A closely related substance, alfa-interferon, has been injected as a drug to treat hepatitis C and other viral infections, as well as cancer. But alfa-interferon has proved toxic to numerous organ systems, as receptors for alfa-interferon abound on the surfaces of cells in many of the bodys tissues and on immune cells. Patients receiving alfa interferon report often-debilitating side effects such as fever, chills, intense muscle aches, nausea and more.

Receptors for lambda-interferon, though, are largely limited to the linings of the lungs, airways and intestine serendipitously, the main places SARS-CoV-2 strikes as well as the liver. As a result, side effects resulting from injecting this interferon tend to be quite mild, Glenn said.

That turned out to be the case in this trial. You couldnt tell who got PEG-lambda and who got placebo, Glenn said. This wasnt surprising, he added, because the drug has already been given to more than 3,000 people in other trials and been proven to be well tolerated even when given weekly for a year.

Some years ago Glenn, who is the Joseph D. Grant Professor II, founded Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc., a biotechnology company that acquired the rights to lambda-interferon to develop it as a drug for hepatitis D. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the company turned its attention to the new pathogen.

Glenn has since forged ties with the TOGETHER network, which operates test sites in countries around the world and has methodically conducted clinical trials of numerous prospective therapeutic agents for COVID-19.

The PEG-lambda trial took place between June 2021 and February 2022 at 12 sites in Brazil and five sites in Canada. To participate, patients had to test positive on a COVID-19 rapid-antigen test and receive PEG-lambda or a placebo within seven days of manifesting COVID-19 symptoms. Their average age was 43. Slightly more than half were women, and about 95% were mixed race. Only 3% were white. Some 85% had been vaccinated for COVID-19.

About 930 patients received a single subcutaneous injection of PEG-lambda, and about 1,020 were given a placebo injection. Of patients receiving PEG-lambda, 25 (2.7%) were hospitalized or, due to a shortage of hospital space, placed under observation for more than six hours in an emergency clinic within four weeks for COVID-19, versus 57 (5.6%) of patients who received the placebo.

Vaccinated patients treated with PEG-lambda experienced a 51% reduction in hospitalization relative to placebo. In unvaccinated patients treated within the first three days of symptom onset, there was an 89% reduction compared with placebo the same 89% reduction that was observed with Pfizers Paxlovid.

Only 11 (1.9%) of the 567 patients treated with PEG-lambda within the first three days after symptoms appeared wound up in the hospital within four weeks of getting the shot, versus 28 (3.1%) of the 590 who got a placebo injection within three days of symptom onset a relative reduction of 58%.

PEG-lambda was equally effective against several SARS-CoV-2 variants, including omicron. There were no deaths among patients treated with PEG-lambda within three days of symptoms onset. There were four COVID-19-related deaths in the placebo group.

With vaccine-induced immunity wearing off more rapidly than has been hoped, new SARS-CoV-2 variants constantly striving to outwit our immune systems, and people shying away from repeated rounds of vaccination due to fear of side effects both real and imagined (or due to vaccine fatigue), the need for effective COVID-19 therapies is paramount, Glenn said.

But even the best treatments available today have drawbacks.

Paxlovid is a very good drug, Glenn said of the drug now most commonly prescribed for newly infected COVID-19 outpatients. But its not perfect. You need to take six pills a day for five days. One of its component medications can interfere with your metabolism of many other drugs. The older you get, the more drugs youre likely to be taking, and the more susceptible you are to COVID-19.

Glenn is an inventor on intellectual property associated with the use of lambda-interferon for treating COVID-19. While he no longer actively consults for Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, he owns equity in the company and sits on its board of directors. The company has supplied PEG-lambda free of charge to several investigators for use in independent clinical trials, including this one. Eiger BioPharmaceuticals played no role in the design of this trial, patient recruitment, data acquisition, analysis or any other function in the trials operation, and was informed of the trials results only after its completion.

Additional researchers from Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc., Cardresearch, Platform Life Sciences, RainCity Analytics and the TOGETHER Network contributed to the work.

The study was funded by FastGrants, the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, the Latona Foundation and Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc.

Read the original:

Single drug injection wards off COVID-19 hospitalizations, in ... - Stanford Medical Center Report

Loma Linda University School of Medicine students now have the opportunity to spend their clinical years at AdventHealth Orlando thanks to a new regional campus partnership. Through the agreement, medical students can select the Florida-based healthcare system for their required clinical rotations during their third and fourth years of education leading to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.

The Loma Linda University School of Medicine AdventHealth Orlando Campus offers medical students the opportunity to train in Central Florida to diversify their clinical education across a variety of patient care settings and environments.

A cohort of students are learning in a setting that shares similar visions and common values with an emphasis on whole-person care just like Loma Linda University Health, said Tamara Thomas, MD, dean of Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Medical students training at AdventHealth Orlando will follow core curriculum of Loma Linda University School of Medicine and will complete their medical education under the supervision of AdventHealth Orlando faculty.

We have a long-standing relationship with AdventHealth, and the Orlando location is an additional rotational site for students to spend their clinical years learning from a diverse group of providers and researchers, including many of whom are alumni, said Elaine Hart, MD, assistant dean of regional campuses at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Regional campuses are becoming more common as medical schools and healthcare organizations recognize the partnership benefits of training the next generation of physicians. The campuses boost enrollment and help increase the workforce in that region.

There is strong interest and enthusiasm to learn and participate in medical care in Central Florida, said George Everett, MD, assistant dean of Loma Linda University School of Medicine AdventHealth Orlando Campus. Students will learn in a large hospital system that offers advanced medical research and exceptional primary and specialty care to a diverse patient population.

AdventHealth Orlando is a major tertiary and quaternary referral hospital for much of the Southeast, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The facility has several residency and fellowship programs already in place, with additional programs set to launch soon. Residencies in OBGYN and orthopedics will admit their first classes in July.

According to an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) study, the U.S. could see an estimated shortage of primary care physicians between 17,800 and 48,000 and non-primary care specialties of between 21,000 and 77,100 physicians by 2034. Other key findings state that the U.S. population is projected to grow by 10.6%, with a projected 42.4% increase in those aged 65 and above over the next decade, which will create an increased demand for physician specialties that predominately care for older Americans.

Students applying or accepted to Loma Linda University School of Medicine who are interested in spending their third and fourth year at a regional campus such as AdventHealth Orlando may indicate their preference in their secondary application.

Visit link:

Loma Linda University School of Medicine partners with ... - Loma Linda University

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) WVU Medicine Childrens and a number of medical experts have come out against legislation that would loosen vaccination requirements for entry into schools and daycares in West Virginia.

State law requires children entering schools or daycares to provide proof of vaccination against chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

The state is one of six in the nation that allow only medical exemptions from the school immunization requirements.

Senate Bill 535, introduced Feb. 1, would change that by allowing religious and philosophical exemptions to the immunization requirements, with simply a letter from the childs parents needed.

Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, told WSAZ that the bills aim is to ensure equal access to education for all children in the state, preventing people from moving out of state or homeschooling children who would otherwise attend school in West Virginia.

Many in the health care community have spoken out against the bill, however, saying it puts children unnecessarily at risk from preventable diseases that can cause serious and long-term health complications and even death.

WVU Medicine Childrens Hospital stands against Senate Bill 535, which attempts to allow non-medical exemptions for daycare and school vaccine administration, said Dr. Jeffrey Lancaster, pediatric hospitalist and associate chief medical officer at WVU Medicine Childrens.

We trust our elected officials to represent the needs and wants of West Virginians, and I hope that they really consider the negative health consequences for children if this bill passes, Lancaster said.

While the focus has been on SB 535, other bills currently in the legislature would also loosen the immunization requirements. These proposals include allowing private schools to choose whether or not to require immunizations, allowing medical exemptions at the request of any licensed physician without approval from the commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health, and leaving the decision entirely up to the discretion of parents.

