41

COVID-19 / Re: Why is there a 5-day oscillation in the COVID-19 newly confirmed cases?

« on: 31/07/2020 08:40:19 »

Unfortnately, my eyes were wrong. It is indeed 7 days.

42

COVID-19 / Re: How could we improve PPE?

« on: 30/07/2020 09:48:58 »

Produces a lot of ozone.

How did you measure it?

I simply compare the strength of the smell relative to my hospital sized ozone genrator, and it is just as strong.

43

COVID-19 / Re: Do we know the dosage required to get a COVID infection?

« on: 30/07/2020 03:03:34 »

My hunch is that the prominent 5 day oscillation cycle

What 5 day oscillation?

Have a look at the daily infection graphs on this site. They all display a 5 dayish oscillation cycle.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

It's a 7 day cycle, with peaks on Fridays. Most people will work through a low-grade infection and report sick at the end of the working week, with maybe another peak on Monday. Labs may back up their results but post them all on Friday to clear the deck for next week.

The deaths graph is odd, as that also peaks on Friday. Whilst recorded deaths peak on Mondays (because register offices are often closed at the weekend) recorded cause of death seems to peak at the end of the doctors' working week. 

As foir viral load, it's pretty obvious that the more you have, the more likely you are to infect someone else, and the morf you inhale, the more likely it is that some will penetrate your first line of defence and set up shop before the immune system gets into gear. The lack of early symptoms is interesting. It seems as if the innate immune system is very insensitive to the virus, so you can build up an overwhelming viral load before the adaptive system adapts, by which time the innate inflammatory response suddenly turns on as well, producing the excessive inflammation that can become fatal.     

So it is 7 afterall.  My eyes must have gone funny a the past few days.

44

COVID-19 / Re: What are the latest Covid-19 medicines and vaccine news stories?

« on: 29/07/2020 14:50:12 »

seaweed-extract-outperforms-remdesivir-in-blocking-covid-19-virus-in-cell-studies
https://scitechdaily.com/seaweed-extract-outperforms-remdesivir-in-blocking-covid-19-virus-in-cell-studies/

45

COVID-19 / What are the latest Covid-19 medicines and vaccine news stories?

« on: 29/07/2020 14:44:04 »

This topic is for collecting covid-19 scientific news about developing medical treatments and vaccines.

46

COVID-19 / Re: Do we know the dosage required to get a COVID infection?

« on: 29/07/2020 14:22:11 »

I guess that covid-19 requires a far higher viral count to get infected. Otherwise, we would all be infected by now.

What does the count matter?
How high or low would it need to be to get to the inhabitants of North Sentinel island?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sentinel_Island

I don't know what Bored Chemist is trying to say here, but viral load clearly matter according to Set Fair's article:-

https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-questions-about-covid-19-and-viral-load/

47

COVID-19 / Re: Do we know the dosage required to get a COVID infection?

« on: 29/07/2020 13:50:41 »

My hunch is that the prominent 5 day oscillation cycle

What 5 day oscillation?

Have a look at the daily infection graphs on this site. They all display a 5 dayish oscillation cycle.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

48

COVID-19 / Re: How could we improve PPE?

« on: 29/07/2020 12:49:32 »

Ozone generator x 2 ( costs 12 yuan each on Taobao)

Just checking; that's less than I would pay for a cup of coffee, isn't it?

Yeap!
It includes a glass tube with a straight wire in the middle & a coil on the glass tube, the plastic mount, plus the step up power unit.  Produces a lot of ozone.  All unspecified & no brand & no contact info.
Great for producing prototypes.
I mounted it in a shoe box, and I was surprised that it worked! 

49

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: What are implications of accelerated evolution & applications

« on: 29/07/2020 04:01:51 »

The modern environment has lots of ways to kill microbes, including heating, boiling, UV-C, ozone, fungicides, antibiotics, anti-virals etc. So, we are basically accelerating evolution in a very fast way aren't we?

Most of the things on that list existed before humans.

It produced the Tardigrade under normal evolutionary speed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

True, but it's pretty clear that antimalarials and bactericides have selected for resistant variants of their targets, whilst it is arguable that an excessively clean childhood environment has weakened overall resilience, if only by ensuring the survival of the unfittest.

The abiding rule of biology is that no species can win. 

Under accelerated evolution such as via man made radiation, may be it will be certain that those species affected will win big to dominate the existing landscape?

50

COVID-19 / Re: How could we improve PPE?

« on: 29/07/2020 03:41:21 »

At the moment, my Personal Protective Equipment include:-
[1] standard reommended alcohol hand wash, clinical face masks
[2] UV-C + Ozone disinfection box
[3] Ozone generator x 2 ( costs 12 yuan each on Taobao) - I mount that in a box or cabinet powered by mains
[4] hospital sized disinfection unit (UV-C air disinfection when people around, Ozone disinfection while people not around)

My desired upgrade:-
a. a motor assisted breathing face mask. Can be purchased from Taobao, Looks to me it is an early design which can be much improved, but new designs are coming onto the market.
b. Mask frame to increase the useable surface area of the face mask. Can be purchased from Taobao.
c. Big eye goggles

When I get back to the UK, I will need to enter my garage which has been infected by a vast amount of mildew caused by a botched job done by cow boys. Upgraded PPEs will be perfect for me. 

