empireofcrime posted:

https://twitter.com/laurieallee/status/1701748601372979341?s=20

quote:

The team took a pair of donated lungs not suitable for transplantation, keeping them breathing outside the body with a ventilator and using a pump to circulate blood-like fluid through them to keep the organs functioning while they could be studied. One lung was given the drug, but both were exposed to SARS-CoV-2. Sure enough, the lung that received the drug did not become infected, while the other lung did.

Oracle posted:

Alright trip report for the fancy schmancy Metrix covid test. This is the reusable docking station with inserted cartridges one that isn’t Cue.

Unboxing: drat, apparently whoever does Apple packaging does these guys as well, this box has that same sturdy well made feel and little compartments for all the various components. The reader at least seems well made. Or at least they are really wanting you to think so to justify the price. I ordered the one test one reader kit on Peach, because hell if I’m throwing a lot of money at this without knowing if it works first (my natural inclination to distrust will prove valuable). The actual test is basically a bare faced cartridge board without even a dust shield ala your old Nintendo carts and two cartridges that snap on filled with blue liquid.
The test says you can either spit a small amount into the collector or use the nasal swab. Being a veteran of the spit test I opted for that, what with it being more accurate and all. This would prove to be a mistake. The spit tests I’m used to require a teaspoon or two of saliva. This thing requires about a drop. Seriously. It warns you not to go beyond the black line (ignoring bubbles) and the black line is small. Like maybe an eighth of a teaspoon small. I tried to get as little as possible without it all being bubbles and utterly failed. I had to resort to using a straw to attempt to suck out the excess spit and after a comedy of errors I think I had enough but not over the black line. I strongly recommend using like a sterilized metal straw and collecting your spit in it and trying to eyedropper it into the collection chamber, because it is annoyingly precise and very easy to go over or leave only bubbles.
I kept the nasal swab for future experiments. I noticed in the instructions it said to not come into contact with the blue liquid or try to open the cartridge after it was used but to just throw it away. Hrm…

I snapped the top container on which held the blue liquid (shake well for 20 seconds!) then had to attempt to snap the resulting collector onto the circuit board which also had a foil-sealed port that was finicky to snap on. All the snapping seems to be more to tamper proof the cartridge than anything else. I am beginning to suspect with a little tampering these carts could be reused…

I plug in the reader and it blinks a few times then gives me the steady white light of ‘go ahead’
I insert the chip into the reader and it starts blinking away and I set the timer for 30 minutes. It actually takes a little longer than that to give me my result: two purple lights that mean ‘whoops you hosed up try again with a new test.’

Yeah gently caress you at least lucira would send you a replacement.

Since it was jacked I decided to experiment and took the cartridge out then reinserted it. It started testing mode all over again. Hrm, says I. I let the test run it’s course and get another invalid.

I think I need to do some tampering. Maybe I can use the swab and see if I get a valid result.

The top cart is a softer plastic so I try some needle nose pliers. Too big. Okay how about some cuticle trimmers. Bingo, they cut through the lock tabs with a little pressure. I put on some nitrile gloves (because what good Covid thread shut in doesn’t have nitrile exam gloves; safety first! Also Triton-X-100 (0.1%) doesn’t sound like a fun time) and work a metal dental pick gently under the tabs and pry the lid off without spilling. Tamper proof my rear end.

I use the swab low and slow like intended and swab the throat for good measure and insert break off and reapply the lid. It even snaps on again go me. I give it a little shake and insert it again. oh crap purple and red lights. survey says ‘cancelled test; the test did not complete. Discard sensor and run with new test kit.’

I remove the sensor and perform the incredibly scientific method of ‘wiping off the smudgy bottom of the chip with the hem of my t-shirt’ and reinsert.

The reader starts blinking happily away, running the test again. lol science.

This is the third time this cart is being run. We’ll see if we get a valid result. I somehow doubt it since after starting the first attempt I nasal sprayed with iota carrageenan, brushed my teeth and gargled with listerine but that was about an hour ago and this thing said half hour without anything in your mouth so why not, COVID’s over baby we have the tools!

Test complete, results invalid. Though I am admittedly intrigued now as to the possibility of these carts being reusable, this one is obviously a dud.

Anyway if you have money to burn feel free to give these a try, especially if your hobbies include chemistry and computer engineering. I feel like there’s potential here. Me I’m going to go use an old Lucira in the morning.

Bruce Hussein Daddy posted:

Insanite posted:

Butler's Parable of the Sower is so loving good but it's so accurate about the present and our near-future that it's legitimately pretty spooky.

Animal-Mother posted:

Mr. Rogers telling Covid how special it is

Louisgod posted:

please suggest some must-have Le Guin books, always want suggestions.

Parable of the Sower was great though Parable of the Talents was... not. had some great ideas marred by segments that went on far too long, with a floundering story. the ending was neat though.

puncturewound78 posted:

as a Le Guin megafan I can say there's basically no bad choice.

Always Coming Home is probably the only book to avoid until you've read several of her other books and know reading her fake textbook and anthropological examination of an imaginary people living in the pacific north west thousands of years from now seems like fun! It is but it took me months.

I recommend The Left Hand of Darkness and then The Dispossessed to almost everyone who would be open to their ideas.

The Hainish Cycle is so cool. Love all the Hainish books and stories that I've read.

Earthsea is very cool too!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/covid-19-flu-season-2023-q-and-a-1.6963237 posted:

With flu season on the horizon, we answer your COVID-19 questions
(..)
Health Canada approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday in hopes of boosting the population's protection against the latest strains of the virus ahead of the fall and winter season.

