Dysfluency: A Hidden Crisis in Middle and High School Literacy. Really!

Could it be that at the beginning of the second quarter of the 21st century the relevance of traditional reading objectives are fading? Nothing unusual in the human history of culture and values!

We are living now in the digital age and the age of AI!

Who has the attention span anymore for long-winded, verbose text in the age of Twitter/X?

Caveat I did not read the study.

"Key Points

• When students struggle to make sense of text, there’s a good chance that dysfluency (the inability to read with sufficient accuracy, automaticity, and prosody) is a contributing factor—quite possibly the dominant one.
• Fluent readers recognize words “at the speed of sight” and read with proper expression and intonation.
• The path to stronger reading in middle and high school starts with refocusing on fluency by prioritizing shared, oral reading in class.

...

The importance of fluent reading is routinely underestimated, especially as it applies to middle and high school students.

Far from a mere primary-grade issue, fluency is a prerequisite to reading comprehension at every level. Dysfluency is a hidden crisis in American schools, and the decline in recreational reading among children has compounded the problem. ..."

Dysfluency: A Hidden Crisis in Middle and High School Literacy | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Hegseth declares war on woke military policies: 'We are done with that s**t'

Good news! Bravo! Long overdue! Bring back the warrior ethos to defend freedom, constitutional democracy with separation of powers and rule of law around the world!

A force for good not for being a LGBTQ club! Not long ago there used to be an acceptable, working compromise policy  of "Don't ask, don't tell!" starting in 1994, which was repealed in 2011 under President Obama.

Do taxpayers have to pay for the transition of soldiers or military staff who want to become transgender? Under what conditions?

It appears, the US military has become too much a laboratory for dubious social experiments!

"Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced another policy shake-up in the department to uproot remaining woke policies that have plagued our military.

Hegseth delivered remarks to hundreds of generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, calling out policies that promote gender diversity rather than military strength and merit. ..."

Hegseth declares war on woke military policies: 'We are done with that s**t' | Blaze Media 'This is combat. This is life or death.'

Could Delivery Drones Reduce Traffic Jams? Indeed!

Posted: 5/30/2019

Just read this article: DHL drones make package deliveries in southern China

Yes, drones have the potential to reduce the delivery of goods by trucks. “Ehang’s drones for DHL ... travel between smart outdoor lockers, picking up and dropping off packages that are then carried by DHL workers to their final destinations”

And this is only the beginning ...

Discovery Of Intracellular Communication

Posted: 4/13/2019

Recently read this article: How secret conversations inside cells are transforming biology Organelles — the cell’s workhorses — mingle far more than scientists ever appreciated

A highly recommendable overview article!

Scientists can be extremely blind, dismissive, and ignorant for a very long time!

This is another, obvious case! So about 1990, a female scientist (Jean Vance) discovered and described it in a paper that the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria inside a cell form form contacts together crucial for the synthesis of lipids.

Some salient quotes from above article (emphasis added):

1. “The first recorded glimpses of contact between organelles emerged about 40 years before Vance’s discovery. In the 1950s, microscopists in France snapped pictures of mitochondria making intimate connections with the ER in rat cells. But biologists at the time didn’t think they had a function.”
2. “A few other scientists, working between the 1960s and 1980s, saw tantalizing hints that parts of the ER cosy up to other structures — including the Golgi apparatus”
3. “Researchers [only] now recognize that interactions between organelles are ubiquitous, with almost every type coming into close conversation with every other type” (emphasis added)
4. “That was the backdrop against which Vance’s 1990 paper landed. It was seldom cited until the past decade, when the field rediscovered her work. That’s also when researchers began to pinpoint the specific proteins — called tethers — that form the contact points between organelles.”
5. “These sites [contacts between organelles] transmit cholesterol, oily waxes and other fatty molecules … Calcium, hydrogen peroxide and other water-soluble compounds also flow through these portals, which helps the cell to aggregate these molecules for specific reactions”
6. “The ER “looked like a hand clamped around a mitochondrion and squeezing it”, says Voeltz. Over time, the mitochondria constricted at these points and split into two”
7. “likens the relationship between the ER and mitochondria to a sensual and dynamic flamenco performance”

It appears that the newly rediscovered intracellular communication and exchange of molecules opens up a new and huge chapter in biology!

Alchemy Is Back

Posted: 4/10/2019  Update: 5/21/2019

Sometimes history comes full cycle back! Or when bold ideas finally become reality many years(centuries) later!

Update Of 5/21/2019

I would be seriously remiss, if I did not add the tremendous impact of AI, machine learning, and in particular e.g. graph generation networks on chemistry, medicine, and biology.

AI is already helping to develop molecules with desired properties according to exact specifications.

Google has recently won a competition in protein folding (AlphaFold; Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction (CASP), a biannual competition aimed at predicting the 3D structure of proteins) and so on.

Original Post

Just read this article Using laser tweezers, chemists nudged two atoms to bond It’s the first time chemists have manipulated two atoms to create a compound

They call this a super controlled chemical reaction at the atom level.

Let the renewed search for the elixir of immortality or the philosopher stone begin! (just kidding)

This discovery has the potential to revolutionize/transform chemistry!

Viruses Cause Extensive Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Posted: 3/3/2019

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/the-case-for-transmissible-alzheimers-grows/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-review&utm_content=link&utm_term=2019-02-13_top-stories

Disclaimer

If confirmed and substantiated, then this is a huge discovery! This has the potential of a paradigm shift or scientific revolution! I am not a scientist or doctor!

