Podcasts about Microbiology

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more I have a great news recap for you on all things Omnicron and more then at 32 minutes my interview with Dr Meghan May starts and I begin with JL Cauvin at 1:05   On today's show I  announced my first Stand Up Comedy date with Ophira Eisenberg and Christian Finnegan for Saturday January 15 2021 in King of Prussia PA   Please support my sponsors  All this month and next I will be promoting GiveWell.org and I hope you will consider sending them a donation. They will match new donors up to $250! Please go to GiveWell.org/StandUp TommyJohn.com/STANDUP  GetQuip.com/STANDUP  Indeed.com/STANDUP Dr. Meghan May was appointed in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England College of Medicine in 2013. She was previously appointed in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University from 2010-2013, and held the Fisher Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences from 2012-2013, and was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow and then a research assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida. Dr. May earned her B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Pathobiology and Bacteriology (respectively) from the University of Connecticut. Her research focus is on the evolution of virulence, not only to determine how new diseases appear and where they come from but also how to predict what new disease might arise next — pathogen forecasting Follow her on Twitter  JL Cauvin is the best Trump impersonator in the world. He is also a very talented Stand Up Comic with who I have known for a long time. JL has recorded 6 stand up albums! J-L's act is incredibly diverse and has led to six stand up albums: 2006′s Racial Chameleon, 2008′s Diamond Maker, 2012′s Too Big To Fail and 2013′s Keep My Enemies Closer, 2016's Israeli Tortoise, which hit #1 on the iTunes comedy chart and his 2018 double album Thots & Prayers. He has also released two albums as Donald Trump: 2017's Fireside Craps, an entire album as Donald Trump which hit #1 on the iTunes comedy chart and 2020's Fireside Craps: The Deuce which went #1 on both Amazon and iTunes' comedy charts and broke into the Top 40 on iTunes' overall album charts. JL is the host of 2 podcasts "Righteous Prick" and "Making Podcasts Great Again" ----------------- Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe   Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page

