samhexum

There is a weird sale this week-- random items are 75% off. Stop and Shop has ridiculously helpful customer service. They would no doubt refund me the cost if the date was unacceptable. I once got a gallon of milk only 3 days before the sell-by date & called them and said there is no way I could use it all in time. I got a full refund. Meanwhile, I keep my fridge quite cool & can usually use milk up to a week past the date. I wound up using that entire free gallon. Also, by ordering 2, I got my cart over $100, taking $6.95 off the $9.95 delivery fee. I want the 2 anyway, but if the date is off and I get a refund (or they are out of stock) I still get the $6.95 off.*** Believe me, I have a doctorate in online grocery ordering. It takes me an hour to go through the circular every Friday, but that's the 'price' of being poor. ***For about a year, I would order a pound of the store-brand roast beef for $13 with every order. I always wanted it, but it was only in stock a couple of times. I was happy if it came, but if it didn't, it meant that I got the $6.95 off for spending (just over) $87. Sadly, they finally took it off the delivery webpage.

Scientists in Switzerland have announced the discovery of a new class of antibiotics shown to be effective against deadly, drug-resistant bacteria. The antibiotic, called zosurabalpin, works by blocking a bacterial molecule called lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is responsible for creating the outer membrane that protects a harmful bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii. Acinetobacter is a “gram-negative” bacteria, which means it is resistant to most antibiotics and other drugs. It can cause infections in the blood, lungs, urinary tract and other parts of the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In animal studies, zosurabalpin successfully killed drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter. The research, conducted at Roche Pharma Research & Early Development in Switzerland, was published in the journal Nature on Jan. 3. “This new class of antibiotics prevents bacteria from creating their outer membrane, which provide structure to the bacteria and help them survive in harsh environments and cause infection,” Kenneth Bradley, the Switzerland-based global head of infectious disease discovery at Roche, told Fox News Digital via email. Without the ability to transport LPS — the bacteria die. “The new molecule overcomes the existing drug-resistance mechanisms that the currently available antibiotics are failing to address,” Bradley said. This is the first time in over 50 years that a new class of antibiotic has been identified to treat infections by gram-negative bacteria, he noted. Zosurabalpin specifically targets Acinetobacter. “The specificity of zosurabalpin is due to the unique way in which it binds to the drug target in these bacteria,” Bradley said. “Discovery of the mode of action of zosurabalpin in Acinetobacter may enable the identification of other drugs that work in the same way in other antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” Bradley said. The finding is especially significant, given that resistance to antibiotics has been on the rise in various gram-negative bacteria for several decades, he said. “Any new antibiotic class that has the ability to treat infections caused by multi-drug-resistant bacteria such as carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) would be a significant breakthrough,” he added. Michael Lobritz, the Switzerland-based head of infectious diseases at Roche, referred in a press release to antimicrobial resistance as a “silent pandemic.” “Over the next 30 years, it is projected to claim more lives than those taken by cancer today, according to the report of the economist Jim O’Neill,” Lobritz said. Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, agreed that the growing resistance of gram-negative bacteria is a “huge problem.” “Our last line of defense for decades now in the hospital has been the carbapenem drugs, specifically Imipenem and Mirapenem,” he told Fox News Digital. “But now there is an increase of carbapenem-resistant strains — including carbapenem-resistant Acinobacter baumannii, or CRAB — which are very difficult to treat.” Siegel also acknowledged the importance of the newly discovered zosurabalpin. “It interferes with a lipid transport mechanism at the surface of the bacteria,” he said. “This is very important, as there are now millions of deaths a year worldwide due to antibiotic resistance.” Zosurabalpin has only been tested in animals so far, Siegel noted, with human trials underway. Acinetobacter infections are most commonly seen in hospital patients, mainly affecting those who are on ventilators, have surgical wounds, are in intensive care units or have catheters, according to the CDC. Those with lung disease, diabetes or weakened immune systems are at a higher risk of infection. The bacteria can spread from person to person or via contact with contaminated surfaces. Acinetobacter baumannii, along with other gram-negative bacteria, is tracked by the CDC as part of its Emerging Infections Program. Looking ahead, Siegel said he expects that artificial intelligence will help speed up the process of developing new antibiotics and make it “more effective and streamlined. Zosurabalpin is currently in a phase 1 clinical trial, which will evaluate the “safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics” of the molecule, according to the researcher. “These data, as well as data from future pivotal phase 3 clinical studies, would be needed to determine the safety and efficacy profile of the molecule,” he added. The discovery of zosurabalpin, which Bradley calls a “scientific breakthrough,” will help researchers learn more about the construction of bacterial membranes, knowledge that could enable new drugs to kill bacteria. The hope is that this finding could help eventually to fight other drug-resistant bacteria. https://nypost.com/2024/01/06/lifestyle/new-antibiotic-kills-deadly-drug-resistant-bacteria-in-scientific-breakthrough/

