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Biochemistry

Millersville University students react to suspension of day-to-day courses because of coronavirus – LancasterOnline

Millersville University announced Wednesday morning that it would be suspending all in-person classes after spring break.

University president Daniel Wubah announced the action in an email to students and their families and added that the university does not have any confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Read more about Millersville suspending day-to-day courses here.

Students on campus Wednesday told LNP | LancasterOnline that they felt suspending in-person classes was perhaps an overreaction.

We think its a bit ridiculous, Matthew Lantz, a sophomore, said.

I think its overblown, senior Shayne Gasser said.

Sophomore Ariana Ford said she understands being cautious, but she thinks the universitys decision was reactionary.

I feel like we shouldnt stop our lives, Ford said, adding, We shouldnt let the media scare us.

Some are concerned about the money they paid for room and board.

Just tell me if Im being reimbursed, freshman Harmony Lighty said.

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Lighty, a biochemistry major, said shes also worried about how her classes will translate online.

Theres no online version of a lab, she said.

Millersville spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said university leadership is in current discussions regarding reimbursements. Faculty, she added, will receive training to move their courses online.

For Jean Zang, an Asian-American from York, the universitys announcement was just another reminder that the coronavirus and the racism and xenophobia that come with it isnt going away.

Though she hasnt experienced outright racism related to the virus at the university, Zang, a sophomore, said its constantly brought up in class, and shes dealt with it outside of Millersville.

As an Asian person, it makes me sick of hearing it, she said.

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Millersville University students react to suspension of day-to-day courses because of coronavirus - LancasterOnline

Biochemistry

Miss Tourism Global to spread wings – The Zimbabwe Standard

BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

REIGNING Miss Tourism Global City 2019 Sindiso Ndlovu (pictured) is set to spread wings by launching her own brand Pretty by Sindy that will be focusing on beauty and cosmetics.

In an interview with Standard Style, the Harare-based model said she was driven by passion to conquer in everything that she does.

I have always had a passion for modelling and it has always been my dream to also have the platform to speak on my advocacies, Ndlovu said.

My first pageant was Miss Teen Zimbabwe in 2013 and to date I have done various fashion shows that include EVA, Harare Fashion Week and ICACN.

As a model, I aspire to keep going international and represent my country on the global ramp. I am set to represent my country in June at the Elite Beauty Queen in Latvia.

The biochemistry and statistics graduate from the University of Fort Hare has represented Zimbabwe at many pageants that include Miss Multinational 2019 held in India where she was among the top 10.

At the Miss International Global in Malaysia, she was among the top five.

Off the ramp, the 25-year-old model is a brand ambassador for Look Alive clothing.

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Miss Tourism Global to spread wings - The Zimbabwe Standard

Neuroscience

Erasing Traumatic Memories May One Day Be Possible Thanks to New Discovery – SciTechDaily

The team found that flies kept in the dark were unable to maintain a pre-established long-term memory. This was due to the lack of Protein-dispersing factor (Pdf) release, which in turn results in no cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) being produced in the memory center of the fly brain. Credit: Tokyo Metropolitan University

Environmental light shown to affect retention of traumatic long-term memory in flies.

Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have discovered that Drosophila flies lose long-term memory (LTM) of a traumatic event when kept in the dark, the first confirmation of environmental light playing a role in LTM maintenance. The team also identified the specific molecular mechanism responsible for this effect. LTMs are notoriously difficult to erase; this work may lead to novel treatments for sufferers of trauma, perhaps even the erasure of life-altering traumatic memories.

It is impossible to remember everything that happens to us in a day. But a particularly shocking event may be consolidated into our long-term memory (LTM), whereby new proteins are synthesized and the neuronal circuits in our brain are modified. Such memories may be devastating to a victim, potentially triggering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet physiologically speaking, keeping a memory is far from a trivial process; active maintenance is required to keep the changes, protecting against the constant cellular rearrangement and renewal of a living organism. Despite the importance of understanding how memory works in the brain, the mechanism by which this occurs is not yet understood and is a key topic for neuroscience today.

