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After the Match: The Match in the Age of COVID-19 : Emergency Medicine News – LWW Journals

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Figure:

COVID-19, emergency medicine match

The match has evolved technically and culturally since 1952 into one of the most important and anxiety-provoking rituals of medical school education. Third-year medical students prepare their applications to the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) at great personal expense, not just in money but in time and effort.

Information technology since the turn of the millennium has had an enormous impact on how the NRMP operates. The increased efficiency of an internet-based application process created an unintended consequence not possible when I attended medical school. The application process back in the 1980s used paper forms and snail mail. Consequently, logistical barriers limited the number of programs to which someone could apply, but the instantaneous digital movement of data now only requires applicants to make an extra click to apply to one more program. The only real barrier is the additional cost charged by the NRMP to send the information.

The number of applications submitted per U.S. medical student to EM programs increased by a whopping 93 percent from 2011 to 2020. (Association of American Medical Colleges. https://bit.ly/3cUZv3J.) This year alone, U.S. medical students applied to an average of 58 programs, the AAMC reported, at a total cost of $1187. I can tell you from personal experience that the vast majority of applicants on our rank lists for the past two decades got one of their top three or four choices. What is driving this?

The complete answer lies in a combination of variables, but a significant component is the anxiety created by social media and the 24-hour news cycle. (Verywell Mind. March 25, 2020; https://bit.ly/2MVfaFv; NBC News. Dec. 16, 2017; https://nbcnews.to/3fgbnPr.) The perception of scarcity drives up demand, and humans naturally pay more attention to bad news than good; we are always on the lookout for threats, and we willingly overcompensate to avoid pain. Medical students hear from a variety of sources about a few unlucky medical students in the past who did not match, and they panic that they could be one of them. A colossal student debt burden and no job terrify them. But 58 applications?

Enter COVID-19. What will be the ramifications of the first match during a pandemic? The possibilities for chaos seem endless. Every organization involved in emergency medicine education (AAEM, ACOEP, ACEP, CORDEM, EMRA, SAEM, etc.) signed a joint consensus statement with guidelines for the 2021 match, and every EM training program is playing along. (https://bit.ly/2YtMrx9.)

For starters, all interviews will be virtual. Medical students have traveled throughout the country to visit and interview with programs for almost seven decades. This is expensive and time-consuming, but what rational person doesn't want to see where he might spend three to four years of his life and meet who he will entrust with making him into a competent physician? Nonetheless, the consensus statement says that all interviews, even those for an applicant's home institution, should be done virtually.

It stands to reason that applicants who do not have to travel for interviews will be able to interview at even more programs. The consensus statement, however, also requests that medical schools encourage their students to limit the number of interviews at EM programs to 12 with a hard stop at 17. More than 95 percent of all applicants (allopathic, osteopathic, and international medical graduates) who interview with at least 12 programs are successful in the match, according to the statement. Exceptions are allowed for couples matching into programs that traditionally prove to be difficult combinations.

The consensus statement also asks that EM applicants be limited to rotating at their home institution unless their school does not have an EM program. Emergency medicine has a long tradition of applicants participating in at least one off-campus EM rotation at another program. Some applicants do as many as four. Not this year. Following this guideline, each applicant will submit only one standard letter of evaluation (SLOE) instead of the typical two or three.

No doubt, the results of the 2021 match will generate many interesting questions. An obvious one is whether banning travel to interview locations will encourage more graduates to train at their home institution. Another will be the effect of using virtual interviews in the future. Will those applicants who match sight unseen into a residency program prove to be as satisfied with their decision as those who visited in person? Will virtual interviewing become a first step in the interview process and subsequently generate an in-person visit? This seems to be beneficial for applicants looking at programs a long distance from where they attend school.

Finally, will those academic institutions with superior resources for producing marketing content find a strategic advantage in their pursuit of more desirable applicants? Cash-strapped institutions or those with weak information technology may find themselves at a critical disadvantage when trying to lure tech-savvy medical students accustomed to stylish online content designed to influence their decisions. As with many businesses in the digital age, online prowess is a substantial advantage over traditional ways of doing business in medical education.

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Access the links in EMN by reading this on our website, http://www.EM-News.com.

Comments? Write to us at emn@lww.com.

Dr. Cookis the program director of the emergency medicine residency at Prisma Health in Columbia, SC. He is also the founder of 3rd Rock Ultrasound (http://emergencyultrasound.com). Friend him atwww.facebook.com/3rdRockUltrasound, follow him on Twitter@3rdRockUS, and read his past columns athttp://bit.ly/EMN-Match.

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After the Match: The Match in the Age of COVID-19 : Emergency Medicine News - LWW Journals

North Philly coronavirus risk: Temple University’s return to campus is irresponsible – On top of Philly news – Billy Penn

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Im a Temple lifer, as they say. Im in my seventh year of schooling here, currently as a student at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. I love Temple, so I write with great consternation as the university barrels forward with a reopening plan that seems destined to go awry.

The administration has decided to welcome students back to campus for the fall semester. At the medical school, that begins less than one week from today.

Weve been given assurances every effort has been made to follow state, local, and federal safety guidelines. Theres updated layouts with reduced capacity for classrooms and lecture halls to ensure physical distance, masking is required in all buildings, and there will be temperature screening, among other key measures.

I dont doubt these steps will meaningfully reduce the risk of viral transmission on campus. But what happens off campus?

Though Philadelphia is in a (modified) Green phase of reopening, we cant have a false sense of security that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is past us. Our nation still has daily caseloads, hospitalizations, and deaths that would represent enormous spikes in most other countries. Philadelphia and its suburban counties have been improving, with the total number of deaths mercifully dropping to only a handful per day across the area.

For comparison, that puts the Delaware Valley on the same level as Germany with regard to lives lost. Not Berlin, Frankfort, or Munich our regions coronavirus death count is the same as all of Germany, pop. 83,000,000.

The desire evinced by some to stroll through reopening reflects the unseriousness of our countrys approach to the virus from the start. Political machinations, starting at the top and trickling downward, have constrained our public health systems ability to execute a coherent response. Even public officials who have readily embraced the advice of their health departments face political pressure to pare back distancing regulations. This leads us to take half-measure after half-measure as we muddle through with COVID metrics that have snapped other countries back to strict lockdown. We open up when nothing has changed, retrofitting our targets as needed, lurching towards a semi-open, semi-masked, semi-sensible reality.

While Temple puts on the finest hygiene theater across its campus, its foolish to assume the return of students to North Philadelphia isnt bringing a massive dose of exogenous risk to the communities bordering our school.

I dont single out college students or young adults as particularly unlikely to abide by social distancing protocols. Indeed the near-universal masking at recent racial justice protests have demonstrated many young people are committed to such measures.

Rather, its the fact that any activity resulting in greater interaction between people like, say, several thousand students moving back to an area with one major grocery store, or beginning to regularly ride public transit will increase the risk of transmission.

The bill for all this is unlikely to come due for Temple students themselves, or, by extension, for the university itself. With the exception of some who may have personal or familial health concerns, undergraduate and graduate students are generally young and healthy. However, experience proves the virus can still debilitate young, healthy people; that alone should be enough to give the university pause.

Its the people Temple considers neighbors (though the feeling is often not mutual) who are most likely to suffer all so college students can study fruit flies and discuss Jane Jacobs in person.

Due to decades of oppression, the communities that Temples Philadelphia campuses exist within have disproportionately borne the brunt of COVID. These are the homes of essential workers, of multi-generational families, and of many at high risk due to years of neglect by our healthcare system.

It doesnt seem too much to ask that the university advocate for and protect its neighbors. It doesnt seem unfair to ask that Temple would take steps beyond the meager expectations set forth by a nation that hasnt even come close to combating this pandemic effectively. It seems that a medical school, of all places, would stress the physical health of a neighborhood over their own financial health.

There is supposedly a carefully laid plan, and the university says its doing all it can to protect the community. And if it goes awry, whats one more affront to North Philly?

North Philly coronavirus risk: Temple University's return to campus is irresponsible - On top of Philly news - Billy Penn

Researchers Discover Stem Cells in Optic Nerve that Preserve Vision – Newswise

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Newswise Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have for the first time identified stem cells in the region of the optic nerve, which transmits signals from the eye to the brain. The finding, published this week in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(PNAS), presents a new theory on why the most common form of glaucoma may develop and provides potential new ways to treat a leading cause of blindness in American adults.

We believe these cells, called neural progenitor cells, are present in the optic nerve tissue at birth and remain for decades, helping to nourish the nerve fibers that form the optic nerve, said study leaderSteven Bernstein, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Without these cells, the fibers may lose their resistance to stress, and begin to deteriorate, causing damage to the optic nerve, which may ultimately lead to glaucoma.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Healths National Eye Institute (NEI), and a number of distinguished researchers served as co-authors on the study.

More than 3 million Americans have glaucoma, which results from damage to the optic nerve, causing blindness in 120,000 U.S. patients. This nerve damage is usually related to increased pressure in the eye due to a buildup of fluid that does not drain properly. Blind spots can develop in a patients visual field that gradually widen over time.

This is the first time that neural progenitor cells have been discovered in the optic nerve. Without these cells, the nerve is unable to repair itself from damage caused by glaucoma or other conditions. This may lead to permanent vision loss and disability, said Dr. Bernstein. The presence of neural stem/progenitor cells opens the door to new treatments to repair damage to the optic nerve, which is very exciting news.

To make the research discovery, Dr. Bernstein and his team examined a narrow band of tissue called the optic nerve lamina. Less than 1 millimeter wide, the lamina lies between the light-sensitive retina tissue at the back of the eye and the optic nerve. The long nerve cell fibers extend from the retina through the lamina, into the optic nerve. What the researchers discovered is that the lamina progenitor cells may be responsible for insulating the fibers immediately after they leave the eye, supporting the connections between nerve cells on the pathway to the brain.

The stem cells in the lamina niche bathes these neuron extensions with growth factors, as well as aiding in the formation of the insulating sheath. The researchers were able to confirm the presence of these stem cells by using antibodies and genetically modified animals that identified the specific protein markers on neuronal stem cells.

It took 52 trials to successfully grow the lamina progenitor cells in a culture, said Dr. Bernstein, so this was a challenging process. Dr. Bernstein and his collaborators needed to identify the correct mix of growth factors and other cell culture conditions that would be most conducive for the stem cells to grow and replicate. Eventually the research team found the stem cells could be coaxed into differentiating into several different types of neural cells. These include neurons and glial cells, which are known to be important for cell repair and cell replacement in different brain regions.

This discovery may prove to be game-changing for the treatment of eye diseases that affect the optic nerve. Dr. Bernstein and his research team plan to use genetically modified mice to see how the depletion of lamina progenitor cells contributes to diseases such as glaucoma and prevents repair.

Future research is needed to explore the neural progenitors repair mechanisms. If we can identify the critical growth factors that these cells secrete, they may be potentially useful as a cocktail to slow the progression of glaucoma and other age-related vision disorders.Dr. Bernstein added.

The work was supported by NEI grant RO1EY015304, and by a National Institutes of Health shared instrument grant 1S10RR26870-1.

This exciting discovery could usher in a sea change in the field of age-related diseases that cause vision loss, saidE. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine. "New treatment options are desperately needed for the millions of patients whose vision is severely impacted by glaucoma, and I think this research will provide new hope for them.

