The Neanderthal In Us

"It all started in Israel. We suggest that a local group was the source population."

"During interglacial periods, waves of humans, the Nesher Ramla people, migrated from the Middle East to Europe."

"The European Neanderthal actually began here in the Levant and migrated to Europe, while interbreeding with other groups of humans."

Dr Hila May, Tel Aviv University, Israel

 

"This is the first time we could connect the dots between different specimens found in the Levant."

"There are several human fossils from the caves of Qesem, Zuttiyeh and Tabun that date back to that time that we could not attribute to any specific known group of humans. But comparing their shapes to those of the newly uncovered specimen from Nesher Ramla justify their inclusion within the [new human] group."

Dr Rachel Sarig, Tel Aviv University  

"It was a surprise that archaic humans were using tools normally associated with Homo sapiens. This suggests that there were interactions between the two groups."   

"We think that it is only possible to learn how to make the tools through visual or oral learning. Our findings suggest that human evolution is far from simple and involved many dispersals, contacts and interactions between different species of human."

Dr Yossi Zaidner, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The human finds were uncovered during the excavation of a sinkhole. Thousands of stone tools and animal remains were also found  Photo: Yossi Zaidner

"The discovery of a new type of Homo is of great scientific importance."

"It enables us to make new sense of previously found human fossils, add another piece to the puzzle of human evolution, and understand the migrations of humans in the old world."

"Some fossils found in East Asia manifest Neanderthal-like features as the Nesher Ramla do."

Israel Hershkovitz, Tel Aviv University

Scientists in Israel feel they have succeeded in unearthing a discovery of a hitherto-unknown early human. Pieces of fossilized bone discovered at a site in central Israel used by a cement plant were studied carefully and led to this conclusion. Fragments were those of a skull and a lower jaw with teeth, estimated to be roughly 130,000 years old. Should their conclusions prove to be correct, the potential of reimagining parts of the human family tree is on the horizon. 

The archaeological project was a joint venture between researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The new proto-human was named Nesher Ramla Homo, after the area  southeast of TelAviv where the remains were discovered. The species, it is speculated, may have lived alongside our own species, Homo sapiens for over 100,000 years and it is posible that interbreeding took place, according to the team's studies.

 

Hila May, a physical anthropologist at the Dan David Center and the Shmunis Institute of Tel Aviv University holds what scientists say is a piece of fossilized bone of a previously unknown kind of early human   Reuters

 

Distinguished with large teeth and chinless, these early humans may have been ancestors to Neanderthals. In making that suggestion the archaeological team is challenging the scientific given that distant evolutionary humans originated in Europe. While exploring the mining area of the Nesher cement plant not far from the city of Ramla, Dr.Yossi Zaidner of Hebrew University had discovered the fossils.

Follow-up excavation revealed the bones located roughly eight metres underground and with them were discovered stone tools, along with the skeletal remains of horses and deer. The Nesher Ramla type resembled pre-Neanderthal groups in Europe, according to the study authors whose work was published in the journal Science.

"This is what makes us suggest that this Nesher Ramla group is actually a large group that started very early in time and are the sources of the European Neanderthal", explained Hila May, physical anthropologist at the Dan David Center and the Shmunis Institute of Tel Aviv University.

Dr.May is convinced the Nesher Ramla might represent the mystery group responsible for Homo sapiens genes being present in earlier Neanderthal populations in Europe, long a puzzle to experts in the field. The skull of the species discovered is flat, the jaw bone is chinless and 3D shape analysis has ruled out any other known group related to it.

There was a match, however, with a small number of human fossils discovered elsewhere in Israel, dating back even earlier (400,000 years back in dim antiquity), and which anthropologists had been unable to place.

Tel Aviv University Professor Israel Hershkovitz, holds what scientists say are two pieces of fossilised bone of a previously unknown kind of early human discovered at the Nesher Ramla site in central Israel  Reuters

To Booster-Shot Or Not?

"We do have to be in a position where we could boost [vaccine production] if it turned out that was necessary ... [but] we don't have any evidence that that is required."

"At this point with a high level of protection in the U.K. population and no evidence of that being lost, to give third doses now in the U.K. whilst other countries have zero doses is not acceptable."

Andrew Pollard, director, Oxford Vaccine Group

The World Health Organization estimates COVID-19 boosters will be needed yearly for the most vulnerable, and every two years for the general population, according to an internal document seen by Reuters. Meanwhile, Canada has committed up to $1 billion to buy more doses. Photo by Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

The World Health Organization has estimated that in the future booster shots of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may turn out to be needed on an annual basis for the most vulnerable among any population, and that vaccination take place every other year for the general population. Much as annual flu shots are conventionally highly recommended for the elderly in a population, and available to any others who require protection against the annual appearance of viral influenza.

It is a notion that may be required for the future and which has the three major vaccine producers studying the potential efficacy of third doses, studies ongoing to test patient immunity alongside a possibility of a third dose. One study conducted by Oxford-AstraZeneca concludes that its COVID-19 vaccine produces a robust immune response. A study out of the U.S. states that the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may continue their protective properties for years.

A third dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine given six months following the second shot substantially increases antibody and T-cell immune responses, according to the Oxford University study. It was also found that the second shot can be delayed up to 45 weeks to lead to an enhanced immune response. The level of immunity identified in the study was also seen to be positive for variants Alpha, Beta and Delta.

