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May 9, 2020

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Intravenous Immunoglobulin Treatment in Children With Kawasaki Disease

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, policy

To determine the long-term cost-benefit of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in Children with Kawasaki Disease (KD), a model was made to compare the total cost for management of these children with and without the use of IVIG. Long-term (10−21 years) follow-up of 594 KD patients treated in the pre-IVIG era reported by Kato, et al. was used to calculate cost using previous cost studies from Chulalongkorn Hospital. Reduction of CAA from 25 per cent to 4 per cent with IVIG treatment was assumed based on previous published data. Total cost was slightly lower for the non-IVIG treatment group compared to the IVIG treatment group (33,451,129 baht vs 35,001,195 baht) for the duration of follow-up in Kato’s model. Cost per effectiveness analysis showed more effectiveness in the IVIG treatment group (359,576 baht vs 383,614 baht). Net cost analysis similarly demonstrated lower costs in the IVIG treatment group (25,365,215 baht vs 33,451,129 baht). Incremental cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated supplementary costs of 13,663 baht for one case in the reduction of coronary involvement and 387,517 baht for one life saved in the IVIG-treated group. Estimation of total costs for follow-up and treatment for healthy life (until 60 years old) was more expensive in the non-IVIG treatment than the IVIG treated group (75,482,803 baht vs 29,883,833 baht). The authors conclude that treatment of all KD cases in Thailand with IVIG is likely to result in lower cost and better outcome when compared to no treatment with the IVIG policy.

May 9, 2020

Nuclear fusion scientists just solved a major problem in harnessing plasma hotter than the Sun

Posted by in categories: innovation, nuclear energy

Circa 2018 face_with_colon_three


Jong-Kyu Park and colleagues predicted a set of distortions that could control ELMs without any additional instabilities. They then tested these distortions at the Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR)—a ring-shaped magnetic fusion confinement device. Their experiments worked.

“We show for the first time the full 3D field operating window in a tokamak to suppress ELMs without stirring up core instabilities or excessively degrading confinement,” Park said. “For a long time we thought it would be too computationally difficult to identify all beneficial symmetry-breaking fields, but our work now demonstrates a simple procedure to identify the set of all such configurations.”

Continue reading “Nuclear fusion scientists just solved a major problem in harnessing plasma hotter than the Sun” »

May 9, 2020

Coronavirus vaccine update: List of countries that are closest to finding a treatment

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

Five months into the global outbreak, the world is racing against time to prepare a vaccine for coronavirus. Trials are underway in laboratories across the world with several companies and governments doubling their efforts to find a permanent cure for the deadly virus. World leaders and organisations, except the United States, have already pledged $8 billion to research, manufacture and distribute a possible vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 apart from the individual efforts taken by the countries and its pharmaceutical firms. We take a look at what are the major developments of the coronavirus vaccine happening across the globe.

ALSO READ:Coronavirus: Google announces May 22 as company holiday to tackle WFH burnout.

May 9, 2020

Vitamin D appears to play role in COVID-19 mortality rates

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

After studying global data from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have discovered a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates.

Led by Northwestern University, the research team conducted a statistical analysis of data from hospitals and clinics across China, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States.

The researchers noted that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates, such as Italy, Spain and the UK, had lower levels of D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected.

May 9, 2020

Written And Directed By: Artificial Intelligence

Posted by in categories: media & arts, robotics/AI

As impossible as it seems, it won’t be long before artificial intelligence is writing and creating films. As a lead up to this eventuality, here is a list of just some of the creative endeavors that AI has already accomplished:

• It is now a simple matter for AI to create new paintings after being shown a number of examples in a particular genre. For example, one AI computer was given hundreds of samples of 17th-century “Old Master” style paintings and was asked to create its own paintings. One of the paintings it came up with is titled “Portrait of Edmond De Belamy” and sold for a whopping $432,500 at a Christie’s auction.

Continue reading “Written And Directed By: Artificial Intelligence” »

May 9, 2020

How Decoherence Splits The Quantum Multiverse

Posted by in categories: cosmology, education, neuroscience, quantum physics

Education Saturday with Space Time.


Why is it that we can see these multiple histories play out on the quantum scale, and why do lose sight of them on our macroscopic scale? Many physicists believe that the answer lies in a process known as quantum decoherence.

Continue reading “How Decoherence Splits The Quantum Multiverse” »

May 9, 2020

This Insane New Electric Motorcycle Was Made Using 3D-Printed Titanium Parts

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, sustainability, transportation

Straight from the year 2029.

May 9, 2020

The Pentagon’s Flying Aircraft Carriers Are Launching Recoverable Gremlin Drones

Posted by in categories: drones, military

The future of air combat?

By Sebastien Roblin

May 9, 2020

Where you can see the new Starlink satellites in the sky tonight

Posted by in category: satellites

If you missed the previous set, you’ll be able to view more satellites in the sky over the weekend.

May 9, 2020

Two more children die of rare illness linked to coronavirus: Cuomo

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

The toddlers who died were being treated for symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, a mysterious and rare ailment, but have now tested positive for COVID-19.