StemCell Therapy

When Gov. Kate Brown announced in late April that healthcare providers would soon be allowed to perform nonurgent medical procedures on Oregonians, there was an unexpected segment of the states population poised to benefit:

Pets.

In addition to hospitals, surgical centers and dental offices, veterinary clinics also were given the green light to resume all medical procedures on May 1, setting the stage for pet owners to move forward with spays, neuters, dental surgeries and everything in between. The move not only opened the door for clinics to ease the pain of suffering animals, but also delivered a dose of hope to the dozens of clinics in the Portland area struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis.

We were set up so I can do my job and survive by just doing exams, said Dr. Alexandra McLaughry, who owns and operates BarburVet in Southwest Portland. But for a lot of clinics, performing surgeries and other procedures is vital. Thats how we make our bread and butter and pay the bills.

Portland is widely considered one of the most pet-friendly cities in the United States, boasting the most dog parks (33) per capita of any large city in the nation and a smorgasbord of indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities for four-legged friends. It used to be almost as likely to sit next to a dog at a brewery or bar as it was a human. But while COVID-19 has brought much of society to a virtual standstill, it has not decreased the need for animal care.

In fact, some clinics say demand has only intensified the last two months as pet adoptions have increased and pet owners suddenly confined inside with their dogs and cats amid stay-at-home orders have started noticing more issues with their furry friends.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading COVID-19, so treating patients is not a concern for veterinarians. But everything else surrounding the treatment is, and clinics have had to overhaul virtually everything they do to help clients and take care of patients.

Overall, this has been a very strange time, said Michele Zawadzki, a doctor of veterinary medicine at Mt. Tabor Veterinary Care. At first, it was pretty stressful for everyone and we werent sure how much work wed be able to do or even if we would be laid off. But now, six weeks into this, I think people are starting to feel like its just the new normal.

And the new normal is unlike anything the veterinary world has experienced before.

Nowadays, pet owners rarely step foot inside a veterinary clinic to accompany pets for evaluations. Instead, they pull up to clinics in cars and phone the front desk to initiate appointments. Nurses, covered in masks and gloves, walk outside to retrieve pets from parking lots, then take them inside for an examination while owners remain in their cars and await further instruction.

At some clinics, like Mt. Tabor, veterinarians and nurses assess patients and call owners on cell phones to discuss medical options. At other clinics, like BarburVet, veterinarians set up virtual evaluations during which they allow patients to watch and communicate through smartphones as medical professionals care for their pets. They dissect problems and discuss treatment options live, as if everyone were in the exam room talking face-to-face.

Zawadzki said she and her peers had found our groove with the new process, but it took three times as long to see and treat patients a 15-minute visit now lasts 45 minutes. She also has noticed a spike in anxious pets and owners as the emotional and interpersonal experience of veterinary care has grown cold through technology.

People are so grateful that were open and Im grateful to be able to come to work and help sick animals, Zawadzki said. But, also, I really miss seeing clients. You form really strong relationships with people and we do a lot to help them make difficult decisions with their pets. This is hugely important to people and these are very caring situations. Things are just different these days.

Added McLaughry: Its like working in a whole new job and were all kind of learning on the fly. It can be quite emotional when youre telling clients hard news and thats even more challenging when you have to do so on a screen.

McLaughrys new job has included almost no surgeries. Shes performed just three over the last six weeks, when clinics have been limited to emergency procedures exclusively under governor orders designed, in large part, to conserve supplies of PPEs. Likewise, Zawadzki, who normally performs surgeries three days a week, has had just five surgeries over two days the last six weeks.

But that all changed on May 1, of course, when Brown lifted her ban on nonemergency procedures for humans and animals, alike. McLaughry has a neuter scheduled for Thursday and Zawadzki said Mt. Tabor would resume all medical procedures later this month. The clinics have dozens of pets lined up on waitlists, seeking a variety of care.

Veterinarians can begin treating patients with nonurgent procedures so long as their clinics have an adequate two-week supply of PPE on hand and follow strict infection control guidelines. Furthermore, in addition to practicing social-distancing and continuing to practice telemedicine, clinics are required to take a measured approach to resuming procedures. The process will be reassessed every two weeks.

McLaughry said her clinic was busier now than it has been at any point since she opened it six years ago, in part because many nearby clinics in Southwest Portland have temporarily shuttered and sent business her way. She doesnt expect the frenzy to end anytime soon.

I feel blessed that were allowed to be open and practice, McLaughry said. For some people, especially elderly people who live on their own, their pet is very important to them. And that was true way before any of this. Im grateful that I can be open and provide services for pets.

There was a point when DoveLewis wasnt sure it would remain open. The Northwests only nonprofit, 24-hour emergency animal hospital and intensive care unit is a vitally important facility for pets and owners, treating more than 25,000 animals a year. But, like other businesses and nonprofits during COVID-19, it had to rethink everything it does.

The hospital employees 170 people and ensuring their safety, as well as that of their clients, was paramount. When stay-at-home orders arrived in March, Ron Morgan, the DoveLewis President and CEO, said there was a faction of people lobbying for the hospital to temporarily shutter for the sake of safety.

But thats just not who we are, Morgan said. Its human nature to be worried and concerned about personal safety. I dont blame anyone for that. But we wanted to stay open and meet the demands of our clients.

So, instead of closing, Morgan started hosting virtual town halls with employees and he and his team worked more than 25 days in a row to craft a new standard operating procedure, navigating the ever-changing threat of the virus and the CDCs evolving safety playbook along the way. Like neighborhood clinics, DoveLewis asks pet owners to wait outside and consult with veterinarians over the phone during visits. But because many patients arrive with an emergency, and a high percentage of clients walk or use public transportation to travel to the hospital, the facility also permits a handful to wait inside.

Theyve even hired a 24-hour security guard team to patrol the property at a cost of $20,000 a month to provide an extra layer of safety to their around-the-clock service.

Morgan said the hospital had seen a small dip in visitors, but because it is the only facility of its kind in the area, things remain busy. Nearly 1,900 patients visited in April, roughly 100 fewer than in April 2019. It didnt help that the hospital had to pass on about 30 surgeries because its surgical teams, after a 90-minute deliberation, deemed the procedures elective.

Theres definitely going to be an economic impact from all of this, Morgan said. I dont think the worst has hit us.

But even so, amid all the mayhem of the last two months, Morgan has been emboldened by the nimbleness and camaraderie of the veterinary community.

I know that everybody has felt the economic pain of not being able to do elective procedures and endured a great amount of stress trying to keep business open, he said. I hear from so many people who say, I think I can get by with this for a month or two. Anything longer than that, Im not so sure. But we all understand that we need to take care of our staff and keep people healthy so we can take care of patients. The vibe has been filled with disappointment because of how this affects us personally, but also an understating of the bigger picture and that we all need to do our part.

Zawadzkis clinic sits on Southeast Belmont, across the street from a food cart pod and a coffee shop. Occasionally, during the day, she gazes outside the window and sees a stream of people stopping by the businesses and even hanging out.

She cant help but feel concern that some arent taking the treat of COVID-19 seriously and realizing the gravity of the situation. But the indifference of others has not and will not deter her from helping patients, despite the risk.

We have seen more new puppies and kitties and more new adoptions during all of this, Zawadzki said. People are like, I have time to train a puppy now. And they are going to need to be spayed and neutered. There are lots of animals that still need our help.

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories

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Oregon veterinary clinics resume non-emergency procedures, but pet care is a long way from business-as-usual - OregonLive

A Texas A&M expert says it is very rare for pets to get the COVID-19 virus, and there is no evidence they can pass the disease to humans.

COLLEGE STATION As our knowledge of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and resulting COVID-19 disease evolves, the news and guidelines we must follow are changing as well. The dynamic nature of this situation may be difficult for some, who may find keeping up to date with current best practices and precautions to be a time-consuming endeavor.

Dr. Kate Creevy, an associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says that while several news stories have recently detailed pet cats, dogs, and even zoo tigers testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, pet owners should be assured that these are rare and seem to be one-way occurrences.

We have no evidence that sick pets can transmit coronavirus to otherwise healthy, uninfected owners, Creevy said.

Creevy said that most viruses prefer to infect one species above others; under our current understanding, SARS-CoV-2 prefers infecting humans and is less effective at infecting cats or dogs.

The very most important way this virus spreads is from person to person, she said.

Most dogs and cats that have tested positive for the virus in their bodies had known contact with infected humans. For some stray cats that have tested positive, it is not possible to determine what contact they may have had with infected people.

And although these animals tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is not clear whether the virus made them ill.

Given how common cat and dog ownership is and how uncommon detection of SARS-CoV-2 in these animals has been, Creevy says it is highly unlikely that dog or cat transmission of the virus will become a major factor in the pandemic.

Researchers around the world are paying very close attention to whether or not pets can transmit the virus to humans, and have found no supporting evidence," Creevy said. "This is an emerging virus, which means that we dont yet know everything about it. But we will continue to provide updates to the public any time our understanding changes.

Pet owners should practice good hygiene around their pets and other humans, maintain social distancing, and avoid exercising their animal in crowded areas or busy dog parks. Keep in mind that pets fur, like any other surface, may carry the virus if touched by an infected individual.

Creevy recommends that pet owners follow the following precautions:

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer after playing with or petting a dog or cat, especially after contact with pet saliva or feces.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose, or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.

Practice good respiratory hygiene, which means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately.

Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, dry cough, or difficulty breathing, seek medical attention and call your provider in advance so they can be prepared for your arrival. Follow the directions of your physician or local health authority.

If you are sick, avoid close contact with other members of your household, including your pets. Have another member of the household care for your animals. If you must look after your pet while you are sick, maintain good hygiene practices and cover your face if possible.

The current crisis is stressful for many, but pet owners can mitigate their worries by following the recommended guidelines and practices. As a community, we can beat COVID-19 by staying clean, staying home, and staying well.

Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be found on the Pet Talk website. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to editor@cvm.tamu.edu.

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Pets and COVID-19 - News - Alice Echo News-Journal

For as long as she can remember, Goochland Animal Clinic founder Dr. Margaret Washburn wanted to be a veterinarian.

She knew it as a child growing up on her parents farm in Charles City County, where her earliest memories involved chickens, horses and cows, and she knew it as a teenager spending her summer hours as a veterinary assistant at a clinic in Ashland.

I often think back on how lucky I was that my parents always told my siblings and I that we could be whatever we wanted to be, Washburn says, and for her that would ultimately mean enrolling at Virginia Tech and eventually the nearby Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 1979.

What would follow would be decades of hard work and long hours in a profession known to be both physically and emotionally demanding. Yet even now, just a few weeks after retiring from the practice she built alongside her husband Richard in Maidens, she says she would not have changed a thing.

Simply put, I love veterinary medicine, Washburn said, explaining that getting to work with animals is just part of what drew her to the field. Washburn said she also loves the relationships she has been able to have with clients, and I always told young people who were considering going into veterinary medicine that that was an important part of it. You really have to love people.

Washburn founded Goochland Animal Clinic in 1991, after several years of honing her skills in other practices. She had learned early on that, while she enjoyed being able to work with both small and large animals, it seemed like a wiser choice to narrow the focus somewhat. She had also realized that she felt ready to strike out on her own, so when she found a house for sale on Maidens Road that could, with a little elbow grease, be converted into an animal clinic, she Richard decided to take the leap.

Over the next three decades she would build her practice slowly, relying largely on word of mouth at first to bring new clients to her door. As her list of clients grew so did her young family, and Washburn remembers what a joy it was that she could have her children nearby as she worked.

Though Washburn has always loved the work, running the practice also required an immense amount of work and time. Not long ago, knowing that she was perhaps ready to begin stepping back from the day-to-day rigor of being a full time veterinarian, she and her husband made the decision to sell the practice to veterinarian Dr. Brandi Layton and her husband Buck, who joined her at Goochland Animal Clinic in 2011.

It is clear from listening to her former clients that Washburn leaves behind a legacy of love and compassion.

To some, it was the encouragement Washburn gave to young clients who expressed an interest in becoming veterinarians themselves. To others, it was the way Washburn cared for their cherished family pets in the last days of their lives.

