test Morning Digest: Migrant workers lug crashed hopes en route their homes; ICMR to test for community transmission in 75 districts, and more By www.thehindu.com Published On :: Sun, 10 May 2020 08:27:05 +0530 A select list of stories to read before you start your day Full Article National
test More pvt hosps in Kol seek quick-fire test kits By timesofindia.indiatimes.com Published On :: Sun, 10 May 2020 04:46:00 IST More private hospitals in the city are trying to acquire the advanced GeneXpert point-of-care testing system that can detect coronavirus in 45 minutes or less. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had earlier approved the use of this US-grown rapid molecular diagnostic technology to detect Covid-19. Full Article
test Discharged patient tests positive again By www.thehindu.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 22:55:06 +0530 ‘Earlier, he tested negative thrice’ Full Article Visakhapatnam
test Hydroxychloroquine drug fails another test to prove efficiency in treating COVID-19 By www.dnaindia.com Published On :: Sun, 10 May 2020 02:48:00 GMT The study, however, concluded that HCQ had no potential harm either. Full Article World
test COVID-19 testing capacity scaled to 95k per day: Govt By www.rediff.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 21:43:08 +0530 A total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories. Full Article
test AP villagers protest with dead bodies against LG plant By www.rediff.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 22:19:39 +0530 Emotions ran high as the villagers demanded that the plant be shut down immediately as it completely ruined their lives. Full Article
test Chandigarh: Bapu dham resident tests positive after death, UT sees 21 new cases By indianexpress.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 20:40:20 +0000 Full Article Chandigarh Cities
test Panchkula: Cook at police dept tests positive By indianexpress.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 20:41:45 +0000 Full Article Chandigarh Cities
test UFC cuts bout after fighter tests positive for coronavirus By indianexpress.com Published On :: Sun, 10 May 2020 03:24:27 +0000 Full Article Sport Others Sports
test Earth's North Magnetic Pole Keeps Drifting towards Siberia, Latest World Magnetic Model Shows | Geophysics, Geoscience - Sci-News.com By www.sci-news.com Published On :: Fri, 27 Dec 2019 08:00:00 GMT Earth's North Magnetic Pole Keeps Drifting towards Siberia, Latest World Magnetic Model Shows | Geophysics, Geoscience Sci-News.com Full Article
test Deriving and refining atomic models in crystallography and cryo-EM: the latest Phenix tools to facilitate structure analysis By scripts.iucr.org Published On :: 2019-10-01 Full Article text
test Laboratory tests reveal precise way to measure vertical lift in bumblebees and other small insects and birds By insider.si.edu Published On :: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:01:27 +0000 Birds do it. Bees do it. And in a laboratory in northern California, scientists using bumblebees recently figured out the best way to measure it--vertical lift! The post Laboratory tests reveal precise way to measure vertical lift in bumblebees and other small insects and birds appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Animals Research News Science & Nature animal flight bees birds insects Tropical Research Institute
test Hormone tests show Mei Xiang, the National Zoo’s female giant panda, may be pregnant By insider.si.edu Published On :: Wed, 18 May 2011 17:03:05 +0000 Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo detected a secondary rise in urinary progesterone levels in the Zoo’s female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG). This hormone rise indicates that it should be 40 to 50 days before Mei Xiang either gives birth to a cub or comes to the end of a pseudopregnancy, or false pregnancy, which is common in giant pandas. The post Hormone tests show Mei Xiang, the National Zoo’s female giant panda, may be pregnant appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Animals Research News Science & Nature captive breeding giant panda
test Unlocking the mysteries of Jefferson’s bible with high-tech analysis and microscopic testing By insider.si.edu Published On :: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:27:23 +0000 The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, more commonly known as the Jefferson bible, is a volume created by Thomas Jefferson containing passages he […] The post Unlocking the mysteries of Jefferson’s bible with high-tech analysis and microscopic testing appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Science & Nature Spotlight conservation materials science National Museum of American History
test Male spider’s sexual organs work fastest only when a female breaks them off By insider.si.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:50:44 +0000 In fact, researchers have learned, the detached male pedipalps transfer more sperm faster after copulation is ended by the female rather than the male. The post Male spider’s sexual organs work fastest only when a female breaks them off appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Animals Science & Nature insects National Museum of Natural History spiders
test 5 Reasons the Inka Road is one of the Greatest Achievements in Engineering By insider.si.edu Published On :: Wed, 20 May 2015 18:12:20 +0000 The Inka Empire is one of the greatest civilizations in the Western Hemisphere, spanning from the 13th century until the Spanish invasion in 1532. To […] The post 5 Reasons the Inka Road is one of the Greatest Achievements in Engineering appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Anthropology History & Culture South America technology
test Sirtuin-1 regulates organismal growth by altering feeding behavior and intestinal morphology in planarians [RESEARCH ARTICLE] By jcs.biologists.org Published On :: 2020-04-07T06:45:08-07:00 Benjamin Ziman, Peter Karabinis, Paul Barghouth, and Nestor J. OviedoNutrient availability upon feeding leads to an increase in body size in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. However, it remains unclear how food consumption integrates with cell division at the organismal level. Here we show that Sirtuins is evolutionarily conserved in planarians and specifically demonstrate that Sirtuin-1 (Smed-Sirt-1) regulates organismal growth by impairing both feeding behavior and intestinal morphology. Disruption of Smed-Sirt-1 with either RNAi or pharmacological treatment leads to reduced animal growth. Conversely, enhancement of Smed-Sirt-1 with resveratrol accelerates growth. Differences in growth rates were associated with changes in the amount of time to locate food and overall consumption. Furthermore, Smed-Sirt-1(RNAi) animals displayed reduced cell death and increased stem cell proliferation accompanied by impaired expression of intestinal lineage progenitors and reduced branching of the gut. Altogether, our findings indicate Sirtuin-1 is a crucial metabolic hub capable of controlling animal behavior, tissue renewal and morphogenesis of the adult intestine. Full Article
test Canonical nucleators are dispensable for stress granule assembly in intestinal progenitors [RESEARCH ARTICLE] By jcs.biologists.org Published On :: 2020-04-07T06:45:08-07:00 Kasun Buddika, Ishara S. Ariyapala, Mary A. Hazuga, Derek Riffert, and Nicholas S. SokolStressed cells downregulate translation initiation and assemble membrane-less foci termed stress granules (SGs). Extensively characterized in cultured cells, the existence of such structures in stressed adult stem cell pools remain poorly characterized. Here we report that Drosophila orthologs of mammalian SG components AGO1, ATX2, CAPRIN, eIF4E, FMRP, G3BP, LIN-28, PABP, and TIAR are enriched in adult intestinal progenitor cells where they accumulate in small cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes (mRNPs). Treatment with sodium arsenite or rapamycin reorganized these mRNPs into large cytoplasmic granules. Formation of these intestinal progenitor stress granules (IPSGs) depended on polysome disassembly, led to translational downregulation, and was reversible. While canonical SG nucleators ATX2 and G3BP were sufficient for IPSG formation in the absence of stress, neither of them, nor TIAR, either individually or collectively, were required for stress-induced IPSG formation. This work therefore finds that IPSGs do not assemble via a canonical mechanism, raising the possibility that other stem cell populations employ a similar stress-response mechanism. Full Article