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States.It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicineand the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $540 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 student trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System (University of Maryland Medicine) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8thhighest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visitmedschool.umaryland.edu

Pre-med students spend the summer studying COVID-19 – DePauw University

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

ACE2 receptors perform important functions, such as regulating blood pressure, so the goal is not to eliminate them, Ruggles said. She is using three websites designed to identify microRNAs with the potential to target the ACE2 protein. So far she has identified 59 such RNAs.

Nor is inhibiting ACE2 receptors likely the most efficacious approach to battling COVID-19, largely because it is difficult to deliver microRNAs in the body, her professor said. But its always nice to have a backup plan, Ruggles said. Its also good just to expand our knowledge for future instances.

Said Chopra: Our focus is not to worry about delivery in the clinic. Our focus is to find the microRNA that someone else will eventually, someday, use in the clinic. There are over 3,000 microRNAs. Our goal is to figure out which one or two or three will target ACE2.

Both students are science research fellows, enabling them to collaborate one-on-one with a faculty member on a summer research project. They connect remotely with their professors, sometimes several times a day.

Professor Shifa has taught me so much already, Stanley said. I feel very fortunate that my research even got to happen this summer because most peoples was cancelled. I think I was the only biochem major who picked math research, but it worked out.

Shifa said that Stanley is a wonderful, wonderful young lady. She is a great learner. She is one of the most hard-working students I have ever had.

Stanley and Shifa plan to co-author a paper on the research and submit it to a scientific journal.

Ruggles hopes that, by the end of summer, she will have identified a potential microRNA that she can then test in the laboratory.

The remote learning actually was beneficial in this certain scenario because, in the first half of research, we were just reading articles and learning all about coronavirus and then we were learning about the history of coronavirus; we were learning about the ACE2 protein, she said. We took a week about microRNA. So we were able to slowly learn a pretty in-depth knowledge about each of these things in order for my mind to wrap around it.

(Another student, Yangjie Tan 21, has been studying microRNA this summer as it relates to traumatic brain injury.)

Chopra said that, in summer research, a student is in the driving seat and can take control or derail the project. It can be a difficult lesson and a challenging burden for some students. Molly has risen to the challenge and succeeded. Shes driving the project and coming up with new ideas every day. Its been fantastic to watch.

Analysis: Cities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic face bankruptcy – PBS NewsHour

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

U.S. cities are fast running out of cash.

The pandemic will reduce local government revenues by an estimated US$11.6 billion in 2020. With COVID-19 requiring residents to stay home and stores to shutter, the bulk of this reduction comes from a slump in local sales taxes. Declines will continue into 2021.

State revenues are heading in the same direction, so many U.S. cities will need to rely on help from the federal government. Aid to cities may be part of the next pandemic aid package now being discussed by members of the House and Senate. But so far, the Republicans bill leaves out any new funding for state and local governments, while the Democrats bill includes $1 trillion for it.

And if federal assistance arrives, it will not fix every citys budget.

The pandemic has hit budgets so hard that even cities in relatively good financial health including those with rainy day funds to help them through an emergency will face significant changes to staffing and services.

For cities in the poorest shape, the pandemic could mean bankruptcy.

The Northern California city of Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Bankruptcy is a legal process where people, companies and governments who cannot pay their debts seek to reduce them.

Which debts get paid during a bankruptcy are important decisions. They involve how comfortable a city employees retirement might be, the level of health insurance for pensioners and workers, the extent of labor protections for employees and the future cost of borrowing for a city.

City bankruptcy was created by Congress after the Great Depression, in response to 4,770 different units of city government going belly up. Twenty-seven states now allow their cities to file for bankruptcy.

Those states that do not allow city bankruptcy Georgia and Iowa explicitly prohibit filing, with the other 21 states having no specific allowance or prohibition manage the problem of city indebtedness in various ways, ranging from strict budget oversight to the disbanding of heavily indebted cities. Since 1938, city bankruptcy has been used around 700 times.

A citys bankruptcy differs from corporate bankruptcy in that it does not allow for the liquidation of assets. For cities, bankruptcy is used to reduce debts, not sell off things such as public roads and buildings to pay off debts. The bankruptcy judges role is to determine whether the proposed reduction is fair to all people the city owes money to, which may include workers, pensioners, bankers, suppliers and investors.

But bankruptcies can look different in different cities.

We are scholars who research changes in how cities go about budgeting. Our work has showed that the city bankruptcies that followed the Great Recession of 2007 and 2008 were not uniform.

If you were in a big city, your government owed money to lots of people. The converse was true in small cities. As the number of participants in a bankruptcy increases, the task of deciding how much different creditors should get repaid becomes more complicated.

Westfall Township, Pennsylvania, home to about 2,000 people, declared bankruptcy in 2009 after losing a lawsuit to New Jersey real estate developers David and Barbara Katz. Courts ruled that the city owed the Katzes $20.8 million after improperly denying them permission to develop projects in the township.

With annual revenues of just $1 million, Westfall had few options but to file for bankruptcy.

Resolving Westfalls bankruptcy meant reaching a new agreement with the Katzes. The bankruptcy court approved a $6 million settlement with the developers and gave Westfall 20 years to pay. The city would also raise property taxes and delay the repayment of other debts. By 2014, Westfalls budget had recovered enough for Pennsylvania to remove it from its list of distressed cities.

Bankruptcy proceedings were more complicated in Vallejo, California, which is on the northern end of San Francisco Bay. Vallejo, population 120,000, had a 2008-2009 budget of $79.6 million. In 2008, the city lost around one-quarter of its revenues as local sales taxes and real estate development fees collapsed. Vallejo suddenly found itself unable to pay all of its bills.

The City Council voted unanimously to file for bankruptcy.

In its bankruptcy filing, the city estimated it had between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors. The most contentious part of the bankruptcy concerned the citys obligations to its own unionized employees. Vallejo argued that its bankruptcy should include the option of reducing employee wages and benefits, and changing working conditions, if necessary, without union consent.

The judge agreed and, in doing so, expanded what types of debt could be reduced in bankruptcy. This was, and remains, controversial. Although unions have pushed back, later bankruptcies have confirmed the courts decision.

Vallejo ultimately chose not to impose new employment contracts on most of its employees.

That decision helped Vallejo avoid costly legal battles but the citys main expenditures, wages and pensions, remained largely unaltered. The city emerged out of bankruptcy solvent but struggling. Filing for bankruptcy ended up costing Vallejo over $20 million in court and legal fees.

Vallejos bankruptcy foreshadowed an even more complex one in Detroit, where revenue decline and failed Wall Street bets left the city unable to balance its budget.

Detroit listed 100,000 creditors in its 2013 bankruptcy filing, totaling $18.5 billion in debts. Like Vallejo, Detroit would have to decide which creditors to stiff, effectively asking them to pay for the citys budget failures.

Detroits biggest debt during bankruptcy was to its pension holders. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

The eventual settlement would reduce Detroits debts by $7 billion, mostly by slashing the amount of borrowed money the city would have to repay to banks and investors.

But no creditor would walk away unscathed. Wages, pensions and health care for city employees were all cut. The city also entered into a complex Grand Bargain brokered by local philanthropists with the state of Michigan and pension holders that helped settle the citys largest debt, which was to pensioners, while keeping in the city its one major asset, the Detroit Institute of Arts collection.

The administrative and legal costs of the Detroit bankruptcy came in at around $100 million.

The bigger the city, the more complicated and expensive the bankruptcy. More creditors means more lawyers making competing claims on the citys dwindling revenues.

It also makes the process of picking winners and losers more complex and something that can involve testing the limits of bankruptcy law. When these limits expand, just what going bust means can change dramatically. Things that once seemed untouchable, like pensions, can become vulnerable in bankruptcy courts.

With many budgets in tatters, the prospect of growing numbers of city bankruptcies looms. Distressed cities will have to figure out what the process means for them.

It is rarely possible to predict what any city will decide. With any part of a citys operations including salaries, pensions, road repairs, borrowing, park maintenance, policing, libraries potentially fair game, everyone involved faces great uncertainty. There is no single, predictable path through city bankruptcy.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Analysis: Cities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic face bankruptcy - PBS NewsHour

Denbury Files for Bankruptcy With a Plan to Slash Debt – Journal of Petroleum Technology

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Denbury Resources has filed for bankruptcy protection as part of a deal with creditors to cut its total debt by nearly 90%.

The oil company which specializes in enhanced oil recovery in the US is planning for a quick trip through the process with a timeline that could allow it to complete the process this year.

At the time of the filing on 30 July, the deal to reduce its debt by $2.1 billion in exchange for shares and warrants had the support of more than two-thirds of its creditors, Denbury said in its release.

The company produces more than 21,000 BOPD from old fields using CO2 injection, but the debt associated with the cost of expanding its CO2 production, pipelines, and projects exceeded what it could pay. This years COVID-19-driven oil-price crash forced the company to begin working toward a major debt reduction, after working for years to whittle down what it owed.

Even after taking these steps, it became apparent that a comprehensive financial restructuring would be necessary to address our legacy debt burden and create a clear path forward for the company, said Chris Kendall, Denburys president and chief executive officer.

Denburys biggest operations are focused on the Gulf Coast and include a pipeline which allows it to buy carbon dioxide from plants in Louisiana and Texas. Source: Denbury Resources

Denbury is not a good case study for those trying to predict how a spate of other oil companies filing for bankruptcy will fare. It is a unique businessthe only publicly traded company in the US whose business is focused on producing, delivering, and managing CO2-injection EOR projects, Denbury said.

Its production outlook is the opposite of the shale produces filing for bankruptcy whose business is built on short-lived, fast-declining wells. It revives old, conventional fields with CO2 injections, and the slowly declining fields can produce for years to come.

This business model required large upfront investments in CO2 field development and pipelines to supply its operations.

It also buys 3 million tons of CO2 a year, exceeding the carbon emissions from its operations. It plans to be completely carbon neutralincluding the emissions of the oil it sells by 2030, according to its disclosure statement.

The agreement will eliminate its $2.1 billion in bond debt. Those creditors will receive stock and warrants but buy the shares at a set price. The amounts will vary depending on the class of creditor.

Denbury will be able to borrow up to $615 million from its bank lenders, who are paid in full.

Shareholders will receive warrants valued at $2.5 million if equity holders as a group vote to support the plan.

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Denbury Files for Bankruptcy With a Plan to Slash Debt - Journal of Petroleum Technology

Beneath the surface: A fresh perspective on marine captivity – Varsity Online

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Dawn Brancheau pictured with an orca named Kayla in captivity at SeaWorld, Florida. Brancheau was later killed by another such orca. SeaWorld, Orlando

Our understanding of the word has changed drastically since the emergence of COVID-19.

Keeping us from seeing our families, splitting up groups of friends and taking away our freedom it now represents ten weeks of the most significant restrictions on British life in living memory. Feelings of loneliness have almost doubled and mental health charities have raised concerns of worrying long-term implications. We understand the negative effects of confinement and are aware of its role as an incubator of psychoses, seeding illness in otherwise healthy individuals.

So why have we allowed other species to suffer such intense degrees of isolation?