The U.K. government is considering the likelihood of mounting an autumn vaccine booster campaign. Britain's COVID response can only be viewed as an outstanding success, with three-fifths of its adult population having received both doses of a COVID vaccine. 

Tania Watts, a University of Toronto immunologist, doubts the general public in Canada would require a third dose come fall, since published data suggest "very little drop-off: in antibody levels several months following inoculation". As far as Andrew Pollard of the Oxford Vaccine Group is concerned, evidence exists that its vaccine protects against current variants for a sustained period of time and that being the case, no such booster may be required.

An expert in immunology of infectious disease at Imperial College London, Professor Danny Altmann, states "a big question now is whether these answers will extrapolate to the mRNA vaccines". The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines -- according to a newly-released U.S. study -- set off a persistent immune reaction that may serve to protect against the coronavirus for years, according to the New York Times.

Most people, in other words, immunized with the mRNA vaccines may not need to receive a booster shot "as long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much -- which is not guaranteed".

A woman reacts as she receives the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as part of a government plan to inoculate Mexican border residents on its shared frontier with the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico June 17, 2021.   Jorge Duenes | Reuters

Ample Blame to Share on a Wide Scale of Forfeited Responsibility

"There were probably some who died of dehydration. [Efforts of personnel unable to help since they] didn't have time [to do more for the residents]."

"[Personnel shortages resulted in neglect of basic hygiene for residents]."

Occupation therapist, witness, coroner's inquest

 

"I'm tired of hearing people say, 'That wasn't my job'."

Coroner Géhane Kamel, Montreal

 

"Some [care workers] were absent because they were scared, some because they had symptoms."

"They [dementia patients] walk hand in hand. They sleep in people’s beds. And if we try to stop them, you set off behavioural problems like you wouldn’t believe."

"You can’t restrain them. You can’t tie them up."

"It was one of the hardest decisions I had to take with Maude. So we left them there. What it meant is that we were condemning them. Not easy for a manager."

"Most of the 21 contracted COVID-19 but more survived than in other units in the nursing home. It might have been because their wandering kept them in better shape than other seniors who were confined to their rooms during their crisis and slowly declined."

Marie-France Jobin, Supervisor, Sainte-Dorothée, Laval long-term care home

The deaths in CHSLDs in the first wave of the pandemic prompted many questions about how the facilities are run. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

The horribly dismal number of residents of long-term care homes in Canada struck with COVID-19 outbreaks, chronically short of personal care support workers, and unschooled in how to react to the presence of a highly contagious virus, the need to segregate the ill in places where there were multiple occupants of a single room, and instances where patients with dementia had a tendency to wander, led to an unsupportable number of deaths. In the Saint-Dorothee residence alone, one hundred and eight people died in last year's first wave.

The coroner's inquest is an attempt to understand more fully the level of dysfunction and incompetence that led to this disastrous outcome. Most of the witnesses by court order have had their identities protected through a publication ban, presumably leaving them free to speak without fear of retribution. About two-thirds of the facility's employees had logged off sick at the time. The remainder of the employees obviously attempted to do as much as they could, and that cannot have resulted in meeting the most basic needs of the residents.

The therapist who was giving evidence spoke of staff shortages which prevented employees from adequately caring for the seniors, along with the other vulnerable patients living in the home. Many of the residents were barely hydrated and had been given little to eat before they died. One of the residents had developed bedsores, left for hours in incontinence briefs, crying out to be changed. When one of the residents was finally given a bath, she wept in gratitude.

A funeral home worker removes a body from the Verdun CHSLD seniors residence Wednesday April 15, 2020 in Montreal. At the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée, bodies were left exposed for hours because funeral homes were overwhelmed. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

In desperation, patients were restrained as preventive measures to ensure they were unable to move around freely. One patient with dementia insisted on trying to use the telephone "I had to attach him to his chair because he wanted to talk to his wife", the witness explained. An admission rife with matter for speculation; little wonder a patient whose most basic, routine requirements were being neglected attempted in a desperate cry for help to speak to his wife who would become inconveniently involved questioning staff why her husband's needs were neglected.

Left in their rooms, no exercise or physical therapy on offer affected patients' ability to walk, the therapist testified. She had volunteered to assist at the long-term care home, receiving no training. She had been witness to a director at the home breaking down in front of staff members, screaming and crying in sheer frustration. A second witness, a dietitian, described the institute as a "ship without a captain", so disorganized it might take days for the kitchen staff to be made aware that a patient had died before meals were no longer sent up to the room.

Another patient attendant testified that there had been no direction for the workers who had been left to their own devices on a floor of 34 patients. Among them some had a tendency to wander from their rooms. The night co-ordinator remained in her office advising she had no time to help, during this time. 

 

Two assistant directors at the Laval health authority previously testified that staff at the home were tested for COVID-19 in early April 2020. According to the patient attendant "nobody was aware that there had been testing". The outcome of the situation in the number of deaths at six long-term care homes and one seniors' residence in the province are all under investigation in coroner Gehane Kamel's mandate.

The Centre d'hebergement Sainte-Dorothee is seen Tuesday, April 7, 2020 in Laval, Quebec. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Calculating Dementia Risk

"What sets this dementia risk calculator apart is that you don't need to visit a doctor for any tests."

