The S.S. United States: Darkest Days

I've been posting about this previously. Here is chapter 4:

Published on Apr 5, 2013

CHAPTER 4: DARKEST DAYS. The SS United States is America's Flagship — a perfect marriage of design and engineering all wrapped in one amazing sea-going symbol of post-war America. Built in 1952, she handily beat the transatlantic speed record on her maiden voyage. No ocean liner has ever broken this record. Now, this amazing ship needs our help. Save America's Flagship from being lost forever at http://SaveTheUnitedStates.org.

Chapter 4 of 5 — Click here to view Chapter 5: http://youtu.be/LkzHHDQljMk

   

Drug information at RXlist.com

While doing my on-line Introduction to Pharmacy Technician course, I found some useful websites, like rxlist.com. It lets you look up many things about drugs, like side effect warnings:

Kenalog-40 Injection Consumer (continued)

[...] Tell your doctor immediately if any of these unlikely but serious side effects occur: bone pain, easy bruising/bleeding, black stools, vomit that looks like coffee grounds, severe stomach/abdominal pain, increased thirst/urination, fast/pounding/irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles/feet, persistent weight gain, puffy face, unusual hair growth, thinning skin, slow wound healing, signs of infection (e.g., persistent fever/cough/sore throat, painful urination, eye pain/discharge), muscle weakness/pain, mental/mood changes (e.g., mood swings, depression, agitation), vision changes, seizures, unusual skin growths.

If you have received injection of this medication into the joint, temporary discomfort of the joint may occur. Tell your doctor immediately if you have fever, increased/severe pain with swelling of the joint, weakness in the joint, or decreased range of motion in the joint.

[...]

This medication may make you dizzy. Do not drive, use machinery, or do any activity that requires alertness until you are sure you can perform such activities safely.

This medication may mask signs of infection or put you at greater risk of developing very serious infections. Report any injuries or signs of infection (e.g., persistent sore throat/cough/fever, pain during urination, muscle aches) that occur while using this medication or within 12 months after stopping it.

Using corticosteroid medications for a long time can make it more difficult for your body to respond to physical stress. Therefore, before having surgery or emergency treatment, or if you get a serious illness/injury, tell your doctor or dentist that you are using this medication or have used this medication within the past 12 months. Tell your doctor right away if you develop unusual/extreme tiredness or weight loss. If you will be using this medication for a long time, carry a warning card or medical ID bracelet that identifies your use of this medication.

Do not have immunizations, vaccinations, or skin tests while you are using this drug unless specifically directed by your doctor. Avoid contact with people who have recently received oral polio vaccine.

Avoid exposure to chickenpox or measles infection while using this medication. If you are exposed to these infections, seek immediate medical attention.

If you have a history of ulcers or take large doses of aspirin or other arthritis medication, limit alcoholic beverages while using this drug. Alcohol may increase the risk of stomach/intestinal bleeding.[...]

That's just a sample. The information seems very complete.
     

Story telling technique in "Cloud Atlas"

We recently tried watching the movie "Cloud Atlas". It seemed like it could be promising. At first. But we eventually gave up. It was telling several stories that occurred at different times in the past and future, and kept jumping between them. It ended up seeming pretentious and annoying. Some of the stories seemed interesting, but the way they were being presented in fragments to artificially create a mystery (the way many bad films do) just put me off. It seemed like too much work, for too little payoff.

I was curious about the stories though, and decided to look up the "spoilers" to see how it all ended. I found a website, that gave a summary of each story, as a complete story, instead of an endless series of fragments:

The Movie Spoiler: Cloud Atlas

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by L. who says, "The film’s stories are all intertwined and scenes intercut with one another. Unfortunately, I can’t recall every editing choice so for simplicities sake, I broke down each story into chronological order – which robs part of the film’s beauty and doesn’t do it as much justice.

The stories are simple but the structure is divine. Your viewing experience will be MUCH different from this spoiler." [...]

The reviewer claims this presentation of the stories, in chronological order, robs part of the films beauty, etc. But I actually enjoyed this summary more than trying to watch the movie! Reading this was quicker, and less irritating. The ending isn't bad, but if I had to sit through that movie for three hours for that ending, I would not have felt it was worth it. If they had shown the stories in chronological order, and edited it down some to pick up the pace, it might have made a better movie.