Research proves that, like us, animals suffer when held in captivity especially if they are confined in a manner that renders them unable to perform important species-specific behaviours. Possessing the second-biggest brains among all ocean mammals, a vastly enlarged limbic system controlling their behavioural and emotional responses and incredible intelligence, orcas are among the worst effected by human-imposed lockdowns a fact which is made only more tragic by the circumstances of their imprisonment since 1961.

SeaWorld have made several claims regarding the manner in which their orcas are kept.

They claim that their living conditions are not harmful. They state that their orcas live longer when held in captivity than in the wild due to veterinary care. They tell visitors that the orcas are housed in their familial pods, dismissing the dorsal-fin collapse experienced by 100% of males in captivity as a normal part of ageing experienced by 25% of all orcas.

These are SeaWorlds claims.

The facts say otherwise.

The statements that SeaWorld have made regarding their treatment of these magnificent animals are false: the concrete tanks that they are kept in are 34 feet at their deepest, despite orcas frequently diving up to 1000 feet in the wild; and in order to mimic their natural movements, orcas must swim over 3000 lengths of their pool daily. Orcas have complex needs that cannot be met in captivity and research shows that they live just as long (if not longer) than humans, in the wild. Similarly, dorsal collapse is not a problem outside of captivity, occurring in fewer than 1% of wild orcas.

Brancheaus death was the 150th recorded violent incident between a human and a captive orca since 1967.

Despite wild orcas forming life-long bonds within their pods, former SeaWorld employees confirmed that the groupings of orcas within the park are no more than an artificial assemblage decided by management. In the wild a calf would never leave its mothers side, even into adulthood yet they are frequently taken from their mothers to be sold for profit. This traumatizes the mothers and their still-dependent calves. One of the most callous examples of this unethical practice can be seen in SeaWorlds separation of calf Takara from her mother Kasatka, who wailed, screamed and cried out long after her child was snatched away from her. Analysis of her vocalisations showed them to be long-range: a heart-wrenching last-ditch attempt to contact her calf something no orca had tried before.

These orcas have been expressing their frustration at the oppressive conditions in which they are confined for decades. Orca pods are tightknit matrilineal groups, led by older females that model behaviours to younger animals, a dynamic which is impossible to achieve in the confines of captivity. While superficially similar, orcas from separate pods couldnt be more socially distinct, using different behavioural cues and languages to communicate. Confusion caused by forced interactions often results in hostile and unnaturally aggressive behaviour between orcas. Neuroscientist Lori Marino explains that forcing orcas that have grown up in different regions into close proximity results in hyper-aggression and violence. This negligence led Kandu, a 14-year-old female to a slow and painful death; fracturing her mandible, puncturing an artery in her head, and ultimately bleeding out as a result of an attempted ramming on 25-year old female Corky.

The documentary Blackfish follows the life of male orca Tilikum. Although there is no record of an orca doing any harm to any human in the wild, Tilikum was involved in the deaths of three people; Keltie Byrne (a trainer at Sealand of the Pacific), Daniel Dukes (a man trespassing in SeaWorld Orlando), and SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau.

Orcas in the wild are known for being amazingly friendly, understanding, and intuitively wanting to be your companion.

Given the frequency and clarity of the warning signs that preceded them, these deaths are further indicators of SeaWorlds egregious conduct; Brancheaus death was the 150th recorded violent incident between a human and a captive orca since 1967.

Tilikum made his first kill in 1991, while performing at Sealand of the Pacific. Here, Tilikum would be trained alongside an established orca, with both animals receiving punishment if he made a mistake. At night, the whales were locked together in a small floating steel box, where the females would take out their pent-up frustrations on Tilikum, repeatedly scratching him with their teeth, gouging his flesh, and causing him to bleed. Nadine Kallen was witness to the attack on Keltie Byrne, a 20-year-old championship swimmer and part-time Sealand employee. For ten minutes she watched as Keltie was submerged for varying intervals, screaming for her life. Nadine insisted that Keltie was pulled under by Tilikum. It was very easy to tell, she explained: he was the whale with the flopped over fin.

Sealand closed after the incident, as the attack on Keltie was deemed so highly stimulating that it was likely to be repeated. Nevertheless, Tilikum was bought by SeaWorld, arriving at the park in 1992. They needed a male for breeding.

Tilikum struck again in July of 1999 this time killing Daniel Dukes, a man who voluntarily entered his tank at night while trespassing at SeaWorld. Dukes naked and dismembered body was found draped over Tilikums back in the morning. Tilikum had bitten off his genitals and was parading him around the tank. Its hard to believe Dukes wasnt found until the morning: why didnt one of the four night-watch trainers required to check on Tilikum twice an hour see the body in the water or hear Dukes floundering and splashing as he drowned? Dukes death will be forever remembered as SeaWorlds first major incident.

They all have a bad life, theyre all emotionally destroyed and psychologically traumatised, so they are all ticking time bombs.

Other orcas began lashing out in similarly anguish-driven attacks. In 2002, Tamarie (a SeaWorld trainer) was attacked by Orkid and Splash, luckily escaping with just a broken arm Orkid has shown clear escalation and despite not having progressed to killing a person, she has been involved in 17 attacks on humans. In 2006, Kasatka attacked former trainer Ken Peters as a shocked audience watched on. She dragged Peters under by his left foot for more than thirty seconds, releasing him briefly before plunging him down again for more than a minute. Peters was able to scramble to safety in spite of his crushed feet, but if he wasnt such an experienced diver, things couldve ended very differently. On Christmas Eve of 2009, Alexis Martnez lost his life. He was a trainer at Loro Parque, a zoo in Tenerife, before the attack in which he was pulled underwater and rammed in the chest by Keto, one of four orcas the park had been loaned by SeaWorld.

He didnt survive.

The story of Dawn Brancheau, Tilikums final fatality, is perhaps the most harrowing occurring two months after the death of Martnez, to the day. Dawn was a senior trainer, respected by her peers and a stickler for following safety procedures. She was midway through a bonding session with Tilikum when he grabbed her by the arm and barrel-rolled, dragging her into the water. He slammed into Dawn repeatedly, letting her go for brief periods before grabbing her again and shaking her violently, as her colleagues rushed to help. Even after they managed to raise him out of the water, he refused to give her up. Tilikum had scalped Dawn, and as staff attempted to free her, prising open his jaws, part of her arm came off in his mouth.

Sadly, her heart had stopped.

Tilikum had killed her.

The deaths of Keltie Byrne and Dawn Brancheau are almost 20 years apart, and nothing has been learned. With orcas able to pass on behaviours that can persist for generations its worrying that 54% of the remaining whales at SeaWorld share genes with Tilikum.

59 orcas remain in captivity, in parks and aquariums throughout the world and they all have a bad life, theyre all emotionally destroyed and psychologically traumatised, so they are all ticking time bombs..

With this in mind, it may be hard to believe that orcas in the wild are known for being amazingly friendly, understanding, and intuitively wanting to be your companion. To evoke aggression from such majestic and peaceful animals is utterly devastating.

Visiting sea parks, visiting zoos, riding dolphins all of these allow for the torment of these animals to continue under the guise of entertainment.

The COVID-19 lockdown has shown us all the pain isolation can bring.

May it also teach us compassion towards those who have suffered it far longer.

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding, and during this unprecedented global crisis, we have a tough few weeks and months ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content for the time being.

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as 1, to help with our running cost at least until we hopefully return to print on 2nd October 2020.

Many thanks, all of us here at Varsity would like to wish you, your friends, families and all of your loved ones a safe and healthy few months ahead.

Beneath the surface: A fresh perspective on marine captivity - Varsity Online

Politico-Cultural Racism in America is Consuming its Social Fabric and Decaying its Progressive Ethos – The New Leam

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

The rage, desperation, and determination which continue to bring tens of thousands of Americans to the streets in protest against racism and injustice hopefully will be just the beginning. They are sick and tired of systemic racism against Black people, of bigotry at the top, crude discrimination, police brutality, a prejudiced criminal justice system, economic disparity, and societys robbing black people of experiencing real freedom and equality. Hypocritically, white people blame the victims of racism for their own plight, claiming that Black people would do better in life if they were only willing to work harder.

We are now reaping the harvest of the seeds of racism and discriminationthe devaluation of black life. The whole socio-economic and cultural system is lopsided, as it lacks the fundamentals of justice and equality. The pandemic provided the wakeup call that pointed out the ugly tradition of subjugation of the Black community, which sadly did not stop with the end of slavery, but continued in the wanton indifference to their pain and agony, our uncanny negligence, and our failure to understand what they are really experiencing.

The fact that Black people were slaves, and the carefully cultivated myth that slaves were always obedient and happily served their white masters, left an indelible imprint on white people that has lasted generations. They maintain that African Americans were born to servitude and hence they do not qualify for equal treatment, equal opportunity, and equal status.

Films such as D.W. Griffiths immensely influential Birth of a Nation (1915), which helped to reestablish the Ku Klux Klan, also reinforced the racist stereotype that Black men are unintelligent and an inherent danger to the white communityspecifically white women. When on May 25 (the same day George Floyd was killed) a white woman, Amy Cooper, called the cops on a Black man, Christian Cooper, who was birdwatching in Central Park, she was tapping into the long history of that racist trope. To put it plainly, Black lives are simply not valued the way white lives are, as white people consciously or subconsciously view Black man as both sub- and supra-human, threatening, and expendable.

Thus, due to this entrenched prejudice, any activity, however innocent, in which a Black man is engaged in invites suspicion, alarm, and often puts the life of Black men in danger such as 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed by white residents of the suburban Georgia neighbourhood he was jogging in. The mayor of Minneapolis bluntly said Being black in America should not be a death sentence. Racism, to be sure, is so ingrained it flows in the veins of many Americans without notice.

The insidious, learned biases pitting white against Black Americans directly leads to the treating of Black Americans as second-class citizens and suppression by white Americansa necessary ingredient that satisfies their ego and elevates their self-worth. Although the majority of white Americans may not be white supremacists, they certainly hold onto their privileges in all walks of life as they view their relation with Black people (and other people of colour) as a zero-sum game, as if a Black mans gain invariably chips away at a white mans privileges.

The Concept of Wanton discrimination

Racial prejudice in America takes a heavy toll on African Americans, which translates to discrimination in all walks of life, including education, job opportunities, professional advancements, and medical treatment, especially maternal health. Black workers receive 22 percent less in salary than whites with the same education and experience; Black women receive even less34.2 percent. According to a University of Chicago/Duke 2016 study, when factoring in all African American and white men (inclusive of those incarcerated or otherwise out of the workforce), the racial wage gap is the same as it was in the 1950s. Even where racial discrimination should not occur, in medical treatment, when Black patients access medical care, doctors regularly prescribe fewer pain medications and believe Black patients feel less pain than white patients, even among veterans seeking care.Whereas Black men have served in the military and fought and died alongside white soldiers in every war since the Revolutionary War (when 5,000-8,000 Black soldiers fought against the British), they had to face the revulsion of discrimination and segregation while still serving in the military, hardly recognized for acts of bravery. Indeed, until 1948after the end of WWIIthe US military was entirely segregated. While the top brass of the military, who are mostly white, like to claim that military institutions are colorblind, the reality is that racism and discrimination remain extensive problems even in the U.S. military.

