Skin | Jotup

Most bees don’t die after stinging – and other surprising bee facts

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Well, Bee, Stinger, Ant, Male, Anatomy, Attitude, Sting, Death, Skin, Honey, Apis, Animal, Wasp

But maybe we also felt a tinge of regret, or vindication, knowing the offending bee will die.

Key Points:

But maybe we also felt a tinge of regret, or vindication, knowing the offending bee will die.
Only eight out of almost 21,000 bee species in the world die when they sting.
To understand the intricacies of bees and their stinging potential, we’re going to need to talk about the shape of stingers, bee genitals, and attitude.

Our beloved, and deadly, honey bees

Native to Europe and Africa, these bees are today found almost everywhere in the world.
They are one of eight honey bee species worldwide, with Apis bees representing just 0.04% of total bee species.
We could say they die for queen and colony, but the actual reason these bees die after stinging is because of their barbed stingers.
Beyond that, bees and wasps (probably mostly European honey bees) are Australia’s deadliest venomous animals.

So what is a stinger?

A stinger, at least in most bees, wasps and ants, is actually a tube for laying eggs (ovipositor) that has also been adapted for violent defence. This group of stinging insects, the aculeate wasps (yes, bees and ants are technically a kind of wasp), have been stabbing away in self-defence for 190 million years. You could say it’s their defining feature.

The sting of the European honey bee is about as painful as a bee sting gets, scoring a 2 out of 4 on the Schmidt insect sting pain index.
On the flipside, most bee species can sting you as many times as they like because their stingers lack the barbs found in honey bees.

Can you tell who’s packing?

Globally, there are 537 species (about 2.6% of all bee species) of “stingless bees” in the tribe Meliponini. We have only 11 of these species (in the genera Austroplebeia and Tetragonula) in Australia. These peaceful little bees can also be kept in hives and make honey. Stingless bees can still defend their nests, when offended, by biting. But you might think of them more as a nuisance than a deadly stinging swarm.
Australia also has the only bee family (there are a total of seven families globally) that’s found on a single continent. This is the Stenotritidae family, which comprises 21 species. These gentle and gorgeous giants (14–19mm in length, up to twice as long as European honey bees) also get around without a functional stinger.
The astute reader might have realised something by this point in the article. If stingers are modified egg-laying tubes … what about the boys? Male bees, of all bee species, lack stingers and have, ahem, other anatomy instead. However, some male bees will still make a show of “stinging” if you try to grab them. Some male wasps can even do a bit of damage, though they have no venom to produce a sting.

Why is it always the honey bees?

So, if the majority of bees can sting, why is it always the European honey bee having a go?
First, the European honey bee is very abundant across much of the world.
So those hardworking European honey bees are really putting in the miles.

A complicated relationship

We have an interesting relationship with our European honey bees.
They can be deadly, are non-native (across much of the world), and will aggressively defend their nests.

Amy-Marie Gilpin receives funding from Western Sydney University and Horticulture Innovation Australia.
She is also a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania.

R21 anti-malaria vaccine is a game changer: scientist who helped design it reflects on 30 years of research, and what it promises

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Until three years ago nobody had developed a vaccine against any parasitic disease. Now there are two against malaria: the RTS,S and the R21 vaccines. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the R21 vaccine, tells Nadine Dreyer why he thinks this is a great era for malaria control.What makes malaria such a difficult disease to beat?Our hominoid predecessors were being infected by malaria parasites tens of millions of years ago, so these parasites had a lot of practice at clever tricks to escape immune systems long before we came along.

Key Points:

Until three years ago nobody had developed a vaccine against any parasitic disease. Now there are two against malaria: the RTS,S and the R21 vaccines. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the R21 vaccine, tells Nadine Dreyer why he thinks this is a great era for malaria control.

What makes malaria such a difficult disease to beat?

