Pain is transmitted by a specific kind of neuron called a nociceptor. If they aren't transmitting pain signals, then, if conscious, the brain would not experience pain. That doesn't mean it could relive the final moments over and over in sensory deprivation and experience mental anguish. Not pleasant however you slice it (no pun intended), but that doesn't seem to be the case here. The investigator stated that there was a flat EEG, and we don't have any reason to believe a brain is "thinking" without EEG activity.
(I realize this anthropomorphizes pigs quite a bit, but the ethical concerns largely focus on translation to humans.)
If you've got 20 minutes, check out this video from Moscow in 1940 showing attempts to keep severed dog heads alive. Even J B S Haldane makes an appearance.
Paying insurance premiums does not mean that your ambulance ride will be covered. A family member used an ambulance and it was not an "in network service provider" so the cost was not covered. Same for the ER doc that saw my family member.
As if you call 911 and ask "I have [insurance provider]. Is that ambulance in network? No? Please send an ambulance that is in network. I'll wait" and then get to the ER and ask, "I have [insurance provider]. Are you in network? No? Then I'll wait until an ER doctor who is in network is available."
And they won't negotiate rates, and will happily send your bills to debt collection and ruin your credit rating.
Frankly, the cost of ambulance rides and ER doctors should be legally regulated, with mandatory coverage by insurance providers, to prevent this. Maybe there's a copay, and it might vary based on your coverage, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
Embryos don't have immune systems. They use the mother's immune system. You'd have to wait post partum to see if there are markers of increased immune activity, particularly at the chimeric organs, as well as general markers of immune hyperactivity. One approach for such animals would be to remove MHC genes so that the animal doesn't recognize the chimeric organs as "non-self". (It's more complicated, but I'd be interested in seeing how this might play out.)
While not trying to be dismissive, it's unclear that this would ever be a viable approach. It's really just a shotgun approach: put human cells in an early stage sheep blastocyst, and human cells are scattered throughout the tissues of the embryo. There's no selective approach to trying to only grow a heart from human cells, for instance. This means that the organ will still contain sheep cells, and therefore have the possibility of being rejected by the transplant recipient's body. Their work with mouse-rat chimeras was far more targeted, but that's because the techniques exist to do so in those species.
Absent developing the techniques available in rat and mouse model systems, I'd rather see them try to entirely replace one of the germ layers with human cells; the endoderm for instance. You'd basically get a sheep with a human digestive tract. You'd also avoid the problem of getting human cells in the sheep's central nervous system (e.g., brain), which probably happens with their current approach, and which they said would cause them to stop if it was significant.
The cost of shipping is negligible vs. the increased cost of "local" US maintenance and QA jobs compared to Chinese maintenance and QA jobs. (Using your assumption that low skilled labor wages aren't a factor because those workers were cut when the robots came in.)
It costs $516 to ship a 20' FCL from Shanghai to Los Angeles. The internal dimensions are about 19' 4" long x 7' 8" wide x 7' 9" (approximate conversion from metric). An iPhone box is about what size? 8 x 4 x 2 inches? Thus, you can fit approximately 88,000 (110 x 20 x 40) iPhones in a shipping container. At $1000 retail each, that's $88M of revenue shipped for $516.
Even assuming import duties of 10% ($8.8M), are you certain that manufacturing locally is cheaper?
If we're talking on the scale of 10,000 jobs in the US, you have to stay below an $880 increase in cost per worker per container's worth of iPhones in a year to break even.
Not trolling, but if $60/month ($50 for Adobe and $10 for Office365)* is "killing" your business, perhaps you need to rethink your business? You should recover that cost in less than an hour of billable work. Sure, it's important to keep all overhead costs down, but for most businesses these would be small time costs.
*Cost is based on 1 user, which is a reasonable assumption given that you are a "a self employed contractor".
