All posts by nedhamson

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

French scientists discover critical stage in evolution of TB

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, France’s National Center for Scientific Research and the Université Toulouse III recently discovered a critical stage that is part of the evolution of tuberculosis (TB) bacillus in developing pathogenicity.

In 2014 alone, an estimated 9.6 million people contracted TB with 1.5 million people dying worldwide. These figures make TB the world’s second-highest cause of death due to one infective agent.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an infective agent, causes TB, a chronic bacterial illness. The researchers found a glycolipid within the envelope of the bacterial cell and during evolution, this glycolipid could heighten the TB bacilli virulence among humans.

In contrast, when the glycolipids disappeared, TB became Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is much more aggressive and raising in pathogenicity.

These discoveries could help researchers develop a more thorough understanding of how TB operates and evolves. This could enable them to further advance science against the emerging TB bacilli, allowing them to help people around the world.

For researchers to develop better strategies for fighting TB, they must better understand how the disease’s mechanisms operate as it spreads. There are various evolutionary stages that cause genetic adaptations, allowing TB bacillus to settle in humans.

Understanding this will allow researchers to improve their methods of fighting TB on a worldwide scale.

I’ve always had a soft spot for non-smiling portraits ever since Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Maybe…

I’ve always had a soft spot for non-smiling portraits ever since Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Maybe it’s because I have rbf (resting b!tchy face) which I inherited from pops. Maybe it’s just that hilarious, rebellious unwillingness to patronize the photographer, or the iron curtain that proves photography itself is an entirely ineffectual penetrant of the subject’s state of mind.

#photography  

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Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Trolls Trump: ‘I Bailed You Out Twice’

The reply from bin Talal: The prince’s tweet included news stories showing that he bought Trump’s yacht in 1991, which had been turned over to creditors when he was $900 million in debt, according to Buzzfeed. He also included a link to a story showing that he was part of the group that bought New York City’s Plaza Hotel from Trump in 1995. As part of the deal, bin Talal paid off Trump’s debt on the hotel in what the New York Times said was “a defeat for the real estate developer.”

Source: Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Trolls Trump: ‘I Bailed You Out Twice’

Welcome To America — Now Spy On Your Friends

One of the agents told Osman they had a deal for him. A “good deal,” Osman recalled: The FBI could help him with his green card application and even help some of his family immigrate to the United States.But something changed, he said, when she called and said, “I want to ask you where Osama Bin Laden is.”“That was when I got shocked,” he recalled. “I was really scared, and I was not feeling comfortable. She was giving me so much pressure. I think she was trying to scare me.” But he did not dare tell anyone in his community, lest someone think he was cooperating.Immigration records indicate that right around that time, and again in March and May of 2010, the Joint Terrorism Task Force — a partnership of law enforcement agencies led by the FBI — requested information about Osman’s immigration files from USCIS.In March 2011, Osman was informed that his claim to be a member of Somalia’s persecuted Tuni clan “may have” been false. He tried to fight the charge, but lost. First his refugee status was revoked. Then, six years after filing an application for a green card, Osman finally got an answer: No.An immigration lawyer did eventually get him in front of a judge, who ruled that the government had acted improperly. Osman’s refugee status was reinstated, and he even got a green card.But when, encouraged by those developments, he applied to become a full citizen, he ran into the very same kinds of delays. FBI agents don’t show up at his door anymore, but he worries that he might still find himself searching for a country to call home. “I believe I’m already an American,” Osman said one recent night, sitting in a hotel lobby.“I mean, I am an American!” he exclaimed, with his hands in the air. “This is my home. They might believe something else, but of course I am.”

Source: Welcome To America — Now Spy On Your Friends

Let’s Ask Obama to Give This Speech Next

Barack Obama once confessed to politics’ original sin but has yet to atone for it. He now has an opportunity to do so.

Source: Let’s Ask Obama to Give This Speech Next

Well, Mr. President, it’s time. You have no more campaigns to wage. With a little less than 12 months left in the White House, you have the opportunity to atone for exploiting a system that you have deplored in words if not deeds. You can restart the engine of reform and even demonstrate that Citizens United can be tamed. Just take out your pen and sign an executive order compelling federal contractors to disclose their political spending. In one stroke you can put an end to a blatant practice of political bribery that would be one small step for you and one giant leap for democracy.

It’s an open-and-shut case. In fewer than five minutes, you could face the cameras and announce your decision:

My fellow Americans. I have today signed an executive order requiring any company with a federal contract to disclose how much they spend on politicians and lobbyists, and who is receiving their money.

There are several reasons for this.

First, federal contracting is big business. In 2013 alone, the United States government spent about $460 billion dollars on contracting, with $177 billion of that going to just 25 companies. Since the year 2000, the top 10 contractors have raked in $1.5 trillion in federal contracts.