Tell Me Something............Anything!

[Pigmy Pony]

In these strange times, I have increasingly been listening to BBC Radio 4.

Absolute cracker of a Radio show today. Open Country at 15.00 Hours.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl7j/2020/11/26

Eilean Shona on the Western Coast of Scotland. Have you ever seen a lovelier place?

https://eileanshona.com/

Better than the Scillies IMO. Water is flippin' freezing but the Scillies are cold too. So no loss there.

I once tried to swim in that, near Ullapool lasted about 30 seconds

[struth]

A new procedure using tiny cameras inside a pill to help detect bowel cancer has been launched in Tayside.

The ScotCap test will be rolled out across health boards in Scotland as an alternative to a traditional colonoscopy.

The cameras take pictures of the lining of the bowel to look for any problems or signs of disease.

About 70,000 people in Scotland undergo colonoscopy treatment each year.

The programme, which is backed by the Scottish government, has been accelerated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is hoped the programme will help health boards tackle a backlog of patients and reduce waiting times.

The cameras transmit images to a recorder worn by the patient

NHS Tayside will run the service at clinics in Perth Royal Infirmary and Royal Victoria Hospital.

Dr Craig Mowat, consultant gastroenterologist with NHS Tayside, said: "The Colon Capsule is a pill-sized camera which has a bright light and two cameras which beam images to a recorder worn by the patient.

"It films the inside of the lower intestine to determine whether there are any abnormalities.

"The Colon Capsule makes the procedure non-invasive, painless and the patient does not need to be sedated."

[walpurgis]

Gives a whole new meaning to 'tunnel vision'.

[struth]

id be much happier swallowing that than having the colonoscopy up the snarse

[struth]

One of biology's biggest mysteries has been solved using artificial intelligence, experts have announced.

Predicting how a protein folds into a unique three-dimensional shape has puzzled scientists for half a century.

London-based AI lab, DeepMind, has largely cracked the problem, say the organisers of a scientific challenge.

A better understanding of protein shapes could play a pivotal role in the development of novel drugs to treat disease.

The advance by DeepMind is expected to accelerate research into a host of illnesses, including Covid-19.

Their program determined the shape of proteins at a level of accuracy comparable to expensive and time-consuming lab methods, they say.

Dr Andriy Kryshtafovych, from University of California (UC), Davis in the US, one of the panel of scientific adjudicators, described the achievement as "truly remarkable".

"Being able to investigate the shape of proteins quickly and accurately has the potential to revolutionise life sciences," he said.

Proteins are present in all living things where they play a central role in the chemical processes essential for life.

Made up of strings of amino acids, they fold up in an infinite number of ways into elaborate shapes that hold the key to how they carry out their vital functions.

Many diseases are linked to the roles of proteins in catalysing chemical reactions (enzymes), fighting disease (antibodies) or acting as chemical messengers (hormones such as insulin).

"Even tiny rearrangements of these vital molecules can have catastrophic effects on our health, so one of the most efficient ways to understand disease and find new treatments is to study the proteins involved," said Dr John Moult of the University of Maryland, US, the chair of the panel of scientific adjudicators.

"There are tens of thousands of human proteins and many billions in other species, including bacteria and viruses, but working out the shape of just one requires expensive equipment and can take years."

[Pigmy Pony]

A new procedure using tiny cameras inside a pill to help detect bowel cancer has been launched in Tayside.

The ScotCap test will be rolled out across health boards in Scotland as an alternative to a traditional colonoscopy.

The cameras take pictures of the lining of the bowel to look for any problems or signs of disease.

About 70,000 people in Scotland undergo colonoscopy treatment each year.

The programme, which is backed by the Scottish government, has been accelerated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is hoped the programme will help health boards tackle a backlog of patients and reduce waiting times.

The cameras transmit images to a recorder worn by the patient

NHS Tayside will run the service at clinics in Perth Royal Infirmary and Royal Victoria Hospital.

Dr Craig Mowat, consultant gastroenterologist with NHS Tayside, said: "The Colon Capsule is a pill-sized camera which has a bright light and two cameras which beam images to a recorder worn by the patient.

"It films the inside of the lower intestine to determine whether there are any abnormalities.

"The Colon Capsule makes the procedure non-invasive, painless and the patient does not need to be sedated."

I recently got an NHS text telling me to expect a shit-kit through the post any day now. Not a big fan of the "turd-on-stick" method, so I would welcome this technology. No doubt Marco will poo-poo the idea, fearing that the government will use it to collect data on his eating habits, and what he likes to stick up his bum at the weekend

[Barry]

I recently got an NHS text telling me to expect a shit-kit through the post any day now. Not a big fan of the "turd-on-stick" method, so I would welcome this technology.

At least with the new method you do it the once. Before, you had to provide three consecutive samples (smears).

[guy]

I recently got an NHS text telling me to expect a shit-kit through the post any day now. Not a big fan of the "turd-on-stick" method, so I would welcome this technology. No doubt Marco will poo-poo the idea, fearing that the government will use it to collect data on his eating habits, and what he likes to stick up his bum at the weekend

I had one of those earlier this month - results ok. Now I have to remember to request another "shit-kit" in two years time; I have trouble remembering what to do tomorrow. I suppose I could put a "post it" note on the fridge

[Barry]

Don't worry, the NHS will remind you come the time.

[Pigmy Pony]

I had one of those earlier this month - results ok. Now I have to remember to request another "shit-kit" in two years time; I have trouble remembering what to do tomorrow. I suppose I could put a "post it" note on the fridge

As Barry says, they do that for you Guy. I had the test two years ago, and a couple of weeks ago the NHS wrote to me to say I can expected another shit-kit in the coming days. Not quite worded that way. Yesterday it arrived It also said that we will receive one every two years up to the age of 74 I think.