tingilinde

another video yule fireplace

a tip of the hat to Jeff

a deeper looking at california's recent 7.0 quake

Earthquake Insights, as usual, is on the case.

 

just one mutation away

We're a single mutation away from what could be a devastating pandemic.  And in a month we'll be incredibly less prepared.  As a precaution it's a good idea to live in a state with working public health infrastructure and a non-MAGA governor.

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Editor’s summary

In 2021, a highly pathogenic influenza H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b virus was detected in North America that is capable of infecting a diversity of avian species, marine mammals, and humans. In 2024, clade 2.3.4.4b virus spread widely in dairy cattle in the US, causing a few mild human cases, but retaining specificity for avian receptors. Historically, this virus has caused up to 30% fatality in humans, so Lin et al. performed a genetic and structural analysis of the mutations necessary to fully switch host receptor recognition. A single glutamic acid to leucine mutation at residue 226 of the virus hemagglutinin was sufficient to enact the change from avian to human specificity. In nature, the occurrence of this single mutation could be an indicator of human pandemic risk. —Caroline Ash
Abstract

In 2024, several human infections with highly pathogenic clade 2.3.4.4b bovine influenza H5N1 viruses in the United States raised concerns about their capability for bovine-to-human or even human-to-human transmission. In this study, analysis of the hemagglutinin (HA) from the first-reported human-infecting bovine H5N1 virus (A/Texas/37/2024, Texas) revealed avian-type receptor binding preference. Notably, a Gln226Leu substitution switched Texas HA binding specificity to human-type receptors, which was enhanced when combined with an Asn224Lys mutation. Crystal structures of the Texas HA with avian receptor analog LSTa and its Gln226Leu mutant with human receptor analog LSTc elucidated the structural basis for this preferential receptor recognition. These findings highlight the need for continuous surveillance of emerging mutations in avian and bovine clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 viruses.

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a tip of the hat to Roland

 

library handwriting

A student guide.  I remember very old card catalogs written in library script.

 

 

pitchforks are on their way

I posted this about ten years ago..  it seems like a good time for a repeat.

 

essentials

Dan Gillmor's Essentials column is just that today - a must read mostly on the CEO shooting.

caveat - Dan is a friend of nearly 20 years.

 

 

 

a vigilante folk hero

The white hot hate many Americans have for health insurance companies is on display in the from of reactions to Brian Thompson's killing. Heather Cox Richardson offers some perspective.

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Thompson’s murder seems to be a cultural moment in which popular fury over the power big business has over ordinary Americans’ lives exploded. Maureen Tkacik of The American Prospect noted, “Only about 50 million customers of America’s reigning medical monopoly might have a motive to exact revenge upon the UnitedHealthcare CEO.” The shooter, whose actual motive remains unknown, is fast becoming a folk hero.

Social media has exploded with users writing things like “[t]his claim for sympathy has been denied”; songs featuring the words “deny, “defend,” and “depose”; and recorded commentary condemning the healthcare insurance industry. UnitedHealth Group posted its sadness about Thompson’s death on Facebook yesterday about 1:00 p.m.; 36 hours later the post had 65,000 laughing emojis under it.

Security expert Charlie Carroll expressed surprise to Josh Fiallo of the Daily Beast that Thompson did not have a security detail. “We’re living in a world where people are extremely disgruntled,” Carroll said. “When people lose trust in the system, you start seeing more kidnappings and assassinations because they feel like they have to take matters into their own hands.”

In the wake of the shooting, UnitedHealthcare and several other insurance companies took down from their websites the names and photographs of their officials.

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Now GOP lawmakers are looking at dismantling Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to pay for tax breaks for the rich.  I suspect they'll need security details for themselves and their families  if they pull this off.

 

 

 

tom baker's scarf

The BBC published instructions back in the day.

 

It turns out I have one thanks to Sukie

 

 

domestican misstarts

Dog domestication appears to have happened several times, but it generally failed.

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University of Arizona archaeologist François Lanoë and his colleagues studied 111 sets of bones from dogs and wolves from archaeological sites across the Alaskan interior. The oldest bones came from wolves that roamed what’s now Alaska long before people set foot there, and the most recent came from modern, wild Alaskan wolves. In between, the researchers worked with the remains of both wolves and dogs (and even a couple of coyotes) that span a swath of time from about 1,000 to around 14,000 years ago. And it turns out that even the wolves were tangled up in the lives of nearby humans.

“The terminal Pleistocene in interior Alaska may have been a time of experimentation in terms of human-canid relationships,” write Lanoë and his colleagues. “People may have domesticated canids that left no trace in later dog lineages. Alternatively, some wild canids may have been kept as pets and others hunted.”

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getting the lead out

The impact of being too slow

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The study found that lead exposure led to measurable changes in mental health and personality traits across the population. Those born between 1966 and 1986—Generation X—were most affected, having been exposed during peak leaded gasoline use. The researchers calculated that lead exposure increased population-level symptoms of anxiety and depression by 64%, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms by 42%, and altered key personality traits including conscientiousness and neuroticism.

The impact extends beyond diagnosed conditions. As Reuben explains, “For most people, the impact of lead would have been like a low-grade fever. You wouldn’t go to the hospital or seek treatment, but you would struggle just a bit more than if you didn’t have the fever.”

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