Although police brutality against Black men in particular, which instigated the current protests, is a known phenomenon, police killings of Black men continue unabated. It can and has taken different forms historically including harassment and intimidation, assault and battery, torture and murder, and even complicity with the KKK. Often, police officers approach any situation connected to a Black man with apprehension and fear. White police officers see threats where they do not exist; they are too quick to draw and as quick to fire to kill.

Here are just a few glaring examples: a Black man taking a nap in a car in a parking lot was shot dead. Another pulled over in a traffic stop was shot and killed in front of his girlfriend and her daughter. A Black man sitting in his home eating ice cream was shot dead by his neighbour, an off-duty white police officer. A Black woman playing video games with her nephew was shot and killed through her window. A Black woman (and EMT) sleeping in her home was shot eight times when officers entered her apartment executing a no-knock warrant.It is rare for a prosecutor to decide to charge a police officer, especially because they often know each other and have developed close working relationships. Even Internal Affairs divisions of police departments, which ostensibly exist to investigate and report misconduct among officers, have widely conducted sub-standard investigations and failed to identify problem officers who commit wanton abuse.This cultural pattern enables police officers like Derek Chauvin, Daniel Pantaleo, and Nathan Woodyard to commit the heinous crime of slowly squeezing the life out of George Floyd (MN), Eric Garner (NY), and Elijah McClain (CO). As troubling is the fact that police officers have been known to give false testimony in court, whether to avoid punishment for their own criminal and/or unconstitutional actions, to ensure a conviction, or for other reasons.

Although the US judiciary is considered to be just and impartial, in most court hearings race is present albeit it is not spelled out. It is as though Black men inherently have no equal rights and to this day, 230 years since the constitution was written, injustices still exist in both federal and state courts.Blacks are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whiteswhile they are 13 percent of the total US population, they constitute 40 percent of the total male prison population. The mass incarceration of African Americans in this country has created what sociologist Becky Pettit, citing the novelist Ralph Ellison, calls invisible menthe millions of black men in the American penal system. Prison inmates are not included in most data-collecting national surveys, so these men are effectively invisible to social institutions, lawmakers, and most social science research. It is almost as if they do not exist, they do not count; their reality is ignored, neglected, and brushed aside.

A staggering 75 percent of young Black men will be imprisoned at some point in their lives. These statistics can only begin to convey the enormity of the injustice that is being compounded day after day. Pettits book reveals that penal expansion has generated a class of citizens systematically excluded from accounts of the American populace. This exclusion raises doubt about the validity of even the most basic social facts and questions the utility of the data gathered for the design and evaluation of public policy and the data commonly used in social science research. As a consequence, we have lost sight of the full range of the American experience.

Economic disparity between white and Black Americans is glaring, and reverberates through generations of Black families. Economic exclusion is the source of inequality. It is caused by a confluence of factors, beginning with nearly 250 years of chattel slavery (during which Black families were torn apart, let alone able to accumulate wealth), to sharecropping and unrestrained lynchings, to 90 years of Jim Crow laws, to redlining neighbourhoods on demographic lines. All of these factors are manifested today in hiring decisions, property valuation, mortgage applications, interest charges, and even how credit scores are tabulated. The average white familys net worth is more than ten times greater than a Black family. Economic disparity, to be sure, is the mother of all evil in the lives of Black people.

A poor Black man cannot pay for decent housing, cannot pay for health care, and cannot afford to send his kids to higher education, which directly impacts his social standing and professional competency. Thus, he has to settle for menial jobs, low wages, and little or no prospect of ever climbing out of the vicious cycle. The saddest thing of all is that he is blamed for his own dilemma, as if the conditions and lack of opportunities in which he lives has nothing to do with his sorry state of affairs.

During the past four years, racism in America has been on the rise and in no small measure Trump, the Racist-in-Chief, has made race a campaign issue from the very start. He began his political campaign by branding Hispanics as rapists; in his presidency he banned Muslims from entering the US, cruelly separated children from their parents at the borders, described white supremacists in Charlottesville as very fine people, and celebrated this 4th of July by defending Confederate statues.Trumps racism against Blacks in particular is nothing new. It was there in 1973 when Trump Management Inc. was sued by the Department of Justice for housing discrimination against African-American renters. We could see it in 1989, when he took out a full-page advertisement in four New York City newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty over the Central Park Five, who were wrongfully convicted and sent to prison. Trump refuses to apologize for that, even though, as Innocence Project founder Barry Scheck said, by calling for the reinstitution of the death penalty, it contributed to an atmosphere that deprived these men of a fair trial. He also refused to apologize for his persistent perpetuation of the birther lie that Obama was not born in the US.

Trumps Independence Day speech at Mount Rushmore was laden with racially divisive and partisan rhetoric, but that makes no difference to many conservative Republican leaders and his misguided supporters who follow him blindly. They wrap themselves with the flag as a sign of American patriotism, when in fact their patriotism is defined by their racism and intolerance of people of color.

Although some Republican leaders disagree with him on race, they are fearful of his anger to say anything publicly, lest they risk losing their power or position. Sadly, their silence suggests consent, which only reinforces Trumps racism. With Trump, as with much of the country, racism is deeply ingrained, something he refuses to admit.

Although racism did not start when Trump came to power as it is imbued into Americas history and culture and it will not end with his departure from office, his overt racism brought to focus racism in America. The persistent protests reveal the deep sense of frustration with a president who fans the flame of racism, who sees the country as his own enterprise, who does whatever he wants to serve his own interests. He is cruel, cunning, and careless about the pain and suffering of Black America; he cannot count on their political support and hence completely rejects their outcry.

Unlike any other protests in the past against racism, this years protests have had a greater impact in part due to the spread of the coronavirus and its disproportionate impact on Black people, who are being infected and dying at higher rates than whites. That, and in conjunction with a presidential election, provides a rare opportunity to start a process of mitigating racism in earnest. What will be necessary, however, is for the protests to persist through Election Day in the hopes that the Racist-in-Chief will be ousted. Only then we stand a better chance that a new day will dawn and a new administration will commit to relentlessly addressing the plight of Black people for the sake of all Americans, especially because the day when America will have a majority of people of color is fast approaching.

Although there are scores of measures that must be taken and many years and huge financial resources to make a discernible change for the better in the life of Black Americans, we have no choice but to start, regardless of how insurmountable the obstacles and the culture of resistance to change. It will take the collective efforts, determination, and consistency of local, state, and federal authorities to begin this process if we ever want to reach a modicum of equality.

The work to change the culture of innate racism in America will be long and hard, but we must not shy away from it. As a small start, the immediate focus should be on educating students about Black history, changing the police culture and training, investing in housing in black neighborhoods, offering educational support for young Black boys and girls starting at elementary age, up to providing free education for them to attend college or professional schools, and providing job opportunities and equal pay to give them the chance to climb up over time the social ladder.

The continuing demonstrations throughout the country suggest not only the obviousthat Black lives matterbut that racism is consuming America from within, that injustice affects the perpetrators just as much as the victims, that enough is enough.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.

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Politico-Cultural Racism in America is Consuming its Social Fabric and Decaying its Progressive Ethos - The New Leam

Understanding Coronavirus – Lysol

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Coronavirus Nomenclature

On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organizationannouncedan official name for the disease that is caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19. The virus itself has been designated SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

What is Coronavirus

According to the World Health Organization[i], Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

What is 2019 Novel Coronavirus

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus, formerly known as 2019-nCoV and now known as SARS-COV-2, is a new strain of coronavirus that was first identified during an investigation into an outbreak in Wuhan, China. Its important to note that how easily a virus spreads person-to-person can vary. Some viruses are highly contagious, while other viruses are less so. Investigations are ongoing tobetterunderstandthetransmissibility,severity,andotherfeaturesassociated with the Novel Coronavirus, but person-to-person spread is occurring[i].

Know the Novel Coronavirus Symptoms

According to the CDC, patients with confirmed infections have reported mild to severe respiratory illnesses with symptoms including:

CDC believes at this time that symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 days after exposure. This is based on what has been seen previously as the incubation period ofMERSviruses.[iv]

How Coronavirus is Spread

The CDC states[iv] that the viruses is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person from:

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled in the lungs.

It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or possibly their eyes, but this not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

The virus that causes COVID-19 seems to be spreading easily and sustainably in the community (community spread) in some affectedgeographic areas. There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with the Novel Coronavirus and investigations are ongoing.

How to help protect from the Coronavirus

The best way to protect yourself is avoid being exposed to the virus. The CDC always recommends[i] simple everyday preventative steps to help prevent the spread of respiratory virus, including:

Aswithall infectious diseases, good hygiene can play a role in controlling its spread. However, the most important publichealth recommendation isthat people report to the nearest health facility if they develop any symptoms indicative of Coronavirus. Call the office of your health care provider before you go and tell them about your travel and your symptoms. They will give you instructions on how to get care without exposing other people to your illness. Visit the CDC website to learn more on What To Do if You Are Sick.

Improper use of Disinfectants

Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB (the makers of Lysol and Dettol) has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion, or any other route). As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in linewith usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information.

We have a responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts. For this and other myth-busting facts, please visit Covid-19facts.com.

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Understanding Coronavirus - Lysol

What Is COVID-19? | coronavirus

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

COVID-19 is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. The COVID-19 is the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.

Since December 2019, cases have been identified in a growing number of countries. The Districts surveillance data can be found here.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illnessranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Public health authorities are learning more every day. We will continue to update as we learn more.

Reported illnesses have ranged frommild symptoms to severe illnessand death for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

Symptoms may appear2-14 days after exposure:

The symptoms that are currently being seen with COVID-19 are cough, fever, headache, new loss of taste or smell, repeated shaking with chills, sore throat, shortness of breath, and muscle pain.To help prevent the spread of germs, you should:

You play an important role in stopping the spread of germs, view resources to share with your family, friends and within your community.

Some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, including older adults and people who have serious chronic medical conditions. If you are in this higher-risk population, the CDC recommends that you:

Learn more at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has information on how to prepare your home and family for COVID-19. Recommendations include:

If you are the family member or caregiver of someone at higher risk, you should:

Everyone can do their part to help us respond to this emerging public health threat:

If you are a healthcare provider, be on the look-out for:

If you are a healthcare provider or a public health responder caring for a COVID-19 patient, please take care of yourself and follow recommendedinfection control procedures.

If you are a close contact of someone with COVID-19 and develop symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms and your exposure.

If you are a resident in a community where person-to-person spread of COVID-19 has been detected and you develop COVID-19 symptoms, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms.

For people who are ill with COVID-19, but are not sick enough to be hospitalized, please followCDC guidance on how to reduce the risk of spreading your illness to others. People who are mildly ill with COVID-19 are able to isolate at home during their illness.

If you have been in China or another affected area or have been exposed to someone sick with COVID-19 in the last 14 days, you will facesome limitations on your movement and activityfor up to 14 days. Please follow instructions during this time. Your cooperation is integral to the ongoing public health response to try to slow spread of this virus.

Learn more on the CDC website.