Lancaster said the efficacy of West Virginias strong immunization requirements have helped keep the states children healthy, however.

In 2019, 31 states reported measles outbreaks, the most since 1994. Last year, Ohio had more than 80 confirmed cases of measles in unvaccinated children, including 36 who developed severe disease and had to be hospitalized. West Virginia, despite its long border with Ohio, had zero cases, Lancaster said.

Thats a testament to the efficacy of the vaccines, and also to the safety, he said.

Lancaster said that while COVID-19 vaccinations approved for emergency use in recent years have been understandably polarizing, the vaccines required for school are not new, and their effects have been thoroughly reviewed and studied.

There are stacks and stacks of research that attest to the safety and efficacy of the required school vaccines, and there are also stacks and stacks of evidence of the illnesses and sometimes deaths that these preventable diseases can cause, he said.

Rumors and reports of a link between vaccines and autism have also been researched and found to be unsubstantiated.

Autism can have very heartbreaking consequences for the development of a child. Were getting better at recognizing it, number one, and better at treating it, number two. With that concern, there has been repeated study after study trying to find ties between autism in vaccinated kids versus autism in unvaccinated kids, and there has not been any link shown. Its just more evidence that these vaccines are safe medically, theyre safe neurologically and theyre safe developmentally.

Based on his own experiences with patients and families, Lancaster said he does not believe a majority of West Virginians are in favor of a change to the existing vaccination requirements.

I am worried that this bill and this change in law is not with the approval of most West Virginians, and Im afraid this is happening under the nose of a lot of West Virginians. In our experience, the vast majority of parents of kids want to have their kids protected with these vaccines, and particularly the parents who want their kids to have protection with vaccination but those kids cant due to some medical illness are very appreciative of the fact that other kids are immunized, creating this herd immunity, which protects their children, Lancaster said.

Lancaster is not the only medical provider to speak out against the legislation.

In an op-ed, three pediatric physicians affiliated with the WVU School of Medicine said any non-medical exemptions would place our children, residents and communities at an unnecessary public health risk for dangerous, yet preventable, diseases and illnesses.

Harrison County Health Officer Dr. Nancy Joseph also recently spoke out against legislation targeting the immunization requirements at a meeting of the countys Board of Health.

Other states look at our state when they look at immunization rates and infectious disease in children. They use us to say, Look how great that is, she said. ... We have a whole generation of physicians that have ... never seen measles, that have never seen, sometimes, chickenpox. But theres a reason for that, and we dont want them to get that experience again.

Read the rest here:

WVU Medicine Children's, medical experts speak out against bill that would loosen immunization requirements for schools, daycares - WV News

Johnson is working as a clinical research coordinator for the Byers Eye Institute under Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD, the Blumenkranz Smead Professor and a professor of ophthalmology, on a study looking at optic nerve regeneration. He said he cant decide on his favorite aspect of the program: the tight-knit scholar cohort or the research mentorship.

The mentors pull you up onto the mountaintop to survey the landscape of career options, and thats been one of the biggest impacts on my career so far, Johnson said. I wanted to go somewhere I felt wanted and where I felt I could be my authentic self. And I feel like Im getting that with REACH.

Operating in parallel with the postbaccalaureate program is the HBCU Visiting Student and Faculty Exchange Program, founded in 2017 by professor of medicine Abraham Verghese, MD. The program, now a part of REACH, pairs medical students and faculty from historically Black colleges and universities with Stanford Medicine collaborators.

Tylanna Baker, a visiting student from Morehouse School of Medicine, was among last summers cohort of REACH-HBCU scholars. In 2014, Bakers aunt, after avoiding medical care for years, died of complications from an enlarged heart. It moved Baker to enroll at the historically Black medical school, where she developed an interest in medical culture and the way doctors in different places approach medicine.

Baker found out about REACH through a Morehouse email listserv. She applied in January of 2022 and was accepted February 3, a date she said shell always remember.

Under the supervision of Baraka Floyd, MD, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, Baker conducted a review of practices to limit racial injustice, then used that information to provide recommendations to workers in pediatrics departments.

You get out of your comfort zone, get out of what youve been used to during your first year of medical school, Baker said about REACH. I like seeing different kinds of doctors, seeing different kinds of professions, being in a different environment and atmosphere.

Baker hopes to work in primary care to prevent simple health issues that, without treatment, can mean death.

Through REACH, Terrance Mayes, associate dean of equity and strategic initiatives and a leader of the REACH program, hopes to create a positive feedback loop between patients and medical professionals. By increasing access to health care for people of diverse backgrounds, health inequities will narrow, Mayes said.

Recently, the REACH Bioscience PhD Fellowship launched with a goal to increase access to academic career paths. While still in early stages, the program pays for the training of minority and first-generation students to pursue doctorate degrees. Over the next year, REACH will launch three additional programs, rounding out its mission to train a new generation of leaders who prioritize health equity, social justice and racial equity:

The MD-MS Program in Health Equity Research will pay for students to pursue a masters degree with a focus on health equity, alongside their medical degree.

To address social disparities at various community levels, the Scholarly Concentration in Health Equity and Social Justice Research will engage medical students in class and community project work.

The Clinical Clerkship in Community Health of the Underserved will provide outpatient care for communities that traditionally lack access to health care.

REACH is transforming the way we deliver education and helping us train future leaders who will orient their work and their purpose around social justice and health equity, Mayes said.

See more here:

REACH Initiative to expand equity, diversity at Stanford School of ... - Stanford Medical Center Report

Yale University has announced a gift of $25 million from The Starr Foundation in support of financial aid at Yale School of Medicine. This major commitment from one of the nations largest private foundations, chaired by Maurice R. Hank Greenberg, is a significant step toward making Yales premier MD program more affordable for students with financial need. Mr. Greenberg also serves as Chairman and CEO of Starr Insurance Companies, a leading global insurance and investment organization.

In her announcement, Nancy J. Brown, MD, the Jean and David W. Wallace Dean of Yale School of Medicine, said, Reducing medical student debt enables exceptional candidates from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to attend Yale School of Medicine and ensures that they have the financial support and freedom to pursue their education and future careers in medicine without financial burden.

I am deeply grateful for this new contribution from The Starr Foundation, said President Peter Salovey 86 PhD. Across the university, we have a goal to increase the scholarships we offer our students and to reduce the debt they carry upon graduation. Hank Greenberg and The Starr Foundation, by endowing scholarships in the School of Medicine, have enabled a permanent and significant expansion of the support we provide to our medical students.

A long-time benefactor of the university, The Starr Foundation has contributed widely to collections, international programs, and financial aid, and it has funded scholarships for Yale medical students for nearly three decades. The Yale School of Medicine attracts the worlds brightest candidates and prepares them for leadership in every area of medicine, Greenberg said. This new program will help to eliminate any concerns about funding the cost of medical school, so that these aspiring doctors can focus instead on their vital work to alleviate suffering and promote health for people everywhere.

It will empower our graduates to make careerdecisions based on their passions and desire to serve rather than on financial considerations.

Thanks to a fundraising challenge announced last year through the For Humanity campaign, the university will also make an equal and unrestricted contribution of $25 million to the medical schools general endowment to advance the deans priorities.

Each year, Yale School of Medicine enrolls roughly 104 students in its MD program. Of that number, more than half the class receives need-based financial aid, with an average scholarship award of $66,000. Even with this support, students must borrow to cover their costs.

With this gift, beginning with the 20232024 academic year, Yale medical students with demonstrated financial need will not be called upon to take out more than $10,000 in loans per year, enabling them to graduate with significantly lower debt than students at most medical schools across the country.

Dean Brown described the gift as a game changer: I want to thank The Starr Foundation for this landmark gift and for bringing the school significantly closer to our goal of debt-free education for students with demonstrated financial need. It will empower our graduates to make careerdecisions based on their passions and desire to serve rather than on financial considerations.