The historical inaccuracies were also annoying; mixing up geography and people in places they never were, etc. Sloppy. Why mislead people about facts, when with a little effort, it could be accurate? I hate to be saying so many bad things about it, but I am saying them, because it was ALMOST an enjoyable movie. The story summary made it seem like it could have been pretty good. A bad movie you can forget. But an almost good one, is a bit tragic.

The film got high marks on the IMDB, so perhaps my opinion is a minority view. But if you also found the film tedious, but somewhat interesting, you might also enjoy reading the full spoiler summary at the above link.
     

"Middle East respiratory symptom coronavirus, or MERS-CoV"

Newly discovered virus takes more lives, spreads

(CNN) -- A new SARS-like virus recently found in humans continues to spread -- with the worldwide total now at 49, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Of the 49 known infections with the MERS-CoV virus, 27 have resulted in death, the organization said.

The latest deaths were reported in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi health ministry said Wednesday that three people died from their infections in the country's eastern region.

The virus is "a threat to the entire world," the WHO's general director said Monday.

[...]

On Tuesday, a patient died in France after having contracted the virus during a trip to the Middle East, the WHO reported.

Coronaviruses cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as well as a variety of animal diseases.

However, the new virus is not SARS.

The WHO recently gave it a more specific name: Middle East respiratory symptom coronavirus, or MERS-CoV.

It acts like a cold virus and attacks the respiratory system, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. But symptoms, which include fever and a cough, are severe and can lead to pneumonia and kidney failure.

Health officials do not yet know much about how the virus spreads, which makes it hard for scientists to prevent infections, Chan said. [...]

   

My Brilliant Career, Part III: Medical Coding

Medical Records and Health Information Technicians

It's not exactly exciting; it sounds like the medical equivalent of tax preparation. It's mostly sitting in front of a computer all day. But the stats at the site above (Occupational Outlook Handbook, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) gives it a job increase outlook of 21%, up till 2020. And another reason to consider training for it now is this:

ICD-10 Medical Coding

[...] ICD-10 is an upgraded diagnostic and procedural medical coding system that, by law, must be implemented throughout the healthcare industry by October 1, 2014. This new coding system is radically different from the version currently in use, so it’s important to start preparing for and implementing the massive changes to the existing coding system.

This online program offers you comprehensive, robust training in diagnostic and procedural coding, using the ICD-10-CM (diagnostic) and ICD-10-PCS (procedural) coding manuals. This training includes detailed instructions for using the coding manuals, understanding the coding guidelines, and accurately applying the ICD-10 coding steps. There are more than 40 quizzes and exams for diagnoses and procedures by body system to test your knowledge and understanding.

In addition, you will find information on the impact of the coding changes on medical coders, healthcare staff, physicians, software systems, documentation, and information technology. [...]

Most of the current coders are trained on ICD-9. So people who train for ICD-10 now, will be poised to "catch the wave".

But... it could still be too boring, sitting at a computer all day. In comparison, I think Pharmacy Technician actually looks better.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook had a lot of interesting information on Health Care jobs. Take this one for instance:


Home Health and Personal Care Aides

What Home Health and Personal Care Aides Do
Home health and personal care aides help people who are disabled, chronically ill, or cognitively impaired. They also help older adults who may need assistance. They help with activities such as bathing and dressing, and they provide services such as light housekeeping. In some states, home health aides may be able to give a client medication or check the client’s vital signs under the direction of a nurse or other healthcare practitioner.

Duties

Home health and personal care aides typically do the following:

• Help clients in their daily personal tasks, such as bathing or dressing
• Do light housekeeping, such as laundry, washing dishes, and vacuuming in a client’s home
• Organize a client’s schedule and plan appointments
• Arrange transportation to doctors’ offices or for other kinds of outings
• Shop for groceries and prepare meals
• Provide companionship

Aides often keep track of when a client’s prescriptions need to be filled or when the client has his or her next doctor’s appointment. Aides may prepare leisure activities, including exercise, to keep their clients active and healthy. They may go for walks with their clients or play games with them. In some states, home health aides may be able to provide some medical services. Aides may be expected to complete unpleasant tasks such as emptying a client’s bedpan or changing soiled bed linens.

