Week of August 28, 2023
Last week, we moved our older son into his freshman college dorm room. The conflicting feelings are a struggle - a duality of excitement (for his future) and the void of his absence. After eighteen years of planning and expectations, the 11x9.8-foot painted cinder block dorm room (with LED string lights, a disconcertingly lofted bed, and well-used fiber-board furniture) was somewhat anticlimactic. But college is just starting, and I will eagerly follow Jack's blip on the Life360 family locator app for as long as he allows.
---
Hospitalization rates are still rising, but concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater are holding steady. These data are confusing - reporting the hospitalization and wastewater cases is delayed by a few weeks. Hopefully, this means the BA.2.26 variant wave is peaking.
The N.Y. Times COVID Tracker reflects the changing data quality - only CDC-gathered hospital data as a surrogate (lagging) indicator.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/covid-cases.html
Wastewater monitoring is more of a LEADING indicator.
------
COVID articles
More discussion on 1) the lack of sensitive data on COVID incidence, 2) the effective use of wastewater data, and 3) the problems of having multiple circulating variants
https://twitter.com/JPWeiland/status/1694854829779071338
The U.S. is not alone in hindering its understanding of COVID's impact. Here is an article on Chinese mortality after the end of their zero COVID policy
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2808734
and more accessible read than the JAMA article
The next COVID booster will be out in September. The Federal government has not yet committed to paying for the uninsured and Medicaid patients. Undoubtedly, this will diminish the value of vaccines against the XBB strains of coronavirus.
https://rollcall.com/2023/08/17/covid-vaccine-program-for-uninsured-could-be-late-to-pharmacies/
Medical Trends and Technology
Twenty-five years in healthcare, and I can't believe I have never discussed the question of "to tuck in your scrub tops or not?" Thank you social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.
https://x.com/medcrisis/status/1694823036652814486
More on brain-computer interfaces. The video from the UCSF/Berkeley bioengineering lab is remarkable - using implantable brain mapping devices to decode electrical patterns resulting in synthesized speech. The video highlights Ann, a brainstem stroke patient with "locked in" syndrome, fluidly speaking with her husband for the first time in 18 years.
and
https://twitter.com/rowancheung/status/1694700935115919536
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome
Infographics
Dorm room decorations are on our minds. However, my son opted for music posters over physics and math posters. In case your tastes differ, here are some science and math wall decorations for you:
https://physicshistory.gumroad.com/l/physwall
If posters about math and physics aren't your thing, here is an infographic explaining 'What are UFOs?" It is nice to know the phrase "Wakanda-style" has entered our cultural vernacular.
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/what-are-ufos-uaps-the-leading-theories/
Things I learned this week
I am fascinated by the connotative evolution of words and phrases. Last week, I found myself reading this 2013 NPR article on the origin story and changing cultural norms of the expression "calling a spade a spade." It is an excellent example of how long-standing ideas are adapted and maladapted throughout human history.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/09/19/224183763/is-it-racist-to-call-a-spade-a-spade
I reread George Orwell's 1984 last week and experienced different thoughts and emotions than my previous full read in high school (1991?). The Atlantic reflected some of my thoughts in a 2019 article on Orwell's enduring cultural significance.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/1984-george-orwell/590638/
Living with A.I.
The Medical Futurist published this fantastic article covering health data, genomic screening, and medical information intellectual property rights. Sharing personal medical information is foundational and critical to training algorithms and benefiting from all that A.I. offers.
https://medicalfuturist.com/the-intellectual-property-journey-of-patients-digital-health-data/
The article also offers a great infographic on digital monitoring companies.
A.I. art of the week
"A woman sitting in a cinder block dorm room with LED lights, and a lofted bed looking at a blip on a phone screen - Marc Chagall style"
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
Comments
Post a Comment