Yoga improves quality of life in men with new diagnosis of prostate cancer University of Texas at San Antonio, November 23, 2021 An estimated 1.4 million men were diagnosed with prostate cancer worldwide in 2020, according to the American Cancer Society and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. With a new diagnosis of prostate cancer, these men have approximately a 30% incidence of depression and anxiety, a fourfold higher risk of heart attack and a twofold higher risk of committing suicide. Yoga, a set of specific body postures combined with breathing techniques and mindfulness, may be an easy-to-implement answer in this stressful situation, according to a study published Nov. 23 in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases. A pilot randomized clinical trial by urology researchers at the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, enrolled 29 men who were awaiting prostatectomy. Fourteen were randomized to participate in yoga and 15 were assigned to the standard of care, which was just waiting for surgery. “We gave the active intervention group six weeks of yoga, at least twice a week, for 60 to 75 minutes,” said lead author Dharam Kaushik, MD, associate professor of urology in UT Health San Antonio's Joe R. and Teresa Lozano School of Medicine and cancer surgeon with the Mays Cancer Center. Via questionnaires, the team documented the men's perceived quality of life at the start of yoga, at the time of surgery and after surgery. Men who did not do yoga completed the same questionnaires at study enrollment and at the other two junctures. The team drew blood samples before the men began yoga and after all sessions were completed. Samples were also taken from men who did not do yoga. Sense of well-being  “What we found was very interesting,” Dr. Kaushik said. “Yoga improved quality of life in men compared to the standard of care, specifically on the fatigue scale, meaning they were less tired; on sexual function; and on their functional, physical and social well-being.” A more robust immune response and lower levels of inflammation were observed in the yoga group, he added. “This is positive data and further large-scale studies are needed, for which this pilot study can be a model,” Dr. Kaushik said. Biomarkers and yoga The primary study outcome was self-reported quality of life assessed by the questionnaires. Changes in immune cell status and inflammatory markers with yoga were secondary outcomes. The yoga group showed increased numbers of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which are important contributors to immune health. Among other markers, the yoga group also exhibited a reduction in inflammatory markers called cytokines. The median age of participants was 56 years in the yoga group and 60 years in the standard of care group. Yoga has been studied in breast cancer, but not at the level of detail of this study, matching self-reported quality of life data with markers of immune response and inflammation, Dr. Kaushik said. “If we are able to encourage patients to do a small, inexpensive and easy-to-implement intervention that can have a big impact, then why not?” he said.     Researchers Discover How Antibiotic Power of Garlic Fights Chronic Infections Washington State University, November 28, 2021   Garlic is probably nature's most potent food. It is one of the reasons people who eat the Mediterranean diet live such long healthy lives. An active sulphurous compound found in garlic can be used to fight robust bacteria in patients with chronic infections, a new study from the University of Copenhagen indicates.   A previous finding from Washington State University showed that garlic is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting disease causing bacteria commonly responsible for foodborne illness.  Here the researchers show that the garlic compound is able to destroy important components in the bacteria's communication systems, which involve regulatory RNA molecules. 'We really believe this method can lead to treatment of patients, who otherwise have poor prospects. Because chronic infections like cystic fibrosis can be very robust. But now we, together with a private company, have enough knowledge to further develop the garlic drug and test it on patients', says Assistant Professor Tim Holm Jakobsen from the Costerton Biofilm Center at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. The study is the latest addition from a research group headed by Professor Michael Givskov, which since 2005 has focussed on garlic's effect on bacteria. At the time they learned that garlic extract is able to inhibit bacteria, and in 2012 they showed that the sulphurous compound ajoene found in garlic is responsible for the effect. The new study, which has been published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, takes an even closer look and documents ajoene's ability to inhibit small regulatory RNA molecules in two types of bacteria. 'The two types of bacteria we have studied are very important. They are called Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. They actually belong to two very different bacteria families and are normally fought using different methods. But the garlic compound is able to fight both at once and therefore may prove an effective drug when used together with antibiotics', says Tim Holm Jakobsen. Previous studies have shown that garlic appears to offer the most powerful, naturally occurring resistance to bacteria. In addition to inhibiting the bacteria's RNA molecules, the active garlic compound also damages the protective slimy matrix surrounding the bacteria, the so-called biofilm. When the biofilm is destroyed or weakened, both antibiotics and the body's own immune system are able to attack the bacteria more directly and thus remove the infection. In 2012 the researchers took out a patent on the use of ajoene to fight bacterial infections. Similar patents have been taken out for compounds in allicin -- which gives garlic its aroma and flavour -- and is known as one of the world's most powerful antioxidants.     Calorie restriction cycles could help cancer patients Fondazione Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (Italy), November 22 2021.  Findings from a trial reported on November 17, 2021 in Cancer Discovery revealed that five days of a diet that mimics fasting is safe for people with cancer and could improve factors that affect prognosis. The trial included 101 patients with different cancers treated with standard therapies. Participants were assigned to a five-day low protein, low carbohydrate, plant-based diet that provided up to 600 calories on the first day and up to 300 calories per day during the remaining days. The regimen was repeated every three or four weeks for up to eight cycles. Each period of calorie restriction was followed by a period in which patients were instructed to adhere to healthy diet and lifestyle guidelines. Blood samples were collected before and at the end of each calorie restricted period. Severe adverse events related to the diet were reported by 12.9% of the participants, which was significantly lower than the 20% figure hypothesized by the researchers prior to the study. Median plasma glucose, serum insulin and serum IGF-1 were decreased by 18.6%, 50.7% and 30.3% after each cycle. In an evaluation conducted among a subgroup of participants after the first calorie restricted cycle, a reduction in peripheral blood immunosuppressive cells and an increase of immune cells known as activated CD8+ T cells was observed. To explore the effects of the diet on immunity within cancer patients' tumors, the researchers performed an analysis of findings from an ongoing trial that administered the fasting-mimicking diet prior to tumor removal in breast cancer patients. Tumor microenvironments revealed enhanced tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells and additional favorable immune factors when compared to biopsy samples obtained before the diet was initiated.  “Cyclic fasting-mimicking diet is a safe, feasible and inexpensive dietary intervention that modulates systemic metabolism and boosts antitumor immunity in cancer patients,” the authors concluded.     Morning exposure to deep red light improves declining eyesight University College London, November 24, 2021       Just three minutes of exposure to deep red light once a week, when delivered in the morning, can significantly improve declining eyesight, finds a pioneering new study by UCL researchers. Published in Scientific Reports, the study builds on the team's previous work*, which showed daily three-minute exposure to longwave deep red light ‘switched on' energy producing mitochondria cells in the human retina, helping boost naturally declining vision.   For this latest study, scientists wanted to establish what effect a single three-minute exposure would have, while also using much lower energy levels than their previous studies. Furthermore, building on separate UCL research in flies** that found mitochondria display ‘shifting workloads' depending on the time of day, the team compared morning exposure to afternoon exposure. In summary, researchers found there was, on average, a 17% improvement in participants' colour contrast vision when exposed to three minutes of 670 nanometre (long wavelength) deep red light in the morning and the effects of this single exposure lasted for at least a week. However, when the same test was conducted in the afternoon, no improvement was seen. Scientists say the benefits of deep red light, highlighted by the findings, mark a breakthrough for eye health and should lead to affordable home-based eye therapies, helping the millions of people globally with naturally declining vision. Lead author, Professor Glen Jeffery (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), said: “We demonstrate that one single exposure to long wave deep red light in the morning can significantly improve declining vision, which is a major health and wellbeing issue, affecting millions of people globally. “This simple intervention applied at the population level would significantly impact on quality of life as people age and would likely result in reduced social costs that arise from problems associated with reduced vision.” Naturally declining vision and mitochondria In humans around 40 years old, cells in the eye's retina begin to age, and the pace of this ageing is caused, in part, when the cell's mitochondria, whose role is to produce energy (known as ATP) and boost cell function, also start to decline. Mitochondrial density is greatest in the retina's photoreceptor cells, which have high energy demands. As a result, the retina ages faster than other organs, with a 70% ATP reduction over life, causing a significant decline in photoreceptor function as they lack the energy to perform their normal role. In studying the effects of deep red light in humans, researchers built on their previous findings in mice, bumblebees and fruit flies, which all found significant improvements in the function of the retina's photoreceptors when their eyes were exposed to 670 nanometre (long wavelength) deep red light. “Mitochondria have specific sensitivities to long wavelength light influencing their performance: longer wavelengths spanning 650 to 900nm improve mitochondrial performance to increase energy production,” said Professor Jeffery. Morning and afternoon studies The retina's photoreceptor population is formed of cones, which mediate colour vision, and rods, which adapt vision in low/dim light. This study focused on cones*** and observed colour contrast sensitivity, along the protan axis (measuring red-green contrast) and the tritan axis (blue-yellow). All the participants were aged between 34 and 70, had no ocular disease, completed a questionnaire regarding eye health prior to testing, and had normal colour vision (cone function). This was assessed using a ‘Chroma Test': identifying coloured letters that had very low contrast and appeared increasingly blurred, a process called colour contrast.    Using a provided LED device all 20 participants (13 female and 7 male) were exposed to three minutes of 670nm deep red light in the morning between 8am and 9am. Their colour vision was then tested again three hours post exposure and 10 of the participants were also tested one week post exposure.  On average there was a ‘significant' 17% improvement in colour vision, which lasted a week in tested participants; in some older participants there was a 20% improvement, also lasting a week. A few months on from the first test (ensuring any positive effects of the deep red light had been ‘washed out') six (three female, three male) of the 20 participants, carried out the same test in the afternoon, between 12pm to 1pm.  When participants then had their colour vision tested again, it showed zero improvement. Professor Jeffery said: “Using a simple LED device once a week, recharges the energy system that has declined in the retina cells, rather like re-charging a battery. “And morning exposure is absolutely key to achieving improvements in declining vision: as we have previously seen in flies, mitochondria have shifting work patterns and do not respond in the same way to light in the afternoon – this study confirms this.” For this study the light energy emitted by the LED torch was just 8mW/cm2, rather than 40mW/cm2, which they had previously used. This has the effect of dimming the light but does not affect the wavelength. While both energy levels are perfectly safe for the human eye, reducing the energy further is an additional benefit. Home-based affordable eye therapies With a paucity of affordable deep red-light eye-therapies available, Professor Jeffery has been working for no commercial gain with Planet Lighting UK, a small company in Wales and others, with the aim of producing 670nm infra-red eye ware at an affordable cost, in contrast to some other LED devices designed to improve vision available in the US for over $20,000. “The technology is simple and very safe; the energy delivered by 670nm long wave light is not that much greater than that found in natural environmental light,” Professor Jeffery said. “Given its simplicity, I am confident an easy-to-use device can be made available at an affordable cost to the general public. “In the near future, a once a week three-minute exposure to deep red light could be done while making a coffee, or on the commute listening to a podcast, and such a simple addition could transform eye care and vision around the world.” Study limitations Despite the clarity of the results, researchers say some of the data are “noisy”. While positive effects are clear for individuals following 670nm exposure, the magnitude of improvements can vary markedly between those of similar ages. Therefore, some caution is needed in interpretating the data. It is possible that there are other variables between individuals that influence the degree of improvement that the researchers have not identified so far and would require a larger sample size. This research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and Sight Research UK.   Global rise in red/processed meat trade linked to sharp increase in diet-related illness Michigan State University & University of California at Merced, November 22, 2021   The global rise in the red and processed meat trade over the past 30 years is linked to a sharp increase in diet related ill health, with the impact greatest in Northern and Eastern Europe and the island nations of the Caribbean and Oceania, finds an analysis published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health. Health policies should be integrated with agricultural and trade policies among importing and exporting nations as a matter of urgency, to stave off further personal and societal costs, say the researchers. Among continuous urbanisation and income growth, the global red and processed meat trade has risen exponentially to meet demand. This trend has implications for the environment because of the impact it has on land use and biodiversity loss.  And high red and processed meat consumption is linked to a heightened risk of non-communicable diseases, particularly bowel cancer, diabetes, and coronary artery heart disease. The researchers wanted to find out what impact the red and processed meat trade might be having on diet-related non-communicable disease trends and which countries might be particularly vulnerable.  They drew on data on meat production and trade from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) from 1993 to 2018 for 154 countries, focusing on 14 red meat items derived from beef, pork, lamb and goat, and six processed primarily beef and pork items, preserved by smoking, salting, curing, or chemicals. They then calculated the proportions of deaths and years of life lived with disability (DALYs) attributable to diet as a result of bowel cancer, type 2 diabetes, and coronary artery heart disease among those aged 25 and over in each country. The global red and processed meat trade increased by more than 148% from 10 metric tonnes in 1993–5 to nearly 25 metric tonnes in 2016–18. While the number of net exporting countries fell from 33 in 1993–5 to 26 in 2016–18, net importing countries rose from 121 to 128.  Developed countries in Europe accounted for half of total red and processed meat exports in 1993–95 and 2016–18.  But developing countries in South America, such as Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay made up nearly 10% in 2016–18, up from around 5% in 1993–5.  Developing countries also increased their meat imports by 342.5% from 2 metric tonnes in 1993–5 to nearly 9 metric tonnes in 2016–18; developed countries doubled theirs from 8 metric tonnes to 16. Diet related attributable death and DALY rates associated with the global meat trade rose in three quarters of the 154 countries between 1993-5 and 2016-18. Worldwide, the researchers calculated that increases in red and processed meat consumption, aligned to increases in trade, accounted for 10,898 attributable deaths in 2016–18, an increase of nearly 75% on the figures for 1993-5.  The global meat trade contributed to increases of 55% and 71%, respectively, in attributable deaths and DALYs in developed countries between 1993-5 and 2016-18.  The equivalent figures in developing countries were significantly higher: 137% and 140%, respectively, largely as a result of increased demand for meat, prompted by rapid urbanisation and income growth, suggest the researchers. Between 1993– 2018, island nations in the Caribbean and Oceania and  countries in Northern and Eastern Europe became particularly vulnerable to diet-related disease and deaths associated with large meat imports.  The island nations have limited land for meat production, so depend heavily on meat imports, while many of the European countries, such as Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia, benefited from regional trade agreements and tariff exemptions after joining the European Union in 2003-4, which accelerated meat imports, explain the researchers. In 1993–5, the top 10 countries with the highest proportion of deaths attributable to red meat consumption included Tonga, United Arab Emirates, Barbados, Fiji, Gabon, Bahamas, Greece, Malta, Brunei and Saint Lucia.  In 2016–2018, the top 10 included The Netherlands, Bahamas, Tonga, Denmark, Antigua and Barbuda, Seychelles, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Croatia and Greece. The meat trade in these countries accounted for more than 7% of all deaths attributable to diets high in both red and processed meat in 2016-18. The trends in attributable DALYs more or less mirrored those for attributable deaths. Attributable death and DALY rates associated with global meat trade fell in 34 countries between 1993–5 and 2016–18. But this was partly due to population growth exceeding increases in meat imports in 24 countries, while domestic meat production increased in 19.  In more than a half of these countries (20) the absolute number of diet-related deaths and DALYs rose in tandem with increased meat consumption between 1993-5 and 2016-18. And some countries, including Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Germany increasingly acted as net meat exporters, changing their land use, with consequent biodiversity loss. This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause. And the researchers acknowledge that many countries import and process red meat items for export, which may have skewed their findings. Nevertheless, they conclude: “This study shows that global increases in red and processed meat trade contribute to the abrupt increase of diet-related [non-communicable diseases]... Future interventions need to urgently integrate health policies with agricultural and trade policies by cooperating between responsible exporting and importing countries.”     Glyphosate levels sharply increase by 1,208% within the human body University of California San Diego The environmental dangers of glyphosate in Roundup and other weed killer products have been well documented. Now new research, from a team led by Paul Mills of the University of California San Diego, has found it could be negatively affecting human health – especially in lower-income communities, as illustrated by the 1,208 percent increase in human glyphosate levels. The study tracked people in southern California over age 50 from the years 1993 to 1996 as well as from 2014 to 2016. Urine samples were collected from these persons (periodically) during that time. Number of persons testing positive for glyphosate in their urine went up by 500 percent within 20 years The researchers determined the percentage of persons testing positive for glyphosate went up an alarming 500 percent during that time period.  And, for some, glyphosate levels surged by a frightening 1,208 percent. A past UK trial of rats fed low doses of glyphosate – over their lifetimes – were found to have a higher risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Research out of King's College in London found this toxic herbicide ingredient can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats at just 4 nanograms/kg. By the way, this amount is 437,000 times below levels that are allowed in the United States. In more recent research, the levels of glyphosate in the humans studied were proportionately 100-fold higher. Further research regarding the connection between glyphosate and liver disease are being planned.  But, what we already know has been published in JAMA. Important to note: people who live in rural areas near farms that use Roundup are at the highest risk for exposure.  Yet, traces of this herbicide ingredient – left on fruits and vegetables – can easily make its way into the bloodstream of anyone who consumes these foods. Glyphosate weed killer in Roundup considered “probable carcinogen” by World Health Organization While Roundup was developed to kill weeds, many weed types have actually become resistant to the herbicide. This is causing some farmers to use even more Roundup. Glyphosate has been listed as a “probable human carcinogen” by WHO (the World Health Organization). It has also been linked with birth defects, ADHD and autism. Studies on humans have shown Roundup causes liver damage even when found in “permissible amounts” in tap water. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease currently affects 90 million Americans and is on the verge of becoming a global epidemic. Associated disorders such as diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome are also soaring. Glyphosate in Roundup weed killer INCREASES the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease While the known causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease include overeating, sugary foods and a sedentary lifestyle, some health professionals are beginning to wonder if glyphosate exposure is exacerbating this trend. NAFLD symptoms include chronic fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain and/or swelling, weight loss, jaundice, itching, confusion and swelling of the legs. Untreated, NAFLD can lead to liver cancer and liver failure. Unfortunately, glyphosate residue has been showing up in increasing amounts in our food supply. It has even been detected in wine, table salt and vaccines. So, it really isn't a wonder how glyphosate levels in the human bloodstream have increased by 1,208 percent. If you're outraged by this, take the time to voice your opinion to your state representatives. And, at the very least, eat organic fruits and vegetables – as often as possible to avoid this cancer-causing substance.   Study finds psychedelic microdosing improves mental health University of British Columbia, November 23, 2021 An international study led by UBC Okanagan researchers suggests repeated use of small doses of psychedelics such as psilocybin or LSD can be a valuable tool for those struggling with anxiety and depression. The study, recently published in Nature: Scientific Reports, demonstrated fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, and greater feelings of wellbeing among individuals who reported consuming psychedelics in small quantities, or microdosing, compared to those who did not. Microdosing involves regular self-administration of psychedelic substances in amounts small enough to not impair normal cognitive functioning. Considering this is the largest psychedelic microdosing study published to date, the results are encouraging, says UBCO doctoral student and lead author Joseph Rootman. "In total, we followed more than 8,500 people from 75 countries using an anonymous self-reporting system—about half were following a microdosing regimen and half were not," Rootman explains. "In comparing microdosers and non-microdosers, there was a clear association between microdosing and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress—which is important given the high prevalence of these conditions and the substantial suffering they cause." The study is also the first to systematically examine the practice of stacking, or combining microdoses of psychedelics with other substances like niacin, lions mane mushrooms and cacao, which some believe work in conjunction to maximize benefit. Rootman works with Dr. Zach Walsh, a psychology professor in UBCO's Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dr. Walsh says it's an exciting time for research in this area. "These findings highlight adults who are microdosing to treat their mental health conditions and enhance their wellbeing—rather than simply to get high," says Dr. Walsh. "We have an epidemic of mental health problems, with existing treatments that don't work for everyone. We need to follow the lead of patients who are taking these initiatives to improve their wellbeing and reduce suffering." Study co-author Kalin Harvey is the chief technology officer of Quantified Citizen, a mobile health research platform. He says this study highlights the potential of citizen science. "The use of citizen science allows us to examine the effects of behaviors that are difficult to study in the lab due to regulatory challenges and stigma associated with the now discredited 'war on drugs.'" According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in five Canadians personally experience a mental health problem or illness each year. This is one of the many reasons Dr. Walsh says conducting innovative psychological research is imperative. "These cross-sectional findings are promising and highlight the need for further investigation to better determine the impacts of factors like dosage and stacking," explains Dr. Walsh. "While the data is growing to support the use of psychedelics like psilocybin in large doses to treat depression and addiction—our data also helps to expand our understanding of how psychedelics may also help in smaller doses."

Vol 215, Issue 11: 29 November 2021. Adjunct Associate Professor James Branley heads the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Nepean Hospital. Associate Professor Lucy Morgan is a respiratory physician treating COVID-19 patients at Nepean and Concord Hospitals. They discuss how to save lives in the first few days of COVID-19 symptoms. To accompany the full webinar, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQj6SVEsa6M&t=1781s ...  CDNA National guidelines for public health units treating COVID-19 -- https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cdna-song-novel-coronavirus.htm ... National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce Living Guidelines -- https://covid19evidence.net.au/ ... Lung Foundation of Australia resources for patients and doctors -- https://lungfoundation.com.au/lung-health/protecting-your-lungs/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/resources/  

Dr. Glenn Rall is a Professor at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. He is also the Leader of the Inflammation Working Group there and Co-Leader of the Immune Cell Development and Host Defense Program. In addition, Glenn is the Associate Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Postdoctoral Program. Glenn also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology departments at Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University, and Drexel University. Glenn's lab studies viruses in the brain. His goal is to understand how our immune system recognizes and tries to get rid of those infections. Glenn enjoys spending his free time doing community service with his wife and getting involved in their neighborhood. He is also a big fan of listening to classical music. Glenn received his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute before accepting a position at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Glenn is here with us today to tell us all about his journey through life and science.