Why is the conclusion: "It's a move that's clearly designed to push businesses that are holding off on Office 365 into subscriptions"? They can upgrade to Windows 10 and get Office 2019. (Or do nothing, or migrate to some other platform/software, etc.) Microsoft has clearly done everything they can to push users to Windows 10 (automatic updates, anyone?), so why is that not considered? They seem hellbent on making Windows 10 "the most popular Windows ever".
Alternatively, he never planned on winning, but intended it to be a publicity exercise to strengthen his brand, just like other times he threw his name out there and said he was thinking of running.
Now whether the long term financial gains associated with the presidency (e.g., millions of dollars in book deals and speaking fees) will offset what it cost him is another question. I am willing to bet "yes, he will be richer for having been president". For one thing, he no longer pays for his frequent travel to Mar-a-Lago via private jet. For another, he hasn't divested any business interests or income as a result of winning the presidency.
Of course, if Mueller finds something that could cause him to have assets seized, then that is another matter.
President Trump will make sure that we have the hottest years on record during his presidency. ("We'll have the hottest weather; the best weather.") Imagine, every US citizen will be able to enjoy Mar-a-Lago-like weather. Let's democratize Floridian sunshine for all!
Apparently some of the processes in our body have things switched between DNA & RNA.
There are viruses that use RNA for their genome, but all human cells use DNA as the genome and RNA for the transcription template, transporting amino acids to the ribosome, and for the ribosome itself. DNA does not do anything that RNA does in human cells.
Perhaps, but would ET RNA or DNA use the same bases? There's little reason to believe that is the case.
But I agree with your post. We know bacteria live in the upper troposphere, if not higher up. I recall reading that Earth might actually be leaving a trail of bacteria as it travels through space. (Wish I could find a reference for that.)
You do realize the paradox in believing that the world is entirely defined by physics and that "fate" (aka determinism) is false? To reconcile your world view, you need to have a mechanism that allows for free will, even if based in randomness. Are QM events truly random? Could they impact the atomic and macro level? Is that your definition of free will? Or are you a dualist? (Which would directly contradict your other stance.)
Otherwise, you need to accept that physics rules all and fate (determinism) is real.
Great, yet another way for boomer to f**k millennials and gen-Y.
Literally. The subjects were tested for changes in sexual functioning via the Sexual Quality of Life-Female (SQOL-F) and International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF) Questionnaires. The authors reported no improvement in the men, but in the women... bingo!
With a mean age of 75.5, and improved sexual response and quality of life, they'll be preying on millennials and gen-Y.
I agree that it likely won't be replicated in a larger trial, but not for the reasons that you state.
Dose response can be straightforward in small molecule drugs, like aspirin. It becomes more complicated in biologic drugs, like granulocyte colony stimulating factor (filgrastim). We don't really know how it will work with stem cells, and the authors do list biologically plausible reasons why they don't see a dose response.
The real issue (besides the really low # of subjects) is the statistical analysis. They compare change from baseline (outcomes at 6 months vs. baseline) within a treatment group and look for statistical significance. What they should be doing is comparing change from baseline within a group vs. the change from baseline of the placebo group. See how the error bars of the 100 M group at 90 and 180 days overlap with the error bars of the placebo group in figure 2A? Not statistically different from placebo.
Granted, it would be crazy effective if it were statistically significant vs. placebo in such a small trial. However, their poor use of statistics (including no accounting for multiple analyses) is a major red flag. But this is about raising VC, as others might have pointed out. Multiple authors with MBAs rather than professional degrees (PhD, MD) is a giveaway.
There are a number of companies that will take the ashes from cremation and use them to make a diamond. Wouldn't that be respectful for the ancestor? Turn them into a diamond, make a pendant, and they can be remembered daily. Brings an entirely different meaning to the phrase "family jewels".
Again, I assert that you are mistaken, or misunderstood my last comment.
The newer patents, that Allergan is arguing allow commercial exclusivity, will expire in a couple of years. After that, anyone can sell generic Restasis. It is not indefinite exclusivity from generic competition. In your example, with a cancer drug, the patent shouldn't be granted because the applicant is not the inventor, sovereign immunity or not. Likewise, the longer process to invalidate the patent will still exist and be applicable, sovereign immunity or not. It's the shorter process (IPR) that can be skipped due to sovereign immunity.