Our hominoid predecessors were being infected by malaria parasites tens of millions of years ago, so these parasites had a lot of practice at clever tricks to escape immune systems long before we came along.
Additionally, the malaria parasite goes through four life cycle stages.
Medical researchers have been trying to make malaria vaccines for over 100 years.

How does the R21/Matrix-M vaccine work?

An antigen is any substance that causes the body to make an immune response against that substance.
We targeted the sporozoites, which is the form that the mosquito inoculates into your skin.
Read more:
Two new malaria vaccines are being rolled out across Africa: how they work and what they promise

A child dies every minute from malaria in Africa. Why are children more susceptible than adults?

The age you’re most likely to die of malaria in Africa is when you are one year old.
For the first six months you are protected largely by your mother’s immunity and the antibodies she transfers during pregnancy.
Without malaria, children would be healthier in general — the disease makes you susceptible to other infections.

What about the pace of vaccine rollouts?

We’ve been disappointed that it’s taken more than six months to roll out the R21 vaccine since it was approved in October last year.
Compare that to a COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca that was approved on New Year’s Eve 2020 and rolled out in several countries the very next week.

How big a role will vaccines have in the fight to eradicate malaria?

Nobody is quite sure how many of the older tools such as insecticides and bed nets we need to carry on with.
Anti-malaria medication only lasts for days and parasites are building up resistance against these drugs as well.
There are about 40 million children born every year in malaria areas in Africa who would benefit from a vaccine.
The Serum Institute of India, our manufacturing and commercial partner, can produce hundreds of millions of doses each year.

Adrian Hill receives funding from government and charitable funders of malaria vaccine development. He has received funding awarded to the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India to support clinical trials of the R21/Matrix-M vaccine. He may benefit for a share of any royalty stream to Oxford University from the vaccine.

The weather experiment that really flooded Dubai

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 25, 2024

That was the story last week when more than a year’s worth of rain fell in a day on the Arabian Peninsula, one of the world’s driest regions.

Key Points:

That was the story last week when more than a year’s worth of rain fell in a day on the Arabian Peninsula, one of the world’s driest regions.
Desert cities like Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suffered floods that submerged motorways and airport runways.

Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue.
Richard Washington, a professor of climate science at the University of Oxford, has seen the inside of a storm.
To confirm if cloud seeding really could breed record-breaking rain, he once boarded an aeroplane bound for a thundercloud over the South Africa-Mozambique border.

What caused the flood?

But by flying a lot of missions, half with cloud seeding and half without, and measuring rainfall between the two, meteorologists eventually showed that cloud seeding did modify rain rates in some storms.
That’s not what caused Dubai’s floods though.

Their approach is to fire hygroscopic (water-attracting) salt flares from aircraft into warm cumuliform clouds,” Washington says.
“So could seeding have built a huge storm system the size of France?
Let’s be clear, that would be like a breeze stopping an intercity train going at full tilt.

The experiment of our lives

Although last week’s deluge was unusual, the Arabian Peninsula does tend to receive more of its precipitation in heavy bursts than steady showers.
What is likely to kill more people as temperatures rise in this part of the world is not water, but heat.
At this threshold the air is so hot and humid that you cannot lower your temperature to a safe level by sweating.

Peter Irvine, a lecturer in earth sciences at UCL, proposes dimming the sun by pumping microscopic particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect some of its rays.
These layers of gases that surround our planet have nurtured life by keeping temperatures stable and harmful radiation out.
Read more:
Time is running out on climate change, but geoengineering has dangers of its own
As humanity contemplates another large-scale experiment in our atmosphere, there is another, even bigger one, waiting to be resolved.

Chemical pollutants can change your skin bacteria and increase your eczema risk − new research explores how

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Also known as atopic dermatitis, this chronic skin disease affects about 1 in 5 children in the industrialized world.