Mary L. Berg, BS, RVT, RLATG, VTS (Dentistry), is a charter member of the Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians. She earned a bachelor's degree in Biology and Microbiology at South Dakota State University, an associate's degree in Laboratory Animal Science at Redlands Community College, and another associate's degree in Veterinary Technology from St. Petersburg College. She received her Veterinary Technician Specialty in Dentistry in 2006. For nearly three decades, Berg worked in research, where she specialized in products aimed at improving the oral health of companion animals. She has also served as the practice manager and dental specialist at a general practice. She teaches veterinary technology, and she is president of Beyond the Crown Veterinary Education — a veterinary dental consulting service. Berg is actively involved in NAVTA, tAVDT and KVTA, and she has served on committees for the AVMA and AAVSB. She has authored or co-authored over 70 publications.

Massacussetts-based ceramic artist KERI STRAKA is fascinated with micro worlds: those inside the human body and those in nature, like the small dramas of a tide pool. Her love of quiet observation takes shape in the organic ceramic forms that hint of aquatic life, internal human structures and laboratory experiments. A professor of ceramics at Framingham State University, Keri finds ways to sneak into the biology classes and used a residency at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute to further explore the similarities between scientific research and her own creative work.Keri shares how she helps students work towards a holistic creative life, seeking to build a sustainable mix of endeavors to support the broader goals. Find Keri:Websites:  www.keristraka.com www.bostonsculptors.com www.commongroundyoga.com   Mentioned:Professor Pat McCormick, retired ceramics teacher (read) Crow Valley Pottery, Eastsound, WA (explore) Framingham State University (visit) “The Architecture of the Human Body,” Alexander Tsiaras (read) Jacqui Bonwell, yoga instructor (learn) Natasha Rizopoulos, yoga instructor (learn) “Five Minds for the Future (Leadership for the Common Good),” Howard Gardner (read) “Internal Blooming,” past exhibit at Boston Sculpture Gallery (read) “Squish Fold and Twist” exhibition, Mazmanian Gallery, Framingham State University,  Nov. 15 -Dec. 10, 2021; Opening reception on Nov. 16th from 4:30-6:30pm. (learn) Photography by Tracy Rodriguez and Keri StrakaFind Me, Kristy Darnell Battani: Website:    https://www.kristybattani.com Instagram:  kristybattaniart Facebook:  kristybattaniart Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please take a moment to leave a rating and a comment: https://lovethepodcast.com/artishplunge   Music:"Surf Guitar Madness," Alexis Messier, Licensed by PremiumBeat.comSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/artishplunge)

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more 29 minutes Michael A. Cohen is a regular contributor for The Boston Globe on national politics and foreign affairs. He is also the author of “American Maelstrom: The 1968 Election and the Politics of Division.” Michael has written for dozens of news outlets, including as a columnist for the Guardian and Foreign Policy and he is the US Political Correspondent for the London Observer. He previously worked as a speechwriter at the US State Department and has been a lecturer at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Stand Up subscribers get a discount on Michael's new newsletter!   1:00 Dr. Meghan May was appointed in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England College of Medicine in 2013. She was previously appointed in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University from 2010-2013, and held the Fisher Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences from 2012-2013, and was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow and then a research assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida. Dr. May earned her B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Pathobiology and Bacteriology (respectively) from the University of Connecticut. Her research focus is on the evolution of virulence, not only to determine how new diseases appear and where they come from but also how to predict what new disease might arise next — pathogen forecasting Follow her on Twitter  1:26 Dr. Matt Bellace has a PhD in clinical psychology with a subspecialty in clinical neuropsychology, the study of the brain and behavior.  He was twice awarded the Student Intramural Research and Training Award (IRTA) in neuroscience by the National Institutes of Mental Health to study memory in primates.  His clinical training included working with patients at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia), treating learning disorders in a pediatric neuropsychology private practice in suburban Philadelphia and performing cognitive behavioral therapy at Drexel University's Student Counseling Center.  Matt completed his clinical internship working with traumatic brain and spinal cord injury patients at The Mount Sinai Medical in New York City.  In 2005, Matt successfully defended his dissertation, “Activation of the Hippocampus During Emotional Learning,” which was later published in the International Journal of Neuroscience. Check out all things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

Winter is coming... But 'Crobe-vember is now! You know her, you love her, Queen of the Sun is back on GrowCast! Today we are discussing the approach of winter, and what that means to outdoor cannabis farmers- as well as microbes in the soil. Alexandria talks about overwinter cover crops, and why it's so important to keep that biology thriving in the soil through the winter months and into the spring. She discusses the different companion plants and cover crops she likes to utilize, and what their primary purposes are. The Queen also talks about genetics that are suitable for outdoors, versus some of the more finicky hype indoor strains that might cause you severe problems when exposed to the elements... ---Proud partners of Rimrock Analytical, fast and easy sex testing! Use code growcast for free shipping on your tests, easy and fast collection process, cull your male seedlings! Visit www.rimrockanalytical.com and use code growcast for free shipping!!!--- ---Brand new sexy iongrid lights at! www.acinfinity.com use promo code growcast15 for 15% off the BEST grow fans in the game, plus tents, pots, scissors, LED lights and more!-- ---Proud partner of FOOP Nutrients! Certified organic nutrients, clone gel and more! Visit www.foopcanna.com and use code growcast420 - and be sure to enter our FOOP giveaway EVERY WEEK at www.growcastpodcast.com/foop ---

On today's episode: New insight into the sticky world of web building. Finally some very exciting vaccine news that ISN'T covid-related. And we discover the creature behind the myths; tardigrades! All that and more today on All Around Science. LINKS: ARTICLE: Spiders' web-making secrets unraveled ARTICLE: First ever malaria vaccine recommended by the WHO THEME MUSIC by Andrew Allen https://twitter.com/KEYSwithSOUL http://andrewallenmusic.com

Like most things in public health science, food safety is complicated. The nuance can be difficult for non-scientists to understand and difficult for scientists to communicate. On this episode of Lab Culture, Shari Shea, APHL's director of food safety, discusses some of what makes food safety fascinating and complex along with guests Ben Chapman, Associate Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist at North Carolina State University, and Don Schaffner, Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science and Professor at Rutgers University.   Links: Food Safety Talk 242: Invisible Poop Particles Risky or Not episode 217: Homemade Treats From Neighbors Risky or Not episode 87: 27 Lbs of Unrefrigerated Feta Cheese Risky or Not episode 214: Having a Romantic Flour Fight “Modeling the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on cut cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon” “Ranking the disease burden of 14 pathogens in food sources in the United States using attribution data from outbreak investigations and expert elicitation” “Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions for SARS-CoV-2 on norovirus outbreaks: an analysis of outbreaks reported by 9 US States” Hello Fresh: Food Safety/Recall Notices CDC MMWR: “Decreased Incidence of Infections Caused by Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 U.S. Sites, 2017–2020” “Labs with No One to Run Them: Why Public Health Workers Are Fleeing the Field” “APHL: Historic Investments Will Strengthen Public Health Laboratory Workforce” Lab Culture Ep. 22: Life as a public health lab scientist testing for COVID-19 “DO NOT RINSE YOUR TURKEY! And other Thanksgiving food rules for every day” Don Schaffner on Twitter Ben Chapman on Twitter Shari Shea on Twitter Food Safety Talk podcast Risky or Not podcast

From terraforming the Earth for life to protecting against climate change, Fungi have played a critical role in our past, our present and our future. Fungi Researcher Dr. Gordon Walker joins us to talk fungi, the best mushrooms for your health, mushroom foraging, microbiology, mycology and magic mushrooms. Then, we countdown the Top 5 Underrated Candies. Dr. Gordon Walker: 01:35ishPointless: 37:48Top 5: 49:51ishhttps://www.youtube.com/fascinatedbyfungi (Dr. Walker YouTube - Fascinated By Fungi)https://www.instagram.com/fascinatedbyfungi/ (Dr. Walker Instagram - Fascinated By Fungi)https://www.tiktok.com/@fascinatedbyfungi (Dr. Walker TikTok - Fascinated By Fungi)https://twitter.com/fascin8dbyfungi (Dr. Walker Twitter - Fascinated By Fungi)https://www.patreon.com/fascinatedbyfungi (Dr. Walker Patreon - Fascinated By Fungi)

The World Health Organization cites antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 2.8 million people in the U.S. contract an antibiotic-resistant infection every year—and more than 35,000 die. What do laboratory professionals need to know about the emerging data around antimicrobial resistance? And what can we do in the lab to support infection prevention and control? On this episode of Inside the Lab, our hosts Dr. Lotte Mulder and Ms. Kelly Swails are joined by Dr. Patricia Simner, PhD, D(ABMM), Associate Professor of Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of the Medical Bacteriology and Infectious Disease Sequencing Laboratories at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Romney Humphries, PhD, D(ABMM), M(ASCP), Medical Director of Microbiology and Director of Infectious Disease Laboratories at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Dr. Lynn Bry, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Director of the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center at Harvard Medical School, to discuss antimicrobial resistance. Our panelists discuss the current fears surrounding emerging antibiotic resistance in the U.S. and explain how AMR is changing the way we practice medicine. They explore what lab professionals can do to navigate the workflow challenges in microbiology caused by antimicrobial resistance and describe the most worrisome resistance signatures in the emerging data. Listen in for insight on how to participate in efforts to combat emerging resistance and prepare your lab for an encounter with multidrug-resistant organisms. Topics Covered  · The biggest challenges around antimicrobial resistance facing the human population today · Current fears surrounding emerging antimicrobial resistance in the U.S.· What laboratory professionals can do to navigate the workflow challenges in microbiology caused by AMR· How labs can participate in regional, national, and global efforts to combat emerging resistance· Hope for combating antimicrobial resistance Connect with ASCP ASCPASCP on Twitter Connect with Dr. SimnerDr. Simner on TwitterDr. Simner at Johns Hopkins Connect with Dr. HumphiesDr. Humphries on TwitterDr. Humphries at Vanderbilt Connect with Dr. Bry Dr. Bry on TwitterDr. Bry at Brigham and Women's Hospital Connect with Dr. Mulder & Ms. Swails Dr. Mulder on TwitterMs. Swails on Twitter Resources CDC Info on Antibiotic ResistanceWHO Fact Sheet on Antimicrobial ResistanceInside the Lab in the ASCP Store 

Microbiologist Sharon Peacock has led one of the genuine science success stories of the pandemic. Professor Peacock is the founding director of COG-UK, the COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium. COG-UK is the network of 600 scientists and labs around the country which has acted as our surveillance system for the appearance and spread of new and dangerous variants of concern. Thanks to Professor Peacock and her colleagues, the UK was way ahead of other countries in establishing a national network of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and genomic analysis although she was the target of criticism when COG-UK was being set up in the spring of 2020. However, as she tells Jim Al-Khalili, it paid off. For example, it was the sequencing of virus samples by the consortium that last December identified the fast-spreading Alpha or so-called Kent variant. This was the variant responsible for the terrible second wave of deaths and hospitalisations last winter. It was a combination of the overwhelmed hospitals, rocketing infection rates and the discovery of Alpha that persuaded the government to tighten the rules for that Christmas and institute the lockdown in January. Before the pandemic, Sharon Peacock was a pioneer and advocate for the application of pathogen genome sequencing in the National Health Service to tackle the growing menace of antibiotic resistance. She is a consultant in microbiology and Professor of Public Health and Microbiology at the University of Cambridge. This is not a list of titles and achievements which Sharon could have possibly imagined when she left school at 16, to work full time in her local corner shop. Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