The new Moderna vaccine, which targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 variant, can be given to anyone six months of age or older. People can get the shot whether or not they were previously vaccinated. It is expected to hit the market by early October.

Health Canada is also reviewing new vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax on a "priority basis." Drugmakers have been updating their vaccines to better match newer strains of the virus, including the Omicron subvariants that are currently circulating.
(..)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/moderna-approved-1.6963996 posted:

Health Canada approves Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine
Shot targets Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, deliveries to provinces expected in early October
(..)
Not boosters
Notably, federal officials aren't calling the shots boosters but instead stressed that these are updated options more similar to an annual flu shot.
(..)

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/13/opinion/covid-booster-fall-2023.html posted:

As a Doctor, a Mother and the Head of the C.D.C., I Recommend That You Get the Latest Covid Booster
(..)
While we would all love to leave Covid-19 in the rearview mirror for good, the virus is still here. And it will probably always be with us.
(..)

Panic Restaurant posted:

There was some sort of supervisors meeting at work today about making sure we had cross training and plans in place in case people are out sick because it’s supposed to be “a bad flu/RSV season.” Who knows if our favorite novel coronavirus got a mention or not. Meeting was in a closed room with no masks and I’ve heard nothing about any mitigation plans. If only there were several simple and effective things we could do to significantly reduce viral transmission in an office setting. If only.

I keep screaming and God won’t answer lmao

DickParasite posted:

I had a short flight last night, and as the cabin crew finished up the safety briefing they quickly added "and if oxygen is required you'll need to remove your mask before donning the oxygen mask" which I don't think I've heard in years. I'm pretty sure they I was the only one masking so maybe they added it for my benefit .

Pittsburgh Fentanyl Cloud posted:

The firm my wife worked at had a big equity member meeting and the guy running it told facilities to prep a conference room for 36 attendees. Only two people went in, everyone else took it on Zoom. People know something is up even if they won’t say anything.

BusError posted:

Don't fall for it they pumping uncut corona into that system.

genericnick posted:

In Japan right now. A lot of masks around though mostly surgicals. They sell adequate looking masks in the seven eleven but I guess it's just hot and humid as gently caress. I'm certainly rethinking switching back to auras without exhalation filters.
Also on the chinese airline I flew in on they specifically told people to tell cabin crew if they had contact with monkey pox in what felt like a blast from the past. They also recommended masks, though covid wasn't mentioned at all. Anyway lots of coughing on that plane

emgeejay posted:

"negative connotations" as reason for not declaring outbreak.

net work error posted:

I have family that were infected within the past few months and were asking me if they should get the shot now or wait since that used to be the guidance. Has that changed or is it still recommended to wait 3 months post infection for a booster?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html posted:

(..)
If I already had COVID-19 and recovered, do I still need to get a COVID-19 vaccine?
You should get a COVID-19 vaccine even if you already had COVID-19.

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine after you recover from COVID-19 infection provides added protection against COVID-19. You may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months from when your symptoms started or, if you had no symptoms, when you received a positive test.

People who already had COVID-19 and do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get vaccinated after their recovery.
(..)

emgeejay posted:

https://twitter.com/brish_ti/status/1702062402286539206?s=61&t=0u0iPLgsrw9rb7UXErdBQA

quote:

Unger detailed his concerns — that neither staff, nor patients are fully aware of the escalating spread of the virus under current protocols — in an email to officials at Island Health, the regional health authority.

The response, seen by CBC News, from a medical director says they know about COVID-19 transmission in the hospital and have implemented measures to reduce it, but are choosing not to declare an outbreak.

"It is very clear that the word 'outbreak' has very negative connotations to the public and would have media attention, possible patient shunting to [other local hospital] beds, and closing of all admissions to the affected units," reads the response from Island Health.

"There is now a more informed approach that does not alarm the public and staff that should have the same outcomes as when outbreaks were previously called."

That approach involves setting "enhanced measures" — the same protocols put in place in the event of an outbreak, without using the word "outbreak" and reporting it publicly.

Oracle posted:

Also interesting paper on metformin that may explain why it works as protection against long covid (from 2016).

U-DO Burger posted:

look if we had called it an outbreak then the media would have told people that's there's an outbreak here and people might have responded to that.

what else were we supposed to do???

U-DO Burger posted:

stop referencing books, try a video game reference next time

Mr Beef Head posted:

Sept 13 is the anniversary of "The Corrupted Blood Plague" on WOW servers in 2005. This was a disease from a new boss fight being spread all over the game. Dead players everywhere in population centers. Even though it happened in a video game, watching it play out definetly affected how ive behaved since watching the news in January 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident
Did anybody else play Warcraft when this happened? It went on for a several days, when infected characters would log back in and restart the plague. It was fascinating to watch as it spread. The different vectors from people trying to save themselves and others to people actively trying to spread it to new areas. Watching those helping and hurting both spread the disease and dying was informative.

Fansy posted:

Is there a way to get metformin, or is it only for diabetics? Do med spas make compounds or anything?

emgeejay posted:

https://twitter.com/jvipondmd/status/1701996315981549811?s=61&t=0u0iPLgsrw9rb7UXErdBQA

quote:

A COVID death is now defined as "a confirmed case who was admitted to hospital and whose death occurred during their stay."

The Oldest Man posted:

Yeah, this tracks. Of course the liberal solution is to gatekeep dying of the disease.

Pingui posted:

It reminds me of this winters excess deaths in


The official explanation for that big spike: ""

Pingui posted:

Don't gently caress around with metformin. Talk to a doctor.