Smooth_Imagination
Smooth_Imagination t1_j320jue wrote
Reply to Wind power is built at an increasing pace but its effect on nature and animals is poorly known. Researchers investigated the impact of wind turbines on bat presence and activity in Finnish boreal forests. The results indicate that wind power repels bats and drives them away from important habitats. by universityofturku
Tip velocity leads to infra sound, audible noise and strike risk. A solution to this would be smaller, multibladed propellers that create higher torque at much lower tip velocity.
Technically a wing will produce force at zero RPM and there would not be an efficiency loss as such. The settling on 3 bladed propellers is largely due to their mass (hence why to resolve this they need to be smaller). Making them smaller reduces power, unless you combine them with cowlings.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j0pl0bi wrote
In type 1 and type 2 diabetes thiamine levels are deficient and kidney excretion greatly increased.
>Renal clearance of thiamine is increased by 8-fold in experimental model of diabetes. Interestingly, increased clearance was prevented by high-dose thiamine supplementation[26]. Thiamine renal clearance is also increased in subjects with T1DM (by 24-fold) and T2DM (by 16-fold)[24].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058733/
Part of the disease risk manifested in diabetes was also stated to be retained even after glucose regulation back to normal range - indicating that diabetes is not simply a blood sugar dysfunction and the disease mechanisms are not only manifested through it. One scientist I remember stated that two-thirds of the disease risk remains after blood glucose regulation and that this might be largely mitigated with agents such as thiamine and lutein.
Lutein is an interesting compound that negatively correlates to diabetes risk, but it also concentrates above serum levels in the brain, as well as skin and retina.
Lutein hyperaccumulates in brain -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24691400/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5648219/
-DHA distribution also correlates with lutein. This suggests a natural tendency to accumulate these compounds together and that this is a functional thing. Lutein upregulates natural production of antioxidants in retinal tissue and might be doing that in the brain. There are associations of both DHA and Lutein to protection against Alzheimers / dementia.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3259852/
- this is a negative result regarding DHA supplementation (DHA on its own, it may also be oxidised prior to consumption and this is known to reduce tissue distribution of DHA potentially leading to ineffective dosing. So the study may be worthless if there is not means to reduce DHA degradation in vitro or/and prior to consumption.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7502665/
- this later study addresses this with higher dose but I believe does have connections to a supplier of DHA, full disclosure.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2838628/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35745137/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22045492/
- lutein protects blood lipids, phospholipids and presumably lipoproteins from oxidation - thereby it should protect DHA from oxidation in the main carrier that transports it the brain, although it may act on different lipids rather than DHA, still of relevance to the oxidative stress and inflammatory signalling found in Alzheimers -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32088804/
Its a complicated picture - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5648219/
>Lutein/zeaxanthin supplementation significantly increased total concentrations of lutein in serum, PFC and CER, as well as lutein in mitochondrial membranes and total DHA concentrations in PFC only (P<0.05). In PFC and ST, mitochondrial lutein was inversely related to DHA oxidation products, but not those from arachidonic acid (P <0.05).
- It seems reasonably to predict that non-oxidised DHA is superior at lower doses in delivery to the brain and that co-administration of DHA with lutein is potentially superior again, and that this may be beneficial in protecting the brain.
More on Lutein
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8223987/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.843512/full
https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad170713
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/151/3/615/6109668?login=false
Thiamine
Consequently thiamine was suggested as a way to reduce some of the residual risks such as peripheral polyneuropathy.
Remember when Alzheimers was referred to as 'Type 3 diabetes' due to insulin, glucose and metabolic dysfunction in the brain?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5831864/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4846521/
>Indeed, comparisons of immunocytochemical markers suggest that oxidative stress is more prevalent in AD than are plaques or tangles.8 Indeed, markers of oxidative stress in the urine of mice genetically engineered to make plaques precede plaque formation in the brain.9
- it isn't necessarily the plaques, but more the sub units that form into plaques that act as contributors, and there is a role for Tau as well, but they are just roles in something multi-factorial in origin.