It's Crobe'vember all month long here at GrowCast, and we're focusing on MICROBIOLOGY! Today's guest is Dr. Judith Fitzpatrick from the Microbiometer team (code growcast), and she's here today to dive deep into home microbe testing. Judith starts by talking about her incredible background experience in the medical testing field of all things, and how her many advances in the health field led her down the path of studying soil microbiology and regenerative agriculture. Judith talks about why microbiology is so important to cannabis growers, and she talks about the unique needs of cannabis and how it relates to the soil. She also discusses home testing with the microbiometer, her work with Jeff Lowenfels, and the importance of a robust microbial system in order to achieve a healthy organic garden. ---Proud parters of Photontek- top of the line, efficient and powerful LED grow lights- use code growcast at www.photontek-lighting.com to save big on your high-end full spectrum grow lights! www.photontek-lighting.com code growcast--- ---Brand new sexy iongrid lights at! www.acinfinity.com use promo code growcast15 for 15% off the BEST grow fans in the game, plus tents, pots, scissors, LED lights and more!-- ---Proud partners of Plant Revolution! www.plantrevolution.com try their new King Crab beneficial bacteria today! Increase nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, soil breakdown, and more! This product will be a game changer for you in ANY cultivation setup!---

Please join Tami Hodge (McGraw Hill Education) & Heidi Smith (Front Range Community College), as they talk about the importance of a solid pre-lab approach. Moving from a print oriented pre-lab to a digital one with McGraw Hill Virtual Labs revolutionized Heidi Smith's lab. 80-90% of her students do the pre-lab work and show up the most prepared! 

As founder and formulator for Alfa Vedic, Dr. Barre traveled an eclectic path through athletics and academics in becoming a Physician, Kinesiologist-Functional Movement Specialist & Master Gardener.Dr. Lando is noted amongst his peers for his innovative clinical strategies, and has made himself available over the years for both consulting and professional training to other health professionals.The integration of wave-form mechanics, and largely suppressed aspects of biophysics and microbiology are now his primary focus in creating a genuine ‘science-based' system of functional medicine, thus avoiding the inherent limitations of present ‘theory-based' conventions within institutionalised systems.Alfa VedicThe Evolve Network is now live at evolvenetwork.tvDue to extreme censorship and shadow banning, we have created a platform challenging the mainstream paradigm,to create a space to share vision and views, to create long term sustainable health solutions.To express without censorship and restriction. To allow freedom of speech and interest in ideas that will allow humanity to Evolve…Become part of the solution.We hope you've enjoyed the first half of this podcast - if you'd like to listen to the rest, please visit the Evolve Network. Watch in full here https://evolvenetwork.tv/channel/dr-barre-lando-1I'd love to know your thoughts and experiences - join the conversation on my Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/theevolvenetworkpeteevansInstagram @evolvenetworktvhttps://www.instagram.com/theevolvenetworktv/Follow Pete Evans accounts here https://linktr.ee/peteevans

DR. STEVE HATFILL, M.D., Physician, Virologist and Bio-Weapons Expert, Former Fellow, Oxford University and the National Institutes of Health and the National Research Council, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Dr. Steve Hatfill: The first time we had an actual pandemic response plan was during the first term of the Bush administration Has the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stopped counting non-life-threatening breakthrough infection cases for COVID-19? Why did the U.S. government downgrade the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine? Natural immunity Vs. Covid vaccines: Which is more effective at preventing COVD-19? Back in the mid-1990s, a checklist for how to cope with a biological attack to the homeland was drafted Dr. Hatfill delves into the hydroxychloroquine saga

Dr. Marc Siegel and his guest, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Member of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), Dr. Stanley Perlman, discuss the data reviewed and questions considered as the FDA meets to decide whether or not to give approval for administering COVID boosters, mixing and matching booster doses, and vaccines for children under 12.

Last week, testing at a private Covid lab in Wolverhampton was halted, after the UK Health Security Agency found tens of thousands of people may have been falsely given a negative PCR result. But since the start of September, scientists had been alerted to strange patterns in the testing data which suggested something was out of the ordinary. Anand Jagatia speaks to Dr Kit Yates, a mathematical biologist, about why it took so long for these errors to be traced back to the lab, and what the consequences could be. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

We talk to our plants hoping our words will help them grow. So are they actually listening? Beronda L. Montgomery is MSU Foundation Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss what plants “know,” how they overcome obstacles, and what we humans can learn from them. Her book is called “Lessons From Plants.”

Nearly 3,000 years ago, someone in an Austrian mine pulled down their trousers — and gave scientists an astonishing glimpse into their rich culture.

Today I talk about virology and COVID-19 vaccines in South Korea with Professor Soon-Young Paik.  I'm joined by translator Hyunah Keum, graduate student in STP KAIST. He currently serves as an Emeritus professor at Dept. of Microbiology in Catholic University, South Korea. In his academic training he conducted research in the Dept. of fermentation technology in Hiroshima University, Japan; He completed his post doctorate program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under the National Institute of Health(NIH) in the USA.

Learn about a bacterial electric grid; traits females have evolved to avoid harassment; and why tea leaves sink.  There's a bacterial electric grid beneath our feet by Grant Currin  Hidden bacterial hairs power nature's “electric grid.” (2021, September). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/927031  Gu, Y., Srikanth, V., Salazar-Morales, A. I., Jain, R., O'Brien, J. P., Yi, S. M., Soni, R. K., Samatey, F. A., Yalcin, S. E., & Malvankar, N. S. (2021). Structure of Geobacter pili reveals secretory rather than nanowire behaviour. Nature, 597(7876), 430–434. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03857-w  Specktor, B. (2020, September 18). Scientists find “secret molecule” that allows bacteria to exhale electricity. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/electron-breathing-geobacter-microbes.html  ‌Basic Biology of Oral Microbes. (2015). Atlas of Oral Microbiology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-802234-4.00001-x  Many females have evolved traits to avoid harassment by Cameron Duke Berlin, S. (2021, August 30). Female Octopuses Throw Debris at Unwanted Mates Who Pester Them, Study Shows. Newsweek; Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/female-octopuses-throw-debris-unwanted-mates-who-pester-them-study-shows-1624345 Feldblum, Joseph T., Wroblewski, Emily E., Rudicell, Rebecca S., Hahn, Beatrice H., Paiva, T., Cetinkaya-Rundel, M., Pusey, Anne E., & Gilby, Ian C. (2014). Sexually Coercive Male Chimpanzees Sire More Offspring. Current Biology, 24(23), 2855–2860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.039 Female hummingbirds avoid harassment by looking as flashy as males. (2021). Female hummingbirds avoid harassment by looking as flashy as males. Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-female-hummingbirds-flashy-males.html  Godfrey-Smith, P., Scheel, D., Chancellor, S., Linquist, S., & Lawrence, M. (2021). In the Line of Fire: Debris Throwing by Wild Octopuses. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.18.456805  Hosken, D. J., Alonzo, S., & Wedell, N. (2016). Why aren't signals of female quality more common? Exeter.ac.uk. https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/10871/19606 Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection. (2021). Current Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.043 Power Play. (2018). National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2018/Oct-Nov/Animals/Animal-Aggression Wielgus, R. B., & Bunnell, F. L. (1994). Sexual Segregation and Female Grizzly Bear Avoidance of Males. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 58(3), 405. https://doi.org/10.2307/3809310 Why do tea leaves sink? by Ashley Hamer originally aired June 10, 2018 https://omny.fm/shows/curiosity-daily/the-cutest-kind-of-puppy-rural-happiness-and-the-s  James Norwood Pratt. (2010, August 16). The Ancient and Best Way to Brew Loose-Leaf Tea. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/08/the-ancient-and-best-way-to-brew-loose-leaf-tea/61479/  Inglis-Arkell, E. (2014, May 6). Why Do Your Tea Leaves Move To The Middle Of The Cup? Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/why-do-your-tea-leaves-move-to-the-middle-of-the-cup-1572125743  Ouellette, J. (2016). The Strange Physics of Tea Leaves Floating Upstream. Nautilus. https://nautil.us/blog/the-strange-physics-of-tea-leaves-floating-upstream  Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"No matter where you go in the world, there has been a system of medicine that has been primarily based on plants. Billions rely on such a system still today." Ethnobotanist (we discover what that is!) Dr. Cassandra Quave joins the podcast. She is out with a book called The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines. The book explores many issues people often think about-- what is happening in the vast, dizzying world of plants, and can plants help us more-- maybe a lot more-- than they already are? Plants are the basis for an array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. What about life-saving medicines for malaria? Some of those are derived from cinchona and wormwood. In today's world of synthetic pharmaceuticals, scientists and laypeople alike have lost this connection to the natural world. But by ignoring the potential of medicinal plants, we are losing out on the opportunity to discover new life-saving medicines needed in the fight against the greatest medical challenge of this century: the rise of the post-antibiotic era. Antibiotic-resistant microbes plague us all. Each year, 700,000 people die due to these untreatable infections; by 2050, 10 million annual deaths are expected unless we act now. Support Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk. Dr. Cassandra L. Quave is a medical ethnobotanist whose work is focused on the documentation and analysis of botanical remedies used in the treatment of infectious disease. Her expertise and interests include the traditional medical practices of the Mediterranean, and the botanical sources of anti-infectives and natural products for skin care. Dr. Quave holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor of Dermatology in the Emory University School of Medicine and Emory Center for the Study of Human Health, where she leads drug discovery research initiatives and teaches courses on medicinal plants, food and health. Dr. Quave also serves as Director/Curator of the Emory University Herbarium, and is associated faculty with the Departments of Biology, Environmental Sciences and Anthropology at Emory. She is a member of the Emory University Antibiotic Resistance Center and the Winship Cancer Center Discovery and Development Therapeutics Program. She also serves on the training faculty for the Antibiotic Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program, the Molecular and Systems Pharmacology Graduate Program and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Graduate Program at Emory. Her work has been featured in a number of international outlets including the New York Times Magazine.

Welcome All! My name is Minerva A. Garcia  I am currently the Associate Director Microbiology at Jacobi Med. Center, NYC Health & Hospitals Corp.  I am your Microbiologist now again, Microbiology with the microbes welcomes you in and so does poetry, with creative lines. In today's show, I'll be talking aboutthe following topics CONFUSION in […] The post Pediatric CoVid-19 appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As early as this month, India may see the rollout of ZyCoV-D, the world's first DNA vaccine against COVID-19. Pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila has received Emergency Use Authorisation for this vaccine, which is also the first in the country to be approved for children above the age of 12. How do DNA vaccines work, and how are they different from the vaccines we have now -- Covishield and Covaxin? What sort of immunity will the DNA vaccine provide? Will the three-dose regimen pose a problem, logistically, in administering ZyCoV-D? Sero-surveys across the country have shown us that in the most populated of regions 70% of the population may have COVID-19 antibodies already -- what does this mean for children, and do they need to be necessarily vaccinated at this stage? Guest: Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at Christian Medical College, Vellore. Host: Zubeda Hamid

Visit https://thermofisher.com/bctl to register for your free Bringing Chemistry to Life T-shirt and https://www.alfa.com/en/chemistry-podcasts/ to access our episode summary sheet, which contains links to recent publications and additional content recommendations for our guest.Sometimes you feel like you missed an opportunity, or didn't make the best out of it, or sometimes you feel like life is unfair and doesn't offer any attractive chance. Then you hear stories like Mireille Kamariza's and your perspective changes.This is classic Bringing Chemistry to Life episode, where an incredible personal story is intertwined with great science. Dr. Mireille Kamariza, junior fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, is driven by her personal experience growing up in war-torn Burundi. She was given the opportunity to move to and study in the U.S., rose to the challenge becoming an expert in biorthogonal chemistry and developed a technology for a highly reliable, yet simple and affordable, detection method for tuberculosis. Now Mireille, nominated as one of Fortune Magazine's most powerful women, wants to give back and aims at addressing the TB global health crisis thanks to her technology.While listening to Mireille's personal story alone is well worth your time, make no mistake, there is great chemistry here. Another brilliant example of chemistry at the interface with biology, where some of the most exciting results in modern science come from.