Some aides are hired directly by the client or the client's family. In these situations, the client or the client's family supervises the aide and gives the aide tasks to do.

Home health aides, unlike personal care aides, typically work for certified home health or hospice agencies that receive government funding and therefore must comply with regulations. They work under the direct supervision of a medical professional, usually a nurse. These aides keep records of services performed and of the client's condition and progress. They report changes in the client's condition to the supervisor or case manager. Aides also work with therapists and other medical staff.

Home health aides may provide some basic health-related services, such as checking clients' pulse, temperature, and respiration rate. They also may help with simple prescribed exercises and with giving medications. Occasionally, they change simple dressings, give massages, care for skin, or help with braces and artificial limbs. With special training, experienced home health aides also may help with medical equipment such as ventilators, which help clients breathe.

Personal care aides—also called homemakers, caregivers, companions, and personal attendants—provide clients with companionship and help with daily tasks in a client’s home. They are often hired in addition to other medical health workers, such as hospice workers, who may visit a client’s home. Personal care aides do not provide any type of medical service.

Direct support professionals work with people who have developmental or intellectual disabilities. They may help create a behavior plan, provide employment support, and teach self-care skills, such as doing laundry or cooking meals. They may also provide other personal assistance services.

[...]

Job Outlook
Employment of home health aides is expected to grow by 69 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. Employment of personal care aides is expected to grow by 70 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations.

As the baby-boom population ages and the elderly population grows, the demand for home health and personal care aides to provide assistance and companionship will continue to increase. Older clients often have health problems and need some help with daily activities.

Elderly and disabled clients increasingly rely on home care as a less expensive alternative to nursing homes or hospitals. Clients who need help with everyday tasks and household chores, rather than medical care, can reduce their medical expenses by returning to their homes.

Another reason for home care is that most clients prefer to be cared for in their homes, where they are most comfortable. Studies have found that home treatment is often more effective than care in a nursing home or hospital.

Job Prospects
Job prospects for both home health aides and personal care aides are excellent. These occupations are large and expected to grow very quickly, thus adding many jobs. In addition, the low pay and high emotional demands cause many workers to leave these occupations, and they will have to be replaced.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook has a lot of data on many different  Healthcare Occupations, so you can compare them. I've compared some that I was interested in:

Occupation:        Outlook (thru  2020):          Median Pay:

CNA                    20%                                     $24,010.
LVN                     22%                                    $40,380.
RN                       26%                                    $64,690.
Phrm Tchn           32%                                    $28,400.
Med. Coding        21%                                    $32,350.
Hme Hlth Aide      70%                                    $20,560.

Many of the higher paying jobs require two or more years of college. Pharmacy Technician still looks the best to me, considering the education requirements, job outlook, and pay rate. I didn't include the education requirements in my list here, but you can find them on the Handbook site, and much more too. It's a great resource.
 

"Who the heck was Anne Hutchinson?"

A well known New Age guru has released a novel called "God". I was reading the blurb from the back of the book, part of which said this:

[...] Job in the Old Testament experienced something completely different from Paul in the New Testament, Socrates chased a mercurial spirit almost unrecognizable to the strange voice that called to Rumi, and Shankara moved from town to town sharing the truth about a God that stood in marked contrast to the one that guided Anne Hutchinson—yet one sees an undeniable pattern. These visionaries took the human race down unknown roads, and Chopra invites us to revisit their destinations. Tearing at our hearts and uplifting our souls, God leads us to a profound and life-altering understanding about the nature of belief, the power of faith, and the spirit that resides within us all. [...]

I had heard of most of those names before, but I thought, "Who the heck was Anne Hutchinson? And why is she listed with those others?" I googled her name and found her Wikipedia page. It's really quite a story. I was a bit embarrassed that I didn't know, being a New Englander myself:

[...] Anne Hutchinson, born Anne Marbury (1591–1643), was a Puritan spiritual adviser, mother of 15, and important participant in the Antinomian Controversy that shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her strong religious convictions were at odds with the established Puritan clergy in the Boston area, and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened to destroy the Puritans' religious experiment in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters.

