#applications in medicine

[flippetyfloppity]

In the wake of all the fun of how the augmentation reveal changes the previous five seasons, I’ve become convinced that “frontier medicine” is just the kind of thoughtless, self-important bullshit Julian Bashir’s Starfleetsona would say rather than a thing he actually believed or set himself up to practice. I know the Doyalist explanation for the way Bashir comes across so differently post-LMH reportedly involves a combo of Siddig’s disdain for the plot twist and just messy seesaw writing for his character (among others), but Watson’s thoughts would lead us back to how, up until now, the carefree arrogant naïveté is part of a longer con, that well-crafted, bright-eyed misdirect.

Because the on-the-ground reality of serving on DS9 is hardly frontier, lmao. That is a fully stocked infirmary. He’s got a whole surgical suite with everything he could possibly need, including keeping bodies in stasis and complex cosmetic surgery to transform people into Klingons. There’s not even any indication Starfleet Medical is going to go do rehabilitative care planetside for the Bajorans. As far as you can tell from the first season, Bashir’s job is mostly to stay on the station. Nobody would say it’s cushy, but it’s also hardly “frontier,” and he would know the specs and responsibilities before going.

The truth of the matter is something about Palis, something about the position her father secured for him, spooked him enough to run. And once we meet Lense, we see there’s no fucking reason the salutatorian of Starfleet Medical would not have been snatched up by any number of prestigious postings, except that Bashir a) wants to be as far away from Earth and his family and Palis’ family as possible, and b) needs to fly under the radar for the rest of his career. What better cover than essentially jury-rigging his own version of the intergalactic Peace Corps? I can picture Julian putting in for the position at Deep Space Nine and dropping the vapid, sanctimonious “frontier medicine” justification to anyone who’d listen. It’s a bonus the phrase yields a hard yikes from anybody in hearing range; the more instantly off-putting it is, the less people are going to take a second look at his motivations. All the better to cover up how he’s scrabbling frantically to get the fuck out of dodge ASAP.

[maranull]

CAN I NOT GET A FUCKING HEART ATTACK FOR ONE HOUR

FFS

[unganseylike]

somewhat niche academia rant of the day: a lot of basic science research is quite separate from the actual health application to humans, which is . fine and i personally want to do basic research not translational so i get it. but i feel like a lot of these researchers lack compassion for the people that their work is ultimately about/for. was thinking about this bc i went to a lecture that i was quite excited about. the speaker was studying why a disease has a more severe impact on obese people. and even though she wasn’t really talking about application to (human) patients it was so clear just from the figures she had on her slides that she had no compassion for this population and seemed fatphobic. left feeling really dismayed with the whole event and renewed belief that we need to teach science in context and care about the translation for impacted populations-even if that’s not the goal of our day-to-day research- beyond what we write in grants.

[tollingbells77]

Kitten update:

I cleaned their little zone and rearranged the entire thing before giving them breakfast. They played for about a hour after eating before puddling in the corner, per usual.

[green-mountain-goose]

why're things so fucked upppppp~

[learnwithmearticles]

GUV

Can GUV revolutionize the world of public health?

Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) is a range of light wavelengths capable of killing pathogens. Recent research indicates that implementing GUV in public spaces could reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses by 30% to 75% - a wide range but, overall, effective, especially with the many potential benefits.

Benefits

As ultraviolet light, GUV works through radiation; therefore, it is unintrusive and passive.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant portion of adults in the U.S.A. did not wear masks to reduce the spread of the virus. This resulted in many deaths and an acceleration of the virus’s mutation process. GUV does not require any action from the individual, reducing the harmful effects of disinformation and ignorance.

The COVID-19 pandemic also endured a period of rationing personal protective equipment (PPE), which increased health risks to medical personnel and patients around the world. Researchers have found GUV to be effective in killing the coronavirus and making PPE resusable.

GUV can also be used in addition to PPE to increase the sterility of medical rooms. In a study of a burn intensive care unit, GUV implementation led to an 89% decrease in airborne bacteria and a 69% decrease in surface-borne bacteria.

GUV targets a wide range of pathogens, both bacterial and viral, such as the multiple iterations of coronaviruses. Through mutation, many bacteria become drug resistant. By damaging nucleic acids, cellular building blocks, GUV is effective on even drug-resistant pathogens.

The ‘passive action’ of GUV makes it ideal for handling pandemics. While other interventions require development time, societal response, and ongoing maintenance when a new pathogen is identified, GUV can continually work in the background without continued interference.

This comes on the condition, of course, that we figure out a healthy way to use GUV.

Types of GUV

Because ultraviolet light can also have negative health effects, different forms of GUV are being studied for effectiveness and potential harm. The primary three investigated are full-room systems, upper-room systems, and in-duct systems.

Full-room GUV 

A straightforward name, full-room GUV has UV-C lights on a ceiling or wall irradiating an entire room. When the room is unoccupied, this is an easy way to make the room safer from pathogens. This study gives the example of a surgery room after the surgeons and patient have left.

This variety does not work when the room is occupied. Continuous exposure to UV-C lights is harmful to the skin and eyes, making full-room GUV limited in its potential use.

Within this variety, far-UVC light might be the solution. The wavelength of far-UVC light can deactivate bacteria and viruses but cannot pass far enough into skin and eyes to cause damage.

Upper-room GUV

Upper-room GUV is also a complicated option. It sticks to the upper sections of a room, and thus doesn’t expose human skin to UV light. This also means it is less effective, because it isn’t targeting the areas of the room where transmission occurs.