It is well known that light, particularly the cycle of night and day, plays an important role in regulating animal physiology. Examples include circadian rhythm, mood and cognition. But how about long-term memory? Thus, a team led by Prof. Takaomi Sakai from Tokyo Metropolitan University set out to study how light exposure affects the memory of diurnal Drosophila fruit flies. As an instance of long-term memory or trauma, they used the courtship conditioning paradigm, where male flies are exposed to female flies which have already mated. Mated females are known to be unreceptive and exert a stress on male flies which fail to mate. Once the experience is committed to long-term memory, they no longer attempt to court female flies, even when the females around them are unmated.

The team found that conditioned male flies kept in the dark for 2 days or more no longer showed any reluctance to mate, while those on a normal day-night cycle did. This clearly shows that environmental light somehow modified the retention of LTM. This was not due to lack of sleep; flies on a diurnal cycle were slightly sleep deprived to match with flies in the dark, with no effect on the results. Thus, they focused on a protein in the brain called the Pigment-dispersing factor (Pdf), known to be expressed in response to light. For the first time, they found that Pdf regulated the transcription of a protein called the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the mushroom bodies, a part of the brain of insects known to be implicated in memory and learning. Thus, they identified the specific molecular mechanism by which light affects the retention of long-term memory.

Traumatic experiences are very difficult to forget and can severely impair a victims quality of life. But the teams discoveries show that these memories can, in fact, be significantly affected by environmental factors in living organisms. This opens up the exciting possibilities of new treatments for victims of trauma, perhaps even the ability to erase traumatic memories which prevent them from leading normal lives.

Reference: Environmental Light Is Required for Maintenance of Long-Term Memory in Drosophila by Show Inami, Shoma Sato, Shu Kondo, Hiromu Tanimoto, Toshihiro Kitamoto and Takaomi Sakai, 12 February 2020, Journal of Neuroscience.DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1282-19.2019

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 18H04887 and 16H04816.

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Erasing Traumatic Memories May One Day Be Possible Thanks to New Discovery - SciTechDaily

Neuroscience

Athlete Nia Lee sprints into action on the field and in the classroom – Rolling Out

Nia Lee of Romeoville, Illinois is a 20-year-old nationally ranked sprinter and long jumper at Illinois Wesleyan University. The accomplished athletes list of accomplishments inlcudes but is not limited to her track and field abilities. She is four-year track member; three-year cheer team member and earned All-State in the 41 relay. Lee has also earned Southwest Prairie All-Conference in the long jump, triple jump, and the 41 relay race.

Rolling out spoke with Lee regarding her athletic prowess on academic pursuits.

What does it mean to you to be named all conference?

What has long jumping taught you about yourself ?

Its taught me that the best is yet to come. Just when I think Im stuck jumping at a certain distance, Im able to prove myself wrong by jumping even further.

What is your major and why did you select it?

Im also interested in neuroscience because the brain is the most complex organ we have, and the blueprint for our behavior. Its interesting knowing what brain structures contribute to our actions, or how certain damages can lead to specific deficits.

What are you goals before graduation?

Before I graduate, I would like to get involved with some type of research at my university. My psychology program is filled with amazing professors who conduct their own unique research. I would like to gain experience getting involved in that before I graduate. I would also like to make the nationals for track.

Describe what lead you to be an entrepreneur?

I decided to pick up the skill of doing lashes because there are many different styles and looks to do. I like being able to make natural looks, making eyes more noticeable. Being able to make my own schedule and styles is also a plus.

What is your favorite hobby ?

My favorite hobby is definitely reading. If Im not reading, Im probably somewhere watching The Office.

What is it you enjoy about reading ?

