This is big. Long-term follow-up of those who got vax-related myocarditis, It was found that in those where a cardiac MRI was obtained, 2/3 were found to have abnormalities, and a year later, 58% of those still had late gadolinium enhancement, which is a sign of myocardial dysfunction, heart failure and sudden cardiac death. This study was done in Hong Kong, where the Sinovac and Pfier vax products were available, and it is not clear which vax was given to these patients. Someone should do a similar study here. This could explain why we are seeing so many sudden deaths.
You can't drink or smoke marijuana in public. But fentanyl or meth? That's OK.
Only on conservative media will you learn that the FBI is targeting Catholics. Why? These are the supposed reasons:
- Harboring disdain for Pope Francis.
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Rejecting the theological precepts of the Second Vatican Council.
- Criticizing pro-choice advocates on Twitter.
Is this something the FBI needs to be involved in?
Oregon legalized medical marijuana in 1998, and in 2015 it legalized recreational use, yet policymakers still know relatively little about the impact of the latter. A recent study by Oregon State University researchers and others shows that cannabis use has increased among college-aged Americans in states that legalized recreational use.
Cannabis use disorder (defined as users having difficulty stopping or having marijuana use control their lives) stayed the same among college students – at 10%. But rates increased among non-college participants from 12% to 15%.
Zoom is crazy. They reserve rights to train on your sessions, but say they won't without your permission. However, permission is at the level of agreeing to join the sesssion, or quitting. In other words, if other if the meeting goes on, someone agreed to give Zoom permission to use the video session. Better not discuss anything confidential.
Scientists can use reporter bacteria to detect the presence of tumor DNA. Acinetobacter baylyi can perform horizontal gene transfer with foreign DNA that it encounters (like tumor DNA) and incorporates into its own chromosome. By designing primers for the KRAS gene, with a tetR repressor between the primers, the bacteria performs the transfer with KRAS genes from tumor cells that it encounters. A CRISPR-Cas effector complex, called Cascade, will degrade unmutated KRAS and the cell will die, but will not touch the mutated KRAS. Since the tetR repressor is no longer in place, the bacteria activates an output gene, which in this case conferred kanamycin resistance. Therefore, the appearance of bacteria thriving on kanamycin impregnated petri dishes indicates the presence of the target gene. Nice!
Speaking of gene transfer, brain cells can communicate by transferrring mRNA to each other. Is that crazy, or what? The special Cre mRNA is enclosed in brain-derived extracellular vesicles (bdEVs). We're learning more each day.
In other neuroscience developments, the center for libido in male mice is in the preoptic area of the hypothalamus. Stimulating it with Substance P really makes them horny.
Capitalism works! Providence nurses score a 26% raise in salary. Good for them, but hospitals will suffer even more. It shows you how difficult it is to hire more nurses in Portland. The situation seems to be different for doctors, however. They have no political power and are less mobile than nurses, and not as able to just quit and live off their spouses income. Nearly all are just employees of large organizations, so the most they can usually do is jump from one org to another.
Texas judge gets the FDA to admit that doctors have the ability to prescribe ivermectin if they feel it is the best for their patients. This probably won't change anything in blue states just yet. If you prescribe IVM in Oregon or Washington, you might still get in trouble with the medical boards.