I will forever be grateful to Dr. Washburn and the care shes given our beloved pets, said Angela Allen, a client of Washburns for over 20 years.

Allen recalls experiences ranging from the best of times new puppy or kitten checkups to the worst of times: mercifully euthanizing an animal to relieve its suffering when the time came. Her dedication, compassion and love for pets and their families will truly be missed.

For her part, Washburn says she could not have asked for a better community in which to work, or a more fulfilling career.

Its just joyful every day to be able to work with these animals, she said. Ive been so fortunate to be able to have these wonderful relationships, both with pets and with people.

Original post:
Local vet leaves legacy of love for pets and people - Richmond.com

Youve probably heard these phrases a thousand times since the coronavirus broke out: Wash your hands. Dont touch your face. Stay home if you can. While these preventative measures are great ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, can the food we put in our bodies also prevent us from getting sick?

While there is no research stating certain foods and supplements lower your risk of catching the coronavirus, there are items you can eat or take to keep your immune system strong.

Dr. Howard Wright, who operates his own private practice, Dearborn Family Clinic, said there are nine things people can do to maintain a healthy body during the pandemic:

Get at least eight hours of sleep every night.

Get a daily dose of vitamins: Vitamin D is crucial to having a strong immune system, Wright said. In the protocols, when patients have COVID-19, many patients in the hospital get high doses of vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A and zinc. Those are really key.One way to get your daily intake is through vitamin tablets, but one can also eat foods rich in these nutrients, such as salmon for vitamin D, kale for vitamin C, sweet potatoes for vitamin A and beef for zinc.

Garlic: The ingredient contains a compound called allicin that can fight off infections, states the website, Healthline. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, garlic can also help lower blood pressure and slow down the hardening of arteries.

Citrus: According to Healthline, fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes are great ways of getting your vitamin C intake, as they can increase the production of white blood cells.

Broccoli: The vegetable is loaded with vitamins A, C and E, as well as fiber. According to Healthline, the best way to eat broccoli is raw, or as little cooked as possible.

Ginger: The spice is an anti-inflammatory, which can help reduce nausea and a sore throat when sick.

Spinach: The vegetable is high in vitamin C , and is filled with antioxidants and beta carotene, which increases the chance of fighting off an infection. Like broccoli, the best way to eat spinach is when its slightly cooked.

Yogurt: The healthy snack is a good source of vitamin D. However, with several types of yogurt out there, make sure to look for one that is filled with nutrients, like Greek yogurt. According to Healthline, plain yogurt is better than ones that have fruit added to them, since they are often filled with sugar. Those looking for a sweeter taste can add their own fruit to the yogurt.

Sauerkraut: Surprisingly, the condiment has many health benefits, including improving the immune system. The fermentation of the cabbage contains probiotics, which can fight off bad bacteria and toxins.

Wright said he has treated about 45 patients for COVID-19 so far, with all of them recovering.

I attribute that to early diagnosis, early treatment and the patients really working on their nutrition, he said. We use what we call an integrated approach where we use the foundation of nutrition, medications, anything we can to fight this horrible illness.

In addition to fruits, vegetables and spices, vitamins and natural supplements can also be a way to strengthen the immune system. Cathy Keoshian, the supplement manager for the Better Health stores, recommends five items to take for a healthier body:

Vitamin C: Like Dr. Wright, Keoshian said vitamin C boosts the immune system, and one should take between 1,000-2,000 mg daily. Research shows it will help reduce and shorten duration of respiratory infections, she said. Its also a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.

Zinc: It improves immunity and needs to be taken daily to improve health, Keoshian said. Its an anti-inflammatory, and its well known as a natural cold remedy. It cuts down mucus and bacteria, so it gives an antiviral effect. The recommended dosage for zinc is 50 mg a day, but no more than 100 mg.

Elderberry syrup: It has very powerful immune-boosting properties, Keoshian said. Its shown to reduce the duration of symptoms in colds, the flu and sinus infections.

Oregano oil: Keoshian calls the oil a wonderful germ killer, as it can help fight infections. It is antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal, so it acts like a natural antibiotic, she said. Its used to treat respiratory symptoms, colds, bronchitis, sinus infections, allergies and parasites.

The Wellness Formula-The supplement is from brand, Source Naturals, and contains 22 herbs. It helps prevent the cold and flu, it helps reduce symptoms of all infections, like sinus, sore throat, fever, Keoshian said. It increases energy levels, its full of antioxidants and has vitamins A, C, D and the minerals zinc and selenium. It pretty much has every germ-killing, immune-boosting thing you can think of. Four to six capsules a day is recommended, or 6 capsules every three hours when sick.

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Ways to boost your immune system during a pandemic - Dearborn Press and Guide

While standing in long lines at grocery stores in recent weeks, shippers may have seen the National Enquirer headline shouting, "Coronavirus Cures Finally Found!"

If that's true, why is everyone fighting over toilet paper and staying home?

The reality is that doctors say there is no known cure for COVID-19.

Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, Infectious Disease Specialist at the University of Cincinnati, is very blunt about hopes of miracle cures.

"It is not clear there is any supplement or anything you can do that will protect you from coronavirus," he said.

The Federal Trade Commission is sending warning letters to those peddling "quack cures." Recently, the commission shutting down televangelist Jim Bakker's ads for Silver Solution Gels, which he claimed to be effective against the virus.

In addition, the New York Attorney General has also ordered Alex Jones of Infowars to stop selling "coronavirus treatments."

The FTC has also halted advertising for seven other claimed cures, but like a game of Whack-a-Mole, they continue to pop up.

Supplements to help your immune system

Doctors and pharmacists are telling Americans that there is nothing proven to prevent coronavirus. However, certain supplements may be effective in boosting the immune systems for some people.

Bob Craig, the manager of a health food store, has seen a flood of new customers in recent weeks, all hoping to find something to help strengthen their immunity.

But he warns all of them that he is not hawking anything as coronavirus prevention.

"I don't want to give anybody false hopes," Craig said. "The best we can do is help you get your body healthy enough so that if something comes along, it can fend it off."

To that end, he shows customers his large selection of herbal teas and natural multivitamins that boost overall health.

His biggest seller? Good old Vitamin C.

"The experts suggest large doses of vitamin C, simple as that," he said.

He says Vitamin D is another possible immune booster, as is elderberry, which Craig sells in syrup and gummy form.

"You can't go wrong with it," he said.

Scientific studies cited in a recent USA Today report show that Vitamin C can help reduce the severity of colds but it has not been proven to prevent colds or viruses.

Other studies now suggest Vitamin D may help prevent COVID-19 deaths in hospitals , though again, there is no scientific proof that it can prevent a person from contracting the disease.

Exercise, meditation, and rest

Others suggest adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Kristyn Worley and Melissa Kidd own a wellness center called LifePath . They sell natural vitamin supplements and oils, and, to ease stress, teach yoga classes in a converted church. They say exercise is key to strengthening your immune system.

"We recommend daily exercise, something as simple as 15 to 30 minutes getting your heart rate up every day," Worley said. "Resting and managing our stress is important, as well."

They also say that they have no proven cures, but they feel exercise and meditation, along with supplements, can strengthen the body.

"Get plenty of rest, drink plenty of liquids, keep yourself eating right, do the right things," she said.

Bottom line: exercise, get rest, eat your vegetables and take vitamins. Mom was probably right all along.

That way, you don't waste your money.

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No vitamin will cure you of COVID-19, but some could help boost your immune system - KSHB

Researchers are learning more about how to harness the immune system to find new treatment options for a deadly brain cancer that strikes young children.

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, tumors cant be surgically removed due to their location on a critical structure of the brain called the brain stem. In addition, because of the presence of the blood-brain barrier, these tumors do not respond well to chemotherapy. Radiation is the most common treatment but its temporary, because the tumor grows back, and it isnt the ideal option for the young, developing brains of small children.

Some adult brain cancers, though, have responded to efforts to invigorate the immune system against the tumor, and a new study shows similar effects in animal models with one of the mutations that is present in human DIPG.

Immune-mediated gene therapy may lead us to a safe and effectivetherapeutic approach for DIPG in the future, says first author Flor Mendez, Ph.D.

MORE FROM MICHIGAN: Turning the Tables on Glioblastoma

The researchers treated mouse models with DIPG-like tumors in the brain stem, using an immunostimulatory gene therapy called TK/Flt3L to assess whether it would have a positive outcome on survival compared to regular care.

Together, these therapeutic genes sparked the immune system to recognize and kill the tumor cells, says Maria G. Castro, Ph.D., co-senior author.

We found anti-tumor immunity and an increase in anti-tumor specific T cells, says co-senior author Pedro Lowenstein, M.D., Ph.D. In this type of brain tumor, there are low numbers of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, and this approach addresses that shortcoming.

Additionally the team found that the immune-mediated gene therapy was well tolerated and did not cause any adverse side effects. They say these results will pave the way for future clinical implementation of this immune-stimulatory gene therapy in DIPG patients at the University of Michigan and beyond.

The work was funded by the National Institutes of Healths National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the ChadTough Foundation and the Leahs Happy Hearts Foundation.

Paper cited: Therapeutic efficacy of immune stimulatory thymidine kinase and fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (TK/Flt3L) gene therapy in a mouse model of high grade brainstem glioma, Clin Cancer Res. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3714

MORE FROM MICHIGAN: Tackling Tumors That Always Come Back: New Brain Cancer Research Could Improve Outcomes

Original post:
Therapy Harnesses Immune System to Slow Progression of DIPG Brain Tumors - University of Michigan Health System News

LOS ANGELES: Temporarily suppressing the body's immune system during the early stages of Covid-19 could help a patient avoid severe symptoms of the deadly disease, according to a study. The research, published in the Journal of Medical Virology, shows that an interaction between the body's two main lines of defence may be causing the immune system to go into overdrive in some patients.

The body's first line of defence, the innate immune response, starts right after an infection, killing the virus and any cells damaged by it, said researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) in the US.

Using the "target cell-limited model," a common mathematical model developed to understand the dynamics of viral infections, the researchers examined how the two immune responses work in Covid-19 patients compared to patients who have the flu.

Researchers noted that the flu is a fast-moving infection that attacks certain target cells on the surface of the upper respiratory system and kills almost all of the target cells within two to three days.

The death of these cells deprives the virus of more targets to infect and allows the innate immune response time to clear the body of almost all of the virus before the adaptive system comes into play, they said.

However, Covid-19, which targets surface cells throughout the respiratory system including in the lungs, has an average incubation of six days and a much slower disease progression.

Mathematical modelling suggests that the adaptive immune response may kick in before the target cells are depleted, slowing down the infection and interfering with the innate immune response's ability to kill off most of the virus quickly.

"The danger is, as the infection keeps going on, it will mobilise the whole of the adaptive immune response with its multiple layers," said Weiming Yuan, an associate professor at USC.

"This longer duration of viral activity may lead to an overreaction of the immune system called a cytokine storm, which kills healthy cells, causing tissue damage," Yuan said.

The interaction of the innate and the adaptive immune responses might also explain why some Covid-19 patients experience two waves of the disease, appearing to get better before eventually getting much worse.

"With the right suppressive agent, we may be able to delay the adaptive immune response and prevent it from interfering with the innate immune response which enables faster elimination of the virus and the infected cells," Du explained.

Here is the original post:
Supressing immune response may help avoid severe coronavirus symptoms: Study - Times of India

Wearing masks, keeping your distance, washing your hands those rulescurrently apply around the globe. There is not much more we can do, except wait for an effective drug against COVID-19 to be developed. Right? No, not quite!

There is something else that is now more important than ever and that should be no less stressed than good hand hygiene. Something that has not gained a prominent place in either the public debate or in the catalogue of government recommendations: a functioning immune system.

Biochemist Adrian Gombart, who is doing research on the relevance of nutrients for the immune system at the Linus Pauling Institute of Oregon State University, wanted to change this situation. Together with his colleagues, he set about producing a review paper summarizing the results of studies on different nutrients and their influence on the human immune system. These are findings that could be an additional weapon in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Read more:The race towards a coronavirus vaccine: What's the latest?