Born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, Anne was the daughter of Francis Marbury, an Anglican minister and school teacher who gave her a far better education than most other girls received. She lived in London as a young adult, and married there an old friend from home, William Hutchinson. The couple moved back to Alford, where they began following the dynamic preacher named John Cotton in the nearby major port of Boston, Lincolnshire. After Cotton was compelled to emigrate in 1633, the Hutchinsons followed a year later with their 11 children, and soon became well established in the growing settlement of Boston in New England. Anne was a midwife, and very helpful to those needing her assistance, as well as forthcoming with her personal religious understandings. Soon she was hosting women at her house weekly, providing commentary on recent sermons. These meetings became so popular that she began offering meetings for men as well, including the young governor of the colony, Henry Vane.

As a follower of Cotton, she espoused a "covenant of grace," while accusing all of the local ministers (except for Cotton and her husband's brother-in-law, John Wheelwright) of preaching a "covenant of works." Following complaints of many ministers about the opinions coming from Hutchinson and her allies, the situation erupted into what is commonly called the Antinomian Controversy, resulting in her 1637 trial, conviction, and banishment from the colony. This was followed by a March 1638 church trial in which she was excommunicated. With encouragement from Providence founder Roger Williams, Hutchinson and many of her supporters established the settlement of Portsmouth in what became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. After her husband's death a few years later, threats of Massachusetts taking over Rhode Island compelled Hutchinson to move totally outside the reach of Boston, into the lands of the Dutch. She settled with her younger children near an ancient landmark called Split Rock in what later became The Bronx in New York City. Tensions with the native Siwanoy were high at the time. In August 1643, Hutchinson and all but one of the 16 members of her household were massacred during an attack. The only survivor was her nine-year old daughter, Susanna, who was taken captive.

Hutchinson is a key figure in the development of religious freedom in England's American colonies and the history of women in ministry. She challenged the authority of the ministers, exposing the subordination of women in the culture of colonial Massachusetts. She is honoured by Massachusetts with a State House monument calling her a "courageous exponent of civil liberty and religious toleration." She has been called the most famous, or infamous, English woman in colonial American history. [...]

If you follow the wiki link, there's lots more information, and embedded links too. The details of her trial were chilling. Her decendants included three U.S. presidents, and, well, read the whole thing, if you enjoy history.
     

Who was Mario Pei?

From Wikipedia: Mario Pei

[...] Pei was born in Rome, Italy, and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1908. By the time he was out of high school he knew not only English and his native Italian but also Latin, Greek, and French. Over the years he became fluent in several other languages (including Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and German) capable of speaking some 30 others, and acquainted with the structure of at least 100 of the world's languages.

In 1923, he began his career teaching languages at City College of New York, and in 1928 he published his translation of Vittorio Ermete de Fiori's Mussolini: The Man of Destiny. Pei received his doctorate from Columbia University in 1937, focusing on Sanskrit, Old Church Slavonic, and Old French.

In 1937, he joined the Department of Romance Languages at Columbia University, becoming a full professor in 1952. In 1941, he published his first language book, The Italian Language. His facility with languages was in demand in World War II, and Pei served as a language consultant with two agencies of the Department of War. In this role, he wrote language textbooks, developed language courses and wrote language guidebooks.

While working as a professor of Romance Philology at Columbia University, Pei wrote over 50 books, including the best-sellers The Story of Language (1949) and The Story of English (1952). His other books included Languages for War and Peace (1943), A Dictionary of Linguistics (written with Frank Gaynor, 1954), All About Language (1954), Invitation to Linguistics: A Basic Introduction to the Science of Language (1965), and Weasel Words: Saying What You Don't Mean (1978).

Pei penned The America We Lost: The Concerns of a Conservative (1968), a book advocating individualism and constitutional literalism. In the book, Pei denounces the income tax, as well as communism and other forms of collectivism.

Mario Pei was also an internationalist who advocated the introduction of Esperanto into school curricula across the world to supplement local languages. [...]