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What Is COVID-19? | coronavirus

Scared That Covid-19 Immunity Wont Last? Dont Be – The New York Times

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Within the last couple of months, several scientific studies have come out some peer-reviewed, others not indicating that the antibody response of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 dropped significantly within two months. The news has sparked fears that the very immunity of patients with Covid-19 may be waning fast dampening hopes for the development of an effective and durable vaccine.

But these concerns are confused and mistaken.

Both our bodies natural immunity and immunity acquired through vaccination serve the same function, which is to inhibit a virus and prevent it from causing a disease. But they dont always work quite the same way.

And so a finding that naturally occurring antibodies in some Covid-19 patients are fading doesnt actually mean very much for the likely efficacy of vaccines under development. Science, in this case, can be more effective than nature.

The human immune system has evolved to serve two functions: expediency and precision. Hence, we have two types of immunity: innate immunity, which jumps into action within hours, sometimes just minutes, of an infection; and adaptive immunity, which develops over days and weeks.

Almost all the cells in the human body can detect a viral infection, and when they do, they call on our white blood cells to deploy a defensive response against the infectious agent.

When our innate immune response is successful at containing that pathogen, the infection is resolved quickly and, generally, without many symptoms. In the case of more sustained infections, though, its our adaptive immune system that kicks in to offer us protection.

The adaptive immune system consists of two types of white blood cells, called T and B cells, that detect molecular details specific to the virus and, based on that, mount a targeted response to it.

A virus causes disease by entering cells in the human body and hijacking their genetic machinery so as to reproduce itself again and again: It turns its hosts into viral factories.

T cells detect and kill those infected cells. B cells make antibodies, a kind of protein that binds to the viral particles and blocks them from entering our cells; this prevents the replication of the virus and stops the infection in its tracks.

The body then stores the T and B cells that helped eliminate the infection, in case it might need them in the future to fight off the same virus again. These so-called memory cells are the main agents of long-term immunity.

The antibodies produced in response to a common seasonal coronavirus infection last for about a year. But the antibodies generated by a measles infection last, and provide protection, for a lifetime.

Yet it is also the case that with other viruses the amount of antibodies in the blood peaks during an infection and drops after the infection has cleared, often within a few months: This is the fact that has some people worried about Covid-19, but it doesnt mean what it might seem.

That antibodies decrease once an infection recedes isnt a sign that they are failing: Its a normal step in the usual course of an immune response.

Nor does a waning antibody count mean waning immunity: The memory B cells that first produced those antibodies are still around, and standing ready to churn out new batches of antibodies on demand.

And that is why we should be hopeful about the prospects of a vaccine for Covid-19.

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection, generating memory T and B cells that can then provide long-lasting protection in the people who are vaccinated. Yet the immunity created by vaccines differs from the immunity created by a natural infection in several important ways.

Virtually all viruses that infect humans contain in their genomes blueprints for producing proteins that help them evade detection by the innate immune system. For example, SARS-CoV-2 appears to have a gene dedicated to silencing the innate immune system.

Among the viruses that have become endemic in humans, some have also figured out ways to dodge the adaptive immune system: H.I.V.-1 mutates rapidly; herpes viruses deploy proteins that can trap and incapacitate antibodies.

Thankfully, SARS-CoV-2 does not seem to have evolved any such tricks yet suggesting that we still have an opportunity to stem its spread and the pandemic by pursuing a relatively straightforward vaccine approach.

Vaccines come in different flavors they can be based on killed or live attenuated viral material, nucleic acids or recombinant proteins. But all vaccines consist of two main components: an antigen and an adjuvant.

The antigen is the part of the virus we want the adaptive immune response to react to and target. The adjuvant is an agent that mimics the infection and helps jump-start the immune response.

One beauty of vaccines and one of their great advantages over our bodys natural reaction to infections is that their antigens can be designed to focus the immune response on a viruss Achilles heel (whatever that may be).

Another advantage is that vaccines allow for different kinds and different doses of adjuvants and so, for calibration and fine-tuning that can help boost and lengthen immune responses.

The immune response generated against a virus during natural infection is, to some degree, at the mercy of the virus itself. Not so with vaccines.

Since many viruses evade the innate immune system, natural infections sometimes do not result in robust or long-lasting immunity. The human papillomavirus is one of them, which is why it can cause chronic infections. The papillomavirus vaccine triggers a far better antibody response to its viral antigen than does a natural HPV infection: It is almost 100 percent effective in preventing HPV infection and disease.

Not only does vaccination protect against infection and disease; it also blocks viral transmission and, if sufficiently widespread, can help confer so-called herd immunity to a population.

What proportion of individuals in a given population needs to be immune to a new virus so that the whole group is, in effect, protected depends on the viruss basic reproduction number broadly speaking: the average number of people that a single infected person will, in turn, infect.

For measles, which is highly contagious, more than 90 percent of a population must be immunized in order for unvaccinated individuals to also be protected. For Covid-19, the estimated figure which is unsettled, understandably ranges between 43 percent and 66 percent.

Given the severe consequences of Covid-19 for many older patients, as well as the diseases unpredictable course and consequences for the young, the only safe way to achieve herd immunity is through vaccination. That, combined with the fact that SARS-CoV-2 appears not to have yet developed a mechanism to evade detection by our adaptive immune system, is ample reason to double down on efforts to find a vaccine fast.

So do not be alarmed by reports about Covid-19 patients dropping antibody counts; those are irrelevant to the prospects of finding a viable vaccine.

Remember instead that more than 165 vaccine candidates already are in the pipeline, some showing promising early trial results.

And start thinking about how best to ensure that when that vaccine comes, it will be distributed efficiently and equitably.

Akiko Iwasaki is the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor in the Department of Immunobiology and a Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale. Ruslan Medzhitov is a Sterling Professor in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. Both are investigators at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Scared That Covid-19 Immunity Wont Last? Dont Be - The New York Times

Hong Kong Delays Election, Citing Coronavirus. The Opposition Isnt Buying It. – The New York Times

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

HONG KONG The Hong Kong government said on Friday that it would postpone the citys September legislative election by one year because of the coronavirus pandemic, a decision seen by the pro-democracy opposition as a brazen attempt to thwart its electoral momentum and avoid the defeat of pro-Beijing candidates.

It is a really tough decision to delay, but we want to ensure fairness, public safety and public health, said Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs chief executive.

She cited the risk of infections, with as many as three million or more people expected to vote on the same day; the inability of candidates to hold campaign events due to social distancing rules; and the difficulties faced by eligible voters who are overseas or in mainland China and cannot return to cast ballots because of travel restrictions.

The delay was a blow to opposition politicians, who had hoped to ride to victory in the fall on a wave of deep-seated dissatisfaction with the government and concerns about a sweeping new national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. And it was the latest in a quick series of aggressive moves by the pro-Beijing establishment that had the effect of sidelining the pro-democracy movement.

Even before Friday, the citys pro-democracy opposition had accused the government of using social-distancing rules to clamp down on the protest movement that began more than a year ago.

Earlier this week, amid reports that the vote might be delayed, Eddie Chu, a pro-democracy legislator running for re-election, said that Chinas ruling Communist Party was ordering a strategic retreat. They want to avoid a potential devastating defeat in the election, he wrote on Twitter.

The explanation that Hong Kong must delay the vote because of the pandemic is likely to fall flat among the wider public, said Ma Ngok, an associate professor of political science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

I think it will be seen as a kind of manipulation, that the government is afraid of losing the majority and that is why they postponed the election, he said.

Mrs. Lam denied that the decision had been influenced by political concerns. It is purely on the basis of protecting the health and safety of the Hong Kong people and to ensure that the elections are held in a fair and open manner, she said.

While Hong Kong has been a world leader in controlling the coronavirus, in recent days it has seen its worst surge of infections yet, with more than 100 new cases reported daily for more than a week. The government has unfurled several new lockdown and social-distancing measures.

We face a dire situation in our fight against the virus, Mrs. Lam said.

Under Hong Kong law, an election can be delayed for up to 14 days if there is a danger to public health or safety. But Mrs. Lam postponed the election until Sept. 5, 2021, under emergency powers that allow the chief executive to make any regulations considered to be desirable in the public interest.

Those powers, which date to the British colonial era, were invoked last year when the government banned the wearing of masks in an effort to stem protests.

Chinas central government said it supported Mrs. Lams decision to delay the election, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Mrs. Lam acknowledged that the move created a rather thorny issue under the Basic Law, Hong Kongs constitution, which limits the terms of Legislative Council members to four years meaning that the current lawmakers terms will soon expire.

That matter will be referred to the standing committee of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing, which has the power to interpret the Basic Law, for a decision on how to deal with the gap, Xinhua reported.

The postponement will likely be met with criticism from the United States and other countries that have expressed sharp disapproval of Chinas tightening grip on Hong Kong. This month, President Trump said that because of the national security law, the United States would begin to curb its special treatment of Hong Kong and deal with it more in line with the rest of China.

The elections must proceed on time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday in a U.S. radio interview. They must be held. The people of Hong Kong deserve to have their voice represented by the elected officials that they choose in those elections.

If they destroy that, if they take that down, it will be another marker that will simply prove that the Chinese Communist Party has now made Hong Kong just another Communist-run city, he added.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday that the Hong Kong election was a local election in China and is purely Chinas internal affair.

The national security law targets activity that it describes as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers. It has stirred concerns in Hong Kong because it allows mainland security services to operate openly in the city and makes some speech, such as advocating Hong Kongs independence, illegal.

Updated July 27, 2020

On Wednesday, in a sign that officials would strictly enforce the law, the police arrested four activists, ages 16 to 21, who were accused of supporting separatism in social media posts.

And the next day, in barring the 12 opposition candidates, the Hong Kong government said that the grounds for disqualifying them included advocating for Hong Kongs independence or self-determination, soliciting intervention from foreign governments, expressing an objection in principle to the national security law Beijing imposed last month, or vowing to indiscriminately vote against government proposals.

Opposition candidates say the moves suggested that pro-Beijing officials were concerned about a resounding defeat in the September election. Even establishment candidates have been quietly discussing the potential for a pan-democratic wave.

Elections for neighborhood-level offices, held last November, were seen as a warning: The opposition took control of 17 out of 18 district councils, which had normally been controlled by pro-Beijing parties.

This year, the opposition set its sights on a bigger target: to take at least half the 70 seats in the Legislative Council, the top lawmaking body in the territory.

While the protests have abated in recent weeks under the authorities crackdown, discontent with the government has remained strong since Beijing imposed the security law on Hong Kong, a semiautonomous city that maintains its own local government and legal system.

Two weeks ago, more than 600,000 people participated in the opposition camps primary election, despite warnings from local officials that it might be illegal. Voters generally preferred candidates closely associated with the past years protests.

In barring the candidates for the September elections, election officials questioned whether candidates who had previously lobbied foreign governments would continue to do so, which could potentially violate the new security laws prohibitions on foreign influence. Another question asked was whether candidates, if elected, would veto the governments budget. Under Hong Kongs system, if the legislature blocks the budget twice in a row, the chief executive is forced to step down.

Kwok Ka-ki, a legislator who was one of the 12 candidates disqualified Thursday, replied that such a question was political in nature, and that he was unsure why an election official had any business asking it. After all, this is why there are elections in the first place, he wrote.

Just half the seats in the legislature represent geographic districts in Hong Kong, another barrier for the pro-democracy camp. The other half are functional constituencies largely set aside for candidates from various commercial sectors, which tend to vote for establishment candidates.