It tugged on his heartstrings, but now he can’t loosen his purse strings. Kevin Smith, who bought his childhood movie theater last year, is struggling to keep it in business. So he’s hosting a memorabilia sale there to raise funds to keep it afloat. “Theatrical exhibition is in the toilet,” Smith, 53, told NJ Advance Media. “We’re selling stuff to stay alive until May.” The Red Bank, New Jersey, native, who was raised in Highlands, bought the Atlantic Moviehouse in Atlantic Highlands with his wife, Jen Schwalbach, and business partners in the fall of 2022. He renamed the five-screen theater, which dates to the early 1920s, SModcastle Cinemas, a nod to his podcast network. On Saturday, the “Clerks” director hosted the SMauction, an auction of movie items such as props, costumes and objects autographed by celebrities, in an effort to raise money for the troubled theater. After the auction ends, Smith is hosting a 15th anniversary screening of his 2008 sex comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” which stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Smith purchased the movie house from Frederick Rast, the former mayor of Atlantic Highlands, for an undisclosed amount. The theater and adjacent building Rast owned were listed for $2.6 million, according to the Asbury Park Press. “Suddenly you’re not just buying a movie theater, you’re buying real estate, two buildings on First Avenue, which feels very, very grown-up,” Smith told the outlet at the time. “And thankfully I can offset that forced maturity with some fun immaturity in the theater itself.”

I can't wait for his DEAR ABBY vs ANN LANDERS. What a role that will be for some actress!

These Ants Can Diagnose and Treat Their Comrades’ Infected Wounds Matabele ants in sub-Saharan Africa often sustain injuries while hunting termites—and their survival strategy may help humans fight infections, too https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-ants-can-diagnose-and-treat-their-comrades-infected-wounds-180983526/ When humans get injured, doctors often prescribe antibiotics to help ward off infection. But humans aren’t the only creatures to provide such sophisticated medical care to each other—some ants do, too. Matabele ants can identify and treat infected wounds with antibiotics they produce and secrete, scientists report in a paper published last week in the journal Nature Communications. This finding could one day lead to the development of new antibiotics for humans, according to the researchers. Matabele ants (Megaponera analis) live in massive colonies throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They only eat termites, which are plentiful in the region—but the ants’ narrow diet is not without consequences. Termites live in heavily guarded colonies. When Matabele ants approach, termite troops go on the defensive and use their powerful jaws to fend off the attackers. This often results in grievous injuries to the ants during hunting missions—up to 22 percent of foraging Matabele ants have lost a leg or two during raids. Previous research found that uninjured Matabele ants often carry their injured comrades back to their nests, where they lick their nest-mates’ wounds for several minutes. But researchers didn’t know why the ants did this—they wondered if the behavior helped remove dirt from the site, for instance. Now, they think they’ve solved this mystery. In the new study, scientists compared the chemicals produced by ants with infected and uninfected wounds. When a wound was infected, the hydrocarbon profile of the ant’s exoskeleton changed—and fellow ants seemed able to pick up on this difference. Not only did ants distinguish between infected and uninfected wounds, but they also targeted the infected wounds with self-made treatment. Matabele ants produced a substance from their metapleural glands, which are located on their backs, and applied it to their peers’ infected wounds. That substance contained more than 50 different components with antimicrobial or wound-healing properties, the researchers discovered. The treatment was effective, too: When researchers isolated infected ants from their colony of healers, 90 percent of them died within 36 hours. In contrast, mortality was only 22 percent for infected ants that the scientists kept with the colony. “With the exception of humans, I know of no other living creature that can carry out such sophisticated medical wound treatments,” says study co-author Erik Frank, an animal ecologist at the University of Würzburg in Germany, in a statement. The ants’ life-saving antibiotics make sense in the context of their dangerous hunting expeditions. If all injured ants died from infection, Matabele ant colonies would have a tough time surviving. “The workforce would diminish too quickly without this medical treatment,” Ken Cheng, an animal behaviorist at Macquarie University in Australia who was not involved in the research, said to New Scientist’s Alice Klein in 2022, before the study had been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scientists still want to learn more about Matabele ants’ wound care. But they’re hopeful that insights gleaned from the insects could someday lead to the development of new antibiotics for humans. One of the main pathogens that infect injured Matabele ants, called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also infects human wounds—and, in humans, several strains of the bacteria are resistant to existing antibiotics. Components found in the ants’ healing secretions may one day be useful for helping sick humans fight off Pseudomonas aeruginosa, too.