Reading is definetly my escape. I love how Im able to travel without moving my feet. Im able to fall in love with different characters, and read from perspectives I typically wouldnt encounter.

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Athlete Nia Lee sprints into action on the field and in the classroom - Rolling Out

Neuroscience

Healing artist combines neuroscience and aesthetics in new collection – Winston-Salem Journal

When Dr. Renee Tegeler walked into her husbands new office, she knew she had to do something.

I realized his office space had nothing on the walls, she said.

As an healing artist meaning she makes art specifically for people who heal, such as doctors and therapists Tegeler was appalled by the lack of decoration. Dr. Charles Tegeler had been give the office last June when he was appointed the interim chair of the department of neurology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

So, the minute Tegeler retired on July 31, having worked as a doctor herself for almost 40 years, she began furiously working on art related to the brain, creating pieces for her husbands empty walls.

It looks much better now, Tegeler said, laughing.

Her brain-inspired work didnt stop there. Tegeler has created 72 pieces for her Neuroscience Collection, 46 of which are on display at the Keener Gallery in the Allegacy Headquarters through the end of the month.

This is Tegelers second show at the Keener Gallery, having displayed another collection there at the beginning of 2019.

For the Neuroscience Collection, Tegeler added new mediums to her repertoire, but most of the artwork involves fused glass.

Within the Neuroscience Collection is a mini-collection called Silhouette, a series of seven colored photographs of an original piece of fused-glass art. In it, a colorful brain sits inside an opaque profile of a head, created by fusing two layers of glass. The brain, also fused onto the head, was arranged with pieces of dichroic glass, a type of glass that transmits one color and reflects another color depending on the light.

Shes fusing glass in a way that no one else is doing, said Beth Blair, a massage therapist who helps run Tegelers gallery and gift shop. It mirrors the depth of a person, because it has layers.

The silhouette was then photographed on a piece of frosted glass through which a light was shone. To get each of the individual colors, ranging all the way down the rainbow from red to purple, Tegeler said she put different filters over the light for each photograph.

Her art is not only aesthetically pleasing but also scientific a challenge Tegeler felt prepared for with her strong background in medicine. This unique balance of neuroscience and art is best exemplified in a piece entitled The Neuron.

The Neuron differs from the rest of the collection by being the only non-brain image. Instead, this piece captures a snapshot of the inner workings of the brain: a neuron, with all the correct anatomical parts represented.

The purple cell body of the neuron, known as the soma, contains a pink nucleus in its center, and branch-like dendrites splay out from the soma. Across the middle of the piece, a thin black line, representing the axon and with a oval around each representing the protective myelin sheath, connects the soma to purple axon terminals with little synapses at their ends. Bright, multi-colored cells make up the background of the image.

Creating this image of the neuron happened almost purely by luck, since the materials Tegeler used alcohol ink on ceramic tile are hard to control. Instead of painting, she had to blow the ink to guide it into the correct formations. One wrong blow and the whole image would have been ruined.

Ill never do it again, Tegeler said, laughing. I tried to do a spinal cord or a brain. I decided to do a neuron, and that one worked.

With the Neuroscience Collection, Tegeler hopes to reach a new audience of doctors and therapists, healers of all kinds, who want to transform their office space with art.

Tegeler emphasized that by now focusing on healing art instead of medicine, she can doctor whole groups of people in lobbies and waiting rooms instead of just one person in an exam room. But at the end of the day, Tegeler believes its all worth it, if even just one person feels moved by her art.

If I can make that one person feel special, she said. That feeling brings me to my very core.

