China Remains Embedded in US Supply Chains: Jackson Hole Paper

 China remains embedded in US supply chains even as American firms have taken steps to reduce direct imports from the Asian country, according to a paper presented at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual Jackson Hole conference Saturday.

The paper’s authors, Laura Alfaro of Harvard Business School and Davin Chor of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, documented a decrease in the share of US imports from China and a corresponding increase in the share of US imports from Vietnam and Mexico between 2017 and 2022.

The shift was spurred by US government policies including tariffs, which were aimed at decoupling the American and Chinese economies.

But Chinese firms appear to be finding ways to mitigate the impact, namely through increased exports to and foreign direct investment in Vietnam and Mexico.

“The US’ indirect supply-chain links to China remain intact; along some dimensions — through China’s economic ties with Vietnam and Mexico — these indirect links have even been intensifying,” Alfaro and Chor wrote.

“Even though the US may be reallocating its sourcing and imports toward Vietnam and Mexico, it may de facto remain connected with and dependent on China through third-countries, including through Vietnam and Mexico.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-remains-embedded-us-supply-140050916.html

Pfizer Documents Show COVID-19 Vaccines Contain Potentially Harmful 'Modified' RNA, Not mRNA

  by Megan Redshaw, JD via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

Although we’ve been told Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is manufactured with harmless messenger RNA (mRNA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) product label shows it contains artificially modified RNA—a key ingredient that is not naturally occurring and poses a substantial risk to human health.

According to Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine label in the FDA’s Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers, each Pfizer vaccine dose for children ages 5 through 11 contains 10 micrograms (mcg) of modRNA, while fully-approved Comirnaty authorized for use in individuals 12 years of age and older contains 30 mcg of modRNA.

Pfizer, on its website, confirms its COVID-19 vaccine contains modRNA: “ModRNA stands for nucleoside-modified messenger RNA and in the synthesis of the RNA used in this vaccine platform, some nucleosides, which are important biological molecules that constitute DNA and RNA, are replaced by modified nucleosides to help enhance immune evasion and protein production.” The company says modRNA instructs the cells to produce desired proteins.

Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states on its website (pdf) that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are “made of mRNA,” or “messenger RNA.”

According to the agency, the mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna is created in a laboratory and teaches cells how to make harmless pieces of spike protein that trigger an immune response inside the body. The mRNA from mRNA-based vaccines is broken down within days after vaccination and eliminated from the body. In its description of mRNA and how COVID-19 vaccines work, the CDC makes no reference to modRNA or indicates that the RNA used in COVID-19 vaccines has been modified.

Messenger RNA occurs naturally and lives in our cells, and it does not last long enough to initiate an immune response before being destroyed by the immune system—it is modRNA that is synthetically created, according to Klaus Steger, a molecular biologist who headed several gene technology laboratories, regularly applying RNA-based technologies.

Unlike mRNA, modRNA modifies one of four compounds in RNA that make it last longer in the body, less immunogenic (reduced stimulation of the innate immune system), and more efficient at producing a protein—in this case, the spike protein, Mr. Steger stated. Since modRNA cannot target specific cells to make viral protein, it can attack perfectly healthy cells and bypass protective barriers in the body, like the blood-brain barrier.

Injecting modRNA into the body may lead to adverse events like strokes, cardiovascular complications, pulmonary embolism, and the formation of blood clots—many of which were disclosed in Pfizer’s documents (pdf) but were not attributed to its product.

“It is my opinion that, at a minimum, the intentional use of mRNA—an acronym well-known to stand for messenger RNA along with the endless statements about the vaccines being based on naturally occurring messenger RNA constitute misbranding in violation of a number of laws,” Ohio-based attorney Thomas Renz told The Epoch Times in an email.

“There is a legal and moral duty to provide informed consent, and to misrepresent a drug that was intended to be a gene therapy as a vaccine containing “natural messenger RNA” is an apparent violation of both of those duties.”