test Protesting segregation at public pools By insider.si.edu Published On :: Tue, 25 Jul 2017 11:43:19 +0000 From lunch counters to bus boycotts, the African American fight for integration and equality touched every aspect of life. What you may not be familiar […] The post Protesting segregation at public pools appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article History & Culture Video civil rights National Museum of African American History and Culture
test El Segundo company named fastest-growing in the U.S. By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:03:28 -0700 Business Update with Mark LacterWhen you look at fast growing private companies in the U.S., you need look no further than a small city next to Los Angeles International Airport. Steve Julian: Business analyst Mark Lacter, tell us about the company that's based in El Segundo. Mark Lacter: It's called Fuhu, Steve - that might ring a bell with some parents because Fuhu is the maker of the Nabi. The Nabi is an Android tablet for kids, and it's a very cool device that mimics a lot of the capabilities of regular tablet, including the ability to play games and get onto the Web (with controls that parents are able to set up). Last year, they sold 1.2 million Nabis, and that helped push the El Segundo company to the very top of Inc. magazine's list of fastest-growing businesses. That's number one on a list of 5,000 companies, with a three-year growth rate of 42,148 percent. Or, to put it another way, company revenue was $279,000 in 2009; it was almost $118 million in 2012. Now, by the standards of an Apple or a Samsung, those are still not huge numbers - Julian: - and maybe that explains why there's been relatively little media coverage of this company. Lacter: It might also explain why local tech companies in general get short shrift. Many of them are quite successful, but they're often on the small side, and they're also privately held as opposed to publicly-traded on a stock exchange. That's one big difference from Silicon Valley, which has so many huge public corporations: Apple, Intel, HP. L.A. County has only six Fortune 500 companies, and not a single one devoted solely to technology. In Silicon Valley, there are 22 in the Fortune 500. Julian: And yet, the L.A. economy has more than held its own without those large corporations. Lacter: Matter of fact, the accounting firm PriceWaterhouse studied more than two dozen cities around the world to determine where it was easiest to do business (that's based on factors like access to labor), and what they found - somewhat surprisingly - was that L.A. ranked ahead of both San Francisco and Tokyo. And, you can see evidence of that with the increase in venture capital money coming into all parts of L.A. Now, it's important to keep an eye on all these up-and-coming companies because these businesses are helping generate higher-wage jobs. And, for an area with a still-high unemployment rate - still over 10 percent in some places -- that's a big deal. Julian: Speaking of companies, does anyone want to buy the L.A. Times? Lacter: The answer is yes - most recently, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, Mark Walter, said he was interested in both the Times and the Chicago Tribune (though there's no way to know whether there are actual discussions taking place). You also have several local groups, including one that involves billionaire Eli Broad, that have been interested to one degree or another. But what was thought would be a fairly straightforward auction process has turned enormously complicated. It's now to the point where the Tribune board has decided spin off the papers into a separate business, and that process will take until next year to complete and could preclude any sales for quite some time after that. Julian: So, it's Limbo-land for the Times for who knows how long. Lacter: Steve, it's not that Tribune really wants to keep the newspapers. But, selling them off presents huge tax implications. Also, there are assets that the potential buyers thought would be part of the package - assets that include real estate - that Tribune wants to hold onto. So, what's left to sell are just the newspapers themselves, and frankly, they're among the least valuable properties. Julian: Now, last week came word that the billionaire Koch brothers, who were believed to be interested in the Tribune properties, decided not to pursue a deal... Lacter: ...that's right, they don't consider the Times or the other dailies to be economically viable. You might recall a bit of an outcry over the prospect of having the Kochs, who are staunch conservatives, becoming the owners of these papers. So, they're out of the picture. But for the L.A. Times, it's really the worst of all worlds: no new owner and no vision for recasting the paper, at least in the near term. Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Century-long Smithsonian experiment tests forest diversity By insider.si.edu Published On :: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 01:19:13 +0000 Tucked into the wooded landscape and rolling hills of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., is a new forest. Six months ago, a […] The post Century-long Smithsonian experiment tests forest diversity appeared first on Smithsonian Insider. Full Article Marine Science Plants Research News Science & Nature Video biodiversity Chesapeake Bay climate change conservation conservation biology insects Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
test Testing of a `hard' X-ray interferometer for experimental investigations By journals.iucr.org Published On :: A new type of X-ray LLL interferometer, a `hard' interferometer, which has both a base and a `ceiling', is tested for experimental investigations. The tested interferometer has no preliminary uncontrollable moiré and can be used for object and deformation investigations. Full Article text
test Building a Better Covid-19 Antibody Test By www.streetwisereports.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 00:00:00 PST Source: Streetwise Reports 05/06/2020 ProMIS is harnessing its unique technology platform to develop a more error-free antibody test.Testing has been an Achilles heel of the coronavirus pandemic, but ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. (PMN:TSX; ARFXF:OTCQB) has partnered with Dr. Hans Frykman and the BC Neuroimmunology Lab to use its unique technology to create a more accurate antibody test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Two main types of tests exist for Covid-19: one that detects the presence of the virus that causes Covid-19, which indicates a person has an active infection, and another that detects antibodies, showing that a person has been exposed to the virus. The first test that was developed, a test for the presence of the virus, is used mainly to confirm diagnosis of Covid-19 in people who are showing symptoms such as a fever, a dry, persistent cough, difficulty breathing, a sense of restriction in the chest. "They are typical signs of Covid-19, but we would want to know if these are signs of the common flu or a bad cold or Covid-19. We know that Covid can progress really significantly very quickly, especially in individuals with underlying conditions," ProMIS CEO Dr. Elliot Goldstein told Streetwise Reports. "The number of tests is limited, but it's not actually the tests themselves but the reagents and systems you need to run the test that are in short supply." "Anytime you conduct a test for the virus and get a negative response, the test indicates only that on that day at that time, the person does not have the virus. The person could have had Covid and recovered, or might have had an asymptomatic or very mild case. Or that person could get the virus tomorrow or in three days," Dr. Goldstein explained. "At any point in time the virus test helps indicate the prevalence of the virushow many people are actually infectedif you test broadly, and at the time you do it, you can determine whether an individual is currently infected or not." The second type of test, called serological tests or assays, is also known as an antibody test. "When a person is recovering from a viral infection, the immune system makes antibodiesalso called immunoglobulinsthat are specific to the virus. They neutralize the virus and help clear it out; that's part of the mechanism of why you get better," Dr. Goldstein explained. One way to see if a person has had Covid is to test for antibodies. "A positive test means you've been exposed to the virus because, in the absence of a vaccine, that's the only way you would have the antibodies. While it's not 100% certain that antibodies neutralize the virus, based on experience with