As for Restasis, it's the formulation, i.e., the concentration of cyclosporin and other ingredients, that is patented. They didn't patent cyclosporin itself.
Anyway, in another comment I conceded that this could be a problem if real patent trolls exploit it, so I can see why the loophole should be closed. In the particular incidence in TFS, I found it to be more of an interesting piece of legal maneuvering. But I still think there are other problems that need to be addressed, that aren't getting this much attention.
It doesn't matter if the lay person sees it for what it is. Every day that generic competition for Restasis is delayed equals millions of dollars of revenue for Allergan. This is not about a perpetual monopoly on selling cyclosporin eye drops, it's about delaying generic competitors coming to market. It was never meant to be a winning strategy, only a delay tactic.
Nobody denied A, but is this loophole is being exploited by an army of patent trolls? This example (Allergan and the formulation patents for Restasis) was the first, to my knowledge, but I'm curious to know if there are legitimate patent trolls using this loophole.
Either this has gone under the radar for 5+ years (America Invents was passed in 2011), or Allergan was one of the first to find it. But you sort of made a fair point: it could be exploited by real patent trolls, so let's close it now.
(I don't consider pharma companies patent trolls, in the classical sense of the term, as they look to fiercely fend off generic competition, which will come to the market eventually, rather than sue others for violating their patents.)
I don't think you understand this "loophole". It's not about patenting something that someone else created, it's about delaying the invalidation of patents by forcing a process with a longer timeline.
The particular example is not about a patent for cyclosporin, it's about a patent for the formulation of Restasis, which contains cyclosporin.
Slashdot Mirror
Pain is transmitted by a specific kind of neuron called a nociceptor. If they aren't transmitting pain signals, then, if conscious, the brain would not experience pain. That doesn't mean it could relive the final moments over and over in sensory deprivation and experience mental anguish. Not pleasant however you slice it (no pun intended), but that doesn't seem to be the case here. The investigator stated that there was a flat EEG, and we don't have any reason to believe a brain is "thinking" without EEG activity.
(I realize this anthropomorphizes pigs quite a bit, but the ethical concerns largely focus on translation to humans.)
If you've got 20 minutes, check out this video from Moscow in 1940 showing attempts to keep severed dog heads alive. Even J B S Haldane makes an appearance.
Paying insurance premiums does not mean that your ambulance ride will be covered. A family member used an ambulance and it was not an "in network service provider" so the cost was not covered. Same for the ER doc that saw my family member.
As if you call 911 and ask "I have [insurance provider]. Is that ambulance in network? No? Please send an ambulance that is in network. I'll wait" and then get to the ER and ask, "I have [insurance provider]. Are you in network? No? Then I'll wait until an ER doctor who is in network is available."
And they won't negotiate rates, and will happily send your bills to debt collection and ruin your credit rating.
Frankly, the cost of ambulance rides and ER doctors should be legally regulated, with mandatory coverage by insurance providers, to prevent this. Maybe there's a copay, and it might vary based on your coverage, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
Embryos don't have immune systems. They use the mother's immune system. You'd have to wait post partum to see if there are markers of increased immune activity, particularly at the chimeric organs, as well as general markers of immune hyperactivity. One approach for such animals would be to remove MHC genes so that the animal doesn't recognize the chimeric organs as "non-self". (It's more complicated, but I'd be interested in seeing how this might play out.)
While not trying to be dismissive, it's unclear that this would ever be a viable approach. It's really just a shotgun approach: put human cells in an early stage sheep blastocyst, and human cells are scattered throughout the tissues of the embryo. There's no selective approach to trying to only grow a heart from human cells, for instance. This means that the organ will still contain sheep cells, and therefore have the possibility of being rejected by the transplant recipient's body. Their work with mouse-rat chimeras was far more targeted, but that's because the techniques exist to do so in those species.