David Wiseman, a research bioscientist with a doctorate in experimental pathology and a background in pharmacy, pharmacology, and immunology told The Epoch Times in an email the FDA uses the term “modRNA” throughout its regulatory documents. Yet the FDA, when it gave emergency use authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, said the vaccine contains messenger RNA, which it described as “genetic material” that contains a “small piece of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’s mRNA that instructs cells in the body to make the virus’s distinctive ‘spike’ protein.”

The FDA’s description is problematic because the SARS-CoV-2 virus doesn’t contain mRNA, Mr. Wiseman said. “mRNA is the kind of RNA produced in the copying of instructions from DNA in a process called transcription, so to say this is viral mRNA is inaccurate.”

“Understand that, at core, mRNA, modRNA, saRNA, etc.—these are all gene therapies and all about genetic manipulation,” Mr. Renz wrote in a recent Substack article. “To suggest that this is high risk is an understatement. We have no idea what we are doing and yet we continue forward trying to control these genes.”

Pfizer Is Using Modified RNA Gene Therapy to Develop Other Vaccines

Mr. Renz told The Epoch Times that Pfizer is not only using modRNA for COVID-19 injections but also leveraging gene therapy technology to produce self-amplifying mRNA (saRNA) vaccines and treatments.

“Along with modRNA, Pfizer’s website also mentions saRNA (self-amplifying RNA) and numerous other lab-made RNA technologies,” he said. “We have discovered that various RNA technologies are in development for various uses, and these technologies, along with new adjuvant technologies, can allow for the introduction of gene therapy products into foods, the air (aerosolized vaccines), and even topical products.”

According to Pfizer, saRNA is a platform that uses a much larger molecule that encodes the antigen of interest and four additional proteins, allowing the cell to make more copies of the mRNA, resulting in more protein being expressed from a smaller dose. Pfizer states that it is currently using this gene therapy technology to develop influenza, shingles, and respiratory combination vaccines.

“It will be curious to know if this is going to be disclosed as well,” Mr. Renz added.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/pfizer-documents-show-covid-19-vaccines-contain-potentially-harmful-modified-rna-not-mrna

Common hormone could hold key to treating endometrial cancer

 New research from QIMR Berghofer has found that the hormone testosterone may play an important role in the development of endometrial cancer.

The discovery raises exciting new possibilities for screening, preventing and fighting this increasingly prevalent disease.

Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in Australian women and its incidence is rising. Yet treatment options are limited, with a hysterectomy often the first line of defense.

The new study by Associate Professors Tracy O'Mara and Dylan Glubb gives hope that existing hormone therapies may offer another option.

"Everyone has testosterone, but our research suggests that women with higher levels of the hormone are at greater risk of developing endometrial cancer," said A/Prof O'Mara, the senior author on the study.

"In establishing an independent relationship between testosterone and endometrial cancer, the study opens up potential new avenues for treatment.

"We're really excited by these findings and hope that with further research, we might be able to treat endometrial cancer by targeting or inhibiting testosterone with existing drugs."

In the study published in the journal iScience, the researchers carried out advanced genetic analysis to identify five independent risk factors for endometrial cancer. These risk factors include body weight, age at onset of menstruation and menopause, and testosterone levels.

The testosterone connection was related to a specific region of the human genome which the study discovered has links to a higher risk of endometrial cancer.

"It is very promising to see testosterone levels emerge so strongly as a likely risk factor, because a person's testosterone can be modified," O'Mara said.

"There are already approved drugs designed to block and counteract the hormone's effects. Further research may justify trying to repurpose those drugs to help women with endometrial cancer.

"It is really important that we do find more therapeutic options, as the current first line treatment for endometrial cancer is a hysterectomy. This is obviously highly invasive, and affects fertility in younger patients."

Glubb said they would use laboratory-grown organoids resembling endometrial cancer tumors, to investigate genes involved in the development of the disease.

