Brain-eating amoebae tubulin research

There is fascinating research from UMass Amherst on Naegleria tubulin ecosystem. Excerpts:

These microtubules are like the 2x4s of the cell and are used in everything from helping the cell to move, to transporting food and waste within the cell and giving the cell structural support.

One of the key moments in mitosis is when a spindle, made up of microtubules, grabs hold of the chromosomes and helps separate them into two identical sets.

Naegleria also employs three additional distinct tubulins specifically during mitosis. One pair of tubulins are used only during mitosis, while the other, the flagellate tubulin, specialize in cellular movement.

COVID infection severity strongly linked to autoimmune disease

Bastard et al have published fascinating research linking SARS-CoV-2 infection severity to autoantibodies against IFN (which do increase with age). I wonder if screening for antibodies against type I IFNs using ELISA (as Bastard suggests) is a suboptimal path to simple immunization.

Fukushima post-mortem

Back in 2012, CEIP published an excellent post mortem on the Fukushima disaster. Excerpts:
Insufficient attention was paid to evidence of large tsunamis inundating the region surrounding the plant about once every thousand years.

Computer modeling of the tsunami threat was inadequate. Most importantly, preliminary simulations conducted in 2008 that suggested the tsunami risk to the plant had been seriously underestimated were not followed up and were only reported to NISA on March 7, 2011.

NISA failed to review simulations conducted by TEPCO and to foster the development of appropriate computer modeling tools.

Protecting emergency power supplies, including diesel generators and batteries, by moving them to higher ground or by placing them in watertight bunkers;

Establishing watertight connections between emergency power supplies and key safety systems; and

Enhancing the protection of seawater pumps (which were used to transfer heat from the plant to the ocean and to cool diesel generators) and/or constructing a backup means to dissipate heat.