May 20, 2020
Wednesday
Dustin' is the new robot vacuum cleaner in our house. My witty kids named him. He is helping keep the place cleaner, given the now months of continuous use of our house. In addition to scheduled runs, Dustin' has an iPhone app from which I can summon and direct him to clean various parts of my house. This ability has elicited all sorts of discussions around the familiar SciFi tropes of free will, sentience, and the rise of robots. So far, no signs that Dustin' has ulterior motives nor any indications that he is plotting revenge on our household. But quarantining with my family, a bunch of over-fed angry birds, and now a wifi-enabled robot vacuum cleaner feels like the setup for a bad sitcom. At least I have the news to distract me?
--------
Data Visualization Update
State comparisons:
https://public.tableau.com/views/Coronavirus-ChangeovertimeintheUSA/2_Corona?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
Rt data
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7FH637YGW?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
FT data is still the best visualization I have found for country comparisons.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&cumulative=0&logScale=1&perMillion=0&values=deaths
------
Data integrity was back in the news yesterday. Some very concerning reports from multiple states now. It appears there are several issues, perhaps varying by state -- combining data from different types of tests, suppression of data, or suppression of data views. Irrespective of what is happening, intellectual dishonesty does not make this problem go away and puts us all at risk.
https://kutv.com/news/coronavirus/states-accused-of-manipulating-covid-19-statistics-to-make-situation-look-better
Here is the COVID Tracking Project's analysis, comparing CDC and state-level data.
https://covidtracking.com/cdc-paper/
And here is yet another report of sailors testing positive after testing negative. And again, the article fails to mention that PCR testing can be positive (and intermittently so) for weeks after infection. However, this does not mean someone is reinfected, nor does it mean they are contagious. I have not yet found a single reliable story reporting on a reinfected patient. To be sure, it is within the realm of possibility that some patients (and in some time frame) could be reinfected. The take-home is the lack of critical analysis of the data in this article.
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200518/more-uss-roosevelt-sailors-test-positive-again
Here is a bit more thoughtful analysis about data on post-infection positive testing out of the Korean CDC.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-19/covid-patients-testing-positive-after-recovery-aren-t-infectious
Here is an article to read with coffee. It is a very comprehensive article from Science discussing the heterogeneity of spread amongst asymptomatic, but contagious patients. It highlights not only the effective reproduction number but also the dispersion factor, which describes the number of actual people transmitting the virus. Understanding the behaviors of "super-spreaders" could be very valuable in light of our efforts at restarting various aspects of life. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/why-do-some-covid-19-patients-infect-many-others-whereas-most-don-t-spread-virus-all
It appears Tom Brady may have more NFL-related injuries than I appreciated. His critical thinking skills may be damaged.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/05/18/as-coronavirus-cases-climb-in-florida-tom-brady-is-selling-45-immunity-vitamins
Vitamin D has been a focus of medical attention for the last decade. In nephrology, it is critical for managing kidney disease-related mineral bone disease. However, and in both CKD and non-CKD patients, numerous outstanding questions remain regarding the value of normal vs. abnormal levels, what levels should be, and the risks vs. benefits of supplementing. Here is a very thoughtful write up (by a non-physician, comp-sci guy) regarding the increasing focus on Vitamin D use for COVID.
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/vitamin-d-the-new-covid-19-chloroquine/
More on the origins of the coronavirus spread into the Pacific northwest. Spoiler: it is more complicated than we realized. Who knew this healthcare stuff is so complicated?
https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/coronavirus-took-several-paths-to-oregon-ohsu-researchers-say.html
Infographic of the day #1 made me laugh. I believe this covers my older son's entire 9th-grade history of art class. https://wronghands1.com/2015/09/04/modern-art-simplified/
(by the way, check out the website - John Atkinson is Gary Larson-esque in his commentary through cartoons. And he is Canadian.)
Infographic #2 - a lot happening in a single image. Here is a transcript of my internal dialog when I saw this: "Hmm, that is interesting. Does A1 steak sauce make infographics? What other skills are taught in the Steak Server Training Program? Do steak servers have certification and require CME? Wait, those are body parts. I would rather not think about steak like this."
https://i.redd.it/ys334he4mrz41.jpg
---------Bonus Round: Units of measure that are named after people edition.
One way to stay famous over time is to have your name be a unit of measure. Probably better if the thing your name quantifies is "good," but still, any publicity is good publicity?
James Watt was a Scottish engineer who, to some degree, was a self-made man at a time in which social structure dictated a lot about one's opportunities in life. Aside from a combined practical understanding of both mechanical engineering and science, his success was aided by a series of societal changes happening in 18th-century England - a rising middle class, industrialization, the merging of Scotland with Great Britain. He made several critical improvements to the steam engine and developed the concept of horsepower (amongst other inventions), which earned him fame in his lifetime. As a result, the measure of quantified energy transfer, the watt, is named after him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt
More than you would ever want to know about Watt
https://jameswatt.scot/
Sir William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, was a fascinating Irish scientist. He worked on a wide range of topics in theoretical physics, mathematics, engineering, and maritime technology. Amongst his more practical work, he was an advisor to George Eastman and was involved in the first, and very tumultuous, efforts in laying trans-Atlantic telegraph cables. Of course, he is most famous for the absolute temperature scale (defining the cessation of all molecular motion at 0° Kelvin). He is also known for work on entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. (My favorite physics concepts to misappropriate.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thomson,_1st_Baron_Kelvin
https://www.livescience.com/39994-kelvin.html
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-Adam
Dustin' is the new robot vacuum cleaner in our house. My witty kids named him. He is helping keep the place cleaner, given the now months of continuous use of our house. In addition to scheduled runs, Dustin' has an iPhone app from which I can summon and direct him to clean various parts of my house. This ability has elicited all sorts of discussions around the familiar SciFi tropes of free will, sentience, and the rise of robots. So far, no signs that Dustin' has ulterior motives nor any indications that he is plotting revenge on our household. But quarantining with my family, a bunch of over-fed angry birds, and now a wifi-enabled robot vacuum cleaner feels like the setup for a bad sitcom. At least I have the news to distract me?
