What does it take to sustain screwiness in the way the world works? Mostly, it's just good people, trying their best to get us to a better place... within constraints which pretty much preclude us actually getting anywhere! A case in point with

These authors come across as hugely committed to something we might all agree upon: improving young people's experiences of physical education through better school-based-interventions. Sounds great? Agreed, & pretty much everything about their study models best practice 🥳

Sadly, established "best practice" involves further embedding the medicalisation of PE as if it should be about the potential contribution of physical activity to everything from quality of life, self-perception & cognition to the likelyhood of becoming healthy & active adults 🤯

We're reminded of the Chief Medical Officer's "recommended guidelines of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day for healthy growth and development" 👇 This is a focus on what we can easily measure (generic) rather than on what we might value (individual).

We get recognition that PE "is not merely an opportunity for children to engage in PA" but that's linked to its role in "the development of knowledge & skills to foster their PA engagement throughout life" - so further focus on health outcomes. A long way from @meaningfulPE 🙄

Let’s talk about ORGANIC.

Robert Paarlberg’s new book on the food system is out today, and here’s an excerpt.

He’s not a fan of organic, and he makes some good points but misses others.

Here we go.

Organic's biggest shortcoming is that you need more land to grow the same amount of food.

The yield penalty happens in almost every crop, in almost every study.

The gap could narrow with more research/varieties, but it won’t go away.

This has big, bad climate implications.

The second issue I have with organic, which Paarlberg shares, is that its basic criterion is naturalness.

Natural doesn’t mean safe, or even safer. A farming standard based on it forces farmers to sometimes use more dangerous, less effective tools.

On human health, there’s scant evidence that pesticide residues on conventional produce are harmful to consumers (though it’s possible farmworkers could be at risk).

What I don’t want is for folks who can’t afford organic to worry about feeding their kids conventional produce.

On the plus side, Paarlberg acknowledges that the organic standard has some real advantages for animal welfare.

This is why I buy organic animal products.

Many in the organic world would like more regs ensuring animals have decent lives.

Cipla concall was today at 10:40 pm (late night)

Here are the key takeaways 😃

@unseenvalue @darshanvmehta1 @AlgoBoffin @iramneek

Introduction

- Company being the first one to launch Remdesivir and the whole portfolio for covid 19

- Company is no.2 in lung leadership. Will try to unlock the complex generics in US.

- Growing faster than the average market growth.

- Trying to bring respiratory technology in China and in Brazil.
- There is a fair amount of unlocking through digitalization.
- ESG to improve in future. Becoming carbon neutral and water neutral.

US business
- Were able to add

- would be doubling the revenue in US.

- The pipeline is nicely diversified , now the products are diversified into respiratory + injectable around 30%

Indian market: One india strategy
- To cosumerize the business.

- Generic business is no.1 in india.

- Brand is moving from generic business to consumer business.

- Goal is to keep beating market growth by expanding the depth in portfolio.

#Thread

Living with meltdowns.

A personal, very late diagnosed, autistic perspective.

#autism
#AllAutistics
#ActuallyAutistic

1/

Before my autism diagnosis I had occasional emotional outbursts. These generally happened at home after a sustained period of pressure at school or at work.

When I discovered I was autistic I realised that these were actually what people call meltdowns.

2/

Getting intensely upset was a bit of a family thing. Sudden shouting and throwing of things, with resumption of peace and calm afterwards, wasn’t that unusual.

In fact we had a kind of mantra that it was much better to express our emotions than to keep them bottled up.

3/

It was hard to gauge my own emotions against other people’s but by any measure I felt things incredibly intensely.

As a child the injustice of being told off for something that wasn’t my fault burned into me. I sobbed until the tears stang my face and I could hardly breathe.

4/

But suppressing emotion was necessary for me to survive in the outside world. That’s partly what led to uncontrolled outbursts of feelings at home.

I melted down because there was no justice and I’d been misunderstood. I wasn’t using emotion as some kind of bargaining tool.

5/

I do want to talk a bit about connections, conflicts and information during a pandemic. Since @fordnation insinuated I have COI which I don't, let's take a look at a single instance where @fordnation and Hospital for Sick Children are both making interesting decisions.

Both share a powerful supporter in Peter Gilgan, who has been a great supporter of Sickkids

But his company, Mattamy Homes, has also substantially bankrolled Ontario Proud, which I have reason to believe pushed the Postmedia hit on my reputation.

Sickkids and Mattamy have very close ties. Here is Mary Federau, a longtime Sickkids exec who has moved to Mattamy but remains involved with the Sickkids foundation:

Mary's bio is too modest. It looks as though it has been scrubbed a bit over the last 72 hours. Here's the google cache from Jan 25:

ICYMI, public health officials fear community transmission of B.1.1.7 (the "UK variant") is underway in Ontario.

