Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@social.cleverlibre.org

In pop culture, computing & programming are often depicted with “tech bros.” But the first computer programmer was a brilliant woman.

Augusta “Ada” Lovelace was born in 1815. Her notes include an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine & she envisioned that computers could go beyond calculations. Lovelace described “how individuals & society relate to technology as a collaborative tool.”

Lovelace passed away in 1852 at just 36. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/ada-lovelace-the-first-tech-visionary #women #history #science

Thanks @JeremyFaust.

Data Snapshot: Are we overcounting #Covid deaths?

No.

It's a fair question. A recent Washington Post column didn't look at the data. A few times during the pandemic, we have overcounted Covid deaths. Mostly, though, we undercount.

#epidemiology #publichealth

https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/data-snapshot-are-we-overcounting

Chemokine CXCL4 interactions with extracellular matrix proteoglycans mediate widespread immune cell recruitment independent of chemokine receptors.

Nice work led by Doug Dyer's group in Manchester - CXCL4 doesn't appear to have a protein receptor, rather it binds GAG chains on a wide range of cell surface proteoglycans.

#Glycotime #Proteoglycans #xp
#Science #Research
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(22)01831-9?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2211124722018319%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#%20

In this Future Leader Review, Angie Yu Ching Poon and rio_sugimura review recent progress in natural killer cells for #cancer #immunotherapy:

https://journals.biologists.com/bio/article/11/12/bio059396/284640/The-prospect-of-genetically-engineering-natural

Find out more how to propose your own Future Leader Review here:

https://journals.biologists.com/bio/pages/reviews

#Cytokines #Disease #Biology #BiologyOpen #Science #AcademicMastodon

Bioinformaticians of the world, it is your time to shine! [BC]2 is the highlight of the year for winners of the SIB #Bioinformatics Awards, who will be announced and present their work during a plenary session.

The Awards honour bioinformatics excellence in three categories and are currently seeking submissions:

- PhD Paper Award
- Early Career Award
- Innovative Resource Award

https://www.bc2.ch/news/ntries-now-open-2023-sib-bioinformatics-awards

I want to build more mastodon visibility for the scientists, public health professionals, health care professionals and journalists who are doing excellent #covid #covid19 #scicomm here. So, I'd like to make the #️⃣​hashtag ​#CovidFollows ~a thing~..

I'll start with some of my #CovidFollows:

First up, there's @mackayim2022. Ian Mackay is an Australian virologist who is a promoter of the very useful "Swiss Cheese" model for communicating layered risk reduction. You can read more about this model on his blog here: https://virologydownunder.com/the-swiss-cheese-infographic-that-went-viral/.

Next, @flodebarre. Flo Débarre is an evolutionary biologist in Paris who recently posted an *incredible* #scicomm thread on XBB 1.5. Start here: https://mstdn.science/@flodebarre/109621175211356958. (Yes, that was an English version of what was originally a birdchan thread. This is where I reveal myself to be not much of a purist.)

I'll wrap up this up with @HelenBranswell. Helen Branswell writes on infectious diseases for @STAT. She's a wonderfully clear writer explaining some very complex topics. Check out her end-of-year article about what surprised experts about the #covid19 epidemic the most: https://www.statnews.com/2022/12/27/covid19-pandemic-what-most-surprised-experts/

Who is on your #mastodon #CovidFollows list? Let's give them some love! 😍​

NEW ARTICLE: On Screenwriting: Fifteen 2022 Screenplays to Study (REVISED)

Are you a screenwriter or aspire to become one? Or are you just a cinephile curious about what went into some of your favorite films of 2022? Well, head over to my Medium page, where I've curated fifteen 2022 Awards Season screenplays for you to download (for free) and study.

Read: https://medium.com/@cole.haddon/on-screenwriting-fifteen-2022-screenplays-to-study-e386d9d6c636?sk=c8aecbf6f3d260b663423f37e065dbdc

#screenwriting #screenwriter #screenplay #writer #storyteller #filmmaking #writingcommunity #film #movies #cinema

January 16, 1832, the 1st stop of the voyage of the Beagle⛵ was “Quail Island”, Cape Verde Islands. This visit is especially interesting as it provides some glimpses in Charles #Darwin’s geological background at the beginning of his adventure ⚒

https://tinyurl.com/y9sgme44

Host range and structural analysis of bat-origin #RshSTT182/200 #coronavirus binding to human #ACE2 and its animal orthologs
George Gao and colleagues show that while coronaviruses found in #Rhinolophus shameli bats can broadly recognize ACE2 orthologs, they would require further evolution to support interspecies transmission
https://www.embopress.org/doi/10.15252/embj.2022111737

I hadn';t heard of this, but the Large Hadron Collider collaborations have not published since March 2022 because of a disagreement about whether to list Russian collaborators on papers: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/15/scientists-ukraine-war-cern-physics-large-hadron-collider

Regardless of whether you think this is right or wrong, imagine any event that would cause your subfield to stop publishing. You would lack the coordination to pull anything like this off.

HT @Samuelmoore

Diário de Notícias: "Falta de medicamentos vai agravar e o país tem se preparar antes de um problema de saúde pública".
https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/16-jan-2023/falta-de-medicamentos-vai-agravar-e-o-pais-tem-se-preparar-antes-de-um-problema-de-saude-publica-15663145.html

I'll admit to being skeptical about "synthetic biology", wondering if it's just buzz words, but this recent paper from Daniels et al. blew me away with its combination of novel insights into cell signaling circuitry & its clinical potential 1/n
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36480602/