In the reductionistic approach that dominates science, we've tried to categorize even our own physiology into sperate systems such as the immune system or the metabolic system. A number of beautiful papers show that things are not so segmented as we might think. A thread.

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A Thread about Famous Armenian Inventors and what we have contributed to the world. So the next time someone wants to say we are unimportant, you can rest easy knowing Armenians have contributed some of the greatest inventions to mankind. Here is a handful but there's more.

Raymond Damadian: Armenian-American Physician and inventor of the first MRI machine. MRI is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. Raymond created the first MRI in 1977.

Artem Mikoyan: One of the most famous engineers in aviation. Mikoyan along with Gurevich created one of the most famous Jet lines in history, the MiG. MiG jets directly competed with American Lockheed Martin F Series planes and were among the first to surpass the speed of sound.

Hovannes Adamian: Most notably laid the foundations of color television with his Tri-Color Principle. His work would go on to become the framework that is used to create Color-TV that we see today. He is recognized as one of the founders of color television.

Emik Avakian: An inventor who unfortunately was disabled, but that didn't stop him from contributing work that would help people similar to his condition. Notable contributions are the automatic wheelchair which dismiss the action of hand rolling and a breath operated typewriter.

1/ #LBBB generates often a classical pattern on #EchoFirst. The pattern is very distinctive in Tissue Doppler of the septum.

The classical pattern arises from the time lapse of the activation and relaxation of the two walls, creating a pattern of interaction due to a sequence temporal imbalances of the tension between the two walls.

2/ As the septum is activated first, it contracts (shortening - septal flash) without activation of the lateral wall, which stretches. This generates slower pressure build up than a normal IVC, which then is prolonged.

3/ During ejection, the LV volume decreases, so both walls shorten. Tension, however, declines first in the septum, as this was activated first. This leads to a tension imbalance, so the lateral wall continues to shorten, the more relaxed septum stretches.

4/ The stretching of the septum builds up an elastic tension in the septum, which is released as recoil, when tension declines in the lateral wall, showing a post systolic shortening in the septum which is due to elasticity.

https://t.co/xvP6tVlIaE
Quite a surprise. Ferguson isn’t qualified to comment on such things. He lacks understanding of basic biological concepts, partly explaining why his predictions are often so extreme.

That said, I’ll take him as an ally. It’s clear we’re already at herd immunity. How can I be sure? London had a huge peak of excess deaths in spring. The timing of peak deaths showed clearly that the pandemic was self-limiting. Recall much debate about whether the interval...

...between lockdown & peak deaths was long enough for lockdown to have been the cause of reducing deaths? The answer was “no”. But it was close & I can understand people thinking “well, it’s close, so perhaps it was lockdown that did it?”, thereby establishing a foundational...

...myth favoured by those who genuinely believe lockdown saves lives (it clearly doesn’t).
I’ll get to London & here immunity. But those wavering about the evidence about lockdown in spring really will benefit from cogitating on this graph.

In blue are the 30 trusts with the earliest date of peak deaths in spring. In red, the 30 with the latest peak deaths. For me, this is proof that national lockdown, which began Mar 23, played no role whatsoever in turning the pandemic. You’ll see some areas had peak daily...

Beyond the scientific and epidemiological reasons to doubt the lab escape theory of pandemic origin, let’s not forget that no US or allied intelligence has emerged with even a whiff of evidence that a lab was the origin by accident or intention.

To believe the lab escape theory you also have to believe the Chinese have mounted a successful, extended campaign to eliminate incriminating evidence and muzzle officials and scientists who knew or might have suspected it came from a lab.

It’s a pretty big secret to hold on to, especially for a sizeable group of people that includes an international network of scientists, other workers, and families -- many of whom are not exactly in the secrecy business.

It’s been 12 months now of intense pressure on Western intelligence services to uncover that secret. Doesn’t have to be a taped confession, slam dunk email, or official document (though that would be handy). It could be indirect evidence or suspicious behavior.

The White House in particular leaned has heavily on US spy agencies to uncover Chinese malfeasance or error. “Trump made clear...his interest in intelligence supporting the theory the virus emerged accidentally from a Wuhan