David Bradley – Page 59

Adverse effects of hydroxychloroquine

UPDATE: If you have been prescribed this drug for another condition, do not stop taking it without consulting your GP. Your GP will have prescribed it for a good reason and will know your medical history and undertaken a risk-benefit assessment before signing your prescription. The majority of the side-effects are rare and it is generally safe to use for the approved conditions if heart problems and other underlying possible complications and contraindications have been ruled out for you.

In case you were ever stupid enough to follow Trump’s lead you would have already injected ultraviolets in your eyeballs by now to save you from Covid and maybe bathed in Domestos or sulfuric acid or both! Anyway, his latest bullshine claim is that he’s been taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to keep Covid at bay.

Well, for starters there is no evidence that this drug acts as a prophylactic against infection with SARS CoV-2 or indeed any pathogen other than the causative agent of otherwise drug-resistant malaria. It’s primary use is in treating lupus. There was some testing done weeks ago to see whether it might work against SARS-CoV-2, it almost certainly doesn’t, there will be actual antivirals to try and some being developed as we speak.

Either way, did anyone actually do a benefit-risk balance assessment for him or has he self-medicated on a whim? I strongly suspect that he is not taking it at all and that there is some hidden agenda. As with everything else he says bullshit or otherwise a political or financial incentive is often at the front of his frothing, festering mind.

The US Food and Drug Administration warns against taking this drug outside the clinical environment because it can cause serious and potentially lethal heart problems”. If you were thinking of taking inspiration from The Trunt listen to the FDA or maybe have a look at the huge list of post-approval adverse reactions and side-effects already reported for hydroxychloroquine:

Bone marrow failure, anemia, aplastic anemia, agranulocytosis, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia, hemolysis in people with G-6-PD enzyme deficiency, Cardiomyopathy and fatal cardiac failure, ventricular arrhythmia, Vertigo, tinnitus, nystagmus, nerve deafness, deafness, eye irreversible retinopathy with retinal pigmentation changes (bull’s eye appearance), visual field defects, and visual disturbances, macular degeneration, corneal edema and opacity, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, fatigue, liver failure, urticaria, angioedema, asthma, poor appetite, hypoglycemia, porphyria, weight loss, sensorimotor disorder, skeletal muscle myopathy or neuromyopathy leading to weakness and muscle wasting, failing tendon reflexes and abnormal nerve conduction, headache, dizziness, seizure, ataxia and dystonia, dyskinesia, and tremor, emotional problems, nervousness, irritability, nightmares, psychosis, suicidal thoughts, rash, pruritus, pigmentation disorders in skin and mucous membranes, alopecia, skin eruptions, toxic epidermal necrolysis, photosensitivity, psoriasis…

The complete, detailed list of ADRs and side-effects can be found here.

Pine Hawk-moth in the garden

I have written about the Hawk-moths (Sphingidadae) several times during my short time mothing with an actinic lure in our back garden. We have seen a fair selection of the species present in the British Isles. My photos are in the HM section of my Mothematical Gallery.

So far in 2020, Lime HM, Eyed HM, and Poplar HM have made appearances. Morning of 19 May 2020, a new one for the garden – Pine Hawk-moth, Sphinx pinastri (Linnaeus, 1758).

Grey/Dark Dagger agg with Pine HM. The Dagger is about 18mm long

Handgel and hot cars

There’s some deceived wisdom doing the rounds about not leaving bottles of 60% alcohol hand sanitizer in your car when it’s hot because it could spontaneously burst into flames. There are pictures of the damage apparently caused by the hand gel burning through the dashboard.

This is not at all likely to happen at the temperatures you’re like to reach in the passenger compartment of a car. Moreover, if the interior of your car were to reach the necessary temperature for spontaneous combustion of hand sanitizer, that little bottle of gel is the least of your worries.