Nothing works without vitamins

"The measures being taken are all important. But it is also important that we pay attention to our nutrient status so that our immune system can function at all," said Gombart. This is especially important in stressful times like these, when we tend to comfort ourselves with junk food, he says. After all, getting enough nutrients is not really a focus of our interest at the moment.

Yet vitamins C and D and other micronutrients such as zinc, iron and selenium are much more than just "nice to have." In the worst case, a nutrient deficiency can open the door to the viruses because the body is unable to defend itself against the invaders. For people who belong to a risk group, the danger of a severe course of disease is then particularly high.

This comes down to simple biochemistry: "Every cell in our body uses different micronutrients to function," says Gombart. Micronutrients include vitamins, minerals and omega fatty acids.

Unlike macronutrients such as fat, carbohydrates and protein, the micronutrients do not provide the body with energy, but they are nevertheless essential for the basic functions of an organism not only for cell metabolism, but also for the defense system.

Holding the lines of defense

Adrian Gombart's research focuses mainly on vitamin D. "A few years ago, our research group discovered that vitamin D regulates the expression of a gene encoding an antimicrobial peptide," he says. Such peptides are involved in the body's non-specific defense mechanisms. "Vitamin D is also involved in the regulation of other immune-related genes," Gombart says.

Read more:The immune system's fight against the coronavirus

On the other hand, a vitamin D deficiency can leave a gap in our body's defenses. Intruders then have an easier time of it.

But in the best-case scenario, the human body can do a lot to defend itself. Intruding germs must first pass through the skin and mucous membranes. If they manage to overcome this first line of defense, the body reacts to the invaders with phagocytes, antimicrobial proteins and inflammation. These processes are among the body's non-specific defense mechanisms. But if this generalized defense does not help, things have to become more precise.

SARS-CoV-2 can be fought only by a very specific immune response. Lymphocytes detect foreign microorganisms and molecules alien to the body such as viruses. The lymphocytes can then produce antibodies and go into battle like sharpshooters.

Vitamin C against pathogens

These processes can function as they are meant to only if the body is well-equipped for example, with vitamin C. "Vitamin C is needed, among other things, to form reactive oxygen species, also known as oxygen radicals. These radicals are another of the body's weapons in the fight against pathogens," says Gombart. Vitamin C is also involved in the production of antibodies, without which the body cannot keep COVID-19 in check.

High doses of vitamin C are thus used to treat patients suffering from COVID-19and undergoing intensive medical treatment, says Isabelle Schiffer.

Schiffer is a geneticist and gerontologist and the scientific spokesperson of the Forever Healthy Foundation. When there isn't a pandemic going on, Schiffer and her colleagues examine the question of how people can become as healthy as possible as they age. Their recommendations are based on findings from various scientific disciplines.

Read more:The danger of vitamin D deficiency

Naturopathy from a scientific point of view

This holistic approach also includes naturopathy. In order to "make a contribution" during the coronavirus crisis, as Schiffer says, the Forever Healthy team set out to find medicinal plants whose effectiveness has been confirmed in clinical studies.

"We have found that there is very little knowledge about plant substances that might potentially be able to help attenuate symptoms or alleviate the course of an infection," says Schiffer. The scientist finds it important to emphasize that naturopathy cannot replace conventional medicine, but can complement it.

"Many people who hear the term 'naturopathy' immediately have an image in their minds of some miracle healer who wants to cure cancer. That is, of course, not what naturopathy can do," says Schiffer. It is much more about strengthening the immune system, she says.

Schiffer and her colleagues have identified elderberry as one of the plant substances that might be helpful in the fight against COVID-19: "Clinical studies have shown that elderberry extract reduces the likelihood of catching a cold and shortens the duration of respiratory problems in influenza patients," said Schiffer.

Read more:Is taking too many vitamins harmful?

Food or dietary supplement?

The positive effect of elderberry is not mere hocus-pocus but has to do with biochemistry: It contains numerous vitamins and trace elements. Both Isabelle Schiffer and Adrian Gombart believethat it is currently advisable to increase the dose of vitamins and other micronutrients with the help of supplements. Most people lack enough vitamin D in particular.

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) does not share their view of the efficacy of supplements: "In principle, a balanced and varied diet provides the healthy body with all substances essential to life," it says in a statement.

However, the institute admits that there are exceptions to this rule: During pregnancy and breastfeeding, the need for nutrients is increased. Elderly people, who are the top risk group in the current situation, also often tend to not haveenough of them.

There is much to suggest that the question of a functioning immune system deserves a higher priority in the political debate on public health. Healthy eating should not be a question of lifestyle but a measure for the prevention of disease. Just like thorough hand washing.

Although the pineapple's exact origins remain unknown, Christopher Columbus is said to have discovered the pineapple in Guadeloupe, a Caribbean island colonized by the French in the 17th century. Pictures like this one (from France, around 1900), showing a farming collective, were supposed to bring Europeans closer to the exotic flora of their South Sea colonies.

Have you ever thought about how a pineapple grows? What the plant actually looks like? It's a member of the Bromeliaceae family; bromeliads are popular indoor plants in Germany because they are robust and form pretty flowers. Rooted in the soil, the pineapple plant forms a trunk with many thick-fleshed leaves. The flower develops at the upper end of the stem.

The blossom is comprised of many small, individual blossoms around 100 to 200 pieces. Over time, they develop into the pineapple fruit. Even though the plant can grow quite large, botanists have labeled the pineapple as a berry.

The pineapple is a miracle-worker, health-wise. It contains loads of vitamin C alongside other minerals and trace elements like manganese, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, iodine, zinc and an enzyme called bromelain, said to be good for digestion. Pineapple regulates metabolism and is a mood enhancer. In addition, it is said to help with detoxify and most importantly make one beautiful.

Although the pineapple is healthy, it is not necessarily good for weight loss. One popular pineapple diet would have you eating just pineapple while drinking plenty of water or tea. If you do this for a few days, you actually lose weight. Not so fast, though: The pineapple does not lead to long-term loss of fat, but only dehydrates you. Once the diet is over, the famous yo-yo effect occurs.

German TV chef Clemens Wilmenrod claimed to have invented Toast Hawaii in the 50s. A slice of toast with ham, a slice of pineapple and the whole thing covered with melted cheese and voila! One of the most popular German dishes of the 70s and 80s, these sandwiches can still be found on the menu of many of the country's snack bars or parties to this day. The Italian version: pizza Hawaii.

Asian cuisine, in contrast, is a bit more refined in its use of pineapple. An integral part of a typical vegetable mix, the pineapple is used in dishes from Vietnam, Thailand or Cambodia. This photo shows the Cambodian fish dish "Amok Trey," made with coconut milk, lemongrass, mushrooms and pineapple.

Pia Colada means sifted pineapple in Spanish. It's a sweet and creamy cocktail mixing coconut cream, rum and pineapple. Some bartenders add a touch of cream and coconut liqueur. The recipe is not a hard one: 6 cl white rum, 2 cl coconut liqueur, 10 cl pineapple juice, 2cl cream, 4cl coconut milk. Put everything in the shaker and shake well. Put ice into the glass, pour over it, decorate: ready.

Author: Silke Wnsch (ct)

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COVID-19: How to boost the immune system with vitamins - Deutsche Welle

Every week there are numerous scientific studies published. Heres a look at some of the more interesting ones.

Timing the Immune Response of COVID-19

A study from the Keck School of Medicine at USC suggests that temporarily suppressing the immune system during the early stages of COVID-19 can avoid severe symptoms. This is related to research showing an interaction between the bodys two primary lines of defense may be overstimulating the patients immune system. The research was published in the Journal of Medical Virology.

Some COVID-19 patients may experience a resurgence of the disease after an apparent easing of symptoms, said Sean Du, adjunct researcher and lead author of the study. Its possible that the combined effect of the adaptive and the innate immune responses may reduce the virus to a low level temporarily. However, if the virus is not completely cleared, and the target cells regenerate, the virus can take hold again and reach another peak.

As a result of what they call a counterintuitive idea, they are proposing a short regimen of an appropriate immunosuppressant drug applied early in the disease. Du said, With the right suppressive agent, we may be able to delay the adaptive immune response and prevent it from interfering with the innate immune response, which enables faster elimination of the virus and the infected cells.

The bodys innate immune response begins right after infection. The second line of defense is the adaptive immune response, which doesnt start for several days if any virus remains. It uses what it has learned about the virus to marshal a variety of T-cells and B-cells to attack the remaining virus. COVID-19, which targets surface cells throughout the respiratory system, has an average incubation of six days and a slower disease progression than, for example, the flu. The adaptive immune response, they believe, may start before the target cells are depleted, which slows down the infection and interferes with the innate immune responses ability to kill off most of the virus.

High Blood Pressure Medications Safe for COVID-19 Patients

One of the clear comorbidities for COVID-19 is high blood pressure. NYU Langone Health/NYU School of Medicine studied 12,594 patients to determine if common high blood pressure drugs increased the risk of contracting the disease or of developing severe disease. The study found no links between treatment with four drug classes: angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors; angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs); beta blockers; or calcium channel blockers. They also did not find an increased likelihood of a positive test for COVID-19 in people taking these medications.

Researchers ID Protein Linked to Lyme Disease Arthritis

Investigators at Washington State University identified a surface protein called VIsE that prevents the immune system from fighting Lyme disease. In particular, the study looked at how VIsE protects one of the primary proteins response for persistent arthritis in the disease. This is one step closer to being able to develop a vaccine against Lyme.

Korean Researchers ID 2 Already Approved Drugs that Show Promise Against COVID-19

Korean investigators screened 48 FDA-approved drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and identified two that showed promise. One is niclosamide, marketed by Bayer under the name Niclocide, as well as by others, and is used to treat tapeworm infections. The drug generally has slow absorption, which would likely diminish its effectiveness for COVID-19. The second is ciclesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid used to treat asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Activating an Estrogen Receptor Shows Promise for Halting Pancreatic Cancer

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that activating the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), found on the surface of many normal and cancer tissues, appears to stop pancreatic cancer from growing. It also appears to make the cancer cells more visible to the immune system, meaning it should improve immunotherapy. It has generally been noted that women have better outcomes than men for most cancer types. But, the concept that cancers in non-reproductive tissues may also be influenced by sex steroid hormones is a fairly recent concept.

Key Insight into Prion Diseases

An infectious prion is a protein without nucleic acid, linked to mad cow disease and similar disease in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as well as fatal familial insomnia and kuru. These diseases are always fatal and very poorly understood how prions actually cause disease. Tricia Serio, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at University of Massachusetts Amherst, identified a key piece of the puzzle. It has been known that prion protein (PrP) misfolding is part of the disease process. In mammals, the protein quality control system responds to folding mistakes with chaperone molecules that search for misfolds and attempt to correct the mistakes. Prions misfold so fat chaperones cant keep up. The new finding was that prion aggregates come in different sizesfor the same proteinand it turns out that the seed complex has to double in size for the disease to persist. The minimum size of the prion determines whether the chaperone can win.

Genetic Complexity and Redundancy Complicates Precision Medicine

Precision medicine is the concept that each persons genetic makeup uniquely affects their response to drugs. Mapping of the human genome, completed in 2003, opened up the field. Researchers with McMaster University, noting that precision and personalized medicine hasnt quite lived up to its promise, undertook a massive review of decades of research in the field, which they published in Genomic Medicine.

Their review found that unnecessary complexity in evolutionary pathways need to be further understood, right down to the level of genomic variations between individual cells in the same person, before personalized medicine can be leveraged effectively.

Our bodies have an immense ability to change and to cope with issues that arise, said Bhagwati Gupta, who conducted the research with fellow evolutionary biologist Rama Singh. Context matters in our genome. Even a simple mutation can have a profound effect on the body, when acting in combination with others.

The authors note that individual genes dont determine sickness or health on their own. They interact with groups of other genes and the environment in ways that are only starting to be understood.

The idea has long been that individual genetic mutations could be classified as good, bad or neutral, Singh says. Genes, though, do not work alone, and so no single gene can be considered to be good, bad or neutral in all contexts.