"People already have all the information they need to complete the calculator in the comfort of their home."

Dr.Stacey Fisher, study lead author, University of Ottawa

"This tool will give people who fill it out clues to what they can do to reduce their personal risk of dementia."

"The COVID-19 pandemic has also made it clear that sociodemographic variables like ethnicity and neighbourhood play a major role in our health."

"It was important to include those variables in the tool so policy makers can understand how different populations are impacted by dementia, and help ensure that any prevention strategies are equitable."

Dr.Peter Tanuseputro, study senior author, University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital

Researchers have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals 55 and over to better understand the health of their brain and how they can reduce their risk of being diagnosed with dementia in the next five years.  Project Big Life

 

An online calculator has been placed on a dedicated website for anyone's use thanks to the work of researchers out of the University of Ottawa. The site -- projectbiglife.ca/dementia -- predicts a person's risk over the next five years of developing dementia. Based on survey results of over 75,000 Canadians, it uses age, lifestyle factors, weight and previous health conditions to render a percentage risk of developing dementia.

Each participant in the study that ran for close to two decades was followed for an average of a decade. Findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health online. The dementia platform also was posted live online.

It takes about five minutes to complete the online questionnaire meant exclusively for people 55 years of age and over, and according to the scientists involved in its creation, is 83 percent accurate. While there are other online calculators present on the Internet, few have the scientific background data support that this one can boast.

The data gathered by the scientists in their Dementia Population Risk Tool (DemPoRT), form the backbone of the questions posted on the dementia tool. The critical factors taken into account are age, smoking status and lifetime exposure, alcohol consumption, physical activity, stress, diet, sense of belonging, ethnicity, immigration status, socioeconomic status of neighbourhood, education, activities where assistance is required, marital status, languages spoken, and health conditions.

The individual responding to the questionnaire is given, based on their answers to the questions, their personal relative level of risk, along with 'advice' in the form of focusing on aspects of their life where changes can be made for the purpose of reducing risk.

An elderly couple walks down a hall in Easton, Pa. Research released on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 suggests many American adults inaccurately estimate their chances for developing dementia and do useless things to prevent it. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Human Embryo Development

"We have revealed the patterns of gene expression in the developing embryo just after it implants in the womb, which reflect the multiple conversations going on between different cell types as the embryo develops through these early stages. We were looking for the genetic conversations that will allow the head to start developing in the embryo and found that these were initiated by cells in the hypoblast, which would not normally contribute to building the body itself. They send the message to the adjoining embryo cells, which respond by saying 'OK, now we'll set ourselves aside to develop into the head end.'"

"Our goal has always been to enable insight to very early human embryo development in a dish to understand how our lives start. By combining our new technology of culturing human embryos with advanced sequencing methods, we have delved deeper into the key changes that take place at this incredible stage of human development when the embryo becomes remodeled to undertake its critical decisions at a time when so many pregnancies fail."

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, currently Caltech Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering  

Four-week fetus   MedicineNet

Abstract:  A single cell characterisation of human embryogenesis identifies pluripotency transitions and putative anterior hypoblast centre: Lead author, Matteo Mole, University of Cambridge

Following implantation, the human embryo undergoes major morphogenetic transformations that establish the future body plan. While the molecular events underpinning this process are established in mice, they remain unknown in humans. Here we characterise key events of human embryo morphogenesis, in the period between implantation and gastrulation, using single-cell analyses and functional studies. First, the embryonic epiblast cells transition through different pluripotent states and act as a source of FGF signals that ensure proliferation of both embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues. In a subset of embryos, we identify a group of asymmetrically positioned extra-embryonic hypoblast cells expressing inhibitors of BMP, NODAL and WNT signalling pathways. We suggest that this group of cells can act as the anterior signalling centre to pattern the epiblast. These results provide insights into pluripotency state transitions, the role of FGF signalling and the specification of anterior-posterior axis during human embryo development."

Nature Communications

The first days' evolution of the human embryo has been mapped for the first time by scientists working out of Cambridge University in tandem with the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The team set their focus on the molecular linking between the hypoblast and the embryo, finding chemicals forwarded to the embryo from the hypoblast activate and inactivate various genes. Prior to this occurrence, the embryo has the potential to become any body cell, from a bone cell to a neuron. The scope is narrowed by the hypoblast intervention creating the "head" and the "tail". 

 

In essence, the earliest stage of the embryo before the vital 'communication' from the hypoblast turns it from a generalist toward a critically specific purpose in establishing the order and formation of the organism, whether human or animal. The discovery by these scientists might have application in the future in fully understanding and in the end, preventing, early miscarriages. 

 

Through the study of embryos in their first two weeks of existence -- the focus on how they transform from a clump of nondescript cells into an organized mass -- Cambridge University researchers found the answers they sought. The transformation speaks to the crucial step forward in instructing cells to produce a developing baby. The blueprint is there for the cells to follow, but should the function fail to develop as needed, the result is a failed pregnancy.

 

11 Weeks   whattoexpect.com

The insight gained by the researchers into the incubation period of nine months has been a hitherto elusive goal. While great strides have been realized, some of the intricacies of developmental details remained to be discovered. The formation of the "head-to-tail" axis, occurring at the end of the first week of the embryo's existence was one such mystery awaiting revelation. The axis is an invisible line running from top to bottom of an animal, forming the basis of the gastrointestinal tract, determining later growth and organization of the body's organs.

