Wash Your Hands, Wear a Mask.

It has been so many years since I've last posted, and so many things have changed in that time.

Right now we are in the midst of a global pandemic. There is a virus - Covid-19- that is forever changing the way we interact with each other at home and abroad. Over 2million people have died worldwide since this virus started spreading in October/November 2019, with the first cases identified in Wuhan, China, which remains ground zero.

Governments all over the world were ill-prepared to deal with this massive health crisis. Containment of the virus is an ongoing battle and now there are variants out of UK, Brazil and South Africa that are just as communicable and severe as the original.

There has been immediate advances in vaccines to combat this virus. Within less than a year three major pharmaceutical companies have developed, tested and brought to market free vaccines for the general population in countries around the world. One of the hardest hit demographics - seniors - are being vaccinated at an alarming rate in an effort to save lives. 

Not withstanding, there's also a lot of controversies and misinformation surrounding the virus, for example: was the virus man-made; and, is it a conspiracy to create mass casualties (to protect resources, etc.)

For most of us we are listening to our doctors and scientists, following the regulations and guidelines and doing everything we can to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.

This is the life we see people 'live' through in movies, and it is all sorted and nicely tied up in 90 to 120 minutes. This time it is our real life, our reality, that has been invaded and attacked by an unseen villain. We are tired but we push through, our very nature is such that we wont roll over but instead we will find ways to fight, and to win. 

Wash your hands, wear a mask and be kind.

Scientists Grow Human Livers in Mice

TOKYO —A Japanese group has generated functional human livers by creating liver precursor cells in the laboratory and then transplanting them into mice to complete the developmental process. Their ultimate goal is to transplant the precursor cells into humans and let them develop into replacements for diseased or damaged organs.

The achievement represents a new direction in the use of human pluripotent stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any of the tissues of the human body. So-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are derived from adult human tissue, have the added advantage of producing tissues and organs genetically matched to a recipient, avoiding the problem of immune system rejection.

But creating fully mature human tissue in a petri dish (in vitro) has proved a daunting challenge, especially when it comes to producing 3D organs. Rather than do it all in a dish, the group decided to try starting the process in vitro but completing it in an animal (in vivo).

They tried hundreds of different recipes; eventually they discovered that if they mixed liver precursor cells (derived from iPS cells) with two other types of standard human cell lines known to be important for embryonic liver development, then the cells would spontaneously form a 4 to 5-millimeter 3D structure called a liver bud. "This worked beyond our expectations, though the mechanism is not entirely clear," says group leader and stem cell scientist Takanori Takebe of Yokohama City University in Japan.

Next, they implanted these buds in mice with disabled immune systems to see if they would engraft, or attach to the blood vessels of the animal, and continue to mature. They did: The transplanted liver buds developed into what Takebe calls "miniature livers." The team then confirmed that these tiny organs produced proteins typically made by human livers, and they properly processed certain drugs that mouse livers cannot handle.

The experiment shows that precursor cells can develop into functional organs when placed within the body of an adult mammal; it provides hope that even primitive tissues made from stem cells will one day restore the function of dead or diseased organs in patients. But there are significant hurdles to clear before the technique reaches the clinic. Producing the amount of cells needed will require a breakthrough in automated cell proliferation. Because of that, Takebe says, use in humans is at least a decade away.

Source: sciencemag

The sony Wirst Computer

Hiromi Kiriki is designing a mini computer that straps to the wrist, for Sony Nextep Computer.  It would have an OLED touch screen which would be flexible and accompanied with a  holographic projector instead of a screen, and additional keyboard panels are included.

The bracelet device can be converted into a tablet with three display units and two additional keybard panels.  It unclear at this time if the device will also have mobile phone capabilities.

 













Source: bornrich