Cup Of Tea Brightens The Day And The Mind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Newcastle University.
This is the introductory paragraph.
If you’re enjoying a cup of tea and mince pie this festive season, you may be refreshing more than your palate, as research shows a good brew improves the attention span in those over 85-years-old.
I find this research interesting, mainly because I drink tea in large quantities, at a rate of at least six mugs a day.
But then my family seems to have an unusual drink problem.
- I drink decaffinated builders tea and usually in a day, I’ll also drink two bottles of 0.5 % alcohol beer from Adnams and other soft drinks too!
- My father was the same except that he would have a pint of Adnams a couple of times a week.
- But his father drunk so much, he became an alcoholic and died at forty, well before I was born.
- I also tend to have a mug of tea before I go to bed.
- I’ve always preferred tea to coffee.
- My fifty-year-old son is teetotal, but seems to drink a lot of tea and soft drinks.
As both my father and myself share a skin problem, which is probably related to coelic disease. I think, I sweat a lot of water through my skin, so I need to keep topping it up.
Conclusion
After reading the report from Newcastle University, I think I’ll keep drinking the tea.
Thoughts On COVID-19 On Merseyside
Merseyside is in trouble with the covids.
These are the number of lab confirmed cases per 100,000 population for local authorities in the area, as of the 1st October 2020.
- Halton – 1108.1
- Knowsley – 1388
- Liverpool – 1244.5
- Sefton – 1037.6
- St. Helens – 1230.4
- Wirral – 1185.5
My London Borough of Hackney, which is demographically, a bit like poorer parts of Liverpool, has a rate of 524.3.
But the gold standard to my mind is Cambridge, which has a rate of only 380.6.
Oxford, which is a very similar city to Cambridge has a much higher rate of 799.5,
Why Is Cambridge Doing So Well?
I was diagnosed as a coeliac at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, twenty-three years ago.
According to my consultant in the City at the time, Cambridge has a VERY high level of diagnosed coeliacs.
He told me, that he had more coeliac patients, than any other gastroenterologist in the UK.
So why is the number of coeliacs so high in Cambridge?
I feel it is because Cambridge had a Whack-a-Coeliac policy in the 1990s, where they attempted to diagnose as many coeliacs as they could find.
I was certainly diagnosed at that time and judging by the speed they did the initial diagnosis, I suspect, they were using one of the first genetic tests. They were also doing endoscopies without anaesthetic to increase throughput!
Coeliacs, Cancer And The Covids
Diagnosed coeliacs on a gluten-free diet have a strong immune system, which helps protect them from cancer, as has been shown by Joe West at Nottingham University.
I should also add, that none of my coeliac acquaintances have had a severe dose of the covids.
So does our stronger immune systems give us protection from the covids?
This could explain, why an area like Cambridge has a lower level of the covids than Oxford.
Why Is Merseyside In Trouble?
The Irish, because of historic famine, have higher levels of coeliac disease.
Comedians from the City have joked about Liverpool being the capital of Ireland for decades.
Could it be that there is a high percentage of undiagnosed coeliacs on Merseyside?
If this is true, could these undiagnosed coeliacs, with poorer immune systems, be easy pickings for the covids?
Conclusion
These actions should be taken.
- Merseyside needs a Whack-a-Coeliac policy, if it doesn’t have one! It would certainly, improve cancer rates!
- Every in-patient with the covids, should be given a quick blood test for coeliac disease.
- Other research needs to be done to find out the any link between coeliac disease and the covids!
Not for nothing is coeliac disease regularly called the Many-Headed Hydra by some doctors and researchers.
Chief Scientific Advisor And Chief Medical Officer Briefing On Coronavirus (COVID-19): 21 September 2020
The title of this post, is the same as that of this page on the Government web site.
The page gives full transcript of what was said.
This is a paragraph.
When people have an infection, the vast majority of people get an antibody response, and we know that some of those antibodies are so-called neutralising antibodies. They do indeed protect against the virus. We also know that they fade over time, and there are cases of people becoming re-infected. So this is not an absolute protection, and it will potentially decrease over time. What we see is that something under eight per cent of the population have been infected as we measure the antibodies, so about eight per cent, so 3 million or so people, may have been infected and have antibodies. It means that the vast majority of us are not protected in any way and are susceptible to this disease. There may be other forms of protection that increase that number a little bit, other parts of the immune system, but it does mean the vast majority of the population remain susceptible, and therefore you’d expect spread throughout them. The number of people with antibodies is a little higher in the cities, and it may be as high as 17 per cent or so in London. That may confer a little slowing of spread but not much more than that. At that point I’ll pass over to Chris to take you through some of the other features of the epidemic. Chris.