>Glucose metabolism is always diminished in AD
>
>Extensive research has examined the relationship of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of amyloid and tau and compared those to glucose metabolism, as measured by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET).10 Reduced glucose metabolism occurs in AD long before the patient demonstrates significant clinical signs of AD. The regional changes in glucose metabolism are also highly correlated to changes in cognition. The correlation of changes to amyloid as measured by PET scan is very poor.11 The common explanation for these changes is that glucose metabolism as measured by [18F]FDG PET reflects synaptic activity, and since a loss of synapses accompanies AD, the loss of glucose use merely reflects the decline in synapses. This is likely true but also raises the possibility that reductions in glucose metabolism promote AD.
It seems to have overlapping aspects with the known types of diabetes.
If you have type 2 or 1 diabetes, you may have lower brain thiamine. In Alzheimers additional things could be happening in the brain that emulates low brain thiamine or dysfunction of thiamine pathways that could, like amyloid or tau, have a role in the disease, but maybe not always. Its still likely a multifactorial thing.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j0pibfj wrote
Reply to comment by I_Mix_Stuff in Cerebrovascular insulin receptors are defective in Alzheimer’s disease by BlitzOrion
It was referred to as 'type 3' diabetes as I recall, as analogus to diabetes in the brain, I'm sure that could have covered an additional progression from type 2 but that it could manifest separately as well.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j0nvymr wrote
Reply to comment by BoreDominated in Among black parents, paternal support and interparental relationship quality can play a protective role, promoting maternal mental health and wellbeing. by Respawan
Maybe limited funding? If there were variables between those groups to find concrete patterns within each group you would need a larger pool to study. You could say add white, but why just to Black and White and not Asian, Native Americans? As the relationship might not hold true in each group (we can be sure it would, but you cant presume that, scientifically) then you need a large enough pool in each category to get significant results, so that's a much larger study.
The funding probably also stipulated to look at populations deemed to have particular under-researched issues or needs.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j0nvhum wrote
Reply to comment by BoreDominated in Among black parents, paternal support and interparental relationship quality can play a protective role, promoting maternal mental health and wellbeing. by Respawan
I get what you are saying, but they decided to focus on an area, maybe a geographical one with particular relevance to the question. They might have picked a particular racial group because it is understudied as a demographic. We could generalise these findings but since they did their study in a particular group its accurate to highlight the group and not generalise. We would hope the authors follow up in other groups, even though its bleedingly obvious its generalisable, in science you should not state beyond the scope of what your experiment examines.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j0nv1ab wrote
Reply to Among black parents, paternal support and interparental relationship quality can play a protective role, promoting maternal mental health and wellbeing. by Respawan
I think this applies universally.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iz7261b wrote
Reply to A new study focuses on the crucial question of why people are more vulnerable to catching colds during the months of winter. The answer hinges on an evolved defense system, innate to the human nose, that is numbed by frigid temperatures. by BoredMamajamma
>This paper uncovers a very robust mechanism that explains a lot
It helps explain. This isn't the first time that impaired mucosal immunity has been identified as a root cause. Prior to this the impact of cold air was discovered to inhibit the functioning of dendritic cells, which physically sample anything strange and coordinate to other immune cells in the innate immune system to respond. These play the central role in coordinating immune response in the mucosal system, as well among their various types later responses via B cells. If they are rendered dysfunctional for several hours by cold air you can see why you would be vulnerable. Viruses ensnared by extracellular vesicle components would also be phagocytised and likely recognised by dendritic cells. The swallowed mucous then presents to payers patches in the gut to expand the response to antigens more systemically.