With global warming affecting the tick population, the time is right to try again with a human Lyme disease vaccine. I talk with Dr. Richard Marconi, professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, about his research into ticks, Lyme, and the promise of a human vaccine.

Before long, Australians will be able to test themselves for COVID-19 at home. Rapid antigen tests deliver results within 20 minutes, and they're going to feature more prominently as we move into a post-lockdown world. Today on The Signal, how does the new, faster generation of tests work, how will they change our lives, and can we rely on them? Featured: Deborah Williamson, Professor of Microbiology, Doherty Institute

Lauren is an incumbent member of Mt. Holly's city council who is running for re-election Nov 2nd.  Lauren graduated from Penn State with degrees in Microbiology and Molecular Biology.  She moved to Mt. Holly in 2006 and has since volunteered her time with many different non-profits within the community.  In this episode we discuss Lauren's takeaways from her first term as a city council woman, her background, and her campaign for re-election.  

Learn about how research into senescent cells and senolytic drugs could change aging. Plus: the Milky Way's broken arm. Additional resources from Andrew Steele: Pick up "Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old" at your local bookstore: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780385544924  Website: https://andrewsteele.co.uk/  Follow @statto on Twitter https://twitter.com/statto  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrAndrewSteele  The Milky Way has a 3,000-light-year-long "break" in its arm, and we don't know why by Briana Brownell  Specktor, B. (2021, August 19). Milky Way has a 3,000-light-year-long splinter in its arm, and astronomers don't know why. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/milky-way-sagittarius-arm-break  Astronomers Find a “Break” in One of the Milky Way's Spiral Arms. (2018). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/astronomers-find-a-break-in-one-of-the-milky-way-s-spiral-arms  The Milky Way Galaxy | NASA Solar System Exploration. (2017). NASA Solar System Exploration. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/  ‌Kuhn, M. A., Benjamin, R. A., Zucker, C., Krone-Martins, A., de Souza, R. S., Castro-Ginard, A., Ishida, E. E. O., Povich, M. S., & Hillenbrand, L. A. (2021). A high pitch angle structure in the Sagittarius Arm. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 651, L10. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141198  Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to learn something new every day withCody Gough andAshley Hamer. Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why is it important to figure out how citrus may become resistant to huanglongbing, and how can scientists be more approachable and relatable? Jess Trinh, a microbiology Ph.D. Candidate in the Coaker Lab at the University of California Davis, discusses her research on citrus immunity, her work as a science communicator, and cosplay. Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_trinh! Learn more about the tools used in the battle against huanglongbing and view research snapshots by other Citrus Series guests by visiting the Science for Citrus Health website and following along on Twitter and Instagram @sci4citrus. Learn more about the students producing this podcast and their science communication efforts by following us on Twitter @SciCommUCR and visiting our website.

Trude Rothrock is a Senior majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Spanish at the University of Tennessee. A seven-time All American, and an Academic All American, she also happens to be a Carmel Swim Club alum. Trude joins Chris Plumb on Off the Deck to discuss the privilege of responsibility, her success and continued improvement in college, how swimming with UT is truly a family affair for her, and her advice to the next generation of swimmers.

In today's episode, Dr. Tommy Wood returns for his fifth appearance on STEM-Talk. Tommy is a UK-trained physician and an assistant research professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. He also is a visiting research scientist and a valued colleague of ours here at IHMC. Today's interview focuses on a new paper that Tommy just had published by the American Society for Microbiology. It's titled, “Reframing Nutritional Microbiota Studies To Reflect an Inherent Metabolic Flexibility of the Human Gut: A Narrative Review Focusing on High-Fat Diets.” We discuss the paper and follow up on some research Tommy has done since his last appearance on STEM-Talk, a two-part interview that took place a little more than a year ago. In that two-part interview, episodes 110 and 111, we touched on Tommy's research into the importance of metabolic health and how only one in eight Americans is considered metabolically healthy. We also talk to Tommy about a new grant he just received to examine the effects of azithromycin on premature brain injury in a ferret model. As part of this grant, Tommy will be collaborating with his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Nance, who also is an assistant professor at the University of Washington and was our guest on episode 71 of STEM-Talk. Show notes: [00:03:15] Dawn opens the interview mentioning Tommy's new paper published by the American Society for Microbiology titled “Reframing Nutritional Microbiota Studies to Reflect an Inherent Metabolic Flexibility of the Human Gut: A Narrative Review Focusing on High-Fat Diets.” Dawn mentions that in our last interview with Tommy, he talked about the importance of insulin sensitivity and metabolic health, yet as Tommy has pointed out, more than 80 percent of Americans have some kind of metabolic disease or dysfunction. Given that, Dawn asks Tommy to revisit key points regarding insulin resistance; the importance of metabolic health; and why so many Americans struggle with this issue. [00:06:18] Ken points out that the common view held in much of the nutritional-microbiota research is that high-fat diets are harmful to human health, at least in part through their modulation of the gut microbiota. Ken goes on to say that there are a number of studies that support the inherent flexibility of the human gut and our microbiota's ability to adapt to a variety of food sources, suggesting a more nuanced picture than the commonly held view. Ken asks Tommy to give an overview of the gut microbiome and how research in the past decade has explored the effects of the gut microbiome on our metabolism, immune systems, our sleep, and our moods and cognition. [00:09:50] Dawn asks Tommy to explain the history of how fat, and high-fat diets, became public enemy number one in many circles, including gut microbiome research. [00:12:46] Ken mentions that there are many limitations when it comes to preclinical nutritional research, with many studies on the role of fat in the diet being based on animal models, particularly rat models, which presents several problems since the natural diet of a mouse is low in fat and high in carbohydrates. [00:15:50] Ken asks Tommy about the need for a more nuanced view of fat and our microbiota's ability to adapt to different food sources. [00:17:33] Ken points out that while people might throw around the term “healthy gut microbiota,” the research into the gut microbiota is so new that we don't yet know for sure what a healthy gut microbiota should look like. [00:21:22] Ken asks Tommy how we should go about reframing the debate about fat and high-fat diets to better reflect the overall evidence. [00:23:48] Dawn mentions that in the past decade, researchers have significantly improved our understanding of the gut microbiome. She asks about Tommy's belief that there is a need to understand the gut microbiome in an evolutionary context as well. [00:25:18] Tommy gives an overview of the gut-barrier function and its role in ...

Since the start of the pandemic, face coverings and their ability to prevent the transmission of Covid-19 have been under constant scrutiny by scientists, politicians and the public. More than a year and a half in, what do – and don't – we know? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Prof Cath Noakes about how effective different face coverings are, how best to use them, and when we should be masking-up. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Jennifer Gwyn Jones knows what it feels like to keep pushing down a yearning for change. She knows how easy it is to become constrained by what you can do what you think you should do. How you can become easily stuck in “it's okay, it's going okay” land. But now Jan also knows what it feels like to break free, to be bold and brave and leave a 17-year career to strike out in a new direction that just kept on calling. If you've ever wanted to stop what you're doing now and begin something new, especially if you're currently in a corporate role, or other profession, you will get so much inspiration from this conversation. We talk about the vital role that self-compassion plays when you step out of your comfort zone, how to tap into your own internal wisdom, how to design a rich fulfilling business and life and so much more in this mini guide to courageous change.     Show Notes   When you ignore the thing that's calling you, that you're yearning for, eventually your health suffers If you journal, revisit what you've written in the past and you will see the same cycles repeat themselves Even if “it's” good, it might not be good for you I realised there was such a close interweaving of my identity and my work performance and that want healthy I'd spent too much time looking for external validation from people who had different agendas to my own I was living from the head up; my body was just there to walk my head around! Burnout gave me the space to consider “I could be a business owner – what might that look like?” My identify started to shift and I became open to the potential of being something other than the corporate employee Self-compassion did not come easily to me – I liked the idea intellectually, but was unsure of how to actually practice it. I've now come to understand that it's a comfort when things don't go as you planned Ask yourself in this moment, what's most important to me? There are so many choices and options available to us, but there are unique “hot tracks” that show up for each of us – get curious, tune into how things feel for you With practice, even if fear does come up, you'll still be able to feel the sweetness     About the speaker   As a Life Coach, speaker and writer, Jen has helped women all over the world break free from their “shoulds” and find ways to say YES to their yearning. Jen helps women feeling stuck or confused in their professional or work routine find their true path and tap into the magic of life in practical and meaningful ways.  She came to Life Coaching through studies with the Martha Beck Institute and also training in Acceptance Commitment Training (ACT).  Jen's focus on helping professionals find their magic is informed by her 17-year career in the Australian civil service and extensive studies including Bachelor degrees in Microbiology and Anthropology and a Masters in International Affairs from the Australian National University. https://www.jengwynnjones.com/ https://www.facebook.com/JenGwynnJonesCoaching/ https://www.instagram.com/jen_gwynn_jones/

Bacteria are all around us, and the role these microorganisms play in our environment – both on the farm and inside the animals themselves, is an increasingly important area of study in animal science.Quorum sensing is bacteria's unique biochemical communication system. It's how bacteria interact and talk with each other. Understanding how that communication works and how we can use it in a variety of applications is a new frontier in animal health and wellbeing.To explore how quorum sensing science works and what benefits it offers the dairy industry, Feedstuffs editor Sarah Muirhead talked with Dr. Jeff Brose, director of technical services with AHV International out of Fort Collins, Colorado, to find out more. Prior to joining AHV International, Brose served as a consultant as AHV prepared to enter the U.S. market. He previously held positions with Cargill and Monsanto after managing his own private veterinary practice.

In this special bonus Ask An Expert episode I'm joined by cosmetic chemist, author and founder of Synergie Skin, Terri Vinson. Terri Vinson has decades of experience in skin science and has sat at the helm of Synergie Skin since its launch in 2005. Terri completed her Bachelor of Science, specialising in Immunology and Microbiology, at Monash University, and has obtained additional post graduate qualifications in both Formulating Chemistry and Biology & Secondary School Science. In this conversation, I ask Terri your questions on the stages of skin- the specific changes our skin goes through in each phase of our life, how to meet our skin's needs during each of those stages, and what a healthy skincare routine looks like at every age. In the name of transparency this episode is sponsored by Synergie Skin, however this conversation is not, at all, about pushing products onto you. Terri's background is, of course, in chemistry and biological science and her passion really lies within skin education, so the goal here isn't product placement- as per all of our bonus episodes, it's about giving you the objective information you need in order to make informed decisions around your skincare. In this episode, we've taken the questions YOU submitted on the stages of skin and passed them on to Terri- from how early is too early to start using retinol and why we associate acne with our teen years, through to why so many of us are still experiencing acne as adults and whether or not there's a topical solution for wrinkles and a loss of elasticity. You can read this interview now at: glowjournal.com/the-stages-of-skinFollow Synergie Skin on Instagram @synergieskin.Discover more at synergieskin.comStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr. Frances Lund is the Charles H. McCauley Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her lab showed that B cells not only make antibodies, but also produce cytokines that modulate the microenvironment. She currently studies the many roles of B cells, how to target B cells gone bad, and nasal vaccines for respiratory illnesses.