The opposition has pointed to other places that have held successful elections during the pandemic, including South Korea and Singapore.

I dont think many people in Hong Kong will be convinced, Mr. Ma said, referring to the official justification for delaying the election. They are allowed to go to work, take the subway, take the bus, stand in long queues and then not allowed to vote? It wont be very convincing.

Elaine Yu and Tiffany May contributed reporting from Hong Kong. Keith Bradsher contributed reporting, and Claire Fu contributed research, from Beijing.

Another Mainer dies as 26 new coronavirus cases are reported – Bangor Daily News

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

The BDN is making the most crucial coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact in Maine free for all readers. Click here for all coronavirus stories. You can join others committed to safeguarding this vital public service by purchasing a subscription or donating directly to the newsroom.

Another Mainer has died as 26 more cases of the coronavirus were reported on Friday.

Fridays report brings the total coronavirus cases in Maine to 3,912. Of those, 3,499 have been confirmed positive, while 413 were classified as probable cases, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

New cases were reported in Cumberland (9), Kennebec (2), Knox (1), Oxford (3), Penobscot (4), Sagadahoc (2) and York (4) counties, state data show. Information about where the last case was reported wasnt immediately available.

The agency revised Thursdays cumulative total to 3,886, down from 3,888, meaning there was a net increase of 24 over the previous days report, state data show. As the Maine CDC continues to investigate previously reported cases, some are determined to have not been the coronavirus, or coronavirus cases not involving Mainers. Those are removed from the states cumulative total.

The latest death involved a man in his 60s from Androscoggin County, bringing the statewide death toll to 123. Nearly all deaths have been in Mainers over age 60.

So far, 388 Mainers have been hospitalized at some point with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Of those, 12 people are currently hospitalized, with seven in critical care and two on ventilators.

Meanwhile, 16 more people have recovered from the coronavirus, bringing total recoveries to 3,361. That means there are 428 active and probable cases in the state, which is up from 421 on Thursday.

A majority of the cases 2,183 have been in Mainers under age 50, while more cases have been reported in women than men, according to the Maine CDC.

As of Friday, there have been 170,066 negative test results out of 175,575 overall. Just under 3 percent of all tests have come back positive, Maine CDC data show.

The coronavirus has hit hardest in Cumberland County, where 2,039 cases have been reported and where the bulk of virus deaths 68 have been concentrated. It is one of four counties the others are Androscoggin, Penobscot and York, with 548, 145 and 645 cases, respectively where community transmission has been confirmed, according to the Maine CDC.

There are two criteria for establishing community transmission: at least 10 confirmed cases and that at least 25 percent of those are not connected to either known cases or travel. That second condition has not yet been satisfied in other counties.

Other cases have been reported in Aroostook (32), Franklin (45), Hancock (27), Kennebec (164), Knox (26), Lincoln (33), Oxford (54), Piscataquis (3), Sagadahoc (46), Somerset (34), Waldo (62) and Washington (7) counties. Information about where another two cases were reported wasnt immediately available Friday morning.

As of Friday morning, the coronavirus has sickened 4,496,737 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as caused 152,074 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

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Another Mainer dies as 26 new coronavirus cases are reported - Bangor Daily News

Louie Gohmert tests positive for coronavirus – The Texas Tribune

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Need to stay updated on coronavirus news in Texas? Our evening roundup will help you stay on top of the days latest updates. Sign up here.

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, he said in an interview with East Texas Now where he speculated that he may have caught the virus from wearing his mask.

Gohmert, who spends ample time on the U.S. House floor without a mask, was one of several Texas officials scheduled to fly to West Texas this afternoon with President Donald Trump. He took one test, which tested positive, then took a second test during a pre-screen at the White House which also tested positive.

I cant help but wonder ... if I injected the virus into my mask when I was moving, he said in an interview.

Medical experts and doctors overwhelmingly recommend wearing masks as a way to reduce spread of COVID-19. Recent research suggests that masks could protect the wearer from severe symptoms of COVID-19 or from catching the virus entirely.

Gohmert, 66, was one of several lawmakers who participated in a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee that also took place Tuesday. He walked around the hearing room and outside without wearing a mask. News of his diagnosis was first reported by Politico and later confirmed by ABC News.

Im fine. I feel fine. Totally asymptomatic, he said. If I hadnt been going with the president, since I dont feel badly, I would never have known.

Gohmert said he received guidance from the doctors at the White House and the attending physician at the Capitol that he only needed to self-quarantine for 10 days. He said he will drive back to his East Texas home and that his staff is all getting tested for the virus.

Like Dorothy said, theres no place like home, Gohmert said.

According to CNN, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, was seated next to Gohmert on a flight from Texas on Sunday evening. She is also self-quarantining, according to her office.

The Republican lawmaker has been known for speaking at length with Capitol colleagues while not adhering to social distancing guidelines. Last month, he told CNN that he was not wearing a mask because he was getting tested regularly for the virus.

I dont have the coronavirus, turns out as of yesterday Ive never had it, he said in June. But if I get it, youll never see me without a mask.

Gohmert also raised eyebrows in March after returning to the Capitol despite potential exposure to the virus at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Though he said at the time he was cleared by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention physician to resume Capitol business, other lawmakers who attended the conference, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, opted to self-quarantine.

Several other members of Congress have tested positive for the deadly respiratory virus. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul tested positive for the virus in March and later recovered. Florida Republican Reps. Neal Dunn and Mario Diaz-Balart have also contracted the virus.

Texas, however, has recently become a hotspot for the coronavirus, with the state having some of the highest case counts in the nation. The governor previously issued a statewide mask mandate.

In a tweet Wednesday morning, U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, who chaired Tuesdays hearing, wished Gohmert a full & speedy recovery.

When individuals refuse to take the necessary precautions it puts everyone at risk, he wrote. Ive regularly instructed all Members to wear their masks and hope this is a lesson by all my colleagues.

Disclosure: Politico has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Louie Gohmert tests positive for coronavirus - The Texas Tribune

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 31 July – World Economic Forum

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have risen to more than 17.3 million around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. The number of confirmed deaths now stands at more than 673,000.

Preliminary data shows the French economy contracted by 13.8% in the second quarter. Household consumption, company investment and trade were all hit by the nationwide lockdown.

Social distancing has pushed flu infection rates to record lows, according to early figures. The data suggests measures to tackle coronavirus are having an impact on other communicable diseases.

The UK has tightened lockdowns in some Northern areas, including Greater Manchester. The move is targeted at areas where transmission rates are increasing.

Florida and Arizona have both reported record increases in COVID-19 deaths. The US epicentre is also showing signs of shifting to the Midwest.

Global cases have gone past 17 million.

Image: Our World in Data

The crisis threatens to "destroy the livelihoods" of the region's 218 million informal workers, said a policy brief released yesterday. This puts decades of poverty reduction at risk.

Remittances from Southeast Asians working abroad are set to fall by 13% - or $10 billion - while the regional economy is expected to contract by 0.4% this year.

Governments should boost social welfare payments and prioritize higher health spending, said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, head of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

The first global pandemic in more than 100 years, COVID-19 has spread throughout the world at an unprecedented speed. At the time of writing, 4.5 million cases have been confirmed and more than 300,000 people have died due to the virus.

As countries seek to recover, some of the more long-term economic, business, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are just beginning to become visible.

To help all stakeholders communities, governments, businesses and individuals understand the emerging risks and follow-on effects generated by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Marsh and McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, has launched its COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications - a companion for decision-makers, building on the Forums annual Global Risks Report.

The report reveals that the economic impact of COVID-19 is dominating companies risks perceptions.

Companies are invited to join the Forums work to help manage the identified emerging risks of COVID-19 across industries to shape a better future. Read the full COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and its Implications report here, and our impact story with further information.

A Reuters poll of over 500 economists suggests the outlook for the global economy has grown more pessimistic.

The still-rising number of infections and the risk of fresh lockdowns is putting any potential rebound at risk.

We expect the economic reality of the virus to start catching up with businesses across the globe soon, said Jan Lambregts, global head financial markets research at Rabobank.

What we need is a vaccine or significant breakthroughs in medicines to decisively reopen our economies and restore business and consumer confidence but there is no magic wand for the time being.

The poll expects the global economy to shrink by 4% this year - down from the 3.7% forecast in June.

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 31 July - World Economic Forum

Dr. Baas on the Promise of Immuno-Oncology in Mesothelioma – OncLive

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Paul Baas, MD, PhD, discusses recent updates in immuno-oncology within the field of mesothelioma.

Paul Baas, MD, PhD, a professor within the Department of Thoracic Oncology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, discusses recent updates in immuno-oncology within the field of mesothelioma.

For mesothelioma, a few interesting developments have been made in recent years, says Baas. For 50 years, chemotherapy continued to be the standard in the space. Mesothelioma is a very aggressive disease with poor survival outcomes. Recently, however, there has been an interest in examining the use of immuno-oncology drugs within the field of mesothelioma.

To this end, a few reports of this approach in the second-line setting have been reported; these reports have implied that if 1 drug is used, such as pembrolizumab(Keytruda)or nivolumab(Opdivo), they will not show a great deal of activity, says Baas. Although these findings were a bit disappointing, some data examining nivolumaband ipilimumab(Yervoy) suggest that a combination approach might yield more promising results, says Baas.

A press release issued in April 2020 from Bristol Myers Squibb announced positive results from a first-line studycomparing immune checkpoint inhibitors versus chemotherapy in patients withmesothelioma.These data will be presented at the 2020 World Lung Conference during the Presidential Symposium and might change the first-line approach for patients; this is important news for immuno-oncology, adds Baas.

Additionally, the combination of chemotherapy with durvalumab(Imfinzi) in a single-arm study showed a favorable median overall survival (OS) of 20 months; these are quite interesting findings because normally the median OS that is reported in this space is 15 months or a maximum of 16 months, concludes Baas.

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Dr. Baas on the Promise of Immuno-Oncology in Mesothelioma - OncLive

Mesothelioma treatment Market Insight And Key Players With Forecasts Up To 2028 Bulletin Line – Bulletin Line

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Global Mesothelioma treatment Market presents an in-depth review and technical research, with useful facts and figures, of the current and future state of the mesothelioma treatment market worldwide. mesothelioma treatment market provides information on emerging market opportunities and business factors, developments and evolving technologies that will fuel these growth trends. The report provides a comprehensive overview including Comparison of Definitions, Range, Use, Production and CAGR (percent), Form Segmentation, Share, Revenue Status and Outlook, Capacity, Demand, Market Drivers, Production Status, and Outlook and Opportunities, Export, Import, Growth Rate for Emerging Markets / Countries. The study provides a 360-degree overview of the industrys competitive landscape. The industry study on mesothelioma treatment assesses the main regions (countries) promising a huge market share for the 2016-2028 forecast period.

The market research study on mesothelioma treatment was collected through comprehensive primary research through interviews, surveys, and findings of experienced analysts and secondary research. The study also provides a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data obtained from industry analysts and market participants from mesothelioma treatment around key points in the value chain of the industry.

The regional analysis of this report covers the following regions- Eli Lilly and Company, AstraZeneca, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Pfizer Inc., Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Bayer AG, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd.