Visit link:

Gift From The Starr Foundation Brings Yale School of Medicine ... - Yale School of Medicine

World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infertility (2020).

de los Santos, M. J. et al. ESHRE guideline group on good practice in IVF labs. Hum. Reprod. 31, 130 (2015).

Ombelet, W., Cooke, I., Dyer, S., Serour, G. & Devroey, P. Infertility and the provision of infertility medical services in developing countries. Hum. Reprod. Update 14, 605621 (2008).

Google Scholar

Kadi, S. & Wiesing, U. The German IVF Register as an instrument to document assisted reproductive technologies. Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde 76, 680684 (2019).

Glujovsky, D., Farquhar, C., Quinteiro Retamar, A. M., Alvarez Sedo, C. R. & Blake, D. Cleavage stage versus blastocyst stage embryo transfer in assisted reproductive technology. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. 30, CD002118 (2016).

Google Scholar

Fordham, D. E. et al. Embryologist agreement when assessing blastocyst implantation probability: is data-driven prediction the solution to embryo assessment subjectivity? Hum. Reprod. 37, 22752290 (2022).

Google Scholar

De Croo, I., Van der Elst, J., Everaert, K., De Sutter, P. & Dhont, M. Fertilization, pregnancy and embryo implantation rates after ICSI with fresh or frozen-thawed testicular spermatozoa. Hum. Reprod. 13, 18931897 (1998).

Google Scholar

Bashiri, A., Halper, K. I. & Orvieto, R. Recurrent implantation failure-update overview on etiology, diagnosis, treatment and future directions. Reprod. Biol. Endocrinol. 16, 118 (2018).

Google Scholar

Cimadomo, D., Craciunas, L., Vermeulen, N., Vomstein, K. & Toth, B. Definition, diagnostic and therapeutic options in recurrent implantation failure: an international survey of clinicians and embryologists. Hum. Reprod. 36, 305317 (2021).

CAS Google Scholar

Cohen, J. The efficiency and efficacy of IVF and GIFT. Hum. Reprod. 6, 613618 (1991).

CAS Google Scholar

Simon, A. & Laufer, N. Assessment and treatment of repeated implantation failure (RIF). J. Assist. Reprod. Genet. 29, 12271239 (2012).

Google Scholar

Weissman, A. et al. Zygote intrafallopian transfer among patients with repeated implantation failure. Int. J. Gynecol. Obstet. 120, 7073 (2013).

Google Scholar

Busnelli, A., Somigliana, E., Cirillo, F., Baggiani, A. & Levi-Setti, P. E. Efficacy of therapies and interventions for repeated embryo implantation failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci. Rep. 11, 1747 (2021).

ADS CAS Google Scholar

Tournaye, H. et al. Tubal transfer: a forgotten ART? Hum. Reprod. 11, 19871990 (1996).

Google Scholar

Ruiz-Alonso, M. et al. The endometrial receptivity array for diagnosis and personalized embryo transfer as a treatment for patients with repeated implantation failure. Fertil. Steril. 100, 818824 (2013).

Google Scholar

Eytan, O., Elad, D., Zaretsky, U. & Jaffa, A. J. A glance into the uterus during in vitro simulation on embryo transfer. Hum. Reprod. 19, 562569 (2004).

Google Scholar

Medina-Snchez, M. et al. Medical microbots need better imaging and control. Nature 545, 406408 (2017).

ADS Google Scholar

Schwarz, L. et al. A rotating spiral micromotor for noninvasive zygote transfer. Adv. Sci. 7, 2000843 (2020).

CAS Google Scholar

Rivkin, B. et al. Electronically integrated microcatheters based on self-assembling polymer films. Sci. Adv. 7, eabl5408 (2021).

ADS CAS Google Scholar

Matsuda, T. & Kawahara, D. Electrospinning fabrication of high-trackable catheter tip with gradually graded or gradient flexibility. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Part B Appl. Biomater. 87, 3541 (2008).

Google Scholar

Jeon, S. et al. A magnetically controlled soft microrobot steering a guidewire in a three-dimensional phantom vascular network. Soft Robot. 6, 5468 (2019).

Google Scholar

Piskarev, Y. et al. A variable stiffness magnetic catheter made of a conductive phase-change polymer for minimally invasive surgery. Adv. Funct. Mater. 32, 2107662 (2022).

CAS Google Scholar

Mattmann, M. et al. Thermoset shape memory polymer variable stiffness 4D robotic catheters. Adv. Sci. 9, 2103277 (2022).

Google Scholar

Misra, S., Reed, K. B., Schafer, B. W., Ramesh, K. T. & Okamura, A. M. Mechanics of flexible needles robotically steered through soft tissue. Int. J. Rob. Res. 29, 16401660 (2010).

CAS Google Scholar

Goudu, S. R. et al. Biodegradable untethered magnetic hydrogel milli-grippers. Adv. Funct. Mater. 30, 2004975 (2020).

CAS Google Scholar

Breger, J. C. et al. Self-folding thermo-magnetically responsive soft microgrippers. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 33983405 (2015).

CAS Google Scholar

Rajabasadi, F., Schwarz, L., Medina-Snchez, M. & Schmidt, O. G. 3D and 4D lithography of untethered microrobots. Prog. Mater. Sci. 120, 100808 (2021).

CAS Google Scholar

Rajabasadi, F. et al. Multifunctional 4D-printed sperm-hybrid microcarriers for assisted reproduction. Adv. Mater. 34, 2204257 (2022).

CAS Google Scholar

Aziz, A., Holthof, J., Meyer, S., Schmidt, O. G. & Medina-Snchez, M. Dual ultrasound and photoacoustic tracking of magnetically driven micromotors: from in vitro to in vivo. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 10, 2101077 (2021).

CAS Google Scholar

Simerly, C. R. et al. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) with baboons generate live offspring: a nonhuman primate model for ART and reproductive sciences. Reprod. Sci. 17, 917930 (2010).

CAS Google Scholar

Kadiri, V. M. et al. Light- and magnetically actuated FePt microswimmers. Eur. Phys. J. E 44, 74 (2021).

CAS Google Scholar

FDA. Biological evaluation of medical devices. http://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/use-international-standard-iso-10993-1-biological-evaluation-medical-devices-part-1-evaluation-and (2016).

Ceylan, H. et al. 3D-printed biodegradable microswimmer for theranostic cargo delivery and release. ACS Nano 13, 33533362 (2019).

CAS Google Scholar

Giltinan, J., Sridhar, V., Bozuyuk, U., Sheehan, D. & Sitti, M. 3D microprinting of iron platinum nanoparticlebased magnetic mobile microrobots. Adv. Intell. Syst. 3, 2000204 (2021).

Google Scholar

Jessel, N. et al. Bioactive coatings based on a polyelectrolyte multilayer architecture functionalized by embedded proteins. Adv. Mater. 24, 3341 (2003).

Google Scholar

Qiu, F. et al. Magnetic helical microswimmers functionalized with lipoplexes for targeted gene delivery. Adv. Funct. Mater. 25, 16661671 (2015).

CAS Google Scholar

Wu, Z. et al. A microrobotic system guided by photoacoustic computed tomography for targeted navigation in intestines in vivo. Sci. Robot. 4, eaax0613 (2019).

Google Scholar

Yasa, I. C., Ceylan, H., Bozuyuk, U., Wild, A. M. & Sitti, M. Elucidating the interaction dynamics between microswimmer body and immune system for medical microrobots. Sci. Robot. 5, eaaz3867 (2020).

Google Scholar

Zhang, H., Li, Z., Wu, Z. & He, Q. Cancer cell membrane-camouflaged micromotor. Adv. Ther. 2, 1900096 (2019).

