MARION — Marion’s 14-member COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is beginning to work on recommendations of how to get people back to work, while keeping everyone...

MARION — Marion’s 14-member COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force is beginning to work on recommendations of how to get people back to work, while keeping everyone safe.

“It’s hard to know right now at the beginning the various outcomes that are going to come out of this,” Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly told task force members in a meeting held this week via Zoom.

“Community sectors will work independently and report to the steering committee with ideas, strategies or policy recommendations,” he said.

In turn, the task force will consider recommendations to the Marion City Council, and AbouAssaly said he will update the council on the task force meetings.

“Unfortunately, we have to accept that the virus is here to stay,” AbouAssaly said. “It’s part of our life for the time being. We have to be able to plan for getting back to doing things and leading our lives in a way that allows us to exist with the virus in our community.”

Elizabeth Cwik, a Marion resident who works for the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, said there’s a “strong interest” among task force members to provide accurate information to the public about the virus.

“I see clear, consistent messaging from a variety of sectors from the schools, government, businesses and nonprofits. Then that message gets through,” Cwik said. “If that message is, ‘We care, and we want you to come out whole, and we want there to be a vibrant economy to be continued with every citizen’s effort,’ I think that’s a valuable contribution to the recovery.”

In joining the task force, Dr. Jaclyn Price said she hopes to dispel inaccurate information about the coronavirus and help businesses find ways to safely bring their employees back to work.

“I anticipate businesses will be operating at reduced capacities,” she said. “Maybe doing appointments rather than walk-in business, and cleaning more routinely.”

If businesses require employees and customers to wear masks, it will protect others from asymptomatic spread of the virus, she said.

“We will still see virus activity until we get a vaccine or herd immunity,” Price said. “This is going to be a problem for months to come. We’re trying to find ways to open slowly, but also understanding if we reopen everything and have to close it again, that could be more detrimental to people’s psychology or finances of businesses.”

The Rev. Mike Morgan of Marion United Methodist Church said “greater conversation” with government, business, education and health care leaders will help.

“Marion has become a town that is proactive,” Morgan said. “We really seek to have good things happen to our citizenry rather than let things happen and we react to them. ... As a person in the faith community, it’s important for us to be tending to people’s emotional, psychological, spiritual and, to some degree, physical needs.”

Comments: (319) 368-8664; grace.king@thegazette.com

Those serving on the Marion COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, all Marion residents and volunteers, are:

• Nick AbouAssaly, Marion mayor

• Jill Ackerman, president, Marion Chamber of Commerce

• Shannon Bisgard, Linn-Mar schools superintendent

• Amber Bisinger, communications officer for the city

• Elizabeth Cwik, Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation

• Lee Eilers, executive committee member, Marion Economic Development Corp.

• Nick Glew, president, Marion Economic Development Corp.

• Amber Hoff, marriage and family therapist

• Steve Jensen, Marion City Council member

• Mike Morgan, pastor, Marion United Methodist Church

• Brent Oleson, Linn County supervisor

Lon Pluckhahn, Marion city manager

• Jaclyn Price, M.D., Mercy Clinic-Marion

• Brooke Prouty, program director, Marion Chamber of Commerce

TO celebrate the launch of her new book, healthy eating expert Amelia Freer will be at Lime Wood for supper and a chat on Wednesday January 29.

EATING five portions of fruit and vegetables a day was the message when children as young as six learned about eating healthily.

SHOPPERS can get free advice and information about healthier lifestyles at a special event at Southampton’s WestQuay Shopping Centre today.

Glynn Purnell leads Health for Life cookathon.

Shops are closing. Newspaper sales are falling. But we’ve chosen to keep our online journalism free because it’s so important that the people of Glasgow stay informed during this crisis.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Re: “Seattle will close 6 more miles of street” [April 24, Northwest]: The city’s Stay Healthy Streets initiative provides a safe way to get out and maintain a six-foot perimeter. We need many more of these streets. Seattle is lucky to have a long stretch of public right-of-way that’s ready to become part of the […]

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IBM and the University of California San Diego have announced a multi-year project to enhance quality of life and independence for aging populations through the new Artificial Intelligence for Healthy Living Center (AIHL), located on the campus of UC San Diego. The groundbreaking center will bring together the technology, artificial intelligence and life sciences knowledge of IBM and UC San Diego to promote critical research and applications in two thematic areas: Healthy Aging and the Human Microbiome.

• 1 orange, peeled and chopped ($.70)
• 1 teaspoon powdered tumeric ($.10)
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds($10)
• a few black peppercorns, or pinch of black pepper
• stevia or sweetener, if desired ($.10)

1. Place the orange, turmeric, and caraway seeds in a large saucepan with four cups water. 
2. Bring to a boil over high heat and continue to boil for about five minutes. This will reduce any bitterness in the turmeric.
3. Add the peppercorns or pinch of pepper and steep for a minute or two. 
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into mugs and and the sweetener of your choice, if desired. 