I remember reading some of his books from the library when I was a teen, and interested in languages. He seemed very well informed. Many of his books are still available (used), on Amazon.com. I suspect that his political views are not popular with the Brave New World crowd. See the original Wiki page for embedded links.

   

Memorial Day, 2013

http://www.usmemorialday.org/
   

The S.S. United States: Built to Last

I've been blogging about a documentary about the ship, made by an organization that's trying to save it from the scrap heap. Today's installment is Chapter 3:

CHAPTER 3: BUILT TO LAST. The SS United States is America's Flagship — a perfect marriage of design and engineering all wrapped in one amazing sea-going symbol of post-war America. Built in 1952, she handily beat the transatlantic speed record on her maiden voyage. No ocean liner has ever broken this record. Now, this amazing ship needs our help. Save America's Flagship from being lost forever at http://SaveTheUnitedStates.org.

Chapter 3 of 5 — Click here to view Chapter 4: http://youtu.be/IUVhvEKz2_Q

This chapter is possibly my favorite. Previous chapters that I blogged about are here and here.
   

Fire Ants better than Crazy ones

What's worse than fire ants? Crazy ants:

Invasive Crazy Ants Are Displacing Fire Ants, Researchers Find

[...] “When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back,” said LeBrun. “Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound.”

LeBrun said that crazy ants, by contrast, “go everywhere.” They invade people’s homes, nest in crawl spaces and walls, become incredibly abundant and damage electrical equipment.

The crazy ants were first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 by a pest control operator in a suburb of Houston, and have since established populations in 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida, and a few sites in southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana.

In 2012 the species was formally identified as Nylanderia fulva, which is native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Frequently referred to as Rasberry crazy ants, these ants recently have been given the official common name “Tawny crazy ants.”

The Tawny crazy ant invasion is the most recent in a series of ant invasions from South America brought on by human movement. The Argentine ant invaded through the port of New Orleans in about 1891. In 1918 the black imported fire ant showed up in Mobile, Ala. Then in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant arrived in the U.S. and began displacing the black fire ant and the Argentine ants.

The UT researchers studied two crazy ant invasion sites on the Texas Gulf Coast and found that in those areas where the Tawny crazy ant population is densest, fire ants were eliminated. Even in regions where the crazy ant population is less dense, fire ant populations were drastically reduced. Other ant species, particularly native species, were also eliminated or diminished.

LeBrun said crazy ants are much harder to control than fire ants. They don’t consume most of the poison baits that kill fire ant mounds, and they don’t have the same kinds of colony boundaries that fire ants do. That means that even if they’re killed in a certain area, the supercolony survives and can swarm back over the area.

“They don’t sting like fire ants do, but aside from that they are much bigger pests,” he said. “There are videos on YouTube of people sweeping out dustpans full of these ants from their bathroom. You have to call pest control operators every three or four months just to keep the infestation under control. It’s very expensive.”

LeBrun said that in northern Argentina and southern Brazil, where the ants are native, populations are likely held in check by other ant species and a variety of natural enemies. In the U.S. there is no such natural control.

Here the crazy ants can attain densities up to 100 times as great as all other ants in the area combined. In the process, they monopolize food sources and starve out other species. LeBrun said the crazy ants, which are omnivorous, may also directly attack and kill other ant and arthropod species.

The overall result is a significant reduction in abundance and biodiversity at the base of the food chain, which is likely to have implications for the ecosystem as a whole. [...]

Yikes. What can be done? The rest of the article talks about ways of slowing the spread of crazy ants, to buy time to find and answer about what to do about them in the long run. See the article for pics and embedded links.

     

Can Windows 8 be "fixed"?

We may find out next month:

Windows 8: 5 Hopeful Signs

[...] Windows 8's consumer appeal is about to get a major upgrade.

An important note: this prediction presupposes that the OS's usability issues are addressed in Windows 8.1, a free update, formerly known as Windows Blue, expected to be revealed in June.