Key Points:

Also known as atopic dermatitis, this chronic skin disease affects about 1 in 5 children in the industrialized world.
Some studies have found rates of eczema in developing nations to be over thirtyfold lower compared with industrialized nations.
Scientists know that factors such as diets rich in processed foods as well as exposure to specific detergents and chemicals increase the risk of developing eczema.
Living near factories, major roadways or wildfires increase the risk of developing eczema.

There’s something in the air

Then we looked at databases from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see which chemicals were most common in those areas.
Diisocyanates were first manufactured in the U.S. around 1970 for the production of spandex, nonlatex foam, paint and polyurethane.
The manufacture of xylene also increased around that time, alongside an increase in the production of polyester and other materials.

After 1975, when all new cars became outfitted with a new technology that converted exhaust gas to less toxic chemicals, isocyanate and xylene both became components of automobile exhaust.
How directly exposing mice to these toxins compares to the typical levels of exposure in people is still unclear.

Skin microbiome and pollution

Every person is coated with millions of microorganisms that live on the skin, collectively referred to as the skin microbiome.
You’ve probably seen moisturizers and other skin products containing ceramides, a group of lipids that play an important role in protecting the skin.

To see which toxins could prevent production of the beneficial lipids that prevent eczema, my team and I used skin bacteria as canaries in the coal mine.
Lysine helps protect the bacteria from the harms of the toxins but doesn’t provide the health benefits of ceramides.
Bacteria that help keep skin healthy could live on any fabric, but, just as with air pollution, the amount of beneficial lipids they made dropped to less than half the levels made when grown on fabrics like cotton.

Addressing pollution’s effects on skin

Detectors capable of sensing low levels of isocyanate or xylene could help track pollutants and predict eczema flare-ups across a community.
Better detectors can also help researchers identify air filtration systems that can scrub these chemicals from the environment.
In the meantime, improving your microbial balance may require avoiding products that limit the growth of healthy skin bacteria.
I believe that it may one day allow us to get back to a time when these diseases were uncommon.

Ian Myles receives funding from the Department of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He is the author of, and receives royalties for, the book GATTACA Has Fallen: How population genetics failed the populace. Although he is the co-discoverer of Roseomonas mucosa RSM2015 for eczema, he has donated the patent to the public and has no current conflict of interest for its sales.

Beyoncé and Dolly Parton’s versions of Jolene represent two sides of southern femininity

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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Wind, Negotiation, Lemonade, Hatred, Head, Marriage, Modesty, Noise, Betrayal, Beauty, Femininity, Sleep, Attitude, African Americans, Rest, Hope, Woman, Male, Skin, The Golden Girls, Language, Pain, Linguistics, Movement, Human, Music

On her new album, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé puts a new spin on Dolly Parton’s classic song, Jolene.

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On her new album, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé puts a new spin on Dolly Parton’s classic song, Jolene.
Some people commenting online were vocal about not liking Beyoncé’s version, often citing its lack of vulnerability when compared to Parton’s version.
There are upwards of 80 covers of Jolene, but Beyoncé’s is a departure from the rest.
The Houston native’s Jolene is decidedly Black, and therein lies the crux of the different reactions towards the song.
It is important to examine the story Dolly Parton tells on Jolene because it, too, is rooted in her racial and gendered identity as much as Beyoncé’s Jolene is.

How is Beyoncé’s story the same but different?

Towards the end of the song, Beyoncé and her partner turn a corner and offer hope against the disruption that Jolene represents.
Beyoncé’s Jolene is introduced by Dolly Parton herself in a short interlude.
Parton makes a clear association between her experience with Jolene and Beyoncé’s experience with “Becky with the good hair” (or “hussy” as Parton says).
But the term has evolved to encompass racially ambiguous women with European or Asian features, lighter skin and loose curls or straight hair.
Why would we expect the song to be the same when these two women are far from?

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.
Kadian Pow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Good news: midlife health is about more than a waist measurement. Here’s why

Retrieved on:

Friday, April 19, 2024

During the appointment they measure your waist.

