God of War has got off to a strong start on PC storefront Steam, where it peaked at almost 50,000 players earlier in the day. This, to be clear, is concurrent users based on Valve data – it means the title has presumably sold significantly better, of course, as not everyone will be playing at the exact same time. The title already has over 1,800 user reviews at the time of writing, with fan feedback Overwhelmingly Positive.
Sony has attracted plaudits for the PC version of its flagship franchise, which first launched on the PlayStation 4 in 2018. By all accounts it’s a stunning re-release of a contemporary classic, with plenty of fancy new features and great compatibility across the board. Since a slightly shaky start with Horizon Zero Dawn, the platform holder has been getting rave reviews for the care and attention it’s been putting into its PC conversions.
This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough donor human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients. We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future.
According to organdonor.gov, “about 110,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting one.”
The surgical team spent years refining the technique in primate studies, waiting until they saw good survival over 9-12 months without organ rejection and low infection incidence before applying for the compassionate use exemption from the FDA that allowed Mr. Bennett to receive the xenotransplantation, according to surgical team member Christine Lau MD.
The donor heart was provided by Revivicor (acquired by United Therapeutics in 2011). Ten genes in the donor heart were genetically modified, primarily to reduce the chance that Mr. Bennett’s body would reject the donor organ.
This is the second xenotransplanted organ provided by Revivicor in the last six months. In October 2021, surgeons at New York University attached Revivicor’s genetically modified porcine kidney to the blood vessels of a brain dead patient on life support without any signs of rejection for over two days. The xenotransplanted kidney functioned normally during that time period.
According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s press release, xenotransplants were first tried in the 1980s. However, they fell out of favor after a xenotransplantation of a baboon heart into an infant in California failed due to the immune system’s rejection of a foreign heart. In contrast, xenograft porcine heart valves have been used as valve replacements in humans for over 50 years, and xenograft valve replacements are still in use today.
This video includes more information about Mr. Bennett’s procedure and is available from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
CSGO Matchmaking may have its flaws but it is still the Go-to game mode for most players. If you are a casual player, it is likely that you prefer CSGO MM games, instead of third party matchmaking services like FACEIT, ESEA, GamersClub and 5E Arena. These services are good in a lot of ways, CSGO […]
Three fast-track channels have been established by NMPA to encourage innovation and deal with unmet medical needs: Innovation Approval, Priority Review, and Emergency Approval. For Priority Review, applicants for domestic […]
As the years have gone by, the professional Dota 2 scene has seen a massive dip in non-TI prize pools even with a seemingly more structured system in place.