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – Today, in Santa Ynez, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) met with federal and state agencies and leaders from the region’s agriculture and food production industries to make progress on on-farm composting.

Work from home ergonomics tips for coronavirus quarantine.

WEIGHT LOSS can often be a daunting thought for many, not knowing where to start or what foods to eat. An expert has revealed how eating this one snack regularly has many health benefits including losing weight.

Now is the time to stay at home and allow us to bring much needed supplies to your front door.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb's responsibility and obligation is to the citizenry of Indiana, a letter to the editor says.

Malcolm Brogdon is healing and more minutes for JaKarr Sampson could get the Pacers out of the first round of the playoffs

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb's responsibility and obligation is to the citizenry of Indiana, a letter to the editor says.

Sue McLaughlin
Oct 1, 2010; 23:272-277
Special Report

¹⁸F-PI-2620 is a positron emission tomography (PET) tracer with high binding affinity for aggregated tau, a key pathologic feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders. Preclinically, ¹⁸F-PI-2620 binds to both, 3R and 4R tau isoforms. The purpose of this first-in-human study was to evaluate the ability of ¹⁸F-PI-2620 to detect tau pathology in AD patients using PET imaging, as well as to assess its safety and tolerability of this new tau PET tracer. Methods: Participants with clinical diagnosis of probable AD and healthy controls (HC) underwent dynamic ¹⁸F-PI-2620 PET imaging for 180 min. ¹⁸F-PI-2620 binding was assessed visually and quantitatively using Distribution Volume Ratios (DVR) estimated from non-invasive tracer kinetics and standardized uptake value ratios (SUVR) measured at different time points post-injection (p.i.) with the cerebellar cortex as the reference region. Time-activity curves and SUVR were assessed in AD and HC, as well as DVR and SUVR correlations and effect size (Cohen’s d) over time. Results: ¹⁸F-PI-2620 showed peak brain uptake around 5 min p.i. and fast wash-out in non-target regions. In AD subjects, focal asymmetric uptake was evident in temporal and parietal lobes, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex. DVR and SUVR in these regions were significantly higher in AD compared to HC. Very low background signal was observed in HC. ¹⁸F-PI-2620 administration was safe and well tolerated. SUVR time activity curves in most regions and subjects achieved a secular equilibrium after 40 min p.i.. A strong correlation (R² > 0.93) was found between non-invasive DVR and SUVR for all imaging windows starting >30 min p.i.. Similar effect sizes between AD and HC groups were obtained across the different imaging windows. ¹⁸F-PI-2620 uptake in neocortical regions was significantly correlated with the degree of cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Initial clinical data obtained in AD and HC demonstrate the high image quality with excellent signal-to-noise of ¹⁸F-PI-2620 PET for imaging tau deposition in AD subjects. Non-invasive quantification using DVR and SUVR for 30 min imaging windows between 30-90 min p.i., e.g. 45-75 min, provides robust and significant discrimination between AD and HC subjects. ¹⁸F-PI-2620 uptake in expected regions is highly correlated to neurocognitive performance.

Ceramides (Cers) with ultralong (~32-carbon) chains and -esterified linoleic acid, composing a subclass called omega-O-acylceramides (acylCers), are indispensable components of the skin barrier. Normal barriers typically contain acylCer concentrations of ~10 mol%; diminished concentrations, along with altered or missing long periodicity lamellar phase (LPP), and increased permeability accompany an array of skin disorders, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and ichthyoses. We developed model membranes to investigate the effects of the acylCer structure and concentration on skin lipid organization and permeability. The model membrane systems contained six to nine Cer subclasses as well as fatty acids, cholesterol, and cholesterol sulfate; acylCer content—namely, acylCers containing sphingosine (Cer EOS), dihydrosphingosine (Cer EOdS), and phytosphingosine (Cer EOP) ranged from zero to 30 mol%. Systems with normal physiologic concentrations of acylCer mixture mimicked the permeability and nanostructure of human skin lipids (with regard to LPP, chain order, and lateral packing). The models also showed that the sphingoid base in acylCer significantly affects the membrane architecture and permeability and that Cer EOP, notably, is a weaker barrier component than Cer EOS and Cer EOdS. Membranes with diminished or missing acylCers displayed some of the hallmarks of diseased skin lipid barriers (i.e., lack of LPP, less ordered lipids, less orthorhombic chain packing, and increased permeability). These results could inform the rational design of new and improved strategies for the barrier-targeted treatment of skin diseases.