Get Sample Copy of The Report @ https://www.quincemarketinsights.com/request-sample-68793?utm_source=Kalpesh&utm_medium=BL

Useful findings of this research are-

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Statistical analysis, figures and prime data included in the report contains-

-Market size (current and projected for the last few years)

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The report benefits Market Investigators, companies, Vendors, Buyers, Suppliers, Individual professionals and Competitive organizations

Make An Enquiry Before Purchasing Report @ https://www.quincemarketinsights.com/enquiry-before-buying/enquiry-before-buying-68793?utm_source=Kalpesh&utm_medium=BL

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North AmericaMesothelioma treatment market

EuropeMesothelioma treatment market

Asia PacificMesothelioma treatment market

Middle East & AfricaMesothelioma treatment market

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Contact:Quince Market InsightsOffice No-A109Pune, Maharashtra 411028Phone: +91-9850603687/7972869557Email: [emailprotected]Web: http://www.quincemarketinsights.com

About :QMI has the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services available on the web. Deliver reports from almost all major publications and update the list on a regular basis with instant online access to the worlds broadest and most up-to-date archive of expert insights on global markets, companies, products and patterns.

Mesothelioma treatment Market Insight And Key Players With Forecasts Up To 2028 Bulletin Line - Bulletin Line

Superman’s Glasses Are Secretly Used For Mind Control – Screen Rant

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

Superman has an almost endless number of super powers but did you know he can also use his glasses to hypnotize others? Believe it!

Ah, Superman! Able to defy gravity, bend steel in his bare hands, shrug off bullets, and hypnotize people? Yes, strange as it may seem, Supermans multitude of powers once included super-hypnotism. Even stranger? He was able to enhance his power with his Clark Kent glasses!

Back in the Silver Age, Superman enjoyed a number of offbeat powers from super plasticity (which allowed him to reshape his face), super-ventriloquism (which allowed him to mimic any voice and throw his voice anywhere), and even a super-kiss! However, while many of these powers had a limited shelf life, super-hypnosis kept showing up in many of Clark Kents adventures and eventually became the official reason why no one recognized Clark Kent was Superman!

Related: Superman Hides His Costume In The WEIRDEST Place

Superman could originally use his power of super-hypnosis simply by looking at a person and concentrating. In certain stories, he also employed a watch, which he swung back and forth in front of his subjects like a stage hypnotist. He even managed to use his power of super-hypnosis on himself on certain occasions, although like many hypnotists, he claimed that his subjects needed to want to be hypnotized in order for this superpower to work.

Other times, however, this didnt appear to be true. During one of Mr. Mxyzptlks schemes, Superman wound up being caught in a warped world where the male and female genders were switched, causing him to contend with a Superwoman and a Wonder Warrior. At one point, he was captured and his super powers were muted by a helmet full of Kryptonite gas. Despite this, Superman was able to use some reflected light off of his helmet to shine a beam into Wonder Warriors eyes and hypnotize the male Amazon into a deep sleep.

Interestingly then, it appeared that Supermans super-hypnotism was more of a learned ability than a Kryptonian super power. However, in other Superman comic books, he learned he had unknowingly been using Kryptonian technology for years to super-hypnotize everyone. In Superman #330, Clark finally starts questioning his use of glasses as a disguise and concludes that its the dumbest disguise hed ever seen. Wondering how his Clark Kent disguise managed to fool people all these years, he starts wondering if an ace reporter like Lois Lane has just been humoring him all these years.

Later, however, Superman discovers the secret to his disguise actually lies in special properties in his glasses. Since the lenses in Clark Kents glasses are actually made of the plexiglass window from the rocket ship that brought him to Earth, the lenses actually amplify his super-hypnotic abilities whenever he wears his glasses, causing people to see Clark Kent as a frailer and weaker man than Superman.

Superman found he could even use his Kryptonian lenses to brainwash his foes as he did when he tackled the Parasite, an enemy who had leached away his superpowers, and hypnotized him into giving him those powers back. Since the Parasite clearly didnt want to be hypnotized, Clark Kents glasses apparently gave Superman the power to mind control anyone he wanted to. (Fortunately, he was too super-ethical to use this power immorally as far as anyone knows).

Eventually, the mind-controlling glasses and super-hypnosis power were dropped as Superman entered the modern age. Later writers simply explained that people didnt suspect Clark was Superman because Superman never let on that he had a dual identity. Even Lex Luthor refused to believe Superman would lower himself to pretend to be an ordinary mortal, even after a super computer deduced Clark Kent was Superman. Nevertheless, at one time, Clark Kents glasses actually did give Superman the power of mind control and allowed the most stupid disguise in the world to actually fool people for years.

Next: For Green Lantern, Beating Superman Is Hilariously Easy

Shazam vs. Superman: Who Would Win In A Fight?

Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michaels background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

Visit Michael Jungs website for information on how to hire him, follow him on Twitter Michael50834213, or contact him directly: michael(at)michaeljungwriter(dot)com.

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Superman's Glasses Are Secretly Used For Mind Control - Screen Rant

The Israeli company that has come as close as possible to the sun – Haaretz.com

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

In mid-June, when Education Minister Yoav Gallant was threatening teachers with restraining orders (if they refused to work during the summer) and then-Health Ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman Tov warned against a second wave of the coronavirus in Israel, a spacecraft the size of a minivan was on a bold journey.

The European Space Agencys Solar Orbiter was photographing the sun from a distance of 77 million kilometers (about 48 million miles) approximately half the distance between the sun and Earth. The images the closest ever taken of the sun revealed a previously unknown phenomenon: The suns surface turns out to be covered with miniature solar flares, which the scientists quickly dubbed campfires. But no less impressive is the fact that the computer that operated the spacecrafts camera was manufactured in the industrial zone aka startup village of Yokneam, a town in Lower Galilee.

The company behind the computer is Ramon.Space, the great Israeli hope in the New Space revolution that is, the privatization of the space sector. In the past few years, the semiconductor chips produced by the Israeli company have reached halfway to the sun, in the ESAs Solar Orbiter; gone to the moon, in the first Israeli spacecraft (the SpaceIL Beresheet Lander, 2019); Mars, taken part in the ExoMars project of the European and Russian space agencies; and participated in the Hayabusa2 asteroid sample-return mission of the Japanese space agency. Next year, Ramon.Space chips will be launched to the Jupiter moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa as part of the search for signs of life beneath the planets ice cover.

At the same time, Ramon.Space is also seeking to gain the upper hand in the burgeoning market of earth-orbiting satellites. Wherever you look in the sky, says the companys co-founder, Ran Ginosar, we are there.

How many satellites equipped with your computers are currently in space?

Ginosar: Approximately 200. We dont know about most of them. If its not a scientific mission, like Solar Orbiter, were not told. We see it in our sales. The mechanism [in the Defense Ministry] that oversees Israels security exports protects me [from knowing about military applications of their technology]. Even in completely legitimate places like France, I was told, If you dont need to know, its better not to know. What I dont need to know from the legal or commercial point of view, I dont know.

Two-hundred is a substantial amount, given that there are 5,000 active satellites in space altogether.

This is only the beginning. We want to be the new standard in the field.

Prof. Ginosar, 68, comes from the computer sciences field, not space research. After graduating from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa with degrees in electrical engineering and in computer sciences, he completed his Ph.D. at Princeton in 1982 and subsequently returned to the Technion, this time to join the faculty.

Theres no shortage of Israeli startups in the realm of Earth-bound computers. When did you become interested in outer space?

I build computer chips. Thats my field. And the truth is that I was involved in all kinds of startups over the years. But the Technion was bitten by the space bug. A few students there wanted to launch a microsatellite, and I built the chips for them. The TechSat, the students satellite, was launched in 2000 and was in operation for 12 years an all-time record for a microsatellite. After that success, I was approached by the Defense Ministrys Satellite Administration. They asked me to drop the startups and build chips for observation satellites.

Espionage.

Observation. Checking out whats going on with your rivals is called espionage. But there is also early warning and deterrence.

Isnt that a career mistake working for the Defense Ministry instead of the private market?

Yes. But they said it was a Zionist need, so I agreed, just as I served in Golani [infantry brigade]. It wasnt exactly a startup. I was asked, alongside my work in the Technion, to do what I knew how to do anyway: to take regular computers and turn them into space computers.

Strategic restrictions

Isnt it cheaper to buy such things from the Americans? They know a thing or two about space.

The Americans impose export restrictions on everything that is in some way security-related. And those are strategic restrictions. In other words, you dont get it for free. You need to give something in return. You need to behave nicely and ask permission. You can use American products only for purposes that the Americans allow.

We dont want to be told what to do. Its important to have blue-and-white technology of this sort, for Israel to be independent in space. So I gathered a few students and colleagues of mine and we started to look into the subject. We saw what was done in other places and we realized that we could manufacture a better chip.

You already had the recipe.

Yes, but there is an Israeli way. Because there is no money. If youre poor, you have to go about it very carefully. We cant build a special chip for every type of satellite. Whats needed is one chip that will be good for all the missions, a universal chip. We built a first chip and we checked [its functioning in the presence of intense radiation] it at the Nahal Sorek nuclear research center. During the initial testing it came out fine. The Defense Ministry told me, Well done, now youll make us real computers. Well, the Technion is not the place for that the Technion doesnt sell products. We needed a company. So we founded Ramon.Space in 2003.

At first you were known as Ramon Chips.

Because at first we were paranoid. The Ramon is clear: It was right after [Israeli astronaut] Ilan Ramon was killed. And the Chips because we manufacture chips, but we didnt want people to know what we were really doing, namely, making chips for space. Afterward it turned out that the best way to protect yourself is for everyone to know exactly what youre doing. You dont want the Americans saying that you concealed information from them. Thats why we switched to Ramon.Space [in 2019].

Every year we still fly to one of the big conferences in America and say, Here, please, this is what we do, theres none of your technology here, so we are not subject to your export laws. Very quickly we understood that the Israelis are not the only ones who wanted independence. The Europeans also dont want to be subject to the Americans strategic umbrella. Thats why they prefer to buy from us.

Dont the Germans have their own computer manufacturers?

In the field of chips that are durable in space, there are the American companies, and besides that there are three or four more players in the world. The European projects are government-sponsored, heavy and ponderous. They just tried to copy from the Americans. We thought that as long as were building a space chip anyway, we might as well build the best chip in the world.

There are 5,000 people in Israel who know how to build chips better than all the Europeans combined. We have a magnificent chip industry, in part thanks to the Intel plant that was built here in 1974, and also because many of the Israelis who were working in Silicon Valley returned to Israel. So we established a private chip company, and we did it with the best human capital there is. We built a super-duper chip here, one that is a whole computer. Its still considered the best and most durable chip of its kind. Thanks to it, weve gotten to places Id never imagined.

Hayabusa2, for example.

For example. Its true that the development of the first chip was intended for security applications, but not everyone sends up satellites to spy on their adversaries. There are also observation satellites that check whether crop irrigation is effective, or where sandstorms that start in the Sahara end up. And there are satellites that look outward, into space. There are also orbiters and probes and landers that are launched into remote space. And they all need chips. And before I knew it, Im told that Im on Hayabusa2.