I'll dissect each piece of worrying news from this story.

1. Simcoe Muskoka has so far reported 3 positive tests in individuals *with no known links* to the massive B.1.1.7 outbreak at Roberta Place LTC.

Two of those are linked to separate outbreaks of their own (a different LTC and a mental health hospital). Testing underway.

2. Of the 225 cases at Roberta Place, 100+ are confirmed or preliminary + for B.1.1.7.

42 household contacts of ppl linked to the outbreak are also COVID+. Public health unit is worried about keeping cases (which are all likely B.1.1.7) from rippling further into the community.

3. A case in Kingston area who tested positive for COVID "several weeks ago" was just discovered to be B.1.1.7. That person travelled to Simcoe Muskoka, but had not travelled internationally, according to the local health unit.

4. Overall, Public Health Ontario counts 47 B.1.1.7 cases as of yesterday -- these are only the ones confirmed thru full genome sequencing. Preliminary screening tests not included (yesterday's 99 in Simcoe Muskoka, for example).

Here's a breakdown by health unit courtesy PHO:

OHA Public Health Director Rachael Banks during today’s press conference: "I want to give you an overview of the pandemic in Oregon and an update on the progress of our vaccination efforts."

"As @OregonGovBrown said, we just don’t have enough vaccines to immunize everyone. As long as supplies are scarce, we’ll face really tough calls on who to immunize next. There are good reasons to prioritize educators & good reasons to prioritize seniors."

"The plan is to vaccinate most educators before we start vaccinating seniors on February 8. If we want to give schools a shot at re-opening this school year with a vaccinated staff, this is the time to do it."

"Overall, new cases, hospitalizations and our test positivity rate have all declined. Thank you Oregonians.”

“As of today, we’re adding 877 new cases of COVID-19 in Oregon. There have been 136,839 reported cases of COVID-19 in Oregon to date. During the week of Jan. 11-17, we reported 7,860 new daily cases, a 4% decrease from the prev. week."

Here is a tweetorial from our latest publication in @Annals_Oncology about longitudinal tracking of esophageal adenocarcinoma. #OesophagealCancer #EsophagealCancer https://t.co/QWvrzBXmK7 1/8

We sequenced 245 plasma samples from 97 patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma using a 77 gene pan-cancer ctDNA panel. 2/8

Variants derived from previously characterised driver oesophageal adenocarcinoma genes had a significantly higher VAF than variants from other genes, indicating selection. 3/8

Peripheral blood cell samples were also sequenced for 78/97 patients. CHIP mutations were identified in 23% of cases, longitudinal tracking of CHIP variants suggested these variants were dynamic over time. 4/8

We found patients that were ctDNA positive post-surgery had a significantly poorer survival than ctDNA negative patients, and the elimination of CHIP variants improved the positive predictive value. 5/8

Thrd: Menstruation/Dysphoria

1/ Difficult periods are sometimes the first catalyst for young women becoming alienated from their bodies.

Some have given congratulatory speeches about the vague accomplishment of "becoming a woman."

2/ Others learned about periods through a mundane sex-ed lesson at school. Yet others knew very little about their periods except they are sometimes painful, can be embarrassing, and make activities they’d taken for granted,

3/ like swimming and outdoor play, all-of-a-sudden much more difficult.

When young women hate their periods, they might be told, in a matter-of-fact grumbling way, “well, nobody likes having a period, honey. It’s just a part of life.”

4/ On a personal note, till my early/mid 30s, I knew very little about the menstrual cycle. For me it had always been completely out of sight, out of mind. Once a month, I’d be reminded it exists and I’d have a kind of “oh crap!” moment.

5/ I’d complete the necessary hygiene and try to move on with my life. I was often plowing through various stages of this monthly cycle with little acknowledgement or understanding of how my entire mind, body, and mood was ebbing and flowing. Every month, for years on end.

#OTD 1901, Queen Victoria's funeral took place. Here's a little medical history THREAD (1/9) about one of Britain's longest reigning monarchs. 👇

"Queen Victorian on her death bed" by Emil Fuchs.

(2/9) On 7 April 1853, Queen Victoria became the first monarch to use chloroform to ease the pains of childbirth. Prince Leopold was born within 53 minutes of administration of the drug, which Victoria described as "delightful beyond measure.”

(3/9) The anaesthetic powers of chloroform was first discovered in 1847 by the Scottish physician James Young Simpson. He and his two friends experimented with it on the evening of November 4th. At first, they felt very cheerful and talkative. After a short time, they passed out.

(4/9) Impressed with the drug’s potency, Simpson began using chloroform as an anaesthetic. In December 1847, he delivered the first baby using it. Simpson nicknamed the girl “Saint Anaesthesia.” Her real name was Wilhelmina Carstairs, pictured here.

