#PROTEINS CROSS LINK

[i-am-q]

KATIE LUCAS (MAIDEN NAME), I DO NOT CONSENT TO TREATMENT

Dr. Koven of Santa Barbara involuntary inpatient facilities, I do not consent to treatment.

Kelly Soa (Maiden Name), I do not consent to treatment

Zoe Mackay ZACKER, I do not consent to treatment.

Dr. Masa and the staff at Marion Regional Medical Facilities and the greater Santa Barbara/Cruz County areas thank you for respecting my lack of consent to treatment and attempting to keep my brain working (ie. allowing for neurotransmitters to diffuse and bind to their correct receptors at the steady state that my body operates under—whether you think it’s healthy or not).

To the pharmacist at CVS on E Market, thank you for also respecting my current treatment which follows the same treatment I have undergone for the last 10 years minimum and not blocking the medication I am prescribed from working.

To those of you interested in research conducted on my body-Addie Keating otherwise referred to as one of the following names through sophisticated image and video augmentation (ie. “Deep Fakes”):

Kayla Keating, Elly Zaid, Shannon Zaid, Savannah Snyder, Reaghan Ruff, Daria King, Libby Aker, Gabby Dangle, Gabby Rey, Abby Mackay Zacker (ie. Abbie Keating), Zoe Mackay Zacker, Carrie Wagner, Mackenzie McPike (ie Mac/Mackenzie/Kenz/Kenzie Lofgren), Erin McPike, Madison McPike? (Just in case they need someone new), Luciana Rivera Molina, Kayla Williams Pavlantos, Mary Richter, Riley Richter, Madison Richter (or any other cousins that are now POWs to the Lesbian Nazis in my family), Constantine IU, or Edy, EA, your local community college is enrolling for the fall.

Prerequisites to be considered for this study are General Chemistry I and II (no nursing chemistry does not count—you would not be funded by the NIH), Organic Chemistry I and II, Physical Chemistry I and II, Quantum Chemistry/Physics or a Basic Understanding of molecular tunneling, Multivariable Calculus (yes this requires Calculus I and II), Research Ethics, Q-Level security clearance, Genetics, Previous Experience or Funding with the NIH, NSF, etc.

Finally, a verbal agreement that you can in fact refer to me as Ho-O due to a mutual respect for the Born-Oppenheimer approximation prior to learning from the slave tutor, Dr. Addie Keating, PhD while on her road trip “journey”

*Yes the subject does not need the same prerequisites as those “researching” her.

[biology-geology-beaches-india]

The Research Notebooks of Satyendra Sunkavally, page 59.

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Growing Hydrogels in an Active Fluid

Active nematic fluids borrow their ingredients from biology. Using long, rigid microtubules and kinesin motor proteins capable of cross-linking between and "walking" along tubules, researchers create these complex flow patterns. (Video and image credit: G. Pau et al.) Read the full article

[rye-in-a-coat]

MY SPARKLECARE THEORY

The Number.

Y'all remember when the ZCP told us to not call the phone number Rem gives to Bright? You should not, I'm not sure if it's an actual number in real life; but if it happens to be, no one who's on the other side of the line will be happy.

To avoid curious viewers to obliterate someone's phone, what usually is done in media ever since in the 1960's in the U.S. and Canada is to have the phone number's central office code to be 555 as it's almost* guaranteed no civilian person will have such number for personal use or will link to any business. This only applies in the North American Numbering Plan of course.

Why didn't the ZCP use a 555 number then? They actually used one in the same volume, the phone number Lo dials to call the Citycountrytown Casting Agency is 555-2737.

What I get from this is that, if they didn't use a 555 number for the number at the end, it is because the numbers in it themselves carry some kind of information.

Cross on blue and yellow background.

Such symbol has appeared before in Volume 1, where we see a escaped patient having it on a sign, and in Volume 2, where it is held by a protestor. As Eve mentioned once in this ask, such symbol which also appears in the blog, website and other stuff is NOT the hospital's logo. Then of what or who?

An anti-Sparklecare group?

It is clear that this symbol as shown in these examples, represents a statement against Sparklecare. What I supose is that, because Kittycorn doesn't want to reveal any further information of the protestors seen in volume 2, they will be relevant in a future volume or series. If we link these clues together, perhaps this symbol doesn't just represent the movement in general, but a specific organized group against Sparklecare, making it their logo. Then this would make Rem part of it too, and so Rem then becomes a very important piece in the story, because she's the infiltrated secret agent in the hospital. Knowing how heavily implied Doctor Party is to be an ESPer, he surely knows about Rem's undercover identity and about this organized group. Perhaps he's part of it too, if so, then they have another great important character against Cuddles.

A cipher?

Going back to the phone number, if the numbers in it are important and relevant, perhaps a piece of code is ciphered in it. My first thought was A1Z26 cipher, a simple sustitution code in which each letter gets a number assigned, so A is 1, B is 2; and so on.

The first six digits of the phone number, if you read them as 1-14-20-9 and decipher them using A1Z26, you get the word ANTI; which I really doubt this is just a coincidence knowing how it is implied this phone number belongs to an ANTI Sparklecare group.

The other four tho: 2425, are not that obvious. The possible combinations readable in A1Z26 are 2-4-2-5 (BDBE), 2-4-25 (BDY), 24-2-5 (XBE), and 24-25 (XY).

The only idea that comes to my mind is A-N-T-I-B-D-Y which is one letter off from "antibody". An antibody is protein belonging to the inmune system which will find, target and neutralize foreign and so-possibly harming bodies such as harmful bacteria and viruses.

An antibody's job is to protect the human body from what will harm it, and these anthries's hope seems to be to protect the patients from receiving any more harm from such heartless medical industry.

But Imma be honest, the four last digits are quite an stretch to analyze and I'm starting to doubt if the ANTI is a coincidence.

*A footnote.

If you want to use a 555 number in your media, DO NOT put as area codes 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844 or 833 before them. These area codes are reserved for toll-free dial numbers, to which the 555 office code is valid; so you may actually write a real phone number that who knows where that will link to.