other coronaviruses, it is likely," Dr. Goldstein said. Having the virus neutralized should offer at least some protection against future re-infections. People who have had positive virus tests know that they have Covid or had Covid and recovered, but many people are asymptomatic or may have had what felt like a light cold, and they want to know if they are at risk, or if they have some protection against the disease. "This is really important for frontline healthcare workers, people working 8-10 hours a day in intensive care or the emergency room with patients known to be very sick with Covid-19; even with protective equipment, they have significant exposure to the virus," Dr. Goldstein explained. "If someone has been through the disease and has natural antibodies, they can't infect someone else. What you want to know on an individual level is am I safe from infection and am I safe for other people." Generally, antibody testing is a fairly common procedure, Dr. Goldstein explained. When you spin blood in a centrifuge, it separates into three parts: red blood cells, plasma and serum. Serum is where you find antibodies. "ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a standard test that looks for antibodies, but it is not specific enough for the Covid-19 virus." The challenge is there are multiple coronaviruses. "Four different coronaviruses are responsible for the common cold, and then there are others like SARS and MERS. They all have the same sort of halo or corona of protein around the outside of it," Dr. Goldstein said. "They look like the old naval mines used in war. The whole family of coronaviruses look like that. The amino acid sequences of different coronaviruses are not identical but very similar; they share a lot of common structures. There are only really small differences and you can't really pick them up using the usual physical methods." Studies have shown that up to 90% of individuals in Western countries have been exposed to one or more of the common cold coronaviruses and have antibodies against them. "They look very similar to the coronavirus causing Covid-19. So in Covid-19 antibody tests, the most important thing is it has to be highly specific for the Covid-19 antibodies and doesn't test positive when it identifies a common cold antibody. That is a false positive," said Dr. Goldstein. "It's actually much safer not to have a test that has a lot of false positives because you could base a behavioral decision on faulty information." Dr. Goldstein cited an example. "If you are testing 1,000 people and there is a 90% prevalence for the cold virus, that means around 900 people have antibodies to the common cold. If the prevalence of the Covid-19 virus is 2%, roughly 20 of the 1,000 would have antibodies to the Covid-19 virus. Let's say the serology test has 95% specificity. That means five times out of 100, it will give a false positive, indicating the presence of Covid-19 antibodies when it is really picking up antibodies against the cold virus. What this means is 5% of 900, or 45 people, will test positive for Covid when they have not had it, and are making decisions based on incorrect information. The consequences of being wrong are dramatic and highlight the need for a very good, high-quality serological test." How does this relate to Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases that are ProMIS' core competency? "In Alzheimer's, ALS, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's disease and other neurological disease, we've been able to use our proprietary, unique technology to identify sites on misfolded proteins that are driving these diseases. Our core technology is the capability to understand what's special about the bad proteins that are causing these diseases and then we can make antibodies highly selective against them. Our technology allows us to identify a region, an epitopes target, which is a series of four to six amino acids where the protein has misfolded. Not only do we know where this target site is located, importantly we also determine the shape (conformation) of this site. Proteins like amyloid and alpha synuclein and TDP 43 misfold and when these proteins misfold they become toxic, they kill neurons, resulting in disease," Dr. Goldstein explained. ProMIS has transferred that thinking to the virus causing Covid-19. "The corona is composed of the spiky protein. Remember, we want to be able to distinguish between the coronavirus causing the common cold and the coronavirus causing Covid-19," Dr. Goldstein said. "If we can distinguish between the two, we can have an antibody test that's specific for Covid-19. We are looking at a region of the virus called the receptor binding domain, the RBD, that is part of the spike protein and how it attaches to cells. We have a core competency that allows us to identify sites, and not just the location of the sites, but the shape of the sites on complex protein molecules. That allows us then to use that knowledge to create either antibodies or to create serum tests, or even quite frankly, we can use those targets to create vaccines." Using ProMIS' proprietary technology, the company has been able to "identify a site that we believe is only present on the Covid-19 virus and not on other coronaviruses. We are now initiating the synthesis of several different forms of that site; it's a small area," Dr. Goldstein stated. "That would then transfer to Dr. Hans Frykman's lab at University of British Columbia, a world-class serology lab. Then we will see if the targets we've identified are specific and selective antibodies against Covid-19." When you test the serum of an individual, if they've been exposed to the virus and have the antibodies, "those antibodies should bind selectively and specifically to the target. So if the antibodies from the patient's serum are binding to the target site, we know it's a Covid-19 virus because that site is only visible in that shape on the Covid-19 virus and not the others. For the validation of our test, only in patients known to have had Covid-19 should we see binding of antibodies against Covid-19 to our target. The second validation is based on testing in serum from subjects known to have never been exposed to Covid-19 virussuch subjects have antibodies only from cold or other coronaviruses, and therefore the antibody test should be negative; there should be no binding. So we should only see binding in serum from a patient known to have recovered from COVID-19, and we should not see binding in serum from an individual known not to have been exposed to COVID-19," Dr. Goldstein explained. "Our technology basically allows us to zero in with sniper-like precision on the structure of a protein and understand it, not only the structure overall but the shape of the regions on that protein and then that allows us to identify what is specific to that protein, in this case the spiky protein on the virus causing COVID-19," said Dr. Goldstein. ProMIS expects to have initial results in June. Read what other experts are saying about: ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. Sign up for our FREE newsletter at: www.streetwisereports.com/get-news Disclosure: 1) Patrice Fusillo compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. 2) The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: ProMIS Neurosciences. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 3) Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. 4) The article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. By opening this page, each reader accepts and agrees to Streetwise Reports' terms of use and full legal disclaimer. This article is not a solicitation for investment. Streetwise Reports does not render general or specific investment advice and the information on Streetwise Reports should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Streetwise Reports does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company mentioned on Streetwise Reports. 5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article until three business days after the publication of the interview or article. The foregoing prohibition does not apply to articles that in substance only restate previously published company releases. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of ProMIS, a company mentioned in this article. 6) This article does not constitute medical advice. Officers, employees and contributors to Streetwise Reports are not licensed medical professionals. Readers should always contact their healthcare professionals for medical advice. ( Companies Mentioned: PMN:TSX; ARFXF:OTCQB, ) Full Article PMN:TSX; ARFXF:OTCQB