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Research Roundup: Timing the Immune Response of COVID-19 and More - BioSpace

A medical worker walks in front of Transform MD Medical Center in White Plains, N.Y., where antibody testing was being offered. Pablo Monsalve/VIEW press/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

A medical worker walks in front of Transform MD Medical Center in White Plains, N.Y., where antibody testing was being offered.

Most people infected with the novel coronavirus develop antibodies in response.

But scientists don't know whether people who have been exposed to the coronavirus will be immune for life, as is usually the case for the measles, or if the disease will return again and again, like the common cold.

"This to me is one of the big unanswered questions that we have," says Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, "because it really says, 'What is the full exit strategy to this and how long are we going to be contending with it?' "

He's one of many scientists on a quest for answers. And the pieces are starting to fall into place.

Antibodies, which are proteins found in the blood as part of the body's immune response to infection, are a sign that people could be developing immunity. But antibodies are by no means a guarantee a person will be protected for life or even for a year.

Shaman has been studying four coronaviruses that cause the common cold. "They're very common and so people seem to get them quite often," Shaman says. Ninety percent of people develop antibodies to those viruses, at least in passing, but "our evidence is those antibodies are not conferring protection."

That may be simply because colds are relatively mild, so the immune system doesn't mount a full-blown response, suggests Stanley Perlman, a pediatrician who studies immunology and microbiology at the University of Iowa. "That's why people get colds over and over again," he says. "It doesn't really tickle the immune response that much."

He's studied one of the most severe coronaviruses, the one that causes SARS, and he's found that the degree of immunity depended on the severity of the disease. Sicker people remained immune for much longer, in some cases many years.

For most people exposed to the novel coronavirus, "I think in the short term you're going to get some protection," Perlman says. "It's really the time of the protection that matters."

Perlman notes that for some people the symptoms of COVID-19 are no worse than a cold, while for others they are severe. "That's why it's tricky," he says, to predict the breadth of an immune response.

And it's risky to assume that experiences with other coronaviruses are directly applicable to the new one.

"Unfortunately, we cannot really generalize what kind of immunity is needed to get protection against a virus unless we really learn more about the virus," says Akiko Iwasaki, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the Yale University School of Medicine.

An immunobiologist, she is part of a rapidly expanding effort to figure this out. She and her colleagues are already studying the immune response in more than 100 patients in the medical school hospital. She's encouraged that most people who recover from the coronavirus have developed antibodies that neutralize the coronavirus in a petri dish.

"Whether that's happening inside the body we don't really know," she cautions.

Research like hers will answer that question, eventually.

But not all antibodies are protective. Iwasaki says some can actually contribute to the disease process and make the illness worse. These antibodies can contribute to inflammation and lead the body to overreact. That overreaction can even be deadly.

"Which types of antibodies protect the host versus those that enhance the disease? We really need to figure that out," she says.

The studies at Yale will follow patients for at least a year, to find out how slowly or quickly immunity might fade. "I wish there was a shortcut," Iwasaki says, "but we may not need to wait a year to understand what type of antibodies are protective."

That's because she and other immunologists are looking for patterns in the immune response that will identify people who have long-term immunity.

Researchers long ago figured out what biological features in the blood (called biomarkers) correlate with immunity to other diseases, says Kari Nadeau, a pediatrician and immunologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She expects researchers will be able to do the same for the new coronavirus.

Nadeau is working on several studies, including one that seeks to recruit 1,000 people who were previously exposed to the coronavirus. One goal is to identify people who produce especially strong, protective antibody responses. She says the antibody-producing cells from those people can potentially be turned into vaccines.

Another critical question she's zeroing in on is whether people who become immune are still capable of spreading the virus.

"Because you might be immune, you might have protected yourself against the virus," she says, "but it still might be in your body and you're giving it to others."

It would have huge public health implications if it turns out people can still spread the disease after they've recovered. Studies from China and South Korea seemed to suggest this was possible, though further studies have cast doubt on that as a significant feature of the disease.

Nadeau is also trying to figure out what can be said about the antibody blood-tests that are now starting to flood the market. There are two issues with these tests. First, a positive test may be a false-positive result, so it may be necessary to run a confirmatory test to get a credible answer. Second, it's not clear that a true positive test result really indicates a person is immune and, if so, for how long.

Companies would like to be able to use these tests to identify people who can return to work without fear of spreading the coronavirus.

"I see a lot of business people wanting to do the best for their employees, and for good reason," Nadeau says. "And we can never say you're fully protected until we get enough [information]. But right now we're working hard to get the numbers we need to be able to see what constitutes protection and what does not."

It could be a matter of life or death to get this right. Answers to these questions are likely to come with the accumulation of information from many different labs. Fortunately, scientists around the world are working simultaneously to find answers.

You can contact NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris at rharris@npr.org.

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Do Antibodies Against The Novel Coronavirus Prevent Reinfection? : Shots - Health News - NPR

Herpes simplex viruss VP1-2 protein can deactivate the early immune response.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV1) infections are initiated at mucosal surfaces where the virus infects epithelial cells. When HSV1 spreads from the peripheral nerves and into the central nervous system, it can infect the brain and cause herpes simplex encephalitis, a rare disease with high mortality if left untreated. In most cases, the innate immune system prevents HSV1 brain infection, but HSV1 is sometimes able to evade the brains defenses. A research team from Aarhus University, University of Oxford, and University of Gothenburg, led by first author Chiranjeevi Bodda in Sren Paludans lab, discovered a molecular mechanism that helps HSV1 infect the brain, which they present in a study that will be published today (May 8, 2020) in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM).

The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) protein plays an important role in immunity, and it is activated by a viruss DNA during viral infection. STING initiates a cascade of cellular actions that help fight the invader. Those initial efforts include gene activation and production of cytokine proteins such as type I interferon (IFN) that boost the immune response. HSV1 has evolved multiple mechanisms to evade the host cells induction of type I IFN, Bodda explains, but how HSV1 evades the type I IFN response in the brain were not well understood.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV1) replication in brain slices was strongly impaired in the absence of its VP1-2 proteins de-ubiquitination activity (DUB, bottom row), as shown here by the reduced number of virus-producing cells (black). This highlights VP1-2s role in suppressing immunity. Credit: Bodda et al. 2020

The research team worked to identify proteins encoded in HSV1s genome that promoted HSV1s immune evasion in the brain. They infected mouse brain cells grown in culture with HSV1 mutants that were missing key genes, or whose gene activity was altered, and found that a HSV1 containing a mutated VP1-2 gene showed increased innate immune responses. Mice showed a similarly robust immune response against HSV1 with mutant VP1-2. This indicated that normal VP1-2 suppresses immunity.

The key difference between normal VP1-2 and the mutant VP1-2 was the mutant lacked its ability to remove a post-translational modification, called ubiquitin, from other proteins inside host cells after it infects them. Ubiquitin is one of several post-translational modifications known to modulate the STING cascades immune response. The team found that VP1-2 was targeting the STING activity in brain immune cells, known as microglia. The team further showed that VP1-2 can directly remove STING ubiquitination, which prevented STING from being activated for signaling. Before this study there was no knowledge on viruses altering ubiquitin in the brains immune response, Paludan says.

Our study shows that HSV1 targets STING ubiquitination in the brain to promote viral infection and potentially progression to herpes simplex encephalitis, Bodda says. A drug that inhibits the viruss ability to remove ubiquitin could allow brain cells to mount an efficient antiviral response against HSV1. This could especially benefit immunocompromised patients with severe HSV1 brain infection, particularly in cases that are resistant to the standard acyclovir treatment.

Paludan adds that though the study focuses on herpesviruses, there are parallels to the coronavirus and relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results lead us to hope that if we can prevent viruses from blocking STING, then we can prevent the virus from replicating. That could pave the way for new principles for treatment of herpes, influenza and also the coronavirus.

Rference: HSV1 VP1-2 deubiquitinates STING to block type I interferon expression and promote brain infection by Chiranjeevi Bodda, Line Reinert, Stefanie Fruhwrth, Timmy Richardo, Chenglong Sun, Bao-cun Zhang, Maria Kalamvoki, Anja Pohlmann, Trine Mogensen, Petra Bergstrm, Lotta Agholme, Peter OHare, Beate Sodeik, Mads Gyrd-Hansen, Henrik Zetterberg and Soren Paludan, 8 May 2020, Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM).DOI: 10.1084/jem.20191422

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Herpes Simplex Virus Can Infect the Brain by Evading the Immune Response - SciTechDaily

The innate immune system is full of targets that could be harnessed against diseases from cancer to lupus to epilepsy. But researchers have struggled to hit them because they didnt know the structure of those targets.

We didnt know the confirmation [of the targets], where the pockets are, how big they are, Marcelo Bigal, CEO of Ventus Therapeutics, told FierceBiotech. Which means trying to develop a drug against something you dont seeits drug development with the lights off.

With its structural immunology technology, Ventus is switching the lights on, emerging from stealth with $60 million from Versant Ventures and GV to advance three programs. The company is developing multiple small molecules against each of the three targets but is keeping specific disease areas under wraps, Bigal said.

Maintaining Momentum: Applying Recent Regulatory Guidance in the Midst of the Coronavirus

A panel of CATO SMS experts will review the key issues contained in the emerging Agency Guidance and offer thoughts on what changes and options for sponsors may be seen in the coming months.

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The company is working to inhibit the targets, which could be useful in several areas including brain, immune and cardiometabolic disorders as well as monogenic diseases, in which a genetic mutation causes the body to make too much of a disease-causing protein. But its also looking to stimulate those targets, which could come in handy fighting cancer.

Ventus pipeline aims at two main pathways of the innate immune system: the inflammasome and the DNA-sensing pathway, also called the interferon pathway. They form the bodys first line of defense, sensing danger within cells and sacrificing those cells to contain the threat, Bigal said. The companys platform does more than elucidate protein structureit also surmounts problems scientists have faced when trying to drug the targets in a lab dish.

RELATED: IFM gets new CEO, bags another $55M to launch incubator, new subsidiaries

The targets exist as monomers, or small pieces of proteins, inside cells until they sense a threat. In response, theyll assemble into a larger protein, Bigal said.

But when you put monomers in vitro to do drug development, they immediately oligomerize and become this very large chunk of protein that nobody can handle, he said. With Ventus technology, its scientists can purify and immobilize these proteins, so they can study drugs in vitro before moving on to animal studies, where in the past, they would have gone straight to animal studies in a trial-and-error approach.

Ventus three programs are fully funded through meaningful inflection points, but Ventus has nine other targets that its not actively working on, Bigal said. All 12 offer partnership opportunities, whether a partner is interested in pursuing its three selected targets in other disease areas or in a target-based, disease area-based or platform-wide partnership.

Because we are well-funded, that means in the next month, its pipeline, pipeline, pipeline But meanwhile, we are allowing ourselves to have very selective conversations with pharma to foster possibilities for a quality partnership, Bigal said.

The company, which is based in Boston and Montreal, plans to grow to more than 30 scientists this year.

