A new experimental drug is displaying promising results from the last phase of human clinical trials. Part of a new class of drugs called JAK-inhibitors, the new drug targets people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and is hoped to be approved by the FDA within the next 12 months.

The JAK family consists of four closely related molecules: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and TYK2, which play a pivotal role in facilitating cellular inflammatory signals. Over the past decade a new class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors have been in development as prospective treatments for a number of different immune-meditated diseases, from eczema to inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's.

Back in 2011/12, two JAK inhibitors initially hit the market. These first-generation iterations have been found to be somewhat effective but their lack of specificity can trigger a variety of negative side effects. The latest generation of JAK inhibitors are now reaching the final stages of human clinical trials. Designed to more narrowly inhibit individual JAK molecules, these new drugs are hoped to be more effective with fewer adverse effects.

Filgotinib is a JAK inhibitor that selectively targets the JAK1 enzyme. It is primarily being investigated to treat rheumatoid arthritis but initial clinical trials have shown promise treating both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. After years of development scientists are this week publishing some of the first results from the final Phase 3 human trials into the efficacy of the new drug, ahead of an FDA application to move the drug to market by 2020.

The results are certainly promising, with over 40 percent of subjects on the highest dose of filgotinib reporting "low disease activity" after 12 weeks, compared to only around 15 percent reporting similar effects on a placebo. By 24 weeks of use this success rate had increased to nearly 50 percent. Even more impressively, 30 percent of the high-dose filgotinib group achieved full disease remission after 24 weeks, compared to just 12 percent on placebo.

More details of this news over at New Atlas.

(Image Credit: IAOM-US/ Pixabay)

This is a question that plagues a lot of people. If you ever went to a museum, you might have noticed that a lot of statues have their noses missing, just like this marble head of the poet Sappho held in Glyptothek in Munich. Even the Great Sphinx in Egypt has its nose missing. The question is: where did the noses go? The usual speculation would be that someone chipped off the nose. However, that isn’t necessarily the case, but it is sometimes true nonetheless.

It is true that a few ancient sculptures were indeed deliberately defaced by people at various times for different reasons. For instance, there is a first-century AD Greek marble head of the goddess Aphrodite that was discovered in the Athenian Agora. You can tell that this particular marble head was at some point deliberately vandalized by Christians because they chiseled a cross into the goddess’s forehead.

This marble head, however, is an exceptional case that is not representative of the majority of ancient sculptures that are missing noses. For the vast majority of ancient sculptures that are missing noses, the reason for the missing nose has nothing to do with people at all. Instead, the reason for the missing nose simply has to do with the natural wear that the sculpture has suffered over time.

The fact is, ancient sculptures are thousands of years old and they have all undergone considerable natural wear over time. The statues we see in museums today are almost always beaten, battered, and damaged by time and exposure to the elements. Parts of sculptures that stick out, such as noses, arms, heads, and other appendages are almost always the first parts to break off. Other parts that are more securely attached, such as legs and torsos, are generally more likely to remain intact.

(Image Credit: Bibi Saint-Pol/ Wikimedia Commons)

It is already a no-brainer that we should exercise regularly. After all, exercise helps in keeping our bodies healthy. Unfortunately, despite this knowledge that we should exercise more, we don’t know how to do this exactly.

It is an ongoing debate to this day about whether cardio (aerobic) exercise beats resistance (strength) training. Cardio usually takes the form of running, while resistance training often takes the form of weightlifting.

A common refrain is that cardio is the best thing for losing weight or improving heart health, and resistance is the best thing for building muscle (though without any cardiovascular benefits). But is that really the case?

The problem is that in sports science, solid advice based on big scientific studies is quite rare. It makes sense when you think about it: Unlike clinical medicine, where a company can earn hundreds of billions of dollars down the road after developing a single drug, there’s not as much motivation (or money) behind finding the perfect workout. What’s more, as a society, we are generally more interested in knowing which medications prevent heart attacks than in whether crunches or situps are more effective.

[...]

When it comes to comparing cardio and resistance training, the evidence doesn’t show a benefit either way. One large systematic review — a type of meta-study that collates evidence from an entire field of research — focused on mentions of visceral fat in studies comparing the two forms of exercise. This is the fat that builds up in your torso and is thought to be the primary driver of obesity-related disease, which makes it an important indicator for health. The systematic review combined the results from 35 studies looking at more than 2,000 people across a wide range of exercise regimens. In terms of visceral fat, the review found that cardio provided benefits, but when compared to resistance training, the data was inconclusive.

Like most studies in the field, those comparing cardio and resistance training are few and far between. Another review, this one from 2018, looked at a range of health factors. Researchers found more than a dozen studies showing that cardio improved health, but only a handful compared cardio and resistance, and those lacked enough evidence to draw any conclusions at all.

