All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Study: Different resistant E coli strains can cross-protect | CIDRAP “So, who’s smarter – humans or bacteria? No contest…”

Two strains of bacteria resistant to different antibiotics can protect each other in an environment where both drugs are present, according to the first experimental study of microbial cross-protection published last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Physics explored the potential of mutualism—an interaction that benefits two different species—on two strains of Escherichia coli, one of which was resistant to ampicillin and the other resistant to chloramphenicol.

Source: Study: Different resistant E coli strains can cross-protect | CIDRAP

IRIN | Vaccine rolled out in Philippines offers new hope against dengue

After two decades of work, the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur has licensed it to Mexico and the Philippines. Last month, Sanofi Pasteur rolled out its first ever dengue mass-vaccination programme. Fourth graders are being vaccinated in three areas in the Philippines where dengue cases were highest last year.Mario Baquilod is in charge of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau of the Philippine Department of Health. He said last year there were 200,415 reported cases of dengue in the Philippines, one of the largest numbers in recent years.Baquilod said the department wanted to add the vaccine to its arsenal of tools that combat the virus. The government aims to get one million children immunized against dengue by June – so far 263,000 kids have received the vaccine.Baquilod said they decided to pilot the programme in three public schools because they wanted to have a “captive” population for the vaccine, which takes three doses – one every six months – to be effective. The medical world is now watching what happens in the Philippines.

Source: IRIN | Vaccine rolled out in Philippines offers new hope against dengue

Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Drops Tommy Chong as Intro Speaker Hours Before L.A. Rally – Hollywood Reporter

Source: Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Drops Tommy Chong as Intro Speaker Hours Before L.A. Rally – Hollywood Reporter

Tommy Chong is in disbelief after he was disinvited by the Bernie Sanders campaign from introducing the presidential hopeful hours before a rally in East Los Angeles.

The iconic comic actor and outspoken marijuana advocate tells The Hollywood Reporter that the Sanders campaign was happy to have his endorsement months back, but when it came time for the two men to appear in public together, someone got “cold feet,” he says.

“It’s lip service to get the votes, but they don’t want to endorse what I stand for and what I’ve stood for all my professional career,” Chong said right after he was uninvited to the rally. “It was an insult.”

In a email to THR, a Sanders spokesman said, “We appreciate his support but a scheduling issue came up.”

Chong, who was invited on Sunday to Sanders’ noon rally in Lincoln Park, says he is sure the campaign put distance between himself and Sanders over the marijuana issue, calling the move a “weakness” by the Sanders’ camp. He joked that his hair and makeup were done for nothing.

Chong says he already did a radio interview early Monday morning talking about how excited he was to introduce his candidate.

“Now I’m going to look like a fool, like one of those guys who starts bragging about something that isn’t true,” he tells THR. “And I don’t like that because my endorsement means a lot because of what I have gone through and what the whole [marijuana] culture has gone through.”

In January, Chong released his endorsement video, made by the Grassroots Community, in which he praised Sanders’ positions on numerous issues, including the legalization of marijuana.

Chong later sent out an additional tweet about the situation.

Hope to continue my support, reschedule, and continue activism, political change and promoting peace anywhere possible.

Virus outbreak Catalonia: Enterovirus outbreak sends 29 kids to hospital with encephalitis | In English | EL PAÍS

An outbreak of an enterovirus that can cause severe illness has already affected 60 children in Catalonia, according to the most recent figures released by the regional health department. Of these, 29 were hospitalized after suffering a form of encephalitis, which causes inflammation of the brain stem and cerebellum. Health authorities said most of the children are recovering well, although two remain in a serious condition. Similar outbreaks have been reported in Bulgaria, the United States and several Asian countries, but this is the first time Spain has experienced so many cases at the same time. It’s behaving differently from what we usually see, and it is hard to know what to expect CARLES RODRIGO, VALL D’HEBRON HOSPITAL CHIEF OF PEDIATRICS

Source: Virus outbreak: Enterovirus outbreak sends 29 kids to hospital with encephalitis | In English | EL PAÍS

#In the shadows of Men

نادية حرحش

I worked in the years of my marriage to draw a family painting with lines I drew in articulate details and attention until I started seeing it hanging infront of me professionally adding to my life an ascetic sense of beauty like valuable belongings and collectibles that are followed by fans and interested mobs.

I was like a Sufi, modest from what fills the eyes of people, reflecting on manifestations that add to life a different meaning I was trying to reach. I was trying to reach without a religious fight or an ideological one. A state of escape forms the reality that our mind confronts us with when it starts questioning the absolute givens. And in order not to fall in the hollowness of atheism from top of belief. We choose with full consciousness from somewhere in our minds a place for manipulation or maneuvering to another way, less…

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Step Lightly

Night Owl Poetry - Dorinda Duclos

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Step lightly, be careful not to break the shell

I wouldn’t want to crush your feelings

All is not well that doesn’t end well

Emotions are often sent reeling

Speak softly, never rough nor crude

Quiet, calming, the words must be

Or, surely, I’ll be considered rude

And you’ll go running for sympathy

Wait, before you spew more slander

Exactly what is it that we don’t agree?

Stop wasting time on pure propaganda

Perhaps the problem isn’t really me…..

©2016 Dorinda Duclos All Rights Reserved

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To those who get/have been bullied or have been put down by others… – ISVI RAMOS

I don’t exactly know why people choose to hurt others. Maybe they’re jealous of you, or don’t like you, or just have nothing better to do…But that is no excuse. No matter what the reason is for their actions towards you, it is not okay. When people try to bring you down, you often question why, you? What have I done to them? And sometimes those questions remain unanswered because you’ve literally done nothing wrong. Don’t ever feel like it’s your fault, like you deserve it, like you’re unworthy, not good enough, or popular enough and that those are the reasons why they’re picking on you. Never believe what others tell you to try and break you because they’re wrong.

Source: To those who get/have been bullied or have been put down by others… – ISVI RAMOS

#In the Shadows of Men

نادية حرحش

My mother gave birth to me in Jerusalem, and my first months were in Jericho. I am a sun-month born person. The flaming august as they call it. And in those years, summer was present with immense strength not like these days. We don’t know when it starts and when it leaves us. I was small in size; my weight didn’t exceed the three kilos. And my grandmother used to wipe me with olive oil and wrap me with a piece of cloth and pull it around my tiny body to strengthen my bones. And my mother used to put me on the terrace in the courtyard of the house and leave me until she finishes her house chorus. . And forget me … until my grandfather screams out: “ come and take her before the cat eats her.” No wonder my skin color was darker than my sisters. The…

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Photos: Dance Parade Turns East Village Into A Party: Gothamist

multi-culturalism and diversity is certainly promoted and encouraged by the event’s organizers. Among the dozens of dance styles (and aesthetics) on display yesterday were Hip Hop, Butoh, Voguing, Funk, Scottish, American Tribal, Irish Step, Electro-Pop, Modern, Techno, Bolivian Pujilay, Traditional Chinese, Indian Baharantanatyam, Jamaican Dancehall, Bellydance, Salsa, Samba, Country and Western, Flagging, Disco, Ballroom, House, Bolivian Tinkus, Bollywood, Modern, and Chinese Waist Drum Dance.

Source: Photos: Dance Parade Turns East Village Into A Party: Gothamist