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Ventus uncloaks with $60M to chase targets in the innate immune system - FierceBiotech

Could suppressing the body's natural immune system help COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms recover from the illness? Scientists in America have suggested that it might, and are carrying out trials to test the method. Our immune system is essential in protecting us from the germs and bacteria we encounter every day, but doctors have observed that some of the fatalities caused by COVID-19 are brought about by the immune system going into overdrive and attacking healthy cells, a process known as a cytokine storm. Cytokine storms have been recorded as a complication of respiratory diseases such as SARS and MERS, and are thought to have been linked to the high fatality rate of the H5N1 influenza virus, also known as bird flu. It has also been observed in standard influenza cases. However, after running models comparing COVID-19 to the flu, researchers at the University of Southern California found that the progression of the new coronavirus was slower, In a paper published by the Journal of Medical Virology, the researchers suggested that the slower rate may be potentially increasing the pathogenic immune response in COVID-19 patients, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) has reported. The human immune system has two methods of fighting invasive pathogens: innate and adaptive. The innate, non-specific response is the first to kick in, quickly moving to attack foreign cells in the body as soon as they are detected. The adaptive response, which is specific to the pathogen, starts days later if the pathogen is still detected within the body. According to the research paper, the flu has an incubation period of only 48 hours or less, during which time the virus attacks cells on the surface of the upper respiratory system, killing almost all of them within that time period. But after that, the virus has nothing to attack, leaving the way clear for the innate immune response to attack the virus in turn, clearing it from the body before the adaptive response kicks in. With COVID-19, the virus takes longer to take hold - about six days. The researchers suggest that this gives the adaptive immune response time to activate, which can interfere with the innate response. The danger is, as the infection keeps going on, it will mobilize the whole of the adaptive immune response with its multiple layers, said Weiming Yuan, an associate professor from the University of Southern California and co-author of the paper, according to SCMP. This longer duration of viral activity may lead to an overreaction of the immune system, called a cytokine storm, which kills healthy cells, causing tissue damage.It may also explain why some people experience a second, more severe wave of the virus after an initial recovery period. Its possible that the combined effect of the adaptive and the innate immune responses may reduce the virus to a low level temporarily. However, if the virus is not completely cleared, and the target cells regenerate, the virus can take hold again and reach another peak, he said.The researchers have suggested that suppressing the immune system within this response window could delay the adaptive immune response, giving the innate system time to clear the virus from the patient's system before the immune system goes into overload. Based on the results of the mathematical modelling, we proposed a counterintuitive idea that a short regimen of a proper immunosuppressant drug applied early in the disease process may improve a patients outcome, said Sean Du, a researcher from the University of Southern California and co-author of the paper, according to SCMP. With the right suppressive agent, we may be able to delay the adaptive immune response and prevent it from interfering with the innate immune response, which enables faster elimination of the virus and the infected cells.However, not all medical professionals are in agreement with the researchers' suggestion. Ashley St. John, an immunologist at Duke University and National University of Singapore Medical School said that the proposed treatment was potentially very risky, and that a more targeted approach would be better. Suppressing the adaptive immune system is a very drastic step. It can be very dangerous because youre crippling your bodys ability to clear that last bit of infection, she said. Itd be nice if we can find something more specific, that is causing the pathology, which tipped the balance into severe disease rather than targeting the whole adaptive immune system.Du pointed out that at this stage the idea was only a theory which would need experimental research to back it up, he suggested animal trials would be a good way to do that. But, he added, any drug used to suppress the system would only be active for a short time, allowing the immune system to come back in afterwards and finish the job.

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Suppressing immune system could provide counterintuitive COVID-19 therapy - The Jerusalem Post

Changhong Zhao,1 Xuebin Song,1 Xiaoyuan Lu2

1School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan, 453003, Peoples Republic of China; 2College of Medical Engineering, Xinxiang Medical University, Henan 453003, Peoples Republic of China

Correspondence: Changhong Zhao Tel/Fax +86 373 3029444Email 15921061530@163.com

Introduction: Cells exhibit high sensitivity and a diverse response to the nanotopography of the extracellular matrix, thereby endowing materials with instructive performances formerly reserved for growth factors. This finding leads to opportunities for improvement. However, the interplay between the topographical surface and cell behaviors remains incompletely understood.Methods: In the present study, we showed nanosurfaces with various dimensions of nanopits (200 750 nm) fabricated by self-assembling polystyrene (PS) nanospheres. Human adipose-derived stem cell behaviors, such as cell morphology, adhesion, cytoskeleton contractility, proliferation, and differentiation, were investigated on the prepared PS nanopit surface.Results: The osteogenic differentiation can be enhanced by nanopits with a diameter of 300 400 nm.Discussion: The present study provided exciting new avenues to investigate cellular responses to well-defined nanoscale topographic features, which could further guide bone tissue engineering and stem cell clinical research. The capability to control developing biomaterials mimicking nanotopographic surfaces promoted functional tissue engineering, such as artificial joint replacement, bone repair, and dental applications.

Keywords: osteo-differentiation, nanotopography, polystyrene

This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.

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Directional Osteo-Differentiation Effect of hADSCs on Nanotopographica | IJN - Dove Medical Press

Includes EUR 4.75 million bridge loan announced 29 April now fully granted

Gosselies, Belgium, 7May 2020 BONE THERAPEUTICS(Euronext Brussels and Paris: BOTHE), the bone cell therapy company addressing high unmet medical needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases, today announces that it has received EUR 4.0 million as a result of issuing, to existing investors, subordinated bonds with the option to convert. This enables Bone Therapeutics bond investors to be repaid in the companys shares, with a conversion price of EUR 7.0 per share. This additional EUR 4.0 million financing has been achieved a week after the EUR 11.0 million financing round.

In addition, Bone Therapeutics confirms the granting of EUR 4.75 million bridge loans provided by commercial banks, detailed in theEUR 11.0 million financing release from April 29, 2020. This follows Sowalfin receiving regulatory approval of the credit assurance that cover the bridge loans. The total amount of committed gross proceeds for both funding operations now amount to EUR 15.0 million. This will further extend Bone Therapeutics runway into Q2 2021.

Bone Therapeutics has achieved this additional financing in the current financial climate as a result of the confidence of our investors both in Bone Therapeutics as a company, as well as the unique potential of our innovative product portfolio. This total recent financing will enable us to execute our clinical development strategy and to advance our promising product candidates towards commercialization and closer to patients, said Miguel Forte, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Bone Therapeutics. The combination of todays financing, as well as that secured last week by Bone Therapeutics, now totals over EUR 15 million. This allows us to continue operations on this basis alone into the second quarter of 2021. This blend additionally combines a range of financing that is more suited to Bone Therapeutics than the dilution of a traditional share issuance.

The unsecured convertible bonds will be issued in registered form, redeemable at 100 percent of their principal amount with a maturity of 36 months and a coupon of 8 percent per annum. The coupon will be payable annually. The conversion price of EUR 7.0 per share mitigates the dilution of existing shareholders in the event that the bonds would be redeemed in ordinary shares of Bone Therapeutics. The specific terms of the CBs can be found in theInvestor sectionof Bone Therapeutics website.

About Bone Therapeutics

Bone Therapeutics is a leading biotech company focused on the development of innovative products to address high unmet needs in orthopedics and bone diseases. The Company has a broad, diversified portfolio of bone cell therapies and an innovative biological product in later-stage clinical development, which target markets with large unmet medical needs and limited innovation.

Bone Therapeutics is developing an off-the-shelf protein solution, JTA-004, which is entering Phase III development for the treatment of pain in knee osteoarthritis. Positive Phase IIb efficacy results in patients with knee osteoarthritis showed a statistically significant improvement in pain relief compared to a leading viscosupplement. The clinical trial application (CTA) for the pivotal Phase III program has been approved by the relevant authorities allowing the start of the study.

Bone Therapeutics other core technology is based on its cutting-edge allogeneic cell therapy platform (ALLOB) which can be stored at the point of use in the hospital, and uses a unique, proprietary approach to bone regeneration, which turns undifferentiated stem cells from healthy donors into bone-forming cells. These cells can be administered via a minimally invasive procedure, avoiding the need for invasive surgery, and are produced via a proprietary, scalable cutting-edge manufacturing process. Following the CTA approval by the Belgian regulatory authority, the Company is ready to start the Phase IIb clinical trial with ALLOB in patients with difficult tibial fractures, using its optimized production process.

The ALLOB platform technology has multiple applications and will continue to be evaluated in other indications including spinal fusion, osteotomy and maxillofacial and dental applications.

Bone Therapeutics cell therapy products are manufactured to the highest GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) standards and are protected by a broad IP (Intellectual Property) portfolio covering ten patent families as well as knowhow. The Company is based in the BioPark in Gosselies, Belgium. Further information is available at http://www.bonetherapeutics.com.

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Bone Therapeutics raises additional EUR 4.0 million, totalling EUR 15 million, providing runway into Q2 2021 - PharmiWeb.com

As the rumblings of a pandemic began to be felt at the beginning of the year, scientists at Penn started work to develop a vaccine and assess possible treatments. But the scope of COVID-19 studies at the University goes much broader. Scientists whose typical work finds them investigating autoimmune disease, influenza, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, cancer, hemophilia, and more, are now applying their deep understanding of biology to confront a novel threat.

The more scientists and clinicians observe about the virus, the more avenues of investigation emerge, aiming to shed light on questions such as what happens once the virus enters the body, what treatments might be of benefit, and how society should take action to keep transmission low.

To dig into what scientists around campus are asking and learning, Penn Today spoke with several who have pivoted their research to focus on COVID-19. Their work, while in its early days, is in many cases already finding applications in the fight against this ferocious virus, and may well shape the next steps to defeat it.

Another respiratory infection, influenza, has been a focus of research led by Andrew Vaughan of the School of Veterinary Medicine. But Vaughan didnt hesitate to begin studies of the novel coronavirus once its eventual impact became apparent.

Its not a stretch for our lab, he says. All the projects in our lab focus on repair and regeneration of the lungs after injury. The majority of my studies are to some degree agnostic about what is causing the injury.

Earlier work by his group, for example, showed that a lung cell transplant could boost healing in mice affected by a severe bout with flu. Now, graduate students and research specialists in his labworking no more than two together at a time to maximize social distancingare conducting new experiments focused more specifically on the biology of SARS-CoV-2, alongside parallel efforts by Edward Morrissey from the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM). Knowing that the Ace2 receptor on lung cells is the gateway for the virus into the human body, theyre genetically manipulating alveolar type-two lung cells, those that are particularly essential for continuing oxygen exchange deep in the lungs, to alter or block ACE2 gene expression to try to prevent viral entry.

These alveolar type-two cells seem to be particularly susceptible to injury in both influenza and perhaps even more so in COVID-19, says Vaughan. In a perfect world, you might be able to take these genetically edited type-two cells and use them as a cellular therapy. I dont know that this is going to happen in time to impact this pandemic, but even if the pathogen the next time around is slightly different, we may still be able to employ these types of regenerative responses to help the lung recover better from injury.

In a separate project, Vaughan is partnering with Penn Vets Montserrat Anguera to explore a curious feature of COVID-19 disease: the fact that more men than women become severely ill and die. A number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain the disparity, but the two labs are investigating one particular possibility.

Dr. Anguera had posted something on Twitter saying that the ACE2 gene happens to be on the X chromosome, meaning that women have two copies of it, says Vaughan. I immediately texted her and said, I think theres something to that.

Normally women inactivate one of their X chromosomes, but some genes can escape this inactivation. This means its possible women may have higher ACE2 expression than men. Somewhat counterintuitively, scientists have actually found that higher ACE2 levels actually reduce lung injury, even though ACE2 is also what the virus depends on to enter cells.

Hormone expression levels are, of course, another factor that may influence sex differences in disease. Together, Anguera and Vaughans groups are both studying ACE2 expression and exposing alveolar type-two cells to various hormones to see how expression of viral receptors, Ace2 and others, changes. Ultimately wed like to see if this changes susceptibility to infection, working with Susan Weiss and others, says Vaughan.

Individual differences in how people respond to infection may be influenced by their unique genomic sequences. Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Sarah Tishkoff of PSOM and the School of Arts & Sciences, is probing the rich sources of genomic data her group already had in hand to look for patterns that could explain differences in disease susceptibility. As in Vaughan and Angueras work, ACE2 is a focus.

This gene is very important for general health, Tishkoff says. Women have two copies, men have one; it plays a role in regulating blood pressure; its in the kidneys; its in the gut. We want to understand the role that variation at this gene may play in risk for COVID-19, severity of disease in people with underlying health conditions, and differences in the prevalence of disease in men and women.

Using genomic data from 2,500 Africans collected for another project, Tishkoffs team is looking for patterns of genetic diversity. Early findings suggest that natural selection may have acted upon on version of the ACE2 gene, making it more common in some African populations with with high exposure to animal viruses.

Shes also collaborating with Anurag Vermaand Giorgio Sirugo of Penn Medicine to analyze genetic variation in samples from the Penn Medicine Biobank, looking in particular at people of African descent. Were seeing disturbing health disparities with COVID, with African Americans at higher risk for serious illness, says Tishkoff. This disparity mostlikelyhas to do with inequities in access to health care and socioeconomic factors, but were also looking to see if genomic variation may be playing a role.

Looking ahead, Tishkoff hopes to partner with Daniel Rader and others through the Center for Global Genomics and Health Equity to work with the West Philadelphia community. Wed like to do testing to understand the prevalence of infection and identify environmental and genetic risk factors for disease, she says.

