Lifeboat Foundation

Innovation sneaks up on us: There’s a new DNA test that detects more illnesses, earlier.

The papers appear to feature the same pictures as others, raising doubts about the checks on scientific research, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Authorities in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia have issued an early epidemic warning after a resident contracted bubonic plague.

Bubonic plague, known as the ‘Black Death’ in the Middle Ages, is one of the most devastating diseases in history, having killed around 100million people in the 14th century.

Continue reading “Chinese city issues epidemic warnings for the PLAGUE” »

Kate Rubins, the first Napa native to go to space, is entering the final three months of preparation for her return trip to the International Space Station where she served four years ago.

Starting Oct. 14 and continuing for about six months, her schedule will be replete with scientific work 250 miles above the Earth, dealing with materials ranging from supercold gases to stem cells. And unlike during her first stay in 2016, Rubins expects to get to work quickly, without the awkward introduction to moving about in microgravity.

“As a rookie you’re not so good at navigating and flying through the space station, so you tend to crawl hand over hand on the handrails,” the biochemist-turned-space traveler quipped during a NASA news conference last week in Houston, while recalling her original 115-day stint aboard the orbiting space platform.

Once an ecosystem is disturbed, restoring it can be difficult. And when the disturbed ecosystem is a patient’s microbiome, restoring the patient to health can be even more difficult. Just one ecosystem element that proliferates or diminishes beyond bounds may throw multiple elements into disarray, creating a dysbiosis that resists simple remedies.

Because a patient’s microbiome consists of interacting elements—including elements that extend beyond the microbiome itself—these elements cannot be seen in isolation. Rather, they are dynamic parts of a systemic whole. Touch any one of them, and the effects of doing so may ripple outward in unpredictable ways—unless the elements and their interactions are thoroughly understood.

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Continue reading “Translational Microbiomics Offsets Ecological Disruptions” »

As the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic mounts, scientists worldwide continue their push to develop effective treatments and a vaccine for the highly contagious respiratory virus.

University of South Florida Health (USF Health) Morsani College of Medicine scientists recently worked with colleagues at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy to identify several existing compounds that block replication of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) within human cells grown in the laboratory. The inhibitors all demonstrated potent chemical and structural interactions with a viral protein critical to the virus’s ability to proliferate.

The research team’s drug discovery study appeared June 15 in Cell Research, a high-impact Nature journal.

Our K-9 Shadow Vest keeps man’s best friend safe from harm while in the line of duty. Utilizing the latest DuPont™ Kevlar® technologies, the NIJ IIIA ballistic panels in this vest are lightweight, durable, and provide the highest level of bulletproof protection available in soft body armor. This vest is guaranteed to provide maximum coverage of the dog’s vital organs, including the sides, chest, abdomen, and back. Designed with agility and mobility in mind, the Shadow K9 Vest provides optimal comfort, without hindering performance. The customizable buckles and reinforced Velcro adjustment points ensure that the vest will fit securely and properly. Once fitted, only one discrete zipper is needed for quicker donning and doffing.

Very interesting.

New UCLA research conducted in mice could explain why some people suffer more extensive scarring than others after a heart attack. The study, published in the journal Cell, reveals that a protein known as type 5 collagen plays a critical role in regulating the size of scar tissue in the heart.

Once formed, heart scar tissue remains for life, reducing the heart’s ability to pump blood and adding strain to the remaining heart muscle. People who develop larger scars have a higher risk of heart rhythm problems, heart failure and sudden cardiac death.

Continue reading “How the body regulates scar tissue growth after heart attacks” »

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According to the study in PNAS, the ultra-thin yet strong material acts as a barrier that mosquitoes can’t bite through. The graphene also blocks chemical signals mosquitoes use to sense that a blood meal is near, blunting their urge to bite in the first place.