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Healing artist combines neuroscience and aesthetics in new collection - Winston-Salem Journal

Neuroscience

Quantum Death Human Cells Carry Quantum Information That Exists as a Soul (Weekend Feature) – The Daily Galaxy –Great Discoveries Channel

Posted on Mar 14, 2020 in Cosmology, Physics, Science

The physical universe that we live in is only our perception and once our physical bodies die, there is an infinite beyond. Some believe that consciousness travels to parallel universes after death. The beyond is an infinite reality that is much bigger which this world is rooted in. In this way, our lives in this plane of existence are encompassed, surrounded, by the afterworld already The body dies but the spiritual quantum field continues. In this way, I am immortal, suggest researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich

The Max Planck physicists are in agreement with British Physicist Sir Roger Penrose who argues that if a person temporarily dies, this quantum information is released from the microtubules and into the universe. However, if they are resuscitated the quantum information is channeled back into the microtubules and that is what sparks a near death experience. If theyre not revived, and the patient dies, its possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul.

Steve Paulson writing for Nautil.us describes the 88-year-old Penroses theory as an audaciousand quite possibly crackpottheory about the quantum origins of consciousness. He believes we must go beyond neuroscience and into the mysterious world of quantum mechanics to explain our rich mental life. No one quite knows what to make of this theory, developed with the American anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, but conventional wisdom goes something like this: Their theory is almost certainly wrong, but since Penrose is so brilliant (One of the very few people Ive met in my life who, without reservation, I call a genius, physicist Lee Smolin has said), wed be foolish to dismiss their theory out of hand.

While scientists are still in heated debates about what exactly consciousness is, the University of Arizonas Hameroff and Penrose conclude that it is information stored at a quantum level. Penrose agrees he and his team have found evidence that protein-based microtubulesa structural component of human cellscarry quantum information information stored at a sub-atomic level.

It was Hameroffs idea, writes Paulson, that quantum coherence happens in microtubules, protein structures inside the brains neurons. And what are microtubules, you ask? They are tubular structures inside eukaryotic cells (part of the cytoskeleton) that play a role in determining the cells shape, as well as its movements, which includes cell divisionseparation of chromosomes during mitosis. Hameroff suggests that microtubules are the quantum device that Penrose had been looking for in his theory. In neurons, microtubules help control the strength of synaptic connections, and their tube-like shape might protect them from the surrounding noise of the larger neuron. The microtubules symmetry and lattice structure are of particular interest to Penrose. He believes this reeks of something quantum mechanical.

Somehow, our consciousness is the reason the universe is here, Penrose told Paulson during an interview. Theres intelligent lifeor consciousnesssomewhere else in the cosmos, Penrose added. But it may be extremely rare. But if consciousness is the point of this whole shebang, wouldnt you expect to find some evidence of it beyond Earth Paulson asked? Well, Im not so sure our own universe is that favorably disposed toward consciousness, Penrose replied.

In Beyond Biocentrism: Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death, Robert Lanza asks does the soul exist? The new scientific theory he propounds says were immortal and exist outside of time. Biocentrism postulates that space and time are not the hard objects we think. Death does not exist in a timeless, spaceless world. His new scientific theory suggests that death is not the terminal event we think.

There are an infinite number of universes, and everything that could possibly happen occurs in some universe. Death does not exist in any real sense in these scenarios. All possible universes exist simultaneously, regardless of what happens in any of them. Although individual bodies are destined to self-destruct, the alive feelingthe Who am I?- is just a 20-watt fountain of energy operating in the brain. But this energy doesnt go away at death. One of the surest axioms of science is that energy never dies; it can neither be created nor destroyed. But does this energy transcend from one world to the other?

The Daily Galaxy, Max Goldberg, via Nautil.us, Robert Lanza and Sunday Guardian Live

Image credit: via Pixabay

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Quantum Death Human Cells Carry Quantum Information That Exists as a Soul (Weekend Feature) - The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel

Immunology

Coronavirus: The Most Essential People To Follow On Twitter During The COVID-19 Outbreak – Forbes

(Photo by Giannis Alexopoulos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Whats true, and whats not? Who should you believe, and who shouldnt you? The coronavirus outbreak has much of America asking itself these questions. Heres a list of doctors, officials and researchers who have answers, facts and stiff upper lips. And where we could, we asked them to suggest more like-minded people to follow. Well update as their responses come in.

