Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine authorised by UK medicines regulator
The government has today accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for use.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
More than 137,000 people in UK receive first dose of COVID vaccine in one week
More than 137,000 people in the UK have received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the first week of the largest vaccination programme in British history.
Monday, December 14, 2020
The Sputnik V vaccine’s efficacy is confirmed at 91.4% based on data analysis of the final control point of clinical trials
The National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamaleya of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Gamaleya Center) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), announce the efficacy of over 90% of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine as demonstrated by the final control point data analysis of the largest double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III post-registration clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine against novel coronavirus infection in Russia’s history.
Friday, December 11, 2020
FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID-19 Vaccine
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 16 years of age and older. The emergency use authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
UK authorises Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
The government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
India’s 1st COVID-19 Vaccine - COVAXIN™, Developed by Bharat Biotech gets DCGI approval for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials
Bharat Biotech has successfully developed COVAXIN™, India’s 1st vaccine candidate for COVID-19, in
collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The
indigenous, inactivated vaccine developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3 (Bio-Safety
Level 3) High Containment facility located in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, India.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Pfizer and BioNTech Conclude Phase 3 Study of COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate, Meeting All Primary Efficacy Endpoints
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced that, after conducting the final efficacy analysis in their ongoing Phase 3 study, their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, met all of the study’s primary efficacy endpoints.
https://web.archive.org/web/20201118120708/https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2020/Pfizer-and-BioNTech-Conclude-Phase-3-Study-of-COVID-19-Vaccine-Candidate-Meeting-All-Primary-Efficacy-Endpoints/default.aspx
FDA Authorizes First COVID-19 Test for Self-Testing at Home
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test for self-testing at home and that provides rapid results. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular (real-time loop mediated amplification reaction) single use test that is intended to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Johnson & Johnson Initiates Pivotal Global Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Janssen’s COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced the launch of its large-scale, pivotal, multi-country Phase 3 trial (ENSEMBLE) for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, JNJ-78436735, being developed by its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies.
Saturday, September 19, 2020
India’s first CRISPR Covid-19 test, developed by the Tata Group and CSIR-IGIB, approved for use in India
This test uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for detection of the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. CRISPR is a genome editing technology to diagnosing diseases.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Successful Elimination of Covid-19 Transmission in New Zealand
New Zealand’s total case count (1569) and deaths (22) have remained low, and its Covid-related mortality (4 per 1 million) is the lowest among the 37 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Public life has returned to near normal.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Querying Aspen InfoPlus.21 (IP.21) data from SQLplus Web Service using C#.Net
We will write a console-based SOAP client application using C#.Net to query data from Aspen InfoPlus.21 (IP.21) using the SQLplus Web Service that is hosted on your IP.21 server. Though there are other ways to achieve this, using the SQLplus Web Service allows platform independence and doesn't need any Aspen components to be installed on the client system.
Prerequisites: Ensure that your implementation of Aspen InfoPlus.21 / SQLplus Server is running the SQLplus Web Service. If it is not running, you may need to install the feature using the AspenTech installation setup disks. This code should run with any .Net Framework above version 4 and IP.21 above version 7.1. To verify that the SQLplus Web Service is available, run a simple consult by going to the following URL on your web browser.
http://[YOUR_SERVER]/SQLPlusWebService/SQLplusWebService.asmx
Below is the C# source code that demonstrates connecting to the SQLplus Web Service, querying the database, formatting the received XML response and writing the formatted XML to a disk file.
/*
Program: Query data from AspenTech InfoPlus.21 using the SQLplus Web
Service.
Language: C#
*/
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.Linq;
namespace QueryAspenIP21
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Replace [HOST_NAME] below with the details of your
// IP.21 server
const string webSvc = "http://[HOST_NAME]"
+ "/SQLPlusWebService/SQLplusWebService.asmx";
const string soap12Req =
"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>"
+ "<soap12:Envelope xmlns:xsi="
+ "\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\" "
+ "xmlns:xsd="
+ "\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\" xmlns:soap12="
+ "\"http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope\">"
+ "<soap12:Body>"
+ "<ExecuteSQL xmlns="
+ "\"http://www.aspentech.com/SQLplus.WebService\">"
+ "<command>{0}</command>"
+ "</ExecuteSQL>"
+ "</soap12:Body>"
+ "</soap12:Envelope>";
// Build the SQL query string
const string sqlCmd = "SELECT NAME, IP_DESCRIPTION, "
+ "IP_INPUT_VALUE, IP_INPUT_TIME FROM IP_AnalogDef "
+ "WHERE NAME = 'ATCAI'";
HttpWebRequest webReq = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(
webSvc);
// Set credentials if needed
webReq.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
webReq.ContentType = "application/soap+xml; charset=utf-8";
webReq.Method = "POST";
XmlDocument soapEnvDoc;
soapEnvDoc = new XmlDocument();
soapEnvDoc.LoadXml(string.Format(soap12Req, sqlCmd));
byte[] bytes;
bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(soapEnvDoc.OuterXml);
webReq.ContentLength = bytes.Length;
using (Stream stream = webReq.GetRequestStream())
{
stream.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
}
HttpWebResponse webRes = (HttpWebResponse)webReq.
