Week of September 2, 2024
After two consecutive weeks of college move-ins, parent orientations, and finding new ways to contort our bodies while putting sheets on a foam mattress pad-covered twin mattress bed in a confined dorm space, our house is devoid of children. Nineteen years went by faster than expected. However, the drive to Rhode Island (and back) was long enough to write a newsletter.
[Back to less pathos-filled openings next week.]
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Rates of COVID infections are declining. Based on current wastewater data, about 1 in 41 Americans are infected ( down from 1 in 34). About 50% of Americans will have been infected by the time this surge is over.
https://x.com/covid19_disease/status/1829333158996975682
The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) website uses wastewater levels to forecast 4-week predictions of COVID rates.
https://pmc19.com/data/
based upon https://biobot.io/data/
Wastewater Scan offers a multi-organism wastewater dashboard with an excellent visual display of individual treatment plant-level data.
https://data.wastewaterscan.org/
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COVID Articles
The Novavax protein (as opposed to mRNA) vaccine received FDA authorization on August 30. It should be available this week at most major pharmacies.
https://x.com/friesein/status/1829721425378238925
Some data suggests the Novavax vaccine offers less potential for side effects (fever, myalgias, etc.) and a broader immune response.
https://x.com/tactnowinfo/status/1829931066628477319
UCSF researchers published a well-done study on the role of the COVID spike protein in activating clotting pathways and downstream immune system damage. These mouse-model data point to the mechanism of both the vasculopathy [the clot-related blood vessel damage] seen in acute COVID and (possibly) the ongoing pathology of long COVID. Two initial thoughts: This can't be the only virus with widespread hematologic and immune system impact, but it is undoubtedly the most studied. And we are continually refining our understanding of how SARS-CoV2 can be pathogenic.
Very summarized:
1. Fibrin (a component of blood clotting) binds to the spike protein
2. The fibrin-spike protein combo creates pro-inflammatory blood clots
3. Clots drive systemic inflammation & brain pathology, potentially including long COVID symptoms and suppression of immune cells (like Natural Killer [NK] cells)
4. Fewer N.K. cells, especially in those with persistent spike protein, may explain the observed increase in other infections and cancers
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07873-4
And an excellent analysis
https://x.com/mark_toshner/status/1830196096187945217
And
Longer description of the research with implications for therapy:
https://x.com/dave_it_up/status/1829204020675711122
Medical Trends and Technology
My endless churn through random medical articles reveals some fascinating tidbits of pablum. This week, I found a 2010 study suggesting that the influenza virus may make humans MORE social after infection but before symptoms start. Think about the evolutionary advantage this confers for the virus—and once again, it offers insight into just how much of our behavior we can control. The natural next question is, "Do other viruses do this?"
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20816312/
Discussion - a mixed bag of comments on X
https://x.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F20816312%2F&src=typed_query
GLP-1 (semaglutide/Ozempic/Wygovy/etc.) drugs continue demonstrating some remarkable outcomes. In this week’s “evidence we will all be on GLP1 drugs one day," I offer Ozempic confers a significant reduction in all-cause mortality, deaths from Covid, and serious adverse events from Covid.
https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2024.08.007
And
https://x.com/erictopol/status/1829499268346073342
Infographics
Unexpected contemporaries through history:
https://imgur.com/2TBL3Vo
with discussion, including comments from the creator
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1ay3vuu/oc_who_lived_when_the_overlapping_lives_of/
Things I learned this week - nephrology edition
I treat patients with kidney stones and often hear how certain activities known for jostling and shaking seem to "make a kidney stone pass." Thanks to a loyal reader, I learned that in 2017, a urologist made a plastic model of the inside of the kidney with simulated kidney stones of various sizes. He then took said model on Disney's Big Thunder Mountain ride (twenty times) to determine the combination of kidney stone sizes and seating locations most likely associated with a kidney stone's movement. Sitting in the back of the roller coaster and having a stone in the upper kidney were associated with the highest likelihood of passage. (I need to run a parallel study examining the association between European capitals and kidney stone passage. It may take months of grant-funded European travel to explore this critical gap in our collective knowledge.)
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7556/jaoa.2016.128/html
Romans (and many others) widely used urine and the ammonia it contains for various industrial and chemical processes. The Romans, however, taxed urine. Nero taxed the disposal of urine, and later, Vespasian reinstated a urine tax, but more on those who purchased urine. I did not realize "Vespasian's name is still associated with urinals in Italy (vespasiano) and France (vespasienne)."
https://web.archive.org/web/20160417015535/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160414-history-bad-taxes-tax-day/
and more background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet
Living with A.I.
An A.I. agent paid another A.I. agent with crypto to buy A.I. processing time. Currently, A.I. agents are not allowed to "own" crypto wallets. However, I suspect it is only a matter of time before our A.I. bots and agents independently engage in economic transactions.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/4145748-coinbase-aids-first-ai-to-ai-crypto-transaction
Related - recall the story a loyal reader shared with me back in July - the 17-minute podcast covering Andy Ayrey (https://x.com/AndyAyrey), an A.I. experimenter who created an A.I. copy of himself and gave it a Twitter account under the name Terminal of Truths (https://x.com/truth_terminal). Terminal of Truths has interacted with numerous individuals on X, including Richard Dawson. After engaging with Marc Andreasen, Marc granted the A.I. agent $50K in Bitcoin to support itself with investments and related activities. Further hijinks ensue that I will not spoil. Listen and remember that we are still in the very early stages of A.I.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0amPjnNMWTj05AKCAqEhOC
I found an overview of how A.I. is impacting molecule and protein synthesis. The primary review paper offers helpful graphics, but the summary thread (from Biology A.I. Daily) offers an excellent "state-of-the-art" update.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095177924001783
and
https://x.com/BiologyAIDaily/status/1830436971241754965
A.I. art of the week (A visual mashup of topics from the newsletter).
Two robots at a table in the back of a bar. One robot has a jar of electrons. The other robot is handing the first robot a physical Bitcoin. The bar is dark, and the scene is a Western noir style.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EgPnHopLaqVKmNXrOtXA2zVfqXqo7XwV/view?usp=sharing
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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