"We have identified a significant number of genetic regions linked to endometrial cancer, but we don't yet know which particular genes are involved. This study allows us to test which genes are important for the growth of the organoids and the endometrial cancer tumors they represent.

"Our ultimate goal is finding new genes which can be targeted to treat endometrial cancer, as we know drugs with a genetic basis are more likely to be effective."

More information: Xuemin Wang et al, Multi-trait genome-wide association study identifies a novel endometrial cancer risk locus that associates with testosterone levels, iScience (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106590

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-common-hormone-key-endometrial-cancer.html

New approach for the treatment of neuroblastoma in young children

 Neuroblastomas are tumors of the nervous system. They can form in many places in the body and are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in young children. A team of researchers at University Medicine Halle has discovered the processes involved in the development of neuroblastomas.

The protein IGF2BP1 is considered the spark that can ignite a whole wildfire of cancer-causing processes. In preclinical trials, the team used a molecule that was able to inhibit IGF2BP1 and extinguish this spark. The results of this new potential therapeutic approach have been published in the journal Molecular Cancer.

The protein IGF2BP1 is present at the beginning of life and ensures that cells grow rapidly during embryonic development. Later on, its presence is linked to various tumors. In this current study, the researchers analyzed the genetic characteristics of the tumors of 100 children suffering from neuroblastoma, and performed extensive cell culture experiments and experiments on mice.

"In short, IGF2BP1 causes that another protein is produced in abundance. Both proteins can activate various, currently unresolved, processes at the genetic level that have a strong cancer-causing effect under these abnormal circumstances," explains Sven Hagemann, lead author and biochemist at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at University Medicine Halle.

The result is an out-of-control conflagration in the cell, which causes neuroblastomas to form, survive, grow and spread. The study has shown for the first time that IGF2BP1 on its own is enough to trigger these tumors; all of the mice in which the protein IGF2BP1 was induced developed a neuroblastoma.

Targeted therapies are urgently needed

More than half of children with high-risk neuroblastomas relapse. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed to more effectively treat this type of childhood cancer. These projects at the University Medicine Halle aim to identify the main drivers behind cancer and counteract them using novel small-molecule drugs.

"It would be very promising to specifically inhibit IGF2BP1, since it is not normally produced after infancy—except in cancer cells," explains Professor Stefan Hüttelmaier, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at University Medicine Halle. The team has now successfully tested such a molecule in close cooperation with the Institute of Pharmacy at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

"Our drug candidate has so far shown no adverse effects in initial preclinical trials and can be used as the basis of further developments. In the future, the targeted treatment of neuroblastomas could prevent patients from experiencing the severe side effects of chemotherapy," says Hüttelmaier. However, it will take a few more years to clarify unresolved questions before clinical trials can begin. It is unclear, for example, why IGF2BP1 is present in the first place, or how the drug can best be delivered to where it is needed in the body.

Professor Hüttelmaier has been studying the protein IGF2BP1 for more than 20 years. "We began by studying neurons until we suddenly stumbled upon the fact that this protein is particularly prevalent in cancer." Based on clinical data, Professor Hüttelmaier's team was able to demonstrate in 2015 that IGF2BP1 plays a role in the development of neuroblastomas.

"We have now succeeded in uncovering further pieces of evidence and, for the first time, we have identified a possible therapeutic approach. If we succeed in developing a suitable molecule, this will not only be relevant for neuroblastomas. Studies show that IGF2BP1 also plays a key role in other tumors," says Hüttelmaier, looking toward the future.

More information: Sven Hagemann et al, IGF2BP1 induces neuroblastoma via a druggable feedforward loop with MYCN promoting 17q oncogene expression, Molecular Cancer (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s12943-023-01792-0

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-therapeutic-approach-treatment-neuroblastoma-young.html

Spending on mental health services up over 50% since beginning of pandemic

 Spending on mental health services among Americans with private health insurance has surged since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing to rise even as the use of telehealth has plateaued, according to a new study.

