tag > Health
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‘The new normal’: China’s excessive coronavirus public monitoring could be here to stay
Experts say the coronavirus has given the Chinese government a pretext for accelerating the mass surveillance: “Intrusive surveillance is already the ‘new normal’. The question for China is what, if any, is a level of surveillance that the population refuses to tolerate,” said Stuart Hargreaves, an associate professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s law school.
Coronavirus forces Europe to confront China dependency (SCMP)
Mounting supply chain problems are fuelling arguments for greater independence from Beijing's manufacturing might. Outbreak has already caused Chinese exports to plummet, falling by 17.2 per cent in January-February compared with a year ago.
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Snake oil is a euphemism for deceptive marketing. Many 19th-century US and European entrepreneurs advertised and sold mineral oil as "snake oil liniment", making frivolous claims about its efficacy as a panacea. Fat extracted from the Chinese water snake has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for many centuries, and is a common medication prescribed by doctors.
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Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Set to Begin This Month (Bloomberg)
Moderna's Stock Price Human studies of Moderna Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine are set to begin this month, positioning it to be first among a host of shots that companies are developing to fight the contagion. The Moderna product is moving very rapidly and will enter human trials “within a couple of weeks,” said Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a group overseeing development of shots against deadly infections. The estimated start of a trial of Moderna’s vaccine is March 19, according to a U.S. government website.
Moderna Inc. (Wikipedia)
From Investor Presentation and R&D Presentation Moderna, Inc. is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company that is focused on drug discovery and drug development based on messenger RNA (mRNA). The company creates synthetic mRNA that can be injected into patients to help them create their own therapies. In October 2013, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Moderna a grant worth up to $24.6 million to research and develop its mRNA drug technology to fight infectious diseases and biological weapons.
Darpa Cranks Up Antibody Research to Stall Coronavirus (Wired)
Antibodies are proteins that the immune system creates to remove viruses and other foreign objects from the body. Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s own immune system to produce antibodies against an invading virus. Currently, there is no vaccine that can be used against the virus that causes Covid-19, although drug companies like Johnson & Johnson and Cambridge-based Moderna are working on developing them
DARPA Races To Create a "Firebreak" Treatment for the Coronavirus (Spectrum IEEE)
When DARPA launched its Pandemic Preparedness Platform (P3) program two years ago, the pandemic was theoretical. It seemed like a prudent idea to develop a quick response to emerging infectious diseases. Researchers working under the program sought ways to confer instant (but short-term) protection from a dangerous virus or bacteria. Today, as the novel coronavirus causes a skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases around the world, the researchers are racing to apply their experimental techniques to a true pandemic playing out in real time.
Moderna (MRNA:US) Shareholders
Institutional investors purchased a net $16.2 million shares of MRNA during the quarter ended June 2019. This may signal that the smart money is gaining interest in this company as the 37.48% of shares outstanding that institutional investors hold is actually below the Biotechnology industry average.
Moderna CEO: Stéphane Bancel (videos) @sbancel
Stéphane Bancel has served as Moderna's Chief Executive Officer since October 2011 and as a member of Moderna’s board of directors since March 2011. Before joining the Company, Mr. Bancel served for five years as Chief Executive Officer of the French diagnostics company bioMérieux SA.
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Improved CRISPR gene drive solves problems of old tech (Cornell University, March 2020)
Gene drives use genetic engineering to create a desired mutation in a few individuals that then spreads via mating throughout a population in fewer than 10 generations. Now, a Cornell study, "A Toxin-Antidote CRISPR Gene Drive System for Regional Population Modification," published Feb. 27 in the journal Nature Communications, describes a new type of gene drive with the potential to delay resistance.
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"We have tested SARS-CoV-2 isolated from a patient and found that camostat mesilate blocks entry of the virus into lung cells," says Markus Hoffmann, the lead author of the study. Camostat mesilate is a drug approved in Japan for use in pancreatic inflammation. "Our results suggest that camostat mesilate might also protect against COVID-19," says Markus Hoffmann. "This should be investigated in clinical trials."
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Lenovo, Intel, BGI Genomics team up on viral genome analysis
Technology and life science healthcare experts from Intel and Lenovo will work together to support BGI researchers with big data analytical technologies and computing resources, so as to further advance the capabilities of its sequencing tools, and more effectively analyze the genomic characteristics of the novel coronavirus.