ADS CAS Google Scholar

Cabanach, P. et al. Zwitterionic 3Dprinted nonimmunogenic stealth microrobots. Adv. Mater. 32, 2003013 (2020).

CAS Google Scholar

Wu, Z. et al. A swarm of slippery micropropellers penetrates the vitreous body of the eye. Sci. Adv. 4, eaat4388 (2018).

ADS CAS Google Scholar

Venugopalan, P. L., Jain, S., Shivashankar, S. & Ghosh, A. Single coating of zinc ferrite renders magnetic nanomotors therapeutic and stable against agglomeration. Nanoscale 10, 23272332 (2018).

CAS Google Scholar

Medina-Snchez, M., Magdanz, V., Guix, M., Fomin, V. M. & Schmidt, O. G. Swimming microrobots: soft, reconfigurable, and smart. Adv. Funct. Mater. 28, 1707228 (2018).

Google Scholar

Tipnis, N. P. & Burgess, D. J. Sterilization of implantable polymer-based medical devices: A review. Int. J. Pharm. 544, 455460 (2018).

CAS Google Scholar

Xu, H. et al. Sperm-hybrid micromotor for targeted drug delivery. ACS Nano 12, 327337 (2018).

CAS Google Scholar

Medina-Snchez, M., Schwarz, L., Meyer, A. K., Hebenstreit, F. & Schmidt, O. G. Cellular cargo delivery: toward assisted fertilization by sperm-carrying micromotors. Nano Lett. 16, 555561 (2016).

ADS Google Scholar

Xu, H., Medina-Snchez, M., Maitz, M. F., Werner, C. & Schmidt, O. G. Sperm micromotors for cargo delivery through flowing blood. ACS Nano 14, 29822993 (2020).

CAS Google Scholar

Diemer, J., Hahn, J., Goldenbogen, B., Mller, K. & Klipp, E. Sperm migration in the genital tract-In silico experiments identify key factors for reproductive success. PLoS Comput. Biol. 17, 117 (2021).

Google Scholar

Herman, I. P. in Physics of the Human Body Ch. 7 (Springer, 2016).

Aziz, A. et al. Medical imaging of microrobots: toward in vivo applications. ACS Nano 14, 1086510893 (2020).

CAS Google Scholar

Aziz, A., Medina-Snchez, M., Claussen, J. & Schmidt, O. G. Real-time optoacoustic tracking of single moving micro-objects in deep phantom and ex vivo tissues. Nano Lett. 19, 66126620 (2019).

ADS CAS Google Scholar

Emanuel, A. L. et al. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound for quantification of tissue perfusion in humans. Microcirculation 27, e12588 (2020).

Google Scholar

Shi, C. et al. Application of a sub-0.1-mm3 implantable mote for in vivo real-time wireless temperature sensing. Sci. Adv. 7, eabf6312 (2021).

See the original post here:

Medical microrobots in reproductive medicine from the bench to the ... - Nature.com

A question from a medical student asking for clarification of racial disparities in hypertension launched a field-defining journey for Duke pathology professor Andrea Deyrup, MD, PhD.

Deyrup had been taught race-based associations with disease as a medical student at the University of Chicago and, like many physicians, had considered these epidemiologic data to be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

However, as Deyrup began looking at the science supporting these race-based associations she realized that the data were often misinterpreted and based on questionable science.

Shes building connections through presentations and a popular video series to end race-based medicine: Focusing primarily on race can lead to delay in diagnosis if a physician discounts a disease because it is uncommon in a particular population, said Deyrup.

My goals are to change the textbook narrative and, through a series of national presentations, to build a community that will support and nurture the change we need in medicine, she said.

Her approach has focused on structural change and individual outreach.

In preparation for her role as a co-editor for the 11th edition of Robbins Basic Pathology, one of the most widely used pathology textbooks worldwide, she analyzed the 10th edition the book to determine the extent of race-based content.

Deyrup found more than 35 diseases that were associated with race. She then dove deeply into the literature, examining the data and providing context for claims in the text.

Her compelling discoveries led to the presentation, Race in Robbins: Data or Distraction? delivered March 2021 for Duke Pathology Grand Rounds. The talk attracted a large local and national audience and resulted in subsequent invites from Harvard School of Medicine, Yale University, Memorial Sloan Kettering and other institutions.

She and Joseph Graves Jr., PhD, professor of evolutionary biology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, have presented the material more than 50 times, including to Dukes departments of neurology, family medicine and community health, ophthalmology, pediatrics, radiology, and dermatology.

Dr. Deyrup has provided eye opening insight into the embedded racial misinformation that permeates clinical medicine and patient care, said Edward Buckley, MD, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and vice dean for education at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Deyrup and Graves are working to remove race-based medicine from medical texts and board exams and to spread their message through a series of national and international presentations.

A common response that we get from attendees is shock and surprise that theyve never noticed this or thought about medicine and medical education in this way, Deyrup said.

Deyrup and Graves have begun many collaborations based on connections developed in their work, building a community of like-minded scientists to foster change.

Educating the educators is critical for systemic change, Deyrup said. Medical students and residents feel supported when they see our presentation, since they recognize the pervasiveness of systemic racism in medicine, but often feel vulnerable when questioning what they see.

In October 2021, Deyrup launched Pathology Central, a YouTube channel and website to share videos on race in medicine and content for medical students learning pathology.

Her motto is deeper understanding equals better medicine, and in each video she carefully dissects disease processes and links pathophysiology to patient care. Images used on the platform are of patients with multiple skin types.

One of her Race in Medicine videos has had a far-reaching impact on shifting the policy of the California Department of Public Health (CPDH). In a video, Deyrup tracks down the origin of the frequently cited statistic that 16% of people of African descent develop keloids, thick scarring after a skin injury, to a comment made at a dermatologic meeting 90 years ago.

In September 2022, a physician who had seen Deyrups video brought it to the attention of the CPDH, which had published recommendations against giving intradermal vaccinations for Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) to individuals of African, Hispanic, and possibly Asian descent, due to an increased incidence of keloids up to 16%.

After Deyrup and Graves met with a researcher from CPDH the race-based qualification was removed from the recommendation.

Over the time I have known Dr. Andrea Deyrup, she has shown great dedication and courage in taking on one of the biggest misconceptions in modern clinical practice, Graves said. That misconception is the idea that humans have biological races, and that medicine can be organized around supposed biological racial differences.

Another way that Deyrup is expanding her reach is through publications. In 2022, Graves and Deyrup authored two articles addressing race in medicine: a perspective piece in The New England Journal of Medicine titled Racial Biology & Medical Misconceptions, and, with two colleagues from the University of Chicago, a research piece in Academic Medicine examining race-based associations in the second edition of the American Academy of Pediatrics Textbook of Pediatric Care.

Since then, the American Academy of Pediatrics has committed to eliminating race-based medicine from its guidelines, teaching materials, and textbooks.

Listen to Duke pathologist Andrea Deyrup MD, PhD, in this episode of the Nature podcast "Racism in Health: the Harms of Biased Medicine," a production of the journal Nature and Scientific American.

There are still obstacles looming and much work to be done. As Deyrup sees it, the two main challenges are systemic racism and the slow pace of change in medicine.

Systemic racism is part of the fiber of medicine, woven with assumptions formed from a biological concept of race, Deyrup said.

Since few physicians have a background in evolutionary biology or in the biology of human variation, faulty experimental design and biased interpretation provide abundant data that can be used to support racialized medicine.

Its all part of a shared delusion, Deyrup said.

In thinking about next steps, Deyrup would like to connect with specialty boards and continue her work with the National Board of Medical Examiners to remove race-based medicine from their exams.

The reason students are learning this misinformation is because theyre tested on it, said Deyrup. If we can get these testing entities to recognize that race-based medicine is harmful and then remove it, that will eliminate the impetus for medical students to learn this material and for faculty to teach it.