Spending on mental health services rose by 53% from March 2020 to August 2022 among a large group of people with employer-provided insurance, according to researchers from the RAND Corporation and Castlight Health. During the same period, use of mental health services increased by 39%.

The researchers say it is uncertain if the trend will continue since some rules that expanded payment for telehealth services expired when the nation's public health emergency ended in May. The findings are published by the journal JAMA Health Forum.

"If greater utilization of health services drives higher health care spending, insurers may begin pushing back on the new status quo," said Jonathan Cantor, lead author of the study and a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "Insurers may look for ways to curb costs and that could mean less flexibility about using telehealth for mental health services."

To examine trends in mental health services after the start of the pandemic, researchers examined claims from about 7 million commercially insured adults from January 2019 through August 2022.

The conditions examined were anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and PTSD. The claims information was from Castlight Health, a health benefit manager for employer-sponsored health insurance plans for about 200 employers in all 50 states.

Researchers found that during the acute phase of the pandemic (March 2020 to December 2020), in-person mental health services declined by 40% while tele-mental health services increased roughly 10-fold as compared to the year prior. Overall, there was a 22% increase in use of mental health services during the period.

During the post-acute period (December 2020 to August 2022), tele-mental health service utilization stabilized at roughly 10 times pre-pandemic levels. By contrast, in-person mental health services increased 2.2% each month over the period.

By August 2022, in-person mental services had returned to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Overall, mental health service use in August 2022 was nearly 39% higher than before the pandemic. The trends were generally consistent across mental health conditions.

During the post-acute period, there was a gradual increase in spending rates as tele-mental health service spending remained stable while spending on in-person care gradually increased. The average spending rate in the post-acute period was more than $3.5 million per 10,000 beneficiaries per month, compared to about $2.3 million per month during the pre-pandemic period.

"The changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a significant expansion in the use of mental health services among adults with employer-based health insurance," Cantor said. "It's remains uncertain whether this trend will continue or return to levels similar to those seen before the pandemic."

"The demand for mental health services further underscores the critical need to integrate behavioral health services into primary care," said Dena Bravata, study co-author and senior scientific advisor, apree health. "Through this integration we can address the growing issues around lack of access, affordability and stigma, while providing a more comprehensive, person-centered approach to overall health."

Other authors of the study are Ryan K. McBain and Christopher Whaley of RAND, and Pen-Che Ho of Castlight Health, a part of apree health.

More information: Telehealth and In-Person Mental Health Service Utilization and Spending, 2019 to 2022, JAMA Health Forum (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.2645

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-mental-health-risen-pandemic.html

Minimally invasive technique to repair retinal detachment

 A St. Michael's retinal surgeon and researcher has developed a new, minimally-invasive technique to repair retinal detachment that requires no incisions and can be done in the ophthalmologist's office. It could lead to faster healing for patients, allowing them to return to work and resume their normal daily activities more quickly, he says.

The technique, called suprachoroidal viscopexy (SCVEXY), is outlined in a new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

"St. Michael's is an international leader in the management of retinal detachment, having carried out many key ophthalmology clinical trials," said Dr. Rajeev Muni vitreoretinal surgeon at St. Michael's and lead author of the study. "The trials we have done at St. Michael's have demonstrated that less is more with retinal detachment repair."

Retinal detachment is when the retina, a sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye, pulls apart from its normal position. It is a serious condition that causes patients to experience sudden changes to their vision, such as seeing floaters and flashes in their eye, blurred vision and a darkening of their side vision. If retinal detachment is not quickly repaired, it could lead to permanent and severe vision loss.

The most common type of retinal detachment is called rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), which occurs when there is a break or tear in the retina. When the retina tears, the gel-like fluid in the center of the eye can get behind the retina, causing it to detach from the surrounding tissue.