[thebibliosphere]

I've seen many posts about how certain foods aren't supposed to be spicy or make your mouth tingle, and if that happens you're allergic. You seem like a person who might be able to give me a hint here: What does it mean if it only makes your mouth tingle sometimes?

Depending on what it is and when it occurs, it could be hypersensitivity or something like Oral Allergy Syndrome.

OAS is when your allergy is actually to something like grass or pollen, and you react to the fruits/vegetables in the same family. It's a cross-reaction that can happen intermittently, usually worsening during allergy season, and sometimes managed by taking antihistamines and making sure everything you eat is cooked to kill any proteins.

There is also something similar known as latex-fruit-syndrome.

I'm allergic to latex, and both bananas and avocados are in the latex family. My body always reacts to latex, but it doesn't always react to bananas and avocados (though I have to avoid them both anyway because of my MCAS). Strawberries are also linked to latex-fruit-syndrome, but I don't seem to react to them the same way. I'm not sure if that's a me thing or not. MCAS complicates things.

That said, even if it only happens sometimes, it's still worth checking with an allergist because even mild reactions can turn into serious ones at any time. You can also develop new allergies at any time throughout your life. Bodies are weird like that.

Hope this helps! And I hope you find an answer.

[darkmaga-returns]

By GreenMedInfo Research Group

A new epidemiological study found that fluoride exposure from drinking water associates with decreased testosterone levels in young and middle-aged men.

Testosterone dropped most sharply in 18-39 year-olds based on fluoride burden. Surprisingly, in older men with higher fluoride exposure, testosterone increased with age instead of declining as expected. This complex relationship hints that fluoride may disrupt multiple hormonal pathways beyond the male reproductive axis.

A novel study reveals fluoride affects serum testosterone in a complex, age-specific manner, adding evidence that environmental toxicants may contribute to declining hormonal function in younger males.

Published in Biological Trace Element Research, the cross-sectional study examined fluoride exposure and two reproductive biomarkers, testosterone and androgen binding protein (ABP), in over 300 Chinese farmers.1 Scientists divided participants into higher and lower fluoride exposure groups based on urinary fluoride levels.

Compared to the lower exposure group, men with elevated fluoride measured significantly lower testosterone overall. This depletion was most pronounced in 18-39 year olds. Paradoxically, among higher-exposed middle aged and older men, testosterone increased slightly with age instead of undergoing the expected age-related decline.

Meanwhile, ABP remained unaffected across groups regardless of fluoride burden and age. As ABP governs testosterone transport and tissue uptake, results indicate fluoride direct

[covid-safer-hotties]

reference saved in our archive

Me, reading a study about viral evolution I can barely follow:

An interesting breakdown of how covid's continued evolution helps it interact with ACE2 receptiors and how this information could potentially be applied as a treatment or prophylaxis.

[kedreeva]

Just some celadon quail talk

This weekend, I ran aground of some kind of deep sea leviathan drama in the quail world. I don't know exactly what went down, but I came across the echoes of it which seem to suggest a lot of breeders have trouble with Celadon quail. So much trouble that they've decided the problem is the gene, not the husbandry.

Which I simply can't believe is true, because I've had celadons for almost 2 years now, and the ONLY problems I have seen in the entire time owning them was a few wonky/soft eggs early on (which I just gave to the crows and culled/ate the birds laying them, then did stress testing on the remaining eggs before hatching any of them), and extra aggression in the tibetan morph (which I just culled and ate the aggressive males).

EVERY problem I read about these birds having in other places directly links back to husbandry (which includes progenitor selection)

wry neck in newly hatched chicks? Poor parent nutrition and/or incubating practices

deformed beaks/legs? Progenitor selection, parent/chick nutrition, incubation practices

soft, deformed, wonky eggs? Nutrition, stress levels, illnesses

Aggression? Progenitor selection

Weak/small offspring? Progenitor selection, poor culling practices

They had an "expert" on who straight admitted he did poorly in biology in school, who couldn't even answer if egg color can be selected for (yes, yes, of COURSE it can, people have been doing that literally for centuries). He'd only been keeping them as long as I have currently been keeping them, and instead of developing a solid, healthy line off the bat, he immediately started crossing the gene all over to his color mutations and then couldn't figure out why his birds were a mess. He admitted to feeding them 16% protein chow when normal coturnix should be on 24%, and celadons at least should be on higher than that. he kept saying he incubates them at 10-35% humidity (a "dry" hatch) and is having all these humidity-related issues; I haven't had any issues, but my incubator sits at like 40% naturally. Why would you not flex your husbandry and see if changes make a difference? Why would you not experiment?

The thing is, I didn't know anyone was having any problems. I had minimal issues that bred out quickly with very minor amounts of selection, so I assumed there were no problems (or rather, the only "problem" i knew of was that since people select for egg color they ignore other aspects of selection like size, so I vowed to pay attention across the board). My eggs have progressively been getting bigger and bluer as I select from one generation to the next. My birds have been getting steadily bigger since I started paying attention to that- they're nearly to the lower range for what is considered a "jumbo" coturnix quail, now. It can't be a problem with the gene itself, if the problems they are seeing aren't ever present in all celadons.

But now i'm like... if I sell hatching eggs, should I be including a care sheet? it seems so straightforward to me. it shouldn't be an issue. why would someone get into breeding an animal if they don't know enough about breeding animals to do selection for traits? why are people like this

[clown-friend-gt]

Up, Up, and Away Chapter 8

What Comes Next

4k words

Link to Masterpost

************************************************************************

Trevor slowly came to, awoken by the feeling of something prodding him in the back. Confusion and irritation flooded his mind. His brows knit together, and his eyes opened just a crack.

“Go away,” he mumbled.

Whatever was poking him jabbed him a little more sharply. He flinched.

“Get up,” a voice commanded.

He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned in frustration. He began peeling himself off of the floor, his skin sticking slightly to the linoleum he laid on. He winced as he felt the crick in his neck from sleeping on it wrong.

His whole body ached. Shakily, he propped himself and got to his knees. He looked at the person who’d just spoken. It was the man who’d processed him the day before. He held out something to Trevor.

Trevor held out his hands and he dropped something in them. He squinted at the small object. It was some generic-brand protein bar. He eyed Morgan suspiciously, but his stomach growled, reminding him that he couldn’t afford to be picky right now.