While Deyrup and Graves emphasize that modern humans do not have biological races, socially defined race does exist and has a tremendous impact on health and longevity.

We must maintain focus on both the legacy and the ongoing influence of systemic racism on our patients and work to provide equitable, individualized care to each of them, Deyrup said.

Jamie Botta is communications strategist for the Department of Pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Photo by Steve Conlon.

Main feature photo Andrea Deyrup, MD, PhD, is a professor of pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Read the original post:

Shaking a Shared Delusion: Andrea Deyrup Combats Race-Based ... - Duke University School of Medicine

Jupiter Police arrested 54-year-old Donna Shuman on multiple counts of practicing medicine without an active license. She's the owner of Aqua Laser Studio. Owner Jonathan Feinberg also faces multiple counts of practicing medicine without a license. Police also arrested Johnathan Lopez-Oramas, aka JLo, an employee. He faces multiple charges of practicing without an active license and battery. (WPEC)

Two cosmetic workers are accused of practicing medicine without a license in Jupiter.

Jupiter Police arrested 54-year-old Donna Shuman on multiple counts of practicing medicine without an active license. She's the owner of Aqua Laser Studio on Indiantown Road.

Police also arrested Johnathan Lopez-Oramas, aka JLo, an employee. He faces multiple charges of practicing without an active license and battery.

{p}Jupiter Police arrested 54-year-old Donna Shuman on multiple counts of practicing medicine without an active license. She's the owner of Aqua Laser Studio. Police also arrested Johnathan Lopez-Oramas, aka JLo, an employee. He faces multiple charges of practicing without an active license and battery. (PBSO){/p}

The arrests stem from a tip to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) from a former employee who claimed Lopez-Oramas performed more than 50 injections for patients, from platelet rich plasma injections, neuromodulator injections of Botox, Dysport and Xeomin, and Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Fillers.

The witness, who worked for two months at the studio, told investigators that Lopez-Oramas was brought in specifically to do the injections because no one else at the business did them.

Investigators said a number of Google reviews for JLo showed he did an excellent job in giving Botox to patients. But police said it's against the law to give Botox and Fillers without a medical license.

See also:Man at wheel of Lyft driver's car named person of interest in death investigation

Police sent an undercover agent with the Department of Health to Aqua Laser Studio to confirm JLo performed Botox treatments at the facility. The undercover agent made an appointment for Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m., to receive Botox injections. Police said the suspect prepped the undercover agent for an injections by wiping off her face and giving her ice on the injection sites. That's when police stepped in to arrest him.

Lopez-Oramas, or JLO, told investigators that Shuman hired him to do Botox and lip filler injections, and that she knew he didn't have a license. He admitted to giving injections to a number of patients and staff members. According to the report, JLo told police that his boss had once referenced another local spa that did the same thing.

Shuman told police she hired JLo, but when asked if she knew he didn't have a license, she appeared surprised. According to the arrest report, she said, "He doesn't have a license?"

Owner Jonathan Feinberg also faces multiple counts of practicing medicine without a license. (PBSO)

Police arrested a second owner of the facility, 22-year-old Jonathan Feinberg, on Wednesday on five counts of practicing medicine without a license. He is free on bond.

Donna Shuman, the owner ofAqua Laser Studio, sent this statement to CBS12:

Anyone with information about the suspects or business is asked to call police at 561-741-2410.

Link:

Third arrest made at cosmetic business in Jupiter - WPEC

Touro students in front of the Bangkok Ministry of Public Health (top) and at the Elephant Reserve (bottom)

Twenty-six students from Touros Lander College for Women (LCW) and Lander College of Arts & Sciences (LAS) debated these and other questions during a midwinter break trip to Bangkok, as part of a two-week course in bioethics. The three-credit course, Biomedical Cross-cultural Educational Program (BioCEP) provided the students with a first-hand look at a wide variety of hospitals and institutions to learn how culture can impact ethical decisions in medicine, dentistry and biology.

Accompanied by Dr. John Loike, a professor of biology and bioethics and the founder of BioCEP, the students were introduced to a number of compelling ethical questions, including when life begins; the nature and limits of informed consent; the treatment of so-called orphan diseases; and the use of deception in research. Having the students confront these issues in person, rather than in theory, was one of Dr. Loikes many objectives for the course.

Part of the experience is for the students to appreciate and respect the diverse cultural values in medicine and science, he said. Gaining an appreciation for this international diversity is critical for pre-med, pre-dent and pre-health students, and I wanted to instill in the students an appreciation and respect for the diverse cultural values people have in medicine and science.

Over the course of the two weeks, the group visited multiple hospitals and met with healthcare staff to gain a better understanding of people with whom they shared many professional interests, but have very different backgrounds, and who face challenges the American students hadnt encountered previously. Among those were the Yanhee Hospital for Health and Beauty, to witness some of the surgical innovations to enhance patients appearance and beauty, and the Hospital for Tropical Medicine, to learn about the ethical challenges in treating Dengue fever and malaria.

Naomi May, a senior at LCW, said she was fascinated by a lecture they heard at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital about cord blood, which is the blood left over in the placenta that contains hematopoietic stem cells.

These stem cells are so important, as they can be used to treat many serious diseases, even cancer, said May, who hopes to be a nurse in a delivery and labor unit.

Students also had the opportunity to hear from Thailands Ministry of Public Health about the ethical challenges in developing universal healthcare and about the difficulties in establishing clinics in rural areas of Thailand.

My thoughts before the trip were that patient autonomy was the most important tenet of medical ethics, and any decision made AMA [Against Medical Advice] must be due to their personal beliefs, said Shira Davis, a psychology major who is a senior at Touros Lander College for Women. Now I understand the pervasiveness of misinformation and lack of medical care that can lead to patients making such decisions.

Dr. Loike founded BioCEP to enable students to discuss, assess and reflect on the ethical questions they encountered in Thailand. The program was facilitated in conjunction with the Knowledge Exchange Institute, an organization that allows students abroad to gain practical experience and enhance their understanding of the world through cultural and social immersion. The Institute provided the group with a Thai representative, Marisa Chung Vinitketkumnuan, a former Buddhist monk, who joined the students on field trips and taught them about Thai culture.

Students stayed at hotels next to the five-story Chabad-Lubavitch of Bangkok Center, which provided meals for their two Shabbatot in Thailand and where they davened, joined by more than 500 Israeli tourists. Dr. Loike lectured the students each night on Chabads sky roof lounge overlooking the Bangkok landscape and they also heard meaningful shiurim about halachic challenges of living in Thailand from the Director of the Chabad House, Rabbi and Rebetzin Wilhelm.

Although the educational aspects of the program is its primary purpose, they still managed to squeeze a little fun into their time abroad. The highlights included the beautiful underground aquarium that housed a salt water lake containing sharks and sting rays, and an elephant reserve where they bathed elephants by hand. They also visited a Red Cross snake farm, where the head veterinarian showed them how king cobras are milked to develop anti-venom serum.

Before coming home, they met with 30 undergraduate students at Mahidol University to learn about innovative online science education, and to build cultural bridges with some of their Thai counterparts.

Never before had I felt the global connection of physicians and researchers as strongly as I did in Thailand, said sophomore Chana Birnbaum. Spending time in Bangkok broadened my understanding of both Thai culture and healthcare. Moreover, it demonstrated how insights and breakthroughs are shared across the world, for the sake of humanity.

Go here to see the original:

Practicing Medicine Half a World Away | Lander College of Arts ... - Touro University

February is American Heart Month. Much of the medical community is focusing on heart health awareness. I thought it appropriate to talk about how the heart enters into effective therapeutic music.

On a recent visit to a hospice house, I must have triggered extra focus and energy by meditating before entering the room. Before arriving at the hospice, I had been involved in a very frustrating meeting which had my nerves on edge. I knew that was a very poor state in which to play therapeutic music. To be effective with the music, I need to be focused on the moment, focused outward not inward.