If you want to follow them en masse, go to this Twitter list built through my Twitter account.

(H/T to my colleagues Alex Knapp and Leah Rosenbaum for helping put this roster together.)

A.K.A.: @bogochisaac

Bonafides: Clinician investigator, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

Who He Follows: @mackayIM, @aetiology, @adamjkucharski

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @SueDHellmann

Bonafides: Former CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @DrTomFrieden

Bonafides: President and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives; former CDC director

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @DrTedros

Bonafides: Director general, World Health Organization

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @ScottGottliebMD

Bonafides: Former FDA commissioner

Retweetable Tweet:

Tom Inglesby

A.K.A.: @T_Inglesby

Bonfides: Director, Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Who He Follows: @mlipsitch, @trvrb, @cmyeaton, @kakape, @HelenBranswell, @ScottGottliebMD,

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @ashishkjha

Bonafides: Director, Harvard Global Health Institute

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @JeremyKonyndyk

Bonafides: Senior policy fellow, Center for Global Development

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @florian_krammer

Bonafides: Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @mlipsitch

Bonafides: Director, Harvards Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @DrNancyM_CDC

Bonafides: Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @michaelmina_lab

Bonafides: Assistant professor, epidemiology and immunology, Harvard School of Public Health

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @profvrr

Bonafides: Assistant professor, epidemiology and immunology, Harvard School of Public Health

Who He Follows: @Baric_Lab, @MattFrieman, @DenisonLab, @drSteveMorse, @weisssr,

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @chngin_the_wrld

Bonafides: Associate dean of global health, University of California San Diego

Who She Follows: @Laurie_Garrett, @sciencecohen, @CarlosdelRio7, @DrNeeltje, @arimoin, @aslavitt, @UWVirology, @angie_rasmussen, @trvrb, @MackayIM, @VirusesImmunity

Retweetable Tweet:

A.K.A.: @aetiology

Bonafides: Professor, Kent State University

Retweetable Tweet:

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Coronavirus: The Most Essential People To Follow On Twitter During The COVID-19 Outbreak - Forbes

Immunology

Saturday night, everything’s closed, what to do? Curl up with this video about the coronavirus! – Morristown Green

Saturday night. The pandemic has shut down theaters, concerts and bars. Patrons cleaned out the librarys DVD rack. You have exhausted your Netflix binge-list.

What to do for entertainment?

Pour yourself a tall glass of your favorite beverage after thoroughly wiping down the bottle and scrubbing your hands and chill with a video about

the coronavirus!

Coronovirus Biology: Separating Fact from Fiction is an hour-long talk by Brianne Barker, assistant professor of biology at Drew University in Madison.

Video: Drew biology professor Brianne Barker on the coronavirus:

Barker, host of the podcast This Week in Virology, has a biology degree from Duke University and a PhD in immunology from Harvard. Shes an expert on HIV/AIDS, the immune system, infectious diseases, inflammation and vaccines.

Her crisp presentation, moderated by Drew President MaryAnn Baenninger on Thursday, traces what is known and unknown about the novel coronavirusfrom its name (its not about beer!), family tree (cousins MERS and SARS) and likely origins (what the heck is a pangolin, anyway?), to why Tamilflu wont work, and which drugs might.

Barker demystifies the soap vs. sanitizer debate, offers data suggesting how long the coronavirus can live on various surfaces, and shares life-and-death lessons about social distancing learned from the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Why are children under 10 at little risk for COVID-19 the disease caused by the novel coronaviruswhile octogenarians are in serious peril? How, precisely, is this virus transmitted?

Mortality rates, mutations and immunity are explained, and Barker ends the video by fielding questions from students.

We give this movie four stars. But lets hope there arent too many sequels.