--------
Data Visualization Update
State comparisons:
https://public.tableau.com/views/Coronavirus-ChangeovertimeintheUSA/2_Corona?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
Rt data
https://public.tableau.com/shared/7FH637YGW?:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link
FT data is still the best visualization I have found for country comparisons.
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&cumulative=0&logScale=1&perMillion=0&values=deaths
------
Data integrity was back in the news yesterday. Some very concerning reports from multiple states now. It appears there are several issues, perhaps varying by state -- combining data from different types of tests, suppression of data, or suppression of data views. Irrespective of what is happening, intellectual dishonesty does not make this problem go away and puts us all at risk.
https://kutv.com/news/coronavirus/states-accused-of-manipulating-covid-19-statistics-to-make-situation-look-better
Here is the COVID Tracking Project's analysis, comparing CDC and state-level data.
https://covidtracking.com/cdc-paper/
And here is yet another report of sailors testing positive after testing negative. And again, the article fails to mention that PCR testing can be positive (and intermittently so) for weeks after infection. However, this does not mean someone is reinfected, nor does it mean they are contagious. I have not yet found a single reliable story reporting on a reinfected patient. To be sure, it is within the realm of possibility that some patients (and in some time frame) could be reinfected. The take-home is the lack of critical analysis of the data in this article.
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200518/more-uss-roosevelt-sailors-test-positive-again
Here is a bit more thoughtful analysis about data on post-infection positive testing out of the Korean CDC.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-19/covid-patients-testing-positive-after-recovery-aren-t-infectious
Here is an article to read with coffee. It is a very comprehensive article from Science discussing the heterogeneity of spread amongst asymptomatic, but contagious patients. It highlights not only the effective reproduction number but also the dispersion factor, which describes the number of actual people transmitting the virus. Understanding the behaviors of "super-spreaders" could be very valuable in light of our efforts at restarting various aspects of life. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/why-do-some-covid-19-patients-infect-many-others-whereas-most-don-t-spread-virus-all
It appears Tom Brady may have more NFL-related injuries than I appreciated. His critical thinking skills may be damaged.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/05/18/as-coronavirus-cases-climb-in-florida-tom-brady-is-selling-45-immunity-vitamins
Vitamin D has been a focus of medical attention for the last decade. In nephrology, it is critical for managing kidney disease-related mineral bone disease. However, and in both CKD and non-CKD patients, numerous outstanding questions remain regarding the value of normal vs. abnormal levels, what levels should be, and the risks vs. benefits of supplementing. Here is a very thoughtful write up (by a non-physician, comp-sci guy) regarding the increasing focus on Vitamin D use for COVID.
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/vitamin-d-the-new-covid-19-chloroquine/
More on the origins of the coronavirus spread into the Pacific northwest. Spoiler: it is more complicated than we realized. Who knew this healthcare stuff is so complicated?
https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2020/05/coronavirus-took-several-paths-to-oregon-ohsu-researchers-say.html
Infographic of the day #1 made me laugh. I believe this covers my older son's entire 9th-grade history of art class. https://wronghands1.com/2015/09/04/modern-art-simplified/
(by the way, check out the website - John Atkinson is Gary Larson-esque in his commentary through cartoons. And he is Canadian.)
Infographic #2 - a lot happening in a single image. Here is a transcript of my internal dialog when I saw this: "Hmm, that is interesting. Does A1 steak sauce make infographics? What other skills are taught in the Steak Server Training Program? Do steak servers have certification and require CME? Wait, those are body parts. I would rather not think about steak like this."
https://i.redd.it/ys334he4mrz41.jpg
---------Bonus Round: Units of measure that are named after people edition.
One way to stay famous over time is to have your name be a unit of measure. Probably better if the thing your name quantifies is "good," but still, any publicity is good publicity?
James Watt was a Scottish engineer who, to some degree, was a self-made man at a time in which social structure dictated a lot about one's opportunities in life. Aside from a combined practical understanding of both mechanical engineering and science, his success was aided by a series of societal changes happening in 18th-century England - a rising middle class, industrialization, the merging of Scotland with Great Britain. He made several critical improvements to the steam engine and developed the concept of horsepower (amongst other inventions), which earned him fame in his lifetime. As a result, the measure of quantified energy transfer, the watt, is named after him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt
More than you would ever want to know about Watt
https://jameswatt.scot/
Sir William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, was a fascinating Irish scientist. He worked on a wide range of topics in theoretical physics, mathematics, engineering, and maritime technology. Amongst his more practical work, he was an advisor to George Eastman and was involved in the first, and very tumultuous, efforts in laying trans-Atlantic telegraph cables. Of course, he is most famous for the absolute temperature scale (defining the cessation of all molecular motion at 0° Kelvin). He is also known for work on entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. (My favorite physics concepts to misappropriate.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thomson,_1st_Baron_Kelvin
https://www.livescience.com/39994-kelvin.html
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-Adam
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