It turns out the results depend on how much you’re already doing.

See more of this on Medium.com.

(Image Credit: Ichigo121212/ Pixabay)

Alexandre Dubosc (previously at Neatorama) makes delightful zoetrope animations out of chocolate cake. His latest creation is called Freequences. The motion shows us bits of chocolate cascading down the layers of the cake, creating visual music as it goes. Sweet! -via Nag on the Lake

Marvel announced in the San Diego Comic-Con that they have cast Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu as Shang Chi, the kung-fu master hero of Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Unfortunately, the Chinese are not too happy about this and they responded negatively to the announcement.

“The plotline of Shang-Chi is about belittling Chinese people while praising Americans,” wrote one user... on the social media platform. Another called it “horrible” that the movie will include “a symbol of foreign discrimination against Asians.”

In the comics, Shang-Chi’s father was a super-villain called Fu Manchu, who spends most of his time plotting evil schemes of world domination. In the movie version, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung will play a villain known as the Mandarin. Fans are speculating that the film’s antagonist is likely a substitute for Fu Manchu—long seen as a “yellow peril” symbol historically linked to racist beliefs of Asian peoples and cultures being a threat to the West.

Fu was first created by British author Sax Rohmer in the early 1900s. With stereotypical physical features and an outfit mimicking those worn by officials from China’s Qing Dynasty, Fu was licensed to Marvel and featured as the evil father of Shang-Chi in comics including The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu in the 1970s.

Despite Marvel’s move to replace Fu in the movie with the Mandarin, a classic villain in Iron Man who also has Chinese origins, China’s internet users don’t appear to be convinced by the difference between the two.

More details on Quartzy.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: OpenClipart-Vectors/ Pixabay)

There is a certain joy in petting animals, and a certain wave of relaxation once we get to pet them during stressful periods. This is a “coping method” for students in universities, where organizations would set up a petting booth for students. Sometimes even the university administration would set up support pets to help students out during their hectic semesters. 

It is an accepted fact that interacting with animals can make someone happy or relaxed, but is there an actual scientific backing to this? Well - researchers from Washington State University studied the psychological benefits of petting animals on campus,  as Science Alert reports: 

"We already knew that students enjoy interacting with animals, and that it helps them experience more positive emotions," says human development researcher Patricia Pendry from Washington State University.

"What we wanted to learn was whether this exposure would help students reduce their stress in a less subjective way."

Using salivary cortisol levels as an indication of academic stress, the study focused on 249 college students, who were randomly split into four groups during a real university animal visitation program.

This suggests that just 10 minutes of petting time can have a significant impact on a student's physical stress levels. And the authors are hopeful that this could assist universities in determining the best type of interaction and dosage for their animal intervention programs.

image credit: wikimedia commons

In a trending reddit post, reddit user u/hoobody shared a screenshot of himself playing 2048, wherein the game stopped him from scoring any further. His highest block was numbered at 1048576. His score reached 20 million. 

That feat is amazing, sure - it’s hard enough to reach the 2048 block itself, so you can imagine how difficult it was to get the 1 million block. Although a lot of people in the comments pointed out that what the original poster played was a different version of 2048, with 64 columns and an undo button - it's still an admirable achievement.

Congratulations on that 1 Million block, hoobody! 

image credit: u/hoobody

A beautiful art garden cafe in Zambales, Philippines is extra special because it employs people with special needs and disabilities.

Julyan’s Coffee Spot, the art garden cafe in spotlight -  was founded by Rachel Harrison who returned to build a home for her autistic son, Julyan.  The cafe houses some artwork made by Julyan himself and by other people with special needs and disabilities. Rappler shares more details on this beautiful autism awareness cafe: 

Uy says the employees with special needs and disabilities wear a pin that mentions their being differently-abled so customers know. She said that when trained well, people with special needs and disabilities can also work well and are very focused on their tasks.

image credit: Rhea Claire Madarang via Rappler

Which wine goes best with Cheez-It crackers? That depends on which cheesy flavor you have selected. Your sommelier from House Wine will guide you. For a limited time, it's possible to purchase a box that contains both wine and Cheez-It crackers. Ad Week explains:

Though this may be one of the more unconventional collaborations, it is an interesting way to draw attention to the Cheez-It brand’s use of real cheese in their baked crackers while highlighting the versatility of House Wine by associating it with an everyday snack.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Kellogg's

Quantum computers will never replace the classical computers that you have right now (such as your smartphone or your laptop). These type of computers won’t stream the latest shows from Netflix or help you with your taxes. So, how will quantum computers be useful? What can they do and why would they be important?

What they will do — what’s long been hoped for, at least — will be to offer a fundamentally different way of performing certain calculations. They’ll be able to solve problems that would take a fast classical computer billions of years to perform. They’ll enable the simulation of complex quantum systems such as biological molecules, or offer a way to factor incredibly large numbers, thereby breaking long-standing forms of encryption.