Once a fertilized egg latches to the womb wall, after a week it receives a chemical signal emanating from a different group of cells identified as a hypoblast. Signals from the hypoblast bring forward a cascade of genetic modifications within the embryo, instructing specific cells to begin the process of specializing. Embryos may be used in laboratory research until up to 14 days post-fertilization, when at this point ethics deem they must be destroyed.

39 Weeks   BabyCenter UK

Sobering Runaway COVID: Variants of Variants

"WHO is tracking this variant as part of the Delta variant, as we are doing for other Variants of Concern with additional mutations."

"For the moment, this variant does not seem to be common, currently accounting for only a small fraction of the Delta sequences ..."

"Delta and other circulating Variants of Concern remain a higher public health risk as they have demonstrated increases in transmission."

World Health Organization  

 

"All lineages of the Delta variant are variants of concern [so there is nothing unusual in labelling Delta Plus as such]." 

"We do not have any indicators as of now to show that Delta Plus should be causing any public health worry or panic. We are not seeing anything worrisome yet."

"We are tracking it carefully, and strengthening all public health measures."

Dr Anurag Agarwal, director,  Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology

The Delta strain was said to be responsible for the deadly second wave of infections   Reuters

"There is no data yet to support the variant of concern claim," 

"You need biological and clinical information in order to consider whether it is truly a variant of concern."

"You need to study a few hundred patients who are sick with this condition and variant and find out whether they are at greater risk of greater disease than the ancestral variant." 

Dr, Gagandeep Kang, virologist, Fellow of the Royal Society of London

 

"We don't have much reason to believe this is any more dangerous than the original Delta."  

"Delta Plus might have a slight advantage at infecting and spreading between people who were previously infected earlier during the pandemic or who have weak or incomplete vaccine immunity." 

"I would keep calm. I don't think India or anyone else in the world has released or accumulated enough data to distinguish the risk from the so-called Delta Plus as being more dangerous or concerning than the original Delta variant."

Dr Jeremy Kamil, virologist, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport

The ongoing complexities and mysteries of SARS-CoV-2. India announced several days ago that it has identified roughly 40 cases of the Delta coronavirus variant that first emerged in India and this variant now carries a mutation appearing to make it even more readily transmissible than the already-more-transmissible Delta strain. It is the Delta strain that has caused a good deal of anxiety in Britain, identified as causing a new wave, and prompting the U.K. to hold off its promised re-opening. In Canada the Delta strain resulted in health authorities speeding up vaccinations in an attempt to head off the eruption of another COVID wave.

There is always the danger of mutations occurring with viruses, pushing health authorities to accelerate inoculation programs before the emergence of a mutation that turns out to be not only more transmissible but even significantly deadlier than the original. In the case of COVID 19, anything more deadly than the original is a nightmare to be avoided at all costs. In India the appearance of the new Delta variant has seen states in the country being cautioned of the urgent requirement to increase their testing.

Delta Plus was reported for the first time in a Public Health England bulletin issued on 11 June. Identified as a sub-lineage of the Delta variant which first emerged in India, Delta Plus has inherited the spike protein mutation called K417N, found as well in the Beta variant first identified in South Africa. The concern among some scientists is that the mutation along with other features of the Delta variant could ensure it is considerably more transmissible than the parent mutant.

"The mutation K417N has been of interest as it is present in the Beta variant (B.1.351 lineage) which was reported to have immune invasion property", stated India's health ministry. The K417N was known -- according to top Indian virologist Shahid Jameel -- to reduce the effectiveness of a number of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Resistance to vaccines, in other words, a potential horror story that might leave the world without the hope of vanquishing the pandemic through the miracle medium of anti-COVID vaccines.

To date, the Delta variant has been identified as having appeared in eleven countries altogether; Britain (36), Canada (1), India (40), Japan (15), Nepal (3), Poland (9), Portugal (22), Russia (1), Switzerland (18), Turkey (1), and the United States (83). Around 40 cases of the variant, according to India, have been observed in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, with "no significant increase in prevalence". A sample taken on April 5 represents the earliest case identified in India.

On April 26, Britain sequenced its first five cases; contacts of individuals who had travelled from or transited through Nepal and Turkey. Among the U.K and Indian cases no deaths have as yet been reported. In India and throughout the globe, studies are being initiated to test vaccine effectiveness against the mutation. Regions where the Delta variant has been found "may need to enhance their public health response by focusing on surveillance, enhanced testing, quick contact-tracing and priority vaccination".

In India, the concern is obviously that Delta Plus may inflict yet another infection wave, at a time when it has so recently emerged from the world's worst surge in cases. At the present time, some 5.5 percent of Indians have been fully vaccinated, with 18 percent having received at least one dose. Vaccinations have been accelerated to the point where up to six million people are being vaccinated daily. One of the issues of concern is vaccine availability.

 

"It is most likely capable of dodging immunities", was the opinion of Shahid Jameel, virologist and director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India. "That is because it carries all symptoms of the original Delta variant and also from its partner Beta variant."