Being in the moment allows me to be open to whatever situation I may encounter in the patient room. Helpful, too, is thinking of something for which I am grateful, and embrace that thought.

Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle

I entered the hospice room where an elderly man was lying on his back, unconscious, struggling to breathe. As a person nears the end of life, breathing becomes very irregular with long pauses. This condition is called Cheyne-Stokes. He was clearly in this stage.

His family was in the room with him. The room was warm and comfortable, and had an aura of peace and respect. They invited me to play music.

The music I played was very slow, yet melodic enough that it wouldnt upset the mood of the family. The purpose of slow music was to allow the dying man time to process the music.

As the body begins to shut down, the brain slows down. (Or vice versa: As the brain slows, it slows the body). A fast tempo or a complicated rhythm would surely be difficult for his brain to process. My intention was to make his time easier, not harder. So very slow, simple music was called for.

The music had many long pauses as I synched the music to his breathing. After an exhalation, he had a very long pause. So long, I often wondered if there would be another. As I played for this gentleman, I felt a wave of energy from him. I knew that we had connected. My senses opened to him.

The existence of energetic communication has been researched in many studies. The energy that one can pick up from another person actually comes from the heart, not the brain. The energy is explained by the electromagnetic energy that is a constant in our environment and in our bodies.

Surprisingly, our hearts produce about 60 times the strength of magnetic emissions that the brain does.

So it makes sense if you want to have an energy connection with another person, center on your heart to make it happen. How do you do this?

To be able to receive the energy from another person, your nervous system needs to be calm and stabilized. If you are in chaos, the energy received from another person cannot be processed and acknowledged.

Center yourself. Think only positive thoughts. Think of something for which you are grateful and move that image into your heart. This is not intended to relax and calm you, but to organize your nervous system so it is poised to receive the energy communication.

When I follow my own advice, my music reaches better levels. With an energy connection, I am with the patient. I can play much more effectively.

If you wish to learn more about the energy communication sustained by the heart, visit the HeartMath Institute website at info@heartmath.org.

See the original post:

Music in Medicine: Therapeutic music is good for the heart, energy - Citrus County Chronicle

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

In this episode, we are joined by Harvey Castro, a physician, health care consultant, and serial entrepreneur, to discuss the exciting potential of the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) in the field of medicine and health care. ChatGPT is a type of artificial intelligence that can generate human-like text and has already gained 1 million users in under a week of being released.

We will explore the limitations of ChatGPT, including the quality of the responses that depend on the quality of the prompts entered and the accuracy of the data used to train the AI. However, despite these limitations, we will also examine the many potential uses of ChatGPT in health care, including personalized treatment plans.

Harvey will discuss the importance of accurate and up-to-date data and the need for measures to protect patient privacy and medical data security.

The potential for ChatGPT in health care is vast, and this podcast will give you a glimpse into the future.

Harvey Castrois a physician, health care consultant, and serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in the health care industry. He can be reached on his website,harveycastromd.info, Twitter@HarveycastroMD,Facebook,Instagram, andYouTube. He is the author ofChatGPT and Healthcare: The Key To The New Future of MedicineandSuccess Reinvention.

He shares his story and discusses his KevinMD article, Revolutionizing medicine: How ChatGPT is changing the way we think about health care.

The Podcast by KevinMD is brought to you by the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience.

With so many demands on their time, physicians today report record levels of burnout. Burnout is caused by many factors, one of which is clinical documentation. Studies indicate physicians spend two hours documenting care for every hour spent with patients.

At Nuance, we are committed to helping physicians do what you love care for patients and spend less time on clinical documentation. The Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience, or DAX for short, is an AI-powered, ambient clinical intelligence solution that automatically captures patient encounters securely and accurately at the point of care. Physicians who use DAX have reported a 50 percent decrease in documentation time and a 70 percent reduction in feelings of burnout, and 83 percent of patients say their physician is more personable and conversational.

Rediscover the joy of medicine with clinical documentation that writes itself, all within the EHR.

VISIT SPONSOR https://nuance.com/daxinaction

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast

RATE AND REVIEW https://www.kevinmd.com/rate

FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/kevinphomd

FOLLOW ON TIKTOK https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinphomd

GET CME FOR THIS EPISODE https://earnc.me/ptIMsD

Powered by CMEfy.

Read the original here:

Health care's future with ChatGPT: Exploring the potential of AI in ... - Kevin MD

Welp, that didn't take long. The first civil suit against the still-imploding crypto exchange FTX was just filed in a Florida court, accusing FTX, disgraced CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, and 11 of the exchange's many celebrity ambassadors of preying on "unsophisticated" retail investors.

The list of celeb defendants impressive — honestly, it reads more like an invite list to a posh award show than a lawsuit.

Geriatric quarterback Tom Brady and soon-to-be-ex-wife Gisele Bündchen lead the pack, followed by basketball players Steph Curry and Udonis Haslem, as well as the Golden State Warriors franchise; tennis star Naomi Osaka; baseballers Shoehi Ohtani, Udonis Haslem, and David Ortiz; and quarterback Trevor Laurence.

Also named is comedian Larry David — who starred in that FTX Super Bowl commercial that very specifically told investors that even if they didn't understand crypto, they should definitely invest — and investor Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" fame.

"The Deceptive and failed FTX Platform," reads the suit," "was based upon false representations and deceptive conduct."

"Many incriminating FTX emails and texts... evidence how FTX’s fraudulent scheme was designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country," it continues. "As a result, American consumers collectively sustained over $11 billion dollars in damages."

Indeed, a number of FTX promos embraced an attitude similar to the cursed Larry David commercial. In one, Steph Curry tells viewers that with FTX, there's no need to be an "expert," while a Naomi Osaka promotion pushed the idea that crypto trading should be "accessible," "easy," and "fun."

It's also worth noting that this isn't the first suit of its kind. Billionaire Mark Cuban, also of "Shark Tank" fame, was named in a class action lawsuit launched against the bankrupt lender Voyager in August, while reality TV star Kim Kardashian was recently made to pay a roughly $1.2 million fine for hawking the "EthereumMAX" token without disclosing that she was paid to do so.

The FTX suit, however, appears to be the most extensive — and high-profile — of its kind. And while a fine for a million or two is basically a one dollar bill to this tax bracket, $11 billion, even if split amongst a group of 11 exorbitantly wealthy celebs, is a more substantial chunk of change.

Of course, whether anyone actually ever has to pay up remains to be seen. Regardless, it's still a terrible look, and real people got hurt. If there's any defense here, though? At least they didn't promise to be experts.

READ MORE: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hit with class-action lawsuit that also names Brady, Bündchen, Shaq, Curry [Fox Business]

More on the FTX crash: Experts Say Sam Bankman-fried's Best Legal Defense Is to Say He's Just Really, Really Stupid

The post Celebrities Are Officially Being Sued by FTX Retail Investors appeared first on Futurism.

The rest is here:

Celebrities Are Officially Being Sued by FTX Retail Investors

Effecting Change

The disgraced former head of the crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, built his formidable public persona on the idea that he was a new type of ethical crypto exec. In particular, he was a vocal proponent of "effective altruism" — the vague-but-noble concept of using data to make philanthropic giving as targeted and helpful as possible.

But in a direct message, Vox's Kelsey Piper asked Bankman-Fried if the "ethics stuff" had been "mostly a front."

Bankman-Fried's reply: "Yeah."

"I mean that's not *all* of it," he wrote. "But it's a lot."

Truth Be Told

If the concept of becoming rich to save the world strikes you as iffy, you're not alone — and it appears that even Bankman-Fried himself knows it.