He tore the packaging open and scarfed it down in only a few bites. Then he crumpled up the wrapper in his fingers. As he did so, he began standing to his full height, narrowly avoiding hitting the ceiling before hunching over again. He looked down at the man, who stared back at him with his thumbs in his pockets.

“…Thanks,” he said, still a little groggy.

He raised an eyebrow. “Will that be enough?”

“Probably not,” Trevor admitted.

He sighed, looking between him and the officer standing in the empty doorframe. Trevor cringed, remembering what he’d done the night before.

“If I leave you here, will you try and escape again?” Morgan asked, his tone suspicious.

Trevor shook his head. “No,” he answered wearily.

“…Wait here,” Morgan told him. As he crossed the threshold, he turned back and gestured that he was watching him.

Trevor stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. His shirt felt too tight. He pulled at his collar to try and relieve the feeling. All of his clothes felt smaller today, although he knew they hadn’t changed sizes. He had.

He shifted around, trying to get comfortable, but his clothes were just too tight. He had a few more larger sets of clothing from the institute at his apartment, but he doubted he’d be going home any time soon. Maybe he could get someone to bring them to him eventually, but for now, he’d just have to suffer.

Morgan came back a few minutes later. He brought the whole box of protein bars with him. Trevor took the box from him, eyeing it cautiously.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“Sure. Have as many as you like. We can always get more.”

Trevor sat up against the wall and dug in. Morgan continued talking as he ate.

“You’re going to be meeting with a case worker today about what comes next.”

Trevor chewed slowly while he considered his words, then swallowed.

“What does that mean?”

“The case worker will talk with you and run analysis on your threat potentiality. That’ll help us determine what your punishment will be.”

Trevor frowned. “Don’t I go to trial or something first?”

Morgan shook his head. “Things work differently for supers. The Institute has total jurisdiction over crimes involving the use of superpowers. Based on what they view your potential as a threat to be, your punishment will vary from there. Whether we let you off with a warning or if you end up with jail time all depends on what this case worker thinks of you. So be on your best behavior.”

With that final warning, he left Trevor alone in the room with his meager breakfast.

************************************************************************

Maybe half an hour later, they led him away to another room. This one looked like one of those interrogation rooms he’d seen on tv, only a bit bigger. But it still had a lot of the mainstays: the table in the middle of the room, the mirror on one wall, the low lighting.

Trevor wanted to avoid the mirror. He really didn’t want to look at himself right now. Besides, it was probably one of those mirrors that could be viewed like a window from one side. So he headed for the far end of the room, dodging the hanging light as he did so.

He leaned against the wall, wishing he could just melt into it. He wanted to be anywhere else but here right now. He was tired and sore. His clothes were uncomfortably tight. He’d had a whole box of protein bars but was still starving. And worst of all, he couldn’t get the events of yesterday out of his head.

He was getting sick of the way people looked at him now. Like he was a freak, a monster, a ticking time bomb. The way his own mother looked at him with fear in her eyes broke his heart.

His eyes drifted to the mirror. Looking at himself, it was hard for him to say those people were wrong. He was hunched over like some kind of creep. His eyes were tired and bloodshot. The longer he stared at himself, the angrier he got, until eventually he was fully glaring at the mirror. His hands balled into fists.

He had to distract himself. He looked away from the mirror for a bit, but there was nothing else for him to look at. Instead, he started pacing the length of the room. He crossed it in a few long strides, then turned around and walked the other way, over and over again.

Eventually he slowed, noticing his surroundings. The hanging light jostled in place with each step he took. There was a jug of water and a few glasses on the table. They rattled dangerously as he paced.

Great. Now I can’t even walk around without shaking the whole room, he thought bitterly. With a heavy sigh, he headed back to one end of the room and slumped against the wall again.

************************************************************************

Miranda Todd had been overseeing cases at the Lively Institute’s Juvenile Corrections Center for many years now. But despite that fact, she still never knew how to feel when she took on a new case. Sure, she liked helping people, she’d devoted her life to it. But the thing that bothered her was that any time she met someone new in this line of work, it was usually after the worst days of their life.

She rifled through the new case file one more time as she headed inside the building. The nature of her job made it so she usually had very little time between receiving a new case and meeting with the client in question. She knew that a quick judgement was important for everyone involved. It didn’t make her job any easier.

She flipped past the identifying information on the first page to the next, which detailed her client’s abilities. In most cases, detainees wore suppressor cuffs that prevented them from using their powers. But in case of emergencies, she liked to be prepared.

“Ability Class: Alteration

Primary Ability: Enhanced Size

Adaptation(s): Enhanced Strength and Durability

Potentiality: Undetermined”

That last bit would be partially up to her to determine. In addition to things like raw power and level of control, a super’s psychological profile also factored into their Potentiality rating. Some people, even in her own department, viewed this rating as a judgement of the threat a super posed to the public. She liked to think of it purely in terms of what they were capable of.

She glanced up as she passed the holding cell, to see if her client was there. She didn’t see anyone inside, but there was a handyman fixing the door. He nodded at her when they made eye contact.

She walked past that down the hall to the two rooms she’d be spending most of her time in today. There was the interrogation room, where her client likely was, with an observation room connected to it. She didn’t like doing her work in this sort of environment because she felt it made her clients more hostile towards her. But she also knew it was all this facility had to offer in terms of places to meet one-on-one.

She finished reading through the file one last time before heading into the observation room. A few people milled about the room, but she went straight over to the head of corrections, Ray Morgan. He was leaning over a desk by the one-way mirror, looking through it at her client.

“Ray,” she greeted him politely.

He glanced in her direction, nodding once. “Miss Todd.”

She stood next to him, looking through the pane of glass. “This is him? Trevor Castillo?”

“Yup. We caught the big one.”

She shot him a look. “That’s not funny.”

He shrugged. “But it’s true.”

She opened her folder, taking a look at the mugshot printed on the front page, then back up at Trevor through the window. The height chart in the picture showed him as a little short of seven feet, but clearly that was incorrect. His knees were bent and his shoulders were hunched, just to keep his head from touching the ceiling.