GetResponse();
Stream dataStream = webRes.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(dataStream);
XmlDocument soapResXml = new XmlDocument();
soapResXml.Load(reader);
// Decode encoded values in the XML string
soapResXml.InnerXml = HttpUtility.HtmlDecode(
soapResXml.InnerXml);
// Use LINQ for format XML for print
XDocument beautifulXml = XDocument.Parse(soapResXml.InnerXml);
soapResXml.InnerXml = beautifulXml.ToString();
// Build the file path to write
string filePath = Path.GetDirectoryName(
Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location) +
"\\response.xml";
using(StreamWriter stream = new StreamWriter(filePath, false,
Encoding.GetEncoding("iso-8859-7")))
{
soapResXml.Save(stream);
}
// Clean up
reader.Close();
dataStream.Close();
webRes.Close();
}
}
}
Once the code has executed successfully, the XML response should be written to an XML file at the same location as the executable. This is a sample of the response XML with the data.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-7"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<soap:Body>
<ExecuteSQLResponse
xmlns="http://www.aspentech.com/SQLplus.WebService/">
<ExecuteSQLResult>
<NewDataSet>
<Table>
<NAME>ATCAI</NAME>
<IP_DESCRIPTION>Sine Input</IP_DESCRIPTION>
<IP_INPUT_VALUE>9.3396207809448242</IP_INPUT_VALUE>
<IP_INPUT_TIME>06-AUG-2020 01:35:30.3</IP_INPUT_TIME>
</Table>
</NewDataSet>
</ExecuteSQLResult>
</ExecuteSQLResponse>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
I hope this helps someone. I appreciate any comments or suggestions. The code is also available here in GitHub.
Monday, July 27, 2020
Target joins Walmart in staying closed for Thanksgiving this year
Two of the biggest retailers in the U.S. are closing their doors on Thanksgiving this year, sidestepping a recent tradition of keeping the lights on for customers to bargain hunt after their turkey dinners.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Florida shatters records with over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in single day
Florida shattered records on Thursday when it reported over 10,000 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase in the state since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Phase 3 Trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine starts in Brazil
Volunteers in Brazil have begun receiving a trial vaccine against COVID-19, in Latin America’s first phase 3 COVID-19 clinical trial.
The trial officially began on Saturday 20th June and will enrol 5,000 volunteers across the country. Vaccinations will take place in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and a site in the Northeast of Brazil.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa begins
Wits University is collaborating with the University of Oxford and the Oxford Vaccine Group on the South African trial. The South African Ox1Cov-19 Vaccine VIDA-Trial aims to find a vaccine that will prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
Sunday, May 31, 2020
SpaceX launches first crew to orbit
The two astronauts — veteran NASA fliers Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley — rode into space inside SpaceX’s new automated spacecraft called the Crew Dragon, a capsule designed to take people to and from the International Space Station.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/30/21269703/spacex-launch-crew-dragon-nasa-orbit-successful
Friday, May 22, 2020
The first human trial of a COVID-19 vaccine finds that it is safe, well-tolerated, and induces a rapid immune response
Researchers in China conducted a phase 1 trial of an Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine. They used a vaccine that contains a part of the virus and checked if it's safe and if it helps the immune system. They gave different doses to 108 healthy adults. Most people had mild side effects like pain, fever, and fatigue, but nothing serious. The vaccine made their immune system respond well with antibodies and immune cells. This is good news for the fight against COVID-19.
Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to begin phase II/III human trials
University of Oxford researchers have begun recruiting for the next phase in human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in human volunteers.
The new vaccine is being tested in different phases. First, in healthy adults, and now, they're going to study it in more people, including older adults and children. They want to see how well the vaccine works in these different age groups. In the last phase, they'll test it in a large group of adults to check if it prevents COVID-19 infections.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
AstraZeneca and Oxford University announce landmark agreement for COVID-19 vaccine
The collaboration aims to bring to patients the potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, at the University of Oxford. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca would be responsible for development and worldwide manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine.
Saturday, March 21, 2020
The coronavirus was not engineered in a lab. Here's how we know
As the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 spreads across the globe, with cases surpassing 284,000 worldwide today (March 20), misinformation is spreading almost as fast.
 |
| Photo by CDC on Unsplash |
The illustration alongside, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Friday, March 13, 2020
China’s first confirmed Covid-19 case has been traced back to November 17, a 55-year-old from Hubei province
The first case of someone in China suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, can be traced back to November 17, according to government data seen by the South China Morning Post.
|
| Photo by CDC on Unsplash |
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
World Health Organization declares the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on Wednesday as the new coronavirus, which was unknown to world health officials just three months ago, has rapidly spread to more than 121,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Health Officials Warn Americans To Plan For The Spread Of Coronavirus In U.S.
Federal health officials have issued a strongly worded statement: Americans need to start preparing now for the possibility that more aggressive, disruptive measures might be needed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus in the U.S. NPR writes here.
The illustration alongside, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Coronavirus declared global health emergency by WHO
At least 213 people in the China have died from the virus, mostly in Hubei, with almost 10,000 cases nationally. The WHO said there had been 98 cases in 18 other countries, but no deaths.
Monday, January 13, 2020
If you've bought Infants' Tylenol, you could be eligible for part of $6.3 million settlement
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit claim that the packaging is misleading, deceiving customers into believing Infants’ Tylenol is specially formulated for babies when it actually contains liquid acetaminophen of the same concentration as Children’s Tylenol. As a result, the lawsuit claims parents overpaid for the medication. Details here.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Today I learned that Kopi Luwak is made from partially digested coffee beans
Today I learned that Kopi Luwak - which is the most expensive coffee - is made from coffee beans which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (or Indonesian palm civet). [Wikipedia]
 |
| Photo by ray sangga kusuma on Unsplash |
Kopi Luwak is not really a type of coffee beans but rather a type of production process.
Kopi Luwak is one of the most expensive coffees in the world with prices going up to $700 per kilogram in the US. An 8.8 oz pack of Wallacea Coffee's Wild Luwak Coffee is retailing on Amazon.com for $39.99 today, January 08, 2020.
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