The immune reaction to SARS-CoV-2 is a double-edged sword. The immune system is what eliminates the virus, says E. John Wherry of PSOM. The immune system is what we need to activate with a good vaccine. But also, especially in many respiratory infections, the immune system is what also causes damage. A healthy outcome means your immune system is striking a balance between killing off the virus and not doing so much damage that it kills you.

Wherry and PSOMs Michael Betts have embarked on a study to discern both the magnitude of patients immune responses as well as their flavor, that is, what components in the immune system are being activated by the coronavirus. Theyre doing so by working with clinicians at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and, soon, at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, to collect blood samples from patients with severe and more mild infections, as well as patients who have recovered from illness, to profile their immune reactions.

Its one of the beautiful things about Penn. Everyone is working as a team, being selfless, being present, and bringing all their expertise to bear on this crisis. E. John Wherry, Perelman School of Medicine

We are observing a huge amount of heterogeneity across these patient samples, says Betts. But were also identifying some relatively unifying characteristics, indicating there are mechanisms that everyone uniformly uses to fight off this infection.

This variety across patients strongly suggests that the treatments that work for one patient may not for another, Wherry and Betts note. For that reason, they are speaking daily with their colleagues on the front lines of COVID-19 care, relaying what theyre finding out in the lab to adjust and personalize care in the clinic.

Its one of the beautiful things about Penn, says Wherry. Everyone is working as a team, being selfless, being present, and bringing all their expertise to bear on this crisis.

Plenty of recent scientific attention has been paid to the role of the gut microbiome in health. But the medical schools Ronald Collman and Frederic Bushman have been devoting attention to how the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites that dwell in the respiratory tract affect health and disease risk. They are now addressing that question in the context of COVID-19.

There are two reasons were interested in studying this, Collman says. First is that the microbiome can help set the tone for the immune response to infections, influencing whether a patient ends up with mild or severe disease. And second, the microbiome is where infectious agents that can cause infection can arise from. So if a patient dies of an eventual pneumonia, the pathogen that caused that pneumonia may have been part of that individuals respiratory tract microbiome.

Working with nurses at HUP to collect samples, Collman and Bushman are analyzing the microbiome of both the upper (nose and throat) and lower (lung) portions of the respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients. These samples are being used by other groups, such as those developing diagnostic tests, while Collman and Bushmans labs work to identify the types and quantities of organisms that compose the microbiome to find patterns in how they correlate with disease.

Were hoping that if we can find that the response to the virus is different in people with different upper respiratory tract microbiomes, then we could manipulate the microbiome, using particular antibiotics, for example, to make it more likely that patients would have a mild form of the disease.

Absent a vaccine, researchers are looking to existing drugssome already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for other maladiesto help patients recover once infected. Throughout his career, Ronald Harty of Penn Vet has worked to develop antivirals for other infections, such as Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa Fever.

Our antivirals are sometime referred to as host-oriented inhibitors because theyre designed to target the interaction between host and viral proteins, says Harty. Though many of the biological details of how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with the human body are distinct from the other diseases Harty has studied, his group noticed a similarity: A sequence hes targeted in other virusesa motif called PPxYis also present in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which the coronavirus uses to enter cells.

This caught our eye, says Harty, and piqued our interest in the very intriguing possibility that this PPxY motif could play a role in the severity of this particular virus.

Harty is testing antivirals he has helped identify that block the replication of Ebola, Marburg, and other viruses to see if they make a dent on the activity of SARS-CoV-2. Those experiments will be done in collaboration with colleagues whose labs can work in BSL-III or -IV laboratories, such as Penns Weiss.

Also of interest is the speculation that the coronavirus might disrupt cell-cell junctions in the human body, making them more permeable for virus spread. Hartys lab will be examining the potential interactions between the viral structural proteins and human proteins responsible for maintaining these cellular barriers.

Another faculty member is assessing whether a drug developed for a very different conditionin this case, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)could serve coronavirus patients. Henry Daniell of the School of Dental Medicine recently shared news that a drug grown in a plant-based platform to boost levels of ACE2 and its protein product, angiotensin (1-7), was progressing to the clinic to treat PAH. Daniell is now working with Kenneth Margulies from Penn Medicine to explore whether this novel oral therapy can improve the clinical course of patients with symptomatic COVID-19 infection.

Reduced ACE2 expression has been linked to acute respiratory distress, severe lung injury, multi-organ failure and death, especially in older patients. The earlier preclinical studies in PAH animal models showed that orally delivered ACE2 made in plant cells accumulated ten times higher in the lungs than in the blood and safely treated PAH. Now, new clinical studies have been developed to explore whether oral supplementation of ACE2 and angiotensin-1-7 can help mitigate complications of COVID-19 disease. The fact that freeze-dried plant cells can be stored at room temperature for as long as a year and can be taken at home by COVID-19 patients make this novel approach an attractive potential option.

This trial has been given a high priority by the Penn Clinical Trial Working Group, says Daniell. Im pleased that this looks to be on the cusp of moving forward to help the growing number of COVID-19 patients.

As the coronavirus began to spread in the United States, biologist Joshua Plotkin of the School of Arts & Sciences began to raise alarms about Philadelphias St. Patricks Day parade, which had been scheduled to be held March 15, potentially drawing thousands to downtown streets. He had good reason to be concerned: His studies of the 1918 flu pandemic had explored disease incidence and spread, and it was hard to avoid noticing the role of the Liberty Loan parade down Broad Street in triggering a rampant spread of flu a century ago.

Now, with work conducted with two graduate students from Princeton University, Dylan Morris and Fernando Rossine, along with Princeton faculty member Simon Levin, Plotkin has mathematically sound advice for policymakers hoping to effectively stem the spread of a pandemic. In a preprint on arXiv.org, they share optimal, near-optimal, and robust strategies for how to time interventions such as social distancing.

This boils down to knowing what is the best way, of all the infinite possibilities, to intervene using public health measures, says Plotkin. Thats a problem we can solve with math, my colleagues Dylan and Fernando realized.

Their analysis makes the realistic assumption that policymakers can only enforce social distancing for a limited amount of time, and aims to minimize the peak incidence of disease. The optimal strategy, they found, is to start by introducing moderate social distancing measures to keep the incidence rate the same for a period of time. This would mean that every person with COVID-19 would infect one additional person. Then the intervention should switch over to a full suppressionthe strongest possible quarantinefor the rest of the period. At the end of that period, all restrictions would be lifted.

This works because you dont want to fully suppress disease spread right off the bat, says Plotkin, because then at the end, after you remove restrictions, there will be a second peak that is just as large as the first. By employing a moderate suppression at the beginning, youre building up a population of people who are going to recover and become immune, without letting the epidemic get out of control.

Unsurprisingly, timing is key. Attempting the optimal intervention would be disastrous, in practice, because of inevitable errors in timing. Intervening too early is pretty bad, because you get a bigger second peak, he says. But intervening too late is even worse. The key lesson is that a robust intervention is more important than an optimal one.

Plotkin and his colleagues are hoping to share the findings widely, including with local decision makers, to help them navigate a likely second wave of COVID-19.

Montserrat Anguera is an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Michael Betts is a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Frederic Bushman is the William Maul Measey Professor in Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Ronald Collman is a professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Henry Daniell is vice-chair and W.D. Miller Professor in the Department of Basic and Translational Sciences in the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Ronald Harty is a professor of pathobiology and microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Kenneth Margulies is a professor of medicine and physiology and research and fellowship director of the Heart Failure and Transplant Program at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Joshua Plotkin is the Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor of the Natural Sciences in the Department of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences. He has secondary appointments in the Department of Mathematics and in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Department of Computer and Information Science.

Sarah Tishkoff is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor with appointments in the Perelman School of Medicines Department of Genetics and the School of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology. A Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, she is also director of the Penn Center for Global Genomics and Health Equity.

Andrew Vaughan is an assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

E. John Wherry is chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, director of the Institute for Immunology, and the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin Presidents Distinguished Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Homepage image: Researchers around the University are taking a variety of approaches to study the novel coronavirus (particles of which are shown in purple), informed by past expertise and newly formed collaborations. (Image: National Institutes of Health)

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Coming together to solve the many scientific mysteries of COVID-19 - Penn: Office of University Communications

Industrial facilities, like this PCC, Panattoni property in Cartersville, GA, are heavily favored over other CRE assets, according to LightBoxs survey.

Its not the outright fear or negativity surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak that most concerns those in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. Rather, its the uncertainty.

Thats according to a market confidence survey polling those in the broker, appraisal, lending, investing and environmental consulting/engineering sectors on how they have been impacted by COVID-19 and the resulting recession. LightBox, a real estate technology firm, conducted the poll from mid-April through the end of the month.

The survey indicates that the top three concerns for CRE professionals are the unknown duration of the pandemic, rising unemployment and the difficulty of accurately forecasting business activity.

There is no shortage of uncertainty about when sellers will be comfortable putting properties back on the selling block, when lenders will be less skittish about originations or when the impact of the pandemic on property values is clearer, says Dianne Crocker, principal analyst with LightBox. Ultimately, the effects on the commercial real estate market will vary by geography and asset class and will depend primarily on how quickly the health crisis is controlled and the duration of the economic shutdown.

Lenders, consultants, appraisers and others in the field fear the consequences of instability on their businesses long term, but current realities are similarly harrowing. Of the respondents, 74 percent have experienced a slowdown in transactions and prospective projects, while 46 percent report deal delays specifically related to inability to access sites for inspections. Only 11 percent of survey respondents indicated that they had experienced no negative impact to their productivity levels.

Among those surveyed, 30 percent have implemented a hiring freeze or have delayed hiring plans specifically because of the pandemic and its fallout, while 22 percent are actively downsizing.

Reluctance seems to be the plan for many. About one-third of respondents noted fewer new listings for properties and difficulty in arranging financing. Brokers noted that sellers are waiting to see how prices will be impacted by the shutdown.

Impediments to getting deals done included physical barriers: Nearly half of those surveyed said that a lack of access to sites for inspections (either because of site restrictions or health concerns on the part of assessors) had created delays. Similar difficulties (for 37.7 percent) arose as CRE professional were unable to obtain property data due to closures nationwide.

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed reported a rush to complete late-stage deals, particularly in cases where financing was already secured and due diligence completed.

In the near future, some brokers anticipate a surge in new properties on the market as uncertainty dies down and deals resume. This surge will be accompanied by an uptick in demand for reliable tenants as buyers consider an assets robustness and cash flow projections under a new set of market conditions, according to LightBoxs report.

The majority of respondents indicated that hope for a fast, V-shaped recovery was dead, with 53 percent indicating that they anticipated full recovery would not occur until August or later. Particular segments of those surveyed were more optimistic as whole: brokers, investors, consultants and engineers anticipated a faster and more complete return to normal than their significantly impacted peers in appraisals or lending.

Sarah Daniels

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LightBox Survey: Longevity of Pandemic, Unemployment Are Top Concerns for CRE Professionals - REBusinessOnline

In Depth Market Research on Global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy Market with Industry Analysis, Trends, Competition and Forecast by 2026.

The global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market has been garnering remarkable momentum in the recent years. The steadily escalating demand due to improving purchasing power is projected to bode well for the global market. QY Researchs latest publication, titled global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market, offers an insightful take on the drivers and restraints present in the market. It assesses the historical data pertaining to the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market and compares it to the current market trends to give the readers a detailed analysis of the trajectory of the market. A team subject-matter experts have provided the readers a qualitative and quantitative data about the market and the various elements associated with it.

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The research report covers the trends that are currently implemented by the major manufacturers in the Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market including adoption of new technology, government investments on R&D, shifting in perspective towards sustainability, and others. Additionally, the researchers have also provided the figures necessary to understand the manufacturer and its contribution to both regional and global market:CohBar, TA Sciences, Unity Biotechnology, AgeX TherapeuticsInc, PowerVision Inc.,

The research report is broken down into chapters, which are introduced by the executive summary. Its the introductory part of the chapter, which includes details about global market figures, both historical and estimates. The executive summary also provides a brief about the segments and the reasons for the progress or decline during the forecast period. The insightful research report on the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market includes Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis to understand the factors impacting consumer and supplier behavior.

