Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@social.cleverlibre.org

'Fungal epidemics in humans are infrequent, in part because human-to-human transmission of fungi is rare, and I am not aware of any involving zombielike creatures. It’s far more likely that the next pandemic will come from a virus. But the idea that climate change is making the emergence of new health threats more likely is solid. Could it cause a fungus ubiquitous in the environment to morph into a lethal pathogen in humans? It’s possible.'

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/opinion/the-last-of-us-fungus-climate-change.html

... and that's a damn shame.

'The only contemporary setting in which small research groups really seem to have a fighting chance at the cutting edge is when they’re (i) extremely well-funded with (ii) access to state-of-the-art core facilities in (iii) an intellectually lively environment and (iv) little to no teaching hours attached. That kind of setting is vanishingly rare.'
@TIR_scienceblog

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2022/12/18/short-sight-oversight-the-ballad-of-marc-tessier-lavigne/

“A la gente le encanta que le simplifiques asuntos tremendamente complejos a partir de una sustancia química. Que digas que la oxitocina es la hormona del amor, por ejemplo. Eso tiene algo de verdad, porque es una hormona prosocial, pero también habría que decir que esa hormona nos puede llevar a recelar de los desconocidos y confiar demasiado en los nuestros, a creer que tienen la verdad, aunque no sea cierto”.

https://elpais.com/salud-y-bienestar/2023-04-02/libros-de-autoayuda-el-uso-tramposo-de-la-ciencia-para-defender-el-sentido-comun.html

EMBO is looking for a policy officer "to develop and implement activities on research integrity and good scientific practice, research assessment, #openscience, career structures, and the composition of the research workforce."
Deadline: 12 April 2023
#ScienceJobs

https://t.co/jQBLDe54NF

An organoid model for thyroid cancer (#Preprint).

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.30.534915v1

'Here’s the bottom line from it: “Mild Cognitively Impaired participants treated with anti-Aβ drugs were projected to have a material regression toward brain volumes typical of Alzheimer’s dementia ∼8 months earlier than if they were untreated.” I would say that if someone wants to make the argument that this is of no consequence (or perhaps even beneficial?) that they should step right up and have a crack at it. I (and many others) will watch with great interest. On the other hand, if the way of dealing with these findings is to pretend that they don’t exist, that is really unacceptable.'

#alzheimers #alzheimersdisease #drugdevelopment

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/are-anti-amyloid-antibodes-going-make-alzheimer-s-patients-worse

"Para Moedas, os lisboetas sabem muito bem que ele anda a resolver os seus problemas e não precisam que ele compareça ao seu protesto. Já os empresários do alojamento local, porventura mais inseguros, precisam da sua presença para se sentirem amparados."

https://www.publico.pt/2023/04/03/politica/opiniao/manifestacao-habitacao-ausencia-moedas-2044743

"Funding uncertainty from the federal government and uneven commitments from state health departments have raised the specter that wastewater monitoring programs may shut down in the future."

#publichealth #COVID

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-valuable-early-warning-system-for-disease-outbreaks-could-be-shut-down/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=today-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2023-03-30_featured-this-week&spMailingID=72825164&spUserID=MTEyNzc3Mzc0NDY4S0&spJobID=2322705485&spReportId=MjMyMjcwNTQ4NQS2

'This mendelian randomization study suggests that PCSK9 is implicated in psoriasis pathogenesis, and its inhibition is associated with reduced psoriasis risk. These findings potentially pave the way for future studies that may allow personalized selection of lipid-lowering drugs for those at risk of #psoriasis.'

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/2800634?guestAccessKey=3aed40ad-0631-484f-a639-f3f6e33f2767&utm_source=linkedin_company&utm_medium=social_jamaderm&utm_term=9174110788&utm_campaign=article_alert&linkId=205542175

RIP Avrion Mitchison.

"Av initiated a series of experiments that collectively provided the conceptual framework of much of today’s understanding of immune rejection, tolerance and T–B cell co-operation."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-023-01461-w

Metabolomics approaches for immunology (review)

"First, this review compares targeted and untargeted metabolomics and reviews recent advances in metabolomics workflows, including sample preparation, raw spectra data preprocessing, metabolomics data processing, statistical analysis, and interpretation. Second, we introduce various computational tools for multiomics data integration and show how recent studies have applied metabolomics in combination with other omics approaches to immunological research. Finally, we discuss new developments in metabolomics and their potential for further research in immunology."

https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/embr.202255747

"One thing is certain: you can’t be a momfluencer without kids. Or without pushing those kids into the public eye – handing them on a digital platter to ever-ravenous spectators hankering for access. And you can’t be a momfluencer without putting your kids to work."

https://aeon.co/essays/why-arent-children-protected-from-their-parents-monetising-them