test Cold War Chemical Tests Over American Cities Were Far Below Dangerous Levels By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 14 May 1997 04:00:00 GMT A series of secret tests conducted by the U.S. Army in the 1950s and 1960s did not expose residents of the United States and Canada to chemical levels considered harmful, according to a new report from a committee of the National Research Council. Full Article
test Polygraph Testing Too Flawed for Security Screening By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 05:00:00 GMT The federal government should not rely on polygraph examinations for screening prospective or current employees to identify spies or other national-security risks because the test results are too inaccurate when used this way. Full Article
test Current Test-Based Incentive Programs Have Not Consistently Raised Student Achievement in U.S. - Improved Approaches Should Be Developed and Evaluated By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 26 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT Despite being used for several decades, test-based incentives have not consistently generated positive effects on student achievement, says a new report from the National Research Council. Full Article
test Biomarker Tests for Molecularly Targeted Therapies Need Better Evidence, Oversight By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 04 Mar 2016 06:00:00 GMT Potentially useful biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies are not being adopted appropriately into clinical practice because of a lack of common evidentiary standards necessary for regulatory, reimbursement, and treatment decisions, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Full Article
test Latest and Final Biennial Review of Health Problems That May Be Linked to Agent Orange Exposure During Vietnam War By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 06:00:00 GMT The latest and final in a series of congressionally mandated biennial reviews of the evidence of health problems that may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War changed the categorization of health outcomes for bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and spina bifida and clarified the breadth of the previous finding for Parkinson’s disease. Full Article
test EngineerGirl Announces 2018 Community Infrastructure Essay Contest Winners By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 15 May 2018 05:00:00 GMT The National Academy of Engineering today announced the winners of its 2018 EngineerGirl essay competition. Full Article
test At-Home DNA Tests Still Need the ‘Human Touch,’ Say Panelists at Genomics Roundtable Workshop By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2019 05:00:00 GMT When Sara Altschule took a 23andMe ancestry test, the results confirmed what she already suspected - She is 77 percent Ashkenazi Jewish. Full Article
test Using Science to Improve Eyewitness Testimony By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT Five years after a landmark National Academies report on eyewitness identification, a lead author reflects on its impact. Full Article
test Spread of COVID 19 Virus from Infected Patients Antibody Response, and Interpretation of Laboratory Testing Examined in New Rapid Responses to Government from Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 09 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT A new rapid expert consultation from a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Full Article
test Experts Explore Challenges of Testing Treatments for COVID-19 By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 15 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT Researchers are scrambling to find effective treatments for COVID-19, which has infected more than 1 million people around the word. Full Article
test Doing the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number of People By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Mon, 20 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT Latest COVID-19 Conversations webinar discusses implementing crisis standards of care. Full Article
test COVID-19 Testing - What It Measures, Who Gets it, and How Much Is Needed By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 28 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMT When it comes to COVID-19 testing, questions remain about which of the tests available are reliable, how much testing is needed, and how to ensure access to testing. The latest COVID-19 Conversations webinar explored the challenges ahead. Full Article
test LA County supervisors criticize 'piecemeal' cleanup around Exide, seek money for lead testing By www.scpr.org Published On :: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 18:24:26 -0700 Exide begins to remove lead-polluted soil on Monday morning at a house on the 1200 block of La Puerta Street in Boyle Heights.; Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC Molly PetersonAll five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have signed a letter imploring California Gov. Jerry Brown to intervene in the state’s handling of contamination around the Exide Technologies plant in Vernon. The letter criticizing the state’s “piecemeal approach to an urgent environmental hazard” comes as workers paid for by Exide are removing lead-contaminated topsoil from two homes near the intersection of Olympic and Indiana avenues in L.A. Signed Tuesday, the letter asks for “guaranteed state funding to immediately begin testing” at 37 more homes also sampled, but to less specific degrees, during November 2013. In the words of the board, “further testing and remediation of the other 37 homes has not been confirmed and may not begin until at least October 2014 because Exide has not yet agreed to comply with DTSC directives issued last March.” The supervisors also say the state has “reneged” on its commitments to test for lead inside the homes as well as outside. The Department of Toxic Substances Control says that the two homes workers are at this week will be cleaned inside and out — even without indoor testing. The DTSC’s Rizgar Ghazi said Monday that crews will use HEPA filters, vacuums and shampooing equipment on “basically any flat surface” inside the two residences. Read the L.A. Board of Supervisors’ letter to Gov. Brown here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/236655733/LA-County-Supervisors-Letter-to-Gov-Brown-8-12-14 This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test White House Denies Congressional Request For Dr. Anthony Fauci's Testimony By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Fri, 01 May 2020 18:00:08 -0700 Dr. Anthony Fauci steps out of the West Wing for a briefing on the novel coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House in March.; Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images Alana Wise | NPRThe White House will not allow the leading immunologist on the coronavirus task force to testify to Congress next week, calling the request "counter-productive" to the administration's efforts to contain the virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci's testimony had been requested by the House Appropriations Committee, as part of an investigation into the White House response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A committee spokesman on Friday said the White House had blocked the doctor from appearing before the panel. "The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next week's Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response. We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying," spokesman Evan Hollander said in a statement. Fauci has become one of the most well recognized experts in the administration's coronavirus response team, often speaking publicly during task force briefings, and at times, seeming to contradict statements made by President Trump. "While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings. We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Pelosi And McConnell Decline White House Offer Of Coronavirus Tests For Capitol Hill By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Sat, 02 May 2020 18:20:05 -0700 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wears a mask on Capitol Hill on April 30. Members in the House will not return over coronavirus fears but the Senate is scheduled to return on Monday.; Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images James Doubek | NPRHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare joint statement on Saturday, declined an offer from the White House to make rapid COVID-19 tests available for Congress. "Congress is grateful for the Administration's