Wednesday, September 23, 2020
I received several comments about yesterday's tone. I, too, did not like my grim Tuesday morning outlook. So I started a new side gig in the spirit of the often-cited Gandhi quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world." I started picking one of the people I quote or reference on Twitter and sending them a private message of thanks for their contribution and comments. My first message was to the surgeon who records Playdough surgeries (yesterday's infographic of the day). We ended up having a brief discussion about what doctors teach their children about medicine. It was a refreshing and witty exchange. And a good lesson in how spreading a little positive feedback can lighten your mood—a good thing to keep in mind for doomsurfing,* cynical doctors.
*It is on the "watch list" for the dictionary people - both Merriam and Webster tacitly approve, OK?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/doomsurfing-doomscrolling-words-were-watching
-----Latest Data---
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
----
A loyal reader sent me some data on Colorado hospitalization, death, and new case rates, noting the relatively low volume of hospitalizations and deaths, despite the July rise in cases. I mostly agree - the COVID tracking project data indicate some increased hospitalizations but no change death rate in CO for July. I suspect that COVID+ patients were younger and healthier. With the rise in cases we are seeing due to colleges reopening, I anticipate similar patterns going forward. Remember, there are numerous end-organ consequences, so this should not inspire cavalier behavior.
https://covidtracking.com/data/state/colorado
I think it is worth sharing the latest COVID Tracking blog post, from yesterday, on the difficulties of precisely counting cases and deaths as well. My take away - don't get hung up on exact numbers - look for trends.
https://covidtracking.com/blog/why-the-covid-tracking-projects-death-count-hasnt-hit-200k
And, in response to the death toll hitting 200,000 (or close to it), the N.Y. Times published a state-by-state roundup of COVID-induced excess mortality.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/05/us/coronavirus-death-toll-us.html
Dr. Fauci is making the rounds:
Trevor Noah on Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rKt54x6Hp0
CNN: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/09/22/fauci-on-approaching-200k-coronavirus-us-deaths-gupta-citizen-sot-vpx.cnn
And, later this week, his talk from MIT's weekly lecture should be at
https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/covid-19-sars-cov-2-and-the-pandemic/
Here is a fantastic Tweetorial on the science of coronavirus origins. Hint: it is not human-made. Or, as the author puts it, "A story of a bat cave of coronaviruses, sudden unexplained death, and mysterious poison mushrooms." I would get a single espresso shot to read this one (it is twitter, not a New Yorker article).
https://twitter.com/ErinSandersNP/status/1308421605425582080
My favorite headline of the last 24 hours: "Halloween costume masks don't replace face masks, CDC warns." (Adam's comment: Unless you dress as medical personnel wearing an actual medical facemask, of course.)
https://www.cnet.com/news/cdc-warns-that-a-halloween-mask-does-not-replace-a-face-mask/?utm_source=reddit.com
Infographic of the day: Animals that Use Drugs
I found this both educational and amusing. I would avoid elephants after a bender. Hallucinogenically-induced self-actualized Reindeer, however, may be worth engaging. Maybe Rudolph had a broad perspective on the world and gained acceptance of his nose, thanks to microdosing mushrooms?
https://img.culturacolectiva.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=auto,w=auto,q=80,fit=contain/content/2018/05/21/1526913995861/infographics-of-the-animal-kingdom-4-medium.jpg
It is from https://culturacolectiva.com/technology/infographics-of-the-animal-kingdom that touches on other animal behaviors of note.
-----Bonus Round -- Lists of Things
I will spare you my thoughts on recent readings on The Portrait of Dorian Gray. The focus of my 10th-grader's upcoming humanities paper. (Somewhere between Gilgamesh and Beowulf on the enjoyability scale.) Instead, I want to share two amusing lists in the last 24 hours.
List 1: A list of words that make English teachers irritated. Irregardless of your tolerance for imprecise and incorrect word usage, there is always more to learn. For instance, I did not know using the word author as a verb is irritating. Or that some people are strict adherents to the definition of the word decimate. They get annoyed when its more colloquial meaning "to destroy" is evoked rather than the more literal meaning of "randomly select and execute every tenth man".
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/list-of-words-you-love-to-hate/like
List 2: ICD-10 Animal codes. This list is an endless source of entertainment for me, and I found a new list yesterday. ICD10 codes are used in healthcare to create a standardized diagnosis list used in the medical record. Coding is cumbersome but essential for all sorts of reasons. The ICD10 codes section on animal injuries is both oddly specific and far from all-inclusive. I often wonder who and how the listed animals were selected. For instance, the sequela from intentional self-harm with a Gila Monster is code T63.112S - a very low-frequency event. But the sequela from a cassowary-related attack would be classified as W61.99XS - sequela of an encounter with a nonvenomous bird, other. This lack of coding specificity may create a lack of appreciation for the actual frequency of cassowary attacks. If I were attacked by a cassowary, having my experience lumped in with all the other types of bird attack victims would only add insult to injury.
The full list of animal injury codes:
https://www.practicefusion.com/icd-10/animal-codes-icd-10/
Gila Monster injury case report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324508477_A_case_of_Gila_monster_Heloderma_suspectum_bite
Cassowary data: https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01206.x
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-Adam
I received several comments about yesterday's tone. I, too, did not like my grim Tuesday morning outlook. So I started a new side gig in the spirit of the often-cited Gandhi quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world." I started picking one of the people I quote or reference on Twitter and sending them a private message of thanks for their contribution and comments. My first message was to the surgeon who records Playdough surgeries (yesterday's infographic of the day). We ended up having a brief discussion about what doctors teach their children about medicine. It was a refreshing and witty exchange. And a good lesson in how spreading a little positive feedback can lighten your mood—a good thing to keep in mind for doomsurfing,* cynical doctors.
