(2021-07-10). [World Report] The slow road to atonement. thelancet.com New research is spurring renewed efforts by august German medical institutions to acknowledge and address their historical connections with Nazi rule. Rob Hyde reports.
(2021-07-10). [Perspectives] Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu: innovator in mental health. thelancet.com Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu is a rising researcher and clinician doing innovative work in mental health and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. She is a Senior Lecturer and psychiatric epidemiologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS) and head of the consultation—liaison psychiatric service at Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. Almost a decade ago, she recalls that "around that time, there were researchers who had resolved that Africans cannot comprehend psychotherapy; therefore, they gave persons living with HIV antidepressants as first-line tr…
(2021-07-09). UK universities cut arts, languages, humanities and social science degrees. wsws.org The cuts are driven by a deep-rooted assault on higher education. The ruling class views expanded access to science and culture as an intolerable encroachment on the wealth of the oligarchy.
(2021-07-09). Australian school support workers condemn worsening conditions and union's role. wsws.org As a result of previous agreements struck by the Australian Education Union, education support staff face insecure employment, continued funding cuts and growing numbers of disadvantaged students.
(2021-07-09). NEA teachers union convention ignores a year of COVID-19 deaths and teachers' resistance, salutes Biden. wsws.org In a remarkable display of callousness, the NEA's convention concealed every issue of substance facing educators, including work-related COVID-19 infections and deaths, while toeing the line of the Democratic Party on all fronts.
(2021-07-09). Tumor cell PD-L1 may mediate sensitivity to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer treatment. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Data in a study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers indicates that the level of tumor cell PD-L1, a protein that acts as a brake to keep the body's immune responses under control, may be an important factor for sensitivity to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer treatment. The study was published Friday, July 2, in Oncogene. "We have identified a mechanism by which absent or low levels of tumor cell PD-L1, which is commonly found…
(2021-07-09). Objection To Geoengineering Spurs Debate About Social Justice In Science. popularresistance.org It was February in northern Sweden and the sun was returning after a dark winter. In the coming months the tundra would reawaken with lichens and shrubs for reindeer to forage in the permafrost encrusted Scandinavian mountain range. But the changing season also brought some unwelcome news to the Indigenous Sámi people, who live across northern Scandinavia, Finland and eastern Russia. | The members of the Saami Council were informed that researchers at Harvard planned to test a developing technology for climate mitigation, known as solar geoengineering, in Sápmi, their homeland. "When we learned what the idea of s…
(2021-07-09). Tesla Sells 33,155 China-Made Vehicles in June, Down Sequentially, as Chinese Passenger Vehicles Slip 5.3%. asia-pacificresearch.com
(2021-07-09). Newly discovered genetic variants in a single gene cause neurodevelopmental disorder. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that genetic variants in a neuro-associated gene called SPTBN1 are responsible for causing a neurodevelopmental disorder. The study, published in Nature Genetics, is a first step in finding a potential therapeutic strategy for this disorder, and it increases the number of genes known to be associated with conditions that affect how the brain functions. "The gene can now be included in genetic testing for people suspected of…
(2021-07-08). PDF of July 8 issue. workers.org 
Download the PDF. Student-athletes win historic ruling Release Alex Saab! Labor strikes back HIV/AIDS: Legacy of resistance Say her name: Sandra Bland COVID devastation Buffalo: Historic mayoral primary vote Editorial: Class war over voting rights Global: N. Korea defiant; China—Africa cooperation; China defeats malaria; Afghanistan. Tear down the walls: Free . . . |
(2021-07-08). All Covid safety measures being lifted in UK schools as Delta variant explodes. wsws.org UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed Tuesday that all remaining safety restrictions in schools will be lifted in England in September, even as the new deadly, more transmissible Delta variant spreads exponentially.
(2021-07-08). Online public meeting in Australia: Oppose the job cuts at Macquarie University! Build rank-and-file committees to defend public education! wsws.org An online meeting has been called by the IYSSE and CFPE, in response to a student petition at Sydney's Macquarie University, to discuss how to fight the cuts throughout Australia's public universities.