I can find little follow up research on this, but I remember reading about this discovery by a scientist some years ago.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iyk492o wrote
Reply to comment by Meatrition in A new study based on 22 FOI requests of over 11,000 pages found that Coca-Cola exerts direct influence on academic institutions and organizations that convene major public health conferences and events, and makes payments directly to speakers and researchers conditional on media interviews. by Meatrition
I think there was more publically funded science in the past though. I assume more of the fraction of scientists work in private organisations.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iyk093y wrote
Reply to A new study based on 22 FOI requests of over 11,000 pages found that Coca-Cola exerts direct influence on academic institutions and organizations that convene major public health conferences and events, and makes payments directly to speakers and researchers conditional on media interviews. by Meatrition
Science seems to be increasingly captured by Big Money or political ideology (which may come via possibly financial interests as well, although it is hard to trace the interests behind those that organise the grants, theres capture of many publishing platforms or indirectly through the institutions in which they work.)
It harms honest science and its standing in the public eye through no fault of the good scientists working in the public interest and to proven scientific methodology.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iyhk5ba wrote
Reply to Europa’s Plate Tectonic Activity Is Unlike Earth’s - The moon of Jupiter has likely experienced intermittent, regional plate tectonic activity in the past, although the plates are currently dormant. by GeoGeoGeoGeo
I think what makes Earths plate tectonics the way it is, is oceans of sufficient depth and pressure so that the hydrothermal system operates to remove energy continuously and lead to accretion of minerals within the crust, and lubricates plates moving over each other.
Not sure the situation on Europa, but Mars never had enough gravity for that, and that it has the largest volcano implies that energy builds up and has to periodically escape, and as Venus has no surface water its crust appears to undergo periodic large resurfacings as well.
Smooth_Imagination t1_ixvz40f wrote
Reply to comment by NotAnotherEmpire in New research shows Krill oil rewires distinct gene expression programs that contribute to attenuating several aging hallmarks, including oxidative stress, proteotoxic stress, senescence, genomic instability, and mitochondrial dysfunction. by Wagamaga
Only the patentable approaches though. Its why they aren't in health food.
Smooth_Imagination t1_ixuo651 wrote
Reply to comment by JoanNoir in New research shows Krill oil rewires distinct gene expression programs that contribute to attenuating several aging hallmarks, including oxidative stress, proteotoxic stress, senescence, genomic instability, and mitochondrial dysfunction. by Wagamaga
Its an issue of course, but here's why -
Pfizer isn't going to fund it, and a lot of academic institutions really are in bed with big pharma.
Its sad because we can't trust this study enough to make a decision on what we buy.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iwds7nn wrote
Reply to New research shows Black adults in mid-life — on average, in their mid-50s — were more likely than white or Hispanic adults of the same age to have a higher prevalence of white matter lesions, markers of cerebrovascular disease that are associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease by Wagamaga
First thought is location due to roads. Particulate matter might be a factor, as well as diet. Dietary quality equality is not something I hear getting mentioned but could be a large component of any plan to seriously address disparities like this. We know that working classes tend to have worse diets, a stress related response but also has an affordability component since agricultural subsidies tend to favour the end product of unhealthy foods, which are then cheaper..
I assume hispanics might be more rurally located (pure assumption here). Another factor could be connections between autoimmune disease, MS and vitamin D.
Smooth_Imagination t1_iwdjt24 wrote
Reply to Aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by 72%. According to the researchers, intensity aerobic exercise increases the glucose (sugar) consumption of internal organs, thereby reducing the availability of energy to the tumor. by Wagamaga
Remember this recentlly on Science?
A bioluminescent-based probe for in vivo non-invasive monitoring of nicotinamide riboside uptake reveals a link between metastasis and NAD+ metabolism
If NAD+ status is improved systemically and produces an antiaging effect on the metabolism and brain, it ought to enhance inclination towards aerobic exercise. This isn't far-fetched as oxidative stress and energy status in neurons in the nucleus accumbens and pons at the top of the spinal cord mediate perceptions of pain and thereby inclination to move, as well as the reward circuitry of the brain. This is why analysis of specific systems can lead to conclusions that may be wrong because these things aren't happening just to the particular thing examined. Such a large protective effect from aerobic exercise may in theory eliminate any risks overall in the case of the claimed risk of nicotinamide riboside. It might also not show up in all cancer types.