Many of the current techniques for repairing retinal detachment require invasive surgical procedures in the operating room. Another current option is an in-office procedure called pneumatic retinopexy which requires physicians to inject a gas bubble into the eye to reposition the retina. While pneumatic retinopexy is less invasive than other surgeries performed in the operating room, it still has downsides, as it involves the injection of a bubble into the eye and requires the patient to stop all their usual activities and remain in a certain position for a week after the procedure, said Muni.

In the paper, Muni and the research team, describe how their new technique was used at St. Michael's. During these procedures, Muni injected a gel-like substance commonly used in eye surgery called viscoelastic into a specific space in the eye called the suprachoroidal space. This created an indentation in the area where the retina was torn, and effectively closed the tear. Less than 24 hours after the procedure, the retina was mostly reattached, the study said.

"We have demonstrated the ability to inject viscoelastic into the suprachoroidal space without incisions and in a way that can be done in the office," Muni said. "This could lead to some patients having their retinal detachment fixed, while allowing them to return to regular activities the following day."

By using minimally invasive techniques and avoiding draining fluid and large gas bubbles, this new technique could also result in better "integrity" of the retinal attachment, he added.

Muni says the next steps for the team are to perform more of these procedures on patients with retinal detachment and gain experience in a variety of clinical scenarios. The team has also submitted a patent application for a device to simplify the process and make it easier to inject the viscoelastic substance into the suprachoroidal space.

"We have spent the last 10 years trying to find better ways to reattach the retina as close as possible to its original position to optimize the quality of vision for patients. This is a new in-office technique where patients may be able to have their retina attached without an incision, a gas bubble injection or strict positioning, potentially allowing them to return to all their usual activities almost immediately," he said.

More information: Rajeev H. Muni et al, In-Office Suprachoroidal Viscopexy for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Repair, JAMA Ophthalmology (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.3785

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-minimally-invasive-technique-retinal-detachment.html

New guideline details dental pain management strategies for pediatric patients

 Acetaminophen or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen are recommended as first-line treatments for managing short-term dental pain in children under age 12, according to a new clinical practice guideline developed by the American Dental Association Science & Research Institute (ADASRI), the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. The guideline has been endorsed by the American Dental Association.

A guideline panel determined that, when used as directed, acetaminophen alone, NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) alone or acetaminophen in combination with NSAIDS can effectively manage a child's pain after a tooth extraction or during a toothache when dental care is not immediately available. These and other recommendations are now available in the September issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

The guideline evaluated doses of acetaminophen and NSAIDs that may differ from the dosing printed on the over-the-counter packages of these medications. According to the guideline, when acetaminophen or NSAIDs are administered as directed by a dentist or other health care provider, the risk of harm to children from either medication is low.

Guideline senior author Paul Moore, D.M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., is professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Dental Medicine. He said the recommendations align with previous guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which contraindicated the use of codeine and tramadol in children under age 12 in 2017.

"While prescribing opioids to children has become less frequent overall, this guideline ensures that both dentists and parents have evidence-based recommendations to determine the most appropriate treatment for dental pain," Dr. Moore said. "Parents and caregivers can take comfort that widely available medications that have no abuse potential, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, are safe and effective for helping their children find relief from short-term dental pain."

In 2020, the FDA awarded the University of Pittsburgh and ADASRI a three-year $1.5 million grant to develop a clinical practice guideline for the management of acute pain in dentistry in children, adolescents and adults. A group of researchers and methodologists from ADASRI, the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, the Center for Integrative Global Oral Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, McMaster University and the Art of Democracy worked together to develop the guideline.

"This clinical prescribing guideline is a critical step in supporting appropriate treatment of pediatric acute dental pain through the use of acetaminophen and NSAIDs," said Patrizia Cavazzoni, M.D., director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Not only will this advice allow for better treatment of this kind of pain, but it will help prevent unnecessary prescribing of medications with abuse potential, including opioids."

More information: Alonso Carrasco-Labra et al, Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for the pharmacologic management of acute dental pain in children, The Journal of the American Dental Association (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.adaj.2023.06.014

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-guideline-dental-pain-strategies-pediatric.html