When Piper observed that Bankman-Fried had been "really good at talking about ethics" while actually playing a game, he responded that he "had to be" because he'd been engaged in "this dumb game we woke Westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths and everyone likes us."

Next time you're thinking of investing in crypto, maybe it's worth taking a moment to wonder whether the person running the next exchange might secretly be thinking the same thing.

More on effective altruism: Elon Musk Hired A Professional Gambler to Manage His Philanthropic Donations

The post Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the "Ethics Stuff" Was "Mostly a Front" appeared first on Futurism.

See the article here:

Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the "Ethics Stuff" Was "Mostly a Front"

Elon Musk's Twitter operations are still in free fall.

Earlier this week, the billionaire CEO sent an email to staff telling them that they "need to be extremely hardcore" and work long hours at the office, or quit and get three months severance, as The Washington Post reports.

Employees had until 5 pm on Thursday to click "yes" and be part of Twitter moving forward or take the money and part ways. The problem for Musk? According to former Uber engineer Gergely Orosz, who has had a close ear to Twitter's recent inner turmoil, "far fewer than expected [developers] hit 'yes.'"

So many employees called Musk's bluff, Orosz says, that Musk is now "having meetings with top engineers to convince them to stay," in an  embarrassing reversal of his public-facing bravado earlier this week.

Twitter has already been rocked by mass layoffs, cutting the workforce roughly in half. Instead of notifying them, employees had access to their email and work computers revoked without notice.

Even that process was bungled, too, with some employees immediately being asked to return to the company after Musk's crew realized it had sacked people it needed.

According to Orosz's estimations, Twitter's engineering workforce may have been cut by a whopping 90 percent in just three weeks.

Musk has been banging the war drums in an active attempt to weed out those who aren't willing to abide by his strict rules and those who were willing to stand up to him.

But developers aren't exactly embracing that kind of tyranny.

"Sounds like playing hardball does not work," Orosz said. "Of course it doesn't."

"From my larger group of 50 people, 10 are staying, 40 are taking the severance," one source reportedly told Orosz. "Elon set up meetings with a few who plan to quit."

In short, developers are running for the hills — and besides, they're likely to find far better work conditions pretty much anywhere else.

"I am not sure Elon realizes that, unlike rocket scientists, who have relatively few options to work at, [developers] with the experience of building Twitter only have better options than the conditions he outlines," Orosz argued.

Then there's the fact that Musk has publicly lashed out at engineers, mocking them and implying that they were leading him on.

Those who spoke out against him were summarily fired.

That kind of hostility in leadership — Musk has shown an astonishing lack of respect — clearly isn't sitting well with many developers, who have taken up his to get three months of severance and leave.

"I meant it when I called Elon's latest ultimatum the first truly positive thing about this Twitter saga," Orosz wrote. "Because finally, everyone who had enough of the BS and is not on a visa could finally quit."

More on Twitter: Sad Elon Musk Says He's Overwhelmed In Strange Interview After the Power Went Out

The post Panicked Elon Musk Reportedly Begging Engineers Not to Leave appeared first on Futurism.

Read the original post:

Panicked Elon Musk Reportedly Begging Engineers Not to Leave

Meat and Greet

Behold, ethical omnivores: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given a key go-ahead to what could be the first lab grown meat product bound for human consumption in the US.

The decision, a first for cultivated meat in the US, paves the way for Californian startup Upside Foods to start selling its lab-grown chicken product domestically — meaning that now, it only needs approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) before the ersatz chicken can hit restaurant menus.

"The world is experiencing a food revolution and the [FDA] is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply," FDA officials said in a statement. "The agency evaluated the information submitted by Upside Foods as part of a pre-market consultation for their food made from cultured chicken cells and has no further questions at this time about the firm’s safety conclusion."

Upside Foods' products were evaluated via a process in which manufacturers divulge the production process to the agency for review, along with a sample. If everything looks good after inspection, the FDA then sends back a "no further questions" letter to the company.

"We are thrilled at FDA's announcement," said Upside director of communications David Kay in an email to Reuters. "This historic step paves the way for our path to market."

Going Protein

Lab meat like Upside's aren't a plant-based imitation, unlike popular vegan alternatives such as Beyond Burgers. Instead, they're made from real animal cells grown in bioreactors, sparing the lives of actual livestock.

But while at a cellular level the meat may be the same, customers will definitely notice a difference in price. For now, cultivating meat remains an extremely expensive process, so pending USDA approval notwithstanding, it could still be a while before you see it hit the shelves of your local grocer.

To let eager, early customers try out the lab meat, Upside, which already announced its collaboration with Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn last year, will be debuting its chicken at specific upscale restaurants.

"We would want to bring this to people through chefs in the initial stage," CEO Uma Valeti told Wired. "Getting chefs excited about this is a really big deal for us. We want to work with the best partners who know how to cook well, and also give us feedback on what we could do better."

While the FDA's thumbs-up only applies to a specific product of Upside's, it's still a historic decision, signalling a way forward for an industry that's rapidly accruing investment.

Updated to clarify details regarding the FDA's evaluation of the product.

More on lab grown meat: Scientists Cook Comically Tiny Lab-Grown Hamburger

The post FDA Gives First Go Ahead for Lab Grown Meat Product appeared first on Futurism.

Read more here:

FDA Gives First Go Ahead for Lab Grown Meat Product

Big Baby

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's name has clearly lost its luster among the parents of newborns.

According to BabyCenter's review of the data the name "Elon" has cratered in popularity over the last year, dropping from 120 babies per million in 2021 to just 90 babies per million, falling in the popularity rankings by 466 spots.

The name had seen a meteoric rise over the last seven or so years, but is currently falling out of favor big time, plummeting back down to 2019 levels.

The read? It seems like Musk's public reputation has been taking a significant hit.

Name Game

There are countless reasons why Musk could be less popular public figure than he was three years ago.

Especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk emerged as a controversial figure, speaking out against vaccinations and lockdowns. He has also become synonymous with an unhealthy work culture, firing practically anybody standing in his way and forcing his employees to work long hours.

The fiasco surrounding Musk's chaotic takeover of Twitter has likely only further besmirched his public image.

For reference, other baby names that have fallen out of fashion include "Kanye" — almost certainly in response to the travails of rapper Kanye West, who's had a years-long relationship with Musk — which fell a whopping 3,410 spots over the last year.

More on Elon Musk: Sad Elon Musk Says He's Overwhelmed In Strange Interview After the Power Went Out

The post "Elon" Plummets in Popularity as a Baby Name for Some Reason appeared first on Futurism.

Read the original:

"Elon" Plummets in Popularity as a Baby Name for Some Reason

Italian Import

Carbon dioxide has a bad rep for its role in driving climate change, but in an unexpected twist, it could also play a key role in storing renewable energy.

The world's first CO2 battery, built by Italian startup Energy Dome, promises to store renewables on an industrial scale, which could help green energy rival fossil fuels in terms of cost and practicality.

After successfully testing the battery at a small scale plant in Sardinia, the company is now bringing its technology to the United States.

"The US market is a primary market for Energy Dome and we are working to become a market leader in the US," an Energy Dome spokesperson told Electrek. "The huge demand of [long duration energy storage] and incentive mechanisms like the Inflation Reduction Act will be key drivers for the industry in the short term."

Storage Solution

As renewables like wind and solar grow, one of the biggest infrastructural obstacles is the storage of the power they produce. Since wind and solar sources aren't always going to be available, engineers need a way to save excess power for days when it's less sunny and windy out, or when there's simply more demand.

One obvious solution is to use conventional battery technology like lithium batteries, to store the energy. The problem is that building giant batteries from rare earth minerals — which can be prone to degradation over time — is expensive, not to mention wasteful.

Energy Dome's CO2 batteries, on the other hand, use mostly "readily available materials" like steel, water, and of course CO2.