(5/9) During this time, Queen Victorian was pregnant with her sixth child. She heard of Simpson’s discovery and was keen to benefit from it, but royal doctors cautioned against it, claiming that painful contractions during labour were ordained by God.

The events of the week have shaken us all. Murray Bowen described 'societal regression.' Anxiety is contagious in any group and a society is one giant interconnected group, so over time, societies become more and more anxious unless the anxiety is displaced.

1/

Displacement requires calm, non reactive leadership at every level and we have lacked that at a federal level, hence the massive escalation of anxiety on the 'system' of our society.

2/

Bowen predicted that as we regress we would no longer be able to listen to each other, we'd become highly reactive, continuing the vicious cycle of catching each others' anxiety and reactivity.

We are there.

3/

But we are not doomed. Especially knowing we have a God who cares.

But it requires calm, aware leadership at every level.

4/

Systems theory often measures anxiety and action through the lens of responsibility and control.

I frame it through the notion of spaces

1. The space inside me

2. The space between us

3. The space between me and God.

5/

Watermelon: Eat Me?
Me: Gladly😋🤤😂

BENEFITS OF WATERMELON
1.Good eye sight
2.Prevent Kidney Disoder
3.Prevents heart problem
4.Helps prevent cancer
5.Heart care
6.Improves sexual life
7.Great for hair and skin

Share this!

1.Good eye sight

Don’t worry about eye health if you eat plenty of watermelon, because, between the beta-carotene, vitamin-C, lutein, and zeaxanthin, your eyes are well protected.

These antioxidants will ensure the protection of your eyes from age-related degeneration

2.Prevent Kidney disorders

Watermelon contains a lot of potassium, which is helpful in cleaning or washing out the toxic depositions in the kidney

It aids in reducing the concentration of uric acid in the blood, thereby limiting the risk of kidney damage

3.Prevents heart problem

The presence of potassium and magnesium in watermelon helps to bring down blood pressure.

Potassium is helps releases the tension of blood vessels and arteries, thereby stimulating increased blood flow and reducing stress on the cardiovascular system

4.Helps prevent cancer

Watermelon has an impressive level of lycopene, a carotenoid phytonutrient compound that is increasingly being linked to cancer prevention

Diet and sleep are inextricably linked. The foods you eat influence your sleep, and the quality of your sleep can impact your food choices.

If you’re looking for tips to improve your sleep, this thread is for you. 👇

Poor diet and bad sleep are a vicious cycle:

- Poor sleep can lead you to consume more calories the next day
- Preference for sugary foods increases when you're tired
- Check out this study if you’re interested to learn about the scientific

Personally, I maintain a keto intermittent fasting diet, which has been great for my sleep:

I’ve been on a keto diet for over 2 years now, cheating usually 1 day per week (Friday night). I tend to fast 23hr/day on weekdays, eating for dinner. On weekends, I fast 16:8.

Mediterranean diet & more (cont.):

I also noticed that if I stop eating two hours after dinner, and if I stick to a nutrient-rich mediterrenean diet, I sleep better during the night.

What happens when I’m tired:

I struggle with food the most when I’m sleep deprived. I have trouble fasting when I’m tired, and I crave and eat carbs or sugary foods. I also exceed my regular amount of coffee. I usually suffer this the most if I sleep <7h.

https://t.co/tGxQi7Rb8z
ONE FLU OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST. BORIS AND MATTS’ ECONOMY WITH THE ACTUALITE. NHS SPIN RUNNING ON LEAN #COVIDSTROIKA #WHATHAPPENEDTOFLU WHERE DID ALL THE BEDS GO? #EUROMOMO

I am not full sure people appreciate the impact of B117 strain on the course of the pandemic. TL;DR B117 is "a pandemic inside a pandemic" and demands both monitoring and preparation for when it arrives in a location. Vaccination is even more of a priority due to B117.

Context: I am an expert on human genetics and computational biology. I know experts in viral evolution, testing, infectious epidemiology, clinical trials. I have COIs in that I am long established consultant to @nanopore and I am on the Ox/AZ vaccine trial.

B117 clearly transmits faster. This has been clear in a UK context now for over a month, with particularly insightful backtracking of growth of B117 from low levels through October/November; it is true in Denmark; it is true in Ireland.

(Shout out the fast responding science of @CovidGenomicsUK, of the analysis of @jcbarret and @arambaut, of clever genomics-epi models of @MoritzGerstung and @harald_voeh and on it testing / spidey sense of @The_Soup_Dragon)

(In Denmark their excellent genomic surveillance, similar to UK's allows Denmark to know about the growth of B117 from low level in the context of other strains - props to @MadsAlbertsen85 and colleagues; In Ireland it is becoming one of the dominant variants)