The threshold where quantum computers cross from being interesting research projects to doing things that no classical computer can do is called “quantum supremacy.” Many people believe that Google’s quantum computing project will achieve it later this year.

To achieve quantum supremacy, a quantum computer would have to perform any calculation that, for all practical purposes, a classical computer can’t.

[...]

… At the most basic level, [quantum supremacy] could lead to quantum computers that are, in fact, useful for certain practical problems.

Find out more about this on Quanta Magazine.

(Image Credit: geralt/ Pixabay)

Eleanor of Aquitaine is a woman of many titles — wife, mother, counselor of kings, crusader, and patron of the arts. She is often portrayed as one of the most powerful queens. In fact, in the eyes of her husband, her power is so great that it needs to be contained. And so, her husband, Henry II of England, locked her up.

Eleanor is only one of the great women of history. And these great women had the same power as her, and they used it quite like Eleanor did as well.

...In a recently published paper, the political anthropologist Paula Sabloff of the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico attempts to do just that, by comparing the roles and political clout of royal women in eight premodern societies spanning five continents and more than 4,000 years.

[...]

With the help of a small army of students and citizen scientists, over a period of five years, Sabloff built a series of databases on 14 premodern states. Of those, eight had enough information on royal women to support comparison. The oldest was Old Kingdom Egypt (2686-2181 BCE), the youngest protohistoric Hawai’i – a society that lasted from the 16th century CE until the first Europeans arrived in 1778. In between fall Aztec, Inka, Maya, Zapotec, Late Shang China and the Mari Kingdom of Old Babylonia. They range from city-states with populations in the tens of thousands, to empires comprising tens of millions. Some practised primogeniture, others did not. They varied with respect to their rules on succession, women rulers, marriage between kin and gender separation – meaning that each gender had its matched ruler. In short, they were worlds apart.

And yet, says Sabloff: ‘This same structure pops out.’ In all eight societies, royal women exerted power in at least four ways: they influenced policy; they influenced the behaviour of those both above and below them in rank; they acted as go-betweens; and they patronised clients. In addition, they were often involved in determining succession, governing, building alliances, and expanding or defending territory. The most powerful of all were the queen rulers. They were rare – the only society in Sabloff’s sample that tolerated them was the Maya – but they packed almost as much political punch as their male counterparts. In the 7th century CE, Lady K’awiil Ajaw of Cobá in the Yucatan peninsula presided over a formidable group of warriors and statesmen, and when she died she left behind one of the most successful kingdoms in Mayan history.

See the rest of the comparative study over at Aeon.co.

(Image Credit: ElanorGamgee/ Wikimedia Commons)

Then & Now Movie Locations is a fascinating blog that photographs the location shots of famous movies. Most recently, it recorded images from the locations used to shoot scenes from the desert planet of Tatooine from the first Star Wars film.

Here you see R2-D2 rolling through an area of Death Valley National Park known as "Artist's Palette". It's an alluvial fan noted for a wide range of colorful hues.

Fredrik Haren is a public speaker, author, and thought leader. He often addresses the topic of creativity and would like to help other people develop their creative ideas.

Haren is fascinated by islands. He owns two in Sweden, one of which he lives on. The other, which is near Stockholm, has a guesthouse, outbuildings, and a dock. If you impress him with an idea, he will give you a week of bucolic isolation on the island to develop it.

For free.

Would you like to apply? Here's a form to fill out. Haren is currently taking applications for the summer of 2020.

-via Messy Nessy Chic

Scientists say that the Mollisquama mississippiensis is called a "pocket shark" not because it's so cute you want to keep it in your pocket for when you need a smile, but because it has pockets near its gills. From these pockets, the little shark secretes luminous chemicals that attract prey. CBS News reports that scientists are delighted with the find, as it resembles the only other known pocket shark species:

"In the history of fisheries science, only two pocket sharks have ever been captured or reported," Mark Grace of NOAA'S NMFS Mississippi Laboratories said in the press release. "Both are separate species, each from separate oceans. Both are exceedingly rare."

-via Debby Witt | Photo: Mark Doosey

Looking for a new anime-themed cafe to visit on a trip to Japan? Maybe this Sailor Moon Restaurant is for you! 

Located in the Azabu Juban district (where Usagi lived in the series), Sailor Moon Shining Moon Tokyo offers a wide variety of meals and drinks inspired from the hit (and classic) 1991 anime series, just like what anime-themed cafes would do.

The restaurant offers something in addition to food and drinks for its customers: live shows - everyday. The live show would be held every evening, for customers that would come for dinner. 

Performance and food based on Sailor Moon? Now sign me up for that! 

(via Sora News 24)

image credit : via Sora News 24