Scientists Many Failures Are All Too Human!

Have indeed scientists and doctors seriously underestimated or even arrogantly dismissed viruses like flu for decades? For several decades, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's or Multiple Sclerosis were a mystery to our best scientists and doctors!

As an example, already as early as 1991 it was discovered that HIV traverses the blood brain barrier and causes damage to the brain and “that when the virus infiltrates the brain, it spurs neuronal death and a loss of synaptic connections” (Source 1; emphasis added). Why was this stunning discovery not immediately exploited and pursued to the fullest extent and immediately applied to other viruses?

It is very shocking to learn again and again how the best scientists and doctors can go down blind alleys for decades or even centuries ignoring or dismissing or wrongly and vigorously contesting other, alternative explanations!

Viruses And The Brain

Here is an excellent and comprehensive article about it. Usually, I am a bit reluctant to rely too much on one article to make bold generalizations, but having previously read many other reports about viruses in the brain, prions etc. I don’t think it is far fetched.

The article makes following bold statements:

1. That viruses like flu (e.g. H1N1, H5N1, herpes, HIV, encephalitis, measles) cause direct or indirect (via e.g. inflammation or toxins in compromised immune systems or via primed nervous system or via induced gene expression) damage to various brain cells (e.g. in the substantia nigra, oligodendrocytes) resulting in severe neurodegenerative symptoms like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer, dementia, encephalitis lethargica, and Multiple Sclerosis
2. These viruses are apparently capable of easily passing the blood brain barrier or they infiltrate the brain via major nerves like vagus nerve (via the gut) or lingual nerve (via the nose). We learn that viruses use at least three different ways to traverse the blood brain barrier: a) Direct crossing, b) Via Trojan horse or c) Immune response
3. Some of the neurodegenerative diseases caused by viruses may not be diagnosed in an individual before years or decades have passed

Shingles And Dementia

An article (Source 3) claims that a shingles infection that strikes the facial nerve important to facial movement (caused by varicella zoster virus) or shingles in the eye (“herpes zoster ophthalmicus”) can cause dementia (“The brain vessel damage that can occur with shingles is similar to what is often seen in dementia”). “Varicella zoster virus lives in about 95 percent of the U.S. adult population, thanks to ... chicken pox. ... but the virus remains, dormant in nerve cells [for the rest of your life] … Recently, scientists have learned more about the virus’s ability to infect arteries [“varicella zoster virus vasculopathy”], increasing the risk of stroke or causing headaches and vision problems. … One recently discovered viral target is the gut. ... the virus haunts the digestive organs’ local system of nerves, known as the enteric nervous system. In the gut, instead of a rash, the virus can cause abdominal pain, ulcers or other problems … detected varicella zoster virus in the saliva of six of 11 patients with unexplained abdominal pain for up to four months … The reactivated virus may also be behind some cases of a painful inflammation of the arteries at the temples called giant cell arteritis. More common in older adults, the disorder causes severe headaches, jaw pain and vision problems, and can lead to blindness. … But surprisingly, the virus appears to hide in very few nerve cells. In autopsy samples of ganglia …, researchers found dormant virus in only 34 of 2,226 [different?] nerve cells, or 1.5 percent” (Source 3; emphasis added).

There is more great information in the article (Source 3)!

Misfolded Proteins And The Brain

Another article (Source 4) claims that amyloid is similar and transmissible like prions. Latest research experimentally confirmed such transmission. “When the misfolded versions [of Amyloid beta] form, they behave like prions, catalyzing the conversion of healthy forms into diseased ones and accumulating in clumps called plaques. … In Parkinson’s Disease, misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins spread through the brain, and in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), the misfolded, accumulating protein is TDP-43. We should investigate the transmission potential of these diseases as well. … What is the difference between amyloid and prions? Are they part of a spectrum? Are they one and the same? If not, what is the difference?” (Source 4; emphasis added)

What is it now viruses or transmissibility of amyloid or both?

Sources:

1. Can the Flu and Other Viruses Cause Neurodegeneration? Scientists may need to seriously reconsider the cast-aside hypothesis that pathogens can play a part in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s (published 3/1/2019)
2. PSYCHOSES ASSOCIATED WITH INFLUENZA (published 1919; this link is provided in Source 1, but I listed it separately to stress that we had for several centuries repeated hints of a link between influenza and psychic disorders, which was summarized in this 1919 article)
3. With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage When varicella zoster reawakens, it wreaks a surprising amount of havoc in the body (published 2/26/2019)
4. The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows What separates a lethal prion from a dementia-associated amyloid plaque? Maybe not much (published 2/7/2019; what bothers me about this article is that the author, Jennifer Frazer, wrote it in such a way that the reader is led to believe she is a researching scientist, she is not)

Deep-Sea Origins of Marine Life

Trigger

Just read “Jurassic Fossils Suggest Deep-Sea Origins of Marine Life”

What Little Humans Know

“The deep sea was long thought to be a lifeless desert. Intense research in the last few decades, however, has revealed that it actually supports one of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth.”

This article suggests a paradigm change!

Contrast This With Climate Change

There are scientists and politicians out there who claim with a high degree of certainty to know what our climate will be like in 50 to 100 years from now. They want us to believe in anthropogenic global warming.