Absent developing the techniques available in rat and mouse model systems, I'd rather see them try to entirely replace one of the germ layers with human cells; the endoderm for instance. You'd basically get a sheep with a human digestive tract. You'd also avoid the problem of getting human cells in the sheep's central nervous system (e.g., brain), which probably happens with their current approach, and which they said would cause them to stop if it was significant.
previously believed to be uncrackable
By whom?
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
The cost of shipping is negligible vs. the increased cost of "local" US maintenance and QA jobs compared to Chinese maintenance and QA jobs. (Using your assumption that low skilled labor wages aren't a factor because those workers were cut when the robots came in.)
It costs $516 to ship a 20' FCL from Shanghai to Los Angeles. The internal dimensions are about 19' 4" long x 7' 8" wide x 7' 9" (approximate conversion from metric). An iPhone box is about what size? 8 x 4 x 2 inches? Thus, you can fit approximately 88,000 (110 x 20 x 40) iPhones in a shipping container. At $1000 retail each, that's $88M of revenue shipped for $516.
Even assuming import duties of 10% ($8.8M), are you certain that manufacturing locally is cheaper?
If we're talking on the scale of 10,000 jobs in the US, you have to stay below an $880 increase in cost per worker per container's worth of iPhones in a year to break even.
They already cut the workforce from 110,000 to 50,000.
Somehow, when it is cheaper to replace Chinese workers with robots, those manufacturing jobs will come back to the US...
Not trolling, but if $60/month ($50 for Adobe and $10 for Office365)* is "killing" your business, perhaps you need to rethink your business? You should recover that cost in less than an hour of billable work. Sure, it's important to keep all overhead costs down, but for most businesses these would be small time costs.
*Cost is based on 1 user, which is a reasonable assumption given that you are a "a self employed contractor".
Why is the conclusion: "It's a move that's clearly designed to push businesses that are holding off on Office 365 into subscriptions"? They can upgrade to Windows 10 and get Office 2019. (Or do nothing, or migrate to some other platform/software, etc.) Microsoft has clearly done everything they can to push users to Windows 10 (automatic updates, anyone?), so why is that not considered? They seem hellbent on making Windows 10 "the most popular Windows ever".
Alternatively, he never planned on winning, but intended it to be a publicity exercise to strengthen his brand, just like other times he threw his name out there and said he was thinking of running.
Now whether the long term financial gains associated with the presidency (e.g., millions of dollars in book deals and speaking fees) will offset what it cost him is another question. I am willing to bet "yes, he will be richer for having been president". For one thing, he no longer pays for his frequent travel to Mar-a-Lago via private jet. For another, he hasn't divested any business interests or income as a result of winning the presidency.
Of course, if Mueller finds something that could cause him to have assets seized, then that is another matter.
President Trump will make sure that we have the hottest years on record during his presidency. ("We'll have the hottest weather; the best weather.") Imagine, every US citizen will be able to enjoy Mar-a-Lago-like weather. Let's democratize Floridian sunshine for all!
Apparently some of the processes in our body have things switched between DNA & RNA.
There are viruses that use RNA for their genome, but all human cells use DNA as the genome and RNA for the transcription template, transporting amino acids to the ribosome, and for the ribosome itself. DNA does not do anything that RNA does in human cells.
Perhaps, but would ET RNA or DNA use the same bases? There's little reason to believe that is the case.
But I agree with your post. We know bacteria live in the upper troposphere, if not higher up. I recall reading that Earth might actually be leaving a trail of bacteria as it travels through space. (Wish I could find a reference for that.)
Excellent point, but one correction for you: Messner is Tyrolian (Italian). Just a friendly FYI.
You do realize the paradox in believing that the world is entirely defined by physics and that "fate" (aka determinism) is false? To reconcile your world view, you need to have a mechanism that allows for free will, even if based in randomness. Are QM events truly random? Could they impact the atomic and macro level? Is that your definition of free will? Or are you a dualist? (Which would directly contradict your other stance.)