He stood in the far corner of the room. There wasn’t much light in the interrogation chamber, which she disliked. She’d voiced her opinion about it before, but the room stayed as dim as ever. It kept her from really being able to see his face from this angle.

Then he stepped forward, lowering himself to look into the mirror. She saw his gaze shift into a glare, and his cuffed hands ball into fists. Despite herself, she took a step away from the glass.

“He can’t see us, can he?” she asked Ray.

“No, but he probably suspects we’re here. Or maybe his reflection was looking at him funny,” he chuckled.

Behind his back, she rolled her eyes.

“We’re going to have Officer Randall accompany you in the room today,” he said, turning to her.

She frowned. “I prefer to talk with my clients one-on-one.”

“I understand that Miss Todd,” he said, his tone condescending. “But this is a special case. He’s already made one escape attempt so far—”

“—Wait, what?” she interrupted him. “There’s nothing about that in the report I was given.”

Ray gave her an impatient look. “It happened pretty late last night. He broke down the door to the holding cell. Didn’t you see it on your way in?”

“…That’s why they’re replacing that door today?”

He nodded. “We’re lucky we got a replacement so quickly. Anyways, the point is, we want someone in there with you, in case he tries something.”

A rattling noise diverted both of their attentions. They looked at the pane of glass next to them. It was shaking rhythmically in its frame. Looking through it, Miranda spotted the cause: Trevor was pacing in the other room, and every step shook the ground he walked on ever so slightly.

It made her shudder, though she tried to hide it.

She looked to Officer Randall, who stood in another part of the room. He nodded at her, eyes darting between her and the window.

“Fine,” she relented. “Just stay quiet while I’m working, okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Ray said. “He knows how to mind his manners, don’t you Randall?”

Miranda didn’t wait a response. She just turned and left the room. She went to the adjacent door and placed her hand on the handle, gripping it tightly. Officer Randall stepped out a moment later, giving her a nervous look.

You’ve got this, Miranda, she told herself, taking a deep breath. Then she knocked on the door and poked her head inside.

Trevor looked up at her, slumped up against the opposite wall.

“You must be Trevor,” she said as she opened the door. He nodded, and she smiled at him as she stepped into the room.

“My name is Miranda. I’m your caseworker today.”

She walked to the table in the middle of the room, pulling out the chair on her side. Officer Randall followed her in, closing the door behind him and standing in front of it.

Miranda gestured to the chair opposite her. “Please, sit down.”

Trevor pushed himself off of the wall and took a few steps towards the table. Like before, each step sent small vibrations through the floor, shaking the room around them. The water in the jug on the table trembled, like something out of a movie.

From the other end of the table, he loomed over her. It gave her an uncomfortable feeling, like his mere presence was enough to invade her space. She tried to ignore it, but something about the way he looked down at her nearly sent shivers down her spine.

Suddenly, he grabbed the back of the chair and yanked it away from the table, tossing it across the room. It fell to the floor with a clatter, and she simply stared at it, eyes wide. He muttered something under his breath and sat down on the floor in front of the table.

Her heartbeat picked up ever so slightly. Nevertheless, she had a job to do. She slowly sat down in the remaining chair and scooched it up to the table. She placed her file on the table and grabbed the jug of water and a glass. Hopefully, the act of pouring the water would disguise her shaking hands.

She finished pouring her own glass of water and then grabbed the other glass. “Water?” she asked Trevor.

He shrugged, which she took as a sign to go ahead. She carefully filled the second glass and slid it over to him. He reached out to bring it closer to himself, and she instinctively snatched her hand back. She saw him shut his eyes and sigh in annoyance.

Get ahold of yourself, she scolded herself silently.

She cleared her throat to get his attention before speaking again.

“So, like I said before, I’m the social worker assigned to your case. We’re going to have a little discussion about your life, so I can get to know you a little better. Sound good?”

“Sure,” he said with another shrug.

She nodded and turned her attention to the folder. She flipped it open to a page where she could take notes while they talked. She took a pen from her pocket, clicking it once.

“About how long have you had your powers?” she asked first.

Trevor looked away for a moment, thinking.

“Two, maybe three months,” he answered.

She scribbled that down in her notes. “What were some of the first changes you noticed?”

He looked down at himself, then back at her. “Um…I got taller?”

“Right, of course,” she nodded. “What I mean is, were there any side effects?”

“Well, I mean—” he hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

“…It hurt. A lot. I get these growth spurts from hell every few days and it just…hurts.”

She nodded, writing as he spoke.

“I didn’t even notice I’d grown for the first few days,” he said with a slight chuckle, though it held no humor. “I just noticed the pain.”

She looked up from her notes, brows knitting into a look of concern.

“That must be hard,” she said, trying to convey her sympathy.

He looked away. “Yeah.”

She looked over her notes again, then back at him. “So would you say your powers have had a negative impact on your life?”

“Yes,” he said, almost laughing. “Almost entirely.”

She nodded. “Tell me a little about that.”

“It’s, well—people are always just…staring at me. Ever since this all started. At first it was just, like, weird looks, because I was changing so quickly. But now they stare like they’re waiting for me to do something wrong.”

He glanced away from her, looking at Officer Randall behind her. She couldn’t see him, but she could guess from Trevor’s expression that he still had that same nervous look on his face.

“Yeah. And I’m always so hungry, anymore,” he continued. “It’s like nothing I eat is ever enough.”

As if to punctuate his statement, his stomach rumbled at that exact moment. He looked away in embarrassment, resting his hand on his stomach.

“I just—I hate always having to ask for more. Of everything, really. It makes me feel…I don’t know. Like I’m too much.”

He began rubbing his forehead. “And my mom, she works so hard. I hate putting any more strain on her than I have to, but she says I’m too young to get a job, and—and now look at me,” he said, gesturing down to himself.

“How am I supposed to—” he cut himself off with a long sigh. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to be a burden, but it feels like that’s all I am to her now.”

“It sounds like you care about her a lot,” Miranda said, sensing a chance to pivot topics.

“Of course,” he said. “I’m her son.”

“Does that have anything to do with what happened yesterday?”

His shoulders slumped. He stared at the ground for a moment, then cast his gaze back up to her.

“Do you mean what happened with the door, or what I did to Robbie?”