In a report earlier this summer, the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) noted there could be a 50% increase in cases of influenza in comparison to other years. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Ian Sample about the factors at play, from weakened immunity to the expanded vaccine programme, and hears from Derek Smith, professor of infectious disease informatics about how the World Health Organization has decided on which influenza strains to vaccinate against this year. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Episode Summary:In a single decade, CRISPR has made a dramatic impact on literally every facet of biotechnology. This game-changing system is traditionally programmed to make cuts at very specific parts of the genome, altering the code to cure disease. But a new class of CRISPRs discovered by Leo's colleagues don't simply cut DNA -- they integrate entirely new genetic material at targeted locations. With it, Leo generates a new method to perform very specific and highly efficient genome engineering on bacteria and describes the multitude of ways it can generate strains that revolutize commodity molecule synthesis and medicine.Episode Notes:About the AuthorLeo is a PhD candidate who performed this work under Professor Sam Sternberg at Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Sternburg and his team are world experts in CRISPR biology having discovered multiple new CRISPR systems, including the function of Cas9 during his time in Professor Jennifer Doudna's lab.Leo was driven to become a synthetic biologist after being exposed to all the ways nature has engineered biology to overcome problems. Key TakeawaysA new class of CRISPRs have been discovered that don't cut DNA but instead integrate new DNA on the genome.Leo hijacks this CRISPR's novel functionality to integrate whatever new DNA he wants into whatever location on a genome he desires. Through the tools of synthetic biology, the system generates extremely targeted integrations at high efficiency in bacterial cells.This CRISPR tool allows for integration of huge genetic payloads, iterative integrations, and integration of payloads at multiple locations in a single step, all of which create entirely new options for strain engineering.The tool can be applied to multiple bacterial species and has proven utility in engineering the microbiome in situ as well as modifying industrially sought after strains. TranslationLeo demonstrates that the system is highly effective in laboratory settings and can be optimized to overcome new challenges in new bacterial hosts.The tool is undergoing further development and optimization to do population scale engineering -- making targeted and useful modifications to bacteria in communities like those seen in our gut or in nature. Further research is needed to move this powerful integration tool into human cells as a novel method to overcome genetic disease and engineer future cell therapies.First Author: Leo VoPaper: CRISPR RNA-guided integrases for high-efficiency, multiplexed bacterial genome engineering, Nature Biotechnology, 2020.