 

Checking on a Covid-19 patient at a hospital in Mumbai, India, this month.  Credit...Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press

 

Courting the Devil, Damning the Penguins

Photograph: Ian Waldie/Getty Images

"All of the colonies of penguins once nesting around the Maria Island foreshore are gone because of the [Tasmanian] devils."

"Parks, and wildlife rangers, went out 18 months back  and couldn't find a single pengiun breeding in any of the previously known penguin colonies on the island."

"So, the devils have wiped out the penguins. It's 100 percent. The shearwaters have also been hammered."

Eric Woehler, BirdLife Tasmania convener

"...Because of their larger size and ability to dig, devils had greater impacts on nesting shearwaters than either cats or possums [which are native to the island]."

2020 BirdLife Tasmania study

A project to preserve endangered Tasmanian devils on a small island has backfired after the predators killed seabirds in large numbers, a conservation group says.   BBC

Wildlife experts and biologists have the best intentions when they set out to 'correct' nature. To solve problems some envision importing alien species to aid and assist struggling or threatened indigenous species of vegetation or wildlife, and all too often the imports, settling into their new environments find it so to their liking they run rampant and end up threatening the existence of native species either by monopolizing their territory or their food sources or by consuming the native species to extinction.

This appears to be what has occurred when the Australian island of Maria off Tasmania became the recipient of relocated Tasmanian devils whose existence was threatened by a dread cancer, contagiously infecting animal herds. It was decided that as an experiment in survival, 28 of the devils deemed healthy and uninfected were to be settled on Maria Island. The island had no devil population prior to the relocation.

 

Little penguins – the species has been eliminated from Australia’s Maria Island by introduced Tasmanian devils. Photograph: Eric Woehler

 

In the annals of 'what could go wrong?' another classic example ensued. While relocating the original 28 as 'insurance' that the species suffering from facial tumour disease afflicting the animals throughout the state, the purpose was to shield the species against extinction. The devils increased to number 200 in time and they hunted a species of little penguins whose home was the 44 square mile island. Tasmanian devils are known for their voracious appetite, and the penguins were their target.

The little penguins numbered 3,000 breeding pairs and now they are no longer to be seen on the island. Equally troubling, the number of short-tailed shearwaters also served as dinner for the devils and they too have been 'eliminated', according to a paper published in the journal Biological Conservation. Eric Woehler of BirdLife Tasmania spoke of the inevitability of the island's loss of bird life with the relocation of the devils as having been predictable.

The Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment had warned that local populations of little penguins and shearwater would have to be monitored. On the other hand it did not foresee that introducing the devils would be likely to result in local extinction of the birds. 

There are times when nature takes a hand in resolving issues it has initiated. A study that took place in 2020 found that the Tasmanian devils were becoming resistant to the deadly facial tumour disease passed by biting, with devastating consequences to the survival of the animals. Their numbers had declined by 80 percent in the past several decades. And now, it seems, they will be recovering their numbers through the natural survival expedient of resistance to the disease.

 

"[The Tasmanian government] continually monitors, evaluates and reviews the devil population."

"All effective conservation programs are adaptive and the Save the Tasmanian devil Program will continue to evolve in line with new knowledge in science and emerging priorities."

Tasmanian government statement

The Deleterious Effects of Marital Stress

"Our study shows that the quality of marriage and family life has health implications for life expectancy. Men who reported they perceived their marriage as [a] failure died younger than those who experienced their marriages as very successful."

"In other words, the level of satisfaction with marriage has emerged as a predictive factor for life expectancy at a rate comparable with smoking [smokers versus non-smokers] and physical activity [activity versus inactivity]."

"Marital education programs for couples should be implemented as part of health promotion strategies for the general population."

"Revisiting this data, when we are more aware of links between psychological well-being and physical health, we found that their marriage satisfaction at the start of the study was actually a predictive factor for death in general and for death by strokes."

"This research strongly suggests that marital satisfaction and marital resilience is worth [an] investment by public health authorities, just as they invest in preventing smoking and promoting physical exercise."

Shahar Leve-Ari, head, Department of Health promotion School of Public Health, Tel Aviv University, Israel

"Studies show that people who live together but who do not have the kind of certainty of knowing that they are going to stay together, don't get the health benefits of staying in their relationship."

Marta Zarasla. science journalist, author

A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, concludes that difficult marriage relations are critically harmful to the male member's health and future mortality prospects. Conducted at Tel Aviv University, the study found unhappy husbands facing an increased risk of death from any cause. The study was based on thirty years of health data, tracking life and death of ten thousand Israeli state employees from the 1960s forward in time.

Close attention was given to deaths from cerebrovascular incidents, i.e., strokes, and all-cause mortality. When the longitudinal study was initiated, participants were in their 40s, asked at that early stage to rate their overall level of satisfaction within their marriage on a scale of 1 (very successful) to 4 (very unsuccessful}.

This initial measure surprised researchers who discovered it to have been predictive of life expectancy; as much so as smoking or a lack of physical activity. Men who died from a stroke turned out to be 69 percent  higher in number among men who felt their marriage was very unsuccessful, in comparison to those men who felt entirely the opposite. 

As far as deaths from any cause was concerned, happily married men enjoyed a 19 percent advantage over their opposites, at a rate of 248.5 deaths in comparison to 295.3 deaths among their unhappy counterparts. The gap between the two groups was seen to be greater at younger ages, closer to the start of the study.