She pressed her lips into a thin line. “Let’s start with Robbie. How did you two know each other?”

Trevor blew out a long breath before speaking.

“…We used to be friends,” he said eventually. “A long time ago.”

She tilted her head slightly. “And when did that change?”

“Around middle school. I guess he just decided he was too good to be my friend anymore. But he couldn’t just leave me alone, so he started…messing with me.”

“Messing with you?”

“Like—just,” Trevor floundered for a bit. “I don’t know.”

Miranda tapped her pen, frowning. She assumed he meant that Robbie was some kind of bully to him at some point, but he seemed reluctant to say more. Still, to get some clarification, she asked:

“Was it physical in nature?”

“…Mostly,” Trevor said, with a small nod. “Up until a month or so ago, that is. Then he changed—or I guess, I did. So he started insulting me instead, every chance he got.

“It got to a point where I just couldn’t handle it anymore, I guess. And then—well, you probably already know the rest.”

“Yes, but I want to hear your side of the story,” she said.

Trevor was silent for a minute. Miranda set her pen down.

“I get it, it’s tough. Do you want to take a quick break before we get into it?”

Trevor nodded, his eyes aimed at the ground. He reached for his glass of water, grasping it in his fingers. It looked tiny in his hand. He raised it towards his mouth, but about halfway there, it slipped from his fingers. It fell to the floor with a crash.

“Shit,” he grumbled, wiping a few glass shards from his leg.

“Careful—” Miranda started to warn him, but he cut her off with a hiss, holding his hand up to his face.

She frowned, then turned to Officer Randall so she could send him away for a moment.

“Can you get a broom?” she asked. He nodded.

“Don’t try anything while I’m gone,” he warned Trevor, before hurrying out of the room.

Miranda watched Trevor struggle for a moment to reach the piece of glass in one hand with the other. His cuffs seemed to be giving him trouble.

“Here, let me?” she offered, holding out a hand. He eyed her cautiously, but she simply waved him forward. He slowly brought his hands closer to her, watching her like he was afraid she’d spook. She did her best to appear calm, for his sake.

She gingerly took one of his hands in two of her own and began to examine it. Once she’d spotted the piece of glass, she carefully plucked it out with her thin fingers. Then she held it up for him to see. Curiously, there was no blood on the glass.

“Huh, looks like it didn’t cut too deeply,” she said.

“Guess I’ve just got thick skin,” he shrugged. She laughed, and he cracked a slight smile at his own joke.

Officer Randall returned with a broom, and Trevor’s face quickly fell. He stood up and moved to the side, allowing Randall to sweep the glass up off the floor. After a minute or so, he finished sweeping and went to stand by the door again. Trevor carefully sat down again.

“So, you were telling me about the day of the incident?” Miranda prompted him again.

“Right,” he sighed. “I was already having a rough time that day. I’d had a bad growth spurt the night before and I was still sore. Plus, people were staring even more than usual, because I’d grown too tall to really fit in the hallways anymore.

“Robbie approached me when I was at my locker and just immediately started saying stuff to try and piss me off. I wanted to ignore him, but he just wouldn’t stop. Then he said something awful about my mom and I—I just…saw red and—and I hit him.

“I—I really didn’t mean to hit him that hard I just—” he hid his face in his hands and sighed, before sliding his hands off of his face to his lap. “I just couldn’t control myself.”

Miranda nodded along as he spoke. He was silent for a few moments, apparently finished speaking. She took a few final notes, then clicked her pen and set it down.

“I think we can stop there for today,” she said.

Trevor nodded, starting to look a little tired. She noticed his eyes starting to well up but said nothing. Instead, she offered him another smile.

“Keep your chin up, Trevor. This’ll pass,” she told him, before getting up, gathering her things, and leaving the room.

Officer Randall lingered in the room a moment longer before following her out. She entered the room next door, waving Ray into the hallway so they could talk.

Ray pushed himself away from the desk he’d still been leaning over her and joined her in the hall.

“Give us a little privacy?” he said, addressing Officer Randall. Randall looked between them, before nodding and walking down the hall, leaving them alone.

“I think I have enough information to make a call,” she said.

“Me too,” Ray nodded.

“You first.”

“Well, I think it’s too dangerous to let him leave here.”

She frowned. “But he shows clear signs of remorse.”

“You know the rules, he’s already messed up. It’s not about how sorry he is after the fact, it’s about how much of a threat he poses now.”

Miranda shut her eyes, trying to stay calm. She hated how the system worked for supers. It wasn’t fair that their freedom depended more on how dangerous they could be, rather than their motivations for doing the things they did. But she didn’t have the power to change it, so she did her best to save as many people from being wrongfully imprisoned as she could.

“I think now that he’s realized how…careful he needs to be around others, he’ll be able to show more caution in the future,” she said slowly, doing her best to keep her tone even.

Ray crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You heard him in there. What happens if he loses control again? Will you just let him hurt someone else?”

Miranda’s frown deepened. She didn’t have an immediate argument for that. Before she could try, though, he kept speaking.

“Think of it this way. If he goes into Corrective Custody, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with him twice a month. Turn him into one of your little pet projects. Maybe even get him to join the FHTP.”

She considered that. It wasn’t a bad option. It’d give her the opportunity to give Trevor a little more guidance, which he seemed to be in need of. Maybe this was the best way for her to help him now.

She sighed, ready to admit defeat. “Fine. Fine, go ahead. Just—”

He raised an eyebrow. “Just what?”

She shook her head. “Just—nothing.”

Then she turned and left. She had some planning to do.

First/Last/Next

[justkidneying]

Albinism

Albinism is a disease that causes a defect in the normal synthesis or transport of melanin. There are a couple different types, but the main distinction is the difference between oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) and ocular albinism.

Oculocutaneous Albinism

OCA is caused by an autosomal recessive mutation. There are seven different mutations that can cause albinism, though OCA1 to 4 are the common ones (with OCA2 being the most common). All of these different mutations affect the melanin pathway (the chemical reaction steps to turn phenylalanine into melanin).