We do know that metabolic nutrient cocktails, such as R-Lipoic Acid and AL-Car, PQQ, have rejuvinating effects in aged animals , and that was observed by the researchers to be reflected in increased movement and more youthful behaviours.
Smooth_Imagination t1_ivr3tmn wrote
Reply to Frequency of billion-dollar natural disasters in the US (2021 dollars), 1980 – 2022 [OC] by USAFacts_Official
lives lost is though essentially at or near an all time low (strange but it has been declining over decades). The damage tracks with how much stuff there is to get damaged and claimed against. I assume that is what is being reported here, insurance claims? Is it inflation adjusted? Still 2022 looks like it was a worse year than usual and its half way through on that.
Smooth_Imagination t1_ivhuynh wrote
Reply to Volcanic activity and low ocean oxygen events linked to climate warming and rapid ice melt during last ice age, study finds by avogadros_number
I'm sure that could be part of it, but the ice melt during certain phases was so incredibly rapid that a theory was proposed that it was accelerated due to the top of the ice falling in altitude. As the altitude at the top of the ice sheet declines it encounters denser air which is warmer, this effectively created a rapid feedback that collapsed the Laurentide ice saddle across North America.
Smooth_Imagination t1_itjdt2n wrote
Reply to comment by Massey89 in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
I think they borrow to buy other properties using other ones as collateral.
But there are individual home owners who have bought a second home to rent out so that the renter essentially is paying off the mortgage.
Smooth_Imagination t1_it9w7r3 wrote
Reply to comment by HighKingForthwind in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
Because calling something welfare, or subsidy, is a politically loaded thing, claiming that one benefits at anothers expense.
By way of example, if I point out that children's school books are subsidised, when I am referring to them being VAT free with that word, subsidy, that's an odd way to frame it. As if they are getting help they don't deserve, especially as no rational person can define the absence of tax as subsidy, which has always been referred to simply as a tax break, for example.
Whereas in this case it seems pretty clear that renters need help, not that home owners don't.
There's no direct connection to home owners getting help and renters not getting it. The shortfall, if one wants to consider it that, comes from the general pot. You could just as easily, and more appropriately, point out legal tax avoidance loopholes where people aren't paying any or very little taxes through off-shore tax havens and various ways of hiding things in trusts, or the tax-free foundations of Billionaires, which have everything as much to do with the tax burden on the renters to make up the shortfall, if not more, because that is the class accumulating properties pushing up demand, which feeds onto the house sale price, which loops back around to the average rents that landlords can charge even on a property that long ago paid for its purchase.
Smooth_Imagination t1_it9ujgt wrote
Reply to comment by Soupkitchn89 in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
Yeah I agree, micromanagement like that is undesirable for many reasons.
I think where the solution lies is in separating out lending and finance for new builds / restoration vs existing housing. Where a market is plainly overheated encouragement of planning applications for affordable housing to stimulate new supply is different than, say encouraging higher lending for mortgages on existing already built housing stock, that just keeps its price going up, edit or as you point out, financing existing property accumulation by land lords.
The way we do it, which is potentially effective if it was done faster, is that councils are told how many houses they need to bring online to meet population demands, and a fraction of that needs to be affordable. If it falls below its target for long enough those councils are fined. Its up to them to decide where planning submissions are approved for that. I favour high density developments near towns personally, as also transport costs are less and residents have access to jobs.
Smooth_Imagination t1_it9qenn wrote
Reply to comment by Soupkitchn89 in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
Oh it does, the cost of the house can't go to zero, thats true.