Key Points:

During the appointment they measure your waist.
GPs and health professionals commonly measure waist circumference as a vital sign for health.
Men are at greatly increased risk of health issues if their waist circumference is greater than 102 centimetres.
More than two-thirds of Australian adults have waist measurements that put them at an increased risk of disease.

How much is too much?

A ratio of 0.6 or more places a person at the highest risk of disease.
This can kick off a discussion about their risk of chronic diseases and how they might address this.
For women, hormone levels begin changing in mid-life and this also stimulates increased fat levels particularly around the abdomen.
Finally, your family history and genetics can make you predisposed to gaining more abdominal fat.

Why the waist?

Visceral fat surrounds and infiltrates major organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines, releasing a variety of chemicals (hormones, inflammatory signals, and fatty acids).
These affect inflammation, lipid metabolism, cholesterol levels and insulin resistance, contributing to the development of chronic illnesses.

In addition to the direct effects of hormone changes, declining levels of oestrogen change brain function, mood and motivation.
These psychological alterations can result in reduced physical activity and increased eating – often of comfort foods high in sugar and fat.
And importantly, the waist circumference (and ratio to height) is just one measure of human health.

Muscle matters

On current evidence, it is equally or more important for health and longevity to have higher muscle mass and better cardiorespiratory (aerobic) fitness than waist circumference within the healthy range.
So, if a person does have an excessive waist circumference, but they are also sedentary and have less muscle mass and aerobic fitness, then the recommendation would be to focus on an appropriate exercise program.
Conversely, a person with low visceral fat levels is not necessarily fit and healthy and may have quite poor aerobic fitness, muscle mass, and strength.

Getting moving is important advice

Exercise can counter a lot of the negative behavioural and physiological changes that are occurring during midlife including for people going through menopause.
And regular exercise reduces the tendency to use food and drink to help manage what can be a quite difficult time in life.
Measuring your waist circumference and monitoring your weight remains important.

Rob Newton receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council, the Medical Research Future Fund, Cancer Council Western Australia, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia and the World Cancer Research Fund. Rob Newton is a board member of The Healthy Male.

How Trump is using courtroom machinations to his political advantage

Retrieved on:

Friday, April 19, 2024

Crime, Democracy, Felony, Freedom, Social media, Politics, Jews, OAN, Skin, Fox News, Colorado State University, Hearing, Democrat

Bakken: It seems like an ordinary trial, but it is an extraordinary trial underneath if we really look at some of the details.

Key Points:

Bakken: It seems like an ordinary trial, but it is an extraordinary trial underneath if we really look at some of the details.
The first thing that struck me was on Day 1, when Judge Juan Merchan questioned 96 jurors.
Fifty of them said they could not be fair to Trump.
That does not bode well for a defendant in a jurisdiction where Democrats outnumber Republicans 9 to 1.

Bakken: Merchan has told Trump he may not be able to attend his child’s high school graduation, scheduled for May 17.
I think the judge will let Trump attend the high school graduation, because otherwise he might seem to treat Trump a little bit differently than other defendants.
Trump has said the requirement to be in the courtroom every day is harming his ability to campaign.
… If Donald Trump is convicted then all of these principles are convicted and destroyed with him.” This sets up a catch-22.
Since much of the country is paying attention to that media space, that’s a really consequential campaign strategy.

