Take a deep breath. It could help against Covid-19

The NPC Podcast is on the air. The organizers of the National Pharmaceutical Congress are proud to release the first episode of our new weekly series, hosted by Peter Brenders. Peter's guest this coming week will be Dr. Shafiq Qaadri. Listen here now, or download the episode and play it at your convenience. The NPC Podcast is presented in cooperation with Impres Pharma.

⇒ Issue #75 [In numerology, the number 75 is a combination of the vibrational energies of the numbers 7 and 5. Number 7 signifies spiritual awakening, spiritual enlightenment, intuition, and inner wisdom.]
⇒ Confirmed Covid cases in Canada as of 07/15: 110,350*
⇒ Confirmed Covid fatalities in Canada as of 07/15: 8,845*
⇒ Worldwide Covid cases as of 07/15: 13,323,530*
⇒ Worldwide Covid fatalities as of 07/15: 578,628* 

July 15, 2020—Good morning from the Junction neighbourhood in the west end of Toronto, it's Chronicle assistant editor Dhiren Mahiban here with your midweek, and mid-July, edition of the Daily CurveFlattener. 

While I have never been one to practice yoga, research conducted in the U.S., and published online ahead of print in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (June 22, 2020), suggests the anti-inflammatory effects of meditation and yoga could make them potential adjunctive treatments for Covid-19.

A collaborative study led by Dr. Deepak Chopra at the University of California, San Diego and Dr. William Bushell at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found there is evidence of stress and inflammation modulation as well as preliminary evidence for possible forms of immune system enhancement which is the result of certain forms of meditation, yoga, and pranayama, along with potential implications for counteracting certain forms of infectious challenges. 

Concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, the authors acknowledge the ideas presented in their research must undergo further scientific investigation. 

COVID CHRONICLE 07/15/2020

• Moderna, the first commercial therapy producer to begin human testing of a vaccine for Covid-19, says its product produced immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers, according to a Reuters story (July 14, 2020). None of the study's volunteers experienced a serious side effect. However, more than half of the study's participants reported mild or moderate reactions. Moderna's shot, mRNA-1273, uses ribonucleic acid—a chemical messenger that contains instructions for making proteins. When injected into people, the vaccine instructs cells to make proteins that mimic the other surface of the coronavirus, which the body recognizes as an intruder and mounts an immune response against. 
• A team of scientists led by Scripps Research in San Diego, Calif. has discovered a common molecular feature found in many human antibodies that neutralizes SARS-CoV-2. The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Science (July 13, 2020) reviewed data on nearly 300 anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies found in convalescent Covid-19 patients over the past few months. The researchers noted that a subset of antibodies is particularly powerful in neutralizing Covid-19 and that these antibodies are all encoded, in part, by the same antibody gene: IGHV3-53. 
• A retrospective study conducted by investigators at New York University Langone Health found the quantity of SARS-CoV-2 virus collected from patients in the emergency department is significantly higher in patients with fewer or milder symptoms who did not require hospitalization—the opposite of what might be expected. The study published in The American Journal of Pathology (July 2, 2020) shows a patient's history of cancer and cardiovascular disease is associated with higher viral loads, even after adjusting for age. 
• Educators could use the Covid-19 outbreak to help students in grades 4 to 9 better understand the world, according to new research conducted at Binghamton University. Bogum Yoon, associate professor of literacy education at Binghamton University, suggests the Covid-19 pandemic may offer educators a perfect real-world scenario that invites students to critically examine how our global community's actions affect one another. The paper, The Global Pandemic as Learning Opportunities about the World: Extending School Curriculum was published in Middle Grades Review (June 2020). 

STORIES CHRONICLE IS WORKING ON TODAY

Over at Derm.City, we have a post based on research conducted in Croatia which suggests athletes who routinely train and compete outdoors need better education on sun-safe behaviours. The study's authors recommend athletes avoid training and competing during periods with high sun exposure. The researchers also propose athletes wear adequate clothing and apply water-resistant, high protection sunscreen regularly. Additionally, screening for skin cancer should be performed on athletes at high risk.

RIGHT NOW WE'RE LISTENING TO...

Episode No. 399 of the Longform Podcast with guests Tessie Castillo, a journalist covering criminal justice reform, and George Wilkerson, a prisoner on death row in North Carolina. Castillo and Wilkerson are two of the co-authors of Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row—a collection of essays written in the words of prisoners on death row.


LATER WE'RE READING...

Steve Jobs: A biography by Walter Isaacson.  

TONIGHT WE'RE EATING... 

This rainbow potato salad with some leftover chicken.  

AND HOW ARE YOU DOING?

Please make use of the comments section at the Daily CurveFlattener, to let us know what you're up to today. Or feel free to check in via LinkedIn, email, or your choice of connector. By all means, pass this newsletter along to your colleagues.

That's it. Stay in touch, stay safe. My colleague Jeremy Visser will be by tomorrow with your Thursday edition of the Daily CurveFlattener.