Australian Rack of Lamb Frenched All Natural Fresh 1.5 - 2 lb | $4.32 /lb Sale Price$7.56 Original Price$30.26 75% OFF!!! I've ordered two.

Years ago, some friends and I got tickets to Cap Day at Yankee Stadium. An hour before leaving, I got the idea to make a baked ziti to bring along. I put up a large pot of water to boil (told my roommate to keep an eye on it), quickly drove a few blocks to a supermarket for supplies, then threw it all together in a lasagna pan. It was ready just as it was time to go. The pan was piping hot, so I put it on a cutting board, and took it out to the car. I'd bought paper plates & plastic silverware and brought along a ladle to serve it with. I was too cheap to pay for parking, so I parked two blocks away, and trudged with this heavy package to the stadium (I use A LOT of cheese in my ziti). This was long enough ago that they actually let me in with it, & off I went... to the upper deck, of course. There were 5 or 6 of us total (we didn't all travel together), and fortunately, we were in the front row, so we had a little ledge to balance the plates on. My friends all laughed when they realized what I'd brought, as did the people around us. Then, around mid-game, they did the 'guess the attendance' game on the scoreboard, and when the actual figure was posted, a guy behind us said "Great... 50,000 people and they bring ONE pan of ziti!" I was mortified...

European supermarket chain Carrefour is removing PepsiCo products from store shelves due to what it says are “unacceptable” price hikes. It’s a problem that other major companies in the industry have taken issue with as well. According to multiple reports, the chain, which has over 12,000 stores worldwide, started clearing PepsiCo’s Pepsi and 7 Up sodas, Lipton tea and Quaker foods, as well as its Doritos and Lays chips from shelves in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium. A spokesperson for the supermarket chain told The Wall Street Journal that it added warning notes on its shelves explaining the reason behind the change. Carrefour already issued concerns about the cost of food products and added price warnings in September to pressure manufacturers to reduce their costs. The company added labels to the products that said: “This product has seen its volume or weight fall and the effective price by the supplier rise.” In a recent LinkedIn post, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, the CEO of rival supermarket chain E. Leclerc, also issued public grievances over the price hikes from suppliers. “We must therefore convince in the coming month all these major suppliers who made the mistake of increasing their prices too much, to lower them now, or to moderate them,” Leclerc said, according to an English translation of his post. “We must return to more reasonable, more transparent, and better spread out impacts of their costs.” The company told the Journal that it has been in talks with Carrefour for several months and is engaging in “good faith” to try and ensure that its products remain available. PepsiCo did not respond to a request for comment.

The acting legends are dying right & left these days. Glynis Johns yesterday, David Soul today. They just don't make stars like that anymore.

Now Fresno is losing its TGIFridays. What are local gourmets to do?

What a cheesy submission. I'm suddenly craving a pizza...

Who would called about a canned ham product?

I am always grateful when folks with superior educations than mine use their knowledge to make my life easier to navigate.

I just got an email from my medical group about an upcoming virtual cardiology seminar. It will be led by Dr. Hartman. Big marketing fail on his part, not changing the spelling of his last name at the start of his career...

I know, Jeremy, I know... OY! That Couch! What is that, a remnant from SHAMELESS?

I just got an email from my medical group about an upcoming virtual cardiology seminar. It will be led by Dr. Hartman. Big marketing fail on his part, not changing the spelling of his last name at the start of his career...

Do they use fountain pens or quill and ink for messages they want to be sure the recipient can preserve for posterity?

Fast-food customer sues Dunkin' Donuts over 'traumatic' toilet explosion the article is about a toilet that exploded, but the headline conjures up the possibility for some delightful snark.

It's been 14 or 15 years. July 1, whatever year ICE AGE 3 came out. One multiplex in Brooklyn, just over the border from Queens, closed yesterday. Another in Queens will be closing next month and yet another might be right behind it.

I bet Josh would be GIDDY if the whole matter just went away.

‘I Lost 60 Pounds, Added Years To My Life, Thanks To Tirzepatide + Lifestyle Changes’ “It was a miracle drug.” https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/a46106274/tirzepatide-weight-loss-review-before-and-after/ unfortunately behind a paywall.