MORE COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS

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Saturday night, everything's closed, what to do? Curl up with this video about the coronavirus! - Morristown Green

Immunology

Store shelves wiped clean? Heres how you can make homemade hand sanitizer – WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) Store shelves across the country are being wiped clean of disinfectant products in the midst of the rapid spreading COVID-19 virus, including products like hand sanitizer.

We got advice from Dr. James Palmieri, the Associate Professor for Microbiology and Immunology at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VT Campus), about creating homemade hand sanitizer with common household items that are also obtainable in pharmacies or supermarket chains.

WHAT YOU NEED:

PROCEDURE:

Dr. Palmieri still recommends washing your hands 20 times a day and use the isopropyl alcohol to wipe down your keyboard and cell phones. He also suggests buying baby wipes to clean surfaces.

37.540725-77.436048

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Store shelves wiped clean? Heres how you can make homemade hand sanitizer - WITI FOX 6 Milwaukee

Embryology

Men only: Oh baby, not now please, lets talk in 2040 – The Standard

There are many young women out there who want to get all their educational papers in order, before starting a family (Shutterstock)

March is Men Onlys month to do pieces that are useful to women.

ALSO READ: Bad boy: To date a colleague or not?

So, my men, just think of this month here as a kind of Lent, during which time Ive rented space out to house the ladies health and relationship issues.

One of the things I do, when not writing books and columns, is to mentor young local writers.

And one of the woke spaces we do that is at the Goethe Institute, under AMKA a programme set up to nurture the writing skills of young women (although we also welcome men, thanks to the liberal feminism of lady Lydia Gatirira).

As part of the programme, we invite women, even from different fields, to address the young women writers of AMKA, in ways that will stimulate their imagination.

Which is how last Saturday, we managed to have the consultant senior embryologist and lab director, Dr Anitah Francis Darshi of the NMC Fertility Point, to give a talk about embryology.

Embryology is of course all about the ovary, eggs and female fertility a priory to child birth, a topic not only important to women, and men, but at the very heart of life itself.

There was a time in Africa when teenage mums were the norm, instead of being a problem...

ALSO READ: Men talk: Midlife has eventually caught up with you, so what?

My paternal grandmother, who passed away in 2011, was already a widow at 18 by early 1945, when she gave birth to my dad; who just happened to be her third and last born son.

A couple of months before, her husband had been killed fighting the Japanese, on behalf and at the behest of the Brits, in some godforsaken corner of Burma.

Grandma was simply wife inherited by an in-law, and went on to give birth to six more children.

Fast forward the clock by 63 years to 2020.

Now, as Dr Anitah explained, there are many young women out there who want to get all their educational papers in order, before starting a family.

Picture the ambitious academic, determined not just to do her Masters, but also her PhD.

By the time she is done, she is in her early 30s, and if she is lucky and gets a good man to marry, that takes her Time Line into the mid-thirties domain.

ALSO READ: Men talk: Five dire mistakes we make when choosing our life partners

And by this time, getting children can prove to be quite a challenge.

But in the near future, as the storage of sperm and eggs becomes cheaper, as Anitah explained, all this will change dramatically.

For More of This Stories Subscribe to the Standard Epaper to get a copy of Eve Woman in the Standard

Young women in their early 20s will be able to freeze their eggs until they are done with academia, or reached a happy plateau in their career, or met someone they are ready to sire children with.

Because you will simply go to the clinic where the eggs are stored, get them fertilised by your new spouse/partner via IVF, put back in your uterus to create an embryo so you can say voila, we are pregnant.

It is these kinds of presently possible but futuristically easily available scenarios that we encouraged our lady writers to experiment with, that day, as their story project.

For now, the cases that Dr Darshi deals with at their ultra-modern IVF laboratory are mostly more common place. Couples with fertility issues come in, tests are run on them, then depending on the results, it is determined the type of fertility procedure to be done.

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Men only: Oh baby, not now please, lets talk in 2040 - The Standard