generous offer to deploy rapid COVID-19 testing capabilities to Capitol Hill, but we respectfully decline the offer at this time," Pelosi and McConnell said. "Our country's testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly." McConnell, R-Ky., plans to bring the Senate back into session on Monday, while Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said this week the House would not bring representatives back over coronavirus fears. On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Twitter that the Trump administration would send three Abbott "point of care testing machines and 1,000 tests for their use" to Capitol Hill. President Trump on Saturday tweeted: " No reason to turn it down, except politics. We have plenty of testing. Maybe you need a new Doctor over there. Crazy Nancy will use it as an excuse not to show up to work!" Pelosi and Hoyer said they made the decision based on advice from the Capitol's attending physician, Brian Monahan. "The House physician's view was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking," Hoyer said Tuesday. So far, Rand Paul of Kentucky is the only senator to have tested positive for the coronavirus. In the House, seven members have tested positive or presumed to be positive for the coronavirus. On Friday, McConnell shared guidelines from Monahan urging lawmakers and staff to maintain six feet of distance, limit the number of people in offices and to wear masks when possible. Monahan has told Republican leaders that his office does not have the capacity to proactively test all 100 senators and can only test those who are ill, Politico reported. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Destroy the Godmodder: A Test By www.bleepingcomputer.com Published On :: 2019-12-14T13:34:40-05:00 Full Article
test COVID-19: The Latest With Physician, Models Predict Significant Increase In U.S. Cases By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 09:37:43 -0700 A cleaning crew disinfects a New York City subway train on May 4, 2020 in New York City. ; Credit: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images AirTalk®As of Monday afternoon, L.A. County has at least 1,260 deaths and 26,238 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The United States has more than a million cases of the virus with more than 67,000 deaths. Meanwhile, new models put together by FEMA project that we could see up to 200,000 new cases a day by the end of the month, according to the New York Times. The L.A. Times reports that scientists have discovered a new strain of the deadly coronavirus that is even more contagious. The study finds that the new strain first appeared in February in Europe and has been the dominant strain across the world since mid-March. Plus, some COVID-19 patients are experiencing issues with blood clotting even after respiratory issues have died down. Today on AirTalk, we get the latest with an infectious disease specialist who will take your questions. Call 866-893-5722 to join the conversation. With files from LAist. Read the full story here. Guest: Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test COVID-19: The Latest On Antibody Testing, More OC Beaches Set To Reopen By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 09:07:04 -0700 Phlebotomists process specimens of people getting tested for coronavirus antibodies in Spring Valley. ; Credit: Yana Paskova/Getty Images AirTalk®As of Tuesday afternoon, L.A. County has at least 1,314 deaths and 27,836 confirmed cases of coronavirus. New confirmed infections per day in the U.S. exceed 20,000, and deaths per day are well over 1,000,000 according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. And public health officials warn that the failure to flatten the curve and drive down the infection rate in places could lead to many more deaths — perhaps tens of thousands — as people are allowed to venture out and businesses reopen. From the marbled halls of Italy to the wheat fields of Kansas, health authorities are increasingly warning that the question isn’t whether a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths will hit, but when — and how badly. President Donald Trump said his COVID-19 task force would keep working but focus more on rebooting the economy. According to the Orange County Register, more OC beaches received approval to open with limited hours. Today on AirTalk, we get the latest on COVID-19. Do you have questions for our infectious disease specialist? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722. With files from LAist and the Associated Press Guest: Peter Chin-Hong, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the UCSF Medical Center; he tweets @PCH_SF This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Los Angeles Authorities Sue Company For 'Illegally Selling' At-Home COVID-19 Test By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Mon, 06 Apr 2020 15:20:16 -0700 Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, seen here in 2017, says his office has reached a settlement with a company that had been selling at-home tests for the coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration says it has not authorized any at-home tests.; Credit: Christopher Weber/AP Tom Dreisbach | NPRMike Feuer, the city attorney of Los Angeles, announced on Monday that his office had "filed a civil law enforcement action against, and achieved an immediate settlement with," a company that had been "illegally selling" an at-home test for the coronavirus. The Food and Drug Administration has stated that the agency "has not authorized any test that is available to purchase for testing yourself at home for COVID-19." But in March, Yikon Genomics Inc. offered a coronavirus test for sale online, claiming that the test could be performed "using a simple at-home finger stick blood sample." The company offered tests for $39 each and, in a since-deleted tweet, stated, "Our COVID-19 Test Kit is now FDA APPROVED!" Yikon's "unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business acts or practices," the LA city attorney alleged in the lawsuit against the company, "present a continuing threat to members of the public." At a news conference, Feuer said that FDA validation of tests is crucial because an inaccurate result could lead someone infected with the coronavirus to "unknowingly expose others." Under the settlement between Yikon and LA authorities, the company agreed to stop marketing or selling home test kits unless they receive FDA approval. Yikon also agreed to provide refunds to anyone who purchased its test kits, though Feuer said it's unclear how many tests were sold. Yikon Genomics released a statement saying it "is committed to complying with all state & federal laws and regulations regarding the marketing & sale of medical devices. We intend to pursue FDA approval for the market & sale of COVID-19 test kits, which we hope will aid in mitigating this global health crisis." The Trump administration has said it will "aggressively" prosecute cases of fraud related to the pandemic, and state attorneys general have also pledged to take legal action against scams around the country. In LA, Feuer said his office continues to investigate other companies' sales of unapproved test kits. "This is not an isolated incident," Feuer said, noting that his office separately sent a cease-and-desist letter to the California-based Wellness Matrix Group, which, as NPR first reported, had also been offering "at-home" test kits for sale. "Whenever consumers are motivated in part by fears," the city attorney's office stated in its lawsuit against Yikon, "they are particularly vulnerable to fraudsters, scammers, and 'snake oil' hucksters and charlatans." Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Homeless Advocates Protest Echo Park Cleanup By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Tue, 18 Feb 2020 16:50:12 -0800 Homeless advocates erected a line of tents outside the Echo Park office of City Councilman Mitchell O'Farrell Feb. 12, 2020 to pressure him into meeting with them.; Credit: Sharon McNaryMembers of several groups of homeless advocates from across Los Angeles converged on a homeless encampment at the north end of Echo Park Lake on Feb. 12 to protest the routine weekly litter collection. A cleanup crew assisted by park rangers and city police officers did a once-through the campsite for miscellaneous trash, followed closely by a chanting and critical crowd of protesters. The homeless advocates had erected extra tents that morning in protest of what they consider invasive cleanups. They also were trying to get City Councilman Mitchell O'Farrell to agree to meet with them as a group, same as he has met with other local organizations of homeowners and residents. O'Farrell's spokesman Tony Aranga had insisted staffers were willing to meet with individuals to address their housing and other support needs. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test FDA Cracks Down On Antibody Tests For Coronavirus By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 15:40:09 -0700 Deputy Chief Patricia Cassidy of the Jersey City Police Department has blood drawn to test for coronavirus antibodies in Jersey City, N.J., on Monday.; Credit: Seth Wenig/AP Richard Harris | NPRThe Food and Drug Administration is stiffening its rules to counteract what some have called a Wild West of antibody testing for the coronavirus. These tests are designed to identify people who have been previously exposed to the virus. The FDA said more than 250 developers have been bringing products to the market in the past few weeks. In a rush to make antibody tests available as quickly as possible, the FDA had set a low standard for these tests. Manufacturers were supposed to submit their own information about the accuracy of their wares, but the agency had no standards for what would be acceptable. Companies weren't allowed to claim the tests were authorized by the FDA, under initial guidance issued in mid-March. Now the FDA is telling manufacturers that if they want their tests to remain on the market, they must meet minimum quality standards and submit a request for emergency use authorization, a temporary route to market for unapproved products when others aren't available. The EUA involves a lower standard than the usual FDA clearance or approval. The FDA said 12 manufacturers have already opted to request EUA's for their products. More than 100 other producers have been talking to the agency about using this process, said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn. He spoke on a press call Monday. Companies have 10 days to submit that request. "Our expectation is that those who can't [meet the new standard] will withdraw their products from the market and we will be working with them to help them do that," he said. These tests are now so widespread that people can order them from lab giants Quest or LabCorp. The tests can cost more than $100. Though the FDA's original guidance calls for these tests to be run by a certified lab, the kits themselves are simple to use and have been readily available. Despite the enthusiasm surrounding these tests, they have substantial limitations. Though people who test positive for antibodies have in most cases been exposed to the coronavirus, scientists don't know whether that means those people are actually immune from the coronavirus, and if so for how long. "Whether this is the ticket for someone to go back to work [based solely on an antibody test result], my opinion on that would be no," Hahn said. The tests may be more useful when combined with information from a standard coronavirus diagnostic test, or in someone who has symptoms, or if the results have been confirmed with a different antibody test. That "would dramatically increase the accuracy of those tests," said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health Antibodies are a potentially valuable research tool, and can be used to determine the prevalence of a disease in a population. In that circumstance, individual false results are less important. New York State used antibody tests to determine that about 20 percent of people in New York City have already been exposed to the coronavirus. In California, researchers have attempted to measure the prevalence of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County and Santa Clara County in the Bay Area. Those unpublished results have garnered criticism because even a test that's more than 99 percent accurate can produce many false positive results when used to survey hundreds or thousands of people. In the face of this criticism, the authors of the Santa Clara study have posted revised results acknowledging the high degree of uncertainty in their findings. Those findings haven't been peer-reviewed. The emergency use authorization is only valid during the time of the national emergency. "Once the national emergency ends, the EUA authorizations end as well," Shuren said. Companies that want to keep marketing these tests will need to get them approved through the regular, more stringent FDA process. FDA officials say they will continue to crack down on companies that falsely claim their tests are approved by the FDA, or that market them for home use, which isn't currently allowed. You can contact NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris at rharris@npr.org. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing? By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 04:00:06 -0700 ; Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR Rob Stein, Carmel Wroth, and Alyson Hurt | NPRTo safely phase out social distancing measures, the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, experts say. But how much more? The Trump administration said on April 27 the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections. The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the last seven days, according to the nonprofit Covid Tracking Project. Doubling that would mean doing around 496,000 a day. Will that be enough? What benchmark should states try to hit? One prominent research group, Harvard's Global Health Institute, proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. This projection, released Thursday, is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need, which was between 500,000 and 600,000 daily. Harvard's testing estimate increased, says Ashish Jha, director of the Global Health Institute, because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the U.S. is worse than projected earlier. "Just in the last few weeks, all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [dying]," he says. But each state's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak, explains Jha. The bigger the outbreak, the more testing is needed. Thursday Jha's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15. In the graphic below, we compare these estimates with the average numbers of daily tests states are currently doing. (Jump to graphic) Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate To make their state-by-state estimates, the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts. They calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed the virus. (The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average.) "Testing is outbreak control 101, because what testing lets you do is figure out who's infected and who's not," Jha says. "And that lets you separate out the infected people from the non infected people and bring the disease under control." This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up. First, test all symptomatic people, then reach out to their close contacts and test them, and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves. Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state: the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive. Communities that see around 10% or fewer positives among their test results are probably testing enough, the World Health Organization advises. If the rate is higher, they're likely missing a lot of active infections. What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10% positive benchmark. Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard; they are mostly larger, less populous states: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Several states with large outbreaks — New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut among others — are very far from the minimum testing target. Some states that are already relaxing their social-distancing restrictions, such as Georgia, Texas and Colorado, are far from the target too. Jha offers several caveats about his group's estimates. Estimates are directional not literal Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates. They found that while there was significant variation in the projections of outbreak sizes, all the models tend to point in the same direction, i.e. if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing, the others generally did too. The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts, which they say has tracked closely with what's actually happened on the ground. Still the researchers caution, these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide. If social distancing is relaxed, testing needs may grow The Harvard testing estimates are built on a model that assumes that states continue social distancing through May 15. And about half of states have already started lifting some of those. Jha says, that without the right measures in place to contain spread, easing up could quickly lead to new cases. "The moment you relax, the number of cases will start climbing. And therefore, the number of tests you need to keep your society, your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing," warns Jha. Testing alone is not enough A community can't base the decision that it's safe to open up on testing data alone. States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases, of two weeks at least, according to White House guidance. If their cases are instead increasing, they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too. And Jha warns, testing is step one, but it won't contain an outbreak by itself. It needs to be part of "a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need to have in place" when they begin to reopen. In fact, his group's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people. "I don't want anybody to just look at the number and say, we meet it and we're good to go," he says. "What this really is, is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers." The targets are floors not goals States that have reached the estimated target should think of that as a starting point. "We've always built these as the floor, the bare minimum," Jha says. More testing would be even better, allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges. In fact, other experts have proposed the U.S. do even more testing. Paul Romer, a professor of economics at New York University proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident, every two weeks, isolating those who test positive, it could stop the pandemic in its tracks. Jha warns that without sufficient testing, and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts, there's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks. "I think what people have to remember is that the virus isn't gone. The disease isn't gone. And it's going to be with us for a while," he says. Daniel Wood contributed to this report. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Anti-Vaccination Activists Join Stay-At-Home Order Protesters By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 06:00:13 -0700 Among those protesting stay-at-home orders this week at the California Capitol in Sacramento were activists who oppose governments requiring vaccinations for school children.; Credit: Katie Orr/KQED Katie Orr | NPRProtests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations. On Thursday, a mash-up of people mingled on the sidewalk in front of California's state Capitol in Sacramento. There were Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags. There were Christians, singing along to religious rock songs and raising their hands in prayer. The event's MC. urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to tune into their event. "Everybody up at the Capitol, tell Gavin Newsom [to tune in to] 107.9 FM, if he wants to hear what we have to say," the MC told the crowd over loudspeakers. "It could be kind of good for him!" There were also mothers with their children at the rally. Many people were not wearing face masks or observing social distancing protocols. They'd all come out to protest California's stay-at-home order, put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week's event was built around the National Day of Prayer, and featured pastors and sermons. But it was organized by a group called Freedom Angels, which was originally formed to fight mandatory vaccine laws in the state. At the beginning of the rally, the group's founders took the stage, including Denise Aguilar. "Hello everybody, my name is Denise, I'm one of the founders of Freedom Angels," Aguilar said to a cheering crowd. "Thank you guys for being out here to let Gov. Newsom know we're not going away! We've said this for years!" The group has become a fixture at the Capitol ever since California passed a law requiring school students to be vaccinated and a second law tightening restrictions on medical exemptions for those vaccines. But another Freedom Angels founder, Stefanie Fetzer, said they're not a single-issue group. She said these events are about promoting personal freedom. "I think what we're seeing now is the predictive modeling that they came out with in the beginning didn't hold true. We aren't seeing the numbers that they predicted," Fetzer said. "And instead of backing off of the shutdown and the restrictive measures that Gov. Newsom implemented, he seems to be doubling down." Attention-seeking strategy Public health advocates point out that the reason those early predictions didn't come true is that aggressive social distancing measures — including stay-at-home orders — worked. Democratic state Senator Richard Pan, who authored California's vaccine laws, believes this anti-vaccine group is aligning with others protesting the stay-at-home order as a way to promote their cause. After all, Pan said, a vaccine would eventually allow the economy to reopen. "They have staged these protests to basically find a way to get media attention for themselves. They fund raise off of their activities as well," Pan said. "So, frankly, many of the anti-vaxxers who are involved in this are really there for their own interests." It's common for anti-vaccine groups to latch onto other controversial issues, according to epidemiologist and vaccine educator René Najera. For instance, he points to abortion. "They try to say that there are aborted fetal cells in vaccines — which there are not — to try to get the anti-abortion people on their side," he said. "And then they flip it around and say, also, 'My body, my choice.'" Najera said those tactics can have dangerous outcomes, including making people think twice about getting vaccines. In fact, he said, in 2019 the World Health Organization named vaccine hesitancy, or people's reluctance to consider vaccination, as one of the world's top 10 public health challenges. "And we saw the effects of that," Najera said. "We saw a rise of measles in the United States to the point where the elimination status of the United States for measles was in jeopardy." Najera is confident vaccine opponents aren't going away. He says, if anything, the rise of social media has made it easier for them to spread their message. What he finds most frustrating is that these anti-vaccines protesters aren't just making choices that affect their own families. Najera says choosing not to vaccinate their children and joining other large protests to spread their message puts the health of everyone at risk. Copyright 2020 KQED. To see more, visit KQED. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test NFL, union agree to new drug policy, HGH testing By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:57:18 -0700 Wide receiver Wes Welker #83 of the Denver Broncos tries to avoid the tackle of free safety Earl Thomas #29 of the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in this file photo taken February 2, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Under a new drug policy agreed to by the NFL and the players union, Welker and two other suspended players will be allowed to return to the field.; Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images The NFL said Wednesday that its new performance-enhancing drug policy will allow the Broncos' Wes Welker and two other suspended players to return to the field this week. The deal with the players association also adds human growth hormone testing, ending several years of wrangling between the league and the union. Welker, Dallas Cowboys defensive back Orlando Scandrick and St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey had been suspended for four games. Under the new rules, players who test positive for banned stimulants in the offseason will no longer be suspended. Instead, they will be referred to the substance abuse program. The league and union are also nearing an agreement on changes to the substance abuse policy. That could reduce Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon's season-long ban. Testing for HGH was originally agreed upon in 2011, but the players had balked at the science in the testing and the appeals process for positive tests. Under the new deal, appeals of positive tests in the PED program will be heard by third-party arbitrators jointly selected by the NFL and union. Appeals will be processed more expeditiously under altered procedures Testing should begin by the end of the month. The new rules also change the length of suspensions. Previously, all first-time violations of the performance-enhancing drug policy resulted in at least a four-game suspension. Now, use of a diuretic or masking agent will result in a two-game suspension. The punishment for steroids, in-season use of stimulants, HGH or other banned substances is four games. Evidence of an attempt to manipulate a test is a six-game suspension. A second violation will result in a 10-game ban, up from a minimum of eight games. A third violation is at least a two-year suspension. Before, the ban was at least a year. Full Article