Pomegranate peel has protective effects against enteropathogenic bacteria US Department of Agriculture, August 31, 2021 A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that pomegranate peel extract contains bioactive compounds that have potential antibacterial activity. The study's findings were published in the journal Nutrition Research. Pomegranate fruit peel is considered an agricultural waste product. However, it is a rich source of polyphenols like punicalins, punicalagins and ellagic acids. Earlier studies have shown that products derived from pomegranates have health benefits, including antibacterial activity, in vitro. There is limited evidence, however, of their antibacterial activity in vivo. For this study, researchers sought to determine the antibacterial properties of pomegranate peel extract in vivo. In particular, they focused on the punicalin, punicalagin and ellagic acid present in the peel extract. The researchers infected C3H/He mice with the bacterial pathogen Citrobacter rodentium, a bacterium that mimics the enteropathogenic bacterium, Escherichia coli. Prior to infection, the mice were orally treated with water or pomegranate peel extract. Twelve days after infection, the researchers examined C. rodentium colonization of the colon and spleen, as well as changes in tissue and gene expression. Fecal excretions were also analyzed for C. rodentium. The results revealed that the pomegranate peel extract reduced weight loss and mortality induced by C. rodentium infection. The extract also reduced C. rodentium colonization of the spleen. Additionally, pomegranate peel extract decreased the extent of damage in the colon caused by C. rodentium infection. In sum, pomegranate fruit peel extract contains bioactive compounds that can help reduce the severity of C. rodentium infection in vivo.   Vitamin D may protect against young-onset colorectal cancer Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard  School of Public Health, September 1, 2021 Consuming higher amounts of Vitamin D - mainly from dietary sources - may help protect against developing young-onset colorectal cancer or precancerous colon polyps, according to the first study to show such an association. The study, recently published online in the journal Gastroenterology, by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and other institutions, could potentially lead to recommendations for higher vitamin D intake as an inexpensive complement to screening tests as a colorectal cancer prevention strategy for adults younger than age 50. While the overall incidence of colorectal cancer has been declining, cases have been increasing in younger adults - a worrisome trend that has yet to be explained. The authors of the study, including senior co-authors Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber, and Edward Giovannucci, MD, DSc., of the T.H. Chan School, noted that vitamin D intake from food sources such as fish, mushrooms, eggs, and milk has decreased in the past several decades. There is growing evidence of an association between vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer mortality. However, prior to the current study, no research has examined whether total vitamin D intake is associated with the risk of young-onset colorectal cancer. “Vitamin D has known activity against colorectal cancer in laboratory studies. Because vitamin D deficiency has been steadily increasing over the past few years, we wondered whether this could be contributing to the rising rates of colorectal cancer in young individuals,” said Ng, director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber. “We found that total vitamin D intake of 300 IU per day or more - roughly equivalent to three 8-oz. glasses of milk - was associated with an approximately 50% lower risk of developing young-onset colorectal cancer.” The results of the study were obtained by calculating the total vitamin D intake - both from dietary sources and supplements - of 94,205 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II). This study is a prospective cohort study of nurses aged 25 to 42 years that began in 1989. The women are followed every two years by questionnaires on demographics, diet and lifestyle factors, and medical and other health-related information. The researchers focused on a primary endpoint - young-onset colorectal cancer, diagnosed before 50 years of age. They also asked on a follow-up questionnaire whether they had had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy where colorectal polyps (which may be precursors to colorectal cancer) were found. During the period from 1991 to 2015 the researchers documented 111 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer and 3,317 colorectal polyps. Analysis showed that higher total vitamin D intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of early-onset colorectal cancer. The same link was found between higher vitamin D intake and risk of colon polyps detected before age 50. The association was stronger for dietary vitamin D - principally from dairy products - than from vitamin D supplements. The study authors said that finding could be due to chance or to unknown factors that are not yet understood. Interestingly, the researchers didn't find a significant association between total vitamin D intake and risk of colorectal cancer diagnosed after age 50. The findings were not able to explain this inconsistency, and the scientists said further research in a larger sample is necessary to determine if the protective effect of vitamin D is actually stronger in young-onset colorectal cancer. In any case, the investigators concluded that higher total vitamin D intake is associated with decreased risks of young-onset colorectal cancer and precursors (polyps). “Our results further support that vitamin D may be important in younger adults for health and possibly colorectal cancer prevention,” said Ng. “It is critical to understand the risk factors that are associated with young-onset colorectal cancer so that we can make informed recommendations about diet and lifestyle, as well as identify high risk individuals to target for earlier screening.”     Choosing personal exercise goals, then tackling them immediately is key to sustaining change University of Pennsylvania, September 1, 2021 When people set their own exercise goals – and then pursue them immediately – it's more likely to result in lasting positive changes, according to a new study at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of this research are especially important because they were found among an underserved population that is at particularly high risk of having or developing heart conditions. The study was published in JAMA Cardiology. “Most behavior change programs involve goal-setting, but the best way to design that process is unknown,” said lead author Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, an associate professor of Medicine at Penn and vice president for Clinical Transformation at Ascension. “Our clinical trial demonstrated that physical activity increased the most when patients chose their goals rather than being assigned them, and when the goals started immediately rather than starting lower and gradually increasing over time. These findings are particularly important because the patients were from lower-income neighborhoods and may face a number of challenges in achieving health goals.” This study consisted of 500 patients from low-income neighborhoods, mainly in West Philadelphia but also elsewhere in and outside of the city. Participants either had a cardiovascular disease or were assessed to have a near-10 percent risk of developing one within a decade. These high-risk patients stood to greatly gain from increased physical activity. Patel's previous work at the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit often focused on the use of gamification, a concept used to create behavioral change by turning it into a game. The work usually tested whether playing a game attached to physical activity goals could make significant increases against not playing a game, or between different versions of a game. As with past studies, every participant was given a wearable step tracker that recorded their daily step counts through Penn's Way to Health platform. But what set this study apart from many of its predecessors was that the main outcomes of the research were less about participation in the games themselves and more about how goals were established, as well as when participants were encouraged to pursue them. Once every participant got their wearable step counter, they were given a week or two to get used to it. This time period also functioned as a baseline-setting period for everyone's pre-intervention daily step count. After that, participants were randomly assigned to the control group, which didn't have step goals or games attached, or one of the gaming groups with goals. Those in the gamified group also went through two other sets of random assignments. One determined whether they'd have input on their step goal, or whether they'd just be assigned a standard one. The second decided whether each participant would immediately start working toward their goals (for the entire 16-week intervention), or whether they'd ramp up to it, with minor increases in goals, until the full goals kicked in at week nine. After analyzing the results, the researchers saw that the only group of participants who achieved significant increases in activity were those who chose their own goals and started immediately. They had the highest average increase in their steps compared to the group with no goals, roughly 1,384 steps per day. And, in addition to raw step counts, the study also measured periods of sustained, high activity, amounting to an average increase of 4.1 minutes daily. Comparatively, those who were assigned their goals or had full goals delayed for half the intervention only increased their daily steps above the control group's average by between 500 and 600 steps. “Individuals who select their own goals are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to follow through on them,” said Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. “They feel like the goal is theirs and this likely enables greater engagement.” The study didn't end when the researchers turned the games off. Participants kept their activity trackers, and in the eight weeks following the intervention, the group that chose their goals and started immediately kept up their progress. In fact, they achieved almost the exact same average in steps – just three less than during the active games. “It is exciting to see that the group that increased their activity levels by the most steps maintained those levels during follow-up,” Patel said. “This indicates that gamification with self-chosen and immediate goals helped these patients form a new habit.” Many programs, whether offered through work or by health insurance companies, offer incentives for boosts in physical activity. But these goals are often fairly static and assigned based on round numbers. Patel, Volpp, and colleagues believe this research suggests that adjusting goal setting in these programs can have a significant impact. And if these adjustments lead to gains among people with lower incomes, whom cardiovascular disease kill at 76 percent higher rates, that could be particularly important.           “Goal-setting is a fundamental element of almost every physical activity program, whether through a smartphone app or in a workplace wellness program,” Volpp said. “Our findings reveal a simple approach that could be used to improve the impact of these programs and the health of their patients.”   Comparing seniors who relocate long-distance shows that where you live affects your longevity Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 1, 2021 Would you like to live longer? It turns out that where you live, not just how you live, can make a big difference. That's the finding of an innovative study co-authored by an MIT economist, which examines senior citizens across the U.S. and concludes that some locations enhance longevity more than others, potentially for multiple reasons. The results show that when a 65-year-old moves from a metro area in the 10th percentile, in terms of how much those areas enhance longevity, to a metro area the 90th percentile, it increases that person's life expectancy by 1.1 years. That is a notable boost, given that mean life expectancy for 65-year-olds in the U.S. is 83.3 years. "There's a substantively important causal effect of where you live as an elderly adult on mortality and life expectancy across the United States," says Amy Finkelstein, a professor in MIT's Department of Economics and co-author of a newly published paper detailing the findings. Researchers have long observed significant regional variation in life expectancy in the U.S., and often attributed it to "health capital"—tendencies toward obesity, smoking, and related behavioral factors in the regional populations. But by analyzing the impact of moving, the current study can isolate and quantify the effect that the location itself has on residents. As such, the research delivers important new information about large-scale drivers of U.S. health outcomes—and raises the question of what it is about different places that affects the elderly's life expectancy. One clear possibility is the nature of available medical care. Other possible drivers of longevity include climate, pollution, crime, traffic safety, and more. "We wanted to separate out the role of people's prior experiences and behaviors—or health capital—from the role of place or environment," Finkelstein says. The paper, "Place-Based Drivers of Mortality: Evidence of Migration," is published in the August issue of the American Economic Review. The co-authors are Finkelstein, the John and Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT, and Matthew Gentzkow and Heidi Williams, who are both professors of economics at Stanford University. To conduct the study, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams analyzed Medicare records from 1999 to 2014, focusing on U.S. residents between the ages of 65 and 99. Ultimately the research team studied 6.3 million Medicare beneficiaries. About 2 million of those moved from one U.S. "commuting zone" to another, and the rest were a random 10 percent sample of people who had not moved over the 15-year study period. (The U.S. Census Bureau defines about 700 commuting zones nationally.) A central element of the study involves seeing how different people who were originally from the same locations fared when moving to different destinations. In effect, says Finkelstein, "The idea is to take two elderly people from a given origin, say, Boston. One moves to low-mortality Minneapolis, one moves to high-mortality Houston. We then compare thow long each lives after they move." Different people have different health profiles before they move, of course. But Medicare records include detailed claims data, so the researchers applied records of 27 different illnesses and conditions—ranging from lung cancer and diabetes to depression—to a standard mortality risk model, to categorize the overall health of seniors when they move. Using these "very, very rich pre-move measures of their health," Finkelstein notes, the researchers tried to account for pre-existing health levels of seniors from the same location who moved to different places. Still, even assessing people by 27 measures does not completely describe their health, so Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams also estimated what fraction of people's health conditions they had not observed—essentially by calibrating the observed health of seniors against health capital levels in places they were moving from. They then consider how observed health varies across individuals from the same location moving to different destinations and, assuming that differences in unobserved health—such as physical mobility—vary in the same way as observed differences in health, they adjust their estimates accordingly. All told, the study found that many urban areas on the East and West Coasts—including New York City, San Francisco, and Miami—have positive effects on longevity for seniors moving there. Some Midwestern metro areas, including Chicago, also score well. By contrast, a large swath of the deep South has negative effects on longevity for seniors moving there, including much of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and northern Florida. Much of the Southwest, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, fares similarly poorly. The scholars also estimate that health capital accounts for about 70 percent of the difference in longevity across areas of the U.S., and that location effects account for about 15 percent of the variation. "Yes, health capital is important, but yes, place effects also matter," Finkelstein says. Other leading experts in health economics say they are impressed by the study. Jonathan Skinner, the James O. Freeman Presidential Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Dartmouth College, says the scholars "have provided a critical insight" into the question of place effects "by considering older people who move from one place to another, thus allowing the researchers to cleanly identify the pure effect of the new location on individual health—an effect that is often different from the health of long-term residents. This is an important study that will surely be cited and will influence health policy in coming years." The Charlotte Effect: What makes a difference? Indeed, the significance of place effects on life expectancy is also evident in another pattern the study found. Some locations—such as Charlotte, North Carolina—have a positive effect on longevity but still have low overall life expectancy, while other places—such as Santa Fe New Mexico—have high overall life expectancy, but a below-average effect on the longevity of seniors who move there. Again, the life expectancy of an area's population is not the same thing as that location's effect on longevity. In places where, say, smoking is highly prevalent, population-wide longevity might be subpar, but other factors might make it a place where people of average health will live longer. The question is why. "Our [hard] evidence is about the role of place," Finkelstein says, while noting that the next logical step in this vein of research is to look for the specific factors at work. "We know something about Charlotte, North Carolina, makes a difference, but we don't yet know what." With that in mind, Finkelstein, Gentzkow, and Williams, along with other colleagues, are working on a pair of new studies about health care practices to see what impact place-based differences may have; one study focuses on doctors, and the other looks at the prescription opioid epidemic. In the background of this research is a high-profile academic and policy discussion about the impact of health care utilization. One perspective, associated with the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care project, suggests that the large regional differences in health care use it has documented have little impact on mortality. But the current study, by quantifying the variable impact of place, suggest there may be, in turn, a bigger differential impact in health care utilization yet to be identified. For her part, Finkelstein says she would welcome further studies digging into health care use or any other factor that might explain why different places have different effects on life expectancy; the key is uncovering more hard evidence, wherever it leads. "Differences in health care across places are large and potentially important," Finkelstein says. "But there are also differences in pollution, weather, [and] other aspects. … What we need to do now is get inside the black box of 'the place' and figure out what it is about them that matters for longevity."   Gut bacteria influence brain development Researchers discover biomarkers that indicate early brain injury in extreme premature infants University of Vienna (Austria), September 3, 2021 The early development of the gut, the brain and the immune system are closely interrelated. Researchers refer to this as the gut-immune-brain axis. Bacteria in the gut cooperate with the immune system, which in turn monitors gut microbes and develops appropriate responses to them. In addition, the gut is in contact with the brain via the vagus nerve as well as via the immune system. "We investigated the role this axis plays in the brain development of extreme preterm infants," says the first author of the study, David Seki. "The microorganisms of the gut microbiome - which is a vital collection of hundreds of species of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microbes - are in equilibrium in healthy people. However, especially in premature babies, whose immune system and microbiome have not been able to develop fully, shifts are quite likely to occur. These shifts may result in negative effects on the brain," explains the microbiologist and immunologist. Patterns in the microbiome provide clues to brain damage "In fact, we have been able to identify certain patterns in the microbiome and immune response that are clearly linked to the progression and severity of brain injury," adds David Berry, microbiologist and head of the research group at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) at the University of Vienna as well as Operational Director of the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna. "Crucially, such patterns often show up prior to changes in the brain. This suggests a critical time window during which brain damage of extremely premature infants may be prevented from worsening or even avoided." Comprehensive study of the development of extremely premature infants Starting points for the development of appropriate therapies are provided by the biomarkers that the interdisciplinary team was able to identify. "Our data show that excessive growth of the bacterium Klebsiella and the associated elevated γδ-T-cell levels can apparently exacerbate brain damage," explains Lukas Wisgrill, Neonatologist from the Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine and Neuropediatrics at the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna. "We were able to track down these patterns because, for a very specific group of newborns, for the first time we explored in detail how the gut microbiome, the immune system and the brain develop and how they interact in this process," he adds. The study monitored a total of 60 premature infants, born before 28 weeks gestation and weighing less than 1 kilogram, for several weeks or even months. Using state-of-the-art methods - the team examined the microbiome using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, among other methods - the researchers analysed blood and stool samples, brain wave recordings (e.g. aEEG) and MRI images of the infants' brains. Research continues with two studies The study, which is an inter-university clusterproject under the joint leadership by Angelika Berger (Medical University of Vienna) and David Berry (University of Vienna), is the starting point for a research project that will investigate the microbiome and its significance for the neurological development of prematurely born children even more thoroughly. In addition, the researchers will continue to follow the children of the initial study. "How the children's motoric and cognitive skills develop only becomes apparent over several years," explains Angelika Berger. "We aim to understand how this very early development of the gut-immune-brain axis plays out in the long term. " The most important cooperation partners for the project are already on board: "The children's parents have supported us in the study with great interest and openness," says David Seki. "Ultimately, this is the only reason we were able to gain these important insights. We are very grateful for that."     Amino acid supplements may boost vascular endothelial function in older adults: Study University of Alabama, August 28, 2021 A combination of HMB (a metabolite of leucine), glutamine and arginine may improve vascular function and blood flow in older people, says a new study. Scientists from the University of Alabama report that a supplement containing HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate), glutamine and arginine (Juven by Abbott Nutrition) increased flow-mediated dilation (FMD - a measure of blood flow and vascular health) by 27%, whereas no changes were observed in the placebo group. However, the researchers did not observe any changes to markers of inflammation, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) “Our results indicate that 6 months of dietary supplementation with HMB, glutamine and arginine had a positive impact on vascular endothelial function in older adults,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr Amy Ellis in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition . “These results are clinically relevant because reduced endothelial-dependent vasodilation is a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. “Further investigation is warranted to elucidate mechanisms and confirm benefits of foods rich in these amino acids on cardiovascular outcomes.” The study supported financially by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Study details Dr Ellis and her co-workers recrtuited 31 community-dwelling men and women aged between 65 and 87 to participate in their randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: The first group received the active supplements providing 3 g HMB, 14 g glutamine and 14 g arginine per day; while the second group received a placebo. After six months of intervention, the researchers found that FMD increased in the HMB + glutamine + arginine group, but no such increases were observed in the placebo group. While no changes in CRP or TNF-alpha levels were observed in the active supplement group, a trend towards an increase in CRP levels was observed in the placebo group, but this did not reach statistical significance, they noted. “Although no previous studies have examined this combination of amino acids on vascular function, we hypothesized that the active ingredients of the supplement would act synergistically to improve endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation,” wrote the researchers. “However, although we observed a trend for increasing hsCRP among the placebo group (P=0.059), no significant changes in hsCRP or TNF-alpha were observed for either group. “Possibly, the effects of the supplement on reducing oxidative stress and inflammation were subclinical, or the high variability in these biomarkers, particularly hsCRP, among our small sample could have precluded visible differences.” The researchers also noted that an alternate mechanism may also be responsible, adding that arginine is a precursor of the potent vasodilator nitric oxide “Although investigation of this mechanism was beyond the scope of this study, it is feasible that the arginine in the supplement improved endothelial-dependent vasodilation by providing additional substrate for nitric oxide synthesis,” they added.     Moderate coffee drinking associated with lower risk of mortality during 11-year median follow-up Semmelweis University (Bulgaria), September 1 2021.  Research presented at ESC (European Society of Cardiology) Congress 2021 revealed a lower risk of dying from any cause during an 11-year median period among light to moderate coffee drinkers in comparison with men and women who had no intake. The study included 468,629 UK Biobank participants of an average age of 56.2 years who had no indications of heart disease upon enrollment. Coffee intake was classified as none, light to moderate at 0.5 to 3 cups per day or high at over 3 cups per day. A subgroup of participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart to assess cardiac structure and function.  Light to moderate coffee intake during the follow-up period was associated with a 12% decrease in the risk of dying from any cause, a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and a 21% reduction in the incidence of stroke in comparison with the risks associated with not drinking coffee.  “The imaging analysis indicated that, compared with participants who did not drink coffee regularly, daily consumers had healthier sized and better functioning hearts,” reported study author Judit Simon, of Semmelweis University in Budapest. “This was consistent with reversing the detrimental effects of aging on the heart.” “To our knowledge, this is the largest study to systematically assess the cardiovascular effects of regular coffee consumption in a population without diagnosed heart disease,” she announced. “Our results suggest that regular coffee consumption is safe, as even high daily intake was not associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality after a follow-up of 10 to 15 years. Moreover, 0.5 to 3 cups of coffee per day was independently associated with lower risks of stroke, death from cardiovascular disease, and death from any cause.”

