“I Bow To No Law Made By Men Who Never Bore A Child.”

So since Romania is basically in quarantine I started learning norwegian only because I listened once to wardruna. Do any of y’all have any recommendation as to what to use besides duolingo?

Any other people feeling weirdly lonely during self isolation even though they aren’t by themselves??

FYI: The gates to the neurons inside your brain are basically made of pasta. If you look at ribbon models of proteins and cryo-EM images, it becomes abundantly clear that when the brain was designed, someone said hmm, not enough pasta. Add more fettuccini noodles to the neurons.  

How the gut influences neurologic disease

A study published in Nature sheds new light on the connection between the gut and the brain, untangling the complex interplay that allows the byproducts of microorganisms living in the gut to influence the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have been using both animal models and human cells from patients to tease out the key players involved in the gut-brain connection as well as in the crosstalk between immune cells and brain cells. Their new publication defines a pathway that may help guide therapies for multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases.

“These findings provide a clear understanding of how the gut impacts central nervous system resident cells in the brain,” said corresponding author Francisco Quintana, PhD, of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH. “Now that we have an idea of the players involved, we can begin to go after them to develop new therapies.”

The new research focuses on the influence of gut microbes on two types of cells that play a major role in the central nervous system: microglia and astrocytes. Microglia are an integral part of the body’s immune system, responsible for scavenging the CNS and getting rid of plaques, damaged cells and other materials that need to be cleared. But microglia can also secrete compounds that induce neurotoxic properties on the star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes. This damage is thought to contribute to many neurologic diseases, including multiple sclerosis.

Brigham researchers have previously explored the gut-brain connection to gain insights into multiple sclerosis. Although some studies have examined how byproducts from organisms living in the gut may promote inflammation in the brain, the current study is the first to report on how microbial products may act directly on microglia to prevent inflammation. The team reports that the byproducts that microbes produce when they break down dietary tryptophan - an amino acid found in turkey and other foods - may limit inflammation in the brain through their influence on microglia.

To conduct their study, the research team examined gut microbes and the influence of changes in diet in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. They found that compounds resulting from the breakdown of tryptophan can cross the blood-brain barrier, activating an anti-inflammatory pathway that limits neurodegeneration. The researchers also studied human multiple sclerosis brain samples, finding evidence of the same pathway and players.

Activation of this same pathway has recently been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and glioblastoma. The Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, of which Quintana is a part, brings experts together to accelerate treatment for these diseases, as well as multiple sclerosis Parkinson’s disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

“It is likely the mechanisms we’ve uncovered are relevant for other neurologic diseases in addition to multiple sclerosis,” said Quintana. “These insights could guide us toward new therapies for MS and other diseases.”

Quintana and his colleagues plan to further study the connections to neurologic diseases, and are also optimizing small molecules as well as probiotics to identify additional elements that participate in the pathway and new therapies.

Did ciri actually almost had sex with a dying man for a horse or was that just a weird fever dream I had while reading the books

Mood tbh

Literally 90% of the stories I start to tell my mom and then end up lying and making them dumb so they’re not gay.

So you seem to be highly against shipping Geralt and Jaskier, and I was wondering if there was any particular reason? I don't particularly but I can see why people would, given they do definitely spend a lot of time together and are friends. So it seems odd to have that much of an issue with it to md

"highly against" is a bit overstretched...I just find it highly ridiculous...i think it's really random to ship it. heck... there's not even ANY chemistry to go around it...I acknowledge the bond(that was barely properly written just like many other bonds in the show); but really it just annoys me intensely how people are just going around shipping things that make zero sense...I understand crack ships for fun(but only when there IS chemistry, moments, aesthetic etc)...so at first I thought it was pretty cute; but the fact that people seriously think this is actually 100% ship worthy is ridiculous and the amount of attention it has gotten? Like really, it's just plain ridiculous...not even canon ships get this much attention and it makes me mad. Not the ship in general that makes me angry just the fact that it's shipped for no apparent reason, making it to the top of Tumblr lists when other actual CANON queer couples are left abandoned and neglected.

Manila: *gets eliminated*

Me:

nothing makes me go insane like neo-pagan music

I hear drums and chanting in a language I don’t understand and I’m like “time to go feral I guess”