Lifeboat Foundation

Partnership will use diagnostic imaging tools to explore health issues associated with microgravity, and apply this knowledge to patients on Earth.

The French Society of Radiology (SFR) and the country’s national centre for space exploration (CNES) have signed a partnership, details of which were streamed live at the Journées Francophones de Radiologie (JFR) congress on 4 October. The aim is to develop imaging solutions to be sent on space flights and to collaborate on image collection and optimization, teleradiology and training of astronauts.

France has the largest space program in Europe and the third oldest institutional space programme in history, along with Russia and the US. CNES, which has a long track record in space exploration, recognizes the great potential of diagnostic imaging for monitoring astronauts’ health while on missions, according to general director Lionel Suchet.

Continue reading “Radiologists and space experts to develop imaging tools for space missions” »

Summary: By fusing a cytokine to a blood protein, researchers have developed a new therapy to help treat multiple sclerosis.

Source: University of Chicago

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that affects millions worldwide, can cause debilitating symptoms for those who suffer from it.

Gadfin, or “wings” in Aramaic—its flagship aircraft hovers like a UAV and folds out wings to fly like a plane—is hoping to connect Israeli hospitals with drone supply networks and has its sights set on providing essential services in remote Third World locations.

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) reportedly paused a clinical trial testing its COVID-19 antibody treatment candidate because of a “potential safety concern.”

The New York Times reported that Eli Lilly’s testing site researchers were notified of the pause by emails sent by government officials (it is a government-sponsored trial) and the company later confirmed it. A spokesperson from the company told The Hill that “Safety is of the utmost importance to Lilly. We are aware that, out of an abundance of caution, the ACTIV-3 independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) has recommended a pause in enrollment.”

Eli Lilly’s trial was comparing its therapy to a placebo, while all study participants also received the experimental drug remdesivir, which has been used in treating COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. The company’s therapeutic uses monoclonal antibodies in an effort to block the virus from infecting cells.

GE Healthcare has received 510k clearance from US FDA for its Ultra Edition package on Vivid cardiovascular ultrasound systems, which come with features based on artificial intelligence (AI) that allows clinicians to get quicker and more exams repeatedly. Although methodical evaluations of heart function are necessary in echocardiography, such evaluations can be time-consuming and difficult to get. Quality acquisition of data and operator skill are essential factors to get precise and thorough exams. Given that patients undergo subsequent monitoring exams, the reproducibility of the exam evaluations is essential to monitoring improvement or progress of the disease.

Flexible spikes

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein enables viral entry into host cells by binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor and is a major target for neutralizing antibodies. About 20 to 40 spikes decorate the surface of virions. Turoňová et al. now show that the spike is flexibly connected to the viral surface by three hinges that are well protected by glycosylation sites. The flexibility imparted by these hinges may explain how multiple spikes act in concert to engage onto the flat surface of a host cell.

Science, this issue p. 203.

Continue reading “In situ structural analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike reveals flexibility mediated by three hinges” »

If Dr. Ken Berry actually meant to say that you need to eat saturated fat for your nerves and brain, he flunks Biochem 101. First of all, your body can make all the saturated fat you need out of carbs and proteins. You don’t need to eat ANY saturated fat. Second, the most common fatty acid in your brain is the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) called DHA, which you DO need to eat, because you can’t make it from non-fats (you need to eat it or EPA in things like seafood, or at least the precursor omega-3 PUFA called ALA in cold-climate plants.) Ironically enough, ALA is common in Canola oil, which Dr. Berry deprecates, but not in the tropical plant oils that he likes. More on that later.

A diet with a lot of saturated fat is NOT the best for the heart. The American Heart Association continues to recommend low saturated fat diets (with the missing sat-fat replaced by mono and polyunsaturated fat, not by carbohydrates) because the evidence from animal and human trials and even properly controlled epidemiology, shows these the best diets (see reference below—an extensive review of meta analyses [1]). Examples are the DASH hypertension diet and the closely-related Mediterranean diet (which has lots of olive oil for monounsaturated fatty acid, and seafood for DHA). If Dr. Berry thinks he has something better than the Mediterranean diet for longevity, what is his direct evidence?

Saturated fat, of course, is used by the body to make cholesterol (you don’t need to eat any cholesterol for this reason), and it does raise cholesterol levels and it does increase atherosclerosis in nearly every controlled prospective experimental model in animals and humans. This is the gold standard of evidence in medicine.

Continue reading “Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association” »

If Dr. Ken Berry actually meant to say that you need to eat saturated fat for your nerves and brain, he flunks Biochem 101. First of all, your body can make all the saturated fat you need out of carbs and proteins. You don’t need to eat ANY saturated fat. Second, the most common fatty acid in your brain is the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) called DHA, which you DO need to eat, because you can’t make it from non-fats (you need to eat it in things like seafood, or at least the precursor omega-3 PUFA called ALA in cold-climate plants.) Ironically enough ALAis common in Canola oil, which Dr. Berry deprecates, but not in the tropical plant oils he likes. More on that later. A diet with a lot of saturated fat is NOT the best for the heart. The American Heart Association continues to recommend low saturated fat diets (with the missing sat-fat replaced by mono and polyunsaturated fat, not by carbohydrates) because the evidence from animal and human trials and even properly controlled epidemiology, shows these the best diets (see reference below–an extensive review of meta analyses [1]). Examples are the DASH hypertension diet and the closely-related Mediterranean diet (which has lots of olive oil for monounsaturated fatty acid, and seafood for DHA). If Dr. Berrythinks he has something better than the Mediterranean diet for longevity, what is his direct evidence? Saturated fat, of course, is used by the body to make cholesterol (you don’t need to eat any cholesterol for this reason), and it does raise cholesterol levels and it does increase atherosclerosis in nearly every controlled prospective experimental model in animals and humans. This is the gold standard of evidence in medicine.

One can go only so far with epidemiology, because occasionally when one bad thing (saturated fat) is heavily replaced for calories by another bad thing (certain carbohydrates) one detects no epidemiologic effect from changing just the first thing.

Continue reading “Which Cooking Oils are Safe? (Which to AVOID)” »

The 2 Gig service is targeting households with heavy internet users who are now forced to work from home due to COVID-19. “So we’re more than a little excited to announce 2 Gig today—bringing even more bandwidth and speed to customers in internet-intensive households who may need more than a gig to do their thing, whatever that may be,” wrote Amalia O’Sullivan, Google Fiber’s director of product management, in the announcement. (That said, upload speeds will remain at 1Gbps.)

Google Fiber is currently looking for subscribers in Nashville, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama, to sign up as testers for the 2 Gig service. The beta will then roll out to other Google Fiber cities in the fall before the official launch. Interested customers can also go to the Google Fiber website to sign up for email updates on the 2Gbps service’s availability.