51

COVID-19 / Re: Do we know the dosage required to get a COVID infection?

« on: 29/07/2020 03:03:52 »

I remember that when the UK had Foot-and-Mouth, the number of viral particles required to infect was eventually worked out at 3, and that was eventually controlled by slaughting lots of cattle.   
I guess that covid-19 requires a far higher viral count to get infected. Otherwise, we would all be infected by now.

My hunch is that the prominent 5 day oscillation cycle we see in the infection data tells us important characteristics of the viral infection.

52

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / What are implications of accelerated evolution & applications

« on: 28/07/2020 04:08:56 »

The modern environment has lots of ways to kill microbes, including heating, boiling, UV-C, ozone, fungicides, antibiotics, anti-virals etc. So, we are basically accelerating evolution in a very fast way aren't we?

I have no doubt that there are many biologists getting very concerned.

As I remember, fungi in the ISS (Int. Space Station) evolved and populated the ISS as a result of space radiation.
So, not surprisingly, Chernobyl radiation also did the same on earth.

Chernobyl Fungi To Protect Astronoauts?
https://interestingengineering.com/fungi-from-chernobyl-reactor-could-save-astronauts-from-space-radiation

53

COVID-19 / Re: How could we improve PPE?

« on: 23/07/2020 08:51:32 »

An air conditioned whole body suit with microbe disinfecting filters & moisture boil In/Out rather like a space suit sounds far better.

54

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Is there a metric for complexity?

« on: 22/07/2020 05:42:34 »

Complexity is a very general word used in numerous situations. You need to specify the objectiveness of wanting to measure complexity.

For example:-
An empolyer may want to renumerate employees in relation to the complexity of the job;
An assembly project may be rewarded according to the complexity of the assembly work;
A project may need to be priced according to its complexity;
A software development methodology may be evaluated based on how complexity may increase;

. . . .
So you see, you can't quantify complexity without specifying what the purpose of the quantification is.

55

Technology / The Starlite fire resistant material

« on: 20/07/2020 15:37:36 »

The Starlite material secret has died with the inventor.
Amazing thing is that samples of it is still here!
How could the UK scientific/engineering community let this go?

https://www.bbc.com/reel/playlist/searching-for-starlite?vpid=p06llq7w

Intumescent paints - watch the videos.

56

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Are stem cell therapies for arthritis safe and effective?

« on: 19/07/2020 03:22:46 »

This looks like a good place to start looking at stem cells science and therapy.
https://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/

57

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Are stem cell therapies for arthritis safe and effective?

« on: 18/07/2020 07:24:07 »

Example offer from a Thailand Clinic:-
www.stemcells21.com

[note that it offers 2 target countries: UK & Pakistan   -   hmmmmm ]
[the list of Conditions Treated is mouth watering]

58

Physiology & Medicine / Are stem cell therapies for arthritis safe and effective?

« on: 18/07/2020 07:20:18 »

I've just received a stem cell therapy advert on Facebook offering stem cell therapy in Thailand.
What interests me most at the moment is osteoarthritis.

Clearly cell therapy is of intense interests to researchers & patients, but the field needs patients monitoring and understanding.  How do we guard against the many rogue clinics which are bound to home in on offering patients fake therapies?

How do we check these clinics? Can we use this discussion to accumulate useful knowledge?

[note that Thailand & India governments have big ambitions in developing medical tourism, so we should expect to hear a lot more from them in the future. Having massive numbers of potential rich patients and low labour costs, they are in a gold mine for medical tourism]

59

Cells, Microbes & Viruses / Re: What are the best links for up to date COVID-19 statistics?

« on: 09/07/2020 12:57:21 »

The stats show UK as over the peak by a very long way.  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/    Even with Leicester still locked down we have survived the worst.  In some countries probably deaths in care homes and of the over 70's are recorded as naturally of old age as any slight infection would have been fatal anyway.
We need to be positive about the future and push our economy forward for the common good of everyone particularly our children.  Next winter a new flu virus will be discovered and there is obviously no cure for it available.  So government should  advise the NHS that we understand they don't have a vaccine but they should just do their best to contain it and not panic.

You still do not understand how serious covid-19 infection is. A serious infection can happen to young healthy people and the  rate of transmission is rapid without the use of face masks in dangerous situations. Therefore, with the lack of credible leadership in the US & UK, they still haven't managed a safe gradual re-opening.  The US leadership is just hopeless!

60

Chemistry / Re: What is that liquid in the video?

« on: 09/07/2020 12:40:17 »

I wonder if she enjoys eating it as much as she seems to enjoy killing it. 

I think she loves to eat just about anything because she was brought up to eat anything. That was how societies used to be.
We live in a modern society where we are normally treating people & animal with some respect, where foods are pre-cooked or packaged, and lots of people are evangelizing not to eat animals, so most of us are averse to doing things the primitive way.

I have seen a few Asia travel videos where market stalls have fried creepy crawlies for sale.