(2021-07-08). A Letter to Oakland Teachers About Pacifica, Race & Democracy. indybay.org Why a Japanese American children's book author/illustrator is going to Vote NO in the Pacifica bylaws referendum — it's simple. New Day supporters illegally shut down WBAI NYC in 2019–using the same excuse: finances. Is New Day's "business plan" really institutionalized racism?>
(2021-07-08). Chilean Students Demand Release of Prisoners From Social Unrest. telesurenglish.net Students on Thursday occupied the headquarters of the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH), in Santiago de Chile, calling for the release of prisoners of the popular revolt that broke out in October 2019. | RELATED: | The students, members of the Coordinating Assembly of High School Students (ACES), also called for the release of Mapuche detainees. | Spokespeople of this organization told the media that they…
(2021-07-08). Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Summer travel and people not in your bubble during COVID-19 pandemic. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org "The reason we have the COVID-19 delta variant, the reason we have the delta plus variant is because of unimmunized people who get infected," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. He adds that 99.2% of the recorded COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are in people not vaccinated against the virus. This is why he cautions folks who may be traveling this Fourth of July holiday and…
(2021-07-08). Reported cases of myocarditis in younger men following COVID-19 vaccination are rare; vaccination remains important. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers are taking a close look at rare cases of inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, in young men who developed symptoms shortly after receiving the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines. Several recent studies suggest that health care professionals should watch for hypersensitivity myocarditis as a rare adverse reaction to being vaccinated for COVID-19. However, researchers stress that this awareness should not…
(2021-07-08). Using AI to screen 30 million drug candidates against SARS-CoV-2. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators used computer simulation and artificial intelligence to virtually screen 30 million drug candidates that may block SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In a paper published in Biomolecules, researchers accelerated drug discovery to identify the most promising targets for additional study. They are interested in finding new treatments for COVID-19. "We used a multidrug platform to screen the drug candidates," says Thomas Caulfield, Ph.D., a molecular neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic and senior author…
(2021-07-08). Mayo Clinic researchers study potential new CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center are studying a potential new chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T cell therapy) treatment for multiple myeloma. Their findings were published on Friday, June 24, in The Lancet."CAR-T cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that involves harnessing the power of a person's own immune system by …
(2021-07-08). Tumor cell PD-L1 may mediate sensitivity to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer treatment. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Data in a study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center researchers indicates that the level of tumor cell PD-L1, a protein that acts as a brake to keep the body's immune responses under control, may be an important factor for sensitivity to chemotherapy in colorectal cancer treatment. The study was published Friday, July 2, in Oncogene. "We have identified a mechanism by which absent or low levels of tumor cell PD-L1, which is commonly found…
(2021-07-08). 'America on Fire': A timely look at police violence and Black rebellion. peoplesworld.org 
A new book by Elizabeth Hinton, America on Fire, explores the history of police violence and Black resistance in U.S. cities during the 1960s and '70s. The first pages of Hinton's eye-opening study describe the historic day in February 1960 when four Black students sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. …
(2021-07-08). Resistance is Not Futile: Fighting Back in an Age of Manufactured Ignorance. counterpunch.org The genocide inflicted on Native Americans, slavery, the horrors of Jim Crow, the incarceration of Japanese Americans, the rise of the carceral state, the My Lai massacre and George W. Bush's torture chambers and black sites, among other historical events, now disappear into a disavowal of past events made even more unethical with the emergence of a right-wing political and pedagogical language of erasure. For example, the Republican Party's attack on the teaching of "critical race theory" — labeled as "ideological or faddish" — denies both the history of racism as well as the ways in which it is enfo…
(2021-07-08). [Research Paper] ROCCA observational study: Early results on safety of Sputnik V vaccine (Gam-COVID-Vac) in the Republic of San Marino using active surveillance. thelancet.com Our results, albeit preliminary, suggest that Sputnik V has a high tolerability profile in the population aged ‚â•60 years in terms of short-term AEFIs.
(2021-07-08). [Research Paper] Effect of omega-3 fatty acids on cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. thelancet.com Omega-3 FAs reduced cardiovascular mortality and improved cardiovascular outcomes. The cardiovascular risk reduction was more prominent with EPA monotherapy than with EPA+DHA.
(2021-07-08). Overuse of levothyroxine in the United States. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org One of the most common prescription drugs in America — levothyroxine — is used by people with underactive thyroid glands, also known as hypothyroidism. However, a new study by Mayo Clinic researchers says the majority of people were initiated on levothyroxine for mild subclinical hypothyroidism or for no apparent thyroid dysfunction. These results, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest significant overuse of levothyroxine. Mayo researchers and colleagues examined retrospective, deidentified case data using the OptumLabs Data…
(2021-07-08). With photon-counting-detector CT, Mayo Clinic at forefront of CT imaging technology. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Performing the first cardiac scan on their new photon-counting-detector CT scanner was a once-in-a-career moment for Joel (J.G.) Fletcher, M.D., and Cynthia McCollough, Ph.D. The medical and scientific directors, respectively, of the CT Clinical Innovation Center describe the arrival of this latest research CT system as a major milestone in CT imaging, one where Mayo Clinic is again at the forefront. The inherent spectral capabilities of the research scanner allow clear visualization…
(2021-07-08). Newly discovered genetic variants in a single gene cause neurodevelopmental disorder. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that genetic variants in a neuro-associated gene called SPTBN1 are responsible for causing a neurodevelopmental disorder. The study, published in Nature Genetics, is a first step in finding a potential therapeutic strategy for this disorder, and it increases the number of genes known to be associated with conditions that affect how the brain functions. "The gene can now be included in genetic testing for people suspected of…
(2021-07-08). Science Saturday: New technique to study 'microcancers' and screen cancer-fighting drugs. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org A team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Grainger College of Engineering and Mayo Clinic have developed a new technique for creating "microcancer" cell cultures. It allows researchers to form hundreds of microcancers in a high-throughput format using a small, microfabricated chip, enabling direct measurement of cell health or response to drugs. It also allows …
(2021-07-08). Miserere for the Land of the Free. counterpunch.org In science and mathematics, problems based on faulty data or corrupt inputs yield worthless results. Sound outcomes depend on accurate foundational elements. With physical substances and numbers exactitude is possible. The means, that is, always justify the end. Or not… Garbage in; garbage out. In social and political constructs and, in fact, in all relating
(2021-07-08). The revolutionary science of W. E. B. Du Bois and D. D. Kosambi. mronline.org Du Bois, trained in history and sociology, was the first to conduct a scientific study on race in American society. Kosambi was trained in mathematics but was the first to scientifically investigate ancient Indian history. | July 8, 2021…
(2021-07-08). Security forces arrest anti-Palestinian Authority demonstrators. peoplesdispatch.org Security forces under the Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested at least 21 Palestinians late on Monday, July 5. Those arrested include journalists, university students, activists and lawyers. They also brutally suppressed a sit-in protest and demonstrations in the Palestinian capital Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Monday night, physically assaulting hundreds of protesters and arresting some to quell the wave of protests against the killing of activist Nizar Banat. | Several protesters were reportedly kept in custody awaiting prosecution. The murder of political activist and anti-corruption figure Nizar Bana…