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Study Finds More Younger American Adults are Being Diagnosed With Alzheimer's (ibx.com)
The 5 years between 2013 and 2017 saw a 200% increase in the number of commercially-insured Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or early-onset dementia between the ages of 30 to 64. "While the underlying cause is not clear, advances in technology are certainly allowing for earlier and more definitive diagnosis," says the Blue Cross.
#Comment: Keep on pumping airwaves (WiFi, 5G, etc.) and stomachs (Fastfood, etc.) with more and more toxic junk, it's clearly working wonders for profits of wallstreet & billionaire.
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Malaysia 1MDB fugitive Jho Low spotted in Wuhan: Police (alt)
A fugitive Malaysian financier wanted over a massive graft scandal has been spotted in the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, police said, although it was unclear if he had left before Chinese authorities imposed a lockdown. Low Taek Jho - known as Jho Low - is accused of playing a major role in plundering billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
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In locked down Wuhan, teachers use an app called DingTalk to set homework. Kids realised if it got enough one-star reviews it would be removed from App Store. Thousands of reviews flooded in, and DingTalk’s rating fell from 4.9 to 1.4 overnight. Legends. (via)
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Righteous, the world should thank China (xinhuanet) (google translate)
"If China retaliates against the United States at this time, in addition to announcing a travel ban on the United States, it will also announce strategic control over medical products and ban exports to the US. Then the United States will be caught in the ocean of new corona viruses. "
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The Human Genome Is Full of Viruses - The body requires viruses, viruses don’t require a body.
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Discovering the Brain’s Nightly “Rinse Cycle” - by Dr. Francis Collins
Getting plenty of deep, restful sleep is essential for our physical and mental health. Now comes word of yet another way that sleep is good for us: it triggers rhythmic waves of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that appear to function much like a washing machine’s rinse cycle, which may help to clear the brain of toxic waste on a regular basis. The video above uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take you inside a person’s brain to see this newly discovered rinse cycle in action. First, you see a wave of blood flow (red, yellow) that’s closely tied to an underlying slow-wave of electrical activity (not visible). As the blood recedes, CSF (blue) increases and then drops back again. Then, the cycle—lasting about 20 seconds—starts over again.
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The Rich Are Preparing for Coronavirus Differently (NYTimes) - "Concierge doctors, yachts, chartered planes and germ-free hideaways."
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How to take advantage of Coronavirus - by Stop Zona-M
Apart from its embarrassing fragility, and even ignoring environmental issues, the main products of the current economy are, in many parts of the world, increasing inequality, precariousness and stress levels. Too many people live as hamsters in a wheel, and what for?
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‘Pandemic’ on Netflix: How to Prevent an Outbreak
From this seemingly never-ending news cycle to the results of the Event 201 simulation, it seems like everything having to do with the Coronavirus outbreak is plagued with uncertainty. But there is one, definite historical event people are pointing to explain their concern about how a global outbreak may happen: the 1918 flu. If you’re looking for a deep dive into this previously little discussed bout of mass disease, look no further than Netflix’s chilling docuseries Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak. (Trailer)
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German late capitalist masters forbid their slaves to wear protective masks
The employees of the Duty Free-Shops at the Berliner Airport wanted to wear face masks due to the corona virus infection risk. Their employer said it was forbidden to wear masks. So the employees had to go to court and sue for their right to protect themself, which was granted by the employer just hours before the court date. A great story illustrating the madness of late capitalism in rapidly collapsing western societies, characterised by the combination of extreme arrogance with systemic stupidity.
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In Coronavirus Fight, China Gives Citizens a Color Code, With Red Flags (NYTimes)
The QR code inside the Alipay app. Green is good, and allows the holder to travel freely. As China encourages people to return to work despite the coronavirus outbreak, it has begun a bold mass experiment in using data to regulate citizens’ lives — by requiring them to use software on their smartphones that dictates whether they should be quarantined or allowed into subways, malls and other public spaces. It also appears to share information with the police, setting a template for new forms of automated social control that could persist long after the epidemic subsides.
#Comment: Rest assured, NSA & co have been implementing similar cybernetic social control systems for quite some time - just with the added "freedom and democracy" PR packaging.
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A case study of three people who massively overdosed on LSD
A pair of Canadian researchers, one with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the other Vancouver Coastal Health, has made headlines with a case study of three people who accidentally massively overdosed on LSD, The study appears in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. The researchers, Mark Haden and Birgitta Woods, were most surprised by the unexpectedly positive outcomes.