Regions Covered in the Global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy Market:

The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt) North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada) South America (Brazil etc.) Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.) Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

Highlights of the Report Accurate market size and CAGR forecasts for the period 2019-2025 Identification and in-depth assessment of growth opportunities in key segments and regions Detailed company profiling of top players of the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market Exhaustive research on innovation and other trends of the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market Reliable industry value chain and supply chain analysis Comprehensive analysis of important growth drivers, restraints, challenges, and growth prospects

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The report segments the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market on the basis of application, type, service, technology, and region. Each chapter under this segmentation allows readers to grasp the nitty-gritties of the market. A magnified look at the segment-based analysis is aimed at giving the readers a closer look at the opportunities and threats in the market. It also address political scenarios that are expected to impact the market in both small and big ways.The report on the global Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy market examines changing regulatory scenario to make accurate projections about potential investments. It also evaluates the risk for new entrants and the intensity of the competitive rivalry.

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Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 : To evaluate the market by segments, by countries and by manufacturers with revenue share and sales by key countries in these various regions

About Us:QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry.

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Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy Market Consumption Analysis, Investment Cost, Profits Data, Major Players, Trends and Forecast by 2026 | CohBar,...

Intel motherboards arent known for their longevity given the frequent socket changes for the companys different CPU generations. The latest rumours, however, suggest that Intel Alder Lake-S motherboards (which should succeed Rocket Lake-S, this in turn being a successor to the impending Comet Lake-S) will be compatible with up to three CPU generations.

The joke goes that each new Intel platform iteration introduces a new socket and the same architecture, and each new AMD platform iteration introduces a new architecture and the same socket. This isnt strictly true, of course in fact, recently announced Comet Lake-S motherboards should also support successiveRocket Lake-S CPUs with their LGA 1200 sockets, as Gigabyte announced (via VideoCardz) that its Z490 motherboards will support the next generation of CPUs. But the underlying point remains: Intel motherboards arent usually too forward compatible.

It now looks like this might be changing, however. A post on Chiphell (via VideoCardz) says that the LGA 1700 socket is rumoured to last up to 3 generations. Intels 10nm, big.LITTLE Alder Lake-S CPUs are rumoured to run on this socket, meaning (after Rocket Lake-S) we might have an Intel CPU generation not only boasting a new architecture, but also with some platform longevity to boot albeit with a hefty number of pins.

Now, I dont like to give too much credence to rumours, but this one would be fitting with what weve heard so far mainly that Intel Alder Lake-S could be switching things up a little both in its architecture and its fabrication process.

Theseprocessors might use a new core layout similar to ARMs big.LITTLE core structure a mix-match of big and little cores, surprisingly enough. As successors to Tiger Lake processors, they could very well utilise a 10nm process node for the smaller cores, moving away from the iterative 14nm fabrication process that has been used for so long.

This, combined with the fact that Intel already seems to be looking for some longevity with the LGA 1200 platform, means an Alder Lake-S platform with longevity doesnt seem too far fetched of a dream. And if these CPUs do end up bringing big architectural and process changes, it would make sense for LGA 1700 to stick around for a while. Heres hoping, anyway.

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Future Intel motherboards might actually have longevity if these rumours are true - PCGamesN

In the USA: Perhaps this Mothers Day is more special. Its more than any important time to let the moms in your life know just how much each means to you. Of course, absolutely nothing can replace a loving hug or a compassionate touch. Or even knowing glances and those comfortable silenceshighly personal and togetherness moments that perhaps exemplify strength-of-relationship above all other. Even so, overt gestures of love and appreciation through gift-giving are always a welcome occasion. With this in mind, Ive curated a cross-section of gift ideas suited for nearly any kind of mom. These include an array of tech innovations to ease and enhance various facets of life to beauty. It also includes wellness, self-care, style, travel, and, of course, fine chocolate!

Help mom spoil herself on her special day, and every other day, with the RevAir Reverse Air Dryer. This ingenious invention replaces your blow dryer and in many cases, your flat iron too. Its a multi-functional hair tool that uses patented suction technology to dry hair in the natural direction of the cuticle (downward). It does so without damaging brushes or hot plates. This then locks out frizz and seals in shineand with minimal use of heat. So, mom can avoid those sweat-inducing blow-dry sessions. And its fast! RevAir dries, stretches, smooths, and straightens your hair in less than half the time of a blow dryer and flat iron. It reportedly performed 3.25 times faster than conventional blow-drying and straightening routines, according to third-party trials.

Unlike traditional devices, RevAir thrives when being used for final or stretch styles on the toughest hair types, even curly and coily hair. The system closes cuticles in their natural direction, reducing flyaways and increasing shine. Allure, Elle, and OK! Magazine have all agreed that its a Game-Changer, and mom surely will too.

The Orion and Radiance Photo Rejuvenation Red and Infrared LED Light Therapy Beauty Devices by Azure Medical Technologies will help mom put her best face forward. These high-tech tools use concentrated beams of red and infrared light to help remove and diminish skin blemishes, acne scars, and wrinkles.

Dermatologists and clinicians worldwide have used LED clinical devices for years to treat all types of facial wrinkles. But, with these, mom can experience the efficacy and convenience of this gentle and clinically proven light therapy technology in the privacy of her own home. Azures Radiance has a two times larger medical-grade lens than Azures Orion, a small version of the device. However, both devices are equally powerful and both have added features. These include proprietary beneficial microstructure diffusers and higher performing LED treatments.

The treatment is gentle and safe for in-home, clinical-level treatments and the sleek USFDA 510k cleared devices are cordless, rechargeable, portable, and simple to operate with a one-button operation. Both Radiance and Orion provide true super intense red through infrared light use, with four wavelengths of red and infrared, and very even beam patternsa MUST for quick and effective results and features the company reports as unmatched by any competitive device. Just a three-minute treatment, per three-inch-long area, five days a week for two months is recommended for optimal results.

Lets face it. All most moms want is help. And you can get her just that this Mothers Day with the Neato D7a premium and highly advanced robot vacuum that does the dirty work so mom (or anyone else in the family, perhaps including YOU) will not have to. This smart and powerful robot helper features top-of-the-line technology and is highly feature-rich.

This includes LaserSmart technology that allows it to intelligently navigate the home; zone cleaning that lets it clean specific areas on demand; no-go lines to keep the robot out of places it shouldnt be; turbo mode that boosts suction to pick up pet hair and tough debris; voice compatibility with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts; and up to120 minutes of battery life.

Beyond all of those impressive considerations, what makes Neato particularly unique? First, the D-shape (which Neato first brought to the industry) was specifically designed to deep clean corners, unlike its round-shaped competitors. The extended battery life is also best-in-class, allowing for a bigger brush and dustbin. This makes it particularly perfect to give even large homes a more regular deep clean. Lastly, Neato is the only robot vacuum to use LiDAR technology for its laser mapping. So, Neato can scan and map the entire house, creating up to three multi-floor plans for the robot to follow. With lasers, Neato can even clean in the dark, getting those hard-to-reach places under furniture.

Cat ladies rejoice! While we all love our feline fur-babies, cleaning those messy and stinky litter box bins leaves much to be desired. However, Ive found a perfect solution, which offers a gift idea thatll keep on giving each and every day. Its the Litter-Robotthe highest-rated automatic, self-cleaning litter box on the market. It uses an innovative patented hands-free sifting system that is triggered automatically just minutes after your cat exits the unit, reducing the chance of a lingering unpleasant odor.

Beyond the luxury of not having to inhale all of those nasties, Litter-Robot also saves owners time by eliminating scooping. Plus it saves money by reducing overall litter usage up to 50%. This is because it only removes the clumps from the litter. Whats also super handy is that Litter-Robot 3 Connect pairs with the Connect smartphone app to help keep track of one or more units from anywhere at any time, which provides yet more freedom from litter box duties. It also allows for remote monitoring of waste drawer levels and usage history, providing insight into the cats overall health, as well as providing alerts for when the waste drawer is full. Being a good cat parent has never been this easy. Its better for mom and kitty as well. Oh, happy day!

As temperatures rise in May and into the summer months ahead, you can easily keep mom from getting too hot under the collar. In fact, you can readily keep her cool and collected with the powerful Honeywell Weatherproof Outdoor Portable Evaporative Cooler thats built to cool large outdoor spaces. This includes outdoor patios, porches, backyard decks, large common areas, studios, workshops, and more. The units triple-sided honeycomb and high-velocity fan deliver robust cooling to make any hot and humid outdoor space far more enjoyable.

This Honeywell cooler is definitely a welcome upgrade to outdoor living. This model is even equipped with an ice compartment, wide 14 metal fan blades, and a continuous water supply option since this unit uses water to cool hot air instead. New to evaporative air cooling? The sensation is like a lakeside breeze. Evaporative air coolers do not use heavy compressors or refrigerant gas to lower air temperatures, nor do they spray mist. Instead, they effectively reduce heat by evaporating water vapor into the air. They work most effectively in hot, dry climates. So keep momand all of her family and friendscool, comfortable, and confident in the summer months courtesy of the geniuses at Honeywell.

Help out your busy mom all year through by inviting Chef Emeril Lagasse into her kitchen! With this Power AirFryer 360 unit, mom can enjoy nearly effortless, one-touch cooking for almost any type of mealfrom healthier daytime snacks to decadent family roasts, all cooked in one appliance right on the countertop. The Emeril Lagasse Power Air Fryer 360 gives the versatility of an all-in-one and multi-cooker, with this particular unit using seamless airflow in combination with powerful, even heat.

Twelve one-touch pre-sets give endless cooking options: Air fry meals golden crisp using superheated hot air instead of the unhealthy oil of a deep fryer; dehydrate fresh fruit or jerky without added sugar or preservatives; air roast an entire 12-pound turkey; toast up to six slices of bread; slow cook stews; air bake decadent desserts and much moreall in one easy-to-use countertop appliance. Unlike ordinary units, the five all-over heating elements combine with 360-degree airflow cook meals to a perfect, even crisp on all sides, not just the top and bottom. The package even includes a cookbook full of Lagasse-created air fryer recipes developed exclusively for the Power Air Fryer 360. Plus, mom can do even more with the included accessory kit, which gives two additional Crisper Trays, one additional Pizza Rack, and a Rotisserie Stand.

Heres a style-savvy idea thatll help mom keep perfect time while looking fabulous all the while. Its unisex watches from KYBOE as featured on ShopLC! She can wear these snazzy timepieces anywhere. From the beach and gym to the office and those nights out on the town!

Highly versatile, these attention-getting accessories are great to pair with her dressier ensembles down to those casual outfits. These fashionable and functional KYBOE watches are constructed with sturdy stainless-steel cases, durable silicone bands, and sapphire-coated mineral glass. Each watch is operated with accurate Japanese quartz movement and is designed to keep ticking no matter what life throws at her.

Formed in 2007, Shop LC was originally known as The Jewelry Channel (TJC). In 2017, they decided to change the name to match what they offer: The opportunity to shop low cost (Shop LC means Shop Low Cost). Over the years, the Shop LC business model has evolved into an expansive shopping experience far beyond jewelry and gemstones, precious metals, and collectibles. Today, Shop LC features handbags and fashion accessories, beauty essentials, the latest in cooking and kitchen supplies, as well as luxurious, comfortable bedding and bath products for the whole family. So explore everything Shop LC has to offer this Mothers Day, youre sure to find the perfect fit for any type of mom.

Especially during these trying times, its more important than ever to let mom relax when she can. Life is busy and stressful enough, so heres a way to promote moms desire for fitness and mindfulnessall while staying stylish: Perfect Balance World clothing.

What makes this yoga brand unique is that its pieces have friction landmarks in the fabric. These landmarks help the yogi get a proper grip on the floor and, thus, better control over their own body. This enhanced grip allows yogis to keep their center of gravity resting in the ideal, balanced position while doing it with less strain and struggle. As a result, yogis achieve better, longer poses from the added control Perfect Balance World gear proffers.