The flashpoint for 60% ethanol in water, may well be low (about 23 Celsius), but you need something to *ignite* the liquid, it won’t spontaneously burst into flames. Even petrol cannot spontaneously combust until it’s above 280 Celsius, hence the spark plugs to ignite it (an electric spark will peak at about 4500 Celsius).

However, the handgel may well get very hot and opening the lid might lead to it spurting out and scalding you. There is also the issue of putting handgel on your hands while smoking or holding a candle…that would be risky-ish.

Bombus pratorum on Cynoglossum officinale

This is an “Early Bumblebee”, Bombus pratorum, feeding on a kind of borage (Boraginaceae) but with puce flowers, Cynoglossum officinale, on the flood plain of the Old West River, a couple of miles North of Cottenham. It’s growing wild and free and in abundance there.

The plant has several common, folk, or vernacular, names among them houndstongue, houndstooth, dog’s tongue, gypsy flower, and “rats and mice” due to its odour).

Also sighted there this morning, first Common Blue butterfly of the year for me, a male Polyommatus icarus. Lots of the white-flowered wildflower around, but not entirely sure of the ID on that, yarrow? Saxifrage? Other…

Friends of mine had mentioned seeing a particular wildflower, Scarlet Pimpernel, Anagallis arvensis, recently (poor man’s barometer, it’s sometimes known, presumably it’s a folksy indicator of changeable weather). I hadn’t realised which species they mean until I happened to photograph some this morning and looking it up in colour-coded Collins Wildflowers, Lippert and Podlech.

Then there were the Kingfishers, Alcedo atthis, which were the primary target of my photographic trip.

There’s a very simple solution to combating video call burnout

Zoom burnout, they’re calling it.

We’ve probably all experienced it by now, that feeling of exhaustion and of having Zoomed too far, joined one two many “webinars”, Whatsapped a bit too much with the family, argued over the quiz results, and drank far too much “at” far too many friends on House Party.

You’ve logged in and fiddled with mic and cam settings until everyone in the video-chat can see and hear you. You’ve waited, sometimes minutes, for the host to show up and let you all in. You’ve put up with the audio feedback issues when two of you are in the same room and in the same chat.

You’ve changed your background to the blue planet and to the Golden Gate Bridge, and the palm trees on the beach. You’ve had the Aurora whisping away behind you as your face mysteriously modulates from visible to invisible and back again like Alice’s Cheshire Cat. You’ve even downloaded all those empty TV studio set photos from the BBC. You’ve virtually sat in Noel’s chair from Multicoloured Swap Shop, you’ve pondered which era Doctor Who that particular TARDIS background is [Peter Davidson] and one of your best friends hopped aboard The Liberator and shouted Avon calling in the most camp voice possible. You’ve searched to see if there is a Tomorrow People background, so you might chat with Tim in the frame and jaunt about a bit.

Then there’s the issue of which app to actually use for the best experience. Zoom is okay, but it sometimes gets overloaded and it’s definitely overloaded with tabloid scaremongering so some friends won’t use it. You’ve tried to persuade others to opt for yet another app or website. “This one’s better, it’s faster, there’s no privacy or issues [there are always privacy and security issues].

There’s even the vague possibility that we might all be able to sync up and sing or play instruments together across the ether because this new app has much lower sound delay, latency, [it doesn’t, none of them have a sufficiently low delay to let musicians perform together online].

Your eyes are feeling blurry, you’re thinking…it’s the staring at the screen for so long, that’s why you feel so tired. But, we’ve all been staring at screens interminably for years, it’s not that. It’s something else. Maybe it’s the needing to be constantly “on”. Constantly concentrating on all those faces staring slightly askew in their blue reflected haze.

It’s neither of those things.

Maybe it’s the lack of body language cues. It’s hard to converse and fully engage without seeing someone’s expressive hands and shoulder shrugs. But, as we’re all sitting on our hands to stop us touching our faces anyway, those cues are always off-limits.Â But, it’s not that either. We’ve managed on the good-old telephone with no video for decades with no real problems.