Bakken: The New York district attorney decided to prosecute Trump in this case.
It seems unquestionable that Trump filed or made false business documents.
Donald Trump would not be in trouble for filing this paperwork if he hadn’t done it to allegedly illegally influence an election.
They could be the moderators, the good-faith, middle-minded people who can help bridge the gap between the political combatants.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Herbal medicinal product: Eucalypti aetheroleumArray,Array,Array, F: Assessment finalised

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Herbal medicinal product: Eucalypti aetheroleumArray,Array,Array, F: Assessment finalised

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Herbal medicinal product: Eucalypti aetheroleumArray,Array,Array, F: Assessment finalised

Draft guideline on good agricultural and collection practice (GACP) for starting materials of herbal origin - Revision 1

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Reproduction, SCOPE, Eating, Pesticide, Convention, Change control, Confusion, Alkaloid, Climate, Fungus, Directive (European Union), Ethylene oxide, Wind, Wood, Glass, European Medicines Agency, HMPS, QDG, Hygiene, Water, Marketing, Fertilizer, Legislation, Manure, Distillation, Risk, Education, Committee, Compost, Draft, Policy, Person, EMA, Seed, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, Collection, Freezing, GMP, Risk assessment, GACP, Sunlight, Fermentation, Personal protective equipment, Animal, Herbal, Herbicide, Weather, INTRODUCTION, Documentation, Regeneration, Decontamination, EudraLex, Disease, International trade, European Pharmacopoeia, Part, Livestock, Public, Inhalation, Knowledge, Seedling, Factorization of polynomials, Record, Plant, Skin, API, Irrigation, Part Two, Soil, Directive, Pharmacopoeia, Codex, Guideline, Temperature, Attention, Hydrocarbon, Pyrrolizidine alkaloid, Polychlorinated biphenyl, Growth, Rotation, Incineration, Environment, Humidity, Smell, Ventilation, Light, Bird, Mineral, Fumigation, Pyrrolizidine, SOP, Housing, Smoking, Atmosphere, Postharvest, Rain, Liver, QWP, Medicinal plants

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................... 14

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Guideline on Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) for starting materials of herbal origin
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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This guideline on Good Agricultural and Collection Practice (GACP) for starting materials of herbal origin

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Due to the inherent
complexity of medicinal plants and herbal substances the quality of these starting materials requires an
adequate quality assurance system for the collection and/or cultivation, harvest, and primary
processing.
(either outdoor, indoor or in greenhouses) should be carefully considered, since each of the mentioned
types could have several problems and advantages.
The used cultivation method may be dependent on
the final application of the herbal medicinal product.
primary processing of herbal substances that are used for the preparation of herbal medicinal products.
medicinal plants and herbal substances, ensuring that they are handled appropriately throughout all
stages of cultivation, collection, processing and storage.
their preparations are exposed to a large number of environmental contaminants of both biotic and
abiotic origin.
to existing wildlife habitats and must adhere to CITES (Convention on International Trade in
Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/bd537ccf-9271-4230-bca1-2d...
4 https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/fd318dd6-2404-4e67-82b0232...
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Where possible, stable varieties and cultivars naturally
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resistant or tolerant to disease should preferably be used.
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The application should be carried out only by qualified staff using approved equipment.
The following should be noted:
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Damaged plants or plant parts need to be excluded or limited in accordance with a specific
pharmacopoeia monograph, where relevant.
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directly to the sun (except in cases where there is a specific need) and must be protected from
rainfall, insect infestation, etc.
The label must be clear, permanently fixed and made from
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Reflection paper on the use of fumigants (EMEA/HMPC/125562/2006)

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non-toxic material.
Certain exudates that have not been subjected to a specific treatment are
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also considered to be herbal substances.
European Pharmacopoeia General Monograph ?HERBAL DRUGS? 07/2017:1433
Are obtained by subjecting herbal substances to treatments such as
extraction, distillation, expression, fractionation, purification, concentration
or fermentation.

Orphan designation: antisense oligonucleotide targeting exon 73 in the COL7A1 gene Treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, 12/10/2017 Withdrawn

Retrieved on:

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Orphan designation: antisense oligonucleotide targeting exon 73 in the COL7A1 gene Treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, 12/10/2017 Withdrawn

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Orphan designation: antisense oligonucleotide targeting exon 73 in the COL7A1 gene Treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, 12/10/2017 Withdrawn