One of my favorites from the collection is the Innovator Capri pants, featuring Landmark Grip that helps yogis to bend, stretch and invert beyond their traditional center of gravity. By building the balance into the Capris, users can hold those poses stronger, steadier, and longer.

Mom will love the intuitive fit that flatters the body, with a wide waistband that can be worn folded or unfolded. Made from a non-slip material, this polyester/spandex blend creates a soft, silky, and stretchable feel.

Another of my personal faves is DNA Leggings, which new students and seasoned yogis alike adore. The patented Landmark Grip design is again utilized and was built with the intention of keeping you accurately positioned during your practice so you can strike that pose with confidence!

Discover an activity that can not only help mom maintain her sanity in a time of upheaval, but also teach the entire family how to relax silently and focus (what more could mom want for her holiday, right?).

Buddha Board is a unique mindfulness tool that uses the act of creating as an outlet for emotions, thoughts, fears, and anxieties. By putting brush to slate, stress begins to be painted away. Simply paint the surface with water and the creation will come to life in bold design. Then, as the water slowly evaporates, the art will magically disappear leaving behind a clean slate and a clear mind, ready to create a whole new masterpiece all over again.

The simplicity of the products design creates a quiet space for adults and kids, alike, to explore their thoughts, reconnect with their feelings, and get grounded again. Buddha Board is inspired by the idea of living in the moment, wholly unplugged. It is also environmentally friendly as it only uses waterno ink, no paint, no chemicalsand it will last for years with proper care. Its a really soothing option and a great way for mom to enjoy simple acts of creative expression.

If youre anything like me, you travel heavy. But, were not alone, as throngs of women do. We overpack, making sure were fully prepared for any and every scenario during a trip. As such, it can take a village of suitcases to get to the final destination. But, luxury luggage purveyor Ebby Rane endeavors to change that with its Quartermaster option that any mom is sure to appreciate.

This suitcase is unique in many ways, including an interior boasting a patented packing design that helps better ensure full preparedness for those itinerary intensive jaunts. Efficiently designed for all carryalls to fit together, the Quartermaster boasts 12 pieces total to ensure theres a place for the essentials. Its also lightweight at just seven pounds; comes with a TSA-approved lock; has four 360-degree wheels that give the case an upright posture and a gentle glide, and a sturdy telescopic handle. Beyond functionality, the luggage also exudes elegance.

The Quartermaster has 10 luxurious gold-stamped Carryalls with hand-woven monkey knots and beautiful feminine ruffles; a branded dust cover for storage; and is trimmed in-and-out with vegetable-tanned fine quality leather. Also highly durable, its made of a 100 percent virgin polycarbonate shell that withstands those nasty bumps in the road; a leather top and side handles that are crafted and stitched to last; a water-resistant zipper; and an underside handle for effortless retrieval from overhead bins. A five-year guarantee ensures shell enjoy the Quartermaster for years to come.

Another fabulous option for those moms on-the-go is the Samsonite Mobile Solution Spinner Mobile Office. Like the name says, this is an office thats on the move! With a little bit of everything in one bag, the Spinner Mobile Office combines practicality, style, and functionality in a silhouette thats ideal for adapting from treks to the office, through that commute and wherever she needs to be overnight.

It features nylon twill fabric with vinyl trim and water-resistant coating, a retractable push-button handle, and front zippered pockets that are great for storing smaller items needing quick and easy access. Plus, an integrated USB Port provides power connectivity (battery not included). The Spinner Mobile Office even includes a patent-pending Wireless Charging Pocket that is designed to fit wireless batteries and phones for effortless charging on-the-run.

There is also an organized front pocket with accessory slip pockets therein, pen sleeves, card slots, and a larger slip pocket thats sized to fit most tablets up to 9.7-inches. A laptop compartment is made with a dedicated, padded section of the bag that fits most laptops up to 15.6-inches; including two accessory storage pockets.

There is also a dedicated compartment that maintains a separate packing area featuring cross straps to secure items and a divider to store additional travel or business items. The SmartSleeve technology fits over most upright luggage handles for easy mobility as well.

From the same company, and with the same ideals in mind, comes the Samsonite Encompass Womens Convertible Brief Backpack.

The model takes the guesswork out of organizing and packing so mom can get on with enjoying her day. Four wearable modes provide the flexibility and convenience needed for the fast-paced, modern commuter.

It has four-to-one convertibility: Backpackclip the strap to the secure D rings and adjust the fit to create the traditional backpack mode. Shoulderunclip the strap from backpack D rings and attach the adjustable shoulder strap to comfortably carry on the shoulder. Crossbodywhen packed full, adjust the shoulder strap to wear across the body for a more comfortable, secure, hands-free commuting mode. Toteremove the crossbody/shoulder strap and carry it by the tote handles on your arm or on your shoulder. It also has water-resistant body fabric that features a deep coating for protection against the elements.

A personal organization pocket is unique to this collection as the front includes pen sleeves and a slip pocket to hold all of her need-it-now business and personal essentials. The Brief Backpack also includes an RFID Data Vault, a protected pocket that will safeguard her otherwise vulnerable travel essentials from identity theft.

Does mom get nauseous when traveling via plane, train, boat, or automobile? Heres a sound, medicine-free solution to ease her pain.

Blisslets are fashionable wristbands that provide fast, drug-free, and effective nausea relief. How? Well, acupressure on the P6 (Nei-Kuan) point, located between the two central tendons below the wrist, has reportedly been used for thousands of years, by millions of people, as a natural remedy for nausea and vomiting due to motion, pregnancy and other causes.

While there are competing explanations for why exactly P6 acupressure has this soothing effect, multiple randomized scientific studies controlling for the placebo effect have indeed shown that it does offer relief. Blisslets deliver pressure to the P6 point on the wrists by means of a specially designed bead embedded in a comfortable elastic band.

For each arm, its as simple as positioning the pressure bead on the P6 acupressure point, which is located three finger-widths below your wrist creaseright between the two tendons on the underside. Blisslets come in two basic forms: elastics or as a combo with an elastic core that snaps into a decorative leather cover. In either case, the bracelets should feel snug but comfortable.

Blisslets come in pairs and mom can use them for as long as the condition causing nausea persists. Users may wear them for up to 48 continuous hours before taking a break. So help mom to experience greater comfort this year while traveling or amid other nausea-inducing incidences.

Theres perhaps no greater gift than the gift of health, and cautious moms out there will enjoy the peace-of-mind provided by the GermAwayUV Surface Sterilizer Wand. This travel-friendly handheld gadget uses natural UV-C light to sanitize and disinfect surfaces no matter where she may be: at home, a hotel room, a restaurant, a doctors waiting roomanywhere germs are sure to lurk (which is pretty much everywhere)!

This device uses the same advanced UV-C light technology that hospitals have been using to sterilize equipment for over 30 yearsbut now the technology is available to everyone at economical price points. This wand will eliminate bacteria, viruses, fungus, molds, and a host of other pathogens! Ultraviolet (UV-C) light technology is a really efficient and effective way to keep things germ free, and its certainly a better option than using harmful and messy chemicals to keep things sanitary.

Use on linens, bathroom fixtures, airline seats and trays, and nearly any other surface where germs live. It should also be mentioned that in addition to its germicidal usefulness, this UV wand also fights unwanted odors and allergens such as mold and dust mites. So, use it on those old gym sneakers, the kids grungy soccer bag, anything that stinks really. Its miniature size is convenient for daily life and for travel.

Should thisGermAwayWand be out-of-stock due to its efficacy and relatively economical price point, another handheld sterilizer solution worth considering isCureUV.coms18-watt UV-C Sterilizer,as its also a portable light-based tool that will disinfect and sterilize high traffic areas and other locations where bacteria and viruses congregate.

For moms who like to keep self-care in mind (or should), Royal Suttons Ultra Hydrating Body Souffl is a thoughtful gift idea. This indulgent product rejuvenates the skin from head-to-toe with luxurious moisturizing properties.

Infused with Thyme Extract and Vitamins A, C, and E, it helps the skin flourish and shine at its most natural peak. Its a great Mothers Day option because a little goes a long way. In fact, users only need a small amount to achieve great results.

I also love that its not too heavy and soaks into the skin quickly. In fact, thats one of the main differentiators of this item and others of its type on the market. Some are often overly greasy and do not absorb well.

The effects of this Ultra Hydrating Body Souffl will last all day. Its also an effective method for rejuvenating and conditioning a dry skin condition while helping retain moisture. This will leave the skin feeling softer, smoother, and more restored. The pleasant fragrance is also soft and not overpowering.

Heres a way to help enhance moms relaxation and soothe her mind this Mothers Day, courtesy of Yesterday Wellnesss Broad Spectrum Hemp Balm.

This light, gel-like balm formula is designed to promote a sense of calm while leaving skin feeling soft and refreshed. Its infused with lavender and eucalyptus oils, found to help with relaxation, sleeplessness, and anxiety.

Unlike oils, which need to be metabolized, the benefits of a balm take effect as soon as its absorbed into the skin. This particular U.S.-made product fully contains 1,000 milligrams of hemp extract per container and, according to the company, is independently lab-tested and verified to ensure potency, purity, and quality. Broad-spectrum CBD contains cannabidiol as well as over 100 other compounds found within the remarkable hemp plant, but no THC so theres no psychogenic effectunlike full-spectrum CBD.

All those incredible compounds work together synergistically to greatly enhance the potential health benefits of the plant; also known as the Entourage Effect. For its part, eucalyptus has been found to treat dry skin by boosting production of ceramides. Ceramides are a type of fatty acid responsible for retaining moisture. High in antioxidants, eucalyptus may also protect the body from free radicals and oxidative stress.

This balm also contains many anti-inflammatory compounds as well as eucalyptus. The company cites this as useful for decreasing anxiety and easing congestion. Meanwhile, when lavender is applied topically, it can reportedly help ease various conditions like menstrual cramps, eczema, sunburns, and acne. The scent is also believed to promote calmness and relaxation, as well as decrease stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness.

Another gift idea utilizing the benefits of CBD for particularly active moms, or those with frequent soreness, is Level Select. Designed as high-quality personal care CBD product, the company seeks to help people maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. This includes smaller everyday activities and physical exercise, to competitive sports and travel. It offers a comprehensive line of performance-based CBD Sports Creams, Roll-Ons and Oil Drops. These products are made with only the purest form of CBD oil, and without any THC. THC is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

Overall, CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in cannabis. After tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) is the second most abundant cannabinoid in the hemp plant. It is known to have many therapeutic benefits, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-anxiety, and seizure-suppressive properties. Level Select products are available in three levels of intensity. This allows consumers to choose the right option for their individual needs.

Level 1 is best used to relax muscles and treat everyday discomfort. On the other hand, Level 2 is higher in strength for a higher level of muscle soreness and relief. Level 3 provides maximum strength when its needed most. Level Select Sports Cream has a proprietary blend of Broad Spectrum and Nano CBD. With high-quality ingredients in a non-greasy formula, these products are soothing to the touch and are perfect for daily application. Level Select Sports Roll-ons also have a proprietary blend of Broad Spectrum and Nano CBD. Using high-quality ingredients in a massaging roller ball application, they help target the areas that need it most.

Finally, what Mothers Day would be complete without giving mom that quintessential box of chocolates? For a true delight, check out Dallmann Confectionsan Austrian-born, San Diego-based artisan chocolatier that recently launched an assortment of Chocolate Survival Gifts thatll keep mom longing for more. These exquisite, handmade confections are made with family recipes using high-quality European chocolate.

The gourmet gift boxes are designed with heartfelt messaging intended to offer comfort during these trying times. Chocolate is the way to many a womans hearts. As a result, company owner Isabella Knack has conceived three assorted survival kits. These are Sanity Saver, Chocolate and Chill and Chocolate Makes Everything Better.

Each comes with the option of nine pieces for $25, 16 pieces for $35, or 25 pieces for $45. Orders can be placed through the Dallmann Confections site and shipped within just two days. Some select items also sold on Amazon. But dont wait, because your perfect goodie giftable might not be there by the time you want to spoil mum! A Gift Box from Dallmann Fine Chocolates has the power to leave a lasting impression. Not just on her palate but in her heart, mind, and soul.

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18 Ways to Impress Mom This Mother's Day - Longevity LIVE