Week of May 30, 2023
https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Carl-Spackler.Caddyshack
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9luE3f-Sw
and
https://pestpointers.com/hot-pepper-heres-how-to-use-it-to-repel-raccoons/
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The N.Y. Times COVID Tracker has not been updated since 5/15/23, while CDC data reporting is updated.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/covid-cases.html
Wastewater monitoring is trending down in all regions of the U.S. but is still above the summer 2020 nadir.
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COVID articles
Dr. Eric Topol published a thorough blog post about the impact of coronavirus on the brain. Multiple studies demonstrate persistent viral proteins in various tissues (including brain tissue) and signs of neuroinflammation in patients with persistent symptoms. While long-term data (>3-4 years) is not yet available, there are other viruses with neurologic reservoirs (like Zoster/Herpes viruses) that are associated with long-term cognitive decline.
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/the-brain-and-long-covid
A recent study from a Stanford epidemiologist found CAUSAL evidence linking the shingles vaccine to preventing dementia.
https://twitter.com/pgeldsetzer1/status/1661776663074738176
So, to sum up, these two articles, the shingles vaccine = minimizes the severity of varicella zoster virus (VZV)and decreases the risk of long-term illnesses from having VZV (like dementia). Will the COVID vaccine prove to act similarly?
Medical Trends and Technology
Here is a thread and article on A.I. interpretation of coronary arteries using optical coherence tomography. The authors describe A.I. image analysis to determine (with greater sensitivity and specificity than a human) which fatty plaques in a person's heart arteries will likely rupture when examined via CT-scan reconstructed 3-D images. (Plaque rupture followed by artery blockage is a typical mechanism for heart attacks.) These tools give cardiologists better clarity on who to treat more aggressively. Augmenting human judgment (increasing sensitivity and specificity in this case) is the way A.I. will infuse healthcare.
https://twitter.com/linusekenstam/status/1662552613206867968
Paper
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37215775/
Nanobots
I found a few articles on medical nanobots - small robots designed to perform tasks after being introduced into the body. University of Colorado at Boulder engineers designed 3D-printed, drug-eluting 20-micron polymer robots to deliver small, localized doses of steroids in the bladder wall (to relieve symptoms of a chronic disease called interstitial cystitis).
Nature offered an excellent summary article on the state of the art of 3D-printed microbots in 2022.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33409-3
Between nano-scale printing, A.I., and an increasing understanding of differentiating tissues by expressed proteins, injectable nanobots offer much potential for highly specific, minimally invasive tasks, like microsurgery and drug delivery.
Infographics
My older son is starting college in the fall, so we're on a life skills crash course covering various topics we have not been intentional enough about during his previous 18 years at home. Here is a stain guide that I found for him. I promised no judgment on why he may get these stains.
https://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com/stain-removal-guide/
Things I learned this week
Washington University engineers can induce hibernation-like states using ultrasound waves delivered through a small helmet to stimulate the hypothalamus of mice and rats. Their technique resulted in a " body temperature drop of about 3 degrees C for about one hour. In addition, the [mice's metabolism] changed from using both carbohydrates and fat for energy to only fat, a key feature of torpor, and their heart rates fell by about 47%, all while at room temperature." If applicable to humans, it could help us understand a means to long space flight or offer ways to treat various medical illnesses.
https://engineering.wustl.edu/news/2023/Induction-of-a-torpor-like-state-with-ultrasound.html
and (see a picture of the mice with little helmets!)
and long-term applications of this technology
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/hibernation-for-space-voyages-180962394/
Living with A.I.
Many articles and discussions on A.I. continue to dominate my various feeds.
A lawyer uses ChatGPT to conduct legal research. ChatGPT makes up precedent cases while assuring the lawyer they are real (I mean, he asked ChatGPT if they were genuine, and it said, "Yes.") The judge is not amused.
https://twitter.com/adambonin/status/1662453962040135682
A Duke religion professor had his class write essays using ChatGPT. All 63 papers exhibited some combination of fake quotes, fake sources, or misunderstood/mischaracterized authentic sources. The professor reported that many of his students were unaware of how erroneous ChatGPT data could be—a great learning lesson on how to, for now, use these LLMs.
https://twitter.com/cwhowell123/status/1662501821133254656
If you want to dive into the mechanics of ChatGPT, Stephen Wolfram's blog post is very detailed.
https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/
V.C. founder Tommy Shaughnessy offered a summarized Tweetorial on Wolfram's post:
https://twitter.com/Shaughnessy119/status/1662913924159930368
A.I. art of the week
How I perceive my struggle with wildlife in our yard:
"Oil painting, museum light, A raccoon with a sword dueling a man with a pump spray bottle, in the style of Andrea Vicentino"
How my family sees the struggle:
"oil painting of a frustrated clown surrounded by several laughing raccoons"
Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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