January 5, 2023

A new test for autism hopes to help doctors diagnose before symptoms show

NBC News
Jan. 5, 2023, 8:23 AM EST
By Evan Bush

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind test for autism that they say can find markers of risk in a single strand of hair, an innovation that might help clinicians identify it in young children before they miss developmental milestones. 

The test — which is still in the early stages of development by the startup LinusBio and a ways from federal approval — is a diagnostic aid, meant to assist clinicians in identifying autism but not to be relied on alone. Because hair catalogs a history of exposures to metals and other substances, the technology uses an algorithm to analyze it for patterns of particular metals the researchers say are associated with autism. 

This test is the first to analyze this type of exposure history over time. The analysis predicted autism accurately about 81% of the time, according to a peer-reviewed study published last month in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. 

The researchers hope the technology could help children receive early intervention treatments sooner and also lead to the development of new drugs or therapy models for young children.  


https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/new-test-autism-hopes-help-doctors-diagnose-symptoms-show-rcna61081

January 1, 2023

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers

Emily Dickinson - 1830-1886

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


The photo is from a beautiful collection posted on Bored Panda by Roesellen Raimond.
The fox images are amazing.


Link: https://www.boredpanda.com/nature-wildlife-photography-roeselien-raimond/

January 1, 2023

What do you mean by happy new year?

January 1, 2023

Suspect in Idaho killings had made 'creepy' comments to brewery staff, customers, owner says

NBC News
Dec. 31, 2022, 9:23 PM EST
By Minyvonne Burke and Deon J. Hampton

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students last month had been known to some employees at a Pennsylvania brewery to make "creepy" and inappropriate comments, according to the owner.

Since Bryan Christopher Kohberger's arrest Friday in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, some who knew or had exchanges with the 28-year-old are now reflecting on those interactions in light of his arrest on a murder warrant in the deaths of the students in Moscow, Idaho, last month.

Jordan Serulneck, 34, the owner of Seven Sirens Brewing Company in Bethlehem, said Kohberger had gone by himself to the brewery a few times and would sit at the bar.

The exchanges at the brewery happened months ago, likely when the suspect was a student at DeSales University in Center Valley, less than 6 miles south of Bethlehem, Serulneck said. Kohberger graduated from DeSales with a bachelors in 2020 and completed graduate studies there in June 2022, according to the university.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-idaho-killings-made-creepy-comments-brewery-staff-customers-ow-rcna63847

January 1, 2023

Does anyone remember playing "crab soccer" in high school PE?

You had to sit on the floor and move around on your feet and hands, belly up. The gym teacher tossed out this enormous ball, and the two teams vied to kick it to the opposite side's goal.

January 1, 2023

What were your favorite school field trips?

Mine: United Nations and Museum of Natural History in NYC, trips to see new movies in technicolor in Montclair NJ

Washington Irving's home in Tarrytown NY.

And Dey Mansion, where George Washington slept. He sure slept around.

January 1, 2023

Who remembers ditto machines?

Ah, the smell of ditto fluid. The purple prose and poetry. Typing the teachers' handouts for brownie points.

January 1, 2023

Who remembers school sock hops?

Back in the 60s, when we had dances in school gymnasiums, we weren't allowed to wear shoes because they would scratch the polished wood floors.

There was usually a room or an area set aside to leave your footwear. Being a perennial wallflower, I was usually one of the people minding the shoe room.

Sock hops started in the 40's and were popular in the '50s. My kids' elementary school had a sock hop every couple of years in the '90s.

January 1, 2023

Who remembers white gym sneakers?

In high school we were required to wear white gym suits, white socks and white sneakers for Phys Ed. Everything had to be immaculately white, or you would get marked down.

We used white shoe polish to cover scuff marks on the sneakers.