The research conclusions represent compelling evidence that a wealth of benefits attach to committed relationships, contributing to longer, healthier lives.

A couple in the midst of an argument (tommaso79 via iStock by Getty Images)

COVID''s Long-Haul Neurological Effects

"This study shows there are brain consequences of a long-term nature [from COVID-19]."

"As people focus on the acute effects of COVID-19, the long-term effects have been playing second fiddle. It may be the long-term effects have a greater impact on society; they may be with us for a very long time."

"[The long-term impact of serious brain impairment following COVID could be] not unlike dementia [in some people]."

"[The U.K. study] demands we take a closer look [at the effect on the brain of COVID-19]."

"This is a hidden challenge to Canadian society that needs to be addressed in the same way we are addressing lots of neurodegenerative ailments."

Dr.Alan Evans, professor of neurology and psychiatry, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University

Harvard Health Publishing

 

The most definitive evidence yet to emerge of the serious long-term impact of COVID-19 on the brain has been examined by new research out of the United Kingdom, focusing on the new reality of the brains of people who had COVID, show loss of grey matter. Brain scans were performed before the pandemic, representing part of a massive U.K. health imaging study. Some of those taking part in the study were invited to return for additional testing after they had experienced the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19.

A second round of brain scans completed, researchers compared these before-and-after scans. The same was done with before-and-after scans of people who had not undergone COVID-19. Enabling the researchers to compare the before-and-after scans of both groups. Among other things, it was seen that most of those who had tested positive experienced mild or moderate cases. "Significant effects of     COVID-19 in the brain with a loss of grey matter" in several regions (those involving smell and taste) of the brain were identified.

Gwenaelle Douaud of Oxford University led the study, making a point of noting some of the changes seen in peoples' brains following COVID-19 were similar to brain changes identified with dementia. The research, according to experts in the field, emphasizes the need for a coordinated effect to support and treat thousands of Canadians whose after-effects of COVID include cognitive and neurological issues. COVID long-haulers' claims of loss of ability to concentrate, brain fog, and cognitive deficits are commonly dismissed by health professionals.

As a result, long-haulers across Canada and around the globe took to forming support groups to give assistance to one another in coping. "There is a level of seriousness attached to having physical changes in the brain simply from having  COVID infection and I am not sure we ha a good grasp on that yet", stated Chanadra Pasma of Ottawa, herself coping with numerous long-COVID symptoms over the past year.

Britain, the United States and Italy have funded and organized research into long COVID. Italy and England set up rehabilitation centres for long-COVID clinics. to assist patients. An April study published in Lancet Psychology found 34 percent of COVID-19 survivors had a diagnosis for a neurological or psychological condition six months following their infection. The number of long-haulers by one estimate comes in at over 400,000 (including a high percentage of front-line health workers infected at a higher rate in comparison with the population at large).

Some, not all long-haulers, suffer cognitive after-effects; some suffer symptoms such as rashes and exhaustion. One long-hauler continuing to suffer from cognitive issues a year following infection formed an online COVID Long Haulers Support Group Canada.

"It messes up your life. This is extremely debilitating and, long term, we don't know what is going to happen", said Susie Gouldint, a long-hauler who suffers from brain fog, tinnitus, dizziness and balance issues among other symptoms. She underwent rehabilitation at a brain injury clinic for a three-month period. It helped but her symptoms persisted. McMaster University scientist Dr.John Connolly is one researcher studying the impact COVID-19 can contribute to loss of brain function, as chair of cognitive neuroscience of language at the university.

He finds the U.K. brain scanning preliminary findings "very alarming". Those 'very alarming' findings have a tie-in to his own lab's research. Viruses, he explains, can affect people for months or years. With the neurocognitive impacts of COVID-19, the question is "whether these will resolve some time in the future".

Exercise Alongside Restraint in Food Intake Equal Weight Loss

"During moderate weight loss, for example, five percent of initial body weight, the associated loss of visceral adipose tissue has been estimated at 21 percent in response to exercise and 13 percent in response to diet." 

French researchers

A French research team in the interests of casting light on exercise as a weight-loss tool, set out to review and summarize findings of 149 high-quality studies assessing physical activity effects on weight loss, fat loss, visceral fat loss, body composition and weight maintenance. The studies included in the review focused on either aerobic training, resistance training or high intensity interval training (HIIT) and making a comparison between exercise to a non-exercise control group or the inclusion of another intervention type, such as diet.

The purpose was to report on their findings in relation to either weight loss, fat loss, lean mass (muscle) loss, or weight maintenance. The studies under review had been published between 2010 and 2019, including in their focus overweight or obese adults. The results indicated regardless of the type of training, exercisers experienced a 1.5 to 3.5 kilogram greater weight loss than non-exercisers. A recognizable trend toward greater weight loss of about one kilogram was recognized, when exercise and diet were combined as opposed to dieting alone.

In making a comparison between one type of exercise as opposed to another, aerobic exercise was seen to outperform resistance exercise in most of the studies; a kilogram more weight and fat were lost in each instance. In comparing HIIT to moderate intensity aerobic exercise, high intensity interval training, saw greater weight loss when energy expenditure between the two exercise forms was matched. Without matching energy expenditure moderate intensity exercise burned more weight, but not significantly more.