*It is on the "watch list" for the dictionary people - both Merriam and Webster tacitly approve, OK?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/doomsurfing-doomscrolling-words-were-watching
-----Latest Data---
Global-View:
https://www.ft.com/content/a2901ce8-5eb7-4633-b89c-cbdf5b386938
Nationally:
https://ig.ft.com/coronavirus-chart/?areas=usa&areas=gbr&areasRegional=usny&areasRegional=usca&areasRegional=usfl&areasRegional=ustx&areasRegional=usco&cumulative=0&logScale=0&perMillion=1&values=cases
Also, look at https://covidtracking.com/data
The U.S. Regionally:
The NY Times state-level data visualization:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
About the data:
https://covidtracking.com/about-data/visualization-guide is the best resource to understand data visualization and data integrity.
----
A loyal reader sent me some data on Colorado hospitalization, death, and new case rates, noting the relatively low volume of hospitalizations and deaths, despite the July rise in cases. I mostly agree - the COVID tracking project data indicate some increased hospitalizations but no change death rate in CO for July. I suspect that COVID+ patients were younger and healthier. With the rise in cases we are seeing due to colleges reopening, I anticipate similar patterns going forward. Remember, there are numerous end-organ consequences, so this should not inspire cavalier behavior.
https://covidtracking.com/data/state/colorado
I think it is worth sharing the latest COVID Tracking blog post, from yesterday, on the difficulties of precisely counting cases and deaths as well. My take away - don't get hung up on exact numbers - look for trends.
https://covidtracking.com/blog/why-the-covid-tracking-projects-death-count-hasnt-hit-200k
And, in response to the death toll hitting 200,000 (or close to it), the N.Y. Times published a state-by-state roundup of COVID-induced excess mortality.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/05/us/coronavirus-death-toll-us.html
Dr. Fauci is making the rounds:
Trevor Noah on Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rKt54x6Hp0
CNN: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/09/22/fauci-on-approaching-200k-coronavirus-us-deaths-gupta-citizen-sot-vpx.cnn
And, later this week, his talk from MIT's weekly lecture should be at
https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/covid-19-sars-cov-2-and-the-pandemic/
Here is a fantastic Tweetorial on the science of coronavirus origins. Hint: it is not human-made. Or, as the author puts it, "A story of a bat cave of coronaviruses, sudden unexplained death, and mysterious poison mushrooms." I would get a single espresso shot to read this one (it is twitter, not a New Yorker article).
https://twitter.com/ErinSandersNP/status/1308421605425582080
My favorite headline of the last 24 hours: "Halloween costume masks don't replace face masks, CDC warns." (Adam's comment: Unless you dress as medical personnel wearing an actual medical facemask, of course.)
https://www.cnet.com/news/cdc-warns-that-a-halloween-mask-does-not-replace-a-face-mask/?utm_source=reddit.com
Infographic of the day: Animals that Use Drugs
I found this both educational and amusing. I would avoid elephants after a bender. Hallucinogenically-induced self-actualized Reindeer, however, may be worth engaging. Maybe Rudolph had a broad perspective on the world and gained acceptance of his nose, thanks to microdosing mushrooms?
https://img.culturacolectiva.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=auto,w=auto,q=80,fit=contain/content/2018/05/21/1526913995861/infographics-of-the-animal-kingdom-4-medium.jpg
It is from https://culturacolectiva.com/technology/infographics-of-the-animal-kingdom that touches on other animal behaviors of note.
-----Bonus Round -- Lists of Things
I will spare you my thoughts on recent readings on The Portrait of Dorian Gray. The focus of my 10th-grader's upcoming humanities paper. (Somewhere between Gilgamesh and Beowulf on the enjoyability scale.) Instead, I want to share two amusing lists in the last 24 hours.
List 1: A list of words that make English teachers irritated. Irregardless of your tolerance for imprecise and incorrect word usage, there is always more to learn. For instance, I did not know using the word author as a verb is irritating. Or that some people are strict adherents to the definition of the word decimate. They get annoyed when its more colloquial meaning "to destroy" is evoked rather than the more literal meaning of "randomly select and execute every tenth man".
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/list-of-words-you-love-to-hate/like
List 2: ICD-10 Animal codes. This list is an endless source of entertainment for me, and I found a new list yesterday. ICD10 codes are used in healthcare to create a standardized diagnosis list used in the medical record. Coding is cumbersome but essential for all sorts of reasons. The ICD10 codes section on animal injuries is both oddly specific and far from all-inclusive. I often wonder who and how the listed animals were selected. For instance, the sequela from intentional self-harm with a Gila Monster is code T63.112S - a very low-frequency event. But the sequela from a cassowary-related attack would be classified as W61.99XS - sequela of an encounter with a nonvenomous bird, other. This lack of coding specificity may create a lack of appreciation for the actual frequency of cassowary attacks. If I were attacked by a cassowary, having my experience lumped in with all the other types of bird attack victims would only add insult to injury.
The full list of animal injury codes:
https://www.practicefusion.com/icd-10/animal-codes-icd-10/
Gila Monster injury case report: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324508477_A_case_of_Gila_monster_Heloderma_suspectum_bite
Cassowary data: https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1999.tb01206.x
Clean hands and sharp minds, team
-Adam
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