Week of May 20, 2024
I did not anticipate an art project coming home from college with my older son last week. His required first-year art class projects included "sculpt a meaningful symbol from your childhood." My home office now prominently displays a life-like plaster kidney, valued at the cost of a private liberal arts college credit. Given the sentimental and actual expenses, a docent, printed catalog, and 24-hour surveillance system will arrive shortly.
See the plaster kidney! (Next to a double-A battery for size reference.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iEw_HMV5kFicRc08dVs6AvZqxL-im-cy/view?usp=sharing
------
Wastewater concentrations indicate a rise in COVID cases in the coming weeks.
The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) website uses wastewater levels to forecast 4-week predictions of COVID rates.
https://pmc19.com/data/
based upon https://biobot.io/data/
------
COVID articles
Like the required hospital reporting on COVID cases, the wastewater data aggregator Biobot is no longer offering coronavirus-only visualized reporting. Instead, Biobot is publishing an aggregate weekly infective respiratory illness report.
https://biobot.io/from-raw-data-to-actionable-insights-biobots-evolution-of-public-data-sharing/
Dr. Lucky Tran, a public health writer from Columbia University, shared some concerns with the diminishing data on COVID infections.
https://x.com/luckytran/status/1791874969137266839
COVID data visualization is still available in several places:
https://pmc19.com/data/ and https://iowacovid19tracker.org/ are two such sites.
Without definitive data, we will see these kinds of articles moving forward: "COVID rates 'likely growing,' per CDC."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-likely-growing-states-cdc-estimates/
I continue to see numerous articles associating coronavirus infections with other medical complications. This week, I found a meta-analysis of 173 studies examining the relationship between multi-drug-resistant organisms and COVID-19 infections in ~900,000 patients across 50 countries. The underlying hypothesis is that many people with respiratory symptoms received antibiotics (especially if COVID testing wasn't available). Thus, globally, we have accelerated the evolution of numerous bacteria toward antibiotic resistance.
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(24)00117-8/fulltext
Some reasonably thoughtful analysis of this article:
https://x.com/NjbBari3/status/1791606791983579165
and
https://x.com/1goodtern/status/1791690601596870745
Medical Trends and Technology
Bloomberg published an interview with Noland Arbaugh, the first human to receive a Neuralink implant. The interview provides a fantastic description of the patient, his perspective on life and illness, and how technology (including setbacks) has changed his life.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-16/neuralink-s-first-patient-describes-living-with-brain-implant
GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic) continue to demonstrate a wide range of [primarily positive] impacts. A new dual-action GLP-1 activator + NMDA receptor antagonist confers benefits beyond GLP-1 agonists alone, such as fewer side effects, more weight loss, and neural rewiring (avoiding the need for constant GLP-1 use). Humans have not yet taken this drug. Still, as we start to use A.I. (Alphafold!) to develop new molecules, this kind of hybrid approach to medications (targeting overlapping pathways for synergies of clinical impact) will be amongst the many strategies that will be easier. Eric Topol highlighted the best part of the articles on X from the otherwise paywalled Nature article.
https://x.com/erictopol/status/1790767712647700736?s=57&t=qjwdpjspQGX7XGY5jdBzKw
Infographics
The Chemistry of Cast-Iron Cookware infographic was more interesting than I imagined. Not only is it the only place I have encountered the mention of van der Waals forces this week, but there is a quiz on information from the image in Chemical & Engineering News
https://x.com/cenmag/status/1772337776064708811/photo/1
Quiz time!
https://cen.acs.org/food/food-science/Quiz-How-much-do-you-know-about-the-chemistry-cast-iron-cookware/102/web/2024/04
Things I learned this week
One can boba overdose. "C.T. scan shows hundreds of tapioca balls from bubble tea stuck inside 14-year-old girl's stomach."
https://www.thatslife.com.au/ct-scan-shows-hundreds-of-tapioca-balls-from-green-tea-stuck-inside-womans-stomach
National Geographic updated their 2016 article on "the 5-second rule." A few take-home points:
1) Clemson University food scientists are leading the field in banal food safety research (See What Adam is Reading from 1-15-24).
2) Well-designed research on the speed of bacterial transfer from floor to food is complex. However, dry foods on carpeting have slower bacterial transfer than wet foods on smooth surfaces (like tile or linoleum).
3) Location matters. I would not eat off the floor in hospitals, bathrooms, and public spaces.
https://apple.news/A_qqYybvlQ5KYNRxm7NXAmA
and a similar article (for those that don't have Disney+/Nat Geo/or Apple+ News)
https://patch.com/us/across-america/5-second-rule-it-sound-science-or-disgusting-gross
Living with A.I.
Reddit and OpenAI have agreed to use Reddit's data to both link ChatGPT answers to Reddit posts, use Reddit data to train models, and embed OpenAI tools in Reddit.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/16/24158529/reddit-openai-chatgpt-api-access-advertising
Watch the demos of what ChatGPT-4o can now do. While using publicly available A.I. engines with medical (and proprietary business) data is inappropriate, the described use cases, such as live visual interpretation, interruptible A.I. agent, audio capture with summarization, the ability to handle sarcasm and humor, act as a tutor or teacher, etc., will be so valuable when securely and appropriately embedded.
https://x.com/LinusEkenstam/status/1791592543320490400
A.I. art of the week
My vision of my son's college art class:
Please make a lithograph-like image with a sculptor who looks like an older Leonardo DaVinci on wooden scaffolding, carving a kidney from a giant marble slab. The sculptor is in a Renaissance-style studio surrounded by other partially finished marble works. The sculptor has wires coming out of his head and is attached to a computer with an image of a kidney on the screen.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n0n_GD3CvAs3cgFesPzWAhwzay1owgHg/view?usp=sharing
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
I did not anticipate an art project coming home from college with my older son last week. His required first-year art class projects included "sculpt a meaningful symbol from your childhood." My home office now prominently displays a life-like plaster kidney, valued at the cost of a private liberal arts college credit. Given the sentimental and actual expenses, a docent, printed catalog, and 24-hour surveillance system will arrive shortly.