There's been some doublespeak from Microsoft on the usability point. Redmond executives have claimed that customer feedback informed Blue's development -- but they've also defended Win8's Live Tile start screen, which has been a significant driver of user criticism. There's a fine line between upholding one's convictions and alienating one's fans. Win 8.1 looks like it will land on the right side of that line -- but I'll come back to that later.

First, here are five reasons things are looking up for Windows 8. [...]

Read the whole thing for "reasons". I have no doubt that Microsoft will improve it. And that it won't be perfect. The question is, will it be "good enough"?
The article concludes that it ultimately will depend on increasing it's "usability".

   

The real-life family from "The Impossible"

It's their family's true story, that the movie "The Impossible" is based on:


All I could see was water and two of my boys clinging to the tops of trees

It seemed like the perfect Christmas break for the Spanish family of five.

But then the splashing and laughter were drowned out by a deafening roar and Maria watched in horror as a towering wave pushed in from the sea and ripped through the hotel.

The family’s Far Eastern holiday over Christmas 2004 had ended in disaster — caught up in the Boxing Day tsunami which killed around 240,000 people in 14 countries.

[...]

Recalling the moment the tsunami struck, Maria, a doctor, says: “The wave is big on the cinema screen but in real life it was so much more. It was everything.”

In an instant, she found herself separated from Lucas, husband Quique and younger sons Tomas, eight, and five-year-old Simon.

The wave smashed her against a plate glass window which exploded behind her and she was swept through the hotel.

She says: “I remember being pushed against walls. You could feel them trembling and breaking, feeling them as they gave way, one after another.

“Some of the walls did not collapse — that’s why people died. They were trapped.

“I was under the water for a long, long time. I was not in physical pain but the drowning sensation was like being in a spin-dryer.

“The doctors said I was underwater for more than three minutes because my lungs were absolutely full of water. I saw many lights under the water, tunnels with lights at the end, that people tell you they see when they are going to die.”

Like Lucas and Maria, Quique doesn’t know how long he was underwater.

He says: “I thought, ‘That’s it, I’m not going to make it.’ But I needed to try. I saw a light above me, so I tried to push myself up and get my head out of the water.”

He surfaced in the torrent, more than half a mile downstream from the hotel, and says: “The only thing I could see was water and the tops of the trees. I was alone.

“I thought there was no way my children had made it. I started to cry and then I thought, ‘Why are you crying when there is no one to comfort you?’”

Quique managed to grab hold of a tree and thinks he hung on for about half an hour as the raging waters roared past him.

He says: “Then I heard Tomas’s voice. He was shouting, ‘Papa! Mama! Lucas! Simon!’” [...]

Another good interview is here:


Seemingly impossible: Miracle survival of family who inspired new tsunami movie

[...] “We started to hear a very horrible sound. I was looking around thinking maybe this is just in my mind.

"No one recognised the sound. It felt like the Earth was coming apart but everything looked perfect.

“I was facing the sea and saw a huge black wall. I didn’t think it was the sea. I thought it was a black wall coming to get us.

“The two youngest boys were in the swimming pool with my husband.

"Lucas, the eldest, was just in front of me. He had just got out of the pool to fetch the ball we had bought them on Christmas Day.

"I screamed to my husband and to the kids. I thought it was the end for all of us. Lucas was crying out, ‘Mama, Mama’.

"Then they all disappeared under water. [...]

Based on the details in these interviews, it seems the movie re-enacted their experiences very closely. Follow the links for more details, and lots of photos.
   

Big Solar Flares this weekend?

Maybe:

Sunspot Blasting Out Major Solar Flares Will Face Earth Soon

The super-active sunspot responsible for unleashing the three most powerful solar flares of 2013 within a 24-hour stretch this week is slowly rotating toward Earth and will likely be facing our planet by the weekend, experts say.

Active Region 1748, as the sunspot is known, unleashed three monster solar flares between Sunday and Monday (May 12 to 13). Every one of the solar storms registered as an X-class flare — the most powerful type — with each successive event stronger than the last, culminating in an X3.2 megablast Monday night.

These solar explosions did not affect Earth, since AR1748 was not facing our planet at the time. But the sunspot is now circling into view, so future flares and any associated eruptions of super-hot solar plasma — called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — could potentially target our planet, scientists say. [Sun Unleashes Biggest Flares of 2013 (Photos)]

"In a couple of days, it will be far enough onto the disk that any CMEs that we got would probably have some impact on Earth," solar astrophysicist C. Alex Young, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told SPACE.com.

AR1748 should be near the center of the solar disk by around Saturday, Young added.

"If it sends something off, then we can expect to get some CMEs sort of head-on" at that point, he said.

[...]

Scientists give AR1748 a 40 to 50 percent chance of firing off another X-class flare, he added, though this probability is a rough estimate that could change as further information becomes available.

X-class flares aimed at Earth can have consequences on a planet-wide scale, triggering widespread radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

Earth-directed CMEs have even more destructive potential. When a CME's charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field, they can spawn geomagnetic storms powerful enough to disrupt GPS signals, radio communications and power grids.

Solar activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year cycle. The current cycle, called Solar Cycle 24, is ramping up toward an expected peak later this year. [...]

See the full article for embedded link, and video.
     

Panarama from Mars

Follow the link and click on the interactive panorama, in full screen mode. It's really cool:

Stand on Mars Next to the Curiosity Rover With This Incredible Panorama
     

Japanese Tsunami Debris on Oregon Coast

It's starting to arrive in greater quantities. A few Sunday's ago, I encountered my first piece. We were having a nice walk on a local beach:


It was another day in paradise. Just beautiful. Then I saw it:



A first I thought it was just an ordinary piece of rubbish. But then I saw the Japanese writing on it. It was a bottle of hairspray. It had floated in the ocean for a long time, so long that it had seaweed growing on it.

I could only wonder; had it been sitting on a shelf in a hair salon? Or on a ladies dressing table, or in someone's bathroom cabinet? Was it swept out to sea from someone's house - WITH the house? With people still in the house? All questions that can never be answered.



I left it there, bearing witness to a disaster far away, years ago. I continued my walk, and told myself I would pick it up on my way back down the beach. But on the way back, it was gone. Either someone else picked it up, or it went back to sea for a while, to remind someone else on another day.

Meanwhile, an article in the Vancouver Sun tells us that a Tsunami here would not be as bad as the earthquake that would cause it:

Monster earthquake would devastate Pacific Northwest, leaving thousands dead
But tsunami would be secondary issue for Lower Mainland, because Vancouver Island would take brunt of big wave: expert

A monster earthquake and tsunami would wreak havoc on B.C.’s west coast, but the effects would be far worse in Washington and Oregon states.

“I suspect there’d be a significant number of deaths in the Lower Mainland as a result of the shaking,” said Ronald Clowes, a crustal seismologist and professor emeritus at the University of B.C. “But the tsunami would be a secondary concern.”

Clowes spoke on Friday after researchers told Oregon legislators Thursday that more than 10,000 people could die when — not if — a monster earthquake and tsunami occur off the Pacific Northwest coast.

Coastal towns would be inundated; schools, buildings and bridges would collapse; and economic damage could hit $32 billion, the researchers said.

These findings were published in a chilling new report by the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission, a group of more than 150 volunteer experts.

[...]

According to the Oregon report, the 2011 Japan quake and tsunami were a wake-up call for the Pacific Northwest. Governments have been taking a closer look at whether the region is prepared for something similar, and discovering it is not.

Oregon legislators requested the study so they could better inform themselves about what needs to be done to prepare and recover from such a giant natural disaster.

The report says that geologically, Oregon and Japan are mirror images. Despite the devastation in Japan, that country was more prepared than Oregon because it had spent billions on technology to reduce the damage, the report said.

Meanwhile, a third minor earthquake has struck off the north B.C. coast, the latest in a series that has rattled the area since last fall. [...]

I don't deny that there is a seismic hazard here. But I don't know how they can say "Oregon and Japan are mirror images". Japan has a long history of active earthquakes, which is why they are better prepared. Earthquakes in Oregon are few and far between, which is why we are not better prepared. I don't see how that makes us a "mirror image". Though I suppose if a large earthquake and resulting tsunami happen, it won't much matter what we call it.
   

GOP supporting Gay Marriage?