Decreasing belly fat located around internal organs responded to all forms of aerobic exercise and aerobic exercise in combination with resistance training, resulting in a useful reduction of visceral fat. Resistance exercise on its own failed to exert the same effect on reducing visceral fat. What was clarified is that visceral fat stores are amenable to significant reduction even when weight loss fails to occur; exercise beats diet alone in losing deep belly fat.

Weight training was flagged as superior in stimulating muscle growth and the maintenance of increase of lean body mass. Resistance exercises were acknowledged as the most successful at reducing the loss of lean body mass. No evidence was seen that more intensive exercise is superior to moderate levels of physical activity in keeping lost weight off. Results which fall in line with other recent studies suggesting the importance of exercise in weight maintenance. 

The results confirm the advice of experts recommending regular exercise while at the same time corroborating the caution against investing all weight-loss efforts into exercise alone. Any type of aerobic exercise outperforms resistance training or diet alone in weight loss; resistance training is superior at maintaining muscle mass. 

Overall health can be improved, alongside greater longevity with even judiciously modest amounts of weight loss, giving value to exercise beyond what a weight scale informs. In long-term weight loss, maximizing results rests in combining regular aerobic exercise with dietary amendments alongside sufficient sleep and stress management in one's daily routine.

Tarnished Rome

Exploring Rome's Parks ... WantedinRome.com

"Rome's historic parks are a disaster and whoever tries to change things risks ending up having to have a police escort."

"I got into the car and turned the key in the ignition but without starting the engine."

"I heard a strange noise after activating the windscreen wipers and immediately sensed an anomaly so I got out and saw the plastic under the wipers tampered with, slightly raised and under the panel I noticed something strange..."

"I notified the police and called the security." 

Prince Marco Andrea Doria, Public servant in charge of Rome's public parks, historic villas

Rome, bomb in the car of the councilor Marco Doria, the prosecutor: “Attempted murder”   Italy24News

 

Mr. Doria has been the recipient of a number of threats. Although never self-identifying the threat sources, this senior public official believes he knows from whom they are sent. Public servants who, in the prosecution of his employment obligations, have found reason to resent the type of supervision he brings to his job. He had, as an example, denounced idle public works employees. And made it clear that he would be on the track of illegal rubbish dumping and theft of statues. 

That the prince has taken action in response to council gardeners who fail to show up for work they are paid to do yet take on work for private clients to earn additional money, has not increased his popularity level among the blue-collar workforce. Prince Doria views his position as authorizing him to make a clear effort to clean up the city of Rome's public parks while recognizing that in the commission of his duty he is endangering his own life.

The most recent plot to avenge themselves against this man whose code of honour and work ethic includes facing diversity and forging on nonetheless to root out corruption -- occurred when he parked his vehicle, a Smart car, on a Rome street, only to discover when he prepared to drive off with the vehicle that there was a bomb hooked up to his car.

 

Exploring Rome's Parks ... WantedinRome.com

 

It was a home-made device, defused by a police bomb squad. Discovered by Marco Andrea Doria  in mid-week. Forewarned is forearmed and with the threats he has received, he was obviously sufficiently astute to be aware when a situation seems unusual enough to warrant extra care. He attributes the attempt to assassinate him to disgruntled council employees.

The device was found to have consisted of a gas canister full of explosive powder and metal bolts connected to the car's engine. In the past Rome council officials let it be known that tractors and mowers meant to maintain parks were vandalized repeatedly, and the suspicion has fallen upon companies whose normal contracts were not renewed, the contracts awarded elsewhere, when Virginia Raggi, current mayor of Rome, was elected in 2015.

Three-quarters of Rome's four hundred council-employed gardeners refused to dirty their hands, opting rather for desk jobs. Rome is recognized as one of Europe's greenest capitals, thanks to its network of large parks, but those parks have been neglected for years. Gardening teams in the city's employ have been notorious for absenteeism. Some employees claim wages but barely bother to tun up for work; a reflection of systemic corruption dubbed the "green mafia".

Prince Doria focused on tackling illegal squatting in historic buildings in the capital, along with park management abuse. Prior to the attempt to assassinate him with the use of a car bomb, an unexploded mortar round had been left on his car hood; a dead hawk dangling from his wing mirror, and most dreadfully his pet dog, Diablo, died after eating a sausage packed with nails. Just too many 'coincidental' episodes not to suspect a sustained drive to silence the man.

The inner courtyard Palazzo Doria Pamphilij: Photo credit: http://www.galleriacolonna.it/

Convenience Foods, Processed Foods, Clean Label Lists

"Clean label definitely gives this idea that yes, this product is as natural as it can possibly be."

"Consumers demand different types of attributes, for example: Foods that are healthy; foods that are not produced using pesticides or chemicals; foods that are in agreement with environmental stewardship." 

"So it's that sort of misalignment between expectations and what can possibly be done with current technologies."

"Not to mention that it [microwave -assisted thermal sterilization] uses less energy. The carbon footprint emission of these technologies is lower than their counterpart. So it is not only good for the person who is going to have it in terms of satisfying their expectations of  taste and flavour and healthiness because it doesn't have the long list of additives, but it is also good for the environment."

"There are thousands of factors that can influence consumer behaviour when deciding what foods to purchase and consume."