Episode Summary1. She grew up in STEM. Her parents are both biologists. She worked in her mother's biology lab when she was very young.2. She was surrounded by a community of support for STEM. 3.  She found that within biology there were things that she didn't feel comfortable with. 3. Sci-Fi Art is one of her passions. Dr. Semarhy Quinones BioShe is a bacterial geneticist from Puerto Rico. She earned her bachelor's degree in Microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, where she participated in PR-LSAMP and MARC-U*STAR undergraduate research programs. She completed her PhD degree in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis, where she studied the origin of mutations under stressful conditions with John R. Roth, Ph.D. as her doctoral advisor. Currently, She is a full-time Biological Sciences lecturer at Sacramento State. She also works with the CSU-LSAMP Statewide Alliance, the CSU-LSAMP at Sacramento State, and the RISE Programs preparing the next generation of scientists. She also works as an independent artist creating artwork to increase the visibility of women of color, who have historically been underrepresented in STEM. website: https://www.semarhyquinones.com/artwork: https://www.redbubble.com/people/semarhy/shopLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/semarhyquinones Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/stemminginstilettos)

Barbara received her MA and Ph.D. in Metaphysics. Prior to receiving her post graduate degrees, she worked as an educator, Reiki practitioner, and is the sole proprietor of A Healing Touch Reiki. She currently researches, writes, and speaks about extraordinary phenomena and consciousness. Barbara is a Board Member of the PLR Institute (Past Life Research Institute), and served on the research committee for the Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation/CCRI, which investigates the interrelationship between consciousness and extraordinary phenomena. She is a contributing author to the books, The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences, by Dr. Penny Sartori (Watkins, 2017), and We Touched Heaven: A Collection of Experiences that Reached Beyond the Veil! By Claudia Watts Edge ( 2021). Barbara co-hosts Alternate Perception Radio with Brent Raynes (www.apmagazine.info). Convergence: The Interconnection of Extraordinary Experiences, is her debut book. She lives in the Northeast with her husband. She may be contacted at her website: www.extraordinaryexperiences.org, on twitter, @ExperiencerOm, and on Facebook, facebook.com/journeysintoconsciousness . Lynn Miller holds dual BA degrees in Psychology and Biology, and an MS in Biology. For several years, she worked in the food industry as a microbiologist. Lynn served as an Adjunct Professor at Pensacola State College, where she taught Botany, Microbiology, and Biology. She has taught High School Science and art, k-12 for fifteen years. Lynn is a collaborating author in the upcoming book: Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness and Contact, Volume 2. She is a frequent co-host with Brent Raynes, Alternate Perception Audio Interview Series. Influenced by the work of William Buhlman, Lynn has practiced controlled out-of-body experiences since 2009. For over fifteen years, she has extensively researched consciousness. -------------------------------

What is a microbiome? Are they helpful or are they harmful? Do they cause disease or can they cure disease? And what does diet soda have to do with them? In this episode, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein speaks to Dr. Jotham Suez from the W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology about the trillions of microorganisms that live inside us and all over our skin.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. I have one sponsor which is an awesome nonprofit GiveWell.org/StandUp for more but Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls. I've known Tim Wise for over 10 years and I have tried to showcase his work wherever I go from siriusxm to CNN to this podcast. I always learn so much when I read or talk to him. Today Tim and I talked about his latest writing Get all of his books Tim Wise, whom scholar and philosopher Cornel West calls, “A vanilla brother in the tradition of (abolitionist) John Brown,” is among the nation's most prominent antiracist essayists and educators. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the nation. He has also lectured internationally in Canada and Bermuda, and has trained corporate, government, law enforcement and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions. Wise's antiracism work traces back to his days as a college activist in the 1980s, fighting for divestment from (and economic sanctions against) apartheid South Africa. After graduation, he threw himself into social justice efforts full-time, as a Youth Coordinator and Associate Director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism: the largest of the many groups organized in the early 1990s to defeat the political candidacies of white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. From there, he became a community organizer in New Orleans' public housing, and a policy analyst for a children's advocacy group focused on combatting poverty and economic inequity. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Smith College School of Social Work, in Northampton, MA., and from 1999-2003 was an advisor to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute in Nashville, TN. Wise is the author of seven books, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, as well as Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority, and Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America. His forthcoming book, White LIES Matter: Race, Crime and the Politics of Fear in America, will be released in 2018. His essays have appeared on Alternet, Salon, Huffington Post, Counterpunch, Black Commentator, BK Nation, Z Magazine and The Root, which recently named Wise one of the “8 Wokest White People We Know.” Wise has been featured in several documentaries, including “The Great White Hoax: Donald Trump and the Politics of Race and Class in America,” and “White Like Me: Race, Racism and White Privilege in America,” both from the Media Education Foundation. He also appeared alongside legendary scholar and activist, Angela Davis, in the 2011 documentary, “Vocabulary of Change.” In this public dialogue between the two activists, Davis and Wise discussed the connections between issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and militarism, as well as inter-generational movement building and the prospects for social change. Wise is also one of five persons—including President Barack Obama—interviewed for a video exhibition on race relations in America, featured at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. Additionally, his media presence includes dozens of appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR, feature interviews on ABC's 20/20 and CBS's 48 Hours, as well as videos posted on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms that have received over 20 million views. His podcast, “Speak Out with Tim Wise,” launched this fall and features weekly interviews with activists, scholars and artists about movement building and strategies for social change. Wise graduated from Tulane University in 1990 and received antiracism training from the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, in New Orleans. Dr. Meghan May was appointed in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England College of Medicine in 2013. She was previously appointed in the Department of Biological Sciences at Towson University from 2010-2013, and held the Fisher Endowed Chair of Biological Sciences from 2012-2013, and was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow and then a research assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of Florida. Dr. May earned her B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Pathobiology and Bacteriology (respectively) from the University of Connecticut. Her research focus is on the evolution of virulence, not only to determine how new diseases appear and where they come from but also how to predict what new disease might arise next — pathogen forecasting Follow her on Twitter  Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page

Why leave life to fate when you can design your own destiny? This week's guest Amy Theisen left the academic world to travel down the rabbit hole of Chinese Metaphysics where she soon found some of the most intense concepts that straddle both art and science. Today, she joins Ursula to talk about how we can live our destiny authentically and in harmony with the world. Ursula's Takeaways: Pulling In The Chi (9:44) How It Works (13:48) Opening Up Doors (16:18) Women Come To Me First (22:43) Make The Choice To Invest In Yourself (26:40) The Power Of Going Inside (29:19) Shift To This New Period (31:40) About Amy Theisen I have a degree in Microbiology and a minor in Speech/Communications from the University of Minnesota. After securing a $500,000 grant from the State of Minnesota for the science programs I was overseeing at the Bell Museum of Natural History, I left the academic world and went down the rabbit hole of Chinese Metaphysics which I soon found to be some of the most intense concepts that straddle both art and science. Today, successful entrepreneurs hire me to help them live their destiny authentically and in harmony with the world. Why leave life to fate when you can design your destiny. Connect with Amy: Website: https://amytheisen.com/about/ (https://amytheisen.com/about/) Facebook: facebook.com/AmyTheisen Facebook: facebook.com/InfinityLifeDesign LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amytheisen/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amytheisen/) Instagram: @amytheisen FREE GIFT: http://www.amytheisen.com/ (www.amytheisen.com) 4 free eBooks on my website that explore the hidden factors of life that are influencing us and our success About Ursula Mentjes  Ursula Mentjes is an award-winning Entrepreneur and Sales Expert. She will transform the way you think about selling so you can reach your revenue goals with less anxiety and less effort! Ursula specializes in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and other performance modalities to help clients double and triple their sales fast.   Honing her skills at an international technical training company, where she began her career in her early twenties, Ursula increased sales by 90% in just one year. Just 5 years later, when the company's annual revenue was in the tens of millions, Ursula advanced to the position of President at just 27.  Sales guru Brian Tracy endorsed her first book, Selling with Intention, saying, “This powerful, practical book shows you how to connect with customers by fully understanding the sales process from the inside out. It really works!” Ursula is also the author of One Great Goal, Selling with Synchronicity and The Belief Zone, which received the Beverly Hills President's Choice award.  Her Podcast, Double Your Sales NOW, is available on iTunes, iHeartRadio and other outlets.  Ursula also serves as Past Statewide Chairperson of the NAWBO-CA Education Fund and Past President of NAWBO-CA. She is the recipient of the SBA's Women in Business Champion and a recipient of the Willow Tree's Extraordinary Example and Extraordinary Entrepreneur Awards, the NAWBO-IE ANITA Award, chosen as PDP's Extraordinary Speaker, PDP's Business Woman of the Year, the Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards Finalist and the President's Lifetime Achievement Award from two Presidents.  She has shared the stage with bestselling author Loral Langemeier, Les Brown, Tom Antion, Lisa Nichols, Giuliana Rancic and many others!  Her clients include Aflac, Ebenezer and Fairview Hospitals, New York Life, Paychex and more!  She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Communication from St. Olaf College and an M.S. in Counseling Psychology from California Baptist University. Social Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursulamentjessalescoach/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursulamentjessalescoach/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UrsulaSalesCoach (https://www.facebook.com/UrsulaSalesCoach) Instagram:...

SMS isn't the original instant messaging system. Plants can send chemical warnings through their leaves in a fraction of a second.  And while we love being in the messaging loop – frenetically refreshing our browsers – we miss out on important conversations that no Twitter feed or inbox can capture. That's because eavesdropping on the communications of non-human species requires the ability to decode their non-written signals. Dive into Arctic waters where scientists make first-ever recordings of the socializing clicks and squeals of narwhals, and find out how climate shifts may pollute their acoustic landscape. Also, why the chemical defense system of plants has prompted one biologist to give greenery an “11 on the scale of awesomeness.” And, you can't see them, but they sure can sense one another: how communicating microbes plan their attack. Guests: Susanna Blackwell – Bio-acoustician with Greeneridge Sciences. Hear her recordings of narwhals here. Simon Gilroy – Professor of botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison. His video of glowing green caterpillar-munched plants can be viewed here. Peter Greenberg – Professor of microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle originally aired October 29, 2018  

This special bonus episode of The Doctor's Kitchen podcast, brought to you in partnership with The Mayor of London. And today we're going to be talking specifically about the Covid-19 vaccines that are being offered to adults. COVID is still a serious disease. At the time of this recording tens of thousands of cases are still occurring daily which can lead to deaths and potentially long-lasting effects such as Long COVID - a topic we have talked about at length on the podcast with immunologists and researchers in the past. Getting the vaccine is the best way to immediately protect yourself, your family and friends from COVID-19 and reduce the chances of any new variants which can emerge from uncontrolled spiralling cases. This is key and it is truly a global issue. Without a worldwide vaccine strategy we risk further restrictions, uncontrolled spread and the consequences associated with that. Despite the many campaigns to educate the public appropriately, ‘hesitancy' to have the jab still exists, particularly amongst ethnic minorities and the 18-24 year old groups. Today I speak with Dr Sarah Filson an Infectious Diseases and Microbiology doctor working at West Middlesex University Hospital about vaccine hesitancy, how vaccines are manufactured, assessing risk/benefit profiles, why we are living in an ‘infodemic' and how to take a compassionate approach to lack of vaccine confidence in communities. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mark Martin returns to TWiM to discuss ways to increase diversity in our field, and the discovery of Borgs, giant extrachromosomal elements with the potential to augment methane oxidation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michele Swanson, and Michael Schmidt Guest: Mark O. Martin Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.  Become a Patron of TWiM! Links for this episode: Unacknowledged privilege (Mol Biol Cell) Black Microbiologists Association Beginner's Guide to Minority Professor Hires (ASM)Academic Career Readiness Assessment (UCSF) Annual Biomed Res Conference for Minority Students Lessons from Plants by Beronda Montgomery Giant extrachromosomal BORGS (bioRxiv) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv