Wastewater Is Sending a Warning About Covid-19 This Holiday Season

COVID-19 cases are rising again in the U.S. as the holiday season approaches, potentially due to colder weather and indoor gatherings, says CDC. Doctors and scientists are monitoring a fast-spreading variant, JN.1. Test positivity rates and hospitalizations are also increasing. Meanwhile, COVID-19 shot uptake remains low, posing an additional challenge. Experts also point to high levels of virus detected in wastewater as an early infection warning and predict a potential wave in cases around New Year.

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Using Keratin Treatments or Hair-Straightening Creams? Research Suggests Potential Cancer Risk.

Research has shown that frequent use of hair-straightening products could be linked to an increased risk of various cancers, including uterine, ovarian and breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspects formaldehyde, often used in salon-based keratin treatments, as a potential culprit and is planning to propose a ban. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in some of these products, such as phthalates, phenols, and parabens may also contribute to these risks.

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Is there a “new Covid?”

The BA.2.86 strain of Covid-19, often referred to as “new Covid”, isn’t exactly new, says epidemiologist Katrine Wallace. Having been around since summer, it is starting to account for more US cases, now making up 5% to 15% of current variants in the country. However, Covid tests and treatments seem effective against it, and severity of symptoms isn’t different from other strains. Vaccine-generated antibodies also recognize and neutralize this strain.

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Balchem’s OptiMSM reduces knee joint discomfort in healthy adults, clinical study suggests

A clinical study in Japan reports that intake of OptiMSM, Balchem’s brand of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), significantly reduces joint pain. The experiment, carried out on healthy adults, involved a daily dose of two grams of OptiMSM for 12 weeks, which resulted in decreased morning and nocturnal joint pain, along with improved overall health.

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Can herbs beat pneumonia?

Chinese people have traditionally relied on herbal concoctions to cure illnesses, and despite the prevalence of Western medicine, many still turn to traditional remedies. Amid a surge in respiratory illnesses like mycoplasma pneumoniae, China’s health officials are advocating traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) again. However, while TCM garners a significant presence in Chinese healthcare, its health claims show mixed results.

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Unleashing Creativity: The Art of Model Making

Model making, a hobby growing in popularity in our tech-oriented world, provides a unique blend of mindfulness, problem-solving, and artistic expression. Originating from jigsaw puzzles, it evolves into crafting detailed miniature models, fostering creativity and storytelling. This activity develops problem-solving skills, encourages socializing through clubs and workshops, and transcends generations, appealing to both children and adults. It serves as an analog, tactile escape from digital saturation, offering a sense of accomplishment and opportunity for self-discovery.

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Practical Tips to Cultivate Creativity in Your Daily Life

The article provides practical tips on boosting creativity and tapping into one’s creative potential. These include embracing divergent thinking (generating multiple ideas without judgments), stepping outside the comfort zone to encounter new experiences, nurturing curiosity, and fostering imagination through creative play and reading. It also emphasizes the need for collaboration, maintaining physical and mental health, and viewing creativity as a journey rather than a destination. The author reinforces all these points using their personal experiences, relevant literature, and research on creativity.

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Refilling the Creativity Tank

The author writes about their increasing workload and its impact on their creativity. Despite not experiencing a lack of ideas or writer’s block, they attribute a decrease in creative output to mental exhaustion, requiring relaxation and rejuvenation. They highlight how consuming others’ creativity, such as an engaging video game, a captivating performance, or unique websites, fuels their creativity.

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Crystal Clear Creativity: Unleashing Your Writing Potential with Gemstone Energies

“Crystal Clear Creativity” explores the use of gemstones like amethyst, citrine, and tiger’s eye to inspire and enhance writing. It suggests that these stones might help writers overcome blockages, improve creativity, and delve deep into their imaginations. Alongside personal anecdotes, the article acknowledges skepticism around crystals’ effectiveness, emphasizing the importance of personal belief and open-mindedness in making the practice beneficial. The author invites writers to experiment with integrating crystals into their practice, emphasizing that value lies in an individual’s personal experience.

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Fruits and Creativity

The author asserts a correlation between fruit consumption and increased creativity and well-being. Based on scientific research, high intake of fruits and vegetables can stimulate curiosity, creativity, and overall wellness. They notice their own creativity decreases upon eating junk food and so recommends making fruits a regular part of diet, using a strawberry smoothie recipe as an example. The nutrients like antioxidants, vitamin C, flavonoids, and folate found in strawberries are highlighted for their neuroprotective properties and contribution to cognitive function.

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Discover New Artistic Styles with Midjourney

The article provides a detailed guide on how to use the Style Tuner in Midjourney to create and explore new artistic styles. Using different parameters, users can influence the outcome in pre-set ways or discover new styles through random generation. Different methods can be used to run the command multiple times, choosing from a pool of styles, blending different style codes, and using Style Sliders to generate Style Codes based on specific characteristics of visual directions. The guide also provides numerous examples illustrating these techniques.

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2023 Gifts for Health and Fitness

This holiday season, individuals passionate about health and fitness are being served with a selection of innovative, fitness-centric gift ideas. The guide includes various products such as the Compex Wireless USA .0 Muscle Stimulator Kit for workout enthusiasts, Eko CORE 500™ Digital Stethoscope for healthcare professionals, FORM Smart Swim Goggles for swimmers, and the TicWatch Pro 5 for tech-savvy individuals. Also featured is Oxa for better sleep and stress management, and the OTTO, an automatic milling machine.

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Deadlifts Help You Get Fitter Faster by Strengthening Multiple Muscles at Once

Clearly, deadlifts can be one of the most efficient exercises to work into your leg day. But if you aren’t already doing them, we get it: Barbell deadlifts in particular can be intimidating for beginners. We’re here to help, because understanding the muscles worked by deadlifts can help you focus on how you should be performing deadlifts and what muscles you should feel engaging during this exercise.

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I Tried a Boxing Class. There Are Benefits I Did Not Anticipate.

The installment, “Good Fit”, details the mental health benefits of non-contact boxing fitness. This fitness genre integrates high-intensity aerobic exercise and mindfulness, providing stress relief and potential improvements in mood, self-esteem, and concentration. Boxing serves not only as an outlet for anger and stress, but also as a potential mental health intervention. Moreover, its structured format might advance both fitness and mental health outcomes.

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