Karina Gallardo, professor of economics Washington State University 

A new study found that many people will pay more for ready-to-eat "clean label" meals made with few ingredients. Photo by Getty Images

"Don't buy products with more than five ingredients or any ingredients you can't easily pronounce"; advice by  a best-selling author of the book In Defense of Food. And it's pretty good advice. "If you can't say it, don't eat it", the advice of Michael Pollan. It may have taken a while to penetrate, but at the present time consumers are increasingly looking out for what is called in the industry 'clean label foods'. These are labels listing few items in their processing, short lists of recognizable ingredients, mostly of natural derivation.

The follow-up question actually should be: Is it whole food, if it's been processed? But that's another, digressive story. People think of clean label convenience foods as healthier than foods whose ingredient lists seems interminable. Lists that include chemicals in the ingredients of unknown origin and purpose; tongue twisters like azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole, and calcium disodium ethylene-diaminetetraacetate. Tongue-twisting challenges to mouth, much less to ingest. 

Those are the ingredient labels that make consumers who bother checking them, shudder. Whereas the clean labels listing no more than five explicated ingredients strike the consumer as superior and as a result, healthier. They are forgiven for the sin of being, in actual fact, processed food. Dr.Gallardo of Washington State University is author of a new study which set out to examine consumer preferences, published in the journal Agribusiness.

Dr.Gallardo, along with Washington State economist Jill McCluskey and Kara Grant, economist at Missouri Western University, concurred that many people are prepared to pay more for ready-to-eat foods whose composition lists bear fewer ingredients. Consumers appear inclined to select clean label foods produced with new technologies geared to limit the use of artificial or chemical components, in the name of extended shelf life properties.

 

Earlier published studies have indicated that people consider new food technologies to represent "risky or unhealthy, or even unethical" food preparations, although the expectation is that a continually expanding number of clean label convenience foods available in grocery stores will be available. And these are foods requiring innovative technologies in food production. 

The researchers defined clean label foods for their study as those with few ingredients without factoring in ingredients familiarity; surveying one group of participants to determine the value they place on clean label foods, and a second group to determine whether including the name of a new technology might affect their choices. Study participants were asked their thoughts on microwave-assisted thermal sterilization (MATS); using heat to kill pathogenic bacteria, much like a microwave oven.

Over half the participants stated their preference for clean label ready-to-eat meals marked with the new technology name. MATS technology results in processed meals that appear and taste as though they were prepared recently, unlike conventional food preservation technology where taste is compromised along with texture and vitamin content, to achieve longer shelf life.

With the new technology, vegetables retain their fresh crunch and vibrant colour "so there is no need to apply a long list of additives, chemicals or salt in order to preserve that", explains Dr. Gallardo. Obviously, the opinion of consumers is that all technologies are not created equal, since much depends on the name of the technology and the manner in which it is communicated. 

A label mentioning genetic modification elicits suspicion: "There is an intense rejection". When the word microwave appears in the technology name presented to participants it calls to mind a technology commonly used in a householder's kitchen, therefore acceptable in its familiarity. Both groups of study participants had a preference for clear labels, but a large minority was not willing to pay a premium for products with fewer ingredients.

Within the larger group, the study indicated, people who profess belief in clean label foods and those who favour a shorter list of ingredients dominate in a more relaxed way about these choices. In marked contrast to those who are strong believers in clean label foods, and on the opposite end, those indifferent to clean labels altogether.

Getty Images

Where There is a Need, There is a Way

"At the beginning it was not clear whether he would be able to move his arms, his hands, and play music again."

"It was a shock for me and I realized there is a need for this kind of technology."

"Without doing it digitally this would never be possible to play music in real time."

"It takes away the actual action of strumming a chord."

Zacharias Vamvakousis, creator, "Eyeharp"

Alexandra Kerlidou, 21, who suffers from cerebral palsy, plays the "Eyeharp", a gaze-controlled digital software    Reuters

"I felt strange, I had never imagined such a thing", said Alexandra Kerlidon from her home in Lesbos, Greece, a student whose existence has been compromised by cerebral palsy. "I cried, her mother too" Anastasios Kerlidou said, hearing his daughter first play the Eyeharp. Yes, the Eyeharp. It is part of a program that offers a range of musical instruments whose choice enables those who cannot move their hands or speak, to 'play', through computer-generated software, in obedience to eye movement.

A friend of the Eyeharp's creator -- Zacharias Vamvakousis -- who was a musician, had been involved in a motorcycle accident. They had been scheduled to play a concert together at the time. But his friend was no longer able to do any of the things he had once taken for granted; his limbs unwilling/unable to respond as a result of the accident's severely disabling consequences. So he was inspired by both compassion and his creative genius to come up with an answer to the dilemma.

Himself both a computer scientist and a musician, Vamvakousis created a digital eye-tracking program from a technology already in wide use in gaming, security and medicine; a program geared to monitor eye movement through the performance of commands. As the eye rests on musical notes spaced on a wheel on the screen, the response on average is the playing of three to four notes each second. No fewer than 25 musical instruments can be selected to 'play'.

It takes discipline and concentration to succeed with the program ... since the player must direct eyes from wandering too swiftly over to the following note. Alexandra plays the Eyeharp, gaze-controlled digital software allowing those like her with severe disabilities, to play music. She cannot imagine her life without music.

 

Reuters