Otherwise, you need to accept that physics rules all and fate (determinism) is real.
Great, yet another way for boomer to f**k millennials and gen-Y.
Literally. The subjects were tested for changes in sexual functioning via the Sexual Quality of Life-Female (SQOL-F) and International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF) Questionnaires. The authors reported no improvement in the men, but in the women... bingo!
With a mean age of 75.5, and improved sexual response and quality of life, they'll be preying on millennials and gen-Y.
I agree that it likely won't be replicated in a larger trial, but not for the reasons that you state.
Dose response can be straightforward in small molecule drugs, like aspirin. It becomes more complicated in biologic drugs, like granulocyte colony stimulating factor (filgrastim). We don't really know how it will work with stem cells, and the authors do list biologically plausible reasons why they don't see a dose response.
The real issue (besides the really low # of subjects) is the statistical analysis. They compare change from baseline (outcomes at 6 months vs. baseline) within a treatment group and look for statistical significance. What they should be doing is comparing change from baseline within a group vs. the change from baseline of the placebo group. See how the error bars of the 100 M group at 90 and 180 days overlap with the error bars of the placebo group in figure 2A? Not statistically different from placebo.
Granted, it would be crazy effective if it were statistically significant vs. placebo in such a small trial. However, their poor use of statistics (including no accounting for multiple analyses) is a major red flag. But this is about raising VC, as others might have pointed out. Multiple authors with MBAs rather than professional degrees (PhD, MD) is a giveaway.
There are a number of companies that will take the ashes from cremation and use them to make a diamond. Wouldn't that be respectful for the ancestor? Turn them into a diamond, make a pendant, and they can be remembered daily. Brings an entirely different meaning to the phrase "family jewels".
What if AC shows up? All of them? Good grief, the venues would experience the Slashdot effect in real life.
Moderators, gird your loins for that one!
Again, I assert that you are mistaken, or misunderstood my last comment.
The newer patents, that Allergan is arguing allow commercial exclusivity, will expire in a couple of years. After that, anyone can sell generic Restasis. It is not indefinite exclusivity from generic competition. In your example, with a cancer drug, the patent shouldn't be granted because the applicant is not the inventor, sovereign immunity or not. Likewise, the longer process to invalidate the patent will still exist and be applicable, sovereign immunity or not. It's the shorter process (IPR) that can be skipped due to sovereign immunity.
As for Restasis, it's the formulation, i.e., the concentration of cyclosporin and other ingredients, that is patented. They didn't patent cyclosporin itself.
Anyway, in another comment I conceded that this could be a problem if real patent trolls exploit it, so I can see why the loophole should be closed. In the particular incidence in TFS, I found it to be more of an interesting piece of legal maneuvering. But I still think there are other problems that need to be addressed, that aren't getting this much attention.
It doesn't matter if the lay person sees it for what it is. Every day that generic competition for Restasis is delayed equals millions of dollars of revenue for Allergan. This is not about a perpetual monopoly on selling cyclosporin eye drops, it's about delaying generic competitors coming to market. It was never meant to be a winning strategy, only a delay tactic.
Nobody denied A, but is this loophole is being exploited by an army of patent trolls? This example (Allergan and the formulation patents for Restasis) was the first, to my knowledge, but I'm curious to know if there are legitimate patent trolls using this loophole.
Either this has gone under the radar for 5+ years (America Invents was passed in 2011), or Allergan was one of the first to find it. But you sort of made a fair point: it could be exploited by real patent trolls, so let's close it now.
(I don't consider pharma companies patent trolls, in the classical sense of the term, as they look to fiercely fend off generic competition, which will come to the market eventually, rather than sue others for violating their patents.)
I don't think you understand this "loophole". It's not about patenting something that someone else created, it's about delaying the invalidation of patents by forcing a process with a longer timeline.
The particular example is not about a patent for cyclosporin, it's about a patent for the formulation of Restasis, which contains cyclosporin.
Hmm, if only there were some source of high density energy underwater. Like something that could have precipitated the origins of life on Earth?