But in industrialised, technologically progressing societies, the ammout of stuff each of us produces increases and can in turn, even with a fat cat in the middle, get more in exchange for what we trade. So housing should get technically more affordable, although never free.
In my country by way of background, in my area many people are priced out. But not far from here getting a new, town centre flat can be very affordable, in areas that are reasonably desirable. Because of national minimum wage most everyone can earn £1500 a month and the flats are £100,000, with rent of about £400 a month. These are new builds not being sold at a loss, that's just a reflection of what they cost. Anyone can get a deposit and buy one there.
But go where the housing is in higher demand and prices go, as we say 'mental'. In the capital, for example, a major driver of this is that property is bought for money laundering and oversees investment funds.
So managing demand so that new builds (a fraction of which) can only by bought by local workers and not more than a reasonable multiple of wage is quite doable.
Now, the cost of housing is about 30% from the underlying cost of the land. But, if you were a house builder in this country and wanted to increase the odds of getting your planning application on a plot of cheap farmland you have bought, from nearly zero to decent, you would have to put a fraction of it as 'affordable'. Now if you put it to 100% affordable then developers know that the development has higher odds of getting planning but is less profitable. Councils can thereby keep housing costs down because granting planning for affordable housing means the land is worth less, and thereby costs less, than for say a millionaires row. And this does lower the cost of the development. So yes it is happening, but the rate at which new housing is coming onto the market lags years behind because planning permissions take ages, and really should be strategically pre-approved where it is logical to build them (for affordable housing). The ongoing bubble prices are due to supply vs demand imbalance.
Edit typo
Smooth_Imagination t1_it97dko wrote
Reply to comment by DoobieBrotherhood in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
No you are not. You are, if the tax is unjust, simply discriminating against the other group.
There is no natural state of taxation. Each tax needs to be justified in terms of what it does and be applied fairly, but arguing it as a benefit is like punching one person and then claiming the unpunched person was the beneficiary of not being punched.
I'm pro-tax, but I don't believe a situation can be described as subsidy because you didn't tax it.
Its funny really because whilst this kind of discussion goes on, no one did anything about the tax loopholes in offshore accounts, which the truly rich benefit from.
Smooth_Imagination t1_it8viy4 wrote
Reply to comment by ThePhysicistIsIn in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
Yes this is true in that people have to modify what size of mortgage they can take on in light of disposable income, but I think a better solution is to restrict mortgage lenders from lending excessive multiples of an average wage whilst restricting planning permission except for affordable housing (as calculated by an affordable mulltiple of average earnings in the local area). So in this way land costs are restricted. See, a developer knows that affordable housing is defined as a certain level, purchases land, the council or planning department says 'affordable only', this causes the value of the land to be more rational, which is a major component of the final cost. Governments should in my view actively contract home construction companies to meet demand for affordable housing where they know there is jobs.
By relaxing lending in a situation of scarcity and at the same time allowing overseas investors and other investors to accumulate excess property, then the mortgages will go into bubble territory which also is mirrored in rental prices. Its a self-fulfilling loop.
Smooth_Imagination t1_it8ttvs wrote
Reply to comment by forebill in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins
Owning your own home vs renting it makes zero difference on the property demand.
Arguing for extra help for renters is great, 100%. But giving similar tax breaks to home owners who sub-let is not going to lower demand for housing and help renters get to own their own home, if it causes more property accumulation by landlords.
Smooth_Imagination t1_j3221b9 wrote
Reply to comment by Decuriarch in Wind power is built at an increasing pace but its effect on nature and animals is poorly known. Researchers investigated the impact of wind turbines on bat presence and activity in Finnish boreal forests. The results indicate that wind power repels bats and drives them away from important habitats. by universityofturku
I'm assuming that elevating a wind turbines lower swept region is viable so that bats would rarely encounter it (ignoring other factors that drive bats away like noise, presumably). Bats ought to generally stick to low altitude near flying insects.