See the plaster kidney! (Next to a double-A battery for size reference.)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iEw_HMV5kFicRc08dVs6AvZqxL-im-cy/view?usp=sharing
------
Wastewater concentrations indicate a rise in COVID cases in the coming weeks.
The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) website uses wastewater levels to forecast 4-week predictions of COVID rates.
https://pmc19.com/data/
based upon https://biobot.io/data/
------
COVID articles
Like the required hospital reporting on COVID cases, the wastewater data aggregator Biobot is no longer offering coronavirus-only visualized reporting. Instead, Biobot is publishing an aggregate weekly infective respiratory illness report.
https://biobot.io/from-raw-data-to-actionable-insights-biobots-evolution-of-public-data-sharing/
Dr. Lucky Tran, a public health writer from Columbia University, shared some concerns with the diminishing data on COVID infections.
https://x.com/luckytran/status/1791874969137266839
COVID data visualization is still available in several places:
https://pmc19.com/data/ and https://iowacovid19tracker.org/ are two such sites.
Without definitive data, we will see these kinds of articles moving forward: "COVID rates 'likely growing,' per CDC."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-likely-growing-states-cdc-estimates/
I continue to see numerous articles associating coronavirus infections with other medical complications. This week, I found a meta-analysis of 173 studies examining the relationship between multi-drug-resistant organisms and COVID-19 infections in ~900,000 patients across 50 countries. The underlying hypothesis is that many people with respiratory symptoms received antibiotics (especially if COVID testing wasn't available). Thus, globally, we have accelerated the evolution of numerous bacteria toward antibiotic resistance.
https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(24)00117-8/fulltext
Some reasonably thoughtful analysis of this article:
https://x.com/NjbBari3/status/1791606791983579165
and
https://x.com/1goodtern/status/1791690601596870745
Medical Trends and Technology
Bloomberg published an interview with Noland Arbaugh, the first human to receive a Neuralink implant. The interview provides a fantastic description of the patient, his perspective on life and illness, and how technology (including setbacks) has changed his life.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-16/neuralink-s-first-patient-describes-living-with-brain-implant
GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic) continue to demonstrate a wide range of [primarily positive] impacts. A new dual-action GLP-1 activator + NMDA receptor antagonist confers benefits beyond GLP-1 agonists alone, such as fewer side effects, more weight loss, and neural rewiring (avoiding the need for constant GLP-1 use). Humans have not yet taken this drug. Still, as we start to use A.I. (Alphafold!) to develop new molecules, this kind of hybrid approach to medications (targeting overlapping pathways for synergies of clinical impact) will be amongst the many strategies that will be easier. Eric Topol highlighted the best part of the articles on X from the otherwise paywalled Nature article.
https://x.com/erictopol/status/1790767712647700736?s=57&t=qjwdpjspQGX7XGY5jdBzKw
Infographics
The Chemistry of Cast-Iron Cookware infographic was more interesting than I imagined. Not only is it the only place I have encountered the mention of van der Waals forces this week, but there is a quiz on information from the image in Chemical & Engineering News
https://x.com/cenmag/status/1772337776064708811/photo/1
Quiz time!
https://cen.acs.org/food/food-science/Quiz-How-much-do-you-know-about-the-chemistry-cast-iron-cookware/102/web/2024/04
Things I learned this week
One can boba overdose. "C.T. scan shows hundreds of tapioca balls from bubble tea stuck inside 14-year-old girl's stomach."
https://www.thatslife.com.au/ct-scan-shows-hundreds-of-tapioca-balls-from-green-tea-stuck-inside-womans-stomach
National Geographic updated their 2016 article on "the 5-second rule." A few take-home points:
1) Clemson University food scientists are leading the field in banal food safety research (See What Adam is Reading from 1-15-24).
2) Well-designed research on the speed of bacterial transfer from floor to food is complex. However, dry foods on carpeting have slower bacterial transfer than wet foods on smooth surfaces (like tile or linoleum).
3) Location matters. I would not eat off the floor in hospitals, bathrooms, and public spaces.
https://apple.news/A_qqYybvlQ5KYNRxm7NXAmA
and a similar article (for those that don't have Disney+/Nat Geo/or Apple+ News)
https://patch.com/us/across-america/5-second-rule-it-sound-science-or-disgusting-gross
Living with A.I.
Reddit and OpenAI have agreed to use Reddit's data to both link ChatGPT answers to Reddit posts, use Reddit data to train models, and embed OpenAI tools in Reddit.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/16/24158529/reddit-openai-chatgpt-api-access-advertising
Watch the demos of what ChatGPT-4o can now do. While using publicly available A.I. engines with medical (and proprietary business) data is inappropriate, the described use cases, such as live visual interpretation, interruptible A.I. agent, audio capture with summarization, the ability to handle sarcasm and humor, act as a tutor or teacher, etc., will be so valuable when securely and appropriately embedded.
https://x.com/LinusEkenstam/status/1791592543320490400
A.I. art of the week
My vision of my son's college art class:
Please make a lithograph-like image with a sculptor who looks like an older Leonardo DaVinci on wooden scaffolding, carving a kidney from a giant marble slab. The sculptor is in a Renaissance-style studio surrounded by other partially finished marble works. The sculptor has wires coming out of his head and is attached to a computer with an image of a kidney on the screen.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n0n_GD3CvAs3cgFesPzWAhwzay1owgHg/view?usp=sharing
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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