OCA1 is caused by a mutation in the tyrosinase gene, which causes a lack of an enzyme in the melanin production pathway. There are actually two types of OCA1, with one having no tyrosinase, and the other having reduced tyrosinase. OCA1 is the most extreme form of albinism, which gives a person very pale skin, white hair, and light eyes.

The OCA2 gene (located on chromosome 15) encodes for the P protein, which is a transporter of a melanin precursor. This gene also has a large role in the color of iris a person will have. Those with OCA2 will have light skin, lighter brown or blond hair, and light colored eyes.

So basically, someone with a defect in either one of the transporters or enzymes of the pathway will not be able to have their melanocytes produce normal melanin. This leads to pale skin, white hair, and light-colored eyes (but it is a spectrum depending on the exact type).

Ocular Albinism

Ocular albinism is an X-linked mutation (a portion of the X chromosome is mutated). This means it affects males more than females. It causes loss of pigmentation in the iris. OA1 is the most common, and is associated with uncontrolled eye movements. OA2 is associated with color and night blindness. There is also a third type that is associated with deafness, but sometimes that also happens with OA1.

A fun fact: there is a type of albinism that only affects non-human animals called leucism. This leads to a partial loss of pigmentation that affects the hair, scales, feathers, and skin of the animal, but not the eyes. You can see this in white lions that have normally-colored eyes and noses.

Albinism and Eyesight

Now onto the role melanin plays in eye function. Albino people have poor eyesight as a result of their melanin deficiencies. But why? We're going to have to go into some eye stuff to answer this question.

So your retina has two parts: temporal and nasal (two halves, one closer to your temple and one closer to your nose). The input from each half is processed with the opposite half from the other eye. I have another post that explains this better. So, the optic nerves meet at the optic chiasm, with some fibers staying on the same side, and other fibers crossing over. Mammals with forward-facing eyes have larger temporal retina than mammals with lateral-facing eyes (like a guinea pig). About half of the optic fibers also remain uncrossed at the chiasm because of this.

Most people with albinism have almost all of their fibers cross at the chiasm, which is essentially a misrouting of very important sensory information. The eye structure is also changed with albinism, as most albino people have poorly formed fovea (the depression in the center of the retina where vision is the sharpest). They also have more blood supply than normal to the foveal area (it is supposed to be avascular). The retinal macula is usually poorly developed and there is a reduction in cone density (what allows you to see color).

Stereovision is also impaired, which is the ability to discern three-dimensional information about objects using the difference between the inputs from each eye. Those with albinism are also more likely to have nystagmus (involuntary eye movement) and strabismus (crossed eyes).

Albinism and Hearing

Now, onto the ear. The eye and ear are very intimately connected. The ear lets the eye know where to look for threats. This means that the visual and auditory spaces within the brain interact. Fun fact: when blind people are asked to localize sounds, the visual cortex is more engaged than the auditory cortex. Albino animals have fewer binaural cells, and more difficulty visually locating the source of sounds. A lot of the stuff related to this goes beyond the scope of what I want to explain here, but just understand that melanin is important for the development of both the auditory and visual systems of the brain.

Albinism and Immune Function

Finally, I want to discuss the immune system. Melanocytes are important cells for immune function, and release a lot of immune-promoting factors. For some reason, a lot of people think of those with albinism as having weak immune systems or being sickly. If you'll notice what I said earlier about the cause of albinism, it is a lack of transporters or enzymes in the melanin pathway. Not the lack of melanocytes. People with albinism still have these cells, it is only their ability to produce melanin that is impaired.

However, there are immune conditions that affect melanocytes, such as Chediak-Higashi syndrome. This is an autosomal recessive disorder that affects lysosomal trafficking proteins, and causes lysosomal function to be impaired. People with this disease will have frequent infections, platelet function impairment, as well as albinism. This means that albinism does not cause immune deficiency, but is a symptom of conditions that also affect the immune system.

[solarpunkbusiness]

Per the University of California, Berkeley, a mussel's foot secretes thin, hair-like strands of liquid proteins, called byssal threads. These byssal threads anchor the animal to the surface of its choosing.

These creatures make a mixture of proteins, which have a unique chemical group called catechol. "It introduces a type of cross-linking chemistry that you don't get with normal proteins," Wilker continued. "We took some compounds that have some of the chemistry we see in the sea creatures, and we added that to the system."

The researchers also took the petroleum-based epoxy compound and substituted in epoxidized soy oil, as soy oil is "one of the most widely produced sustainable organic materials," according to Wilker.

Though Wilker was careful not to make promises, he relayed that this innovative glue system has an fairly low environnmental footprint.

[almoststedytimetravel]

Please oh please may I hear a scrap more of your thoughts on the Arena designs?

Well I mean if you insist...

First Ken and Koromaru. Koromaru design is peak and not just because he's a dog. Koro is wearing Ken's old hoddie which is peak but also does a little bit of story telling via design since it had to be Ken who adjusted the old hoddie and sewed on the wings, telling us that in between Persona 3 and Arena Ken has developed some sewing skills (and has likely worked on more practical skills because he doesn't have anyone who can do it for him).

Now Ken himself... His design is just the Gekkokan uniform with the student council arm band and evoker+holster. Which is boring, Ken's design is boring however, if I am to play devils advocate for a moment, I can kinda get what they were going for. Ken is doing his best to act like a normal middle schooler who has never experienced the horrors, meaning the lack of customisation in his uniform is reflective of his trying in fit in. Now, everyone has seen this design.

This is one of Ken's concept designs and while this graphic only points out the Shinjiro Peacoat and the Akihiko Sweater Vest, you may also note that Ken has a pocket watch around his neck (a reference to the pocket watch from Shinjiro's portable link). While the way his collar is open is the same way Junpei's was in P3. his jacket is also undone which is a trait shared by both Makoto and Junpei (since neither Akihiko nor Shinjiro wear the school jacket in the fist place). This design also has Ken wearing gloves like Akihiko. This concept design is peak but if I has to guess why they didn't go with it, that's likely because the large coat would make Ken's animations really hard to read, specifically, it'd be really easy to lose track of Koromaru since Koro would blend in with the coat that would also cover the screen. Ken and Koro are already one of the best fighters in Arena they don't need to be made even more difficult to fight.