So, what is it, why are we all feeling burned out and a little melancholic, miserable even, after all this facetime zooming by? We should be happy that despite the global pandemic those of us with the tech can still cling to each other, sticking together while we’re apart, as it were. Very unfortunate for those in places with no tech…for so many reasons.

Could it be that every time we fire up those webcams and tweak that background, for another online chat that we are simply mourning the loss of what we had? The meeting up in the real world, the pubs, the clubs, the musical rehearsals, the live theatre and music festivals, the art galleries and museums, the beauty spots, the far-flung holidays, the freedom? The freedom from worry about catching or spreading a lethal pathogen? I think so.

Zoom burnout isn’t tiredness. It isn’t the strain of feeling one’s eyes going square like we were warned about back in the days of proper television with just three channels. It isn’t irritation at the silly backgrounds and the clamouring, clanging sounds of everyone trying to talk at once.

It’s grief.

It’s bereavement.

It’s mourning.

For the life we’ve lost…

…for now.

Lockdown in Wonder

Did a down and dirty arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t she lovely?” on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Took half a dozen takes to get through it without my snood slipping. Overdubbed the guitar solo, obvs.

Quanfusion – Confused quarantine jazz fusion

Delirious jazz noodlings with an ES335 copy, a Telecaster, a Yamaha bass, and a few drum loops.

Jazz improvisation characterized by a sense of experimentation and unpredictability. The instruments listed – an ES335 copy, a Telecaster, a Yamaha bass, and drum loops – a combination of electric guitars and a bass guitar, along with pre-recorded drum loops, which are commonly used in modern music production.

The ES335 is a type of semi-hollow electric guitar known for its warm and versatile tone, while the Telecaster is a solid-body electric guitar that produces a bright and twangy sound. The combination of these two guitars creates an interesting tonal contrast that contributes to the improvisational nature of the music.

The Yamaha bass is a four-string electric bass guitar, which provides a solid foundation for the harmonic and rhythmic elements of the music. The use of pre-recorded drum loops allowed me to explore different rhythmic patterns and textures without the need for a live drummer.

Overall, experimentation and spontaneity were the focus creating a unique and unpredictable sonic experience for the listener.

Everybody’s free (to wear a facemask)

Back in the late ’90s I did a pastiche of the “Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen)” hit by Baz Lurhmann, but for chemists on the original ChemWeb site, no less, I was their original weekly columnist, so I kind of had a captive audience for many a year over there. Anyway, it was entitled “Everybody’s free (to wear goggles)“. Hilarious, yeah…I know, haha!

Now, I hear there’s a new release from Lez Burham of Strictly Rouge and The Moulin Ballroom fame, this time redone for The Covid Age…

…it’s called Everybody’s free (to wear a facemask). I know, I know, again, hilarious!

The B-side is called “Everybody’s free (to applaud on their doorstep, bang a tambourine on the lawn, or a hit pan with a wooden spoon in their front garden on Thursday evenings at twenty-hundred hourse after their tea and then to make a substantial donation to the NHS careworker support charities)”

Deliberate choice of alternative backing sample for this video…Teardrop by Massive Attack used as the theme music for House MD, see what I did there?

“To you the people of 2020, if I could offer you one tip, not for the future but for right now, it would be wear a face mask.

Stay at home, staying alert is not enough. Stay well.

Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, even if you’ve washed your hands. Don’t bury your head in your hands, if you have to wipe away a tear use an antiseptic wipe. Oh, that smarts.

Sneeze on to your shoulder. Cough into the crook of your elbow. If you don’t know your arse from your elbow, you’re not alone, ask Boris for advice.

Dispose of that Kleenex safely

Don’t go outside too much, don’t drive too far. If you must drive wipe the door handle with antiseptic gel.