Note that I have indicated some of Professor Vallance’s words in colour.
What does he mean?
Could he be alluding to some people having a better immune system than others and are less likely to get COVID-19?
- I am a coeliac on a gluten-free diet.
- Research by Joe West at Nottingham University has shown that coeliacs like me, are 25 % less likely to suffer from cancer. Could this be because of our condition or our diet, coeliacs like me, have a very strong immune system?
- I have various coeliac contacts, including several who read this blog and so far, I haven’t heard of one, who has suffered a bad dose of the covids.
Research should be done to see if there is a beneficial link between coeliac disease and COVID-19!
Conclusion
Patrick Vallance was certainly alluding to something!
Lightweight Green Supercapacitors Could Quickly Charge Devices
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Texas A & M Today.
This is the sub-title.
Texas A&M researchers have designed a new energy storage device that can store a charge up to 900 times greater than state-of-the-art supercapacitors.
It appears what they have developed is plant-based.
They appear to use lignin and potassium permanganate to create the electrodes for a supercapacitor.
It looks to be interesting research.
Sweden’s HYBRIT Starts Operations At Pilot Plant For Fossil-Free Steel
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Reuters UK.
These are the first paragraph.
Swedish green steel venture HYBRIT, owned by SSAB, state-owned utility Vattenfall [VATN.UL] and miner LKAB, on Monday started test operations at its pilot plant for fossil-free steel in Lulea, Sweden.
The HYBRIT web site outlines the process on its home page.
In 2016, SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall joined forces to create HYBRIT – an initiative that endeavors to revolutionize steel-making. HYBRIT aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with hydrogen. The result will be the world’s first fossil-free steel-making technology, with virtually no carbon footprint.
During 2018, work started on the construction of a pilot plant for fossil-free steel production in Luleå, Sweden. The goal is to have a solution for fossil-free steel by 2035. If successful, HYBRIT means that together we can reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.
This could be a very significant development.
A New Design For Flow Batteries
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in phys.org, which documents a development from the Mendeleev University in Russia.
The Russians are claiming they have developed a novel architecture.
Solar To Hydrogen Efficiency Record Broken By Australian National University Researchers
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
The traditional route to produce green hydrogen from solar panels, is to create electricity and then use electrolysis to create the hydrogen.
This process goes direct and an improvement in efficiency of 17.6 %.
Smartphone-Based Testing Device Cuts Time And Cost Of Diagnostics
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.
This is the sub-title of the article.
An inexpensive and sensitive smartphone-based testing device for viral and bacterial pathogens could reduce the pressure on testing laboratories during a pandemic.
These are a few important points from the article.
- The device has been developed by researchers and engineers at the University of Illinois.
- They are aiming for a $50 price.
- They started looking for a solution to look for viral and biological pathogens in horses.
- Tests work with a nasal or blood sample.
- Tests take about half-an-hour.
If this device can be productionised, so that millions can be turned out for their target price, this will be a major weapon in the fight against COVID-19.
Apparently, there is a great advantage of using horses in the trials of the device. The horse pathogens are harmless to humans, so it lowers the risk to researchers.
Climate Change: ‘Bath Sponge’ Breakthrough Could Boost Cleaner Cars
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the introductory paragraph.
A new material developed, by scientists could give a significant boost to a new generation of hydrogen-powered cars.
The article is a must read and the development could make it a lot easy to store hydrogen in vehicles.
The problem is that hydrogen is extremely light and the article says this about storage.
In normal atmospheric pressure, to carry 1kg of hydrogen which might power your car for over 100km, you’d need a tank capable of holding around 11,000 litres.
That is rather large. This extract from the article describes the solution.
To get around this problem, the gas is stored at high pressure, around 700 bar, so cars can carry 4-5kg of the gas and travel up to 500km before refilling.
That level of pressure is around 300 times greater than in a car’s tyres, and necessitates specially made tanks, all of which add to the cost of the vehicles.
Now researchers believe they have developed an alternative method that would allow the storage of high volumes of hydrogen under much lower pressure.
The team have designed a highly porous new material, described as a metal-organic framework.
As ITM Power’s hydrogen filling stations can provide hydrogen at up to 350-700 bar, I’m sure that there could be a useful coming together, that will make hydrogen-powered vehicles more common.
Could for instance, the new material mean, that hydrogen becomes the fuel of choice for heavy trucks and railway locomotives?
The Anonymous Widower 