Now then Akihiko Sanada, he needs to be put down. That's the only adequate way I have to describe him. First of all, why does he have a knife? Second, Why is his evoker on the right side of his body in his offical art but on the left in his actual battle sprite? Third, and this one isn't character design related but, WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE HASN'T CALLED KEN IN ALMOST A YEAR?! I can get over his yapping about body building like, god forbid men have hobbies, (half of the examples people get mad at isn't even Aki talking, it's the illusion the "Protein, protein, and more protein" line is just Naoto hearing things). But, why does he look like that?! you're telling me that mr Dorky sweater vest wearer who halls around his blazer instead of wearing it is going to start dressing like this?!

Oh and he is also supposed to be 65kg. If you want my 2 cents on how I would redesign Akihiko, personally I would put him in his epilogue clothes but with his blazer over his shoulders (and made a little longer to be both reminiscent of a cape and of Shinjiro's coat, heck maybe even make it Shinji's coat).

Yukari, Junpei, and Fuuka all look great but I don't have much to say about them, since there is nothing egregious about them. Like I said, Junpei's cross necklace is a gift from Chidori and it's a really cute reference. Junpei and Yukari are both in their "work clothes" since they both came straight from their jobs, while Fuuka is in more casual clothes, because she was with Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis.

Mitsuru... She's in a skin tight battle suit with a fur coat. She's in high heals, her rapier's blade is blood red, if anyone else was dressed like that they's look so fucking ridiculous but Mitsuru pulls it off. She's serving cunt and I respect it.

Aigis switching her ribbon for a tie is kinda funny but I didn't even notice it in my play through of Arena and only noticed it when I was watching a playthrough of Q2 and the Robot who was modeled after Aigis was called Ribbon and I went "Wait a minute" and booted up Arena to check, only then did I notice the tie

[agro-carnist]

ok. References: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/23/5115

https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/vegan-diet-better-environment-mediterranean-diet

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/20/vegan-diet-cuts-environmental-damage-climate-heating-emissions-study

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/shopping-guide/vegan-meat-alterantive-food-brands

Including books like Sustainable Living and 100 Ways to Live Sustainably.

My response under a read more since it got long

First link:

This study is not necessarily advocating for vegan or vegetarian diets, and it mentions that in the introduction. It mentions instead its evaluation of overconsumption of animal products and underconsumption of various plant sources.

The study also mentions that vegans and vegetarians tend to consume more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and in more variety, as well as fewer refined cereals, added fats and sweets, and non-water beverages. This is known as the healthy user bias. The study even mentions that "the differences in terms of health outcomes ... cannot be directly linked only to the different consumption of protein sources." Even their own analysis of various studies find that most results aren't statistically significant, and those that do have significant statistical correlation include flexitarians, pescetarians, and lacto-ovo vegetarians and exclude vegans.

Second link

This article references two different studies, "Environmental Impact of Two Plant-Based, Isocaloric and Isoproteic Diets: The Vegan Diet vs. the Mediterranean Diet" and "A Mediterranean Diet and Low-Fat Vegan Diet to Improve Body Weight and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Randomized, Cross-over Trial."

For the first, this goes into one of my main complaints about dietary sustainability analysis in that the calculations are all hypothetical. It does not study if an individual's personal food choices make an impact on foods being produced. I am not arguing that livestock do not have a significant environmental impact or that agriculture does not damage the Earth. They clearly do. But I'm not a libertarian that thinks the free market will solve the ingrained issues with how food is produced.

My other issue with studies like this is that it groups all livestock together and all crops together. Cattle, chickens, fish, shellfish, goats, etc. all have a very different environmental impact. Almonds, wheat, apples, avocados, beans, rice etc. also all have very different environmental impacts. Painting agriculture with broad brushes like this is, in my opinion, not very helpful. I'm also not interested in pointing out the harmful impact of one side of agriculture while completely supporting the other side and acting like we can ignore that. I am more interested in food raised using sustainable techniques vs. industrially grown food rather than pitting animals and plants against each other as a whole. I am anti-capitalist and I do not make my food and animal activism to still be playing into capitalism. I also dislike pretending that crops and livestock are mutually exclusive industries that do not fundamentally play into each other.

As for the second study, I find this one far more interesting but I do have a few things to point out. The study does not mention what the lifestyles of the participants were before the study began, only that they were overweight. It seems to be operating under the assumption that thinner automatically means healthier, which isn't necessarily the case. But are participants normally eating tons of junk food with little fresh fruits and vegetables and then switching to more balanced diets prepared at home? Considering participants are also specifically asked to avoid sweetened drinks, processed meats and snacks, and cream and to limit cured ham and fatty cheeses, there are almost definitely other factors at play than simply meat vs plants. Second, participants attended classes taught by dieticians and physicians. Of course people would be healthier following instructions by people formally educated in health. Third, it is noted that several participants out of 52 change medications during the study, which can impact results.

Third link

See my points from link 2.

Fourth link

I like the recommendations made for vegan companies here. They suggest making some foods at home and avoiding companies that use palm oil or soy from South America as well as brands like Nestle that are famously known for damaging environments all over the world and harming people especially in poor countries. I will add though that this is harder than it looks due to brands having parents companies and Nestle owns lots and lots of companies. Which also plays into my point that personal choice is so insignificant when up against monsters like Nestle that own so much power.

In short, studies like these can provide some helpful data but they do also miss many important pieces because sustainability and nutrition are such complex topics that do not come with easy answers. I also take all studies with a grain of salt because they are all going to still work under the assumption of a capitalist world. My perspective is anti-capitalist and about an uprooting of our relationship to food and agriculture. Under a capitalist system the best we can do is harm reduction and based on trends of the food market I do not see that vegan diets make a material difference. Rather I promote choices that uplift community food, pressure changes to industry norms including legislative pressure, and socialist activism that benefits people and in turn the animals we live next to. Overproduction and overconsumption are real issues.

I'd like to offer my own studies and references but looking through these has used up all my spoons. My recommendations on books though are Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Cows Save The Planet by Judith D. Schwartz.