test Tyson's Largest Pork Plant Reopens As Tests Show Surge In Coronavirus Cases By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 18:00:17 -0700 Vehicles sit in a near empty parking lot outside the Tyson Foods plant in Waterloo, Iowa, on May 1.; Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP Becky Sullivan and Maureen Pao | NPRA meat-packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where a coronavirus outbreak exploded a few weeks ago, resumed operations on Thursday after a two-week closure. The reopening of Tyson Foods' largest U.S. pork plant came the same day that health officials in Black Hawk County, where the plant is located, announced that 1,031 of the plant's estimated 2,800 employees have tested positive for the virus. That's higher than previous estimates by state officials. Tony Thompson, sheriff of Black Hawk County, was among the public officials who called for the Waterloo facility to shut down temporarily. His call to close the plant came after he first toured the facility on April 10. Thompson says that when he toured the plant then, he "fully expected" to see barriers, masks and other personal protective equipment in place. That wasn't the case. "What I saw when we went into that plant was an absolute free-for-all," he says. "Some people were wearing bandannas. Some people were wearing surgical masks. .... Most people weren't wearing anything. People working on the line were working elbow to elbow, sometimes reaching over each other, processing the meat that was coming down the line. "There was absolutely no opportunity for social distancing," he says. "We left the plant thinking, 'oh, my gosh, we've got a huge problem here.'" Health officials say 90% of the cases of coronavirus in the county are linked to the Tyson facility. During the closure, Tyson installed clear plastic mats to divide workstations and hand sanitizing stations. The plant has also instituted temperature checks and provides workers with surgical masks when they arrive and when they leave. After touring the facility last week, Thompson is in cautious support of the reopening, saying he feels "reserved encouragement" after seeing the new safety measures. If, however, the outbreak continues at this facility, Thompson says he would support a second shutdown. Thompson's primary focus is on the safety and security of the roughly 131,000 citizens of Black Hawk County — and he says he feels especially responsible for the Tyson workers. "We like our bacon, but we don't want to think about how it's actually done. When you got a carcass hanging there, bleeding on the floor, you don't want to think about that ... a byproduct of that is the people that actually do that work," he says. "Unfortunately, these are oftentimes marginalized citizens because they are refugees, because they don't speak English, because they do a job that not many people want to do," he continues. "So there's something inherent there that was not right that I hope that they have corrected. And I'll hold my breath and pray that that is true. If it's not, we'll back up, regroup and go at this again." Listen to the full interview with NPR's Ailsa Chang at the audio link above. Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Anti-Vaccination Activists Join Stay-At-Home Order Protesters By feeds.scpr.org Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 06:00:13 -0700 Among those protesting stay-at-home orders this week at the California Capitol in Sacramento were activists who oppose governments requiring vaccinations for school children.; Credit: Katie Orr/KQED Katie Orr | NPRProtests over stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19 have become more common around the country. In California, a surprising group is behind some of them: those who oppose mandatory vaccinations. On Thursday, a mash-up of people mingled on the sidewalk in front of California's state Capitol in Sacramento. There were Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags. There were Christians, singing along to religious rock songs and raising their hands in prayer. The event's MC. urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to tune into their event. "Everybody up at the Capitol, tell Gavin Newsom [to tune in to] 107.9 FM, if he wants to hear what we have to say," the MC told the crowd over loudspeakers. "It could be kind of good for him!" There were also mothers with their children at the rally. Many people were not wearing face masks or observing social distancing protocols. They'd all come out to protest California's stay-at-home order, put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This week's event was built around the National Day of Prayer, and featured pastors and sermons. But it was organized by a group called Freedom Angels, which was originally formed to fight mandatory vaccine laws in the state. At the beginning of the rally, the group's founders took the stage, including Denise Aguilar. "Hello everybody, my name is Denise, I'm one of the founders of Freedom Angels," Aguilar said to a cheering crowd. "Thank you guys for being out here to let Gov. Newsom know we're not going away! We've said this for years!" The group has become a fixture at the Capitol ever since California passed a law requiring school students to be vaccinated and a second law tightening restrictions on medical exemptions for those vaccines. But another Freedom Angels founder, Stefanie Fetzer, said they're not a single-issue group. She said these events are about promoting personal freedom. "I think what we're seeing now is the predictive modeling that they came out with in the beginning didn't hold true. We aren't seeing the numbers that they predicted," Fetzer said. "And instead of backing off of the shutdown and the restrictive measures that Gov. Newsom implemented, he seems to be doubling down." Attention-seeking strategy Public health advocates point out that the reason those early predictions didn't come true is that aggressive social distancing measures — including stay-at-home orders — worked. Democratic state Senator Richard Pan, who authored California's vaccine laws, believes this anti-vaccine group is aligning with others protesting the stay-at-home order as a way to promote their cause. After all, Pan said, a vaccine would eventually allow the economy to reopen. "They have staged these protests to basically find a way to get media attention for themselves. They fund raise off of their activities as well," Pan said. "So, frankly, many of the anti-vaxxers who are involved in this are really there for their own interests." It's common for anti-vaccine groups to latch onto other controversial issues, according to epidemiologist and vaccine educator René Najera. For instance, he points to abortion. "They try to say that there are aborted fetal cells in vaccines — which there are not — to try to get the anti-abortion people on their side," he said. "And then they flip it around and say, also, 'My body, my choice.'" Najera said those tactics can have dangerous outcomes, including making people think twice about getting vaccines. In fact, he said, in 2019 the World Health Organization named vaccine hesitancy, or people's reluctance to consider vaccination, as one of the world's top 10 public health challenges. "And we saw the effects of that," Najera said. "We saw a rise of measles in the United States to the point where the elimination status of the United States for measles was in jeopardy." Najera is confident vaccine opponents aren't going away. He says, if anything, the rise of social media has made it easier for them to spread their message. What he finds most frustrating is that these anti-vaccines protesters aren't just making choices that affect their own families. Najera says choosing not to vaccinate their children and joining other large protests to spread their message puts the health of everyone at risk. Copyright 2020 KQED. To see more, visit KQED. This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org. Full Article
test Latest Intel Graphics Windows 10 DCH drivers By www.bleepingcomputer.com Published On :: 2020-05-09T13:18:08-05:00 Full Article