Look after your parents. Meet your Mom in the park, but tell her to bring her own picnic. Dad’s not invited but he can meet someone else on the other side of the flowerbeds. Bring a very big picnic blanket, one that’s at least 7 feet by 7 feet. Don’t have a kickabout with your Mom, the ball might be contaminated.

No hugging, no kissing, no singing. Don’t go to the pub. The pub is dry.

Go back to work if you want to, but don’t take the bus, don’t go by train. Avoid cyclists. Conga to church and pray for a vaccine. Stay at home if you don’t want to work.

Applaud the NHS, shake a tambourine, bang a pan, don’t hold a solo gig in your front garden. Donate to charities supporting health workers.

Shop only for essentials. Beer is an essential.

Drink beer. But take off that snotty mask first.

Wash your hands again, don’t touch your first, stand in the corner. Go to the naughty step, you touched someone else’s face.

And breathe…

Another night’s mothing in time of covfefevirus

Not quite as active a night in nor around the actinic lure as it gradually got windier. But, still a reasonable number of specimens seen and a couple more NFYs.

Of interest a leucistic male Muslin, Tawn/Marbled Minor agg (NFY), Willow Beauty (NFY).

Also showing up Flame Shoulder, Common Pug(2), Bee Moth, Waved Umber, H&D, SSD, and non-aberrant male Muslin.

I tried to get an open-wing shot of the Pale Prominent sat on my stone staging, but it hopped off quickly and disappeared. Saw it on my office carpet a couple of hours later, let it fly to the window…got a sort of open-wing shot, but it was too flitty for focus.

Mothing in the time of Covid

Thank goodness for mothing…it’s certainly a distraction from the bleak outlook and political bullshine of the coronavirus, Covid-19 debacle. Thing is for much of this year, there haven’t been many moths drawn to actinic light lures that I’ve heard off. Lepidopterists on the various lep Facebook groups and around our county here have been reporting low number and low diversity.

However, that changed somewhat for my lure on the night of the 75th Anniversary of VE-Day. I’d spent much of the time handling virtual online events, such as my #FEVEG20, but by the evening, just after dark and after a couple of celebrater sherbets, the light lure beckoned.

It was a still, balmy evening, it had dropped from 24 degrees to around 15 Celsius at 23h00 and there was quite a bit of activity around the lure. flies, parasitic wasps, Bee Moths, Pugs, a Brimstone…a Pale Tussock, and more. There was a stunningly white with black spots, female Muslin on a California poppy stem next to the pond 5 metres away from the actinic. Intriguingly, some of the moths were more drawn to a bright LED panel I was using to have a quick look at the frogs in the pond (only one of the two has been visible this last week, #PondLife). No sign of any Box-tree Moth, the notoriously virulent beast from the East. They will emerge soon, I have warned neighbours who have planted a Box hedge that they could see it ravaged. They make nice hedges but now that this invasive species taking hold across various parts of the country, those hedges will succumb.

Anyway, the Pale Tussock had been joined by another by morning in the collecting box, there were more pugs, more Bee Moths, and a couple more Brimstone (not to be confused with the Brimstone butterfly). Here’s the full list of the Saturday morning haul; NFY = New for year:

Bee Moth (3), Brimstone (3), Common Pug (4), Cream-bordered Garden Pea (NFY), Argyrotaenia ljungiana (NFY), Eudonia angustea (NFY), Female Muslin, Flame Shoulder (NFY), Freyer’s Pug (NFY), Garden Carpet (2), Grey/Dark Dagger agg (NFY), Heart and Dart (2), Light-brown Apple Moth (2), male Muslin, Notocelia cynosbatella (NFY), Pale Tussock (2, NFY), Rustic Shoulder-knot (NFY, deceased), Shuttle-shaped Dart (12), Waved Umber.

Still hearing from others that they are hardly seeing any moths and yet some people with mercury vapour lures elsewhere in the country are seeing a whole lot more.