[owlservice]

Hemophilia (literally “love of blood”) involves a failure of the blood to clot within a normal time. The defect is caused by a missing protein in the plasma, the liquid part of the blood, which is necessary for clot formation. Normal blood may take 5 to 15 min to clot, but in persons with hemophilia (hemophiliacs) the process may take hours or even days. The danger for a person with hemophilia is that even a small wound or bruise may lead to severe and uncontrolled internal bleeding and death. Without clot formation, the blood flows freely from a wound until the circulatory system collapses—the afflicted person hemorrhages to death. Blood clotting is a complex affair involving a cascade of protein-protein interactions that converts a soluble protein of blood plasma, fibrinogen, into insoluble protein fibers of fibrin. The clotting cascade is like the Mother Goose rhyme “This is the house that Jack built”: This is the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built. In the clotting cascade: This is the break in the skin, so factor VIII can begin, converting prothrombin to thrombin; when thrombin converts fibrinogen to fibrin, the cross-linked result produces clottin'.

Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World by Irwin W. Sherman

[firewalker]

Tanto per non farci mancare niente, ora ci mettiamo pure le malattie autoimmuni letali. Prima di tutto però voglio dire che è una condizione rara, quindi non andate subito in panico. Detto questo, spieghiamo - per come l'ho capita io - che cacchio hanno trovato. La prendo larga.

Esistono diversi meccanismi di difesa contro i patogeni, il più famoso è il sistema immunitario. Esiste anche un sistema di difesa sviluppato dalle singole cellule e quasi esclusivo della lotta contro i virus: l'interferone. Senza entrare nei dettagli dei vari tipi di interferone e di come agisca, il punto saliente è che viene stimolato dalla presenza di un doppio filamento di RNA nel citoplasma. Non è normale avere un doppio filamento di RNA nel citoplasma, generalmente è un filamento singolo che viene riconosciuto dai ribosomi e viene degradato subito dopo aver fatto da modello per la traduzione delle proteine. Molti virus - tra cui SARS-CoV-2 - nel loro ciclo vitale hanno un momento in cui producono un RNA a doppio filamento, e questo fa da trigger per la sintesi di interferone.

Come lo fa? Nella cellula esiste una famiglia di molecole chiamata RLRs che lega l'RNA estraneo (doppio filamento o singolo con alcune caratteristiche precise). Il legame di queste molecole con l'RNA estraneo scatena una cascata di segnale (una serie di reazioni chimiche) che porta alla sintesi di interferone.

Una delle RLRs è la MDA5, che è la protagonista della nostra storia. Esiste infatti una malattia rara, chiamata dermatomiosite, che è una malattia autoimmune in cui gli anticorpi del corpo se la prendono contro la MDA5. Il risultato è una malattia che può manifestarsi in diversi distretti corporei: spesso è cutanea, ma a volte può portare disturbi anche più fastidiosi come fatica e spossatezza ma senza danneggiamento dei muscoli: ecco perché si chiama anche dermatomiosite amiopatica.

Ecco, il punto è che si è scoperto che l'infezione da SARS-CoV-2 può portare, in rari casi, allo sviluppo di una malattia analoga alla dermatomiosite, ma che colpisce i polmoni e risulta essere quindi spesso fatale. L'hanno chiamata MIP-C: MDA5-autoimmunity and Interstitial Pneumonitis Contemporaneous with COVID-19 ovvero: una malattia autoimmune contro MDA5, la dermatomiosite di prima, localizzata nei polmoni e causata dalla CoViD-19.

SARS-CoV-2 stimola, con il suo RNA, MDA5, ma per qualche motivo stimola anche la creazione di anticorpi contro quella molecola. Non è una cosa nuova in generale, si chiama cross-reazione, e a volte succede di vedere che un patogeno stimola una risposta immunitaria contro di sé ma anche contro molecole simili ai suoi bersagli molecolari ma del tutto innocue, anzi utili all'organismo. È una delle cause dell'artrite reumatoide.

Perché? Nelle discussioni dell'articolo (qui il pdf) si fa riferimento al fatto che nei linfonodi l'attivazione di MDA5 può portare anche all'attivazione di alcuni tipi di linfociti, e questo può portare a reazioni autoimmuni. Dato che questi ricercatori hanno dimostrato che questa cosa è causata dall'RNA del virus, non possono escludere che sia anche un possibile - e finora sconosciuto - effetto collaterale anche dei vaccini.

Our finding incriminate MDA5 protein activation, whether linked to natural infection, or vaccination or potentially both as a trigger for MIP-C and that MDA5-mediated sensing (and mounting of an immunophenotype that is comprised of type 1 interferonopathy and antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses; elaborated below) is a distinct trigger in MIP-C.

Staremo a vedere come si evolve la situazione. Al momento, non ci sono allarmi riguardanti la MIP-C legati alle vaccinazioni, anche perché - a logica - direi che è molto più facile trovare il virus nei linfonodi piuttosto che il vaccino inoculato per via intramuscolare.

Rimaniamo con le antenne dritte.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Soluble IL-2R impairs muscle cell mitochondrial respiration in fatigued individuals with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. - Preprint Posted Aug 20, 2024

Abstract

Post-acute sequelae of COVID (PASC) persist in many patients for weeks and months after recovery from initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recent evidence suggests that pathological changes in skeletal muscle may contribute significantly to ongoing pain and fatigue, particularly post-exertional malaise. This study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of PASC-related fatigue by examining skeletal muscle function and circulating factors in affected individuals. We conducted a cross-sectional case-control study of patients with fatigue-associated PASC who had experienced mild to moderate COVID-19 without hospitalization. Skeletal muscle biopsies revealed reduced mitochondrial respiration and content in PASC participants compared to healthy controls. This lower respiratory capacity was accompanied by markedly elevated circulating levels of soluble IL-2 receptor alpha subunit (sIL2R), a T cell-specific receptor. In vitro experiments demonstrated that sIL2R directly impairs mitochondrial oxygen consumption and reduces mitochondrial complex III subunit protein levels in cultured muscle cells. These findings suggest a mechanism linking systemic immune dysregulation to muscle-specific mitochondrial dysfunction in PASC. This work provides new insights into the pathophysiology of PASC identifying sIL2R as a promising therapeutic target for addressing mitochondrial deficits in PASC-related fatigue and opening avenues for developing targeted interventions.