[conspire] COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 & antibody-positive plasma (convalescent plasma/serum)

[Texx]

In the early days, it was sometimes a challenge to craft a web query so
that the machines would understaand it.
A couple years ago, I tried somethng and was thrilled that it worked.
I now ask questions to a web browser the same way I ask a person a question.

I can actually enter into the search window things like "How do i donate
blood?" (Include the quotes in the search)
Im sure webr browsers mastered natural language long before i tried it.
Im quite shocked that more people dont use natural language when querying
web browsers.

Im surprised how often i have to remind intelligent people that they are
over engineering something.









On Fri, Apr 17, 2020 at 1:35 AM Michael Paoli <
Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu> wrote:

> Elise,
>
> Great that you're interested to donate, however,
> come on now, I'm not your personal answering machine.
>
> There's list(s), there's 'da Internet, there's search engines.
> If you've not already, please learn how to reasonably and properly
> use them.  Heck, there's even nice authoritative sources, ... like
> blood banks, with information, and answers to most common questions ...
> like yours.  I'm not answering your homework questions for you.  ;-)
> So ... do your homework.  :-)
>
> Thanks.
>
> references/excerpts:
> > From: "Elise Scher" <elise.scher01 at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [conspire] COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 & antibody-positive
> > plasma (convalescent plasma/serum)
> > To: Michael Paoli <Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
> > Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 07:32:24 -0700
>
> > I would like to donate some of my blood. But I am wondering if
> > donate.
> > I wonder if
> >
> > On Tue, Apr 14, 2020, 2:45 AM Michael Paoli <
> Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> > From: "Deirdre Saoirse Moen" <deirdre at deirdre.net>
> >> > Subject: Re: [conspire] Known unknowns, unknown unknowns (was:
> >> Correction)
> >> > Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 13:29:12 -0700
> >>
> >> > On Mon, Mar 30, 2020, at 12:55 PM, Rick Moen wrote:
> >> >> Seems to me, what would finally change this is provisioning of ample
> >> >> testing kits nationwide (plus lab capacity to evaluate them, for kits
> >> >> requiring that), along with revisions to hospital / county /
> >> >> city / state / other policies too-severely restricting their
> >> >> availability.
> >> >
> >> > What saddens me about this is having antibody-positive plasma in the
> >> > pipelines right now would be hella useful.
> >>
> >> Yup, a (mostly) older technology, more heavily used in the past, and
> >> pretty dang effective.  If I recall correctly from my earlier reading,
> >> in at least the US, it mostly dropped out of favor around the
> >> 1950s/1960s or so, as most of the more dreaded diseases had vaccines
> >> by then, and convalescent plasma/serum became much less used.
> >> But it has been used quite effectively (more so in) the past.
> >> It's also highly useful when there is no vaccine, the disease is
> >> particularly damaging/fatal, and there aren't (other) effective
> >> treatments.  E.g., as I seem to recall, it was used a fair amount
> >> during the 1918 "Spanish" flu, and generally pretty effective when/where
> >> used as treatment, and many other times/circumstances, against many
> >> infectious diseases.
> >>
> >> Oh, and blood banks and the like.
> >>
> >> Yes, some of them are interested in (at least probable)
> >> convalescent plasma/serum - but they have quite special different
> >> procedures for that.  See, e.g.:
> >>
> >>
> https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/plasma-donations-from-recovered-covid-19-patients.html
> >> (They also have programs making such available to researchers and such.)
> >>
> >> Also, regular blood bank needs continue, and they may be down quite a
> bit,
> >> mostly due to mobile drives generally not happening.
> >> So, if you're healthy and able to donate and meet criteria,
> >> including also newer COVID-19 specific related criteria,
> >> certainly donate or consider doing so (or recruiting some folks to
> >> do so or ...) ;-).
> >> Oh, and yes, "essential" trips and such - per the countys' orders and
> >> guidelines, donating blood (and blood products) counts as essential
> >> and is not only permitted, but (if you look at their FAQs and such)
> >> encouraged.  (Yes, I donated again this past Saturday ... also
> >> convenient "excuse" to get out and get some (not too strenuous)
> >> exercise and (relatively) fresh (mask filtered) air - nice long walk
> >> out 'n back).
>
>
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-- 

R "Texx" Woodworth
Sysadmin, E-Postmaster, IT Molewhacker
"Face down, 9 edge 1st, roadkill on the information superdata highway..."
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