Many in the party are moving in that direction:

Conservative effort underway in push for gay marriage

There are some prominent names in there. I'm not surprised. In so many ways, the battle to stop it is a lost cause, for many good reasons:

The inevitability of Gay Marriage

Whatever you think of it, it's here, and it's not going away. Deal with it. The GOP has much more important battles to deal with, and should not waste any more time and resources on a battle they have already lost.
     

The changing face of healthcare

I recently came across this article, which is aimed at American physicians:

Getting ready for emerging care models

Like it or not change is coming to healthcare. The government, employer groups and other purchasers of healthcare are demanding higher quality and lower costs in the delivery of healthcare. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 started this evolution and whatever you call it -- value-based purchasing, accountable care, patient-centered healthcare, etc. -- it is taking root and starting to grow rapidly.

[...]

To get an idea of what you should be thinking about, let’s look to a healthcare market where these “new” healthcare delivery models are the norm and have been in place for years. One such market is in the Netherlands, where 90 percent of demand for care is generated in the primary care setting and providers (private) are paid a lump sum based on conditions and work in integrated care networks.

In the Netherlands today, 99 percent of physicians use a computer, 97 percent are Internet-enabled, 90 percent store all types of health records electronically, 84 percent receive lab results electronically, and 26 percent exchange data electronically with other providers – all benchmarks that the United States aims to achieve in the next 3-5 years. The international standards used in the Netherlands are consistent with U.S. conventions, as HL7 and ICD-9 are used in healthcare and ICD-10 is being adopted. Also, as in the United States, Holland does not have a dedicated health ID number or “smart card” for patients that some European countries have adopted but which are not relevant in this country. In these respects, the Dutch market is extremely similar to the U.S. market. This market is where our own company history started, and where our care collaboration and disease management solutions have matured.

Here is what you need and why
To participate in a value-based delivery model you must be willing and able to coordinate and collaborate on patient care with other ambulatory providers; the goal is to render the right amount of preventive care, avoiding health complications and resulting in better patient care with lower attendant costs. Once this mind shift has taken root -- a very different and, for some, a difficult way of thinking -- you need the basic tools and capabilities to engage in care coordination. These tools must:

Enable you to store patient information electronically. This does not have to be the typical full-blown EMR that legacy vendors have been marketing. These EMRs were developed in the fee-for-service model to optimize billing and reimbursement and resemble digital renditions of paper records. Not to mention they are expensive to acquire and maintain even when they may be subsidized by the ACO. Instead, you need a platform that is designed for the new delivery model focused on optimizing patient care, with a workflow that fits your practice pattern. For more on this see the 2010 PCAST Report titled "Realizing The Full Potential of Healthcare Information Technology to Improve Healthcare."

Enable patient-centric care, including making sure that patients receive reminders for preventive services through multiple channels based on their personal profile.

Support the care team network, allowing all providers, physicians, facilities, etc., involved in treating particular patients to share relevant information through collaborative and coordinated care.

Manage patients proactively.

Be able to generate electronic referrals.

Be a cloud-based solution. Cloud-based solutions require little or no local IT support and investment. This is really important for the average physician practice. Also the pricing level and payment structure with predictable cash flow more closely matches the size of the practice.

To distill down these capabilities into specific tool sets means you should expect to have the following: an EHR; a care collaboration/coordination solution; and the ability to exchange electronic referrals. The key in selecting the right solutions for your practice is to pick one with the right workflow for your practice. The solution(s) must be cloud-based so you can avoid the costly hassle of purchasing and supporting local software installations, which is expensive and not your core competency. If you do not have these capabilities you either might not be a candidate to participate in an ACO, clinically integrated care delivery network or PCMH, or the ACO will force you to use their solutions.

You should expect the ACO to provide other required solution capabilities such as clinical decision support (CDS), analytics, population health tools, health information exchange platform (HIE); reporting tools, etc. These are expensive solutions tailored for a large organization to manage and support. [...]

It goes on to describe the current inefficient, entrenched ways of doing things, and how they are going to be forced to rapidly change, as has happened in many other industries (It has an embedded link to an article in Forbes).


Also see:

Have Smart Phones to do Medical Work