cryptotope
cryptotope t1_j1s2147 wrote
Reply to comment by DudoVene in How does mRNA vaccine help the immune system identify cancer cells? by adamgerges
This is correct, but I don't think it quite answers the OP's question.
I believe they're asking why, if those cancer-specific cell surface markers are already present on the surface of malignant cells in the body, the immune system doesn't generate antibodies to them.
In other words, what's special about an mRNA vaccine and the way it presents tumor-associated antigens to the body that prompts an immune response and antibody generation, when those same antigens don't do anything by themselves when they're sitting on the surface of a cancer cell?
cryptotope t1_iv0wg7j wrote
Reply to comment by matchstick_s in How accurate are the "5 stages of grief" to model behavior during the loss of an important person? by pororoca_surfer
>Radiolab did a great podcast episode about this
And once you listen to that episode, go ahead and listen to pretty much their entire back catalog of episodes. It's all really good, really well-produced stuff.
cryptotope t1_itikjdz wrote
Reply to Is every single living cell adjacent to or “have access to” a capillary? Are there living cells not next to a blood/O2 source, and if so, how do they survive? by Friggin
Oxygen will diffuse from capillaries through tissues: through cells, dissolved in interstitial fluids, etc. The local amount of oxygen in tissue does fall off with distance from the nearest blood vessel(s). By and large, your body is normally quite good at building a capillary network that ensures adequate oxygenation.
This issue most often comes up these days in the context of cancer biology and solid tumors. Tumors often don't have well-formed networks of blood vessels, and there is consequently a range of oxygen levels through a section of malignant tissue: a well-perfused and highly-oxygenated exterior, a low-oxygen hypoxic middle layer, and an oxygen starved necrotic (nutrient-and oxygen-starved, dying) core.
These different regions can have very different behaviors, metabolically and biochemically speaking, which can be part of why cancer is so hard to treat.
cryptotope t1_isenjl3 wrote
Reply to [OC] Suicide Rate vs GDP per capita for various countries. Notice that the upper right triangle is almost empty i.e. generally increase in GDP per capita results in decrease in suicide rates. by ankuprk
Note that reported suicide rates are extremely vulnerable to reporting bias, arising from both unintentional and deliberate misclassification of deaths.
A variety of social, culture, religious, economic, political, and criminal factors affect the detection of deaths by suicide and how they are reported. (He accidentally took too many pain pills. She accidentally blew her head off while cleaning her gun collection.)
Heck, just being in a country that conducts more autopsies is associated fairly strongly with a higher reported suicide rate. This 2011 study in JAMA Psych found that a 1% increase in autopsy rate was associated with a 0.45 per 100,000 increase in suicide rate.
cryptotope t1_j2kzpez wrote
Reply to Does cold temperature make vistas more 'crisp' looking? by colorado_hick
There are (at least) a couple of different factors at work that can affect how clearly you can see a distant object.
The first is 'stuff' in the air. Dust, pollen, water (or ice). These can all change with the weather (and the seasons). The behavior of humidity - the amount that air can carry, and whether it condenses out - depends strongly on temperature.
The second is the air itself. Non-uniform air temperatures between you and those distant mountains affect the density of the intervening air, and result in weak, transient lensing effects. As you noted, it's the same phenomenon that results in mirages or heat shimmer--or which causes stars to 'twinkle' at night. Greater variations (and sharper gradients) in air temperature, coupled with greater turbulence in the air, make for worse seeing.