In Charge

As its name suggests, the battery works by taking CO2, stored in a giant dome, and compressing it into a liquid by using the excess energy generated from a renewable source. That process generates heat, which is stored alongside the now liquefied CO2, "charging" the battery.

To discharge power, the stored heat is used to vaporize the liquid CO2 back into a gas, powering a turbine that feeds back into the power grid. Crucially, the whole process is self-contained, so no CO2 leaks back into the atmosphere.

The battery could be a game-changer for renewables. As of now, Energy Dome plans to build batteries that can store up to 200 MWh of energy. But we'll have to see how it performs as it gains traction.

More on batteries: Scientists Propose Turning Skyscrapers Into Massive Gravity Batteries

The post Startup Says It's Building a Giant CO2 Battery in the United States appeared first on Futurism.

See the original post:

Startup Says It's Building a Giant CO2 Battery in the United States

Floored Apes

The value of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs have absolutely plummeted, leaving celebrities with six figure losses, in a perhaps predictable conclusion to a bewildering trend.

Earlier this year, for instance, pop star Justin Bieber bought an Ape for a whopping $1.3 million. Now that the NFT economy has essentially collapsed in on itself, as Decrypt points out, it's worth a measly $69,000.

Demand Media

NFTs, which represent exclusive ownership rights to digital assets — but usually, underwhelmingly, just JPGs and GIFs — have absolutely plummeted in value, spurred by the ongoing crypto crisis and a vanishing appetite.

Sales volume of the blockchain knickknacks has also bottomed out. NFT sales declined for six straight months this year, according to CryptoSlam.

According to NFT Price Floor, the value of the cheapest available Bored Ape dipped down to just 48 ETH, well below $60,000, this week. In November so far, the floor price fell 33 percent.

Meanwhile, the crypto crash is only accelerating the trend, with the collapse of major cryptocurrency exchange FTX leaving its own mark on NFT markets.

Still Kicking

Despite the looming pessimism, plenty of Bored Apes are still being sold. In fact, according to Decrypt, around $6.5 million worth of Apes were moved on Tuesday alone, an increase of 135 percent day over day.

Is the end of the NFT nigh? Bored Apes are clearly worth a tiny fraction of what they once were, indicating a massive drop off in interest.

Yet many other much smaller NFT marketplaces are still able to generate plenty of hype, and millions of dollars in sales.

In other words, NFTs aren't likely to die out any time soon, but they are adapting to drastically changing market conditions — and leaving celebrities with deep losses in their questionable investments.

READ MORE: Justin Bieber Paid $1.3 Million for a Bored Ape NFT. It’s Now Worth $69K [Decrypt]

More on NFTs: The Latest Idea to Make People Actually Buy NFTs: Throw in a House

The post Celebrities' Bored Apes Are Hilariously Worthless Now appeared first on Futurism.

Visit link:

Celebrities' Bored Apes Are Hilariously Worthless Now

In just about a year, Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse vision has cost his company upwards of $15 billion, cratering value and — at least in part — triggering mass company layoffs. That's a high price tag, especially when the Facebook creator has shockingly little to show for it, both in actual technology and public interest.

Indeed, it seems that every time Zuckerberg excitedly explains what his currently-legless metaverse will one day hold, he's met with crickets — and a fair share of ridicule — at the town square. Most everyone finds themselves looking around and asking themselves the same question: who could this possibly be for, other than Zucko himself?

That question, however, doesn't really seem to matter to the swashzuckling CEO, who's either convinced that the public wants and needs his metaverse just as much as he does, or is simply just convicted to the belief that one day people will finally get it. After all, he's bet his company on this thing and needs the public to engage to stay financially viable long-term.

And sure, points for conviction. But conviction is easy if you're surrounded by a bunch of yes men — which, according to Vanity Fair, the founder unfortunately is. And with $15 billion down the line, that may not bode well for the Silicon Valley giant.

"The problem now is that Mark has surrounded himself with sycophants, and for some reason he's fallen for their vision of the future, which no one else is interested in," one former Facebook exec told Vanity Fair. "In a previous era, someone would have been able to reason with Mark about the company's direction, but that is no longer the case."

Given that previous reports have revealed that some Meta employees have taken to marking metaverse documents with the label "MMA" — "Make Mark Happy" — the revelation that he's limited his close circle to people who only agree with him isn't all that shocking. He wants the metaverse, he wants it bad, and he's put a mind-boggling amount of social and financial capital into his AR-driven dream.

While the majority of his many thousands of employees might disagree with him — Vanity Fair reports that current and former metamates have written things like "the metaverse will be our slow death" and "Mark Zuckerberg will single-handedly kill a company with the metaverse" on the Silicon Valley-loved Blind app — it's not exactly easy, or even that possible, to wrestle with the fact that you may have made a dire miscalculation this financially far down the road.

And if you just keep a close circle of people who just agree with you, you may not really have to confront that potential for failure. At least not for a while.

The truth is that Zuckerberg successfully created a thing that has impacted nearly every single person on this Earth. Few people can say that. And while it can be argued that the thing he built has, at its best, created some real avenues for connection, that same creation also seems to have led to his own isolation, in life and at work.

How ironic it is that he's marketed his metaverse on that same promise of connection, only to become more disconnected than ever.

READ MORE: "Mark Has Surrounded Himself with Sycophants": Zuckerberg's Big Bet on the Metaverse Is Backfiring [Vanity Fair]

More on the Meta value: Stock Analyst Cries on Tv Because He Recommended Facebook Stock

The post Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants appeared first on Futurism.

See more here:

Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants

Red Crew, Blue Crew

Had it not been for the heroics of three members of NASA's specialized "Red Crew," NASA's absolutely massive — and incredibly expensive — Space Launch System (SLS) likely wouldn't have made it off the ground this week.

During the launch, the painfully delayed Mega Moon Rocket sprang a hydrogen leak. The Red Crew ventured into the dangerous, half-loaded launch zone to fix it live. Incredible work indeed, although in spite of their heroics, keen-eyed observers did notice something strange about the so-called Red Crew: they, uh, don't wear red?

"How is it we spent $20B+ on this rocket," tweeted Chris Combs, a professor at the University of Texas San Antonio, "but we couldn't manage to get some RED SHIRTS for the Red Team."

Alas, the rumor is true. Red shirts seemed to be out of the budget this year — perhaps due to the ungodly amount of money spent on the rocket that these guys could have died while fixing — with the Red Crew-mates donning dark blue shirts instead. Per the NYT, they also drove white cars, which feels like an additional miss.

A leftover from last night that’s still bothering me:

how is it we spent $20B+ on this rocket but we couldn’t manage to get some RED SHIRTS for the Red Team pic.twitter.com/FO10Y6mg3H

— Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) November 16, 2022

Packing Nuts

For their part, the Red Crew didn't seem to care all that much, at least not in the moment. They were very much focused on needing to "torque" the "packing nuts," as they reportedly said during a post-launch interview on NASA TV. In other words, they were busy with your casual rocket science. And adrenaline, because, uh, risk of death.

"All I can say is we were very excited," Red Crew member Trent Annis told NASA TV, according to the NYT. "I was ready to get up there and go."

"We were very focused on what was happening up there," he added. "It's creaking, it's making venting noises, it's pretty scary."

In any case, shoutout to the Red Crew. The Artemis I liftoff is historic, and wouldn't have happened if they hadn't risked it all. They deserve a bonus, and at the very least? Some fresh new shirts.

READ MORE: When NASA'S moon rocket sprang a fuel leak, the launch team called in the 'red crew.' [The New York Times]

More on the Artemis I launch: Giant Nasa Rocket Blasts off Toward the Moon

The post Experts Baffled by Why NASA’s “Red Crew” Wear Blue Shirts appeared first on Futurism.

Continue reading here:

Experts Baffled by Why NASA’s “Red Crew” Wear Blue Shirts