point:

[Warning: It's Penn, so duh, it's NSFW.]

Penn — the father of two cute, precocious kids, I’ll note — was gracious in mentioning one of my own blog posts eviscerating Wakefield, and there are plenty of others, too. I’m glad Penn’s putting his weight behind this as well. On his show, on stage, and online, he’s been loud and clear on his stance about "alternative" medicines, and his reach is long. I hope any parents even thinking of not vaccinating watch this video. You might save your own kid’s life, and the lives of many others.

I can’t think of a better message for Father’s Day, in fact.


Sudden Drop of Pump Discharge Pressure

Dear All,

I'd like to ask questions about pump.

There are 2 pumps parallel pumping same liquids. One is driven by turbine (Pump A), another by motor (Pump B). When Pump A operating, Pump B stop and vice versa.When Pump A running @ speed 2850 rpm, the flow was normal, both suction and

Should Security Supplant Some Legal Purchases

Military units need to be properly armed for reasons of national defense. But in some countries, individuals suspected of a variety of illegal activities may legally buy ammunition, explosives, and guns. In the U.S. alone in the last six years, they made 1,119 such purchases according to the FBI. Cu

Cow Manure as Data Center Power Source

Researchers from HP Labs recently proposed combining cow manure with the heat output of data centers to create an economically and environmentally sustainable operation. The heat generated by the data center would increase the efficiency of the anaerobic digestion of animal waste, and the resulting

Set Up Change in the Roll Forming Machine

I want to build a conveyor downstream of a roll forming machine for varying sizes of C channel. When the size i.e. height of the channel changes, there is set up change in the rolling machine. How the conveyor is to be adjusted to the changed size of the c channel.

PFC and Diesel Generator

we have a system with diesel generator for emergency power when we are going to start generator (main power off)what must we do with pfc ? pfc must be out or in? why? pfc is in substation near ditribution panel,,,more pleasure with showing me a reference

Cold Water Cast on Longevity Mutations

An opinion paper by researchers who feel that too much emphasis is placed on the discovery of longevity mutations: “The biological reasons for ageing are now well known, so it is no longer an unsolved problem in biology. Furthermore, there is only one science of ageing, which is continually advancing. The significance and importance of the mutations that lengthen the lifespan of invertebrates can be assessed only in relationship to previous well-established studies of ageing. The mutant strains of model organisms that increase longevity have altered nutrient signalling pathways similar to the effects of dietary restriction, and so it is likely that there is a shift in the trade-off between reproduction and maintenance … To believe that the isolation and characterisation of a few invertebrate mutations (as well as those in yeast) will ‘galvanise’ the field and provide new insights into human ageing is an extreme point of view which does not recognize the huge progress in ageing research that has been made in the last 50 years or so.” I believe that the focus on longevity mutations is not the most effective use of resources, but for different reasons: it’s a part of the metabolic manipulation school of slowing aging, which is a slow path to a poor end result in comparison to repair strategies.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20549352

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Autologous Stem Cell Repair for Damaged Corneas

From BusinessWeek: “Patients blinded in one or both eyes by chemical burns regained their vision after healthy stem cells were extracted from their eyes and reimplanted … The tissue was drawn from the limbus, an area at the junction of the cornea and white part of the eye. It was grown on a fibrous tissue, then layered onto the damaged eyes. The cells grew into healthy corneal tissue, transforming disfigured, opaque eyes into functioning ones with normal appearance and color … The stem-cell treatment restored sight to more than three-quarters of the 112 patients treated. … The key to success is to be certain that when the stem cells extracted from the limbus are grown in culture they have the right mix of stem cells and the differentiated cells that form the corneal tissue … If there are too few stem cells in the transplant, the improvement won’t last because there will be no reservoir to form the new corneal cells needed with the normal recycling of cells over time. … Depending on the depth of the injury, some patients regained sight in as little as two months. … Others with deeper injuries needed a second procedure and waited a year before sight was restored.”

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-18/stem-cells-from-own-eyes-restore-vision-to-blinded-patients.html

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

GE Healthcare announces SaaS Electronic Medical Records Management

http://newsroom.gehealthcare.com/

GE Health Care is rolling out a new, cloud-based platform that makes it easier for physicians with small practices to maintain and keep track of the electronic medical records of their patients. The new SAAS offering is part of GE’s Centricity offering.

Introducing Centricity Advance
Colonnades Family Medicine is running on Centricity Advance, a web-based EMR solution launched today by GE Healthcare and specifically designed for the smaller physician practice.

Unlike most clinical and financial management solutions, Centricity Advance is a web-based service that costs less than a standard client-server software deployment and is maintained and supported with little or no strain on the healthcare provider’s resources, freeing up more time for patient care.

Ideal as a Web-Based Service
The fact that Centricity Advance was designed from the ground up as a web service is significant. Instead of simply providing web-based gateway into a standard EMR application, the Centricity Advance is created with anywhere/anytime access in mind, resulting in an intuitive and efficient interface without sacrificing functionality. Since system management is centralized as part of the Centricity Advance service, small practices don’t have to worry about data protection, updates, equipment failures and other typically stressful responsibilities of user-driven IT management.

Another key feature of Centricity Advance is the Patient Self-Service Portal, which connects patients to their care. By using their own secure password to log in, patients can communicate privately with their doctor and view their own information such as statements, prescriptions and lab results. Patients can also request and confirm appointments, request prescription refills and get automatic reminders for immunizations and lab tests.

22 Million Australian Cloud computing initiative to benefit life science researchers

The Australian Research Collaboration Service (ARCS) http://www.arcs.org.au has launched its Computer Cloud scheme, a $22 million project funded by the government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.

More details check http://www.arcs.org.au/index.php/services/cloud-computing

Bob Correll, the chief information officer for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, said his agency is also looking into using cloud computing for its electronic visa system

Ephemerisle 2010 Cancellation

We regret to tell our community that after much discussion this week, we are canceling Ephemerisle 2010 due to insurance costs. The estimate for insurance-related expenses has risen from an early estimate of $55,000 to a total of $135,000, with much of the jump happening a week ago. This caused us to take a long, hard look at Ephemerisle's budget and the ROI of the event as a whole.

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