For readers who dont follow space exploration news, the Japanese space agencys Hayabusa2 (the word means Peregrine falcon in Japanese) is one of the most ambitious space projects of recent years. In 2018, four years after its launch, the spacecraft rendezvoused with the asteroid Ryugu at a distance of 280 million kilometers (174 million miles) from Earth, or about twice the distance between Earth and the sun. This particular asteroid was chosen for two reasons: It is liable to collide with our planet one day and to wipe out humanity; and it contains metals such as cobalt and nickel worth $82 billion (in the estimation of the website asterank.com), which human beings might want to mine one day.

On October 3, 2018, Hayabusa2 deployed a mobile surface scout, built by the German Aerospace Center and called MASCOT, to the surface of the asteroid. MASCOT photographed the ancient gravel and measured the refracted light spectrum, the radiation and the magnetic properties of the asteroid all of it operated by a computer made by Ramon.Space.

At the same time, the Hayabusa2 mother ship bombarded the asteroid with a projectile, and collected the dust that rose from its surface. Hayabusa2 left Ryugu last November and this December will parachute to Earth a capsule containing the precious stardust. MASCOT and its Israeli-made processor will remain idle on the asteroids primeval surface .

Your computer will remain on Ryugu forever. As long as the solar system is here, and as long as the sun doesnt turn into a red giant [star], your chip is out there.

Unless someone volunteers to go there and bring it back. Theyd be welcome. I have one on the moon, too, in Beresheet referring to the Israeli lander that crashed on the lunar surface in April 2019.

How do you feel about your place in space?

Wonderful. Its the farthest any Israeli product has reached. No other Israeli product has gone farther. And next year were going to outdo even that, with JUICE, the European Space Agencys JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer. It will be flying with our computers to three moons of Jupiter in order to search for microorganisms beneath the surface. Listen, these scientific applications arent where the business lies they buy a chip here, a chip there. The real money is in communications and observation satellites. But nothing is more exciting than pure science. Do you know whats like to come to a school and tell the children that an Israeli space computer is on an asteroid? Theyre thrilled, Im thrilled, its an extraordinary feeling.

Proton troubles

What is the difference between a space computer and a regular computer why not simply send a Lenovo laptop to the sun, or an Intel processor to an asteroid? Because computers in space, like people in space, are exposed to a lethal, two-headed monster: solar radiation and cosmic radiation.

Ginosar: Solar radiation, or solar wind, is a stream of charged particles, which is serious trouble. Not because it comes from the sun, but because it gets stuck in two belts in Earths magnetic field, the Van Allen belts. The inner belt is packed with protons and the outer belt is packed with electrons. Both of them short-circuit the system [when it passes through them]. Do you remember how Beresheet stopped and did a reset? That was because it was hit by a proton from the Van Allen belt.

So what do you do [if that happens]?

Pray. We pass through quickly and carefully, and turn off the electricity where its not needed. A short cant happen if we turn off the electricity. But thats the lesser problem. Those are two belts that we have to get through. Whats truly lethal is cosmic radiation from interstellar space. Its not just particles, its heavy ions, the heaviest. Uranium. Gold. And they move at tremendous speed, close to the speed of light. Where do they come from? From the most violent cosmic events: supernovas [the explosion of massive stars], collisions with neutron stars, mergers of black holes.

Earths magnetic field protects us only partially from cosmic radiation. When a particle like that strikes an animal, it tears the DNA, so you have a mutation. A mutation can lead to evolution, but also to cancer. We are all exposed to these particles all the time, no matter where we hide. When an ion strikes an electronic product, it causes a power surge. The damage can be temporary, meaning a mistake in calculation, or permanent the component can be burned.

How often is a spacecraft likely to be hit by a particle like that in space?

It could be measured in days or seconds. Its a matter of luck, but in the end it reaches you. Thats why in many satellites resources are wasted on double systems. You can make systems redundant at the level of the individual transistor, at the level of the chip, at the level of the whole computer and at the level of the whole spacecraft. Some will say: I will not send one satellite, I will send three and one will survive, but with our chip you dont need to send three.

What makes your chip durable?

We built the silicon cells in the chip so that they would be immune to radiation damage, and instead of physical redundancy we added mechanisms of calculation redundancy: algorithms that bypass the errors caused by exposure to radiation. Of course, the larger and more sophisticated the computer, the more acute the problem becomes. In the past, there had to be a simple controller for the camera in an observation satellite and for the antenna in a communications satellite. But a late-generation communications satellite serves 10,000 iPhones, so it needs 10,000 times as much calculating power than a single iPhone has. The demand today is for supercomputers that will also be durable in space.

To date, Ramon.Space has been financed primarily by the Defense Ministry, and by the Office of the Chief Scientist and the Israel Space Agency, which are both parts of the Science and Technology Ministry.

Israel generally invests in startups through the Innovation Authority, explains Avi Blasberger, the ISAs director general. The one difference is that investment in space companies go through the ISA. We are trying to promote this industry, and in the end the state benefits from the transactions involving these companies.

At present, Ramon.Space, which has a staff of only 20, is trying to lift off with a new product not just a space processor to operate simple systems such as steering and cameras, but a 64-core digital signal processor that can process information independently and make decisions in real time namely, by using artificial intelligence or machine learning. By comparison, a new computer on Earth comes with a 2-core or 4-core processor. The aim: to charge ahead with the new multicore processor for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars for observation and communications satellites and to gain control of the future and futuristic markets of New Space.

To that end, the Ramonauts launched a campaign to raise capital, in Israel and abroad, targeting private funds. In late 2019, Grove Ventures, whose managing partner is Israeli tech entrepreneur and investor Dov Moran, decided to invest in Ramon.Space one of the VC funds few investments in an Israeli space startup.

We decided to invest in a company that has proved itself, Moran said, which has developed and manufactured many chips that have taken part in dozens of space missions and is proud that all of them are continuing to operate.

Moran also brought Ramon.Space its new CEO, Avi Shabtai. Dov understands that space is the next big thing in tech, Shabtai said.

'Dramatic changes'

People have been promising that space was the next big thing ever since I went to after-school science enrichment programs. For years weve been hearing about space tourism and asteroid mining and orbiting colonies, but were all still here. What has changed?

Shabtai: Space tourism and asteroid mining are for the distant future. We are talking about building private space infrastructures to network Earth. Even governments are starting to use civilian infrastructures to utilize these services. That is an amazing change. Who would have believed that NASA would agree to launch its own astronauts in the spacecraft of a private company [the launch of a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a rocket of Elon Musks SpaceX company]?

The new industry could create dramatic changes on Earth, which are hard even to predict. I will give you an example. We at Ramon.Space announced that we want to provide computing infrastructures in order to take cloud computing into space. And the fact is that just a few days ago, Amazon Web Services also appointed someone to set up a team for cloud computing in space.

What is cloud computing in space?

It refers to information networks based on in satellites. A satellite talks to another satellite and they process data, whether its data collected in space or on Earth. Humanity is creating information on an unprecedented scale. Until now all the information was downloaded to Earth and processed here. That takes time and demands resources. We want to do all the processing in space. And for that, a powerful space processor is needed a supercomputer.

What is the advantage of this kind of flying server farm over a server farm in Finland?

To begin with, every point on Earth can be covered, even if it doesnt have an internet infrastructure. And Im not just talking about some village in Africa. Drive an hour from Silicon Valley and youll get to communities where the people make a very good living, but they dont have internet infrastructure. They cant talk on Zoom the way you and I are doing now, and they cant avail themselves of Netflixs streaming services. And besides that, there is a great deal of information that is collected in space that does not necessarily have to be returned to Earth.

Take commercial observation satellites. Someone is prepared to pay for an image of a specific place on Earth, but suddenly clouds appear. Today the client doesnt know that the picture is covered with clouds; he waits for hours until he can download the image and only then does he see that there are clouds. But imagine a different situation. The photo is taken and sent to a data center located in space that processes it immediately and says: Find a different angle, send a different satellite or just wait an hour until the sky clears up.

The director of NASA estimates that the space economy is already generating a turnover of $383 billion a year more than the entire Israeli economy and the U.S. treasury secretary estimates that this will grow to trillions by the end of the decade. But most people on Earth are not part of this game: Its unlikely that our readers have ever bought a photograph from an observation satellite.

Not true. Look how GPS changed our lives. A taxi driver doesnt care if the image he gets comes from a cluster of satellites he wants to navigate with two clicks without needing a map. The New Space revolution ensures that we will have the ability to receive additional, sophisticated services, without necessarily knowing that they come from space. The space economy makes use of space, but at the end of the day its $400 billion paid in Earth money. Who knows what apps will be developed when we have an infrastructure of cloud computing from space, artificial intelligence from space or internet from space?

Dont your high-tech friends raise an eyebrow every time you say from space?

They did at first. But the embarrassment can be overcome with a few success stories. There are so many startups that are not credible, that are selling dreams. I can sit with a friend and tell him that our technology is in a spacecraft that reached the sun, in another one that is orbiting Mars and in a third one that landed on an asteroid. How many people can say that?

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The Israeli company that has come as close as possible to the sun - Haaretz.com

Astronomers found a bunch of ancient stars displaced by our galaxy – BGR

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Danzig

The Milky Way galaxy is pretty chill. Compared to some of the galaxies that astronomers have observed, our home galaxy is relatively calm, for lack of a better term. Its not slamming into another galaxy or chewing through blobs of dust and gas. Its just kind of hanging out and doing its thing or at least thats the case right now. In the past, however, researchers now have evidence that the Milky Way was a bit of a bully.

As a new study in Nature explains, a whole bunch of ancient stars was just discovered hanging out at the fringe of our galaxy, and scientists believe its the leftover remains of a collection of stars that was shredded by the Milky Way a long, long time ago.

This isnt the first time a collection of stars has been discovered orbiting our galaxy. In fact, researchers know of well over 100 such clusters, but what makes this one particularly interesting is the age of the stars themselves. Based on their observations, the researchers believe that the stars are ancient and that our galaxy tore their original structure apart over two billion years ago.

Once we knew which stars belonged to the stream, we measured their abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium; something astronomers refer to as metallicity, Zhen Wan, lead author of the study, said in a statement. We were really surprised to find that the Phoenix Stream has a very low metallicity, making it distinctly different to all of the other globular clusters in the Galaxy.

This low metallicity suggests the stars are incredibly old, since the earliest stars had only hydrogen and helium with which to form. Metals came later, so the amount of metal in a star can be used to age it. Based on this, the researchers believe they are the last of their kind, at least in this particular cosmic neighborhood.

We can trace the lineage of stars by measuring the different types of chemical elements we detect in them, much like we can trace a persons connection to their ancestors through their DNA, Dr. Kyler Kuehn of Lowell Observatory explains. The most interesting thing about the remains of this cluster is that its stars have much lower abundance of these elements than any others we have seen. Its almost like finding someone with DNA that doesnt match any other person, living or dead. That leads to some very interesting questions about the clusters history that were missing.

Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering breaking news and trends in VR, wearables, smartphones, and future tech. Most recently, Mike served as Tech Editor at The Daily Dot, and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and countless other web and print outlets. His love ofreporting is second only to his gaming addiction.

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Astronomers found a bunch of ancient stars displaced by our galaxy - BGR

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