Perhaps with additional airflow that directs airborne pathogens upwards, this method could be more effective.

In-duct GUV

Due to its removal from main occupied areas, in-duct GUV permits the use of stronger UV wavelengths against pathogens. This variety also requires good airflow and is even farther from transmission areas. It is considered inferior to the above two varieties. 

Researchers are continuing to investigate the most effective and safe forms of GUV. Being able to widely implement this anti-bacterial and anti-viral strategy could immensely benefit public health and decrease the spread of an abundance of ailments. It could be useful in many ways in hospitals, doctors’ offices, and many public spaces as an unobtrusive aid.

Additional Resources

1. GUV in  Medical Centers 

2. GUV for a Pandemic

3. Founders Pledge Study

4. GUV on PPE

5. GUV Overview

[sallytwo]

i really like that foreman’s new job is to sit in a chair in the corner and hate on house. the haterrrr

[jcmarchi]

Detachable cardiac pacing lead may improve safety for cardiac patients

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/detachable-cardiac-pacing-lead-may-improve-safety-for-cardiac-patients/

Detachable cardiac pacing lead may improve safety for cardiac patients

In 2012, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died of post-surgery complications at the age of 82 following what should have been a routine heart surgery. Armstrong had undergone bypass surgery, the most common open-heart operation in the United States, and a surgery where the overall chance of death has dropped to almost zero.

Armstrong’s death was caused by heart damage that occurred during the removal of temporary cardiac pacing leads. Pacing leads are routinely used to monitor patients and protect against the risk of postoperative arrhythmias, including complete blockages, during the recovery period after cardiac surgery. However, because current methods rely on surgical suturing or direct insertion of electrodes to the heart tissue, trauma can occur during implantation and removal, increasing the potential for damage, bleeding, and device failure.

A coffee chat in 2019 about Armstrong’s untimely death helped inspire new research, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research demonstrates findings that may offer a promising new platform for adhesive bioelectronic devices for cardiac monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment, and offer inspiration for the future development of bioadhesive electronics.

“While discussing the story, our team had a eureka moment that we probably could do something to prevent such complications by realizing a completely atraumatic version of it based on our bioadhesive technologies,” says Hyunwoo Yuk SM ’16, PhD ’21, a former MIT research scientist who is now the chief technology officer at SanaHeal. “It was such an exciting idea, and the rest was just making it happen.”

The team, comprising researchers affiliated with the lab of Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering, has introduced a 3D-printable bioadhesive pacing lead that can directly interface with cardiac tissue, supporting minimally invasive adhesive implantation and providing a detachment solution that allows for gentle removal. Yuk and Zhao are the corresponding authors of the study; former MIT researcher Jue Deng is the paper’s first author.

“This work introduces the first on-demand detachable bioadhesive version of temporary cardiac pacing lead that offers atraumatic application and removal of the device with enhanced safety while offering improved bioelectronic performance,” says Zhao.

The development of the bioadhesive pacing lead is a combination of technologies that the team has developed over the last several years in the field of bioadhesive, bioelectronics, and 3D printing. SanaHeal, a company born from the team’s ongoing work, is commercializing bioadhesive technologies for various clinical applications.

“We hope that our ongoing effort on commercialization of our bioadhesive technology might help faster clinical translation of our bioadhesive pacing lead as well,” says Yuk.

[emgoesmed]

2/8/2023

Didactics on Zoom in the morning and then lunch with my M2 mentee :)

The abstract I submitted was not accepted which kinda sucks but that's how it goes sometimes... just gonna keep chugging along.

[machiattostudy]

Vendredi 24 février 2023 

Writing cover letters and updating my CV & cat sitting for my friend. 

So funny how they expect you to come with an amazing personal statement but nobody taught you how to write a proper one. Hopefully I have great company ! 

Hope you guys are doing good ! 

[rumor-imbris]

Ok, I know nobody will give a damn (less than what I write perhaps xD) but I just found out that in my town's central hospital they're building and testing a particle accelerator to bombard cancer cells with high precision for better, faster cures and way less collateral effects on patients. This might replace traditional chemo or radiotherapy in a future not far, how cool is that? I think it's absolutely fantastic! It's Physics applied to medicine and it's here and now, not a sci-fi media! ヾ(＠＾▽＾＠)ﾉ

These are the things that make me believe in humanity again and it all starts with progress and scientific research

[aromanticasterisms]

rosaria appearance in this mini event!!!!!

[nolanhattrick]

tired of good only coming from irreparable harm. tired of "well, duh" rules coming from horrific tragedy. tired of living through historical events. tired of being told that my empathy needs to be turned on and used like a weapon, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. tired of my trauma being used to hold me hostage. tired of being told i'd be the perfect person to fix everyone else around me BECAUSE of that empathy and trauma. i am so tired. i am so tried. i am so tired.

[medicalschoolinaustralia]

Applying to Medical School in Australia

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How Applying Early Can Give You An Edge

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It’s also important to distinguish between minimum and competitive medical school admissions requirements. Minimum requirements are defined by each university and are the lowest scores (GPA, MCAT) required to be eligible to apply for a program. Competitive requirements are the minimum scores that receive an offer. That’s where OzTREKK comes in.

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[quotesfrommyreading]

If it is a terrifying thought that life is at the mercy of the multiplication of these minute bodies, it is a consoling hope that Science will not always remain powerless before such enemies…

  —  Germ Theory and Its Applications to Medicine and Surgery (Louis Pasteur, 1878)