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josephst18

38 karma · joined August 7, 2014

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josephst18··on Surgeons transplant pig kidney into a patient
For renal transplants - not sure if there’s an upper limit, although each subsequent transplant becomes a more difficult match (as antibodies build up) and eventually may have to remove previous transplants. Generally renal transplants go in the right or left groin with native kidneys left in place. If one transplant fails, a transplant to the opposite side may be attempted, or a different location (such as intra-abdominal). Otherwise, will need to explant the first transplant
josephst18··on Improving ventilation will help curb SARS-CoV-2
I would love to find a portable air exchanger too—opening windows helps with CO2 levels but it’s inefficient for most of the year in much of the United States. Built-in air exchangers with heat recovery are available but are a non-starter for anyone in a rented place. Unfortunately, no good solution exists so far
josephst18··on Apple announces it will switch to its own processors for future Macs
Tech specs on the DTK webpage don’t mention Thunderbolt at all, just USB-C (2 ports) and USB-A (2 ports), plus a HDMI 2.0 port.

Makes me wonder how the Pro Display used in the demos was being driven. DisplayPort with USB-C alternate mode?

josephst18··on Anki: Memorization with Spaced Learning
I’ve found it to be immensely helpful in medical school. I only add cards after I understand a particular concept—read about a concept first, then add cards to make sure I retain it. The most popular decks on r/medicalschoolAnki have many thousands of premade cards; with additional cards for microbiology and pharmacology, people may have as many as 20K Anki cards by the time they take Step 1 (standardized national exam of basic medical knowledge) after 2 years of medical school.

With this approach, Anki is much more about retention than learning. Books and lectures are good for learning, but Anki is ideal for ensuring I can remember side effects of a particular heart medication months or years after cardiovascular lectures ended.

It’s certainly useful for passing tests too, but the main value is in retaining knowledge long after a particular test has been taken.

josephst18··on Soylent’s Next Chapter
Correction: neglected to multiply by 4 kcal/g for the sugar in Soylent. Correct number is 9% calories from sugar in bottled Soylent.
josephst18··on Soylent’s Next Chapter
And the disclaimer to the meme: it’s worth pointing out that Soylent Drink gets about 2.5% of its calories from added sugar while Ensure Original gets 27% of its calories from added sugars.
josephst18··on Gut Microbes Can Shape Responses to Cancer Immunotherapy
Theory/ educated guess: these therapies try to antagonize the PD1 receptor, which is found on immune cells (specifically, T cells); in a healthy individual, the binding of PD-1L to PD-1 provides a "don't kill me" signal so that the body's own cells are not destroyed by the immune system.

The problem with this is that cancers frequently develop mutations and overexpress PD-1L which prevents the immune system from properly targeting them for destruction. These anti-PD1/ anti-PD1L try to counteract this overexpression, allowing the immune system's T cells to destroy the cancer.

However, targeting the cancer requires a functional immune system; this is where the gut microbiome comes in. It's a sort of "home gym" for the immune system--having a diverse range of bacteria helps keep the immune system strong; gnotobiotic mice (mice bred and raised in completely germ-free environment without any gut microbes) have significantly weakened immune systems.

So theory is that the gut microbiome acts as a "home gym" where the immune system can "train". Anything that reduces gut microbiome (such as antibiotics) will also reduce this "training" and leave the immune system less able to apply its training to fighting off cancer cells.

josephst18··on TypeScript 2.4
I learned JS through Eloquent JavaScript and did the various projects in the book, then changed all my .js files to .ts, turned on all of TypeScript's checks, and started adding types to my files.

I'd recommend doing a similar path; transitioning existing code to TS is IMO a better way to learn it than from scratch. TypeScript Deep Dive is a great resource.

josephst18··on Amazon Looking to Buy Capital One?
Perhaps they mean apps like Square Cash or Venmo? Both of those hold money for users in a "virtual" account until the user chooses to move it into a real banking account.
josephst18··on HubPress – A web application to build your Blog on GitHub
I'm also unable to login with 2-factor auth. Console says a 401 error.